Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 susang_dup Jun 06, 2008 4:50:06	Hello everyone, my name is Susan and I am from Germany. Our group has decided to play a new campaign, which will lead to EPIC levels. Although I am pretty good with the 3.5 rules, I find this situation I am in now pretty challenging since I honestly do not know where to start. A friend of mine suggested posting my request here, since I require assistance in building a optimized character. I best get started with the known facts. [INDENT]1. First and most important, the DM is a very good friend. I really would like for it to stay that way after I present my character 2. The ECL for each character is 18 3. Our DM is fair and open minded when it comes to source material. He is basically allowing a lot of material from all Sourcebooks, even those that are not published by WotC. He does however have problem with certain broken PRCs (Like Master of many forms, etc) 4. The group will be consisting of 3 players (myself included) 5. Currently I am the only one without character. The others are playing [INDENT]a. A Human Sword Mage ( Level 1 Fighter, Level 7 Sorcerer, Level 10 Eldritch Knight) b. A Gnome Mystic Theurge (Level 3 Cleric, Level 4 Wizard, Level 10 Mystic Theurge)[/INDENT] 6. We are playing with no fixed alignment 7. No point buy system. The stat values I can use are: 18, 17, 17, 16, 15, 13 (these do not include the 4 points I get extra due to my current ECL) 8. No fixed limit of Magical Items, however common sense should be used, and the items should be appropriate for a character of ECL 18 9. All Feats from all books, with the exception of Reserve Feats. Also all feats in the Netbook of feats are ok[/INDENT] Personal taste & Requirements I love playing non-standard characters. In the past I have played Half-Celestial Paladin, A Diclonius Female Priest like the one seen in Elfen Lied (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfen_Lied#Diclonius), Half-Fiends, etc. As you can see I tend to play rather exotic races. What’s important for me is that each character is: [INDENT]A: Female B: Humanlike (Should pass as a Human upon first glance) C: non-standard (fighter, cleric, monk) is a must D: Non Arcane / Non Divine (Those roles are covered already). However if a certain PRC requires these as prerequisite then I am ok with it E: I want to have as little power drain due to PRCs as possible. This means for me that I want to be on equal power level footing to a wizard that can cast 9th level spells. F: Something truly unique, something you do not encounter everyday. G: Be very pretty (sorry it’s a habit I guess) H: Allow for optimized transition to EPIC later on[/INDENT] I know I am asking a lot from you, but I would appreciate any help I could get. To spice things up a bit I am offering a free 1 month premium membership of Rapidshare for the best built that I will use for my campaign. Thanks a lot for your help in advance Susan
#2 CantripN Jun 06, 2008 5:30:52	Please don't advert anything down here, lass. Whether you know it or not, your ideas about what's broken (MoMF? WTF?) and what constitutes a powerful PC are not optimised at all. That said, how would you like this: Silverbrow Human Bard 9/ Virtuoso (CV) 1/ Sublime Chord (CA) 2/ Virtuoso +6 Feats: H) Arcane Disciple (Travel) 1) Melodic Casting (CM) 3) Versatile Spellcaster (RotD) 6) Song of the Heart (ECS) 9) Words of Creation (BoED) 12) Practiced Spellcaster (CA) (Sublime Chord) 15) Dragonfire Inspiration (DrM) 18) Draconic Aura (DrM) (Vigor) Must have Spells known: Inspirational Boost (SC) Must have items: Vest of Legends (DMG2) Badge of Valor (MIC)
#3 blargney_the_second Jun 06, 2008 5:54:20	You could do a xeph swordsage. Fun combos: 1) Psionic feats + Diamond Mind 2) High speed + Desert Wind 3) Good Dex + Shadow Hand
#4 cyrocloud Jun 06, 2008 6:01:57	MoMF is broken . Any way I'd go along to assume that planar shepard is also broken. So in epic without spellcasting your kinda gimped, but I think this build looks kinda fun for the power level your playing at. Pixie Binder 1/Warlock 9/Hell Fire Warlock 2/3 bloodline levels. (1 la already bought off) must bind naeberus.
#5 susang_dup Jun 06, 2008 7:24:10	MoMF is broken . Any way I'd go along to assume that planar shepard is also broken. So in epic without spellcasting your kinda gimped, but I think this build looks kinda fun for the power level your playing at. Pixie Binder 1/Warlock 9/Hell Fire Warlock 2/3 bloodline levels. (1 la already bought off) must bind naeberus. thanks for the tip, could you be so kind and list the books where i could find the information you are referring to, thanks Susan
#6 thehumandynamo Jun 06, 2008 7:53:41	thanks for the tip, could you be so kind and list the books where i could find the information you are referring to, thanks Susan Pixie is in the Monster Manual Binder is in the Tome of Magic Warlock is in the Complete Arcane Hellfire Warlock is in the Fiendish Codex 2 Bloodlines are in Unearthed Arcana
#7 aeliat Jun 06, 2008 19:33:02	uhm you are saying that you don't want an arcane character... what about a gish? want me to build a Duskblade? It's very versatile, against wizards, against warriors... if you are interested on a duskblade, tell me and i'll post one. P.D.: Do you know te exact alignment you'll be?
