Interesting Martial Builds (Stagstead Players Stay Away!)

[ekarney]

So I've sent my players (Wu Jen 6/Arachnomancer 6*, Homebrew Combat Artificer 12╪, Bard 12 and Factotum 10) to go challenge some Orc Warlords, so far they took out a Fighter 9/Shiba Protector 1 (Human requirement waved) who focused on glass cannon esqe melee attacks, and a Feral-Half Minotaur Fighter 8 tripmaster build, with 5 fights left to go, and I was wondering what unique builds, either melee or ranged that I could throw at them to spice it up a bit as opposed to "The sack of 100 health hits you for 11 damage"

So far I've got an unarmed master, a grappler/thrower (using throw enemy) and some sort of indomitable tower of defense and I wanted to see what else is available, the players are challenging them 1v1, so i don't need anything too crazy powerful, and I'm not using ToB because of a myriad of reasons that have nothing to do with this thread.

╪ Class available if anyone requests it.
* Save requirements handwaved because Wu Jen is cool as hell.

Edit: I apologize for the terrible lack of cohesion this post has, it's late and I can't find my glasses I might try and fix it tomorrow.

[MisterKaws]

Half-Minotaur Dungeoncrasher/Warhulk with some Shield Charge+Knockback shenanigans?

[Waazraath]

Hit & run build, with a fast flying speed and fly-by attack. For example:
- half fey template (or half dragon, half celestial, half fiend)
- fly-by attack
- levels of a Tome of Battle class (7 levels crusader for an attack of 8d8 extra damage)
- maybe using poision, or a magic weapon for extra damage
- or sudden stunning (or the like) for a nice status effect
- or ranged, with manyshot for several move - attacks - move routine

Martial, but difficult to target / engage, and with plenty of tricks when needed. Used a build like this a few times as a player, was great fun, not stupidly powerful but a lot of options.

[Arael666]

Half-Minotaur Dungeoncrasher/Warhulk with some Shield Charge+Knockback shenanigans?

If by Interesting Martial Build you mean Murderous Unstopable pain machine, sure why not.

[Inevitability]

The 'martial-ness' of it may be up for debate, but you can't really go wrong with a Goliath Fighter 1/Barbarian 4/Thrall of Juiblex 3. First you summon a bunch of gelatinous cubes, then you fling them at your enemies. An Amulet of Ooze Riding should protect him from the acid and paralysis.

[OldTrees1]

You could add in reflexively evasive enemy to prompt some creativity

Combat Reflexes, Evasive Reflexes, Robilar's Gambit, & Improved Combat Reflexes(from Dragon Magazine)

They attack you (triggering opportunity due to Robilar's Gambit), you get 2 AoOs (an extra AoO at -5 due to Improved Combat Reflexes), you trade one of those AoOs away for a 5ft step (due to Evasive Reflexes).

[Darrin]

Some "Classic" builds from the Playground:


Haberdash the Masked (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?88633-Haberdash-the-Masked-The-3-5-Kitchen-Sink)

Flaming Homer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=4108954&postcount=22)

Frozen Dwarf Hulk Smash!!! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?50588-Frozen-Dwarf-Hulk-Smash!!!)

Not called GREAT Club for Nothing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?49522-Not-called-GREAT-Club-for-nothing)

Jack B. Quick (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17031211&postcount=30) (not really a Playground build, but could be a bit of a puzzler for the PCs)

And I'm tempted to add Bubs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?127927-Making-Due-An-Optimisers-Challenge/page2&p=7097263#post7097263), mostly because how can you pass up an opportunity to add dinosaurs to anything, but with the caveat that you'd want to scale whatever dinosaurs he brings in so they don't overwhelm the party.

[mabriss lethe]

You could have a Sandblaster build. He would need quickdraw to swap weapons quickly. Weapons of choice would be the Sandblaster from mm3, Lassos and nets, and lots of poison coating everything, perhaps a collection of tanglefoot bags. You get an antagonist that can damage and debuff multiple party members with the Sandblaster(and poison the payload for extra hurt) and can use touch weapons Like the lasso to hamper and deliver contact poisons. Tanglefoot bags can help keep the party in position.

[Magesmiley]

War Hulk + Hulking Hurler. Just keep throwing rocks at them. Very large rocks. Need to be large, but not too tough to manage.

Build an opponent around sundering and breaking items. Targeting holy symbols, instruments and spell component pouches is mean, but viable. Bonus points for doing it at range. Double bonus points if you do this as an early challenger so they don't have the items for later challenges.

