[3.5] Advice for 4th character

[giovaneduca]

Hello!

My friends and I are to start a new campaign, this time I'll play and not mastering so the new Master pop up with some rule: Only races/classes from PHB and prestiges class from DMG, lvl 6 (no E6, just starting lvl 6)

So the party will be composed in:
-Halfling rogue (ranged sneak attack)
-half elf ranger (probably 2 weapons)
- dwarf barbarian
- Me!

.... yes pretty unbalanced toward attack and I would take responsabolity to help them so I need advice.

Should I go to Cleric and become healer/buffer?
Maybe arcane class for crowd control and utility?

and after that, some advice for nasty and flavour ideas for prestige class??

General setting, only PHB and DMG!!!

Thanks everybody!

[lytokk]

You could always do bard. Pick up a wand of CLW and perform to increase the allies effectiveness.

Personally, I wouldn't play a cleric in this group. With the fact that most of the other characters are only going to be wearing light armor, this party has the makings of a more stealth oriented party. Its just my thought on the matter.

[(Un)Inspired]

Wizard. Illustrate for your DM why core only games are lame.

Go full God Wizard and your mundane focused party will love you

If you really need to prestige class go for Archmage.

[sideswipe]

You could always do bard. Pick up a wand of CLW and perform to increase the allies effectiveness.

Personally, I wouldn't play a cleric in this group. With the fact that most of the other characters are only going to be wearing light armor, this party has the makings of a more stealth oriented party. Its just my thought on the matter.

expanding on this a DFI bard.

what level you starting and reaching? they have a distinct lack of any caster, but if its low level then anyone with a CLW wand and some cantrips is a caster. you don't really need one. looks like you play pretty low op.

consider divine DFI bard,

if its high level consider savage DFI bard 8/ ur priest 2/ sublime chord 1/ mystic theurge 8/sublime chord 1, bardic music with dfi, dual 9ths from 3 lists. covers divine and arcane.

[(Un)Inspired]

expanding on this a DFI bard.

what level you starting and reaching? they have a distinct lack of any caster, but if its low level then anyone with a CLW wand and some cantrips is a caster. you don't really need one. looks like you play pretty low op.

consider divine DFI bard,

if its high level consider savage DFI bard 8/ ur priest 2/ sublime chord 1/ mystic theurge 8/sublime chord 1, bardic music with dfi, dual 9ths from 3 lists. covers divine and arcane.

PHB and DMG only dude.

[sideswipe]

PHB and DMG only dude.

sorry got carried away.....

that makes it much easier.

god wizard or druid the face off everything. everyone loves a tiger/ bigger and bigger cat with full casting.

[(Un)Inspired]

sorry got carried away.....

that makes it much easier.

god wizard or druid the face off everything. everyone loves a tiger/ bigger and bigger cat with full casting.

It happens to the best of us. I suggested God wizard myself but I would stay away from Druid. There's no reason to invalidate all the other party members instantly. Better to make them feel like champs and steamroll everything the DM can throw at you.

[sideswipe]

It happens to the best of us. I suggested God wizard myself but I would stay away from Druid. There's no reason to invalidate all the other party members instantly. Better to make them feel like champs and steamroll everything the DM can throw at you.

that is the exact thing im doing in my current party as a war weaver.

[giovaneduca]

Thanks for the advice!
And for the later levels, how to compensate the lack of healing??? just potions and wand of cure X wound??

[sideswipe]

Thanks for the advice!
And for the later levels, how to compensate the lack of healing??? just potions and wand of cure X wound??

cure light wounds is a bard spell so arcane.

a total of 19 in UMD means all the wands you need.

[(Un)Inspired]

Thanks for the advice!
And for the later levels, how to compensate the lack of healing??? just potions and wand of cure X wound??

Don't get hurt? You should be able to disable enemy's before they can act most of the time. For the rest of the time the ranger can use wands of CLW out of combat.

Additionally you can summon monsters to do your in combat healing if you really super duper double want it so you don't have to waste your own standard actions (precious, precious standard actions).

[Dysart]

Thanks for the advice!
And for the later levels, how to compensate the lack of healing??? just potions and wand of cure X wound??

Isn't Eldritch Theurge in the DMG? If so I'd go down that route and get best of both worlds. 3 levels cleric and 3 Wizard, when you level to 7 grab a Theurge level and count as 4 in both. Sure you'll start off a little behind but you'll quickly catch up and surpass the other players and only miss out on a small amount of the top end magic while still being able to be the heal bot early levels and the god Wizard later on.

For each level of ET you'd be going up 2 afterall (in spell casting)

[sideswipe]

Isn't Eldritch Theurge in the DMG? If so I'd go down that route and get best of both worlds. 3 levels cleric and 3 Wizard, when you level to 7 grab a Theurge level and count as 4 in both. Sure you'll start off a little behind but you'll quickly catch up and surpass the other players and only miss out on a small amount of the top end magic while still being able to be the heal bot early levels and the god Wizard later on.

For each level of ET you'd be going up 2 afterall (in spell casting)

mystic theurge, and yes DMG, but thats a horrible choice honestly, just pick one and go with it, otherwise when other wizards would get 9th level spells you will be lucky to have 7ths.

http://www.tshirtbordello.com/images/admiral-ackbar-cereal-s1.gif

over used meme insert here

[Dysart]

mystic theurge, and yes DMG, but thats a horrible choice honestly, just pick one and go with it, otherwise when other wizards would get 9th level spells you will be lucky to have 7ths.

http://www.tshirtbordello.com/images/admiral-ackbar-cereal-s1.gif

over used meme insert here

I understand your idea behind this but I'm from the school of the group fun is more important than breaking the game when we've played for over a year... which means the party is going to need a form of healing and at some point a form of arcane magic...

