Need help with staff-wielder

[John Q. Mayhem]

I would suggest either the Iron Kingdoms spell-less ranger or AU's unfettered for your base class. Definately get the Quick Staff style feat from CW, if you've got it.

 

[mirivor]

The formerly stated idea of the Ranger is an excellent idea and was very well promoted. You could also reference the Tempest prestige class presented in the 3.0 splatbook Masters of the Wild. Although by those rules, he cannot use his abilities with a double weapon, I have always felt that that was an unnecessary restriction.

 

[arnon]

Staff-Man
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The Staff-Man’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance(Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Swim (Str) and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Lvl|BaB |Fort.|Ref|Will|Flurry of Blows |AC Bonus|Special
1 |+1 |+1|+2|+0|-1/-1 |+1|Improvised Staff
2 |+2 |+1|+3|+0|+0/+0 |+1|Bonus feat
3 |+3 |+2|+3|+1|+1/+1 |+1|
4 |+4 |+2|+4|+1|+2/+2 |+2|Bonus feat
5 |+5 |+2|+4|+1|+4/+4 |+2|
6 |+6/+1 |+3|+5|+2|+5/+5/+0 |+2|Bonus feat
7 |+7/+2 |+3|+5|+2|+6/+6/+1 |+3|
8 |+8/+3 |+4|+6|+2|+7/+7/+2 |+3|Bonus feat
9 |+9/+4 |+4|+6|+3|+9/+9/+4 |+3|
10|+10/+5 |+4|+7|+3|+10/+10/+5 |+4|Quick Staff
11|+11/+6/+1 |+5|+7|+3|+11/+11/+11/+6/+1 |+4|
12|+12/+7/+2 |+5|+8|+4|+12/+12/+12/+7/+2 |+4|Bonus feat
13|+13/+8/+3 |+6|+8|+4|+13/+13/+13/+8/+3 |+5|
14|+14/+9/+4 |+6|+9|+4|+14/+14/+14/+9/+4 |+5|Bonus feat
15|+15/+10/+5 |+6|+9|+5|+15/+15/+15/+10/+5 |+5|
16|+16/+11/+6/+1 |+7|+10|+5|+16/+16/+16/+11/+6/+1 |+6|Bonus feat
17|+17/+12/+7/+2 |+7|+10|+5|+17/+17/+17/+12/+7/+2 |+6|
18|+18/+13/+8/+3 |+8|+11|+6|+18/+18/+18/+13/+8/+3 |+6|Bonus feat
19|+19/+14/+9/+4 |+8|+11|+6|+19/+19/+19/+14/+9/+4 |+7|
20|+20/+15/+10/+5|+8|+12|+6|+20/+20/+20/+15/+10/+5|+7|Bonus feat

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the fighter:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Staff-Man is proficient with all simple weapons and with light armor.
Bonus Feats: The fighter gains an additional bonus feat at 2nd level and every two fighter levels thereafter, alsmot. (4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats. A fighter must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.
These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A fighter is not limited to the list of fighter bonus feats when choosing these feats.
Flurry of Blows: The Staff-Man gains the Flurry of Blows ability as a Monk, but only when using the Quarterstaff.
AC Bonus: When wearing Light armor or no armor, the Staff-Man gains a special dodge bonus to Armor Class that increases every three levels. Only when armed with the Quarterstaff.
Improvised Staff: With a long branch, or breaking the weapon part of any pole-arm weapon (ie. Halberd, trident, ranseur, etc.), the Staff-Man can use it as a Quarterstaff but at a -2 penalty.
Quick Staff: You gain the Quick Staff technique at 10th level. You must have Combat Expertise as a feat. (From Complete Warrior)

OK, this is a first draft of what I came up with, using some of the ideas you people gave here, so thanks.
Tell me what you think. Be harsh. I'm a grown man, I can deal with criticism.
I will show it to my (future) DM tomorrow, see what he thinks. I think it nice, but hack away

arnon

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Looks a little strong. It gets FoB (worth at least one feat), a +1 to +7 AC bonus, and 10 bonus feats. I'd say drop FoB, replace 3 of the feats with the ranger's TWF combat style (only with a quarterstaff), and maybe drop the HD to d8.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think trying to build a whole base class for this is too much.

