3.5 - Drumline, begin!

[ojayaba]

So, I've finally got the chance to play my drummer in a 3.5 campaign. so now that I can, I need to look at how to go about building them.

I wanted to use Lightning Mace Style in a FLAVORFUL way. This means NO kukri's of aptitude to break a simple feat into stupidness.

My thoughts are to be a human fighter with max cross class ranks in Perform: Percussion and possibly in Perform: Dance/Drum line as a fun way to to have this character be all about drumming out the competition and keeping his kills very rhythmic. To keep things punny their will be a bard(half Orc/full Orc) with a running commentary about needing/wanting a beat to sing/play to.

Back to build thoughts: I was torn between going dex and precision damage vs. str and just having a high chunk of damage on every hit some how. With Lightning Mace Style the whole trick requires threats in the first place though.

Thoughts from the playground on how to go about doing this in a Low OP setting that is more flavor than HIGH OP? We are starting at level 1 for this one with flaws and traits being encouraged for character building.

Build thoughts so far,
starting feat:weapon focus: light mace
fighter bonus feat: two weapon fighting
human bonus feat: combat reflexes
Flaw: lightning mace

[Zaq]

Well, as you said, you need to get critical threats for Lightning Maces to matter. So you need to determine how much you're willing to invest to make your weapons have the best possible critical threat range. You've said that Aptitude Kukris are right out, which is a fine stance to take, but if those aren't acceptable, what IS acceptable? Improved Crit is the simplest method (and it has the benefit of working on both your maces, including if you get new ones), but it has a prereq of BAB +8. Since you only listed the feats a character would get at level 1, I'm assuming that you're starting at a level below when you'd have BAB +8.

Of course, that also means that pretty much any other method of increasing critical threat range isn't going to do you any good, because there's basically no critical threat range boosters available at level 1. Keen weapons are expensive, especially if you want two of them; Keen Edge / Weapon of Impact spells require a caster capable of casting 3rd level spells, so that's out; Disciple of Dispater's increased threat range isn't available until at least level 10 (BAB +6 to get in, and then it comes online at level 4 in the PrC).

So what level ARE you starting at? At level 1, it's all you can do to get Lightning Maces, really. Using TWF to make multiple attacks is good, and it looks like you've got that covered. If you can go Whirling Frenzy Barbarian, that'll get you an extra attack when you're raging, and you can pick up Pounce at the same time to make it easier to get a full attack routine in. (You only listed one flaw, so you could just take one more flaw to pick up whatever you would have gotten from being a Fighter, then take Whirlpouncebarian as your class level.)

If you want to dip your toe into ToB, Blood in the Water is always good for a crit-focused build, and Wolf Fang Strike can be a way of TWFing when normal TWFing is hard. At later levels, Dancing Mongoose and Raging Mongoose mean more attacks (which means more chances to crit), but those are pretty far away from level 1.

Basically, get an improved threat range as soon as you can (Improved Crit or another method), and get as many swings as you can muster. I think Whirlpouncebarian is going to be a good choice for you (as it is for most melee characters, really), just because it offers you an extra attack at level 1 and also makes you significantly less reliant on positioning to actually pull off getting multiple attacks.

[Troacctid]

Improved Critical has the nice advantage of qualifying you for Staggering Blow, which stuns the opponent whenever you successfully confirm a crit with a bludgeoning weapon for which you have the Improved Critical feat.

I'll second Barbarian as the class of choice. It gives you pounce, which is vital for a two-weapon fighter; it gives you Whirling Frenzy, which is great with Lightning Maces; and the Streetfighter (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) ACF increases your threat range whenever you charge or attack a flat-footed enemy, which is something you really want.

[ComaVision]

Sounds fun to play.

If you want to do it based off strength I'd go:

Pouncebarian 1/Ranger 2/Warblade 3/Disciple of Dispater 8/Warblade X

That way you're getting TWF without the dex requirement via Ranger, then grab Gloves of the Balanced Hand when you can for free ITWF without the Dex. DoD will give you a nice threat range, and Imp Crit should be your level 9 feat.

Note though, I probably wouldn't play this build unless we were starting near level 10.

[Grod_The_Giant]

95%-kosher, slightly off-kilter but very flavorful suggestion: Go bard. Specifically, go bard and pick up Snowflake Wardance (only, you know, ask to change it out for blunt weapons and Perform: Percussion). Spend a use of Bardic Music to literally dance around hitting people rhythmically. Cast spells by drumming on things.

Something like Fighter 1/Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Bard 4/Abjurant Champion 5/Swiftblade (https://web.archive.org/web/20100327172812/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327)9 (one level free for dips as required-- Sublime Chord would be a decent way to boost spellpower, as would dropping a Swiftblade level to finish out Abjurant Champion and boost your CL up to your BAB). Leaves you with... let's see... 19 BAB, 5th level Bard spells, and a CL of 19, which isn't terrible. You could pretty easily adjust that in one direction or the other-- Eldrich Knight instead of Swiftblade, for instance, would get you your 6th level spells at the cost of the Swiftblade specials (free Spring Attack/Bounding Assault, 50% miss chance and an extra attack and standard action while under haste, haste as a free action), while splashing Sublime Chord as soon as you qualify (after finishing Abjurant Champion, I think) and advancing ITS casting would get you up to 8th level spells at the cost of a point of BAB.

[sideswipe]

this can all be solved with something simpler, im keeping in mind this is low op.

ask your dm for a minator greataxe, take the exotic weapon proficiency for it. and take a medium size one (or if your dm says no just eat the -2 to hit with it).

its a 18-20 weapon that has a x4 crit modifier, its powerful, you will be critting on average 1/6 or 1/7 attacks for hideous damage. take power attack.
(i would say go shock trooper but you said low op)
whichever comes first, get 8k to enchant it with keen, or get improved critical at level 8. until then politely ask your friendly neighbourhood wizard for a spell at the beginning of combat.

with everything else you have, up your to hit, since low op, weapon focus is solid. if you do want to dip into something, try cleric for the knowledges and knowledge devotion. you can fluff it as whatever you want.

[ojayaba]

Thank you everyone for the ideas and suggestions.
seems some have missed the point of this being a low op campaign and others have really caught that part.

As it stands, the plan is to go fighter until I can qualify for Disciple of Dispater than start the pain as a Pro drum line enthusiast!
Thank you everyone for your input and time, this project will continue to drum up interest and fun for me.

[ComaVision]

this can all be solved with something simpler, im keeping in mind this is low op.

ask your dm for a minator greataxe, take the exotic weapon proficiency for it. and take a medium size one (or if your dm says no just eat the -2 to hit with it).

its a 18-20 weapon that has a x4 crit modifier, its powerful, you will be critting on average 1/6 or 1/7 attacks for hideous damage. take power attack.
(i would say go shock trooper but you said low op)
whichever comes first, get 8k to enchant it with keen, or get improved critical at level 8. until then politely ask your friendly neighbourhood wizard for a spell at the beginning of combat.

with everything else you have, up your to hit, since low op, weapon focus is solid. if you do want to dip into something, try cleric for the knowledges and knowledge devotion. you can fluff it as whatever you want.

You probably mean the Minotaur Greathammer which is a 19-20 threat with a x4 critical.

[sideswipe]

You probably mean the Minotaur Greathammer which is a 19-20 threat with a x4 critical.

thats probably it. for some reason i thought it was 18-20.