Suggestions for a Class?

[Gnorman]

Hello,

I'm (hopefully) participating in an Al-Qadim PbP game here, and I got myself some excellent rolls: 18, 15, 15, 15, 14, 9. What I'm looking for now is a class that is:
A.) Extremely effective/fun in a campaign levels 1-10
B.) EDIT: I'm going to branch out here. Just something that's not a meatshield.

With that said, I love characters that key off primarily Intelligence, Charisma, and Dexterity (well, obviously...).

My first instinct was Beguiler, but I've been leaning too heavily on that class, and so I'm hoping to perhaps branch out a bit. I'm considering a Dread Necromancer, since I really like the spontaneous specialist idea, but that's tentative. Warlocks sound fun. I've never played an honest-to-god Rogue, either, what with Factoti around. I could be a decent Archivist with those scores, or a straight up Batman wizard with basically no weaknesses. Dunno. I'm open.

Only relevant house rules are these: core races only, no psionics, no factotum, no DMM, no Planar Shepherd, and no IotSV. No ToB, either. Books allowed so far: Core, PHBII, and Sandstorm, though others are likely to be approved if requested.

So what are your favorite low-level builds? I don't need to dominate the field of combat and leave my enemies broken, begging for mercy. I don't even need to hear the lamentations of their women. I just want to have fun and contribute at around the same level of the rest of the group (which admittedly hasn't been finalized, and may include everything from Batmen to Monk/Paladin multiclasses).

[Eloel]

You're looking for a Warlock.

Has to be Chaotic or Evil (yay!)

Based off of Dex/Cha
Arcane/Skillmonkey/Party face

Complete Arcane.

[weenie]

Ummm, no. He's looking for a Beguiler. The best arcane skillmonkey around. Int is important for spells and skill points, dex is important for AC/skills and cha is important for skills.

Player's handbook II

[Gnorman]

My first instinct was Beguiler, but I've been leaning too heavily on that class, and so I'm hoping to perhaps branch out a bit.

No offense, weenie, but I covered that angle already. Trust me, I've played a LOT of Beguilers. They're like my favorite class.

[kamikasei]

Heh, that OP just screams Beguiler so hard it drowns out its own caveats.

What sort of arcanist would you like to be? I'm inclined to suggest swordsage, which would let you be a skillmonkey and a gish-like flashy combatant. Of course, it's not the "turn people to frogs from the back lines while the peons get their hands dirty" version of supernatural power...

[Gnorman]

I'm more of the stand back and turn people into frogs kind of guy. I tend to play characters with an overdeveloped sense of self-preservation. Skillmonkeys. Knowledge monkeys.

Oh. And one more caveat, unfortunately: ToB's banned.

[kamikasei]

Heh, I figured it might be looking at the rest of the list.

Hmmm, what about an Archivist or Cloistered Cleric? Both divine, but one is Int-based while the other is very skillmonkey-ish (and if you chose, say, Magic and Trickery as domains you'd be doing quite well...), and both have the back-line know-it-all feel you want.

Or what about an Artificer?

[Tempest Fennac]

Here's everything you need to play as an Archivist if you lack Heroes of Horror: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3 .

[weenie]

No offense, weenie, but I covered that angle already. Trust me, I've played a LOT of Beguilers. They're like my favorite class.

Oh, my bad for not reading your whole post before answering then :smallsmile:

[Devils_Advocate]

Bard, maybe? Excitable gnome bard, if you want to try being the comic relief.

A changeling Rogue is a great social character with the first racial substitution level from Races of Eberron.

[BobVosh]

Cleric...then that class that turns you into the dry lich. Unfortunatly I don't have the book on me, but it is a lot of fun. (dry lich from Sandstorm)

[Gnorman]

So I've definitely narrowed it down (through necessity, as someone else in the game is playing a Beguiler, and so arcanist/skillmonkey role is taken) to either a cleric or a druid.

I've found out that we're using the Shapeshift variant druid, so Wild Shape cheese is out of the picture. Any suggestions for a druid with this kind of variant?

Oh, gnome bards. I wish. I wish I wish I wish I could stand the bard class, because I love gnomish comic relief characters so much.

[Draz74]

Whoa, just because the arcane/skills roles are covered shouldn't mean you're down to just 2 classes! Even if you need to be the healer, there are other options, such as Ardent.

That being said, a straight-up normal Druid does just fine, even with the Shapeshift variant. If you want to stick with the "Charismatic" thing, you could ask permission to use Rich Burlew's homebrew Fey Blood feat (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/3CsX278ZDGQQ62al3RP.html).

[BlueWizard]

An Elven Fighter-wizard.

[Nohwl]

build an archivist.

[Curmudgeon]

I don't need to dominate the field of combat and leave my enemies broken, begging for mercy. I don't even need to hear the lamentations of their women. I just want to have fun and contribute at around the same level of the rest of the group (which admittedly hasn't been finalized, and may include everything from Batmen to Monk/Paladin multiclasses).
Try a Favored Soul (Complete Divine). A spontaneous divine caster, with some martial goodies thrown in: Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus, and Weapon Specialization with your deity's favored weapon. You can worship Kossuth and pick up the spiked chain. You won't have enough feats to dominate as a martial character, nor enough spell selection to cover all the bases -- but you'll have enough capability in most situations to be an effective contributor, and should have fun trying out something new.

