S
shurai
Guest
Since you're starting at pretty high level anyway, play a lizardfolk. +2 str, +2 con, -2 int, +5 nat AC, for a +1 level adjustment.
Defensive swordsman options?
- Thread starter Errant
- Start date
6th-level fighter (whatever race)
Dex 16
Int 13
Feats: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Imp Combat Expertise (CW) + 4 more feats
Equipment: mithril fullplate, towershield
AC: 10 (base) + 8 (armor) + 4 (shield) + 3 (Dex) + 1 (Dodge) = 26 AC
Using maxed out combat expertise + defensive stance: 34 AC. CR 6 monster will have a helluva time hitting you. Of course, in your max defense, you will have lots of trouble hitting too. Let's say you have Str 16 for arguments sake:
Attack: +6 (BAB) + 3 (Str) + 1 (mw weapon) - 6 (expertise) - 4 (fight defensively) - 2 (tower shield) = -2/-7 on your two attacks
But that's a very basic idea that doesn't include magic weapons. You also might have a weapon focus or use a heavy shield instead of a tower shield (reduces AC by 2 but increase attacks by 2). Or you can adjust your combat expertise to a level where you feel comfortable.
Another way to go entirely is bladesinger (CW). That let's you add your Int to your AC. Problem is you can't wear armor and cast spells until character level 11 (and then only light armor). So you can have greater mage armor (+6) and shield (+4) up which is pretty good, but not as great as being fully armored up. Plus you have to take ranks in perform, which you weren't crazy about.
Dex 16
Int 13
Feats: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Imp Combat Expertise (CW) + 4 more feats
Equipment: mithril fullplate, towershield
AC: 10 (base) + 8 (armor) + 4 (shield) + 3 (Dex) + 1 (Dodge) = 26 AC
Using maxed out combat expertise + defensive stance: 34 AC. CR 6 monster will have a helluva time hitting you. Of course, in your max defense, you will have lots of trouble hitting too. Let's say you have Str 16 for arguments sake:
Attack: +6 (BAB) + 3 (Str) + 1 (mw weapon) - 6 (expertise) - 4 (fight defensively) - 2 (tower shield) = -2/-7 on your two attacks
But that's a very basic idea that doesn't include magic weapons. You also might have a weapon focus or use a heavy shield instead of a tower shield (reduces AC by 2 but increase attacks by 2). Or you can adjust your combat expertise to a level where you feel comfortable.
Another way to go entirely is bladesinger (CW). That let's you add your Int to your AC. Problem is you can't wear armor and cast spells until character level 11 (and then only light armor). So you can have greater mage armor (+6) and shield (+4) up which is pretty good, but not as great as being fully armored up. Plus you have to take ranks in perform, which you weren't crazy about.
green slime
First Post
It can't really be done effectively without resorting to either the Duelist prestige class or the Swashbuckler class (CW). That is the reason for the existance of those two classes, after all.
Perhaps an elf? (28 point buy) This is the closest I can get, I think.
Str 14 (6)
Dex 18 (8) +1 level.
Con 12 (4)
Int 14 (6)
Wis 12 (4)
Cha 8
Ftr1: Finesse
1: Wpn Focus: Elven Thinblade (CW)
Ftr2: Dodge
3: Mobility
Ftr4: Weapon Specialisation: ET
Ftr6:Elusive Target (CW)
6: Combat Expertise
Skills:
Tumble, with 4.5 ranks (9 Skill points) = +4 +5 Dex -1 Armour check penalty = +8
(IOW: a straight fighter cannot use Tumble to increase Total Defense or Fight Defensively at this stage)
27 skill points left. (Spot, Listen, Drown?)
Equipment:
Mithral Breastplate (4,350gp) +5 AC, -1 Armour check penalty, Max Dex +5
Mithral Buckler (1,165gp) +1 AC, No penalty.
Gauntlets of Dexterity +2 (4,000gp)
+1 Elven Thinblade (2,350gp)
Which leaves 1,135gp in change. A cloak of resistance +1 and your looking pretty much done (ordinary bow and arrows round it off)
Attack:
Elven thinblade: +13/+8 1d8+5 18-20/x2. IOW, you'll hit often but not do too much damage. I'm relying on weapon familiarity to avoid paying for an Exotic Weapon. Otherwise, the rapier would have to do.
AC: 21 (not fantastic, but reasonable for this level) to 26 (which is good at this level) with Expertise. Don't forget Dodge, and to setup those Elusive Target tactics.
You want high AC at this level, you'll have to go tank. That is all there really is to it. The armours and feats in Races of Stone really guarantee that.
Perhaps an elf? (28 point buy) This is the closest I can get, I think.
Str 14 (6)
Dex 18 (8) +1 level.