Seriously, I think your absolute best bet would be a fighter, especially if you can get hold of Master of Arms by Second World Publications - it has the following nifty feats for quarterstaff users

Clothesline (Ex, Action Modifier)[Fighter ]

Dazing (Ex, Full)[Fighter ]

Double Trip and Double Strike(Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

Hitting Where it Don ’t Show(Ex)[Fighter ]

Leg Sweep (Ex, Full)[Fighter ]

Nerve Blows (Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

Numbing Strikes (Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

Spin Staff (Ex) [Fighter ]

Staff Grapple (Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

Tapping Habit (Ex)

Third Leg (Ex)[Fighter ]

Thrusting Attacks (Ex, Action Modifier)[Fighter ]

Trip, Strike and Disarm (Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

Wrap-around Attack (Ex, Combination)[Fighter ]

 

[arnon]

Lets say that I do not have an abundance of of stores where I live.
I'm sure these feats would have been great, but no book, no help.

While I do want the Fighter's feat progression and BaB, knowing how to use all the weapons in the arsenal does not fit with my concept of character... hence, losing martial weapons and heavy & medium armor. Most advantages will be lost the minute my character does not have a staff in hand.

arnon

 

[Gustave Arcanus]

Most advantages will be lost the minute my character does not have a staff in hand.

That sounds suspiciously like Kenshin.

I do agree that either a fighter or a ranger would be your best bet mechanically, even if you do get proficiency that you'll never use/want. How many characters do you see using crossbows, or even act like they know how, even though most everyone gets the proficiency for free?

In essence, your character is supposed to be a good ol' country bumpkin who for some reason or another has the need to wallop people upside the head with a large stick. Maybe a woodsy type (ranger), maybe not (fighter). Depends on how much you want to focus between fighting with the staff and the whole nature thing. Personally, I'd go with the fighter.

And there's always a place for variants on base classes without making a whole new class. As suggested previously, drop the proficiencies you don't need (everything but light armor and simple weapons), and replace them with the flurry series at appropriate levels. I'd say you should still get feats as normal, since you're losing access to a whole arsenal of possibilities. That should do the trick on its own, without the need for further modification.

 

[arnon]

Kenshin?????

This is how I picture the guy:
We are starting at level 5, so I decided to make him a mature fellow. Living on his farm near a small village. He got married, had a child, and was generaly content. He also like to read, mostly history books. I'm not sure yet about the world (only that it will be similar to conan's Iberia) but I will have part of the village, and certainly his farm razed by a passing army (wife raped and later died, kid trampled) he defended as much as he could but was nocked out and left for dead.
Since then, he has been travelling. using the apparenlty not-dangerous staff with great mastery. Looking for the revenge? to help others? to not let kids and women come to harm.

So not a Ranger (but i will take a dog as a companion, regular, not like druid or ranger... unless the DM lets me).
A Fighter yes. Simple weapons, light armor, FoB (quartefstaff alone, and no need for TWF i guess). Got that.
but I think that restricting him so, he deserves some other bonuses, hence the AC bonus when wielding the staff only (can be toned down a bit), the 'avrage' Ref save (since he is all about mobility too, took that one from Wheel of Time: armsman).
Maybe d8 insted of d10.... will see. my DM will look at it today.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The formerly stated idea of the Ranger is an excellent idea and was very well promoted. You could also reference the Tempest prestige class presented in the 3.0 splatbook Masters of the Wild. Although by those rules, he cannot use his abilities with a double weapon, I have always

I believe that restriction was lifted in 3.5Ed. At least, I couldn't fight it in my PHB under the Ranger class description, double weapon description, TWF feat, or the combat section in a quick skim.

 

[arnon]

Ok,
sat with the DM and we changed some stuff.
Look over it again, its edited.
Not that it will change much, but we agreed that there may be some special feats or other "specials" (like the improved staff) that I willg et instead of feats.... we'll see.
thanks all,

arnon