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warmachine
2007-10-11, 09:29 AM
As I would like to play a 6th level Scout in a Ravenloft module with lots of undead, I need hints. However, the DM says the character cannot know there's lots of undead, so nothing blatantly optimized against undead. Any help with getting even partial skirmish damage against undead?

technophile
2007-10-11, 09:40 AM
The Magic Item Compendium's Truedeath Crystals are very useful against undead; IIRC the Greater one (might be too expensive for 6th level, unfortunately) gives you sneak attack/crit damage against undead as if they were living creatures.

The Lesser gives you +1d6 damage and Ghost Touch on your weapon, which is still fairly useful (and if you buy other weapon crystals you can swap them out so you're not "obviously" optimized).

Person_Man
2007-10-11, 10:09 AM
Your biggest advantage as a 6th level Scout is your Flawless Stride. Have your friends use a lot of battlefield control magic to slow the enemies down, which you will be able to ignore. Use Manyshot (and eventually, Greater Manyshot) to move and fire. Try to get your enemies to focus on you, drawing them away from your friends.

Also, many are mindless and easily manipulated. Set up ambushes. Use lots of traps via Craft (Trapmaking), portable holes, etc. When you find a trap via Search, don't Disable it (unless you think you can beat it by 10 or more). Instead, try and lure an enemy into the Trap.

Tekraen
2007-10-11, 10:10 AM
Your biggest advantage as a 6th level Scout is your Flawless Stride. Have your friends use a lot of battlefield control magic to slow the enemies down, which you will be able to ignore. Use Manyshot (and eventually, Greater Manyshot) to move and fire. Try to get your enemies to focus on you, drawing them away from your friends.

Also, many are mindless and easily manipulated. Set up ambushes. Use lots of traps via Craft (Trapmaking), portable holes, etc. When you find a trap via Search, don't Disable it (unless you think you can beat it by 10 or more). Instead, try and lure an enemy into the Trap.

Herd of Zombies as a viable trap-disabling tool...

...that's brilliant. I am so making a CE cleric in the next campaign.

serow
2007-10-11, 10:16 AM
Take 1 level of ranger and the Swift Hunter feat?
Choose Favoured Enemy: Constructs +4 (or anything else normally immune to skirmish) and Favoured Enemy: Undead +2?

You're a better construct killer than an undead killer.
But hey, skirmish now works on undead. :smalltongue:

Wraithy
2007-10-11, 10:18 AM
if you take a level or two in ranger and get swift hunter you can get favoured enemy undead and also apply skirmish damage to them, however this conficts with your request for something that isn't blatant optimization.
honestly I don't think the DM should have told you about the undead.
but to cover your tracks you could also get favoured enemy construcs and say that your character learned to find weaknesses in the defenses of everything (explaining your ability to apply skirmish damage to undead and constructs), this might still be too close to optimization for your DM to accept though.

Edit: ninja'd

warmachine
2007-10-11, 10:23 AM
Your biggest advantage as a 6th level Scout is your Flawless Stride. Have your friends use a lot of battlefield control magic to slow the enemies down, which you will be able to ignore.
Nice but surely Flawless Stride doesn't work against magical impediments.

Rex Blunder
2007-10-11, 10:31 AM
If the module is fairly long, you could use PHBII character rebuilding rules to slowly optimize yourself towards fighting undead, after you learn about them. For instance, I assume the target of your favored enemy is one thing you can change. You'll still be ineffective at first, of course.

Rad
2007-10-11, 10:35 AM
I don't know if that qualifies as "not optimized", but I think your best bet is a multiclass Scout/Ranger with Swift Hunter (Compl. Scoundrel). One level in Ranger is enough. The the feat states that your skirmish damage applies to your favored enemies even if if would be normally immune; you can choose undead as one of your two ranger favored enemies and be good.
It is "preparation against undead" but it is just a way to use your class abilities in a Ravenloft campaign, not as broken as a specialized cleric turnbot would be. I wouldn't call that cheesy at all.

EDIT: I'm soooooo ninjaed :smalleek:

Lord Tataraus
2007-10-11, 11:05 AM
One of my players played a Ranger 1/Scout 5 in Ravenloft. Wielding a greatsword and optimized to charge, he was the biggest damage dealer (though he did have a witchlight reservoir as well). If I didn't tell them to their were undead or told them not to optimize, it sound so cheap and they would not have survived the town.