RyanW1019
2014-05-07, 11:26 PM
Hello all! Big fan of OotS here. This is my first time posting to the forum; please let me know if I'm posting in the wrong place. Thanks!
I am midway through my first D&D campaign ever, and am getting approached by someone looking to include me in their upcoming campaign they're GMing. Ten second premise: A new and uncharted continent has been discovered, so a bunch of adventurers team up to explore the new lands. He wants it to be a very lore-based and "realistic" campaign:
This is a harsh and unforgiving wilderness, with almost no civilization to resupply or buy new items. Spell components, ammunition, and hunger/thirst/sleep are all things that need to be managed.
You should try to come up with a cool character concept first, then try to make a character that fits the backstory. If necessary the GM will tweak some rules/numbers to make it viable. He's using 3d6 instead of d20 in an attempt to discourage min/maxing and make multiclassing more viable, since every +1 matters when rolls are much more likely to be near the center of the distribution. To help give us more options, he's decided that all base classes are Pathfinder only, skills are 3.5 only, and feats and prestige classes can be from either.
Characters need to have an in-world, backstory-related reason to want to visit the new world.
Skills, feats, etc. should make sense given the character's backstory, i.e. no taking ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) unless your character has spent time in dungeons, that sort of thing.
The character concept I came up with is a monster hunter who spends nearly all of his time in the wilderness tracking and hunting. He hears about the new continent and is hoping to be the first person in the known world to bring down any new exciting monsters who may inhabit the new lands. He is most in his element when he's furthest from civilization. He excels at tracking his prey, stalking it, and then slaying it with a single well-placed arrow. He has quite a few grisly trophies on his person, some of which may have questionable origins. Visually, think a combination of Strider plus Rattleshirt (but with fewer bones). He has a sucky Charisma, having spent most of his adult life away from people, but I'm maxing out Intimidate to represent the fact that he's a very scary-looking character.
Since the group will be moving through the wild Oregon Trail style, this character will be a huge help to the group. We're talking maxed Survival skill, Favored Terrain(s), Track, Knowledge (nature), etc. Basically everything you could want for a guide in the wilderness, he's got. Since he's a hunter and an elf, I want him to be both stealthy and mobile, so things like Hide, Move Silently, Jump, Climb, Swim, and Tumble are all going to be a part of the build.
From a combat perspective, I wanted him to do most of his damage with his bow, and be very very mobile (especially in forests/jungle where trees come into play). I had hoped it would be possible to make him somewhat proficient with his knife as well, but it doesn't look like it's possible to be viable at both without gimping yourself. 3.5 Scout looked interesting, but I can only use Pathfinder base classes. So, Ranger it was. The problem I'm running into is that my character is a hunter first and foremost; from a lore perspective, he's more of a "one shot, one kill" type than the arrow machine gun most Rangers seem to turn into. As stated above, my GM wants our character's skills/combat style to make sense out of the combat mechanics; he specifically said that he doesn't want my character to "go all Legolas on everything" and start launching 5 arrows at a time. I've been trying to create a character sheet that maximizes the damage I can do with a single arrow, but I don't know whether I'm going about this in the most efficient manner. Here's what I've got so far:
Level: Ranger 3 (Favored Enemy: Animal)
Race: Elf
Stats: STR 10, DEX 20, CON 10, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 8 (GM uses his own method of distributing skill points, so just take these on faith)
Weapon: Longbow
Feats: Endurance (automatic for lvl 3 rangers), Point Blank Shot (Level 1), Precise Shot (Level 2 Ranger Bonus), Weapon Focus: Longbow (Level 3)
This doesn't give me a whole lot to start with: within 30 feet I have Attack +10 and damage 1d8+1. However, at level 6 I'll have a huge power spike; I get two more feats (one normal, one Ranger bonus) and I can take Dead Eye, giving me a +5 (Dex) damage bonus for all ranged attacks within 30 feet. I'll also take Rapid Shot, but I don't intend to use it. I just need it as a prerequisite: my goal is to take Order of the Bow Initiate at level 7, giving me the ability to add an extra 1d8 for a single precise attack as a standard action. This gains an extra 1d8 every two levels of OotBI. If I take Focused Shot at level 9, I can add an extra +2 to my damage on single attacks within 30 feet. I'm assuming I'll take Dex at levels 4 and 8. So at level 9, with an enemy 30 feet away or less, if my math is right my stats become:
