Airwalkrr's Maure Castle 3.5 OOC

[Rathan]

I hate to see you give up Kobold Stew... though if you're willing to give up this early it might be for the best... this is one tough dungeon crawl heh....

If you really want to play KS.... let me know.. I'm fairly decent in throwing together a basic fighter with some 'umph'. It's not easy if you're not feeling the character I know but if you're not, I hate to see ya go, but good luck with to you if you still decide not to stay!

 

[Kobold Stew]

I hate to see you give up Kobold Stew... though if you're willing to give up this early it might be for the best... this is one tough dungeon crawl heh....

If you really want to play KS.... let me know.. I'm fairly decent in throwing together a basic fighter with some 'umph'. It's not easy if you're not feeling the character I know but if you're not, I hate to see ya go, but good luck with to you if you still decide not to stay!

Hi Rathan,
I don't quite know how to take this. I don't think it's fair to suggest I'm unwilling to commit. I hoped this might work, and proposed a couple of characters: I was especially happy about a core-only game (which is very rare here I find, and which made me interested), in part because I thought it would let me try a HW, which I've never played, and which I thought would be good for a core game. And that may be wrong.

So, sure -- if you can make suggestions that can make that work, I remain interested. Airwalkrr has suggested the campaign might not be for me, and I accepted that. I want to play a game -- not to waste each others' time.

I hope this at least makes things clearer -- no hard feelings, either way. KS.

 

[Rathan]

I'm not so familiar with HW... can you point me in the right direction of what source has it KS?

 

[Kobold Stew]

I'm not so familiar with HW... can you point me in the right direction of what source has it KS?

horizon walker. Sorry.

 

[Rathan]

Ok KS.... here's my start to your character... I think you can build off this to the specs you want them to be like magic items to raise stats, skills, feats, and the like. I think from here you still have a lot of customization you can do and still make it yours!

The BAB is based on the variant rule Airr is using for this game...

EDIT: you needed the 5 levels of ranger to get to max 8 skill ranks for Knowledge (Geography/Nature) needed for HW

Kobold Stew Character

EDIT2: Let me know what you think please!

EDIT3: OK.... DUE TO AIRRS SUGGESTIONS I'VE TAKEN HIS ADVISE KS AND GONE A BIT MORE HORIZON WALKER FOR YOU!

[sblock=Fighter 4/Ranger 2/Horizon Walker 6]

Str 19 +4 10pts (+3 Level
Dex 16 +3 6pts (+2 Racial
Con 12 +1 6pts (-2 Racial
Int 14 +2 6pts (
Wis 12 +1 4pts (
Cha 8 -1 0pts (

Speed: 30
BAB: +12/+12 (Standard Action, Two Weapon Fighting), +12 (Move Action), +12 (Swift Action)
HP: 10 + 3d10 + 2d8 + 6d8 + (Con Mod)
AC: 13 (+3 Dex,

Attacks
Melee
Ranged

Saves
Fort: +12 (12 Base,
Refl: +6 (6 Base,
Will: +3 (3 Base,


Skills: (Fighter: [2+2]x4 1st level, [2+2]x3) (Ranger: [6+2]x2) (HW: [4+2]x6) [80 Total]

Fighter
?
?
Ranger
Knowledge [Geography/Nature] +10 [8 Ranks, +2 Int]
?
?
HW
?
?

Feats
Two Weapon Fighting
1st: Endurance
Fgtr1:
Fgtr2:
3rd:
Fgtr4:
6th:
9th:
12th:


Racial/Class Abilities:
Elf: +2 Dex/-2 Con, Immunity to Sleep, +2 Racial Bns to enchantment spells, Low Light Vision, Proficient with (longsword, rapier, longbow, and shortbow, +2 to listen,search, and spot checks, common and elven langs.
Ranger: Favored Enemy: (1st: ?) Combat Style (two weapon style)
Fighter: Bonus Feats x3
HW: Terrain Mastery x3 (Desert: Immune to Fatigue, Exhausted reduced to fatigued, +1 insight to desert creatures/Hills: +4 competence checks to Listen +1 Insight hill creatures/Underground: 60 Dark Vision, +1 Insight to underground creatures/Plains: +4 competence bonus to Spot checks, +1 insight to plains creatures/Aquatic: +4 swim checks, +1 insight to aquatic creatures/Mountains: +4 on climb checks, +1 insight to mountain creatures/Shifting [Planar]: Dimension Door once every 1d4 rounds, +1 insight to elementals native to shifting plains)[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

If you want my opinion, a good way to build a horizon walker would be fighter 4/ranger 2/horizon walker 6. This lets you take advantage of two-weapon fighting without needing Dex 15+ and lets you buy all the ranks you need in Knowledge (geography) (which in my campaign will just be Knowledge (nature)), over two levels of ranger. Plus it gives you one of the horizon walker's planar traits to pick from, which is where the horizon walker really gets fun.

Another option is barbarian 2/ranger 3/horizion walker 7. This option gives you a lot more skill points to build with. It also has the advantage of granting Endurance as a bonus feat so you don't have to spend one of your feat slots on it. The barbarian levels could easily be swapped for fighter levels if you prefer more combat feats to the ability to rage and not be caught flat-footed.