[Zaq]

If you can get the books approved, play an Incarnate or a Binder. Either can bring a lot to the table (the Incarnate is a better skillmonkey than the Binder, but the Binder's still no slouch), they're a blast to play, you can reconfigure yourself to avoid stepping on anyone's toes, and they have a fun and unique feel to them.

[Devils_Advocate]

So I've definitely narrowed it down (through necessity, as someone else in the game is playing a Beguiler, and so arcanist/skillmonkey role is taken) to either a cleric or a druid.

I've found out that we're using the Shapeshift variant druid, so Wild Shape cheese is out of the picture. Any suggestions for a druid with this kind of variant?

Oh, gnome bards. I wish. I wish I wish I wish I could stand the bard class, because I love gnomish comic relief characters so much.
Well, if the subrace is available, you could make a forest gnome (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/gnome.htm#forestGnome) Druid who's not so much Druidzilla as Dr. Doolittle. Supposedly, they avoid contact with other races except when their homes are threatened, so either a threat to his home is his reason for adventuring or he has some stranger motivation or an odd personality. This also gives you the chance to play a character who doesn't speak Common, in case you've ever wanted to do that.

Alternately, if your DM allows the variant, you could be a gnome Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric), to cover all the Knowledge skills while the Beguiler covers the stealth, detection, mobility, and social skills.

I don't know much about Al-Qadim, but I'm guessing that you'll probably be in some sort of desert region? Might be your chance to play a desert druid instead of the stereotypical forest druid. After all, a druid character should be familiar with whatever the local environment is, right? You'd probably want to check Sandstorm for options to assist you with that.

[arguskos]

Well, if you are playing in Al-Quadim, what about playing a Sha'ir? It's a base class from Dragon Compendium that is tailor-made for Al-Quadim. The idea is that you are an amazingly versatile arcane caster who uses an elemental companion to "fetch" your spells by bargaining on your behalf with genies for them. :smallbiggrin:

The mechanics are a bit tricky to explain, but if you get access to the book, it is AWESOME in flavor for Al-Quadim and decently good in mechanics for a twist.

[Starbuck_II]

Hello,

I'm (hopefully) participating in an Al-Qadim PbP game here, and I got myself some excellent rolls: 18, 15, 15, 15, 14, 9. What I'm looking for now is a class that is:

Only relevant house rules are these: core races only, no psionics, no factotum, no DMM, no Planar Shepherd, and no IotSV. No ToB, either. Books allowed so far: Core, PHBII, and Sandstorm, though others are likely to be approved if requested.


Shugenja? Might need to read over the orders/favored elements, but it is okay.
The best part is Sense Elements: meaning you always can know where someone is.

Not a strong class compared to Core, but what non-core class is.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you play a Druid, you should consider using the deadly hunter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid) variant from UA rather than the Shapeshift variant. Take Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) for a second animal companion, and play primarily as a spellcaster/summoner. I'd probably go for Killoren (RotW) or Painted Elf (Sandstorm), or barring those probably a small-size race such as a Forest Gnome (MM). For feats I'd take Wild Cohort (1), Natural Bond (CV) (3), Companion Spellbond (6), Magic of the Land (RotW) (9), and probably Quicken Spell (12) if you get that far. Summon critters, buff your companions, and use offensive spells like Entangle, Produce Flame, (Extended) Creeping Cold, and Splinterbolt.

[Gnorman]

Hey all,

Thanks for the suggestions!

I ended up going with a half-orc desert druid, like Devils_Advocate mentioned. I am stuck with the shapeshift variant, though, as the DM has houseruled that all druids must be of that variant. Doesn't bother me at all, though - I have 24 strength at level one in predator form. Real savage.

And I wish I had known about Sha'ir beforehand, because that class seems... well, freakishly awesome. Perhaps I can convince the DM to allow Dragon Compendium for that purpose - but it probably won't be me what plays it. We already have a binder flavored as a sha'ir, and I don't want to step on the player's toes.

[Sinfire Titan]

Hey all,

Thanks for the suggestions!

I ended up going with a half-orc desert druid, like Devils_Advocate mentioned. I am stuck with the shapeshift variant, though, as the DM has houseruled that all druids must be of that variant. Doesn't bother me at all, though - I have 24 strength at level one in predator form. Real savage.

And I wish I had known about Sha'ir beforehand, because that class seems... well, freakishly awesome. Perhaps I can convince the DM to allow Dragon Compendium for that purpose - but it probably won't be me what plays it. We already have a binder flavored as a sha'ir, and I don't want to step on the player's toes.

The Sha'ir is incredibly clunky and very underpowered (for example, it takes 9 hours to prepare a single 9th level Divine spell, and then you only have that spell for a few minutes). Their preparation mechanic is what nerfs them into the Nigh Unplayable category.