Challenge! I want to convert your concept!

[theNater]

-I am an arcane infiltrator. Where mundane spies rely on the darkness and a silent blade I use illusions, disguises and charms as my weapon. With this I can freely walk among my enemies, gathering intelligence and influencing them to my advantage. If discovered I confuse the enemy to loose my trail and to fight each other while I use my contacts and charmed allies to get away.

If you've got time to plan your illusions, the rituals Hallucinatory Item and Hallucinatory Creature can keep your enemies confused as to your intentions. Wizards have ready access to illusions such as Invisibility(6) and Ghost Sound(1), disguises like Disguise Self(6), and charms like Confusion(27). For more impressive charms, we turn to the warlock, particularly Curse of the Dark Delirium(29). Strike at your target's will, and you have complete control over him. Raven's Glamor(22) is a handy illusion for escape purposes, as is Eyebite(1).

-I am a arcane samurai. Much like the real samurai I don't focus on only one weapon. Be it a sword, a spear or the bow, be it on foot or from the back of a mount I am a capable warrior with it. But I also don't neglect the power of the arcane, instead I use it to enhance my fighting. Magic shrouds me in protective armour, magic makes my arm stronger and my feet faster, magic makes my sword strike true and magic lets me escape from hopeless situations.

Rangers are proficient with all simple and military melee and ranged weapons, and have powers that use all of them. I don't see any rules that would prevent you from fighting mounted as well as you fight on foot. Multiclassing into warlock gives you access to Entropic Ward(22), which simultaneously shrouds you in proctective armour and makes your sword strike true. A quick Otherwind Stride(3) can pull you out of a hopeless situation, at least far enough for your ranger powers to let you run.

If we reflavor the ranger's Longstrider(16) power to "the enchantments flowing through you cause you to move swiftly", magic has made your feet faster, and Master of the Hunt(22) is also easy to reflavor into a magically stronger sword arm.

And a comment about the guidelines:


This is a failure of design. First you don't know which was left out intentionally and what not and second it doesn't change that 4E is not allowing what was possible in 3E.

That guideline is there because this is precisely the argument I don't want this thread to be about. I recognize that armies of persistent minions and unrestrained shapeshifting are not present. As such, I am asking that character concepts suggested here not rely on them, because they will not model well.

 

[theNater]

This is lots of fun! Thank you all for your suggestions. I need to take care of some other things for a while. I'll be back for more in a few hours.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

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

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

The cube has much too high of an INT and WIS to be a politician.

DS

 

[theNater]

My only complaint is that he isn't actually statting out the characters

Yeah, there are two reasons for that.

1) Time: I'm getting faster at finding appropriate powers, but some of these concepts call for some very high level powers. Picking out all of the 17 powers, 18 feats, and gear for a 29th level character would take me way more time than I can spend if I want to address a large number of concepts.

2) Flexibility: Many of these concepts only require 5 or 6 powers. The race, paragon path, and epic destiny are often irrelevant to the core concept. By providing the vital powers, I can leave the other options in the hands of the concept's originator.

However, the call for full stats is reasonable, so if you have 1 or 2 that you want fully statted out, highlight them and I'll give 'em a shot.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

No so much of a challenge, but my current dilemma is related to this thread. We are/were in a 3.5 campaign that went on hiatus due to waiting for 4e to come out. We are getting ready to restart and the other three guys in the group have easy converstions so that we can continue our story where we left off...

1. Human Cleric ----> Human Cleric
2. Halfing Rogue -----> Halfling Rogue
3. Wild Elf Ranger -----> Elf Ranger

Then you have my character....

4. Wild Elf Shifter Druid (from PHB2 options). Able to spontaneously cast spells from the druid list, but can only cast spells that target himself. Grew up in wolf form until a child, and only then realized he was part elf. Identifies himself as a wolf, not an elf, but reverts to elf form when diplomacy demands or for subterfuge. Uses a stealthy stalking method of combat, where he would charge from hiding into an unwary foe then fade back into cover.

Things hard to model:
1. Wolves are fast.
2. Ability to "spring attack" and not end up toe to toe.
3. Ability to "buff" myself via druid spells.
4. Ability to be a wolf *or* an elf depending on the situation.

I am thinking most of this is possible. I would need to take a look at the werewolf entry in the MM and see if its useable then tack on rogue to it. The only thing missing is the "buffing or healing with druid spells" which you could recreate one of but not both via a few good multiclassing feats.

DS

 

[theNater]

"Mmatmuor and Sodosma, vile sorcerers from the dark land of Naat, who animate the corpses of the entire kingdom of Cincor to serve as slaves to their warped ambitions."







What's that? Oh, you can't do a fantasy story in D&D 4th edition? You're only allowed to do Tom Clancy novels? Oh.

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.

If you want servants who will do your non-combat bidding, you can get a few of those with rituals. Animal Messenger can become Skeletal Messenger, Tenser's Floating Disc can be a zombie that totes your stuff, and if you just want somebody to talk to, Speak With Dead doesn't even have to be reflavored.

