Challenge! I want to convert your concept!

[moritheil]

I'll take a stab at these!

This is a hard one. Let's see. You want triple threat, so three effective things.

We already know you can't triple class. That's out, so I'm not even going to worry about that.

Don't downplay the Rogue's "skill at arms". He may just be using a dagger, but he does some powerful damage with it.

I would say, go Halfling Artful Rogue with fae pact Multiclass. Fae pact gives you a couple different damage types (which I believe includes psychic... something few monsters have resistance to) as well as utility that adds to stealth.

Also, you can apply the "pact blade" enchantment to any light blade, so you can have one weapon which acts as both your Rogue weapon and your Warlock Implement. Synergy ftw!

Very interesting. How does it compare to a dedicated striker or dedicated caster?

This one is pretty easy, actually, if I get the gist of what you want.

Elf Cleric, make sure that Int is not your dump stat. Take "Skill Training: Perception", make sure your wisdom is high. Make sure to make Arcana and Insight your Cleric trained skills. You get the Elven "+1 to all party members perception checks" skill (thus, helping to "ensure the party is never surprised"). Wisdom clerics can do some decent damage with ranged attacks, and obviously you have the cleric's support magic. Maybe for your second feat, take Improved initiative. Suddenly, you're the guy who's almost always going first, and very, very aware of what's going on around him.

Assuming that ranged combat is unnerfed from its 3.5 state, that sounds workable. FWIW the original point was to compare it to a 3.5 divine oracle cleric (melee, spells, trapfinding/sense motive.)

I look forward to your next submission.

 

[Pbartender]

I'm getting that there isn't really a divide between skill checks and Will saving throws.

I'm not certain I understand you... In 4E Will is a defense, and a static number, much like AC. Mental-based spells use an attack roll against it. It's not unfeasible (I'm sure the rulebooks suggest it, but am unsure of the page number at the moment) to use it as a DC target number for skill checks and ability checks that work against an opponent's mental faculties.

Still, you're leaving it up to the DM to play nice and adjudicate that, aren't you?

Absolutely... And that's much of the point behind 4th Edition D&D.

It's part of the reason my players are really beginning to enjoy 4E. Because that aspect alone harkens back to the earlier editions.

 

[JDillard]

- I am the master of legions. Given a few days to prepare, I conjure forth dozens of expendable monsters - individually no threat to the enemy, but overwhelming in numbers. I can send them out on separate tasks or order them to attack en masse. Enemies who think that my strength is solely in my minions are in for a rude awakening, as I am also potent with both spell and blade. Despite this, I tend not to risk myself in battle - I can always simply win by attrition, for my hordes are endless given time.

So I'm going to give a try at this. I'll say from the beginning that it's not going to be exactly what you're looking for. As mentioned on other threads, a bunch, focused summoning is not yet available. The sheer complexity of this concept and how much it contrasts with some of the fundamental ideas of 4e means it's going to take the designers time to figure it out. I sincerely hope they will, since I've always loved the summoner character concept. But, I'll give this a try for you. It's going to involve some re-skinning, something fortunately very easy to do in 4e.

Eladrin Wizard multi into Ranger - the Elemental Spiritualist/Blademaster

First off, you need a good Int and a good Str to run this character. Probably go Str 16, Con 10, Dex 12, Int 18, Wis 13, Cha 8 (after Eladrin bonuses). Eladrin gives you longsword proficiency, so when you need a blade you've got that (probably plus a dagger for TWF) with Ranger powers. Mostly you'll be wizard focused though.

Currently there's no rules for long-term minions, so you'll just have to live without them, homebrew something with your DM, or get fed up with 4e and go back to 3.5 (I'd advise against that, but YMMV).

However, as an Eladrin and master of the Fae, you can call on powerful elemental spirits to do your bidding. Or, perhaps you prefer to skin them as ghostly servitors raised from the grave.

Instead of "Fire burst" or "icy ray" spells, they become swarms of fire spirts, or the icy touch of your ghostly servants. Mage hand suddenly becomes visible, familiar-like ghost minion. Icy spells that immobilize instead become the physical manifestation of their ghostly grasping.

The key is that you don't want to make the minions actually harmable. They're just a neat visual representation of wizard powers. I'd probably take Orb implement with this character, for the extra round of duration on your powers, to represent that these minions are a little more serious about holding the monster in place, or weakening it with their touch, things like that.

You could even take "Skill Training: Intimidate" as a fun bit of extra flavor, and represent that as a flock of spectral followers constantly in his presence. I'd find that pretty intimidating!

