Building a "Dream Team"

[Angry Bob]

I wish I could say this was in the sense of "Inception." But it's not.

If you had free rein to build a 4-member party however you saw fit, how would you build it? This is a personal preference survey rather than a question of what's optimal.

Personally:

Wizard: Conjuration focused specialist, with a concentration in battlefield control.
Charger Atrocity: A charger using the standard array of classes and feats; Barbarian 1/Fighter 2/Psywarrior 1/Warblade X, Shock Trooper, Leap Attack, Battle Jump, etc. Ideally, gets (Ex)flight as some point.
Artificer: Build to provide cheap items.
Archivist: For spellcasting utility, summons, and to provide divine spells at lower CL for the artificer.

Basically, when they get into a fight, the Wizard makes sure the charger can get his charge as often as possible while the archivist holds of everything else with summons. The artificer is mainly there to provide cheap magic items, but probably has enough feats left over to serve as a blaster, doing the kind of exotic damage types that the charger can't.

tl;dr: What kind of party would you want to see in action?

[gallagher]

Illusion specialist wizard
DMM Persisted cleric, who will beat stick a lot
Factotum. no need to explain
and bard-crusader blend... because this party doesnt really need a 4th man

[gbprime]

Wizard - Elf Generalist/Domain w/ Spontaneous Divination - focus is battlefield control
Warblade - reliable damage dealing without regard to specific maneuver or equipment
Druid - summoner/healer with either melee (wildshape) or ranged (reserve feat + no wildshape) capability
Swashbuckler/Rogue - reliable damage dealing plus traps and social

[Tokuhara]

I wish I could say this was in the sense of "Inception." But it's not.

If you had free rein to build a 4-member party however you saw fit, how would you build it? This is a personal preference survey rather than a question of what's optimal.

Personally:

Wizard: Conjuration focused specialist, with a concentration in battlefield control.
Charger Atrocity: A charger using the standard array of classes and feats; Barbarian 1/Fighter 2/Psywarrior 1/Warblade X, Shock Trooper, Leap Attack, Battle Jump, etc. Ideally, gets (Ex)flight as some point.
Artificer: Build to provide cheap items.
Archivist: For spellcasting utility, summons, and to provide divine spells at lower CL for the artificer.

Basically, when they get into a fight, the Wizard makes sure the charger can get his charge as often as possible while the archivist holds of everything else with summons. The artificer is mainly there to provide cheap magic items, but probably has enough feats left over to serve as a blaster, doing the kind of exotic damage types that the charger can't.

tl;dr: What kind of party would you want to see in action?

My idea of a dream team is a little more esoteric:

Grey Elf Conjurer/Incantrix/Mage of the Arcane Order/Archmage: Usual Incantrix cheating with LOTS of spells. Primary damage expert

Buoman Druid/Planar Shepard: Classic Cheese with wildshaping into a 12-Headed Cryohydra. Primary Melee with secondary Band-Aid Dispenser

Goliath Spirit Bear Barbarian 1/Psi Warrior 1/Fighter 2/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 1/Hulking Hurler 1/War Mind 5/Bloodstorm Blade 3/Fighter 4/LA 1: Mook-Grabber with classic "King of Pong" shenanigans. Ranged BFC expert

Star Elf Cloistered Cleric of Re/Radiant Servant of Re/Contemplative: Clericzilla, plain and simple.

Human Necropolitan Death Master/Pale Master: You need something to do with all of the corpses the party creates, right? Can you say "Undead Horde?"

[TroubleBrewing]

Factotum- Because factotum.
Binder/Bard- For everything the first guy isn't good at.
Wizard- Because wizard.
Druid- Sometimes, you need to be a bear.

[gbprime]

My idea of a dream team is a little more esoteric:

And also consists of 5 people. :smalltongue:

[Angry Bob]

And also consists of 5 people. :smalltongue:

Eh. It wasn't that strict of a requirement anyway. I'm just curious.

[Sr.medusa]

hmmmm... probably my dream team is:

Human expert1/monk4/Ur-priest2/Inquisitor5/contemplative3/hierophant5 - DMM clericzilla without cleric. No gods, no faith, only destruction (mass lesser vigor for everything too)

Orc Marshal 3/Warchief 7/Legendary Capitan 10 - Leadership abuse, orcs pirates!

Kobold Soccerer 5/Ultimate magus 10/Archmage 5 - all the rituals, loremaster, etc... lots and lots and lots of power in a little pack.

Pixie Ninja 16 - You know... ninjas are awesome

[flabort]

Psion
Psion
Psion
WarPsion
:smallwink: Hey, you said dream team.

[The Rabbler]

elven generalist domain wizard 1/factotum 19 (9s at level 1 trick)
conjurer 5/war weaver 5/incantatrix 10 (all day party wide buffing with BFC and abrupt jaunt)
cleric 3/church inquisitor 2/ordained champion 5/bone knight 10 (clericzilla w/ DMM and charger feats)
druid 5/planar shepherd 10 (fire)/something 5 (fleshraker + venomfire as well as other tricks)

goodbye campaign.

[Eldariel]

Strongheart Halfling Artificer 20 - Wandificer coming outta the gatez guns blazing. Also makes toys. Real Batman. Has a pet Greater Stone Golem or two.
(Fire) Elven Wizard 6/Swiftblade 9/Abjurant Champion 5 - Good ol' Haste Personified; hits hard, probably has some charging capabilities and most definitely an array of spells to make Dragons jealous.
(Lesser) Aasimar Crusader 1/Cloistered Cleric 4/Ruby Knight Windicator 10/Ruathar 3/Contemplative 2 - Bruiser with a good whoppin' of divine magic, probably some reach weapon for major win.
Lol Druid 20 - Race doesn't really matter since it's not like he knows which one his real form is. The usual deal; probably a Dinosaur Druid 'cause Dinosaurs are cool.