A militant cleric. Nothing like tossing some buffs on a warlord before the fight and a few Heal spells when the HP gets low.

A Shadowdancer who uses spring attack and hides every round in a dimly lit battlefield.

[Morof Stonehands]

This is the start of a Fighter build I had, but never got to use against my players. (Note: I treated the Dragon Mag feats as Fighter Bonus feats, even though they do not say so, but they feel like them. We also gained feats at every odd level)

Human Fighter 7

Fighter 1 - Quick Draw, Point Blank Shot, Windup (DrgMag 304: Power Attack for thrown weapons, Pre Req for others), Brutal Throw (Flaws for the extra feats)
Fighter 2 - Heft (DrgMag 304: +150% STR damage on thrown instead of normal)
Fighter 3 - Weapon Focus (javelin)
Fighter 4 - Rout (DrMag 304: Bull rush 5 ft. only with thrown weapon weighing at least 2 lbs)
Fighter 5 - Bowl Over (DrMag 304: Free trip attack with thrown weapon when you deal 10 or more damage, cannot gain free attack via Improved Trip)
Fighter 6 - Hurling Charge
Fighter 7 - Tormtor School

At this point in the build, he can charge, throw a weapon with via Hurling Charge, attack that person, then throw the javelin at another person by way of Tormtor School, knocking them all down, and if wanted, back 5 feet. I'm sure you can expand the levels a bit, maybe add the oft-suggested Dungeoncrasher AFC to it for more bull rush damage. But at the very least, it is a slightly different kind of melee guy than the normal two-hand smash guy.

[ekarney]

Some "Classic" builds from the Playground:


Haberdash the Masked (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?88633-Haberdash-the-Masked-The-3-5-Kitchen-Sink)

Flaming Homer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=4108954&postcount=22)

Frozen Dwarf Hulk Smash!!! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?50588-Frozen-Dwarf-Hulk-Smash!!!)

Not called GREAT Club for Nothing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?49522-Not-called-GREAT-Club-for-nothing)

Jack B. Quick (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17031211&postcount=30) (not really a Playground build, but could be a bit of a puzzler for the PCs)

And I'm tempted to add Bubs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?127927-Making-Due-An-Optimisers-Challenge/page2&p=7097263#post7097263), mostly because how can you pass up an opportunity to add dinosaurs to anything, but with the caveat that you'd want to scale whatever dinosaurs he brings in so they don't overwhelm the party.

Haberdash could be very interesting as an intermediate challenge, since they seem to be expecting each challenger to only bring one thing to the table

I swear there was a dual-shield build somewhere or was that a TO one?

[Darrin]

I swear there was a dual-shield build somewhere or was that a TO one?

I'm not sure if I've seen an actual dual-shield build, much less a TO one (melee generally can't do any TO). But if you need one:

Race: Human
1) Fighter 1. Feat: TWF. Human: Improved Shield Bash. Bonus: Oversized TWF.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: Power Attack.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Shield Charge.
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: Improved Bull Rush.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Improved TWF. Bonus: Shield Slam.
7) Barbarian 1. Spirit Lion Totem -> Pounce.
8) Barbarian 2. Wolf Totem -> Improved Trip.
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Leap Attack.
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Shock Trooper.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: Knock-Down. Bonus: Weapon Focus.
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: Weapon Specialization.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Melee Weapon Mastery.
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: Greater TWF.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: Greater Weapon Specialization. Bonus: Greater Weapon Specialization.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 18. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.

Use two heavy shields, but make one out of Riverine (Stormwrack) so you get at least half of the shield bonus as a deflection bonus.

Something else to consider... get two Feycraft (DMGII) heavy shields, then pick up Inlindl School (Drow of the Underdark) and you can convert half of your second shield bonus into an attack bonus:

Race: Human
1) Fighter 1. Feat: TWF. Human: Improved Shield Bash. Bonus: Oversized TWF.
2) Fighter 2. Bonus: Power Attack.
3) Fighter 3. Feat: Shield Charge.
4) Fighter 4. Bonus: Improved Bull Rush.
5) Fighter 5.
6) Fighter 6. Feat: Improved TWF. Bonus: Shield Slam.
7) Barbarian 1. Spirit Lion Totem -> Pounce.
8) Swashbuckler 1. Bonus: Weapon Finesse.
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Inlindl School.
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Shock Trooper.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: Leap Attack. Bonus: Weapon Specialization.
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: Melee Weapon Mastery.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Greater TWF.
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: Greater Weapon Focus.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: Shield Ward. Bonus: Greater Weapon Specialization.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 18. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.