marine

[Fortinbras]

I'm trying to make a character who specializes in amphibious combat. I kinda want him to be a good horseman too but that's just a bonus. I don't want to make a caster, this guy uses a spear and a sword. Thanks in advance. 3.5 eddition. Sourcebooks include complete warrior, complete divine, races of stone, races of the wild, complete scoundrel, book of exhalted deeds, heroes of battle, tome of battle, complete adventurer, and stormwrack.

[The Rose Dragon]

Game, edition, sourcebooks allowed?

[Riffington]

I'm trying to make a character who specializes in amphibious combat. I kinda want him to be a good horseman too but that's just a bonus. I don't want to make a caster, this guy uses a spear. Thanks in advance.

With wildshape ranger, you can turn into a shark.

[The Glyphstone]

And if you can get Lords of Madness added to the list, a Mouthpick Weapon (+1 bonus) will let you hold your weapon in your mouth while Sharky!

[Mike_G]

Speaking from experience, if you want to make a believable Marine, first, dump Wis.

Oooh-Rah!

Building a high Dex fighter is probably the way to go, since the Armor penalty to Swim is awful. Or get Bracers of Armor or some such magic based AC.

[Oslecamo]

Water orc? Automaticaly swims, I think it can breathe underwater, and great stats for melee character, plus penalty on all mental stats for the "Oooh-Rah!" feeling!

[Blackfang108]

Water orc? Automaticaly swims, I think it can breathe underwater, and great stats for melee character, plus penalty on all mental stats for the "Oooh-Rah!" feeling!

I dunno. The Marines I know certainly aren't lacking in the INT and WIS department. (some aren't lacking in CHA, but I suspect those ones rolled REALLY well for stats in the first place.)

[Solaris]

I dunno. The Marines I know certainly aren't lacking in the INT and WIS department. (some aren't lacking in CHA, but I suspect those ones rolled REALLY well for stats in the first place.)

Nonsense and blasphemy! Everyone knows Marines are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who have to receive special instructions on how to do anything except blow stuff up, shoot people, and break things.
...
If you could get Heroes of Battle involved, I'd recommend the Dread Commando. Either way, ranger/rogue. Sneak attack just fits.

[LibraryOgre]

I'm trying to make a character who specializes in amphibious combat. I kinda want him to be a good horseman too but that's just a bonus. I don't want to make a caster, this guy uses a spear and a sword. Thanks in advance. 3.5 eddition. Sourcebooks include complete warrior, complete divine, races of stone, races of the wild, complete scoundrel, book of exhalted deeds, heroes of battle, tome of battle, complete adventurer, and stormwrack.

Given that, I'd say that a Scout would be good. Unlike rangers, they don't need much in mental stats.

[Mike_G]

Nonsense and blasphemy! Everyone knows Marines are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who have to receive special instructions on how to do anything except blow stuff up, shoot people, and break things.
...

What do Marines call helicopters?

*points upward and grunts*

Anyone with a Wis bonus joined the Air Force or the Navy.

So says the guy who arrived at Marine boot camp the day after High school graduation. So, I guess High School didn't teach me much.

[lvl 1 sharnian]

Yeah, well Con bonuses are more important for a soldier and those who have them join the Marines, but not the Chair Force (j/k)

Anyways, I'm sure potions of water breathing would of great interest to you

[Solaris]

What do Marines call helicopters?

*points upward and grunts*

Anyone with a Wis bonus joined the Air Force or the Navy.

So says the guy who arrived at Marine boot camp the day after High school graduation. So, I guess High School didn't teach me much.

Heheheheh. One of our NCOs is a former Marine. We've had classes from him that consisted of nothing but grunts.
And yet, no trouble understanding him whatsoever.
Wis bonus is Navy. Cha bonus is Air Force - I cite their females.

So says the guy who arrived at Army basic training a year and a half after graduating high school early. After two years, I'm pretty sure everything I learned has been replaced with the many and varied definitions of 'Hooah' and different ways to sham out, blame things on other people, and lower property values.

Yeah, well Con bonuses are more important for a soldier and those who have them join the Marines, but not the Chair Force (j/k)

Anyways, I'm sure potions of water breathing would of great interest to you

I've taken a quiz that gave me a Str 13, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 8, so if you're looking for a good idea on what a typical trooper's stat loadout is... subtract about five from each mental ability score.
Pfft. chAir Force pansies. They have penalties to Strength and Constitution. Comes from all the air conditioning and desk jockeying, y'see.