Level: 6 Ranger/3 Order of the Bow Initiate
+17 Attack (+9 (BAB) + 6 (Dex) + 1 (Weapon Focus) + 1 (Point-Blank))
3d8+9 damage on one arrow per round (1d8 + 1 (Point-Blank) + 6 (Dead Eye) + 2d8 (OotBI level 3) +2 (Focused shot))
That's the most optimized build I've been able to come up for stacking damage on a single arrow. As a plus, unless I missed something with one of my feats, all of this feat-bonus-damage-stacking takes place in a single standard action, so I can move every round while putting out the damage. The only change I've been able to think up is that I'd take Deadly Aim instead of Focused Shot at level 9. That would give me +4 to damage instead of +2 but I trade it for a penalty to attack (which is probably important since I have to hit with my one arrow or I'm screwed). I've learned a lot trying to build this character, but I don't have comprehensive knowledge of all the 3.5/Pathfinder feats. Are there more useful things I'm missing? Either things that would enhance my damage or my chance to hit would be good. I know this isn't the most optimal Ranger build, but I'm hoping that given the constraints I'm working with I've put together something that's relatively good in the right situations. I don't have a good sense for damages either, so I don't know if this character would be woefully underpowered compared to other characters of similar levels.
As an afterthought, my GM liked my "hunter" archetype idea so much that he's considering giving me Sneak Attack damage as a Ranger if I'm using stealth (i.e. stalking prey/enemies). But since I won't know what to do about that until he decides, that's neither here nor there and can't really affect my build.
TL;DR: Due to roleplay/GM constraints I need to avoid multiple arrows and stack as much damage as I can onto a single arrow per round. Looking for somebody to check my math and wondering if there are feats I missed that will let me do it better. Thanks for the help!
I am midway through my first D&D campaign ever, and am getting approached by someone looking to include me in their upcoming campaign they're GMing. Ten second premise: A new and uncharted continent has been discovered, so a bunch of adventurers team up to explore the new lands. He wants it to be a very lore-based and "realistic" campaign:
This is a harsh and unforgiving wilderness, with almost no civilization to resupply or buy new items. Spell components, ammunition, and hunger/thirst/sleep are all things that need to be managed.
You should try to come up with a cool character concept first, then try to make a character that fits the backstory. If necessary the GM will tweak some rules/numbers to make it viable. He's using 3d6 instead of d20 in an attempt to discourage min/maxing and make multiclassing more viable, since every +1 matters when rolls are much more likely to be near the center of the distribution. To help give us more options, he's decided that all base classes are Pathfinder only, skills are 3.5 only, and feats and prestige classes can be from either.
Characters need to have an in-world, backstory-related reason to want to visit the new world.
Skills, feats, etc. should make sense given the character's backstory, i.e. no taking ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) unless your character has spent time in dungeons, that sort of thing.
The character concept I came up with is a monster hunter who spends nearly all of his time in the wilderness tracking and hunting. He hears about the new continent and is hoping to be the first person in the known world to bring down any new exciting monsters who may inhabit the new lands. He is most in his element when he's furthest from civilization. He excels at tracking his prey, stalking it, and then slaying it with a single well-placed arrow. He has quite a few grisly trophies on his person, some of which may have questionable origins. Visually, think a combination of Strider plus Rattleshirt (but with fewer bones). He has a sucky Charisma, having spent most of his adult life away from people, but I'm maxing out Intimidate to represent the fact that he's a very scary-looking character.
Since the group will be moving through the wild Oregon Trail style, this character will be a huge help to the group. We're talking maxed Survival skill, Favored Terrain(s), Track, Knowledge (nature), etc. Basically everything you could want for a guide in the wilderness, he's got. Since he's a hunter and an elf, I want him to be both stealthy and mobile, so things like Hide, Move Silently, Jump, Climb, Swim, and Tumble are all going to be a part of the build.
