[3.5]Captain America

[arguskos]

So... how would we go about making a character build that can basically duplicate Captain America (shield and fist only) from low levels forward?

My thought is that a dude who throws shields could be pretty good (Monk/Fighter seems like a good jumping off point, for the unarmed damage and the shield/hp), maybe using a shield two-handed for attacks, then following up with a flurry or something to finish off foes?

Any thoughts?

[Eldariel]

You may want to check this thread. Although it lacks Bloodstorm Blade (and shield throwing). Really, Bloodstorm Blade is probably the best way to go about this; Improved Unarmed Strike and Superior Unarmed Strike get you plenty good unarmed combat, so focusing on the shield and specifically throwing it should be a priority. Shield Sling is kind of weak. Getting the real thing through Bloodstorm Blade (including Power Attacking with the thrown shield and using one weapon for a full attack and making even a non-magical shield fly back to you) is the way to go.

A 4-level dip in Bloodstorm Blade would probably do it, and you need some Iron Heart-maneuvers to make effective use out of it so probably two levels in Warblade. Mostly Crusader is still the way to go though since Devoted Spirit offers few means of effectively deploying your shield (Shield Block and Shield Counter specifically). You could consider Eternal Blade for access to both schools, but that whole "spiritual guide"-thing throws the flavour wildly off.

[esorscher]

Throw Anything?

[arguskos]

You may want to check this thread. Although it lacks Bloodstorm Blade (and shield throwing). Really, Bloodstorm Blade is probably the best way to go about this; Improved Unarmed Strike and Superior Unarmed Strike get you plenty good unarmed combat, so focusing on the shield and specifically throwing it should be a priority. Shield Sling is kind of weak. Getting the real thing through Bloodstorm Blade (including Power Attacking with the thrown shield and using one weapon for a full attack and making even a non-magical shield fly back to you) is the way to go.

A 4-level dip in Bloodstorm Blade would probably do it, and you need some Iron Heart-maneuvers to make effective use out of it so probably two levels in Warblade. Mostly Crusader is still the way to go though since Devoted Spirit offers few means of effectively deploying your shield (Shield Block and Shield Counter specifically). You could consider Eternal Blade for access to both schools, but that whole "spiritual guide"-thing throws the flavour wildly off.

Is there a way to do it sans Tome of Battle? I want both options, though most likely, Bloodstorm Blade is best. Is there another way?

[Eldariel]

Shield Sling gets the flavour, but is kinda weak. ToB makes it work MUCH better though, as is usually the case with non-THF PA builds. Basically, without ToB you can't really get your unarmed damage up without lots of Monk-levels (unless you're looking towards 1d4+Str), which doesn't mesh well with...well, anything else, 'cause you know, Monk. Also, Shield doesn't really offer that much outside ToB, but ToB has some handy uses for it (the two maneuvers), and gives you the ability to do ranged attacks with it as melee (which is all kinds of awesome; otherwise you need Brutal Throw + Power Throw to even come close to the same and that's before going into the interesting stuff).

Anyways, yea, you need a two-level Monk-dip. Perhaps 4. You also need lots of Fighter. I'd go with Shield Sling + Shield Slam + Brutal Throw + Power Throw + Improved Trip + PA+Shock Trooper+Leap Attack letting Monk take care of the unarmed damage (1d8 is really the best you can do without severely hurting yourself). Then you need TWF feats if you wanna do kung-fu while shielding people. Oh yeah, and you need Improved Shield Bash. It's a whole lot of feats, but with enough classes, it should work out decently (you'll need the Martial Rogue-levels, and quite likely Psychic Warrior too). Then you just need a Returning Shield and you're good to go. These ideas would be usable; just add the shield throwing, melee and TWF, and gut the ToB.

[Starscream]

The Giant has a prestige class in the Gaming Section of this site that made me think of Captain America. The Halfling Rock-Skipping Champion has the ability to make rocks he throws "skip" between multiple foes, bounce of walls, and even return to his hand after doing all that.

Tweaking this a bit so that the character does this with a shield instead of rocks (probably increasing the damage, but with the drawback that you only have one), and removing the racial requirement would produce a pretty Captain America like character.

[Temp.]

Outside ToB, Ranger 20 is a pretty simple approach. Take Improved Shield Bash, Improved Unarmed Strike and the CW/PHB2 shield feats (Most importantly, Shield Sling).

With the Spell Compendium and the UA/Dungeonscape Ranger variants (for Urban Tracking or Trapfinding, depending on the campaign), you should be able to manage in and out of combat. Boost Strength, Wisdom and Constitution above the other abilities. Take Power Attack when you have a feat to spare.

A Barbarian dip might be worthwhile for always-active pounce. Any ToB class would make this easier, but that's true of every melee build.

Binder can be a fun jump-off point for this sort of character if you can make some basic changes to the class's fluff.

If you want something with more damage output, UA's Sneak Attack Fighter, the WotC site Riposte scout or the basic Rogue would help; they're always easy damage for two-weapon fighters (which sounds like more or less what you're going for). Even Riposte damage will stack up faster than the normal Monk damage will--and it will apply to your shield attacks.