utility spells like Darkness, Jump, Fly, Haste, Spider Climb
This sounds like Warlock. But that doesn't fit the fluff you're looking for.
1. Expansion: "Blend into Shadows" feat,
2. Indignation, rhetorical retort: Fluff? In my mechanics?
[spoiler]
Having just finished the Night Angel Trilogy and being told by a friend that he wants to start a City Campaign, I'm looking for ideas on how to build me a wetboy.
For those who haven't read this series, a wetboy is like a super-assassin, able to dish damage like a warrior, move like a rogue (or a monk), pick locks, backstab, etc but also uses spells to help him out. Now I'm not talking fireballs and chain lightning here, but all of the utility spells like Darkness, Jump, Fly, Haste, Spider Climb that help him put a sword in a back that much easier.
While perousing google for ideas, I found this site and the min/max section and want to see if you guys can help me out. (By the way, the Dirty Tricks section is excellent. The Assplomancer? The Coat Hangar? Jeeez... )
I'm resurrecting a short-lived character from a Rolemaster campaign who was a Drow Nightblade there, so the character must be a Drow female.
I'm starting at level 1, but I'd love to see what a level 20 character looks like so I know what the level progression looks like.
As a bonus, the character in the Rolemaster campaign was also responsible for starting a new church to Naveh (a Harnmaster deity) so dip into Cleric would be cool to include.
I was initially thinking about a few levels in Fighter and Rogue (to collect Weapon Finesse, Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon fighting and Improved two-weapon fighting to bring the whirlwind thing to melee as well as a few dice of sneak attack) before finishing up levels in cleric to imply my creation of a new Church of Death, but I can't figure out how to most efficiently work in the whole utility-spellcasting angle into the mix.
I suppose I could just quad class as a Sorcerer and be done with it, but I'm hoping there's a cooler way to do it.
I thought maybe the Duskblade would be a good choice but the duskblade's spell picks are lame.
Help anyone?
[/spoiler]
1. "Night Angel Trilogy" plot summary to read
2. Query: re: "City Campaign": Does the name correlate to its semantic simplicity, i.e. by "City Campaign", you mean a campaign in a city A.K.A. an urban environment?
2.5. Warning: Friend GMs and optimization = disparity.3. Query: re: "super-assassin": Must I expect hyperbole?
4. Query: re: "able to dish damage like a warrior": there's a difference between "dishing damage like a warrior" and "dishing damage of a warrior". Warrior - physical fighter.
5. Query: re: "move like a rogue (or a monk)": For the former, you mean at half-speed, else tumbling? Else, you mean stealthily. For the latter, I recognize only speed.
6. re: "backstab": alignment.
7. re: "uses spells to help him out": i) categorization: magical, sneaky gish, ii) "him"... (See race.)
8. Query: re: "all of the utility spells": you want access to "all of the utility spells"?
9. re: "put a sword in a back": it's the same damage-dice no matter where you put it. I understand the implication of sneak-attack damage and the like.
10. "I'm resurrecting a short-lived character from a Rolemaster campaign who was a Drow Nightblade there, so the character must be a Drow female." Resurrection? Nightblade? I rebuke female for you, suspecting you are male.
11. "As a bonus, the character in the Rolemaster campaign was also responsible for starting a new church to Naveh (a Harnmaster deity) so dip into Cleric would be cool to include." What's the significance of "Rolemaster"? Who's "Naveh"? What's "Harnmaster"? I don't consider a Cleric dip, as a bonus.
12. re: "Fighter and Rogue": Specialist Fighter variants (Dragon Magazine), Hit-and-Run Tactics variant (DotU), Fighter bonus feat variant Rogue, Thug variant Fighter, Sneak-attack variant Fighter. There's no feat to stack those levels, but it'd be neat to home-brew. Rogue to start for skill-points, else Fighter for HD. Fighter has the obvious 2-level break, but the Rogue isn't as clear.
13. re: "Weapon Finesse, Ambidexterity": You can get Weapon Finesse with a dip in the Swashbuckler base class which, combined with Daring Outlaw feat (mentioned by skydragonknight), is a great class for a melee Rogue. Arcane Stunt ACF Swashbuckler (CM), 3-level break. Secondly, "Ambidexterity"? 3.0e?
14. Query: re: "[TWF feats] to bring the whirlwind thing to melee as well as a few [SA dice]": What you say?
15. re: "finishing up levels in cleric to imply my creation of a new Church of Death, but I can't figure out how to most efficiently work in the whole utility-spellcasting angle into the mix." You mean, finishing up
with levels in the Cleric base class? I find your application of the church-creation to the build dysfunctional. Thirdly, UMD or higher-order ability of the Catalogues of Enlightenment touch-site.
16. re: "I suppose I could just quad class as a Sorcerer and be done with it": there, you address the problem and what's an unoptimal solution.
Fantassassin.
Options[spoiler]get darkness invocation + Blend into Shadows feat (Fade into Darkness, Intensify Darkness (for sleep), At Home in the Deep, Instinctive Darkness), dark template (collar of umbral metamorphosis), fellmist robe soulmeld, kruthik claws soulmeld, flexible mind [anarchic] feat (starting as a class without hide and move silently as class-skills (and the desire for those skills as class-skills (But this won't work flavourfully as you are lawful (and alignments are dumb))), Chameleon template, God-blooded template (Vecna to Naveh home-brew), Ghost progression, Magic in the Blood feat, Unseelie Fey template (Dragon Compendium, Volume I), Chameleon PrC (as Phaenix mentions above), Factotum (mentioned by Anklebite, The_Mad_Linguist, Havok4, Phaenix, Able Learner feat), Stoneblessed (Gnome) PrC for Earth Dreamer PrC (Races of Stone, for getting through obstacles (walls)), "3.5 breaking and entering" thread, Mindrape spell + Love's Pain combo, I second poisons, Mineral Warrior (Stony) template (burrow speed), Lolth-touched template, Swordsage base class (ToB), Darkstalker feat, Braid Blade, Fukimi-Bari (mouth darts), Master of Masks PrC dip (Gladiator), "Beefin Sneak Attack" thread (weapon enhancements), Discern Location spell (scry(-teleport)-and-die), Shadow Pounce class feature (Telflammar Shadowlord PrC, Crinti Shadow Marauder PrC, Jaunter PrC (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits), "Knight of Shadows" build by Alastar (preceded by "Metus Somnambulus"), Shadow-walker template, Horizon Walker PrC), Slayer PrC, Dust of Disappearance, Assassin PrC, Elf Ranger racial substitution level(s), Savage Species rituals -> Pixie, Jermlaine, Whisper Gnome, Hengeyokai, Petal?, Brownie?, Ambush Drake?, Beguiler (ShS, with GM fiat), I second a lesser variant Drow (mentioned by The_Mad_Linguist, progression or odd variant from some Faerun book for LA races), Trapsmith?
level 1: Hit-and-Run Tactics (DotU), Survivalist Specialist Fighter variant (Dragon Magazine).
level 2: Lolth-Touched template.
levels >2: I dunno, classic gish (caster/casting fighter)? Ftr/Wizard/Abjurant Champion/Eldritch Knight/Spellsword. Focus utilities on stealth.[/spoiler]