Cover based combatant

[Epsilon Rose]

Hey, I'm looking to make a character based on the idea of firing from cover (and to some extent tactical combat in general). To that end I intend to use the factotum and the munstumologist prc from these boards and a heavy repeating crossbow+tower shield for cover when none's naturally available.
Unfortunately, I've never made a ranged build before and I was hoping to get some help Optimizing it to a usable level. I'll be starting at lv7 with a custom race and light on equipment. I also have acces to the following books:
Book of Challenges
Complete Series
Dungeon Master’s Guide
Dungeon Master’s Guide II
Dungeonscape
Fiend Folio I
Fiend Folio II
Heroes of Battle
Heroes of Horror
Libris Mortis
Lords of Madness
Monster Manual
Player’s Handbook
Player’s Handbook II
Races of the Dragon
Savage Species
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords

Thank you for any help you can give.

[Provengreil]

first problem is repeating crossbow. a careful reading of crossbows says you can only fire a single shot with one hand open, repeating or not. much better for the "machine gun" build is a light crossbow with the rapid reload feat.

you can make a passable ranged build without too much thought, though. lets assume you're a dexterity fighter, for sheer feat number. at level 7 you'll have 6 feats. you need:

-point blank shot(prereq for every other ranged feat)
-precise shot(someone in your party will be in melee. don't risk hitting them.)
-rapid reload(if you have a normal bow, this can be manyshot or your own choice. if you must use a repeater, this should instead be exotic weapon proficiency)
-rapid shot(add one to your full attack round. the only way archery holds up to the other types of combat is attack count.)
-Improved Initiative(your Dex will be high, so go first every time)

the last feat can either be spent on dodge, looking to get mobility and shot on the run, or you can take the alternate fighter class "thug"(http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#fighterVariantThug) for more skill points at the cost of a feat. or you can take something else you want.

instead of a tower shield, consider simply grabbing an eversmoking bottle or something such as that. cover is mostly about positioning yourself, really, not bringing it with you. if your DM insists on making you fight on featureless deserts, talk to him and ask for a more interesting environment. with this particular build, you're a tier 5 class so getting smart with the terrain is necessary. to make best use of it i recommend ranks in climb, jump, and balance. your armor will be light, probably leather at best, so don't worry about the check penalties.

Last, get the splitting property on your weapon as soon as possible. it's +3, and for every time you shoot, 2 shots come out. this is obviously for late game, but you can combine that with rapid shot and another weapon upgrade, prismatic burst, to make some decent damage happen.

this build uses core, magic item compendium for prismatic burst, and i can't remember what book gave us splitting but that one too. not the best, but it'll do what you're asking.

edited for clarity.

[Epsilon Rose]

Thanks for the tip about the eversmoking bottle and bow type, that should help with what I'm going for.
Unfortunately it's fairly important that he be an int based fighter, hence factotum. I could be persuaded to switch to a different class but it needs to be based on knowlege/the acqesition there of/or intelligence.

Also, is there a cheap way to see throuh my own smoke?

[Provengreil]

Thanks for the tip about the eversmoking bottle and bow type, that should help with what I'm going for.
Unfortunately it's fairly important that he be an int based fighter, hence factotum. I could be persuaded to switch to a different class but it needs to be based on knowlege/the acqesition there of/or intelligence.

Also, is there a cheap way to see throuh my own smoke?

the build itself was an example, i don't really know much about the factotum. it's just to help get the gears grinding:smallwink:.

that said, there are a number of ways to deal with your own smoke problems. get a longbow, combine shot on the run and manyshot to run out, shoot your arrows, run back in. That's kinda feat heavy, though. the seeking property can solve the problem too, at gp cost. Improved precise shot feat will do it, though that takes some extra levels to reach.

Mostly, though, if you're using cover, it's all about reading the terrain.

