One shot, one kill - D&D 3.5

[Quietus]

I've been toying with the idea for a while of a "medical sniper", someone whose training is primarily medical, and serves as the team's healer. Out of this, he has come to dislike causing any sort of suffering, and though he understands that he does need to support his party in more tactile ways, at times.

Out of this is born his "one shot, one kill" mentality. I understand this isn't feasible in D&D, but his goal in general is to bring down a target with as little suffering as possible. Toward that end, I'm looking to build him as a sort of combination sniper/medic.

As things stand now, the best I can think of for this is to make him an Elven cleric, for the free longbow proficiency, and self-buffs (divine favor, primarily). I'll be starting somewhere around level 3-5, playing in Faerun, no idea what books will be allowed... I'm just looking for other potential avenues of thought at the moment. My biggest drawback with the Elven Cleric angle is the shortage of skill points and feats; I know I'll want to have Point Blank and Precise Shot being at level 3, but going from there, it'll be interesting to see just what sorts of options I have open to me.

[Myou]

Well, Assassin and Arcane Archer can both make death attacks with bows (although the AA sucks at it).

But really you're looking for a save-or-die ray effect like a wizard creates. Which you could do with Arcane Archer actually, they can channel spells through arrows.

[jiriku]

Arrows of slaying and bone arrows carry death effects. Alternately, a spell-storing arrow with any kind of paralysis spell in it has much the same style and costs less.

[Quietus]

Death spells and slaying arrows, I've considered. But the problem there is, not everything is vulnerable to such things, and they tend to be expensive (levels for AA, money for slaying arrows, spell slots with saves/sr for death spells). I'm looking for something a little more.. mundane, simply because it would be more accessible. Yes, I'll use those other effects, but I'd like to have something to fall back on in case they aren't available at the time.

[Person_Man]

For what it's worth, Blinky the Ninja (or any Undead Shadow Sun Ninja) has unlimited healing. You could "one shot" people with manuevers up close or at a range with wands.

A Psion can also heal and blast, with the right powers.

[Myou]

Death spells and slaying arrows, I've considered. But the problem there is, not everything is vulnerable to such things, and they tend to be expensive (levels for AA, money for slaying arrows, spell slots with saves/sr for death spells). I'm looking for something a little more.. mundane, simply because it would be more accessible. Yes, I'll use those other effects, but I'd like to have something to fall back on in case they aren't available at the time.

So, assassin like I said? Mundane save vs. death or paralysis.

[Signmaker]

Hum..

Cull Wand Essence lets you do 1,3,6,10d6 damage by burning a wand charge of the appropriate level (1-4) and firing it as a ray.

Alternatively, you could coat your arrows with every poison you could possibly afford, which would fit with your medical background. Sadly, this isn't much at your level.

That's all I've got at the moment.

[FMArthur]

If you're ruling that Cunning Strike is allowed to be useful (ie: can be applied more than once to the same attack), you could use a factotum, abuse FoI to 'nova' with a sneak attack boosted with the use of the Iaijutsu Focus skill. Factotum also offers some minor healing abilities, but you'll need UMD to be a proper healer.

[woodenbandman]

^Iaijutsu and Sneak Attack explicitly don't stack.

What about a Wizard5/Fighter1/Eldritch Knight/Abjurant Champion/Arcane Archer? Just throw out death spells and suchlike.

[FMArthur]

^Iaijutsu and Sneak Attack explicitly don't stack.

Oh.

*rereads Oriental Adventures*

[KellKheraptis]

^Iaijutsu and Sneak Attack explicitly don't stack.

What about a Wizard5/Fighter1/Eldritch Knight/Abjurant Champion/Arcane Archer? Just throw out death spells and suchlike.

This was hashed out earlier on another board. They don't add to one terminous whole (i.e. IF+SA+Penetrating Strike /= IF anything for half damage), but there's nothing saying they don't both trigger. If they are flat-footed, they are susceptible to SA and IF, provided you are SA'ing from the draw. That said, Swordsage's Shadow Hand maneuvers are not SA, they simply trigger under the same or mostly same circumstances, so would be nice for one overpowering single strike. Chances are (example : Feral Deathblow) you'll get two saves vs. death (one from the attack, one from the damage), and possibly outright death from the damage alone. To wbm's credit above, however, I would say SA works better than IF, especially considering there are more ways to use it in combat (in particular if you're crit optimized).

[Grumman]

^Iaijutsu and Sneak Attack explicitly don't stack.

Do you have evidence of this claim?

[Lioness]

Called shots?

I'm a D&D newbie, but surely if you called a shot for the heart or the neck you would hit something vital.

[vampire2948]

About the poison problems:

Buy a black lotus flower.
Cast minor creation.

Tada. 1,000 doses of black lotus extract.

You were complaning about poison costs?

[Draco Ignifer]

Lioness - that's precisely why called shots aren't part of RAW. They'd make it way too easy to kill - all you need is to max out +to hit, and you could eliminate any target with a single stroke. Especially potent when you consider that first level casters can get a spell for +20 to hit, meaning a two-turn high-likelihood instant death spell unless you have substantial penalties for called shots.

