What would you play in this group?

I'd play an Eldritch Knight (or Knight Phantom (if that is the name, AFMBSIDK), if in the FR):

Elf Fighter 1/Wizard 6/EK X

I'd go the Archery route, saving spells for utility magic.

Assuming 10th level
32 Point Buy:
Str: 12 (4)
Dex: 18 (10) (drop level gains here)
Con: 12 (6)
Int: 16 (10)
Wis: 8(0)
Cha: 10 (2)
(or Similar)


Feats:
Scribe Scroll (Free)
Point Blank Shot (1st)
Weapon Focus, Composite Longbow (Ftr)
Finesse (EK)
Precise Shot (3rd)
Rapid Shot (6th)
Many Shot (9th)

Magic Items:
Pick a bow with lots of energy damage.
Go for Dex enhancers.
Bracers of Archery.
A headband of intellect to gain access to higher level spells.
 

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green slime said:
I'd play an Eldritch Knight (or Knight Phantom (if that is the name, AFMBSIDK), if in the FR):


Knight Phantom is Eberron, but also a good thought. I actually really like the idea of a gish charger, but the trick is finding a mount that will survive high level fights.
 

Looking back at your original post, I'd definitely go with psion. You can cover all the bases that you mentioned, and it won't tread on the toes of anybody already in the party.
 

blargney the second said:
Looking back at your original post, I'd definitely go with psion. You can cover all the bases that you mentioned, and it won't tread on the toes of anybody already in the party.

I actually fully statted up a Thrallherd... but I wasn't sure if I wanted to play a squishy d4 class in both games... again an outside issue that I don't want to influence other people's thoughts on the matter. This woulda given my my own schtick, not step on other peoples toes, and give disposable minions to work as meat for the party.
 

You might go with a dwarven defender or an arcane archer, but they're not what I'd choose under the circumstances...... Your melee combatants might need the support though, I dunno. If you want to keep it simple or something, you could play a druid and focus on melee durability (maybe multiclass 1-2 levels as a cleric before the druid levels, in order to get some spells like Divine Favor and Shield of Faith); multiclassing the druid into barbarian for 1 or 2 levels instead could net you Rage and Fast Movement, though, along with a teeny bit more HP.

I'd really suggest that you play a human (or elven) wizard 3/cleric 3/mystic theurge 7, focus on MT advancement until complete, then continue wizard advancement, until W7/C3/MT10; you'll initially cast as a wiz10/clr10, and eventually cast as a wiz17/clr13, giving you access to a bit of 9th-level wizard magic and 7th-level cleric magic.

I'd suggest specializing your wizard class as a conjurer or invoker, possibly an abjurer instead. Give up the enchantment and illusion schools in that case, or perhaps enchantment and necromancy, or illusion and necromancy. Let the shadowbane stalker concern himself with information gathering and sneakiness, you'll handle other utility magic and a bit of combat magic. The stalker and the NPC cleric can handle the party's buffing spell concerns, too. I'd likely suggest your cleric class use the Luck and Protection domains, perhaps Sun or Travel instead. Of course, it all depends on patron deity.

You'll be the main utility and support caster, but also have access to very decent attack and defense spells, so you won't be completely overshadowed by the warmages on offense. Learn some good spells for personal defense, and probably keep one or two Summon Monster IV's prepped in case you need some short-range defense against melee attackers. But mostly focus on utility spells and a decent selection of attack spells. The occasional summoned critter can be conjured to support the paladin and others in melee, so make sure to summon the toughest critter you can, rather than worrying about offensively strong critters. Critters that can heal the paladin in a pinch, or draw attention away from him when he's being pummeled, would be best.

You'll be the group's main healer but not entirely stepping on the toes of the other clerics for that, and be able to raise folks (and eventually resurrect them instead), as well as use Restoration and such. I'd suggest taking the Reach Spell feat or whatever it's called, so you can metamagic-cast touch-range spells from a short distance with a ranged touch attack. Shouldn't be too hard to hit the paladin or warmages that way, while avoiding melee proximity yourself since you'll have weak HP. You'll be able to set up Walls of Stone or Walls of Ice to block yourself off from easy melee reach, while shaping them to give you line-of-sight to the frontline combatants (or you could just cast Levitate to get the much-needed LOS).
 


A druid (or Spirit Shaman) sounds good. That'll help you out with the high-level divine spells that you need, and nobody in the party is wilderness focused, so you're not stepping on anybody's toes. Rather than focusing on the "laying the smackdown" aspect of your wildshape and spellcasting, focus on battlefield control. I'm thinking using entangle (or it's high-level equivalent), a wolf companion who can trip foes, summoned animals with similar abilities centered on keeping your opponents out of the fight rather than direct damage ('cause the warmages and the pally probably have you covered their)

a psion of a non-blasting discipline might also be cool, or a specialist wizard with evokation as a forbidden school. That wouldn't really help out with the need for healing (though you might look into whether the ardent is an effective healer. I'm not really familiar with what they can do, but I doubt they'd step on the Shadowbane stalker's toes too much.)
 

Corsair said:
Now the party could really use utility magic, but do you want to be a mage who never gets a chance to shine at blasting because the warmages are always better?

That's probably what I'd go for, especially since I believe the blaster mage is the weakest type of mage. In 3e/3.5e, the best way to take down an enemy is by methods that bypass his hit points altogether, and of all the classes, a wizard has access to the best and most options in that regard.

Do you risk playing a character which steps on another players niche? Do you decide to play something without regard to what other people are playing?

I'm just trying to get a feel for how people pick what they play, and using my specific situation as an example.

Personally, I like other players to have their niches that I don't infringe on, and the same for myself, so I'd pick a PC type based on their choices. Since I can have fun with any of the core classes and a ton of different concepts, I usually wait till others have made their decisions and then decide accordingly.

I should also mention that this is not the same as trying to cover all the bases in a party. I think a group with an Achilles heel or two can be especially fun.
 

Mr. Draco said:
The mystic theurge idea is an excellent one. Other things I would consider are a druid or beguiler.

Looking at the list of existing characters, and your desire for access to better support spells, I thought of going Druid 3/Wizard 3/Arcane Heirophant 7 (from Races of the Wild). You get a class of spells not currently available to the party (druid spells), you get a very versatile support combatant (companion familiar), you get the ability to put yourself on the front lines when need be (wild shape as a 10th level druid), you get a character that's versed in the natural world (which the party is lacking)...and you get two lists of class spells, with access to spells up to 5th level in both classes (6th once you gain your next level).

It's a great class, if potentially broken. Since you're using the splatbooks (Shadowbane Stalker, Warmage), I figure you've got access to the Race books as well.
 


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