Sultans of Smack

[Veldrane]

 

[Elric]

A lot of smackdowns involve some kind of powerful charge attack. I wonder if anyone can come up with a PH race, no spell, no magic item (so no gp spent on magic items to give inherent bonuses) smack that doesn't involve using some tactic involving a charge? Also, Power Critical on a x4 crit weapon seems to be a little too easy. Most of the powerful damage modifiers (especially if you don't have magic) all involve charge- Spirited Charge, Shield Bash, Power Lunge...

I have an idea for a well-rounded smack with no spells or magic items- it currently involves 6 prestige classes, including Bear Warrior The hardest part right now seems to be actually getting it to be a smackdown

 

[reapersaurus]

OK, that's it.
[sarcastic spoof] Guys, all this inventive massive-damage rules-maximizing is dumb.
It uses too much broken/insert complaint here/magic items.

I challenge you to come up with a smack down that requires real creativity:
A PC that's forced to only use one hand, that has to have a patch over one eye because he believes himself a pirate, and can only use spells that start with the letter "C" on off-Mondays. [/spoof]

These invented-restrictions that unrealistically limit what you can use in a Smackdown have gotten too much.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I challenge you to come up with a smack down that requires real creativity:
A PC that's forced to only use one hand, that has to have a patch over one eye because he believes himself a pirate, and can only use spells that start with the letter "C" on off-Mondays. [/spoof]

I think your best bet would be a "Jack the Knife"-style character:

Character, male halfling Ftr4/Rog11/Asn1: CR 16; ECL 16; Medium-size Humanoid (halfling); HD 12d6+4d10; hp 64; Init +7; Spd 30 ft; AC 17 (+7 Dex); Melee +2 dagger +18/+13/+8 (1d4+7/crit 19-20); Ranged +2 dagger +23/+18/+13 (1d4+4/crit 19-20); SA death attack, sneak attack; SQ evasion, halfling traits, special rogue abilities (1), uncanny dodge; AL CN; SV Fort +9, Ref +17, Will +8; Str 16, Dex 24, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12.
Skills and Feats: Use Magic Device +20; Quickdraw, Weapon Focus (dagger), Weapon Specialization (dagger).
Equipment: +2 daggers (10), potions of invisibility (5), wand of summon monster II (40 charges).


I'd give him gloves of Dexterity, but that requires both hands.

 

[Elric]

Ok, here's a smack:
1/2 Orc
Fighter 4/Barb 2/Frenzied Berserker 10

Str 48 (20 to start, 4 level bonus, 4 arms of nyr, Belt of Giant Str +6, Frenzy, Rage)
Feats: Power Critical, Focus, Specialization: Scythe
Potion of True Strike, +5 Scythe, Rhino Hide Armor

Attack bonus: +16 levels, +1 feat, +19 Str, +5 Magic= +41
Damage on a charge w/ power crit: x4
Base Damage: 2d4+28 Str+5 Magic+ 2 Specialization
2d4+35 (40)
x5= 200
Add Supreme Power Attack points for extra damage (ten per point of power attack).

I might have messed up a calculation or two, but that's the basic idea. 200 dmg, one really big crit with really high Str. I think I could probably have added Power Lunge for more damage as well.

 

[Jeremy]

I think I could probably have added Power Lunge for more damage as well.

But that would make it involve charging and you don't like that remember.

Really, there are probably 6 smackdowns that require a charge attack, there are probably 25 smackdowns total now. If you like low magic, try the orc with the broom, if you like high magic try the super strength or super AC combinations. If you want low level you'll have to find the other thread or break down one of the smacks to it's lower level version.

There's something here for everyone.

 

[Elric]

Jeremy- Sorry, I didn't say that right. I meant that a lot of the lower magic smackdowns involved charge attacks. There are tons of smacks here which don't involve charge, but not that many low magic ones. Not that there's anything wrong with high magic smacks, but you get to use more prestige classes with lower magic characters (especially because you can make a 20th level character and not have to worry about spending 760k on items). I don't dislike any of the smacks- except for the ones that my DM has used on me

 

[Jeremy]

I meant that a lot of the lower magic smackdowns involved charge attacks. ...Not that there's anything wrong with high magic smacks, but you get to use more prestige classes with lower magic characters...

That's alright. Perhaps I might point you to this one. Instead of few magic items we have NO magic items. Instead of 6 prestige classes, we have zero. In fact, unless you really want to get nasty, you don't have to use anything but the PHB.

Now me personally, the more complex the better, give me magical items and obscure classes mixed up in a creative manner and show me something I haven't seen. That's where I see the challenge. Creativity and imagination, variety and mastery of multiple subject matters.

Low magic, low level, limited source smackdowns are also limited imagination oft times. It takes a lot of open mindedness, visual thinking, and love of heroic fantasy, but when you get into it, there is nothing so visceral, exiting, and given to spectacular retelling as an over the top encounter like these.

But I digress, as I said, here's low magic, low prestige, normal level, smackdown without a charge attack.

My half-orc priest beat your paladin champion with a stick!
Originally Posted by Dantai

PHB Smackdown with no magic items

O.K. You got your prestige classes of uber-cheese only printed once in warbles and weevils magazine vol 1 smackdowns utilizing +8 swords of monkey-beasting.

Here's something a bit simpler:

Half-Orc: Cleric (St Cuthbert) Lv16

Armed only with a common qurterstaff and these Feats:
Ambidexterity, TWF, Imp TWF, Power Attack

With Divine Favour (yes I am English), Greater Magic Weapon and Righteous Might cast.

With a strength of 24 activating your strength domain power gives a strength of 40 for a round, str 44 with righteous might.

So your base damage adjust is +17 (str) +25 (two-handed) +30 (luck bonus from divine favour) +35 (enhancement bonus from greater magic weapon).

You get 5 attacks this round the lowest attack bonus being +24, might as well use the smite ability on that one then for a grand total of:

191 + 5D8 damage

If you're being picky then Power Attack away to your heart's content.

Total cost of Smackdown ingredients = zip, not a single GP

Total number of dodgy classes and books used= zip, PHB only

So when you're butt-naked in the dungeon of ultimate despair you need only find a stick to prove that you are still the daddy.

For a bit of extra death you could use the Spikes spell out of DotF

I guess you could disallow the Righteous Might if you only had one round to prep, but you could take a Barbarian Lvl (and a N alignment) and use rage to compensate, which would be slightly less effective but should still get the 200 pts in with a bit of power attacking.

 

[Bloodstone]

About the Peerless Archer build: Manyshot does not let you make 4 attacks as a standard action. It lets you make one attck to fire 4 arrows. as such you could can do 2 manyshots with haste at +41/+41.

Since you are only making 2 attacks, regardless of the fact you are firing 4 arrows, you could only apply power shot damage twice.

I think you would be better off with a full attack and then doing a manyshot for you haste partial. Skip power shot completely and you should still do about 300 pts of damage easy...I'm too lazy to figure it out exactly and there would probably be some disagreements about the "precise" definition of "precision based"damage....which in my games is any bonus damge that is only effective when within 30' ...

 

[1337 h4xor]

I think you would be better off with a full attack and then doing a manyshot for you haste partial.

dont think that's possible as many shot is a standard action not a partial, the only reason you could get 2 off with a haste is because you use 1 standard action have a move left over.... and a move plus a partial is another standard thus you get 2 standard in one round.