The most powerful character. EVER. [Pun-Pun]

Note from Morrus. Pun-pun has become a mild meme, so it's worth saving for that reason. It would be weird to see it disappear.

Originally posted by Khan_the_Destroyer:

Here is the example build I promised over on the Incentive to Play a Kobold thread. The Manipulate Form ability is explained here, operating under the Fair Use clause.

Manipulate Form
[sblock]At will, a sarrukh can modify the form of any Scaled One native to Toril, except for aquatic and undead creatures. With a successful touch attack, it can cause one alteration of its choice in the target creature's body. The target falls unconcious for 2d4 rounds due to the shock of changing form. A successful DC 22 Fortitude dave negates both the change and the unconciousness. Sarrukh are immune to this effect. A sarrukh may use this ability to change a minor aspect of the target creature, such as the shape of its head or the color of its scales. It may also choose to make a much more significant alteration, such as converting limbs into tentacles, changing the overall body shape (snake to humanoid, for example), or adding or removing an appendage. Any ability score may be decreased to a minimum of 1 or increased to a maximum equal to the sarrukh's corresponding score. A sarrukh may also grant the target an extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like ability or remove one from it. The change bestowed takes effect immediately and is permanant. Furthermore, the alterations are automatically passed on to all the creature's offspring when it breeds with another of its unmodified kind.[/sblock] Behold Pun-Pun, the mighty kobold.

*** UPDATE ***

Ascension is now achievable (and has been for years... sorry) at level 1. All you need is the will and the know-how. Here's how:

1. Make sure that your alignment is not CE. LG would work best. You want to benefit the multiverse and there is no better way to do that than for it to be like puddy in your hands.

2. You need a Knowledge check of 25 to know that you can summon Pazazu like Beetlejuice. As a Psion with a Sage Psicrystal, an 18 Intelligence, the Skill Focus feat, four ranks in Knowledge (The Planes) and a masterwork item of relevance (say a book), you can take 10 to get 25. It's ok that you got bullied as a child for your narrow focus and strange fascination in all things relating to the planes. It will pay off in the end.

3. Summon Pazuzu by calling out his name three times. He'll appear and be like "Yo! What the hell?!?! What do you want Mor-tal? Power? I can give it!" You'll look all calm and not impressed and be like "I'd prefer a Lawful Evil aligned Candle of Invocation". "There is a price!" the demon lord will scream. "You must go closer to EV-ILL!!!" "Ok" you will say. "I shall be Neutral Good from now on." Pazuzu shouts "If you're going to stick with the one shift limit I would greatly prefer that you shifted to Lawful Neutral over Neutral Good!!!" You will look as if this is a deal breaker and you are ready to leave, then say "You're a real ballbuster but we have a deal."

Now you have your candle.

4. Use the Candle to Gate in an Efreeti. He is under your control so you will command him to grant you three wishes. The first is to Plane Shift to the Astral Plane. The second is for another Candle of Invocation. The third is to stop George Lucas from moving forward on Indiana Jones 5.

5. Use the Candle to Gate in a Sarruhk. Command him to grant you Manipulate Form through the use of Manipulate Form.

Ascend.

*** What follows is the older method of ascension ***

Pun-Pun, Divine Minion 1/Wizard 1/Master of Many Forms 3
Divine Minion 1.
Wizard 1. Endurance, Alertness (through viper familiar)
Master of Many Forms 1.
Master of Many Forms 2. Assume Supernatural Ability
Master of Many Forms 3. The Fast Wildshape ability of the Divine Minion allows Pun-Pun to wildshape as an 11th level druid. The 3 levels in Master of Many forms stack with the Fast Wildshape ability of the Divine Minion to allow Pun-Pun to assume the form of a Monstrous Humanoid with up to 14 HD, like the Sarruhk (note the errata on Master of Many Forms here, in the Complete Adventurer link). Pun-Pun wildshapes into a Sarruhk and uses Assume Supernatural Ability (Savage Species) to use the Manipulate Form ability. He uses Manipulate Form to bestow that very same ability (Manipulate Form) to his viper familiar. Pun-Pun dismisses his Sarruhk form, and orders the familiar to grant him the Manipulate Form ability, using Manipulate Form of course. Since Pun-Pun is a pathetic Kobold, he qualifies as a Scaled One (though a human or other creature could simply Wild Shape into a form that qualifies as a Scaled One). Pun-Pun now has the strongest ability in the game. * Pun-Pun was originally a Kobold Egoist 12. Thanks to Jedrious, Turok124, and Hobojimathome for the quicker build.

Ability Scores: Pun-Pun grants himeslf the Wu-Jen spell Giant Size as a spell-like ability at-will. He casts it on his familiar through the Share Spells ability. This increases the viper to colossal size, granting the viper a +32 size bonus to strength. For the average tiny viper, that means his sterngth score went from 4 to 36. Using the Manipulate Form ability, the viper then increases Pun-Pun's strength score permanently, up to a maximum of 36 (the viper's own strength score). This is not a size bonus to strength. The viper is using the ability of Manipulate Form to increase and decrease a creature's ability score. No bonus is being given. Pun-Pun's base strength score, with no bonuses of any sort, is now 36. Pun-Pun dismisses the spell effect on the familiar and it goes back down to tiny size. The familiar's strength score goes back to 4. Pun-Pun uses Giant Size on himself, growing to colossal size and gaining a +32 size bonus to strength. His strength score is now 68. Pun-Pun uses the Manipulate Form ability to directly increase his familiar's strength score up to 68. Again, this isn't a size bonus that he is giving the familiar, he is actually increasing the base score to match his own. Pun-Pun dismisses his Giant Size effect, and he goes back to a small size with strength 36. The viper is still tiny size, with strength 68 now. The viper repeats the process of growing to colossal size and increasing Pun-Pun's strength score. Pun-Pun does the same. This process is repeated until Pun-Pun decides he is satisfied with his current strength score.

1. Cast Giant Size on familiar. Familiar becomes colossal and gains +32 size bonus to strength, giving the viper a total strength score of 36.

2. The viper uses Manipulate Form to increase Pun-Pun's strength score up to a maximum equal to the viper's strength score. In this case, 36. (This is not a bonus of any kind, he is augmenting Pun-Pun's original strength score.)

3. Pun-Pun dismisses the Giant Size effect on the viper. The viper goes back down to tiny size and 4 strength.

4. Pun-Pun casts Giant Size on himself. His strength score is 36 from step 2, now he goes colossal and gains a +32 size bonus to strength. His strength is 68.

5. Pun-Pun uses Manipulate Form to increase the strength of his tiny viper familiar. To match Pun-Pun's strength score, the viper's strength score is permanently increased from 4 to 68.

6. Pun-Pun dismisses the Giant Size effect on himself. He goes back to small size and 36 strength.

7. Pun-Pun casts Giant Size on his familiar. The viper becomes colossal and goes from 68 strength to 100 strength.

8. The viper uses Manipulate Form to permanently increase Pun-Pun's strength to 100.

9. Repeat process.

We'll just assume Pun-Pun decides to have a strength score of 20,010 (for a modifier of 10,000). Now, Pun-Pun gets his other scores to the same ridiculous height. (Note that Pun-Pun's scores are assumed to be arbitrarily high. Yes, 20,010 is high, but it is even larger than that. A lot larger.)

To increase his other scores, Pun-Pun needs two abilities. The first one is the Bellflower Tattoo of the Tattooed Monk (Complete Warrior). This ability allows Pun-Pun to add his charisma modifier as an enhancement bonus to any one of his ability scores. The second ability is the Void Release ability of the Void Disciple (Complete Divine). This will allow Pun-Pun to use his highest ability score modifier in place of a lower one.

Pun-Pun uses his Bellflower Tattoo to add his charisma score as an enhancement bonus to dexterity. But instead of adding his charisma bonus, he uses Void Release to add his strength bonus. His strength bonus is +10,000. So, Pun-Pun's dexterity score is now 10,000. He then uses Manipulate Form to increase his familiar's dexterity up to 10,000 as well (remember, he isn't giving his familiar a bonus to dexterity, he is literally changing his familiar's base dexterity score to match his own). Pun-Pun then dismisses the Bellflower effect, and his dexterity goes back down to normal. The viper then uses Manipulate Form to increase Pun-Pun's dexterity score up to 10,000. This time, it isn't an enhancement bonus, the familiar is using Manipulate Form to permanently change Pun-Pun's dexterity score to 10,000. This process is repeated for each ability score. As Pun-Pun increases his strength score with the size-changing trick, he can continue to use this method to increase his other stats as well. For this reason, all of Pun-Pun's ability scores are assumed to be arbitrarily high.

