Completing this party...

[M_Infernum]

Okay, so I'm putting together a 4-man party for future use. Right now, I have 3 characters ready to go, but I'm not sure what to make the 4th character. This is for 3.5 btw...

1)Male Xeph - Psion(telepath)/Rogue: (I made him before I realized there was a Psionic Rogue class already) I plan on taking the Mountebank PrC later on.

2)Male Human - Duskblade: He'll mainly be using a lot of Arcane Strikes, and other similar attacks, so most of his spells will be used to fuel Arcane Strike, and the rest will be channeled through his weapon(Guisarme).

3)Female Human - Cleric: Mainly an attacker, with some healing capabilities. Took the Law Devotion feat, as well as Extra Turning. She has really high AC and decent HP.

4)???? I'm thinking maybe an actual Arcane caster, since the Duskblade won't be doing much of it, but I'm open to anything.

Oh, and the party is generally Neutral, with the exception of the Cleric, who is Good aligned, so I'd like the 4th to be either good or neutral. Also, as of now, this party is level 2 (I'm going to level them up gradually).

 

[Dozen]

Since the roles in the party are not clearly defined, an Incarnate would complement it; they can do pretty much anything aside from healing to a better than average degree, best if specialized in two - if the other role was needed, you can switch between specs in a few rounds. Your party lacks a spokesman, a skill monkey could be a good choice for the first, with one of the races from Magic of Incarnum, maybe gnome or human. If you prefer otherwise, go for Mongrelfolk. They give + 4 to the main stat(Con) for -2 Int and -4 Char, can't go wrong. Good incanates make excellent tanks(a dip in fighter might be an idea), LNs are attackers and CN are... yeah, pretty bad archers, but that can be fixed if you take your time.

Even if they aren't powerful enough for you to go full incarnum, they are the best multiclass option there is, so take a look at them at least.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmm...I'd change that up a mite, based on the way you've described the way you want these PCs used.

#2 Duskblade: I'd replace him with a Battle Sorcerer who has a heritage feat chain- Celestial (+ CS Lance), Infernal (+ IS Shout ), or Draconic (+D Breath )- with Arcane strike added. Then you could channel spells for ranged AND melee damage. (By channeling spells for ranged attacks via Lance, Shout, or Breath, this means you're free to have a known spell list virtually devoid of direct damage attack spells without giving up the ability to deliver direct damage, boosting his flexibility.)

You might multiclass him with another armored caster- Beguiler or War Mage- for more spells to cast & channel, or with a warrior class for better combat prowess. Down the road, add a Reserve feat or two that will let him do magical attacks based on spells he has in reserve, and he's golden.

http://www.realmshelps.net/datafind/feats.shtml

That way, you still get an armored arcane spellcaster, but he'd have a bigger list to choose from, and would have more spells overall. He could mostly still fill the role of a full arcane caster, albeit one with with a taste for martial combat.

#3 Cleric: I'd skip the law devotion and go War. In addition, with your Extra Turning choice, I bet your Cleric has a pretty high Charisma, right? To boost Healing, I'd give this PC the Complete Divine version of Sacred Healing* which lets you burn a Turn Undead attempt to give everyone within a 60' burst Fast Healing 3 for a duration based on your Cha. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm using this in a 3.5Ed campaign right now that has passed 10th level, and my Cleric/Sorc/Mystic Theurge/Geomancer rarely uses his spells for healing.

And then I'd add a pure warrior to the mix- Fighter, PsyWar, Barbarian, Paladin- even a Duskblade ( )- to round out the party.






* I have checked with WotC on this one: the Sacred Healing feat of the same name that shows up in (I believe) PHB2 is NOT a revision & replacement of the CompDiv version. WotC simply made a mistake in naming the second feat.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

C'mon- I can't have the last word in a thread like THIS! I'm too eccentric!

Where are the REAL gurus?

 

[Dandu]

4)???? I'm thinking maybe an actual Arcane caster, since the Duskblade won't be doing much of it, but I'm open to anything.

Well, I suppose a Bard complements everyone.

 

[Wyvernhand]

Yea, I see 3 melee characters, and I think BARD!!!!

Since its lacking in higher tiered arcanomancery, I'd suggest PrCing into Sublime Chord to get the late game staples like Greater Teleport and whatnot.

The default SC build I see around is Bard8/Virtuoso2/SC2/Virt+8. This gives 9/10 bardic casting and 10/10 SC casting, with Virtuosos' slightly better HD and class skills. Variations on this slide in 2 levels of Lyric Thamateurge or 1 level of Mindbender to suit. A level of Spellthief for Master Spellthief CL jacking is also fun because of the way SC interacts with CLs (you'll have a CL of 40 with SC by level 20).

At low levels, optimize Inspire Courage out the wazoo. You can get +4/+4 EASILY by level 4, more if you use an instrument (I HATE using instruments, its hard to shoot a sling with a lute in your hands). At higher levels, spellcasting kicks in when IC starts to become a little saggy.

 

[kitcik]

Well, I suppose a Bard complements everyone.

Only if he's nice.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Factotum?

 

[Herobizkit]

Bard or even Bard/Warlock could be fun if you hope to get past level 5. Even Bard 2/Lok 3 is pretty snazzy with his unlimited 2d6 ranged touch magical attack and Bard buffs.