3.5/PF/D20 Worlds largest dungeon, character help.

[fishjam]

Hello

Me and some friends are going to be starting the worlds largest dungeon in a couple of weeks, and the GM has said that we are making characters in a couple of weeks time.

I have no idea what i want to play. The party will consist of, From what the others have discussed about being only so its not entirely set, A warblade, a psion, a sorcerer or psion, fighter, barbarian, and 2 others, not sure what the last 2 are yet.

The DM has said, and i quote "You may use any d20 book ever made to make your character. D20 modern to D&D, to battlefleet galactica D20 to starwars D20" now.. as tempting as it is to go "so can you help me make a super open ended mega mashed character who can Wildshape and use a lightsabre whilst on a starship" I would like to make something reasonably powerful, but not ridiculous. However, going ridiculous could be fun.

So long as i can source the books or article or something i can use it, with the GM discrestion of course.

I am currently thinking of the following lines for character concepts.


Factorum/chameleon
Cleric support character
Factorum SWAT team
Druid


I have been told, pun pun is a definate No.. even though mechanics wise it would be ok.

Also i do really want to make something intresting to play so feel free to add templates or anything to this, but it must remain Level 1. With no LA or RHD.

Thanks

[zilonox]

I love when DM's open the allowed source material! I always do so when I DM. :smallbiggrin:

While I don't really have any advice, I can offer a resource I turn to quite often for ideas: Empedocles' A Complete List of 3.5 3rd Party Base Classes (over 400!) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238612). It's sortable too!

[Gnaeus]

I will suggest Witch.

Your limited access to spells will hurt a little, although not nearly as much as it would hurt a Wizard. But the at will hexes will be awesome for times that you can't rest.

Level 1 Human Witch
Starting Hex: Slumber
Level 1 feat: Extra Hex: Misfortune
Human Feat: Extra Hex: Cackle
Level 2 Hex: Evil Eye

In combat, you can use misfortune or slumber (or evil eye at level 2) pretty much every round of every battle. Team up with one of the Psions so that you debuff a target and then they save or lose them. Focus your spells known heavily on utility and (out of combat) healing. You will totally be the most useful member of the team, while at the same time not so broken that you need to be nerfed.

[Gerrtt]

Have you considered Archivist? They get divine spells as well as class abilities that make your whole party better at facing various kinds of foes when you can identify them. Not only do they get divine spells, but they can get all the divine spells, from any class that casts them (so you need a random ranger spell, and a random paladin spell, and some cleric spells? Done, just get a scroll of them and scribe them in your prayer book).

Could be a useful party member in a campaign where you're wandering around in an endless dungeon.

[Gnaeus]

Unless you have a warlock or archivist who can scribe those scrolls, I don't know how you are going to get them in the WLD.

[Alaris]

Huh... your DM is very... kind. Any d20 book ever made? Wow... that opens so many doors, I can hardly imagine it...

Well, I'm about to babysit, so I can't really help at the moment... but I'll tag this thread, and if my advice has not already been given, then I'll give some when I get back.

All I cay say is... don't resist the lure of a Lightsaber. :P

[eggynack]

I'm going to toss my vote to the druid option, because I pretty much always toss my vote to the druid option. Druids have all the fun of casters, and also have good endurance through wild shape and their animal companion. So just build a regular style druid, with a friendly riding dog, and kill all the things.

[Emperor Tippy]

Gray Elf Factotum with two flaws to grab Faerie Mysteries Initiate for Int to HP instead of Con and two copies of Font of Inspiration.

Grab a Longbow, spend IP for Int to attack/damage and plink away for the early levels. You will be the best scout and spy in the party once you hit level 3 and get Brains Over Brawn.

[Gerrtt]

Unless you have a warlock or archivist who can scribe those scrolls, I don't know how you are going to get them in the WLD.

As treasure? It happens.

[Gnaeus]

As treasure? It happens.

It is possible. You may get a few useful spells that way. But your chances of getting scrolls crafted by Paladins or Rangers or Divine Bards or from some unusual domain as random drops in a dungeon are miniscule. Archivists with decent spell access are awesome, but I wouldn't advise one in WLD unless you are absolutely sure that the DM is going to move heaven and earth to make your already decent character better. It isn't really an archivist friendly environment, cleric or druid would be better.

[Darrin]

I'm going to toss my vote to the druid option, because I pretty much always toss my vote to the druid option. Druids have all the fun of casters, and also have good endurance through wild shape and their animal companion. So just build a regular style druid, with a friendly riding dog, and kill all the things.

The WLD designers apparently had large smoking chunks of hate for druids, so there are several special rules that make WLD very druid-unfriendly. Most of these special rules are completely bogus, though, so you can probably argue your DM out of some of them. If not... consider swapping your animal companion for an urban companion (Cityscape Web Enhancement) and use impeding stones (Cityscape) instead of entangle.

