1st time poster looking for new character [Archive] - Wizards Community

1st time poster looking for new character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
verdynian
11-24-04, 03:54 AM I am a first time poster, so hopefully I am posting this on the right board. I am seeking advice on my next character.
My DM is running an Eberron campaign, and had a 75% PK with my group. My character was the only one to survive. He returned to Sharn after seeing his comrades get butchered in the camp-site dig part of Shadows of the Last War.
He returned, initially to acquire some new reinforcements, AKA the new characters of the PCs. But having arrived there, my character realized that the Lord of the Blades had some assassins after him.
Now, my character realized that he may not be the safest company for a group of 1st level characters. My character was 3rd level. So, after recruiting he is going to leave. My character would see this as trying to protect these new people by distancing himself from them.
So far, he has managed to recruit a dwarven barbarian (future battlerager), a human paladin of the silver flame, a human cleric/fighter, and a human wizard.
Now, this is my dilemna . .
What type of character should I make to go along with this collection?
I was initially thinking about doing a bard, to help compliment the group, and because I have not played a bard since the mid-90's, but I have been reading posts on the message board that give me the idea that maybe a bard is not such a good idea. In terms of survivability.
By nature, I powergame. I like for my characters to live long enough to adventure and die of old age. So, if I did bard, I would like to avoid the powergaming. Make him more RPish.
I am playing a dwarven rogue in another campaign, so I would prefer to not go the rogue route, even though it would fill in the missing ideal gap.
My preferred class is arcane spellcaster (esspecially wizard), but my DM and I do not see eye to eye on the way a wizard should be (mostly because I believe 3E & 3.5 killed the wizard class).
So, I am looking for advice or opinions on what my next character should be.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

BTW, my character that survived was a half-orc soulblade.
Nithendil
11-24-04, 04:02 AM I was initially thinking about doing a bard, to help compliment the group, and because I have not played a bard since the mid-90's, but I have been reading posts on the message board that give me the idea that maybe a bard is not such a good idea. In terms of survivability.

From levels 1 to 9 (when the campaign ended), my bard was the only chracter in my party to have never gone below 0hp.

By nature, I powergame. I like for my characters to live long enough to adventure and die of old age. So, if I did bard, I would like to avoid the powergaming. Make him more RPish.

With a bard, you can do both. RP social skills, front of the party, suggestions, and if you have access to alot of splatbooks, there are a decent amount of good builds.

I am playing a dwarven rogue in another campaign, so I would prefer to not go the rogue route, even though it would fill in the missing ideal gap.
Be a human (or gnome or halfing or half-elf), take one level of rogue (for trapfinding and 1d6 sneak attack) and bard x / prestige class x. Take the feat that gives you two skills as class skills (take search and disable device). Locks you can always smash or use spells or items to get around.

My preferred class is arcane spellcaster (esspecially wizard), but my DM and I do not see eye to eye on the way a wizard should be (mostly because I believe 3E & 3.5 killed the wizard class).

Not sure if it is what you are looking for, but the Sublime chord prestige class from the complete arcane will give you a bard build that casts 9th level arcane spells.

Or you can always do an arcane trickster build for a rogue/arcane combo.
Sorcerer
11-24-04, 04:49 AM Warlock from Complete Arcane.
You have a fighter, a cleric fighter...OK you are covered there.
You have a wiz...you are covered there.

But a warlock is the ultimate sniper, And tou can cast Eldritch Blast at will!

Sure, you only get 1D6 at first, but its at will. Ranged touch attacks, no save.
At First level take this invocation;
Eldritch Spear 250 foot ranged touch for you blast with NO RANGE PENALTIES!
You can use light armor with NO Arcane caster penalties.
But a Laskin Horn with your starting Gold for +1 to hit with all ranged touch attacks (55 gps, pages 91, 92 Ebberon book).

The class looks fun.
Of course if you like to blow things up (in a more traditional arcane way) use the WarMage from the same book!
A Warmages is a sorcerer with a really big spell list, D6's for hits, and Light and medium armor with No arcane penalties! Its a blow em up, but kicking power-gamer, torq off the DM class! And make him from Karrnath, they have war colleges.

Both classes are arcane casters, and both compliment you team.
You have two up close fighters, and two ranged attackers.
And you will make those classes look so cool!
Lord Zeb
11-24-04, 10:07 AM shameless plug/

Perhaps a Bard angling for one of the Sublime builds (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=340926) meets both RP and powergame requirements?

