hobo386
2011-12-29, 11:35 AM
I recently joined a friend's D&D campaign, and I have two character ideas that I was hoping you guys could flesh out with classes (and maybe a few tips on feats).
The DM is fairly generous with stats, and the other players are fairly new to D&D, so a high optimization character isn't necessary, but if there's an appropriate class, prestige class, or feat, there's no reason not to take it.
For books, I'm trying to stick mostly to the more common ones (PHB/PHB2/SRD/DMG/Complete Series, and avoid more niche ones like forgotten realms or ravenloft books)
The first character is a crafty (skillmonkey) dwarven trapper/crossbow hunter type. I was thinking Rogue2->Ranger2->Rogue14->Fighter 2 (ignore the multiclass xp penalty). For damage, I'd be focusing on sneak attacks with crossbow sniper, and using a bayonet to keep enemies out of reach.
However, I did find the Trapsmith and Combat Trapsmith in Dungeonscape and Complete Scoundrel. Looking at it, my idea for trapping was more of the Trapsmith's "Booby Traps," but I don't really feel like he should be a spellcaster too. I was thinking of asking my DM if I could steal that one class feature and attach it onto Ranger instead of Animal Empathy.
So for my first set of questions:
1)Is this the right class setup? Should I just go with the trapsmith/combat trapsmith prestige classes instead? Are there other good classes/prestige classes that would fit better thematically?
2)Do you think giving my character the Booby Trap power would be fair?
3)For crossbows, should I take Rapid Reload and a hand/light crossbow, or should I skip the feat and go for a quickloading crossbow?
My second idea (as a backup character or for another campaign) is some sort tribal orc enlightened by some mysterious magical power. For this, I was thinking sorcerer as the base class (don't worry too much about the ability scores). He'd be the type that wouldn't break the world, but would fly into battle, stop time, and kill half of the enemies and disable the other half before they get a chance to react.
My main question for this guy is if there are any prestige classes that would be both useful and appropriate. I could see taking something like loremaster or archmage later on as a culmination of his magical prowess, or possibly taking a level in barbarian (but definitely not a paladin), then going eldritch knight/abjurant champion. He'd still be much more of a mage than a fighter, but still embody that tough orcish spirit. On the other hand, I couldn't see him being a fatespinner, guild mage, or Incantatrix. I'm open to any prestige class though, as long as it eventually gets to level 9 spells and fits the personality of an Orcish Tribal mage.
So any suggestions? (Thanks in advance!)
The DM is fairly generous with stats, and the other players are fairly new to D&D, so a high optimization character isn't necessary, but if there's an appropriate class, prestige class, or feat, there's no reason not to take it.
For books, I'm trying to stick mostly to the more common ones (PHB/PHB2/SRD/DMG/Complete Series, and avoid more niche ones like forgotten realms or ravenloft books)
The first character is a crafty (skillmonkey) dwarven trapper/crossbow hunter type. I was thinking Rogue2->Ranger2->Rogue14->Fighter 2 (ignore the multiclass xp penalty). For damage, I'd be focusing on sneak attacks with crossbow sniper, and using a bayonet to keep enemies out of reach.
However, I did find the Trapsmith and Combat Trapsmith in Dungeonscape and Complete Scoundrel. Looking at it, my idea for trapping was more of the Trapsmith's "Booby Traps," but I don't really feel like he should be a spellcaster too. I was thinking of asking my DM if I could steal that one class feature and attach it onto Ranger instead of Animal Empathy.
So for my first set of questions:
1)Is this the right class setup? Should I just go with the trapsmith/combat trapsmith prestige classes instead? Are there other good classes/prestige classes that would fit better thematically?
2)Do you think giving my character the Booby Trap power would be fair?
3)For crossbows, should I take Rapid Reload and a hand/light crossbow, or should I skip the feat and go for a quickloading crossbow?
My second idea (as a backup character or for another campaign) is some sort tribal orc enlightened by some mysterious magical power. For this, I was thinking sorcerer as the base class (don't worry too much about the ability scores). He'd be the type that wouldn't break the world, but would fly into battle, stop time, and kill half of the enemies and disable the other half before they get a chance to react.
My main question for this guy is if there are any prestige classes that would be both useful and appropriate. I could see taking something like loremaster or archmage later on as a culmination of his magical prowess, or possibly taking a level in barbarian (but definitely not a paladin), then going eldritch knight/abjurant champion. He'd still be much more of a mage than a fighter, but still embody that tough orcish spirit. On the other hand, I couldn't see him being a fatespinner, guild mage, or Incantatrix. I'm open to any prestige class though, as long as it eventually gets to level 9 spells and fits the personality of an Orcish Tribal mage.
So any suggestions? (Thanks in advance!)