Endril
2014-06-18, 12:10 AM
Greetings, fellow giants!
I'm working on making a character for a friend's game, and I'd really like to make a thri-kreen dervish. I think I would enjoy playing a thri-kreen, so I'm not looking to optimize by changing my race selection. I'd also like to be a multi-weapon fighter, and I think dervish is pretty optimal because of the ability to make a full attack while moving without provoking, and gain +1 to attack/damage every other level. My questions are below in the 3rd paragraph.
Before I ask, I should mention that the DM, while more focused on role-play than mechanics, wants there to be some balance. He's not likely to allow anything campaign-specific, dragon magazine, 3.0, etc. While a bug man with 4 arms dervishing around may seem OP on the surface, I'm hoping playing a sub-optimal race will take me out of the "tier 1" category while still allowing me to be effective at what I do. When answering my question, in addition to considering these limitations, please keep in mind I'm looking for rules that I can verify in the books. Any page numbers and books you can refer me to would be very helpful.
First, I want to play a non-psionic thri-kreen. I read about them in the Monster Manual II, and I found a 3.5 update for that book, so that should make them acceptable for his game. I guess my question there is what are the specific details of the race? The Monster Manual II did a pretty horrible job of spelling out their traits, while the expanded psionic handbook did an excellent job. After reading the update and comparing it to the EPH version, it looks like I can just drop the psionics and use a +1 level adjustment. Is that correct? Or are there other differences in the EPH version I'm missing? Second, I've ran into a problem when considering the use of power attack. I won't be able to power attack with scimitars as a dervish since it forces me to treat them as light weapons. So I've been considering just using my claws to power attack. They are technically a melee slashing weapon, so I can use weapon focus (claws) to enter the class, but to benefit from the +1 attack/damage every other level, it says I have to be "wielding" a slashing weapon. Have there been any rules printed by WotC anywhere that indicate if natural weapons are "wielded"? Third, I'm open to general recommendations about my build. We're starting at level 10 (I'll be CL 9), and I'm considering just dropping 4 levels in fighter. The dervish is already feat intensive, and I want power attack and multi weapon fighting, and possibly specialization/mastery later. I realize swashbuckler is a popular choice, but with my -2 int, along with wanting more str/dex, and the occasional immune creature, I don't know if it's best. I'd dump my int if it wasn't for combat expertise, and trading levels in swashbuckler for fighter could get me +4 damage in any situation with specialization/mastery. I also considered going barbarian/2 fighter for the extra movement and earlier entry to delver.
9 character levels:
2 racial hit dice
4 levels fighter (or 1 barbarian/ 2 fighter)
3 level dervish (or 4)
Thank you for your time!
I'm working on making a character for a friend's game, and I'd really like to make a thri-kreen dervish. I think I would enjoy playing a thri-kreen, so I'm not looking to optimize by changing my race selection. I'd also like to be a multi-weapon fighter, and I think dervish is pretty optimal because of the ability to make a full attack while moving without provoking, and gain +1 to attack/damage every other level. My questions are below in the 3rd paragraph.
Before I ask, I should mention that the DM, while more focused on role-play than mechanics, wants there to be some balance. He's not likely to allow anything campaign-specific, dragon magazine, 3.0, etc. While a bug man with 4 arms dervishing around may seem OP on the surface, I'm hoping playing a sub-optimal race will take me out of the "tier 1" category while still allowing me to be effective at what I do. When answering my question, in addition to considering these limitations, please keep in mind I'm looking for rules that I can verify in the books. Any page numbers and books you can refer me to would be very helpful.
First, I want to play a non-psionic thri-kreen. I read about them in the Monster Manual II, and I found a 3.5 update for that book, so that should make them acceptable for his game. I guess my question there is what are the specific details of the race? The Monster Manual II did a pretty horrible job of spelling out their traits, while the expanded psionic handbook did an excellent job. After reading the update and comparing it to the EPH version, it looks like I can just drop the psionics and use a +1 level adjustment. Is that correct? Or are there other differences in the EPH version I'm missing? Second, I've ran into a problem when considering the use of power attack. I won't be able to power attack with scimitars as a dervish since it forces me to treat them as light weapons. So I've been considering just using my claws to power attack. They are technically a melee slashing weapon, so I can use weapon focus (claws) to enter the class, but to benefit from the +1 attack/damage every other level, it says I have to be "wielding" a slashing weapon. Have there been any rules printed by WotC anywhere that indicate if natural weapons are "wielded"? Third, I'm open to general recommendations about my build. We're starting at level 10 (I'll be CL 9), and I'm considering just dropping 4 levels in fighter. The dervish is already feat intensive, and I want power attack and multi weapon fighting, and possibly specialization/mastery later. I realize swashbuckler is a popular choice, but with my -2 int, along with wanting more str/dex, and the occasional immune creature, I don't know if it's best. I'd dump my int if it wasn't for combat expertise, and trading levels in swashbuckler for fighter could get me +4 damage in any situation with specialization/mastery. I also considered going barbarian/2 fighter for the extra movement and earlier entry to delver.
9 character levels:
2 racial hit dice
4 levels fighter (or 1 barbarian/ 2 fighter)
3 level dervish (or 4)
Thank you for your time!