Special Abilities: According to the Monster Manual, all Special Attacks and Qualities are either Extraordinary, Spell-like, or Supernatural abilities. Manipulate Form can grant any of these. As such, Pun-Pun is assumed to have any ability that is beneficial to him or makes him more threatening as an opponent. Here is a list of abilities that he has (the list is nowhere near exhaustive):

- All spells and powers as spell-like and psi-like abilities respectively, at-will. These are at an arbitrarily high caster/manifester level. This is because the caster/manifester level defaults to HD with spell-like and psi-like abilities, which Pun-Pun has a limitless amount of.
- Multiple actions in each round. This is due to the Quickness ability of the Choker (Monster Manual), as well as the Dual Actions ability of the Chronotyryn (Fiend Folio) and the Schism psi-like ability (Expanded Psionics Handbook).
- All beneficial feats. This is gained from the Chameleon prestige class (Races of Destiny). It has an extraordinary ability to gain a feat, and those feats can qualify for other feats.
- An arbitrary amount of Fast Healing by gaining the Epic feat Fast Healing (Epic Level Handbook) a large number of times.
- Immunity to weapon damage from the combined abilities of the Zodar (Fiend Folio) and Snowflake Ooze (Monster Manual 3). The abilities are Invulnerability and Split respectively.
- Natural Invisibility from the Invisible Stalker (Monster Manual).
- Regeneration of at least 40 (the amount of regeneration the Tarrasque has). This means all damage taken by Pun-Pun (if any) is non-lethal, and then his Fast Healing makes it go away.
- All Energy Immunities.
- Immunity to Polymorph, Petrification, or any other form-altering attack, Energy Drain, Ability Damage/Drain, Mind-Affecting Effects, All Energy Damage, Disease, Poison, Stunning, Sleep, Paralysis, Death Effects, Disintegration, Imprisoning/Banishing effects, Divine Damage, Aging Effects.
- Immunity to all arcane spells of 6th level and lower and any spell that allows for Spell Resistance. The list goes on and on. Further, any ability with the Ex, Su, or Sp descriptor found in a base class or prestige class is fair game with Manipulate Form. If you can think of any combination of abilities possible within the rules, Pun-Pun can do it.

Divinity: Pun-Pun has the Ice Assassin spell as a spell-like ability at-will. He uses it to copy an arbitrarily high number of gods. Pun-Pun then commands a god clone to make him a proxy. This makes Pun-Pun a rank 1 demigod. Pun-Pun then makes another creature (Lokiyn, the originator of the trick, used squirrels) a proxy. This lowers Pun-Pun to divine rank 0. Pun-Pun then orders another ice assassin god to make him a proxy. At divine rank 1 again, Pun-Pun invests another squirrel with a divine rank. Pun-Pun repeats this process a NI number of times. Then, he uses a standard action to recall each divine rank back from the squirrels. A NI number of squirrels with 1 divine rank invested equals a NI number of divine ranks recalled and gained by Pun-Pun. This gives Pun-Pun a NI divine rank. Since Salient Divine Abilities are based on divine rank, Pun-Pun has a NI number of salient divine abilities. (That is at least all of the ones in the book and includes the awesome Alter Reality.)

Nut-Pun
Rank 1 Demigod Squirrel
Tiny Animal
Hit Dice: 1/4d8 (2 HP)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 80 ft. (16 squares), climb 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +1 divine rank) touch 15, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-4)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-4)
Space/Reach: 2-1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Salient Divine Ability, Domain Powers, Spell-like Abilities
Special Qualities: Low-Light Vision, Scent, DR 15/epic, Divine Traits
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +13, Hide +15, Move Silently +11, Swim +3
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary, Pair, NI God Horde
Challenge Rating: 1/8
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

* Thanks to Lokiyn for this godly tactic.
No squirrels were harmed in the making of this uber kobold.

Buffing Time: Originally, I created Pun-Pun just to be the strongest character known. At the time, the amount of time it took to buff wasn't a big deal. Now that Pun-Pun is the latest golden hind, it sort of matters how quickly he can achieve this power. (I don't really think it is important, since anyone that defeats a 5th level kobold pre-ascencion isn't really accomplishing much, minus the Omniscificer.) So, here are a couple of methods to reduce the buffing time.
Limitless HD: There are several ways of going about this.
Limitless Reach: For limitless reach, one needs the Magic of Incarnum supplement. The Umbral Disciple prestige class is found on page 158. Its 10th level ability is called Kiss of the Shadows. This is a supernatural ability that you can invest essentia into. For each point of essentia you invest, your reach increases by 5 ft. The only limit is your essentia capacity. However, essentia capacity is based on your HD, and Pun-Pun's HD is limitless thanks to Energy Charge. Normally, the ability lasts only on your turn. But since it is a supernatural ability, it can be made permanent with the Alter Reality salient divine ability. Note that if Pun-Pun does not have sufficient reach to threaten someone, he can just immediately dump more essentia into it. And with a truly infinite Spot check (thanks to the Omniscificer trick) he can see anyone at any distance and wether or not he can reach them.

Reaching Through the Planes: What good is limitless reach if you are limited to one plane? Enter the Planar Handbook. Here's the skinny as told by LoP:

Planar Breaches
[sblock]Okay. All Pun-Pun has to do is repeatedly cast Precipitate Complete Breach from the Planar Handbook a number of times equal to the number of planes he would like to reach across. Complete planar breaches, unlike most planar travel effects, allow continuous travel at-will between planes at the center of the breach rather than instantaneous (i.e. discrete) teleportation. Pun-Pun, presuming he has limitless reach, could reach through these holes and threaten any plane in the multiverse. This would require Pun-Pun sitting in the middle of an orrery array of Planar Breaches, continually recast around him in non-overlapping areas. If someone complains about orientation or line-of-sight, remember that the breaches are technically spherical, for 360 degree access/egress.[/sblock] * Thanks to LordofProcrastination for this trick.

Limitless Speed: Pun-Pun can increase his speed without limit. This is thanks to the Incarnum Speed supernatural ability of Duskling Barbarian substituion level in Magic of Incarnum (page 44). It gives you a +10' enhancement bonus to speed for each point of essentia invested in the ability. And since Pun-Pun has NI essentia and NI essentia capacity, he can boost his speed limitlessly. And thanks to his Free Move salient divine ability, Pun-Pun can move up to his NI speed as a free action once each round.

Other Infinites or Really High Statistics: There are a few things about Pun-Pun that are truly infinite and not simply 'limitless'. These are his saving throws, skill checks, and attack rolls. This is due to LoP's Inifnite Damage Loop, found here. Further, anything based off of these statistics will likewise be infinite. (For instance, the Thunderclap ability of the Stormsinger prestige class in Frostburn deals an amount of electrical damage equal to your perform check. Since your perform check is an infinity, your damage will likewise be infinite.) Pun-Pun's ability scores are not so much infinite as they are without limit. Pun-Pun can increase his ability scores instantly and by a very big number at a time. Using the Bellflower/Void Release combo, he basically doubles any ability score permanently with one action. Any statistic based off an ability score is therefore assumed to be NI (nigh infinite) or limitless. These are statistics such as armor class, ability checks, initiative checks, saving throw DC's, skill points, weapon damage, hit points, etc.

Manipulate Form and Extreme Cheese: For the most part, when I refer to abilities possessed by Pun-Pun, I refer to abilities that already exist in a WoTC published sourcebook. The ability is either one seen in a base class or prestige class, or one seen in a monster stat block. However, the wording in the Manipulate Form text does not limit one to published abilities only. In fact, the descriptive text states that any ability can be granted, so long as it is Supernatural, Extraordinary, or Spell-like in nature. Allowing one the means to obtain most any ability found in published material is certainly broken. Allowing one to grant itself any ability it can conceive is ridiculousness beyond words. Basically, nothing is beyond the power of Pun-Pun, due to unrestrictive text in Manipulate Form. Pun-Pun can grant himself an ability as innocent as:

Tough it Out
Benefit: If Pun-Pun would go unconscious due to any effect, he instead reamins conscious. Or, he could grant himself an ability as powerful as:

I Win
Benefit: Pun-Pun cannot be harmed, directly or indirectly. Any act that would harm him automatically fails, at any place and at any given time. Further, Pun-Pun automatically succeeds at anything he attempts. Given this level of power with Manipulate Form, it would be easy to say he can do anything and no one can stop him. Generally though, I (and most everyone else that has participated in this exercise) do not use this power of Manipulate Form. It is much more fun to stay within the abilities found in the rulebooks, and doing so allows others to challenge Pun-Pun with a sliver of a chance . LordofProcrastination devised an interesting way to justify out of the ordinary abilities without simply conjuring them from thin air. 'Out of the ordinary abilities' is referring to abilities that would normally be found as supernatural or spell-like but instead granted to Pun-Pun as extraordinary. For example, Manipulte Form is normally a supernatural ability. However, Pun-Pun could easily stay within the parameters set by Manipulate Form and grant himself an extraordinary version of Manipulate Form. The benefit being that Pun-Pun can make himself completely immune to all magic and supernatural effects without hindering the use of his own Manipulate Form ability. This is all too easy though, so LordofProcrastination used the Epic Spell rules in the Epic Level Handbook to create a clever workaround. Here is the low down:

Show
[sblock]Okay, here's a little combo that will help clarify things even more for Pun-Pun. In particular, it will allow for the diversification of his abilities and get past some of the inherent rancor to the "sheer player-invention" aspect of Manipulate Form. Premise 1: Pun-Pun has access to Epic Spellcasting, and can create any pretty much Epic Spell he imagines.

