Reincarnated Druid Advice

[Gruingar de'Morcaine]

I am considering a Druid of the Reincarnated archtype for an upcoming 'hard mode' mini campaign. Since at level 5+ you get a free auto reincarnate every 7 days.
(I'm also considering the cloning alchemist, but that doesn't take effect until level 8.)

Now if I'm reading the spell correctly, it seems like it would be most advantageous to be base human to start since I would keep the extra feat and extra skill points when I come back as something else. And since I can only count on the mental stats still being what they were, I should probably be a caster druid rather than a melee wild shaper. Sound reasonable?

Have you seen this done? How did it work out? Any build advice?

What happens with racial feats, traits, spells, or even archtypes when reincarnated? What about feats you no longer meet the requirements for, like power attack, if a Nagaji comes back as a goblin?

[Haywire build generator]

An extra trick is to go Samsaran as your race, because then you have the restoration spells for the negative levels obtained by dying. The con penalty will eventually go away. To further cheese, make your character older. The mental boosts will stay, but the reincarnated body is young adult, so the penalties are no longer an issue.

However, note that any optimization for post level 5 comes with the caveat of needing to survive levels 1-4, which is never truly easy.

[Gruingar de'Morcaine]

Ha! Old Samsaran is an excellent idea!

Druids already get restoration, but still kool idea.

[avr]

If you no longer meet the ability requirements for feats you'll want either to retrain them or to somehow raise your ability scores so that you meet them again. Otherwise you may have the feat but be too weak (etc.) to use it.

No idea about racial feats et al.

[Gruingar de'Morcaine]

Haywire build generator wrote:

...

However, note that any optimization for post level 5 comes with the caveat of needing to survive levels 1-4, which is never truly easy.

I believe we are starting at level 3, so that should be a little easier to manage.

[Gruingar de'Morcaine]

Since I'm going to be an old Samsaran, I think my Animal COmpanion should mostly just be used as a mount to keep me away from trouble and not slow down the group.

I can take the Undersized Mount feat so I can utilize a medium mount rather than needing something large. I don't really need for it to be able to attack well. Just to survive and keep me mobile. A flying mount would be more mobile, but iirc they aren't very robust.

What are some suggestions for the best mount?

[JDLPF]

For general purpose a dog for a small character or horse for a medium character are always good options. They're socially acceptable in almost any location.

For specialised usage, a character would be well served by picking a flying mount, as flight negates a hell of a lot of stuff in game. Arguably the best flying mount is the Yolubilis Heron, which has more Con than a Roc and reaches Large size too, though with less attacks. Both will get you weird looks when walking through the town gates, so it depends how strict your DM is regarding exotic animals inside towns.

[zainale]

green faith acolyte at level three gives you the ability:
Hibernate (Su)

At 3rd level, a Green Faith acolyte can enter a state of suspended animation as a full-round action. This state is similar to the effect of sepia snake sigil, except that the Green Faith acolyte is aware of changes in her surroundings or harm to her body as if deeply asleep. She can end this state at any time as a full-round action. If she remains in hibernation for at least a week before emerging, her body is renewed as if by both a heal spell and a restoration spell. A Green Faith acolyte can remain in this state for up to 1 week per class level, after which she must wait 1 day for each week spent hibernating before entering hibernation again.

another thing go caster druid as your bond because this prestige class will give you an animal companion. pick up the feat boon companion to make up for the negative to the levels that your companion will get for getting it late.

i don't know if you will need Favored Prestige Class or Prestigious Spellcaster. but they should be useful to know about, right?

i also have been thinking about making a character along this line for a couple months now.

[zainale]

you will need to take the feat Green Faith Acolyte to even be able to qualify for that prestige class.

[zainale]

you can always use a cheap horse. >.>

[zainale]

so how was my advice? helpful? or was I too late?

[Gruingar de'Morcaine]

I will think about the Green Faith Acolyte PrC, but I tend to not be impressed with PrC's most of the time. Unless the rest of the group has animals that need protected or if I'm summoning lots of animals, it doesn't seem to offer a whole lot.

Yeah, a horse is the standard mount. But that just seems to boring. I would have to have something wierd to be happy with it. The Yolubilis Heron does seem interesting.