Binky's a lot better now! ;) (Epic character more buff!)

[Saeviomagy]

anyone at all have any ideas for my bear?

Don't bother. You're a level 11 ranger. The toughest thing you get is 5 hit dice. It will never matter, and it will die to the first area effect to hit you.

Beyond that - what is your rogue special ability?

 

[Sandain]

Hello Boz,

I would try and re-invent yourself as a ranged attack specialist. This way you do not need to worry as much about hp and ac.

You should never be attacking anything that you arn't flanking and getting sneak attacks on of course.

If you have a flying item you make yourself immune to melee attacks from creatures that cannot fly.

A possibility is to take Order of the Bow Initiate Prc levels.

With 4 base atacks per round, 1 more with rapid shot, 1 more with haste and +5 composite bow and arrows, sickingly high dex means you should be doing very respectable damage per round.

So to sum up, perhaps focus less on equipment and more on your strengths and find your niche in the group. It's always useful to be the furthest character away and very sneaky. You may be the only survivor of a TPK one day.

Ranks in UMD and Ressurection scrolls are great.

 

[BOZ]

Don't bother. You're a level 11 ranger. The toughest thing you get is 5 hit dice. It will never matter, and it will die to the first area effect to hit you.

Beyond that - what is your rogue special ability?

my DM, from what it seems, is going to work out a special deal to get a higher-HD dire bear than any old mere 5-HD one. so, again, what can i outfit him with?

my rogue special ability is... I Forgot To Take A Rogue Special Ability? heh, really though, maybe i didn't, but i don't have my character sheet in front of me. most likely, i took Improved Evasion.

Hello Boz,

I would try and re-invent yourself as a ranged attack specialist. This way you do not need to worry as much about hp and ac.

You should never be attacking anything that you arn't flanking and getting sneak attacks on of course.

oh yeah, you know it. with that true strike bow you know i'm going to be ranged attack focused from now on. but my rapier will always be an important backup, or for when i need to be in melee. we're playing tonight so i need to make up my shopping list quick...

If you have a flying item you make yourself immune to melee attacks from creatures that cannot fly.

good call, i was considering a flying carpet. my gnome in a previous campaign had one (taken from a guy we killed).

A possibility is to take Order of the Bow Initiate Prc levels.

With 4 base atacks per round, 1 more with rapid shot, 1 more with haste and +5 composite bow and arrows, sickingly high dex means you should be doing very respectable damage per round.

if i already qualify for that, i can take it now with my as-yet-unused level. what book?

So to sum up, perhaps focus less on equipment and more on your strengths and find your niche in the group. It's always useful to be the furthest character away and very sneaky. You may be the only survivor of a TPK one day.

Ranks in UMD and Ressurection scrolls are great.

you've probably shown the most faith in my character's inherent potential so far on this thread. and UMD is definitely on my to-do list.

 

[Shade]

BOZ, it does my heart good to know you are playing in an epic-level campaign.

First, as a ranger/rogue, you need to get your Tumble skill up to par. I'd recommend pouring your next few levels' worth of skills into Tumble and acquire the boots of swiftness (a bargain at 256,000 gp, including a sweet +20 bonus to Tumble checks). A modifier of +34 should be your target...it'll get you through threatened areas of multiple opponents at your full speed, and allow you to stand from prone as a free action.

Next, try to pick up the aforementioned dread property on your rapier. I'd go with undead dread, since odds are that of uncrittable monsters, you'll face more undead than the other types.

 

[BOZ]

BOZ, it does my heart good to know you are playing in an epic-level campaign.

for over a year now, in fact! do you beleive it?

i wish i had read your response before i left work yesterday, because...

 

[BOZ]

Last night was awesome. I did indeed get to go shopping around the elven town, and I got just about everything I wanted.

I did get to call my new dire bear companion, as promised, and he is a big old fella at 36-HD!

We did not have the time to upgrade any items (yet), so I just bought all-new stuff and donated my old loot back to the party to do with as they pleased. I got:

A hybrid suit of susalian chainweave (see Complete Warrior)/mithril chain shirt, with heavy fortification, silent moves, and shadow (all 3.0 versions) added onto it.

To make up for the lower AC, I was allowed to purchase a set of Bracers of Armor +1, and add a +5 enhancement bonus on to it. Also, I got an Amulet of Natural Armor +5 and Ring of Protection +5. I got a +5 animated large steel shield, so now my AC is 42 instead of 34.

For weapons, I got my Bow of True Arrows (see Sword & Fist), which gives me I believe a total +47 to attack, and got a second one for our party “leader”. And, I got one set of 50 arrows each of holy, chaotic, and lawful arrows (and regular arrows for when I get stuck fighting neutral opponents). I got a new +5 silver rapier of ghost touch, holy, and bane undead for when I am stuck fighting in melee, and I kept my other rapiers as backup weapons. I also got a +5 Dagger of returning for when bows are a bad idea and I don’t want to be in melee. I got a Quiver of Ehlonna to store as many arrows as I can.

