Post/Author/DateTime	Post
saethar 09-04-05, 04:38 AM	So I'm working up a new character and I've run into a few snags... I've got (what seems to be) a good concept, and the basic background down. Now I'm trying to fill in the blanks so to speak. I apoligize in advance for the rambling randomness of this post. Concept: Professional Adventurer. Young. Exotic - but not extreme. What I've come up with to fill this concept is as follows: Kat Half-drow, Female 15 years old 5'8"/124 lbs. Silver hair, Green eyes, Dusky gray skin, Pointed ears. Chaotic Good - Devoted follower of Eilistraee. Not "angsty" - despite problems growing up she is a fairly well-adjusted teen who likes to put herself in crazy amounts of danger for no good reason (thus becoming an adventurer). She also realizes that she has little chance of living a "normal" life settling down in a village or town - she'll always be an outsider. Because of this she has chosen the life of a wanderer. Background/History: She was born in Mistledale, but after her mother died in child-birth she was raised by her Uncle in near-by Featherdale. He's a retired adventurer & member of the Harper organization. No one knows exactly who her father is, they don't remember any drow coming through town, and assume that he was magically disguised in some way. Her extended family was horrified upon her birth - some even suggested putting her to death and hiding the truth of her mixed heritage. Her Uncle would not allow this to happen and took it upon himself to raise her. He saw that she had a good education, provided mostly by his fellow Harper agents. This includes a broad knowledge of history, geography, and similar subjects. She also reads/writes/speaks multiple languages. Though her combat training was not as broad as her education, it was still top notch, again provided by her Uncle's fellow Harper agents - as well as her Uncle himself. Her career as an adventurer has just started, and is still centered around the Dalelands area, thus she does still live at home with her Uncle when not on the road. Due to her upbringing she has a unique attachment to the Harpers, and hopes to one day become a member of that organization. Mechanics: On the mechanical side I've only got the basics. We'll likely be using the Gestalt rules as presented in UA - so I've got a number of options. Her primary role will be skill monkey - specificly knowledge and similar (decipher script, diplomacy, gather info, etc...) skills the party rogue doesn't want to worry about or doesn't have access to. Her secondary role will be combat monkey - as a dex based character she'll focus on ranged (Dart Thruster from FR: Underdark) and Finessable melee (Saber - house rule). Absolute must skills: Decipher Script, Knowledge(dungeoneering, geography, history, local, nature, religion), Perform(dance, sing), Speak Language. Other important skills: Appraise, Balance, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Gather Information, Knowledge(All), Sense Motive, Tumble, Use Magic Device. Important Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus(Dart thruster, saber). My biggest problem is that I don't want her to be a caster - arcane or divine - so getting all (or even most) knowledge skills is going to be very difficult, add in that Scout & Rogue are the only classes to get 8 sp... I think I've solved this with a custom base class (The Adventurer) which I'll be posting over on the Class board later to get some opinions on how well it is or isn't balanced. If the DM doesn't go for this then I'll be stuck with Bard as the only (acceptable) way to get all knowledge skills. The only plus side of this is that it would allow her to take the Bladesinger PrC... Which would be interesting from a RP point of view, and would somewhat fit in with her character (mainly due to her patron deity). On the other side of her Gestalt class tree I'm having more trouble matching class to character. Ranger is a good choice, her Uncle is a Ranger and he did help with her training. Also Eilistraee (her patron deity) has hunting as her part of her portfolio. This also ties into her other combat abilities - namely her swordwork. Eilistraee also has swordwork for part of her portfolio, and while I don't see Kat as a "Fighter" she would definitely be an expert with swords. Because of her devotion to Eilistraee I could imagine her joining the ranks of Eilistraee's holy warriors in form of the Paladin of Freedom class. All of that said, because of my own aversion to spell-casting classes I don't see her taking more than 3 levels in either Paladin or Ranger. Even the variants given in Complete Warrior are to "super-natural" for this character. This leaves many levels to fill in (14 to 16, depending on exactly how many levels of Paladin & Ranger I take). I will probably take 2 fighter levels for the bonus feats - she'll need them for her ranged combat if nothing else. For RP/Character reasons she'll likely take at least 1 level in the Harper Agent PrC, very possibly more. Other PrC's I could see her joining are Dervish (once again this synergizes great with her patron deity (Dance + Swordwork = Eilistraee)), an Eilistraee variant of Champion of Corellon Larethian, Ruathar, and similar classes. Stats are simple: Str - Low, Dex - High, Con - Med/Low, Int - High, Wis - Low, Cha - High/Med. We're using 4d6, drop lowest method. We'll roll dice when we're with the DM so I don't know what my stats will be yet. The double listing above is just a good vs. bad roll. Equipment wise she'll obviously have her Saber & Dart Thruster, plus various types of Darts (cold iron, silver, regular). Her signature piece of equipment, at least until we get some magic items, will be a masterwork bandoleer (from FRCS). Other equipment will be a backpack full of everything but the kitchen sink - she's a plan for all eventualities type of girl. Once she can get some decent magic items she'll go for Heward's Handy Haversack, and possibly the Belt of Many Pockets (Complete Arcana). I haven't decided on armor - but mostly likely studded leather. If you've actually read this far then the question I'm posing is this: What am I missing, where can I do better, and based on the information provided here what do you see as classes which actually match her character? Here is what I'm looking at right now: Adventurer 20//Fighter 2/Ranger 2/Paladin of Freedom 2/Harper agent 1/?? 13 Thanks, any suggestions would be greatly appriecated! Saethar :b:
Fithero 09-04-05, 09:14 AM	I seem to recall reading somewhere that paladins of freedom are not allowed to belong to an organisation, but there is nothing on it in UA. I must have read it in some dragon mag or something. owell. As for the character, detail out the background more, youve only told us the *very* basics of her story. She is going to be a professional adventurer.. thats not an every day goal. Does she follow the views and beliefs of the harpers to the letter or does she deviate a little? All the more detail the better.