What is the best way to make this spell cool?
I mean, it IS cool, but how does one make effective?
It's a 4th-level spell, meaning level 7 or 8 at the earliest... but even Cleric/UnMonk gestalt (or Oracle/Scaled Fist UnMonk), that's like 3D8-4D10... which seems, I don't know... underwhelming. Yeah, there's also 3x or 4x the static modifiers, too. Still, though...
Underwhelming for magic, at least. I get that it's what a Monk does at that level... which is not underwhelming (compared to other Monks). It just seems the spell should match your unarmed damage (effectively doubling your damage)... or something, I don't know. With half the damage being fire, and pretty much everything having at least some resistance to that particular element by these levels [7+], it seems very likely that this damage is going to get reduced below just punching.
It offers range, which is legit... but the spell is subject to Spell Resistance. The spell seems to actively try make itself irrelevant at every turn. Is there a secret archetype or something I am missing that makes this usable?
I have a Tengu Shigenjo Oracle/Scaled Fist UnMonk gestalt with the Bones Mystery for Bleeding Wounds, since half the damage from Blood Crow Strike is Negative Energy. And as cool as that particular combination may be, I still don't feel it actually does anything for making this spell any more effective... which is sad, to me. Although, Scaled Fist does add the fun complication of addition elememt damage with your unarmed strike damage.
Is there a metamatic I might be missing? Something that might make this spell freaking awesome? Dazing? Toppling?
Huh, so my gestalt Tengu "Blood Crow" is actually about as good as it is going to get...? The "+1D6" is elemental damage from Draconic Mettle. The bleed damage is from the Bleeding Wounds Revelation.
At 8:
BAB +8/+3 (1D10+1D6+2 bleed)
Flurry +8/+8/+3 (1D10+1D6+2 bleed)
At 12:
BAB +12/+7/+2 (2D6+1D6+3 bleed)
Flurry +12/+12/+7/+2 (2D6+1D6+3 bleed)
It probably won't get any better than gestalt with an UnChained Monk for full BAB and unarmed damage profression. It would be similar regardless of which spellcasting class [with access to the spell] was used... I don't even know how something like Draconic/Orc Bloodline Arcana would interact with Blood Crow Strike, even if you could get the spell on the Sorcerer list... or those Bloodline Arcana as a Cleric/Oracle. The spell, itself, doesn't really offer any damage dice to affect... but it wouldn't be hard to apply it to the unarmed strike damage dice... rules lawyers might object, but if you jumped throughed all those hoops, you deserve to use it... bought and paid for.
It's not terrible, but I'm just not impressed by it... especially considering how broken gestalt can be if you intend to build a murderhobo.
Choral Support can change the split fire/negative dmg into pure Sonic dmg to help with circumventing ER. You just need a familiar with the feat to spend their standard action on singing.
And if you're feeling cheesy you should take Ascetic Style to use Blood Crow Strike with a weapon instead of unarmed strikes.
Oh, Choral Support is good fun...
Slap it on an allied Phrenologist Bard. They have a Performance called Skull Sonata that adds half the Bard's level to any sonic damage taken inside the area of the Performance. Skull Sonata relies on audible components, so obviously this Bard should also have Discordant Voice... which is another source of sonic damage for Skull Sonata to add half the Bard's level to.
But, as cool as Choral Support/Skull Sonata/Discordant Voice may be, I have this particular Tengu rocking the Bleeding Wounds Revelation... which adds bleed damage to negative energy damage, so I don't mind the split damage too much in this case. The bleed damage isn't better than the Bard's additional sonic damage, but I already had that combination set as part of the theme driving this character's creation. I will probably throw Choral Support into the mix, though... just in case.
I still have a little bit of extra elemental damage from Draconic Mettle, too. I could double down with more fire damage to try burn through low resistances. Or I could add another element, entirely, that is less likely to meet resistance.
This won't be my only Blood Crow Strike themed character... I plan on building another "Blood Crow" so I can operate them in pairs, like a dynamic duo, or whatever. I will add these to my ever-growing murder of Tengu NPC's... is a group of Kenku/Tengu called a murder?
Just remember the spell has a 1 round casting time, which gives opponents more time to interrupt the casting
Good catch... I will have to use positioning and recon to ensure I have time to set this up.
Really would have made the spell kind of epic if it was just a standard action casting time, but the spell still allowed a full attack/Flurry.