Looking for some character advice

[untface]

I'm new to the boards, so hello everyone *waves*. Hope I am posting in the right place, and doing it appropriately.

I am looking for some help in designing a build for a campaign that I have recently joined. I haven't played that much D&D, and it has been quite some time since I played any at all. I guess I'll just start with an outline of the creation rules and what the party is and see how we go from there.

CREATION:

Starting Level: 9
Point Buy: 40 points
Starting Gold: 15k
Setting: Dragonlance - all classes
Books: All 3.5

N.B. Campaign is running to a deadline, so no builds that require extensive "alone time" will really work (e.g. Clerist - Knightly Orders of Ansalon)

My character must fill two archetypes, Prophet and Inginue (spelling may be off).

Prophet: basically requires some healing ability (e.g. 1 level of cleric would suffice).

Inginue: requires that I somehow be "vulnerable" and grow into my strength(s). Strikes me as more a roleplaying concept, but can certainly be reflected in character advancement (e.g. Mystic Theurge - weak multiclass that comes into it's own with the gains in Theurgic prowess). I must also be female...if that matters at all. As long as i can justify it to the group it's all good.

PARTY:
All level 9
1. Druid focusing on combat abilities and wild shape
2. Cleric of Mishakal ( Saatil :: (Read-Only) - Myth-Weavers)
3. Fighter/Barbarian
4. Rogue - good DPS and trapsmithing
5. Melee - front line mix of multiclass goodness
6. Straight Wizard (white robes I think)
7. Me

I have been initially considering:

Fighter/Knight of the Sword/Clerist - one full day a week meditation has effectively eliminated this build as a possibility

Mystic Theurge - I don't like being squishy in melee, but it is still a possibility

Sacred Fist - from what little i have read online it seems to be a bit weak (compared to other options)

If anyone can suggest a strong melee caster type, preferably with a bit of an outline on the build, it would be great. I am confident i could create a basic build that would be effective, but it would be nice to have something "interesting" as well, and there is just so much to read!

Really though, all constructive suggestions are welcome.


Anyway, thanks for your time.

Cheers,
-John

 

[concerro]

I am about to suggest going straight cleric. I dont know what an inguine is so I can't say anything for that. Could you tell me about the other cleric. I dont have any dragonlance books.

You can be a diviner, warrior, and healer, and never have to multiclass. If you want mechanical representation of being vulnerable don't prepare all your spells. You can just pretend the spells are not available, but every time you level you get more of the spell that you should be able to cast anyway.

 

[untface]

I am about to suggest going straight cleric. I dont know what an inguine is so I can't say anything for that. Could you tell me about the other cleric. I dont have any dragonlance books.

You can be a diviner, warrior, and healer, and never have to multiclass. If you want mechanical representation of being vulnerable don't prepare all your spells. You can just pretend the spells are not available, but every time you level you get more of the spell that you should be able to cast anyway.

Inguine is just an archetype I was told I need to fill. I gave a brief description in my original post, to be honest though, you can probably ignore it for creation purposes. Prophet is the important one, and that just requires a minimum of a cleric level or equivalent.

All I can say about the other Cleric is here: Saatil :: (Read-Only) - Myth-Weavers

Cleric of Mishakal was built with Core (SRD), Dragonlance Campaign Sourcebook, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior and Complete Champion.

Cheers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

First, Welcome to the Boards!

Starting Level: 9
Point Buy: 40 points
Starting Gold: 15k
Setting: Dragonlance - all classes
Books: All 3.5

My character must fill two archetypes, Prophet and Inginue (spelling may be off).

PARTY:
1. Druid focusing on combat abilities and wild shape
2. Cleric of Mishakal ( Saatil :: (Read-Only) - Myth-Weavers)
3. Fighter/Barbarian
4. Rogue - good DPS and trapsmithing
5. Melee - front line mix of multiclass goodness
6. Straight Wizard (white robes I think)
7. Me

If anyone can suggest a strong melee caster type, preferably with a bit of an outline on the build, it would be great. I am confident i could create a basic build that would be effective, but it would be nice to have something "interesting" as well, and there is just so much to read!

(emphasis mine)

Ingenue and melee caster may be a bit at odds with each other, but...here goes!

I did a PC who did pretty well for himself, and might be of interest to you- I call the build a "Mage-brute."
Forked Thread: Mage-Brute (revisited) - EN World D&D / RPG News

Essentially, its a Sorcerer with at least 2 heritage feats, one of which must be one that turns any arcane spells into damage-dealing/enhancing supernatural abilities. I used Draconic Heritage & Draconic Breath (See CompArc*), but others exist in PHB2. The Sorc took a Toad familiar (to boost HP- not required if you're starting at 9th level), wore Scale Mail & Shield, and swung a Maul. (Eventually, he took Ftr levels to become proficient in those...he just lived with the penalties up until that point.)

The PC also relied upon casting arcane spells without somatic components- a (non-comprehensive) list of which can be found in Dragon#354. Still Spell was also an option down the road. The breath weapon, being a supernatural ability, doesn't provoke AoOs, and is not affected by Arcane Spell Failure.

If your DM counts the UA Battle Sorcerer as a Sorcerer, the build gets more efficient, since he'll start off with better armor and weapon proficiency, and the ability to cast spells in armor (something the original doesn't get). This can be improved with the Battle Caster Feat from CompArc.

Then, to this, add levels of Bard. Bard has some Healing- not as much as the Cleric, but it has some- and its an arcane caster (so its spells can be used with the Heritage feats) who can cast spells in armor. Your heritage feat and your Battle Caster feat will be doing double duty. You will have spellcasting synergies, since each class mentioned above uses Cha as the casting stat. In flavor, the Bard class adds to both prophet and ingenue role, with the bardic knowledge and performance skills.

