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View Full Version : [4e] Johan von FitzLuria - Warlord and wannabe wizard



Learnedguy
2008-06-14, 03:04 PM
Alright, so I was playing around with different character concepts to create, and this is what I came up with:

Johan von Fitzluria
Level 1 unaligned human Warlord

Crunchy bits:
Ability scores:
14 STR (Now modified to 16)
14 CON
11 DEX
18 INT (Now modified to 16)
12 WIS
8 CHA


Features:
Combat leader
Commanding presence (tactical presence)
Inspiring word


Feats:
Action surge
Arcane initiate


Skills:
Arcana, athletics, endurance, heal, history, intimidate.


Powers:
At-will: Commander's strike
Viper's strike
Wolf pack tactics

Encounter: Leaf on the wind
Scorching burst

Daily: White raven onslaught

Utility/Features: Inspiring word x2

Fluffy stuff (you can safely ignore this part):
In front of you stands a young blond man with wet blue eyes. He seems to be a bit worried, constantly tugging his hair, sometimes even muttering silently to himself.


Johan von FitzLuria is the third son of Count Fitzluria, a nobleman of some notoriety. The youngest out of seven, Johan grew up largely ignored by everyone. He wouldn't inherit anything and he wouldn't have a career as an officer in the king's army, why bother with him? No, besides standard tutoring, the introvert Johan was left to his own devices.

So, knowing that, you can probably imagine how shocked the young boy was the day his father took him aside, telling him that he would enroll in the prodigious wizarding school "Silverhawke's Academy of Arcane Warfare". Sadly though, it seemed that Johan's father had gravely misjudged Johan's potential as a wizard, and the following years in Johan's life would be a series of failures as the inept magician tried to make the forces of the universe follow his every whim. If it weren't for Johan's remarkable grasp of battlefield theory and practice, not to mention his simply superb knowledge of warfare history, he would never have graduated.

Since then Johan has been going from one assignment to another, but finding work as an incompetent wizard is just as hard as it sounds, and so far, Johan has been turned down by the King's Military and at least three different mercenary bands. Rather than returning home in disgrace though, Johan has in his desperation joined an adventuring group short on idiots, offering his service as their new, slightly more alive, wizard.


Johan is a silent and introvert young man who would rather fade into the background than stand in the spotlight. Strangely though, a weird kind of bravery has been born from the his aversion towards returning home, making him prepared to put up with the most lethal or just most bizarre situations imaginable if it only means he'll be able to stay away from home for a bit longer.


Concept (this I think you should read):
Basically, I'm playing with the multiple paths available to every class. I purposely dumped charisma, partly to fit the character concept, but mostly I just did it to see if I could. Naturally this means that I'll focus on tactical powers that works with intelligence instead. Also, I'd rather stick to abilities which grants movement to allies, as I think this is key to being an effective leader as a warlord. Healing is not that important.

I've multiclassed to wizard out of two reasons. Partly because my high intelligence synthesizes nicely with wizard spells and partly because I think some area of effect spells would be a good addition to the warlord, who at least in my eyes seem to be lacking in that aspect. So, with that in mind, what other wizard spells should I pick? I was also thinking about taking Battle Mage as my paragon path.

Now, the stuff I'm unsure about at this moment boils down to one thing:
Is Action surge any good? Or should I maybe pick something else? In that case, what should I pick? Also, what kind of equipment do you guys think I'll need?

Any further critique? Do you think it's doable:smallamused:?

Thank you for your attention:smallbiggrin:

SadisticFishing
2008-06-14, 04:27 PM
First thing first, I think you seriously misunderestimate (best word ever) strength. For everything other than Commander's Strike, you're going to need high strength to get use. I had 18 strength and 16 int and it was working very well. Con isn't that important. Personally, I'd also want 13 dex, and take Scale proficiency and Scale specialization at paragon levels.

For wizard abilities, grab a few, just remember that mutliclassing is never going to be more important than your base class, and most of your powers are still going to be based off Strength. Battle Captain is actually very good, as is Sword Marshal, and if you want to keep that 14 con, the Veteran thingy is pretty good too.

My current character, being a wizard, has gotten a lot of use out of spells that slow, and create difficult terrain. Keeping baddies away from the group is basically what I do, and also, killing minions. Take Thunderwave as your at-will (encounter), or Scorching Burst - I'd take the second for its vs Reflex, but the first is very good for control.

Somebloke
2008-06-14, 05:55 PM
Alright, so I was playing around with different character concepts to create, and this is what I came up with:

Johan von Fitzluria
Level 1 unaligned human Warlord

Crunchy bits:
Ability scores:
14 STR
14 CON
11 DEX
18 INT
12 WIS
8 CHA


Features:
Combat leader
Commanding presence (tactical presence)
Inspiring word


Feats:
Action surge
Arcane initiate


Skills:
Arcana, athletics, endurance, heal, history, intimidate.


Powers:
At-will: Commander's strike
Viper's strike
Wolf pack tactics

Encounter: Leaf on the wind
Scorching burst

Daily: White raven onslaught

Utility/Features: Inspiring word x2

Fluffy stuff (you can safely ignore this part):
In front of you stands a young blond man with wet blue eyes. He seems to be a bit worried, constantly tugging his hair, sometimes even muttering silently to himself.


