Character Concept

[freebiewitz]

Normally I'm a Munchkin, but I enjoy rokeplaying.

In a attempt to make a purely Roleplay character I've decided to make a warforged fighter who becomes a devoted defender eventually. Anyhow the premise is that he is a walking wall, a body gaurd and all round tank.

Heres his name.
Armoured shield soldier.

After I showed my DM he laughed and pointed out the name.
A.S.S.

So I changed his name to M.A.S.U
Mobile armoured shield unit.

Basically The character has two tower shields and starts with the adamantium plating feat. I know shield Ac doesn't stack but thats okay.

22 AC not including Dex bonus is pretty damn good at level 1.

Anyhow this pretty much makes sure my character can't attack (Shield bash doesn't work with tower shields.)

Using two tower shields I plan to give partial cover to allies to my left and right so I basically become a wall.

Then my Dm pointed out somthing again. Warforged have a natural slam attack that does 1d4 damage. Once again I didn't mind since 1d4 wasn't that much.... then I found out about the shocking fist feat.
Sacrifice hp to deal more damage? With 20 Con and improved toughness this is pretty rigged.

In short even though I tried to make a Roleplaying character I still accidently powergame.....

Anyhow what do you guys think of this character?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think its kind of neat, really...but I'd make at least one shield (if not both) into spiked large shields.

That way you're not burning a feat on Tower Shield proficiency (if your PC is not a Fighter).

Besides, that way you'd:

1. Keep the Shield Bash option, along with other Shield Feat options like Active Shield Defense, Agile Shield Fighter, Imp. Shield Bash, Phalanx Fighting, Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Shield Sling, Shield Specialization & Shield Ward
2. Open up the Power Attack Feat tree- Sunder, Cometary Collision, Leap Attack, etc.
3. Open up the TWF Feat tree.
4. Open up whackier options like Combat Brute, Formation Expert, Throw Anything

Some of those shield feats will let you still "be a wall" while maintaining some semblance of offensive prowess.

Something else you could do for whacky fun with it is take Sorc or BttlSorc levels at some point in the future, and take either Celestial, Draconic or Infernal Heritage feats to let you burn spell levels to deliver attacks. Since they're supernatural abilities, they don't get affected by ASF. And you can take spells without somatic components, as well as the Still Spell feat (getting you the Repair spells).

 

[freebiewitz]

I prefer to keep the AC (Even though its a 1 AC difference)
And the slam attack feat is based on base attack bonus.
Being a fighter meens it gets pretty ridiculous.
For example at level 10 I deal 10 damage to myself (I should have at least 100 hit points by then.) and deal 10d4 electrical damage.

I just hope I don't run into a flesh golem.

Besides I can't get total cover with heavy shields. Tower shields on the other hand do. Allies behind me get total cover and allies next to me get partial while allies in front of me...... get to be pincushions.

I guess the only other advantage of having two tower shields is the partial cover I give allies and thats it. Oh wait, I could run down a trapped hallway with shields on both sides giving me total cover, arrows shooting everywhere! Haha I just love that image.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You know...your guy's going to look like a TIE Fighter on legs.

Hmmm...he could have been created as part of a Tower Interposing Echelon.

 

[freebiewitz]

o.o I never thought of it that way, TIE FIGHTER AWAY! I think it'll be Ironic if our party comes up against a crippled beholder with only one eye.... DEATH STAR!

 

[Herobizkit]

Believe it or not, I had a player make the same kind of character in 2ed using the "Creating a Character Class" rules from the DMG. He called it a Blockader, and his job was to protect spellcasters in much the same fashion.

 

[freebiewitz]

Protecting spell casters hey? In terms of concept I always thought of my character protecting archers and mages, they would hide behind my character and pop out to shoot a few fireballs or arrows.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

You definitely need ot go with heavy shields. Not attacking = completely worthless tank in most situations. Cripes, enemies can run right past you and you can't even AoO them!

Use two spiked heavy shields, take some Crusader levels and make a good lockdown build using Thicket of Blades stance. The Shield Block maneuver will help protect allies, Stand Still + Combat Reflexes to use your AoOs to keep the enemies on you...

If you use teamwork benefits, look up Wall of Steel, it's a very nice way of protecting an ally which also causes you to lose the AC bonus from the shield you use to protect him. Of course, with 2 shields, this is much less of a concern. I had a fighter-mage type once that went the two shield route, it was a lot of fun. He incorporated sorcerer spells like Wings of Cover and Benign Transposition to save endagered allies and get them out of harm's way.

 

[freebiewitz]

Nah I can still attack. Im a warforged remeber? My slam attack doesn't do much BUT as soon as I get to level 3 BOOM DPS up the WAZOO!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Slap or Slam

The creature batters opponents with an appendage, dealing bludgeoning damage.

If you insist on the 2 Tower Shield build, you've painted yourself into the corner of defining your slam as something done with your legs. I don't know about YOUR DM, but the ones I know would find ways to put your PC on slippery or unsteady surfaces, etc.- not all the time, mind you, but often enough to be problematic.

In addition, if one of your feats or some buff you receive to modify your Slam for some reason excludes your lower body, you're screwed.