Challenge! I want to convert your concept!

[theNater]

In several threads, I've seen people claim that 4th edition is poorly designed because they can't model their character concept into it. But I found that I could convert some of the examples they used. Not only that, but it was fun! So I'm sending out a call: give me your hard to interpret character concepts! Let me see what I can do with them!

A few guidelines:

1)When describing your character concept, try to focus on what they can do. Using terms from previous editions, other games, and the like is acceptable for descriptive purposes, but be aware that the rebuilt character will not necessarily include any of those terms. For example, a rogue who did a lot of Sneak Attacking from the shadows might turn into a fighter with a good stealth skill, so he can sneakily attack people from the shadows.

2)I reserve the right to reflavor abilities. I will not change any mechanics. For example, reconcepting an archer/cleric I might turn Lance of Faith's flavor text into "As you draw your bow, you whisper a short prayer. The arrow glows with a holy light as you loose it." The power will still be a Ranged 5 power, and do the same damage, it'll just look like it's coming from a bow.

3)Please limit your concepts to things that can be done in some edition of Dungeons and Dragons with analogous materials. While "a computer specialist who strikes at his enemies' credit ratings" is a character concept, it's not really Dungeons and Dragons material.

4)There were a few things that were intentionally left out of 4th edition, so an inability to model them is not a failure of design. It might be a failure of design goals, but that's a discussion for another thread. Some examples: assistant creatures(animal companions, summoned monsters, etc.), highly freeform shapeshifting(wild shape, polymorph, etc.).

5)My knowledge of historical, legendary, and entertainment characters is finite. If asking me to model such characters, please include a description of their abilities.

The funnest one I've done so far is the unarmed, unarmored melee combatant. It all came together when I realized that unarmed attack could be use with weapon powers(most notably ranger two-weapon powers).

I eagerly await your suggestions!

 

[Zurai]

First, I want to apologize for starting the thread off on a diversion before it even gets started, but I had to respond to this...

The funnest one I've done so far is the unarmed, unarmored melee combatant. It all came together when I realized that unarmed attack could be use with weapon powers(most notably ranger two-weapon powers).!

Unfortunately, that isn't a character that is at all effective. Unarmed attacks do not get a proficiency bonus (so they're 10-15% to hit behind an armed attack), only deal 1d4 damage, and cannot ever get an enhancement bonus or a magical effect.

Basically, Unarmed Combat is a character concept that works in flavor but falls flat on its face for actual playability. Both are important for converting characters. No one wants to play a character that only hits 25% of the time on his most accurate attack and does less damage than a cleric healing strike with his most powerful attack, even if the flavor fits perfectly.

 

[Ravingdork]

First, I want to apologize for starting the thread off on a diversion before it even gets started, but I had to respond to this...



Unfortunately, that isn't a character that is at all effective. Unarmed attacks do not get a proficiency bonus (so they're 10-15% to hit behind an armed attack), only deal 1d4 damage, and cannot ever get an enhancement bonus or a magical effect.

Basically, Unarmed Combat is a character concept that works in flavor but falls flat on its face for actual playability. Both are important for converting characters. No one wants to play a character that only hits 25% of the time on his most accurate attack and does less damage than a cleric healing strike with his most powerful attack, even if the flavor fits perfectly.

That's not any worse than the 3rd edition monk and his flurry of misses.

Also, here is an old character of mine for the OP. I dare you to try and make a playable PC version, as well as a monstrous NPC version.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

- I'm a spellcaster who uses the powers of nature -- animals, plants, and the elements -- to do my bidding. I can call down a storm of ice or lightning, blow my opponents' arrows away with a gust of wind, or cause the plants at their feet to grow and entangle them. I can speak to animals and get them to do my bidding.

- I'm a master of dread arcane magics, using the dead to do my bidding. I raid graveyards to animate the corpses of the dead, who serve as my swords and shields, while with my spells I rip the life force from the living and feed on it, speeding my transition to undeath.

- I'm a wandering minstrel, who tells stories and performed for the masses. My gilded tongue and skill with the lute enables me to encourage friends and captivate foes. In a pinch, I can survive through my skill with a blade, by the deft lift of a few coins, or by beguiling another with a bit of distracting illusion magic.

- I'm a subtle master of the arcane arts. I use mind-magic to warp the thoughts of others, causing them to do my bidding even when they don't realize it. I eschew the flash-bang wizardry of most arcanists and prefer to work from the shadows.

- I'm an honored warrior who has forsaken material aids such as armor and blades to focus on honing my very body as a weapon. I can halt or turn the strongest blow while my fists and feet can strike hard and true no matter that my foe defends with sword and shield. My mental focus is such that I can even penetrate magical defenses and shrug off magical attacks.

- I am a deadly assassin. I lurk in the shadows, unheard and unseen, oberving and tracking my target for days and weeks until I get the opportunity to strike. I never fail in my missions; whether my target is a king, a warrior, or a wizard I am able to penetrate their defenses, kill quickly, and escape without leaving a trail. My weapons are many: I am as adept with the heavy blade as I am with a crossbow, for I kill in close and from afar. Poison and death magics are my friend, for I know ways to kill that do not leave marks or traces.

- I am a servant of the gods. I spread my message of enlightenment wherever I go. I am not a warrior of steel; I am a warrior of words and the mind. Though I wear but simple robes and carry but a common yew staff, I can halt armies through the power of my faith. My knowledge is deep; I can answer any question given access to the right tomes, and failing that I can gain the answers from the gods themselves.

