Weapon Master

[daTim]

Hi all, I am playing a high level fighter for the first time in 3e D&D, and figured I'd go for a weapon master, since it seems to represent the old grand master styles of 2e. We are going to start at 13th lvl, here is what I have so far. I wanted to know if he is poorly designed, or I am missing something obvious that may get me killed. The game is very hack n'slash so I'm not too worried about skills at the moment.

Mannie Inglstone Fighter 6/Weapon Master 7
Medium-Size Human (5'1" tall, 165 lbs, Brown hair/eyes, tan skin)
Hit Dice: 13d10+52 (128 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (+2 Dwarven Fullplate)
AC: 25 (+10 Dwarven Full Plate, +3 large animated steel shield, +2 Dex)
Attacks: +22/+17/+12 +3 Impacting Maul
Damage: 1d10+11 16-20 x4
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Ki Damage 7/day, Ki Critical 3/day
Special Qualities: Dwarven Traits (from belt)
Saves: Fort +10(12), Ref +9(11), Will +6(8)
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 14, Con 16(18), Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Intimidate +4, Listen +12, Spot +12, Tumble +9, Wilderness Lore +6
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Spring Attack, Expertise, Whirlwind Attack, Weapon Focus/Specialization/Improved Critical/Power Critical: Maul
Possessions: +2 Spiked Dwarven Full Plate, +3 Impacting Maul, +1 Animated Large Steel Spiked Shield, Belt of Dwarven Kind, Boots of Speed

Edit : Reconfigured Equipment somewhat, keep the suggestions coming! The mithral fullplate was great. The animated shield worked out to the most effecient spending of money. I dropped the cload of rez cause it wouldnt stack with the belt of dwarven kind. Boots of speed grant the oh so needed haste (we use 3.0 rules)

Edit: Our House rules for Maul is 1d10 x4 damage. Comes out to almost the same as scythe. Thanks everyoen for the great help in making this character im very happy with.

 

[Hackenslash]

Fightery Stuff !!!

Hello,

You are right the AC is poor for that level and expect your DM to take full advantage of the fact...hahahaha !!! The encounters you are likely to face will be challenging enough without the burden of a poor AC. I have played a few 3rd edition fighters and multiclasses with fighters in them. I have found that it is definitely better to not get hit in the first place than to do an extra bit of damage in a round. So I would advise as follows;

Firstly, try and get better armor, it may effect your MR but you are the fighter so you will be in the thick of it. I would go for magic full plate if you can get it and sacrifice the extra point of dex bonus for more protection. Also if your DM will allow it get Dwarven Full Plate(with a magic bonus too if affordable) and that will solve your dex bonus too, as it allows up to a +3 dex modifier and weighs considerably lighter.

Secondly, I would advise getting rid of the Belt of Strength +4 as all that is giving you is a +2 damage bonus and +2 to hit which considering your level is not that great a deal. Try and get an Amulet of Natural armor as that will stack with the normal armor bonus and also get a ring of protection as that will also stack due to it being a Deflection bonus.

Thirdly, Do you really need a necklace of Fireballs ? My advice would be to leave that to the spellcasters and try and go for more Armor Bonuses instead or upgarde your cloak of resistence to a +3 or +4 if you can afford it. the +4 Bracers of Con are a good idea as Hit points always help, but it's the age old decision, do you have loads of hit points and take the hits or do you have an amazing AC and not get hit at all. A way around this may be with a feat swap.

Fourthly, regarding feats...you have got Power Critical and really it does not do that much for the character at your sort of levels. You already have a keen weapon and Improved Critical, why waste a feat on something that will only give a slight edge. How about tring Fast Healing out of the Masters of the Wild Handbook, which Fighters are allowed access too. As long as you DM allows it. The Fast healing Feat is Brilliant compared to other feats you can have for Hit Points, as it allows you a greatly accererated Healing Rate per day.

