Help me building a new PC

[Shin Okada]

Hi. I must make a new 10th-level PC for ongoing campaign. As other members are already there, my PC should have following abilities.

1. Deal with traps.
2. Track

And better if he has following abilities.

3. Diplomacy and Gather information skills
4. Some good ranged attacks or offensive spells.

We can use any 3.5e WotC books sans for,
Forgotten Realm books
Eberron Books
BoED
Unearthed Arcana

Plan A)
Human, Rogue 1/Ranger 1/Paladin 4/Shadowbane Inquisitor 4
Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14
Fort +14, Ref+8, Will +5
Feats : Able Learner, Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Great Falchion), Improved Critical (Great Falchion), Improved Sunder (B), Power Attack, Track (B)
88 Skill Points in total

Basically a melee fighter. But he can deal with traps, trak, negotiate & gather information. Not stealthy.

Plan B)
Human Scout 2/Warmage 8
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Fort +6, Ref+8, Will +8
Feats : Able Learner, Extra Edge, Point Blank Shot, Practiced Spellcaster (Warmage), Precise Shot, Sudden Empower (B), Track (B), Weapon Proficiency (Ranged Spell)
95 Skill Points in total

Basically a warmage. A spell level behind compared to a pure warmage. But tumbling out of melee and shooting ranged touch spells with +1d6 damages (skirmish +1d6) could be interesting. Can't be a full-time rogue. But at least can max-out Search and Disable Device.

How do you think about those builds? Are there any idea to improve them? Or are there other good ideas?

As there is no druids in the party, it will be interesting if I can play one. But I don't know if Rogue/Druid can be a good build.

Edit: Abilitiy Scores are 32-point buy

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re Plan A)
Human, Rogue 1/Ranger 1/Paladin 4/Shadowbane Inquisitor 4

IMHO, since you don't get all the nifty Ranger combat benefits until 2nd level, you're better off with a level of Fighter Soulknife, or PsyWarrior. Yes, you'll lose some skill points and the nature stuff- but Fighter and PsyWar gets you an additional Feat in addition to Track (they both have bonus feats), plus PsyWar gets you at least one Psionic power. Soulknife gets you the Mindblade (which cannot be disarmed or sundered) w/Weapon focus & Wild talent.

In fact, given the build, I'd rather go with an additional level of Rogue, Paladin, or SI before mixing in a single level of Ranger.

Re: Plan B)
Human Scout 2/Warmage 8

Looks solid, but I'm not 100% sold on your level split.

Also, have you considered Arcane Strike?

 

[Shin Okada]

IMHO, since you don't get all the nifty Ranger combat benefits until 2nd level, you're better off with a level of Fighter Soulknife, or PsyWarrior. Yes, you'll lose some skill points and the nature stuff- but Fighter and PsyWar gets you an additional Feat in addition to Track (they both have bonus feats), plus PsyWar gets you at least one Psionic power. Soulknife gets you the Mindblade (which cannot be disarmed or sundered) w/Weapon focus & Wild talent.

In fact, given the build, I'd rather go with an additional level of Rogue, Paladin, or SI before mixing in a single level of Ranger.

The reason I take a level of Ranger is to add Survival as a class skill. With Able Learner feat, I can buy that skill for 1 point/level even when I raise Shadowbane Inquisitor level.

Reducing a paladin level or two and substituting it for Fighter Levels could be an interesting option. But I am not sure about psionic classes. Both of them does not have +1 BAB at 1st level right?

Looks solid, but I'm not 100% sold on your level split.

Also, have you considered Arcane Strike?

I am wondering if I should reduce Scout level to 1.

Arcane Strike is melee only and he is not at all a melee fighter type (str 8). And there seem to be not that many melee touch spells in Warmage spell list at higher levels. So I did not consider it.

 

[Nifft]

Have you considered the Spellthief? It's an interesting twist.

Since you mention Shadowbane Inquisitor, I wonder if you've thought about Shadowbane Stalker. Better skill points, fantastic skill list, and advances a Cleric / Rogue nicely. Rog2/Clr3 seems ideal -- take Rogue as your 1st & 5th levels, the other three Cleric. Is there a god in your world that will allow you to be LG and take the Travel domain? That will help with the Survival skill.

Dealing with traps will take 2 skill points each level, and tracking will eat another one -- Survival, which NONE of those classes have as a class skill -- not Rogue or Warmage, either.

How about the Chameleon PrC? It's all about flexibility, with decent skill points too.


Here's the Shadowbane Stalker build (Human, but without Human Paragon) -- the trick here is that Able Learner makes cross-class ranks cost one skill point (instead of two), so once a skill is on ANY of your class lists, it's as good as on ALL of your class lists. The two Domains I choose grant you skills that are not on the Rogue or Cleric skill lists.