Premise 2: The Conjure, Fortify, and Life seeds can be used in conjunction to create entirely new creatures. Furthermore, these creatures can be given abilities based on any epic seed added which "replicates the desired ability." Whether these abilities are spell-like, supernatural, or extraordinary is up to the creator of the spell.

Premise 3: The Shadow Seed can replicate any spell and any individual. The Transform seed can reproduce any creature/creature's abilities. The Ward Seed can produce immunity to any and all spells. The Reflect Seed offers protection from all ranged, melee, and spell-like attacks. And so on and so forth.

Conclusion: Pun-Pun can create creatures with pretty much any ability, spell, or feature in any mode he desires, which can then be gained through the old Manipulate Form trick. Getting an (Ex) Manipulate Form ability should be first on the list, which would then mean that there's no worrying about gaining total magical immunity. Furthermore, this means that Pun-Pun no longer has to rely on active spells (epic or not), they can all be incorporated into himself as extraordinary (that is, non-magical) abilities of any duration/method of activation desired.[/sblock] * Thanks to LordofProcrastination for this trick.

FAQ
Q: Why would anyone ever play Pun-Pun?
A: I have no clue. I don't think it would be much fun honestly. Pun-Pun was never created with the intention of being played, and any game that allows a Pun-Pun character will quickly degenerate from there. Pun-Pun is a character optimization build, more of a thought exercise than anything else. He demonstrates the limits that can be achieved within the rules as written and is not an actual PC Build for player use. Q:

What sources are needed to pull this off?
A: A few. Serpent Kingdoms (Sarruhk/Manipulate Form) Complete Series (Void Disciple, Tattooed Monk, Master of Many Forms) Divine Minion template
Savage Species (Assume Supernatural Ability feat) PHB, DMG, MM The sources needed to simply get Manipulate Form are Serpent Kingdoms and the Core Rulebooks. After that, all books are used to reference abilities for Pun-Pun to obtain.

Q: My DM won't allow the Divine Minion cheese, how else can I become Pun-Pun?
A: Dude, he's not meant to played! That said, there are several ways. The easiest of course being a caster and getting Polymorph. Here are some examples:

1. Polymorph/Metamorphosis: Basically, any caster/manifester with access to this spell or power can transform into a Sarruhk (casters at 14 HD, manifesters at 14th manifester level). The feats Assume Supernatural Ability is needed for casters to use Manipulate Form while transformed, and Metamorphic Transfer is needed by manifesters. Level 14 for wizards and sorcerers. Level 12 for psions (Overchannel). Level 11 for changeling egoists (substitution level in Races of Eberron, Overchannel).

2. Illithid Savant: An Illithid character with 5 levels in the Illithid Savant prestige clas (Savage Species) can pull this off. However, it requires actually meeting and defeating a Sarruhk in-game, so it is largely dependent on the DM. Basically, you kill the Sarruhk and eat his brain. The 5th level ability of the Savant class allows you to acquire one special attack from a devoured brain. This will be Manipulate Form. ECL 20.

3. Soul Eater: A 6th level Soul Eater can shapechange (as the spell) into any creature it energy drains to death. This also involves actually meeting and killing a Sarruhk, so it is largely DM dependent. Basically, you use your energy drain attack to kill the Sarruhk and then you can Shapechange into the Sarruhk for 24 hours with your Soul Radiance ability. The quickest build would be something like Fighter 2/Ranger 3/Soul Eater 6. Level 11.

4. Omniscificer: As seen here in LoP's thread. Among other feats ( ), the Omniscificer should be able to obtain the Manipulate Form ability at level 4. This is because the Omniscificer will know how to obtain the ability, and convince anyone to help him get it with infinite skill checks. This is the quickest way to Pun-Pun power. Level 4.

5. Items: Any character with ranks in Use Magic Device (or Use Psionic Device) can use a spell-trigger item to cast polymorph and change into a sarruhk. These characters would still need Assume Supernatural Ability or Metamorphic Transfer to use the Manipulate Form ability. An item of Shapechange or Greater Metamorphosis would avoid the need for the feat, since supernatural abilities are assumed with Shapechange and GM.

Q: Wouldn't the gods...?
A: -- Under Construction --

Q: Size bonuses don't stack, so how do you get his ability scores so high?
A: Please read the description of Manipulate Form again (it is at the top of the page). The ability allows you to increase another creature's ability score up to a maximum of your own corresponding ability score. So, if I have a strength score of 20, I can increase someone's else strength score all the way up to 20. I am not giving this creature a bonus to his score, I am actually changing his strength score (permanently) to 20, as if he had started the game with a base strength score of 20. The limit to this ability is your own ability score. You cannot increase someone's strength beyond your own strength. This is why Pun-Pun and his familiar use size-increases. Each time they go colossal, they gain a huge strength bonus. This increases the capacity they have to increase someone else's strength score.

Q: Does the divine minion template really let you qualify for Master of Many Forms?
A: I believe it does. Divine Minion allows you to wild shape as an 11th level druid. I take that to mean that the ability functions as the druid class feature Wild Shape. There are several threads that delve further into the issue, though I don't have the links for them at the time. Divine Minion is simply one of the quicker ways to obtain this level of power, not the only way.

Q: I noticed that Psionics has a silent 'P' in it. Does this mean psionics is broken?
A: Uh... what? Your question isn't really relevant, or logical, but I've seen similar concerns pop up recently so I will answer it nonetheless. The simple answer is 'no'. Psionics is probably the most well balanced system in 3.5 D&D. I refer you here, here, and here for more in-depth discussions on the matter. I think that is everything. All thoughts, questions, critiques appreciated.

Sadly, the Wizards.com product links all broke with the latest update to the Wizards website. I recommend the following edits:

• Complete Adventurer errata: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/errata
• Divine Minion template: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20050209a
• Boards links: I got nothin'.

Yeah, the forum links need to be searched for and replicated. I did try quickly, but it's not as easy at it seems.

- Incentive to Play a Kobold (probably not necessary)

- LoP's thread re. Omniscificer

- LoP's infinite action loop

Originally posted by LordofProcrastination:

[h=4]Omniscificer[/h]
I, LordofProcrastination, being of sound mind and rhetoric, hereby present a solution to the Kobold menace.

Moreover, I intend to do it with a 4th level character. Think I'm crazy? We'll see.

Disclaimer 1:
I intend this thread to be an intelligent and rational debate. To this end, I am organizing my solution into labeled premises. This will help readers to both follow my logic and, if necessary, dispute it in an orderly fashion.

Disclaimer 2:
I admire Khan the Destroyer and his creation, Pun Pun. I was one of the very first to congratulate Khan on his creation, and hold them both in high regard. The very nature of Pun Pun's magnificence has inspired me to challenge it, not some petty jealousy or misunderstanding. I have read all of the relevant Pun Pun threads. Please consider this disclaimer as a good reason not to resort to ad-hominem assaults or generic assertions of invincibility.

Background Understanding
[Premise 1] Once a character becomes nigh-omniscient and nigh-omnipotent such as Pun-Pun is, circumstances make it impossible for new threats to arise. This is because said nigh-omniscient/omnipotent character would know about any new potential threats and have the capability to quash them before they have a chance to mature.

[Premise 2] With enough time, experience, etc, pretty much any moderately optimized character could become nigh-infinitely powerful. What is impressive about Pun-Pun is that this power level is accomplished with alarming speed, i.e. at level 5.

[Premise 3] Thus, the only accurate way to compare two or more nigh-omniscient characters would be to evaluate the amount of time it takes for these characters to reach their ultimate state.

[Premise 4] Controlling for DM temperament and nonmechanical circumstances, as we must on the Character Optimization Boards, experience points obtained is the best way of comparing timeframes between characters. If character experience point levels are the same, then round-by-round analysis of capability curves would be necessary.

The Omniscificer:
Race: Elf
Class: Artificer 4
Feats: Elf Dilettante (1st level), Brew Potion (Artificer 2), Craft Wondrous Item (Artificer 3), Magical Artisan [Craft Wondrous Item] (3rd level), Legendary Artisan (Artificer 4)

UMD Bonus:
Code:

+2 Masterwork tool (circumstance)
+3 Item Enhancement (circumstance)
+4 Charisma
+2 Eagle's Splendor (slightly more Cha)
+7 Ranks
+6 Cloak of the Artificer (competence)
----
+24 (high enough to automatically succeed on all creation-relevant UMD checks

Items: (rather extensive calculations)

Spoiler:
Boots of the Resilient Worker (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x4]
- Spell replicated: Delay Death
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (3) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Expert (0.7) = 473 gp
- Gold to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 174 gp
- XP to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 11 xp

Boots of the Resilient Mastermind (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Delay Death
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (3) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 473 gp
- Gold to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 174 gp
- XP to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 11 xp

Goggles of the Martyr (Single Use, Use-Activated) [PURCHASED x1]
- Spell replicated: Glory of the Martyr
- Base cost: Caster level (7) x Spell level (4) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 882 gp
- Gold to create: Base (882) x Crafting (0.5) = 441 gp
- XP to create: Base (882) x Crafting (1/25) = 36 xp

Bracers of Sharing and Caring (Single Use, Use-Activated) [PURCHASED x4]
- Power replicated: Share Pain
- Base cost: Manifester level (3) x Power level (2) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Expert (0.7) = 189 gp
- Gold to create: Base (189) x Crafting (0.5) = 95 gp
- XP to create: Base (189) x Crafting (1/25) = 8 xp

