DMPC advice - high lvl/all sources 3.5

[Myth]

Helly Giant In The Playground! :) This awesome forum keeps popping up whenever i google for a character build, and although this is my first post, I am well aware of just how knowledgeable you guys are! Hopefully, you will be in a giving mood and help a greenie out.

First thing's first, I've never played tabletop. The curse of living in Eastern Europe where people have never heard or have access to DnD. So I'm playing PbP on ENWorld, which while rather slow, is extremely fun. Some months ago i undertook a DMing project for the first time, and although i'm very good at weaving plot and creating three-dimensional NPCs, I'm not good enough with the DnD material and tying things together. I simply don't know all the books by heart..

So, to the task at hand: I have allowed all 3.5 material for my PCs, 35 point buy, max hp per lvl. The game is Undead heavy, or at least will be right up until the end. The NPC/s DMPCs i need help with are:

A lvl 17 Paladin of Lathander, leader of a crusade against the Undead. A lvl 16 or so second-in command, must be focused on martial prowess and be capable of bashing with a shield.

A female Vampire with character levels. She can have up to 16 or so CLVLs so she is still within the scope of a non-epic party should they decide to have at her in the end. Honestly, i've been looking at libiris Mortis but Master Vampire is only good as a 1 lvl dip, I'm lost as to how to best use the Vampire's ability bonuses and special traits. She will be wielding a powerful artifact - a bow that drains CON and fires dark energy arrows (doesn't need ammunition). Even if the PCs get their hands on it, the bow can drain the user's CON and they don't have anyone who is immune to ability damage. Anyway she must be able to use a bow effectively.

A lvl 17 or so Cleric of Lathander, but if you get a PrC that worships another Deity i can always modify it to fit my homebrew campaign.

And of course, three Liches. Two can be with 18 character levels, one can be with 21 character levels (yep 1 Epic Lvl). Feel free to make the 21 character one borderline broken (but no infinite loops, pun-pun stuff. Something plausible).

And most recently, a group of 5 angry drunk Dwarves, that must be around level 8 (party is lvl 8 at the moment). Apart from the Dwarvers, the group is not supposed to fight any of the other NPCs, unless they really want to, in which case they must reap what they have sewn.

For the Dwarves i've been thinking of making one of them be a reaping mauler grappler, the others are just vague concepts.

Any PrC/Book/Item suggestions are welcome. I have access to almost all of the 3.5 material, so go nuts. And thank you!

[Yorrin]

Much like yourself I'm a frequent lurker around here but never actually bothered making an account till now. That being said, I would assume a seasoned veteran is going to find outlining your entire campaign for you tedious. So I'll take the task upon myself.

Your paladins seem rather vague. If you actually want them to be competent in combat try going with Crusaders instead (Tome of Battle). If you're looking for an edgy loose-cannon feel take a look at Gray Guard (Complete Scoundrel). Cavalier is a strong option for mounted damage (Complete Warrior).

For your vampire- my favorite Archer build is Order of the Bow Initiate (Complete Warrior). Start her off as a Warrior (Unearthed Arcana) for extra feats before she qualifies for OotBI.

There are a bajillion things to do with a Cleric. For example, if you want a healing specialist reflavor Radiant Servant of Pelor (Complete Divine). I'd need more details to help you there.

Master Specialist (Complete Mage) is the most obvious choice for a generic Lich build. You could even mix it up and have each Lich be a different type of Specialist. And the high level one could grab some levels of Archmage (DMG).

Your Dwarfs are by far the easiest- Races of Stone has some pre-built Dwarves (starting on the bottom of page 173), including ones at the level you're looking for. Reaping Maulers are good too, and if you're playing up the drinking thing take a look at Drunken Master (Complete Warrior).

Those are just off-the-top-of-my-head PrC suggestions. But you'll need to be more specific about what you want if that doesn't help.

[Quirp]

welcome to the playground

Paladin number 1: take a cleric 7/sacred purifier 5/master of radiance 5 (Libris Mortis), decent spellcasting, fits fluffwise (just call him a paladin)

Paladin number 2: not much here, take Paladin and Ranger levels for TWF feats without perequisits, there is a feat (Comp. Advent. ?)that stacks those for some class features, feat: improved shield bash

Vampire: a Swift Hunter build (ranger/scout with swift hunter feat, comp. advent.) the ability damage can easily be countered by your players though: a Binder dip to get Naberius as a vestige and they are set

Cleric: a cleric with a refluffed Radiant Servant of Pelor (comp. divine) might fit. He would be the perfect person for your group to go to if they are wounded.

I can´t really help with your liches, but your dwarfs must have Drunken Master (comp. warrior)

Damn those ninjas!

