Suggestions for Lonemouse[3.5]

[Ormagoden]

Just recently a really great friend of mine started running a 3.5 campaign at the martial arts Dojo he runs.

He is experimenting with a new area of his world and starting the campaign at level 1.

The choices for races were really limited but I eventually decided to go with a wild elf.

His name is Lonemouse and he is about 97 years old.
He is an inquisitive naturalistic type who is one with nature.
He is an excellent hunter that has recently moved well out of his normal hunting range following an elusive white elk stag.

The character is very quiet and appears to be very simple minded. He is very innocent and curious (but not annoyingly so). He has yet to speak and I think he won't for quite some time.

Luckly he stumbled upon one of the party members wounded and alone in the woods and thus he was introduced to the intrepid adventuring party.

Anyway I would like some suggestions on him using the above description for building guidelines. Keep in mind that rather than optimize him I'd like to stay true to his character and not concern myself with the numbers. At the same time I do not want to drag the party down with a poorly built 'flavor' character.

Currently he is a level 1 scout with the following stats and feats

str 16
dex 18
con 14
int 12
wis 13
cha 13

Alertness (with maxed spot and listen)

He wears wicker armor
and wields a club, long bow, and a "spiked gauntlet" that is a wicker bracer with thorns woven into it. (he prefers the bow because he is a hunter)



So with all this in mind...Where would you go with this young elf?
Please keep your build suggestions clear and easy to understand.
Back up your choices too!


(linking me to swift hunter isn't going to earn you any points )
(I consider myself a pretty damn good optimizer so I'm looking for those of you with a better idea of feats that fit the "fluff" of the character. I'm trying to strike a fine balance between "very useful to the party" and "sticking with the concept of the character".)

[Akal Saris]

Maybe a swordsage would fit, since it's another high-skills class that can be an effective scout, and is an accomplished martial artist. It's hard to say what schools would be best for the character - maybe the setting sun and diamond mind, or some of the tiger claw maneuvers that are more "natural". It depends how much you want to re-fluff things.

As an aside, you took Alertness as a feat?

[Ormagoden]

Maybe a swordsage would fit, since it's another high-skills class that can be an effective scout, and is an accomplished martial artist. It's hard to say what schools would be best for the character - maybe the setting sun and diamond mind, or some of the tiger claw maneuvers that are more "natural". It depends how much you want to re-fluff things.

As an aside, you took Alertness as a feat?

Reading the whole post is fundamental kids.

Yeah, NEXT!

[Telonius]

Are you sure he's not a Druid? Depending on how much you want to play the "innocent" angle, something like Lion of Talisid from BoED might be interesting.

(EDIT: Ranger would work as well - basically you just have to be able to cast Nature's Ally 2 and have an animal companion, along with some miscellaneous other prereqs)

[Ormagoden]

He's more a hunter and less a charger; does lion of Talasid focus on charging?
I thought it did.

He isn't a druid as the DM doesn't like magic all that much. So instead he is a hunter, he respects the land, and is thankful for his kills. Honoring the spirit of the animals he slays and such.

[Telonius]

Well, the optimization threads generally focus on the charging aspect of Lion of Talisid, since it does get Pounce at 5th. It does grant a caster level at each level, plus a bunch of lion- and cat-themed abilities (hence Pounce). It also gives wildshape (in case the character is a Ranger). Literally becoming a natural animal seems like it would be in keeping with the character you described.

Thematically, the description says they're usually hunters and druids that are very much in the service of good, and tend to focus on feline animal companions and combat forms.

[RagnaroksChosen]

I don't know if dragon material is allowed but there is a feat swift avenger or something , that lets druid and scout levels stack... check it out on crystal keep. just a thought

eaither way i would go druid/scout

[Dimers]

Everything that comes to my mind sounds like ranger (at least, given your DM's preference against spells). Track is pretty necessary fluff for a hunter; ranger gets it free. Rapid Shot is really handy for a hunter/adventurer; ranger gets it free. Diehard represents someone tough enough to live on his own; ranger gets the prerequisite free. Wild empathy fits your fluff just great too. And the ranger's skill list is appropriate, of course.