A bunch of extremely versatile, quite skilled (point-wise), pretty simple characters that are quite high-powered but not gamebreaking in the traditional meaning of the word; that is, a campaign could still be run for these on any level.

[Hyfigh]

elven generalist domain wizard 1/factotum 19 (9s at level 1 trick)

... Um... What? I'm not privy to this trick. In an attempt to not derail the thread, could you PM me?

[Tyndmyr]

Artificer, Wizard, Archivist, Sorcerer.

All at extremely high optimization levels.

[Tvtyrant]

Noctumancer build.
Mailman build.
Radiant Servant Cleric.
Windicator.

[CTrees]

Thrallherd
Thrallherd
Thrallherd
Thrallherd

Use your imagination from there :smallbiggrin:

[Rebel7284]

DMM Persist Cleric/Dweomerkeeper
Wizard/Incantatrix
Dominant Ideal Ardent/Telflamar Shadowlord (swordsage dip)
Druid/Planar Shepherd

All builds mature exactly at level 15

[Tr011]

Druid- Sometimes, you need to be a bear.

I like this one xD

My Dream Party:
Sorcerer/Incarnum - this one is for dealing with enemies :smallcool:

Wizard with some Item Creation optimization (i don't really know what PCs are best for it, but i'm sure some of these crazy thought bottles solve best equipment for the hole party)

Any (tanky) Charger, loud and effective to take focus from the other guys and strong enough to charge through antimagic-fields
OR
Any Hulking Hurler (see this guy buffed by the two spellcasters)

and last but least: a sneaky rogue from Core Book just for the looting.

[Amphetryon]

Dread Necromancer/Crusader into Jade Phoenix Mage

Beguiler/Binder into Anima Mage

Rilkan Rogue 3/Druid 3/(Dark Companion, Mearls Fix) Hexblade 4/Fochlucan Lyrist 10

Daken (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9465019&postcount=96)

[grarrrg]

Factotum- Because factotum.
Binder/Bard- For everything the first guy isn't good at.
Wizard- Because wizard.
Druid- Sometimes, you ALWAYS need to be a bear.

Fixed that for you. :smallwink:

[Zaranthan]

Pun-Pun, pretending to be a sword-and-board Fighter
Pun-Pun, pretending to be a dungeoneering-focused Rogue
Pun-Pun, pretending to be a blaster/utility Wizard
Pun-Pun, pretending to be a heal & buff bot Cleric

Ideally, set this up in secret with each player, and challenge them to convince their other party members that they are what they're pretending to be.

[erikun]

I would probably have the most fun with the following:

Crusader/Cleric/Ruby Knight Vindicator + 1 level of Prestige Paladin, probably adjusted so that RKV doesn't require Wee-Jas worship to enter. My "fighter".

Cloistered Cleric/Divine Oracle, my spellcasting cleric.

Psion using the psionic sandwich trick to become his own Psicrystal. And a gemstone of Intellect as well. Or maybe just a Psion, if that is too cheesy.

Bard/Warblade + Song of the White Raven, as a buffer, skillmonkey, and someone useful in combat.

I suppose a Barbarian/Druid of some sort would be a fun backup, as raging dire bears (or earth elementals, or fire elementals if you want to be punny) are always amusing.

[gbprime]

Thrallherd
Thrallherd
Thrallherd
Thrallherd

Use your imagination from there :smallbiggrin:

Somehow I think you're using more than 4 party members too... eventually. :smallcool:

[Kaje]

I'm going gestalt, because that's how all D&D should be.

Lesser Drow Swordsage/Crinti Shadow Marauder//Swift Hunter for aweXXXome bamfing and killing all over the place.

Half-Minotaur Goliath Barbarian//Fighter/Warblade/War Hulk/Hulking Hurler/Bloodstorm Blade monkey-gripping a gargantuan greatsword for killing things with thrown dragons.

Sparrow Hengeyokai Warlock/Mindbender/Hellfire Warlock/Legacy Champion//Rogue/Binder with Confound the Big Folk for making monsters explode.

Dwarf Rogue/Monk/Duskblade/Warblade/Bloodstorm Blade//Wizard/Runesmith/Enlightened Fist/Spellwarp Sniper for stabbing people with fireballs, no save, four times.

[CTrees]

Somehow I think you're using more than 4 party members too... eventually. :smallcool:

Nonono. I'm only using four PCs-there just happen to be a handful more NPCs controlled by the four PCs. Okay A LOT more NPCs...

My realistic dream team? I'm thinking about that, just because my playstyle trends towards 'ooh, that's positively BIZARRE-I must do it!'

[Hiro Protagonest]

I'm going gestalt, because that's how all D&D should be.

I fully agree, this one's gestalt too.

Factotum/sorcerer.
Fighter/warblade.
Factotum/Druid. Just because I can.
Bard/rogue.

Everyone gets good skill ranks, while still being good at what they do.

[Otherworld Odd]

Four ninjas.



>.>
<.<
What team? I don't see any team.


:smallwink:

Edit: Pathfinder ninjas. From the combat playtest. Win.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Four ninjas.



>.>
<.<
What team? I don't see any team.


:smallwink:

Edit: Pathfinder ninjas. From the combat playtest. Win.

I'd go for four rogues dressed like ninjas. Maybe four swordsages.

