Kobold Spirit Shaman got slaughtered, need to re-roll... - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Kobold Spirit Shaman got slaughtered, need to re-roll...

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
nygaard
Dec 02, 2007 1:29:55 So I'm part of a Kobold campaign. The party looks like this:

lvl4 Rogue
lvl4 Sorcerer
lvl4 Paladin of Tyranny

I was running a Spirit Shaman as the fourth part member. Our current mission was to sabotage an alliance between a tribe of Goliaths and a tribe of Centaurs. We spent the entire session trying desperately not to die and getting captured. By the end of the session we were making a mad dash towards a river for safety, a centaur charged my back and took me to 1hp. Rather than casting a heal spell and taking two attacks next round, I decided to run for the river and take an AoO. the centaur criticalled, and i went to -31hp.

So now I'm rolling a new char. The Paladin of Tyranny was going to the nearest kobold tribe to get re-reinforcements when this all went down, but unfortunately, the nearest tribe was the one that our other campaign just stomped all over, so there were almost no survivors. My new char is the only virile survivor, and will take my char's place in the party.

SO, givin that we have a tank, a skill-monkey, and an arcane caster, what's the best choice for my new Kobold?

At the table I rolled:
18 10 16 10 14 11

Just now I rolled:
16 13 13 17 11 14

I'm leaning toward Cleric, either a cleric of Kurltulmak or of Erythnul (slaughter fits since the new char's tribe was wiped out). But an evil cleric is automatically 20-35% less useful than a good cleric.

So what's a good class to go for here? I can definitely afford wands of cure light of lessor vigor, so I don't NEED to run cleric.

I need to be as useful to the party as possible. The DM is running the game purposefully hard to make it seem more Kobold-y.

As to books, we can use anything from 3.5. My DM prefers to keep their game pretty close to core, but he'll take anything under review.

Thanks in advance for your help!
#2
phoenixinferno
Dec 02, 2007 1:47:11 Well, you can be a neutral Cleric and take Spontaneous Healer (Complete Divine).
#3
ander00
Dec 02, 2007 3:07:58 You can't really go wrong with any of Cleric, Druid or Archivist (Heroes of Horror or here) . Personally, I'd go for something else though, like say, a Bard. If the DM is cool with the Tome of Battle, a Bard/Crusader.

cheers
#4
nygaard
Dec 02, 2007 11:36:10 The Archivist is interesting. Fits the flavor of Kobolds too, given their penchant for history.

I'll ask my GM about ToB, and get a first draft of my build up tonight.

Well, you can be a neutral Cleric and take Spontaneous Healer (Complete Divine).

Thanks for the idea, but I think an evil cleric with a wand is better than burning a feat.
#5
jameswilliamogle
Dec 02, 2007 12:00:29 Can you use the spontaneous domain variant from PHB2? There's a lot of domains that have great spells, and its at least better than spontaneous inflicts.

If no, then try to get the RotD web enhancement allowed. It gives a claw/claw/bite routine that could be pretty powerful coupled w/ touch attack spells and cleric buffs. You could specialize in touch attacks, actually: there's a few options to hold multiple touch spells at the same time, eventually being able to cast Divine Power followed by Delivering multiple inflict spells on a full attack. You could couple w/ Power Attack for some decent (but not overtly powerful) damage.

Clerics have some standard builds that are pretty easy to pull off. Mainly, Divine Metamagic: Persistant Spell is a common feat goal.
#6
nygaard
Dec 02, 2007 15:06:45 I had forgotten about the spontaneous domain variant, and it'd fit wonderfully!

I'm leaning towards a straight Crusader 2/Cleric 2 for the initial lvl4 build. Not sure if I want to take a third level of Crusader and then stick to cleric after that. I've all ready have the stances I want, but re-rolling saves is pretty awesome. I'm just doubting whether it's awesome enough to miss another level of spell casting.

LE Kobold Crusader/Cleric

STR 7 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 18 CHA 12

01 Cru 1 - Extra Granted Maneuver
02 Cru 2 -
03 Cru 2/Cler 1 - Spontaneous Domain variant (PHB2), Luck and Trickery domains, Weapon Finesse
04 Cru 2/Cler 2 - +1 STR?
05 Cru 2/Cler 3 -
06 Cru 2/Cler 4 - Divine Armor (CD) or maybe Smiting Spell?

Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Stone Bones, Leading the Attack, Foehammer
Stances: Martial Spirit, Thicket of Blades

This is my first time looking at the ToB, so I hope I'm using it right.

How's this looking? Thanks in advance for your help!

---EDIT---
Just realized that I can't dump strength if I'm meleeing, even with WF. Is there any way to get DEX to damage wielding a rapier and shield?

Since I doubt I can get dex to damage easily, here are the two stat pools I can build from:
18 10 16 10 14 11
16 13 13 17 11 14
DM gives kobolds a +2 to anything they want, capped to 18.
#7
jameswilliamogle
Dec 02, 2007 16:48:00 Shadow Blade gets Dex to damage w/ Shadow Hand Weapons while in Shadow Hand Stances.
#8
nordicbirch
Dec 02, 2007 17:45:15 Doesn't Dragonfire Adept have all kinds of things for kobolds feeling the ancient blood run strong in their veins? Dragonwrought feat from Draconomicon is also mentioned every now and then.
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=780301 DFA handbook
and RoD web enhancement gives paragon class, traps, feats, gods etc
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060127a
#9
cricket_god
Dec 02, 2007 18:34:00 Since you didn't seem to care about multiclass penalties due to the Kobold having Sorcerer as a Favored class, I recommend Bard 1/Crusader3 for your starting build with Crusader being what you take after 1st level. For feats go Song of the White Raven and Extra Music. Start the combat off in a White Raven stance so you can activate your bardic music (which is increased in strength by your crusader levels). After that, switch to whatever stance you want.

This will give you the ability to use wands to heal your allies. You will also have your devoted spirit maneuvers and stances that grant healing and the ability to wear heavy armor. You should end up with a good AC and your party will like the buffing and healing you can provide.

Another option that hasn't been put out there yet is Warlock. This may seem like an odd choice, but it can UMD wands to grant healing and where the encounters are harder than normal you may want to avoid toe to toe melee combat. Use the spider climb invocation (and the flying one once you have access to it) to stay out of combat range and rain eldritch blasts on your enemies. I think your party would benefit more from a second tank, but this is certainly a viable option.
#10
Yue_Ryong
Dec 02, 2007 18:53:02 Have you considered aiming for Ruby Knight Vindicator (suitably reflavoured for the religion) and Divine Metamagic (Quicken)? I find that a very handy combo.
#11
nygaard
Dec 03, 2007 3:02:10 Got the go ahead from my DM for the ToB material. Also, realized I can't get thicket of blades, so gotta take a different stance at 2nd. Obviously it's a debate between Iron Guards Glare and Stonefoot Stance.

Stonefoot effectively gives me +1 on damage rolls, and pushes my AC to an effective 26 against opponents larger than me. Glare lets me shield my party. But given my healing abilities and the fact that we've got two tanks in the party, I think I'd really rather stick to Stonefoot.

Ruby Knight Vindicator would fit pretty well with a little flavor tweaking. I'll consider it if I decide to go for a PrC.

So here's the newest version:
Trotissk, LE Kobold Crusader 2/Cleric 2

Abilities (after racial): Str 9, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 13

01 Cru 1 - Extra Granted Maneuver; Stance: Martial Spirit
Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Stone Bones, Leading the Attack, Mountain Hammer
02 Cru 2 - Stance: Stonefoot Stance
03 Cru 2/Cler 1 - Spontaneous Domain variant (PHB2), Luck and Trickery domains; Weapon Finesse
04 Cru 2/Cler 2 - +1 STR

Main Gear +1 Chitin Breastplate, Mwk Darkwood Shield, puts my AC at 24
+1 Rapier; (+9to hit), 1d4+1
Heavy Crossbow; (+8 to hit), 1d8

I've got 1323gp left.

How's this looking? Seems pretty solid to me. Tank, heals and utility spells in a flavorful package.
#12
nygaard
Jun 04, 2008 11:25:58 Havn't posted on this in forever, but I havn't played the kobold campaign in forever either.

