Author Topic: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?  (Read 269150 times)

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Ubernoob

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #360 on: December 02, 2008, 12:25:27 AM »
Isn't rage a condition?  IE binary.  On/Off?
Is it?

Have Greater Bestow Curse cast on you then.
1 con = -5 bonus = rage lasts 0 rounds.

1 con= gunna fuckng die.  Better to find a way to directly reduce the rage duration.  A flaw maybe?
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SorO_Lost

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #361 on: December 02, 2008, 03:03:58 AM »
1 con= gunna fuckng die.  Better to find a way to directly reduce the rage duration.  A flaw maybe?
A custom flaw could do it, but then this trick would have to go in the house rule area.
Think of it as a double or nothing ability I guess.

There is bound to be some ways to mitigate your side of the bet though.
Skullclan Hunter can render you immune to drain & ability damage. Horizon Walker prevents fatigue form killing you. There are plenty of ways to boost your saves against poison. so that leaves spells and effects that create a penalty on con. Well, if you can cast Ray of Enfeeblement, then your con can normally be 8. By using RoE you can turn the bet off and on while making your self immune to someone else trying to use that spell to kill you.

I don't recall the spell used to self resurrect, but if death or that spell removes RoE. You are not really betting your life at all. Due to racial HD & LA you would have to be a sublime cord though.

Can you have a wolverine as a familiar? That would be the best way to handle this.
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JaronK

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #362 on: December 02, 2008, 04:30:59 AM »
Going Necropolitan would reduce the duration to 3 rounds, and you could still have decent hitpoints.

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Ubernoob

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #363 on: December 02, 2008, 06:15:35 AM »
Going Necropolitan would reduce the duration to 3 rounds, and you could still have decent hitpoints.

JaronK
That still sets us at once or twice per encounter which ruins the trick, so that's a no-go.
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Kuroimaken

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #364 on: December 02, 2008, 11:24:54 AM »
Quote
I don't recall the spell used to self resurrect, but if death or that spell removes RoE. You are not really betting your life at all. Due to racial HD & LA you would have to be a sublime cord though.

Revivify, Cleric 5th level. Bard doesn't cut it.
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woodenbandman

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #365 on: December 02, 2008, 11:30:56 AM »
Get a contingent Calm Animals or Calm Emotions, but that seems a bit expensive.

Kuroimaken

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #366 on: December 27, 2008, 04:30:28 AM »
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

Ahem. This isn't much of a dirty trick so much as it is a nifty one.

The Binder Airship

Ingredients: A Binder of at least 14th level, Zceryll vestige.

Summon a Djinni. Have him create the body of your airship out of soarwood. Since soarwood is vegetable matter (it's wood!), it's permanent as per the djinni's ability. Have him also create solid wood "harnesses" at the front of the ship. Summon hippogriffs and have them drag your airship around.

"But they don't last very long!" That's actually the beautiful part. Soarwood is, essentially, weightless. So basically, the only things the hippogriffs will be dragging along the sky are you and whoever/whatever else you bring along on your airship. Since they last practically nothing, they can "run" forward in a straight line for the entire duration of the summoning. By the time they vanish, you can have others show up to propel you forward again!
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Chemus

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #367 on: December 27, 2008, 06:09:37 AM »
Interestingly, you can have the summoned Pseudonatural Djinni create MWk items (they have 10 ranks in one craft skill (+12 mod), so they can take 10 while using major creation and get DC 20). This makes a lvl 14 binder inordinately rich, without any shenanigans. Darkwood tower shields are worh 600gp, and if you can assist the djinni (as the wildwood entry in RotW talks about) during the casting of major creation, you could make wildwood fullplate valued at 3300.
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Kuroimaken

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #368 on: December 27, 2008, 12:59:10 PM »
Interestingly, you can have the summoned Pseudonatural Djinni create MWk items (they have 10 ranks in one craft skill (+12 mod), so they can take 10 while using major creation and get DC 20). This makes a lvl 14 binder inordinately rich, without any shenanigans. Darkwood tower shields are worh 600gp, and if you can assist the djinni (as the wildwood entry in RotW talks about) during the casting of major creation, you could make wildwood fullplate valued at 3300.