[SoD]

Well, Assassin and Arcane Archer can both make death attacks with bows (although the AA sucks at it).

Actually...

Death Attack
If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin’s choice). While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the assassin’s class level + the assassin’s Int modifier) against the kill effect, she dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the assassin. If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds.

Emphasis mine.

[Quietus]

Re : Shadow Sun Ninjas, and arcane ....

Wait, brilliant idea. Is there any spells out there that would let me "heal" another person's injuries by taking them onto myself? This being in faerun, I've kinda been rolling with the idea of following Ilmater, the Suffering God. The idea of an individual who takes others' pain into himself - literally - appeals to me for no particular reason, and would really let me lay on the "Others must not suffer" aspect. Being a caster, I'd have access to death effects, I'd just need to come up with a way to bypass immunities, or play a support role in those situations.

[taltamir]

get a "poison" whose only effect is to render the "victim" immune to pain for its duration. Put it on your weapons...

Actually, call it a "medical ungent of mercy"... poisons are automatically evil because "they are meant to cause pain and suffering" (vs hitting someone with a sword, which isn't meant to cause pain and suffering).

Mmm... doesn't that make every bartender evil?

[Myou]

Actually...



Emphasis mine.

I could have sworn I played a ranged death attacker.

[PhoenixRivers]

Re : Shadow Sun Ninjas, and arcane ....

Wait, brilliant idea. Is there any spells out there that would let me "heal" another person's injuries by taking them onto myself? This being in faerun, I've kinda been rolling with the idea of following Ilmater, the Suffering God. The idea of an individual who takes others' pain into himself - literally - appeals to me for no particular reason, and would really let me lay on the "Others must not suffer" aspect. Being a caster, I'd have access to death effects, I'd just need to come up with a way to bypass immunities, or play a support role in those situations.

That's pretty much the way Psionic Healing works. You absorb the injuries, disease, and poison out of others, and take it yourself. You then mend your body. Psionics has Save or Die effects as well.

[Doc Roc]

I'm having some trouble retrieving it, but you'd probably be quite happy with the classic archivist-archer build.

[Quietus]

That's pretty much the way Psionic Healing works. You absorb the injuries, disease, and poison out of others, and take it yourself. You then mend your body. Psionics has Save or Die effects as well.

Yeah, I just started thinking about that. Thing is, the DM (new guy, never played with this group before) has already started on the "I always like players who don't min max" deal, even before the first game. I'll have to run that past him, and rely heavily on copied material, since I don't own either a laptop or a copy of the EPH. We'll see how it goes.

So, looking at things from these angles, I have two options :

EPH, using powers to transfer other's wounds to myself, then healing my own body. Include some save-or-die effects for ... well... effect.

Core, for now, probably going elven cleric of Ilmater.

The former, I'll probably rely more on the powers as my direct role, and try to pick out my offensive powers to run along the theme of "disable without suffering". The latter, more of a zilla-like feel when I go offensive, using a few spells to self-buff as needed, but keeping the usage fairly low; A composite bow, occasional use of divine favor, that sort of thing. Primary role of party support, tending to wounds and sorting out who needs to be cared for.

[Iku Rex]

You want a ranger and the hunter's mercy (SpC) spell. Buy a wand of cure light wounds for healing and some pearls of power to cast hunter's mercy more often.

[Cyclocone]

I could have sworn I played a ranged death attacker.

There is a spell that lets you do it.
"Sniper Eyes" i think it's called; it's in one of the completes.

[Myou]

There is a spell that lets you do it.
"Sniper Eyes" i think it's called; it's in one of the completes.

Must have been that then.

[Quietus]

You want a ranger and the hunter's mercy (SpC) spell. Buy a wand of cure light wounds for healing and some pearls of power to cast hunter's mercy more often.

Oooh, I like this. Might even be worth picking up Power Critical to use in conjunction with it, to confirm those criticals more frequently. Then it's just a matter of raising my base damage....

Of course, now I'd have to find a way to raise a Ranger's damage to make that crit REALLY worthwhile... alternatively, take four levels of Ranger, then start in on Cleric, with Practiced Spellcaster to keep my Cleric caster levels high.

... Doesn't Archivist get access to ALL divine spells, or something crazy like that? *Scratches chin*

[Eldariel]

... Doesn't Archivist get access to ALL divine spells, or something crazy like that? *Scratches chin*

That's the key behind Archivist Archer. Ranger Archery Spells and Cleric Zilla Spells and few random Druid-buffs and Go To Town.

[Myrmex]

Death spells and slaying arrows, I've considered. But the problem there is, not everything is vulnerable to such things, and they tend to be expensive (levels for AA, money for slaying arrows, spell slots with saves/sr for death spells). I'm looking for something a little more.. mundane, simply because it would be more accessible. Yes, I'll use those other effects, but I'd like to have something to fall back on in case they aren't available at the time.

Most things that are immune to those effects won't suffer from being bludgeoned to dust with a stick, though.

[Kiren]

If home brew is allowed-

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Marksman_%283.5e_Class%29

[Kaiyanwang]

^Iaijutsu and Sneak Attack explicitly don't stack.

...uh?

Sure?