Elder-Basilisk
First Post
So, where's our min-maxed fighter 20?
Melee Smackdown - Who kicks more butt, PsyWar or Ftr? Prove it!
- Thread starter ForceUser
- Start date
posted from a file, not sure if there are any typos, didnt go back and recheck 
Adaptability: With adapt body he is able to go wherever. He can swim in the ocean and breathe just fine, he can hit the desert and not have to worry. somehow get put in a vacuum? you are good to go. If there is a wall put up he can walk right through it if needed. Meteor swarm? He has fire res 30 and can gain improved evasion if needed. Charm monster? Between mind blank and a will save of +21 I think he'll be ok.
For combat adaptibility he has linked armor to be able to talk with his fellows without needing to speak openly, but then the fighter should have this as well. We arent talking so much about equipment. Both builds should have heavy fortification somehow and the gleaming gives constant concealment for a 20% miss chance. Not too shabby.
The psicrystal is good for moving around and spying on whatever he needs. Also, it could grant the psychic warrior with a plus to a needed skill or to either fort or will save.
This character is also immune to figments and glamors (including invis), along with a pretty decent spot check! Having freedom of movement up makse him immune to being grappled.
Damage output: This I havent even looked at really.
+15 BAB + 8 str + 7 weapon + 2 moral (from banner) = 32 (can be higher with a few other short duration powers up, but I am not counting them here)
=+32/+27/+22
2d6 + 12 + 7 + 1 point of con + dispel psionic (level 15) = (avg) 26 + 1 con + 25 dispel (can be much higher with a simple application of expansion, which would increase the psychic warriors size to huge, adding 10 more damage to the average and possibly lasting for 8 hours as well.. for the above I figured it might be bad sometimes to be size huge so didnt include it)
Against ac 35 the first round has a 90% chance to hit, 65% chance, and 40% leading to an average of 50.7 damage, 1.95 con damage and between 1 and 3 dispel checks on the target.
So I would have to know the creatures hd to be able to tell how long it will take to kill it, but less than 6 rounds is likely. This is when it isnt fighting back. If it is fighting back it dies much faster via the empathic transfer.
Damage absorption: 20% miss chance makes this one a bit odd
AC 31 (I think) yields 95%, 95%, 75%, 50%. Assuming that it can see through concealment somehow, which is possible, and is immune to mind effecting, also possible, then we have: 96.075 damage.
If it was not immune to mind effecting then it would take back up to 92 points of damage and I would be able to use empathic transfer, hostile to regain hp.
If it cannot see through the concealment then the damage drops down to 76.86.
Since I believe I have the extra money I will toss on a ring of protection +5, a ring of blinking would also work out nicely for that matter Also, a skin of the defender is pretty cheap.
But, with AC 40 this changes to: 80%, 55%, 30%, 5% for an average damage of 51.85 (41.48 with concealment)
So with the addition of these two items the overall aspect comes out much closer to what it should be for this level. It still only takes around 3 rounds for the big bad to kill the psychic warrior though, of course whenever the big bad hits the warrior it takes 23 points of damage unless it is immune to mind effecting.
That is why the psychic warrior has dim door though to get away when he is in trouble.
Or, he could put up form of doom, inertial barrier, expansion, or whatever else.. form of doom would add on 4 more attacks, +4 to str, an extra 1 point of natural armor, DR 5/-, and faster movement.. each tentacle would deal 2d8 + 5 damage. Definately not shabby. When it looks like a real fight tossing down that power is a very real option and at 10 pp he can do it a couple of times a day pretty easily
Psionic lions charge is also very nice! with form of doom up and blowing the rest of his pp for the day he could kill that big bad in one round!
Mobility: Between having a decent human speed to begin with dim door opens up some major options. If needed having form of doom up adds 10 to the base speed. Sounds pretty good!
This guy doesnt change a lot depending on the fight of the day. Mostly his extra options go away but his base stats likely stay the same. The more of his 44 pp that he spends each battle are less he doesnt have later. Everytime he dim doors is one less form of doom to some degree. Or if he pops up an overchanneled extended augmented expansion for a whole lot of reach and extra damage (lasting 8 hours).
