Joe Average Stats, class recomendations?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Stats do not make a hero, your actions do

Play a Monk. Sure, you won't seem like a power house but just play the highly devoted student that hjas little actual natural talent. You are very eager to please and great work ethic. You never got anything easy in life, build off that.

Another excellent post. IME the player actions and the rolls of the dice are the most important things, unless you are talking about a difference of 6-10 on the bonuses.

 

[Sejs]

With regard of my previous post above, the rogue suggestion -

Also of note - if you put that 12 into Int you can support up to three levels in wizard.

Granted, your save DCs won't be that good, but that's okay because you'll never be casting anything that allows a saving throw anyway. Rogue X, Wizard (3) plus practiced spellcaster to bring your effective caster level up to 7 opens a number of interesting options. Consider specializing in divination and dropping evocation.

True Strike, Ray of Enfeeblement, Obscuring Mist, Silent Image, Expeditious Retreat, Disguise Self, Rope Trick, Invisibility, Blur, Darkness, stat buffs.. and that's just the PHB. Add in the Spell Compendium and personal spell research and you can get pretty wicked. Just remember your roots - your spells are there to support and augment your ability to function as a rogue. You don't fireball things, you turn into other people, conceal traps will illusion, and vanish from plain sight in a puff of smoke.

Plus you'll get Scribe Scroll for free (or other feats if you spec divination and use the UA variant), and access to a familiar. A familiar, you'll note, which shares your skill ranks - which means things like if you have 10 ranks in Open Lock, your monkey familiar also has 10 ranks in Open Lock. Oh, and they can help scout and give you Alertness for free.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Another excellent post. IME the player actions and the rolls of the dice are the most important things, unless you are talking about a difference of 6-10 on the bonuses.

Hey, every pack needs an Omega dog!

Anybody can try to play a character who's just not as good as the other PCs, but only with low stats like the ones posted by the OP can you get that vibe of genuine loser authenticity. In fact, I'm going to change my answer and recommend Bard instead of Wizard. Bards are all about making other characters feel better about themselves, and I think this PC would be perfect in that role.

 

[Gold Roger]

Go druid/barbarian multiclass, with the PHB2 Shapeshifting variant. You get to cast some buffs and then jump into melee with still decent stats.

 

[szilard]

If you are just looking to optimize effectiveness, you could also play a Druid. Put the 13 in Wis and the 12 in Int. Concentrate on Wild Shape and spells without saves.

-Stuart

 

[Arkham]

Play a commoner, wield a scythe. Impale yourself on the first monster you see, then reroll a new character with real stats.

Alternate option, Warlocks need no good stats, so play another one. Put the 13 in dex, and 12 in Con. Make sure all the invocations you take have no save. Devil's sight, see invisibility, etc.

 

[airwalkrr]

Make a plain rogue and play him like a barbarian warrior until he bites it.... then roll up a new character, or better yet use point buy so you can build the character you actually desire.

That is the most constructive recommendation I have seen besides "Put the 9 into Intelligence, be a wizard, and play him like a barbarian warrior until he bites it..."

Good job.

[/sarcasm]

While I wouldn't force this set of ability scores on a player in 3e (AD&D is another story) since it violates the two tenets in the PH that I go by for whether or not an ability score set is "playable" (i.e. at least one score higher than 13 and net modifier of +1 or higher), the ability scores are not completely unplayable unless you are playing a very high-powered campaign. I would hope your DM at least has the sense not to expect you all to be supremely powerful if he is forcing you to stick with these dreadful scores, so assuming that, you will probably be ok as long as you are smart.

