I am looking to create a lvl 8 dwarven axe thrower.
What type of axe doesn't matter too much. My vision was a throwing axe thrower with a large warhammer as a melee weapon (since there are no core rules for a maul I was thinking of seeing if my DM will just let me use a large warhammer as a two handed weapon).
The goal is to create a frankan-like soldier who would throw an axe into battle and then follow it to it's target to finish the target off.
The abilities will be the elite array.
I wasn't sure when it came to which class would be best. Options would help me decide if I want to be the tank or just range/melee support. A high damage rogue or a fighter would be nice but don't feel limited to those two classes. Multi-classing is not out of the question but try to keep it to just two (I think the fighter/rogue/prestigue/uberprestigue class by level whatever is a bit tedious) I don't want to stay at a distance all the time and would love to be able to dish out some severe punishment. I was thinking spell-storing throwing axes that would release fireballs and a bunch of other spells. My vision for that was a Green Arrow esq bag of tricks for a variety of situations.
High damage output and high versatility are important. Although RPing doesn't matter much I figured he would be quite uncouth (using charisma as a big dump) and not particularly subtle. I am more concerned with what he can dish out as opposed to take.
I want the build to be core classes with very limited splash books. The only splash books I own are complete arcane and I have access to complete warrior so those two would be the best to use if any.
I searched this forum and came up pretty dry. I have played since high school but haven't had regular sessions in a year and a half so I am a bit rusty on making viable characters (my last toon was a sun elf assassin or something like that). I look forward to all the options that I am sure you all can come up with.
Dwarven Ranger/Bloodhoud/Wild Plains Outrider
Bloodhound & Outrider are both from books that you don't have, but the basic build may be helpful to you anyways.
For your "Combat Style," choose archery, and then load up on throwing axes. The Returning Enchantment should probably be an early investment.
After that, pump your strength as high as possible, and get a solid two handed weapon. Your only feat investment here should be Power Attack, which thanks to your high BAB is very practical. If possible, try and get a two-handed weapon w/ a x3 crit modifier. You won't crit as often, but when you do...
Rangers do have a d8 HD, but your racial bonus to Con will balance that issue out w/o much difficulty. However, if you feel a little too weak, try a 1-2 level dip in Barbarian for the d12 HD, as well as Rage (bumps Str) & Fast Movement (which helps your concept). Barbarian 2 is nice since you get Uncanny Dodge, but higher levels probably aren't worth the dip.
An alternate level dip is Fighter 4, since you qualify for Weapon Spec, which will bump your damage output and give you some d10 HD.
As a Ranger, focus on Movement skills, particularly Ride. You'll get a very solid mount as a Ranger Class Feature, and since you have quite a few free feats, the Mounted Combat Tree will prove very useful. This allows you to adjust between ranged and melee (and back again) very quickly.
Survival & Tracking will be another solid technique for you, and requires no investment beyond 1 skill point/level.
Stealth is iffy, but you might be able to pull it off, depending on your opening stat rolls.
Finally, if you do use a Ranger build, let me recommend a wonderful feat: Improved Toughness (Complete Warrior). That one feat almost negates the benefits of a Barbarian or Fighter level dip.
For your Favored Enemy, take Giants. They have a ridiculous number of HP, so every little bit helps. After that, anything is game.
An alternate build for this concept would be the Scout Base Class from Complete Adventurer, but I don't like it as much since you have a lower BAB progression.
Animal companions aren't all they're cracked up to be. Your animal companion's advancement is tied to your Ranger Levels (and has a slower advancement than the Druid animal companion). Unless you're going full-on ranger (or mostly ranger), just buy a horse and see if your DM will allow the Distracting Shot alternate class feature from PHB2.
Ride ... meh. Unless your game is pretty much centered around mounted combat, you have better places to put your skill points. Characters designed around mounts find their effectiveness reduced when unmounted. Since most D&D games happen with the characters on foot, and often inside or underground, this will be most of the time.
Speak with your DM about rangers and favored enemies. There's no point in taking Giants as a favored enemy if you rarely or never encounter giants. Nice class feature totally wasted. Pick an enemy that you'll face often. If you're unsure or your DM won't say, you're better off taking something generic like Humanoid (Human), Humanoid (goblinoid), or Humanoid (orc) for your first favored enemy. A good DM will make every effort to allow a player the opportunity to use their PC's class features, but sometimes (especially in the case of Giants) it's just not possible.