Also, if low on hp he can dump an empathic transfer, hostile on the next group of enemies and be full up again (or at least a good portion of the way there).
Edit: had to get rid of a misplaced 1 (I believe it was misplaced at least).
Adaptability: With adapt body he is able to go wherever. He can swim in the ocean and breathe just fine, he can hit the desert and not have to worry. somehow get put in a vacuum? you are good to go. If there is a wall put up he can walk right through it if needed. Meteor swarm? He has fire res 30 and can gain improved evasion if needed. Charm monster? Between mind blank and a will save of +21 I think he'll be ok.
For combat adaptibility he has linked armor to be able to talk with his fellows without needing to speak openly, but then the fighter should have this as well. We arent talking so much about equipment. Both builds should have heavy fortification somehow and the gleaming gives constant concealment for a 20% miss chance. Not too shabby.
The psicrystal is good for moving around and spying on whatever he needs. Also, it could grant the psychic warrior with a plus to a needed skill or to either fort or will save.
This character is also immune to figments and glamors (including invis), along with a pretty decent spot check! Having freedom of movement up makse him immune to being grappled.
Damage output: This I havent even looked at really.
+15 BAB + 8 str + 7 weapon + 2 moral (from banner) = 32 (can be higher with a few other short duration powers up, but I am not counting them here)
=+32/+27/+22
2d6 + 12 + 7 + 1 point of con + dispel psionic (level 15) = (avg) 26 + 1 con + 25 dispel (can be much higher with a simple application of expansion, which would increase the psychic warriors size to huge, adding 10 more damage to the average and possibly lasting for 8 hours as well.. for the above I figured it might be bad sometimes to be size huge so didnt include it)
Against ac 35 the first round has a 90% chance to hit, 65% chance, and 40% leading to an average of 50.7 damage, 1.95 con damage and between 1 and 3 dispel checks on the target.
So I would have to know the creatures hd to be able to tell how long it will take to kill it, but less than 6 rounds is likely. This is when it isnt fighting back. If it is fighting back it dies much faster via the empathic transfer.
Damage absorption: 20% miss chance makes this one a bit odd
AC 31 (I think) yields 95%, 95%, 75%, 50%. Assuming that it can see through concealment somehow, which is possible, and is immune to mind effecting, also possible, then we have: 96.075 damage.
If it was not immune to mind effecting then it would take back up to 92 points of damage and I would be able to use empathic transfer, hostile to regain hp.
If it cannot see through the concealment then the damage drops down to 76.86.
Since I believe I have the extra money I will toss on a ring of protection +5, a ring of blinking would also work out nicely for that matter
Also, a skin of the defender is pretty cheap.But, with AC 40 this changes to: 80%, 55%, 30%, 5% for an average damage of 51.85 (41.48 with concealment)
So with the addition of these two items the overall aspect comes out much closer to what it should be for this level. It still only takes around 3 rounds for the big bad to kill the psychic warrior though, of course whenever the big bad hits the warrior it takes 23 points of damage unless it is immune to mind effecting.
That is why the psychic warrior has dim door though
to get away when he is in trouble.Or, he could put up form of doom, inertial barrier, expansion, or whatever else.. form of doom would add on 4 more attacks, +4 to str, an extra 1 point of natural armor, DR 5/-, and faster movement.. each tentacle would deal 2d8 + 5 damage. Definately not shabby. When it looks like a real fight tossing down that power is a very real option and at 10 pp he can do it a couple of times a day pretty easily
Psionic lions charge is also very nice! with form of doom up and blowing the rest of his pp for the day he could kill that big bad in one round!
Mobility: Between having a decent human speed to begin with dim door opens up some major options. If needed having form of doom up adds 10 to the base speed. Sounds pretty good!
