Author Topic: Character creation  (Read 48774 times)

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bearsarebrown

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #180 on: February 07, 2010, 03:19:25 PM »
Isn't that exotic? I'm also not really sure how that weird thing interacts with increases in size/reach. I've seen discussions on it, and it isn't clear. The same goes for the whip, of course.

Yeah it is. And you have a point about it being unclear.

@Venn
Consider Halfling Skiprocks as one of your exotic proficiencies! You get to attack two targets in one throw for the cost of -2 to attack! And you don't even need a feat!

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #181 on: February 07, 2010, 03:25:16 PM »
Isn't that exotic? I'm also not really sure how that weird thing interacts with increases in size/reach. I've seen discussions on it, and it isn't clear. The same goes for the whip, of course.

Yeah it is. And you have a point about it being unclear.

@Venn
Consider Halfling Skiprocks as one of your exotic proficiencies! You get to attack two targets in one throw for the cost of -2 to attack! And you don't even need a feat!
And the orcish shotput for the other? ;)

Does each of those attacks get precision damage?


Where the hell should I go with my character as he advances? I'm really kind of at a loss... I hardly ever build non-caster melee characters... I'm thinking doing the leapfrog thing with the ToB classes is one decent way to go, but is there something better? The ToB PrCs actually add +1 initiator level to every ToB base class you have at every level, don't they? So I'd probably be better off going into one of those. But which one?
« Last Edit: February 07, 2010, 03:29:24 PM by PhaedrusXY »
[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]

bearsarebrown

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #182 on: February 07, 2010, 03:34:48 PM »
And the orcish shotput for the other? ;)

Does each of those attacks get precision damage?


Where the hell should I go with my character as he advances? I'm really kind of at a loss... I hardly ever build non-caster melee characters... I'm thinking doing the leapfrog thing with the ToB classes is one decent way to go, but is there something better? The ToB PrCs actually add +1 initiator level to every ToB base class you have at every level, don't they? So I'd probably be better off going into one of those. But which one?

Yes! And yes! You make a separate attack roll for the second hit!

Melee to me is all about dips. And it's ridiculously feat intensive. I don't have much more to say.

BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #183 on: February 07, 2010, 03:55:02 PM »
Yes! And yes! You make a separate attack roll for the second hit!

Dude, that is so sweet :D




@Phaedrus: Pretty much what Bears said, sorry...
You have Combat Reflexes, Stand Still and Thicket of Blades, so the lockdown bit is done...
Maybe some more damage- or survival-centered ideas?
Psy.Warr. 2 for Deflective Armor paired with good old Fullplate?
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bearsarebrown

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #184 on: February 07, 2010, 04:02:51 PM »
What about Defensive Sweep? I don't know what it does but I see it listed with lockdown builds. :P

BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #185 on: February 07, 2010, 04:06:31 PM »
Yeah, basically forces your opponent to move or provoke an AoO. Works great when paired with Thicket of Blades. Too bad it requires BAB +15 or something...
"Weakness? Come test thy mettle against me, hairless ape, and we shall know who is weak!"

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You caught a fish.  It was awesome.   :lol

VennDygrem

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #186 on: February 07, 2010, 04:22:17 PM »
So are you suggesting I take Weapon Focus (Halfling Skiprock) instead of Dagger? Doesn't seem quite as versatile as dagger, since I can't then use the skiprock in melee if need-be.

Also, the orc shotput gives a -3 to the attack for a small creature to use one, even if you're proficient. It'd be great if I were medium (and had the strength score to carry a few around).

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #187 on: February 07, 2010, 04:26:57 PM »
Ah, I forgot those guys aren't medium. And he was talking about taking proficiency in the skiprock, not focus. Didn't you say you have two exotic weapon proficiencies that you don't know what to do with?

And... that is a disgusting picture, Bowen...  :tdown

Barbarian for pounce, or a monk dip for a couple of feats would be good, I guess.
[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]

VennDygrem

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #188 on: February 07, 2010, 04:34:25 PM »
Ah, I forgot those guys aren't medium. And he was talking about taking proficiency in the skiprock, not focus. Didn't you say you have two exotic weapon proficiencies that you don't know what to do with?

