[3.5] Looking for character suggestions

OK, things are shaping up. It’s clear from campaign dynamics that you REALLY don’t want to take a class that is an Undead bane- like cleric- and compromise its efficacy vs them to increase flexibility and your fun. So yo wouldn’t want to use that build I used for the healer I took through RttToEE. It might be fun, but your fellow players might not like it.

I understand you’re new to FRPG gaming, but do you have any ideas about what you’d Like to play? Not taking gaps in the party, not talking classes or races, but more...what do you want your PC to be able to do?

Thats the problem. I dont know what I want haha. But here are some things that I can think of that ive learned since I started playing:

I like skill points. Especially with my DM. He likes calling for a lot of skill checks.

I do like being tanky. I was REALLY looking at that Captain Constitution build that is funny enough to be on this site. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...case-Captain-Constitution-(Tempest_Stormwind). Like what was kinda said earlier, if you dont get hurt, you dont need heals.

Doing damage is fun but I dont need to be the highest damage dealer. Due to my dice luck being a pile of garbage, half the time Im just swinging my weapon around all willy nilly. Ive made a few side builds that are all super high damage focused but they are entirely one trick ponies, like my charger and I can just see them not being very good for our game.

There is probably more but my brain doesnt really feel like functioning at the moment haha

A brainy ranger has a LOT of skill points, and can do damage at range & up close.

Sounds like a Ranger might be your thing.

Lots of skill points, can be a ranged attack specialist who avoids damage by not being in the fray, can actually use that Wand of Cure Light (you didn't seem to have any divine casters in the list), and the character will eventually get some minor magics. A good slow motion introduction to spell casting classes.

I also notice that the party doesn't have a Rogue. Take 1 level of Rogue to start, for gobs of skill points, and then Ranger the rest of the way. That also gives you access to Rogue class abilities, such as the ability to find and disarm traps with a DC higher than 20.

A Human Rogue with an Intelligence of 14 starts with 44 skill points, and gets 11 more every level. The Ranger levels would each give you 9 per level.

If you're starting at level six or seven he'll have some minor magic already, and Favored Enemy can make you hell on wheels against whole categories of enemies.

As for the personality: I usually try to come up with that first, before I even roll any dice or choose a class. My current character has a simple back story, but it opens things up nicely: He was a bounty hunter, and a worshiper of Olidimmara, the patron or rogues and gamblers. He considers any taqvern with a dice table to be a shrine to his god: Who doesn't pray for luck in a place like that? This gives a good reason for taking Bluff and Sense Motive skills, with the odd point in "Profession - Gambler". Of course he also has points in "Profession - Bounty Hunter", but the Profession skills are almost purely for color.

As a bounty hunter he collects wanted posters. He sees it as free paper, since the backs are usually blank. Again, character color, but I find it nice to cultivate the disreputable image.

So think if the person first. Add a quirk or two. "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes..."

Yeah... coming from an mmo is a completely different head space than pen and paper rpgs. Sounds like your group is fine. I'd still try and convince the group to invest in some more shared healing items, but I wouldn't worry too much about filling in those "missing" roles. Wish I had mentioned it in my first post, but the most important role to fill (in my opinion) is the one where you and your fellow players are having fun. Most of the stories I hear/tell about D&D games involve the theme "Oh crap, things went south and then we survived anyways."

I agree Greenfield, you guys are missing Trapfinding; which can be a serious problem depending upon the DM and/or adventure you are running. I would however, suggest the Scout (Complete Adventure) instead. While their bonus precision damage (skirmish) is less useful than the rogues (usually limited to once per round and you have to move at least 10ft) they do provide the same amount of skill points and have a d8 hit die instead of a d6. In addition, if you're willing to take at least 3 levels of scout, you can pick up the Swift Hunter feat (Complete Scoundrel; pg 81) which allows you to count your Scout and Ranger levels as one for your skirmish and favored enemy progression as well as a few extra bits. A Scout 3 / Ranger 4 would have their 2nd favored enemy and skirmish (+2d6, +2AC).

Since you seem to like the idea of a skill monkey, you may wish to look at Complete Scoundrel's Skill Tricks (chart pg 83). For the price of 2 skill points and meeting the prerequisite, you gain access to a pseudo feat. You can have a maximum of half your character level in skill tricks. Collector of Stories would definitely assist in identify what the heck your fighting.

There are also scattered through a few books and dragon magazines (here's a list), alternate class features that replace ones the base class provides. If you do go Rogue (or Scout)/Ranger and want to completely skip spellcasting; Complete Champion and Complete Warrior have your back. Champion grants you a bonus feat from a limited, but useful list at ranger levels 4, 8 and 14. Warrior grants a bag of different useful abilities, though non will come online if your multiclassing until you gain some levels. If you do multiclass and take scout, the land speed bonuses stack.

Complete Champion has a sleeper feat I like for smart melee PCs- Knowledge Devotion.

Knowledge Devotion: One Knowledge skill of your choice is a class skills regardless of the class you are advancing. Whenever you fight a creature, you can make a Knowledge check based on its type, provided that you have at least one rank in the appropriate Knowledge skill, gaining an insight bonus on Att/Dam rolls against that creature type for the remainder of the combat.
Arcana: constructs, dragons, magical beasts
Dungeoneering: aberrations, oozes
Local: humanoids
Nature: animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, vermin
Religion: undead
The Planes: outsiders, elementals

The bonus value depends on your Knowledge check result, as given on this table:
Check Result Bonus Granted
Up to 15 +1
16—25 +2
26—30 +3
31—35 +4
36+ +5

Click to expand...

I used this feat to substitute for Smite when I cobbled together an “Arcane Paladin” character. Because the built was made to emulate paladins, I chose KS:Religion to maximize his bonuses vs Undead. While Smite does better alpha-strike damage against a single target, this feat gets you bonuses against every critter of a given kind in the battle. Also unlike Smite, you can use it more often and its effects are not limited to evil foes.