/shameless plug

:cool:
Khazra Reborn
11-24-04, 11:19 AM Why not play an artificer? Just search artificer and take a look at the optimised artificer thread, that should be enough to convince you. :P

If you want to play a rogue what type would you like to play? traditional or a more combat orientated one. If you get to 16 BaB you can be quite a good archer especially if your full BaB prc grants continued bardic music progression because inspire courage is one of the easiest ways to add damage to ranged attacks.
Snicker-Snack
11-24-04, 11:30 AM Yeah, an artificer would help your group a lot. You guys really need a trapfinder (except your DM doesn't use traps).

Alternatively, a Druid is also a great choice. They are extremely versatile, being great secondary tanks, healers, offensive casters, etc.

A bard would be nice too. They are NOT weak: They are great support Characters, having one around is always useful. But they can be a bit tricky to play, though.
verdynian
11-24-04, 02:38 PM Thanks for the responses.

To Nethendil:
Thanks for the input. A lot of good suggestions in there. Truthfully, in looking at bard, I was kind of leaning more towards the Seeker of Song. The PrC struck me as cool & original.
Do you remember what book that feat is in that gives two skills as class skills? Might be worth a look.
As for good builds, my DM only allows access to one 10-lvl PrC and one <10 PrC. So finding a good build would have its problems. He gets skittish when I or my buddy multiclass.

To Sorcerer:
Warlock is tempting, I got to admit, hell, even my DM thinks so, but I will have to read some more about it before I make a final decision. It is terra incognita for me, so I like to know what I am getting into before I leap.
But, I did not know, for certain that Eldritch Blast was unlimited. Mmmm :-)
As for the warmage, not really my style. If I am going to go that route, I tthink I would prefer the Battle Sorcerer variant from UA. At least then, I can choose my spells.

To Lord Zeb:
I will check out those builds after I finish writing this. But, like I said, my DM is strict on multiclass builds. So, it may be difficult to find one.

To Khazra Reborn:
Uh, Artificer really just does not stir my boots. At least, not at this point in time. Besides, my buddy played one (and died in the camp-site scene), and he encountered potential problems with the DM about it. He wasn't allowed to bring his DMG to the game. Kind of makes enchanting items and casting infusions difficult.
As for a rogue types that I play? They usually end up on or near the front line. My other rogue in different campaign has become the party tank (HP-wise), because of this.
Of course, this could be do to poor planning on my part, or because I am rarely given time to move into a flanking position. I'll let you decide. ;-)

To Snicker-Snack:
Refer to my response to Khazra Reborn about Artificers.
Good god, yes! My DM absolutely loves traps!
But, I was kind of thinking this: we already have a trap-finder. The dwarven barbarian, if ya know what I mean. ;-)
As for druids, never played one before. No reason why, just not played one before.
Why, praytell, can bards be tricky to play?

Please, to everyone, feel free to continue.
m15a
11-24-04, 03:03 PM dunno if this is what the original poster was referring to, but bards, in some ways, are only powerful at times during combat. most of their powerful spells are based on will saves and most are mind-affecting. on the other hand, there's no shame in just staying back and playing music. of course, bards could engage in actual combat, too . . . maybe the difficulty is what aspect of the bard to improve. or which abilities to make high.

in any case, i think bard is not such a bad idea. you can definitely use your roleplay abilities (along with a DC 40-50 fascinate) towards survivability. :)

if you don't want to go straight rogue and are interested in the warlock, you could always take a few levels of warlock and add it to a rogue build. a high charisma rogue could benefit from the +6 boost to certain skill checks and the +charisma bonus to any of the three saves. (probably your most likely lifesaver . . . unless you want to gain flight, invisibility, etc.)
verdynian
11-24-04, 07:45 PM To m15a:

Combining bard and warlock?
I will have to look into that. Sounds like a potentially interesting build.