- I am a battlemancer. I draw my mystic power from battle itself, using magic with blade, bow, and shield to make me an unstoppable foe. As I raise my mystic defenses and armor of force, I can halt one set of foes with a gesture while destroying another with blasts of fire and lightning. I can charge into whirling melee, trusting my armor and magic to defend me while I channel arcane forces through my blade and lay my foes to waste. Should my arcane power be defeated or denied, I can still carry the day with my mastery of steel.

 

[Lore Raithbone]

things that will (hopefully) be in PHB2

I came into this thread to post that

- I'm a wandering minstrel, who tells stories and performed for the masses. My gilded tongue and skill with the lute enables me to encourage friends and captivate foes. In a pinch, I can survive through my skill with a blade, by the deft lift of a few coins, or by beguiling another with a bit of distracting illusion magic.

This isn't too bad, just make an Artful Dodger charisma Rogue who can play an instrument who Multiclasses into Warlock (Fey Pack) to concentrate on the distracting illusion magic, or simply be a Warlord who takes skill training (bluff), focuses on charisma, and re-rewrites some of the "moves enemies or gives them penalties etc" powers as being illusions. That would probably be closer to what you want (and is what the Bard is going to be anyway I believe, an Arcane Leader).

- I am a battlemancer. I draw my mystic power from battle itself, using magic with blade, bow, and shield to make me an unstoppable foe. As I raise my mystic defenses and armor of force, I can halt one set of foes with a gesture while destroying another with blasts of fire and lightning. I can charge into whirling melee, trusting my armor and magic to defend me while I channel arcane forces through my blade and lay my foes to waste. Should my arcane power be defeated or denied, I can still carry the day with my mastery of steel.

A little bit harder, but an Eladrin Wizard who simply takes the armor proficiencies, Wizard of the Spiraled Tower, and multiclasses into Fighter can do this. Your stats are a bit all over the place, but you could always also be a Warlord Wizard who gives up his paragon path to gain a bevy of Wizard powers (and retrains them to be higher level at the appropriate level)

 

[Craith]

- I'm a spellcaster who uses the powers of nature -- animals, plants, and the elements -- to do my bidding. I can call down a storm of ice or lightning, blow my opponents' arrows away with a gust of wind, or cause the plants at their feet to grow and entangle them. I can speak to animals and get them to do my bidding.
*snip*

I did not start this thread, but this one is easy:
Cleric with dabbling in Warlock
Guardian of Faith - Replace the fluff with a spiritual animal - same with all other conjurations, all (except the lantern) work fine for druids, maybe except the healing one (unicorn?)

choose wis attacks that do fire or radiant damage or str attacks that do lightning or thunder damage - maybe your DM lets you replace radiant with fire

get Tendrils of Thuban as your daily warlock (star), Thirsting Tendrils or Thorns of Venom as your encounter (fey), Wings of the Fiend (infernal) reflavored as eagle wings or spider climb (infernal) as utility

a little MAD, (Wis, Cha, Str, Con, in that order, Str and Wis might switch), but gets pretty close to a druid. choose the right rituals, nature as a skill, get perception and athletics, wear hide armor, use a scimitar (feat) or quarterstaff as a weapon, finetune a bit, => druid

animal companion is something I always roleplayed, now you just won't send the poor critter to its doom. its an NPC, won't fight unless dire circumstances happen, and is a minion of its type (unconcious at 0, dies if not treated or player does not seem to be concerned by it - no "I'll heal him after combat, I want to smash some more orc-heads" - DM Fiat, but more on side with the player.) If you don't want any houserule (I don't think thats a houserule, it's just roleplaying IMO) - no animal companion, still very druid-like, lots of other options to switch to is you don't like the existing ones, paragon paths: divine oracle or radiant servant.

 

[vagabundo]

-- snippity snip --

Nasty. I see you went straight for the throat...

 

[Shazman]

How about, an unarmored, combatant trained in stealth, unarmed fighting, striking quickly from the shadows, and using poison to take down his foes. Basically a ninja.

 

[theNater]

Unfortunately, that isn't a character that is at all effective. Unarmed attacks do not get a proficiency bonus (so they're 10-15% to hit behind an armed attack), only deal 1d4 damage, and cannot ever get an enhancement bonus or a magical effect.

Basically, Unarmed Combat is a character concept that works in flavor but falls flat on its face for actual playability. Both are important for converting characters. No one wants to play a character that only hits 25% of the time on his most accurate attack and does less damage than a cleric healing strike with his most powerful attack, even if the flavor fits perfectly.

Yeah, I didn't say it was effective, just that it was legal. To make it a bit more effective, the character needs very high dex for armor class reasons. A tiny stretch of the rules lets you enchant your fists; the game explicitly says unarmed attack counts as a weapon for the purposes of powers, but I am not aware that it says one way or the other for rituals.

Of course, if your DM is friendly enough, you can just say your hide armor looks like a martial arts outfit and your swords look exactly like your fists. It stretches the imagination a bit more, but it makes the build just as viable as most two-weapon rangers(because, y'know, it is a standard two-weapon ranger).

 

[sanock42]

-

- I'm a master of dread arcane magics, using the dead to do my bidding. I raid graveyards to animate the corpses of the dead, who serve as my swords and shields, while with my spells I rip the life force from the living and feed on it, speeding my transition to undeath.

This isn't a fair concept to build, because it relies a bit too heavily on splat books. 4e now is like 3.0 core. Obviously they've released a bunch of new rules with 3.x books that allow for more character concepts, but playing an arcane necromancer without Libris Mortis is about as sad.

I could just as easily suggest a concept of a cleric who has a god that sustains his protection indefinitely, allowing him to become a divine instrument that is unstoppable... but 3.x only allowed that with Divine Metamagic and Persistant Spell.... feats that didn't show up until years later.

Granted, this is such an old argument that I can't believe I'm contributing to it, but I had to start posting sometime!