PDA

View Full Version : [3.5]Need help rounding out fear build



MustacheFart
2009-04-24, 06:52 PM
Hey all,

I'm currently playing a fear build in a Low-Magic Campaign and I am looking to come up with the rest of the build through level 20.

Right now, I have: Drow Lion-Totem Barbarian 1(whirling frenzy var.) / Hexblade 2 / 1 Marshal (for +cha bonus on cha checks & saves)

I was thinking: Lion Totem Barbarian 1 / Hexblade 4(grab dark companion) / Marshal 1 / Sorcerer 4(to get into Dread witch mainly) / Dread Witch 5 / *something else* 5

Feats I have taken/plan to take:

Dreadful Wrath
Imperious Command
Harvestor of Souls (really doesn't do too much but adds to fluff)

Also I plan to take the Skill Trick Never Outnumbered obviously :smallwink:.

The point of the build is more about battlefield control through demoralizing/fearing than it is about damage.

Typical fighting style is: Run in and lay down the fears, then run around maiming with my Scythe.


I'm kind of regretting taking Hexblade because of their limited uses of their curse and more importantly their very limited casting, which is preventing me from going into Dread Witch sooner. However, their +cha to saves, Mettle (Fort and Will evasion), and Dark companion, will make up for that I think.

Any suggestions?


Thanks,

-MustacheFart

Jack_Simth
2009-04-24, 07:40 PM
Low-Magic Campaign
I suppose that rules out the Wizard with Fear, Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability, and Quicken Spell, setting all three off in the same round so that the victims are Panicked for a round regardless of their Will saves... hmm.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-04-24, 08:08 PM
Check out this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109396) from just last week.

Feats:
Dreadful Wrath (PGtF) you should already know.
Ability Focus (MM) +2 DC to any ability you have that has a save DC.
Frightful Presence (Draconomicon) stacks with other abilities of the same name.
Imperious Command (Drow of the Underdark) an Intimidate check to demoralize makes them Cower instead.
Intimidating Strike (PHB2) demoralize as part of a standard action attack, get a bonus on the check in exchange for attack bonus, works well with Imperious Command.

Skill Trick:
Never Outnumbered (Complete Scoundrel) once per encounter your Intimidate check to demoralize affects all opponents within ten feet of your target, works well with Intimidating Strike and Imperious Command.

Classes:
Dragon Totem Barbarian gets a Frightful Presence ability at level 6, DC based on class level. Not bad at all if you want to go single-classed Barbarian.
Zhentarim Soldier (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a) can Demoralize as a Swift Action, it takes nine Fighter levels but there's absolutely no mechanical drawback to gaining those substitution levels.
Talon of Tiamat (Draconomicon) gets a Frightful Presence class feature at level 6. It's easy to qualify for with Hexblade 4 or Hexblade 3/ Sorcerer 2.

Doresain
2009-04-24, 08:26 PM
if you want to go a melee build, go fighter 5/avenging executioner 5/ghost-faced killer 10

Hadrian_Emrys
2009-04-24, 08:36 PM
How nuts are you allowed to go? A necropolitan paladin of slaughter plus hexblade to avenging executioner then ghost faced killer is a lot of Cha synergy with the fear, and quite able to hold it's own.

Eldariel
2009-04-24, 08:54 PM
You have the Barbarian-level. I'd take "Intimidating Rage" [CWar] and flirt with Instantaneous Rage [CWar] - the latter may be a tad wasteful, but being able to intimidate people with an immediate action while wielding the almighty Imperious Command is fairly brutal. Of course, this means you need to pick up Extra Rage at least once to truly make use of them.

Anyways, I'd honestly consider those 9 Fighter-levels with the Zhentarim ACFs. Normally this would be madness, but the Zhentarim-fighter levels really offer some nice Intimidation-bonuses, and you can spend the other feats on your combat ability, or some sweet ACFs like Resolute, Dungeoncrasher & co.


Which Harvester of Souls are we talking about? All I know is the one in Elder Evils and that requires 11 BAB.

MustacheFart
2009-04-25, 01:22 AM
How nuts are you allowed to go? A necropolitan paladin of slaughter plus hexblade to avenging executioner then ghost faced killer is a lot of Cha synergy with the fear, and quite able to hold it's own.

Sadly, I don't think I can go that nuts. Also I remember the DM stating the paladin class is not allowed simply due to the conditions of the campaign world. Although, I'm expecting to encounter a few enemy elf paladins in the future (just a hunch I have) but those will be npcs not players.

---


if you want to go a melee build, go fighter 5/avenging executioner 5/ghost-faced killer 10

I was considering something very similar but after suggesting such a build in a previous topic, I got clued in on how lacking AE and GFK are. AE seems like it would be good for the levels in which I take it (6-10) but quickly lose effectiveness. GFK just seems like it has subpar effectiveness, like I would be giving up a lot of levels just to get a small amount of Sudden Strike damage (not even sneak attack :smallfrown:) and a makeshift death attack with a DC that doesn't progress beyond levels in GFK.