And I don't know about any Pathfinder ninja, I've got both the core rulebook and the advanced player's guide.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

* Conjuration Wizard/Incantatrix. Yea, I went there.
* DMM Cleric. D'uh
* Druid/Planar Shepherd. The only class in the game more broken than the Druid? Is a Druid PrC.
* BardBlade. Bard4/Warblade6/War Chanter10. Because making summoned mooks have a +19 BAB, including iterative attacks, and have a +16 to attack and damage, and +16d6 Sonic damage on every hit is lulz-worthy.

Bonus characters to include in party:

* Dread Necro 20. For more mooks for the Bardblade to beef up. Preferably with Corpsecrafter feats.

* Crusader20. For the party beatstick/Ubercharge.

[Private-Prinny]

Binder, Factotum, Bard, and Duskblade. I greatly enjoy Tier 3 classes.

[Lateral]

Breaking the game is too easy. I'll go for my favorite team in a game averaging tier 3.

Warblade- Because of awesome.
Factotum- Would have Iaijutsu Focus, UMD, and be a whisper gnome. Because of awesome.
Psion/Anarchic Initiate- Would be some form of blaster. Because of awesome.
Cleric- utility caster. Not optimized for gamebreaking. Because of needing a support caster and because of awesome.

In a higher-power (but still within normal limits) game, I'd switch that Anarchic Initiate psion for a Psion/Constructor, give the Cleric a prestige class and up his combat spells a small amount, and replace the Factotum with a wizard who has Summon Elemental Reserve to replace the Factotum's trapfinding. (Who needs it when you have an expendable, easily replaceable summon to trigger the trap for you?)

Of course, if we pull out all the stops, I'd just make four Pun-Puns. :smalltongue:

[Jallorn]

Hmmm, I'll take a stab:

Factotum/Chameleon - Because as previously said: Factotum
Doppleganger Wilder/Thrallherd/Dread Necro w/Leadership and Undead Leadership - The party face. :D
StP Erudite - Do I need to explain?
Wizard/Archivist/Mystic Theurge (or other superior dual casting PRC) - Just to cover everything else.

[dspeyer]

Druid (in cat form), Beguiler (with metamagic cheese and persisted greater invisibility), Factotum and ShadowHand-focused swordsage. It's like the ninjas, but powerful.

[Zonugal]

Putting it together on the fly I think something like this might be fun:

Dwarven Wizard 4/Crusader 1/Runecaster 10/Abjurant Champion 5
Dwarven Dungeoncrasher Fighter 6/Crusader 4/Deepstone Sentinel 5/Crusader 10
Dwarven Artificer 20
Dwarven Rogue 1/Cleric 3/Church Inquisitor 10/Shadowbane Stalker 6

As one can see, I enjoy dwarves (and imagine a party made of them would lead to a lot of unity & cohesion).

[Thurbane]

For me, it would be about flexability, and "all day long" abilities:

1. Binder/KotSS: versatility, and bit of melee muscle.
2. Dragonfire Adept: can spam breath weapon all day long, and with the right breath effects and feats, can be effective at area control. UMD as backup.
3. Factotum: again, all about versatility. Sure, some of his abilities are dailies, but most are "per enounter". Also, basically unrivalled as a skillmonkey.
4. Fighter/Dragon Shaman (egad, two weak classes!): need another melee type, and draconic auras can really help boost the group. Maybe only a 1 or 2 level Fighter dip. Alternatively, another melee class with the Dragonborn template, and Draconic Aura feats...

...maybe not mathematically optimized, but I would find this a very fun group to be in.

[Otherworld Odd]

I'd go for four rogues dressed like ninjas. Maybe four swordsages.

And I don't know about any Pathfinder ninja, I've got both the core rulebook and the advanced player's guide.

As I said, it's in the combat playtest. >.>. For free, downloadable via paizo dot com. It's like pathfinder rogue but better right now.

[Tael]

Ya'll are small time.

The Omniscifer (The Brains)
Twice Betrayer of Shar (The Brawn)
Chuck E. Cheese (The Speedster)
The Nanobot Machine (The Tech Guy)

For real though, I'd love to play/control:
Generalist Erudite
Gestalt Crusader/Pathfinder Paladin
Factotum/Chameleon Hybrid (blended homebrew, not multiclass)
Free-form Elemental Shaper (Some kind of warlock-ish caster, more invocations that control a specific element, combinations available)

[Talbot]

Mine is more for fun than power, made up of characters I've built before.

Grey Elf Cloistered Cleric 1/Factotum 19 with FMI, Keen Intellect, loads of FoI, and fun Devotion feats (probably Knowledge and Travel). (He's a detective)

Human VoP Swordsage 11/Uncanny Trickster 1/Mo9 5/Uncanny Trickster 2/Swordsage 1. (He's basically Pai Mei, and has lots of level 9 maneuvers).

Necropolitan Swordsage 11/Shadow Sun Ninja 1/Teflammar Shadowlord 5/Swordsage 3 (Three full attacks against whoever he wants every other round, plus loads of maneuvers, and free healing for himself and party forever).

Human Swordsage 4/Sentinel 2/Shiba Protector 1/Dragon Warrior 5/Swordsage 3/Dragon Warrior 5 (Wis to (almost) everything forever charger build with two handed greatsword)

[Halna LeGavilk]

STP Erudite
Wizard/Incantatrix
Druid/Planar Shepard (with time bending cheese)
Cleric

[Otherworld Odd]

Hm, I like the idea of putting together some of my previous characters.

None of these went to level 20. In fact the highest one was just a level 15.

Okay, for serious this time:

Elan Psion - Metamorphic transfer build.
Tiefling Rogue - Critical "Doom train (FF8 reference)" build.
Darfellan Cleric - DMM beatstick.
Human Rogue/Wizard/Unseen Seer/Arcane Trickster.