So, as I said, far from exactly what you want. That's not yet an option. It sounds like a damn fun substitute in the mean time though.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

How about a Gelatinous Cube monk --he's an NPC from my current game, a former gladiator and political candidate named Glutinous Maximus. Granted, he broke 3.5 a wee bit, but sadly, not by much...

... I suppose you could write him up a 4e monster. That would work.

I am now mulling the possibilities of a gelatinous cube political candidate.

Somewhere there is now a town with a cube for a mayor.

 

[theNater]

Okay, back at it!

- I'm an honored warrior who has forsaken material aids such as armor and blades to focus on honing my very body as a weapon. I can halt or turn the strongest blow while my fists and feet can strike hard and true no matter that my foe defends with sword and shield. My mental focus is such that I can even penetrate magical defenses and shrug off magical attacks.

Looks like mostly fighter. Remember that unarmed attack counts as a weapon for the purpose of weapon powers. You can halt and turn blows with Unbreakable(6) and Last Ditch Evasion(10). You can strike true with Reaping Strike(1) and hard with No Mercy(29). The Kensai paragon path class features also help you strike hard and true with your unarmed attack. I'm not aware that penetrating magical defenses is any different than penetrating physical defenses. You can shrug off the damage of magical attacks with Victorious Surge(9). The Deadly Trickster epic destiny can help you shrug off other effects of magical attacks with Sly Fortune's Favor and shrug off everything with Epic Trick. Earlier techniques to shrug off such effects include the Human Perseverance feat and multiclassing into cleric for Divine Aid(2) or warlord for Shake It Off(2).

Your damage and AC may suffer compared to other fighters unless you reflavor your weapons and armor. However, your hide armor can look like some loosely wrapped cloth, and maul attacks can be emulated with two-fisted hammer blows. If each "weapon" is a style which can be learned from(very expensive) ancient texts, and the styles are sufficiently distinct that you must spend a minor action or two to switch between them, I see no practical difficulties.

- I am a deadly assassin. I lurk in the shadows, unheard and unseen, oberving and tracking my target for days and weeks until I get the opportunity to strike. I never fail in my missions; whether my target is a king, a warrior, or a wizard I am able to penetrate their defenses, kill quickly, and escape without leaving a trail. My weapons are many: I am as adept with the heavy blade as I am with a crossbow, for I kill in close and from afar. Poison and death magics are my friend, for I know ways to kill that do not leave marks or traces.

A ranger trained in the Stealth skill lurks in the shadows, and can use Nature to track their target through wildernesses and can spend a feat to aquire Streetwise, which will allow for tracking in more urban settings. When it comes time for the kill, Bear Trap(1) is a solid opener, and can be used with your heavy blade or crossbow, as is appropriate to the situation. Your ability to focus damage on your quarry will make the kill quick, and your Stealth will serve you again as you make your escape. Multiclassing into warlock will provide poison, as with Infernal Moon Curse(7), and death magic, as with the Hunger of Hadar(5)

- I am a servant of the gods. I spread my message of enlightenment wherever I go. I am not a warrior of steel; I am a warrior of words and the mind. Though I wear but simple robes and carry but a common yew staff, I can halt armies through the power of my faith. My knowledge is deep; I can answer any question given access to the right tomes, and failing that I can gain the answers from the gods themselves.

Cleric seems to fill most of these requirements. The staff is a simple weapon, avaliable to all, and your armor can look however you like. Seal of Warding(15) doesn't quite halt the armies, but it certainly delays them for a time. In sufficiently restricted areas, Knights of Unyielding Valor can stop armies, and can be reflavored into a wall of pure faith if the knights are side-by-side. The depths of your knowledge are represented by aquiring the Skill Focus feats for the Arcana, History, Religion, Nature, and Dungeoneering skills, which any cleric can achieve by level 12; you can speed the process up by being a human or an eladrin. The Loremaster's Bargain ritual can put you in touch with a god who can answer your question, if you cannot find the information in your brain or your library.

- I am a battlemancer. I draw my mystic power from battle itself, using magic with blade, bow, and shield to make me an unstoppable foe. As I raise my mystic defenses and armor of force, I can halt one set of foes with a gesture while destroying another with blasts of fire and lightning. I can charge into whirling melee, trusting my armor and magic to defend me while I channel arcane forces through my blade and lay my foes to waste. Should my arcane power be defeated or denied, I can still carry the day with my mastery of steel.

