Alien Mole
2010-10-22, 05:12 PM
Hi ho!
Obligatory first post stuff. Long time listener, first time caller etc.
Naw, seriously, I'm a pretty big fan of these forums (comic as well) and I've been slowly but steadily cultivating a D&D obsession for the past year or so. I spent the breaks durings my finals memorising sourcebooks (it soothed me) which has turned me into something of an avid character buildy person. Which is why I'm making this post in the first place: I'd like some advice on a build.
First things first: it's -not- an attempt at absolute character optimisation; more an attempt at an optimised flavour build. It should be fairly effective, and I'm open to advice to make it even more so, but I'm not planning on on completely switching classes around to some insane degree just to get two more damage per round, if you know what I mean.
Anyways, here goes the build. The concept is a fairly brutal/sadistic, clever and extremely nimble fighter, essentially a storm of steel and destruction. But in a totally elegant sort of way. As a secondary characteristic, I'd like him to have something of a 'veteran' air about him, i.e. a capable, experienced combatant with a good sense of tactics.
I should also say that the campaign is zero-to-low magic and the other members are a rogue/assassin, a barbarian/fist of the forest/frostrager, a fighter/monk/shou disciplesomething and a non-spellcasting bard that the DM has assigned a fairly sizeable number of bonus feats (he will be using leadership in order to gain a ranged swift hunter cohort).
We're at level 3 right now, going up to 20 and beyond.
Here's the build:
Rhaevan
Male Lawful Evil Lesser Tiefling (tweaked; only 2 resistances)
Age: 35.
Starting stats:
STR: 14
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 16
WIS: 9
CHA: 4
L1: Swashbuckler (Swb1: Weapon Finesse) (L1: Two-Weapon Fighting) (Flaw: Murky-Eyed - Combat Expertise) (Flaw: Pathetic Charisma, 'monstrous' x2 armour cost - Expeditious Dodge) (Trait: Quick) (Trait: Aggressive) (Trait: Suspicious; all allowed)
L2: Kensai[Fighter variant] (Kns1: Weapon of choice: Great Scimitar)
L3: Swashbuckler (Swb2: Grace) (L3: Improved Trip)
L4: Kensai (Kns2: Mobility) +1 DEX
L5: Swashbuckler (Swb3: Insightful Strike)
L6: Dervish (Drv1: Dervish Dance, Slashing Blades, Movement Mastery) (L6: Elusive Target)
L7: Dervish (Drv2: Fast Movement +5)
L8: Dervish (Drv3: Spring Attack) +1STR
L9 Dervish (Drv4: Dance of Death) (L9: Flay Foe)
L10 Dread Commando (DrC1: Sudden Strike 1d6, class level to team INIT, 5% concealment in natural terrain per class level)
L11: Dervish (Drv5: Fast Movement +10)
L12: Dread Commando (DrC2) (L12: Imp. 2WF) +1 DEX
L13: Dervish (Drv6: Improved Reaction)
L14: Dread Commando (DrC3: 2d6 Sudden Strike)
L15: Dervish (Drv7: Elaborate Parry) (L15: Improved Initiative)
L16: Dread Commando (DrC4: Stealthy Movement) +1 DEX
L17: Dervish (Drv8: Fast Movement +15)
L18: Dread Commando (DrC5: Sudden Strike 3d6) (L18: Greater 2WF)
L19: Dervish (Drv9: Tireless Dance)
L20: Dervish (Drv10: A Thousand Cuts) +1 DEX
Skills: Escape Artist 22, Hide 21, Jump 23, Move Silently 21, Perform (Dance) 23, Tumble 23
Tricks: Acrobatic Backstab, Back on Your Feet, Extreme Leap, Nimble Stand, Tumbling Crawl
Saves: FORT 12, REF 18, WILL 8 (This should be less dangerous than in other campaigns as there isn't a lot of magic)
HP: 139
AC: 22 without Exp. Dodge, Combat Expertise or Defensive Fighting.
INIT: +18
Equipment: 2 Keen Great Scimitars, Mithral Breastplate with appropriate bonuses. Very low-magic settings so I don't know which other gear I might be able to managed. The DM has ruled that Great Scimitars are compatible with Dervish, so there y'go.
Attacks: potentially 14/round at 1d8+4d6+11 (ish) during a surprise round with A Thousand Cuts - this is pretty obviously a nova build at higher levels.
The main tactic would obviously be to win initiative and cut everything to ribbons. The build should be able to AC/dodge tank between concealment and the 35-ish AC that I can manage between Combat Expertise and Defensive Fighting - Elusive Target should also help here.
My main concerns are these: are there any slight inefficiencies or potential tweaks I may have missed? Are there any feat/skill choices that are extremely suboptimal? Is there any equipment I should aim to get provided that I can obtain it? I know flat damage bonuses to weapon damage should be good, but apart from that I'm not sure.
For the record: I know there are probably better PrCs than Dread Commando, but I -really- like the flavour and my team should hate me less for potentially ending encounters in 1 round if I can give them all +5 init.
Whew. Bit of a long first post and I'm sure I'll edit it as I remember things I need to add. I'd be grateful for any comments or criticisms anyone has to offer. Any comments on survivability would also be quite welcome; I estimate it to be acceptably good considering the low-magic setting, but any tips are most welcome.
