Suggestion for nonstandard party

[Thurbane]

Hi all,

I want to run Iggwilv’s Legacy: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth for my group as a one shot, with pregen PCs.

Since our group has basically been core only, I was thinking of creating a group of 4 pregen PCs with non-core base classes for something new.

For the sake of simplicity, I won't be multiclassing or using PrCs, so I'm looking for a viable group of 4 PCs, 11th level (single class), and from the PHB races - from the following sources:

PHBII (Beguiler, Dragon Shaman, Duskblade, Knight)
Miniatures Handbook (Favored Soul, Healer, Marshal, Warmage)
Dungeonscape (Factotum)
Heroes of Horror (Archivist, Dread Necromancer)
Complete Arcane (Warlock, Warmage, Wu Jen)
Complete Adventurer (Ninja, Scout, Spellthief)

...bear in mind that this group is primarily core only, so classes with too many options may be difficult.

My first thought is:

- Knight 11
- Favored Soul 11
- Warmage 11
- Marshal 11

...but that leaves it light on for a rogue/stealth type.

Any suggestions welcomed.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Based on what I've personally played and/or witnessed...

Warmage and Duskblade are opposite sides of the same coin- armored arcane spellcasters. The former is the better blaster, the latter the better warrior.

The Knight is a fine combatant if he can get opponents to close with him. I've noticed that intelligent foes have a tendency to avoid them or fight them at range.

Ninja & Scout can make decent Rogue subs, as can the Beguiler or Spellthief in the right campaign. Of those, I think the Ninja is really the closest & most flexible.

Favored Soul is kind of like a warlike cleric/paladin, the Healer is what it is. Both make decent subs for the cleric, but I think you'll need more healing power in a small party than the Favored Soul can muster.

Wu Jen are nearly identical to Wizards in actual play.

I'd be tempted to build the 4some thus:

Warmage
Duskblade
Healer
Ninja

Your Warmage should provide blasting with a modicum of fighting support- he should probably be equipped with a weapon that either does a lot of damage or has reach. Consider the spear...or if you find the PC has a feat to burn, GreatSpear.

The Duskblade is your frontline fighter who uses his spellpower to take down those who want to stay away.

The Ninja uses his assassin abilities and his ranged weapons for fire support.

The Healer keeps them on their feet, likewise using something like a spear.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Thurbane, drop me an email. I have a class writeup you may wish to take a look at.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Knight
Favoured Soul
Wu Jen
Spellthief

 

[Wik]

Hm.

Knight (It's the only real front-line fighter option you've presented)
Spellthief (it's fun, but make sure there's a chance to steal spells!)
Dragon Shaman (a good cleric alternate)
War Mage (because blasting stuff is fun!)

I'd make sure you throw in some wands of cure light, though, and make sure the spellthief has ranks in UMD. But, really, I think it'd be a fun group for a one-shot. The knight takes a bunch of hits, the spellthief finds himself trying to adapt to every new combat situation (I should mention that the spellthief is my favourite class), the Dragon Shaman has the choice of "Which Aura do I keep going?" while blasting minor enemies with his breath weapon, and the War Mage gets to play "Nuke" with a little bit more craziness than a typical wizard would be comfortable with.

 

[Robert Ranting]

I will assume that in order to give the PCs something very familiar to work with you will want to use new classes, but somewhat iconic roles for the characters.

Here is my suggestion:

Human Knight - A charismatic champion of righteousness.
Dwarf Duskblade- A stalwart secondary fighter with a big enruned axe or hammer.
Elven Archivist- A learned and urbane scholar, capable of casting a wide array of spells.
Halfling Scout- A quick and agile sneak and disabler of traps (check the errata!)

Except for the fact that the dwarf is the one casting arcane magic, this is a pretty standard party configuration, but with all non-PHB classes. If you think your players will find the dwarven practitioner of an elven fighter/mage tradition difficult to swallow, you may want to re-flavor the duskblade as a "runeblade" to get a more "Dwarven" feel. Say that his known spells are runes inscribed into his ancestral weapon or tatooed on his body that he can activate with his own personal enegy and knowledge, or some such. One way or another, a Duskblade is first and foremost a fighting character and a mage second. Dwarves, IMHO, are the best race for the melee role, and nothing about PHB Elves or the Duskblade class synergizes except the cliche flavor of the Elf fighter/magic user (again, IMHO).

Robert "Different, but Not Dramatically So" Ranting

 

[Wik]

Oh, and some comments about the other classes on the list, from what I've seen:

Beguilers - everyone seems to love 'em, but I find that they fall apart in any game that expects to see a bit of combat. Any Dungeon adventure I've run really hurts beguilers. In our Eberron games, which have a large degree of social interaction, by the way, the Changeling Beguiler still doesn't get a huge chance to shine. Most of the time in a fight, he uses spells that slow or incapacitate enemies, and the player hates it.

Healers - A fun class, and one that I think people overlook. The Unicorn companion probably has something to do with that (one of the dumbest class abilities in 3.5E). But the large range of healing abilities makes the class a good instant healer. The big problem, of course, is that you spend most of your actions keeping your companions alive, which can be lame. Someone once said the Healer is a great "girlfriend" class - you let the GF play it, because she is really there to be with you, and isn't 100% invested in the game. It's a great class for people that aren't hardcore D&D players, but still want to contribute meaningfully to the game.

Wu Jen pretty much play exactly like wizards, though their spell lists are slightly different. The Taboo ability, if given a little bit of thought, can be REALLY fun. My Wu Jen wasn't able to leave a building the same way he entered it, unless he was drunk or sleeping. That made a lot of fun in-game complications. He also couldn't sleep during a storm - not something we saw in play, but still kind of fun. Also, they get some powers that are MUCH better than silly familiars.

Ninjas, with their Ki abilities, are actually pretty fun. Our Ninja loves using his Ghost Step power, whenever he gets the chance. Personally, though, I'd drop all Japanese references, give them a better weapons list, and rename them assassins. It's much cooler that way.

Scouts take up too much time in play. Every round, they're making Tumble Checks, trying to move perfectly on the battlefield, and then making a single ranged attack that, if it hits, will deal far too much damage. Not a fan.

 

[Stormborn]

Duskblade
Warmage
Dragon Shaman
Ninja

and send along an NPC Healer to cover that need. It will be needed but the other classes will be more fun for the players as pregens.

Are you thinking nonstandard races as well?

 

[Thurbane]

Thanks all for the feedback, loving it so far.

Frukathka, expect an email shortly.

Duskblade
Warmage
Dragon Shaman
Ninja

and send along an NPC Healer to cover that need. It will be needed but the other classes will be more fun for the players as pregens.

Are you thinking nonstandard races as well?

I guess I could give the Dragon Shaman the Leadership feat and give him a 9th level healer cohort.

For races, I'll be sticking with the PHB standards.

 

[Thurbane]

*Note: I'll also be limiting each character to core only + 1 other book for gear, feats, spells etc. For instance, the Duskblade could take feats from PHB & PHBII, but not from MH or CAr.