D&D 3E/3.5 Help me create "Fantasy Sherlock Holmes" in 3.5

[Thanael]

Thanael,

The Watch Detective seems to be 100% 3.5 compatible. I have the Ravenloft book(s) you reference, so I'll check those out post haste. (I thought I remembered there being a detective in RL!)

Thanks.

You'll find the RL Detective prc in Heroes of Light, the stats for Alanik Ray are in Gazetteer 3 though.

As for 2E Alanik is in Champions of the Mists, he sort of narrated pieces of Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts and there are more details on him in Bleak House.

 

[Thanael]

Seriously, Factotum.

I hear you. The class looks like a very good fit for a fantasy-Holmes. If his DM allows Dungeonscape.

 

[Wraith Form]

I hear you. The class looks like a very good fit for a fantasy-Holmes. If his DM allows Dungeonscape.

We'll see! It's 'official WotC' so he shouldn't have a problem with it.

I hope.

But I agree, a jack-of-all-trades (that isn't a bard) would be useful, especially in our party.

 

[Thanael]

While you ruled out Eberron, i feel i must mention the 'Inquisitives' line of novels of which manyl feature protagonists with the Master Inquisitive prestige class from the Eberron CS. While none of them came off as a straight Holmes pastiche like Alanik Ray, they were still very interesting fantasy PIs. And the Master Inquisitive is a nice 5 level Prc for this kind of stuff. Eberron also adds the Investigate Feat, which is a prereq of the prc.

 

[Wraith Form]

While you ruled out Eberron, i feel i must mention the 'Inquisitives' line of novels of which manyl feature protagonists with the Master Inquisitive prestige class from the Eberron CS. While none of them came off as a straight Holmes pastiche like Alanik Ray, they were still very interesting fantasy PIs. And the Master Inquisitive is a nice 5 level Prc for this kind of stuff. Eberron also adds the Investigate Feat, which is a prereq of the prc.

I haven't ruled out Eberron yet! (Again, it's up to DM approval.) And I do own the Eberron Inquisitives series.

 

[Thanael]

Tell us what build you settle upon and let us know how he works in play. Have you decided on a race yet?

 

[Herobizkit]

I was going to mention the Watch Detective PrC as well. IMC, I've made it available as a base class (as IMC, max level in any class is 10) as the PrC doesn't offer anything that game breaking.

I might also suggest the Chameleon PrC as a way to represent Holmes ability to do "a bit of everything". Race pre-reqs are human, doppelganger, and it is suggested to allow Changelings from Eberron as well. Holmes as a Changeling... hmmm...

 

[Ugulu the Barbarian]

Well, since he can't have a revolver, then I'd give him a Hand Crossbow... Probably something that didn't need to be said, but I though I'd point it out.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

...or a Wand of Magic Missile.

 

[Wraith Form]

Tell us what build you settle upon and let us know how he works in play. Have you decided on a race yet?

I'll likely go with human, partially to get the benefits of multiclassing and extra feat(s) but also because in my DM's (homebrew) world the other races are considerably less prevalent.

I'm strongly leaning toward taking the Factotum (Dungeonscape) or the Investigator (Atlas' Crime & Punishment), maybe with a PrC tacked on to give a little detectivey boost.

I was also considering playing a cleric of a god with Law/Justice/Inquisition domains. Not incredibly Holmsian, I admit, but I can craft a very capable detective and multiclass into the above options (Factotum, Investigator, PrC) as desired.

I'm kinda happy that there are too many choices, and it's making my decision more difficult....better than the alternative!