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dyslexicfaser
2007-05-24, 12:59 AM
The character I'm creating is Rich's homebrewed class, the Champion. For the purposes of the question, he's almost exactly like a newbie paladin.

And I've never played a tank before.

What I'm stuck on is whether to give him dexterity or wisdom as a higher stat. His one 18 I figured would go to Con - he's mostly a tank, after all - but I don't know if will saves and a bonus 1st and 2nd level spell are better than the reflex saves and AC dexterity offers.

Thoughts and suggestions from people who've been at this longer than I have? I'm all ears.

Jasdoif
2007-05-24, 01:35 AM
...18 to Con? May I suggest putting that into Strength instead? Having a bunch of hit points is nice, but taking away the other guy's is better.

For your normal form, I'd say go with higher Dexterity then Wisdom. Reflex is a poor save for the class, while Will is a good save; covering your weak save might be more helpful then pushing up your strong save. Also, you might make a nice ranged attacker, with the ability to switch to a hard-hitting melee-guy in avatar form.

Remember that the avatar form has its own set of ability scores, feats (except that bonus at 2nd level), skills, etc.

dyslexicfaser
2007-05-24, 01:59 AM
True enough. I had the 18 switched to strength in the avatar state, but that is only four minutes out of the day.

Dex is the mod for bows? I thought that was strength, too.

Fenix_of_Doom
2007-05-24, 02:28 AM
Dex influences your ranged attack modifier(no dmg), strength only gives a penalty to ranged attack if it's negative, but no bonus if it's positive.
Unless ofcource you have a composit bow, then some or all of your strenght bonus is added to damage.

And if you want advanced help, it might be wise to post all your stats(I assume you rolled them).

dyslexicfaser
2007-05-24, 02:46 AM
Sure, why not? Pink helped me for a lot of the basics, but it's my first character in 3.5, and my third dnd game ever, so I'm sure I could use the help.

The rolling system was pretty lenient, so my stats were good: 18, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12.

I was going to have the 16 in wisdom on the grounds that a party can never have enough Cure Light Wounds spells. I did buy a shortbow for him, so he could go the 16 dex route, even though I'm fonder of the melee thing.

For the feats, I was thinking of Dodge and something else defensive - it fits his character. He was just some peasant kid until he got chosen by the avatar, so he's more likely to be pretty hesitant in combat, at least for the 1st few levels.

The avatar I just gave lots of strength and Power Attack.

Ulzgoroth
2007-05-24, 02:58 AM
Note that in a few levels you will want to have a composite longbow, so strength bonus isn't useless for archery.

For a half-caster like the champion, sticking a lower score (14) in your casting stat might be worth it. You don't get any spells at all until 4th level, and only need an 18 by level 14 to get all your spell levels on schedule (and would have to have a 20 to get another bonus level 1 spell).

Fenix_of_Doom
2007-05-24, 04:17 AM
18, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12. I'd say that's not bad at all, certainly better then point buy could do:smallsmile:

well I agree an avarage wisdom is more then enough, you don't get spells untill level 4 and if you really like spells you could spend two more points on wis to make it 16, higher then that sounds like a waste to me, although I've never played this class myself.

if your going for melee then I'd advise this:
Str:18
Dex:13
Con:16
Int:12
Wis:14
Cha:14

if your going for archery:
Str:16
Dex:18
Con:12
Int:13
Wis:14
Cha:14
(con and int are switcheble)
if you really really like your spells you could switch str and wis, but i wouldn't advise it

Edit: what race are you playing?

dyslexicfaser
2007-05-24, 10:55 AM
I went with plain old vanilla human.

goat
2007-05-24, 01:08 PM
Your spells max out at fourth level, a high wisdom isn't necessary for access, so you're really only after it for the bonuses.

I'd be inclined to start it lowish, maybe bumping it up later.

Your primary problem is that the Avatar isn't going to be around all that much. Though a high charisma could keep him about for a longer time, that's fairly useless unless you're planning a seriously long encounter. 3 minutes is 30 rounds, and that's a pretty long battle, but equally, slapping the 18 in Cha and going for 7 minutes isn't going to get you to many more encounters. It WILL however giving you the option of being party face man. 4+Int skill points, with bluff, sense motive and diplomacy as class skills could make you fairly effective at it if your party is otherwise lacking.

You get medium armour and all martial weapons, so mixing it up in the middle is more than possible, but you don't get tumble on your skill list, so a dexterity type backstabber probably wouldn't be your best bet.

I'd be inclined to go with various others, building an archer type. A Str:14, Dex:16, Con:12, Int:13, Wis:14, Cha:18 could be a good archer/face.

The issue then is Weaponry and Armour. Your Avatar will probably be wanting to mix it up in the middle rather than shoot from the edges (although fly could make them pretty awesome for that). That could necessitate a build that revolves around wearing at least medium armour, which could kill your dex bonuses a bit, but as long as you stay out of the way, shouldn't be too much of a problem. You only then need to carry a big stabby thing along with your bow and arrows.