Looking for class ideas

[Dirtydan]

Hello very new 3.5 player looking for a class that has decent role play and combat value I don't want anything game breaking just want to play a class that's a ton of fun on and off the battlefield. All books are aloud with the exception of dragon magazine and no homebrews. Charisma based sounds fun because of the skills it affects. But I'm open to any advice on all around fun characters. Also lvl 13 ecl if that matters. My party consists of a fighter, Paladin, bard/drunken master, cleric, dragon shaman, and my now dead barbarian. I'm kinda tired of just hitting things real hard and want something a little more versatile outside of combat. Any advice is appreciated thanks.

[Celestia]

Dragonfire Adept is a nice class. It's got good but not overpowering combat potential. It has a decent skill list as well as some nifty invocations for out of combat uses. It's a charisma-based class. Finally, it's got some interesting fluff that lends itself to roleplay potential. It's just a really cool class.

[ATHATH]

Hello very new 3.5 player looking for a class that has decent role play and combat value I don't want anything game breaking just want to play a class that's a ton of fun on and off the battlefield. All books are aloud with the exception of dragon magazine and no homebrews. Charisma based sounds fun because of the skills it affects. But I'm open to any advice on all around fun characters. Also lvl 13 ecl if that matters. My party consists of a fighter, Paladin, bard/drunken master, cleric, dragon shaman, and my now dead barbarian. I'm kinda tired of just hitting things real hard and want something a little more versatile outside of combat. Any advice is appreciated thanks.
You, uh, do realize that roleplay value is entirely subjective since fluff is mutable, right?

Have you considered playing a Warlock (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?252715-The-New-Warlock-Handbook-3-5-WIP) yet?

[Dirtydan]

No I had considered sorcerer I believe you commented on that thread but it got kind of out of hand... I don't think I'm ready fur that diverse of spell list yet ranger looks appealing but I really need to decide on something before the weekend

[ATHATH]

No I had considered sorcerer I believe you commented on that thread but it got kind of out of hand... I don't think I'm ready fur that diverse of spell list yet ranger looks appealing but I really need to decide on something before the weekend
... Warlocks aren't Sorcerers. They're their own unique class.

[noob]

For a charisma based character you might try favored soul too.(avoid the op spells and you will be fine)
You want to play something which is not game breaking but you are in the same party as a cleric which is in the top three of the game breaking classes.*
When you have a ranger and a cleric in the same party the cleric have to make colossal efforts to not overshadow the ranger.
Favored soul might lack skill a little bit but you can multiclass in ruathar for getting a good skill list.
Spontaneous cleric have a lot of advantages over favored soul.(more spells through domains) but they have bad reflex saves.
You might have a spontaneous cloistered cleric who then picks extra domains through some prcs for picking your spells through domains instead of picking them by hand.
With spontaneous cloistered cleric you can then pick the rest of the spells(which means the spells you do not get through domains) with dice and you will still have a functioning character.
Marshal is great for charisma skills but it is not good to be single classed in marshal: it is a class that mostly is good only when dipped.

[Royce]

It’s not a popular class with the optimizer crowd, but the Marshal class sounds like what you are looking for.

[Lazymancer]

No I had considered sorcerer I believe you commented on that thread but it got kind of out of hand... I don't think I'm ready fur that diverse of spell list yet ranger looks appealing but I really need to decide on something before the weekend
Go Beguiler. Fixed spell list (no need to choose anything; you can familiarize yourself with it later) and lots of options both in and out of combat (especially, with Invisible Spell).

That said, the class requires you to be actually thinking and not charging forward in the combat - otherwise Constructs/Undead will munch you up.

[noob]

Alternatively get a rune-staff of solid fog and then you can stop those annoying undead and constructs.(add up some spell against incorporeal stuff too)

[zlefin]

I second beguiler, it seems a good fit for the party and for what you're looking for, and at the right power level.

