So the fun and hard part come up of designing a new character. I have searched a few things on the net and even pulled out the 3.5 books that I have on hand. Still to no avail I can't for the life of me think of a worthwhile or good build for this character. Here are just a few things about this character:
- Drow
- Looking in to Spell and Sword type of class
- Probably a Chaotic Neutral type (Though the DM wants the characters to be in close range to good.)
- Fancies the Sword more, but is somewhat adapt at Arcane.
I've looked in to the battle sorcerer and went about from one forum to the next trying to figure out if this is the best class to go with. I've also looked into just using core classes the fighter/wizard build, but some seem to say that has problems just as well (Though what multi-classing won't have a few glitches here and there.). So far these are the things that I have come up with/seen that I might take for the character
- Battle Sorcerer
- Wizard/Fighter
- Fighter/Sorcerer
- Fighter/Rogue/Sorcerer
- Fighter/Rogue/Sorcerer
In the meantime I've also started to look into PrCs (The DM allowed them and said we shall be starting at lvl 10 [Or 15?] To be honest I kind of forget and will have to ask him, but first I figured I'd have to figure out which Class to go with and what PrC might compliment it.) Though I'm starting to think a PrC won't even matter since we have been allotted at least three characters. So I wanted something that would at least compliment each character. Not sure if it would help those who can help me make the choices but I might as well state their specifics.
- Human
- Fighter/ ???
- Great Sword
The other
- Not sure on Race - Perhaps Allurin ( Want something new/Different)
- Bard - Dancer[type]. Probably Bard/Rogue - PrC ShadowDancer perhaps.
Those two really aren't the ones I'm looking at in general, but rather the drow who is to be a spell sword. I know the LA+2 is probably a hit in the stomach for trying to accomplish such a task, but since it's going to be an epic adventure anyway might as well go for it and see. Any help will be greatly appreciated
.-AD
Edit -
Also forgot to mention, I haven't jumped to deep into looking into this plan as it's exam/Final week of College and my mind is more on school more so than how my character progresses.
You may want to check the lesser drow and the half-drow races, too. Much better.
Anywho. I looked/am looking into Duskblade and Hexblade both actually and tried to figure out how both work and what both offer. Also I know of the half-drow, but lesser drow? To be honest that is news to me (But a quick search on google revealed it for me) Basically there is either a +1 LA or +0? Haven't found that part out yet.
Standard gish builds are:
Fighter 1 / Wizard 6 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Eldritch Knight 7
Paladin 2 / Sorcerer 4 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Sacred Exorcist 8
There are plenty of other options - Duskblade is decent and less convoluted to build, and dips in things like Unseen Seer, Ruathar and Elf/Human Paragon are viable. Swiftblade is also nice.
Anyways, Lesser drow is in PGtF (191?). Has them online
They're not fantastic, but they're not terrible. If you must be a Drow, definitely don't pay for level adjustment. It's not worth it, especially for a gish.
(Don't physically have a lot of books so sorry if it's a lot of questions
. With the soon to be release of 4th Ed. I've kind of stopped my purchasing as well.) The DM doesn't really like Wizards all to well is why I ask, and rather not have that "Sit down and study" book part, even though I find wizard's to be the jack of all "Arcane" so to speak. Again sorry if it comes off as a lot of questions, but after playing the same classes (Rogue, and Fighter) I was getting bored and thought to jump deeper into the series and try something new.Also thank you for the direction to the lesser drow
.Edit Post was for Dave and just now saw Gaffer's post. Thank you so much for that link! helped me out a lot. Not that I know their is a drow in which their is no LA it shall make playing a drow all the more easier. Shouldn't something like this be in Drow of the Underdark!? :P
I think most Swiftblade builds use Sorcerer (correct me if I'm wrong), so that might be another option to consider.
I'm not sure what you mean about switching about the F/W and P/S. The main difference between them is Feats and Wizard casting (more spells, less/day) versus Charisma synergy (Divine Grace, Cha casting) and Sorcerer casting (less spells, more/day, delayed progression). The paladin/Sorc route just takes advantage of obvious synergies.
I think most Swiftblade builds use Sorcerer (correct me if I'm wrong), so that might be another option to consider.
I've seen some that use trapsmith. Because of how it's psudeo-quicken ability is worded, make sure to take Rapid Metamagic at level 9 as a Sorc.
The Wizard one only takes 1 Fighter level to avoid losing caster levels. You can change that to Sorc quite easily if you like (tho in that case I'd change EK to Sacred Exorcist).
The standard Sorcerer one takes Paladin for Divine Grace and Sacred Exorcist for Turn Undead (get Divine Might, and/or some Devotion feats from Complete Champion). It's all about the Cha synergy. Changing that to a Wizard makes no sense imo, it just adds an extra stat (and you already need good stats to be a Gish to begin with).
Gish is also one of the areas where a Sorcerer shines. Lots of spell slots for Arcane Strike, spontaneous casting is convenient since a gish tends to use a small set of spells repeatedly (Wraithstrike, Bite of the Were-whatever, etc). Plus you can use Arcane Fusion to buff up quicker.
However, a purely arcane beatstick/mage (called a gish) is much harder to pull off, and requires an admixture of Prestige Classes to function. In general, the easiest thing to use are "gish-in-a-can" base classes like Duskblade and Hexblade, but they aren't as optimized as their Prc-dipped brethren. Some base classes and Prcs to consider:
- Abjurant Champion, for defense.
- Spellsword, but only one level.
- Paladin, two levels if you're playing a Cha-based caster.
- Swiftblade, if you're willing to invest a bunch of levels to get to the good stuff.
- Warblade or Crusader, for Int and Cha based casters respectively.
And remember the golden rule of CO: never give up caster levels.
Also, as far as Eldritch Knight: IT'S A TRAP
Again thank you all for the replies and the help on this.
at least it will get me more intune with the D&D WorldI love Monk/Sorcerer/Abjurant Champion with a dip into Paragnostic Apostle and Argent Savant and/or Sacred Exorcist to finish it off. With Ascetic Mage from Complete Adventurer you get massive AC (Charisma to AC, +10 Improved Mage Armor, +11 Shield, etc.). Plus, I always liked the flavor of a religious arcanist.
Before I forgot to say, The DM stated it's lvl 10, So now comes the hard part of figuring feats, allocating skill points and which classes to pick and level up for this adventure