[3.5] Peasant made good build

[Thurbane]

OK, got a build challenge for y'all.

Starting with the base of a Human Commoner 1, can you make a decent (i.e. able to hold his own in an adventuring party) ECL 12 character, with the following stipulations:

• No other base classes can be taken (Human Paragon class and prestige classes are acceptable, as are further levels in Commoner).
• No inherited templates allowed, but acquired templates are OK.
• No Pun Pun level cheese.
• Standard WBL, elite array for ability scores.
• Printed official hardcover sources only (no Dragon mag, no Web enhancements, no 3rd party, no homebrew).

Other than that, go bananas!

[Pharaoh's Fist]

How about the classic Chicken Infested Ur Priest?

[Thurbane]

How about the classic Chicken Infested Ur Priest?

Ur-Priest sounds good; Chicken Infested doesn't meet the requirements, though...

[deuxhero]

Human paragon 1/Commoner x/ur priest y/human paragon 2/ur priest/prcs the rest of the way.

edit:are we allowed to have human paragon first (for 6 additional skill points)?
edit 2:If you wanted to be cheesy, you could be a half-elf (for half-elf paragon) and avoid taking a level in commoner altogether.

[Thurbane]

Human paragon 1/Commoner x/ur priest y/human paragon 2/ur priest/prcs the rest of the way.

edit:are we allowed to have human paragon first (for 8 additional skill points)?

It would be truer to the intent of the build if Commoner was the first level...but if a build is reliant on Paragon first, I guess this can slide.

[Khabuem]

I've got a build for this that's fairly decent, I feel. Didn't even need any paragon levels.

Spoiler

Show

ECL 12
Human commoner 1/survivor* 4/beastmaster** 7
CG Medium humanoid
Init +7 Senses Low-light vision
Languages Common, Draconic
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AC 13 touch 13 flatfooted 13
HD 1d4+4d6+7d10+36 (96 hp)
Saves Fort +12 Ref +12 Will +6
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Speed 30 ft
Melee Longspear +6 (1d8-1)
Base Attack +7 Grapple +6
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Abilities Str 8 Dex 16 Con 17 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 20
Special Qualities Speak with animals 2/day, 3 animal companions (1 as druid 12, 1 as druid 7, 1 as druid 4), dragon cohort (ECL 17)
Feats Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Natural Bond**, Alertness, Hindering Opportunist***, Dragon Cohort****
Skills Hide + 15, Handle Animal +11, Listen +15, Move Silently +17, Ride +7, Spot +17, Survival +4
Possessions Ring of invisibility, tan bag of tricks, cloak of Charisma +6, wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), amulet of health +2
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Cohort Young copper dragon (MM 83)
Animal companions Deinonychus (as druid 12; MM 60), dire wolf (as druid 7; MM 65), light horse (as druid 4; MM 273)

* Savage Species
** Complete Adventurer
*** Player’s Handbook II
****Draconomicon

This build is all about the companions, obviously. By himself, his only real active talents are some decent scouting capabilities and using Hindering Opportunist to support his allies in combat. However, he brings some very powerful friends to the table between Dragon Cohort and the multiple animal companions granted by Beastmaster and boosted by Natural Bond. The weaker animals and the beasties from the bag of tricks aren't as useful in combat, but can bring some support for scouting and transport.

Defensively, his AC is awful, but his ring of invisibility, evasion, and fast horse can hopefully keep that from ever coming in to play. His Fort and Reflex saves are quite good, although his Will could be better. This build should almost certainly grab a starmantle cloak from Book of Exalted Deeds as soon as he can afford it; unfortunately, that was well out of my WBL range here.

This build's not great from level 1 on, but I doubt most builds starting from commoner 1 are going to be. By level 12, he's doing a decent job contributing support and melee capability to a party.

[Thurbane]

Wow, that's nice!

I've been looking at two myself:

Commoner 1/Survivor 3/Paragon 3/Ur-priest 5

...or, less evil: Commoner 1/Survivor 1/Paragon 3/Chameleon 7