----


You have the Barbarian-level. I'd take "Intimidating Rage" [CWar] and flirt with Instantaneous Rage [CWar] - the latter may be a tad wasteful, but being able to intimidate people with an immediate action while wielding the almighty Imperious Command is fairly brutal. Of course, this means you need to pick up Extra Rage at least once to truly make use of them.

Anyways, I'd honestly consider those 9 Fighter-levels with the Zhentarim ACFs. Normally this would be madness, but the Zhentarim-fighter levels really offer some nice Intimidation-bonuses, and you can spend the other feats on your combat ability, or some sweet ACFs like Resolute, Dungeoncrasher & co.


Which Harvester of Souls are we talking about? All I know is the one in Elder Evils and that requires 11 BAB.

Yep, I am talking about the one from Elder Evils that states:

Harvester of Souls [Vile]
When you deliver a killing blow, you destroy both the flesh
and the soul.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: Whenever you use the coup de grace action to
kill a creature, that creature cannot be restored to life by any
means short of a miracle or wish spell until you are slain.
You gain 2 temporary hit points per Hit Die of the slain
creature. These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

Obviously, I can't take it yet (being I only have 4 class levels atm) but I plan to, for character concept alone.

I am considering changing out the 2 Hexblade levels I currently have for 2 levels of fighter and going for the 9 levels of Zhentarim Fighter. Would that be a good idea? I mean the Hexblade curse is nice but it's only 1/day and with minimal levels in Hexblade the DC will stay low even at higher levels. Also their casting sucks. The only good thing I could get really would be the Dark Companion but I'd have to eat 4 levels to do it. Arcane Resistance and Mettle are nice but if I am effectively locking down enemies with fear they shouldn't be needed.

Now a couple questions:

If I went for the 9 levels of Zhentarim Fighter would it still be possible to somehow fit Dread Witch into the build? I just think I will be seeing mobs/npcs immune to fear eventually and it would be really nice to be able to bypass that immunity.

Also, is there any good way to halt said enemies I frighten or panic? I mean if I got them crapping themselves I'd love to have a way to keep them there, stuck pissing and moaning—not running away.

Stuff like Evard's black tentacles, webs, etc. might fit the bill but I'm not sure.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-04-25, 05:48 AM
Get a breath weapon and Entangling Exhalation from Races of the Dragon. Their movement will be reduced by half, so they won't be able to even 5-ft. step without provoking an AoO. From there make a tripper build, they'll probably end up cowering prone rather than trying to get up and run away again. Some decent ways of gaining a spamable breath weapon would be Dragonfire Adept 1+, Dragon Shaman 4+, and even Dragonborn of Bahamut +0 LA. Another way would be Half-Dragon with the feat Dragon Breath. The DC doesn't matter, since as long as they take at lease one point of damage from it they'll be entangled. Opponents with Evasion and opponents with energy resistance/immunity will be the only ones able to avoid it, though later on most creatures will have resistance 10+ to almost everything.

Eldariel
2009-04-25, 05:53 AM
At the present, I wouldn't bother with added spellcasting beyond what you need to quality for Dread Witch. And seeing that Dread Witch is a 5-level PrC, you can easily fit Sorc 4/Dread Witch 5. Do note that you could also use Bard here, as it gets level 2 spells at the same speed as Sorc - although Dread Witch advances casting which would leave Sorc at level 4 and Bard at level 3.

Although annoyingly Dread Witch doesn't provide you with a blanket tool to penetrate immunity, only the Touch. And too bad it's a caster PrC, while the rest of the build hasn't seen casters. But yeah, you can fit it; I'm just not sure if it's really worth it in a melee Intimidator. Caster intimidator is obviously different.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-04-25, 08:34 AM
I'd go with a LE Human, Paladin of Tyranny 3/ Zhentarim Soldier 9/ Cleric of Bane 3/ Dread Witch 5, order Fighter 2/ Paladin 3/ Fighter 7/ Cleric 3/ Dread Witch 5

Hatred and any other domain; Never Outnumbered skill trick; Dreadful Wrath (1), Exotic Weapon: Spiked Chain (1), Ability Focus: Dreadful Wrath (1), Combat Reflexes (2), Willing Deformity (3), Imperious Command (6), Skill Focus: Intimidate (6), Combat Expertise (7), Improved Trip (9), Deformity: Tall (9), Power Attack (11), Deformity: Tongue (12), Practiced Spellcaster: Cleric (15), Defensive Sweep (18)

Get a +1 Sweeping Spiked Chain asap, and consider the Sudden Stunning property (DMG2) if you have a decent Charisma score. Remember that with just one Paladin level you can use wands of any spells on that spell list, even if you can't cast any spells at all yet, as long as your Wisdom score is 10 + spell level. A Wand of Faith Healing would be good to have for between encounters, and its almost selfish usefulness would be very in-character.

Fishy
2009-04-25, 12:48 PM
It eats up your feats, but I'm a fan of Hexblade -> Blackguard for the cha synergies and the aura of debuff. It also comes with Cause Fear on its spell list, which gets you halfway to Dread Witch, sorta.

Lately, I've been having weird thoughts about a Barbarian/Bard -> Dread Witch -> Rage Mage. I'm certain its a terrible idea, but it just seems so shiny.