Gary Threetrees, Forest Gnome
Druid: 1
Barbarian: 1
Str: 12
Dex: 14
Con: 17
Int: 11
Wis: 16
Cha: 14
Animal Companion: Riding Dog
Eschew Materials
Craft (Alchemy): 1
Handle Animal: 2
Knowledge (Nature): 1
Listen: 2
Ride: 4
Spot: 4
Survival: 5
I've never been a non-human before, or a druid, or a barbarian, and once I got the idea in my head, a tiny barbarian zooming around on a dog was just too hilarious not to do. Not sure how I finagled being allowed to be a Forest Gnome, but I was. My mojo must have been strong last session, because as an added treat, I finally got the DM to allow me to take 1 level of a psionic class as a trial of allowing psionics in general--they never have been before, mostly due to lack of familiarity, but there is concern that they're overpowered. What I was thinking was Psychic Warrior -- it's "core" enough that I know it'll be allowed, and it's the only one that really seems to match my stats. My (not very firm) plan for level 3 is:
Psychic Warrior
Autohypnosis: 1
Concentration: 1
Feat: Speed of Thought (class bonus)
Feat: um... Wild Talent? 2 extra PP, otherwise I'd only have 1.
Psionic Power: Expansion
With Speed of Thought and the Barbarian speed, I'm a forest gnome that moves at 40 and so isn't slowed by , has access to Entangle and Shillelagh, can grow to Medium or stay small as it suits, I believe I can share the enlarge with my dog if I'm riding it per the Share Spells description, and Rage for an extra 4 Str/Con.
I'd really like to find a way to make ranged attacks that isn't a dang sling, but I guess you can't have everything.
So ... thoughts? Are there other, much better directions I can take this character in? I've always wanted to play a psionic character, so that's a fairly big deal for me, but I don't want to gimp the guy. On the other side, DMs are expected to nuke any character that's game-breakingly powerful. Keys to surving as a powerful character in our group are creative backstories and sticking to core rules--the DM has to explicitly allow anything that isn't PHB/MM, I've got that plus the Expanded Psionics Handbook and Unearthed Arcana to work with.
Thanks for any suggestions, and even if they don't fit in with our group or include psionics, I'm interested in where you'd go from a Druid1/Barbarian1 Gnome. I'm still amused as heck by the idea, and wonder what I haven't thought of.
How are you dealing with casting/rage? IIRC you can't manifest in a rage either.
What other books can you use outside the PHB? The extra books allowed will help us make suggestions.
How are you dealing with casting/rage? IIRC you can't manifest in a rage either.
What other books can you use outside the PHB? The extra books allowed will help us make suggestions.
I was just planning on using Rage last--anything cast beforehand that didn't require maintenance would still apply, right? I'll need to plan ahead in fights, and could get hosed, but I didn't think it'd be a huge issue. Will it? Is whether you can drink a potion while in Rage explictily stated anywhere? I told the rest of my party about the cure light wounds potion in my belt in case I go down, but it would be nice if I could do it myself, and it seems implied that drinking a potion is a very simple action.
Anyway, the books I'm sure I'm allowed would be PHB I, probably II, Expanded Psionics handbook, and Unearthed Arcana. Oh, and MM I-V for animal companion. Any others I'd have to ask about at the next session, as long as it's not overpowered it would probably be allowed (for sufficiently vague definitions of "overpowered" and "probably").
That will work for casting, but second problem I see is spell duration.
You enter combat and round 1 is cast spell. Maybe round 2 is cast spell. Round 3 you rage and go into melee. You have to hang around in back for 2 rounds.
I also see a problem spreading this thin. You are going into level 3 and intend to melee, but have +1 BAB. So does the party wizard. You are going into level 3, where people pick up level 2 spells. You have two classes spells at first level. You are going to be very far behind and its going to be hard to keep up.
Basically what I'm saying is "Don't worry about being overpowered".
My recomendations for this character would be to stop taking barbarian levels. Focus on druid or psy warrior for a bit. Get one of them to be good at casting. Then beg for your DM to allow this. Its published by WoTC, and is pretty much your best shot. Then for your eventual build I would go for...
Druid 1/ Barb 1/Psy War 4/ druid 2/ Psychic Theurge 10/ Druid 2. I wrote the class levels in that order, so you take them that way. This lets you be a passable psy warrior for a few levels then jump right into the (Both) territory. This also nets you some minor 1/day wildshape at 20th level.
I recomend taking the following feats
- extra rage (Complete warrior. not super important but it lets you rage more)
- Natural Bond (Complete adventurer. This advances your animal companion. Ask your DM about taking it more than once)
Basically what I'm saying is "Don't worry about being overpowered".
Heh. It might sound strange, but I was actually concerned about this--given how closely I'll be looked at, if I'm any more powerful than the average squirrel, it'll be attributed to psionics and that'll be that. So, being a little weak in the beginning is actually a good thing
Thanks for the advice, the psychic theurge looks perfect.