I'm Starting a 0-Level Character anybody got any ideas?

[geflin]

welcome to my third thread, and thank you for reading!

We're starting a sixth campaign in my little gaming corner of the world. We maybe pausing/slowing down the Forgotten Realms near Zhentil Keep Campaign (for info on that see the "Help the Sword needs to Die!!!" thread in the "rules" forum) just to make room for the new one. What i'd like is a little outside advice/suggestion for the new campaign.

so a little info from our first gaming session:

i'm playing in this one (i ref in 2 of the others). we started out rolling characters as usual. 4d6, re-roll ones, drop the lowest. but it had a twist: if you rolled four of a kind, you got to keep it. ie 24, 20, 16 ect. 4 out of 5 of us got a special stat. (including yours truely) here's the breakdown of how i placed my stats:

STR: 17
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 24
WIS: 13
CHA: 12

we start out with our CON plus mod as hit points (i started with 16 HP). we aslo started out as quasi 0-level characters randomly apprenticed to one of the five NPC classes in the DMG: Aristocrat, Adept, Commoner, Expert and Warrior. what we got were 3 Aristocrats, a Commoner and an Adept. (i as an Aristocrat) When i say quasi 0-level, here is what i mean: we got the skill points of a 1st level character divided in half. (so i got 22. almost everyone else got between 10-16) we were only allowed to take class related skills, however once the adventure is complete we'll be able to choose the class we want and will get full 1st level status (so in essence, the skill points we've been given are freebies). evidently this adventure that our new DM is running is an old AD&D module and the choices your characters make will determine which class you're most suitable for and the DM is planning on awarding something if you happen to choose that particular class. (not sure exactly what yet, he's still attempting to convert the whole thing over to 3.x) for race i chose half-elven, raised by my human mother.

Here's what happened:

we were captured and put aboard a slavers ship and the ship was caught in a storm. as we were chained below, we were the only ones to survive the storm(we thought). after freeing ourselves, we learn that the slave master survived and is on-shore getting all liquered up. being as we're 0-level with no weapons, no armor, ect... and that guy has a great sword on his back (yeah we've got hit points but crappy AC's) we hid from him and searched as much of the ship as possible. we found a heavy crossbow and a chest (which i grabbed and am attempting to open).

an that was basically our first night

so i have a couple of quandries:

1. i just got the unearther arcana. i am contemplating taking a bloodline for my aristocrat. i like the concept, but none of the ones in there really "jump" out at me. i am considering making my own. any suggestions?

2. so far i have been playin the Aristocrat very much. placing others in between danger and me and basically talking to the commoner or the adept through the other characters. but i'm not sure exactly the type of aristocratic backround i want to play. a man of the peoples? nose in the air bastard? again, any suggestions?

3. i think i'm going to start aw either a mage or a rogue, but would like some idea for a prestige class to be working towards. i have limited books in my home, but can borrow something from friends. so if you'd give me a suggetion, i'll find it and read up on it.

i guess basically asking people to give me an idea of the kind of character they would play given this situation. then i'll pick and choose things that i like and we'll all be happy! THANK YOU in advance for all of your help and time in this endeavor (did i spell that right?)

-geflin

 

[geflin]

wow, this is a first...almost 12 hours and not a single reply... is it becuase the topic sucks that bad, or is it the title of the thread?

 

[Runesong42]

Personally, if I were an Aristocrat, I would have put that 17 on Charisma, but that's just how I roll. With an Int of 24, you'd be crazy NOT to become a wizard, or a psion of some type.

If you are creating a bloodline, I would consider making a bloodline based on ultra-intelligent monsters. Illithids, Celestials, or anything psionic. If your DM permits, take a quick leaf through the Monster Manual and pick out some monsters with an uber-Int core, and plan accordingly.

With your decent Str score, you're almost a shoe-in for a Fighter/Mage or Fighter/Psion type. Since you have the Unearthed Arcana, ask your DM if he would be into using gestalt characters. Then simply advance simultaneously as the above classes. Psychic Warrior/Psion combo would be scary as hell, too.

As an aristocrat, you have to decide where you stand in your royal family. If you are in line for ruling, and you champion the common people, you might play a "fop" who really doesn't care about the aristocracy -- the type who'd ather hang out at the tavern wiht the common folk than walk around the palace in stuffy shirts all the time. You could be problematic to the local King/Lord, who is tired of seeing his son/heir waste his life on frivolous pursuits. Heck, if you go rogue, perhaps the Lord constantly tries to keep you confined in the castle, and you somehow always escape.

