[3.5] Optimisation Help

[BelorinMoonclaw]

A friend of mine asked me for help regarding making an optimized character, to quote him exactly: "what's the most OP character possible at level 1?"

I don't possess much knowledge regarding this issue, so I wished to ask you for some assistance. Essentially, I wanted some ideas for an insanely broken character (level 1-3), here are some guidelines he specified:

1.) No templates that add LA (no mineral warrior, etc please).
2.) Any class will work.
3.) It needs to be broken without being inherently obvious that it is broken.

I'm not sure if there are many options for uber optimization at such a low level, especially any that aren't obvious, but any assistance regarding this issue would be highly appreciated.

Edit: Just to clarify, flaws are allowed, and this is for standard adventuring

[Townopolis]

gray elf (I think) or gnome wizard. Pick Color Spray as one of your 1st level spells. Go ahead and take Spell Focus: Illusion as your feat, it's meh later on, but at 1st level it's quite strong*.

*Actually, you can change this to Sleep and Spell Focus: Enchantment as long as we're just trying to be OP at level 1, definitely take this over Color Spray if you go gray elf.

Coup de Grace every single enemy you come across.

[Chineselegolas]

There is OP and there is powerful. Going over the top at 1st is tough, but you can get characters who can waltz over most things.

Half Orc Barbarian w/Glaive. Max strength, 16 dex + combat reflexes. Rather good in combat. (Saves aren't so good, but still gets stuff)

Or a Jermlaine warlock. Max dex, so 24. Flys, has a ranged touch with +7 to hit, and range 250 (assuming eldritch spear)
And has rather decent AC because tiny + large dex. And the distance so range penalties for bow users

Venerable Lesser Aasimar Sorcerer with spell focus (enchantment), max charisma and sleep. DC 18 will save or he takes out 4 other 1st level people (Or swap for illusion and Color Spray if there are elves around)

Or just hit the arena threads (In the PbP section of this forum). Some rather powerful 1st level characters in there.

[Adumbration]

Are Flaws allowed? Is this for an arena, or for a full day of adventuring, or pure theoretical optimisation?

[jcsw]

The Chicken Infested Commoner?

[Adumbration]

My favorite is the Dragonborn Water Orc Crusader with the feats Bind Vestige, Improved Bind Vestige and Practised Binder. Bind Savnok for +1 Full plate at level one, which also gives DR 2/piercing. You can easily have Str 22 and Con 20, and AC 21.

This of course requires two Flaws to happen at level 1. I made it for a one-man dungeon crawl on these forums, but it never happened.

[Chineselegolas]

Oh, and my favourite human. Requires two flaws to pull off and be evil.
Willing Deformity. Willing Deformity (Tall). Aberrant Blood. Inhuman Reach.
15ft reach, so a great cleric. Stays well out of combat and still heals or harms.

Or go fighter and spiked chain... 30ft reach. Next level get combat reflexes...

[Douglas]

If not for the third requirement I'd tell you to google pun-pun. Thanks to Pazuzu, it can be done at level 1.

With that requirement, it depends on the kind of campaign the character is for. Optimizing for all day dungeon crawling in the World's Largest Dungeon is very different from optimizing for a single arena fight, and both of those are very different from optimizing for a primarily social game centered on politics, negotiations, investigating, and so on.

The previous posters have already provided several quite powerful level 1 combat builds. Which one is best depends on the campaign and your definition of "obviously broken".

[ZerglingOne]

Try a spiked chain human fighter with the combat reflexes, improved trip, and power attack feats. If you have at least 16 dex, you can AoO trip and make subsequent attacks 3 times per turn. When the enemies get up, they all provoke attacks of opportunity which can in turn be trip attacks which can be followed up by attacks. The number of foes you can do this to increases by your dex modifier of course. It's not obviously overpowered because 95% of DM's forget the AoO rules, but essentially you can make 3-5 attacks at level 1 depending on your race/dex modifier.

Edit: This becomes extremely overpowered with the enlarge person spell due to higher weapon damage and increased reach, though a -1 to the number of attacks.

[Heliomance]

AoOs provoked by peole standing up can't be trip attempts as the AoO goes off before the action that triggered is (standing up) is completed.

[ZerglingOne]

AoOs provoked by peole standing up can't be trip attempts as the AoO goes off before the action that triggered is (standing up) is completed.

Aaaaah, curses you're right, but there's nothing that says you can't make your full movement after tripping all of them in the first place, and you still get the immediate attacks . It's a lot like the Half-Ogre from that one OotS, but less power-gamer-y and less obviously overpowered. The funny thing is that you'd almost never be doing damage on your own turn.