Critfocused Build for 3.5

[Siltharon]

Though I play dungeons and dragons now for a pretty long time I have basically no idea on how to build basic fighters since I never was into them and if I played some they always were special cases like Psywar or ToB classes.

Now I'd like to know how to make an effective Critfocused build
(I leave classes out for now ... bonus points if it works on more classes)
-We are playing in a China/Japan-themed campaign .... so it would be nice if it would fit the flavour too (ToB classes? Psywar? Samurai? Figther ACFs?)
Using Katana with EWP?
Improved crit or Keen?
etc
etc

Thanks in advance

[Deaxsa]

well, you say you have played ToB classes before, so let me just give you an idea for a crit-based melee:

a (relatively strong)warblade with a (keen) falchion, and blood in the water. seriously. you get int to confirm, and blood in the water(which adds to confirm AND damage), and there's a feat for improving crit confirms (give +4 to a specific weapon). here's the best part. with the weapon aptidude ability, you can change the weapon you fight with every day. in which case, getting improved critical is a pretty good idea -- you can apply it to any weapon.

sure, you may not crit every 3 strikes, but this build is not about having massive crit range(although it's got a bit of that), it's about constantly confirming crits. in fact, you could do all of this by warblade 3, which means you could spend the rest of the time as fighter for feat scrounging, or for PrCs that increase your range and damage on crits.

for more crit confirmation, get Victor's Luck from Complete Scoundrel for the ability to reroll crit confirms. never mind, that's only once per day.

also, lighting maces(style feat) from Complete warrior is pretty strong, but only if you do some quite liberal interpreting of weapon aptitude.

[Siltharon]

well, you say you have played ToB classes before, so let me just give you an idea for a crit-based melee:

a (relatively strong)warblade with a (keen) falchion, and blood in the water. seriously. you get int to confirm, and blood in the water(which adds to confirm AND damage), and there's a feat for improving crit confirms (give +4 to a specific weapon). here's the best part. with the weapon aptidude ability, you can change the weapon you fight with every day. in which case, getting improved critical is a pretty good idea -- you can apply it to any weapon.

sure, you may not crit every 3 strikes, but this build is not about having massive crit range(although it's got a bit of that), it's about constantly confirming crits. in fact, you could do all of this by warblade 3, which means you could spend the rest of the time as fighter for feat scrounging, or for PrCs that increase your range and damage on crits.

hmmm ... wouldn't work Katana better though? I mean with EWP it has 18-20/x3 if you use it twohanded

but thanks ... yeah in a warblade build blood in the water would be mandatory

edit: then maybe add 1 level Exotic Weapon Master for Uncanny Blow

[Fyermind]

How cheesy do you want to be?
Aptitude weapon from ToB gets very cheesy when used with feats like lightening maces (extra attack every threat) and roundabout kick (extra unarmed strike when you crit, since unarmed strike is a weapon too...)

The result can be a Warblade 1 / fighter 4 / Warblade +1 / Disciple of Dispater 8
wielding dual kukri (with an adamantine weapon of some sort for constructs, and possibly a different weapon for undead and elementals). With improved critical as a feat, +1 aptitude kukri, will act like +2 kukri. You will get an extra attack at every threat, another extra attack at every crit, a few maneuvers to cover your weaknesses (mountain hammer should be one of them), and blood in the water for boosts whenever crit. Furthermore, your threat range should start at 18-20 for kukri, and end up at 15-20 at level 9, 12-20 at level 10, and 9-20 at level 14. At that point just about anything that hits also crits.

[Siltharon]

How cheesy do you want to be?
Aptitude weapon from ToB gets very cheesy when used with feats like lightening maces (extra attack every threat) and roundabout kick (extra unarmed strike when you crit, since unarmed strike is a weapon too...)

The result can be a Warblade 1 / fighter 4 / Warblade +1 / Disciple of Dispater 8
wielding dual kukri (with an adamantine weapon of some sort for constructs, and possibly a different weapon for undead and elementals). With improved critical as a feat, +1 aptitude kukri, will act like +2 kukri. You will get an extra attack at every threat, another extra attack at every crit, a few maneuvers to cover your weaknesses (mountain hammer should be one of them), and blood in the water for boosts whenever crit. Furthermore, your threat range should start at 18-20 for kukri, and end up at 15-20 at level 9, 12-20 at level 10, and 9-20 at level 14. At that point just about anything that hits also crits.

well we have a very interesting system for the current campaign:
3 players (1 of them dm) and 9 charakters ... 6 of them are a "pool" from which everybody can pick.
Other charakters include two clerics using dmm so I don't think cheesiness is the problem

we all focus on style over power though and so I'd prefer using something twohanded (like a Katana ie .... I actually think it is the best choice)
Getting the Swordmasterfeeling you know

thanks for the build though ... still using Lightning maces for Katana might be an option (or does it just work on TWF?)

[Deaxsa]

How cheesy do you want to be?
Aptitude weapon from ToB gets very cheesy when used with feats like lightening maces (extra attack every threat) and roundabout kick (extra unarmed strike when you crit, since unarmed strike is a weapon too...)

The result can be a Warblade 1 / fighter 4 / Warblade +1 / Disciple of Dispater 8
wielding dual kukri (with an adamantine weapon of some sort for constructs, and possibly a different weapon for undead and elementals). With improved critical as a feat, +1 aptitude kukri, will act like +2 kukri. You will get an extra attack at every threat, another extra attack at every crit, a few maneuvers to cover your weaknesses (mountain hammer should be one of them), and blood in the water for boosts whenever crit. Furthermore, your threat range should start at 18-20 for kukri, and end up at 15-20 at level 9, 12-20 at level 10, and 9-20 at level 14. At that point just about anything that hits also crits.

where is disciple of dispater? also, is that where the improved crit range is coming from?

