Unoptimized flavor-builds

[Nando]

Hello all,

I'd like to see (and present) builds that you like for their (mechanically supportedt) flavor, that are (sadly) utterly unoptimised (as in: you'd need a definite low-op-group to even think about playing one of them).
Advices on tweaking presented build into the playable realm allowed ;)


Without further introduction, the build I have in mind:

Monk 5 / Tattooed Monk 5 / Cloud Anchorite 10

Starting as a Human; using Monk practically just for entry into TM. Tattoos are: Crane, Ocean, something (Chameleon, Centipede, Wasp...?).
Other stuff is for entry into CA (whatever the feat "Improved Unarmed Combat"[sic] is, does, and needs as preqs...), which we mostly want for the cap.

All this nets us with a human that doesn't need to eat, drink or sleep, that doesn't have a max. age and gets no penalties for being old. Surely there are lots of easier ways to do this, but...the image of a random guy going through all the trouble of becoming a 20th-lvl-character, just to get rid of the daily worries of being mortal.

Anyhow. Let's hear your opinion, playground, show your own builds, or throw in your way of making such a crippled build playable in any but the most un-oped group!

[Malimar]

Defiant 10 / Ur-Priest 10 is full of "I hate gods so hard" flavor. (I mean, obviously any build that includes Ur-Priest 10 isn't that badly unoptimized, but Defiant 10 is definitely not the optimal entry into Ur-Priest.) Slap that on a lilitu or other god-hating beastie for extra flavor.

[emeraldstreak]

gunslinger/drunken master

[IZ42]

VoP Monk? I say this, and still managed to be one of the big sources of damage in my mid-op RL party with my first character. My GM trained me well.

[Xervous]

VoP Monk?

VoP commoner?

[IZ42]

No, because commoners can take Chicken Infested.

[Xervous]

Riiight, the infinite attacks kinda slipped my mind.

[BowStreetRunner]

Former Aquatic Half-Elf, Dragonborn of Bahamut with Wings Aspect, Scout with Dungeon Specialist ACF. The Aquatic Half-Elf gets a swim speed without actually having the Aquatic sub-type (I know, Aquatic is in the name but nowhere in the description is the sub-type actually mentioned). When they undergo the transformation to Dragonborn they retain their swim speed but do not have to deal with the problem of not being able to breathe air that they would endure if they had the Aquatic subtype. The Wings Aspect gives a fly speed and Dungeon Specialist ACF grants a climb speed. You end up with a character with land, swim, climb and fly speeds able to move well over almost any sort of terrain. I still have not figured out an elegant way to add a burrow speed.

[IZ42]

Former Aquatic Half-Elf, Dragonborn of Bahamut with Wings Aspect, Scout with Dungeon Specialist ACF. The Aquatic Half-Elf gets a swim speed without actually having the Aquatic sub-type (I know, Aquatic is in the name but nowhere in the description is the sub-type actually mentioned). When they undergo the transformation to Dragonborn they retain their swim speed but do not have to deal with the problem of not being able to breathe air that they would endure if they had the Aquatic subtype. The Wings Aspect gives a fly speed and Dungeon Specialist ACF grants a climb speed. You end up with a character with land, swim, climb and fly speeds able to move well over almost any sort of terrain. I still have not figured out an elegant way to add a burrow speed.

Getting four forms of move speed with 0 LA and some class levels in frankly not such a bad class (depends on what the ACF replaces though) isn't exactly Unoptimized, and I don't quite see a workable backstory that doesn't seem like a flimsy excuse for getting those forms of alternate speed. If you could write one, I would be glad to read it.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Generic Aquatic Half elf who lives in a seaside village alongside cliffs, he likes to climb the walls of said cliffs as sport and he lives a pretty decent life there until a Chromatic dragon attacks the village in order to make a new lair in the zones, Aquatic Half elf is the only survivor and vows revenge on the dragon, so he joins the ranks of Bahamut in their crusade to vanquish all evul dragons.

Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but it is workable albeit full of clichés.

[Uhtred]

Schmooples, Champion of Truth. She was a Tibbet (Werehousecat, essentially) Urban Druid/Vigilante/Streetfighter with an animated dustbin companion called "Sir Clanky," who would stalk wrongdoers on the street as a housecat, use little bits of urban druid magic to get them panicked and cornered, then would change form and stomp them. Gained some notoriety as being a sort of Batman character that the local criminal element was terrified of whose name was whispered in hushed tones in seedy taverns across the city. When the players heard about her they couldn't take her seriously, after all, what sort of name is Schmooples?

[SangoProduction]

You want unoptimized? I'll show you unoptimized!
Rogue / Fighter/Shadow Dancer/ Sorcerer 4/2/1/1
And sorcerer spells limited to Shadow-themed spells, or those that can be easily refluffed as shadow-based. On the bright side, he practically has invisibility, as a successful Diplomacy check vs the DM convinced him that shadows included anything that was not bright light (because night is just the Earth's shadow being shown on you).

