Builds and Classes for well-known characters

[Wyntonian]

As I was watching Thor this weekend, a thought struck me, aided by having also watched a couple x-men movies that same day. Some of these characters are 1. super badass and 2. awesomely playable. What I'm interested in is simply other people's thoughts on what some badass and seemingly playable characters from media, books, stories, etc. would be built like.

For example, I feel like Loki (from Thor) would be either a bard (illusions, and some combat ability), or maybe a multiclass Illusion-spec wizard/sorceror and rogue/swashbuckler.
Gandalf might be a cleric with the sun domain, or a evocation wizard, although he acts more like a sorceror with his spontaneous casting.
One nameless character from X-Men had the ability to squirt bone-knife things out of his wrists into his hands and throw them. This seems like a pretty awesome ability, but I don't know if it's possible through spells or abilities.


If anyone feels inspired and wants to make a build for their favorite sci-fi or fantasy or simply awesome character, please post it up.

[Jude_H]

The protagonist's build is Factotum 20. True story.

[Wyntonian]

The protagonist's build is Factotum 20. True story.

3 Questions.

1. Which protagonist?

2. From what?

3. What's a factotum?

[Urpriest]

3 Questions.

1. Which protagonist?

2. From what?

3. What's a factotum?

1. All of them.

2. See above.

3. Behind you!

In more detail: Factotum is a class from Dungeonscape (the most obscure of the "it's X outside!" series) that dabbles in a bunch of different abilities: spellcasting, sneak attack, lots of skill use, other peoples' class features, etc. As such, this sort of thread tends to see them suggested for everything because most fantasy protagonists are good at everything.

Though I wouldn't suggest a factotum for Thor...

[Wyntonian]

Fair enough. Sounds kinda overpowered. And I'm not so interested in protagonists, but rather interesting characters. I'll get us started a bit on specific guys.

I don't know this guy's name, but he's from X-Men and he's blue and teleports. I'm thinking maybe a sorceror with a whole lot of teleport spells and their variants, like ethereal jaunt and such. I don't know what could cause blueness, but there's probably a spell for that.

[Urpriest]

Fair enough. Sounds kinda overpowered. And I'm not so interested in protagonists, but rather interesting characters. I'll get us started a bit on specific guys.

I don't know this guy's name, but he's from X-Men and he's blue and teleports. I'm thinking maybe a sorceror with a whole lot of teleport spells and their variants, like ethereal jaunt and such. I don't know what could cause blueness, but there's probably a spell for that.

Nightcrawler teleports way too often to be a Sorceror, and fights pretty well with it too. I'd recommend either Warlock 6 for dimension door at-will, or Swordsage with its various shadow-teleport maneuvers. Stereotypically for Nightcrawler mimicking builds this gets combined with Teflammar Shadowlord or Crinti Shadow Marauder for multiple full attacks per turn.

And the factotum isn't exactly overpowered, just versatile. It isn't nearly as good as a specialist in most of what it does, and only gets really unbalanced when you misread its level 19 ability, or take another class that can abuse its ability to get extra standard actions...

As for Blueness: Rod of Wonder. :smalltongue:

[Koury]

One nameless character from X-Men had the ability to squirt bone-knife things out of his wrists into his hands and throw them. This seems like a pretty awesome ability, but I don't know if it's possible through spells or abilities.


Persist and refluff Cloud of Blades (or Cloud of Knives, whatever its called)?

[Malkav]

Thor is a stormlord-javelins+hammer.

[Greenish]

One nameless character from X-Men had the ability to squirt bone-knife things out of his wrists into his hands and throw them. This seems like a pretty awesome ability, but I don't know if it's possible through spells or abilities.
[/LIST]He most likely does have a name, even if it's not mentioned in the films. There's a symbiont in MoE that allows you to create throwing things as a free action. Only 1/round though, for some reason.

[Diarmuid]

Are you sure the bone char was a guy? I'm pretty sure there's a character called Marrow who pretty much has those exact abilities. Though changing gender between universes/story lines isnt unheard of.

[Cog]

Are you sure the bone char was a guy? I'm pretty sure there's a character called Marrow who pretty much has those exact abilities. Though changing gender between universes/story lines isnt unheard of.
Apparently his name was "Kid Omega".

[Diarmuid]

Was this from the movie, or from a comic?

[PollyOliver]

Loki...well, if he's not a god, he's a bard or an illusionist/arcane trickster.

For nightcrawler, I say swordsage specializing in shadow hand going into Telflammar shadowlord.

As for factotum, I wouldn't say it's overpowered. Without serious shenanigans, it's solid tier three. Its on the same approximate power level as the bard, crusader, warblade, swordsage, wild shape ranger, duskblade, and beguiler.