And... that is a disgusting picture, Bowen...  :tdown

Barbarian for pounce, or a monk dip for a couple of feats would be good, I guess.

I know, but if I plan to use the weapon, I need WF on it or Dead Eye won't apply to it either, and that kind of defeats the point. I'd be better off just using daggers in that case. Unless I got WF on both, of course, but then I'm wasting feats.

bearsarebrown

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #189 on: February 07, 2010, 04:56:20 PM »
So are you suggesting I take Weapon Focus (Halfling Skiprock) instead of Dagger? Doesn't seem quite as versatile as dagger, since I can't then use the skiprock in melee if need-be.

Also, the orc shotput gives a -3 to the attack for a small creature to use one, even if you're proficient. It'd be great if I were medium (and had the strength score to carry a few around).

If you're not going Shadow Blade then yes. Or just keep a couple extra around just in case.

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #190 on: February 07, 2010, 05:14:17 PM »
Ok... sorry if you guys get tired of hearing me agonize over crap. You should be glad that I actually don't post most of what I go over myself. :P Anyway... here are the three paths that I'm looking at:

Master of Nine

Cl. Cleric 1/Crusader 4/Warblade 1/Cobra-strike Monk 1/Mo9 5

Domains: Time and Darkness (free Blind Fight and Improved Initiative)
Feats: IUS & Dodge (monk), Adapative Style (retrain Stone Power to this), other feats unchanged.

Gain: LOTS of known and granted manuevers at levels 8-12, several stances, and end up with IL 10 for Crusader and 9 for Warblade at 12th, and also all the other goodies of the Mo9 like Dual Stance.
Lose: Earth and Animal Devotion, Stone Power (usefulness becomes marginal as levels increase, anyway, but Adaptive Style is complete shit...). This will also use up almost ALL of my skill points on mostly useless crap, but... Flumph isn't exactly a skill-based character, anyway. I could also just dump charisma, since I won't be using Turning to fuel devotion feats, which is actually a plus...

Wow... the skill reqs are brutal for this... It would be very nice to use Hide as one of the 4 skills I get to 10 ranks, since Mongrelfolk get a +4 racial bonus to it, but doing it without going Swordsage instead of Warblade is going to be pretty much impossible... And my BAB is going to suck unholy balls if I go with Swordsage. it will be pretty bad even with the warblade, of course (+8 at 12th....).


Ruby Knight Vindicator

Cl. Cleric 1/Crusader 3/Warblade 1/RKV 7
Feats same, but I need to get 4 ranks in Hide somehow. I could just cross-class them.

Gain: extra stance and a few extra maneuvers (only 1 extra readied), Divine Recovery, Armored Stealth and Divine Impetus late in the game. I know I will be hating myself for not actually having spellcasting to advance, though... and I don't know if this is actually better than just dipping base classes.


Other: Just dip martial classes like barbarian, monk, and fighter for bonus feats, Rage, pounce, etc, and alternate those with martial adept classes when it is advantageous. Strangely, this is not the simplest way to go... but it might be just as effective as any of the others, or more-so.


I'm leaning towards actually going for Master of Nine, but that would be a lot less painful if I could use retraining to extensively swap around things like my domains (losing the devotion feats), skill points, and feats, instead of starting out with the crappy prereq skills and feats. I might just suck it up, though. ;)
« Last Edit: February 07, 2010, 05:57:17 PM by PhaedrusXY »
[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]

VennDygrem

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #191 on: February 07, 2010, 05:20:11 PM »
I do plan on going Shadow Blade. I should be in Assassin's Stance pretty much all the time, so why shouldn't I? :D


PhaedrusXY

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #192 on: February 07, 2010, 11:24:21 PM »
I retooled to enter Master of Nine ASAP. Man the prereqs on that are brutal, but it should be well worth it. I lost the devotion feats, and every damned one of my skill points had to go towards the skill prereqs (even after I started out with a 16 int... which got bumped down to 10 after racial penalties... :P ), but I can just squeak in if I take a level of Cobra Strike Monk at 7th and retrain Stone Power to Adaptive Style. I will get 4 of the 5 feat prereqs from classes, so I can use my leveling feats for useful stuff, at least. And Blind Fight and Improved Initiative are decent, anyway.
[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]