[erok0809]

A friend of mine made a specialist enchanter wizard, Reave the Peaceful. He has NO spells that aren't mind-affecting, and the only spells that deal damage are the whelm line, which deal non-lethal. He won't even use illusions because of an in-universe thing with his illusionist brother being super evil and basically making illusions a thing he doesn't like. Actually, if I remember correctly, EVERY spell he uses is enchantment.

He had to run from a relatively small monstrous spider he ran into because he couldn't hurt it, and his level was between 2x and 4x the CR of the monster.

It has great flavor, but it simply doesn't work in a solo campaign where adventuring might happen. He ended up getting a troll friend through charm person that he basically made a cohort though, so it ended up being worked around. Awesome flavor, terrible mechanics for an adventurer.

[torrasque666]

I once made a Warmage/IoSFV. The Blasty class going into the defensive one.

[gooddragon1]

Remember all those times they said "The finest swordsman in all the land"

They didn't mean the best swordsman, they meant the fanciest one (the karmic strike abuse swordsman is probably the best... but I dunno):

Swashbuckler 3/Fighter 4/Exotic Weapons Master 3/Duelist 10

You're really good with an exotic/obscure weapon finesse-able weapon (and technically, if you have a sunblade (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#sunBlade) you could get away with 2 handing it and getting 2x damage from STR by treating it as both a short sword and a bastard sword respectively [though that's unlikely to fly with most DMs])

A big problem with this build is when you run up against undead and other things immune to precision damage [which is everything at high levels]. You lose your int to damage and your precise strike which leaves you with just STR. It's multiple ability dependent (CON, INT, and DEX). It's fun to look at on paper, probably won't fly in a normal game.
Actually, I'd just like simplicity and go with Dragon Shaman 1/Fighter 19 (For the aura of vigor to heal up to half)

[Ethelesin]

An androgynous and effiminate elven (any kind) warmage10/arcane devotee5/archmage5 with a bloodline feat. Wears a mithral fullplate shaped like a robe, throws around enlargened blasting spell all day and has motives as unknowable as their gender.

[morkendi]

One of my favorites I still play is a tibbit with dark template. Build is begiler 1/ warlock 4/ unseen seer 6 so far. Took the feat that allows me to cast in cat form. Basically a sneaky warlock that fits well in the city campaign we are in. Very adaptable to most situations with decent damge. Maxed diplomacy and bluff make it fun.

[Draconium]

One of my first characters was a sorcerer/Dragon Disciple. The DM for that campaign had a homebrew rule that, in short, made the DD's name literal - you had to pledge allegiance to a dragon of the color you'd be taking after. Provided some wonderful roleplaying opportunities. :smallbiggrin:

Oddly enough, he was one of the most powerful members of the party, and easily the highest level, thanks to an addiction to the Deck of Many Things. (Oh, how I love to hate that thing...) He wasn't overly powerful, though, due to his unoptimized nature, so he managed to stick with his party for a long while. He actually ended up making it to level 21 before I stopped playing him, but I plan on bringing in as an NPC in future games I DM.

[Telonius]

Bard/Master of Masks: Tries to be everything, usually failing.

Wizard/Green Star Adept: Interesting concept. Horrible mechanics.

[marphod]

Vow of Poverty Half-Orc Monk/Paladin/Exorcist of the Silver FlameKalok Shash in Eberron.

(I had idiotic luck on my dice rolls and ended up with a 'dump' stat of 12 for Int after racial modifiers. So I decided to have some fun.)

He had a strong sense of Moral and Ethical behavior that was self-consistent but entirely perplexing to the other PCs, in character at least. (The Strong must be allowed to survive, as the Weak will be corrupted -- Train the Weak, but do not waste resources. Corruption spreads like water into the desert sand; rapidly and out of sight -- it must be stopped before it can settle. Subservience to the Kalok Shash is the only protection, and the words of its prophets are paramount. The Tribe and the Flame is all that stands between this world and the end; the tribe must survive and the flame must spread. Only those who prove themselves worthy may serve directly.) Many an action that would cause another Paladin to fall was considered a necessity to him, and vice versa. (I'm glad that my DM let me play with moral systems like that)

Got a feat from somewhere that added light maces as a monk weapon, and picked up Lightning Mace and Improved Critical (and got a third party buff spell cast on him that increased his crit threat range to 18-20). Played the character weekly for 18 months. Lightning Mace _never_ mattered. Either 18+ missed due to some reason (incorporeal, concealment, mirror image, displacement, etc.), or he killed his last targetable opponent with the crit threat (and he rolled a 20 in those 18 months a total of 2 or 3 times with his maces. Using his fists for Touch of Golden Ice? All the bloody time. With his maces? nope.)

He was a blast to play and had a lot of fun mocking members of the Silver Flame for being ineffective upstarts.