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Fortinbras
2010-06-22, 03:22 PM
I'm trying to design a character that would be the D&D equivalent of a soldier from the British Army's Second World War era Parachute Regiment but with standard D&D equipment. Level 8, 3.5 edition.

Coplantor
2010-06-22, 03:25 PM
Do you want only equipment advice or do you also request a build? If so, what books do you have access to? Home rules?

Person_Man
2010-06-22, 03:30 PM
So, Flight (or Feather Fall?), a ranged attack/gun, Survival, Hide/Move Silently, Spot, and Listen?

Fax Celestis
2010-06-22, 03:32 PM
And the Dread Commando PrC.

sofawall
2010-06-22, 03:36 PM
Are we doing the whole "It has Commando in its name, so it must be a good Commando" thing? Because Dread Commando is decent, at best, for making a WW2 era SAS soldier.

Fax Celestis
2010-06-22, 03:37 PM
Are we doing the whole "It has Commando in its name, so it must be a good Commando" thing? Because Dread Commando is decent, at best, for making a WW2 era SAS soldier.

Dread Commando is one of those rare classes that says what it is actually good at in it's name accurately,

Human Paragon 3
2010-06-22, 03:38 PM
Horizon Walker?

gallagher
2010-06-22, 04:00 PM
i would actually max out survival as a barbarian. get power throw so you can go at range, go for bloodstorm blade, find a thrown weapon with a high crit range, go to town.

actually, using javelins would be kinda cool with this build. or if you can get large sized in your build, be a hulking hurler and throw pianos. it may not scream commando, so maybe something a little quieter. throw dwarves instead. to make sure they are quiet, slit their throats. bonus points if they still live and have class levels

Theodoxus
2010-06-22, 04:17 PM
Nah, Whisper gnomes! Have some form of mind control so they use their silence ability when you pick them up to throw. Silent missiles of doom. Yeah.

Heliomance
2010-06-22, 04:57 PM
So... gestalt with Thrallherd then?

Greenish
2010-06-22, 05:31 PM
Silverbrow human (Feather Fall as SLA, woot!)

{TABLE]ECL|class|class features|feats
1|Rogue|1d6 SA, Trapfinding|Able Learner, Craven, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2|Ranger1|Track, Favoured Enemy|-
3|Ranger2|Rapid Shot|Rapid Reload
4|Barbarian1|Whirling Frenzy, Pounce|-
5|Barbarian2|Improved Trip|-
6|Fighter1|Weapon Focus: Light Crossbow|Darkstalker
7|Fighter2|Crossbow Sniper|-
8|Cloistered Cleric1|Knowledge Devotion, Travel Devotion, Turn Undead, Magic domain|-[/TABLE]Sneak Attack adds 1d6+8 per shot up to 60' away. You can full attack and then move (with travel devotion) to hide again. If hiding isn't an option, frenzy and shoot even more. If ranged is not an option, grab a high crit range two-hander and go melee. Remember to flank.

Magic domain granted power (and ranger levels) mean you can activate most wands without UMD, so you can use your skill points somewhere else.

For equipment, peek at the Archery Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=642.0).

[Edit]: A more hidey one:{TABLE]ECL|class|class features|feats
1|Rogue|1d6 SA, Trapfinding|Able Learner, Craven, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2|Ranger1|Track, Favoured Enemy|-
3|Ranger2|Rapid Shot|Dodge
4|Monk1|Improved Unarmed Strike, Combat Reflexes|-
5|Fighter1|Hand Crossbow Focus|-
6|Fighter2|Crossbow Sniper|Mobility
7|Cleric1|Knowledge Devotion, Travel Devotion, Turn Undead|-
8|Shadowdancer|Hide in Plain Sight|-
[/TABLE]Stupid Shadowdancer requirements… Yeah, a light crossbow would be better for our purposes, but hand crossbow saves us a feat by giving weapon focus (crossbow sniper requirement) and rapid reload in one feat. Arms & Equipment Guide has a Gnome Crossbow Sight that allows you to ignore two range increments, so you're still not taking penalties at 60' range, even with hand crossbow's short range.

Thurbane
2010-06-22, 09:36 PM
Binder/KotSS - with the right vestiges, you can cover most anything a WW2 era commando is good at.

Fizban
2010-06-23, 01:28 AM
I don't know about commando-ing, but if you want stealthy sneak attack there are a couple sor/wiz spells to help witth that. Level 1 swift action spells Sniper's Shot and Guided Shot can let you sneak attack at any range and attack without range penalties respectively. If you extend the first one by having 2nd level spells or buying an extended wand you can use both at once and sneak attack from so far away the range penalties will prevent you from being spotted, ever.

And wow, that cloistered cleric dip is excellent for a special forces character. Use almost any wand, lore gives you a chance to know almost anything, the message cantrip gives you a 400' radio and unseen servant gives you a fall guy for moving objects from hiding. Knowledge devotion gives you a scaling damage bonus against anything you keep up your knowledge checks on, which is great for a representing extra special training. Travel devotion makes them scary fast, which is only made worse if you're fighting a group of then, and you can get two extra uses for one extra turning feat. Nice build Greenish.

Greenish
2010-06-23, 06:55 AM
Knowledge devotion gives you a scaling damage bonus against anything you keep up your knowledge checks on, which is great for a representing extra special training.Meh, I cooked it up rather fast, so it doesn't have so much synergy. The barbarian especially doesn't add much other than a slight melee twist.

Now, actually cloistered cleric should be taken earlier, say, on the second level. You can swap out the domain for a devotion any time you wish, so do that at the third level. Now you've had all knowledge skills as class skills, and the cap is thus increased. With Able Learner you can invest skill points into them at 1:1 ratio.