3.0Ed "Swamp Thing/Man-Thing" PC

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm designing a backup PC for a RttToEE campaign in which my primary PC is currently in grave continual danger. IOW, he is likely to be killed (he's already been stabilized on the brink of extinction twice). Soon.

Its a large party (currently level 9), and the roles are primarily filled. My primary was built as a jack of all trades, master of none. However, one place where we are lacking is in divine casting power, mainly healing. Everyone has a busy schedule, and it seems as if the primary healers are also the most frequently absent. The 2 multiclassed druids among the regulars are OK, but...

My current idea is this: PC lvl 9, Cleric (Domains: Plant and either War or Earth) 3rd/Specialist Wizard: Conjuror or Transmuter (no Abj., Necro, or Ill) 3rd/Geomancer 3rd (taking all the plant options for Drift, with 2 cleric levels & 1 wizard levels of spells from the PrCl), based on an amalgam of the comic book characters Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.

Fluff:

He's been called to be a defender of nature, and thus has been sent into the Temple- a perversion of nature- to do what he can to clean it up.

Mechanics:

Books allowed 100% are the 3.0Ed Core 3 + Softcover splatbooks only. PHB races only. Other options depend entirely upon pleading your case to the DM (one guy is playing a Favored Soul, and my guy is using the 3.5Ed rules for whips). So if I get to play this guy, I'm going to try to sell the DM on things like Alternative Class Features such as those for specialist mages.

With his PrCl, he's currently a 5th level divine caster and a 4th level arcane caster, and can cast any of his arcane spells in full armor.

Feats under consideration:

Energy Sub: Fire (a nod to Man-Thing)
Extend Spell
Sculpt Spell
Reach Spell
Empower Spell

I'm strongly considering at least 1-2 of the following Lesser Metamagic Rods: Empower, Extend and Sculpt. Perhaps I'd double up on one of the cheaper ones.

I'm currently favoring the Cleric over Druid due to the superior healing ability- coupled with the Geomancer's Spell Versatility, he can even convert his arcane spells for healing- he'd actually have more total spells to use than a straight Cleric 9th.

There is also the element of the DM possibly wanting my PC to continue carrying one of the Elemental Champion Swords (hence the War Domain) in the party's possession, which would also eliminate the Druid option.

But if Druids could Wildshape into plant critters...

As for Specialist Mages, I've always favored Transmuters, but Conjuror would be a strong option for this build. If I can get the ACF for Focused Specialist, I'll further increase his spellpower. I'd also try to ge access to some of the Reserve feats.

Any ideas?

 

[Silver Moon]

You can find a HeroClix miniature for both SwampThing and ManThing (the Manthing one is much cooler) to use.

 

[Rolzup]

3.0, man?

Oozemaster. Fiddle with the fluff a bit, but you couldn't ask for a better swamp thing. Emphasis on THING in this case.

Be...sure to...speak...like...this, though.

 

[szilard]

If you want to go Druid and your DM will allow it, you could use the Spontaneous Rejuvenation option from PHBII (give up spontaneous summoning - instead burn spells to give fast healing to allies in a radius of 15', or something like that...).

-Stuart

 

[kigmatzomat]

What about the verdant lord? You turn into a plant permanently at high levels and it never says exactly what kind of plant. Be swamp thing. At lower levels you have a treant form; again, nothing says it can't have the appearance of a giant shambling mound.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

First, thanks for all the responses!

Now:

1) Good call on the Clix- I may actually have one!

2) Yes...3.0. I haven't been able to convince them to upgrade, though the advent of 4Ed may get them to switch. To 3.5.

3) I'll take a closer look at the Oozemaster- I'm not sure how much tweeking I'll be allowed to do, though.

4) I'll take a closer look at Spontaneous Rejuvination, but I'm not sure how much of the PHBII I can use (if any). The BIG problem with Druid remains that the DM will want me to be one of the Elemental Sword bearers at some point- something no 3.0 Druid could ever be.

5) Verdant Lord was my first choice, but its requirements are pretty ugly considering the payoff- those 2 prereq feats are almost the same as having access to the Plant Domain, but there isn't any leeway in the PrCl's description. Geomancer gives me several "planty" features within its Drift mechanic.

There really isn't much support for playing a vegetable as a PC in 3.0- even in UA, the Aspect of Nature Druid can only become planty after about 12th level, and then only for short periods of time.

That said, I spent some time digging through the books and found some that would potentially work to improve the PC, albeit mostly through boosting his spellslinging prowess, like the Reserve feats and Alternative Class features...including one for Transmuters that lets them treat selected spells as if they were Transmutation school- even if they were originally from a prohibited school!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It looks like Oozemaster is a no-go... No word as yet on some of the other stuff.

Any other ideas? PrCls? Class combos I haven't considered (healing is still a must)? Clix?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW...

I found some stuff mentioning the feat Augmented Conjuration, but I can't find it! What book has AugConj in it?

 

[Robbastard]

Whatever knows fear--burns at the Man-Thing's touch!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You bet!