The only other thing I'd suggest is Order of the Bow. It meshes well with scount levels -- you move and shoot once per turn, dealing extra damage for both skirmish and ranged precision. The PrC also eliminates AoOs for bow fire at its 2nd level. The skills are poor, but at least they include Spot, which seems important to you.

[Mongoose87]

Reading the whole post is fundamental kids.

Yeah, NEXT!

That doesn't really address his point.

[AtwasAwamps]

So I'm not 100% sure what you're looking for here, so I'd ask for a little clarification.

Do you want this character to be a spell caster at all? Druid has been suggested a few times and it is totally valid and a good plan if that's your idea. It can also lead into some interesting PrCs.

If you're aiming for more of a "hunter" type character, than even if you DON'T like it, swift hunter is probably what you're looking for, despite your initial post. Or possibly look at an archery PrC. Deepwoods Sniper sounds like what you might want to go for.

Barbarian levels might also work, taking whirling frenzy instead of regular rage. Barb/Scout tends to work well, too, with more movement and fun barbarian bonuses. Heck, look into some of the spiritual totems in complete champion or some stuff out of UA. There's a lot to work with to get your 'natural hunter' theme moving.

[Ormagoden]

That doesn't really address his point.

Nor does his comment address mine eh?

So I'm not 100% sure what you're looking for here, so I'd ask for a little clarification.

Do you want this character to be a spell caster at all? Druid has been suggested a few times and it is totally valid and a good plan if that's your idea. It can also lead into some interesting PrCs.

If you're aiming for more of a "hunter" type character, than even if you DON'T like it, swift hunter is probably what you're looking for, despite your initial post. Or possibly look at an archery PrC. Deepwoods Sniper sounds like what you might want to go for.

Barbarian levels might also work, taking whirling frenzy instead of regular rage. Barb/Scout tends to work well, too, with more movement and fun barbarian bonuses. Heck, look into some of the spiritual totems in complete champion or some stuff out of UA. There's a lot to work with to get your 'natural hunter' theme moving.

My general idea is to start scout move into ranger as he gets more experienced. Swift hunter is the logical optimization point for sure. I did want to avoid combo feat cheese if possible though.

Since the DM doesn't like spell casting that much druid blaster/summoner/wildshaper are right out. Lion of talasid is more than likely out because as I understand it the class is setting/god specific.

I like the complete champion stuff for rangers/druids but they are setting specific as well so its an arm twist to get them. Which I'd just rather not do.

More or less I'm looking for good feats and build suggestions in the vein of playing a naturalistic wild elf hunter who is inquisitive, intelligent, and awed by the world around him.

I'm generally looking for beyond the obvious suggestions, if that makes sense.

[Ormagoden]

bumpity bump bump...

[RagnaroksChosen]

I meen you pritty much have it...

scout/ranger... with swift hunter because you are taking scout ranger... i think most people go more ranger then scout i would suggest doing the opposite if you consider that cheesy.

also I would pick up travel devotion because A. its good and B. I think it would fit your character..

Also some where on the interwebz there is an item called hanks bow i would say try to get it in game. if not
force and collision are great bow enchants... also don't forget when you get higher level to get bane arrows. there amazing...

other then that there's really not much else we can suggest.

O I would sugest if UA is allowed... the wild shaping ranger ACF. Its decent... mixed with scout i could see it being good.

[Ryuuk]

You could simply build towards picking up Greater Manyshot. It seems like a nice norm for me if you don't want to go overboard with optimization.

[AtwasAwamps]

Hrmm. If you want to try something interesting (but not necessarily mechanically strong), there’s the spell-less ranger from CW that you could take instead of the standard ranger. You still qualify for swift hunter with that too, I believe. I like the travel devotion idea, too. Look into some skill tricks…”Point it Out” absolutely should be on your list =P

[Ormagoden]

O I would sugest if UA is allowed... the wild shaping ranger ACF. Its decent... mixed with scout i could see it being good.

SEE I KNEW IT!

I knew I was missing something! TY!
Off to speak with the DM!

That's exactly the kind of flavor feature I knew I was forgetting.