Age of Worms Character Creation Advice

RisnDevil · Jul 20, 2006

Hey all,

I am not looking for any spoilers about the story, but I am about to be starting the Age of Worms. I don't know who is going to be playing what yet, so I was wondering what everyone would advise for the four basic character types? We can use the PHB, EPsHB, all the completes, and possibly PHB II. There are going to be four of us, so there probably won't be an overlap. The DM is also using a class based defense bonus, and Armor as DR. Thanks for any advice.

RisnDevil

cmanos · Jul 20, 2006

Character Advice.

Make two characters. Always have a backup handy so when you die in some horrible way, you don't have to spend 3 hours making up a new character.

Other than that, make sure you have a well balanced party. If you have the chance to sit down with the other players and make a 'party' instead of 4 completely separate character concepts. My experiences with the AP is that a party that has little overlap in skills and specializes in what they do, but still has all the bases covered, will rock. 4 Separate characters with 4 separate ideas of what they do is a recipe for disaster.

And above all...be careful. He who runs away lives to fight another day. Don't think you can tank everything you meet, because you most likely can't.

There is a thread on the Paizo site which talks about the Best Mix for a Party.

And for some humorous reading (and spoilers), check out the Age of Worms Obituaries.

Again, I'll warn you, these do contain spoilers.

Rpjunkie · Jul 20, 2006

just make sure someone wants to play a cleric... and talk your DM into letting you use the alternate Turning system in the Complete Divine.. the current one will never let the cleric turn any undead.... I am in the campaign right now and i ran the first several adventures and i can honestly say just be cautious and dont just jump right in. always try to plan your attacks.. have the cleric or wizard use divinations to give you some advantages...

RPJ

Nightfall · Jul 20, 2006

Warlocks can make for a decent alternative but only if you have someone that can compensate for your lack of other spell powers.

Duskblade can work too but probably not as effectively as you need in higher level situations.

Sandain · Jul 20, 2006

Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor

kenobi65 · Jul 20, 2006

Sandain said:
Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor

You bet, baby. That's what I'm playing (or, at least working towards).

Herremann the Wise · Jul 20, 2006

The classic Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Rogue covers most of the bases you are looking for. Some alternatives are to play a Scout instead of a Rogue or a Barbarian instead of Fighter. However, the two classes I would definitely want to take with the group are a Cleric and a Wizard.

We're playing strictly by the book (no house rules) using the Core and Complete series.
My group consist's of:
Fighter (Damage specialist)
Fighter (Two Weapon Fighting/AC Specialist)
Ranger (but will soon be replaced by the former scout, soon to be resurrected)
Druid (Summoner)
Cleric (Heironeous with SUPER stats)
Wizard (General)

They will miss the role the Paladin of the group filled - but the cleric is trying to pick up the charismatic slack. Aside from that, it is a very powerful group.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

ruleslawyer · Jul 21, 2006

Just to get this out of the way:

Play what's going to be the most fun for you! A lot of the new base classes and PHBII variants look like interesting characters; try one if you feel like!

Now, to get to the mechanically most advantageous: I'd suggest the four iconics (fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue). Your party is too small to waste time with half-assed characters like bards, rangers, duskblades, etc.

My suggestions:

Fighter-type: Barbarian X/Fighter Y/PrC Z. IMX, this is the most immediately survivable build, and easily paced for high damage output (barbarian) or tactical options (fighter). Possible PrCs are the Frenzied Berserker (although most of the ways to make this actually playable in a PC party are practically cheating), the Exotic Weapon Master, or the Bear Warrior. A level of pious templar is definitely worth it (+2 to Fort and Will saves plus Mettle).

Wizard: I prefer straight Wiz20; YMMV. Possible PrCs are the Loremaster or Archmage (I definitely recommend at least one level for mastery of elements, which rocks hard-core); Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil is another good option. Do not sacrifice a single spellcasting level, ever.

Cleric: Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor is of course the best, although again kind of cheap. Sacred Exorcist is also a good class.

For either arcane or divine spellcasters, divine oracle is an interesting PrC choice as well. You have to waste a feat to get in, but getting uncanny dodge and immunity to surprise can be useful in an adventure with lots of combat.

Skill monkey: I prefer straight rogue, or rogue with two levels of ranger (for a better Fort save, martial weapons, and a combat style). Don't go bard or arcane trickster; let the REAL spellcasters handle the spellcasting. About as far as I'd go into a PrC would be to take invisible blade or dungeon delver.

Emirikol · Jul 21, 2006

I'm running it right now. I've noticed that you can truly run anything that will be successful in dungeon crawls (because that's essentially all this series is..can you tell I"m disappointed?). You need a wizard and cleric in the party. Other classes don't really matter. Play a specialist as long as you have the Wiz & Clr.

jh

frankthedm · Jul 21, 2006

Class defence

... Armor as DR :\ ... Oh crap!

Unless the DM is removing power attack's 2 for 1 with a 2-handed weapon, you guys are going to be chopped to bits. DR is rarely high enough in those variants to make up for the lack of AC.

Emirikol said:
I'm running it right now. I've noticed that you can truly run anything that will be successful in dungeon crawls (because that's essentially all this series is..can you tell I"m disappointed?). You need a wizard and cleric in the party. Other classes don't really matter. Play a specialist as long as you have the Wiz & Clr.

Unless the cleric is going to be the wizards dedicated meat shield, I'd make sure there is a tank of some type.

Attention all Paladins
Unless the DM is being generous and says otherwise, your Divine Health does not protect you from Parasites. Those can be killed by Remove Disease because the spell also kills parasites, including green slime and others. This is a vitally important distinction in AoW. Ask the DM ahead of time so you know before it is too late.