Level 3 Centaur Fighter, 19k Gold to Spend.

[killem2]

I'm the DM, who is helping a a friend's nephew join my game. Due to our levels we are at, I am allowing him to be a Centaur, and he wanted to be a fighter.

He wants to be focused on archery.

With out changed class, what would you suggest from a pure equipment stand point. I allow ALL 3.5 material, ALL 3.0 NON-updated Material, dragon/dungeon. No homebrew.

[gorfnab]

If only you had 4k more... (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a)

Large sized:
+1 (Seeking, Magebane, or Sure Striking) Mighty (+4 Str, unless higher) Serren Wood Composite Longbow - 13600gp

+1 Mithril Chain Shirt - 3200gp

+1 Darkwood Buckler - 1410gp

~790gp misc adventuring gear

[alanek2002]

I think you got the prices wrong. +1 mithral chain shirt is only 2100 gp, (1k mithral, 1k +1 bonus), leaving you with 1890 gp. I would recommend the mithralmist shirt, which is a +1 mithral chain shirt that grants your square concealment 7/day(swift action), for 3400 gp. I forget the book though, and the duration. that would leave 590 gold. later, though not yet, I would recommend a custom item of continuous arrow mind, to avoid AoO while using a bow.(should be 4k, following custom magic item guidelines)
after that, all I can say is "why fighter? why not ranger?"

Edit: sorry, forgot that the size was large about the shirt, though Mithralmist shirt should stay the same price.

[Cikomyr]

Aren't there magical horseshoes that allow levitation or ultra-fast travel?

I suspect these are rather cheap... For an archer, levitating at will might be nice.

[GnomeGninjas]

I think you got the prices wrong. +1 mithral chain shirt is only 2100 gp, (1k mithral, 1k +1 bonus)

Centaurs are large size.

[ericgrau]

Boots of speed hands down - 12k. Between the extra attack and the +1 to hit, this is +50% damage. Nothing else even comes close. +1 AC is gravy. I would only skip them if the party has a consistent caster of haste. Even then he and all party martial combatants will want the boots eventually to save the party caster a turn.
If the boots aren't allowed due to high single item price, bracers of quick strike provide a cheaper but far more limited option.
MW composite bow - ~1000-2000 gp. Make it +1 later.
Several bane arrows of common enemy types. If campagin details are unknown then undead is often nice.
Several arrows of various metal types to overcome DR, some +1 of various metal types too though he only needs a few to last until his bow becomes +1. 1 or 2 doses of oil of magic weapon is handy for when a prolonged fight against multiple enemies with DR/magic is expected, but this is rare. Hence why I only say 1 or 2.
A few potions of protection from evil for buffing rounds (only when there is one). Maybe a single potion of invisibility for emergencies, but archers aren't often in danger.
Browse the magic item compendium for all the neat items under 2,000 gp and get a few interesting ones. Or suggest a large number so he can pick out a few.
MW mithral shirt - 2250 gp. Or a chain shirt or hide for now if money is tight. If his dex is so high he's wearing padded or leather, then a couple potions of mage armor might be nice. They overlap not stack with armor, but it still helps. They last an hour so they're good for dungeon entrances.
A buckler. Don't spend too much on it yet because he loses the AC bonus every round he fires an arrow, which is almost always. Good for round 1 though.

[Cikomyr]

Can a centaur wear boots?

[Gavinfoxx]

Reins of Ascension! Horseshoes of Flame!

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851

[ericgrau]

Can a centaur wear boots?

Hmm, good point. I dunno but probably not. Well that leaves him with the bracers or a custom item.

Oh yeah, if this is a high optimization party I'd suggest giving the centaur a reduction on his LA to compensate. After all the centaur is like a premade portion of his build which can't be further optimized.

[killem2]

I did hand wave the la, and I also hand waved the requirement on mercantile background.

So he could get the energy bow. (the player is 12 years old) so you could imagine his face when I told him about this bow. lol he does have much else, but honestly, this party is going to be big. (I'd say 10 characters before animal companions)


so he's going to be fairly well protected up front.

[only1doug]

As the GM you need to consider how his mobility will affect your game, are you expecting him to go dungeon crawling?

If so then you should consider how the party will be able to give him flight or shrink him if needed.

I had a centaur in my game and I gave him a special magic item that allowed him to change to medium size (basically a shrink person refluffed to affect centaurs) and back twice a day (There was a button built into his armour, I had to refluff it so that the button had a spring cover that required a minimum strength score to open, just to stop the pixie from pushing it all of the time).

He wasn't great with stairs or god forbid rope ladders but eventually the party gained the ability to give each other flight (In the case of my game the Pixie used dust from its wings, it had a certain amount of pixie dust / day that it could use for a choice of effects, including flight (with bigger creatures requiring more dust)).

[killem2]

As the GM you need to consider how his mobility will affect your game, are you expecting him to go dungeon crawling?

If so then you should consider how the party will be able to give him flight or shrink him if needed.

I had a centaur in my game and I gave him a special magic item that allowed him to change to medium size (basically a shrink person refluffed to affect centaurs) and back twice a day (There was a button built into his armour, I had to refluff it so that the button had a spring cover that required a minimum strength score to open, just to stop the pixie from pushing it all of the time).

He wasn't great with stairs or god forbid rope ladders but eventually the party gained the ability to give each other flight (In the case of my game the Pixie used dust from its wings, it had a certain amount of pixie dust / day that it could use for a choice of effects, including flight (with bigger creatures requiring more dust)).


Yeah, all should be fine. I've looked at most of the dungeons for the next 2-3 modules, they all accommodate sizes, and I don't play size games like that with my players. There may be the occasional need to sqeeze to get to other chambers but nothing more.