Bone-chucker person kind of reminds me of quill blast, but they don't have any other druidic features. Maybe an SLA?

[thompur]

How about Tarzan. Barb.2/Ranger6/Fighter4/(Ape)TotemistX? I am not very familiar with most PrCs.

[Greenish]

How about Tarzan. Barb.2/Ranger6/Fighter4/(Ape)TotemistX? I am not very familiar with most PrCs.I'd go with barbarian/fist of the forest. He isn't so high level, so that might be enough.

[PollyOliver]

How about Tarzan. Barb.2/Ranger6/Fighter4/(Ape)TotemistX? I am not very familiar with most PrCs.

As long as he has the brachiation feat. :smallbiggrin:

[Maho-Tsukai]

Not sure if you are into Shonen manga but this thread (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19530598/Psionic_Naruto_Builds) uses psionics to stat up a bunch of characters from Naruto. A lot of the builds are pretty solid though some are missing some things due to when they where made in relation to the manga's timeline.(Itachi lacks Sussano', for example.)

[Tokuhara]

Here's the LotR "Party" in a nutshell:

Frodo: Rogue 7/Uncanny Trickster 3/Invisible Blade 10 (Frodo was good with Sting)
Sam: Expert 2/Warblade 18 (Sam started wimp, then became a total champ)
Merry: Rogue 3/Marshal 10/Halfling Outrider 7 (started as a trickster, then lead the assault on Isengard)
Pippin: Bard 6/Sublime Chord 1/Virtuoso 10/Seeker of the Song 3 (Fought in the Battle of Gondor, yet inspired both the steward and what's her name who killed the Witch King)
Aragorn: Ranger 3/Warblade 7/Swordsage 1/Master of the Nine 9 (Aragorn began as a ranger, then started down the path of the king)
Gimli: Fighter 6/Deepwarden 1/Swordsage 1/Dwarven Defender 2/Exotic Weapon Master (Dwarven Longaxe or whatever it's called) 5/Dwarf Paragon 3/Barbarian 2 (Kill it with an axe, Dwarfy McDwarferson)
Legolas: Fighter 3/Ranger 3/Order of the Bow Initiate 10/Deepwood Stalker 4 (Mr. I use a bow and 2 short swords cuz I'm just that awesome)
Borimir: Knight 4/Paladin 5 (Died in the first film, but was your "standard" Sword & Board tank)
Gandalf the Grey: Stalwart Sorcerer 9/Abjurant Champion 3/Knight of the Chalice 8 (Died fighting a fricken' Half-Red Dragon Balor and became...)
Gandalf the White: Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 3/Mage of the Arcane Order 3/Incantrix 10/Archmage 1 (This is where he acts more Wizard-y)

[Greenish]

Here's the LotR "Party" in a nutshell:I shouldn't even have to say, but in no way are most, or any of the Fellowship level 20.

Frodo, for example, is a low level expert, maybe. Commoner would work too.

[Diarmuid]

At the start of the books, sure...but by the end I would certainly give him some rogue levels.

[PollyOliver]

I shouldn't even have to say, but in no way are most, or any of the Fellowship level 20.

Frodo, for example, is a low level expert, maybe. Commoner would work too.

I'd agree. I might put Gandalf at high level, at least after his return, and after that I'd say Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli might cluster at mid-level, but the hobbits are pretty low and frankly I'd put Frodo as the least of them.

A lot of books (but not all) work better with the characters statted using E6, in my experience, since book characters tend to be more susceptible to the laws of physics and vital areas when they're not using magic than even mundane D&D characters are at high level. I might actually do that, since I can't really think of anything even Gandalf does that's an especially high level spell. Just drop a template on him for being one of the Istari and call it a day.

[Goober4473]

Frodo: Rogue 7/Uncanny Trickster 3/Invisible Blade 10 (Frodo was good with Sting)
Sam: Expert 2/Warblade 18 (Sam started wimp, then became a total champ)
Merry: Rogue 3/Marshal 10/Halfling Outrider 7 (started as a trickster, then lead the assault on Isengard)
Pippin: Bard 6/Sublime Chord 1/Virtuoso 10/Seeker of the Song 3 (Fought in the Battle of Gondor, yet inspired both the steward and what's her name who killed the Witch King)

I really don't think the hobbits ever got to 20th level. By the end, maybe 6th? They probably all started as Experts, not just Sam. I don't think any of them would be bards either, but they all probably have Perform (Song).

[Tokuhara]

I really don't think the hobbits ever got to 20th level. By the end, maybe 6th? They probably all started as Experts, not just Sam. I don't think any of them would be bards either, but they all probably have Perform (Song).

Only Merry & Pippin are seen singing

[Incanur]

Comics powersets don't makes sense as D&D classes. Thor and the X-Men have extraordinary abilities by birth more than experience. Items as well, in Thor's case.

