Spear-using Fighter Help?

[Matticussama]

Background: One of my players obtained a 4th level Fighter by drawing the Knight card from a modified version of the Deck of Many Things. As the character is from the Asian-themed region of my campaign setting, the player wants his NPC retainer to be a Chinese longspear infantry fighter; however, as the player isn't particularly well-versed in 3.5 he wants me as DM to build the fighter for him.

Thus, I'd like tips/suggestions on how to make an effective Longspear fighter. I think I have some of the basics down from standard THF/Tripping guides, but any suggestions for improvement are highly welcomed.

Since the party is level 7 and the Fighter is only level 4, I've tried to build him more in a support function to help the Rogues and other characters with Flanking and Tripping. I'm uncertain on whether or not to give him Power Attack; while it is a standard choice for THF melee characters, the fact that he is 3 levels lower will make it more difficult for him to use it effectively. I might keep it since Vexing Flanker gives him a +4 to hit while flanking, and combined with Tripping it could give him a decent chance to hit with Power Attack. If anyone else has better combo ideas, or suggestions to replace Power Attack for something more useful in the build, I'd greatly appreciate it.


Human Fighter 4
Starting Stats (32 point buy): Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15 (+1 at level 4 to make it 16), Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 9.

Feats:
Human Bonus Feat - Combat Expertise
Character Level 1 Feat - Improved Trip
Fighter 1 Feat - Combat Reflexes
Fighter 2 Feat - Vexing Flanker (PH II)
Character Level 3 Feat - Power Attack
Fighter 4 Feat - Curling Wave Strike (Stormwrack)

Skills: I am going to leave this up to the player to allow him to customize the character feel via skills.

[13_CBS]

Background: One of my players obtained a 4th level Fighter from a modified version of the Deck of Many Things. As the character is from the Asian-themed region of my campaign setting, the player wants him to be a Chinese longspear infantry fighter; however, as the player isn't particularly well-versed in 3.5 he wants me as DM to build the fighter for him.

Thus, I'd like tips/suggestions on how to make an effective Longspear fighter. I think I have some of the basics down from standard THF/Tripping guides, but any suggestions for improvement are highly welcomed.

Since the party is level 7 and the Fighter is only level 4, I've tried to build him more in a support function to help the Rogues and other characters with Flanking and Tripping. I'm uncertain on whether or not to give him Power Attack; while it is a standard choice for THF melee characters, the fact that he is 3 levels lower will make it more difficult for him to use it effectively. I might keep it since Vexing Flanker gives him a +4 to hit while flanking, and combined with Tripping it could give him a decent chance to hit with Power Attack. If anyone else has better combo ideas, or suggestions to replace Power Attack for something more useful in the build, I'd greatly appreciate it.


Human Fighter 4
Starting Stats (32 point buy): Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15 (+1 at level 4 to make it 16), Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 9.

Feats:
Human Bonus Feat - Combat Expertise
Character Level 1 Feat - Improved Trip
Fighter 1 Feat - Combat Reflexes
Fighter 2 Feat - Vexing Flanker (PH II)
Character Level 3 Feat - Power Attack
Fighter 4 Feat - Curling Wave Strike (Stormwrack)

If this Fighter is designed for tripping, perhaps you could arm him with a Guisarme instead? It's still got 10 foot reach, but it has the tripping property (so you can use it to make trip attacks as touch attacks, and drop the weapon if your trip attempt fails instead of getting tripped yourself), and if your friend is concerned about flavor you could reflavor the Guisarme as being a Ge (Dagger Axe) (http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f29/nickcrown/daggeraxe.jpg).

Also, is your friend going for a lock-down tripping build, or just wanting to make a Fighter who happens to trip enemies a lot? Furthermore, is the Tome of Battle book allowed?

[Matticussama]

The player actually didn't request a trip build; he said he just wanted a spear-wielding Chinese infantryman to fit his character's theme (that of a nobleman with a recently-acquired retainer). I chose a trip build as the best choice for a longspear fighter (or possibly Guisarme wielder) who can still be effective several levels lower than the party, and took the flanking feats to give him bonuses to hit while also being able to assist the party Rogue in combat.