Gloves of the Painlord (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Masochism
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (2) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 315 gp
- Gold to create: Base (315) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 119 gp
- XP to create: Base (315) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 8 xp

Amulet of the Beast (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Beastland Ferocity
- Base cost: Caster level (2) x Spell level (1) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 63 gp
- Gold to create: Base (63) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 24 gp
- XP to create: Base (63) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 2 xp

Masterwork Tool, Use Magic Device [PURCHASED x1]
- Per the PHB, 50 gp

Cloak of the Artificer [CRAFTED x1]
- Gives a +6 Competence bonus to Use Magic Device
- Base cost: Bonus Squared (6^2 = 36) x 100 x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 2,268
- Gold to create: Base (2,268) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 851 gp
- XP to create: Base (2,268) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 51 xp

Ring of Calling to Collect (Single use, use-activated) [PURCHASED x1]
- Spell replicated: Sending
- Base cost: Caster level (7) x Spell level (4) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 882 gp
- Gold to create: Base (882) x Crafting (0.5) = 441 gp
- XP to create: Base (882) x Crafting (1/25) = 36 xp

Total Gold Spent: 174x4 + 174x1 + 882x1 + 189x4 + 119x1 + 24x1 + 50x1 + 851x1 +882x1 = 3409 gp (of 5400 gp at 4th level)
Total XP: 11x4 + 11x1 + 8x1 + 2x1 + 51x1= 116 xp (well within craft reserve)

The Combination

[Premise 5] Having procured his items by money or self-industry, the Omniscificer equips himself and then pays a handful of gold for the services of three trained hirelings. By selecting hirelings of a certain profession, he obtains the temporary aid of four experts, all of whom possess a chosen skill, enabling their use of the Boots of the Resilient Worker.

[Premise 6] The Omniscificer lends a pair of Boots of the Resilient Worker and a pair of Bracers of Sharing and Caring to each of the hirelings, and asks them to put them on, but not activate them until his signal. The Omniscificer then activates his items in order such that Glory of the Martyr, then Beastland's Ferocity, then Masochism, then Delay Death are working. Upon activating Masochism, he gives the signal for the hirelings to activate their items, bracers first. Now there are four Share Pain effects active, all oriented Omniscificer => Hirelings. Everyone involved has their own Delay Death spell active as well.

[Premise 7] The Omniscificer tosses himself off of a nearby 80 ft cliff, deliberately fails his Jump check, and takes 8-48 damage. This sets off a Perpetual Damage Mechanism, and the hirelings immediately pass out. Instantly, the Omniscificer is sustaining an infinite amount of damage.

Disclaimer 3:
If you are unfamiliar with this mechanism, please read about it in the second of my "LoP's Dirty Tricks" articles, The Perpetual Damage Machine. Likewise, please direct all comments and questions about the infinite damage loop involved here to that thread. For the purposes of this thread, you need to understand that the Omniscificer is sustaining infinite damage for as long as his Glory of the Martyr spell is active, and let's move on.

[Premise 8] The round after falling, the Omniscificer's masochism spell grants him a +1 bonus on skill checks, attack rolls, and saving throws per 10 damage sustained. Since he sustained infinite damage last round, he now has +Infinity to these stats. That's right, not "nigh-infinity," or "limitless," it's really "infinity infinity."

[Premise 9] Thanks to his Elf Dilettante spell, the Omniscificer is free to attempt any skill check he desires at a +Infinity bonus. The Omniscificer uses this opportunity to learn everything. The Knowledge skills require no action to activate, and every check in any of the broad categories instantly reveals everything there is to know about the subject. Thus, in a flash of an eye, the Omniscificer becomes perfectly omniscient.

[Premise 10] Since the Omniscificer can know an infinite amount, and the D&D multiverse contains a finite amount of information (thanks to the limitations of published material), the Omniscificer knows every combination of action possible. Going by the sample topics, the Omniscificer knows everything there is to know about every type of creature. The Omniscificer knows the vulnerabilities of every creature that exists or might exist.

[Premise 11a] Knowing everything, the Omniscificer knows about the dangerous possibilities presented by some shapechanging kobold wandering elsewhere. Knowing all of this kobold's weaknesses, as he does any creature's weaknesses, the Omniscificer also knows what steps can be taken to ensure the destruction of either the kobold in question or the necessary stepping stones to full power in its path.

[Premise 11b] Though the Omniscificer's knowledge is infinite, it does not require "all knowledge" to successfully predict the pun-pun trick. Eager to make his power permanent, the Omniscificer conducts knowledge checks regarding all spells, items, abilities, powers, etc, in the multiverse. There is a finite number of spells/items/abilities/etc, due to the limited number and length of WotC publications. Next, he makes knowledge checks regarding the results of combining every one of these capabilities. He is now aware of every trick and loop made available through the combination of WotC spells/items/abilities/etc. This includes the pun-pun/manipulate form combination.

[Premise 11c] Knowing the pun pun combination, the Omniscificer is then able to determine the assorted factors and capabilities that must converge in any given character/circumstance for the combination to be activated. These characteristics include the capacity to transform into a Sarruhk, the presence of an ally/minion to set up the original manipulate-form exchange, the knowledge-availability/ingenuity necessary to become cognizant of the combo, and a host of other enabling factors.

[Premise 11d] Knowing all of the factors necessary to activate the pun-pun/manipulate form combination, and furthermore knowing everything about every creature in existence, and normalizing by the "Background Understanding" assumptions, the Omniscificer knows that Pun Pun the Kobold is the creature possessing the most factors for being the first/next to activate the manipulate form combination. Since the vast array of factors must converge in a single character for the combination to occur, and Premises 1-4 establish that the combination has yet to occur, it is quite reasonable with infinite knowledge to identify differentiating factors that set Pun Pun the Kobold as the primary target of the Omniscificer's efforts.

[Premise 12a] The methodology of preventing the rise of Pun Pun is mostly irrelevant. The important thing is that the Omniscificer knows how to get it done. For imagination's sake, this could mean leveraging his intimate familiarity with all secrets to induce local rulers to hunt down and kill Pun Pun. This might mean that the Omniscificer knows the ancient riddle answer necessary to unlock a powerful creature that may act in gratitude. This might mean that the Omniscificer's infinite knowledge of the planes means that he knows exactly where to find a handy artifact. Like I said, the important thing is that against infinite knowledge, one potential cosmic threat as a 4th level character doesn't stand a chance.

[Premise 12b] After identifying the threat, the Omniscificer knows exactly how to prevent the activation of the pun-pun combination. For the sake of proving surety of this method without reliance on the manipulate form combination itself or excessive DM intervention, I will outline a few possible options that the Omniscificer could pursue.

[Premise 12c] The first step is the addition of an item enabling remote communication, ala sending or correspond. A single-use, use-activated item based on either of these is well within the Omniscificer's remaining budget, and would enable direct communication with the gods and/or beings directly under the remote-senses and/or control of the gods. It's worth noting that the argument presented by a number of participants in this thread that the Omniscificer can immediately attract the attention of the gods through the use of an infinite Perform (god-attracting-haiku) check, or other such skill-based mechanism, still has validity. However, since the presence of an item enabling no-save contact with a god of choice helps remove uncertainty, let's run with that.

[Premise 12d] Sending and correspond enable communication-based interaction, which is the primary requisite for social skill use. After coming into communication with a deity of choice, the Omniscificer can use his assorted infinite social skills (Bluff/Diplomacy/Perform/Intimidate/etc) to ensure that the contacted god immediately does a number of things for the Omniscifer.

* After selecting a god with Alter Reality, have the god make all of the Omniscificer's spells/powers permanent. Yay for continually-updating omniscience and eternally infinite skills.
* Make the god come to the Omniscificer and make him a Divine Proxy. Divine Rank 1 goes a long way towards finishing off all possible activators of the pun-pun combination, especially because it entails greater teleportation at will.
* If we are being setting-specific, pick Shar and ask her to give the archetypal form trait to the Sarruhk. This is based on Catharz's assertion that Shar can do thus. Corroboration would be nice, if anyone can provide that.
* Alternately, we could go for Set, the current head-god of the remaining sarruhk (through his fabricated Sseth aspect), and have him slaughter all of his worshippers.

Even if the god-meditated genocide or archetypal neutering don't seem "realistic enough" to convince you, it should be readily apparent that the mechanics of permanent infinite skills, instant transportation, and divine rank should be more than sufficient to assuredly dispose of potential activators of the pun-pun combination. Furthermore, brute destruction of potential activators is only the simplest of options available, and not even the most efficient at that. Mass memory-alteration, history revision, having the deity to whom Pun Pun is a divine minion removing said status, and limitation of certain magics/psionics altogether are all possible.

In short, once we have obtained the services of a god combined with infinite knowledge, there are few, if any, mechanical challenges remaining for the Omniscificer's mission.

[Premise 13] Whether the Omniscificer chooses to act on his knowledge is a matter of character design and player's intent, not DM fiat. For the sake of simplicity, let's set the theoretical player's design to be such that this character does not wish to be surpassed. Call it the LoP default to paranoid self-preservation.