[grarrrg]

I'd go for four rogues dressed like ninjas. Maybe four swordsages.

And I don't know about any Pathfinder ninja, I've got both the core rulebook and the advanced player's guide.

4 level 20 Ninjas.
Race: Turtle.
Preferably mutated in some way, grafts maybe?
Should also make sure they aren't aged too much.

[Thurbane]

4 level 20 Ninjas.
Race: Turtle.
Preferably mutated in some way, grafts maybe?
Should also make sure they aren't aged too much.
I've been working on a team of NPCs for my game - 4 spellwarped (mutant) Crucian (anthro turtles) ninjas...

[Ajadea]

Primary Damage Dealer: Gnome Beguiler 4/Mindbender 1/Rainbow Servant 10/Shadowcraft Mage 5
Notable Feats: Versatile Spellcaster, Heighten Spell, Earth Spell, Spell Focus/Greater Spell Focus (illusion)
Gets access to Shadowcraft Mage via Heightened Legion of Sentinels. Access to Beguiler spell list, Cleric spell list, and all sorcerer/wizard conjuration and evocation spells. If there is gestalt, add Factotum 10/Geomancer 10 to the other side, to get rid of the MAD.

Defender: Paladin 2/Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Sacred Exorcist 8.
Feats: Improved Counterspell, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Stand Still, Hold the Line, Power Attack, Divine Might.
Uses Improved Counterspell + many sorcerer spell slots to neutralize enemy spellcasters until everyone else can get there. If there is gestalt, Rogue 1 (skill points)/Duskblade 5 (quick cast)/Dragon Shaman 6 (aura +2)/Fighter 8(feats!)

Summoner: Druid 20 no contest. Gestalt with...does it even matter?
Feats: Greenbound, Spell Focus (conjuration), Augment Summoning, etc.
Summons things so the bard can buff them. Very straightforward role.

Buffer/Skillmonkey: Half-Elf Bard, probably. Rogue, Dragon Shaman, Marshal, etc. on the other side. Someone to support the other 3.
Feats: Dragontouched, Draconic Heritage (battle dragon), Song of the Heart, Words of Creation, Dragonfire Inspiration, Melodic Casting, etc.
When combined with the summoner, devastates combat. Alone, can successfully be the face, scout, and the skillmonkey for the party.

[olthar]

And also consists of 5 people. :smalltongue:

Same here:
Michael Jordon
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Charles Barkley
Patrick Ewing

failing that I'm a classicist
thief, fighter, wizard, cleric

[Crossblade]

I could care less about uber-optimization. Give me characters that are more story and personality driven any day! (Granted I only am minorly practiced in char builds, so I can probably only make a Teir 2 level character at best)

Dwarven Cleric, worshiper of Moradin - Let him/her go on and on and on about the proud race of the dwarves and how we should respect the earth. Domains: Earth, Protection

Gnome Barbarian - There's something amusing about a heavy hitting small being. Con boost doesn't hurt though. Small sized weapons might though.

Half-Orc Rogue, wielding a Great Axe - Would likely need a dip in Barbarian, then focus on increasing Crit chance. And a half-orc who puts a little more thought into battle plans than 'Thog Smash' (even if it's Thog smash... harder with friends' help') would be a pleasant change.

Elven Sorcerer - This party would need a face. And arcane magic. This is the best I can think of to keep things rounded. Besides, charisma is the love-able personality stat, doesn't everyone want to get love-able with an elf?


That would be a 4 person party. If I could add more, I'd likely add two, to help fill round off weaknesses.

Human Paladin, Noble-Smart alignment - Perhaps a Sword&Board tank? Con and Cha focus? Then it could be the secondary face as well as front line healer support. As a twist, have him/her worship Wee Jas (she's a LN goddess), have the paladin see the noble side of death.

Half-Elf Fochlucan Lyrist (bard/druid) - I always thought it was an interesting class. Race choice was because of the elf tree hugger mixed with human multitasking ability. Also, would be the best mix to patch any remaining holes from the first few misfits.

[LordBlades]

DMM Persist Cloistered Cleric/Crusader/RKV
Druid/Planar Shepherd
Wizard/Incantatirx
Factotum/Bard/Sublime Chord

Everybody gets 9th level spells, almost everybody can melee awesomely (except for wizard), loads of persist buffs.

[Endarire]

Below, I assume the Races of Fire (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#racesOfFire) can be applied to any creature for +2 INT and -2 CHA.

-Dragonborn Fire Elf Wizard Generalist5/Incantatrix10/Olin Gisir1/Archmage4: Necromancer and Lord of the Uttercold. He covers blasting and permanent Undead minion creation.

-(Fire) Strongheart Halfling Transmuter3/War Weaver5/Spellguard of Silverymoon5/Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil7: Party buffer and psuedo-gish. He uses the Indigo Veil to prevent antimagic fields while transformed into a melee terror. Blasts early on with Fiery Burst.

-(Fire) Strongheart Halfling Conjurer5/Malconvoker5/Paragnostic Apostle1/Malconvoker+3/Master Conjurer1/Archmage5: Summoner and Elemental spammer. Relies on early access to the Summon Elemental reserve feat via Heighten Spell and Metamagic School Focus: Conjuration. He trades his familiar for Rapid Summoning and Scribe Scroll for Augment Summoning. He takes Augment Elemental (Magic of Eberron) to make all the minions we need.

-The last guy is uncertain. I'd probably use another summoner above or a Neo-Trancer/Chrono-Legionnaire Mk III (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7921.0) for all other spell list access.

Now if we're allowed cohorts, things get even funkier.