Come on people, don't be shy. 133 people have read this thread, but only five have answered?
Thank you to the five. You have definitely given some interesting ideas . .
ninjarabbit
11-24-04, 08:01 PM You should be a hexblade, the greatest core class ever made. You get a d10 for hps, cha bonus against magic saves, a familar (which'll be tougher than some PCs thanks to the d10s you have), and light arcane casting abilities.
Ramses III
11-25-04, 03:12 AM You should be a hexblade, the greatest core class ever made. You get a d10 for hps, cha bonus against magic saves, a familar (which'll be tougher than some PCs thanks to the d10s you have), and light arcane casting abilities.
Hehe, Medium armor casting with the feat from CA. Besides the curse and Mettle really make Hexblade hot. I gotta play one of these. Oh hey -- a bard can get casting in Medium armor with that feat. Of 9th level spells, with the Sublime Chord.... This just gets better and better.
Korwin
11-25-04, 04:53 AM Or heavy Armor if he takes the feat twice... (at least I think you can take it two times...)
Funny Slaughter
11-25-04, 08:04 AM omg, i hope those hexblade-suggestions are only a joke. with a load of effort one can make a medium powered character out of this class, but no way to shine in the ranks of the real stars.

verdynian you sound like a pretty experienced player, given this i would really give the bard a chance. its the class that is most hard to play imo but you have great possibilities (into both directions of the powerline).

read yourself the bard handbook linked in the build faq, plenty of good suggestioins (uhhh) in it. digging spells, creative skill-use and UMD are all needed to be a SOTA bard. its work, but i am quite sure that its also a lot more fun compared to fighters etc.

i would even go so far and name the bard as the "master optimizers choice". unlimited possibilities, unlimited options, unlimited min/maxing, thats it.
nothing i would choose if a con-mate asks me to chime in, but if i would trapped in a hut for a week or two and only got all the books i am sure i would make a great bard build :D

gs
Funny
Khazra Reborn
11-25-04, 11:30 AM omg, i hope those hexblade-suggestions are only a joke. with a load of effort one can make a medium powered character out of this class.
Actually i find the hexblade to be really quite good. The curse can come in really handy against low will NPCs/monsters. Plus your probaly one of the most magic resistant base class (especially if you take the token blackguard levels for cha to saves). It's also nice for those characters who want to play a dragon disciple with out worrying to much about caster level.

Or heavy Armor if he takes the feat twice... (at least I think you can take it two times...)
Why would you? Mithral fullplate is medium armour :rolleyes:
ZeroEffect
11-25-04, 12:57 PM It sounds like your heart is set on a bard. Take a look at the great sublime thread the others have suggested...
verdynian
11-25-04, 01:42 PM Thank you to each and every one of you for replying.
Bard was indeed the strongest calling class, I believe.
But, last night, I began reading through the Warlock class. OMG! Wow! What a kicking class!
The powergamer in me nearly cried in happiness.

But, not being one to rush to rash decisions, I will check out the Bard builds, as Funny Slaughter suggested. It looks like I may have a dead heat in this race.

As for the hexblade, I have to say, wrong character at this moment. While I do want to play one some day, Bard & Warlock are more enchanting at the moment.
Nithendil
11-25-04, 01:50 PM Sorry I don't recall the name of the feat that grants two skills as class skills, perhaps someone here can recall it.

dwarven barbarian (future battlerager), a human paladin of the silver flame, a human cleric/fighter, and a human wizard.

I believe a bard would benefit this party the most. Since you have a paladin, (and are sort of forced to be exalted), you might as well be anyways and take words of creation (doubles your inspire courage effect) and use a battle horn (+1 to inspire courage),take the lingering song feat (from song and silence) and take haste as a 3rd level spell.

You guys will be plowing through monsters in no-time.
RadicalTaoist
11-25-04, 02:32 PM Hexblades freaking OWN. Polymorph on that spell list and Mettle make them the best straight melee class there is. Check this month's contest, one of my entries (Croup, half of the Croup and Vandemar entry put up by me and shadow mage on the second page).
Why has ranger not been considered? The skills will fill in for what's lacking. And using the dwarven barbarian as a trapspringer is gonna prove to suck when he gets by a will- or reflex-save-or-die trap. An artificer/ranger was my first thought - get the stealth skills from ranger, qualify for double wand wielder, trapfinding and UMD from artificer. Better in combat and magic than the rogue. Maybe not too social, but you could max Sense Motive.
One thing needs to be explained though - HOW did your DM pull off the near-TPK? And what were the other builds that got killed?
Snicker-Snack
11-25-04, 03:50 PM Hexblades freaking OWN. Polymorph on that spell list and Mettle make them the best straight melee class there is.

Unfortunately, A hexblade will only get access to that polymorph at level 14, and until there, it will pretty much suck. And even after that, his few spells/day won't do much for an typical party with 4~5 encounters/day.