Con 12 (4)
Int 14 (6)
Wis 12 (4)
Cha 8
Ftr1: Finesse
1: Wpn Focus: Elven Thinblade (CW)
Ftr2: Dodge
3: Mobility
Ftr4: Weapon Specialisation: ET
Ftr6:Elusive Target (CW)
6: Combat Expertise
Skills:
Tumble, with 4.5 ranks (9 Skill points) = +4 +5 Dex -1 Armour check penalty = +8
(IOW: a straight fighter cannot use Tumble to increase Total Defense or Fight Defensively at this stage)
27 skill points left. (Spot, Listen, Drown?)
Equipment:
Mithral Breastplate (4,350gp) +5 AC, -1 Armour check penalty, Max Dex +5
Mithral Buckler (1,165gp) +1 AC, No penalty.
Gauntlets of Dexterity +2 (4,000gp)
+1 Elven Thinblade (2,350gp)
Which leaves 1,135gp in change. A cloak of resistance +1 and your looking pretty much done (ordinary bow and arrows round it off)
Attack:
Elven thinblade: +13/+8 1d8+5 18-20/x2. IOW, you'll hit often but not do too much damage. I'm relying on weapon familiarity to avoid paying for an Exotic Weapon. Otherwise, the rapier would have to do.
AC: 21 (not fantastic, but reasonable for this level) to 26 (which is good at this level) with Expertise. Don't forget Dodge, and to setup those Elusive Target tactics.
You want high AC at this level, you'll have to go tank. That is all there really is to it. The armours and feats in Races of Stone really guarantee that.
6th level build
Githzerai
Psychic warrior 4
(30 point buy)
Str 8
Dex 16 (22) =10
Con 14 =6
Wis 16 (18) =10
Int 12 (10) =4
Cha 8
Racial:
+6 dex, +2 wisdom, -2 int
medium
30' landspeed
Darkvision 60'
2 bonus pp
3/day: catfall, concussion blast, psionic daze, inertial armor
at 11th level 1/day psionic plane shift
Power resistance: HD+5
bonus languages
psychic warrior 4
BAB +3
Saves: F: +4 R: +1 W: +1
Bonus feats: 2
PP: 5 (base) + 4*(stat)/2 +2 (race)
Powers known: 4, 3 1st, 1 2nd
Skills: (2+intmod)*7
Items: Monks belt
Feats: Overchannel, talented, weapon finesse,
Ok, so, this guy is weird
Still though.
BAB: +3
Attack: +9 (+3 bab +6 dex)
AC: 26 = 10 (base) +6 (dex) +4 (wis) +1 (monk) +5 (inertial armor)
PP: 19
PR: 9
The next items to get are any and all boosts for wisdom and then dex.
Is 26 high enough? fighting on defensive knocks it up to 28 and knocks attack bonus down to +5. Not much damage is being done, but the psychic warrior powers can help make up for that greatly. Useing compression can even further enhance this ac for a decent amount of time.
Human is also an option, but it requires pulling in more powers and I didnt want to sift through them, this guy bypasses that need somewhat
I believe that there is a feat somewhere that boosts caster level of spell like abilities, but I cannot find it. I started another thread on it before posting this but it didnt get much for responses unfortunately. There is a feat open for it to fit right in and it would likely up his ac by another point.
Edit: duh on me, had to fix something silly, bah. I dont know what to put in for that feat either if the one thing I think exists does not. But, anything that will help ac in some way, or help more hp, or simply 2 extra pp to power some defensive powers.
Githzerai
Psychic warrior 4
(30 point buy)
Str 8
Dex 16 (22) =10
Con 14 =6
Wis 16 (18) =10
Int 12 (10) =4
Cha 8
Racial:
+6 dex, +2 wisdom, -2 int
medium
30' landspeed
Darkvision 60'
2 bonus pp
3/day: catfall, concussion blast, psionic daze, inertial armor
at 11th level 1/day psionic plane shift
Power resistance: HD+5
bonus languages
psychic warrior 4
BAB +3
Saves: F: +4 R: +1 W: +1
Bonus feats: 2
PP: 5 (base) + 4*(stat)/2 +2 (race)
Powers known: 4, 3 1st, 1 2nd
Skills: (2+intmod)*7
Items: Monks belt
Feats: Overchannel, talented, weapon finesse,
Ok, so, this guy is weird
Still though.BAB: +3
Attack: +9 (+3 bab +6 dex)
AC: 26 = 10 (base) +6 (dex) +4 (wis) +1 (monk) +5 (inertial armor)
PP: 19
PR: 9
The next items to get are any and all boosts for wisdom and then dex.
Is 26 high enough? fighting on defensive knocks it up to 28 and knocks attack bonus down to +5. Not much damage is being done, but the psychic warrior powers can help make up for that greatly. Useing compression can even further enhance this ac for a decent amount of time.