[Premise 14] After obtaining infinite knowledge, the Omniscificer dismisses Glory of the Martyr, lets the damage loop end, and puts his head into a pond until he starts to drown. Due to a quirk in the DMG drowning rules, this sets the Omniscificer back at 0 hit points, and his contingent Cure Minor Wounds kicks in to put him back to normal (plus infinite knowledge), and he can begin to take action as he sees necessary.

Wrap-Up and FAQ
[Premise 15] I posit that this combination is one of the quickest routes to omniscience available. While not as versatile as Pun-Pun's manipulate form trick, this character "gets there" first, and is thus pretty much guaranteed to stay on top.

[Premise 16] Other than speed, the Omniscificer has a leg-up on Pun Pun in thoroughness. That is to say, the Omniscificer can obtain actually infinite stats, rather than nigh-infinite or limitless capabilities.

[Premise 17] Some people will probably conjecture that this combination is just beating up on a poor 4th level kobold wizard, hardly an impressive feat. I beg to differ. The difference is primarily intent and guarantee. Compared to all other situations, the Omniscificer is the only way to see Pun-Pun's ascent coming and know how to stop him without relying on the fuzzy DM adjudication of godly intervention/nonintervention.

[Premise 18] It is possible that some people may attempt to take a misguided "hard line mechanical" stance against my rather tame interpretation of the reasonable effects of infinite knowledge and say that one cannot derive any in-game use from knowledge checks. May I point you to the PHB, where we can find the following describing the outcome of Knowledge Checks: "For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information." With an infinite knowledge bonus, you exceed any finite DC by an infinite amount, resulting in an infinite number of pieces of useful information.

[Premise 19] The Omniscificer method is also more robust than a number of the other Pun-Pun challenge scenarios in that it evaluates both of the characters from the same standing point in time, rather than relying on giving the challenger a temporal headstart. Even better, this build is capable of fully assessing and meeting the Pun-Pun threat without using what is essentially metagame knowledge of Pun Pun and his powers and capabilities gleaned from the character optimization boards.

[Premise 20] Yes, I know about the direct time-travel spell. It doesn't negatively affect this combination. Pun Pun has to obtain full power before he can cast that spell, and the Omniscificer knows how to stop the so-bold kobold before he reaches that power level, and thus time travel never enters the picture. At least not until the Omniscificer gets around to vacationing around the space-time continuum later on...

[Premise 21a] While I have argued for the identification of "necessary factors" for activation of the pun-pun combination as a simple method for choosing the largest/most-immediate threat of kobold ascension (in Premise 11), I would also like to assert the validity of the alternate, if cheesier, method. This would be making Knowledge(prophecy) or Knowledge(the future) or Knowledge(probabilistic situational evaluation) checks, and reaping the direct benefits. Though it is true that D&D's roll-based system injects a measure of uncertainty in event-by-event interactions involving characters, there is no denying the feasibility of future-determination within this heavily magical, and moreover, story-based, multiverse.

[Premise 21b] The fact that DM permission is required to introduce non-typical Knowledge fields is not a barrier to the use of this option in a Character Optimization scenario. DM's permission is required to take a prestige class (DMG 176), use Forgotten Realms setting material, and pretty much any material whatsoever from any book. Assuming a neutral, complicit DM is a necessity for advanced Character Optimization comparisons.

[Premise 22] On multiplicity. Some have argued that there could be a countless amount of 4th level kobolds out there on the crux of accomplishing the pun-pun combination, and thus would be impossible to identify and target any one of them. This argument leads into an endless spiral of reciprocal, equally unfounded counter-arguments. By that logic, we could say that there is a similarly countless number amount of elf artificers to match. For the sake of accurately comparing character/build capabilities, it is necessary to avoid this escalation.

[Premise 23] As another "clearing the ground" point, there is the question of information assimilation. The boringly easy answer to this issue, which would be significant only in real life, is to realize that information assimilation is actually developing knowledge of the interrelations between data points. Knowledge of interrelations in or between subjects is a matter that can be resolved simply with another knowledge check, of which the Omniscificer has no shortage of capacity for.

Disclaimer 4:
I hope you've all enjoyed my faster, smoother way of pre-empting the Pun Pun problem for any given multiverse. I encourage comments and criticisms of any sort as you wish, but please, if you would like to object to anything, please organize your objections by premise. I wouldn't want to think I did all that ugly prefacing for nothing.

Special Note
In case you missed it earlier, the infinite loop the Omniscificer relies upon can be found in my recent Perpetual Damage Machine Dirty Trick thread.

Originally posted by LordofProcrastination:

Welcome to a series of short articles dedicated to sharing optimization concepts and combos from my personal playbook. While not as ground-shaking as my larger projects like the 100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge, Nanobots, the Twice-Betrayer of Shar, etc, I hope you enjoy these Dirty Tricks for what they are -- carefully explored pathways to optimization power.

[h=4]Dirty Trick #1: Behold![/h]
Summary

Through use of Polymorph any Object and Metamorphic Transfer, characters can qualify for Beholder Mage, a kickarse class.

Ingredients

Beholder Mage (prestige class) [Lords of Madness, pg 42-44]
Polymorph any Object (spell) [Players Handbook, pg 263]
Beholder (creature) [Monster Manual, pg 25]
Metamorphic Transfer (feat) [Expanded Psionics Handbook, pg 48]

The Trick

The Beholder Mage has three tricky requirements to meet. Two are listed up front: the character must be a "true beholder," and must "put out central antimagic eye." Hidden in the Spells section, the third requirement surfaces: "whenever a beholder mage gains the ability to cast a new level of spells, it must sacrifice the use of its eye rays from one of its ten small eyestalks."

The first is fairly simple. A "true beholder" is a racial distinction, differentiated from type, subtype, and even the "beholderkin" psuedotype. Normally, polymorph, alter self, and shapechange grant the "type" or "form" of a creature, but not race. However, Polymorph any Object spell is different. It says:

SRD 3.5 said:

This spell functions like polymorph, except that it changes one object or creature into another.

Click to expand...

In the above wording there is none of this "form of" crap -- one creature or object becomes another creature or object, a ruling specifically differentiated from the previous half-arsedness of polymorph/alter self. So, if we were to pick "true beholder" as our designated new creature type, the target (presumably a character wanting to get some Beholder Mage power) would change into a true beholder, race and all. Due to quirks of the spell, the new true beholder would retain previous class features and abilities, but would be no less the beholder for it.

The second, "must put out central antimagic eye" has been a real stumbling block for people who previously considered entry into Beholder Mage. The trouble centers around the fact that while Polymorph any Object does grant the target a true central eye, the lack of supernatural abilities means that there is nothing formally "antimagic" about this semi-vestigial oculus. There are two ways to go about answering this problem -- one is to say that "central antimagic eye" refers to the eye commonly known for its antimagic properties, and thus "antimagic" is just an extra clarifier term since the phrase "central antimagic eye" literally never appears as-is anywhere else in any 3.5 book. According to this school of thought, poking out the vestigial central eye should be enough to count. I don't buy it. It would be a tough sell at best, especially to a potentially hard-line DM or RAW Lawyer.

The other way of thinking about the matter is to identify "antimagic central eye" with the eye from with the "Antimagic Cone" supernatural ability of true beholders is emitted. Thus, to give up such an antimagic ability, one must possess it in the first place. This is where Metamorphic Transfer comes in. This nifty feat actually lets you "gain" a supernatural ability from the powers of a creature that you shapechange into. The uses of said ability are limited, but what is important is the gaining, or possession of the ability, not the exercise thereof. Thus, the antimagic cone (su) ability can be obtained at the price of one feat, and can be then sacrificed for the greater good.

Once we're familiar with Metamorphic Transfer, the third issue, eye-ray-to-spell-stalk conversion matter falls into place quite nicely. As it turns out, all of the eye rays are listed as a single supernatural ability, "Eye Rays (su)" in the descriptive text and the stats block for the True Beholder, and can be thus snagged in one fell swoop with a single Metamorphic Transfer. I know some people may be saying, "hey, but the rays can do different things, aren't they individual powers?" The answer is typical D&D rules quirkiness -- by all measurable standards of power-identification (grouped listing in the statistics block for supernatural abilities, a single descriptive text header with (su) identifier, non-distinctive power listing, etc), the disparate capabilities of a Beholder's little eyes are technically all part of one single supernatural capability. One psionic feat later, you have the use of eye-rays to sacrifice, and your Beholder-Mage is set for liftoff!

The Possibilities

Making It Work
So, how soon can we slide into the Beholder Mage Class? Assuming that the character has 17 Int or higher a single application of Polymorph Any Object is can be permanent. Whether through Use Magic Device'ing a scroll (3,000 gp) or paying up for NPC spellcasting (1,200 gp), Beholderification should be available around 4th level for the average PC by DMG wealth standards.

Metamorphic Transfer is a slightly slower matter -- the "manifester level 5th" requirement means that obtaining it twice will have to wait until 5th or 6th level, taking advantage of a Psion/Psychic Warrior's 5th level bonus feat and the usual 6th level freebie. Of course, obtaining the prerequisite supernatural abilities could be accomplished through Shapechange or Master of Many Forms, but these options are generally slower and more time-sensitive than the aforementioned options.

