Half Ogre Duskblade stat ideas

[Hawkeye]

I'm creating a character for a PbP campaign and figured on playing a Duskblade. I've got the following rolls: 17,13,12,17,16,14. Characters start at ECL 5 Now, I have chosen to try playing as a Half-ogre because the character's history has him starting out as a drow and due to a reincarnation spell becoming a half ogre. He's not a smart and fast as he used to be, but he is bigger and stronger and is still trying to adjust. Half-ogres get +6 to strength and +2 to Con and -2 to Int, Chr and Dex. An intelligence of 15 will max the character out in terms of the top level spells he can know. So I am stuck in trying to either build a balanced build or stacking up on Str and Con in/near the 20's and everything else just above average. What does everyone think?

Hawkeye

 

[Dandu]

What do you want to do with this character?

 

[Hawkeye]

Use a glaive to reach out and touch someone with things like Shocking Grasp. Have as much control of the area around him as possible (with a 20 foot reach) with the HPs to survive it. Other than that, the rest is just character stuff: fighting the more base instincts of the body to just jump into the middle of things and start swinging. Yeah, I know Reincarnate doesn't say you have to do that, but it's a common theme in characters that have changed from one form to another. I might take a level of Barbarian to represent this clash better. I'm not as much interested in making a fully optimized character, as an interesting character that can be effective in and/or out of combat, but not the most effective character. That's been my general philosophy in character creation for nearly 30 years. (Good lord, has it been that long!? ) If I wanted a truly optimized character for a Duskblade, would I be using a Half Ogre? Still, I wanted to see what differing opinions might be.

Hawkeye

 

[Dandu]

If you're not interested in power or mechanics, why do you care? Pick whichever one you think would make for more fun at the table and go with it.

Reincarnated characters do not have any mental stat adjustments because reincarnation does not affect the mind.

 

[Hawkeye]

Reincarnated characters do not have any mental stat adjustments because reincarnation does not affect the mind.

I know, but this is for RP purposes and you never know what the strange dark energies of the Underdark will do to a spell.

Hawkeye

 

[Hawkeye]

If you're not interested in power or mechanics, why do you care? Pick whichever one you think would make for more fun at the table and go with it.

Because I like to keep my options open and maybe someone's suggestion can make me think about the character in slightly different way that makes them more fun to play and effective for the party at the same time.

Hawkeye

 

[Dandu]

Because I like to keep my options open and maybe someone's suggestion can make me think about the character in slightly different way that makes them more fun to play and effective for the party at the same time.

Hawkeye

As always, I suggest making your character as powerful as practical.

17 Str, 14 Dex, 16 Con, 17 Int, 13 Wis, 12 Cha before adjustments; Power Attack, Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise; Armbands of Might, Anklets of Translocation, Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

If you really want to control the area around you, you're going to need a good dexterity score, and lots of feats for Combat Reflexes, Stand Still, and more. Hold the Line, Cometary Collision, and some Tome of Battle maneuvers (and dear god, Thicket of Blades stance if at all possible) will eat up a lot of feats or require heavy multiclassing. If Tome of Battle isn' an option, consider Knight from PHB2. He gets an ability not too far in to treat all his threatened area as difficult terrain (no 5 ft stepping and tumble is harder).

Really, Duskblade isn't good at all for controlling the battlefield, he gets mostly blasty spells to hit people with through his sword. You'd do better with a [full BAB class like Fighter] / [Full spellcaster like Wizard or Sorc] / Abjurant Champion / Eldritch Knight / Spellsword something or other. You'd do best with a Crusader or Warblade, or possibly a Psychic Warrior build with the right prestige classes.

We don't know what you'd consider fun.

And I doubt you'd find what I consider fun fun, which is min-maxing things. (Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian1/Duskblade4; 17 Str, 14 Dex, 16 Con, 17 Int, 13 Wis, 12 Cha; Power Attack, Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise; Armbands of Might, Anklets of Translocation, Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength)

You forgot Leap Attack and Whirling Frenzy.

 

[Dandu]

You forgot Leap Attack and Whirling Frenzy.

And you forgot to check after quoting.

 

[Hawkeye]

As always, I suggest making your character as powerful as practical.

17 Str, 14 Dex, 16 Con, 17 Int, 13 Wis, 12 Cha before adjustments; Power Attack, Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise; Armbands of Might, Anklets of Translocation, Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength

Nothing wrong with min maxing a character, as long as it doesn't ruin other people's fun at the same time.

Hawkeye