Starting with a fighter gives you all the mastery of steel you'll need, as well as the ability to charge into a whirling melee while defended by your armor. Multiclassing into wizard and taking the Wizard of the Spiral Tower paragon path lets you channel arcane forces through your blade quite nicely. Other helpful wizard abilities are the ability to loose an arrow of pure magical energy from your bow with Magic Missile(1), and stacking a Shield(2) onto your shield will make you very difficult to hit. Your armor of force can be Stoneskin(16) sitting on top of your skin, and you can halt a set of foes with Sleep(1) while(through use of an action point) destroying another with blasts of any element of your choice in an Elemental Maw. The Defensive Mobility feat could assist your armor and magic while you channel arcane forces in the midst of your opponents.

 

[theNater]

How about, an unarmored, combatant trained in stealth, unarmed fighting, striking quickly from the shadows, and using poison to take down his foes. Basically a ninja.

Mostly we're looking at a rogue here. Light armor, quickly striking from the shadows, and they even get bonus damage with shuriken. Rules on poisoning food and weapons appear in the DMG, to poison folks without leaving the PHB you'll need to multiclass. A warlock's Fireswarm(15) can be a lot of poisoned shuriken thrown at your target, with the pain from the poison causing him to panic and flail around, resulting in some of the shuriken tearing out of his skin and striking nearby comrades. If you're willing to flavor a katar into unarmed fighting(or brass knuckles under the gloves, which sounds like a good ninja trick to me), you're all set; if not you'll want to multiclass into fighter or ranger for some weapon attacks that can use fists, in which case you'll need to get your poison from items, rather than spells.

 

[theNater]

Fun game! =)

I sure enjoy it!

 

[Henry]

But it's hardly a merit of the system.

Over on Dragonsfoot and other forums it would seem to be a MAJOR merit of AD&D. One thing that's clear with the 4e books: They've tried to inject "rule zero" in a lot more than 3e ever did, which (among myself and a lot of 3e players who used to play 1E and 2E) was a major point of complaint a few years ago.

 

[pawsplay]

Here's a few stumpers from my current campaign.

1. A 12th level Aasimar wizard. He can teleport, throw fireballs, transform himself into a giant hawk, and has insanely high Knowledge skills. He carries a +1 defending, returning dagger that he beefs up with greater magic weapon and true strike in a pinch.

2. A half-elven Duskblade. His signature is using vampiric touch or energy surge for multiple strikes. He can also quicken spells. He uses a short range teleport to regroup his allies when things get out of hand. He is level 13.

 

[theNater]

- I am the essence of deadliness. Blending magical prowess, stealth, and skill at arms, I strike swiftly and terminate my opponents before they have a chance to react. I can deal either potent magical damage or devastating strikes, depending on which is better suited to the situation. I can damage anything, even things normally resistant to one or both of these methods.

Rangers and rogues both have plenty of stealth and skill at arms. All of the strikers strike swiftly with the intent of terminating their opponents before they can react. I'd recommend an infernal pact warlock with rogue multiclass feats. From the rogue, you can pick Imperiling Strike(7) to punch through armor, and Raise the Stakes(16) to give every strike a good chance of being a devastating strike. Warlocks can target a good mix of defenses with a good mix of damage types, meaning they're going to have a hard time finding an enemy resistant to all of their damage. If they do, Hellish Rebuke(1) is a fire power, and taking the Irresistable Flame feat at level 21 should let you punch through the fire resist of monsters with many resistances.

- I am the essence of preparedness. Whether magical misdirection, base cunning, or treachery, nothing escapes me. I am alert to subtle inconsistencies in character and the tell-tale signs of trap placement and ambush as well as disturbances in the magical flows that surround me. In short, I ensure the party is never truly surprised and always has the edge on the enemy, and I assist in the fight itself with strong support magic and powerful attacks.

Skill Focus with Insight gives you a good start here, with Skill Focus in Arcana to cover the magical aspects. Clerics have both of those skills as class skills, and their Divine Oracle paragon path makes themselves and all allies within 5 squares immune to surprise. Consecrated Ground(5) is strong support magic, and Godstrike(29) is a very powerful attack.

- I am the master of legions. Given a few days to prepare, I conjure forth dozens of expendable monsters - individually no threat to the enemy, but overwhelming in numbers. I can send them out on separate tasks or order them to attack en masse. Enemies who think that my strength is solely in my minions are in for a rude awakening, as I am also potent with both spell and blade. Despite this, I tend not to risk myself in battle - I can always simply win by attrition, for my hordes are endless given time.

Please note guideline 4. Large armies of minions are not really avaliable, but you can get a handful if you try. The cleric, for example, can use Guardian of Faith(1), Astral Defenders(9), Knights of Unyielding Valor(10), and Knight of Glory(19) to get 8 minions onto the field, even if they do only last for one encounter. This will only slightly reduce the cleric's range of weapon attacks and blast spells.

Edited for formatting.