Well, assuming there are lots of druids to sell those two, sure. Though I need to check how wildwood works.
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For proof, look here:

http://www.layoutjelly.com/image_27/gendo_ikari/

[SPOILER]
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Katana of Enlightenment.
Get yours.[/SPOILER]

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Lycanthromancer

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #369 on: December 30, 2008, 02:25:45 AM »
A few mildly interesting tricks:

Time stop on the Astral Plane = infinite time to do anything you want until you leave the plane; more likely to be accepted than genesis shenanigans, while having the same effect.

Astral projection cast on yourself, then return to the Material Plane and stuff your original body in a bag of holding or somesuch. You just got yourself a 1-Up mushroom! (Doable by level 7; see below.)

Metamorphosis/polymorph + Metamorphic Transfer feat + Otherworldly feat (or play as a neraphim/tiefling/aasimar) to get any Supernatural ability of any outsider under 15 HD (that's a lot of potential power; go look at the Nightmare entry in the Monster Manual - see astral projection at level 7). Also see the barghest's feed ability for gaining tons of levels really, REALLY quickly.

Prismatic sphere + stone shape (dome) + familiar + improved invisibility + ring gate = pretty much invincible while you cast out of the ring gate in your dome. (Horizontal wall of iron underneath you to prevent sappers.) Use full rods of absorption if you want to cast this lots of times per day without using up spell slots.

Go psion, then get a contingencied psychic reformation whenever you think the command thought (or you're rendered unable to think). Your build can be anything, anywhere, at any time, so long as there's a power or feat or skill-based trick involved.

Utilize miracle, wish, or limited wish to nab yourself any lower-level spell with a long casting time - such as contingency - as a standard action and some XP (limited wish and miracle for the win?). Works great when you want to nab some black lotus extract with minor creation. Works just as well Quickened.

Gate allows you to call up uber epic level creatures (infinite HD and CR) as soon as you get it. You just can't control them. Gate in a hecatoncheires + Quickened greater teleport out for fun and havoc.

Heward's Handy Haversack + Deck of Many Things. Pick a card, any card. It's always the card you want, and it's always on top. Continue to draw 2x each round (more, with the hustle power) until you have every card you want. Also, since the deck never specifies having to shuffle, you can simply stack the deck as you like it, drawing the top half of the deck each time. Just say, "I'm drawing 4000 cards," and you can draw all the good ones over, and over, and over, and over and...

Buy your LA off, even if you have negative LA or +/- 0 LA. Gain XP like the cheese-bastard you are.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2008, 03:51:43 AM by Lycanthromancer »
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Lycanthromancer

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #370 on: December 30, 2008, 03:49:58 AM »
The 'manifester' weapon ability. For +16000 gp, you get the weapon enhancement that grants +5 power points. Not normally a problem. Except you get 50 manifester arrows for the same price, each with +5 power points, which renew themselves each day.

Also, psicrystals gain feats, RAW. One of these can be Leadership. With Improved Psicrystal, you can get a psicrystal with a minion stronger than you. Which has a psicrystal with Improved Psicrystal as well, which then has Leadership, which repeats into stronger and stronger minions until the gameworld explodes.

Your psicrystal can also take the Mounted Combat feat, and it can ride on your hat and use you as a mount. Not horrifically broken, but it's funny.

Energy conversion + Chain Power + Split Psionic Ray. Use metamorphosis, shared with your psicrystal, then schism on the both of you. That's 4 actions a round spent on firing 2 Chaining rays (each), each of which is 3 points of damage per manifester level. At ML 20, that's 8 rays dealing 60 damage apiece (more, if Overchanneled). Toss in a nice energy wall to recharge. It's not broken, but it does give massive stamina. Works well with the next combo. It's about the best damage-dealing combo you can do in psionics without going for broke, though, and running out of pp in a single fight. (Note that if you have at least two targets, you can Chain between them to make multiple attacks against multiple targets overlap.)

Greater Psionic Shot + Aligned Attack (Chaotic or Evil) + greater chasuble of fell power (Chaotic or Evil; it's in the MIC) = +7d6 for the expenditure of 2 psionic foci. Added to the previous one, that's a considerable bonus, though it's a helluvalot of feats. On most powers, like crystal shard or energy ray, make sure you use Overchannel. That's an additional +3d6 for a total of +10d6 for 2 psionic foci.

