Dwarf Me II: The Dwarfening

[Alefiend]

A few weeks ago, I posted this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224357) asking for help with ideas for a new build. I got some good ideas there, which fell victim to procrastination and the simple fact that I have too many things that should take priority over gaming. (Sad, I know.) I wound up putting together the character more or less at the last minute, and am pretty sure I did a less than stellar job of it.

I am hoping to get a critique of what I have, and some suggestions for where I can tweak it for a little more power and/or flavor. Certain rules apply:


The character is definitely a standard dwarf, 9 levels in total.
Crusader and Deepwarden are the classes, but the mix doesn't have to be as presented.
Greatsword is the weapon he came with, and it has been used in game, so I consider it unchangeable. But he will likely be given the last character's superpowered (ghost touch, holy, flaming, adamantine) warhammer as well.
Flaws and traits are permitted, though I am personally not a fan.
There is no need to plan beyond level 10 or 11, as the campaign is about to end.
We are a low-optimization/eclectic build group. I only need to be reasonably effective in and out of battle, which is something I managed with a fighter before.


Also, I hate to ask this, but please check my numbers where skills and maneuvers are concerned. I rushed, and wasn't using electronic aid, so I may have too many or too few of something.

The character:
Male Dwarf Crusader 7 / Deepwarden 2
S:18 D:13 Co:20 I:16 W:14 Ch:12

Feats: Endurance (required for DW), Power Attack, Blind-fighting, Blade Meditation

Maneuvers:
Devoted Spirit—Vanguard Strike
Stone Dragon—Mountain Hammer, Bonecrusher,
White Raven—Douse the Flames, Leading the Attack, Tactical Strike, White Raven Tactics, White Raven Strike

Stances: Bolstering Voice, Tactics of the Wolf

Skill ranks: Balance 10, Climb 5, Craft (stonework) 3, Diplomacy 10, Heal 5, Intimidate 4, Jump 5, K (dungeon) 10, Survival 10

Equipment:
Dwarven plate
+1 bane (aberrations) greatsword
3x Javelins of lightning
Heward's handy haversack
Elemental gem (earth)
Cloak of resistance +1
2x potions of cure serious wounds
various mundane things

Character is introduced to the party as the commander of a relief force sent by the local dwarf stronghold to break a siege. He has some knowledge of what the party will face in the near future, and will join them in confronting the Big Bad while coordinating with the military. He's not a great and mighty leader (despite his heavy use of WR discipline) but gets the job done, and was chosen by the ancestors to take the place of my previous character because of his skill set and because he had met the party before.


That's all I've got for now. I will answer any questions you may have that might help you, and I look forward to you poking holes in my sloppy build. :smallredface:

[Alefiend]

I'll bump this once, in case anybody missed it. Did I not leave enough wiggle room? Am I good enough for prime time?

[Essence_of_War]

Featwise, unless you're trying to get Pierce Magical Concealment (which requires blindfight) both Blindfight and Blade Meditation are generally considered to be very weak.

If you're taking endurance, you get diehard as bonus feat, this lets you get steadfast determination. VERY strong for martial characters.

You may want to look into:
Combat Reflexes + Standstill
CExp + Imp Trip + Knockdown
Imp. Initiative
Cleave (but not great cleave)
Stone Power (!) FANTASTIC through the mid levels, drops off at higher.
Shards of Granite, also a great and useful feat.

[Alefiend]

Thanks, EoW! I will take those into consideration. I'll also give a good look at your Crusader handbook, which I hadn't seen before now.

I probably won't be getting Diehard as a bonus feat, since the campaign is likely to end before we reach Clvl 11. Is the combo good enough for me to respec one of my feats to Diehard in order to get it? I'll probably have to give in and take some flaws to get all the things I want (I hated leaving out Cleave, for instance) but if it's worth it, then I'm willing.

[Essence_of_War]

Haha just to be very clear, although I love that handbook, and I contributed a few things to it, the real "man-with-a-plan", as it were, on that project was/is Private Prinny.

Now, you said your group is low/eclectic optimization level? Could you be more specific, like, who/what else is in your party? Because that could help give you advice to fit into your group's shared sense of power level. Steadfast Determination is VERY good. Shards+Stone Power are VERY good also, and are basically at their peak utility in your campaign's level range.

If you want the benefits of Steadfast Determination, but don't have the feat space, but have some amount of build flexibility, I might consider something like this:
Crusader 4/ Warblade 2/ Crusader 1/ Deep Warden 2/ Crusader X

You'll have 4 warblade maneuvers, and you'll want 2 of them to be Emerald Razor (because it's baller) and Moment of Perfect Mind, the others are open but you might consider Action Before Thought also.

[Alefiend]

Now, you said your group is low/eclectic optimization level? Could you be more specific, like, who/what else is in your party? Because that could help give you advice to fit into your group's shared sense of power level. Steadfast Determination is VERY good. Shards+Stone Power are VERY good also, and are basically at their peak utility in your campaign's level range.

The rest of the party:

Druid 9: She mostly throws BoED spells and summons elementals—she has a feat that lets her sacrifice spells for elemental summons. When she shapeshifts, it's generally into utility forms (birds) instead of combat forms. Has Natural Spell. Her animal companion is a Cooshee (elven dog) that tends to do her ass-kicking for her.

Paladin 9: Uses a scythe, rides a celestial pegasus via Leadership. Tries to spend a lot of time mounted because of this. I think the character just got the Holy Radiance feat. Player is smart (getting a doctorate in astrophysics) but quirky.

Rogue 4 / Sorcerer 5: Sneak-thief with low HP and a nice rapier. Almost never casts spells, and in fact most of the party doesn't know she can. Angling for Arcane Trickster as soon as she has 3rd-level spells.

