Author Topic: Little Red Raiding Hood: My Tale of & Guide to the 3.5 Dragoon (linked handbook)  (Read 28255 times)

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Endarire

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As of this post, Little Red Raiding Hood 2.4 is up on WotC's site and uglier than it should be.

Notify me if I missed any significant parts.

I uploaded an old version of the guide (early 2.3) for people annoyed with WotC's gutting of its old format.

For those who also want the complete 2.3 source code, here you go!
« Last Edit: March 17, 2010, 07:36:01 PM by Endarire »
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Prime32

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You still didn't fix the water orc section.
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

Endarire

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Fixed.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Endarire

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1.7 is up for DMs who hate Unearthed Arcana and Tome of Battle.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Endarire

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1.9 is up.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

PhaedrusXY

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1.7 is up for DMs who hate Unearthed Arcana and Tome of Battle.
And who hate Jesus. And voted for Hubert Humphrey.
[spoiler]
A couple of water benders, a dike, a flaming arrow, and a few barrels of blasting jelly?

Sounds like the makings of a gay porn film.
...thanks
[/spoiler]

Endarire

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I combed through each part of each post and revised stuff beneath my standards.  Now the guide's a bit more professional.  Enjoy version 2.1!
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Endarire

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After many hours of combing through the guide line by line, version 2.3 is done!  For those of you who have playtested a Hood, I seek your aid with the Hooded Pupils section.

WHAT REMAINS:
-Finish Hooded Pupils.
-Add core-only, gnome, and ruby knight vindicator builds.

MAYBE:
-Retweak item and feat ratings.
-Do a little dance.
-Make a little love.
-Get down tonight.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Aldgar

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I prefer Roof Jumper to Battle Jump. Sure, you need to fall at least 20 ft instead of 10 ft, but you gain bonus damage!

A simple build that isn't even remotely optimized:

Human Warblade 1/Wizard5/Swiftblade9/Abjurant Champion 5

-> BAB +17, Casts as 16th level wizard.

Key feats: Roof Jumper, Power Attack.

Required feats:
Dodge, Mobility, Roof Walker, Combat Casting.

Typical Mode of Attack:
1.)Use either the Reserve Feat Dimensional Jaunt, Benign Transposition or some other Teleportation spell without the "no actions after this" clause of Dimension Door to Teleport X Feet above your target.
X has to be at least 20ft.

2.) Fall down, gain bonus damage from Roof Jumper. Make a Jump check to reduce falling damage.
Hit the opponent with a charge.

3.) Use Sudden Leap to Jump Immediately after the first attack is resolved. Hopefully, you can pull of a 20ft jump straight up. If you can't, use a quickened teleportation spell again.

4.) Use your second standard action to cast a teleportation spell, as above.

Negative Zero

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Source for Roof Jumper?


Negative Zero

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Source for Roof Jumper?

I'm almost sure it's Cityscape...

Ah, it's hyphenated. That's why my sources failed. Ah, well. Thanks.

woodenbandman

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My tale of a dragoon:

Build: Kalashtar, Stalwart, Battle Sorceror 4. Go all the way with Battle Sorceror. Stop off in Abjurant Champion and Barbarian (for pounce), but otherwise all you do is lose caster levels and HP. Nets BAB 16 in the end. Full final build: Stalwart Battle Sorceror 14/Abjurant Champion 5/Barbarian1

With Stalwart Battle Sorceror and average hitpoints, you get the same effective hit die as a barbarian, with a whopping 6.5 hitpoints every level +con. Take the Quick trait, for +10ft speed and +4 to jump. Take 2 flaws, of any kind. Feats at first level should look like: Battle Jump, Power Attack, Up The Walls. If flaws aren't allowed, well good luck, but you could always dip fighter and still get Battle Jump/Up The Walls at level one and start maiming straight away. This is also a good idea if your DM enforces class skills and such (I don't), because it allows you to hit Leap of the Heavens at level 3.

Stat spread should look like, given the elite array: 14 12 13 10 8 15. Boost Charisma every level. You need the 10 int  so that you can purchase max ranks in jump (cross classed), while having enough to purchase ranks in tumble to get the synergy (every bit helps, and tumble is awesome anyway). Eventually you'll be moving so god damn fast your actual ranks in jump are trivial, but every little bit helps at early levels.

Your first spells are Expeditious Retreat and Jump. These together will, for one to 3 battles per day, give you a jump modifier high enough to jump 8 feet on a regular basis. Straight Up.  Enjoy these, because you don't learn any new ones until level 5.

You really don't care, though, because you qualify for UP THE WALLS. Kalashtar get power points! YAY. NO DIPPING PSYWAR NEEDED. Though you could still if you wanted.

Eventually you'll get all the way to level 20 and you will have cool stuff like Wraithstrike and Shapechange. Also note that the Wrath (IIRC) domain has Rhino Rush at level 1, so if you like the idea of doing more damage than already done, hit up Arcane Disciple.

Some basic attack math: Assume level 4, power attack 1, battle jump: 1d8+5 x2. Not bad at all. Level 6 gets leap attack, and possibly pounce. Level 6, power attack 3: 1d8+12, x2, 2 attacks. You could obviously start stacking in stuff now, like a valorous weapon or Arcane Disciple'd Rhino Rush.

In other news: Travel Devotion is still a good idea, in which case a cleric dip is cool as hell. Other than that, though, no real need to go outside sorceror. Really, you could even go for Sacred Exorcist, in which case you'd need a higher INT.

