Help with my Animal Lord

[wotmaniac]

Hadozee are from Stormwrack and this is a JUNGLE game... But they'd be allowed because they have nothing to do with the water. Much like Primevals have nothing to do with Frostfell. Whatever, if the DM is being dumb you just have to work with it I guess.

and just to point out, redoing Bear Warrior into Ape Warrior is Primeval. Except you don't have to rage to shift.

well, the potential flavor connection that I see is: many islanders are seafaring (albeit on very small boats, though), and tropical islands quite frequently have jungles  
And yes, there has been much that I have had to learn to work with (and I've gotta game with the group I have).

anyways, I'll keep working on him.

[dark_samuari]

Oh, you may also want to take a look at Fist of the Forest from Complete Champion as it would really fit a character dedicated to living in the wild.

[Surreal]

a flying squirrel-gorilla hybrid? 

that's it, i'm making a dread pirate hadozee. Fuck you sanity.

Dude... monkey pirate! All you'd need is some renegade mastermaker in there and you're set.

[dark_samuari]

a flying squirrel-gorilla hybrid? 

that's it, i'm making a dread pirate hadozee. Fuck you sanity.

Dude... monkey pirate! All you'd need is some renegade mastermaker in there and you're set.

Nah, just throw on some warforged grafts and call it good.

[snakeman830]

a flying squirrel-gorilla hybrid? 

that's it, i'm making a dread pirate hadozee. Fuck you sanity.

Dude... monkey pirate! All you'd need is some renegade mastermaker in there and you're set.

Hmm, take some levels in ninja and become a Corpse Creature.  Zombie robot monkey ninja pirates make the world explode.

[wotmaniac]

Oh, you may also want to take a look at Fist of the Forest from Complete Champion as it would really fit a character dedicated to living in the wild.

too .. many ... options  
*head explodes*

I guess I should have mentioned that I'm very indecisive, and riddled with ADD to boot.
Though, FotF is definitely a viable option.  I'm sure I'll be back in 10-12 levels to revisit my follow-on options.


BTW, I'm looking for a good 1st-level feat (one of them will be imp. toughness).  My initial thoughts are:
- skill focus (handle animal) -- just in case I decide to eventually go beastmaster later
- improved buckler defense -- I'm gonna need all the armor class I can get (seeing as I have a low dex, and my armor options will be quite limited)
- any other ideas
The character hits the table tomorrow night.  I've gone with the feats and wild shape variants , and will be going Apelord. (oh, and the DM did allow "natural bond" to be added to the list of available bonus feats, since I'll be sacrificing my combat style -- I'm working on him to also add wild feats).

[dark_samuari]

So some questions that may help flesh out your character and thus aid us in assisting you.

How do you see your character fighting?
How do you see your character contributing within the party?
What's the message you want to convey with the character?

[Hijax]

So some questions that may help flesh out your character and thus aid us in assisting you.

How do you see your character fighting?
How do you see your character contributing within the party?
What's the message you want to convey with the character?

and how do you see him faring out of combat?

[wotmaniac]

So some questions that may help flesh out your character and thus aid us in assisting you.

How do you see your character fighting?

aggressive melee (weakly-armored tank?) ; in absence of claws, I'll be using a spear

How do you see your character contributing within the party?

scouting ; island guide/envoy (since the rest of the party are newly-arrived settlers -- the DM has described this as a "world-building campaign") ; all-round "tough guy" 

What's the message you want to convey with the character?

"Me Tarzan; you Jane" 
Seriously though, the more I think on it, this character is probably a symbolic manifestation of how I am feeling personally within the group at the moment.  I've been having several "issues" with the group dynamic for quite a while, and this character pretty much represents everything that I am feeling right now.  Subconsciously, I guess that I'm trying to play a character that will be received in the same manner that I feel that I personally am being received (at least then I can't get all butt-hurt over being misinterpreted).
That probably doesn't answer the question very well, but it's what I've got for now.

and how do you see him faring out of combat?

In what ways?  I'm still trying to figure-out exactly what we're supposed to be doing -- I still can't get a straight answer on what "world-building" is supposed to mean.  All I know is that I am accustom to (and prefer) an action-oriented game, where adventurers go out and ... adventure (you know -- go kill the BBEG and his followers -as well as anyone who gets in our way- before his evil plans come to complete fruition).  Seriously -- I feel like I'm Clint Eastwood, and I just got drafted by the People's Front of Judea . 

