Zaq
2012-02-10, 03:51 AM
I had this idea, and I basically want to just write it down before I forget it. There's nothing amazingly groundbreaking here, but I figure that getting the Playground's input can't ever hurt. The basic idea is an E6 critfishing build—roll lots, crit lots, hurt lots. I'm assuming that you start with at least one Keen weapon (probably starting with +1 on the other and upgrading it after a couple sessions).
Version A:
This version has a somewhat lower risk-to-reward ratio. It also comes into its own a bit earlier.
Human, Barbarian 1 / Sneak Attack Fighter 1 / Warblade 4
Human: Magical Training
1: TWF
3: Craven
6: Telling Blow
E1: WF: Kukri
E2: Power Critical
E3: Extra Rage
Blood in the Water stance, standard Warblade defensive maneuvers (and one or two offensive ones for when charging/full attacking isn't viable), wand chambers with eternal wands of Wraithstrike in my kukris (Magical Training gives me arcane spells; eternal wands can be used by a character who can cast ANY arcane spells). Wraithstrike helps me hit until BitW builds up a nice hefty bonus. Telling Blow + Craven makes every crit do 1d6 + 12 extra damage (not including whatever OTHER bonus damage I manage to pull out, of course). Between Power Critical and the Warblade's ability to add INT to confirmation rolls, confirming is trivial.
Version B:
This version is more intense. I'm ambivalent over whether it's actually better. It also takes longer to get all of its tricks working.
Asherati, Barbarian 1 / Sneak Attack Fighter 1 / Warblade 4
1: Magical Training
3: TWF
6: Eagle's Fury
E1: Craven
E2: Telling Blow
E3: Extra Rage
E4: WF: Eagle's Claw
E5: Power Critical
This is basically the same thing as the other version, only with more swings. Take Whirling Frenzy instead of normal Rage. (Version A would use normal Rage to increase survivability and keep to-hit levels somewhat up.) Eagle's Fury basically gives you Rapid Shot for eagle's claws. You're getting two more swings than Version A, but you're also taking more penalties as a result. This one would basically just be praying that a couple rounds of Wraithstrike will be enough to let you get enough crits for Blood in the Water to start doing its thing—not fundamentally different from Version A, but again, higher risk, higher reward. I have no idea how you'd crunch the math to figure out when an extra swing is worth –2 to all your attack rolls for the purposes of calculating average chance of hitting/critting against a given AC. Under my table's E6 semi-houserules, item access is restricted, so I wouldn't reliably be able to get the DEX necessary for ITWF, nor would I be able to rely on Gloves of the Balanced Hand. Even without ITWF, though, that's potentially as many as five swings per round, though the penalties are harsh as hell.
If I were to actually play this character, it'd almost certainly look a lot more like Version A than Version B (Version B is pretty much pushing the edge of practicality), but like I said, I'm mostly just posting this to get it out of my head. Once again, I recognize that there's nothing groundbreaking about this character, but I think it'd be playable. Any thoughts?
Version A:
This version has a somewhat lower risk-to-reward ratio. It also comes into its own a bit earlier.
Human, Barbarian 1 / Sneak Attack Fighter 1 / Warblade 4
Human: Magical Training
1: TWF
3: Craven
6: Telling Blow
E1: WF: Kukri
E2: Power Critical
E3: Extra Rage
Blood in the Water stance, standard Warblade defensive maneuvers (and one or two offensive ones for when charging/full attacking isn't viable), wand chambers with eternal wands of Wraithstrike in my kukris (Magical Training gives me arcane spells; eternal wands can be used by a character who can cast ANY arcane spells). Wraithstrike helps me hit until BitW builds up a nice hefty bonus. Telling Blow + Craven makes every crit do 1d6 + 12 extra damage (not including whatever OTHER bonus damage I manage to pull out, of course). Between Power Critical and the Warblade's ability to add INT to confirmation rolls, confirming is trivial.
Version B:
This version is more intense. I'm ambivalent over whether it's actually better. It also takes longer to get all of its tricks working.
Asherati, Barbarian 1 / Sneak Attack Fighter 1 / Warblade 4
1: Magical Training
3: TWF
6: Eagle's Fury
E1: Craven
E2: Telling Blow
E3: Extra Rage
E4: WF: Eagle's Claw
E5: Power Critical
This is basically the same thing as the other version, only with more swings. Take Whirling Frenzy instead of normal Rage. (Version A would use normal Rage to increase survivability and keep to-hit levels somewhat up.) Eagle's Fury basically gives you Rapid Shot for eagle's claws. You're getting two more swings than Version A, but you're also taking more penalties as a result. This one would basically just be praying that a couple rounds of Wraithstrike will be enough to let you get enough crits for Blood in the Water to start doing its thing—not fundamentally different from Version A, but again, higher risk, higher reward. I have no idea how you'd crunch the math to figure out when an extra swing is worth –2 to all your attack rolls for the purposes of calculating average chance of hitting/critting against a given AC. Under my table's E6 semi-houserules, item access is restricted, so I wouldn't reliably be able to get the DEX necessary for ITWF, nor would I be able to rely on Gloves of the Balanced Hand. Even without ITWF, though, that's potentially as many as five swings per round, though the penalties are harsh as hell.
If I were to actually play this character, it'd almost certainly look a lot more like Version A than Version B (Version B is pretty much pushing the edge of practicality), but like I said, I'm mostly just posting this to get it out of my head. Once again, I recognize that there's nothing groundbreaking about this character, but I think it'd be playable. Any thoughts?