Recomended Feats: point blank shot-ph, precise shot-ph, weapon focus(thrown weapon)-ph, neraf charge(allows sneak attack on a charge)-mp, rapid shot-ph, two-weapon fighting-ph, improved two-weapon fighting-ph, over burdened throw(I think thats what its called? It allows str instead of dex for thrown attacks)-ca, craven(good for sneak attack damage)-cr
Note: You obviously wont have all these feats at lvl 8.
Their is a really cool dwarven thrower class in one of those thick prestige class books, not sure which off hand.
All character concepts should be modified to fit the situation of the game. Don't play an undead hunter in a campaign that never features undead. It should go without saying that character concepts should be discussed ahead of time w/ the DM. Still, if you insist...
"I highly recommend that, before you take any of my previous advice, you sit down with your DM and determine just how practical my previously mentioned build would be in his game. If the campaign would not feature scenarios appropriate to your character's ability, then I suggest finding a different build to use for your character."
The reason I mentioned a mount is that Dwarves have a notoriously slow movement speed. A level in Barbarian only just manages to put them on par with a level one human (who doesn't happen to be a Barbarian)...
Thus, a mount would give the dwarf in question better speed. And really, you only need about three feats to get the maximum out-put from this build. (More if you take an appropriately themed PrC, but then again, that's what PrC's are supposed to cost.)
And besides, in a dungeon game, with all it's corners, the dwarf really isn't at that much of a disadvantage in regards to speed. (And think of all the mounts with climb speeds...
)Also, the main thing I meant when I said "really solid mount" is that it gets extra HD and HP, which means, unlike a regular horse, it can actually live through at least one hostile spell.
Oh, and jackalope, you're welcome, though most of this is just me relating a build used by one of my former players.
Character: Sydney Stonehammer
Classes: 2 Barb/6 Figt
Level: 8
Race: Dwarf
Alignment: LG (changed after becoming fighter)
Hit Points: 67 [Raging: 83]
BAB/Grapple/Trip & Bull Rush: 8/3 // +12 [Raging: +14] // +12 to initiate [Raging: +14] + 14 to defend [Raging: +18]
AC: 18 (10, +2 DEX, +6 Breastplate) [Raging: 16]
Abilities are the Elite Array (14,15,12,13,10,8)
STR: 18 +4 (+1 @ 4, +1 @ 8, +2 Gauntlets) [Raging: 22 +6]
DEX: 15 +2
CON: 14 +2 (+2 Racial) [Raging: 16 +4]
INT: 13 +1
WIS: 10 +0
CHA: 6 -2 (-2 Racial)
Foritude:10
Reflex: 4
Will: 2 [Raging: 4]
Inititive: 2
Melee Option 1:
+1 Thundering Dwarven Waraxe
14/9 (BAB, +4 from STR, +1 from weapon, +1 from weapon focus)
1d10+8 (+1 from weapon, +6 for 2 hand STR, +1 from weapon spec) x3
[Raging: +1 Thundering Dwarven Waraxe
16/1 (BAB, +6 from STR, +1 from weapon, +1 from weapon focus)
1d10+11 (+1 from weapon, +9 for 2 hand STR, +1 from weapon spec)]
Melee Option 2:
Spell Storing Handaxe*
13/8 (BAB, +4 from STR, +1 from weapon)
1d6+4 (+4 from STR) x3
*for that extra Green Arrow-esque versatility.
[Raging: Spell Storing Handaxe
15/10 (BAB, +6 from STR, +1 from weapon)
1d6+6 (+6 from STR) x3]
Ranged Option 1:
+1 Thundering Dwarven Waraxe
16/11 (BAB, +4 from STR thanks to brutal throw, +1 from weapon focus, +2 from ranged weapon mastery, +1 from weapon)
1d10+8 (+4 from STR, +1 from weapon spec, +2 from ranged weapon mastery, +1 from weapon) x3
Range Increment 30' (+20' from raged weapon mastery, +10' from throw anything)
[Raging: +1 Thundering Dwarven Waraxe
18/13 (BAB, +6 from STR thanks to brutal throw, +1 from weapon focus, +2 from ranged weapon mastery, +1 from weapon)
1d10+10 (+6 from STR, +1 from weapon spec, +2 from ranged weapon mastery, +1 from weapon) x3
Range Increment 30' (+20' from raged weapon mastery, +10' from throw anything)]
Ranged Option 2:
Spell Storing Handaxe*
15/10 (BAB, +4 from STR thanks to brutal throw, +1 from axe, +2 from ranged weapon mastery)
1d6+6 (+4 from STR, +2 from ranged weapon mastery) x3
Range Increment 30' (+20' from ranged weapon mastery +10' from throw anything)
*for that extra Green Arrow-esque versatility.
