Help me create a munched out first level halfling

[Samnell]

The rest of the party is third level. My PC just died, so I get to come back at first level. Don't ask why, I don't agree with the reasoning myself.

Here's the rest of the party:
Halfling Cleric 1/fighter 2
Human fighter (focused in archery) 3
Human fighter 2/barbarian 1
Gnome rogue 3
Dwarf bard 3
Elf Druid 3

We die nearly constantly, so I'm tired of dying and want something that can survive. Plus I really don't want to start over from first level again when the group's fourth or fifth...or tenth.

I can use basically anything WOTC or third party provided I can show it to the DM. I've got all the WOTC stuff to date and just a little third party. The first three Rokugan books, R&R, a few others.

My stats:

18/17/16/12/13/11

I know I want to play a halfling but beyond that and a general desire to avoid melee I'm open to anything.

 

[Irda Ranger]

What do your groups parties normally die of? Does you DM have a preference for how they are killed off? Knowing that would make it a lot easier to tailor a PC to not getting killed off.

Other than that, max out Hide and Move Silently, and Tumble. Take the Run feat. If things start to go against the party, Tumble free of melee (no AoO), Run like hell and Hide. Not very heroic, but you're less likely to die from enemies. What the PCs do that escape, if they ever find you, is another story.

Out of the game, have you tried talking to your DM about how you're not having fun and you're making characters based on his deadly DMing style, and not for in-game roleplaying reasons? Maybe you can talk him around to being a little less "challenging"

Irda Ranger

 

[randcortin]

How about...

How about Cleric? I notice from looking at the party roster (and from being in the game) that there's only one level of cleric for 7 total people. That's not a lot of healing at all. Plus the Cleric you do have is going to be leaving before long, making it more imperative to get healing somehow...

18 wisdom
16 charisma
17 Constitution
13 Strength
12 Intelligence
11 Dexterity

Or you may want to put the 12 in Dex and the 11 in Str and the 13 in Int to take advantage of Full Plate later on, but I would have some bonus in Int because I know when I play a cleric, I don't have enough for all the skills I feel are necessary.

I put the 17 in Con after some thought, because at some later date you may have a spare ability point to place, and putting it into Con would give you 12 or so HP (the earliest you might have a spare attribute point).

 

[Samnell]

What do your groups parties normally die of? Does you DM have a preference for how they are killed off? Knowing that would make it a lot easier to tailor a PC to not getting killed off.

The two PCs I lost last Thursday were killed by an instakill trap and a pit trap lined with little creatures that liked eating things that fell on them. Normally it's simple monster damage, though.

Other than that, max out Hide and Move Silently, and Tumble. Take the Run feat. If things start to go against the party, Tumble free of melee (no AoO), Run like hell and Hide. Not very heroic, but you're less likely to die from enemies. What the PCs do that escape, if they ever find you, is another story.

I'll definitely consider that. I'm trying to avoid melee as much as possible.

Out of the game, have you tried talking to your DM about how you're not having fun and you're making characters based on his deadly DMing style, and not for in-game roleplaying reasons? Maybe you can talk him around to being a little less "challenging"

I don't mind dying in and of itself. The dice are cruel sometimes. I can accept that. Dying and having to some back as a first level spear carrier regardless of the level of the group kind of hurts. I tried to talk to him about that and got yelled at by him and his wife. There was name-calling too. It wasn't pleasant and I don't think I'll get any concession out of him.

 

[Samnell]

Re: How about...

How about Cleric? I notice from looking at the party roster (and from being in the game) that there's only one level of cleric for 7 total people. That's not a lot of healing at all. Plus the Cleric you do have is going to be leaving before long, making it more imperative to get healing somehow...

Hi. I've been thinking cleric but I can't find a god that I like and also has good domains to choose from. Maybe I should make one.

18 wisdom
16 charisma
17 Constitution
13 Strength
12 Intelligence
11 Dexterity

I'd rather have the 13 in dexterity (taking it to 15 for a +2) and get my extra AC that way. It helps out my initiative and the heavier armor gets in the way of running away.

