Mono-level Build

[BowStreetRunner]

Just chatting with a friend we came across an interesting proposition - the mono-level build. The premise is simple enough: the build is allowed no more than a single level in any class or prestige class. We also extended it to no more than one Racial Hit Die. The question with which we then struggled was just how strong of a character could be built this way? As this is a purely theoretical exercise, all sources would be permitted.

From just a brief examination of the concept a number of points became obvious:


Full BAB is fairly simple to achieve.
High Base Saves are almost an unavoidable side-effect.
Getting anything near full casting seems to be the most difficult challenge.
Martial Adept classes and PrCs are awesome for dipping.
Able Learner becomes an absolutely invaluable feat when trying to line up your skills to fulfill PrC prerequisites.


My own personal goal if I were to build a character like this would be to see how high I could get the casting.

[Troacctid]

This has been done before, of course. Typical strategies tend to involve warrior builds that are naturally dip-heavy anyway, or caster builds that use prestige classes to maintain full casting progression. (See my signature for a complete list of eligible prestige classes.)

[Eldariel]

The standard "Enter Ur-Priest level 6, get level 9 divines on level 15." works really well. You just need 8 +1 divine PRC dips.

[Seppo87]

How about the weakest?

I would start with:
Half-Elf,
Commoner1, Survivor1, Expert1, Noble1, Combatant1, Elf Paragon1, Uncanny Trickster1

So far, the guy does nothing. He's sometimes lucky and tricky and has great reflexes.

How would you complete the build?

[BowStreetRunner]

This also reminds me of another build I made in response to a DM who adamantly stood by the Multi-class XP penalty rules. It had single levels in five different classes and then took 3 levels in a sixth class. From level 7 to level 8 he suddenly went from having no XP penatly to having a 100% XP penalty. Obviously, building a character like this must have been completely broken for such a severe penalty to be necessary in order to balance it.

[mabriss lethe]

Using something like Kalashtar, you could bootstrap manifesting up to your HD with nothing but feats. You'd admittedly not have much in the way of PP or power selection, but your actual class levels would be irrelevant.