[BUILD ADVICE] Planar Shepherd

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:06 am

If you just want a list of go-to druid spells dumpster-dived from pretty much everywhere, I wrote one a while back.

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:59 pm

Cool, thanks.

Out of curiosity, since I'm apt to have to hold up the entire party by being the ultra mega support dude (I'm the most experienced player there - we seriously have one dude playing a Barb1/Sorc 1. Admittedly, he's got a 17 Cha and an 18 Str, but still), what feats do you recommend for general all around awesomeness? Natural Spell, of course, but nothing else really seems "must take" other than perhaps Assume Supernatural Ability from SavSpec.

Also, is there a way to get "legit" immortality for a Druid/Planar Shepherd, other than Wish abuse? DM might be a dick about me using my speeded up time ability a lot, and start ruling that I take penalties/die of old age.

NineInchNall · Post by **NineInchNall** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:13 pm

Assume Supernatural Ability is unnecessary.

The magical beasts you can turn into are generally low on useful Su abilities, and you already get the Su and Sp and Ex abilities of the outsiders and elementals you can turn into.

Seriously.

For general all around awesomeness pick up Greenbond Summoning from Lost Empires of Faerun, Rashemi Elemental Summoning from Unapproachable East, and seriously what the fuck ever you want beyond that. Might as well pick up Ashbound from the main Eberron book and Augment Summoning.

There. Now you can lay down ridiculously powerful summons that are auto-extended. If you want to handle the healing role, too, just pick up a wand of lesser vigor.

You're done.

And I would like to say that I'm extremely envious of you for the opportunity to play this class.

Orca · Post by **Orca** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:56 am

Depending on your DM's interpretation, Ashbound may come with horrible RP requirements. It's supposed to the the special power of an anti-arcane magic, anti-non hunter/gatherer lifestyle terrorist sect.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:53 am

What does Ashbound do?

Jacob_Orlove · Post by **Jacob_Orlove** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:47 am

Is Ashbound the one that auto-extends your summons and gives them a +3 Luck bonus to everything for no reason?

Greenbound Summoning is easily the best feat in the game. Combining that with Planar Shepard is beyond overkill.

Edit: just for reference, Greenbound Summoning is a feat that adds the Greenbound template to all your summons, for free. Google says this is the greenbound template, and it looks about right from what I can remember:

The greenbound template:-
Type becomes plant (so no crits, mind affecting, or polymorphing..)
NA improves by 6
Gains a slam attack
(Sp) at will - entangle, pass without trace, speak with plants. 1/day - wall of thorns
DR 10/magic and slashing
Fast healing 3
+4 grapple bonus
Resistance to electricity and cold 10
Tremorsense 60'
Str +6, Dex +2, Con +4, Cha+4
+16 to hide and move silently in forested areas
(CR +2, LA+8)

So yeah, at level 1, your Summon Nature's Ally 1 casts Wall of Thorns (a FIFTH LEVEL spell). It doesn't even matter that the wall vanishes in one round along with your summons, because all your enemies just took (25 - AC) damage, and that AC doesn't count dex or dodge.

By the time that you are summoning combat monsters (level 3, hippogriff), your summoned creatures are harder core than you or any other party member. And they still cast Wall of Thorns, too.

There is no reasonable use for the Greenbound Summoning feat. None. Putting it on your character sheet is a slap in the face to your DM, your fellow players, and everyone on these boards.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:07 am

Ashbound doubles SNA's duration, and gives creatures summoned by it +3 on attacks.

what's Greenbound? I can't find it.

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:27 am

Prak_Anima wrote:what's Greenbound? I can't find it.

Lost Empires of Faerun.

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:28 am

The feat is in The Lost Empires of Faerun, as is the template.

Thanks, folks. Who knows. Might pick up Improved Initiative at higher levels, just so scale back a bit.

Having fun so far... first game was tonight. I have the second highest HP and AC in the game, and my dog and I probably did the most damage... wait till fleshraker and thrid level spells come online.

Druid FTW.

shau · Post by **shau** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:16 am

clikml wrote: The real crazy stuff doesn't kick in until you have caster level 15 since that is when you get the DC 30 tornado. It is sort of unclear whether the fortitude negates listed in the spell description is your normal spell DC, or the natural environmental spell DC. That and also that most folk don't like looking up environmental effects to figure out what their spell does, I think that is a large factor for why that spell slips under the radar. By the time you get that tornado though, your range is 600' with a 600' area.

Even at lower levels it functions as a mass knockdown ability in addition to being ranged attack proof. Definitely is nice.

Or you can just cast it multiple times and do that much earlier.
Edit: actually it does not even require that. You can alter your handiwork with concentration, so caster level just determines how many rounds it take you to get to tornado nightmare.

I only actually used the spell once in a joke session. I always remember it is as the time I personally destroyed the village we were supposed to save without actually realizing it was there.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:13 am

It's Cold Outside gives Beckon the Frozen (summoned creatures gain Cold subtype, and +1d6 cold damage to attacks. Doesn't work with Fire creatures) and Primeval Wildshape (+2 Str, +2 natural armour, Cold resist 10, but only lasts 1 rnd/lvl) for feats, and for spells:
Conjure Ice Beast (x)- summons a Monster or Nature's Ally but gives it the Ice Beast template (construct[cold], bonus hp, extra natural armour, loses fly, burrow will only work in ice/snow, slam, a special ability chosen from a list, DR) not great, but possibly helpful.