Cheers!
- Alien Mole
Obligatory first post stuff. Long time listener, first time caller etc.
Naw, seriously, I'm a pretty big fan of these forums (comic as well) and I've been slowly but steadily cultivating a D&D obsession for the past year or so. I spent the breaks durings my finals memorising sourcebooks (it soothed me) which has turned me into something of an avid character buildy person. Which is why I'm making this post in the first place: I'd like some advice on a build.
First things first: it's -not- an attempt at absolute character optimisation; more an attempt at an optimised flavour build. It should be fairly effective, and I'm open to advice to make it even more so, but I'm not planning on on completely switching classes around to some insane degree just to get two more damage per round, if you know what I mean.
Anyways, here goes the build. The concept is a fairly brutal/sadistic, clever and extremely nimble fighter, essentially a storm of steel and destruction. But in a totally elegant sort of way. As a secondary characteristic, I'd like him to have something of a 'veteran' air about him, i.e. a capable, experienced combatant with a good sense of tactics.
I should also say that the campaign is zero-to-low magic and the other members are a rogue/assassin, a barbarian/fist of the forest/frostrager, a fighter/monk/shou disciplesomething and a non-spellcasting bard that the DM has assigned a fairly sizeable number of bonus feats (he will be using leadership in order to gain a ranged swift hunter cohort).
We're at level 3 right now, going up to 20 and beyond.
Here's the build:
Rhaevan
Male Lawful Evil Lesser Tiefling (tweaked; only 2 resistances)
Age: 35.
Starting stats:
STR: 14
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 16
WIS: 9
CHA: 4
L1: Swashbuckler (Swb1: Weapon Finesse) (L1: Two-Weapon Fighting) (Flaw: Murky-Eyed - Combat Expertise) (Flaw: Pathetic Charisma, 'monstrous' x2 armour cost - Expeditious Dodge) (Trait: Quick) (Trait: Aggressive) (Trait: Suspicious; all allowed)
L2: Kensai[Fighter variant] (Kns1: Weapon of choice: Great Scimitar)
L3: Swashbuckler (Swb2: Grace) (L3: Improved Trip)
L4: Kensai (Kns2: Mobility) +1 DEX
L5: Swashbuckler (Swb3: Insightful Strike)
L6: Dervish (Drv1: Dervish Dance, Slashing Blades, Movement Mastery) (L6: Elusive Target)
L7: Dervish (Drv2: Fast Movement +5)
L8: Dervish (Drv3: Spring Attack) +1STR
L9 Dervish (Drv4: Dance of Death) (L9: Flay Foe)
L10 Dread Commando (DrC1: Sudden Strike 1d6, class level to team INIT, 5% concealment in natural terrain per class level)
L11: Dervish (Drv5: Fast Movement +10)
L12: Dread Commando (DrC2) (L12: Imp. 2WF) +1 DEX
L13: Dervish (Drv6: Improved Reaction)
L14: Dread Commando (DrC3: 2d6 Sudden Strike)
L15: Dervish (Drv7: Elaborate Parry) (L15: Improved Initiative)
L16: Dread Commando (DrC4: Stealthy Movement) +1 DEX
L17: Dervish (Drv8: Fast Movement +15)
L18: Dread Commando (DrC5: Sudden Strike 3d6) (L18: Greater 2WF)
L19: Dervish (Drv9: Tireless Dance)
L20: Dervish (Drv10: A Thousand Cuts) +1 DEX
Skills: Escape Artist 22, Hide 21, Jump 23, Move Silently 21, Perform (Dance) 23, Tumble 23
Tricks: Acrobatic Backstab, Back on Your Feet, Extreme Leap, Nimble Stand, Tumbling Crawl
Saves: FORT 12, REF 18, WILL 8 (This should be less dangerous than in other campaigns as there isn't a lot of magic)
HP: 139
AC: 22 without Exp. Dodge, Combat Expertise or Defensive Fighting.
INIT: +18
Equipment: 2 Keen Great Scimitars, Mithral Breastplate with appropriate bonuses. Very low-magic settings so I don't know which other gear I might be able to managed. The DM has ruled that Great Scimitars are compatible with Dervish, so there y'go.
Attacks: potentially 14/round at 1d8+4d6+11 (ish) during a surprise round with A Thousand Cuts - this is pretty obviously a nova build at higher levels.
The main tactic would obviously be to win initiative and cut everything to ribbons. The build should be able to AC/dodge tank between concealment and the 35-ish AC that I can manage between Combat Expertise and Defensive Fighting - Elusive Target should also help here.
My main concerns are these: are there any slight inefficiencies or potential tweaks I may have missed? Are there any feat/skill choices that are extremely suboptimal? Is there any equipment I should aim to get provided that I can obtain it? I know flat damage bonuses to weapon damage should be good, but apart from that I'm not sure.
For the record: I know there are probably better PrCs than Dread Commando, but I -really- like the flavour and my team should hate me less for potentially ending encounters in 1 round if I can give them all +5 init.
Whew. Bit of a long first post and I'm sure I'll edit it as I remember things I need to add. I'd be grateful for any comments or criticisms anyone has to offer. Any comments on survivability would also be quite welcome; I estimate it to be acceptably good considering the low-magic setting, but any tips are most welcome.
Cheers!
- Alien Mole