[wotmaniac]

Oh, BTW, here's what I've settled on so far:
ranger 6/AL 10/ ??
wild shape variant and CC feats variant (and got some extra feats added to the list in place of the combat style -oriented feats)
1 - imp toughness
1 - power attack
3 - quick reconnoiter
4 - natural bond
6 - ??
9 - rapidstrike
12 - ??
15 - imp. rapidstrike
18 - ??
and, of course, endurance and track from ranger levels (obviously)

primary weapon will be a spear ; will also be carrying several shortspears (for range) and a couple of throwing axes (typically used as simple tools -- this is a flavor filler). 

I rolled my stats last night: 17, 16, 17, 14, 13, 10 (on a 4d6 -- no bullshit ; and yes, I did drop the lowest die on each roll  )
I plan on my stat boosts to alternate between STR and CON

Did I leave out anything?

[Havok4]

Given your restrictions that seems reasonable. I do think you could probably pull off what you want better with a master of many forms but as far as animal lord goes it looks fine. Also see about getting your DM to allow primeval. Given that you will have a low armor class anyway you might want to look into taking shock trooper, you have the feats free and it would make you a monstrous charger.

[wotmaniac]

Given your restrictions that seems reasonable. I do think you could probably pull off what you want better with a master of many forms but as far as animal lord goes it looks fine. Also see about getting your DM to allow primeval. Given that you will have a low armor class anyway you might want to look into taking shock trooper, you have the feats free and it would make you a monstrous charger.

me likes.  thanks.


Also, any suggestions for feats for my ape (well, dire ape in 2 more levels)?
I was thinking combat reflexes + vexing flanker + adaptable flanker

Also, I just noticed that drag.mag. # 351 lists Ledgendary Ape as being available as an AC at level 13 -- thoughts? (the only real downside that I really see is that it is a medium creature, as opposed to large)

[wotmaniac]

oh, a couple of update notes:
- vexing flanker got shot down for AC feats (which I can see) -- however, Powerful Charge was suggested
- Just realized that with having the wild shape variant, it may very well be more beneficial to forgo the 6th level of ranger -- the only thing that I will miss out on is 1 extra use of wild shape (which isn't really that crucial to how I run the character -- I mainly took it to get more uses of "wild aspect", and to qualify for possible follow-on PrC's)


Oh, an to answer suggestions for Bear Warrior, Primeval, MoMF, etc. -- none of those do anything for my AC, which I really really want.  'preciate it, though -- thanks.

I've already ranted about the campaign on the other thread, so I guess that's it.

[dark_samuari]

Oh, an to answer suggestions for Bear Warrior, Primeval, MoMF, etc. -- none of those do anything for my AC, which I really really want.  'preciate it, though -- thanks.

It sounds like your primarily interested in animal companions so I think Beast Master may be the best/most fun you'll have in the scheme of all things.

"His crew includes a badger with a troubled past and nothing left to lose, an elephant who never forgets -- to kill! And a seldom-used crab named Lucky, a.k.a. Citizen Snips."

[wotmaniac]

Oh, an to answer suggestions for Bear Warrior, Primeval, MoMF, etc. -- none of those do anything for my AC, which I really really want.  'preciate it, though -- thanks.

It sounds like your primarily interested in animal companions so I think Beast Master may be the best/most fun you'll have in the scheme of all things.

"His crew includes a badger with a troubled past and nothing left to lose, an elephant who never forgets -- to kill! And a seldom-used crab named Lucky, a.k.a. Citizen Snips."

This was very heavily considered.  However, our last game had a guy who whored-out his AC to the Nth degree (the reason that this is relevant is that this guy is no longer with the gaming group, and very thankfully so), and the PC became simply a support character for the AC -- something that I want to avoid (at least for this character).  
While I can see playing this type of character in the future (druid 5/beastmaster 10?? with maybe an anthropomorphic animal cohort??), I'm looking to strike more of a balance between the PC and his AC (with the PC being the clear focus, and the AC simply providing the support).

Thanks.  (yeah, by this point, I've finally got a sense of focus for the character)

All that I am wrestling with now is:
- feats, starting with 6th level
- do I go in to Animal Lord after 5th, or wait 1 more level to get 1 more wild shape use/day?
If I go in after 5th, I'll most likely take "extra wild shape" as my 6th level feat.  If I wait one more level, then I'm at a loss -- I'm looking at the following (for 6th and beyond):
- improved natural attack
- quick draw
 -- brutal throw
  --- power throw
- coordinated strike
- combat reflexes,
 -- vexing flanker
  --- adaptable flanker
- combat focus
 -- combat stability
  --- combat vigor
   ---- combat strike

Thoughts?

[Anklebite]

well, a one level dip provides a +3 bonus to AC effective level, so it is a really good idea to at least dip it.

[wotmaniac]

well, a one level dip provides a +3 bonus to AC effective level, so it is a really good idea to at least dip it.

as mentioned in the OP, PrC dips are not allowed (must completely advance to completion before going in to another).