Character that can handle anything?

[Gwazi Magnum]

Note, I'm not looking for advice on how to build a character that breaks the game.

I'm looking for advice for a character that has his bases covered and is ready for whatever sneaky tricks a DM might throw at them.

To list some examples
-High AC/SR Monsters, maybe with high DR or immunities/resistances to weapons & magic
-Monsters with sneaky tricks to make them hard to beat such as fliers, dimension slippers, high speed, invisibility etc.
-Just Nasty world stuff, such as risk of disease, how to get treasure out of a crumbling tomb, tracking down a lost person/artifact
-Immune to things that can cause the character to lose levels, attributes etc
-Skill checks for skills that no one will probably ever have any realistic use for

In other words, not a broken character, but a character for when the DM goes "You can't accomplish this goal you've worked hard for due to ________" or "You suffer _______ and take _______ penalty" I can go:

"Actually I have ______ so I can do that/do not take that penalty"

Essentially a character that can succeed against DM's who have fun punishing players or being hard on them.

Obviously a DM can house rule **** out of his ass and nulify any build I make. But I'm looking a character where he wouldn't be able to deny it if he were to stick by the d&d rule books.

[Vaz]

Changeling FactotumX/Bard 1/Chameleon with Jack of all Trades eems like it would fit.

Changeling emulate any race with the right feat, and look like anything. Factotum and Chameleon gain Spell casting/SLA's for Arcane and Divine, Intelligence boosts and all Knowledge skills.

Alternatively, an Archivist, or Spell to Power Erudite but that way lies madness Reality in your back pocket.

[Eldariel]

Any normal caster. Wizard, Cleric, Druid, Archivist, etc. Their very signature is having all their bases covered since there's a spell for everything (even casting in AMFs).

[OverdrivePrime]

A monk? A defense-oriented monk can survive anything except the outside world. :smallwink:

If you want survival in a melee package, how about a Diamond Mind / Iron Heart focused warblade? There are some absolutely delightful counters in those two disciplines and the ever-glorious Iron Heart Frickin' Surge.

From a pure casty perspective, the druid has unrivaled versatility thanks its ability to tun into just about anything, given the right feats.

[Snowbluff]

Divine Minion Changeling BaseClass1-2/MasterofManyForms/Chameleon.:smalltongue:

[Pickford]

Note, I'm not looking for advice on how to build a character that breaks the game.

I'm looking for advice for a character that has his bases covered and is ready for whatever sneaky tricks a DM might throw at them.

To list some examples
-High AC/SR Monsters, maybe with high DR or immunities/resistances to weapons & magic
-Monsters with sneaky tricks to make them hard to beat such as fliers, dimension slippers, high speed, invisibility etc.
-Just Nasty world stuff, such as risk of disease, how to get treasure out of a crumbling tomb, tracking down a lost person/artifact
-Immune to things that can cause the character to lose levels, attributes etc
-Skill checks for skills that no one will probably ever have any realistic use for

In other words, not a broken character, but a character for when the DM goes "You can't accomplish this goal you've worked hard for due to ________" or "You suffer _______ and take _______ penalty" I can go:

"Actually I have ______ so I can do that/do not take that penalty"

Essentially a character that can succeed against DM's who have fun punishing players or being hard on them.

Obviously a DM can house rule **** out of his ass and nulify any build I make. But I'm looking a character where he wouldn't be aware to deny it if he were to stick by the d&d rule books.

Sorceror/Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil (requires Complete Arcane)

Once you've maxxed out the initiate prc, you can as a reaction stop anything. Horrifying spell that will kill you? Bam! nullified...Giant boulder About to house crush you wicked witch of the east style? Bam! nullified.

Since it requires a ton of abjuration magic you might be tempted to pick an abjurer to go with it, but I find the 'at will' casting of the sorceror makes a better match. Pick up a ton of the thoroughly broken divination magic alongside and you'll be happy (examples: Moment of Prescience (PHB) + Insightful Divination (Complete Mage) mean you always go first if you want it; Alter Fortune (PHB II) to let you undo anything tragic; and Foresight (PHB) means you never 'have' to go first, and because it doesn't target an enemy there's no protection against it even from enemies that would get to avoid things like scry, so DM fiat goes bye-bye.)

