Playground: Assemble!

[killianh]

So in regards to a post I saw by Joe Eskimo I was wondering what kind of builds you would use for the other members of the avengers?

The Joe Eskimo page was for a hulk build, and I saw another build for Thor that involved Warblade 7 / Crusader 1 / Barbarian 1 / Bloodstorm Blade 4/ Master Thrower 5 but there seems to be other ways to do them and there are still the other characters on the avengers side of the marvel universe (I would weep with joy for a good Thanos build)

So playgrounders, what would be some build specs to makes these guys possible?

[Telonius]

For Iron Man, I've seen some Warforged builds going one of two ways: heavy on the Artificer, or heavy on the Warlock. It really depends on how much you want to model Tony Stark outside of combat versus Iron Man in combat.

Hulk is easy. They might as well have put his picture next to Frenzied Berserker.

Hawkeye ... probably Rogue/Swashbuckler(Daring Outlaw)/Kensai.

Black Widow - maybe Swordsage?

I've seen several Captain America builds that make use of Improved Shield Bash, Shield Charge(CWar), Shield Sling(PHB2).

[JadePhoenix]

The original Human Torch is a Warforged Pyrokineticist.
Spider-Man could be built as a Warlock, I guess.
Wolverine would be some kind of Totem Rager.
Iron Fist would be a Warblade/Swordsage into Master of Nine.
Venom could be Synthesist.

[Person_Man]

For Iron Man, I love my Magitech Templar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176276) homebrew. It's gotten a lot of play around the playground.

[Chronos]

For that Thor build, where do you get the lightning?

And Captain America is a touch problematic, too: The shield-throwing is best represented by Bloodstorm Blade, but he feels a lot more like a Crusader (dedicated to the ideal of America) than a Warblade. Either way, he's definitely got a ton of White Raven, and possibly a mix of some Marshal, too: His main strength is in organizing and inspiring his allies.

[JadePhoenix]

Guys, I think the OP does not want builds for the Avengers in the movie (there is alreayd a thread for that), he wants builds for the other Avengers.

[doko239]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238107 has some good stuff, but it's all Pathfinder-based.

Within Pathfinder rules, my opinions were:

Thor: Half-Celestial Suli Oracle of Wind

Captain America: Advanced Human Shielded Fighter

Iron Man: Human Aristocrat/Expert with tons of crafting feats, wearing Construct Armor

Hulk: Were-Baluchitherium Invulnerable Rager Barbarian with some refluffing.

[Fable Wright]

For that Thor build, where do you get the lightning?

And Captain America is a touch problematic, too: The shield-throwing is best represented by Bloodstorm Blade, but he feels a lot more like a Crusader (dedicated to the ideal of America) than a Warblade. Either way, he's definitely got a ton of White Raven, and possibly a mix of some Marshal, too: His main strength is in organizing and inspiring his allies.

...He also fairly obviously has Iron Heart, too. So, he could either do a Warblade dip for Iron Heart Surge at 6th level and an Iron Heart stance, or take Martial Study and Martial Stance for them.

Hawkeye I really can't picture as a rogue. He constantly takes long-range shots, which means no sneak attack, so I can't really see that working. Maybe as a Ranger (no Swift Hunter, as he just stands there), possibly of the Mystic variety, given that he kept on using long-range magical effects on his arrows. Maybe Mystic Ranger/Arcane Archer (possibly with Sword of the Arcane Order for the Dispel Magic and Fireballs he pulled in the movie)?

Black Widow is almost definitely a Rogue, as she has a certain set of skills she does well with, she stays in close range to her targets, and she's nowhere near as effective or versatile as the rest of the party.

Iron Man I can best see as a split: Tony Stark is an Artificer, and the Iron Man suit is a warlock.

Also, given that he statted Thor in the OP, I think he does want to stat out the avengers, but in 3.5 rather than Pathfinder.

[Darth Stabber]

Dr. Strange: wizard/loremaster/archmage
Deadpool:figher/swordsage with some form of regeneration.
Antman: psion(egoist)/artificer
Spiderman: factotum with 2 modified rods of ropes
Thing: half stone golem/fighter/warhulk

[Zonugal]

Well, I am only really experienced in approaching the Avengers from the E6 variant, so I will offer my suggestions regarding that perspective.

The Hulk: Middle-Aged Male Illumian Half-Fiend (Transition 1) Human Paragon 1/Wizard 2/Human Paragon 2/Wild Mage 1
Captain America: Male Lesser Aasimar (Half-Celestial Transition 1) Ranger 1/Paladin of Freedom 1/Crusader 1/Warblade 2/Pious Templar 1
Iron Man: Middle-Aged Male Human Artificer 5/Merchant Prince (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060308a&page=4) (Enclave Master variant) 1
Thor: Male Ghaele Savage Progression 6
Black Widow: Male Human Rogue 3/(Sneak Attack/Hit & Run) Fighter 1/Rogue1/Assassin 1
Hawk-Eye: Male Human Ranger 4/(Sneak Attack/Hit & Run) Fighter 1/Ranger 1
Nick Fury: Middle-Aged Male Rogue 3/Silver Key (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061106a&page=2) (Non-Dwarf variant) 2/Assassin 1

Beyond that...