I got a Manual of Quickness in Action, and a Manual of Bodily Health to read when I get the chance.

With the rest of the money, I got a Necklace of Adaptation and a Lantern of Revealing. I still had 15,000 gp of new money left after buying all of the above (this is not counting my share of party funds), so on the advice of our party “leader” I kept that money. He gave me a Golembane scarab, and another party member got me a Gem of true resurrection.

Also, I totaled up all the experience points I had not yet added up, which gave me 2 (!) more levels (I was just shy of level 23 before I did this, so now I am 24). I decided that prestige classes are, for the most part, out of my reach at this stage so I went with my instinct and made myself a Rog 12/Rgr 12. I added my +1 to Int when I took the Rogue level at 24, so I could get the extra skill point, which I put all of in Use Magic Device (my Ranger skills went into bowmaking, on the advice of party leader, which should come in handy I’d imagine). I took Penetrate Damage Reduction as my feat.

Another thing, unrelated to my character but almost as much fun as building him up. Our party’s new necromancer discovered that someone in the town had found the Hand of Vecna. Our newbie immediately cut off his own hand and attached the Hand to the stump. I laughed at him, but he told me “what’s the worst that can happen? I’m already evil so there’s really nothing.” I looked the item up in the DMG and found out this was true. So, I went and dug out a copy of the 1E DMG, which the DM took as much glee in exploring as I did. He let the player pick out (randomly) the powers – and curses – that the item would give under 1st edition rules. Oh, that was fun. there is a 1% cumulative chance per use that he explodes, and let’s not forget that he can always be possessed by Vecna (and try to kill us all, but that is a story for another day).

Here is my bear. I still need to give him +6 points to his ability scores for raising the HD, as well as 7 more feats. I will want to get some magic items when I can to buff up his AC.

Baloo
Dire Bear (Advanced)
Huge Animal
Hit Dice: 36d8+216 (378 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (-2 size, +0 Dex, +10 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +27/+49
Attack: Claw +39 melee (2d6+14)
Full Attack: 2 claws +39 melee (2d6+14) and bite +34 melee (3d8+7)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +26, Ref +20, Will +13
Abilities: Str 39, Dex 11, Con 23, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10 (+6)
Skills: Listen +14, Spot +14, Swim +27
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Run, Toughness, Weapon Focus (claw)

Environment: Cold forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: X
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: ---
Level Adjustment: ---


COMBAT
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Baloo must hit with a claw attack. He can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Boz-->good call, i was considering a flying carpet. my gnome in a previous campaign had one (taken from a guy we killed).

Magic carpets got nerfed like hell in 3.5. Our ranger/rogue had one until the change and he suddenly sold it when he found out how whacked it'd gotten.

 

[rangerjohn]

Sounds like he's in a predominately 3.0 game. The only thing I've heard him mention from 3.5 is DR.

 

[Sandain]

Hi Boz,

I would steer clear of a flying carpet because I think you have to maintain concentration on them at all times and I am not sure if they can hover?

The Order of the Bow Initiate is in Sword and Fist or Song and Silence. Can you ask your DM to let you consider taking levels in that instead of Ranger and Rogue?

I recommend these feats for your Teddy Bear;
Power Attack
Cleave
Improved Crit: Claws
Improved Crit: Bite
Great Cleave
Overwhelming Crit: Claws
Overwhelming Crit: Bite
Devastating Crit: Claws
Devastating Crit: Bite

Another thing you can spend money on is getting permenent spells cast on you, such as See invisible. Also you could buy a wish which could give you a Contingency affect.

From what you have written I see your party members as very solid bricks, but I see you as the cement in the middle - able to fill a variety of roles.

 

[BOZ]

see now, i like the way you think.

carpet of flying, as i have been reminded, is out of the question. the DM has banned spells and magic items that allow flying and teleporting, as players in the past have abused these things far too much.

as for Order of the Bow Initiate, yes i did find that in S&F, as well as complete warrior. the problem is, i lack most of the prerequsitie feats to take that PrC. however, as i recall, i was wrong about taking Penetrate Damage Reduction... ultimately, on the advice of the yakfolk's player i chose to go with Point Blank Shot.

and thanks for Baloo's feat suggestions. those should come in handy. we have a cloud giant NPC travelling with us that has the epic critical feats, and those are sweeet.

and the permanent spells idea is nice too, hopefully we can find someone to do that for us.

From what you have written I see your party members as very solid bricks, but I see you as the cement in the middle - able to fill a variety of roles.

heh, i like this. and that is certainly what i'd like to be.