What to be or not to be?

[Nightfall]

Change into a god. That's pretty "old school."

 

[Storyteller01]

Actually, it's standard races, standard classes.....which is the way I like it being an old-school type and all.

Dragon mag 319. Dragons as 20 level classes. Have some fun dude!!

 

[diaglo]

Some do this for min/max purposes,...

fiddle is min/max as best i could with a 25pt buy.




don't worry about classes we will haze whatever character you bring to the table. just ask Fextor (howandwhy99). ( JoeBlank ) Sully Charmed him for the first 11 days we knew him.

 

[Particle_Man]

You might consider Monk. You get some skills, some spell-like abilities, some bonus feats (from a VERY limited pool), and then you can both exist, if not excell, in combat, and do some "sneaky scout stuff" out of combat. Plus, I think that 13th is the magic number for spell resistance, or was that poison immunity?

 

[diaglo]

Here's my situation: Looks like I might be joining a 3.5 campaign mid-stride. The other PC's are around 13th level which is where I'll enter the game. I have a lot of gaming experience but haven't played much 3.5 at all. I'm a relative noob compared to the other players. I recognize that in playing a 13th level character there is a fair amount of complexity insofar as the rules go.

Apart from advising me to play what I want, which character class/race do you feel would be "easiest" to play at 13th level without getting too bogged down by the rules?

the character with the least amount of change as compared to previous editions IMO is Wizard (the newer editions)... aka ... Mage (2edADnD)... aka ... Magic-user (OD&D, 1edADnD, 2edD&D, and 3edD&D).

the big change for that class includes spell selection and how they work. but otherwise the class is very much unchanged.


Fighter (newer editions, 2edADnD, and 1edADnD)... aka Fighting Man (OD&D, 2edD&D, and 3edD&D) has changed. to build an effective fighter requires learning skills and feats. and tweaking your stats and race to make it work.

Same with Rogue... aka Thief. skills become important. and class abilities have become skills.

the class with the biggest change over the editions is Cleric(most editions).... aka Priest (2edADnD). each edition changed the class in some form or fashion. alignment, domains, turning ability, weapons, etc...

other classes with moderate to heavy change would include from heaviest to lightest change: Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Barbarian, and Druid.

Assassin is not even a class anymore as it once was. nor is Illusionist.


and then you have the new classes. Bard (no longer a PrC since 2edADnD) and Sorceror.

 

[S'mon]

Good input so far.....but I'm not going to reveal my choice publicly until I speak to the DM. I think Olgar is right, the dumb barbarian schtick (or human fighter for that matter) might get old real quick. This isn't a one-off so I've gotta think beyond the initial learning curve.

Personally I love playing human Fighters; I can personalise them with personality! Plus the Feats system actually makes the class extremely flexible (unlike Barbarians); you have enough Feats with the bonus ones (7 at 12th level) to cover the basics and then be a good (one or two of) mounted fighter, archer, mobility fighter etc too. And maneuver feats like Improved Trip are powerful and fun to use.

 

[Particle_Man]

I won't claim that this is optimized, but if you want a fighter that is good at keeping watch, and also slightly resistant to rogue sneak attacks, you could try this:

Human Fighter, prioritize str, con, dex, wis, int, chr. You need a strength of 13 or higher to make this work.
Skills: Spot, Listen, (and if Int is Average or better...) Sense Motive (these will all be cross-class, which means they will be low, but still better than nothing).

Feats:

1st: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword
2nd: Weapon Focus (Bastard Sword)
3rd: Skill Focus (spot)
4th: Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword)
6th: Skill Focus (Listen), Iron Will
8th: Greater Weapon Focus (Bastard Sword)
9th: Lightning Reflexes
10th: Improved Critical (Bastard Sword)
12th: Great Fortitude, Greater Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword)

All of those feats just are "number adders" that you can add at character creation and then not worry about. For equipment, get the best Bastard Sword you can, the best armor you can (Mithral Full Plate is ok if your dex is high, otherwise Magical Full Plate will do), the best shield you can, and perhaps a cloak of resistance (helps saving throws) and a belt of giant strength (improves strength).

Good luck!