Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DerekSTheRed 09-22-07, 02:25 PM	This was going to be my Greyhawk Ruins character, but I decided not to play GR now that LG is ending. Here's the character though in case someone else thinks it would be a good idea. Race: Human Baklunish Class: Fighter/Cleric of Istus Domains - Luck and either Destiny, Mind, or Oracle Abilities: Str 14 +0 6 Dex 8 -1 0 Con 14 +2 6 Int 10 +0 2 Wis 15 +2 8 Cha 14 +3 6 Skills: Concentration, Knowledge[Religion], Spellcraft Level Class Feats/Special Ability 1 Cleric 1 Healer's Luck, Divine Ward 2 Fighter 1 Goad (and Martial Weapon Prof and Tower Shield) 3 Cleric 2 Good Kharma 4 Cleric 3 5 Cleric 4 6 Cleric 5 Craft Wondrous Item 7 Cleric 6 8 Cleric 7 9 Cleric 8 Skill Focus(Kownledge[Religion]) 10 Divine Oracle 1 11 Divine Oracle 2 12 Divine Oracle 3 Magical Fortune 13 Divine Oracle 4 14 Divine Oracle 5 15 Divine Oracle 6 Third Time's the Charm Tactics: This character's schtick is to get a super high AC and force opponents to attack him instead of his allies, even if he doesn't do much damage. This is accomplished using the feats Goad (CAd page 109) and Good Kharma (CS page 77). Each has its advantages and disadvantages so having both is still useful. Equipment: Heavy MW armor is a must early on. At second level you'll want a MW Tower Shield. A cloak of charisma should be high on the priority list as should a vest of resistance. Weaknesses will be reflex saves and touch attacks so any equipment that offsets that would be useful. Variations: The obvious variation would be to switch Good Karma with CWI. Adding another fighter level gives a bonus feat that can be used on feats like Armor Specialization or Shield Specialization. You might consider taking another feat at first level besides Divine Ward and the retrain to it later. This would be useful for Skill Focus (Concentration) or perhaps Scribe Scroll. You can also make this character a face character as well. Increase the intelligence and/or add the skills:bluff (Cross Class), diplomacy and sense motive. Also, select the Mind domain to get a +2 bonus on those skills. In that case you probably wouldn't want to go Divine Oracle and could take Skill Focus (Diplomacy) or Unbelievable Luck instead of Skill Focus(Knowledge: Religion). Any other comments or suggestions are welcome. Derek EDIT: Changed Charisma and Strength scores on advice of RtrnofdMax.
RtrnofdMax 09-22-07, 05:36 PM	That strength is going to hurt you. You can only carry a max of 100 lbs. With fullplate and a tower shield that's 100. You won't find mithril access (for tower shields and full plate) all that early, so if you're really trying to max armor, you're going to be carrying your armor and shield and maybe a weapon and that's it. You're going to have to sacrifice that Cha or it's going to suck if you ever want to "move". Remember that dungeons require more than fighting. If you need to climb, jump or balance, you're stuck...
UMiskatonic 09-22-07, 09:14 PM	You could swap out the middle cleric levels for three levels of Fortune's Friend. You get more luck feats, but lose a spellcasting level. Variations on a theme, I suppose. And I think Max is right, the ability scores are a bit TOO focused. I'd go with 14 Cha. And, since you'll have good skillpoints and the right skills, remember to take diplomacy and sense motive and speak language as skills. You could easily be a good diplomat, and 14 will be top of the heap in some parties.
DerekSTheRed 09-23-07, 10:37 AM	Good catch on the encumbrance Max. I'll edit to reflect that. Derek
DerekSTheRed 09-23-07, 10:40 AM	The thing about Fortune's Friend is that it loses spell casting at odd levels. Taking 2 levels would only cost me one spell casting level while 3 would cost me two. I don't really think it's worth it although it does build on the theme. The first level ability, more luck than skill, would allow me to add my "class" level to a skill check once a day. I interpret that to be my Fortune Friend's class level so only a plus 2 once a day. Not really that big a deal. The Easy Luck ability would be useful if I cast a bunch of swift spells which probably won't be the case. The whole idea behind getting more luck feats is to increase the number of times I can do Good Karma each day. Fortune's Friend's extra fortune ability would do that but I don't think it's worth a level of spell casting. Derek
RtrnofdMax 09-23-07, 12:32 PM	Also, don't overlook the Celerity Domain. Being able to move at your base speed when in full armor could allow you to get to your allies more easily so you can throw your body in the way.
UMiskatonic 09-23-07, 10:45 PM	I -might- drop a level of spellcasting to get a few Fortune's Friend levels, but probably not. However, other people might disagree with us, and want the luckiest character around. So, it's an available option. Personally, I think Fortune's Friend is yet another terrible PrC for rogues and bards, but it can sometimes used to good effect elsewhere, since it's got a pretty good skill list.
DerekSTheRed 09-24-07, 12:23 AM	Also, don't overlook the Celerity Domain. Being able to move at your base speed when in full armor could allow you to get to your allies more easily so you can throw your body in the way. The Celerity domain doesn't give the +10 movement if you are wearing medium or heavy armor or carrying a medium or heavy load. Both those things are likely to be true so the Celerity domain probably isn't worth it. Derek
RtrnofdMax 09-24-07, 01:34 AM	Yep. Good catch. I have been playing a melee scout too long. I guess I just assume everyone should have movement and encumbrance to spare.
mregecko 09-25-07, 12:05 PM	Definitely, DEFINITELY go with the Destiny domain. You will have a Delay Death at 5th level. The 7th level spell (Warp Destiny, I think it is) is amazing. Making your allies reroll any d20 is invaluable, and has saved my butt so many times I can't even begin to count. -- Gecko