Johan von FitzLuria is the third son of Count Fitzluria, a nobleman of some notoriety. The youngest out of seven, Johan grew up largely ignored by everyone. He wouldn't inherit anything and he wouldn't have a career as an officer in the king's army, why bother with him? No, besides standard tutoring, the introvert Johan was left to his own devices.

So, knowing that, you can probably imagine how shocked the young boy was the day his father took him aside, telling him that he would enroll in the prodigious wizarding school "Silverhawke's Academy of Arcane Warfare". Sadly though, it seemed that Johan's father had gravely misjudged Johan's potential as a wizard, and the following years in Johan's life would be a series of failures as the inept magician tried to make the forces of the universe follow his every whim. If it weren't for Johan's remarkable grasp of battlefield theory and practice, not to mention his simply superb knowledge of warfare history, he would never have graduated.

Since then Johan has been going from one assignment to another, but finding work as an incompetent wizard is just as hard as it sounds, and so far, Johan has been turned down by the King's Military and at least three different mercenary bands. Rather than returning home in disgrace though, Johan has in his desperation joined an adventuring group short on idiots, offering his service as their new, slightly more alive, wizard.


Johan is a silent and introvert young man who would rather fade into the background than stand in the spotlight. Strangely though, a weird kind of bravery has been born from the his aversion towards returning home, making him prepared to put up with the most lethal or just most bizarre situations imaginable if it only means he'll be able to stay away from home for a bit longer.


Concept (this I think you should read):
Basically, I'm playing with the multiple paths available to every class. I purposely dumped charisma, partly to fit the character concept, but mostly I just did it to see if I could. Naturally this means that I'll focus on tactical powers that works with intelligence instead. Also, I'd rather stick to abilities which grants movement to allies, as I think this is key to being an effective leader as a warlord. Healing is not that important.

I've multiclassed to wizard out of two reasons. Partly because my high intelligence synthesizes nicely with wizard spells and partly because I think some area of effect spells would be a good addition to the warlord, who at least in my eyes seem to be lacking in that aspect. So, with that in mind, what other wizard spells should I pick? I was also thinking about taking Battle Mage as my paragon path.

Now, the stuff I'm unsure about at this moment boils down to one thing:
Is Action surge any good? Or should I maybe pick something else? In that case, what should I pick? Also, what kind of equipment do you guys think I'll need?

Any further critique? Do you think it's doable:smallamused:?

Thank you for your attention:smallbiggrin:
Please swap your strength and your intelligence around. I won't be able to sleep at night until you do.

Otherwise, I like. Just remember you need a hand free to use your wiz implement- what sort of weapon choices were you looking at?

Oracle_Hunter
2008-06-14, 07:32 PM
Please swap your strength and your intelligence around. I won't be able to sleep at night until you do.

Otherwise, I like. Just remember you need a hand free to use your wiz implement- what sort of weapon choices were you looking at?

Yeah, you'll want to either buff your strength or spend a lot on weapon focus (maybe Eladrin for Eladrin Soldier?) since your at-wills and the majority of your attacks will have you roll off your melee weapons (and that means strength). Wizard powers are going to be sometimes foods, so a high INT is nice, but you'd get more mileage off of a STR 18 than an INT 18. Perhaps suck that point from Dex and somewhere else to get STR 16? I'd just take STR & INT of 16 and be done with it, myself.

That said, this is certainly doable. Most multiclassing is, but you just need to keep in mind what it is you want to do with your life. Rogue/Fighter and Fighter/Rogue, for instance, are just no longer the same. A Warlord is going to spend most of his life near the front lines, so you can't lead from the back... and that means you need STR.

SadisticFishing
2008-06-14, 09:23 PM
No, feats'll never replace your lost +hit, which is much more important for your On Hit abilities, which the Warlord has TONS of. 16 strength and int seems like a good bet, for a human, though 18 and 16 would be much better if possible.

Learnedguy
2008-06-15, 12:20 AM
Alright, I'll switch the human's bonus ability score to strenght instead of intelligence. It sounds reasonable enough (In case anyone is wondering where from I got the ability scores I'm using one of the example scores from the PH.). I suppose I can buy up my int with the ability modifiers I get when I level up.

Now, should I spend a feat on action surge, or should I pick something that gives me a more reliable bonus to attack?


Otherwise, I like. Just remember you need a hand free to use your wiz implement- what sort of weapon choices were you looking at?

Maybe a longsword or some other classical weapon. Something with a bit of reach would be nice as well, as I wouldn't have to venture as far into the melee fray to use my abilities.

SadisticFishing
2008-06-15, 03:45 AM
Longsword + shield seems like a good call to me.

I like Action Surge, it may not seem consistent, but +3 on an important attack roll (you choose when to use your Action Point) can be very useful. I've seen it do some good so far, a warlock has it, and I think I'm planning on getting it on my wizard for AoEs and other controlly-type-things - if I really need to hit every second encounter, it'll help a lot.

Edit: Oh, and using a Longsword and taking Wizard of the Spiral Tower is something I was seriously considering doing. Yay for attacks against Will, which is something the Warlord really lacks, and automatically having someone miss a Will attack is good as you have low charisma in your build.