The hexblade can be a nice way to get Mettle and Arcane resistance, but full commitment to the class is a waste of levels IMO.
RadicalTaoist
11-25-04, 04:32 PM *coff*Rings of Wizardry*coff*read the build I mentioned*coff*
ninjarabbit
11-25-04, 06:05 PM A rogue3/hexblade12/blackguard5 will pwn your soul.
Snicker-Snack
11-26-04, 07:28 AM *coff*Rings of Wizardry*coff*read the build I mentioned*coff*

Ah. That makes it a bit more playable, but you spent 100k gp for 3 extra 4th level slots.

For 108k, an average character could buy a ring of Polymorph at CL 15 that could be used 5 times/day. And that without the need to take 14 levels in a sub-par class.
Lord Zeb
11-26-04, 08:25 AM Here's another option:

Assuming having Hideous Blow and Improved Natural Attack:

Monk 1 / Warlock 9 / Enlightened Fist 10 - dmg 3d6 monk + 8d6 eldritch + Str
or
Monk 6 / Warlock 4 / Enlightened Fist 10 - dmg 3d8 monk + 6d6 eldritch + Str

The damage is once per round, every round!
verdynian
11-29-04, 01:49 AM To RadicalTaoist:
How did the DM pull it off?
Because, the party decided upon a full frontal assault of the camp. I suggested that they should let me at least scout around before any attack took place, with the rogue. The two Warforged felt that they could take the camp. I finally got them to agree to give me and the rogue 10 minutes to circle around and get into a flanking position.
Needless to say the assault went off rather poorly. KIA: 2 warforged, and one rogue.
The moral here? Low initiative can sometimes save your life. I rolled lowest and saw most my party dead before it was my turn.
The builds? Ha! Seeing as we were second level. There were no builds. Hell the guy that played the artificer & I are probably the only two at the table who could define build.

