Need hellp with character creation for an intractible DM

[Caeleddin]

Hi there. I'm a new guy on these forums, but I have been playing RPGs for years. Currently, I have a DM that is giving me fits. Let me explain the situation:

In an experimental campaign that he ran under the World of Darkness system, he was pretty open to ideas and character creation concepts. Unfortunately, that game has ended, with the PCs going their separate ways (all done in-game, too). He had an old D&D campaign that he used to run before his players scattered (only 2 out of the 5 is left). He wants to run that on our weekly RPG session. That is not the problem. The problem is that this campaign seems to be his baby. He has very definite ideas what type of characters we can or cannot have. I have spent the last week coming up with ideas (in his last campaign, it took me all of 5 mins to come up with an acceptable concept) and he has shot me down every time. He even accused me of powergaming.

I am at a loss as he is usually not this constipated about character creation. So far, these are the parameters that I have been able to figure out using trial and error:

Character level 11/12
No Clerics - he doesn't want the yo-yo effect of HPs, and so has pretty much killed all healing spells, and only allows NPCs to be clerics.
No prestige classes.
DM rolled stats.

The stats he rolled me are: 15, 14, 12, 12, 9, 8

After about 5 days of bickering, and an almost created backstory/history of my character, he stunned me with the following:

He doesn't want me to be a Wizard or a Sorceror as there is already one in the party. Originally, I wanted to me a Half-Celestial Sorceror so that I at least have a chance of planar travel to fit with my backstory, even though I would be eating a 2 spell level penalty.
He wants to change my backstory (it was originally supposed to be me as a Half-Celestial and my NPC wife as a Earth-plane type human that looks like that lady from Tiberian Sun (I even got the pic for her), so we can have a cute little girl that has the crystals and tiny wings). He also wants to meddle with the Half-Celestial template and/or create one of his own for my character.

I am at a total loss as to how to procede with this guy, and so I open the floor to you:

Can you help me create an effective character with the above stats, using just the 3 core 3.5 books and the Psionic Handbook? A high skill point count and Charisma would be ideal, but not essential.

 

[Felnar]

make him pick your race and class,
then create something cool off that.
if it isnt working, then have that character
meet an unfortunate end.
dont get attached to a character until it's been approved.
i feel your pain, my DM just decided to deny mage PCs,
so my green star adept and his story have been scraped. :\

 

[Caeleddin]

It isn't so much the scraping, it's the fact that he don't want another spellcaster because (get this), we'd both end up with the same spells anyway. Also, it is highly frustrating to have a DM that keep changing the rules on you.

I got that from my previous DM as well. Created a character that is supposed to head down the Dragon Disciple way of two-weapon melee fighting. After a session, he said that he preferred I take Eldritch Knight. I was sort of okay with that, even though that put ALL my initial feat selection down into the "useless" column. Like a "good" player, I didn't want to upset the applecart and agreed. And then, when I met all the prerequisites for the Eldritch Knight, he read the fine print and said "Opps. Sorry. You are a Sorceror. Eldritch Knight don't give you spells known per level. So sorry. You are stuffed." So, I now have an 2/6 fighter/sorceror with all melee feats, ZERO magic-user feats, unable to do anything. It doesn't help that in every session, at least one of the other party members would make an in character referrence to my character's uselessness in anything. I really dislike being the party's deadweight. Unfortunately, it is not in that character's philosophy to jump off a cliff either, as that would solve my usefulness problems immediately.

I did tell the current DM to make the character for me. He insisted that I do it so that the character would be fun for me to play. However, he has nixed every idea I have come up with.

I am tempted to go with a 12th level Half-Orc Commoner with feats in skill focus and 1 rank in all skills. Repeat until I get a 1st level character in a 12th level party (yes, he has a rule where we drop levels even if we roll up new characters when we die). It would be brief, but fun. The world's longest "get bent" from PC to DM. Unfortunately, that probably means I have to find a new group to play with, and there isn't that many people in Auckland, New Zealand....

 

[KerlanRayne]

Just to pull in another thread here you could be a half celestial bard that plays the harp.

KerlanRayne

 

[blargney the second]

Sounds complicated. There's probably some sort of reason why he's giving you the run-around like that. I'd ask him straight out what he's trying to accomplish.

A potential solution would be to ask him to pre-generate a character for you. Tell him what you'd like your character to be able to do, and the rest is up to him to make as he sees fit. After he's made it, let him know in no uncertain terms that the PC is yours to do with as you please.