[Thurbane]

I'm also a fan of Team Spontaneous:

Duskblade: "tank"
Favored Soul: "healer/buffer"
Sorcerer: "blaster/battlefield control"
Beguiler: "skillmonkey"

[Zonugal]

A team I have always wanted to play in is something like:

Ghost Human Wujen/Master of the Unseen Hand
Mineral Warrior Dwarf Fighter/Crusader/Deepstone Sentinel
Fire Elf Wilder/Pyrokineticist
Human Transmuter/Master Transmogrifist/Maester

Totally have the fantastic four action going on...

[Blood_caller]

These fantastic 4 focus on doing it personally and with their own enhanced bodyes

A) Race:
Classes: Warmage 1/Rainbow servant 10/Church Inquisitor 1/War Weaver 5/Legacy Champion 3
Role: group healer/buffer/clearicilla
Notes: with extra DMM cheese on top.

B) Race: Elan
Classes: Psion [Egoist] 9/Slayer 10/ something w. manifesting+one 1
Role: Tank/psicilla
Notes: illithid heritage feats

C) Race: Warforged
Classes: warblade
Role: backup/helper/he who carries heavy stuff without magic 
Notes: just becaus i love him

D) Race: changeling
Classes: Warlock 3/Rogue 7/ Assasin 10
Role: Skill monkey/Face/Dammage dealer 1on1
Notes: 2 weapon fighting, UMD, Warlock devil eyes + darkness

[riddles]

Focused specialist conjurer 3/master specialist 2/malconvoker 6/master specialist 3-10/fs conjurer +1 - because a wizard doesn't do any heavy lifting himself. And has a succubus bodyguard

Druid 20 - don't need greenbound summoning because we're at a level where animal buffs are awesome. Also, he's a bear.

Bard - either skill monkey, warchanter or sublime chord. Either way, optimised inspire courage (btw, shneeky, can you pm me the mechanics of that bard build, not sure how that's all working together).

For the fourth? cloistered cleric archer with knowledge devotion. Because I can.

First round: wizard summons an average of 6 creatures (using summon monster 8, as the sm9 one are underwhelming. But if so inclined, he gets 4 of them). Druid summons something from sna or elemental monolith. Bard sings.
Second round: wizard casts haste, druid casts animal growth. Bard sings another song, probably dfi
Third round: the party get out their deck chairs and have a cup of tea.

[Draz74]

Another fan of Tier 3 (ish) here, and also a fan of avoiding Vancian casting.


Swordsage 1 / Fighter 1 / Warblade 13 / Master of Nine 5
Egoist 5 / Incarnate 2 / Sangehirn 3 / Soul Manifester 10
Rogue 10 / Factotum 3 / Swordsage 4 / Uncanny Trickster 3
Dragonfire Adept 20

... is a lovely party. Not necessarily my perfect ideal, since it's a little lacking on the nature-y and archery sides of things. But good for a "classic" feel.

Alternatively, change the Rogue up for an (almost) pure Factotum archer to play the Ranger-ish role; and/or switch out the DFA for another Psion, probably a Shaper/Constructor.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Here's my non-gestalt team.

Druid 20.
Druid 20.
Druid 20.
Druid 20.

Because I can. And they all have tiger companions.

[erikun]

Crusader/Cleric/Ruby Knight Vindicator + 1 level of Prestige Paladin, probably adjusted so that RKV doesn't require Wee-Jas worship to enter. My "fighter".

Cloistered Cleric/Divine Oracle, my spellcasting cleric.

Psion using the psionic sandwich trick to become his own Psicrystal. And a gemstone of Intellect as well. Or maybe just a Psion, if that is too cheesy.

Bard/Warblade + Song of the White Raven, as a buffer, skillmonkey, and someone useful in combat.
Actually, I'd like to replace the Psion with a Shadowcraft Mage. Illusions are fun, and shadow illusions are really fun. It also better represents gnomes in the group.

If I was playing psionics, I'd probably take Psychic Warrior - Psychic Rogue - Ardent - Psion and use Psychic Chirurgery/Metaconcert to give everyone in the party everyone else's powers.

If I wanted to play gnomes, then I'd probably use Druid - Shadowcraft Mage - Ultimate Magus - Arcane Heirophant. All with foxes as familiars and companions. Because unless I am fighting chicken farmers or the English, a handful of foxes doesn't track that much attention travelling anywhere. :smalltongue:

[flabort]

I know I posted a less serious list before, but here's my serious one:

Necropolatin Human Evolutionist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112349) 20

Were-Dire wolverine Half-Troll Neo- (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10655024&postcount=287)Donkey Primordial Killer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10678820&postcount=291) 14 (replaces the HD from lycanthrope +neo-animal)

Human sorcerer 1/Savage spontaneous druid 5/mystic theurge 7/lich LA 4/mystic theurge +3

Cleric 4/Rouge 3/Divine Trickster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9623145&postcount=7) 10/Loremaster 3


...yeah, that last one for sure is unoptimized (Loremaster?!), but whatever. none in particular are.

[Stallion]

Something along the lines of:

Dragonborn Mongrelfolk Dragonfire Adept 18/Mindbender 1/Warblade 1 with access to White Raven Tactics and Mindsight. Breath weapon augemented by UMD ridiculousness. Rod of Many Wands with a Wand of Blinding Breath, a wand of Stunning Breath, and a wand of Terrifying Breath. 15 saves on a Fivefold to keep from being totally useless, anyone? Battlefield controller.

