Build advice: Limits by Power Source instead of Class

[ZickZak]

He said "We are trying a houserule..." so I wouldn't necessarily interpret that to mean he is the GM and THINKING about having such a house rule. It sounds, to me, more like the participants agreed to have this as a house rule, and that it is already set in motion. We also know there are 2 players, so it seems like a little get-together kinda game to try something out and play some 4, right @ZickZak?

Truthfully, all our commentary along the lines of "here's why you might not want to do this" are kinda going against the point of the thread if I understand it correctly. The OP didn't ask if this was a bad idea, it just asked what would be a good build given that this IS the rule. Given that he asked about a build, I am guessing he's one of the players. Nothing wrong with us commenting that we're dubious about the whole affair, but in the end I think that for them 'Solved' just means they're going ahead and the consequences will have to be dealt with in whatever fashion.

I think its cool to play variant 4e. Much fun.

Pretty much a great sumup, thank you. We are only three (2 players) since we were 10 y/o and we have been playing this way for 16 years. We play 4e since it came out, except a few month break for 5e.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Pretty much a great sumup, thank you. We are only three (2 players) since we were 10 y/o and we have been playing this way for 16 years. We play 4e since it came out, except a few month break for 5e.

No 4th player even, eh? I've played in plenty of small groups, but after a while I always felt like it was nice to see a new face.

 

[ZickZak]

No 4th player even, eh?

2 players, one GM. So not even the 3rd player

 

[Joshua Randall]

I was going for ninja stealthy archer with fear and mind-illusion spells, perhaps occasional fireball.

I'll answer this the same way I answer every other thread like this: a strongly class-based game like D&D doesn't really support the style of play where you need eight disparate words to describe what your character can do. Sure, you can cobble something together using hybrids / multiclassing (or house rules) that will approximate a "ninja stealthy archer with fear and mind-illusion spells [and] perhaps occasional fireball", but you'll always feel like you're fighting the system because you are.

D&D has defined classes with defined sets of abilities and powers. It can be limiting to stay within your class(es) but it can also be freeing, because you can focus on being good at what you do -- and in 4e you can be very, very good indeed.

If you really want to be a 'do everything' character like you'd find in the Elder Scrolls videogames, then I think a different, non-class-based system will scratch that itch better than D&D ever will.

All that said... I'm sure MwaO and others can figure out some crazy combination of 4e classes / feats / power-swaps / items that will make a "ninja stealthy archer with fear and mind-illusion spells, perhaps occasional fireball" for you under the 4e rules.

 

[ZickZak]

If you really want to be a 'do everything' character like you'd find in the Elder Scrolls videogames, then I think a different, non-class-based system will scratch that itch better than D&D ever will.

If you have a D20 like that, I would love to try it.

Also, this was not really a thread about why is this a good or bad idea. We want to try it out.

 

[Mad_Jack]

The stealth part of that description can be filled by quite a number of classes or picked up through backgrounds or other ways of acquiring skills... Illusion and mind-control magic could be warlock, bard, sorcerer or wizard.
Given that you want a bit of boom to go with that, warlock might be the way to go for the magic since it's both stealthy and blasty.
Warlock|Ranger multi-classed Rogue, maybe?
Take Ranger powers for your archery (is there anything good in Seeker?), Warlock powers for a bit of blasting, and split your Utility powers between the three, since pretty much all of the "ninja"-ish ones are in those three classes anyway...

The only real issue is that you're going to have to choose to specialize in either physical weaponry (i.e., your bow) or magic, with only a minor bit of the other one, since you just won't have enough powers to be really effective at both.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

The stealth part of that description can be filled by quite a number of classes or picked up through backgrounds or other ways of acquiring skills... Illusion and mind-control magic could be warlock, bard, sorcerer or wizard.
Given that you want a bit of boom to go with that, warlock might be the way to go for the magic since it's both stealthy and blasty.
Warlock|Ranger multi-classed Rogue, maybe?
Take Ranger powers for your archery (is there anything good in Seeker?), Warlock powers for a bit of blasting, and split your Utility powers between the three, since pretty much all of the "ninja"-ish ones are in those three classes anyway...

The only real issue is that you're going to have to choose to specialize in either physical weaponry (i.e., your bow) or magic, with only a minor bit of the other one, since you just won't have enough powers to be really effective at both.

Well, it would be NICE to get a bow as an implement... That's obviously possible, but I'm not sure if you can do it without MCing into bard. Probably some obscure way or other... I guess you could be a dagger throwin' sort of fellow, that would let you use a single weaplement, and it would fit with any rogue stuff you wanted to pick up. You could of course still switch to a bow in a pinch (and with magic ammo you could cheaply avoid needing to get another expensive enchanted weapon, though inherent bonus would largely obviate that issue).

 

[MwaO]

Well, it would be NICE to get a bow as an implement...

Hybriding Monk gets him that - but Psionic is kind of weird under his rules. Monk|Sorcerer works well for that if he gets bow proficiency from somewhere...Monk|Ranger with a 20 Dex if you refluff Monk powers into arcane ones gets everything.

 

[Mad_Jack]

Wasn't there a feat to get a bow as an implement? Moonbow Initiate or something like that?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Wasn't there a feat to get a bow as an implement? Moonbow Initiate or something like that?

I think you have to be an elf, a cleric, and worship Sehenine, but I might not be entirely correct on all of those, and I can't look stuff up in Compendium anymore...