If effectiveness is your goal, the key here is to stick to the basics. The four most basic classes to the game are cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard. Any one of these classes is playable with this ability score set. If you go with the cleric, then the 13 goes into Wisdom. As long as your ability score boosts always go into wisdom and you pick up a periapt of wisdom by 13th level (which shouldn't be too hard in most campaigns), you will always be able to cast your highest level spells. Your save DCs won't be incredibly high and you will miss out on some bonus spells, but both things can be compensated for easily. Simply avoid casting spells with save DCs unless you are fairly confident in your opponent's inability to make that kind of save. Most cleric spells aren't save dependent anyway. The biggest factors of your spells, like caster level, are thankfully ability score independent. As for missing bonus spells, you will simply need to spend a little more cash than you are probably used to on consumables. Players these days have an odd abhorance for consumables that I do not understand but they add SO MUCH to a character's versatility and casting potential for a relatively low price. If your DM doesn't have consumables for sale in shops, pick up Scribe Scroll or Brew Potion and make your own.

The fighter is relatively simple. I dislike multiclassing, but in most cases one level of barbarian plus the extra rage feat are invaluable for boosting your attack and hp at critical moments. The 13 and the 12 should go into Strength and Constitution respectively. Focus on boosting Strength and picking up feats that improve your bonus to hit and damage. Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Power Attack are solid early choices. If you start with a 10 Dexterity and can eventually afford (and locate) +6 gloves of Dexterity and mithral full plate (much later in level) then you will have as good of AC as the next fighter. And it can be boosted even more with tower shield.

A rogue is the king of skills, and since skill points are where the vast majority of your bonuses come from (hint: it IS NOT ability scores), you will hardly ever notice your highest score is a 13. Shore up the skills you really want to be good in with a skill boost feat like Alertness or Skill Focus and make sure you pick up masterwork thieves' tools at the earliest convenience. Be judicious about when is the best time to attack and when is the best time to aid your allies. The aid another action is your friend when fighting things you can't sneak attack and those with high AC. This is true of all rogues, not just those with relatively weak ability scores.

A wizard really only needs intelligence, and not that much intelligence at that. Sure, the 20 Intelligence grey elf wizard is an ideal everyone wants to strive for, but it is not the only way to be an effective wizard, and really it just promotes laziness since you don't have to be as strategic with your spells. In this case, your 13 Intelligence plus a headband of intellect will allow you to cast the highest level wizard spells as early as possible. Like the cleric, you should focus on spells that grant you or your allies bonuses instead of spells that require saving throws. Magic missile is the great equalizer. It works equally well for the Intelligence 11 wizard as it does for the Intelligence 25 wizard. Bull's strength, false life, scorching ray, Melf's acid arrow, fog cloud, and haste are all spells that require very little, if anything, in the way of ability scores.

The key is to think strategically. You don't need good ability scores to have a good character. Good ability scores are just gravy on a well-designed character concept and not vital to it at all. If you aren't that good with the rules, just hang around these boards and ask more questions and you will quickly catch on to the tenets of optimization.

 

[Herobizkit]

Play an Expert.

Seriously.

Ask your DM if you can use the Expert NPC class and then be a skill monkey, but be a pure intellectualist. Take all your lores, Use Magic Device, and pump yourself full of skill bonuses.

Or, take a level of Expert and then a level of Adept, another NPC class.

LOL or, go Expert/Fighter and use all your warrior feats for skill bonuses and/or defensive manoeuvres.

OR, just go Aristocrat all the way and played the spoiled "I'm rich, i'm incredible, until the chips are down and I need help" type of character.

Also, a friend of mine had the best time ever with a Bard/Sorcerer. Think about it.

I fully support mutli-classing, by the way. I don't think I've every played a one-class character for more than 7 levels except very early in my gaming career.

 

[Diremede]

If you are really really gung ho about playing this character and keeping him alive, then I would develop a character that stays out of harms way, (ie. wizard, fighter(archer), rogue, etc.), but seriously if your DM is making you keep a character with rolls like that which by the rules you should be able to dump him, then I would make a fighter and toss him into the fray first chance you get and die a good death.

Re-roll.

 

[sjmiller]

Make a plain rogue and play him like a barbarian warrior until he bites it.... then roll up a new character, or better yet use point buy so you can build the character you actually desire.

Ahh, but I am willing to bet that using a point buy system is not an option in his game. I know it is not in the games I run.