Imp Monk 2/Wizard 1/Fiend of Possession 6/Factotum 8/Fighter or Shadowdancer 1. This guy'd be the one that'd be nearly impossible to pin down and kill. Either masquerading as an Awakened Animal or possessing something and augmenting it, whether it be the beatstick's sword, furthering it's enchantment and bestowing curses on everything he hits or other useful monsters and NPCs while animating objects to be 'lackeys'. Skillmonkey-esque type.

Venerable Vanaran (OA version) Druid 5/Planar Shepherd 5/Hexer 10.
Because doing anything you want while gaining bonus spells, hexing as a free action, summoning pretty much anything useful, shifting into nearly anything really useful, while having an animal buddy is just too juicy.

Wildshape Ranger 8 (house ruling for the wildshaping)/1 Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian/8 Black Blood Cultist/2 Totemist/1 Psy War with aberration wild shape. Blacktentacles shape made Colossal with more grappling than anyone is comfortable with. Beatstick/lockdown/grappler type.

I think it'd be fun, anyways.

[Merk]

Four Bards, each in different roles -- dragonfire inspiration, sublime chord casting, etc.

Warblade, Crusader, 2x Swordsage, with homebrew discipline access.

Four Fearnaughts.

[Runestar]

Spiked-chain fighter
Wizard 1 (focusing on summons)
Wizard 2 (focusing on battlefield control)
Nymph (focus on stunning)

Alternatively, replace nymph with ghaele (one of my favourite monster PCs, though I can see him being overshadowed).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Below, I assume the Races of Fire (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#racesOfFire) can be applied to any creature for +2 INT and -2 CHA.

-Dragonborn Fire Elf Wizard Generalist5/Incantatrix10/Olin Gisir1/Archmage4: Necromancer and Lord of the Uttercold. He covers blasting and permanent Undead minion creation.

-(Fire) Strongheart Halfling Transmuter3/War Weaver5/Spellguard of Silverymoon5/Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil7: Party buffer and psuedo-gish. He uses the Indigo Veil to prevent antimagic fields while transformed into a melee terror. Blasts early on with Fiery Burst.

-(Fire) Strongheart Halfling Conjurer5/Malconvoker5/Paragnostic Apostle1/Malconvoker+3/Master Conjurer1/Archmage5: Summoner and Elemental spammer. Relies on early access to the Summon Elemental reserve feat via Heighten Spell and Metamagic School Focus: Conjuration. He trades his familiar for Rapid Summoning and Scribe Scroll for Augment Summoning. He takes Augment Elemental (Magic of Eberron) to make all the minions we need.

-The last guy is uncertain. I'd probably use another summoner above or a Neo-Trancer/Chrono-Legionnaire Mk III (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7921.0) for all other spell list access.

Now if we're allowed cohorts, things get even funkier.

With all those minions, you can't go wrong with a Bardblade. Pick up Requiem to be able to affect the undead minions.

Bard4/Warblade6/War Chanter 10. All your disposable minions now have BAB of the highest BAB in the party (that'd be you, probably, for a +19), and a whole boatload of +x/+x and xd6 to damage.

[Tokuhara]

Lemmie redo my dream team so it's a 4 man crew:

1. Fire Elf Dragonborn (Wing) Warblade 10/Eternal Blade 10 - Classic, yet effective

2. Chosen Erudite (StP) 10/Ur Priest 1/Psychic Theurge 9 - Pure evil, and has everything necessary to get the job done

3. Whisper Gnome Spellthief 1/Sorcerer 6/Unseen Seer 10/Daggerspell Mage 3 - Mr. Skill Monkey with the spellcasting edge required to do the dirty deeds

4. Water Orc Dragonborn (Heart) Avenging Druid 15/Planar Shepard 5 - Sometimes, you need a 12-headed Cryohydra who can cast spells...

[Pigkappa]

Wizard (possibly with conjuration and/or transmutation banned).
Cleric with no DMM.
Fighter/Paladin
Rogue/Bard.

I'd rather play with this team than any of those you mentioned =(.

[ericgrau]

1. Battlefield controller: wizard, sorcerer or druid
2. Damage dealer: fighter, barbarian, paladin, cleric, etc.
3. Skillmonkey: rogue, bard
4. More of any of those 3. Really there is a lot of overlap and classes that can do multiple, both among the above and others I left out.

One of the above should have at least minor healing, even if by a wand. But there are a dozen different ways to squeeze that in while fulfilling any of the 3 roles. Lots of scrolls and wands handle misc. situations in general.

[Gullintanni]

Human Cloistered Cleric of Wee Jas (Greyhawk) - Persist, Divine Defiance, Spontaneous Magic Domain Access, and Divine Magician for Enervation, Awakened Undead.
Aasimar Bard/Virtuoso/Sublime Chord - For IC, Spellcasting and Face capabilities.
Gnomish Illusionist/Master Specialist - with cross class ranks in ride, on a medium sized awakened skeletal dragon mount.
Grey Elf Rogue/Swashbuckler Daring Outlaw - For sneak attacks and trap work.

[nyarlathotep]

1) Warchanter bard
2) crusader
3) thrallherd
4) warweaver wizard

[RaginChangeling]

1) Warforged Totemist or Barbarian/Totemist/Totem Rager
2) Changeling Rogue/Warshaper/Cabinet Trickster
3) Kobold Binder/Knight of the Sacred Seal or Bard/Sublime Chord
4) Raptoran Swordsage/Bloodclaw Master
5) Strongheart Halfling Dragonfire Adept

Or as I like to call it, Team Too Awesome to Exist.

[Angry Bob]

Man, how about an actual "dream team?"

Say,

A Kalashtar Psion(Telepath) with a bunch of dreamtouched feats(Secrets of Sarlona)
A Factotum optimized for Lucid Dreaming(Manual of the Planes).
A wizard(enchanter) with Oneiromancy(Heroes of Horror) and optimized for traversing the dreamscape.
And someone else. I don't know. Any ideas?