BUT it's up giovaneduca what he chooses, just my thoughts.

[sideswipe]

I understand your idea behind this but I'm from the school of the group fun is more important than breaking the game when we've played for over a year... which means the party is going to need a form of healing and at some point a form of arcane magic...

BUT it's up giovaneduca what he chooses, just my thoughts.

then pick bard. it has buffing, arcane casting from a decent list and healing. and is better then mystic theurge. mystic theurge is great with early entry, you have to think of your own fun. if you feel ineffectual and only a walking extra hp refill with some cantrips then your fun will be less.

if you really want to heal then go cleric with healing domain. you will get much better healing spells then a mystic theurge who will be able to do absolutely no healing to a party of their level.

level 7 cleric with healing domain has cure critical wounds at 4d8+ 8 = av. 25hp
mystic theurge will be level 4 cleric with healing domain and only have cure moderate at 2d8+5 = av. 14 hp

level 7 your frontliners will have (with con 16) about 60 hp. the level 7 cleric will supply a decent amount of healing with its top spell levels that can make a real difference.
the MT will just cry as he heals less than a 1/4 of their hp and watches his friends die in seconds.

having a half decent character and having fun are not different things. they are linked. if you are useless then you will feel useless. do you have fun when you feel depressed and no use to anyone in real life? no.
if you are having fun and are relevant and having a jolly good gay old time with a low op character in a low op group by keeping your buddies alive? yes.

its all or nothing with healing. otherwise its a waste and your friends will hate you for it.

[Dysart]

Each to their own, to be honest if it was me I'd probably go cleric and heal bot it up... then again I'm a team player and enjoy a successful party over other things like "being useless" which in my opinion that is the epitome of bard.

[sideswipe]

Each to their own, to be honest if it was me I'd probably go cleric and heal bot it up... then again I'm a team player and enjoy a successful party over other things like "being useless" which in my opinion that is the epitome of bard.

i know what you mean by team player. i love quietly turning the rest of my team into god like beings in combat using buffs and sitting back and sipping my tea (in game)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Assuming only your race/classes are limited to PHB and DMG, you still have a lot of room to work with.

I'd go with a single-classed Human Druid. Get Natural Bond at 3rd and Natural Spell at 6th, all of your other feats can be whatever you want. Start out with a Fleshraker dinosuar from MM3 as your animal companion, Natural Bond negates the 'level -3' drawback it gives. Say you used Handle Animal to give it the Warbeast template in MM2. It gets additional skill points and feats for its extra HD, so give it two cross-class ranks in Spellcraft so it can have Mage Slayer in CA.

Get at least one Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend. Your prepared spells should include Kelpstrand, Creeping Cold (use that rod of extend on it), Wall of Smoke (cast it across opponents' spaces to force an immediate save), Mass Snake's Swiftness, Entangle, and various buffs. Check this guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1354.0) for wild shape forms as well as items, spells, and feats.

[DMVerdandi]

Also suggesting druid.
You know all the reasons they rock:
-Great spell list that has all spells known
-Wild shaping
-Animal companion
-spontaneous summon nature's ally
-Pretty fat HD for such a good spell caster
-Pretty good weapon's list for such a good spell caster
-Pretty good skills for such a good spell caster.
-Pretty good BAB for such a good spell caster.

With the druid, you can also prepare spells that heal, and if you don't need them, use them up as SNA spells.
Human is the optimal choice, but I think Half-orc or Half-elf//elf could also be fun alternatives. I despise the short races, so you won't get those suggestions from me.

All in all, druid is the best, because you get the most variety, and the best part of it is that the DM can't trivially take it away. You don't have to beg for scrolls, or armor, or magic items (even though those things will only serve as tools to make you stronger), you are completely sufficient naked.

Neutral Evil Dire Badger user.
Only wild shape into the dire badger. Only summon the dire badger, only be companions with the dire badger.
WRECK EVERYTHING.
Be the Honey Badger.

[sideswipe]

Assuming only your race/classes are limited to PHB and DMG, you still have a lot of room to work with.

I'd go with a single-classed Human Druid. Get Natural Bond at 3rd and Natural Spell at 6th, all of your other feats can be whatever you want. Start out with a Fleshraker dinosuar from MM3 as your animal companion, Natural Bond negates the 'level -3' drawback it gives. Say you used Handle Animal to give it the Warbeast template in MM2. It gets additional skill points and feats for its extra HD, so give it two cross-class ranks in Spellcraft so it can have Mage Slayer in CA.

Get at least one Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend. Your prepared spells should include Kelpstrand, Creeping Cold (use that rod of extend on it), Wall of Smoke (cast it across opponents' spaces to force an immediate save), Mass Snake's Swiftness, Entangle, and various buffs. Check this guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1354.0) for wild shape forms as well as items, spells, and feats.

MM2 and 3 are not core but the rest is good advice.

[giovaneduca]

Onestly, shame on me, I never played a Druid.

So this should be an interesting choice for me.
Suggestiorn for Prestige class? Or something for fun and flavour?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Onestly, shame on me, I never played a Druid.

So this should be an interesting choice for me.
Suggestiorn for Prestige class? Or something for fun and flavour?

There are zero usable prestige class options in the DMG for a Druid, and there are zero viable multiclassing options with just PHB and DMG. Stick with just Druid all the way to 20 and beyond, it will actually be better for illustrating how powerful core classes are.


MM2 and 3 are not core but the rest is good advice.

"Only races/classes from PHB and prestiges class from DMG" does not apply to animal companions and wild shape forms.

[sideswipe]

"Only races/classes from PHB and prestiges class from DMG" does not apply to animal companions and wild shape forms.

if they are not allowed the completes then they probably cant use MM2.

otherwise i would say wizard and use feats and spells from other sources and go full super badass on the party.