There's also the simpler possibility of ranger 5/horizon walker 7. The ability to cast longstrider (multiple times if you invest in a couple pearls of power) would greatly increase your mobility. There are a couple other ranger spells that really come in handy, like jump and resist energy. Plus you'd get to pick two favored enemies.

You could just as easily do a druid 5/horizon walker 7. This would lower your BAB by 2, but grant you some spells that could make up for it under the right circumstances. I wouldn't recommend this build unless you are particularly adept at character building, but it could have some nice synergies.

Also, imagine the possibilities of a wizard 5/horizon walker 7. You wouldn't be a primary spellcaster (obviously), but you could have access to spells that could easily make up for the lost hp and BAB by selecting wizard. Being able to use true strike only to follow up for a two-handed Power Attack that is virtually guaranteed to hit is a rather interesting notion. With alter self (troglodyte), mage armor, and shield, you get a total +14 to AC, which isn't too shabby. You only need Int 13 to cast your spells, and as long as focus on buffing and no-save spells you can be particularly effective. Like the druid, this is an advanced build, but could conceivably work as a primary melee type. Possible stats, Str 16 (+3 lvl), Dex 12, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 8.

Anyway, if you really like the horizon walker, there are a number of options that could work.

Edit: A ranger 7/dwarven defender 5 or fighter 7/dwarven defender 5 could really shine too. Dwarven defender is a very solid class for a primary melee type. Consider also that you don't have to take a prestige class. A fighter 12 would be mighty in its own right with access to PH2 feats and options.

 

[Kobold Stew]

<snip>

Another option is barbarian 2/ranger 3/horizion walker 7. This option gives you a lot more skill points to build with. It also has the advantage of granting Endurance as a bonus feat so you don't have to spend one of your feat slots on it. The barbarian levels could easily be swapped for fighter levels if you prefer more combat feats to the ability to rage and not be caught flat-footed.

<snip> ranger 5/horizon walker 7.
<snip> druid 5/horizon walker 7.
<snip> wizard 5/horizon walker 7.

Dear Airwalkrr,

The second build you suggest is pretty much what I had posted for Halfnose already: I've dropped the fighter level to get a second Barbarian and uncanny dodge, since you feel it's stronger. But this was the build that you hgad earlier suggested might not be powergamey enough. But I'll continue working on this (rather than the next three, each of which pulls us further and further away from a front-line fighter, I feel) in hopes that the end result is approved.

I'm happy to receive feat suggestions, and magic item ideas from people. At the moment I was thinking Improved Trip with a guisarme would have reach and other benefits, but Great flail allows the same thing without reach, or battleaxe/greatsword if straight damage is preferred.

[EDIT: particularly PHB2, which I don't have access to!]

I appreciate the effort you are all making to help me build something that would be useful for the adventure -- I don't want to die and leave you without a fighter-type early in the game.

I'll continue to update things as I see suggestions. Take care, KS.

 

[Rhun]

I'm happy to receive feat suggestions, and magic item ideas from people. At the moment I was thinking Improved Trip with a guisarme would have reach and other benefits, but Great flail allows the same thing without reach, or battleaxe/greatsword if straight damage is preferred.

Reach weapons sort of remove you from the role of frontline fighter, unless you take the short-haft feat which allows you to use a polearm in close. I'm not sure that is in PHB2 or not. Also, the whole tripping concept relies on your PC being stronger (for the most part) than the foes he is attempting to trip, which may or may not be useful depending on the foes we face.

 

[airwalkrr]

[MENTION=23484]Kobold Stew[/MENTION], I think you took my comment out of context. The comment about powergaming wasn't a specific indictment of the build for Halfnose, but rather a general statement addressing your mentioning that you weren't much of a powergamer. As I went on to state earlier in that post, Halfnose wasn't a bad build.

Re: polearms. They can be a very effective means of controlling the battlefield if you are a front-line fighter built for it. Tripping is the best way of doing it, although disarming is helpful too. If you have the feats for both, it isn't a bad idea to have both. In my experience, the most effective melee characters are those that manage, one way or another, to keep the attention of the bad guys on themselves and not on the healers, rogues, and casters. Keeping your opponents tripped and disarmed is a very good way of doing that, and having a reach weapon to do it expands the level of control you have over the battlefield. Even though the spiked chain is a ridiculous weapon for all practical purposes, this is a ridiculous game for all practical purposes. So you might want to consider seeing if you can work the spiked chain in. If you are thinking about a reach weapon, that's the best one out there.

Edit: also add to that discussion the enlarge person spell. If you make sure s@squ@tch has it or just carry some potions, you give yourself +4 to trip and disarm attempts, not to mention the boost to Str.

 

[Rhun]

Even though the spiked chain is a ridiculous weapon for all practical purposes, this is a ridiculous game for all practical purposes. So you might want to consider seeing if you can work the spiked chain in. If you are thinking about a reach weapon, that's the best one out there.

I second this. Spiked chain is by far the best if you are considering a reach build, as it can still be used up close.

I'm going to try to get my PC all finished up in the next couple of days, airwalkrr.