Drow Warrior-Plumber, Looking for Build Advice

[Archpaladin Zousha]

While I was perusing the interesting DnD Head Canons (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?584091-DnD-Head-Canons) thread in the Roleplaying Games section of the forums, I read this post by Excession and was struck by inspiration!

Drow cities do not look like human cities built on the floor of a giant cavern. They are carved and shaped directly into stone, only sometimes around a natural cave system. Open spaces actually tend to frighten Drow, as beyond their dark-vision range could be full of Beholders or worse. Their cities are mazes that make no sense to outsiders, a natural defence against invasion. Dwarf cities, mines, and forts on the other hand are all built off the same "perfect" plans.

Dark-vision is useless underwater, meaning few underdark Drow ever learn to swim. If a body of water is large enough to swim in, it's large enough for other things to swim in.

Water sources, ventilation, and sewage are frequently targets for inter-house conflict in Drow societies, not to mention the never-ending creature infestations. Drow Warrior-Plumbers are the very best there is.
Now I want to play one of these guys, sort of a mashup of everyone's favorite drow character and Harry Tuttle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw), Heating Engineer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olXUIcb80N0) from the movie Brazil, or Sewer Urchin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2U8EJOJdow) from The Tick (the APOTHEOSIS of cool!)! :smallcool:

I'm not exactly sure how to start building him, however. I'm not sure what his class or combination of classes should be, or background. I do have some ideas of what kind of equipment they'd bring with them on the job, asking over at the latest Got a Real-World Weapon, Armor, or Tactics Question? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571567-Got-a-Real-World-Weapon-Armor-or-Tactics-Question-Mk-XXVII) thread. The general consensus is that, given the possibly cramped confines of the sewers, a short spear or sword and buckler would be the best combat gear to utilize, along with flexible, but sturdy armor that's both treated to be waterproofed and possibly muffled, as well as things like climbing and mining gear, as well as tools for actual plumbing and ventilation.

This doesn't really give me much to go on for actual class selection, though. Fighter seems pretty obvious, though they don't have a lot of non-combat skills, which would arguably be just as important to this guy as being able to defend himself. Rogue has the skills, but on the other hand it's a lot less sturdy and it wouldn't be able to use things like shields. I'm not sure about Ranger, since that would kind of turn the character into a Drizzt clone, and NO ONE likes a Drizzt clone. Other than that, there could be some less obvious setups like maybe a paladin (hey, they no longer have to be Lawful Good, and maybe their oath is to stay out of drow house politics and just do their job!) What should their stat spread be? Are there any feats they NEED to have? Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide to help me build Hadrogh Tlintarn, drow warrior-plumber! :smallbiggrin:

[LibraryOgre]

I'd be inclined to say Rogue. It equips you to deal with security installed, gives you options to be an Expert in certain tools and gives you an all-round "tunnel rat" feel.

[Unoriginal]

Go Sun Soul Monk, wear a bright red top and hat with blue pants, and call yourself Itzam Im'arhio.

You get great mobility, ranged attacks, more light sources than your average drow, and no need for tools after a while.



Otherwise you can go Gloomstalker Ranger, to kill Darvision user in the darkness.

[LibraryOgre]

Go Sun Soul Monk, wear a bright red top and hat with blue pants, and call yourself Itzam Im'arhio.

You get great mobility, ranged attacks, more light sources than your average drow, and no need for tools after a while.


I take it back. This is far better.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm not trying to make a joke character here. Besides, when was the last time you saw the Mario Brothers do any actual plumbing? :smallannoyed:

[Wraith]

Joking aside, Monk isn't a terrible way to go. Getting an AC boost from your WIS, taking less damage from falling, semi-immunity to Charm and Fear, immunity to Disease and Poison and being able to speak any language all lend themselves to working as a Warrior-Plumber and scrambling around the Underdark outside of combat. Refluff simple weapons as a club "hitting things with a wrench" and your inability to wear armour as a requirement to wear your corporate uniform/union-mandated safety gear and you're pretty set. :smalltongue:

The alternative I might recommend would be a Warlock with Pact of the Tome and/or Great Old One Patron. You get access to a number of utility spells and abilities which you could spend on your "job" - Spider Climb at will would probably be hugely advantageous for someone in the Underdark in general, let alone someone who spends their time rappelling through air conditioning systems, and things like that - while taking Pact of the Blade and the appropriate upgrade abilities for it means that you're not a complete wimp in combat, too.

If you wanted to play it very slightly for laughs, you could refer to your Patron as "my Supervisor", your infernal pacts as "the paperwork" and so on. Generally though, just pick up bonus spells that grant you mobility and ways of manipulating objects to your advantage - starting with Spectral Hands and working your way up to Animate Object perhaps? - to give the impression that you're actually there to do something specific other than stab monsters. :smallsmile:

[Nidgit]

Are you dedicated to going Drow? A strength-based Duergar Ranger would avoid Drizzt comparisons while still being suited to task-based forays into the sewers. For subclass, Gloomstalker is most thematic but I think you could have fun with Horizon Walker, as the depths of the Underdark often border on other planes. Nothing backs up a drainpipe like a stray demon.

Ethereal Step, in particular, would be helpful for getting into tight spaces, but most of the Horizon Walker's bonus spells have pertinent applications too.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, drow was what the inspiring post was based around.

Can rogues or warlocks get shields, or would I be forced to multiclass into something like fighter so I can have my buckler?

[Ventruenox]

Hexblade Warlocks get shields, or the Moderately Armored feat grants proficiency without multiclassing.

And the last time either Mario brother did actual plumbing I think was the live action movie.

[goodpeople25]

They did fix a pipe in the opening to 3d world.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So should I go for the Moderately Armored feat on a Rogue, or a Hexblade Warlock? Part of me feels like Rogue would be more "down to Earth," not depending on magic to do their work, but then again drow are inherently magical by default.