[Tytalus]

I'm also a fan of Team Spontaneous:

Duskblade: "tank"
Favored Soul: "healer/buffer"
Sorcerer: "blaster/battlefield control"
Beguiler: "skillmonkey"

That's nice!

[hisnamehere]

Okay, a couple.

Team 1: Allies of Returning
Hulking hurler with Throw Ally feat. 3 pouncer/chargers with abrupt jaunt reserve feat and feats to increase this ability's uses; hurl your buddies at your foes and have them “return” to you.
{something that just popped into my head for some reason...}

Team 2: The Horde
- Door Ninjas...oh, and healing. Clr 20. Chaos domain for animate object. Craft Wondrous Item. Buffing (for objects) focus. Lots of silent portal disc, lots of animate object, lots of door ninjas. Sprinkle with rogue to sneak, too, or with wizard for repair light damage.
- Mr. Attitude Adjustment. Ftr 20 with optimized Charisma and max Perform (Weapon Drill) [CompW 121]. Feats - Skill Focus (Weapon Drill), Leadership, TWF, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus, Combat Expertise, Whirlwind Attack. Circlet of persuasion. Use epic Perform skill's attitude adjustment - perform a CR 50 weapon drill netting me a fanatically loyal (+2 moral bonus to Str & Con, +1 to Will saves, -1 AC) semi-raging army of choice.
- King of Roc. Old Star Elf Marshall 1. Have a 22 Cha on first level. Animal Affinity, Skill Focus (Handle Animal), and one Flaw. Motivate Charisma minor aura. Take 10 (pregame) with a masterwork tool and get a 33 Handle Animal, rearing a 18HD animal...like roc...or tyrannosaurus...or dire shark. You can have 3, so I do so. Roar.
- Herdmaster. Commoner with maxed Handle Animal and lots of gold. Buy the worlds largest herd of bison. Command them to stampede the enemy for 1d12 dmg per 5 bison (Ref 18 for half, save is Str-based).

Team 3: The Wild Cards
- Jack of Hearts. Lady's man Bard/Arcane Duelist.
- King of Clubs. "Me clubs. Me king of clubs. Me going clubbing." Barbarian. Did I mention he carries a big club?
- Queen of Spades. Man's woman Swashbuckler/Duelist.
- Duece of Swords. TWF Swashbuckler.

Team 4: Kobolds, ho!
- Kobold Krossbower. Kobold Clr/Rogue. Max Dex. Feats - Dragon Tail [RotD 98], Prehensile Tail [Sking 147], Multiweapon Fighting (or Multibow Fighting). Advance as a pistoleer/archer. Dual wield hand-crossbows and reload them with my tail. Follow the god, Mouqol, who has x-bow as favored weapon, making my spiritual weapon an x-bow, too. Cast a bunch for lots of ethereal x-bow support.
- Kobold Klobberer. As above, but with a two-handed weapon in hands and a shield on my tail.
- Little Dragons. Kobold Totemist. Nat armor qualifies me for Wormtail Belt soulmeld (+2 nat armor, for total AC 21 at first level). Dragonclaws soulmeld [DM] (+1 claws). Advance as Dragonfire Adept. Take all Dragon Magic souldmelds - Dragon Tail, Dragon Mantle, Dragonwrought, Dragon Wings.
- Kobold Sorcerer.

Team 5: Team Nasty...and Evil*
- Nothic Rogue. Flesh-rotting backstabber…great.
- Lloth-Touched Draegloth Cleric. Just ouch. Darkness specialty.
- Cerebrilith. Only 2 lvls left for classes - psionic something.
- Phargion Ranger. Two natural weapon blades – Rgr grants the feats. Fav Enemies - paladins and petals.
- Umber Hulk Barbarian. Because there’s never enough hulk in you umber. Maybe go Warhulk.
* Just check out the pictures.

Team 6: My actual dream
- Infantry crossbower. Fighter. Has a double (one arrow bow, one discbow) repeating crossbow with a spyglass scope and bayonet. Lots of useful projectiles like flaming, subdual, thunderstone, antimagic. Battlefield control and archery, with ability to melee when necessary.
- The Not-There Guy. Phantom Chameleon Creature Skulk Rogue x/Ardent 1/Clr 1. Quarry and Non-Detection domains. Invisible Fist alternate monk class feature (turn invisible for one round). Deception mantle (displacement). Chameleon Creature template [tongue attack!]. Phantom template (incorporeal). Feats - Darkstalker [LoM], Slippery Skin [EoE]. Evading, invisible, displaced, slippery, incorporeal, sneaky (+20 Hide from Chameleon and Skulk), undetectable. He’ll be MIA until the final blow from the shadows.
- Survivor. Con maxed. Dex maxed. Max saves, dmg reduction, SR, evasion, mettle. He may not deal much damage, but he can take it. Half-troll mongrelfolk Survivor PrC or something. Stands in front, makes lots of noise, never goes down…for long. “Why…! Won’t…! You…! Die…!?”
- Reid Richards. Choker with any and all improvements to reach. Spiked chain, Extended Reach feat, powers – expansion, reach, Short Haft feat, Lunging Strike feat. Maybe some size changing plus Large and In Charge. Maxed Sleight of Hand for pick-pocketing from the next block over.
- Curing Quarterback. Halfling Clr with Healing Domain. Reach Spell, Divine Metamagic, Extra Turning, Domain Focus (Healing), Weapon Focus (Ray). Use Divine Metamagic to power reaching cure spells. Sprinkle with Warlock to optimize ranged attack and for varied useful invocations. Going Split Ray feats.