#8 Balthanon Jun 06, 2008 21:04:53	Given that party, I would likely focus on a combination of skills and combat. If you want something a bit more exotic than human, but are concerned about blending in, you could try playing a changeling. Of the races that are close enough to humans to pass, they're probably the most unique. Given the builds of the two players you posted, I don't think you want to go for broke when you're optimizing. Something like Rogue 11/Warblade 7 could give you a decent amount of damage. With the right feats, that can pick up Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, 8d6 + Int sneak attack damage, Dex to damage, 7th level maneuvers and still have more than decent skills to utilize for socializing, sneaking, or trapfinding. Build
#9 aeliat Jun 07, 2008 3:27:00	I am Aeliat's DM, using his account because i'm in his house and i don't want to change user... well, if you really want to be unique... you could use a Warlock/Enlightened Spirit... she could be a fiend-blooded character that realised of her fiendish heritage (becoming warlock this way) and then become an enlightened spirit, what means using her fiendish powers to combat evil... as an alternative she could became warlock by the will of a chaotic angel or something like that, and then enlightened spirit by her own, this would mean that an angel gave her dark powers to make good... a very useful (fun talking) contrast... or you may use a fey-blooded race, but this wouldn't make any contrast because feys tend to be good. I'll give you a quick idea, but there are millions of ways that can fit.... abilities: high charisma, high constitution and high dexterity for feats i suggest...improved initiative, instinctive darkness, quicken spell-like ability (transform magic) Invocations ... darkness, devil's sight, hideous blow, flee the scene I started to make the whole build but then i realised that i could be doing something that you don't like, in other words, i could be wasting my time, so i decided to make a short reply just to ask you if it seems nice for you... Just like someone told before, Warlock is in Complete Arcane; the Instinctive Darkness feat is in Drow of the Underdark, and Enlightened Spirit prestige class is in Complete Mage, Let me know if you want to know more (post here and i will answer, maybe with my account).
#10 ranthanas2 Jun 07, 2008 8:49:37	Few things are on equal terms with a caster able to cast 9th level spells other than another spellcaster. Which means that there are three or four answers for prettiness. For races, Sylphs, Aasimar, although probably the Changeling from Eberron fits your thoughts best - a race of mysterious shapeshifters. Also the Warforged might work. For classes, I can think of three basic that stick out in terms of prettiness and that have decent levels of casting. The Artificer (magic item creator) from Eberron - although it doesn't have an epic progression. The Druid, which gets A Thousand Faces at level 13 - meaning it can change into whatever humanoid it likes (and as long as you don't mind hippy chic you can make as exotic as you like). And, of course, the Bard. And in terms of prestige classes, the two I'd look at are the Shadow Sun Ninja from the Book of 9 Swords (if you really want to be a monk) and the Chameleon. Starting with the easy one first. Optimising the Druid is easy in terms of class levels. Druid 20 with max Wis is one of the most powerful builds out there (at your starting level of 17, you'll already have 9th level spells (a full three levels before your allies catch up). Feats: Natural Spell is necessary to cast while wildshaped. Based on your requirements, you probably want an Exalted Companion (Book of Exalted Deeds) and either the Exalted Wild Shape feat or the Dragon Wild Shape feat for extra power and exoticism. Artificers: Search this board for how to optimise one. Bards: the trick is knowing how to play one - there's a bard build earlier in the thread. This leads to the two prestige classes - the Shadow Sun Ninja (Book of 9 Swords) and the Chameleon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20041210b&page=1). The Shadow Sun Ninja regrettably only ends up with a base attack bonus of +15/+15/+15/+10/+5 (i.e. equal to a normal Monk). Swordsage 1/Monk 4/Shadow Sun Ninja 8/Swordsage 2-4/Master of Nine 4 (with the fifth level being taken at epic) And the Chameleon starts Rogue 1/Barbarian 1/Rogue 2-4/Chameleon 10 and then goes wherever you want. It has the advantage of trapfinding, two sets of sixth level spells with 20 caster levels, and more versatility than absolutely anything else at all. And if you then keep up the rogue levels (or otherwise get Slippery Mind) you can be in Void Incarnate in epic. But seriously, in high level games, non-mages get left behind the power curve.
#11 jondera Jun 07, 2008 13:22:47	I'll second that non-spellcasters really get hit hard by the power curve after about 10th level. If I were to make a reccomendation for a skillmonkey caster-type character, it might come out something like this: Lvl 1: Bard 1 Lvl 2: Bard 2 Lvl 3: Bard 2/Wizard 1... Lvl 7: Bard 2/Wizard 5 Lvl 8: Bard 2/Wizard 5/Rogue 1... Lvl 10: Bard 2/Wizard 5/Rogue 3 Lvl 11: Bard 2/Wizard 5/Rogue 3/Sublime Chord 1 (Stacks with Wizard spellcasting, obviously) Lvl 12: Bard 2/Wizard 5/Rogue 3/Sublime Chord 1/Ultimate Magus 1... Lvl 18: Bard 2/Wizard 5/Rogue 3/Sublime Chord 1/Ultimate Magus 7 Add your Ultimate Magus levels to Wizard and Sublime Chord, and always give the "+1 to lower CL class" to Sublime Chord, as giving it to one of the two adds one CL to both classes. You'll have spellcasting as a lvl 8 Sublime Chord (4th through 8th level spontaneous bard/sorc/wiz spells, and only one level shy of 9th level spells), and casting as a 9th level wizard (up to 5th level spells), both with a caster level of 17. You also have three levels of rogue for +2d6 SA, Evasion, and reflex saves. You'll need Int and Cha to make it work, but little else. There's probably room for improvement in there, since I whipped it up fairly quickly, and I haven't included any feats (you only need a single metamagic feat somewhere in the mix to qualify for U. Magus)... but it may be a good start.
#12 umarovi Jun 07, 2008 22:25:23	There's an interesting template called Unseelie Fey (It should actually be named Half-Unseelie, but that's another point). It's in Dragon Compendium. The relevant part is a neat ability called Winter's Chill; it gives anyone standing next to you a save penalty equal to your Charisma bonus. It's not a spellcaster, but at high levels it combos quite well with them because of the huge save penalties. It is indeed also pretty; in fact, the prettier you are the more powerful you are.