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Character Builds & Optimization
How do you Build your Character?
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<blockquote data-quote="the_bruiser" data-source="post: 4842792" data-attributes="member: 6126"><p>I start by breaking something. My goal is to have a character so good at dealing melee damage in some way that everybody else says, "That's ridiculous." It usually starts with my seeing something that tickles the brain that says I can break it, then when we start the next campaign I build it. </p><p></p><p>From there, I tend to have a standard grab-box of abilities that I layer in as best I can:</p><p>1) High movement rate if possible. This often means no armor.</p><p>2) Eliminate surprises. This means high Spot/Listen or other relevant abilities if possible.</p><p></p><p>Some examples over the years include:</p><p>3E with splats) Wulfgar, half-orc barbarian/fighter/weapon master with Mercurial Greatsword (x4) that crits on a 16, along with huge strength, and crazy feats around automatic criticals, higher-damage criticals, and related feats.</p><p>3E core-ish) Cade, halfling rogue/wizard/arcane trickster that abused Expeditious Retreat and Improved Invisibility as much as possible.</p><p>2E with splats) Raven, human 'dual-class' figher/cleric/magic user that used Combat & Tactics, Spells & Magic, etc., to do ridiculous unarmed damage, permanent True Seeing, Weapon Master unarmed, movement rate 18, shapeshifting abilities and could attack like 13 times/round starting in Very Fast phase with Tentacles. (In that campaign we allowed people to 'buy' extra attributes with experience that I used to meet Dual prereq 17s.)</p><p>2E 'core') Logan, human 'wanderer,' a custom class using the DM guide class building system. He basically didn't buy much except a good THAC0 and arcane spells, so his level progression was super quick, meaning he got spells 'ahead of schedule.' </p><p></p><p>A few caveats before you all burn me. </p><p>1) From there I lay on a lot of character. When people reminisce (sp?) about those campaigns, it's usually quirky/fun/cool things my character said/did that live on. Wulfgar had entire battle songs I'd written, Cade's high-pitched enthusiasm for everything (and his continual disappointment in his cohort Bernie, a sorcerer who 'just never would study!'), Raven's menacing demeanor, Logan's almost child-like naivety when it comes to personal interactions, etc.</p><p>2) We welcome power gamers in our groups. If you don't care about doing mega damage, that's fine, but you should be aware that a couple of us view that as half the fun. So people fall into three groups - (i) us power gamers, (ii) those who aren't but don't like to be out-classed, so they let us help them tweak power levels after they've done their personality/goals/general themese design, and (iii) those who don't care at all, with whom there's no problem.</p><p></p><p>Errrr... should I make this post longer? Sorry about that <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the_bruiser, post: 4842792, member: 6126"] I start by breaking something. My goal is to have a character so good at dealing melee damage in some way that everybody else says, "That's ridiculous." It usually starts with my seeing something that tickles the brain that says I can break it, then when we start the next campaign I build it. From there, I tend to have a standard grab-box of abilities that I layer in as best I can: 1) High movement rate if possible. This often means no armor. 2) Eliminate surprises. This means high Spot/Listen or other relevant abilities if possible. Some examples over the years include: 3E with splats) Wulfgar, half-orc barbarian/fighter/weapon master with Mercurial Greatsword (x4) that crits on a 16, along with huge strength, and crazy feats around automatic criticals, higher-damage criticals, and related feats. 3E core-ish) Cade, halfling rogue/wizard/arcane trickster that abused Expeditious Retreat and Improved Invisibility as much as possible. 2E with splats) Raven, human 'dual-class' figher/cleric/magic user that used Combat & Tactics, Spells & Magic, etc., to do ridiculous unarmed damage, permanent True Seeing, Weapon Master unarmed, movement rate 18, shapeshifting abilities and could attack like 13 times/round starting in Very Fast phase with Tentacles. (In that campaign we allowed people to 'buy' extra attributes with experience that I used to meet Dual prereq 17s.) 2E 'core') Logan, human 'wanderer,' a custom class using the DM guide class building system. He basically didn't buy much except a good THAC0 and arcane spells, so his level progression was super quick, meaning he got spells 'ahead of schedule.' A few caveats before you all burn me. 1) From there I lay on a lot of character. When people reminisce (sp?) about those campaigns, it's usually quirky/fun/cool things my character said/did that live on. Wulfgar had entire battle songs I'd written, Cade's high-pitched enthusiasm for everything (and his continual disappointment in his cohort Bernie, a sorcerer who 'just never would study!'), Raven's menacing demeanor, Logan's almost child-like naivety when it comes to personal interactions, etc. 2) We welcome power gamers in our groups. If you don't care about doing mega damage, that's fine, but you should be aware that a couple of us view that as half the fun. So people fall into three groups - (i) us power gamers, (ii) those who aren't but don't like to be out-classed, so they let us help them tweak power levels after they've done their personality/goals/general themese design, and (iii) those who don't care at all, with whom there's no problem. Errrr... should I make this post longer? Sorry about that :). [/QUOTE]
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