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TaintedLight
2010-01-03, 10:48 PM
I'm having some trouble putting together a build for three NPC characters in a campaign that I'm starting soon, so I figured I'd head here for some advice. I need a progression in terms of class level and the order in which those levels are taken, feat choices, and spell choices. I would really appreciate it if the builds stick to the flavor of pirates as much as possible.

The first NPC is a pirate captain. I would very much like to see him with levels in either Dread Pirate (CA) or Scarlet Corsair (Stormwrack) because both fit the flavor of the character very well. He should have no more than 2 levels in either of those prestige classes and should choose one. Don't bother advancing his base classes beyond what is required to qualify for the class unless you think it will substantially increase his effectiveness in combat. This may end up being a one-on-one or paired fight with his first mate if the PCs piss him off, so he should be a formidable challenge for 3 to four non-optimized characters. These are the only hard requirements:

CN alignment
Darfellan Race
Level 8 max
Levels in Dread Pirate or Scarlet Corsair, but not both.

The second NPC is the captain's first mate, a martial adept. The only requirements are as follows:

CG alignment
Seacliff Dwarf Race
Martial adept (preferred Swordsage), possibly with levels in a PrC that focuses on sleight of hand and stealth.

The final NPC is the ship's wizard. The only requirement is that she be a Stormcaster (Stormwrack).

If more details are needed for an effective build, I'm happy to provide them. Thanks for your help!

drengnikrafe
2010-01-03, 10:52 PM
I know this post won't be very useful but...

Do you really need to optimize an NPC? I mean, especially if your PCs are non-optimizers. That seems like overkill. Wouldn't it be better if you used Rich Berlew's Villain Workshop (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/rTKEivnsYuZrh94H1Sn.html) and then building a class progression based on what's comfortable, and what made sense for it all?

TaintedLight
2010-01-03, 10:56 PM
I guess I didn't really put it correctly the first time.

What I'm looking for is not so much an optimized build. I want an interesting and effective progression that will force the PCs to think a little harder about how they fight when they realize that their usual tricks aren't ideal when fighting on the deck of a ship with a hostile crew. The captain should present a challenge and not just be a big hunk of BS that turns them inside out within five rounds.

drengnikrafe
2010-01-03, 10:58 PM
Well.... I still can't help, but thank you for clearing that up. That makes a lot more sense.

FlamingKobold
2010-01-03, 11:00 PM
what are the levels for the first mate and wizard? 8?

TaintedLight
2010-01-03, 11:00 PM
Alrighty then. You reminded me of something else, though.

These characters are not end-boss material, so to speak. They should be suitable as allies, villians, one-shot encounters, recurring characters, or some combination of those four things. Level should be something like 7 or 8 with tips on advancing them.

BooNL
2010-01-04, 03:32 AM
What I can say about the first mate: either keep him as a Swordsage and don't PrC out or make him a Rogue/Swordsage and make him a sneak attacker. Maneuvre-wise, Shadow Hand is obvious.

As for the Captain. Do you want to focus him on Int or Cha? If Int, you could also go Swashbuckler for a couple levels and get his Int bonus to damage. Also, Weapon Finesse.
I can't recall the entry reqs for the PrC's you mentioned but a Daring Outlaw build might work. You'd have to make sure your first mate doesn't overpower the Captain due to ToB levels though.

As for the Ship Mage, I'm more a fan of Sorcerers, especially for high seas adventures. Though a Bard could work as well?

TaintedLight
2010-01-05, 08:57 PM
Okay, so I finished the captain. Here's the build that I ended up with:

CN Human Rogue 2/Fighter 4/Scarlet Corsair 2

STR 14
DEX 16
CON 12
INT 12
WIS 16
CHA 14

Feats:

Lightning Reflexes (Human Bonus)
Combat Focus
Combat Stability (One player is a trip-monkey. Nasty surprise here.)
Prone Attack (For an interesting combat option)
Hamstring
Evasive Reflexes
Sailor's Balance
Improved Feint (bonus from Corsair)

I'm happy with the way he turned out overall. Now, the big problem.