To everyone else:
I probably should have included this in my opening dialogue. My DM does not allow evil characters. If a prerequisite of a class, PrC, or build involves evil, save your time.
Also, only Core Handbooks, Complete series, Minatures, and XPH are known to be allowed for character creation. Book of Exalted Deeds & Vile Darkness are subject to a case by case basis, along with Savage Species. Things like Sword & Fist, Defenders of Faith, Tome & Blood, Masters of the Wild, and Song & Silence do not count.
Well, maybe S&S, only because the Complete Adventurer is not out yet.
Oh, and my DM is somewhat lax in handing out treasure. At least, it seems like it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
verdynian 11-24-04, 03:54 AM	I am a first time poster, so hopefully I am posting this on the right board. I am seeking advice on my next character. My DM is running an Eberron campaign, and had a 75% PK with my group. My character was the only one to survive. He returned to Sharn after seeing his comrades get butchered in the camp-site dig part of Shadows of the Last War. He returned, initially to acquire some new reinforcements, AKA the new characters of the PCs. But having arrived there, my character realized that the Lord of the Blades had some assassins after him. Now, my character realized that he may not be the safest company for a group of 1st level characters. My character was 3rd level. So, after recruiting he is going to leave. My character would see this as trying to protect these new people by distancing himself from them. So far, he has managed to recruit a dwarven barbarian (future battlerager), a human paladin of the silver flame, a human cleric/fighter, and a human wizard. Now, this is my dilemna . . What type of character should I make to go along with this collection? I was initially thinking about doing a bard, to help compliment the group, and because I have not played a bard since the mid-90's, but I have been reading posts on the message board that give me the idea that maybe a bard is not such a good idea. In terms of survivability. By nature, I powergame. I like for my characters to live long enough to adventure and die of old age. So, if I did bard, I would like to avoid the powergaming. Make him more RPish. I am playing a dwarven rogue in another campaign, so I would prefer to not go the rogue route, even though it would fill in the missing ideal gap. My preferred class is arcane spellcaster (esspecially wizard), but my DM and I do not see eye to eye on the way a wizard should be (mostly because I believe 3E & 3.5 killed the wizard class). So, I am looking for advice or opinions on what my next character should be. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. BTW, my character that survived was a half-orc soulblade.
Nithendil 11-24-04, 04:02 AM	I was initially thinking about doing a bard, to help compliment the group, and because I have not played a bard since the mid-90's, but I have been reading posts on the message board that give me the idea that maybe a bard is not such a good idea. In terms of survivability. From levels 1 to 9 (when the campaign ended), my bard was the only chracter in my party to have never gone below 0hp. By nature, I powergame. I like for my characters to live long enough to adventure and die of old age. So, if I did bard, I would like to avoid the powergaming. Make him more RPish. With a bard, you can do both. RP social skills, front of the party, suggestions, and if you have access to alot of splatbooks, there are a decent amount of good builds. I am playing a dwarven rogue in another campaign, so I would prefer to not go the rogue route, even though it would fill in the missing ideal gap. Be a human (or gnome or halfing or half-elf), take one level of rogue (for trapfinding and 1d6 sneak attack) and bard x / prestige class x. Take the feat that gives you two skills as class skills (take search and disable device). Locks you can always smash or use spells or items to get around. My preferred class is arcane spellcaster (esspecially wizard), but my DM and I do not see eye to eye on the way a wizard should be (mostly because I believe 3E & 3.5 killed the wizard class). Not sure if it is what you are looking for, but the Sublime chord prestige class from the complete arcane will give you a bard build that casts 9th level arcane spells. Or you can always do an arcane trickster build for a rogue/arcane combo.
Sorcerer 11-24-04, 04:49 AM	Warlock from Complete Arcane. You have a fighter, a cleric fighter...OK you are covered there. You have a wiz...you are covered there. But a warlock is the ultimate sniper, And tou can cast Eldritch Blast at will! Sure, you only get 1D6 at first, but its at will. Ranged touch attacks, no save. At First level take this invocation; Eldritch Spear 250 foot ranged touch for you blast with NO RANGE PENALTIES! You can use light armor with NO Arcane caster penalties. But a Laskin Horn with your starting Gold for +1 to hit with all ranged touch attacks (55 gps, pages 91, 92 Ebberon book). The class looks fun. Of course if you like to blow things up (in a more traditional arcane way) use the WarMage from the same book! A Warmages is a sorcerer with a really big spell list, D6's for hits, and Light and medium armor with No arcane penalties! Its a blow em up, but kicking power-gamer, torq off the DM class! And make him from Karrnath, they have war colleges. Both classes are arcane casters, and both compliment you team. You have two up close fighters, and two ranged attackers. And you will make those classes look so cool!
Lord Zeb 11-24-04, 10:07 AM	shameless plug/ Perhaps a Bard angling for one of the Sublime builds (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=340926) meets both RP and powergame requirements? /shameless plug :cool:
Khazra Reborn 11-24-04, 11:19 AM	Why not play an artificer? Just search artificer and take a look at the optimised artificer thread, that should be enough to convince you. :P If you want to play a rogue what type would you like to play? traditional or a more combat orientated one. If you get to 16 BaB you can be quite a good archer especially if your full BaB prc grants continued bardic music progression because inspire courage is one of the easiest ways to add damage to ranged attacks.
Snicker-Snack 11-24-04, 11:30 AM	Yeah, an artificer would help your group a lot. You guys really need a trapfinder (except your DM doesn't use traps). Alternatively, a Druid is also a great choice. They are extremely versatile, being great secondary tanks, healers, offensive casters, etc. A bard would be nice too. They are NOT weak: They are great support Characters, having one around is always useful. But they can be a bit tricky to play, though.
verdynian 11-24-04, 02:38 PM	Thanks for the responses. To Nethendil: Thanks for the input. A lot of good suggestions in there. Truthfully, in looking at bard, I was kind of leaning more towards the Seeker of Song. The PrC struck me as cool & original. Do you remember what book that feat is in that gives two skills as class skills? Might be worth a look. As for good builds, my DM only allows access to one 10-lvl PrC and one <10 PrC. So finding a good build would have its problems. He gets skittish when I or my buddy multiclass. To Sorcerer: Warlock is tempting, I got to admit, hell, even my DM thinks so, but I will have to read some more about it before I make a final decision. It is terra incognita for me, so I like to know what I am getting into before I leap. But, I did not know, for certain that Eldritch Blast was unlimited. Mmmm :-) As for the warmage, not really my style. If I am going to go that route, I tthink I would prefer the Battle Sorcerer variant from UA. At least then, I can choose my spells. To Lord Zeb: I will check out those builds after I finish writing this. But, like I said, my DM is strict on multiclass builds. So, it may be difficult to find one. To Khazra Reborn: Uh, Artificer really just does not stir my boots. At least, not at this point in time. Besides, my buddy played one (and died in the camp-site scene), and he encountered potential problems with the DM about it. He wasn't allowed to bring his DMG to the game. Kind of makes enchanting items and casting infusions difficult. As for a rogue types that I play? They usually end up on or near the front line. My other rogue in different campaign has become the party tank (HP-wise), because of this. Of course, this could be do to poor planning on my part, or because I am rarely given time to move into a flanking position. I'll let you decide. ;-) To Snicker-Snack: Refer to my response to Khazra Reborn about Artificers. Good god, yes! My DM absolutely loves traps! But, I was kind of thinking this: we already have a trap-finder. The dwarven barbarian, if ya know what I mean. ;-) As for druids, never played one before. No reason why, just not played one before. Why, praytell, can bards be tricky to play? Please, to everyone, feel free to continue.
m15a 11-24-04, 03:03 PM	dunno if this is what the original poster was referring to, but bards, in some ways, are only powerful at times during combat. most of their powerful spells are based on will saves and most are mind-affecting. on the other hand, there's no shame in just staying back and playing music. of course, bards could engage in actual combat, too . . . maybe the difficulty is what aspect of the bard to improve. or which abilities to make high. in any case, i think bard is not such a bad idea. you can definitely use your roleplay abilities (along with a DC 40-50 fascinate) towards survivability. :) if you don't want to go straight rogue and are interested in the warlock, you could always take a few levels of warlock and add it to a rogue build. a high charisma rogue could benefit from the +6 boost to certain skill checks and the +charisma bonus to any of the three saves. (probably your most likely lifesaver . . . unless you want to gain flight, invisibility, etc.)
verdynian 11-24-04, 07:45 PM	To m15a: Combining bard and warlock? I will have to look into that. Sounds like a potentially interesting build. Come on people, don't be shy. 133 people have read this thread, but only five have answered? Thank you to the five. You have definitely given some interesting ideas . .
ninjarabbit 11-24-04, 08:01 PM	You should be a hexblade, the greatest core class ever made. You get a d10 for hps, cha bonus against magic saves, a familar (which'll be tougher than some PCs thanks to the d10s you have), and light arcane casting abilities.
Ramses III 11-25-04, 03:12 AM	You should be a hexblade, the greatest core class ever made. You get a d10 for hps, cha bonus against magic saves, a familar (which'll be tougher than some PCs thanks to the d10s you have), and light arcane casting abilities. Hehe, Medium armor casting with the feat from CA. Besides the curse and Mettle really make Hexblade hot. I gotta play one of these. Oh hey -- a bard can get casting in Medium armor with that feat. Of 9th level spells, with the Sublime Chord.... This just gets better and better.
Korwin 11-25-04, 04:53 AM	Or heavy Armor if he takes the feat twice... (at least I think you can take it two times...)
Funny Slaughter 11-25-04, 08:04 AM	omg, i hope those hexblade-suggestions are only a joke. with a load of effort one can make a medium powered character out of this class, but no way to shine in the ranks of the real stars. verdynian you sound like a pretty experienced player, given this i would really give the bard a chance. its the class that is most hard to play imo but you have great possibilities (into both directions of the powerline). read yourself the bard handbook linked in the build faq, plenty of good suggestioins (uhhh) in it. digging spells, creative skill-use and UMD are all needed to be a SOTA bard. its work, but i am quite sure that its also a lot more fun compared to fighters etc. i would even go so far and name the bard as the "master optimizers choice". unlimited possibilities, unlimited options, unlimited min/maxing, thats it. nothing i would choose if a con-mate asks me to chime in, but if i would trapped in a hut for a week or two and only got all the books i am sure i would make a great bard build :D gs Funny