[Treblain]

If you're firing while hiding, you might as well be a Rogue and get Sneak Attack to take advantage of it. I can't remember the difference between cover and concealment, but if you get concealment, sneak attack follows. You can also pick up Crossbow Sniper (PHB 2), which lets you use Sneak Attack from 60 feet instead of 30 and add 1/2 your Dex modifier to damage.

It's hard to use Rapid Shot and iterative attacks with repeating crossbows. Repeating crossbows are worse than hand or light crossbows+ Rapid Reload, since they only have five shots before reloading, as opposed to infinite free action reloading.

Factotums don't gain proficiency with hand crossbows, but rogues do. It has worse range and damage than light crossbows, but you can conceal it, which is nice. Like Repeating Crossbows, it's an exotic weapon, so you can take one level of Exotic Weapon Master (CW) to get the trick that lets you make ranged attacks without provoking AoEs.

Woodland Archer (RotW) is a great feat for any ranged attacker who stays out of the open. Shot on the Run might have applications, but it's probably not worth all the feats. Rapid Shot and Precise Shot are good feats, too. If you feel feat-starved, that's what 2-level fighter dips are for.

Hide In Plain Sight is good to have when there's no cover handy. Easiest way to get it is the Dark template (ToM or some other book).

There aren't many good prestige classes for this. Horizon Walker fits with the idea of knowing the terrain. If you do decide on using sneak attack, Dread Commando (HoB) or Nightsong Enforcer (CAdv) both advance sneak attack with full BAB.

[Provengreil]

Treblain makes a good poiint on using rogues with hand crossbows; they have a good crit range, automatic proficiency, and you can sneak attack. rogues can also benefit quite well from a good intelligence score, and you had that as a roleplaying requirement.

Hide in Plain sight is more limited than some people think. it says you can enter hiding while still being observed; this is really good. however, I'm aware of no version of HIPS that does not have a condition, usually the proximity of a dark shadow or something. a smart enemy can easily rob you of this condition. it's still worth taking, but you have to be aware of its limitations. the dark template is nice but some DMs, me included, would be hesitant allowing it. another, less munchkinny way to get it is multiclass to shadowdancer. note that hiding can be defeated by certain things like blindsense, tremorsense, and i believe true seeing.

i like the flavor of shot on the run, but the mechanics don't really fit, and it rarely pays off the number of prerequisite feats, both of which are meh. If I were to use it, i'd change it to say you can make a move action while using a standard or full round action to attack. but that's off topic.

epsilon wanted cover based combat specifically, though, so if there's a PRC that fits it it's probably horizon walker.

[Epsilon Rose]

Hm, rogue might be worth looking into. I should also probably mention I'm only allowed 3 classes.

After looking at it a bit I really like the idea of using an eversmoking bottle as a sort of smoke grenade. Un/fortunately it blocks all sight so seeking and improved precise shot don't work and it ends up covering a 100 foot radius so I'm not sure how useful something like shot on the run would be. Any other ideas for dealing with it?

[Provengreil]

Hm, rogue might be worth looking into. I should also probably mention I'm only allowed 3 classes.

After looking at it a bit I really like the idea of using an eversmoking bottle as a sort of smoke grenade. Un/fortunately it blocks all sight so seeking and improved precise shot don't work and it ends up covering a 100 foot radius so I'm not sure how useful something like shot on the run would be. Any other ideas for dealing with it?

the seeking weapon property is your best bet. if you can even target the proper square, it hits, no questions asked(doesn't help with ethereal enemies though!). also, the bottle says obscure, but not blocks; you can see them, just foggily. that helps, because you can target them.

As for a 3 class rogue involving Hide in plain sight, the dark template is definitely your best bet. If your DM won't allow it, Shadowdancer is the only class I can think of that gives it as a feature. for other classes, use some of the ones Treblain suggested, or even go full class rogue and grab some of their special level 10+ abilities later.

