Difficult to build race/class combos

[Mengu]

I know some race/class combinations are not optimal, but playable. However some just give me headaches trying to think of how I would make it work. Here are some examples:

Eladrin Paladin
Eladrin Cleric
Tiefling Fighter
Dwarf Rogue
Elf Warlock

Can you think of any others, and how would you make some of these work?

 

[renau1g]

They're not optimized as you said, but what issue do you have with them? A mechanical one or a flavour one?

Personally, I love dwarven rogues... greedy miners...

 

[Mengu]

They're not optimized as you said, but what issue do you have with them? A mechanical one or a flavour one?

Mechanical one. There is nothing wrong with the flavor of any of them.

 

[Obryn]

I guess I don't see a problem with any of those...

All it means is that you get a 16 in your prime requisite instead of an 18.

-O

 

[renau1g]

Agreed, you will lose a +1 vs. a more optimized combo, but possibly gain to a defence or other abilities.

Would a dwarven fighter be more effective than a tiefling one... probably, but not game-breakingly so...

 

[bardolph]

Dwarf Rogue - Brutal Scoundrel melee. DEX 16, STR 16. Extra CON and Dwarven Resilience give a bit of melee survivability.

Elf Warlock - Wild Step + Move 7 means it's pretty easy to maintain range.

Eladrin Cleric - Build a laser cleric, and rely on Fey Step to keep at range. Alternatively, make a longsword-wielding Battle Cleric.

Tiefling Fighter - Bloodlust is always appropriate for a fighter, and high CON is a definite plus.

Eladrin Paladin - Hmm, a bit tougher. If the party was built around hit and run tactics (all strikers, for example), then an Eladrin Paladin would be a great complement to this party, holding down enemies then using Fey Step to disengage. However, a Fighter would be better in this case.

Also, MAD builds are often good candidates for multiclassing.

 

[lukelightning]

Eladrin Paladin
Teleporting to aid an ally is always good. Plus you get a bonus skill, which is always useful.

Eladrin Cleric
Again, the fey step is always useful, along with the extra skill.

Tiefling Fighter
The bonus to hit bloodied opponents is useful, and you will often be able to make use of that other tiefling ability (I forget what it's called... the one where you smite someone who hit you)

Dwarf Rogue
Low-light vision is great. Dwarven durability is great for any class, but think about it for a rogue: your there in combat, stabbity stabbity, and the bad guy clobbers you for a bunch of damage, you can get your second wind (healing AND +2 to defenses) without wasting your attack, giving you a chance to murderize your enemy.

Elf Warlock
You are very mobile with your extra square of movement as an elf, and can maneuver over bad terrain without problems, both are great for a skirmisher (I'd advise fey pact for this, mechanically and thematically); you can also easily qualify for the ranger multiclass, which is awesome for a warlock (grab the stealth skill and hunter's quarry 1/encounter).

 

[Terwox]

I have a tiefling fighter in my group -- newer player said she thought tieflings sounded cool, and wanted to play a fighter.

I swapped the int bonus to a STR bonus for her character. Still a CHA bonus on a fighter.

I'd do the same for any other newer player who also picks a bad-stats combo because they like the idea and think it sounds cool.

 

[bardolph]

I have a tiefling fighter in my group -- newer player said she thought tieflings sounded cool, and wanted to play a fighter.

I swapped the int bonus to a STR bonus for her character. Still a CHA bonus on a fighter.

I'd do the same for any other newer player who also picks a bad-stats combo because they like the idea and think it sounds cool.

Sweet. Believe it or not, it's quite possible to make good, playable characters even without optimizing the race/class combo. The Tiefling fighter, for example, will get a Reflex bonus for the INT, use INT-based skills, and maybe even pick up feats like Linguist.

If your player is more interested in the character concept than in maximizing his math, then it probably wouldn't matter much that he's missing a +1 here or there.

 

[Stalker0]

With any eladrin build, going the skill route can always pay off.

Since you have a +2 to int, push it to 13, and then pick up jack of all trades. That plus your extra skill, and you have yourself a pretty solid skill character, regardless of class. Then you could pick up wizard multiclassing and get another skill, and pick up scorching burst for long range damage (and the ability to project your mark at range) or thunderwave if your a wisdom heavy paladin.

For a paladin there's always the attack, mark, and teleport combo to drive your enemies batty.