Wizard 9: Secretive, with a checkered past. Likes to melt faces, but has some control spells as well. Possesses a runestaff-like object that lets her swap in some fire spells.

Cleric 9: New addition to the party. Utility spells, heals (or so he says), and gets a LOT of use out of a Bag of Tricks.

And then there's me. My info is in the OP.

[Essence_of_War]

I'm feeling re-training blind-fight and blade meditation for Stone Power + Shards of Granite. Step into the gap, use stone power a lot, and be nearly impossible to kill with hp damage.

If you want to add flaws, taking Diehard + Steadfast Determination off of flaws is not even in the same quadrant as game breaking, even in a low-op group. It's a passive ability that will be VERY useful to the party to help prevent charm/domination as well as the super unlucky 'can only fail my fort save on a natural 1' sort of stuff.

[Alefiend]

OK, I've done a little research, and I have to ask a couple of questions:


Why Diehard before Steadfast Determination? It's not a prerequisite—only Endurance is needed.
Why is Blade Meditation considered inferior to Weapon Specialization? Yes, I know WS is weak, and BM provides less damage, but it also grants +2 on key skill checks and +1 DC on any saves against my maneuver effects.


Shards of Granite doesn't look like it will be all that useful in my particular situation. The first part of it can be gotten around through use of that adamantine warhammer I mentioned. The second portion (ignoring the Stone Power attack penalty to confirm crits) is worthless IMHO, and we haven't faced anything with significant DR. Am I being obtuse? :smalleek:

Regardless of what I wind up doing, I really appreciate your advice. I've been playing this game a long time, but there's always something new—especially since I've never played anything from ToB.

[Essence_of_War]

Well, that's what I get for giving advice without my books in front of me :smallsmile:. You're totally right about steadfast. Re: blade meditation, the save dc increase and skill boost for maneuvers just isn't that useful. Most of your good maneuvers don'allow saves anyway, and the small, static damage/skill bonus just isn't that relevant. I'd rather have a large static bonus a la improved initiative, or feats that give me new abilities like stone power. I wouldn't say you're being obtuse about shards. If you're pretty sure that the dm doesn't throw a lot of dr at you, it's utility drops. Smilarly, if you don't need to sunder in combat, it's utility drops further, and the second ability is just garbage.

If you don't want flaws, i think that you have two good obvious choices, steadfast, and stone power. If you want flaws, you could try improved initiative, cleave, or combat reflexes+standstill. The latter is probably best once you have access to the thicket of blades stances.

As i was writing this I remembered one of my fave feat choices, extra granted maneuver! Free maneuver recharge a round early can be VERY useful.:smallamused:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Ironsoul Forgemaster. If you don't have the book Magic of Incarnum, then I cannot suggest strongly enough getting it, just for this PrC.

You're a Dwarf, and you're a Smith, which is being very Dwarfy. Then you get to imbue your weapon, shield, and armor with the souls of your ancestors. Oh, and you get to make magic items and ride the xp curl.

Combine with two levels in Witch Slayer (anti-magic is very dwarf-ish) for Mettle, and you're dang hard to truly drop. You laugh at elemental-flavored blastomancy because of your shield, you laugh at just about everything else with your high Fort and Will saves plus Mettle.

From there, tack on whatever you'd like to do for offense. Shock trooper + PounceBarian works quite well.

I'd also suggest Crusader for some of the shield-based maneuvers, and probably Thicket of Blades for area-effect denial.

[Essence_of_War]

I think the op said he wanted to be a crusader splash deepwarden, shneekey :smallsmile:

[Alefiend]

I think the op said he wanted to be a crusader splash deepwarden, shneekey :smallsmile:

Yeah. It's not that I don't appreciate the advice, Shneekey, but the character has already appeared in-game as Cru7/DW2. At this point, I can only fine-tune skills, feats, and maneuvers/stances. Advice along those lines is definitely welcome.

I do in fact have access to MoI, but I haven't looked closely enough at it to be very familiar with the contents. I guess I should add that project to my list of downtime reading (along with the XPH, which I've never bothered to read).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Yeah. It's not that I don't appreciate the advice, Shneekey, but the character has already appeared in-game as Cru7/DW2. At this point, I can only fine-tune skills, feats, and maneuvers/stances. Advice along those lines is definitely welcome.

I do in fact have access to MoI, but I haven't looked closely enough at it to be very familiar with the contents. I guess I should add that project to my list of downtime reading (along with the XPH, which I've never bothered to read).

It only takes one level of Ironsoul Forgemaster to net energy resistance. I highly suggest it as a dip if you use shields.

I'd also strongly suggest the two-level dip in Witch Hunter (from Tome of Magic) which you already qualify for, so that you can pick up Mettle.

This would still let you finish Deepstone Warden by level 20, and would net you several highly synergistic abilities.

As far as feats... Blade Meditation does little for your build. If you want to be Dwarfy and Stoney, I suggest Stone Power and Shards of Granite. Ignore DR and the first ten damage you take every round. Have a nice day.

[Essence_of_War]

Couple notes on maneuvers:

If you're planning on being the big dwarf who takes the damage, Iron Guard's Glare from Devoted Spirit is a REALLY good stance to have. I think it's WAY better Bolstering Voice, and usually better than Wolf Pack Tactics. And actually, have you made a mistake? Isn't Wolf Pack Tactics a 3rd level stance? You shouldn't be able to take one of those until Crusader 8 due to the Crusader's funky stances known progression.

I think most of your maneuvers look fine, but I noticed that you missed Defensive Rebuke from Devoted Spirit. If you want to draw aggro, that combined with Iron Guard Glare should do the trick nicely. I certainly like it better than Bonecrusher.