Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rashomon 04-28-06, 06:51 AM	I'm making a level 5 character in the Eberron campaign setting, optimized towards tracking and ranged combat. Below are the parameters under which I will be operating. All PCs should be Good or Neutral aligned, be able to work with a team, and be motivated to aid law enforcement in quelling a prison break. No sociopaths, anarchists, or outright criminals, please. The Player Characters will be 5th Level. Classes can be taken from the Player's Handbook, Eberron campaign setting, or any of the Complete sourcebooks (Complete Arcane, Complete Adventurer, etc.). Prestige classes are also allowed, provided they suit the setting and premise. Characters should be constructed using the point buy system from the Dungeon Master's Guide, with 28 points available to purchase Ability scores. The characters will begin with 9,000 gp worth of gear. Try to mix in some mundane equipment rather than just getting one or two potent magic items. You'll be mostly relying on your own resources during the adventure. What I had in mind was a Ranger 4 / Bloodhound 1. Emphasized abilities would be Dex, Wis, and then Con, with at least average intelligence and strength. (10/16/14/12/14/8 before racial modifiers). Feats would focus on precision shooting. Urban Ranger had come to mind, but I doubt variant classes would be allowed, and I still need Track to qualify for Bloodhound. Elven ranger was considered as well, given the hueg amount of skills, but that's in an environment book and might be subject to DM approval. Nevertheless, suggest away, and I'll see how it goes.
ZeroEffect 04-28-06, 07:30 AM	Consider taking levels of Rogue for skills like Gather Information (essentially urban tracking). Don't bother with the Urban Ranger variant. Take 2 levels of Ranger for Track and Combat Style. Consider taking a higher Int so that you get more skill points. Start with Rogue 3/Ranger 2 and then enter the Bloodhound prestige class. Work towards Rogue 4/Ranger 2/Bloodhound 10/X 4 if you want to max out the Bloodhound class by 20th level. A build that I would be EXTREMELY tempted towards is Rogue 4/Ranger 3/Bloodhound 7/Horizon Walker 6. You need that 3rd level of Ranger to get Endurance to qualify for Horizon Walker. Enter Bloodhound as soon as you can for roleplaying flavor, but then try to get the Horizon Walker 6th level power ASAP. The Dimension Door power is awesome for a bounty hunter/tracker. The other class skills are useful as well. If you end up playing to epic levels, there's a good epic bounty hunter prestige class in the Epic book.
Rashomon 04-28-06, 11:27 AM	Probably won't make it to epic levels, but thanks for the suggestion. I noticed that if I was going elf ranger, I should just go rogue all the way, owing to sneak attack progression, evasion, and the much more generous skill selection.
ZeroEffect 04-28-06, 11:40 AM	I think the 2 Ranger levels are worth it for Track and Rapid Shot. I wouldn't take any more than that, unless you took the 3rd level to get into Horizon Walker.
Rashomon 04-28-06, 02:11 PM	Bloodhound needs Endurance, which Ranger 3 gives. I'm not married to the idea, though.
Person_Man 04-28-06, 03:04 PM	Consider being a human Ranger 3/Fighter 1/Bloodhound 1 Feats: Able Learner, Urban Tracking, Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot. Able Learner (RoD) makes Gather Information and every other skill in class. Urban Tracking sounds like it'd be very helpful for this campaign. Ranger 3 gets you Track, Endureance, and Rapid Shot. Ranger 4 is useless, as your animal companion will get slaughtered if you're going to be pursueing Bloodhound the rest of your career. Thus Fighter 1 is a much better idea.