1: Rog1 -- Able Learner, Track
2: Clr1 (Travel, Knowlege)
3: Clr2 -- Improved Initiative
4: Clr3
5: Rog2 -- (Evasion, skill points)
6: Shadowbane Stalker1

Cheers, -- N

 

[Shin Okada]

Nifft,

Thanks for info. Actually, one of my consideration was Shadowbane Stalker. It was like this,

Plan C)
Human Rogue 2/Cleric 3/Shadowbane Stalker 5
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 8
Fort +5, Ref+9, Will +9
Feats : Able Learner, Jack of All Trades, Practiced Spellcaster, Quickdraw, Track
115 Skill Points in total
Domain : Magic and Travel*

*Our campaign is very loose on setting of deities. As we always prefer to make our own deities rather than using any official gods, a player can design a deity if he writes a detailed description of his PCs deity. Or, a PC can be just an alignment cleric.

It is an excellent skill user, especially when he uses a lot of Divine Insight spells. He can actually disable very hard magical traps.

The only problem is that it seems hard for him to play an active role in combat. As current campaign is rather combat heavy (playing Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil), I am afraid of that he may become a pure supporter.

Hmm ... what should be the better way to make him an active combatant?

 

[Quez The Lame]

As there is no druids in the party, it will be interesting if I can play one. But I don't know if Rogue/Druid can be a good build.

What about Daggerspell Shaper (Complete Adventurer) ?

 

[Shin Okada]

What about Daggerspell Shaper (Complete Adventurer) ?

Thanks. I haven't noticed that class. I will check it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Yes, you're correct about the Psi classes starting at +0BAB.

You say that you can use most of the WOTC stuff...does that include other campaign stuff?

If so, here are some thoughts:

1) Kingdoms of Kalamar has a Shaman based on Native American traditions, and it combines features of Druid and Ranger. It could be useful if you're really intent on getting some of those abilities or filling that void. He is a full-progression divine caster, as well.

2) Oriental Adventures has a Shaman based on Eastern traditions, with full-progression in divine spells and IUC as a bonus feat at first level. They don't turn until 2nd level though, as I recall.

3) Taking the Wild Talent feat, or using a naturally Psionic race is all the psionic ability you need to qualify for the Pyrokineticist PrCl. There is something to be said for having those firebolts (a ranged weapon you never run out of), flaming whip (a melee weapon that can't be disarmed that has fire damage), and weapon/hands afire abilities (extra fire damage added onto other weapons or unarmed/touch/natural weapons). That works with EITHER of your concepts.

Generally speaking, there are really only 2 ways to improve the combat effectiveness of a PC: Improving his survivability (Armor, Shields, Dex increase, HD increase, Con Increase) or improving his ability to do damage (bigger weapons, more attacks, more accuracy, better spells).

So:

Consider adding Barbarian as one of your class levels: You get D12, Fast Movement, you get wilderness skills, you get Rage (pumps damage output).

Consider your weapon selection: Falchions are great for dealing damage, but there are critters out there that shrug off damage from edged weapons. If your campaign is heavy on those, you might consider the Maul (Complete Warrior) instead. It has the additional benefit of doing 1d10 as a 1 handed weapon, so you'll be able to use a shield (which, if you spike it, is ALSO a decent weapon).

 

[Shin Okada]

Dannyalcatraz,

You say that you can use most of the WOTC stuff...does that include other campaign stuff?

No. Unfortunately not. Core world only. Basically Greyhawk.

Regarding Pyro. We are likely to meet a lot of outsiders and elementals, While that class is characterful, I will have hard time fighting against creatures with fire immunities and resistances. Even some undead monsters are immune to fire.

Regarding improving combat effectiveness, I think Plan A) and Plan B) are OK comparing to other PCs. The problem is Plan C) as it is a very Jack of All Trades type. Unfortunately, Shadowbane Inquisitor is LG only and thus adding Barbarian is not a way to go.

Regarding weapon choice. If I make a melee type like Plan A), I will use Animated shield and two-handed weapon. So d10 one-handed weapon is not my choice. Besides, your suggestion regarding critical can be right. We will likely to meet a lot of Elementals and Undeads. Maybe 2d6 or d12 weapon are better choices.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Animated shield & a 2 handed weapon? Interesting.

The Greatspear does 2d6 piercing... you could have fun with that! I think the 2 handed Greataxe is similarly dangerous.

And, at your level, a -2 penalty to hit isn't all that bad...what about Monkey Grip? That would boost any 1 or 2 handed weapon you're considering into a really nasty piece of work.