[3.5] Fun starter character?

[Avrodath]

Hello everyone!
This is my first post here, so, please, tell me if I am doing something wrong :)

Well, I'd like some help for a character creation (38 pts!) (d&d 3.5, Faerun). We are limited to the PHB 1& 2 races (variant surfacer races allowed) and classes and begin to lv1. We can't multiclass until lv3. We can however pick feats from all the official books.

The character shouldn't look obviously too cheesy, and is not forced to be a 666HaxXorz666 dmg dealer. If he got versatility, is fun to play, is acceptable (or at least not useless) in combat and has a bit of social skills, it's ok for me :)

Oh, and he should be effective at relatively low level (1-3). I don't know if we will go further than lv 6, given that we're all newbies the campaign may brutally end for diverse reasons.

So, I thought about:

1- a Strongheart halfling druid rider with his war-trained dog companion. With his mobility, his ability to cast spells, to interact socially and generally, to effectively throw weapons, and to charge with a lance, he looked like an enjoyable fellow. But I don't really know what feats to pick, and if he would really be viable ;

2- a Strongheart halfling rogue twf thrower. At first glance, he looked fun to play: a mad dagger-javelin-bizarre flasks thrower, with good social comps and sneak attack . But the encombrance, the low range, the low damage, hard to trigger SA and the number of feats needed to be really effective(quick draw, twf point blank shot, precise shot...) buggered me. Some advices? :smallbiggrin:

3- a Strongheart halfling (yeah I know, I love these guys :smallcool:), human or gnome bard. His overall polyvalence quite attracted me (good social abilities, fair fighter, fun with prestidigitation - casting spells via music - enchantment and illusion spells). But hmmmm I'm a bit lost here again. What weapons? how to play it in combat? Usefulness in melee-range?

4- a Human whip fighter (with whip-dagger and whip, depending of his mood). Spiked chain would be too much cheese :smallwink: I don't really know how to build it. Any advices?

5- Any other idea, should it be fun, bizarre, creative, uncommon or anything else.


Thanks by advance, and sorry for the hypothetic grammar/syntax/word mistakes, english is not my first language.

[Silva Stormrage]

Hello everyone!
This is my first post here, so, please, tell me if I am doing something wrong :)

Well, I'd like some help for a character creation (38 pts!) (d&d 3.5, Faerun). We are limited to the PHB races and classes and begin to lv1. We can't multiclass until lv3. We can however pick feats from all the official books.

The character shouldn't look obviously too cheesy, and is not forced to be a 666HaxXorz666 dmg dealer. If he got versatility, is fun to play, is acceptable (or at least not useless) in combat and has a bit of social skills, it's ok for me :)

Oh, and he should be effective at relatively low level (1-3). I don't know if we will go further than lv 6, given that we're all newbies the campaign may brutally end for diverse reasons.

So, I thought about:

1- a Strongheart halfling druid rider with his war-trained dog companion. With his mobility, his ability to cast spells, to interact socially and generally, to effectively throw weapons, and to charge with a lance, he looked like an enjoyable fellow. But I don't really know what feats to pick, and if he would really be viable ;

2- a Strongheart halfling rogue twf thrower. At first glance, he looked fun to play: a mad dagger-javelin-bizarre flasks thrower, with good social comps and sneak attack . But the encombrance, the low range, the low damage, hard to trigger SA and the number of feats needed to be really effective(quick draw, twf point blank shot, precise shot...) buggered me. Some advices? :smallbiggrin:

3- a Strongheart halfling (yeah I know, I love these guys :smallcool:), human or gnome bard. His overall polyvalence quite attracted me (good social abilities, fair fighter, fun with prestidigitation - casting spells via music - enchantment and illusion spells). But hmmmm I'm a bit lost here again. What weapons? how to play it in combat? Usefulness in melee-range?

4- a Human whip fighter (with whip-dagger and whip, depending of his mood). Spiked chain would be too much cheese :smallwink: I don't really know how to build it. Any advices?

5- Any other idea, should it be fun, bizarre, creative, uncommon or anything else.


Thanks by advance, and sorry for the hypothetic grammar/syntax/word mistakes, english is not my first language.

Druid would be my suggestion, very brutal in combat + decent skill list + having an extra character as a class feature = made of win. Also if you DO get higher than 6 its a full spellcaster so your good.

I would suggest not going with the thrower unless you have access to tome of battle. They really aren't that effective.

Bards are fun too, if you have a bunch of melee than giving yourself dragonfire inspiration makes you a buffing monster.

Spiked chain is cheese now? It costs a feat to use and is only decent then... Your choice though.


Also as a side note the water variant for halflings is made of win (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#waterHalflings). Basically for the penalties against enemies you will rarely ever fight you gain + 2 con. I figured since you were using strong heart halfling you were allowed to use variants from other sources as well.

[Greenish]

Bard could boost IC/DFI, toss spells and mix it in melee pretty well with those sources, but if spiked chain fighter is too much cheese, a competent bard is certainly overdoing it.

Curmudgeon-school rogue might work. Rapier, Craven, Snap Kick, Spring Attack, Shadowdancer HiPS.

[Avrodath]

Thanks for your answers.

The idea of an enlarged spiked chain character, triping, disarming, giving AOO, and chain killing low level baddies was buggering me.

I guess that was not as powerful as I thought.

Any other advices are appreciated!

[Silva Stormrage]

Thanks for your answers.

The idea of an enlarged spiked chain character, triping, disarming, giving AOO, and chain killing low level baddies was buggering me.

I guess that was not as powerful as I thought.

Any other advices are appreciated!

Ah, well tripper builds are actually decent (playing one now). But hardly op'ed. Is your dm open to classes from other books if he approves them? Or homebrew?

If he allows other sources than I suggest Dread Necromancer from Heroes of horror. It is melee at low levels but doesn't need strength if you get weapon finesse since it deals it's damage through touch attacks. It also has a large spell list and spontaneously casts from the entire list. Its also considered more balanced than all of the full casters in the PHB.

If he allows homebrew than you can look at these boards for some fun classes. Though for a starting campaign you might not want to do that since it might be a bit much for the DM to handle.

[Vandicus]

To clarify, you can't use prestige classes from the Faerun books? Its got a bunch of stuff that allows a person to actually play a skiprock sling using halfling.

[Avrodath]

The dread necromancer sounds interesting. I'll look into it!

And yep, no prestige class. Only mix of base classes, with all feats. If you got any strange ideas, I'm all ears!