-blarg

 

[Diirk]

Bard would actually be a decent choice, just don't let him know beforehand that they can heal too ! (In a very limited fashion)

The stats would be problematic tho... thats a 23 point buy he 'rolled' you.

I got that from my previous DM as well. Created a character that is supposed to head down the Dragon Disciple way of two-weapon melee fighting. After a session, he said that he preferred I take Eldritch Knight. I was sort of okay with that, even though that put ALL my initial feat selection down into the "useless" column. Like a "good" player, I didn't want to upset the applecart and agreed. And then, when I met all the prerequisites for the Eldritch Knight, he read the fine print and said "Opps. Sorry. You are a Sorceror. Eldritch Knight don't give you spells known per level. So sorry. You are stuffed."

Uhh... wtf ;/

 

[Thanee]

Eldritch Knight don't give you spells known per level.

Actually, they do.

As for your initial character search... play a Psion. Str 8 Dex 12 Con 12 Int 15 Wis 9 Cha 14.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Diirk]

Actually, they do.

Well, everyone knows they do, the problem is it doesn't explicitly say they do...

Spells per Day: From 2nd level on, when a new eldritch knight level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

as opposed to say, archmage:

Spells per Day: When a new archmage level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he added the prestige class level.

Sloppy editing.

 

[Caeleddin]

Diirk and Thanee - He didn't read it that way. Because the Archmage specifically said "spells known" as well, he ruled that since the Eldritch Knight did not say so, he doesn't get it.

He doesn't have problems with healing. He allows Paladins and Rangers and Bards, even Druids. He just don't like Clerics. Don't ask me why. He also changed the healing spells in some wierd way that he hasn't told any of us yet. He also seem to dislike me playing any class that has options. As I said, Wizard and Sorceror are out, pretty sure because it is me that want to play it (he didn't seem to mind that there is another PC in the party playing a Sorceror). Not too sure if he will allow Psion (thanks for the suggestion Thanee) either. He seems to be of the mindset that I like to powergame. He even told me straight off the bat that I powergame everything, so he is keeping a close watch on me. This is even after he knew about what I allowed to happen to my previous character (see above post) as he is one of the players in that campaign. Usually, that means that the DM won't like you to play anything other than straight Fighter or Barbarian. A further proof of this is that he said he will count the Soulknife's mindblade against the character's equipment value when I suggested that that could be a nice class to play.

The stats he rolled me are supposedly standard for the campaign (I beg to differ, but that is another story). My group has a particularly myopic mindset. They operate on bonuses only, so a stat of 15 is treated the same as a 14. The minimum stat bonus total is +4, so theoretically, a buy of 20 is possible. In the same vein, a stat grouping of 17, 17, 9, 9, 9, 13 (buy of 34) is the same as 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10 (buy of 20) is the same as 16, 16, 8, 8, 8, 12 (buy of 24) in their mind (all with a total bonus of +4). Nothing I say will change that fact. In fact, I had a brief argument with them about it before seeing it as futile.


Blargney - I tried that. Told him straight out to make me a character to play so that I won't upset the applecart. He said no. He preferred that I make up a character of my own that I will enjoy playing. I think he is wanting it both ways. He wants me to make a character according to exactly what he wants. And when I start moaning about my character later in the game, he can turn around and say "Well, you made it! Too bad!"



Thanks for your help and advice, guys, I really appreciate it. The DM is driving me up the wall and I haven't even started playing in his campaign yet. I am half of the mind to stop playing until the other DM takes over again (they alternate in 4-6 week cycles). This is one of the reasons why I wish I lived in the States sometimes. There are more people there that plays D&D or similar games so that if one group is being stupid, there are always other options.

PS. Thanee, what would your recommendation be for a character if the Psion idea falls through? Keep in mind that anything that I play would most probably be neutered as the Soulknife was.

 

[Thanee]

Well, I certainly wouldn't play under such a DM.

But if you are that desperate, then just make something completely simple and straightforward.

Or ask him to give you a list of classes, that were ok. Along with all changes he wants to make with them. Tell him, that you will not accept any changes after that. Give him a week or so to write that down. This is only fair.

If he refuses, tell him, that since he obviously does not want you to play in his game... then you won't. Problem solved. Ask the other players, whether they would like to start with a new DM immediately or if you would have to wait for the next DM to start a campaign. You could also volunteer to DM yourself, of course.

Bye
Thanee