Double Your Pleasure
So, now you're a Beholder Mage. Enjoy gaining a new level of available spells every time you advance. Have fun advancing in caster level twice as fast as everyone else. Spontaneous casting from an unlimited spell list? To put it colloquially, "Daaaaaang."

Decuple Your Fun
Did I forget to mention that you can cast 10 spells a round... all as free actions? Let that one brew for a while, then treat yourself to the first build opportunity ever to grant 9th-level arcane spellcasting and 9th level manifesting, simultaneously.

Sample Builds
PsiArcane Abomination: Psion 9/Beholder Mage 2/Cerebremancer 8/XYZ 1
Monstrous Ur-Theurge: Psychic Warrior 5/XYZ 1/Beholder Mage 2/Ur-Priest 2/Mystic Theurge 8/XYZ 2
Pure EyeMage: Psion 6/Beholder Mage 2/Cerebremancer 1/Incantrix 10/XYZ 1
Dedicated Beholderform Caster: Psion 6/Beholder Mage 2/Cerebremancer 2/Master Transmogrifist 10

[h=4]Dirty Trick #2: The Perpetual Damage Machine[/h]
Summary

A number of damage-creating/redirecting spells can be used in tandem to create a self-sustaining pattern of infinite damage involving creatures of your choice. This infinite damage can be used for your own benefit.

Ingredients

Share Pain (power) [Expanded Psionics Handbook, pg 132]
Glory of the Martyr (spell) [Players Guide to Faerun pg 103, Book of Exalted Deeds, pg 99-100]
Delay Death (spell) [Races of Destiny pg 165]
Beastland Ferocity (spell) [Planar Handbook, pg 95]
Four or more participants other than the primary character.
A bucket of water.

The Trick

Cast Glory of the Martyr, targetting four or more willing creatures of your choice. These could be teammates, hired NPCs, animal companions, etc. Then, cast Share Pain once per creature, establishing the link directionality such that damage dealt to you is sent to them.

Consider the relationship between the caster and a single creature. The caster deals himself X damage. Thanks to Share Pain, the creature takes X/2 damage. Thanks to Glory of the Martyr, the caster takes X/4 damage. Since the caster gets back 1/4 of his original damage input from a single participant-spell-loop, we need four or more participants to get back the same amount we put in.

Let's do a test run. The caster drops a rock on his toe for 8 points of damage. The share pain iterations mean that 4 damage would be dealt to each of the participants. However, the glory of the martyr spell means that each of the participants only takes half of the share pain damage, while the caster is dealt 2 points per participant, resulting in 8 points total dealt to the caster.

That's one cycle. In the end, the caster is dealt 8 points of damage, the same amount as when we started. This 8 damage starts the whole cycle over again instantaneously, and the system begins to loop infinitely. Result: 4 damage dealt to the caster an infinite amount of times, resulting in infinite damage. The participants take 2 damage an infinite amount of times, also resulting in infinite damage. Given that no time is expended for this to work, this infinite damage is effectively dealt all in the same round, for as long as the system persists.

It's also important to note that if there are more than four participants, the amount of damage will continue to increase, as the cycle will be ending with more damage dealt to the the caster than was done at the start. The approximate formula is: (Original Damage) x (Number of Participants x 1/4)^(Cycle Number). The end result of this situation is infinite damage dealt an infinite amount of times. This is normally not desirious, especially if your participants are not immune to death from massive damage or would like to make concentration checks to cast spells.

The Possibilities

To do more than spectacularly explode with this trick, you need to do three things: stay alive during the loop, power some useful ability, and make it back afterwards.

Staying Alive
The first priority is simply not instantly collapsing as your hit points zoom to negative infinity. I suggest the Delay Death spell or the Frenzied Berserker's "Deathless Frenzy" ability. Both have limited duration, but your damage is no object.

Still, being alive but unconscious (in the "dying" state) is pretty uncool, too. You can use Beastland Ferocity, the Diehard feat, Boar's Ferocity (a Wild feat from Complete Divine), or Shifter Ferocity from Eberron to maintain functionality, i.e. continue to take actions.

I'm all ears for other options, since none of these have particularly nice durations without my Twice Betrayer (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=478716) persistification trick.

If you want to cast spells more efficiently, you can effectively share these "life support" spells by virtue of the War Weaver prestige class's "Eldritch Tapestry," the Affinity Field power, those spell-sharing gloves from the DMG II, or by having your participants be your familiar/animal companion/special mount and benefit from the "Share Spells" ability.

Damage converted to Power
So, you're bursting with infinite damage. Now do it with style.

The bland way to do this would be to redirect the damage to your enemies. Affinity Field or Forced Share Pain are probably the best way to do this.

However, if you're really interested in versatility, consider the "Holy Suffering" ability of the Martyred Champion of Ilmater (Players Guide to Faerun, page 185. Whenever dealt more than 50 damage in a round, the next round your character receives a +1 sacred bonus to attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for every 10 points of damage. That's right, +Infinity on your vital stats. Kickarse.

The masochism spell from the Book of Vile Darkness produces the same effect, too, if you're into that sort of thing.

While we're talking about the BoVD, check out the rules for sacrificing creatures. The power outputs (spell effects, virtual XP and GP) are dependent entirely on a Knowledge: Religion check. Combo with masochism for infinite craft-xp/gp gain from sacrificing a kobold...

Making it Back
Alright, you've had your power trip, and now it's time to pay the price. There are two ways out: suck it up and die, or somehow bring your hit points back to manageable levels. In both situations, you should dismiss your damage-dealing spells and let the loop fizzle first.

If you're feeling dirty, go the cheap way and stick your head in a bucket of water. The DMG's rules on drowning say that if you fail your constitution check, you go directly to 0 hit points exactly. So, voluntarily fail your constitution check and go from negative infinity to 0 without any hassle. Talk about baptismal rebirth...

A few spells replicate this drowning mechanic, or other wise set hit points at a manageable point from which contingent healing spells, fast healing, or your friendly cleric can take over. Miasma [Complete Divine] and drown are such spells to consider.

If you're feeling studly, don't be afraid to bite the dust. Contingent true resurrections are alright if you have the cash, and taking the 10th level in Ardent Dilettante means that you'll suffer no side effects even from lesser (i.e. cheaper) raise-dead/resurrection spells. Still, if you're dirty and cheap, snag Revivify from the Miniature's Handbook. It's a 5th level spell that resurrects with no side effects, but only works the round after someone's death. A friendly cleric could pick up the slack, but if you're the self-reliant type, cast/UMD it on yourself in conjunction with Delay Spell, and time it to activate the round after you bite it.

Sample Build: The Infinite Martyr of Ilmater

Race: Human
Classes: Cleric 7/Martyred Champion of Ilmater 5/Wizard 1/Psion 3/Beastmaster 4
Relevant Feats: Endurance, Nimbus of Light, Skill Focus (handle animal), Psicrystal Affinity, Delay Spell, Divine Metamagic (Delay Spell)
Relevant Special Abilities: Holy Suffering, 2 Animal Companions, Psicrystal, Familiar

Not exactly elegant, but that's never been Lawful Good's forte. However, the Infinite Martyr is entirely self-sufficient to produce a Perpetual Damage Mechanism, benefit from it, and make it out alive. The assorted magical companions are there to provide willing participants which efficiently share sustaining spells without the insecurities of relying on teammates or unfortunate peasants.

FAQ

Q: Wouldn't the original damage be split up between the different Share Pain iterations and thus give diminishing returns?
A: In answering this question, the first thing to remember in resolving this damage loop is that damage is not a conserved quantity. The spells/powers involved actually deal damage according to a trigger, not move around a limited amount of damage. All of the damage-related spells involved prevent "one half of the normal hit point damage" from a wound, and then deal damage equal to the amount "not dealt to the warded creature." This means that multiple iterations of Share Pain (etc) result in the caster taking one-half of the normal damage from a wound, rather than [1/(2*Number of Share Pain iterations)] damage. We could also make the argument from the standpoint of the spell-stacking rules, but the result is the same: having a bunch of Share Pains on your character still means s/he takes exactly half damage from any given wound.

Q: I like this dirty trick, but it's not as good as...
A: Yes, there are a few other infinite loop or nigh-infinite loop combos out there. This trick is just a new one with its own quirks, possibilities, and a healthy dose of style.

Q: Haven't you made enough [Descriptive Title] of [Faerunian God] builds?
A: Apparently, not quite yet.

[h=4]Dirty Trick #3: Attack of the Clones[/h]
Summary

The Wu Jen spell Body outside Body can be made widely available, semi-permanent, and terribly useful for constructing synergetic clone combos.

Ingredients

Body outside Body (spell) [Complete Arcane, pg 100]
Artificer (class) [Eberron Campaign Setting, pg 29-33]
Extra Spell (feat) [Complete Arcane, pg 79-80]
Metamagic Item (infusion) [Eberron Campaign Setting, pg 113-114]
Recaster (prestige class) [Races of Eberron, pg 157-161]
Divine Metamagic (feat) [Complete Divine, pg 80]
Incantrix (prestige class) [Player's Guide to Faerun, pg 61-63]

The Trick

From sci-fi epics to anime tropes to Zhentarim leaders, everybody loves clones. Body outside Body is the most efficient way in D&D to obtain self-duplicates, even though the creators of the spell thought they were keeping the cloning fun under control by preventing clones from casting spells. But what if one could cast this 7th level spell and get duplicates who are not only more useful than a bunch of neutered casters (read: medium-level commoners), but stuck around all day long? Preposterous!