Khazra Reborn 11-25-04, 11:30 AM	omg, i hope those hexblade-suggestions are only a joke. with a load of effort one can make a medium powered character out of this class. Actually i find the hexblade to be really quite good. The curse can come in really handy against low will NPCs/monsters. Plus your probaly one of the most magic resistant base class (especially if you take the token blackguard levels for cha to saves). It's also nice for those characters who want to play a dragon disciple with out worrying to much about caster level. Or heavy Armor if he takes the feat twice... (at least I think you can take it two times...) Why would you? Mithral fullplate is medium armour :rolleyes:
ZeroEffect 11-25-04, 12:57 PM	It sounds like your heart is set on a bard. Take a look at the great sublime thread the others have suggested...
verdynian 11-25-04, 01:42 PM	Thank you to each and every one of you for replying. Bard was indeed the strongest calling class, I believe. But, last night, I began reading through the Warlock class. OMG! Wow! What a kicking class! The powergamer in me nearly cried in happiness. But, not being one to rush to rash decisions, I will check out the Bard builds, as Funny Slaughter suggested. It looks like I may have a dead heat in this race. As for the hexblade, I have to say, wrong character at this moment. While I do want to play one some day, Bard & Warlock are more enchanting at the moment.
Nithendil 11-25-04, 01:50 PM	Sorry I don't recall the name of the feat that grants two skills as class skills, perhaps someone here can recall it. dwarven barbarian (future battlerager), a human paladin of the silver flame, a human cleric/fighter, and a human wizard. I believe a bard would benefit this party the most. Since you have a paladin, (and are sort of forced to be exalted), you might as well be anyways and take words of creation (doubles your inspire courage effect) and use a battle horn (+1 to inspire courage),take the lingering song feat (from song and silence) and take haste as a 3rd level spell. You guys will be plowing through monsters in no-time.
RadicalTaoist 11-25-04, 02:32 PM	Hexblades freaking OWN. Polymorph on that spell list and Mettle make them the best straight melee class there is. Check this month's contest, one of my entries (Croup, half of the Croup and Vandemar entry put up by me and shadow mage on the second page). Why has ranger not been considered? The skills will fill in for what's lacking. And using the dwarven barbarian as a trapspringer is gonna prove to suck when he gets by a will- or reflex-save-or-die trap. An artificer/ranger was my first thought - get the stealth skills from ranger, qualify for double wand wielder, trapfinding and UMD from artificer. Better in combat and magic than the rogue. Maybe not too social, but you could max Sense Motive. One thing needs to be explained though - HOW did your DM pull off the near-TPK? And what were the other builds that got killed?
Snicker-Snack 11-25-04, 03:50 PM	Hexblades freaking OWN. Polymorph on that spell list and Mettle make them the best straight melee class there is. Unfortunately, A hexblade will only get access to that polymorph at level 14, and until there, it will pretty much suck. And even after that, his few spells/day won't do much for an typical party with 4~5 encounters/day. The hexblade can be a nice way to get Mettle and Arcane resistance, but full commitment to the class is a waste of levels IMO.
RadicalTaoist 11-25-04, 04:32 PM	coffRings of Wizardrycoffread the build I mentionedcoff
ninjarabbit 11-25-04, 06:05 PM	A rogue3/hexblade12/blackguard5 will pwn your soul.
Snicker-Snack 11-26-04, 07:28 AM	coffRings of Wizardrycoffread the build I mentionedcoff Ah. That makes it a bit more playable, but you spent 100k gp for 3 extra 4th level slots. For 108k, an average character could buy a ring of Polymorph at CL 15 that could be used 5 times/day. And that without the need to take 14 levels in a sub-par class.
Lord Zeb 11-26-04, 08:25 AM	Here's another option: Assuming having Hideous Blow and Improved Natural Attack: Monk 1 / Warlock 9 / Enlightened Fist 10 - dmg 3d6 monk + 8d6 eldritch + Str or Monk 6 / Warlock 4 / Enlightened Fist 10 - dmg 3d8 monk + 6d6 eldritch + Str The damage is once per round, every round!
verdynian 11-29-04, 01:49 AM	To RadicalTaoist: How did the DM pull it off? Because, the party decided upon a full frontal assault of the camp. I suggested that they should let me at least scout around before any attack took place, with the rogue. The two Warforged felt that they could take the camp. I finally got them to agree to give me and the rogue 10 minutes to circle around and get into a flanking position. Needless to say the assault went off rather poorly. KIA: 2 warforged, and one rogue. The moral here? Low initiative can sometimes save your life. I rolled lowest and saw most my party dead before it was my turn. The builds? Ha! Seeing as we were second level. There were no builds. Hell the guy that played the artificer & I are probably the only two at the table who could define build. To everyone else: I probably should have included this in my opening dialogue. My DM does not allow evil characters. If a prerequisite of a class, PrC, or build involves evil, save your time. Also, only Core Handbooks, Complete series, Minatures, and XPH are known to be allowed for character creation. Book of Exalted Deeds & Vile Darkness are subject to a case by case basis, along with Savage Species. Things like Sword & Fist, Defenders of Faith, Tome & Blood, Masters of the Wild, and Song & Silence do not count. Well, maybe S&S, only because the Complete Adventurer is not out yet. Oh, and my DM is somewhat lax in handing out treasure. At least, it seems like it.