[jiriku]

Use a shortsword or one of those elven blades for your sword. You want to be equipped with piercing weapons in the event that you find yourself fighting underwater. A net may not be the most mechanically powerful weapon, but I imagine it would be rather fun to ensare your foe in a net, then bull-rush them over the side while they're entangled.

[holywhippet]

Go for being a ranger then. At level 4 you can pick an animal companion - take a porpoise. You've also got stealth and tracking skills.

[Fortinbras]

I'm more looking for a front line combatant, just something a little out of the ordinary. I want him to be like a Classical warrior, a spearman who fights from the back of a horse or the deck of a ship.

[Solaris]

Oh, so an even lower set of mental ability scores and a few ranks in Swim.

[Hawriel]

Marines are assalt troops, whether it's ship to ship or coastal raiding. They want to hit hard and move fast. Mounted combat is not somthing they would specialize in. It's not untill the adeptations of mechenized warfar have the marines used any thing close to cavalry. Even their recon forces are infantry.

I'm going to assume that the OP is talking about a middle ages setting. In wich case marines would not really exist. The closest analog I can think of are Vikings. But they are a culture that perfomed piracy by raiding coastal villages, not a formal military group. Another sorce for the consept is to look at the USMC during the war of 1812, then pull back on the tech.

Two handed weapons, other than the boarding pike, are not really used. The USMC usualy faught with two weapons; cutlass/pistol and or cutlass/tomahawk. Yes tomahawks. In d&d terms a short sword, scimitar, and hand axe would do. For a boarding pike a long spear is a good analog. Of corse going sword and board, or battle axe is appropriat. For armor light and mediem armors would be used. leather, studded leather, chain shirts and breast plates. Any thing els would be to heavy and restrictive to striking hard and fast.

The two classes I would consider are the barbarian for the viking raider, or the fighter for a discaplined marine.

[AtwasAwamps]

Well, if you're going for a marine style, you probably don't want to go over leather armor. If you're going to be fighting over water, the last thing you want is to be in a situation where if you hit the water, you're going to die. A chain shirt or anything similar is going to screw your ability to swim over. For pure fluff, taking care of chain or plate on a constantly damp ship is going to suck, or you'll keep it safe and dry somewhere you can't get it...so back to your leather armor or even light armor.

Personally I would go for a dex-oriented fighter, PRC'd into something that can move well. A scout would also be a cool idea if you were going for the "strike fast and get out" type of marine flavor. I don't know if there's a scout/fighter type of feat that stacks skirmish/fighter feat qualification (like Martial Stalker for ninja/fighter) but that would be ideal.

From what I gather you're really going for more of an "Argonaut" type...you're Jason, rather than Hercules. Frontliner, ready to kick butt, and not concerned about the niceties. Fighter or Barbarian would be good, in that case, with enough dex/ranks in balance that you're not going to get screwed by an irritated DM during a storm, high strength for rigging climbing, and whatever con you can grab. Try to find ways to boost your armor class or defensive abilities without weighing yourself down. Get a good strong two-hander and a piercing weapon, so you can chop at vital ship structures and deal with evil sharks.

That sound okay?

[Fortinbras]

Okay looks like I should have named this thread something else. AtwasAwamps is right, I want to build Jason or Odyssius. I'm looking for build advice. Race is human, strength is 17, Dex is 17, Con is 16, Int is 15, Wis is
7, and Cha is 14. Right now I'm thinking of spear and scimitar for weapons. I probably should have put this in the first post, sorry.

[Mike_G]

Okay looks like I should have named this thread something else. AtwasAwamps is right, I want to build Jason or Odyssius. I'm looking for build advice. Race is human, strength is 17, Dex is 17, Con is 16, Int is 15, Wis is
7, and Cha is 14. Right now I'm thinking of spear and scimitar for weapons. I probably should have put this in the first post, sorry.

With the crappy Wis (MAH-REEEEN CORPS!!!!!) I'd suggest Warblade, take Diamond Mind and take Moment of Perfect Mind, which allows you to substitute a Concentration check for a Will save. Will save will be your weakness.

Or, if you aren't a fan of ToB, take Force of Personality as a feat, which lets you sub your Cha bonus to Will saves vs mind affecting spells. So +2 instead of -2, which isn't bad.

Swashbuckler would be a decent class to take a few levels in, going with the nautical Pirate type swashbuckler flavor. Your Int bonus to damage would be a nice feature, plus more skill points than a Fighter.