Building a Solo Character...

[RUMBLETiGER]

So I'm curious as to what sort of PC's one could build that could stand up to a Solo game. 3.x, any book, magazine, official resource is fair game. Assume being able to consistently defeat opponents of a CR one number lower than your level.

Any takers?

 

[aj3ai]

My immediate reaction was Cleric, or some divine spell caster. They're the most likely to have the strength at all levels to compete solo.

 

[parinho7]

i agree with cleric, or maybe a Gish build

 

[Crothian]

As long as the player plays well and picks his battles and terrain intelligently then any class should be able to do this. Also, it would need to be monsters that can be dealt with by the class. A rogue is really going to have trouble against undead or other things even at much lower CRs. At the same time though a wizard with good enchantment spells can eaily handle multiple creatures of higher CRs as long as they have crappy will saves.

 

[kitcik]

Gestalt warblade / wizard

 

[Jacob Marley]

I've been on a bit of a cleric kick lately, so I am thinking a Cloistered Cleric of Olidammara with the Celerity and Trickery domains (and Knowledge domain via C.C.). He would probably have a higher than average Int with the Able Learner feat and would focus on being a skill-monkey sort of character. He'd probably work well in a game set in and around the City of Greyhawk.

 

[Dandu]

So I'm curious as to what sort of PC's one could build that could stand up to a Solo game. 3.x, any book, magazine, official resource is fair game. Assume being able to consistently defeat opponents of a CR one number lower than your level.

Any takers?

Serpent Kingdoms is allowed, you say?

 

[emoplato]

Serpent Kingdoms is allowed, you say?

I suppose then Savage Species is too.

 

[Dandu]

What level is this taking place at?

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Permitting Serpet Kingdoms and Savage Species, but expect an eyeroll with the Feral template, or Anthromorphic hippos and such. But yes, anything is legit. You can offer up crazy Char-Op munchkins, but I'm ideally looking for playable builds that won't make people groan at the thought, instead think "Oh, that's clever". I realize the subjectivity of such a criteria, feel free to ignore it.

Assume no Gestalt builds, simply because that opens the can-o-worms that screws with CR's.

As for level, Figure a build that could handle him/herself across the entire level progression. Perhaps cross section this character at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 if that's helpful, or simply put together a level-by-level build.

...Here's what I'm trying to get at for myself when wrestling with this question: What are the sorts of things a character needs to be self-sufficent? Some things I've thought of include...
-A form of healing HP (Cure spells, Class abilities, +2 Vampiric Weapons...)
-A way to deal damage to all possible creature types (Feats, +1 Bane Weapons, Force effects...)
-Surviveability (AC, Feats, Great Saves, Immunities, teleport away...)
-Allies (Trained pets, Animal Companions, Summoned monsters...)
-An array of skills or options or spells that simulate skills (Open lock or a Knock spell or a door-busting strength score...)

...and so on.