I will propose the refluffed Guisarme to him since, I agree, it would be a superior weapon choice. Tome of Battle is available for feats, but not for classes for this particular character; since the fighter was acquired by the Deck of Many Things and not Leadership, I am sticking to 4th level Fighter, as opposed to 4th level Warblade or other "fighter" class. However, if he later decides to take the Leadership feat for his retainer to become his Cohort, then I would allow him to rebuild the character in any class he'd like.

[rollforeigninit]

Out of Curiosity, why is there a 3 level disparity in level? I'm not sure what's typical but noob players around here usually start at lowest level of the other party members -1 maybe. (That's IF we keep track of xp at all.)

It's gonna be kinda hard to contribute as the lower tier party member like that.
Don't mean to rag on anybody.

[Matticussama]

Out of Curiosity, why is there a 3 level disparity in level? I'm not sure what's typical but noob players around here usually start at lowest level of the other party members -1 maybe. (That's IF we keep track of xp at all.)

It's gonna be kinda hard to contribute as the lower tier party member like that.
Don't mean to rag on anybody.

Because it isn't a player character who will be the 4th level fighter, it is an NPC acquired by a PC from the Deck of Many Things. The PC drew the Knight card from the Deck of Many Things, which gives them a loyal 4th level Fighter retainer who will follow them until death. However, the NPC so granted is a static 4th level fighter; it does not level up with the PCs, unless the PC chooses that specific NPC to be his Cohort when/if he takes the Leadership feat.

[13_CBS]

I will propose the refluffed Guisarme to him since, I agree, it would be a superior weapon choice. Tome of Battle is available for feats, but not for classes for this particular character; since the fighter was acquired by the Deck of Many Things and not Leadership, I am sticking to 4th level Fighter, as opposed to 4th level Warblade or other "fighter" class. However, if he later decides to take the Leadership feat for his retainer to become his Cohort, then I would allow him to rebuild the character in any class he'd like.

Hmm, that's a shame...just a couple of levels in Crusader or Warblade could at least give him some White Raven maneuvers that would really let him contribute as a melee support character...

Are Forgotten Realms books allowed? The feat Jotunbrud allows you to, among other things, count as being Large for stuff like grappling, bull rushing, tripping, etc. You have to take it at Level 1, however, and again it's from a Forgotten Realms book (Races of Faerun, specifically).

By the way, will this Fighter gain levels as the party levels up, or will he remain Level 4 until your friend picks up Leadership?

[Matticussama]

Hmm, that's a shame...just a couple of levels in Crusader or Warblade could at least give him some White Raven maneuvers that would really let him contribute as a melee support character...

Are Forgotten Realms books allowed? The feat Jotunbrud allows you to, among other things, count as being Large for stuff like grappling, bull rushing, tripping, etc. You have to take it at Level 1, however, and again it's from a Forgotten Realms book (Races of Faerun, specifically).

By the way, will this Fighter gain levels as the party levels up, or will he remain Level 4 until your friend picks up Leadership?

Forgotten Realms books are indeed allowed, and Jotunbrud sounds quite useful; I will definitely check it out, thanks!

The Fighter will remain a static 4th level NPC, since the Deck of Many Things does not give any indication that it can level up naturally. The player has said he will probably choose it as his Cohort for Leadership when he takes the feat, however, so the character will level up eventually (assuming he doesn't die before then). At that time I will probably rebuild him as a Warblade with a similar feat distribution, unless the player asks me to alter his combat style.

[rollforeigninit]

I forgot ya get him as a 4th from the deck. Eh that's fine then. I'd take a different Cohort & keep the 4th lvl fighter assuming he doesn't count against the Leadership score. It'd net you 1 more follower of 4th level. Maybe he can guard something. If he does count aginst the Leadership score then yeah totally take him.

[Matticussama]

I forgot ya get him as a 4th from the deck. Eh that's fine then. I'd take a different Cohort & keep the 4th lvl fighter assuming he doesn't count against the Leadership score. It'd net you 1 more follower of 4th level. Maybe he can guard something. If he does count aginst the Leadership score then yeah totally take him.

Yeah, I'd run it the same way if the player wanted to do it that way; I'd give him his normal cohort plus the 4th level fighter without having it count against his Leadership score. However, I'll leave the final decision to the player. He may not want the paperwork of dealing with multiple cohort/retainers like that.