Or you may want to put the 12 in Dex and the 11 in Str and the 13 in Int to take advantage of Full Plate later on, but I would have some bonus in Int because I know when I play a cleric, I don't have enough for all the skills I feel are necessary.

That's a good point. I'm not sure the 16 goes best in Charisma. I certainly don't want penalties there, but we don't need to turn undead all that often in a day or frequently enough overall that I'm convinced it's better there than in Int or Dex for skills or AC respectively.

I put the 17 in Con after some thought, because at some later date you may have a spare ability point to place, and putting it into Con would give you 12 or so HP (the earliest you might have a spare attribute point).

That is a good point. I'm not sure waiting on the long-term payoff is the best bet, though. I'll be fourth level about the time you guys hit sixth, assuming we don't all die again and I don't die again either.

 

[randcortin]

Or maybe

Going along with what Irda Ranger said, try going Rogue. Those skills that were menioned fit perfectly with rogue, as does the "survive at all costs" idealism. Put your highest score in Dex, next highest in Int, next highest in Con, the rest wherever.

But on the other hand, you may be called on to disarm traps and such when the other rogue gets killed...

 

[Samnell]

Re: Or maybe

Going along with what Irda Ranger said, try going Rogue. Those skills that were menioned fit perfectly with rogue, as does the "survive at all costs" idealism. Put your highest score in Dex, next highest in Int, next highest in Con, the rest wherever.

I could make a non-melee rogue. All about archery and climbing and sneaking.

But on the other hand, you may be called on to disarm traps and such when the other rogue gets killed...

True, but I can still be obsessively cowardly and disarm then refuse to test it. Kind of like how Owen died.

Not sure if I care more for the cleric or rogue ideas, though.

 

[DerianCypher]

I don't mind dying in and of itself. The dice are cruel sometimes. I can accept that. Dying and having to some back as a first level spear carrier regardless of the level of the group kind of hurts. I tried to talk to him about that and got yelled at by him and his wife. There was name-calling too. It wasn't pleasant and I don't think I'll get any concession out of him.

Are you sure you want to be gaming with people who don't respect you enough to talk to you like an adult instead of yelling at you like a child?

 

[randcortin]

Create a deity?

I'm pretty sure Keith would let you create a Deity to suit your character. After all, that's how Shinorah (Shanniah Twain to the rest of the group) got introduced; I wanted a deity with both healing and travel domains, so I came up with the idea of a "travelling healer" goddess, and if I ever have to pick her third domain, it would probably be luck.

 

[Amator]

Well, if you want to use a halfling, I'd trick out to his advantages. You will get +1 attack, +1 to thrown weapons, and +1 AC amongst other benefits. I'd develop the character into a rogue/fighter who is a knife thrower.

1st level rogue(for the skills that will keep you alive - tumble, hide, m. silently, etc etc). Then go fighter until you get the feats you need, then back to rogue for sneak attack dmg.

STR 16(from 18)
DEX 19 (from 17)
CON 16 (for hitpoints and fort saves, hate those instakills)
INT 12 (you'll max out the skills you need easily enough)
WIS 11
CHA 13

Feat: Point Blank Shot(dagger)

Strategy: When in combat always stay in the back and pepper your foes with daggers. Find sleep poison asap to make daggers more effective. Let the "real" rogue pick locks and open traps, as you're all about taking names with blades. You will definately want Wpn Spec(dagger), rapid shot, and returning wounding daggers as soon as you can get them.

IIRC there was a Shuriken Master character posted in an "ultimate cheese" thread a Loooong time ago. This character is a variation of that. Oh, I saved that post... here it is in full
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruin Explorer
Jeeez! You half-assed Psuedo-Munchkins. Let a REAL power gamer show you how it's done!
Halfling 10/3 Fighter/Rogue "l33t Shur1k3n M4sT3r"

DEX 22 (Who needs STR when you're l33t!), and realistically magic items would likely mean this was 26 or 28...