Team 6: The Fated (6 PCs, each with one awesome stat; need help finishing!)*
- Strength: Feral Draconic Half-Minotaur Goliath Bear Totem Mountain Rage Bbn 1/Dungeoncrasher Ftr 2/Marshal 2 or PsyWar 2/Warhulk 10. +24 Str at 20th. Templates hurt BAB, so no iterative attacks. Focus on one huge attack per round, often using Str for battlefield control (tossing stuff, pushing stuff, lifting stuff). Gots big claws, and carries around a magical, oversized battering ram for that extra oompf when door-crashing. Or wall-crashing for that matter.
- Dexterity: Chameleon Creature Gloura Whirling Frenzy Bbn 1 Mnk 2 Clr 3 Duelist 4 for Dex/Wis/Cha/Int to AC, +10 to Dex, Time domain (for Imp Initiative). Madly MAD, tho. Fly speed, Climb speed if anyone tries to take me from the skies. Minor support with Brd 7 and Clr 3 casting.
- Constitution: arctic (+1, +2) draconic (+1, +2) mineral warrior (+1, +4) mongrelfolk (+0, +4) for LA +3 and Con +12. Throw in some half-troll for regeneration goodness. La viande bouclier. That settles it – he’s got a terrible cockny-french-Canadian accent and uses his sound imitation to mimic local bird calls.
- Intelligence: venerable (+3 Int) phrenic (+2 LA, +2 Int) pixie (+4 LA, +6 Int) rogue 1 cloistered cleric 1 diviner 1 erudite 11? Maybe? Help!
- Wisdom: phrenic (+2 LA, +2 Wis) jermaline (+0 LA, +6 Wis) psywar 2 psion (seer) 16. +8 Wis. “I know.”
- Charisma: magic-blooded (+0, +2) fire-souled (+1, +4) phrenic (+2, +4) petal (+2 LA, 1 HD, +8) for ECL 6 with 1 HD and Cha +18. Take Saint template at 6 HD for another +4 Cha (+22 total). The bloss of the party. Hey! To be taken very seriously, thank you very much. <!hmpf!>
* Fun! They’re all fey and dragons!

Team 7: Weird-and-Evil Fated (or, Study in What the Most Versatile Template Is…<whisper> wendigooooo)
- Strength: Feral Lloth-touched Wendigo Anthropomorphic Baleen Whale Bbn 1/Ftr 2/Warhulk 10. +44 Str at 20th, but evil…really evil.
- Dexterity: Wendigo Anthropomorphic Large Viper. ECL 4 with +16 Dex…but evil.
- Constitution: awakened (+2 HD, +2 LA, +4 ECL) arctic (LA +0, but +1?; Con +2) draconic (LA+1; Con +2) mineral warrior (LA +1; Con +4) horrid (CR +1; Con +4) dire badger (3 HD; Con +8) for ECL 11, incl 5 racial HD and Con +22 (+15 hp per HD), so 5d8+75 hp (not terrible for ECL 11). And I’m acid-clawed with a ray of frost and an earth strike (Con mod to attack bonus), improved nat healing, burrow speed, lots of skill/save bonuses. ‘Cause I can?
- Intelligence: Deep phrenic <race> Factotum Exemplar? Illithid Savant?
- Wisdom: phrenic (+2 LA, +2 Wis) guardian monster (+2) elan (+0) psywar 2 psion (seer) 14. +4 Wis. Yah! I’m an alien, glowing eyes and all!
- Charisma: magic-blooded (+0, +2) fire-souled (+1, +4) phrenic (+2, +4) wendigo (+2, +4) petal (+2 LA, 1 HD, +8) for ECL 7 with 1 HD and Cha +22. I’m an evil, bloody-stumped fey again, and I spend my time hiding behind the other bloody-stumped fey, probably commanding minions to do my bidding.

{Apologies to any and all that I didn't record your author-ship when nipping many of these builds from the net. (Notably - Curing Quarterback, Little Dragons, Kobold Krossbower, Door Ninjas, Mr. Attitude Adjustment, King of Roc, Herdmaster). I am forever beshadowed by your brilliance.
Let your glory prevail as they join The Dream Team}

[Eldariel]

Man, how about an actual "dream team?"

Say,

A Kalashtar Psion(Telepath) with a bunch of dreamtouched feats(Secrets of Sarlona)
A Factotum optimized for Lucid Dreaming(Manual of the Planes).
A wizard(enchanter) with Oneiromancy(Heroes of Horror) and optimized for traversing the dreamscape.
And someone else. I don't know. Any ideas?

Last slot is obviously a Dreamscape Ardent of some sort.

[Sr.medusa]

- Infantry crossbower. Fighter. Has a double (one arrow bow, one discbow) repeating crossbow with a spyglass scope and bayonet. Lots of useful projectiles like flaming, subdual, thunderstone, antimagic. Battlefield control and archery, with ability to melee when necessary.


Wow, I wana see this build!

[Eloel]

Rainbow Warmage
Planar Shepherd
Illusionist
Cheater of Mystra


I'm sad because I don't have Incantatrix or Iot7V in my team, but this felt more like a team to me.

Edit:

For a team that I think would actually look cool in a random movie or book (unlike these guys with their overpowered versatility)

Halfling Rogue with TWF Hand Crossbows
Half-Orc Barbarian/Frenzied Berserker
Gnome Druid (comic relief opportunity: make gnome the primary method of calming the berserker down)
Elf Warweaver

[Feldarove]

I would make 4 level 1 bards...it'd be fun to see where (or even how far) that campaign went!