PDA

View Full Version : [3.5] Prepared Party



Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-09, 09:06 PM
I've been invited to join a 3.5 game run by my brother and a friend of his.

I've only been told a little bit about what it's going to be like, but I'm really intrigued. The only bits I've really been given are the fact that humans are not the dominant race on the continent where the game takes place, being relatively new arrivals from a Norse-like land across the sea. They've built several colony cities by the time the game starts and are a common race on the continent now, but the dominant races are still elves and dwarves.

I've also been told about the main city where the campaign will take place. According to legend, a great dwarven hero battled the mother of all dragons (like Tiamat but with a single head) on the site, using a magic hammer or something to put it to sleep, and building a fortress on the spot. Later the elves showed up as refugees, and decided to try and take the fortress for their new home, which the dwarf hero held all by himself. The elves' siege failed and finally their leader met with the fortress' lone defender, who willingly gave the fortress and surrounding lands to them. Both the dwarf hero and the elf leader are now the gods of their respective peoples.

I'm totally stoked, but now I need to decide on a character.

In the interest of making the campaign fun by not having it crash and burn with a TPK, I've decided to play whatever role the party needs most, using my character to fill whatever gap the party may have. I'm just not sure what that gap might be.

So far, I only definitely know who three characters are going to be. My brother and another friend of his are both playing paladins (My brother playing a half-elf paladin and his friend playing a human paladin of freedom. My brother's currently looking for some means of bolstering the half-elf race.), and another person is playing a halfling rogue.

The only other person who hasn't come up with a character idea yet is my brother's friend (the one who is sharing DM responsibilities with my brother, they plan on alternating each session). He's mentioned wanting to play something crazy, like a psion, but that's all I have to go on.

At the moment, I'm not sure what weakness in the party I should fill. With the two paladins and the rogue we have our Meatshields and Skillmonkey. We still need a Healbitch and a Batman. I don't know if I should play some kind of cleric or druid so I can ensure that the party has healing, or play your classic Batman wizard to basically make the party unstoppable.

Racewise I'd like to play a race the party doesn't have, like an elf or a dwarf, preferably something with stats amenable to the kinds of characters our party needs (Healbitch or the Goddamn Batman)

If I play a wizard, I'm wondering how effective a Wizard 9/Intitiate of the Sevenfold Veil 7/Archmage 4 would be.

Any advice?

Prodan
2010-06-09, 09:10 PM
If I play a wizard, I'm wondering how effective a Wizard 9/Intitiate of the Sevenfold Veil 7/Archmage 4 would be.

Any advice?
Not as effective as a Wizard 3/Master Specialist 6/ItoSV 7/Archmage 4 would be :smallwink:

Go for arcane power. You'll have enough healing.

Private-Prinny
2010-06-09, 09:11 PM
If you're unsure of what slot you need to fill, just use someone who can fill them all. I would suggest a Binder. They can change their bound vestiges daily, allowing you to be whatever the party needs at the time.

If you do go for an IotSV, try Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 10/IotSV 7. Played correctly, it's broken-tacular.

demidracolich
2010-06-09, 09:16 PM
Or you can be an anima mage and have both binding and spellcasting.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-09, 09:22 PM
Not as effective as a Wizard 3/Master Specialist 6/ItoSV 7/Archmage 4 would be :smallwink:
Hmmm...I'll need to look into that.

Go for arcane power. You'll have enough healing.
How do you know? Lay on Hands can only do so much, and I'm concerned our Meatshields won't be very good at their jobs because...well, they're paladins.

PId6
2010-06-09, 09:25 PM
Wizard, definitely wizard. Healing can be done from a wand by the rogue (or you; UMD ranks never hurt). Wand of Lesser Vigor heals 550 hp per wand and is only 750 gp. Get each person to buy a Healing Belt as well and you'll have more than enough.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-09, 09:28 PM
If you do go for an IotSV, try Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 10/IotSV 7. Played correctly, it's broken-tacular.
And how would I play such a combination correctly, pray tell?

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-06-09, 09:30 PM
An Archivist (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) could do both healing and Batmanning, though you'd need a reliable source for non-cleric divine scrolls. An Archivist gets Scribe Scroll, so the easiest way is to hire a Warlock 12+ to help you make a scroll of any divine spell you want (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872558/Lowest_level_versions_of_spells), but hiring a high-level NPC isn't always easy.

Given three melee/ranged attackers already, a (Savage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantSavageBard) ) Bard would be a great addition. Focus on Inspire Courage and get some healing spells, pick up Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) for something with three attacks/round, and stand back with a bow. Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar aren't bad, and an Eternal Wand of Hound of Doom (CW) is amazing. You can do a little bit of offensive Batman and serve as an emergency healer, but mostly you'll buff the rest of the party so hard that they'll never lose a fight. I'd probably go Gnome for the Bard 1 substitution level, or maybe Spellscale for the Bard 1 and 3 substitution levels. Go Spellscale or Stonehunter Gnome if you want to get DFI.