If you're just another Joe Noble who happens to have Royal blood, you don't even have to focus on your Aristocracy. Maybe it's not important. Maybe your love for the common folk has you "left out" from all the big noble galas, festivals, and oter get-togethers. The Nobility calls upon you only when you are absolutely the last possible resort. Or, perhaps you champion the common people to improve your popularity, and once you make a push against the local Lord to take his place, the people will assist you. Perhaps you are even a Robin Hood type, trying constantly to stick it to the nobles from who you were born.

As for prestige classes, I don't really have much experience or a wide knowledge of them outside of the core rules, but there ae some cool "base" classes in the 3.5 rules. Consider those. I still would throughly enbrace the Psion idea, though. Any way you slice it, you're a shoe-in for mental powers of some kind.

 

[der_kluge]

I agree; the 17 str seems woefully misplaced. I think I would have been inclined to put the 24 into charisma, and made him a sorcerer, focusing on enchantment spells. With spell focus (enchantment), and ranks in the charisma-skills, you'd be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

1. i just got the unearther arcana. i am contemplating taking a bloodline for my aristocrat. i like the concept, but none of the ones in there really "jump" out at me. i am considering making my own. any suggestions?

Yeah, ditch the concept of a "bloodline" as a monster trait and make it a family trait. Your noble lineage is of a magical origin and certain abilities are passed trhough the generations.

2. but i'm not sure exactly the type of aristocratic backround i want to play. a man of the peoples? nose in the air bastard? again, any suggestions?

How about a guy who tries to be a man of the people, but has a hard time of it? Your character is a step apart from the common man. He's got that bloodline thing going for him. So when he says that he's better, that's not a lie. You have a 24 INT and other remarkable stats, so when you say your smarter, that's just a statement of fact. You're not trying to be mean, you just don't always consider the impact your words might have on other people.

3. i think i'm going to start aw either a mage or a rogue, but would like some idea for a prestige class to be working towards. i have limited books in my home, but can borrow something from friends.

Why not go both and be an Arcane Trickster?

EDIT:

wow, this is a first...almost 12 hours and not a single reply... is it becuase the topic sucks that bad, or is it the title of the thread?

Misleading thread title, long post, and a bunch of us sleep now and then. But hey, we did get to it eventually!





Happy gaming!

 

[Darkness]

wow, this is a first...almost 12 hours and not a single reply... is it becuase the topic sucks that bad, or is it the title of the thread?

Weekend.

 

[Bront]

If you like Aristocrat, stay in it. Propose to the GM to tweek the Aristocrat NPC class so you can play it as a PC (My suggestion, simply add fighter feats at the same level, but no specialization access). That works well with the rest of your stats, and you can continue to manipulate people on the sidelines, or simply "do it yourself" on the front line.

 

[geflin]

I think i may have found the coolest thing in the world... at least in the D&D world... it's a prestige class called "THE ACENDANT".... basically at epic level, you start taking levels on your way to becoming a god! i wish i knew more about that html text... i could post a link to where i found it... its here on this site and a guy name Jester started the thread... i think that may be where my character is headed... but in the mean time, i need someway to get there and i've got about 2 weeks before we continue on in that game, so any other ideas are more than welcome!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This aristocrat seems to be strong and healthy, and too smart for his own good...I can see him sliding quite easily into a Rogue-ish role, a la Blackadder or a Machiavelian Prince, or Mercutio. He would become manipulative, a dilletant, cruel in his boredom. Someone who'll challenge someone to a rapier fight he's sure to win...just to humiliate him.

Just as easily, he could become like Sir Boss (Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) or Walter Slovotsky (Guardians of the Flame novels, Joel Rosenburg)- an inventor, a scientist, an alchemist. Or, like a Louis XIV who stayed sane and competent, obsessed with machinery and clockwork...perhaps to become an artificer?

 

[RandomPrecision]

I think i may have found the coolest thing in the world... at least in the D&D world... it's a prestige class called "THE ACENDANT".... basically at epic level, you start taking levels on your way to becoming a god! i wish i knew more about that html text... i could post a link to where i found it... its here on this site and a guy name Jester started the thread... i think that may be where my character is headed... but in the mean time, i need someway to get there and i've got about 2 weeks before we continue on in that game, so any other ideas are more than welcome!

It's in the House Rules forum...

...I hope there aren't campaigns out there where a 0-level character is immediately concerned with epic and post-epic prestige classes...