This guy doesnt change a lot depending on the fight of the day. Mostly his extra options go away but his base stats likely stay the same. The more of his 44 pp that he spends each battle are less he doesnt have later. Everytime he dim doors is one less form of doom to some degree. Or if he pops up an overchanneled extended augmented expansion for a whole lot of reach and extra damage (lasting 8 hours).
Also, if low on hp he can dump an empathic transfer, hostile on the next group of enemies and be full up again (or at least a good portion of the way there).
Edit: had to get rid of a misplaced 1 (I believe it was misplaced at least).
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Patlin
Explorer
One interesting thing to note is that by the terms of the contest as written, a Psywarrior who puts up Greater Concealing amorpha will never be hit unless the BBEG can somehow ignore that spell, as the rules of the contest state that any attack which will miss more than 50% of the time does. Since the badguy will miss 50% of the time due to the amorpha and at least on a 1 otherwise, it will allways miss for the purposes of this simulation. That fact by itself will assure the Psywarriors victory every time, so the rules are flawed.
This is an interesting assertion. My build is slightly different, of course, but I thought I'd check this scenario.
Assuming form of doom is the only buff my psywarrior has up, and giving him a +5 falchion, +6 strength item and a +6 wisdom item, it works out as follows:
3 falchion strikes, on the last I use Deep Strike. All hit. I also use Greater Psionic Weapon for an extra 4d6 damage (I have psicrystal containment, so I have two focuses to burn and can do this.) 4 tentacle attacks, all of which hit.
Damage will be 4d6 (GPW) plus (2d4 + 37) * 3 plus (2d8+22) * 4. On average this will be 14 + 126 + 124 = 264 points of damage in the initial attack. Not quite enough to kill it, assuming it's immune to critical hits and/or assuming I always roll 11s as the smackdown seems to assume. Too bad, since my threat range is 15 - 20 and I'm taking a slight damage hit by going for the falchion, but I didn't want to skew the results by changing my build to something designed specifically for this fight.
That cost 31 of my 177 power points. A small enough amount it can be done even for the last fight of the day, even assuming I have no cognizance crystals or other such goodies. Just for fun, let's assume I had had time to put up one more buff. Precognition, Offensive for 19 pp gives a +7 insight bonus on all attacks. Throwing all of that into power attack and leaving everything else the same increases the damage by 42 points, 14 for each of the three falchion hits. The tentacle attacks are light, and do not benefit. That brings us up to 306 points of damage, and the monster is indeed dead in the first round.
Scion said:
This is an interesting assertion. My build is slightly different, of course, but I thought I'd check this scenario.
Assuming form of doom is the only buff my psywarrior has up, and giving him a +5 falchion, +6 strength item and a +6 wisdom item, it works out as follows:
3 falchion strikes, on the last I use Deep Strike. All hit. I also use Greater Psionic Weapon for an extra 4d6 damage (I have psicrystal containment, so I have two focuses to burn and can do this.) 4 tentacle attacks, all of which hit.
Damage will be 4d6 (GPW) plus (2d4 + 37) * 3 plus (2d8+22) * 4. On average this will be 14 + 126 + 124 = 264 points of damage in the initial attack. Not quite enough to kill it, assuming it's immune to critical hits and/or assuming I always roll 11s as the smackdown seems to assume. Too bad, since my threat range is 15 - 20 and I'm taking a slight damage hit by going for the falchion, but I didn't want to skew the results by changing my build to something designed specifically for this fight.
That cost 31 of my 177 power points. A small enough amount it can be done even for the last fight of the day, even assuming I have no cognizance crystals or other such goodies. Just for fun, let's assume I had had time to put up one more buff. Precognition, Offensive for 19 pp gives a +7 insight bonus on all attacks. Throwing all of that into power attack and leaving everything else the same increases the damage by 42 points, 14 for each of the three falchion hits. The tentacle attacks are light, and do not benefit. That brings us up to 306 points of damage, and the monster is indeed dead in the first round.
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Are the tentacles light? It doesnt say in the power description so far as I can tell.