PId6
2010-06-09, 09:33 PM
And how would I play such a combination correctly, pray tell?
Prepare control spells, block whatever you need to with Iot7fV, use your awesome personal Abjuration spells on your allies (Master Specialist capstone; Antimagic Field is best example), and dispel the **** out of any enemy casters that dare come near you.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-09, 09:36 PM
What do you mean "control spells?" I've never really played a wizard, so I don't know all the ins and outs and the lingo and whatnot.

Prodan
2010-06-09, 09:40 PM
What do you mean "control spells?" I've never really played a wizard, so I don't know all the ins and outs and the lingo and whatnot.

Spells that dictate the terms on which the enemy engages you. Like Wall of Force.

Eldariel
2010-06-09, 09:42 PM
Control spells are the "batman stuff"; things that separate enemy groups, weaken the enemy and so on. Stuff like Web, Grease, Stinking Cloud, Fog Cloud, Wall of Stone and so on; you control the options your enemy has available (and ensure they have to pick the horrible ones like fighting your entire party one-by-one with -lots to everything) often coupled with some save-or-youwon'tlikeit effects (but generally the job is done regardless of the results of the save). Add some save-or-X effects and you're fine.


I'd consider Druid or Cleric though; you can, with some work, get some very decent wizardly casting which while not on par with Wizards themselves, still works fine (Druid has natural tendency towards controlling stuff such as Entangle, Soften Earth and Stone and so on; they're just a bit more restricted than Wizard's), and you can use Wands of Lesser Vigor/(Lesser) Restoration for healing, along with the Heal-spell itself.

Cleric would need Wizardly domains but could do just fine in that role. Spell Domain (Spell Compendium) in particular would expand your options. The mentioned and linked Archivist-class is a convenient way of sidestepping this by getting you most Wizard-spells memorized (through Adept, Divine Bard, Cleric Domains and so on, you can get almost all of them). Indeed, Archivist is pretty much a divine Wizard.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-06-09, 09:44 PM
What do you mean "control spells?" I've never really played a wizard, so I don't know all the ins and outs and the lingo and whatnot.

A few examples of some of the stronger choices: Grease (see the Balance skill), Color Spray; Web, Glitterdust; Bands of Steel, Sleet Storm, Ray of Dizziness; Black Tentacles, Solid Fog; Transmute Rock to Mud; Freezing Fog, Ray of Light; Forcecage, Reverse Gravity; Iceberg. Control spells hinder your opponents' actions, preventing them from posing a threat while the rest of your party deals the necessary damage to kill them.

742
2010-06-09, 10:34 PM
control spells
"oh god were outnumbered 50-1!" "and? *create choke point* *set choke point on fire* stand there please.":smallcool:

"oh no, they have archers on the cliff! theres no way we can approach!" *wind wall five feet past the edge of the cliff or rock to mud on cliff edge*:smallcool:

maybe the big bad melee warrior type antagonist has trapped the badly injured rogue away from the group with your melee fighter all the way on the other side of the battlefield 1 benign transposition and that situation is reversed.

if you played SC2, its kinda how sentries were super-powerful.

Fouredged Sword
2010-06-09, 11:07 PM
If you really don't know what your party will need, do it all. Play a factotum chemelion. I butchered the spelling, but Races of Destiny and Dungonscape. Boost your int, and do whatever the party needs. Devine and Arcane, figher and thief, there is very little you can't do.

GoodbyeSoberDay
2010-06-09, 11:22 PM
War Weaver, in Heroes of Battle. Turn that melee heavy party into a bunch of powerhouses with party buffs galore. I believe Abjurer3/Master Abjurer2/War Weaver5/IotSV7/Archmage3 works. You might also want to try Elven Generalist 5/War Weaver 5/Incantatrix 10 for SERIOUS party buffing.

blueblade
2010-06-10, 04:48 AM
Play a Druid. because they're awesome and fill in for healing and controllers. Not to mention everything else.

If you really don't want to be a human try a strongheart or ghostwise halfling for something different.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-10, 12:09 PM
Play a Druid. because they're awesome and fill in for healing and controllers. Not to mention everything else.

If you really don't want to be a human try a strongheart or ghostwise halfling for something different.

But we've already got a halfling, and I don't think any of us playing the game have FR books anyway.

Siosilvar
2010-06-10, 12:13 PM
But we've already got a halfling, and I don't think any of us playing the game have FR books anyway.

Who says you can't have two halflings? Lord of the Rings had four.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-06-10, 01:12 PM
I'm kind of OCD about variety in a party. If someone's playing a particular race or class, I get anxious if I play a character of the same race or class, mostly because I feel I'm being redundant, and I've sort of conditioned myself to believe that in D&D and in other RPGs, variety is essential for the party to survive. That we have to have all our bases covered or we'll TPK. Granted this is more about class than race, but still I try to get as much variety in as I can with my characters.