New DM, body snatcher and a new player.

[Talude]

Greetings.

I really have no idea how to start this, so lets get down to business.
Friend invited me to play, been a long time, said the DM was murderous at times, fair warning and all that, and i came her to ask for help for the worst case, and the middle case, and maybe to see if anyone can remember the name of body snatching monster that was ropelike, slowly ate your body, could eat your brain to fully control the body or just torture you into doing its will.

The body snatcher thing was an old PC that had a paladin follower as its body, was silly fun, and i would like it back, but i dont have the paper records anymore, and i first heard about the creature here, so remember it maybe??Resembles a bundle of ropes with tiny hooks, slowly damages con of body, needs a body to survive, the body does not need to be alive, can use a body untill well under -10hp, grappled its victims to get inside, used bodies to lay in wait for the next? its been a while, memory fails me!!!.

Now as i dont really know if the DM will be out to kill us or not, i was thinking about a simple~ish archer.

Troll-blooded scout in full wraps? how does one deals with the fatigue?
Paladiny preacher that loves the god inside?
Dread necro works?

As for the new player thing, we may get someone that wants to start, any tips to help break him in?
Do correct me, been a while since i tried my hand at english or typing.
Cheers mates.

[Khedrac]

I think the monster you are after is the Tsochar from Lords of Madness.

What I would suggest is not going overboard in trying to make an unkillable character based on a vague warning about the DM. For one thing the DM may well take it as a challenge...
Making a generalist who is reasonably competent in most situations, even without gear, will give you a decent chance while you find out what the DM is really like.

Also without knowing how well the party optimize means you have no idea how dangerous the DM really is, except that he will certainly let characters kill themselves. Turning up with a really-well optimized character when the rest of the party is not is likely to lead to bad feeling - with one exception, a party booster.
A character who boosts the other in the team should work in any party, even if much better optimized because they are not grabbing the spotlight but magnifying the light on the others...

[Talude]

Just updating the works.
Yes it was a Tsochar, with a fu manchu and an offencive asian accent.
DM briefed the new player, 3.5 or 4, he never played 5, but feels 3.5 has many loopholes, but did not talk to me, or else i would have good things to talk about.
For now it seems we will have a melle focused new player.
Ill take your advice and try to play a supporting role, and most likely a third as an elf ranger.

Nothing to do with this, but say, if a nymph (+7 lvl) gets a druid level, it will cast as a lvl 7 druid + lvl 1 druid, or as a lvl 8 druid?

Cheers mates.

[Khedrac]

Nothing to do with this, but say, if a nymph (+7 lvl) gets a druid level, it will cast as a lvl 7 druid + lvl 1 druid, or as a lvl 8 druid?
Cast as Druid 8