Trying to build a swordsage

[Zweisteine]

Hi!

Are there any non-casting classes would be good, except that they are MAD?
I rolled 16, 16, 16, 14, 14, 13, so I thought that now might be a good time to try playing one, if there are any good ones.

Thanks!

Edit: Sorry for the delayed response.
Complete thread repurpose!
I'm planning on using something from the Tome of Battle, actually. I have never played a primary caster, and it seemed that playing a martial character would e a step on that direction. Originally, I was going to be a Warblade/Eternal blade. Then Indecided that that wasn't a big enough step, so I looked at the swordsage. From there, I decided to become a Master of Nine.
I then found the shadow sun ninja and thought that it'd be cool to be one, is I came up with Monk/Swordsage/SSninja/Master of 9. I decide again that thä was too small a step, and now I just have no idea what I'm doing.

I'd prefer to stay single-class, with prestige classes, but I'm not too choosy.
I will probably be in a two-player party, and I think I'll be the primary melee.

Specific questions:
How, exactly, is a swordsage best played?
Is master of nine worth the feat investment?
Should I take the Sun school feat (CW), to get free attacks whenever I use the shadow step maneuvers (which are some of the ony maneuvers I'm bent on taking)?

I have reason to believe that my DM may eventually give me one of the Nine Swords. Are they actually that good, and does that mean I shouldn't use a spiked chain?


I could ask more questions, but I've already asked too many... :smalleek:

[Killer Angel]

It really depends on what you would like to play. Monk and Paladin are both mad, but they're different.
Also: single, or multiclass?

edit: nice idea, Sonofzeal. :smallwink:

[sonofzeal]

Hi!

Are there any non-casting classes would be good, except that they are MAD?
I rolled 16, 16, 16, 14, 14, 13, so I thought that now might be a good time to try playing one, if there are any good ones.

Thanks!
Not bad!

The thing with MAD, though, is it's mostly just an annoyance. Weak classes are weak because they lack powerful mechanics, and high ability scores don't really compensate.

Last time I got stats like this, instead of playing a MAD class, I played an Orc. With universally high stats, the -2 to all mental skills isn't all that significant. You can be a smart, wise, and charismatic Orc Barbarian! Nobody will see it coming!

...that character ended up being ridiculously fun to play, btw. Something like that is highly recommended. Kobold and Goblin are two other possibilities.

[Man on Fire]

Hi!

Are there any non-casting classes would be good, except that they are MAD?
I rolled 16, 16, 16, 14, 14, 13, so I thought that now might be a good time to try playing one, if there are any good ones.

Thanks!

Maybe Monkladin? Monk/Paladin with Serenity Feat from Dragon Magazine, later you can go into Argent Fist.

[limejuicepowder]

Most casters aren't MAD cause all they care about is the casting stat. However, there are casters with 2 casting stats, making them MAD(er) - spirit shaman and favored soul. I don't have much experience with favored soul, but spirit shaman is very fun and quite powerful.

[Jeff the Green]

Most casters aren't MAD cause all they care about is the casting stat. However, there are casters with 2 casting stats, making them MAD(er) - spirit shaman and favored soul. I don't have much experience with favored soul, but spirit shaman is very fun and quite powerful.

Favored Soul is meant to be a frontliner and don't get heavy armor proficiency, so they want Strength and Constitution and can't dump Dexterity, too. So that would be a good one to try out. You can be one of the smartest favored souls around!

[ArcturusV]

Well, that and I'd say Warmage tends to be fairly MAD. Needs Cha for Casting, Int, and could really use decent Dex and Con since they're usually a shorter ranged blaster type and might need it for survival.

Might want to consider Ranger. Ranger is plenty MAD, needing Strength, Dex, Con, Wis. Ranger also tends to be pretty fun and one of those classes that gets a lot of bells and whistles across books. Not as much as say, Wizard or Cleric. But most books do give something for a Ranger so you got lots of pieces to play around with to really fine tune your Ranger.

[Vaz]

Archivist is Semi-Mad. It's a Primary Caster, with all Divine Spells, Casting Stat based off Int, and a Bonus Spell per day from Wisdom.

A Cleric focused more on its Turning is MAD.

A Cloistered Cleric focused on maximising its utility as a Caster, Trap Finder, Knowledge Bunny, and Undead Turner is MAD.

A Duskblade is an Int Front Line Caster.

A Paladin with Serenity reduces its MAD to playable levels. - NB normally this is the case, but your scores do not require Serenity.

A Totemist can be a decent anything; Con for Soulmelds, Strength and Dex for Combat, Intelligence for more skill points, Charisma for Party Facing.

[Fouredged Sword]

This is a good stat spread for the ultimate MAD character.

Factotum 3 / Duskblade 3 / Chameleon 10 / Factotum 4

You get good use out of every stat.