Necropolitan with telepathy (see: mindbender, totemist, etc), Lifesense, Mindsight, and detect undead. The only thing that can sneak up on you, ever, is mindless constructs.

Anthropomorphic bats. +6 Wis and flight. +0 LA.

Any buffer gish-type worth his salt (see psywar) would want an elvencraft longbow (see Races of the Wild). You can use your buffing spells and powers on one weapon (weapon of energy, graft weapon, strength of my enemy, psionic keen edge, vampiric blade), and then use it for double-duty as both a ranged and melee weapon. Also does good for deep crystal and other esoteric materials. Good when added to a bow of the wintermoon, to adjust to your Strength score when using, say, strength of my enemy.

Metamorphosis shared with your psicrystal. Go 12-headed hydra, using the hammer power, also shared with your psicrystal, for +24d8 damage on a full attack. Psicrystals keep their granted abilities when shapechanged, so you get a hydra that can fly, has (effectively) true seeing, has a climb speed, has lots of natural armor, and so on.

Vigor + share pain, both shared with your psicrystal. You not only effectively double your base hit points for 1 hour/lvl, you also gain an effective +10 temp hp per power point spent on vigor. Makes that d8 hit die of the psychic warrior (and the Psionic Body feat) look pretty good, eh?

The expansion power. Just expansion. With the extra size and the extra reach (and extra reach gained with reach weapons), you gain a +4 to lots of maneuvers (trip, bull-rush, etc), and you can prevent attacks of opportunity from those same actions by out-reaching your foes. So, basically, it replicates lots of feats to a degree if you do it right (Improved Trip, Improved Overrun, Improved Bull-Rush, Improved Disarm, etc), and keeps you from having to take those icky prereq feats (Combat Expertise? Eww!). Hustle does the same for Spring Attack (and Dodge and Mobility), Ride-by Attack (and Mounted Combat), and Flyby Attack, really.

The Linked Power feat (from CPsi) allows you to manifest a power as a free action next round if you Metapsionic a power this round. While this isn't terribly b0rked by itself, it negates one of the big problems with playing a psi-gish; namely, the necessity of buff rounds. Link grip of iron with, say, a researched schism, and then get buffed as a free action every round. Also useful for manifesting powers with looooooong manifesting times (such as psionic identify and genesis). Just Link with a power with a short manifestation time, and voila.

Strength of my enemy + bow of the wintermoon + Rapid Shot or Manyshot. Get lots of attacks to buff you and debuff enemies, all as a standard action.

Expansion (Large or Huge) + Improved Trip + Combat Reflexes + glaive + spiked gauntlet + dwarf (or half giant) = cover huge area, make lots of AoOs, make almost irresistable trip attacks to stop foes in their tracks, and do Battlefield Control much better than those silly fighters. Doable by 2nd level (or 1st, if you go human), and surprisingly effective. Add in Karmic Strike and Robilar's Gambit for more fun. Not broken, but very, very useful.

Psicrystal Affinity + claws of the beast/bite of the wolf + Improved Psicrystal + Improved Psicrystal + Improved Psicrystal + Improved Psicrystal + Improved Psicrystal + etc + etc + etc. Buff your crystal buddy and watch as it wipes the floor with the competition, due to having REALLY high HD for your level. It could also be, quite possibly, smarter than you. Flaws make this one even better. You take the penalty, your psicrystal gets the goodies.

Feat leech and a willing psionic cohort that also has bestow power. A battery and a psionic feat/spellbook, all in one.

Timeless body + 10 levels in metamind + Linked Power = infinite nova. You can spend infinite power points each round so long as you keep manifesting timeless body linked to a swift-action power. Lose your swift action each round for invincibility and infinite nova capability? Whee!

Okay, so most of the psionics stuff isn't half as good as the arcane or divine, but it's still pretty nice for a relatively balanced game.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2008, 05:21:35 AM by Lycanthromancer »
[spoiler]Masculine men like masculine things. Masculine men are masculine. Therefore, liking masculine men is masculine.