I'm running a Cloistered Cleric of Kurltulmak with the spontaneous domain variant (chose trickery as my spontaneous list). Don't have my sheet on me at the moment. I'll get back to this thread later.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 nygaard Dec 02, 2007 1:29:55	So I'm part of a Kobold campaign. The party looks like this: lvl4 Rogue lvl4 Sorcerer lvl4 Paladin of Tyranny I was running a Spirit Shaman as the fourth part member. Our current mission was to sabotage an alliance between a tribe of Goliaths and a tribe of Centaurs. We spent the entire session trying desperately not to die and getting captured. By the end of the session we were making a mad dash towards a river for safety, a centaur charged my back and took me to 1hp. Rather than casting a heal spell and taking two attacks next round, I decided to run for the river and take an AoO. the centaur criticalled, and i went to -31hp. So now I'm rolling a new char. The Paladin of Tyranny was going to the nearest kobold tribe to get re-reinforcements when this all went down, but unfortunately, the nearest tribe was the one that our other campaign just stomped all over, so there were almost no survivors. My new char is the only virile survivor, and will take my char's place in the party. SO, givin that we have a tank, a skill-monkey, and an arcane caster, what's the best choice for my new Kobold? At the table I rolled: 18 10 16 10 14 11 Just now I rolled: 16 13 13 17 11 14 I'm leaning toward Cleric, either a cleric of Kurltulmak or of Erythnul (slaughter fits since the new char's tribe was wiped out). But an evil cleric is automatically 20-35% less useful than a good cleric. So what's a good class to go for here? I can definitely afford wands of cure light of lessor vigor, so I don't NEED to run cleric. I need to be as useful to the party as possible. The DM is running the game purposefully hard to make it seem more Kobold-y. As to books, we can use anything from 3.5. My DM prefers to keep their game pretty close to core, but he'll take anything under review. Thanks in advance for your help!
#2 phoenixinferno Dec 02, 2007 1:47:11	Well, you can be a neutral Cleric and take Spontaneous Healer (Complete Divine).
#3 ander00 Dec 02, 2007 3:07:58	You can't really go wrong with any of Cleric, Druid or Archivist (Heroes of Horror or here) . Personally, I'd go for something else though, like say, a Bard. If the DM is cool with the Tome of Battle, a Bard/Crusader. cheers
#4 nygaard Dec 02, 2007 11:36:10	The Archivist is interesting. Fits the flavor of Kobolds too, given their penchant for history. I'll ask my GM about ToB, and get a first draft of my build up tonight. Well, you can be a neutral Cleric and take Spontaneous Healer (Complete Divine). Thanks for the idea, but I think an evil cleric with a wand is better than burning a feat.
#5 jameswilliamogle Dec 02, 2007 12:00:29	Can you use the spontaneous domain variant from PHB2? There's a lot of domains that have great spells, and its at least better than spontaneous inflicts. If no, then try to get the RotD web enhancement allowed. It gives a claw/claw/bite routine that could be pretty powerful coupled w/ touch attack spells and cleric buffs. You could specialize in touch attacks, actually: there's a few options to hold multiple touch spells at the same time, eventually being able to cast Divine Power followed by Delivering multiple inflict spells on a full attack. You could couple w/ Power Attack for some decent (but not overtly powerful) damage. Clerics have some standard builds that are pretty easy to pull off. Mainly, Divine Metamagic: Persistant Spell is a common feat goal.
#6 nygaard Dec 02, 2007 15:06:45	I had forgotten about the spontaneous domain variant, and it'd fit wonderfully! I'm leaning towards a straight Crusader 2/Cleric 2 for the initial lvl4 build. Not sure if I want to take a third level of Crusader and then stick to cleric after that. I've all ready have the stances I want, but re-rolling saves is pretty awesome. I'm just doubting whether it's awesome enough to miss another level of spell casting. LE Kobold Crusader/Cleric STR 7 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 18 CHA 12 01 Cru 1 - Extra Granted Maneuver 02 Cru 2 - 03 Cru 2/Cler 1 - Spontaneous Domain variant (PHB2), Luck and Trickery domains, Weapon Finesse 04 Cru 2/Cler 2 - +1 STR? 05 Cru 2/Cler 3 - 06 Cru 2/Cler 4 - Divine Armor (CD) or maybe Smiting Spell? Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Stone Bones, Leading the Attack, Foehammer Stances: Martial Spirit, Thicket of Blades This is my first time looking at the ToB, so I hope I'm using it right. How's this looking? Thanks in advance for your help! ---EDIT--- Just realized that I can't dump strength if I'm meleeing, even with WF. Is there any way to get DEX to damage wielding a rapier and shield? Since I doubt I can get dex to damage easily, here are the two stat pools I can build from: 18 10 16 10 14 11 16 13 13 17 11 14 DM gives kobolds a +2 to anything they want, capped to 18.
#7 jameswilliamogle Dec 02, 2007 16:48:00	Shadow Blade gets Dex to damage w/ Shadow Hand Weapons while in Shadow Hand Stances.
#8 nordicbirch Dec 02, 2007 17:45:15	Doesn't Dragonfire Adept have all kinds of things for kobolds feeling the ancient blood run strong in their veins? Dragonwrought feat from Draconomicon is also mentioned every now and then. http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=780301 DFA handbook and RoD web enhancement gives paragon class, traps, feats, gods etc http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060127a
#9 cricket_god Dec 02, 2007 18:34:00	Since you didn't seem to care about multiclass penalties due to the Kobold having Sorcerer as a Favored class, I recommend Bard 1/Crusader3 for your starting build with Crusader being what you take after 1st level. For feats go Song of the White Raven and Extra Music. Start the combat off in a White Raven stance so you can activate your bardic music (which is increased in strength by your crusader levels). After that, switch to whatever stance you want. This will give you the ability to use wands to heal your allies. You will also have your devoted spirit maneuvers and stances that grant healing and the ability to wear heavy armor. You should end up with a good AC and your party will like the buffing and healing you can provide. Another option that hasn't been put out there yet is Warlock. This may seem like an odd choice, but it can UMD wands to grant healing and where the encounters are harder than normal you may want to avoid toe to toe melee combat. Use the spider climb invocation (and the flying one once you have access to it) to stay out of combat range and rain eldritch blasts on your enemies. I think your party would benefit more from a second tank, but this is certainly a viable option.
#10 Yue_Ryong Dec 02, 2007 18:53:02	Have you considered aiming for Ruby Knight Vindicator (suitably reflavoured for the religion) and Divine Metamagic (Quicken)? I find that a very handy combo.
#11 nygaard Dec 03, 2007 3:02:10	Got the go ahead from my DM for the ToB material. Also, realized I can't get thicket of blades, so gotta take a different stance at 2nd. Obviously it's a debate between Iron Guards Glare and Stonefoot Stance. Stonefoot effectively gives me +1 on damage rolls, and pushes my AC to an effective 26 against opponents larger than me. Glare lets me shield my party. But given my healing abilities and the fact that we've got two tanks in the party, I think I'd really rather stick to Stonefoot. Ruby Knight Vindicator would fit pretty well with a little flavor tweaking. I'll consider it if I decide to go for a PrC. So here's the newest version: Trotissk, LE Kobold Crusader 2/Cleric 2 Abilities (after racial): Str 9, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 13 01 Cru 1 - Extra Granted Maneuver; Stance: Martial Spirit Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Stone Bones, Leading the Attack, Mountain Hammer 02 Cru 2 - Stance: Stonefoot Stance 03 Cru 2/Cler 1 - Spontaneous Domain variant (PHB2), Luck and Trickery domains; Weapon Finesse 04 Cru 2/Cler 2 - +1 STR Main Gear +1 Chitin Breastplate, Mwk Darkwood Shield, puts my AC at 24 +1 Rapier; (+9to hit), 1d4+1 Heavy Crossbow; (+8 to hit), 1d8 I've got 1323gp left. How's this looking? Seems pretty solid to me. Tank, heals and utility spells in a flavorful package.
#12 nygaard Jun 04, 2008 11:25:58	Havn't posted on this in forever, but I havn't played the kobold campaign in forever either. I'm running a Cloistered Cleric of Kurltulmak with the spontaneous domain variant (chose trickery as my spontaneous list). Don't have my sheet on me at the moment. I'll get back to this thread later.