Changeling egoist in e6

[Duke Arioch]

Hello everyone. Long time no see, and I apologize for that. My contract on cruiser ended 3 days ago, and I am home after 8 months (yeeey! for internet).
On the topic, my friend is DMing an e6 game (party is just about to hit lvl2), and one of the players had to leave. My friend asked me to fill in for him, and explained that, although e6, he encourages heavy optimization, as he is planning to really put us on hot coals. This leads me to my questions, as I am not that knowledgeable on psionics.
So, why changeling? Because of racial substitution levels, most importantly the 5th lvl one which adds Metamorphosis (among others) power to your list of powers known for a lowly cost of lvl 5 bonus feat. As you all know Metamorphosis is lvl 4 power not normally available to PCs in e6.
Although this particular changeling will know this power, he won't be able to manifest it, as the cost is 7PPs which is more than he can spend at lvl 5 (and 6).
So, the 1st question is, is Overchannel able to let this character manifest Metamorphosis once this character reaches (maximum) of lvl 6?
Now the second question is related. Are Quori Power Link embedded shards able to do the same thing?
And third (which explains the 2nd question): Can Racial Emulation (changeling only) feat allow changeling shifted into Kalashtar to use the quori embedded shards?
And before you judge me for trying to masively power-play this one, the rest of the party is very highly optimized (dragonborn catfolk warlock6 with heart aspect and entagling exhalation, fel flight/flyby attack and mortalbane as controler, otherworldly sun elf wizard5/mindbender1 with bamfing ACF, mindsight and alter self (dwarven defender) thing, crusader4/ardent2 with a lot of temp HPs shenanigans as tank and dark whisper gnome rogue3/swashbuckler3 daring outlaw.
Rules are standard e6, with only LA+1 allowed (both races and templates) which lowers 32 pt buy to 28 pt buy per house rule. DM also said that we can have only one item on a wishlist and up to 5k in price which we will receive around lvl5. Other items will be random and of unknown value to us (quori shard is 3k ^_^).
Ty for your time.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Hello everyone. Long time no see, and I apologize for that. My contract on cruiser ended 3 days ago, and I am home after 8 months (yeeey! for internet).
On the topic, my friend is DMing an e6 game (party is just about to hit lvl2), and one of the players had to leave. My friend asked me to fill in for him, and explained that, although e6, he encourages heavy optimization, as he is planning to really put us on hot coals. This leads me to my questions, as I am not that knowledgeable on psionics.
So, why changeling? Because of racial substitution levels, most importantly the 5th lvl one which adds Metamorphosis (among others) power to your list of powers known for a lowly cost of lvl 5 bonus feat. As you all know Metamorphosis is lvl 4 power not normally available to PCs in e6.
Although this particular changeling will know this power, he won't be able to manifest it, as the cost is 7PPs which is more than he can spend at lvl 5 (and 6).
So, the 1st question is, is Overchannel able to let this character manifest Metamorphosis once this character reaches (maximum) of lvl 6?
Now the second question is related. Are Quori Power Link embedded shards able to do the same thing?
And third (which explains the 2nd question): Can Racial Emulation (changeling only) feat allow changeling shifted into Kalashtar to use the quori embedded shards?

Ok, I think you're onto something.

First off, yes, you get Metamorphosis. It's 7 power points and you're allowed to drop 5 when you get it, 6 at your level cap.

However, the level 1 Changeling racial ability reads, in part, "whenever a changeling egoist manifests a psychometabolism power that targets himself (and only himself), he can treat his manifester level as one higher than normal". Talk to your DM to see if this will allow you to use Metamorphosis as if you were level 7 when you are level 6. If so, (and I believe this is an appropriate interpretation of this ability) this solves your problem.

Overchannel feat reads, in part, "While manifesting a power, you can increase your effective manifester level by one...The effective increase in manifester level increases the number of power points you can expend on a single power manifestation". This allows you to increase your effective manifester level by one, and it clearly states that you can it increases the power points invested in a power, so should allow you to pump 7 PP into Metemorphosis. If the racial ability doesn't let you do it, this will.

Racial Emulation feat reads, in part, "you are considered to be a member of that race for all other purposes (allowing you to use magic items or spells keyed to race, for example)" which would allow you to use a Quori Power Link embedded shard.

The Power Link Quori shard reads, in part, "the power you manifest is augmented by 2 power points...This augmentation can result in more power points invested in the power than you have levels." which should allow a level 6 Psion to invest up to 8 PP into the power.

The way I understand each of the things you've mentioned, Any 1 of them should allow you to manifest Metamorphosis by level 6. Using all three should potentially boost you by 2 caster levels and therefore allow you to pump 6+1+1+2=10 PP into a psychometabolism power.

Some Other Suggestions Here.

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7296.0Craziness. Enjoy!

 

[Duke Arioch]

I am not sure about lvl1 substitution, because the way I understood it is that character needs to be able to manifest and upon manifesting on self, character treats the manifester level as 1 higher for purpose of effects (duration, HD of a monster to turn into in case of Metamorphosis), but would not help in manifesting it in the first place. I could be wrong though.
Overchannel, OTOH should work the way I understand the feat. But, if quori shard works, I will be able to morph at lvl 5 (provided that the DM keeps good on his word and grants me the very rare syberis artifact).
I was 99% certain that racial emulation would allow me to use the shards, but I still wanted some confirmation, because, as I said, I am not psionics expert.