[Fouredged Sword]

Re flavor a falchion as a dia-katanna. Get improved critical. Be a warblade.

Dip barbarian for Whirling frenzy and pounce. Snapkick is nice later on, though not needed.

Focus on hitting and criting frequently. Diamond mind should be the school you dip for most of your strikes, though get Iron Heart Surge to purge fatigue after a rage.

There is a second level cleric spell that allows you to treat an attack as if you rolled a 20. Get a few potions of this for when you need to crit in a pinch. Blood in the water works best once you get it going a bit.

[Fyermind]

It doesn't require you actually fight with two weapon fighting, though you will need the feat no matter what. I'd refluff a Falchion as a katana just because the numbers crunch so much better.

Disciple of Dispater an evil PRC from the Book of Vile Darkness. At levels 4 and 8 it expands threat range (double and triple respectively) and it explicitly stacks with improved critical (but not keen). Bear in mind it is non-updated 3.0.

Without going Disciple of Dispater, there are other ways of expanding threat ranges, they just aren't quite as effective. Weapon Master (or Psionic Weapon master) from OA and Mind's Eye (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d) both increase the threat range by 2 points if you already have improved critical granting a 13-20 threat range at level 12. They also gain the ability to increase their critical modifier a number of times per day. That gets very fun.

If you can find a seller, Kaorti weapons from fiend folio and here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a) only work with Weapon master from Oriental Adventures (as Disciple of dispater requires iron weapons, and Psionic Weapon master requires crystal weapons).

[Siltharon]

It doesn't require you actually fight with two weapon fighting, though you will need the feat no matter what. I'd refluff a Falchion as a katana just because the numbers crunch so much better.

Disciple of Dispater an evil PRC from the Book of Vile Darkness. At levels 4 and 8 it expands threat range (double and triple respectively) and it explicitly stacks with improved critical (but not keen). Bear in mind it is non-updated 3.0.

Without going Disciple of Dispater, there are other ways of expanding threat ranges, they just aren't quite as effective. Weapon Master (or Psionic Weapon master) from OA and Mind's Eye (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d) both increase the threat range by 2 points if you already have improved critical granting a 13-20 threat range at level 12. They also gain the ability to increase their critical modifier a number of times per day. That gets very fun.

If you can find a seller, Kaorti weapons from fiend folio and here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a) only work with Weapon master from Oriental Adventures (as Disciple of dispater requires iron weapons, and Psionic Weapon master requires crystal weapons).

Thanks ... I'm reading through the books and looking for them :)

btw ... why you guys say Falchion is better than Katana? I mean yes ... you need EWP ... but if you use a Katana two-handed it has 18-20/x3 compared to 18-20/x2 on the Falchion

[Fyermind]

Where does it list the Katana as having that threat range? I've only ever seen it as a mwk bastard sword (19-20/x2)

[Siltharon]

Where does it list the Katana as having that threat range? I've only ever seen it as a mwk bastard sword (19-20/x2)

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Katana_%283.5e_Equipment%29 here you go

[Fyermind]

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Katana_%283.5e_Equipment%29 here you go

That is homebrew. Check with you DM about it. DanDWiki doesn't distinguish between published material and homebrew.

[Deox]

The DMG says otherwise.

It is to be treated as a MW bastard sword.

[Siltharon]

That is homebrew. Check with you DM about it. DanDWiki doesn't distinguish between published material and homebrew.

hmm maybe homebrewed ... but since I'm dm too I can allow whatever I think is useable without breaking the game :) ... true though that you couldn't know that so I appologize for that

[Deadline]

hmm maybe homebrewed ... but since I'm dm too I can allow whatever I think is useable without breaking the game :) ... true though that you couldn't know that so I appologize for that

As Deox mentioned, a Katana in the D&D 3.5 rules is equivalent to a masterwork bastard sword (1d10, 19-20/x2). If you go with the homebrew from DandDwiki, that flatly makes it better than other exotic weapons (generally, an exotic weapon is equivalent to a martial weapon that has a one-step higher damage die, OR an expanded crit range, OR an expanded crit multiplier - having all three is blatantly better than any other exotic weapon).

While it may not seem like much to you, you should be wary of balance issues.

[Shining Wrath]

As noted, the Warblade gets to add Int bonus to confirm criticals, and as mentioned there is a feat that lets you enhance your critical range.

You mentioned Blood in the Water, so you are aware of the goodness that is Tiger Claw. Also there are Tiger Claw maneuvers which give additional attacks per weapon wielded.

You may do best with TWF and both weapons are high-crit range. Scimitar + Kukri. Make INT your 3rd best score, after STR and CON.

Then pick up Augment Crystals of Truedeath and Destruction so you can make critical hits on Undead and Constructs, respectively.

A dip into Swordsage lets you take the wondrous maneuver "Shadow Strike", which allows one attack (bad) but you roll twice and choose the better roll (in other words 2x chance of a crit threat).

[Deaxsa]

hmmm ... wouldn't work Katana better though? I mean with EWP it has 18-20/x3 if you use it twohanded

one second, where did you get this?

[Darrin]

If you're going to take EWP, then I'd start with a Jovar (Planar Handbook): 2d6 damage, 18-20/x2. Make it out of Kaorti resin for 18-20/x4.

A Minotaur Greathammer (MM4) is also be nice: 1d12 damage, 19-20/x4. Add the Impact property (MIC) for 17-20/x4.