This trick breaks down into three steps: getting ahold of Body Outside Body, selecting useful abilities that synergize when cloned, and making it work when you need it.

Getting Body Outside Body

Body outside Body is a 7th level Wu Jen spell, not exactly the most mainstream spell in the canon. Unless you want to deal with the less-than-spectacular Wu Jen spell-list, we'll have to steal Body outside Body for others to use. For full-casters of other classes, the simplest way of doing this is the Extra Spell feat, which allows characters to learn a new spell one level lower than their current maximum castable spell-level, regardless of original spell-list source. This means that the character will have to obtain 8th level spellcasting, a fairly easy goal.

Alternately, the Recaster prestige class offers the extended knowledge class feature at 2nd and 4th level which essentially mimics the Extra Spell feat without costing a precious feat-slot of your own. It comes at the price of a single-level drop in spellcasting progression and a straightjacketed race, but if you're strapped for feats, it's the way to go. Finally, the Artificer, or any Use-Magic-Device expert, can effectively reproduce the spell with items at relatively low cost.

LoP(tm) Brand Long-Lasting Clones

Making it work when you need it is surprisingly simple for one big reason: Body outside Body is persistifiable. That is to say, it has a fixed range, and thus we can apply the Persistent Spell metamagic feat to it. Day-long clones, rather than one-minute wonders? Yikes. Since Body outside Body is a 7th level spell, we'll have to use metamagic shenanigans to apply Persistent Spell pre-epic. The usual suspects show up: Divine Metamagic, the Spelldancer's spelldancing, the Incantrix's metamagic effect, and the Metamagic Item for Artificers. All have the same result: 24-hour duplicates.

The Possibilities

The big point of customization for this trick is selecting a build which results in a character that plays well when duplicated. The ground work of obtaining Body outside Body and persistification taken care of, the wide world of possibilities lie before us. The important caveat to remember is that your duplicates keep pretty much every capability of the original except the capacity to actually cast spells or use spell-trigger items.

Alternate power systems are the very first to spring to mind. Psionics and Incarnum. Both can be developed side-by-side with the spellcasting capacity necessary to get to Body outside Body, via the Cerebremancer or Soulcaster prestige classes. Your clones may not be able to cast spells per se, but obtaining the services of three or more high-level nearly-full-progression psions or soulmelders at the price of a single Body outside Body spell isn't shabby at all.

Things get even more awesome when we consider the inherent flexibility of psionics and incarnum. Load up assorted Incarnum feats then produce a bunch of duplicates who can invest their essentia into different abilities. Crank out a squad of mid-to-high-level psions to metaconcert with, or better, go nova in your place. If versatility is your thing, learn psychic chirurgery and psychic reformation and have your duplicates rearrange themselves to learn powers useful for the immediate situation which weren't anticipated with your main character's power selection. Finally, if things get a little crowded, top it all off with fusion to recombine your duplicates, merging into a single being with insane power points, a wide variety of powers manifestable, and utter expendability in a single glorious multi-nova.

The Artificer has a knack for coming out just as good as anyone, and this trick is no exception. Infusions are very clearly not spells, so when an Artificer uses metamagic item to persistify a Body outside Body staff, the duplicates are 90% functional artificers. Sure, they can't use wands or staffs themselves, but they're a nearly-free source of miscellaneous infusions, skill-monkeying, and free crafting. Since the BoB clones only last a day, they're limited to around 1000 gp/item, but with Exceptional Artisan to speed up the process and retain essence to reap the rewards, they're worth the investment of a single staff charge.

All sorts of miscellaneous class features synergize with this particular Dirty Trick. A straight-up arcane Incantrix can appreciate the benefit of a bunch of BoB clones using cooperative metamagic or metamagic effect to enhance the original's spells. If you plan ahead and purchase extra spellcraft-enhancing items, Incantrix clones have the potential to partner up with every caster in your party, adding metamagic powers without ever having to use spells themselves.

Chameleon is a tempting prospect for those willing to take a hit to spellcasting. A two-level dip earns each duplicate a free-floating feat for each clone to use differently. Excellent free-floaters include Shape Soulmeld and Expanded Knowledge. Dip deeply enough, and your character will be able to replicate the better part of a party all by himself. Himselves. Whatever.

The list goes on and on. Warlock is nasty and nice, since Invocations are officially not spells and your BoB clones would be 100% blast-and-cast ready. If the BoB-user isn't dead-set on being a full-caster, there are countless prestige classes that offer independently-useful abilities that don't rely on spellcasting. Even though alternate-system (infusions, incarnum, psionics) combos are probably the most spectacular, any prestige class or feat that enables either stacking synergy or versatility are good to choose when you use this Dirty Trick.

Sample Builds
Extremely Basic: Wu Jen 3/Psion 3/Cerebremancer 10/Spelldancer 1/XYZ 3
Metamagic Madness: Wizard 5/Incantrix 10/Recaster 5
Incarnum Expert:Cleric or Wizard 3/Incarnate 3/Soulcaster 10/XYZ 4
Artificer Knows Best: Artificer 20
Beholder BoB: Psion 6/Beholder Mage 2/Cerebremancer 8/Thrallherd 4
One-Man Team: Artificer 12/Chameleon 8
Ur-Clonersion or Incarnate 10/Ur-Priest 2/Psychic Theurge or Sapphire Heirarch 8
Your Build Here:

Bonus Mini-Tricks
Clown Car Feats: When using Fusion on your clones, remember that your feats are pooled. This means that if you've selected self-stacking feats, you've suddenly multiplied their benefits. Think "Extra Turning," "Extra/Rapid Stunning," "Extra Wild Shape," "Extra Smiting," "Extra/Extended Rage," "Toughness," or "Improved Damage Reduction" for small fry, or "Extra Slot," "Extra Invocation," and "Familiar Spell" for serious self-synergy.

Every Psionic Power: Learn psychic reformation and psychic chirurgery. Make some clones, and have them use psychic reformation on themselves to learn powers you don't know already. Then, have them manifest psychic chirurgery, footing the XP bill themselves, to transplant those powers directly into the original. Do this enough times, and you'll know every power in existence. Yum.

Unlimited Permanent Wealth: Without abusing the D&D set market prices, even! Psionic-capable BoB clones + True Creation. Again, the clones foot the XP bill. Have them do it on your own free Genesis-created demi-plane. Augmented with free items made by bend reality and reality revision. While vicariously remote viewing all of the enemies your clones identified with metafaculty, but have been stripped of all their powers by apopsi. Or, if an artificer, sipping from your unlimited supply of cherry-flavored potions. And other such Dirty-Trick-enabled luxuries.

FAQ

Q: Hey, some of your sample builds aren't optimal. What about...
A: Excellent. They're meant to be samples, so any improvements suggested or entirely new BoB Builds would be most welcome.

Q: Are you sure Extra Spell works like that? Divine casters shouldn't be able to ahold of arcane spells and then apply divine metamagic to them.
A: Even though the Extra Spell feat is in Complete Arcane, its requirements and technical wording are arcane/divine blind. Furthermore, any given spell isn't inherently "arcane" or "divine," it's just available to certain classes who may cast spells as arcane or divine. Look at all the spells that are on multiple spell lists.

Q: Can anyone actually use this trick? I don't know if my sane DM would allow...
A: This particular Dirty Trick is pretty actual-game-friendly, since it primarily uses material from the generally respectable Complete books, and the level of power yield depends both on long-term build planning and player creativity in character. I've actually tried it out a few times, and the hilarious roleplaying implications of cloning typically outweigh any backlash from heavy optimization.

Q: What about psionic-magic transparency? Wouldn't that mean that BoB clones can't use psionic powers?
A: There are two approaches to this, both of which result in agreeing that BoB clones should be capable of using psionics.

The first is the "enumerated effects" approach, which Tleilaxu_Ghola expressed nicely. Because the magic-psionics transparency rule has a specific part where it explains how things works mechanically, we have a solid standard. Since loss of power manifesting as a result of spellcasting loss is not one of the facets of the interaction rules, the transparency rule says that manifesting capability and spellcasting capability are functionally independent.

The second approach is to use clear precedent. Consider the mental pinnacle spell in the Expanded Psionics Handbook and SRD. Mental pinnacle gives the character psionic manifesting capability, and then says that "you lose your spellcasting ability." If we were to interpret loss of ability to cast spells as the loss of ability to manifest powers, then this spell would do exactly nothing. Certainly, this single case is not a definitive ruling, but it is a valuable precedent confirming RAW support for the independence of manifesting capability and spellcasting capability.

[h=4]Dirty Trick #4: The Nasty Gentlemen[/h]
Summary

Symbiont's "Share Spell" ability and capability of taking actions allows for the wild synergetic multiplication of many spells' effects.