One thing though:the OotBI is terrible, since his main class feature allows only one attack per round. For the Swift Hunter you should look into the Travel Devotion feat in Complete Champion.

[Yorrin]

The Pali/Ranger feat you're thinking of is Devoted Tracker- stacks Pali/Ranger lvls for determining Smite and Wild Empathy, and lets your Special Mount also be your Animal Companion.

I'll agree Swift Hunter is a better build than OotBI. That's why I don't play Archers ^_^

[Myth]

Thanks guys! Yes the Crusader from TOB has been mentioned before in other threads around here. I'll check him out immediately. The idea for the Dwarves is one to be a frenzied berzerker/dwarven defender mix that wears heavy armour, cleaves heads in two and is generally a pain to take out. One grappler type, and I will look in to drunken master as well as in to Races of Stone.

BTW Is there any way for a Ranger to get full pet progression like a Druid? I mean, non DM tweak way, like give up spellcasting etc. but something from a published source?

The Vampire was intended to be way out of their league for a large part of the game. I want to utilize the Vampire's good mental stats - CHA especially. How can i make her an effective archer and throw in some Arcane levels for stuff like Tenser's Transformation? Arcane Archer could work, but I don't see that class used often in Gith builds.

I'll check out Warrior but i can't see the benefit over a regular Fighter. As an Undead, my Vampiress sure as hell will be needing every Fort save boost she can get, so the selection of a good save doesn't benefit her particularly. Skills are useless for NPCs for the most part, apart from Spellcraft and the likes of Jump and Tumble. Plus, nothing is stopping her from wearing Heavy Armour untill i add arcane caster levels. Maybe Divine will be better?

For Liches, Master Specialist sure is nice, as is Archmage of course. I'm considering other more non-conventional options.

[Yuki Akuma]

...DMPCs?

My advice: don't. Your players will be annoyed.

[Myth]

Oh they won't be helping the party or taking the glory. Everyone is heading on a grand crusade in "The Valley of the Dead", but soon after most of the NPCs will be destroyed or separated from the PCs.

Some will survive and will make appearances later on, hence the need for stats and decent builds should my players decide to slay someone for his shiny sword.

[Grumman]

BTW Is there any way for a Ranger to get full pet progression like a Druid? I mean, non DM tweak way, like give up spellcasting etc. but something from a published source?
Not quite, but the Natural Bond feat and the Beastmaster PrC from Complete Adventurer each boost your animal companion by three levels compared to a druid. A Ranger 6 / Beastmaster 1 has an effective druid level of 7 for the purposes of his animal companion.

[Eldariel]

I'd say the Paladins I'd like as would be e.g.:

1. Cleric 4/Crusader 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Sacred Exorcist 2
2. Crusader 4/Cleric 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Crusader 1

Basically, the leader has some more divine power than the 2nd in command while the second-in-command is a more martially minded type, but still very capable against undead.


Cleric of Lathander: I totally agree, Radiant Servant is exactly what you want. Cleric 5/Radiant Servant 6/Contemplative 6; very scary for undead and a very scary Cleric overall (and as such, very scary for Undead again).


Vampire: I know this might seem like repetition, but Clerics are really scary Archers. I could definitely see a Cloistered Cleric of Trickery and such as a Vampire and a very scary one at that. Swift Hunter, as suggested in this thread, would also be fairly good. This has been covered adequately so I won't repeat everything. Swift Hunters excel at close ranges.

Final option, one suited for longer ranges too, Ranger 2/Barbarian 1/Fighter 1/Warblade -> could make for an Archer with a twist. Being able to move as a swift action, add extra attacks to the bow flurries and such can be really scary. Barbarian gives Fast Movement and Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ) while Ranger just has some key skills. Fighter just gives a feat, but as one wants plenty of those in an archer, it's useful.

Maneuvers would be stuff like Quicksilver Motion, Sudden Leap, Press the Advantage (combined with DC40 Tumble-checks, she could make 20' adjustment each round), Dancing Mongoose, Raging Mongoose, Time Stands Still, etc. As a bonus, if so desired, you could also make her a skilled melee warrior if you so desire. I'd probably go with the Warblade-build. Ranger 2/Barbarian 1/Fighter 1/Warblade 12 for 16 Character Levels.


Liches: This depends on what you want. Decide on some school specializations/combat tactics/preferred enemies. There are so many ways you can build so many different casters that "Lich" just isn't specific enough. What do you want out of these?

Dwarves: I'd use Deepwarden 2/Fist of the Forests 3 for at least one. In fact, take a look at Fistbeard Beardfist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116838); it's an excellent Dwarf.