Human is also an option, but it requires pulling in more powers and I didnt want to sift through them, this guy bypasses that need somewhat
I believe that there is a feat somewhere that boosts caster level of spell like abilities, but I cannot find it. I started another thread on it before posting this but it didnt get much for responses unfortunately. There is a feat open for it to fit right in and it would likely up his ac by another point.
Edit: duh on me, had to fix something silly, bah. I dont know what to put in for that feat either if the one thing I think exists does not. But, anything that will help ac in some way, or help more hp, or simply 2 extra pp to power some defensive powers.
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S
shurai
Guest
Scion said:and two not very good hd, effectively costing 3 levels. not good
*reads SRD* Oops, I didn't realize it worked that way, I thought only the level adjustment counted towards effective level. You're right, it may not be as nice of a deal at 3 levels instead of 1.
-S
John Q. Mayhem
Explorer
Green Slime? You forgot to take EWP (thinblade) or Improved Weapon Familiarity. Elves aren't automatically proficient with it in core.
Thanks Scion. Helps if you look under “Belt” instead of “Monk’s”.
I’m a little confused though over what exactly what AC bonus is granted by the belt though. Does it just grant the +1 AC bonus for being a L5 Monk, or does it also grant an AC bonus for high Wisdom that Monks get? Is there an official ruling on this?
Regardless, the 13,000gp cost would chew up a L6 characters entire wealth so it'll have to wait.
I’m thinking of this build at the moment:
Kalashtar (psionic Eberron race, 32 point buy – as used by my group)
Str 10 (2 pts)
Dex 18 (13 pts + L4 bonus)
Con 14 (6 pts)
Int 13 (5 pts)
Wis 14 (6 pts)
Cha 10 (2 pts)
L6 Psychic Warrior
23 PP/day
Feats: Combat Expertise, Craft Dorje, Dodge, Overchannel, Talented & Weapon Finesse.
Powers: L1 – Force Screen, Inertial Armor, Precognition Defensive; L2 - Body Adjustment,...
Equipment:
+1 Rapier, +1 Ring of Protection, +1 Cloak of Resistance, +1 Amulet of Natural Armor, L2 Dorje of Body Adjustment. 1180gp spare.
Basic AC 16
(10 Base, +4 Dex, +1 Deflection, +1 Natural)
Common AC 26
(16 Basic, +1 Dodge, +4 Armor, +4 Shield, +1 Insight, PP cost 3)
Best AC 38
(26 Common, +3 augmented Armor, +1 aug’ Shield, +2 aug’ Insight, +4 Dodge/Combat Expertise, +2 extra Dex from Animal Affinity, PP cost 22)
Melee: +9 melee (+1 Raper, 1d6+1 dmg), up to +11 with Animal Affinity Dex, down to +5 melee using max Combat Expertise
I think I added it up right...
<Edit corrected pt cost for dex, PPs/day & extra bonuses available with corrected max PP/day>
I’m a little confused though over what exactly what AC bonus is granted by the belt though. Does it just grant the +1 AC bonus for being a L5 Monk, or does it also grant an AC bonus for high Wisdom that Monks get? Is there an official ruling on this?
Regardless, the 13,000gp cost would chew up a L6 characters entire wealth so it'll have to wait.
I’m thinking of this build at the moment:
Kalashtar (psionic Eberron race, 32 point buy – as used by my group)
Str 10 (2 pts)
Dex 18 (13 pts + L4 bonus)
Con 14 (6 pts)
Int 13 (5 pts)
Wis 14 (6 pts)
Cha 10 (2 pts)
L6 Psychic Warrior
23 PP/day
Feats: Combat Expertise, Craft Dorje, Dodge, Overchannel, Talented & Weapon Finesse.
Powers: L1 – Force Screen, Inertial Armor, Precognition Defensive; L2 - Body Adjustment,...
Equipment:
+1 Rapier, +1 Ring of Protection, +1 Cloak of Resistance, +1 Amulet of Natural Armor, L2 Dorje of Body Adjustment. 1180gp spare.
Basic AC 16
(10 Base, +4 Dex, +1 Deflection, +1 Natural)
Common AC 26
(16 Basic, +1 Dodge, +4 Armor, +4 Shield, +1 Insight, PP cost 3)
Best AC 38
(26 Common, +3 augmented Armor, +1 aug’ Shield, +2 aug’ Insight, +4 Dodge/Combat Expertise, +2 extra Dex from Animal Affinity, PP cost 22)
Melee: +9 melee (+1 Raper, 1d6+1 dmg), up to +11 with Animal Affinity Dex, down to +5 melee using max Combat Expertise
I think I added it up right...
<Edit corrected pt cost for dex, PPs/day & extra bonuses available with corrected max PP/day>
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