If you want to maximize your Ingenue role, take more Bard levels than Sorc or BattleSorc. If you want to maximize your melee spellcaster aspect, stay closer to the BattleSorc.

*For convenience, you can also check here: http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl
http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl

*****

OTOH, if you go with a Diviner (or one of the aforementioned Sorcerer classes)/Cleric/MT build, you can really play up the Prophet role by emphasizing oracular spells, and you can contribute to combat by having your DEX as your main physical stat, and emphasizing your ranged weapons- darts, daggers, spears, javelins, Alchemical fire, tanglefoot bags, etc., especially if you have a Quiver of Ehlonna.

 

[Dandu]

Paladin2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/Abjurant Champion5/Sacred Exorcist8

 

[untface]

Paladin2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/Abjurant Champion5/Sacred Exorcist8

After reading all the PrC's, for a purely arcane caster/melee this combination looks awesome. The CHA base just rocks with those Paladin levels.

Remember, my character must be able to cast heals of some sort (and wands won't do).

i would need to spend 4 levels of Sacred Exorcist raising my Paladin caster level to 6 to cast any kind of healing. Seems like it would gimp the build somewhat compared to going all Sorc and having caster level 17.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Still looking at the the halitosis Bard suggestion (thanks Dannyalcatraz), very interesting so far.

Cheers and thanks for your time.
-John

 

[untface]

First, Welcome to the Boards!



(emphasis mine)

Ingenue and melee caster may be a bit at odds with each other, but...here goes!

I did a PC who did pretty well for himself, and might be of interest to you- I call the build a "Mage-brute."
Forked Thread: Mage-Brute (revisited) - EN World D&D / RPG News

Essentially, its a Sorcerer with at least 2 heritage feats, one of which must be one that turns any arcane spells into damage-dealing/enhancing supernatural abilities. I used Draconic Heritage & Draconic Breath (See CompArc*), but others exist in PHB2. The Sorc took a Toad familiar (to boost HP- not required if you're starting at 9th level), wore Scale Mail & Shield, and swung a Maul. (Eventually, he took Ftr levels to become proficient in those...he just lived with the penalties up until that point.)

The PC also relied upon casting arcane spells without somatic components- a (non-comprehensive) list of which can be found in Dragon#354. Still Spell was also an option down the road. The breath weapon, being a supernatural ability, doesn't provoke AoOs, and is not affected by Arcane Spell Failure.

If your DM counts the UA Battle Sorcerer as a Sorcerer, the build gets more efficient, since he'll start off with better armor and weapon proficiency, and the ability to cast spells in armor (something the original doesn't get). This can be improved with the Battle Caster Feat from CompArc.

Then, to this, add levels of Bard. Bard has some Healing- not as much as the Cleric, but it has some- and its an arcane caster (so its spells can be used with the Heritage feats) who can cast spells in armor. Your heritage feat and your Battle Caster feat will be doing double duty. You will have spellcasting synergies, since each class mentioned above uses Cha as the casting stat. In flavor, the Bard class adds to both prophet and ingenue role, with the bardic knowledge and performance skills.

If you want to maximize your Ingenue role, take more Bard levels than Sorc or BattleSorc. If you want to maximize your melee spellcaster aspect, stay closer to the BattleSorc.

*For convenience, you can also check here: http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl
http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/featsform.pl

*****

OTOH, if you go with a Diviner (or one of the aforementioned Sorcerer classes)/Cleric/MT build, you can really play up the Prophet role by emphasizing oracular spells, and you can contribute to combat by having your DEX as your main physical stat, and emphasizing your ranged weapons- darts, daggers, spears, javelins, Alchemical fire, tanglefoot bags, etc., especially if you have a Quiver of Ehlonna.

So, as a rough outline, you'd be looking at something like:

Fighter2/Bard3/(Battle)Sorceror15

as a viable take on this build?

Cheers.

 

[untface]

Paladin2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/Abjurant Champion5/Sacred Exorcist8

On review, I don't see how this class combination is possible.

Paladin(2) BAB +2
Sorceror(4) BAB +2
Spellsword(1) BAB +0
--------------------------------
TOTAL LEVEL 7 / TOTAL BAB +4
--------------------------------
Maximum class skill rank(lvl7): lvl +3 = 10
Maximum cross class skill rank(lvl7): (lvl +3)/2 = 5

Knowledge (the planes) is a cross class skill for sorceror, paladin and spellsword.

Abjurant Champion: Requires BAB +5
Sacred Exorcist: requires Knowledge (the planes) 10 Ranks

I guess you could take Battle Sorceror and meet the BAB requirement to get into Abjurant Champion.

However, seeing as Knowledge (the planes) is also a cross class skill for Abjurant Champion, you will have to wait until level 17 before you have enough ranks to consider entering Sacred Exorcist.

Am I missing something?

Cheers.

 

[untface]

DRACONIC HERITAGE
You have greater connection with your distant draconic bloodline.
Prerequisite: Sorcerer level 1st.

Does this mean i can only take it at creation, or only when I take my first level of Sorcerer?

Cheers.

 

[FEADIN]

DRACONIC HERITAGE
You have greater connection with your distant draconic bloodline.
Prerequisite: Sorcerer level 1st.

Does this mean i can only take it at creation, or only when I take my first level of Sorcerer?

Cheers.

Look at the text speaking about DH feats, if I remember correctly it says that your "heritage" can pop up after some times, not exactly when you're 1st level.