 

[Thasmodious]

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.

Those aren't really the concepts of those characters, though, those are mechanical "signatures" that developed because of what those characters could do in that system. I mean, you don't typically start, as a concept, with "I want to quicken spells and have a returning dagger". Concepts are usually more general, the learned aasimar wizard, thirsty for arcane power is a concept. A half elven warrior, blending destructive, dark magic with his bladework.

That said - 1. Reflavor another celestial as an aasimar. I think there is actually one over in the house rules forum that hit it off fairly well. Wizards still own knowledge skills and hurl fireballs and teleport about, so that's no problem. Thrown magical weapons always return in 4e, so that's taken care of, too.

2. A duskblade could be made with ranger (for your multiple attacks) with some warlock multiclassing for teleports and other duskblade type magic, or you could use cleric or paladin to get that delivering magical pain through your blade feel. Although, you could do that too with the ranger/warlock dual wielding a sword and a pact blade dagger.

 

[theNater]

I am a divine and arcane caster, who uses his mastery of both sets of spells to turn into all manner of creatures, harnessing their prowess to fight.

(Wizard / Ur-Priest / Mystic Theurge)

Being a divine and arcane spellcaster is easy, it's the turning into creatures that's difficult. I'd try finding utility or daily spells that give you a benefit for the duration of an encounter, then selecting an animal form that you "shift" to while that power is active. Stoneskin(wizard 16) could make you some kind of dire turtle, we can claim short-term transformation into a giant spider to spin a Web(wizard 5), Holy Wrath(cleric 19) could turn you into a troll, Crown of Glory(paladin 9) can turn you into a land urchin(enemies near you are slowed because they've been stepping on your spines), and what have you.

I use the power of my mind to turn into all manner of creatures, harnessing their prowess to fight.

(Psion Egoist, using metamorph and metamorphic transfer).

Same basic approach, but since the powers here seem to be more internal, you might get better mileage out of stance powers from martial classes. Rangers can get Undaunted Stride(10), turning into a giant snake to cross difficult terrain smoothly, and Master of the Hunt(22), turning into an elephant to come down heavily on their foes. The fighter's Rain of Steel(5) can turn you into a crocodile that takes a tail slap at each enemy nearby, and so on.

*shrug*

Am I right that they took out polymorph? (Just bought the books, reading them all quickly). And they left psionics to a later date. Thus, these can't be done. Which is why I can't convert my campaign, since these are PCs. And other PCs are a druid, a bard, and a barbarian. I mean, seriously. There's not a single PC I could really convert.

Not to mention the fact that the majority alignment in my campaign is Lawful Neutral. I have to say, based on my read of the books and comments, I'm not yet a fan. Make Mine Paizo.

As guideline 4 suggests, polymorph is pretty much gone, especially in the highly flexible forms we're used to.

But that doesn't mean all hope is lost. Wizards and warlocks have some spells that have some nature flavor to them, and some fire and lightning spells reasonable for druids. Witchfire(warlock 1) is essentially the same stuff as Faerie Fire, for example. Being one of those and multiclassing into cleric for healing gives a moderately good emulation of druidic spellcasting. Warlord shouts function more like bard songs than you might suspect, and a barbarian might be workable as a fighter or ranger, where his "enraged" state is one of the stances. Rain of Steel, as mentioned above, works for a "so mad he hits everyone around him until they stop moving", and Unyielding Avalanche(fighter 15) does that plus some toughness increases that simulate the constitution increase from rage.

 

[theNater]

Allright, here's a strange one fer ya.

I've always liked Indiana Jones. The things that stand out about him IMHO is that he's more of a smart fighter than a strong one. He can take a hit. He uses the enviroment around him to defeat his enemies. He is probably more of a martial charater, but I can see some of the knowledge he knows is frome some "arcane" teaching.

I wanna see a 4e type Indiana Jones!

For the knowledge he'll probably want to be trained in Arcane, History, Dungeoneering, and probably Religion. Depending on how the rest of the build works, he can always fill those out with feats. To be a smart combatant who uses the environment to his advantage, I'd recommend he go ranger. Things like Hit and Run(1) and Evasive Strike(1) can keep him moving around the battlefield, forcing ranged foes to move to where they can get a clear shot and melee foes to pursue him. Once he's lured them into position, he can use Thundertusk Boar Strike(3) to push them into a local environmental hazard. Also, he can use Skilled Companion(6) to shout instructions on how to disarm the death trap he's in to his friend in the other room. He just has to be careful not to lose his hat when he decides to Hit the Dirt(22).

 

[icarusfallz]

What about my character? Are you going to conveniantly ignore those that you would otherwise fail to convert effectively?

Let me make it easier for you: He's an evil wizard with superhuman intelligence who plots world domination via dark supernatural magic and minions. He is the archatypical villain who sits in his dark tower waiting for the heroes to drop by so they can be vanquished and he can laugh manically. If 4E can't fullfill this archetype, I worry about the game.

4e CAN support this template, for Villains. See the DMG.