SRD:
Form of Doom
Psychometabolism
Level: Psychic warrior 6
Display: Visual; see text
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal; see text
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Power Points: 11
You wrench from your subconscious a terrifying visage of deadly hunger and become one with it. You are transformed into a nightmarish version of yourself, complete with an ooze-sleek skin coating, lashing tentacles, and a fright-inducing countenance. You effectively gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks, though you retain your basic shape and can continue to use your equipment. This power cannot be used to impersonate someone; while horrible, your form is recognizably your own.
You gain the frightful presence extraordinary ability, which takes effect automatically when you charge a foe. Opponents within 30 feet of you that have fewer Hit Dice or levels than you and that witness your charge become shaken for 5d6 rounds if they fail a Will save (DC 16 + your Cha modifier). An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to your frightful presence for 24 hours. Frightful presence is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Your horrific form grants you a natural armor bonus of +5, damage reduction 5/–, and a +4 bonus to your Strength score. In addition, you gain +10 feet to your land speed as well as a +10 bonus on Climb and Jump checks.
A nest of violently flailing black tentacles sprout from your hair and back. You can make up to four additional attacks with these tentacles in addition to your regular melee attacks in each round that you take a full attack action. You can make tentacle attacks within the space you normally threaten. If you make your tentacle attacks in addition to you regular melee attacks, each tentacle attacks at your highest base attack bonus with a –5 penalty. If you forgo all your other attacks, making only tentacle attacks, you make your tentacle attacks at your highest base attack bonus with no penalty. These tentacles deal 2d8 points of damage plus one-half your Strength bonus on each successful strike.
This power functions only while you inhabit your base form (for instance, you can’t be metamorphed or polymorphed into another form, though you can use breath of the black dragon, claws of the beast, and bite of the wolf in conjunction with this power for your regular attacks), and while your mind resides within your own body.
Augment: For every additional power point you spend, this power’s duration increases by 2 rounds.
SRD:
Form of Doom
Psychometabolism
Level: Psychic warrior 6
Display: Visual; see text
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal; see text
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Power Points: 11
You wrench from your subconscious a terrifying visage of deadly hunger and become one with it. You are transformed into a nightmarish version of yourself, complete with an ooze-sleek skin coating, lashing tentacles, and a fright-inducing countenance. You effectively gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks, though you retain your basic shape and can continue to use your equipment. This power cannot be used to impersonate someone; while horrible, your form is recognizably your own.
You gain the frightful presence extraordinary ability, which takes effect automatically when you charge a foe. Opponents within 30 feet of you that have fewer Hit Dice or levels than you and that witness your charge become shaken for 5d6 rounds if they fail a Will save (DC 16 + your Cha modifier). An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to your frightful presence for 24 hours. Frightful presence is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Your horrific form grants you a natural armor bonus of +5, damage reduction 5/–, and a +4 bonus to your Strength score. In addition, you gain +10 feet to your land speed as well as a +10 bonus on Climb and Jump checks.
A nest of violently flailing black tentacles sprout from your hair and back. You can make up to four additional attacks with these tentacles in addition to your regular melee attacks in each round that you take a full attack action. You can make tentacle attacks within the space you normally threaten. If you make your tentacle attacks in addition to you regular melee attacks, each tentacle attacks at your highest base attack bonus with a –5 penalty. If you forgo all your other attacks, making only tentacle attacks, you make your tentacle attacks at your highest base attack bonus with no penalty. These tentacles deal 2d8 points of damage plus one-half your Strength bonus on each successful strike.
This power functions only while you inhabit your base form (for instance, you can’t be metamorphed or polymorphed into another form, though you can use breath of the black dragon, claws of the beast, and bite of the wolf in conjunction with this power for your regular attacks), and while your mind resides within your own body.
Augment: For every additional power point you spend, this power’s duration increases by 2 rounds.
Patlin
Explorer
Since it's basically a shapechanging spell, I am assuming the tentacles are natural weapons to the new form. Sort of relying on this, really, since I took the multiattack feat to reduce the penalty from -5 to -2 on the tentacles and also on bite of the wolf. I think it makes sense this way, but feel free to convince me otherwise...
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