First Time Player and Poster Needs Your Help!

[KingLeisure]

This is the deal. Ive just started playing 3.5 for the first time a few weeks ago, its been great but out of the blue last week our DM announced that he is now including more books. The campaign started off as core only but now will include Complete Adventurer, Warrior, Arcane and Divine. For the rest of the party this is no big deal, its everyone's first time and no one else is really optimizing beside me it seams - I'm the only multi classed character.

First these new additions mean a lot more reading for me:smalleek: just as i felt like i was fully coming to terms with my understanding of the core only environment. Also now i don't know if the character path I'm on is still a good idea. I started this campaign blind but later sort of modeled my character off Saph's (i would link it but im under 10 posts) horizon tripper, mainly because i happened to take Spiked chain proficiency as my first feat and started Barb.

My plan moving forward was to take a level or two of fighter to get some more feats like combat expertise and then improved tripping. Also if the DM allows it I planned to take leadership at lvl6 and get a little utility wizard cohort who can cast enlarge person on me and also create magic items which no one else in the party is doing. The party consists of a blaster Sorc, Druid, Travel and Luck Cleric, Halfling rouge(who thinks hes a Barb) and a ghome ranger.

So i put this to you all, is it ok that the DM has now included new books mid campaign? Is the horizon tripper still a reasonably good idea or is their some other new Prestige or multi-classing option i should look into? Ive briefly looked at the new books and they add a zillian new Prestige classes and its hard for me to compare them all. Also if i stick with the tripper what are some of the new feats i should be looking at? With so many new ones i don't really know what stands out.

My Char
Ronmir BlackSeed

Looks: Outrageously handsome
Barb2/Ranger3
Half Orc
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

STR 20
DEX 14
CON 15
INT 14
WIS 12
CHA 10

Feats:
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Spiked Chain) (lvl1)
Combat Reflexes (lvl3)

Thanks!

[Hackulator]

I would suggest that if you are in a game of first time players and nobody is optimizing, you not come here to get optimization advice, as it will likely put you way out of balance with the rest of the party and cause issues. Especially things like optimizing leadership.

[KingLeisure]

I would suggest that if you are in a game of first time players and nobody is optimizing, you not come here to get optimization advice, as it will likely put you way out of balance with the rest of the party and cause issues. Especially things like optimizing leadership.

I see your point but just because the other players arnt taking things as seriously as I am I don't think should limit me and the DM wants everyone to take it seriously. He's not playing with kid gloves the campaign has been littered with cursed weapons, player possession that lead to that characters death (and nearly half the party) and a lich fight that killed a familiar and had half the party on the ground bleeding out only to be saved by a kamakazy hippogriff. I'd like my character to survive this campaign and also set an example to my fellow players that if you take the time and actually try you can end up with an awesome character.

[Hackulator]

Having an awesome character has nothing to do with power level.

[denthor]

Lich fight?!

At 5th level I hope you bailed quickly or that was just a bad blunder of decisions.

I am a 9th level mage and I would not get near a lich.

But yeah a good character is not power level it is player use of the character.

This is just a dice game. Have fun with the character and walk away from overpowering fights.

[Grod_The_Giant]

You should have three more bonus feats from the Ranger levels-- Track, Endurance, and either Two-Weapon Fighting (you can use it with a two-handed weapon like your spiked chain and armor spikes, if you want) or Rapid Shot.

The Horizon Tripper is still a solid plan, but... the big problem is those first five levels of Horizon Walker are just dull, and five levels is a heck of a slog. Other interesting-and-useful PrCs that are now opening up that you can easily hop into include... well, just in Complete Warrior, there's

Bear Warrior: Take Power Attack at 6th level, then enter at 8th. When you rage, you can turn into a bear, giving you some downright enormous stat boosts. You also get Scent 24/7, which is nice for tracking.
Exotic Weapon Master: Take Weapon Focus (Spiked Chain) at 6th, then enter at 8th. It's only three levels, but it gives you some neat little abilities. Flurry of Strikes is basically Flurry of Blows with a spiked chain, and Exotic Reach lets you ignore cover when making AoOs. (Okay... maybe just the one level, but Flurry of Strikes is real nice)
Kensai: Take a Fighter level to pick up Combat Expertise and Weapon Focus, then probably a Rogue level to get the skills, but it's fun. You can enchant your own weapon, and you get cool abilities-- make Concentration checks to boost your strength, get (quite sizable) bonuses to social skills, make Concentration checks instead of Reflex saves, and some fun leadership-y bits.

[Darrin]

So i put this to you all, is it ok that the DM has now included new books mid campaign?


This is fine. There are a few things in Complete Warrior you might want to consider, but for the most part this doesn't really affect your Horizon Tripper strategy.



Is the horizon tripper still a reasonably good idea or is their some other new Prestige or multi-classing option i should look into?


Horizon Tripper is still a very good idea. Grod says the first five levels are a bit boring, and they are, but the immunity to fatigue (Desert Terrain Mastery) is nice. After Desert, I'd recommend Plains, Hills, Underground, and Forest.

Exotic Weapon Master (Complete Warrior) is worth a look for "Flurry of Strikes", maybe "Exotic Reach" and "Trip Attack" if you want to take all three levels.

You might be tempted to go into Dervish (Complete Warrior) or Tempest (Complete Adventurer). Resist this temptation, as they don't work all that well with a spiked chain build. You can TWF with a spiked chain by adding armor spikes to your armor or by taking the Improved Unarmed Strike feat.



Also if i stick with the tripper what are some of the new feats i should be looking at? With so many new ones i don't really know what stands out.


There aren't a lot of trip-based feats to add after Improved Trip. The best one is Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown), but it's not in the sourcebooks you have available, unless your DM is allowing feats from the online SRD (Note: there's some contention over whether this feat can be combined with Improved Trip. Ask your DM if the 3.0 errata is still in effect, or if the online 3.5 version supercedes it). If that's an allowed source, Stand Still (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#standStill) is popular in most Lockdown builds.

There is one feat that's trip-related in Complete Warrior: Elusive Target, but this feat is mostly an apology for being forced to take Dodge and Mobility. "Cause Overreach" can be used to move past your opponents and generate trip attacks.

Since you're Strength-based and using a two-handed weapon, Power Attack + Improved Bull Rush + Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior) + Leap Attack (Complete Adventurer) is worth considering. If that's too many feats, then consider just picking up Power Attack + Leap Attack. However, be aware that there was errata issued for Leap Attack, but the errata is confusing and stupid (it also has no effect on two-handed weapons such as the spiked chain).

Hmm... the only other feat that might stand out is Extra Rage, which can work as a stand-in for taking more Barbarian levels. But I'd save that for later levels, if you can't find anything to put in that 15th/18th feat slot.