3 PC Party - Go Taclord?

[Xipe_Totec]

I need some serious help from you guys if you don't mind.... So, me and a few friends are about to start up another 4e campaign (long story, don't ask, lol) and the guy that's going to DM, well this is his first time, so he's going to use a premade adventure and being VERY restrictive and allowing ONLY PHB1 everything. Well, the other two people I'm playing decided on playing a Rogue and Paladin, sticking me with the leader role (which I don't mind since I haven't played one yet), however I was actually wanting to try a Shaman, but PHB1 only snuffed that out.

So, with the only options being Cleric (which I have no interest in) and a Warlord (which I always thought was somewhat interesting), I decided to go with the latter.

Well, after giving the class a deeper look, I pretty much assume I'll need to go inspiring as the party's main healer and to get cha/diplomacy to be party face, but then thinking about it more (and finding out that the Paladin is going Protector and can be the face) I was afraid things will likely die to slowly so maybe Taclord is a better option... The only problem with that is that my striker is a rogue who granting free MBA's to is pretty ineffective, so at this point I'm just not sure... At this point the party has no int/arcana class so that's something that's needed so maybe I should choose a taclord for that if nothing else.

It just seems to be quite a challenge trying to make an effective character with JUST the information in PHB1, but I'm trying to do the best I can. Does anyone out there have any suggestions or can help in any way? We're all still pretty green with 4e, and even D&D in general, so any assistance would be MOST helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Assuming that the rogue is melee oriented, granting melee basic attacks can be really good. The rogue will miss on some of its turns; if you can then grant an attack on yours against a flanked foe, the rogue will get to use its sneak attack for the round. (Under Essentials/the errata, this is even more effective, because sneak attack is per turn, not per round, but if your GM is doing PHB1 only, he may not be using the errata.) But that means that a meaningful chunk of the time you can be doing striker level damage with your warlord's attacks, while still tossing around healing and other leader-type benefits. That's a total win.

Also, with a Paladin as the defender, you can be somewhat less oriented towards healing.

 

[mneme]

Does "PHB only" here mean no eratta? Or eratta, but no later material?

There's a big difference there for a taclord -- as rogues get sneak attack every -turn- post eratta, but only every round by PHB without eratta.

Regardless, if it's a brutal rogue, you can do ok as a taclord; flank with him and give him attacks; he'll have a decent basic due to secondary strength and you'll get sneak attack either some of the time or most of the time.

 

[Aulirophile]

He's playing a Cha-Paladin without Divine Power options? Um.

Taclord, or Warlord in general, is terrible with that group. Without Divine Power a Chaladin has no options for a strong MBA, and the Rogue won't have a particularly good MBA either (Brutal Scoundrel does not lend itself well to PHB1 races). Warlords exist to grant MBAs (or RBAs, occasionally... though not the PHB1 Warlord).

PHB1 had two defenders, of those the Fighter is the only one that can actually do the job.

I'd go for a Cleric if those were options, tbh.

 

[Xipe_Totec]

So, should a Taclord be a good fit for this party? Think he'll be able to keep up w/ the healing?

 

[Mengu]

Sounds like you might be with a dex/cha rogue (and even if it's dex/str, rogue's like to start with 20 dex, not leaving them much to put into strength) and cha/wis paladin, and only PHB options (no melee training, virtuous strike, wrath of the crimson legion, etc), I'd say forget tactical, go with inspiring warlord or battle cleric. Yes your party will be missing intelligence skills, but such is the way of things in a small party, something will be missing. Thankfully Dragonborns are a PHB race and make great inspiring warlords. You'll also be the primary Athletics person. That would be my recommendation. PHB only doesn't really give you a lot to choose from.

 

[Xipe_Totec]

The only thing that worries about going inspiring is how long battles are likely to take so was wanting to be a bit more aggressive. I would consider going with another striker (lock or ranger) but I'm afraid that not having a leader could really hurt the group.... I'm hoping that once we get a few levels in, the DM will lighten up a bit and allow us to pull stuff from other books. If not, it might not matter because the campaign may not last longer than 5-7 levels.

 

[Destil]

Go taclord, take powers with big [W]s and bonuses to hit/damage over ones that grant attacks and get a big weapon. Easy.

 

[Destil]

This guy is an example, assuming pure PHB1 with no errata. I took the power swap feats because, why not? You most likely already have enough shift powers to keep the rogue always in flanking and there aren't that many amazing feats in PHB1. If you worry less about doing everything in a 100% optimal way then you can do without power swaps, too (I don't like the ranged warlord utilities in PHB1 either, myself).

If it's a brutal scoundrel melee rogue you may want to consider taking Commander's Strike and an attack granting encounter instead, even with 14 Str a dagger rouge won't be hurting for accuracy and you can toss it out whenever he misses or isn't in flanking until you set him up.


====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Dragonborn, Marshal
Build: Tactical Warlord
Warlord Option: Combat Leader
Commanding Presence Option: Tactical Presence
Student of the Sword Option: Student of One-Handed Weapons
Dragonborn Racial Power Option: Dragon Breath
Dragon Breath Key Ability: Dragon Breath Strength
Dragon Breath Damage Type: Dragon Breath Lightning
Inherent Bonuses

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 20, CON 11, DEX 10, INT 18, WIS 8, CHA 15

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 16, CON 11, DEX 10, INT 16, WIS 8, CHA 13


AC: 26 Fort: 23 Ref: 23 Will: 20
HP: 68 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 17

TRAINED SKILLS
Athletics +12, Endurance +7, History +16, Intimidate +14, Streetwise +12

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana +9, Bluff +7, Diplomacy +7, Dungeoneering +4, Heal +4, Insight +4, Nature +4, Perception +4, Religion +9, Stealth +2, Thievery +2

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Dragonborn Racial Power: Dragon Breath
Warlord Feature: Inspiring Word
Warlord Attack 1: Viper's Strike
Warlord Attack 1: Wolf Pack Tactics
Warlord Attack 1: Warlord's Favor
Warlord Attack 1: Lead the Attack
Warlord Utility 2: Aid the Injured
Warlord Attack 3: Steel Monsoon
Warlord Attack 5: Villain's Nightmare
Warlord Utility 6: Stand Tough
Fighter Utility 6: Defensive Training
Warlord Attack 7: Surround Foe
Fighter Attack 9: Thicket of Blades

FEATS
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Bastard sword)
Level 2: Shield Proficiency: Heavy
Level 4: Student of the Sword
Level 6: Weapon Focus (Heavy Blade)
Level 8: Acolyte Power
Level 10: Adept Power

ITEMS
Bastard sword x1
Hide Armor x1
Heavy Shield x1
====== End ======

 

[MonkeyMage]

being VERY restrictive and allowing ONLY PHB1 everything.

Bwuh huh? WTF? Good luck, I think I'd have walked.

Honestly DMs really don't even need to be remotely familiar with what is in the player books, just with the powers the PCs actually take. I never understood the habit of DMs to restrict what books players use to build their characters. As long as a player can bring the book with and show me where they got their powers/feats/etc I don't see the problem. I do stick to non-3pp stuff though, but thats as far as my restrictions go, unless called for by the setting/story. (Such as saying no Divine classes in a godless world or something.)