Dr. Strange: Middle-Aged Male Human Wizard 5/War Weaver 1
Wolverine: Male Shifter Ranger 1/Barbarian 1/Warblade 2/Warshaper 1/Horizon Walker 1
Spider-Man: Male Lolth-Touched Human Egoist 5/Unarmed Swordsage 1
Ant-Man: Middle-Aged Male Human Psionic Artificer 5/Unarmed Swordsage 1
Iron-Fist: Male Human Unarmed Swordsage 6
Mister Fantastic: Middle-Aged Male Changeling Egoist 6
The Invisible Woman: Middle-Aged Female Human Ghost (Transition 2) Shaper 6
The Human Torch: Male Imix-Blooded Human Battle Sorcerer 6
The Thing: Male Mineral Warrior Earth Dwarf (Dungeoncrasher) Fighter 6

[Fable Wright]

Well, I am only really experienced in approaching the Avengers from the E6 variant, so I will offer my suggestions regarding that perspective.

The Hulk: Middle-Aged Male Illumian Half-Fiend (Transition 1) Human Paragon 1/Wizard 2/Human Paragon 2/Wild Mage 1

Waitwaitwait. The Hulk... not using Rage? What spells/abilities does Banner use to transform into the indestructible green manifestation of rage... with level 3 wizard spells?

[Zonugal]

Waitwaitwait. The Hulk... not using Rage? What spells/abilities does Banner use to transform into the indestructible green manifestation of rage... with level 3 wizard spells?

I put together the process in another thread, focused on the Hulk, this is what I had:


If you were operating in E6 this would be pretty easy.

You didn't give any specifics but how about a non-traditional approach to the Hulk like this:

Male Middle-Aged Half-Fiend 1* Illumian Human Paragon 1/Wizard 3/Human Paragon 2
Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 9
Troll-Blooded [1st], Toughness [Flaw], Rapid Regeneration [Flaw], Scribe Scroll [W1], Pain Mastery [HP2], Involuntary Rage [3rd], Arcane Strike [6th]

Now you don't qualify for Involuntary Rage or Pain Mastery in your typical form but the moment you cast Bear's Endurance upon yourself you start the transformation.

Bear's Endurance unlocks Involuntary Rage & Pain Mastery, but our stats are still pretty mundane.
Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 9

Now we cast Alter Self (this is where that one level in the savage progression of Half-Field is so important as it throws the outsider template on Bruce) and turn into a Dwarven Ancestor. Large size and +18 natural armor is really nice (it also opens up feats like Awesome Blow & such later down the road). But because Alter Self doesn't alter physical stats we still have:
Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 9

Next we cast Fist of Stone, as to pump that strength by some points.
Stats: Str 16, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 9

Now remember Bruce is a Illumian and he'll have chosen to have his Illumian word be Aeshkrau. That new 16 in strength now affords us a bonus 1st, 2nd & 3rd level spell.

From here you can kind of go where you want but Fist of Stone lasts a minute so you are granted a 1st, 2nd & 3rd level spell during the period effectively for free. Be it from Enlarge Person to Heroism you can start stacking a lot of nice buffs this way.

But this is only half of the build. Once you suffer a flat 50 points of damage & recover (this is honestly the hardest part, but a build like above should have somewhere near 42 on average with 54 after Bear's Endurance, but regeneration 2/fire & acid means you can recover if you have time) you trigger Involuntary Rage & Pain Mastery putting your stats at:
Stats: Str 22, Dex 10, Con 24, Int 18, Wis 9, Cha 9

You gain a bonus 1st & 2nd level spell and are starting to upgrade yourself. A build like this should try to find a way to get any type of curing spell available (as to handle the 50 points of damage), but now you can begin stacking the affects of Involuntary Rage & Pain Mastery. Each time you survive a strike of 50 points of damage or higher you gain +6 Str, +4 Con & -2 AC (resulting in more bonus spells).

So literally the longer you fight (and the angrier you get) the stronger you become.

So this build can function as Bruce Banner (it's still a full casting Wizard) but can also become the Hulk (be it a bit slower than a Barbarian build).

Naturally just the chassis isn't enough, but in E6 you can load up on as many Toughness, Improved Natural Armor, Roll With It & Rapid Regeneration as you need to make Bruce Banner/The Hulk effectively invulnerable (short of attacks like negative level, ability drain, ect...).