[Raging: Spell Storing Handaxe*
17/12 (BAB, +6 from STR thanks to brutal throw, +1 from axe, +2 from ranged weapon mastery)
1d6+8 (+6 from STR, +2 from ranged weapon mastery) x3
Range Increment 30' (+20' from ranged weapon mastery +10' from throw anything)]
Equipment and Price:
+1 Thundering Dwarven Waraxe [8,330gp]
Spell Storing Handaxe [2,310gp]
+1 Breastplate [1220 gp]
Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2 [4,000 gp]
6 potions of barkskin [1800 gp]
Misc. Adventuring Gear
Class Abilities:
Armor proficiency light, medium, heavy
Weapon proficiency martial, simple, Dwarven Racial Weapons
Shield proficiency
Tower shield proficiency
Uncanny dodge
Fast movement
Illiteracy
Rage 1/day
Feats:
Weapon Focus (Dwarven Waraxe) (Feat at level 1) [can't see a fighter w/o it]
Quick Draw (Feat at level 3) [need it to get out axes]
Weapon Spec (Dwarven Waraxe) (Feat at level 6) [can't see a fighter w/o it]
Brutal Throw (Fighter Bonus Feat 1) [chosen for better AC capability]
Throw Anything (Fighter Bonus Feat 2) [makes Waraxe ranged]
Hurling Charge (Fighter Bonus Feat 4) [perfect for what I was looking for]
Ranged Mastery - Slashing (Fighter Bonus Feat 6) [coolest feat I've ever seen]
Backstory: Sydney Stonehammer was born on the island of Akathi in a mining city named Krone. Like his father before him and his father before him, Sydney was gifted with Stonehammer, the family's namesake. Also like his forefathers, Syd has left his island home in order to earn the right to carve his glyph into the head of the family heirloom. Sydney is rash and uncouth. He is driven to greatness for the sake of his family and strives to follow in the footsteps of his fore bearers. His red hair marked him for a more barbarous route than most Krone dwarves travel. While still young he was trained up in the ways of voracious, wild battle. Disenchanted with the mindlessness of the barbarian road, Syd developed greater respect for laws and tactics. Now, as he grows closer to his ambiguous goal, Syd has come across a band of travels, each seeking their own means.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd run with a straight fighter.
So it should be more like
Actually, you probably want Brutal Throw as early as possible since it replaces Dex with Str as the ability to throw items with.
So it should be more like
2.brutal throw
3. weapon focus(dwarven axe)
4. weapon specialization(dwarven axe)
5. -
6. ranged weapon mastery(slashing), throw anything
7. 1st lvl master thrower(quickdraw)
Then get Improved crit later on, put distance and returning on your axe and you should be set.
Though I would have gone with a rogue fighter build instead of strait fighter, then I would have swaped a few other feats in such as craven and neraf throw.
Ranged Weapon Mastery: Slashing requires BAB 8, which is why it has to go so far back in the chain. Also he's starting at 8th, rather than 10th, although this is a good look into the future for him.
Regardless of levels.
Just move Ranged Weapon Mastery: Slashing to level 8 and Power Attack or Hurling Charge down to 6 then Far Shot at 9.
He can sacrifice Brutal Throw for a little while because he has a decent dexterity score, and he's not going to be ranged only. If he were only going to be a ranged it would be more important, but he's getting melee as well.
Um what? That makes Brutal Throw extremely important because Dex isn't going to be as important as Str. You want to take Brutal Throw as early as possible.
But the combination of Ranged Weapon Mastery and Melee Weapon Mastery (since the Waraxe with throw anything has become both) will offset the issues of throwing into melee (-4+4=0).
That's not going to stack.