PDA

View Full Version : Help me build my 3.x character's children into 4e characters.



Asbestos
2009-07-27, 11:37 AM
Just what the thread says. One of my 3.x characters ended his career ruling over some little growing city-state somewhere and had himself a couple of kids. Now, I had plans for those kids as 3.x characters, but then 4e came out. So now, how should I build them?

Notes (names removed)
The Father: Human, a very melee oriented bard, focused on using his spells to buff himself. Very charismatic, strong, and evil (in the cruel, Loki way), but very dedicated to family.

The Mother: Half-elf, a standard broken, wildshaping druid combined with a smattering of telepath. High Wis and Int, low physical stats. Also a bit evil, but less in the calculated, deceitful, and 'charming' way of her husband, more sporadic, unhinged, and physically violent.

The Son: The older child, half-elf. I was thinking of him being a duskblade, hexblade, warlock, or battle sorcerer. He should have some weapon skills (even if they are only minor) but should mainly focus on his 'raw, untamed power' as a result of his heritage. While his father did have some magic in his blood, that magic is much more intense in his child. May have an almost unhealthy focus on demons, may not have matured into full 'evil' yet but is certainly chaotic.

The Daughter: Younger child, half-elf. Was originally thinking she'd be a ranger or scout with a bit of psionics thrown in. Should be good with a bow, have some connection with nature (but not necessarily as much as a druid) and have some mental/magical ability. Very manipulative, for her own gain and amusement. Much more level-headed than her brother. Has a fascination with the Undead.

The two children are very close in age (Irish twins actually) and get along rather well, spent a lot of their childhood sneaking away together from their parent's estate (no mean feat) and causing mischief amongst the townsfolk.


So, I was thinking maybe Prescient Bard MC Ranger for the daughter... but I don't know beyond that. No clue what to do for the son. Thoughts?

Mando Knight
2009-07-27, 11:38 AM
Son is probably an Infernal Pact Warlock or Chaos Sorcerer.

Asbestos
2009-07-27, 11:42 AM
Oh, son needs to be able to wield his father's bastard sword (not sure if it'd be a song blade or just a magical sword)

jmbrown
2009-07-27, 11:45 AM
Both the warlock and sorcerer (phb-2) are viable options for the son. For raw, untamed power the sorcerer is definitely the way to go as it deals high damage but many of their powers have different depending on if the die is an odd or even number or having you roll a die to determine a random effect.

The daughter could feasibly be a shaman (phb-2). Instead of revering the spirits of nature she commands them to her bidding. Since she likes the undead her spirit companion could be the ghost of a family member or poltergeist she bound into service.

Artanis
2009-07-27, 11:55 AM
How open are you to changing the fluff away from the "default"? Like having a character that is mechanically Class A, but you describe as being more like Class B?

Asbestos
2009-07-27, 12:07 PM
How open are you to changing the fluff away from the "default"? Like having a character that is mechanically Class A, but you describe as being more like Class B?

I'm not 100% against it... what were you considering?

kamuishirou
2009-07-27, 12:14 PM
Oh, son needs to be able to wield his father's bastard sword (not sure if it'd be a song blade or just a magical sword)

The Son:
Assault Swordmage could work. Or Wild Sorcerer, taking Arcane Implement (Heavy Blade).
Bard could work too, but he's more of a leader and your idea sounds more Assault Swordmage or Wild Sorcerer.

The Daughter:
You could go Ranger and multiclass Druid. Having your Dilettante power as a Druid At-Will and the Multiclass At-Will both once per encounter means you could use the Wild Shape attacks at least twice per encounter. Going Bow Ranger with 16 dex and 16 wis.

edit: Ahhh, missed the thing about the undead. Multiclass Shaman as above and you'd get the spirit companion and could have two encounter powers with Dilettante and Multiclass. As somon mentioned, the spirit companion could be fluffed to anything she deams to have control over.

Just some thoughts.

Artanis
2009-07-27, 12:18 PM
I'm not 100% against it... what were you considering?

Well, for the father, a Barbarian that you fluff as a bard. They self-buff via their Rages, they're strong, they have some CHA-based kickers, and they can be a secondary defender.

The son could be a Dragon or Cosmic sorcerer (STR is their secondary stat, meaning relatively decent melee abilities) refluffed to suit. I'm sure there's a feat out there somewhere (maybe the multiclass Swordmage one) to let him use a bastard sword as an implement, and if not you can homebrew one.

The others I'll have to think on. That goes double for the mother since there aren't many ways to dump physical stats and still be able to melee.

Asbestos
2009-07-27, 12:23 PM
The others I'll have to think on. That goes double for the mother since there aren't many ways to dump physical stats and still be able to melee.

Seems easy for the mother to dump physical... I mean, the Wildshape Druid powers use Wis as the attack stat.

Artanis
2009-07-27, 12:27 PM
Seems easy for the mother to dump physical... I mean, the Wildshape Druid powers use Wis as the attack stat.

*facepalm*

Right. I keep forgetting that about the druid :smallredface:

So, now to think on the daughter then...

erikun
2009-07-27, 12:37 PM
The daughter sounds like a Fey Warlock, honestly. I believe that Arcane Implement (from Arcane Power) lets you use any implement from any arcane class as your implement, which should work with the Bard's bows. (again from Arcane Power) Might want to check with the DM on that, though. Not sure how to tie in undead, as there isn't really anything yet that works with dead spirits.

Son sounds like a Sorcerer or Valorous Bard. Arcane Implement (Heavy Blades) and/or Melee Training (Charisma) will let him wade into combat with that Bastard Sword, no problems.

Artanis
2009-07-27, 12:42 PM
OK, I have an idea. DP has a Cleric PP, Seldarine Dedicate, which lets you use a Longbow or Shortbow as a Cleric implement, but requires being an Elf or Eladrin. So you would have to either get the DM to let you use a Half-Elf or else use an Elf and pretend she's a Half-Elf.

If you get around the race restriction, you can start with an Archery Ranger, MC Cleric and take some controller-esque Cleric powers, then go into Seldarine Dedicate. That gives you pretty much what the description seems to indicate: nature focus, shooting things with a bow, and some magic to support it all. You can even fluff any ranged Cleric powers you get as being "special arrows" if you like.

RTGoodman
2009-07-27, 01:07 PM
For the Son, I'd definitely go with a Sorcerer of some kind (really, any could work, I think), grabbing Arcane Implement Proficiency (Heavy Blades) to swing around a bastard sword. If Str isn't his secondary score, pick up Melee Training (Charisma) and you're all set. Just fluff his Dragon/Chaos/Storm/Whatever powers as coming from demonic sources.

For the Daughter, I like the Ranger/Cleric/Seldarine Dedicate idea. Dex/Wis is the way to go, so I think it'd be best to use the actual Elf race rather than Half-Elf, but it doesn't really matter. And actually, Cleric/Ranger might be a better way to go - you'll get Turn Undead and better healing that way. It just depends on which side you want to focus on.