[letters]

Here's the LotR "Party" in a nutshell:

Frodo: Rogue 7/Uncanny Trickster 3/Invisible Blade 10 (Frodo was good with Sting)
Sam: Expert 2/Warblade 18 (Sam started wimp, then became a total champ)
Merry: Rogue 3/Marshal 10/Halfling Outrider 7 (started as a trickster, then lead the assault on Isengard)
Pippin: Bard 6/Sublime Chord 1/Virtuoso 10/Seeker of the Song 3 (Fought in the Battle of Gondor, yet inspired both the steward and what's her name who killed the Witch King)
Aragorn: Ranger 3/Warblade 7/Swordsage 1/Master of the Nine 9 (Aragorn began as a ranger, then started down the path of the king)
Gimli: Fighter 6/Deepwarden 1/Swordsage 1/Dwarven Defender 2/Exotic Weapon Master (Dwarven Longaxe or whatever it's called) 5/Dwarf Paragon 3/Barbarian 2 (Kill it with an axe, Dwarfy McDwarferson)
Legolas: Fighter 3/Ranger 3/Order of the Bow Initiate 10/Deepwood Stalker 4 (Mr. I use a bow and 2 short swords cuz I'm just that awesome)
Borimir: Knight 4/Paladin 5 (Died in the first film, but was your "standard" Sword & Board tank)
Gandalf the Grey: Stalwart Sorcerer 9/Abjurant Champion 3/Knight of the Chalice 8 (Died fighting a fricken' Half-Red Dragon Balor and became...)
Gandalf the White: Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 3/Mage of the Arcane Order 3/Incantrix 10/Archmage 1 (This is where he acts more Wizard-y)

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=7338

from way back when

[Wyntonian]

I'm ok with making up cool abilities that characters from different things had and simply listing those. For example, Wolverine probably had DR 20-30/-, because it seems like nothing can really hurt him, as well as fast healing... something high. Also, a pair of good claw attacks. I dunno what the stats for that would be, but whatever.

[Hyfigh]

Yea... LotR heroes were E6 at best. Even Gandalf wasn't all that. :smallconfused:

[PollyOliver]

I'm ok with making up cool abilities that characters from different things had and simply listing those. For example, Wolverine probably had DR 20-30/-, because it seems like nothing can really hurt him, as well as fast healing... something high. Also, a pair of good claw attacks. I dunno what the stats for that would be, but whatever.

I wouldn't say Wolverine has an especially high DR (though obviously he has plot armor). I'd say he has fast healing and regeneration.

For the claws, I'd say 2 adamantine claws at 1d6+STR (same as leopard and, appropriately, dire wolverine). That's standard claw damage for a medium creature. If you really wanted to push it, maybe 1d8, which is standard for large.

Edit: whoops, double-quoted

[Incanur]

Even Gandalf wasn't all that.

Nonsense. That's a huge misconception. Only willful ignorance or intentional deception explains it. Simply consider his battle with the Balrog. Can a non-TO level-6 caster blow up a room, wage week-long battle from the depths of frigid subterranean river to the top of mountain, and then hurl a storm of spells for another day or two that devastate the peak? I've never seen anything like that at the table.

[Talya]

Gandalf is a very high ECL. However, he doesn't have many class levels. The problem is, he's an Astral Deva (or more likely, Planetar) locked into Humanoid form.

[Incanur]

Gandalf is ECL 20. However, he doesn't have many class levels. The problem is, he's an Astral Deva locked into Humanoid form.

That would be about the best way to represent him in D&D 3.x, though magic in LotR simply operates very differently.

[Hawk7915]

The best (E6) build I've seen for Aragorn is Ranger 3/Paladin 3, with a high point buy (his fluff indicates he definitely deserves multiple 16+ ability scores). He has great tracking skills, he has some favored enemy bonuses, he has Endurance, he has the ability to control his fear against the Nazgul, and even rally others to face their fear as well. He's got a smite attack and TWF feats (the only explanation for how he wins at Weathertop :smalltongue:). And he has truly outrageous saves, which explains why he can hold out against the Ring, the Wraiths, and all manner of other nasty things he encounters.

I feel that Thor and Loki are too epic to be contained by a single class. Both are gestalt (assuming they don't just get divine ranks, but I think 15th+ level gestalt is better). Loki is a Swashbuckler//Beguiler. Thor is a [Storm-themed caster]//[Full BAB class]; I like Warmage//Crusader but ymmv.

The comment that everyone is Factotum is too true :smallsmile:. Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, Wesley...pretty much any "guile" hero who uses their smarts to win fits as a factotum.

