Batman Fans: How would you design him in DND 3.5?

[Caius]

just a thought but wouldn't you include the Leadership feat or something similar for all his little cohorts like Robin and Batgirl, if you were going that way. Because I'd be more inclinded to think they were his henchmen than "regular" adventurers until they of course head off on their own.

 

[Psion]

I'd use the Shadowy Avenger PrC from Quint Monk (and later, Ultimate PrC). It was practically MADE to be Batman.

 

[Qvintus]

I would make him a high lvl urban ranger with a couple of monk lvls, With favourit enemy criminals
lots of bonus lots of exstra damage, hide in plain sight, urban track,

 

[mr_outsidevoice]

We can steal from Unearthed Arcana and have him use Gestalt classes.

Effectively give him 40 class levels to spend between Fighter, Monk, Ranger, and Rogue, no more than 20 in any one.

It can squeeze out more feats, skill points, and class abilities.

Choose a PrC or 2 into the mix.

We can also use Mutants and Masterminds and build him as a 2oth level character there. 300 points can be spent quite well.

 

[Nareau]

Nice stuff. Too much magic for me

Yeah, I kinda agree. On the other hand, Batman was all about the gear. And the only way to sufficiently reflect "those wonderful toys" in a fantasy setting is with magic.

Nareau

 

[Frostmarrow]

Hm. -Yes, I can buy that.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

As an ardent Batman fan, in D&D terms I don't think Batman is a balanced character. He's a munchkin. Or, in game terms, a gestalt Fighter20/Rogue20.

 

[Wraith Form]

Other ideas:

Urban Ranger from Unearthed Arcana, with "Criminals" as a favored class.

There's a non-WotC core class from Atlas' Crime & Punishment (I think it's Investigator, but I don't have the book w/ me right now) that seems very suited to Bats. Kinda like a buffed Sherlock Holmes.

Personally, I think bumping up his Dex makes a lot of sense (in addition to his Str, Con & Int)...Bruce is faster than a "normal" man, can (almost literally) dodge bullets, fights well because he's just not there when criminals try to punch him, etc.

The arguments that he's Epic also seem to fit well.

 

[Klaus]

I recently statted Bruce Wayne for d20 Modern (just the core book). A Justice-League-type Batman would be at least 20th level (the JL is epic by definition). In the Animated Series, you can tone him down a bit. In this build, he'd be a Smart/Dedicated/Fast/Martial Artist.

For D&D, I'd say Batman is a Rogue/Urban Ranger. I'd trade Animal Companion for a Cohort (sidekick), Wild Empathy, Spells and other nature-oriented abilities for Bonus Feats. Combat Style would be Weapon Finesse (Unarmed) at 2nd, Weapon Specialization (Unarmed) at 6th and Improved Critical (Unarmed) at 11th. I'd also trade some abilities for Savant Lore (like Bardic Lore, but focused on academic stuff).

For stats, he'd be Str 17 (there ARE stronger mooks than Batman), Dex 18 (I'd put Nightwing at 20), Con 16, Int 22 (starts at 18 and gets bumped up with levels), Wis 18, Cha 16 (that's just too twinky!).

His 18 Int and rogue-level skills would put him up the wazoo in skill points (48 at 1st level!). SO he'd have max ranks in Intimidate, Gather Information, Hide, Move Silently, Balance, Tumble, Climb, Jump, Disguise and Bluff.

His feats would go along the lines of Improved Feint, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Improved Grapple, Alertness, Stealthy...

The bat-suit would be equivalent to a non-magical Light Fortification Shadow Studded Leather armor that gave the user a +5 bonus to Intimidate checks.

 

[Wraith Form]

For D&D, I'd say Batman is a Rogue/Urban Ranger. **SNIP **
The bat-suit would be equivalent to a non-magical Light Fortification Shadow Studded Leather armor that gave the user a +5 bonus to Intimidate checks.

I'm fond of this entire write-up! While IMHO I think his skills are slightly different (again, mostly the Dex thing) I'm cool with the rest of this description.