Need a good melee char-must be old!

[mflayermonk]

Hi all,
I am trying to make a good melee character that is around 50-65 years old. Drawing a blank with the stat hits. I would prefer a character with a decent AC and ability to soak up damage with either high hit points and/or DR.

Allowable books: PHB1 and 2, DMG, All Core and all Races books. No Eberron.

Thanks

 

[LonePaladin]

Dwarven barbarian, berserker strength option instead of rage. Or a dwarven knight, same Hit Die, but full armor and shields. Either way, you'll be in the age range you're looking for without taking a stat penalty. (The stat penalties are in the PH, in the Description chapter.)

 

[mflayermonk]

thanks

Thats a good combo.
Sorry, I think I was not clear.
I am designing a character that is a human 50-65, and I am not sure how to mitigate the penalty in all the physical stats and still make a good character. Closest thing I could think of us was Drunken Master prestige class at the moment, or some Paladin combination.

 

[Pinotage]

That's not readily easy because of the hit you take to abilities from age. Best thing to do is get some heavy armor and feats like Shield Specialization and Combat Expertise to make sure you don't get hit. Hit points won't be good because Con is down, nor will Strength, so the best thing is to concentrate on AC. That means you stay longer in battle with more chance to hit, and with high AC you last longer. Races of Stone has a few armor feats that will help as well.

Pinotage

 

[LonePaladin]

Sorry 'bout that, you didn't specify a race. :/

Focusing on heavy armor and a good shield is a good idea, just make sure you'll be able to carry the load (you can afford to have a medium load in heavy armor, the penalties don't stack). Also, consider the fact that you'll be getting a bonus on your mental stats — this means more skill points, and it'll be easier to qualify for feats like Combat Expertise, letting you get a better deal on fighting defensively.

If you want good hit points, good armor, and some extra defensive abilities, go with a knight. d12 Hit Dice, full armor proficiencies, and the ability to gain bonuses against a single foe are all helpful. When you gain a few levels, you'll even have the ability to force your enemies to selectively target you, leaving your allies free to rain death on them unhindered. (This and similar abilities draw from a pool of daily 'challenges'; the one for making yourself a target has an odd side-effect — if, while this challenge lasts, you are dropped to 0 hp or less, you get that use of the ability back, essentially giving you a refund.)

PHII has a feat that follows up on the Shield Bash feat, allowing you to mimic Two-Weapon Fighting without a high Dexterity score. (In fact, it has no ability score requirements.) When you're at mid-levels, consider the Armor Specialization feat, which gives you DR 2/— in the armor type you choose.

If you get Combat Expertise, consider getting Improved Disarm. This way, you can possibly nullify an opponent's ability to hurt you or your allies without having to wear down his hit points. Sure, he can just pick it up again as a move action, but doing so gives you a free attack — as well as any friends that are within reach. Removing an enemy's primary weapon just might get him to surrender.

Options aside, I applaud the idea, playing a combative character who starts out older than the minimums suggested in the PH. Most people forget that the figures on that chart are simply the minimum age, and the rest generally only look at that option when playing a spellcaster. Find the class and feats that suit you, and run with the concept.

 

[Quartz]

What level character are you creating? Because there's the Epic feat which puts off the penalties, and some classes don't take aging penalties after certain levels.

 

[shilsen]

Have you considered a paladin or a cleric? The heightened Wis and Cha will help in both cases, and they can both pull off high AC and durability via heavy armor, spells and divine feats.

 

[Quartz]

The effects of aging are detailed in the SRD in Description.rtf. At 50, you're going to be at the very end of middle age (ends at 53) which is -1 to physical stats and +1 to mental stats. Any older and it's -3/+2. You should be fine as long as you put 13 or 15 in Str and 16 in Con. Remember that with combat the cumulative modifiers are vastly greater than the die roll. Sure you're losing -1 to hit and damage, but you'll get that back wth Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialisation, other feats, buffing, magic weapons, and more. AC won't be too much of a problem if you stick with the heaviest armours and take shield feats or Combat Expertise - and you should be able to swing starting with full plate as the spellcasters in the party will be starting with stat bonuses.

 

[mflayermonk]

thanks

Great advice, thank you everyone.

 

[Patlin]

Edit: Missed the allowable books section, nevermind.

Any of the martial adept classes would be good, too. Especially since they make use of mental stats as well as physical, and old age provides physical penalties and mental bonuses. For example, the swordsage gets a monk-like AC bonus from Wisdom.