| Boren |
The set up:
I've just gained my second mythic tier and decided to go with mythic Eldritch Heritage this boosted the powers up to my option of picking a spell off the Sorc/Wiz list up to 7th level. The choice was obvious, new disposable bodies of anything I want up to the HD limit (currently 30). The only question is what to make; my Witch is currently in the body of an erinyes and my DM approved the Assume Supernatural Ability 3.5 feat so Su and Ex abilities are part of the equation but Sp and casting are not. I would like something with a good dex score and would like to not lose physical points but if I take a hit on Str or Con for a good enough trade I'll take it.
So suggestions...?
| Avoron |
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Ooh, fun question! So you're creating a simulacrum of an extremely powerful creature to possess with Twin Soul... and your GM is letting you use Assume Supernatural Ability to gain one of its activated Su abilities as well? Lovely, sounds like quite a game. Let's see...
One option is to possess something massive so you can crush your enemies underfoot. There are loads of choices for high-CR bruisers, but you'll want the very best, which brings me to my first suggestion: Fafnheir, Father of All Linnorms.
How would you like to be a Colossal dragon with absolutely phenomenal ability scores? Str 45, Dex 30, Con 36 before any stat-boosting items is pretty hard to top, and that's just the beginning. For senses you've got darkvision, low-light vision, scent, and a constant nonmagical true seeing. For movement you've got a 100 ft. fight speed, burrow and swim for good measure, and a constant nonmagical freedom of movement. For defense you've got at least 263 hp, a whopping +30 natural armor bonus, DR 20/cold iron and magic, SR 35, and a slew of random immunities that happens to include any and all mind-affecting effects.
Oh, and if some uppity monster gets close enough to take you on in melee, they have to deal with your five excellent natural attacks - plus grab, constrict, and a nasty poison that slams them with fire damage while draining all their ability scores at once. And if that's not enough Assume Supernatural Ability lets you use that breath weapon for a 90-ft. cone of 26d10 fire damage that can also deafen creatures or blow them away or zap them with a bolt of lightning.
This simulacrum would be surprisingly convenient for a spellcaster, given that it's a twelve ton, 120-ft beast. As a creature of the dragon type it can perform the verbal and somatic components of spellcasting just fine, and when size becomes an issue you can simply use an alter self spell or greater hat of disguise to shrink down to something more manageable while still retaining many of the form's benefits.
Still, you might not be thinking of something quite so massive, so let's tone it down a little... and by down I mean up, because my next suggestion is the Great Old One Bokrug.
Bokrug is quite possibly the highest CR creature available with your caster level, and for good reason. He's much smaller than Fafnheir and with lower Str and Dex scores, but his Con is even higher. His senses are likewise excellent, with blindsight out to range of 120 ft. You don't get a means of flight without SLAs - but you're a caster, you can just toss on overland flight at the start of the day.
You'll still be terrifying in melee combat, of course: five great natural attacks, grab, constrict, a maddening Wis poison, the whole deal. But what really makes this simulacrum worth it is the defensive abilities. This creature has even more immunities than the linnorm, including classics like mind-affecting and new ones like ability damage, death effects, and poison. You won't need to eat, drink, or breathe. Better hp at 322, and you don't just get a +18 natural armor bonus to AC, you also get a +10 insight bonus that also applies to your initiative. DR 15/epic and lawful, SR 38, fast healing 20 - the list goes on and on.
You even have auras of toxic breath and unspeakable presence to weaken and confuse your enemies - speaking of which, your friends might want to stay a safe distance away until they invest in some protective gear. And all of these so far are automatic abilities. You can use your Assume Supernatural Ability to pick up telepathy, so you can inflict your insanity on any target within 100 ft. as a standard action.
Meanwhile, Bokrug can speak so verbal components won't be a problem, and while your ability to perform somatic components is less clear I'm sure you can come up with a workaround if it turns out to be an issue.
Then again, it might be time to consider the possibility that you don't particularly want to turn into a giant lizard of death. After all, your current choice of an erinyes suggests some preference for generally humanoid forms. And besides, who needs all those tentacles and poison fangs? You'll be spending most of your time casting spells anyway.
Which brings me to my third and final suggestion, and probably the one I would be most tempted to choose: a maharaja rakshasa.
Not only is this creature much smaller and less obtrusive than the other choices, with it's roughly humanoid form, it also has a much lower CR - so it might seem at first to be an odd choice.
It has a few solid perks, of course, that are visible right off the bat. Darkvision. All-around vision, so you can't be flanked. DR 20/good and piercing, SR 35. A nice little flight speed. But nothing that shows why it rises to the level of the others, not with a mere 155 hp and +13 natural armor bonus, a nice but not outstanding Str 27, Dex 28, Con 30.
And then you see it: extra initiative. When possessing your maharaja simulacrum you get to role initiative twice - on the higher count you take your turn, and on the lower count you get an extra standard action.
Let me say that again, in case you missed it. TWO. STANDARD. ACTIONS. PER. ROUND. You just effectively doubled your spellcasting output in a single stroke, never mind the chance to spam hexes that never run out. Keep your Colossal linnorms, this critter is a spellcaster's dream.
And since that's an automatic ability, you've still got several options for your Assume Supernatural Ability feat. You could get a free action detect thoughts you can use as much as you want to become the ultimate mind reader, without any of the visible manifestations to reveal you. You could get the at-will ability to change shape into any humanoid, becoming a master of disguise.
Or you could take an even cooler route and make your simulacrum of a rakshasa rajadhiraja, the upgraded form of the maharaja. Not only would your simulacrum get additional hit dice and thus hp, it would also gain the amazing Reincarnate ability that you can poach with your feat. It's basically a free reincarnate every day except it brings someone back with no negative levels and in any form of your choosing with only a size constraint. If you can get that ability, it could have endless potential.
So, thoughts?
Edit: A creature with dual initiative might be an alternate means for improving your action economy, if your GM rules that mythic abilities can be retained by simulacra. So that would mean an apkallu, davana titan, elohim, mythic hydra, ophiotaurus, or something with the agile template.
| Boren |
Neat ideas, I definitely missed that extra standard action trick, that would be a good one that wouldn't kill the rest of the game. Next session is going to start with me in an insane OP "God killer" body that's just for the next fight and once that's over the crazy body gets sacrificed to her patron to become a guardian of time and I make what I'm actually going to use for a good while