I dare anyone to find a hole in that logic.
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Lycanthromancer

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #371 on: December 30, 2008, 03:54:40 AM »
Oh, and Weapon Proficiency (Arrow). Anybody who uses Iaijutsu focus and can't afford a quickrazor blade should get this one (and you should consider it even if you don't), since drawing an arrow is always a free action. You can have any enhancement bonuses and materials you like on them, and all for 1/50 the cost of a 'normal' weapon. Just make sure to stab, rather than fire.
[spoiler]Masculine men like masculine things. Masculine men are masculine. Therefore, liking masculine men is masculine.

I dare anyone to find a hole in that logic.
______________________________________
[/spoiler]I'm a writer. These are my stories. Some are even SFW! (Warning: Mostly Gay.)
My awesome poster collection. (Warning, some are NSFW.)
Agita's awesome poster collection.
[spoiler]
+1 Lycanthromancer
Which book is Lycanthromancer in?
Lyca ... is in the book. Yes he is.
 :D
shit.. concerning psionics optimization, lycan IS the book
[/spoiler]

Celsius

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #372 on: December 30, 2008, 05:47:30 AM »
Astral projection cast on yourself, then return to the Material Plane and stuff your original body in a bag of holding or somesuch. You just got yourself a 1-Up mushroom! (Doable by level 7; see below.)

You can do this using a 9th level wizard with the Planar Binding, Lesser spell to call a Nightmare, which allows you to use this unlimited times, gaining you unlimited lives for your whole party. Using only the core rulebooks. Plus you get to 'teleport' around the different planes simply by committing suicide with your astral bodies. Nothing really ever comes close to that. =D
« Last Edit: December 30, 2008, 05:51:21 AM by Celsius »
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anomalousman

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #373 on: December 30, 2008, 05:55:11 AM »
On the psionics list:

Syncronicity and Twin Power.  Get extra standard actions for a few PP.

woodenbandman

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #374 on: December 30, 2008, 02:22:28 PM »
Lycanthromancer, that Heward's Haversack ability is boss. Fu for those.

woodenbandman

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #375 on: January 09, 2009, 07:56:02 PM »
Bump for new trick. Sanctified one of Wee Jas + the diehard feat. It's ability allows you to cast any spell as an immediate action if you are reduced to -1 or fewer hit points. This allows you to cast a bunch of extra spells per round, assuming you have a steady supply of damage coming at you like small shuriken or something. But wait, there's more. The ability also grants you an increase in caster level equal to your levels of Sanctified One for that spell. Hello CL 30 shapechange! Hello Gate!

Further, Tshern noted that this ability ignores the casting time of the spell you select, so you could cast, say, Hallow as an immediate action. Pretty cool, I'd say. Tshern should get more credit for this trick, but I'll post it here.

Tshern

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #376 on: January 09, 2009, 08:03:02 PM »
Needs more optimization. What superpowerful spells with stupendously long casting times do we have? Genesis, for sure, but that is hardly a good combat spell.

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woodenbandman

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #377 on: January 09, 2009, 08:05:51 PM »
Who needs combat? You can just have your followers or friends pelt you with shuriken, and BAM instant genesis.

Summoning spells are good. Are there any spells that, I dunno, create a hole for your enemies to fall into?

JaronK

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #378 on: January 09, 2009, 08:15:47 PM »
Needs more optimization. What superpowerful spells with stupendously long casting times do we have? Genesis, for sure, but that is hardly a good combat spell.

Major Creation.  Create insane amounts of Black Lotus Poison as an immediate action... that would be good in combat, as enemies would suddenly have to take hundreds of DC 20 fort saves... even failing only on a 1 they're dead.

But really, Anima Mage does this better because you don't have to be almost dying.

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Kuroimaken

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Re: Do we have a dirty trick handbook?
« Reply #379 on: January 09, 2009, 08:38:04 PM »
Quote
Lycanthromancer, that Heward's Haversack ability is boss. Fu for those.

Gotta love it when your DM goes Rule 0 on your ass.

My DM's argument versus this one: "You can't do that! The Deck of Many Things is an Artifact!"
Gendou Ikari is basically Gregory House in Kaminashades. This is FACT.

For proof, look here:

http://www.layoutjelly.com/image_27/gendo_ikari/

[SPOILER]
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Katana of Enlightenment.
Get yours.[/SPOILER]

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