Building a mentor-like character

[XiaoTie]

Hello everyone!

I recently got a case of DM burnout with my IRL group (we had quite a few gaming sessions in a row due to massive holiday). I told them we'd be taking a break due to the burnout and one of them suggested he'd DM while I rested. HUZZAH!

So now I got a chance to play again. I just... can't put this character idea I have in a sheet.


Starting at level one
All books allowed
18-16-14-12-12-10 to assign however we want.
He has some houserules about races (or maybe that's from FR, but I haven't found anything like that)

(Human) Extra feat, extra skill points (as usual)
(Elf) +2 Dex/ +2 Int/ -2 Con
(Gnome) +2 Con/ +2 Cha/ -2 Str
(Dwarf) +2 Con/ +2 Wis/ -2 Cha
(Halfling) +2 Dex/ +2 Cha/ -2 For
(Half-orc) +2 Con/ +2 Str/ -2 Int -2 Cha

The game is set in Forgotten Realms (more specifically in the north, Damara). Our DM told us that the game will involve us trying to fight-off some lich's forces that are trying to take over the realm we serve (apparently we are members of a squad that protects the realm). My fellow players asked me to get some sort of spellcasting, since we are short on that (the party consists of a tank Crusader, and a ranged Rogue).


What I had in mind was a mentor-like character that was previously a librarian/teacher, that due to the situation was forced out of his library/studies. He tries to help the group through the knowledge he acquired in his many years of reading [this led me to consider Archivist or Cloistered Cleric]. But he is also capable of holding his own in a fight due to the time he spent training in his youth.

TL;DR: I want to create a knowledgeable mentor-like character that is able to go into melee to help the group out. Group asked me to get spellcasting.

Level one
18-16-14-12-12-10 (in no particular order)
(Human) Extra feat, extra skill points (as usual)
(Elf) +2 Dex/ +2 Int/ -2 Con
(Gnome) +2 Con/ +2 Cha/ -2 Str
(Dwarf) +2 Con/ +2 Wis/ -2 Cha
(Halfling) +2 Dex/ +2 Cha/ -2 Str
(Half-orc) +2 Con/ +2 Str/ -2 Int -2 Cha

I thought about taking Archivist or Cloistered Cleric for my first level, and some Warblade levels for the fighting side. That or just going straight up Duskblade. I just...don't know.

Help me Playgrounders, you are my only hope!

[JeminiZero]

If you are going to be macing out knowledge skills, might as well put those ranks to good use. Look up Knowledge Devotion [Complete Champion].

Other than that, Archivists have a much nicer spell list than Cloistered Clerics. They also get proper class features that make use of their knowledge skills. They lack the ability to spontaneously cast cure, but that should stop being a problem as soon as you scrape together enough gold to buy a wand of lesser vigor.

Their one problem is their slight Multiple Alignment Dependency (MAD), needing Int to cast, but Wis for bonus spells. See if you can convince your GM to let you take the Academic Priest feat from Dragonlance. That shifts bonus spell slots back to Int, and you can dump Wis, in which case go for Archivist.

Regardless of whether you pick Archivist or Cloistered Cleric, don't bother dipping around, go with a straight caster build. Spells are powerful, and I think your group will need all the magical support they can get.

[XiaoTie]

The DM is pretty lenient if requests are worded properly :P I asked him about the Academic Priest and he OK'd it. While at it, I also asked him about probably replacing Scribe Scroll for one of the "lesser" wizards' ACF that trade Scribe Scroll for a Fighter feat and he also allowed it. Should I keep Scribe Scroll or trade for the Fighter feat ACF?

[John Longarrow]

For myself, I'd swap Scribe Scroll. That's mostly because I never wind up in a spot where trading XPs instead of gold for a scroll makes sense.

With a "Mentor" type character, did you think about Factotem? Lots of skill points, all skills, and you can fake it for spell casting.

[Xerlith]

Why not gish up? Bard/Warblade/JPM/Sublime Chord has fullcasting and can fight while being charismatic and knowledgeable.

Your Crusader will manage the healing (hopefully) so if you ask your DM for White Raven instead of Desert Wind for your JPM levels you're golden. The WR maneuvers naturally allow for leader-like character.

Check with the Crusader player so that you don't overlap.

[Mootsmcboots]

Yeah! Gish it up. Your PC idea reminds me of a character from Pratchett's Discworld novels, Teach from interesting times.

Teach(Ronald Saveloy) is a retired teacher who somehow joins up with Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde(Still living, very elderly Heroes who are really good at not dying. Though they sometimes suffer mental lapses "Burn the women and rape the buildings!) in an attempt to overthrow a asian-ish kingdom.

Any how, Teach left teaching because school children are vile, evil little blood suckers. So he joins the horde somehow and kind of acts as their advisor/civilizer/strategist/mentor

So after being with the horde for a while, they start to rub off on Teach, and he discovers he has an impressive underlying barbarian rage due to pent up anger from his teaching days. Sadly he dies shortly after, but because of his rage and the Horde's respect for him, he gets to go to Valhalla as Ronald the Apologetic.

You could kind of follow this path as a Gish, quiet intelligent type who slowly starts to embrace a love of combat.

Pratchett has done this a few times, another time with an accountant who joins the city watch to audit them, and eventually finds himself in the middle of a gang fight between dwarfs and trolls, elbow to elbow with watchmen, only to go into a mad fit of rage as he tries to fight/bite a well known violent troll during the scrum.

While Pratchett is a satirist, his books are such a good source of inspiration and ideas.