3.5 Deepstone Sentinel build help

[jdizzlean]

this would be starting level 1, all official sources plus dragon. eberron is frowned on in general however (dm preference).

creation rules are rolled stats 4d6b3, spot and listen combined into a notice check, 1 free LA at creation. Generally can't take flaws.

So far I have Earth Dwarf Mineral Warrior Warblade 10/Deepstone 5/? 5.

I'm not married to warblade past 5, but i'm a little sketchy on ToB optimization. I can't do a pile of dips, everything has to be background/roleplay justified. at most i could probably do 4 different classes/prc's at 5 lvls each. I've not double checked the pre-reqs on the manuevers/stances at this point yet, as I'm sure i'm boneheading some of the selections at least. This is what I have up to lvl 10. I also haven't selected relearning lower to higher level ones yet either for the same reason. Master of Nine could be a decent finisher, but it's pretty feat intensive, and that 2nd 5 lvl block would either have to be another IL class, or yet another feat to pick up another maneuver.


1st Lvl:
Stonefoot Stance - +2 STR checks, +2 AC vs larger foes
Charging Minotaur (SD) – charging bull rush deals damage, ignores AoO
Moment of Perfect Mind (DM) – counter, use Conc instead of WILL
Sudden Leap (TC) – boost, Jump as swift action

2nd Lvl:
Leading the Attack (WR) – allies gain +4 attack on foe you strike

3rd Lvl:
Action Before Thought (DM) – counter, Use CONC instead of REF

4th Lvl:
Hunter’s Sense (TC) – stance: gain Scent

5th Lvl:
Bonecrusher (SD) - +4d6 damage, +10 to confirm critical

7th Lvl:
Mind over Body (DM) – counter, use Conc instead of FORT

9th Lvl:
White Raven Strike (WR) - +4d6 damage, target becomes flat footed

10th Lvl:
Giant’s Stance (SD) – deal damage as though 1 size larger

(( find a way to get Iron Heart Surge (3rd maneuver, req 1 IH maneuver)



THF build, tank, but also ubercharge (leap attack, power attack, pounce) if that fits in. Robilar’s Gambit Feat at 12th. Animated Shield (+2 bonus) asap. Stats are rolled, but I’d prioritize STR>CON>INT>all others. Racial's work out to +4 STR, +6 CON, -2 DEX/INT/WIS, -4 CHA. Skills: Balance, Concentration, Jump, Notice (Spot+Listen combined), Tumble.

otherwise, pretty sure i need to pick up heavy armor proficiency somewhere along the line. whether a feat or from the 2nd base/prc class before deepstone, which has to be a full BAB class.

a full and always accessible magic item shop is almost never a thing, so crafting time, and specific magical gear is hard to come by most of the time.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

if magic is hard to come by, Crusader/deep warden/deepstone, maybe fighter1 first for the bonus feat and myriad of Weapon and armor proficiencies if you really want heavy armor (as a Dwarf there's no reason not to).

Crusader has ability to heal yourself and allies while not using actions to do it, deep warden 2 lets you add con bonus to AC, have a gold dwarf with half dragon template doing this in my current campaign, its amazing, had his ac over 40 by level 16 with only +1 armor (we do a 5d6b3 and he rolled nearly max on every roll, had his con at 24 at character creation, it's 30 now).

Planning on robilar's gambit anyway has great synergy with crusader with the delayed damage pool and the stance that provokes AoO whenever an enemy attacks one of your allies instead of you, doesn't matter who they swing at in melee, you get a free shot.

(Edit because I named wrong prc)

[Elves]

Note that Sudden Leap unlike all other 1st level mvs has a 1 TC maneuver req. Shouldn't really be that way so you're probably fair in ignoring it, another change that's often made is to switch the new stance knowns to more appropriate levels for the initiator classes, in this case 5th so you can get a 3rd level one.

For your Iron Heart maneuver to qualify for IHS you typically want Wall of Blades (2nd level counter, no prereq, substitute attack roll for AC) which is used when you're rocking an AC penalty from Shock Trooper.

By RAW, "2 maneuvers and 1 stance" for the PRC prereq means 2 maneuvers of which one must be a stance, but that's probably not RAI. So for that 3rd Stone Dragon maneuver, Mountain Hammer is better than Bonecrusher. But that plus Wall of Blades means you don't have room for Action Before Thought, which if you go the Deepwarden 2 route you certainly do want and may still want otherwise, so yes, in this case it's defensible to take the mediocre Bonecrusher over Mountain Hammer. Elder Mountain Hammer when you get 5ths may still be worth it since you have the prereqs and you need to be on the ground for your PRC abilities anyway.

Why are you taking White Raven Strike instead of a 5th level maneuver? You have good 5th options in Pouncing Charge (crucial if you aren't dipping bbn) and Elder Mountain Hammer. Iron Heart Focus is good but redundant with your DM replacers. Though, do you really need the Fort replacer?


Stance wise:

I can't tell whether, when Mountain Fortress Stance ends from you moving too far, that returns you to your original stance or leaves you in no stance at all. If the latter, you don't ever need to get any other Stone Dragon stance after 1st level, since it's just a medium for getting into Mountain Fortress Stance. Regardless, your main non-Stone Dragon stance is for combats where you're flying or in an environment where you can't use MFS. So the Scent stance seems like a bad choice. Press the Advantage is a good one, there are several others, but certainly don't take Giant's Stance which is awful.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Yeah, was going to mention stone dragon is fairly useless at higher levels because a lot of combat happens off the ground, but in a low magic setting it's not such a big deal

[jdizzlean]

the game isn't necessarily low magic, its that my access to an unlimited magic shop is . so building around specific magic items being available, or having the time to craft them myself isn't going to be a thing for the most part.

[Elves]

It’s not so much about it being low magic it’s that Deepstone Sentinel wants to be on the ground for its abilities anyway.

[One Step Two]

While Mineral Warrior is super thematic, since Dragon Magazine is on the table, Half-Minotaur and Half-Ogre are available, giving you Large size to give you Reach as well as upped damage dice. And depending on how the DM is open to the reading of the ruling that "If the base Creature was... Medium size, its size is increased by one category, with all the appropriate changes to it's ability scores", may apply the Size Increase table (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#sizeIncreases).
Regardless if that however, both get +2 Natural Armor, and +4 Str, and the Half-Minotaur gets Scent and Track giving you more options out of combat and saves you a stance, however, I will definitely cede that the Mineral Warriors Earth Strike and Burrow Speed are super useful abilities, to say nothing of the DR!

I will add that I like the Use of Crusader over Warblade, but Warblade is always solid. As an option though, if you're using a Dwarven Waraxe as your Primary Weapon, perhaps consider the Exotic Weapon Master PRC? You can use Throw Exotic Weapon with a Greater Crystal of Return to ensure you can nail threats from afar. Though that might require the DM being a little permissive as it isn't strictly kosher by RAW.

Edit: The other Exotic Weapon Master Exotic weapon stunt that's worth considering is uncanny blow, letting you use Str x2 When making a power attack instead of just Str x1.5

[jdizzlean]

well, now looking into crusader, and possibly warblade as well.

something like crusader 5/warblade 5/deepstone 5/Mo9 5 is my current thought, but it's going to be a lot of work stitching it all together. my notes are already 4 pages long...


more work is required, may have to revisit this at a later time once i have more concrete stuff to share and gather opinions on. that said, if you have ideas, please do share :)_

[Mr Adventurer]

Dwarven Defender plus Deepstone Sentinel is the defendiest possible Dwarf. Though, not optimised.