D&D 3E/3.5 Help me build this character in 3.5

[shurai]

So it's been a long time since I've played 3.5. Between Pathfinder, 4th, and some other stuff I've been having plenty of fun with other systems. But a group I know has invited me to play in their 3.5 campaign. So I've got this character concept, but I don't know how to make it work. I don't mind if the concept isn't very optimized, but I do want to capture the flavor with as much oomph as possible.

So, here's the person I want to play:

He's a kindly old man, wise and deeply knowledgeable about a variety of subjects. He isn't flashy about it, but he often gets his way in social situations by honest persuasion, and he's good at finding things out by research or investigation. I also want him to be a good healer, to reflect his deeply held compassion. He's a plainly clothed traveller, who owns little but the contents of his pack and his walking stick. He probably knows a little of surviving in the wild.

So, here are the traits I want in summary, more or less in descending order of priority:

• Starts at 4th Level, Neutral Good, likely to get good stat rolls (4d6, drop lowest, reroll 1s & 2s)
• Major Skills: Heal, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Sense Motive, and lots of Knowledge skills
• Healing spells or abilities somehow
• Minor Skills: Appraise, Decipher Script, Use Magic Device, Survival
• Combat: Perhaps some defensive spells or buffs.
• Saves: Fort mediocre, Ref bad, Will good

This seems like a reasonable combination of abilities in terms of balance, but how the heck do I build it?

Some stuff comes close. A cloistered cleric, for instance, but they don't get Sense Motive, and one of the key concepts of this character is that he has a keen insight into human behavior.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What sources do you have available?

Some classes to consider, either solo or multiclass:

Cleric or Shaman with Knowledge, Travel or Divination/Oracle domains.
Bard
Artificer or Wizard (Specialist or Focused Specialist Diviner)

Sacred Healing, a feat from CompDiv, lets you use Turn Undead attempts to a 60' Burst that grants Fast Heal 3 for 1+ Cha bonus rounds. I have found this to be a VERY effective method of healing- look at a game mat and see how many creatures you can fit in a 60' Burst- and since it is Fast Healing and not CLW, it will autostabilize anyone who falls below 0HP, and will counter ongoing damage. Note: there is a feat by the same name in PHB2 with completely different mechanics. This is NOT a reprint & revision, it is an entirely different feat- I checked with WotC, and they said they simply didn't catch the name issue.

Bonus trick: you said "Old Man." If you mean it, take a look at the effects of aging upon a character. You'll get negatives to physical stats, but bonuses to the mental stats. Given your PC concept, this is a win for you.

 

[Herzog]

You could take Able Learner (possibly in combination with a dip into a class that gives your required skills as class skills) to overcome the 'not a class skill for this class' problem.

 

[parinho7]

you can start as a human paragon/cloisterd cleric with able learner. this way you'll have virtually any 10 skills you want as class skills for all classes, unfortunately most of the prestige classes that are suitable for clerics don't give many skill points. you can counter that with high int and maybe nymphs kiss and since you say that you will own little maybe you might want to check vow of poverty.
if you go that way, some possible prestige classe choises are divine oracle and contemplative and maybe harper paragon.

also take a look at the fochlucan lyrist prestige class

 

[emoplato]

I would say an archivist is a good start, decent skills, intelligence oriented, able to choose any divine spells, cleric saves, scribe scroll, very intriguing knowledge capabilities, and even a couple a bonus feats if you just want to stay as one.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I agree with your initial assessment: do cloistered cleric and take the Magic domain. Being able to use items of every spell on the cleric, wiz, and sorc spell list is practically the same as being able to use magic device any magic item in the game.

Cleric prestige classes can easily get you any still missing skills for class skills, or a good chunk of them. Church Inquisitor in C.Divine is easy as pie to qualify for, a decent class (neither under or overpowered, IMO) and I'm almost certain they get Sense Motive as a class skill, for example.

 

[Thanael]

Indeed check out the Archivist class from Heroes of Horror. Also check out this article on the Archivist class here. And here's the Archivist handbook for even more detail/CharOp/advice.

Sense Motive is not a class skill though, so maybe take a prestige class that has it ( Church Inquisitor definately has it, also Evangelist) or take Able Learner so you get 1:! on skill points though not the max ranks.

OR take the Skilled City Dweller alternate class features from Cityscape to swap survival for sense motive. But then you'd have to get survival from somewhere first...

 

[RangerWickett]

Ask the DM if you can have Sense Motive as a class skill.

 

[cjosephs1s]

Not sure how much healing you want your character to have but the prestige class Radiant Servant of Pelor from Complete Divine will give you some nice healing buffs and meets most of the other requirements.

Another idea is the PC monster class Ghaele from Savage Species. While the skills aren't optimal, it has a lot of other things. Also this could explain your keen insights into humans (ghaeles are celestials and immortal for the most part and could have observed humans for hundreds or thousands of years). I'm not saying its a perfect fit for what you want but they do get spells, large skill point pool, nice spell like abilities (at 8th level you can use cure light wounds at will..perfect for the healer!), decent saves, and can come up any back story you like


Here's just my two cents on a few of the class skills you want that may allow some flexibility and open up character classes for you. Gather information can be roleplayed out if you want. Your character doesn't "need" the skill to find out what you want to know. Also a little coin as a bribe helps to loose tongues. Our DM frequently makes us roleplay the gather information check and not role for it and while time consuming it is fun and sometimes you find out things you wouldn't normally have.

Also sense motive can be negated by spells. I would say if your trying to find out if someone is lying to you a handy dandy magic item that lets you cast Detect Thoughts will due the trick and you can get some information without having to interact with the subject.

While taking the heal skill gives "flavor" to your character I'd say its not really much use unless its a prereq for something else. That's why you have healing spells, potions, alchemical stuff, scrolls, and magic items.

Also if you find a class that you really really like but the skills don't match, ask your DM to swap out what you don't want for what you do. I've often found its very easy to justify why a class should have a skill. Diplomacy for example: Perhaps your character has spent a lot of time with nobility as their healer of a sickly child and through watching them have picked up a few things.

Hope something in here helped and good luck. Character sounds like a fun one to play.

 

[marcielle]

Factotum! You got all the skills points you need(6+INT, your main score, and another if you go human), healing, UMD, INT as your major score(for those Knowledges), the awesome Cunning Knowledge(for when you just HAVE to convince the King to lend you a small army) and you can even have decent physical skill checks cos of Brains over Brawn. And no muss multiclassing cos Factotum is passable right up to 20, though you can multiclass into whatever you need latercos Factotum has such an easy time fulfilling prereqs due to every skill, arcane casting and then some.