EDIT: Whoops, forgot the jump math.

Level 4, Jump, Expeditious retreat. Total Jump bonus: 3.5 ranks + 2 Strength + 16 (land speed 70 feet) + 10 Jump = 31. Get a running start and you can already start battle jumping right there, about 50% of the time. At level 5 Jump's bonus increases by 10, making the rest of this a piece of cake. You really don't even need Up the Walls in this build at all, though it's still cool to run straight up a building at 80 MPH. You can do this like 4 times per day. Or you could ration them out if you have walls to run up, and go for 8 (don't forget at level 4 you get 3 2nd level spells per day and 0 spells known).


Endarire

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woodenbadman: Battle Jump demands it be taken at level 1.

Given your build, I'd probably go Barbarian1 (Pounce & Whirling Frenzy)/Stalwart Battle Sorcerer6/Abjurant Champion5/Stalwart+8.  You could take 3 Ruathar levels along the way for more skill points and a higher Reflex save.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Endarire

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Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

KellKheraptis

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Endarire, here's my take on The Trancer :

[spoiler]Dragonborn Fire Elf
Lion Toten Barbarian 1/Cloistered Cleric 1/Elven Generalist Wizard 4/Ruathar 3/Abjurant Champion 5/Spellsword 1/Eldritch Knight 5

    1)Pounce, Whirling Frenzy, Battle Jump, Otherworldly (Vulnerable)
    2)Knowledge Devotion, Travel Devotion, Time Domain, Turn Undead
    3)Generalist, Familiar (Hummingbird), Power Attack, Practiced Spellcaster (Wizard)
    4)---
    5)Natural Bond (+8 Initiative)
    6)Leap of the Heavens
    7)Gift of the Elves, Word of Friendship
    8)Elfwise, Improved Low-light Vision
    9)Arvandor's Grace, Combat Casting
    10)Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
    11)Swift Abjuration (3rd or Lower)
    12)Arcane Strike
    13)Arcane Boost
    14)Martial Arcanist
    15)Ignore Spell Failure 10%
    16)Shock Trooper
    17)---
    18)Quicken Spell
    19)---
    20)---

    BAB 16 (17 with AC capstone, 20 with Divine Power)
    CL 17 (20 with Divine Power)
    Fully equipped for rocket tag.
[/spoiler]

EDIT : And really, we can even get away with not using Time Domain if we can weedle 3 more feats in, for Alternate Source Spell, Persistent Spell, and DMM : Persist.  Time Domain would be traded for Planning of course, and then Mr. Stabbity-Gish could prebuff with DMM and use Mirror Move to snag all those General/Fighter feats he needs to impale.

Why I Like It:
This guy is packing a little more magical capability, and further is capable of 9th level maneuvers if he wants.  Yeah, you read that right.  While keeping the jump bonus, as they are a function of having wings.  Draconic Polymorph into a Valkyrie (or Valkyr, if the Norse is to be believed and you don't wanna play a hyperpowered Norse warrior chick).  That will give you IL 20 (10 base plus 10 effective swordsage from Valkyrie), 15 maneuvers, 8 readied, and 4 stances.  Each time you cast.  Now for the killer part : Str 33  Dex 22  Con 24, +7 Natural Armor, Move 40 ft (Fly 60 ft, PERFECT!), 2 natural slams, 10 ft natural reach (so 15 ft with our usual choice of weaponry), and Immunity to Cold, Electricity, Fear, and Sonic.  Huzzah!

But wait!  We can do even better...remember my love affair with mirror move?  Well, we're for the most part Int SAD (13 Str, 12 Wis, and Con wouldn't hurt, but other than that, we're a one stat pony), which means we're going to have a TON of Int, just like a regular full caster.  Now, lets add this up.  Assuming 13 AC from GrLumArmor, 9 from shield, and an extra 13 (6 Dex, 7 Nat) from polymorphing (-1 from size, and 1 from flaw), just from that, we're looking at AC 43.  That's without even trying.  Wanna make it 63?  Go defensive for a round and charge up Combat Rhythm that we picked up with mirror move.  Feel like being a dick?  Improved Trip+Knockdown+Large and In Charge :D  Oh, while arcane striking, just because we can.  And then, once they're all on their ass, Greater Celerity to use a full round action to impale 4-5 of them with rapid blitz, in dragoon fashion in all it's glory!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2009, 12:50:45 AM by KellKheraptis »
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KellKheraptis

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Endarire, if you'd like I can give this guide the War Weaver makeover like I did Doc Rock's.  I'd probably have to start a new thread for it, but it would be all prettified for BG viewing.  Just let me know if you'd be cool with it and which version you'd like to have up.
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Aldgar

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Minor note:

Instead of jumping 10ft above an opponent(which likely forces a high DC jump check) be an azurin, take the feat "Shape Soulmeld" for Airstep Sandals(you get Fly speed 20'(good) by investing your 1 point of racial essentia in it), fly diagonally up, above your opponent, then make a jump check for, say, 1ft upwards as part of the movement, and you're golden.


Reduces the need for jump check optimization, and should work well at lower levels.

Endarire

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I fixed the 2.3 download link and added a 'lite' version without the source code.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Surreal

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Something random for you jump happy types out there (and maybe multipouncers too):
Monster Manual 2 - Spellgaunt - Quick Leap (Ex) - A spellgaunt can make a standing jump as a free action

I leave it up to your own fiendish devices on how to obtain this ability.
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