Divination + Abjuration = Happy long-lived spellcaster.

[Gwazi Magnum]

I should note, for the campaign I am asking these questions for. It's a non-player magic campaign.

This is not DM restriction but a Player Restriction because we as players got tired of a spell casting player dominating everything for the group and we didn't want to become a full group of spell-slingers in the next campaign.

So specifically for the next campaign any non-magical advice is preffered, but if you have magical advice please do state so anyways so I am aware of them for future campaigns.

Also anything I use in my character that isn't in the PhB or DMG has to be read over and approved by the DM first. So I can't send anything too obviously "anti-DM to him" since he'll not only turn it down probably but catch on to what I'm doing and actively move/prepare against it.

Note: These are things out of the book that either me or other players brought forward that have already been accepted.

1. Warforged Race
2. Traits and Flaws
3. Maneuvers and Stances
4. Shadow Blade Feat
5. Martial Rogue Variant

[OverdrivePrime]

I should note, for the campaign I am asking these questions for. It's a non-player magic campaign.

This is not DM restriction but a Player Restriction because we as players got tired of a spell casting player dominating everything for the group and we didn't want to become a full group of spell-slingers in the next campaign.

So specifically for the next campaign any non-magical advice is preffered, but if you have magical advice please do state so anyways so I am aware of them for future campaigns.

Also anything I use in my character that isn't in the PhB or DMG has to be read over and approved by the DM first. So I can't send anything too obviously "anti-DM to him" since he'll not only turn it down probably but catch on to what I'm doing and actively move/prepare against it.

Note: These are things out of the book that either me or other players brought forward that have already been accepted.

1. Warforged Race
2. Traits and Flaws
3. Maneuvers and Stances
4. Shadow Blade Feat
5. Martial Rogue Variant
That sounds like a really fun campaign. I miss the old days of playing in an all-mundane party!

Can you play classes with some casting, such as ranger or paladin, or at least get the non-magical variants of those classes?

Did the DM approve Maneuvers and Stances, but not the ToB classes themselves?

[Vaz]

A Campaign with no magic for the player, with Tome of Battle, Martial Rogue, and anything that's decent melee being banned?

Either;

Give him a Ardent 10/Slayer 10, Convert Spell To Power Erudite 20, or walk out. Sounds like a horrific game, if he's allowed magic and you're relegated to using the Duellist or Dwarven Defender or Horizon Walker for Prestige classes.

Only other option i can think of is the Horizon Tripper build.

[Gwazi Magnum]

That sounds like a really fun campaign. I miss the old days of playing in an all-mundane party!

Can you play classes with some casting, such as ranger or paladin, or at least get the non-magical variants of those classes?

Did the DM approve Maneuvers and Stances, but not the ToB classes themselves?

We had requested the Maneuvers and Stances specifically which is why only those are approved atm. He has never veto'd the ToB classes, just never looked at them due to lack of request/demand.

Note: His knowledge on D&D 3.5 is limited. More than enough to run a standard campaign, but he is not one to read to through countless manuals etc. The only times he's read outside the PHB, DMG or Monster Manual was because there was something I found here I wanted him to look at either when I thought it may help him as a player, or need him to approve it being DM for the next campaign.

Wizards, Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers and similliar classes are outright banned.

Bard, Ranger and Paladin are not. You just either need to find an in manual variant for the DM to approve or house rule variants in.


A Campaign with no magic for the player, with Tome of Battle, Martial Rogue, and anything that's decent melee being banned?

Either;

Give him a Ardent 10/Slayer 10, Convert Spell To Power Erudite 20, or walk out. Sounds like a horrific game, if he's allowed magic and you're relegated to using the Duellist or Dwarven Defender or Horizon Walker for Prestige classes.

Only other option i can think of is the Horizon Tripper build.

ToB, Martial Rogue and Decent Melee is not banned.

What I said was Martial Rogues and Maneuvers/Stances were approved.

