Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nuclearsunburn 01-21-06, 07:57 PM	After MUCH thought and deliberation...and now I'm wondering, if this will be an effective party. (Having not played in a long time, I'm out of the loop, all I have is this board and theory.) Character 1 - Warforged Artificer (1-20). I plan to use this as the party's blaster and cure wands to help heal, and to tank when need be, also as the trap-killer. Skill ranks in Search, Disable Device, Use Magic Device, and...? Character 2 - Elan Nomad(19) Psy Warrior (1). This guy is dead set on playing a psion... and I think that the Nomad is the best choice for us, as he can double as our tracker if he takes the Track feat at level 1. Plus, the imagery of baleful teleport is just too funny. He'll take Survival ranks and Knowledge ranks. Character 3 - Half-Elf Bard (10) Seeker of the Song (10) he'll be the "face man", with ranks in Diplomacy, Perform, Gather Info, Move Silently, Hide, and one or two Knowledge skills. We pretty much just have the Complete books, Eberron Campaign Setting, and the Player's Guide to Eberron. (The DM has banned scouts, as he had trouble with one in a previous campaign.) Any suggestions are very welcome :)
psly4mne 01-21-06, 08:29 PM	Artificer: No problem here. The artificer is always a good choice. He can take care of buffing as well as blasting, healing, and untrapping. Nomad: I like psions, but psychoportation is the weakest discipline to focus in. Telepath and Egoist are your two best options. The Telepath can act as a good face for the party, since he needs charisma anyway and he has the class skills. The one-level dip into Psychic Warrior is terrible. Consider taking levels in Illithid Slayer or Thrallherd. Otherwise, stay straights psion. Elan is a subpar race for a psion. It gains no stat bonuses and its racial abilities suck up valuable power points and swift actions. Play a human or a gray elf instead. Bard: I think you will find a Bard/Seeker to be weak in all but purely diplomatic situations. Check out the Sublime Compilation (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=340926) for better bardy options. A sorceror/virtuoso (CA) might also work. A rogue-based build also makes a good face, since you have two casters already.
X-Codes 01-21-06, 08:30 PM	The Warforged Artificier can easily step up and be the tank of the party, and your Nomad will actually be able to provide plenty of arcane support, and really should just go Nomad 20. My issue is that stupid bard taking levels in Seeker of the Song. Seeker of the Song looses many of the class skills of the bard and has fewer skill points in exchange for about 3 useful abilities. If your bard wants to cast big-boy spells then tell him to stop screwing around and play a Bard 20, you make the staves and he uses them.
Eyeless Blond 01-21-06, 08:55 PM	Or Sublime Chord, and he can actually cast them. As for the psion, I'm thinking Shaper might be a good choice. In a small party like this, and one with a bardic derivative to boot, any extra combatants you can muster up will be important assets. What I'd like to know is, what are the range of levels you're actually playing? Some options are only good when you're playing levels 12+; some campaigns end around level 10-11 so you don't even need to consider some of the high-end PrCs like Sublime Chord; some play starting from first level and require a few suboptimal choices be made in the early levels for the sake of survival, etc.
Nuclearsunburn 01-21-06, 09:15 PM	Thanks for the responses, guys... well, we're starting at level 2 until... who knows when, really. We're starting with the "Shadows of the Last War" module... yeah I dunno, I'm kind of in charge of our optimization so... I'll talk him out of Seeker and into Sublime. I guess that the discipline of the psion could change, and the bard could go from half-elf to human with cosmopolitan (Survival - that's just ironic) and Track as his feats... that might be good.
Pinky's brain 01-21-06, 10:01 PM	I personally quite like bard 5/dirge singer 5/seeker of the song 10 Sure seeker of the song ain't all that strong, but you are doing decent area attacks as a swift action at more than decent DCs while singing 2 songs ... and you still have a full round to spend on other stuff (assuming you didn't use a song which requires concentration).
Nuclearsunburn 01-22-06, 11:37 PM	would it be worth taking the Cosmopolitan feat (I know it's in a FR book but I don't see my DM having a problem with it) to get access to Use Psionic Device for the artificer (who I'm playing) and then having the Psion take psionic item creation feats with his bonus psion feats? (Also, should he take Cosmopolitan too for Use Magic Device?)
Kuroi Kenshi 01-23-06, 02:11 PM	Nothing I can add to the artificer. The psion, you could try a Psion10/Illithid Slayer10, or a Ranger1/Psion6/Slayer10/Psion3, or just straight psion. As said before the PW dip is bad. The bard...ok, unless you guys plan to use summons, cohorts, or similar, a bard won't be worth it unless you make him a sublime chord gish that does not focus on support. Bards are usually otherwise force multipliers and function best in medium to large parties, especially those that utlize summons. Other than the aforementioned alternative, maybe the bard could consider a cleric or druid? Each class can do pretty much everything (especially the druid), but will be better in a smaller party as each have more personal power.
Lilt 01-23-06, 02:34 PM	Count me as another voice against the bard. Bards make good additions to big parties as they up everyone's attack and damage. Consider that a bard backing-up 10 characters can make 10 points of damage difference, whilst one backing-up 3 can make 3 points of damage difference. Multiply this for additional attacks and higher inspire courage effects and it still stands that bards work best in big parties. That doesn't nessecarily mean thay're not a good member of a 3-man party, but personally I'd go for a character able to do more than 3 more points of damage than the bard would potentially do anyway in such a small party.