I've been reading over the martial adept classes in ToB and it seems like you're pretty much a fool to play a fighter when you could be a warblade. Swordsage doesn't seem like it's as bad an offender, but when a character takes Exotic Weapon Proficiency (shuriken) and can suddenly change that to be any other weapon, no exceptions, the next morning, plus doing the same thing for Weapon Focus (pointy stick) and Weapon Specialization (pointy stick) (not to mention Greater variants), they're simply objectively better than the fighter at what they are supposed to do best: hit things with weapons. What's more, the martial manuevers are almost all really good. Many do not allow saves or mitigation of any kind, and with a full BAB and relatively little optimization, the adept is not going to miss often. As if the powerful no-save effects were not enough, they can refresh all of their manuevers in the middle of combat. By ATTACKING.

Adaptive Style just piles on the salt in the fighter's wounds. Please, before I decide to make the first mate a warblade, somebody tell me that I have misinterpreted this class horribly. Are martial adepts simply objectively better than fighters, and, if so, how can I re-balance them to not blast non-adept tanks out of the way?

Zore
2010-01-05, 09:46 PM
Martial Adepts are pretty much Fighter/Monk/Paladin +. To balance down... umm use maneuvers once per encounter and don't use any stances? Focus on counters, like moment of perfect mind, so that he gains longevity and not damage?

These are NPC bad guys right, you could use a much lower point buy for him. What are your players classes and optimization levels? Any details might help.

Runestar
2010-01-05, 09:59 PM
PHB2 has this feat which lets you stand up from prone as a free action.


Please, before I decide to make the first mate a warblade, somebody tell me that I have misinterpreted this class horribly.

Going by your reaction, I am fairly sure you didn't. Warblades are what the fighter should have been. All ToB does is to make melee fun again, by giving players more options in combat. They do tend to lose out in the damage department though, as their standard action strikes mean they typically have to forgo the full-attack action, but you get more versatility as you can move and still attack for decent damage.

However, since they lack ranged attack options, I am not sure if warblade is all that viable in a sea campaign. Swordsage at least gets a few ranged maneuvers, and tend to have better mobility. I suppose you could roll up a swordsage specializing in tiger claw and desert wind, and play him like some sort of melee warmage.

Alternatively, I suppose you could play a bloodstorm blade npc.

TaintedLight
2010-01-05, 10:59 PM
PHB2 has this feat which lets you stand up from prone as a free action.



Going by your reaction, I am fairly sure you didn't. Warblades are what the fighter should have been. All ToB does is to make melee fun again, by giving players more options in combat. They do tend to lose out in the damage department though, as their standard action strikes mean they typically have to forgo the full-attack action, but you get more versatility as you can move and still attack for decent damage.

However, since they lack ranged attack options, I am not sure if warblade is all that viable in a sea campaign. Swordsage at least gets a few ranged maneuvers, and tend to have better mobility. I suppose you could roll up a swordsage specializing in tiger claw and desert wind, and play him like some sort of melee warmage.

Alternatively, I suppose you could play a bloodstorm blade npc.

Those manuevers look like they more than make up for the fact that you only have one attack per round, especially at levels 5 and below. An extra 4d6 damage is worth a hefty chunk in my estimation (Bonecrusher).

Runestar
2010-01-05, 11:12 PM
There are breakpoints. The fighter could be making 2 attacks via haste. The whirling rage variant lets a barb make 2 attacks at 1st lv already. At higher lvs, with the exception of a few maneuvers like ruby nightmare blade, they are generally inferior to full-attacks damage-wise (but tend to compensate with rider-on effects).

As for the caster, is there any compelling reason for going stormcaster? Last I recall (since I don't have stormwrack), you lose a spellcaster lv. I would think that straight wiz or sorc would suffice.

TaintedLight
2010-01-05, 11:17 PM
The Stormcaster PrC is being repurposed in this campaign. The character, unbeknownst to her captain, the crew, and the PCs, is a servant of a powerful blue dragon. Stormcaster is just a really nice touch of flavor that also makes her lighting bolt spells do considerably more damage and gives her a spontaneous damage option (Xd4 sonic damage for a traded spell slot, much like a cleric's spontaneous conversion where X is the spell slot level).