[Treblain]

Yeah, Shadowdancer dip for HiPS is okay, too. But it requires three feats that have little or no applicability to a long-range fighter, though I guess Dodge and Mobility go toward getting Shot On The Run, plus they qualify you for Dread Commando, a decent skirmisher class. But generally, there are much better things to spend feats on.

As for using HiPS, your allies cast shadows, so you can just stand next to the wizard or other ranged combatant. Or, you could have two Shadowdancers hiding in each other's shadow and-

I think my mind just broke.

[Provengreil]

Yeah, Shadowdancer dip for HiPS is okay, too. But it requires three feats that have little or no applicability to a long-range fighter, though I guess Dodge and Mobility go toward getting Shot On The Run, plus they qualify you for Dread Commando, a decent skirmisher class. But generally, there are much better things to spend feats on.

As for using HiPS, your allies cast shadows, so you can just stand next to the wizard or other ranged combatant. Or, you could have two Shadowdancers hiding in each other's shadow and-

I think my mind just broke.

a single, well placed light spell takes it all down though, that's the problem. daylight pellets can screw it up too, for real cheap. it's fine for mooks and most encounters, but a bbeg is gonna have a strategem, so you want other dependable strategies.

[Epsilon Rose]

At this point it might be worth mentioning that I'll probably be playing in an undead heavy campaign.

And hopefully getting some bane blind: undead armor.

[Provengreil]

oh. maybe rogue is a bad idea. I find with undead you mostly have to just kill them till they die again, so focus on maximizing attack count. full BAB class, splitting arrows, rapid shot, etc.

out of curiosity, what's you're race?

[ericgrau]

Kneel for +2 AC against ranged attacks, though -2 against melee. The action type for standing up from a kneel isn't given in D&D but if we go by the Star Wars rules it's a move action that doesn't provoke. Compare to standing up from prone, a move action that does provoke.

At high levels an instant fortress is an awesome way to get improved cover wherever you go.

I'll agree that attack bonus, a magic bow and tons of arrows are the way to go rather than sneak attack. Be sure to get lots of buffs from party casters like flame arrow, heroism and greater magic weapon. If you can't then go arcane archer. I know they get a lot of hate for being made obsolete by a few buffs but if you can't get buffs they're better than anything short of DMM persist cheese.

[Epsilon Rose]

It's based on the half-ork but with +2 int and -2 cha instead of the normal abilities.

Also that fortress would be nice if I had the cash.

As for rogue there's apparently an ACF that lets you keep sneak attack against undead so it's still viable, but I'm not entirely sure where I'd go with it that's in-keeping with the flavor I. This character is meant to be driven almost entirely by thirst for knowledge and curiosity, hence the Factotum, and now I'm considering a splash of archivist, but I'd rather have more of a "mundane" focus instead of being a caster... is there anything that advances both of those?

[Provengreil]

thirst for knowledge goes best with wizards, IMO. but it sounds mostly like a roleplaying thing, not a class based thing. I don't have access to factotum, so i can't see what the class is about, but any thiefy rogue can fit the curious role, and you can be both curious and smart and the same time.

[Epsilon Rose]

You can get a quick rundown on the factotum here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2720.0) if you want. The short version is they get int to basically everything, all class skills, and the ability to mimic almost any other class to some extent a few times per encounter.

And I'm aware a rogue can fit the curious role, that's why I'm considering it :smallwink:, I'm just not sure what I'd do with it, so I'm toying with a bunch of different options. The best would combine all three but I'm not sure that's feasible (archivist for some buffs and knowledge tricks, factotum for some int based shenanagrins, and some thing roguish for that rogue-like goodness).
Also my rogue would probably be more Indiana Jones-esque than thievy.
Also also, you're probably right that it's mostly rp and that wizards are basically the premier knowlege to power class but I really don't want to play one.

[Provengreil]

well then, all else i can say is that you should probably max your skill ranks by making your level 1 class level rogue. beyond that, the choices are yours.