Ingredients

Symbionts (creatures) [Magic of Eberron, pg 153-158]
Cerebral Symbionts (creatures) [Fiend Folio, pg 216-218]
Fiendish Symbionts (creatures) [Fiend Folio, pg 218-222]
Impure Prince (prestige class) [Magic of Eberron, pg 73-76]
Symbiont Master (feat) [Magic of Eberron, pg 51]
Spontaneous Summoner (feat) [Complete Divine, pg 85]

The Trick

Symbionts are handy. Err, "tentacle-y." They're entirely portable, have few, if any, formal limitations on the amount that can bond with a single host, and provide a host of minor benefits to careful users, including minor stat boosts, increased hit points, and spell-like abilities. Nice, but hardly impressive.

Now let's go back to an often-overlooked aspect of symbionts: each symbiont has the "symbiont" subtype. Old news. Now add this: the symbiont subtype includes the "Share Spells" ability. Huh, has potential. Let's throw in the fact that this Share Spells ability is better than the familiar ability by the same name AND you can have as many of these buggers as you can find/buy/etc. Getting somewhere. Next, realize that a good portion of the symbionts retain their ability to take independent (though directed) actions, including attacks. Neat, now only if they could do something with all of these actions. Enter spellcasting.

There is a host of powerful spells which give a character some capability which requires action to activate. These spells are shared with all of a character's symbionts, who can use their own actions (attacks, move actions, full-round-actions, standard actions, swift actions, etc) to gain offensive, defensive, or general-utility benefit. The result is that a single casting of a spell intended to be used only once a round can be multiplied hundreds of times over.

The Possibilities

It keeps getting better.

Obtaining Symbionts:
Amazingly easy to do. As Magic of Eberron suggests, players can essentially consider symbionts as treasure for the purpose of wealth calculation. The base prices range from 1,000 to 8,000 gp, reasonably accessible at all levels. For the more economically-minded or particularly outrageous symbiont-using gentleperson, the Impure Prince prestige class allows you to lure symbionts for only 100 gp a pop. If a Princely character is willing to spend all of their cash on becoming a tentacle monster, this translates to 7,600 symbionts by level 20.

Alternately, a riskier manuever would be to Polymorph any Object objects or followers into symbionts for an additional boost in your ranks. Dispelling/disjunctioning would be a real risk, but until then, the sky's the limit.

Gaining Benefit (boring title, crazy implications)
The reason for the title of this Dirty Trick comes from the mental image of a character truly taking advantage of its implications: a perfectly sophisticated and dignified-looking spellcaster who erupts into a mass of churning tentacles, grasping claws, spikes, spewing gouts of fire and brimstone, and striking with uncanny potency at a moment's notice.

Imagery aside, the best spells to pick for this trick are the ones which have a range of "Personal" and/or a target of "You." These spells are the ones easiest to share with your hundreds of glorified tapeworm buddies, and even better, are easily persistified through the usual metamagic routes. Out of this broad category, go for spells which add natural attacks, enable action-activated ranged abilities, enhance existing attack modes, or have a limited number of times which each individual "you" can use the spell. Alternately, if you're not concerned with repeatability, non-personal-range spells are also permitted and can be shared just as easily, if not for all day long.

Remember kids, the surgeon general says that playing with symbionts can be hazardous to your health, so stock up on ability-damage immunity, or at least make certain to befriend at least one divine spellcaster with a bucketfull of restoration handy. Sheltered Vitality from Libris Mortis, the Restoration and Heal chains, Construct Essence, and miscellaneous class/creature abilities are all WotC-approved methods of safe symbiosis.

I've compiled a basic list of good spells to consider below, but I'm wide open for any other options. Remember that if a spell produces negative side-effects (such as limiting spellcasting), you can always choose to have the spell affect your symbionts and not your Nasty Gentleman himself. This makes Nightstalker's Transformation, Tenser's Transformation, and Mental Pinnacle all excellent choices to produce a hyperdeadly, multi-talented mass of options.

Symbiont Synergetic Spells

Ranged Awesome Spells:
Dragon Breath (Wiz, Clr) [the Complete Divine version]
Righteous Glare (Wiz, Clr)
Lightning Ring (Wiz)
Undermaster (Wiz, Druid)
Nimbus of Light (Clr)
Darkfire (Clr)
Skull Eyes (Initiate of Cyric)
Holy Star (Initiate of Mystra)
Stormrage (Clr, Druid)
Produce Flame (Druid)
Blinding Beauty (Druid, Clr)
Unearthly Beauty (Druid)
Cast in Stone (Druid)

Melee-Based Spells:
Fist of Stone (Wiz)
Flame Dagger (Wiz)
Claw of Darkness (Wiz)
Gutsnake (Wiz)
Body Blades (Clr)
Black Talon (Initiate of Cyric)
Death Dragon (Clr)
Snakebite (Druid)
Spore Cloak (Druid)
Toothed Tentacle (Wiz)
Venomfire (Clr, Druid)

Meta-Enhancements:
Critical Strike (Wiz)
Grave Strike (Wiz, Clr)
Vine Strike (Druid)
Nightstalker's Transformation (Wiz)
Mental Pinnacle (Wiz)
Bladeweave (Wiz)
Wraithstrike (Wiz)
Tenser's Transformation (Wiz)
Divine Favor (Clr)
War Cry (Bard)
Kiss of the Vampire (Wiz)
Improvisation (Bard)
Divine Sacrifice (Paladin)
Swift Haste
Touch of Jorasco (Clr)
Dispel Evil/Good/Law/Chaos (Clr)
Arms of Plenty (Wiz)

Sample Builds

The Arcane Nasty Gentleman: Wizard 5/Incantrix 10/Impure Prince 5
This chap sneaks into Impure Prince using Extra Spell to gain Summon Nature's Ally, then Spontaneous Summoner to qualify for Gatekeeper Initiate, the final pre-req. Impure Prince costs a single level of casting progression, but having top-notch metamagic and cheap symbionts is worth the dip.

The Unnatural Gentleman: Druid 14/Master of Radiance 1/Impure Prince 5
Venomfire. Extra Spell: Divine Power. Divine Metamagic. Energy Admixture and Twin. The Tentacle Whip symbiont has a built-in poison attack. 76d6 per attack times 4 attacks per tentacle times 7,600 tentacles. We're averaging 8 million damage a round, and that's not even optimized.

The Double-Aberrent-Ironic Gentleman:
Psychic Warrior 5/Ranger 1/Beholder Mage 1/Impure Prince 5/Ur-Priest 2/Mystic Theurge 6
Lotsa spell options. Lotsa self-hatred. Lotsa awesome.

FAQ

Q: Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. 8 million damage a round. At very least.
A: Damn straight.

Q: Thousands of tentacles? That's just nasty.
A: I know, I know. Don't blame me, blame Keith Baker. And maybe anime.

Q: Um. What about BoB Cloning with this? Or Nanotech?
A: You don't even want to get me started...

Q: But doesn't the Impure Prince's "Lure Symbiont" ability limit a character to one symbiont at a time?
A: Nope. The ability specifies that you can obtain a new symbiont whenever your old one "gets killed or lost." It says nothing about your old one staying dead or lost. Thus, a suitably nasty gentleman can kill or maze his original symbiont, only to raise or retrieve the little guy after obtaining a new friend to play with.

Q: What if all of your symbionts don't want to do what you tell them? Wouldn't you need some way to control them to prevent continually having to make Will saves to keep doing the things you want to do?
A: Yep. Gotta keep them in line somehow, unless you're playing a LE Aberration-minded truly Ungentle Nastyman. Here are some good methods of symbiont-taming:

In-Character Role-Playing Jibber-Jabber
Necrotic Tumor
Geas/Quest and Lesser Geas
Planar Ally (Lesser, Standard, Greater)
Planar Binding (Lesser, Standard, Greater)
Custom Summoning Variant + Halaster's Fetch
Polymorph / Polymorph any Object
Undead Control (Rebuking, Spell-Based Control, Direct Raising)


The very last one is new. I noticed that the Zombie and Skeleton templates allow raised creatures to keep their old subtypes. Therefore, the most easily available undead symbionts retain the all-important Share Spells ability. So, lure/purchase a symbiont, kill it, and raise it as a loyal undead minion. Combined with General of Undeath and Undead Lieutenant, being a Nasty Necromancer Gentleman has never been better!

Liane the Wayfarer said:

Sadly, the Wizards.com product links all broke with the latest update to the Wizards website. I recommend the following edits:

• Complete Adventurer errata: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/errata
• Divine Minion template: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20050209a
• Boards links: I got nothin'.

Click to expand...

Morrus said:

Yeah, the forum links need to be searched for and replicated. I did try quickly, but it's not as easy at it seems.

- Incentive to Play a Kobold (probably not necessary)

- LoP's thread re. Omniscificer

- LoP's infinite action loop

Click to expand...

Thank you for helping copy content over; the index has been updated with these threads. If you need to get to product links, most can be fixed by replacing product.wizards.com with archive.wizards.com (or whatever the first subdomain word is; I can't recall what it used to be). I have a list of the WotC product links in the second post of my index thread, as well as a downloadable copy.

Gah, can even the heat-death of his boards not kill this monster?