[Gwazi Magnum]

Note: Magical Items are still allowed, just magical classes we're avoiding.

However, I am telling the other players to also avoid the use to wands and scrolls, because otherwise it's just a massive loophole/work around to the whole 'no spell casting' variant we have going here.

[Piggy Knowles]

May I suggest incarnum? The incarnate class excels in defenses and immunities in particular. Some things that an incarnate can have include:


Huge bonuses to most saves and AC
Immunity to charms
Resistance to divinations
Uncanny dodge
Evasion
Damage reduction
Fortification
Disease/sicken/nausea immunity
Immunity to energy drain
Arrow deflection (not limited to 1/round, either!)
Poison immunity
Immunity to mental control
Energy resistance
Reduction of ability damage/drain
Immunity to stunning
Immunity to death effects
Spell resistance (that actually scales well)
Spell immunity
Always-on concealment
Immunity to daze/petrification/paralysis
Bonus HP


Now, it can't have that entire list on at once, but it can have quite a few of those options. Rapid meldshaping also means you can change some of your soulmelds out on the fly. And the way investing essentia works, you can adjust your defenses accordingly from round to round.

The Ironsoul Forgemaster is a pretty nice PrC that makes this even better, by the way - it allows you to invest essentia into your shield and armor for pretty impressive energy resistance and DR that does NOT take up one of your precious soulmeld slots.

[Raimun]

I'll second Factotum. I'd really like to play one in a long campaign.

They're jack of all trades but can be momentarily master of some. They can do almost anything but they are still limited.

If there's a one single problem, Factotum can most likely solve it but he can't solve similar problems all day. He can Disable a trap or use Knowledge (Nobility) to answer a question but he can't Disable all traps in a dungeon or become a scholar of all things Nobility.

Chameleon is a good PrC for Factotums. For example, they get a Bonus Feat they can reassign every day, if they meet the prerequisites.

Factotum is functionally the closest thing in D&D to Batman.

[Gildedragon]

Factotum and swap out the SLAs (which may count as spellcasting) for martial maneuvers

[nedz]

Incarnum is a magic system, does this break the spirit of your game ?

Would Warlocks break your restrictions ?

How about face type characters who can hire/recruit NPC casters, perhaps just for one job ?



-High AC/SR Monsters, maybe with high DR or immunities/resistances to weapons & magic
-Monsters with sneaky tricks to make them hard to beat such as fliers, dimension slippers, high speed, invisibility etc.
-Just Nasty world stuff, such as risk of disease, how to get treasure out of a crumbling tomb, tracking down a lost person/artifact
-Immune to things that can cause the character to lose levels, attributes etc
-Skill checks for skills that no one will probably ever have any realistic use for


You have a number of PCs in a party, so trying to solve all of this with one character should not be an aim — you just need to be able to solve them between you.
SR will not be an issue, if you do not have casters.
High AC and High DR can be addressed by melee.
Fliers are tricky, basically your only option is for everyone to have a missile weapon.
Invisibility can be countered by high spot and skill tricks.
Healing is going to be tricky without magic, especially poisons and disease; lack of the ability to do restorations will also hurt.

D&D is not really designed to be run without magic, at least beyond low level: 3.5 especially so.

[Menzath]

Well I know that having the "right" skill can be hard...

If you could change bards spellcasting to something a little different since you are playing a campaign w/o magic that would help, and you could use the alternate class feature bardic knack from PH2 coupled with jack of all trades, giving you effective ranks in every skill.
And w/ able learner you could max out the "useful" skills. like tumble and UMD.

though.. no spells makes UMD a bit worthless.

Chameleon is a really good prc for being able to adapt to anything fairly well too, requirements are a bit odd, but still useful.

Incarnum classes and binder can also increadily versatile and fit the bill well.

Swordsage is the combat rogue upgrade, though no trapfinding. skill points are a little less if I recall. though manuevers can make up the difference in some cases.

Ask you DM if psiniocs can be used, though if he says no PC magic, prolly no psy as well.

But definatly see if you can have magic replaced by something else. maybe for clerics and upgraded lay on hands or something?