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:31 am

Once upon a time, I maintained one of those CO board handbooks for a druid, so feel free to use whatever you want from it. It's got old-style WotC board formatting so it's ugly as sin, but it's usable.

NineInchNall · Post by **NineInchNall** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:49 pm

I've referenced that handbook many a time. Having a centralized list of good feats, spells, and forms is indispensable.

Shokatsuryou · Post by **Shokatsuryou** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:05 am

True Story: In my current campaign, the DM told us "I am encouraging all players to make their builds as ridiculously powerful/broken as possible."

So I made a druid going for Planar Shepherd with Greenbound Summoning. We are only level 4 so no Planar Shepherd yet, and we have only played 2 sessions, but it is already crazy.

Especially considering the other players are a Warlock, Rogue, and OA Samurai. The new player coming this week will likely play a Monk.

My conscience is actually bothering me after making this character. The DM said we can make changes to our character through session 4... I might make changes to bring the character more in line with the party (ie, lose Greenbound), or even switch out the character entirely.

OTOH, like NineInchNall I have always wanted to try out the Planar Shepherd just to see what it would be like.

Aktariel wrote: What animal companions would you recommend? Riding Dog to start with, pretty obviously, but beyond that...?

Yes, at level 1 riding dog. At level 4, if dinosaurs exist in your world, the Fleshraker from MM3 is one of the best options around. If no dinosaurs, then the Dire Eagle from Races of Stone is pretty good.

Aktariel wrote: Also, are there any +2 Wis LA 0 races aside from the Tome Aasimar?

Assuming you don't want to play an anthropomorphic animal or Jermlaine, then there is the Lesser Aasimar from Player's Guide to Faerun. The Buomman also gets +Wis, but has a vow of silence (I think you can get rid of the vow by adding dragonborn, though).

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:49 am

Dire eagle is a level 7 choice. The choice for a flying pet is a dire bat, but you'll probably be happier with a crocodile (assuming fleshraker is off the table).

Shokatsuryou · Post by **Shokatsuryou** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:40 pm

Really? It says Dire Eagle can be taken by a level 4 druid in Races of Stone. Is there an errata somewhere that I am not aware of?

NineInchNall · Post by **NineInchNall** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:06 pm

Check the list in PHB2. It's newer, so any differences take precedence. Or so the convention goes.

Shokatsuryou · Post by **Shokatsuryou** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:16 pm

Ah, so it is a stealth nerf, then. Oh well, as A Man In Black said, going with crocodile is the probably the way to go in that case.

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:46 pm

Went with an anthro bat, and a riding dog. When I get to 4, will swap it out for a fleshraker, since the DM is totally cool with dinosaurs.

Took one flaw to grab an extra feat, so I took Greenbound Summoning and Spell Focus: Conjuration in preparation for taking Augment Summoning later on.

The rest of the party is hilariously unoptimized; we have two rogues, a dwarf cleric, and a barb1/sorc1.

My goal is not so much to go to crazy town, but to have the potential to go to crazytown should circumstances require.

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:54 pm

Aktariel wrote:My goal is not so much to go to crazy town, but to have the potential to go to crazytown should circumstances require.

Note that using Greenbound Summoning at all already puts you, if not in Crazytown proper, then at least in the associated Mentally Disturbed County.

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:33 pm

Hmmm. Good point. I think that this fellow might wind up living in "HOLY SHIT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME LOCK THIS NUTJOB UP" land, but it's nice to pretend that isn't the case. Especially since my 3rd level feat is going to be Ashbound.

But they don't have to use wall of thorns...

oddly enough, up until about summon nature's ally IV, it's actually better to summon more lower level creatures, so you can spam wall of thorns until everything dies. Which is really retarded, but whatever.

Side note: I am really tempted to roleplay the Ashbound RP restriction to the hil; the sorc player is a serious douchetard who almost went apeshit on my ass when I showed up playing the man-bat. 3rd level, he's getting owned. I can seriously call up 1d3 greenbound wolves to cast wall of thorns and a freaking greenbound crocodile to wail on his ass.

Come to think of it, if the wolves aim right with those walls, I could probably TPK my entire fricking party. With summons. (Wall of Thorns is seriously nasty). While standing back and smoking or something. Probably not conducive to continuing to play in that game, though. But I really want to whack that unoptimal barb/sorc character - he actually killed a party member at the session just before I started playing. Something about being a criminal and the other character trying to apprehend him and a coup de grace to the face with a trowel. I'm not really sure.

This is all really only possible after 3rd level - I'm halfway there, though. I might just start whipping out massive damage in the form of summons to up my XP. I might be able to take him now but it's not worth the risk.

Moar side notage: I am a bastard.

Side side note: greenbound dire weasels are fucking terrifying.

More editing: Holy crap, wall of thorns is 10min/level. I thought it was 1 round/level. That means that any wall of thorns summoned by a greenbound wolf persists for twenty minutes.... unless I'm reading something wrong and the wall goes away when the wolf gets unsummoned after two rounds (since I'm CL 2).

Maybe I don't need to wait until third level.