So, another question: getting manifester level up to 10 (which is a cap) isn't that hard, and only 5 lvls of psion are mandatory. Would you reccomend a 1 lvl dip? what would you take?
I am thinking about ToB or maybe one lvl of ardent. Even 1 lvl of bamfing wizard or cloistered cleric looks awesome, and seems to bring more that 6th lvl of psion (10 more PP, 2 powers).

 

[Nezkrul]

better off staying psion, IMHO; because they are likely feat chains you can explore/gain as you gain feats at that point that will possibly net you A 4th level power that you can manifest (probably only will be able to take that particular feat once) so you could viably have 2 4th level powers to use (metamorphisis and one more) just have to stick with psion to get it.

 

[Duke Arioch]

Okay, so I took your advice about no multiclassing. This is what I've come up with.
Syl, level 6 Changeling Egoist (racial subs at 1st and 5th, no 3rd)
Ability scores (32 pt buy): 8, 10, 14, 17+1, 13, 14 (wis 13 for psionic meditation, come epic feats)
PP/day: 49
Feats (in order of acquiring): hidden talent (dimension hop), flaw: racial emulation, flaw: psicrystal affinity (hero), overchannel, metamorphic transfer
Skills: maxed concentration, psicraft, autohypnosis, knowledge (psionic); balance 5 ranks, all other knowledges 1 for trained
Powers known:
1st: vigor, inertial armor, dimension hop, synchronicity or channel the psychic dragon, entangling ectoplasm, matter agitation or crystal shard, thicken skin
2nd: share pain, levitate, animal affinity, amethyst burst or crystalstorm, chameleon
3rd: time hop, touchsight, hustle, telekinetic force or telekinetic thrust, energy wall
4th: metamorphosis
Feats to take: psionic meditation, psicrystal containment, psionic body, various metapsionic feats.
Gear: starting, power link embedded quori shard, anything we find
So, this is it. Would you add/change anything? Any other suggestions would be helpful and appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I am not sure about lvl1 substitution, because the way I understood it is that character needs to be able to manifest and upon manifesting on self, character treats the manifester level as 1 higher for purpose of effects (duration, HD of a monster to turn into in case of Metamorphosis), but would not help in manifesting it in the first place. I could be wrong though.

I think it's different here, psionics vs. casting. A caster that only has access to 3rd level spells could not cast a 4th level spell, because a caster prepares spells per day at the spell levels he has access to. Even if a 4th level spell is written into a Wizard's spellbook, he cannot prepare it.

Psions don't prepare anything in advance. Psions don't have spell slots per day, don't have to prepare anything. Where even a Sorcerer who has all spells known available is limited by slots per day, the Psion is only limited by the Power Points able to invest. Normally, the # of PP invested per Power is what keeps a Psion from manifesting above his/her level, and the fact that in most cases, a Psion cannot learn a Power above his/her level.

What you've done in your post is developed the exceptions to those two normal limitations.

Since the level 1 racial substitution states "whenever a changeling egoist manifests a psychometabolism power that targets himself (and only himself), he can treat his manifester level as one higher than normal", and since you should be able to manifest above your level if you can drop the 7 PP, you should be able to do this.

It's still up to your DM of course, but you should be able to manifest this level 4 Power as a level 5~6 character.

 

[Duke Arioch]

first of all, thx for all the info Rumbletiger. I would give you XP, however, aparently, I "have to spread around more XP to others".
last night I joined the said group as a spectator, because I am starting this sunday. Ihad a talk with DM beforehand, and he green lighted everything I presented him. He liked the changeling workaround of getting metamorphosis in e6. I was happy with my onept, until I atually witnessed the group play.
Now, on paper, the group seemed awesome. Some of their haraters ilustrating heavy optimization. But in play, they showed only a fration of potential suh group ould tap into.
Crusader/ardent deides to stay pure rusader. He is new to ToB and really strugles in his self imposed tank role. He an get better, though, and I will show him how to play the class. Crusader is really strong in e6, so I thunk he will shine brighter once he gets the ruleset.
Wizard basially chooses to walk around blasting, and forgeting to ompliment the party in any way (grease instead of magi missile omes to mind). But even that is fine, as wizard is very flexible, and with a few pointers an be great asset.
Warlock does what he should, and is only one thinking outside the box. Summon swarm FTW on lvl1, and he utilizes it perfectly. Ofc, 5ft entangling breath isn't much atm, but with planned feats and more HD, he will be excellent controler.
Rogue dropped the group as well, because of some personal issues.
So, in a group like this, I think heavily optimized egoist I presented would stick out like a sore thumb one we hit 6, and would possibly steal the show from the group I described, and maybe ruin fun for at least 2 of them (rusader and wizard).
So I told DM I will think of something else less powerful, as I don' think 10 headed hydra resolving every ombat is gonna be fun for the rest of the group.
Now, I don't want to drop psionis, sine I never really played psionic character, but I also like ToB, and want to ombine the two.
After researh, I think I found a build I will enjoy playing: swordsage4/ardent2.
This build will have one lvl 1 power, two lvl 1 or lvl2 powers and one lvl 3 power (3from ardent, 1 from hidden talent). I am thinking of getting D. hop, synchroniity and hustle (eventually linked) and maybe astral construct. Fous on wis and dex. Dunno whih rae to pik, but half daelkyr with claw symbiont and short sword would be able to utilize double strike maneuver, as well as granting me nie aberation type. Kalashtar fits ok two, as PP will need every boost possible.
Selecting maneuvers will be diffiult, though.

So, TL;DR, thanks Rumbletiger, although I will play something different.