Kobold Swiftblade(READ DESCRIPTION)

[danielxcutter]

I have this idea for a Kobold Swiftblade.

Fighter 1/Sorcerer 5/Swiftblade 10/Abjurant Champion 4

Nothing real special, just using the Greater Rite of Passage so that the build still gets 8ths at ECL 20.

Yes, I know that it burns a bunch of feats. I think it needs Dragonwrought, Draconic Reservoir, Dodge, Mobility, and Combat Casting?

I don't really care. And Swiftblades get a bunch of great things to be honest, enough to justify not getting 9ths. That's huge.

Like, I can delay the Rites to be honest. The more important part is qualifying at all, for one, and not sucking at combat.

So... how should I go around making this? I don't want to use cheesy stuff like templates meant for true dragons(looking at you, Loredrake).

[Grod_The_Giant]

I don't think the Rites of Passage are feats, although the Greater version requires you to take Draconic Reservoir.

Swiftblade needs 6 Sorcerer caster levels so you can use Haste; you can get that with Fighter 1/Sorcerer 5 + Greater Rite of Passage, or you could go Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 6-- BAB works out the same, but you have more hit points and it's a little easier coming up. Low spells known matter less when you're just spamming Haste, after all, and Runestaffs exist. Speaking of, you'll probably want to add Versatile Spellcaster to your feat list so you can spam Haste a little more, and so you can cast it out of a 6th level slot.

[danielxcutter]

I don't think the Rites of Passage are feats, although the Greater version requires you to take Draconic Reservoir.

I don't remember much about them, and I don't have the link to that article either. Anyone have it?


Swiftblade needs 6 Sorcerer caster levels so you can use Haste; you can get that with Fighter 1/Sorcerer 5 + Greater Rite of Passage, or you could go Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 6-- BAB works out the same, but you have more hit points and it's a little easier coming up. Low spells known matter less when you're just spamming Haste, after all, and Runestaffs exist. Speaking of, you'll probably want to add Versatile Spellcaster to your feat list so you can spam Haste a little more, and so you can cast it out of a 6th level slot.

Hmm, I see. So the build as first suggested won't work... I'll take that in mind, maybe remove an AbChamp level or two.

[DarkSoul]

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a

[danielxcutter]

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a

Thanks! That helps a lot!

Any suggestions on what to take for the first Rite? Power Word Pain is often mentioned, but it's useless against opponents with sufficient hit points. How about Nerveskitter?

Also, what kind of weapon should I use? I don't want to use a two-hander for some reason, maybe because the only finessable ones are elven courtblades and spiked chains. A rapier plus the natural attacks and Arcane Strike might be okay, but I'm not sure.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The Draconic Rite of Passage gives you a 1st level spell, I'd pick either Nerveskitter or Benign Transposition.

You must spend a feat on Draconic Reservoir to take the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage, which gives you +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting.

Your build loses five levels of spellcasting, so you'll only get 8th level spells by 20th with that, unless you spend an additional feat on Dragonwrought to get the Loredrake archetype (if your DM will even allow it).

I'd recommend switching to Sorcerer 6/ Swiftblade (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327) 9/ Abjurant Champion 5, for +17 BAB and 18th level spellcasting at 20th.

With Loredrake you could even go Battle Sorcerer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererVariantBattleS orcerer) 4/ Swiftblade 9/ Dragonslayer 1/ Spellsword 1/ Abjurant Champion 5, for +19 BAB and 20th level spellcasting at 20th.

[Thurbane]

There is a way to be a Swiftblade 10 and get 9ths: Beguiler 6/Swiftblade 10/X 4 (maybe Abjurant Champion?). Versatile Spellcaster to get 9ths.

Beguiler 6 ticks all the boxes for Swiftblade (aside from the feats): BAB +3, ability to cast Haste, Concentration and Spellcraft as class skills, proficient with at least one martial weapon (rapier, shortbow and short sword). You'll also have plenty of skill points.

[Gruftzwerg]

So... how should I go around making this? I don't want to use cheesy stuff like templates meant for true dragons(looking at you, Loredrake).

Sad, I was going to suggest Alternate Form (small/medium animal/humanoid 3xday unlimited duration) and Half-Dragon Form (+4NA and sets Strength 18, Dexterity 10, Constitution 12).
Since Half-Dragon Form sets (!) your Abilities to certain values, you could dump all pysical stats in DWK Form.


..but lets fall back to non true dragon cheese.

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Dragon Psychosis: Ravening (from Dragon Magazine)
Along with some breath related stuff which doesn't apply to us, you get Str+4 and Wis -4. Further you are affected by "Eat or Die" and need to consume every day as much food as your own size category (don't forget the Kobold web enhancement which lets you count as tiny!).

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Do you really need the fighter lvl?
Remember that the web enhancement gives Kobolds the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the heavy pick and light pick as bonus feats.
If you need the fighter extra feat for requirements, consider monk1 with ACF Cobra Strike to get Dodge as 1st lvl bonus feat instead of stunning/imp. grapple.

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Draconic Rite of Passage: SLA Identify (!)
frees you of the 100g material cost you would normally need each time to cast it.
Especially Powerful on early lvls where 100g is a big deal. But even on later lvls it's nice if your DM/group keeps track of expensive material components (some groups just let the caster pay the gold instead of keeping track of the expensive components).

[ExLibrisMortis]

Fighter 1/sorcerer 5 isn't doing much for you there. The traditional entry for Swiftblade is martial wizard 6: Swiftblade only requires +3 base attack, which a spellcaster 6 can get as easily as a martial 1/spellcaster 5. I would consider dropping Swiftblade 10 as well--more practical time stop is nice, but it costs you a 9th-level slot and spell known. With sorcerer 6/swiftblade 9/abjurant champion 5, you get 19th-level sorcerer casting (includes Rite) and +17 base attack.

A level of Spelldancer would be great, as usual. Requires Endurance and the Swiftblade/Abjurant Champion prerequisites, so there's some synergy there. The Perform and Tumble requirements are a bit annoying, but dipping Battle Dancer 1 will solve that, and get you IUS and CHA to AC with full base attack.