From a combat perspective, I wanted him to do most of his damage with his bow, and be very very mobile (especially in forests/jungle where trees come into play). I had hoped it would be possible to make him somewhat proficient with his knife as well, but it doesn't look like it's possible to be viable at both without gimping yourself. 3.5 Scout looked interesting, but I can only use Pathfinder base classes. So, Ranger it was. The problem I'm running into is that my character is a hunter first and foremost; from a lore perspective, he's more of a "one shot, one kill" type than the arrow machine gun most Rangers seem to turn into. As stated above, my GM wants our character's skills/combat style to make sense out of the combat mechanics; he specifically said that he doesn't want my character to "go all Legolas on everything" and start launching 5 arrows at a time. I've been trying to create a character sheet that maximizes the damage I can do with a single arrow, but I don't know whether I'm going about this in the most efficient manner. Here's what I've got so far:
Level: Ranger 3 (Favored Enemy: Animal)
Race: Elf
Stats: STR 10, DEX 20, CON 10, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 8 (GM uses his own method of distributing skill points, so just take these on faith)
Weapon: Longbow
Feats: Endurance (automatic for lvl 3 rangers), Point Blank Shot (Level 1), Precise Shot (Level 2 Ranger Bonus), Weapon Focus: Longbow (Level 3)
This doesn't give me a whole lot to start with: within 30 feet I have Attack +10 and damage 1d8+1. However, at level 6 I'll have a huge power spike; I get two more feats (one normal, one Ranger bonus) and I can take Dead Eye, giving me a +5 (Dex) damage bonus for all ranged attacks within 30 feet. I'll also take Rapid Shot, but I don't intend to use it. I just need it as a prerequisite: my goal is to take Order of the Bow Initiate at level 7, giving me the ability to add an extra 1d8 for a single precise attack as a standard action. This gains an extra 1d8 every two levels of OotBI. If I take Focused Shot at level 9, I can add an extra +2 to my damage on single attacks within 30 feet. I'm assuming I'll take Dex at levels 4 and 8. So at level 9, with an enemy 30 feet away or less, if my math is right my stats become:
Level: 6 Ranger/3 Order of the Bow Initiate
+17 Attack (+9 (BAB) + 6 (Dex) + 1 (Weapon Focus) + 1 (Point-Blank))
3d8+9 damage on one arrow per round (1d8 + 1 (Point-Blank) + 6 (Dead Eye) + 2d8 (OotBI level 3) +2 (Focused shot))
That's the most optimized build I've been able to come up for stacking damage on a single arrow. As a plus, unless I missed something with one of my feats, all of this feat-bonus-damage-stacking takes place in a single standard action, so I can move every round while putting out the damage. The only change I've been able to think up is that I'd take Deadly Aim instead of Focused Shot at level 9. That would give me +4 to damage instead of +2 but I trade it for a penalty to attack (which is probably important since I have to hit with my one arrow or I'm screwed). I've learned a lot trying to build this character, but I don't have comprehensive knowledge of all the 3.5/Pathfinder feats. Are there more useful things I'm missing? Either things that would enhance my damage or my chance to hit would be good. I know this isn't the most optimal Ranger build, but I'm hoping that given the constraints I'm working with I've put together something that's relatively good in the right situations. I don't have a good sense for damages either, so I don't know if this character would be woefully underpowered compared to other characters of similar levels.
As an afterthought, my GM liked my "hunter" archetype idea so much that he's considering giving me Sneak Attack damage as a Ranger if I'm using stealth (i.e. stalking prey/enemies). But since I won't know what to do about that until he decides, that's neither here nor there and can't really affect my build.
TL;DR: Due to roleplay/GM constraints I need to avoid multiple arrows and stack as much damage as I can onto a single arrow per round. Looking for somebody to check my math and wondering if there are feats I missed that will let me do it better. Thanks for the help!