Has

BAB +11 (IIRC), so attacks at +11,+6,+1

+1 to hit Halfling bonus

Four normal Feats, Six Fighter Bonus Feats.

Sneak Attack +2d6.

DEX 22 gives +6 to hit.

EWP: Shuriken (necessary)
Quickdraw (arguably necessary)
Point blank shot (+1 to hit and damage)
Rapid shot (+1 attack, -2 to hit on all)
Weapon focus (+1 hit)
Weapon specialization (+2 damage)
Two-Weapon Fighting (reduces penalties to -2/-6)
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (+1 offhand attack)
Ambidexterity (penalties to -2/-2)

One left: Improved Rapid Shot from Dragon would be ideal, but I don't know it's stats, so...

Improved Initiative will serve him almost as well, perhaps even better, though.

Screams "All your Shuriken are belong to me!" and attacks...

At: +11/+6/+1

w/Two-weapon + Improved Two-Weapon = +9/+9/+9/+4/-1

W/Rapid shot

+7/+7/+7/+7/+2/-3

W/+8 of bonuses (PB, DEX, WF)

+15/+15/+15/+15/+10/+5

So, let's assume he gets initiative and the party are flat-footed (he's an NPC, duh!):

Each "set" of Shuriken attacks gets the +2d6 Sneak Attack bonus ONCE. However, it only takes ONE of those Shuriken to hit to get it! Any one of the three will do! Therefore it is virtually assured!(errata - this is incorrect, the Sage ruled that only the first shuriken in each set has the accuracy to get a sneak attack)

He gets 18 attack rolls... That's alot of D20s...

Maximum damage from this guy is:

12+12+12+12+12+12 = 72, + 12d6, or 144...

Now, that ain't that huge, the Fighter/Cleric in my party did 73 points on a critical just recently. However, it is ignoring a number of things.

First off, he could have Improved Critical, and even a 19-20, he will score ALOT of Criticals w/18 attacks (okay, well, 1-2 for sure, more perhaps).

Next, he could push his Rogue or Assassin levels up, and thus get even more horrific sneak attack. Remember, if just one of those babies in a 3-Shuriken burst hits you, you still get the FULL Sneak Attack damage.

Also, don't forget the "Shotgun" effect, which means that people WILL get hurt. If he spreads the love, he could probably hit everyone in a 4-person party for a significant amount of damage. He WILL get a fair number of hits, period.

If he's Improved Invisible, he can do this every round, so long as he has Shuriken!

There's more, of course, but that's enough for now. Incidentally, I threw this guy at my party on their first 3E adventure (they're all 13th). They now ph34r 3E Halflings!

Suffice to say, his guild's motto is no doubt: "All your PCs are belong to us!".

Someone mentioned this already, I think, but this bears emphasis.
The wounding enhancement applied to each shuriken means your target takes one point of damage per round per shuriken that has hit him in that combat since he last recieved magical healing. This is all cumulative.

Assuming the hypothetical 20th level fighter with Rapid Shot and a full set of, say, twenty +1 returning shuriken of wounding goes all-out on some poor slob. Sure, those weapons cost a pretty penny (18,000 gp apiece, so 360,000 gp value, or thereabouts) but they're well within his wealth allotment for his level.

He attacks (assuming no other feats or even ability mods) at +19/+19/+14/+9/+4. Each of these attacks means three shuriken, for a total of fifteen possible strikes. Assuming just ten of those shuriken hit, the target has not only taken damage from the weapons themselves, but is now also bleeding for an automatic additional ten points a round.

Subsequent rounds get worse. Assuming ten shuriken hit again, the victim is now losing twenty points a round. On the third round, he's bleeding for thirty, which quickly adds up as you go. By the end of the fifth round he's lost a whopping one hundred hit points to bleeding alone, which, when combined with the damage from the attacks themselves, pretty much spells instant death.

That is why shuriken are considered munchkin.