Finally, you may have to drop your +3 Keen Sythe to only a +2 Keen Sythe, but I think it would be worth it to afford more Armor Bonuses. Also, Consider adding armor spikes as that will help you against grappling opponents. Remember that the DM will know that you will have to get in close to start dishing out damage and will put a few nastys in your way, so it is better to anticipate this and expect the worse and try and protect yourself as much as you can, with the money that you have. Hope this helps, sorry for any mistakes in grammer or spelling but I am in work and had to rush this in my lunch hour. Happy Hacking and watch those spell saves...Byeeee!!

 

[Darklone]

Uhm... Power Critical: Won't drop it. It rocks for scythes and it's prolly the only reason why you took that weapon...

I'd consider to mix in 3 levels or rogue or 2 barbarian levels instead of pure fighter...

I suppose you took the breastplate to be able to use Spring Attack. (no heavy armours). What about a mithril full plate +1 (should be cheaper and still medium armour)? With some enhancements...

Scythe: A keen +2 scythe with some extra d6 damage energy thingy?

As for AC: At all costs at least +1 amulet of natural armour and +1 ring of deflection. Cheap and 2 points more AC. Hmm. Skip the ring and think about an item that casts protection from evil 3 times per day. Gives +2 deflection against most enemies and makes you immune against summoned monsters.

A +2 dex item perhaps (if you go with breastplate)?

Edit: Sorry: Why Fast healing? It's one of the weakest feats IMHO if you have your average cleric in a group or any other kind of healer... I'd rather go for Iron Will or Luck of the Heroes.

 

[Datt]

Yes definetly keep Power Critical. Even with Keen and IC you Crit on an 16-20. Even though you might hit on a 13. It is a great feat for when you know just one more really good hit will take the BBEG down. And with x4 with the Scythe that will be really nice. I like all your feats but here is how I would do your equipment:

+2, Keen Scythe 18,318
Belt of Con +4 16,000
Cloak of Res 3 9,000
Am Nautral Arm +3 18,000
R of Protection +2 8,000
+2 Dwrvn Plate 14,500
That leaves you about 4,000 to play around with. This also raises your AC to 27! You attacks look like this:
+21/+16/+11 2d4+10 16-20x4



edit: that'll teach me not to check the book!

 

[Darklone]

Minor edit: Scythe damage: 2d4, /*4..., not d10.

No books here, does the Weapon Master has an Improved Improved critical...? Otherwise the crit range should be 18-20... but well, no idea.

I wouldn't drop the +4 strenght item. Rather downgrade the +3 nat armour amulet and get e.g. a nice little ring of jumping for real nice mobility.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

I have the same question regarding your crit range, how do you get 16-20?

While i'm at it, what does Power Critical do? bigger crit range? auto-confirm?

 

[Chun-tzu]

No books here, does the Weapon Master has an Improved Improved critical...? Otherwise the crit range should be 18-20... but well, no idea.

At 7th level, the Weapon Master gets Ki Critical, which means an extra +2 on the weapon's threat range.

Originally posted by Maitre Du Donjon
While i'm at it, what does Power Critical do? bigger crit range? auto-confirm?

Once per day, you can declare a single melee attack (with the weapon of choice) to be an automatic threat, but you still have to roll to hit, and still have to confirm the critical.

 

[Darklone]

At 7th level, the Weapon Master gets Ki Critical, which means an extra +2 on the weapon's threat range.

Ok, that's a good reason against multiclassing with rogue,....

Once per day, you can declare a single melee attack (with the weapon of choice) to be an automatic threat, but you still have to roll to hit, and still have to confirm the critical.

Charge, Rhino Hide, Smite Evil, Power Attack plus True Strike... Spirited Charge... *sigh*

 

[jeffhartsell]

Lower the weapon enchantment and get an animated +1 large steel shield. That will add another +3 to your AC. That only costs 9k GP.

 

[jeffhartsell]

You can save 18K gp by going with a +2 keen weapon and get a +2 ring of deflection and a +2 amulet of natural armor for 16K. That +4 AC is much better than +1 to-hit and +1 damage.