[Nifft]

Dragonfire Adept - Constitution DC on breath weapon, breath weapon offers usable damage and moderate control; Invocations include at-will alter self into any humanoid, plus a cold-damage solid fog; Charisma + Use Magic Device provides versatility. Since the class gives you the [Dragonblood] subtype, you have access to scaling aura bonuses from the Draconic Aura feat, which is nice for your allies. However, you might tend to make the Dragon Shaman look bad, because Dragonfire Adept is a much better dragon. You get all Charisma skills, plus you get an Invocation that gives you +6 to all those skills, plus you get one of the best Disguise boosters in the game (at-will alter self into any Humanoid). A build might look like:

Silverbrow Human (for the Disguise proficiency)

32 point buy: Str 8, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 15
28 point buy: Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 14

Skills maxed: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device

Breath effects:
(free) - Fire
L2 - Cold
L5 - Slow
L10 - Thunder
L12 - Enduring Breath

Invocations:
L1 - Endure Exposure (allies are immune to your breaths all day)
L3 - Beguiling Influence (+6 to Bluff / Diplomacy / Intimidate all day)
L6 - Humanoid Shape (at-will alter self into Humanoid shapes)
L8 - Voidsense (30 ft. blindsense all day)
L11 - Chilling Fog (solid fog at-will, plus cold damage)
L13 - Baleful Geas (cast geas as a standard action, at-will but only one target can be affected at a time)

Feats:
L1 - Entangling Exhalation, Dragon Wings (both from Races of the Dragon)
L3 - Shape Soulmeld: Blink Shirt (from Magic of Incarnum)
L6 - Improved Dragon Wings (from Races of the Dragon)
L9 - Ability Focus: Breath Weapon (from the SRD)
L12 - Flyby Attack (from the SRD)

[Matthias]

Dread Necromancer is Cha-based, combat-focused but not combat-exclusive, and has some fun spooky aesthetics.

[Avigor]

Binder, from Tome of Magic. Really unique flavor (you're timesharing your soul with entities that've been blasted so hard they don't technically exist any more yet they kind of do, I often think of the vestiges as something akin to an echo or one of those outlines left over after hiroshima), you get a handful of supernatural abilities that you can swap out every day with a variety of applications...

[Nifft]

Binder, from Tome of Magic. Really unique flavor (you're timesharing your soul with entities that've been blasted so hard they don't technically exist any more yet they kind of do, I often think of the vestiges as something akin to an echo or one of those outlines left over after hiroshima), you get a handful of supernatural abilities that you can swap out every day with a variety of applications...

Binders are great. Just going straight Binder is something I've never seen done in a game -- seems like it's always used as a dip for Hellfire Warlock, or Ur-Priest with extra Corrupt spells, or Anima Mage (of which I personally am guilty) -- but the class itself is probably quite solid in a low-op group.

The nice thing about being ECL 13 is that you'd have 2 Vestiges at once, and you'd be one level away from having 3 Vestiges at a time.

There's a decent guide here: http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=2942

If the OP is interested in hearing about some specific builds, I can offer some vestige advice.

[Eladrinblade]

Hello very new 3.5 player looking for a class that has decent role play and combat value I don't want anything game breaking just want to play a class that's a ton of fun on and off the battlefield. All books are aloud with the exception of dragon magazine and no homebrews. Charisma based sounds fun because of the skills it affects. But I'm open to any advice on all around fun characters. Also lvl 13 ecl if that matters. My party consists of a fighter, Paladin, bard/drunken master, cleric, dragon shaman, and my now dead barbarian. I'm kinda tired of just hitting things real hard and want something a little more versatile outside of combat. Any advice is appreciated thanks.

Sounds like your group could use an arcane caster (wizard/sorcerer). Just don't look up any guides on how to optimize and you should do fine.

[Lazymancer]

Sounds like your group could use an arcane caster (wizard/sorcerer). Just don't look up any guides on how to optimize and you should do fine.
The last bit seems highly unlikely. :smallcool:

Moreover, I'm not sure if you understand much more important problem: option paralysis the newbies are faced with, should they attempt to tackle T1 casters. Seriously suggesting high-level arcane casters is practically surreal. Not only there is a lot of spells to process, their spell selection is locked-in - unlike druid, cleric, or spirit shaman spell selection, which could be changed at any moment - making early choices very important.

[GrayDeath]

Given the group setup and your requirements I third Beguiler and Warlock and second Dread Necromancer.

2 offer fixed lists, meaning no spell choices to paralyze you, and the Warlock with its at will powers is useful in just about any "lower op" group.

And a three are loads of fun to play. :)

[ATHATH]

Given the group setup and your requirements I third Beguiler and Warlock and second Dread Necromancer.

2 offer fixed lists, meaning no spell choices to paralyze you, and the Warlock with its at will powers is useful in just about any "lower op" group.

And a three are loads of fun to play. :)
This. Remember, Warlocks are NOT Sorcerers (I dunno how Dirtydan got them confused in the first place).