I'm currently playing in an Earthdawn game, but we're using the
Pathfinder system, which mainly adds a couple of feat options and the relatively tastey fighter abilities like better max Dex bonus, etc. To represent the Adept abilities (in Earthdawn PCs are "special") which set apart Adepts from mundane creatures, the DM has added an option similar to the major
bloodlines presented in
Unearthed Arcana, but with very little restrictions. Basically, he wants us to feel very epic, so at each level we get an extra ability roughly on par with a free feat or class ability. For instance, our rogue took the poison use ability so he could use poisons without having to take a level of assassin.
We're also using a version of
damage conversion from
Unearthed Arcana. Basically, your armor's AC = damage shift from lethal to nonlethal damage. Also, light shields are +2 AC and heavy shields are +4 AC.
I'm playing a fighter. In part because I wanted the challenge of being a piece of crap (made less so by the house rules), and in part because the Adept abilities allow me the opportunity to explore the concept of a tanking character in D&D. I'm trying to play a character that is hard to hurt and yet gives enemies a reason to attack him instead of anyone else. Of course, in D&D if you want to be hard to hurt, it gives enemies reasons to attack everyone else before they attack you, so this has not been easy and I would really like some input.
So far this is the character at level 9:
[spoiler]Str 16
Dex 16 (+2 from item)
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 11
Cha 10
Feats[spoiler]
Combat Reflexes (attacks of opportunity are very important to this character)
Shield Focus (greater shield focus is planned, bringing the shield bonus to AC up to +10 while using the character's +4 heavy shield)
Stand StillShield Slam (this has proven to be at times quite useful, but it really bogs down combat - this feat drastically benefits from Improved Bull Rush)
DisruptiveImproved Shield BashShield Ward (we're using this as applying to all combat maneuvers, even the extra ones listed in the APG which were not specifically listed in the original feat)
Two-Weapon Fighting (this was taken primarily for the
Shield Master feat due in at level 11, which won't help much for the primary weapon, a scorpion whip, but will help with shield attacks)
Combat Expertise (taken primarily as a prerequisite for Imp Bull Rush and Trip, but one of the adept abilities below makes the feat actually useful otherwise)
Exotic Weapon Prof. (whip) - for
scorpion whip (I wouldn't take this at all but I learned that non-prof penalties
do apply to combat maneuver checks)[/spoiler]
Adept abilities (most of these were either pulled from another non-listed source, or written by me with DM approval)
[spoiler]
Taunt:Success: If you are successful, the target changes tactics and begins attacking you. This lasts at least one round, but may last longer depending on your result (see
demoralize).
Fail: The opponent decides targets to attack as normal.
Special: Attempting to taunt an opponent multiple times incurs no penalties.
Conditions:Commander: You are able to use the Aid Another action as a swift action, and you gain a +2 bonus to all Aid Another rolls.
Uncanny Dodge: You cannot be caught flat-footed, even if the attacker is invisible. You still lose your Dex bonus to AC if immobilized or from a feint action.
Bulwark of Defense: an opponent that begins its turn in your threatened area treats all the squares that you threaten as difficult terrain.
Shield Ally: As an immediate action you can opt to absorb part of the damage dealt to an adjacent ally for one round. After you designate your target for this ability, each time this target takes lethal damage from a physical attack, you can choose to take half this damage on yourself. The target takes the other half as normal. You may only absorb damage from an attack which is subject to damage reduction (e.g. bonus damage from critical hit or other sources and damage from spells cannot be absorbed). Treat the lethal damage you absorb as a successful attack against you, applying your damage reduction as normal.
Improved Taunt: You may make a Taunt attempt as an immediate action. This does not prevent you from making a Taunt attempt as a move action. You gain a +4 bonus to Intimidate for making Taunt attempts.
Shield Block Maneuver (Ex):Blade Thicket (Ex): Any opponent you threaten that takes any sort of movement, including a 5-foot step, provokes an attack of opportunity from you. Your foes provoke this attack before leaving the area you threaten. Your opponents also cannot use the withdraw action (Prpg 188) to treat the square they start in as no longer threatened by you.
Shield of Dawn (Ex): Allies that are adjacent to you receive a +2 shield bonus to their AC. You may choose at the end of your turn to lower your shield bonus, improving the shield bonus granted to adjacent allies by an equal amount. The penalty you take to your shield bonus may not exceed one third of your base attack bonus, and this lasts until the beginning of your next turn. In addition, when using the Combat Expertise feat you may choose to grant the entire dodge bonus to your adjacent allies. When you do this, you do not gain the dodge bonus normally granted by Combat Expertise.[/spoiler][/spoiler]
SummaryMy character uses a scorpion whip for the reach and a +4 heavy shield (total shield bonus is +9 (4 enhancement, 1 from feat, 4 base AC)) with +1 full plate armor (AC is +9 armor, +3 Dex bonus thanks to being a fighter, +1 enhancement). So right now I'm looking at a standing AC of 32 as a level 9 fighter.
My intent is for the end product to be a character that effectively gives a reason for enemies to attack me instead of my allies, who are not defenseless but who are far better at damaging baddies than I am. Using mostly shield bashes and the scorpion whip for combat maneuvers, I don't kill things fast at all but so far the DM complains every time his baddies attack me.
Magic is certainly my downfall. I have little ability to handle spells cast against me.
Dominate basically means we loose. But I'm still mainly concerned with the ability for the character to perform as a tank.
Deciding what action to perform is tricky, as I have good options for my single Swift action (Taunt, aid another, shield ally). Usually taking a full attack action isn't as good as a move action and an attack, especially if I think I can make up for the lost attack(s) with AoO's. Even so, until I got Improved Taunt, the Taunt ability (which was a move action) was failtastic. If the enemy was low enough to get taunted, it wasn't worth the effort. If it was worth taunting the enemy, the DC was high enough that my chance of success was in the lowest quartile. That said, the barbarian in the party has about double the hit points of the rogue, and my character has about 15 more than him, so if Taunt succeeds it's almost always a benefit to everyone involved. The shield block maneuver is also of limited use, as my chance of actually blocking an attack that successfully gets past my AC is laughable (as was part of the design). However, because of lucky rolls it's so far worked about a third of the times I've attempted it, and been worth the action each time because it's about on par with a free cure moderate wounds when it works (25 damage - 14 from a block = 9 damage shifted by the armor to nonlethal).
I'm accepting some limitations with this character. For one, I'm not going to be using UMD ever because not casting spells makes me unique in the party. Also, while my Dex is high and I have a strength bow, that's the extent of my ranged focus and I'm fine with that. My damage output is also low, on account of rolling d4's with both weapons, but this is also in part because the party is made up of other characters very capable of dealing damage - my goal is to present bad guys for my allies to kill and not be the best source of damage I can be.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
