Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Thorsbjorn 05-11-07, 12:13 PM	I've put together an epic NPC, the captain of a slaver ship on which the PCs might book passage, but which more likely they'll have to fight after they book passage on a more reputable ship. I got some feedback earlier on the non-epic boards, but now that I've put him together I'd like to solicit your epic expertise as well. Thanks! :) Here's what I have so far: Ok, after an illness and a lot of work, I've put together the following classes and feats: Level Class Level Feat(s) Special Ability 1 Rogue 1 Sailor's Balance, Sea Legs Sneak 1d6, trapfind 2 Rogue 2 Evasion 3 Swshbcklr 1 Weapon Finesse, Tumbling Feint 4 Fighter 1 Weapon Focus (cutlass) 5 Fighter 2 Quick Draw 6 Drd Pirate 1 Improved Feint, Unchosen feat 1 Seamanship 7 Drd Pirate 2 Fearsome Rep +2 8 Drd Pirate 3 Sneak 2d6 9 Drd Pirate 4 Improved Two-Weapon Fighting Acrobatic charge 10 Drd Pirate 5 Scourge of Seas 11 Drd Pirate 6 Fearsome Rep +4 12 Drd Pirate 7 Greater Two-Weapon Fighting Sneak 3d6 13 Drd Pirate 8 Skill Mastery 14 S Corsair 1 Improved Feint 15 S Corsair 2 Improved Critical (cutlass) Sneak 4d6 16 S Corsair 3 Corsair Feint (2d4) 17 S Corsair 4 Sailor's Step +2 18 S Corsair 5 Unchosen feat 2 Scourge of Sea :( 19 S Corsair 6 Sneak 5d6 20 S Corsair 7 Corsair Feint (1d4) 21 S Corsair 8 Unchosen feat 3 [epic] Sailor's Step +4 The character has base saving throw bonuses of Fort +11, Reflex +21, and Will +5. After adding ability score modifiers and magic the save bonuses come to Fort +17, Reflex +28, and Will +11. So far he has a Bluff bonus of +26, and an Initiative bonus of +12. 1. What do you think of this build so far? What changes, if any, would you suggest. 2. I have some ideas for the three open feats: Unchosen feat 1: Skill Focus (Bluff), Old Salt, Leadership (for Great Captain), Iron Will (to increase that feeble Will save bonus), Improved Initiative, or Combat Reflexes. Unchosen feat 2: Two-Weapon Pounce, Two-Weapon Rend, Great Captain, or one of the ones not chosen for unchosen feat 1. Unchosen feat 3: Improved Sneak Attack, Superior Initiative (if he takes Improved Initiative as one of the first two unchosen feats), Epic Weapon Focus (cutlass), Spellcasting Harrier (if he takes Combat Reflexes as one of the first two unchosen feats), Epic Skill Focus (Bluff), Epic Will, or Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting. What do you think? 3. I'm still toying with the idea of replacing two levels somewhere with two more levels of swashbuckler in order to get to add the Intelligence bonus to damage rolls since I've given him a high Intelligence (bonus +7 after magical enhancement). I could see possibly giving up Skill Mastery, and thus the 8th level of dread pirate, but I don't want to give up the extra 1d6 of sneak attack damage of 7th level of dread pirate, or the extra +2 Dodge bonus to AC from 8th level of scarlet corsair. I can't give up either level of rogue or fighter, as he needs them both to get to dread pirate. I could perhaps give up that 8th level of dread pirate and add in two levels of swashbuckler, just giving him 22 levels in total. Or I could simply add the two levels of swashbuckler and give him 23 levels in total. What do you think? Thanks! :) Edit: Oops! That Reflex bonus after magic and ability scores modifiers should be +28, not +58! I've changed it above.
Taeldrin Laesrash 05-11-07, 09:17 PM	1. Improved Initiative, 2. Two-Weapon Rend (Though you might want to consider the Two-Weapon Defense feats), 3. Perfect TWF, if he's gone this far, it's a must-have. If you really want the 3rd-level Swashbuckler ability, take out the 8th DP level, and give him an extra level. High-level PCs can rip through powerful NPCs fairly regularly.
Thorsbjorn 05-12-07, 01:02 AM	1. Improved Initiative, 2. Two-Weapon Rend (Though you might want to consider the Two-Weapon Defense feats), 3. Perfect TWF, if he's gone this far, it's a must-have. If you really want the 3rd-level Swashbuckler ability, take out the 8th DP level, and give him an extra level. High-level PCs can rip through powerful NPCs fairly regularly. Thanks for the feedback! I agree that the PCs won't have too much trouble with him as he is at 21st level. He doesn't have the hitting power of the party's main melee guy, the healing and buff spells of the party's cleric, or the offensive arsenal of the party's wizard and sorceress. I gave him evasion to give him a fighting chance against many of the offensive spells, and the high touch AC (30) will help him against disintegrate and polar ray. I'm giving him some Use Magic Device so he can have a few wands and maybe a few scrolls (fly, greater invisibility) that will make him a bit more effective, but even so, I'm concerned that he just won't challenge the party as much as his CR would suggest. I originally set him up with all three two-weapon defense feats, but it seemed a waste of three feats just to raise AC 3 points, especially when a force shield ring could replace 2 of the 3.
Thorsbjorn 05-12-07, 11:31 PM	You know, I'm really torn between Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting and Dire Charge. Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting allows an extra attack with a full attack action, but at the lowest bonus, so it would be the least useful of all his attacks (or tied for least and second-least with the fourth iterative attack with the primary weapon, but since the primary weapon actually has a higher enchancement bonus, the fourth iterative attack with the secondar weapon would in practice be the least likely to hit). Dire Charge, especially updated to match the 3.5 update of the pounce special ability (now works on all charges, not just a charge on the first round), would allow six extra attacks (3 extra with the primary weapon and all 3 with the secondary weapon) on a charge. Of course if I pushed him up to 24th level I could give him both feats. :D