[eggynack]

The WLD designers apparently had large smoking chunks of hate for druids, so there are several special rules that make WLD very druid-unfriendly. Most of these special rules are completely bogus, though, so you can probably argue your DM out of some of them. If not... consider swapping your animal companion for an urban companion (Cityscape Web Enhancement) and use impeding stones (Cityscape) instead of entangle.
Yeah, I know approximately zero about the world's largest dungeon, outside of it being large, and also a dungeon. What do they do that punches druids in the face so much? I'd figure that knowing your whole spell list would help if you're supposed to level in the process of dungeon crawling.

[Gnaeus]

That is true, druids are not as awesome as they are in other places. A 3.5 Druid, however, is strong enough that they should still be able to dominate (and would be my second choice after witch).

Rules question: if something appears in multiple sources, can you use any of the sources? If yes, Druid works fine. If no, and you are forced to rely on PF druid with its nerfs, you can do better.

[Gnaeus]

Yeah, I know approximately zero about the world's largest dungeon, outside of it being large, and also a dungeon. What do they do that punches druids in the face so much? I'd figure that knowing your whole spell list would help if you're supposed to level in the process of dungeon crawling.

Summoning is nerfed. Battlefield control banned. No crafting supplies (which probably screws Archivist even if the party has a warlock or artificer in it). Some walls are impervious to earthglide and the like. Except for certain saferooms, there are hourly wandering monster checks, which may or may not prohibit 8 hours of rest/crafting/replacing pet.

[fishjam]

That is true, druids are not as awesome as they are in other places. A 3.5 Druid, however, is strong enough that they should still be able to dominate (and would be my second choice after witch).

Rules question: if something appears in multiple sources, can you use any of the sources? If yes, Druid works fine. If no, and you are forced to rely on PF druid with its nerfs, you can do better.

As far as i know, if its a core class we can use either, But must remain that one, ie no taking cleric from 3.5(bad example), and using channel positive energy.

Any intresting templates i can use. Aswell?

[Waker]

Aside from being "reasonably powerful" did you have any actual preference for what you play?
In any event, I haven't looked at WLD since it first came out. Wasn't it somewhat restrictive on resources since you're stuck in a dungeon? If so, it might be beneficial to consider a character who is somewhat independent of gear and well-suited to endurance trials. Warlocks, Dragonfire Adepts, Incarnates, Totemists, Binders, Warblades, Crusaders and Swordsages are all rather nice and several of them can play together well. None of the classes have to worry about running out of spells and two of them have at-will healing (Crusader and Binder).
Going along with that, a Warforged makes the best dungeoneer since they don't need to worry about petty things like food, sleep or air.

Looking at the party makeup, it looks like you have plenty of front-line combatants and a decent selection of higher magic. I'd suggest something skill related. Cribbing some ideas from gorfnab's Easy Bake Wizard and mixing it with Binder (Anima Mage) or Incarnate (Soul Caster) could let you make use of a lot of utility magic that can meet any need.

[Maginomicon]

I'm currently playing WLD too (in fact, it's the game I'm going to today).

Here's my online character sheet. (http://www.tao.vg/roleplay/Am-Sul_Doran_Progression.php) :smallbiggrin:

The Draconic Breath (Copper) feat has saved my bacon time and time again. Copper Draconic Breath lets you trade a spell slot for a 60-foot acid line that does 2d6 per level of the spell slot expended. It allows me to dedicate many of my precious sorcerer spells known slots to utility purposes while still being a very capable blaster in the cramped hallways of the dungeon.

The Ray of Stupidity spell (Spell Compendium 167-168) could be your go-to "Oh **** that dumb thing needs to die right now!"-spell. Any time you encounter something new, ask yourself "Can this thing speak a language of some kind?" If it can't, Ray of Stupidity will K.O. it in one hit. Darkmantles, wolves, dinosaurs, anything with a low intelligence is vulnerable.

The Emerald Planes spell (Dragon Magazine #323 pages 79-80) is your best friend. It's like Wall of Force, but a Level 2 spell and creates a 5-ft-square planes of force per 2 CL. Use it primarily to block doorways, block ray traps (at the source), create stairs, create stepping-stones (or stagger them up 5ft then down 5ft) over pit traps, block hallways, box in large creatures, etc.

Wood Shape (if you can get it) is also a great spell for converting doors into any number of useful objects, such as quarterstaves and tower shields (yes, everyone can use a tower shield even if they're not proficient with it, see the 3.5 FAQ for how exactly their effects work). Stone shape is similarly useful.

Silent Image (if you can get it, my GM effectively banned it) is INSANELY useful too.

If I could start over, I'd probably dip Warlock to get that sweet at-will eldritch blast. At-will offensive abilities are your friends, and with no shops or inns in the dungeon you need to prepare for the long-haul. Luckily, the survival skill by RAW works just as well underground as above ground for the purposes of foraging for food. Of course, you could just play an Elan or Warforged so that you never have to eat.

Since I can't/won't start over, I've settled for the Invisible Needle feat, which is weak by comparison but accomplishes a similar goal.

[fishjam]

well, i think i need to be a support, skill monkey character. No one else likes playing them, and i enjoy doing that, hence the factorum choice.