VennDygrem

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #193 on: February 08, 2010, 05:33:26 AM »
So I want to figure out what to get on my main weapon (Probably a Drow Longknife or other type of exotic throwing dagger). I've got enough value equivalence to get a +1 enchantment. My first thought was Eager, so as to boost initiative; Warning gives a higher bonus to initiative but doesn't include the bonus damage that Eager has, even if it's only for a surprise round + 1st round. And of course Returning would guarantee that I can actually use it again the next round. Deadly Precision grants another +1d6 sneak attack damage, while Assassination does the same thing at the same price but also increases Poison DC. I'm sure there are also some other good +1 enchantments too.

Suggestions/advice?

PhaedrusXY

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #194 on: February 08, 2010, 11:32:14 AM »
I've always liked Smoking. It gives you concealment, and enemies that enter your square have to make a fort save or be nauseated. It is also +1. The wielder is unaffected by all of that.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2010, 11:43:31 AM by PhaedrusXY »
[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]

BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #195 on: February 08, 2010, 01:24:46 PM »
I do plan on going Shadow Blade. I should be in Assassin's Stance pretty much all the time, so why shouldn't I? :D


Because it only adds Dex to damage on melee attacks? If you plan to use plenty of those as well, I don't see a reason not to take it :)
"Weakness? Come test thy mettle against me, hairless ape, and we shall know who is weak!"

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You caught a fish.  It was awesome.   :lol

VennDygrem

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #196 on: February 08, 2010, 03:15:19 PM »
I do plan on going Shadow Blade. I should be in Assassin's Stance pretty much all the time, so why shouldn't I? :D


Because it only adds Dex to damage on melee attacks? If you plan to use plenty of those as well, I don't see a reason not to take it :)

If I'm taking those levels in Swordsage, I might as well jump into melee once in a while. :P
Seriously though, I know there are going to be times when it's nearly unavoidable. I might as well have some good options for damage. Getting Dex to Damage from Shadow Blade will help offset the loss of dex to damage from other sources that apply only to ranged attacks.

Nanshork

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #197 on: February 08, 2010, 03:30:50 PM »
Just an update: Spells are almost done.  It looks like I'll be buying some scrolls for 3rd level spells.
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BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #198 on: February 08, 2010, 03:30:57 PM »
I do plan on going Shadow Blade. I should be in Assassin's Stance pretty much all the time, so why shouldn't I? :D


Because it only adds Dex to damage on melee attacks? If you plan to use plenty of those as well, I don't see a reason not to take it :)

If I'm taking those levels in Swordsage, I might as well jump into melee once in a while. :P
Seriously though, I know there are going to be times when it's nearly unavoidable. I might as well have some good options for damage. Getting Dex to Damage from Shadow Blade will help offset the loss of dex to damage from other sources that apply only to ranged attacks.
Sounds like a good idea to me :)
Especially since there will be times where you'll be fighting in somewhat cramped locations, just like in most other campaigns :)
"Weakness? Come test thy mettle against me, hairless ape, and we shall know who is weak!"

Quote from: J0lt
You caught a fish.  It was awesome.   :lol

Nanshork

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Re: Character creation
« Reply #199 on: February 08, 2010, 03:32:51 PM »
I do plan on going Shadow Blade. I should be in Assassin's Stance pretty much all the time, so why shouldn't I? :D


Because it only adds Dex to damage on melee attacks? If you plan to use plenty of those as well, I don't see a reason not to take it :)

If I'm taking those levels in Swordsage, I might as well jump into melee once in a while. :P
Seriously though, I know there are going to be times when it's nearly unavoidable. I might as well have some good options for damage. Getting Dex to Damage from Shadow Blade will help offset the loss of dex to damage from other sources that apply only to ranged attacks.
Sounds like a good idea to me :)
Especially since there will be times where you'll be fighting in somewhat cramped locations, just like in most other campaigns :)

I think you underestimate the amount of BFC we are going to pull out of our asses.   :P  I'd actually be concerned about there being too much except we're going up against an army.
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