[Incanur]

As often as not, comics Thor is drooling idiot with ridiculous physical stats and an epically awesome magic weapon.

[Greenish]

At the start of the books, sure...but by the end I would certainly give him some rogue levels.What, who, Frodo? He only gets more pathetic as he tags along. For the other hobbits, case can certainly be made, and Sam takes a level in badass without a doubt, but Frodo…

[Hazzardevil]

Here's the LotR "Party" in a nutshell:

Frodo: Rogue 7/Uncanny Trickster 3/Invisible Blade 10 (Frodo was good with Sting)
Sam: Expert 2/Warblade 18 (Sam started wimp, then became a total champ)
Merry: Rogue 3/Marshal 10/Halfling Outrider 7 (started as a trickster, then lead the assault on Isengard)
Pippin: Bard 6/Sublime Chord 1/Virtuoso 10/Seeker of the Song 3 (Fought in the Battle of Gondor, yet inspired both the steward and what's her name who killed the Witch King)
Aragorn: Ranger 3/Warblade 7/Swordsage 1/Master of the Nine 9 (Aragorn began as a ranger, then started down the path of the king)
Gimli: Fighter 6/Deepwarden 1/Swordsage 1/Dwarven Defender 2/Exotic Weapon Master (Dwarven Longaxe or whatever it's called) 5/Dwarf Paragon 3/Barbarian 2 (Kill it with an axe, Dwarfy McDwarferson)
Legolas: Fighter 3/Ranger 3/Order of the Bow Initiate 10/Deepwood Stalker 4 (Mr. I use a bow and 2 short swords cuz I'm just that awesome)
Borimir: Knight 4/Paladin 5 (Died in the first film, but was your "standard" Sword & Board tank)
Gandalf the Grey: Stalwart Sorcerer 9/Abjurant Champion 3/Knight of the Chalice 8 (Died fighting a fricken' Half-Red Dragon Balor and became...)
Gandalf the White: Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 3/Mage of the Arcane Order 3/Incantrix 10/Archmage 1 (This is where he acts more Wizard-y)

I'd say those would be about right if the entire party reached level 20.
I'd say was more a crusader, his awesome stuff, (maneuvers), needed time to work again.

I think that Gandalf was a monk at-will wishes and a glowy staff or a Wish build from the wish and word.

[Draz74]

Gandalf is a very high ECL. However, he doesn't have many class levels. The problem is, he's an Astral Deva (or more likely, Planetar) locked into Humanoid form.

On the contrary, he's an Aasimar whose backstory claims that he used to be a Planetar before he accepted a mission to bind himself to the humble form of an old man. :smalltongue:

[Zonugal]

The best (E6) build I've seen for Aragorn is Ranger 3/Paladin 3, with a high point buy (his fluff indicates he definitely deserves multiple 16+ ability scores). He has great tracking skills, he has some favored enemy bonuses, he has Endurance, he has the ability to control his fear against the Nazgul, and even rally others to face their fear as well. He's got a smite attack and TWF feats (the only explanation for how he wins at Weathertop :smalltongue:). And he has truly outrageous saves, which explains why he can hold out against the Ring, the Wraiths, and all manner of other nasty things he encounters.

There is actually a feat in Dungeonscape, Weapon & Torch, which allows during a full-round action for one to make an attack with a one-handed melee weapn and should that hit, they're granted an additional attack with a torch which does 1d6 fire damage & dazzles them for 1d4 rounds.

[Malkav]

Weapon & Torch-make an attack with a one-handed melee weapon and should that hit, they're granted an additional attack with a torch which does 1d6 fire damage & dazzles them for 1d4 rounds.

You auto-hit with the torch actually. Which is better.

[Greenish]

You auto-hit with the torch actually. Which is better.Eh, for the requirements (feat, one-handed weapon and torch, full round to attack once), it could well be Blinded instead of the weak Dazzled.

[Calintares]

I'd love to see this incarnation (http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Rosa/show.php?num=01&loc=D92514&s=date) of Scrooge McDuck statted out.

[grarrrg]

I'd love to see this incarnation (http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Rosa/show.php?num=01&loc=D92514&s=date) of Scrooge McDuck statted out.


The protagonist's build is Factotum 20. True story.

...


As for Blueness: Rod of Wonder. :smalltongue:

Doesn't that require the Rod to be POINTED AT YOU.

Hmm...


Hold my beer and watch this...

[Wolfgang Hype]

I've been trying to figure out a build for Sora's Final Form (without using Factotum). The flying part is fairly easy, and I guess Dancing enchantments might work for the floating keyblades, but it seems rather short. I suppose the steeldance spell might work as well, but I'm wondering if there's a better substitute for the Dancing enchantment.

Classes seem pretty simple, swordsage and some kind of evocation focused caster.