Khatoblepas
2010-12-08, 09:22 PM
I've been trying to hit a nice balance for a build I'm making to reenvision a character I want to bring back, that combines the rangery goodness of Mystic Ranger (with all of it's delicious ranger and wizard spells, hello SoTAO) and Dragonfire Inspiration, which would be wonderful to then combine with some archery. Unfortunately, I've run aground as to how to combine them without diluting them to the point of uselessness, as optimization at this level is more delicate than "Get 9th level spells and +16 BAB". I don't mind not having 9th level spells, since at the moment I'm playing a wizard and boy, a lower powered build might be a healthy change of pace.
We run pretty lenient on the cheese, to the point where I'm playing a Shadowcraft Mage and noone is batting an eyelid. We also regularily refluff things, so everything is allowed, so long as it doesn't blatantly break the game in half and make it not fun for everyone.
My half-formed build is:
CG Unseelie Half-Fey Silverbrow Human
Cloistered Cleric (Planning, Elf) 1/Mystic Ranger 5/Prestige Savage Divine Bard 3/Prestige Paladin of Freedom 1/Crusader 1/Ruby knight Vindicator 5
1) Persistant Spell
B) Apprentice (Entertainer)
Flaw) Divine Metamagic (Persistant Spell)
Flaw) Mounted Combat?
C) Extend Spell
C2) Point Blank Shot
3) Words of Creation
R3) Rapid Shot
6) Sword of the Arcane Order
9) Song of the Heart
12) Dragonfire Inspiration
15) Song of the White Raven
+ Vest of Legend and relevant items.
Swap Animal Companion for a monkey familiar, give him a crossbow/shortbow and bracers of archery and let him plink away for some measly extra damage + IC.
Note: Was trapped inside the fey dimension for an inordinate amount of time, longer than it was on the outside. Had enough time to rebuild himself better, stronger, and more efficiently than ever before. Had adventures etc etc etc excuse for having levelled up and changed classes from pure bard.
Relevant notes:
- Starting at at least level 15. The original character came in at 10 and fell out of the campaign after being trapped in an extradimensional fey grove.
- All WoTC material is allowed, Dragon Compendium / Magazine is allowed, and some 3rd party material so long as it's readable. I'm not comfortable with using 3rd party material myself, it makes me uncomfortable.
- As far as I know, homebrew is allowed so long as the DM okays it first.
- Low wealth, so probably wealth equalling to a level 10-12 character.
- Flaws, Traits, etc are okay.
I want to focus on:
- My ranger spellcasting first. For relevant buffs and magical backup. Getting the bard and paladin spell lists both would be pretty badass.
- Inspire Courage - as much as I can get. The party is mostly melee, or likes to mix it up in melee, so getting this high is the second priority. I just can't find a way to get enough + to my IC or enough bardic musics per day.
- Archery. With Dragonfire Inspiration, I should be able to plink out some significant damage. I don't want to go TWF this time since the battlefield is already pretty full of melee guys (Barbarian and Paladin types), and we don't have any way of dealing with threats at range without expending a lot of resources. Maybe with Hank's Bow this should be less of a problem.
All in all, I am aware I am probably stretching myself thin here, but I want to see if I can make it work.
Any suggestions?
We run pretty lenient on the cheese, to the point where I'm playing a Shadowcraft Mage and noone is batting an eyelid. We also regularily refluff things, so everything is allowed, so long as it doesn't blatantly break the game in half and make it not fun for everyone.
My half-formed build is:
CG Unseelie Half-Fey Silverbrow Human
Cloistered Cleric (Planning, Elf) 1/Mystic Ranger 5/Prestige Savage Divine Bard 3/Prestige Paladin of Freedom 1/Crusader 1/Ruby knight Vindicator 5
1) Persistant Spell
B) Apprentice (Entertainer)
Flaw) Divine Metamagic (Persistant Spell)
Flaw) Mounted Combat?
C) Extend Spell
C2) Point Blank Shot
3) Words of Creation
R3) Rapid Shot
6) Sword of the Arcane Order
9) Song of the Heart
12) Dragonfire Inspiration
15) Song of the White Raven
+ Vest of Legend and relevant items.
Swap Animal Companion for a monkey familiar, give him a crossbow/shortbow and bracers of archery and let him plink away for some measly extra damage + IC.
Note: Was trapped inside the fey dimension for an inordinate amount of time, longer than it was on the outside. Had enough time to rebuild himself better, stronger, and more efficiently than ever before. Had adventures etc etc etc excuse for having levelled up and changed classes from pure bard.
Relevant notes:
- Starting at at least level 15. The original character came in at 10 and fell out of the campaign after being trapped in an extradimensional fey grove.
- All WoTC material is allowed, Dragon Compendium / Magazine is allowed, and some 3rd party material so long as it's readable. I'm not comfortable with using 3rd party material myself, it makes me uncomfortable.
- As far as I know, homebrew is allowed so long as the DM okays it first.
- Low wealth, so probably wealth equalling to a level 10-12 character.
- Flaws, Traits, etc are okay.
I want to focus on:
- My ranger spellcasting first. For relevant buffs and magical backup. Getting the bard and paladin spell lists both would be pretty badass.
- Inspire Courage - as much as I can get. The party is mostly melee, or likes to mix it up in melee, so getting this high is the second priority. I just can't find a way to get enough + to my IC or enough bardic musics per day.
- Archery. With Dragonfire Inspiration, I should be able to plink out some significant damage. I don't want to go TWF this time since the battlefield is already pretty full of melee guys (Barbarian and Paladin types), and we don't have any way of dealing with threats at range without expending a lot of resources. Maybe with Hank's Bow this should be less of a problem.
All in all, I am aware I am probably stretching myself thin here, but I want to see if I can make it work.
Any suggestions?