[3.5] So, I have an upcoming solo game...

[Ryumaru]

Now, I'm going to be honest; I'd like to make something interesting, -and- somewhat powerful and varied. I'm not the best (to put it lightly) at figuring out what constitutes an effective character, and with the hundreds of base classes and prestige classes on display, and my mind starts to wander after skimming three or four books.

As it's a solo game, I'm hoping for someone capable, but believable, if you can say so in a world where you can conjure gold by playing with bat crap. I like to spread out my skills, mix it up with melee and ranged, and otherwise do enjoy some flashness. I also like doing social and skill challenges outside of combat.

I've checked Factotum, and not too keen on the inspiration point mechanic. And I'm not looking for something that'll break the game or... something completely over the place ('Just take Master of Rawr2/Order of the Cuddle Initiate2/Incantrix4/Dragon Eater2 and then dip into Rolling Kitten3'). If no-one feels like helping with that, a simple line or two maybe of a concept to help jog the creativity would be much appreciated.

Stats-wise, I'm working with a decent spread; 18, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13

-Hopes he isn't repeating himself too much, or asking too much x.x-

[Amador]

powerful, interesting and varied... You want a druid.

[Boci]

Using gestalt would make this easier. Without that, at a high enough starting level wizard (abjurer) 5 / Incantrix 10 / wizard (abjurer) 5 can prepare for a variety of threats. Chameleon is also quite a versatile PrC I've heard, and I've always liked the swordsage from ToB. What is it about the inspiration points you do not like?

Wizard build:
Strength: 15, Dexterity: 16, Constitution: 18, Inteligence: 18, Wisdom: 13, Charisma: 14

Chameleon:
Not very familiar with the class

Swordsage:
Strength: 15, Dexterity: Constitution: 16, Inteligence: 14, Wisdom: 18, Charisma: 13

[Roc Ness]

I would suggest Ranger 2/Sorcerer 6/Abjurant Champion 5/A nice PRC that progress BAB and decently progresses Sorc Spellcasting. Swiftblade or eldritch knight, maybe?

I think that might cover everything. Decent skills with High Int (you can spare that) and ranger, decent social skills with High Cha, Decent BAB and HP for melee, rapid shot for a bit of ranged, take the Arcane Strike feat for even greater Martial and Ranged might. If you don't want spells then don't use them, just burn the slots to empower your attacks. You even get quite a nice AC from Abjurant Champion Shield spell.

And just to annoy enemy spellcasters, ready a swift action every round to use dispel magic to counterspell.

Stats would be something like 14 Str, 18 Dex, 15 Con, 16 Int, 13 Wis, 18 Cha


I hope that wasn't too over the place...

[Teeka]

Alright, what sort of character have you always wanted to play? Because in a solo game you can do it and go totally wild.

[Ryumaru]

Oh, forgot to mention that; it is gestalt. Only cravate being not double-sided casting; at least, not if it's anything loophole or gamebreaky.

[Ryumaru]

Alright, what sort of character have you always wanted to play? Because in a solo game you can do it and go totally wild.

I'm... not totally sure, to be honest. I was kind of tempted to put Ranger/Scout with Swift Hunter on one side, and something on the other. I had pondered Warmage, up until I figured out... they're not even -warmages-. Artillarymages? Sure. But Warmages? I at least expected Mage Armour, Shield, and some things like Blur and Magic Weapon.

Edit: Before I sleep for the night, found out what I'm allowed; as far as I know, I'm allowed core and the Complete series.

[Ernir]

I'm... not totally sure, to be honest. I was kind of tempted to put Ranger/Scout with Swift Hunter on one side, and something on the other. I had pondered Warmage, up until I figured out... they're not even -warmages-. Artillarymages? Sure. But Warmages? I at least expected Mage Armour, Shield, and some things like Blur and Magic Weapon.

Edit: Before I sleep for the night, found out what I'm allowed; as far as I know, I'm allowed core and the Complete series.

How about just a Wizard or Sorcerer instead of the Warmage? You have to be a one-man army, you need more than just the bazooka. =/

Depending on how your DM treats precision damage dice progressions, something like
Scout/Ranger//Wizard/Unseen Seer
could work. Unseen Seer is in Complete Mage, and easy to qualify for with this kind of a gestalt. You can make up the non-divination CL loss with the Practiced Spellcaster feat (Complete Arcane).

Remember to skirmish when you shoot Rays.

[fryplink]

how much social interaction are you looking at?

in a campaign with alot of social interaction a bard/sublime chord is alot of fun (sublime chord is comp arcane right?) and can hit EVERY spellcasting base to a certain degree (and UMD for those he cant)

but if you have very little social stuff a bard/sublime chord end up playing like a scorcerer

Bards are pretty fun in social heavy campaigns because of all the weird options you have, but w/o a big social aspect they fall behind

yea i understand bards arent a good class, but i always have fun playing them, and thats the important part right? if we really wanted something really good, tell him to play a cleric (or druid)

[Ryumaru]

How about just a Wizard or Sorcerer instead of the Warmage? You have to be a one-man army, you need more than just the bazooka. =/

Depending on how your DM treats precision damage dice progressions, something like
Scout/Ranger//Wizard/Unseen Seer
could work. Unseen Seer is in Complete Mage, and easy to qualify for with this kind of a gestalt. You can make up the non-divination CL loss with the Practiced Spellcaster feat (Complete Arcane).

Remember to skirmish when you shoot Rays.

Possibly... what does Unseen Seer do? If it's just divination, then I'd probably skip it and go full Wizard.

how much social interaction are you looking at?

in a campaign with alot of social interaction a bard/sublime chord is alot of fun (sublime chord is comp arcane right?) and can hit EVERY spellcasting base to a certain degree (and UMD for those he cant)

but if you have very little social stuff a bard/sublime chord end up playing like a scorcerer

Bards are pretty fun in social heavy campaigns because of all the weird options you have, but w/o a big social aspect they fall behind

yea i understand bards arent a good class, but i always have fun playing them, and thats the important part right? if we really wanted something really good, tell him to play a cleric (or druid)

I do plan on hopefully getting a decent amount of social/out of combat stuff, but probably not enough for a Bard. Considering I have no party members to sing for...

[Keld Denar]

Unseen Seer is AMAZING. Its in Complete Mage. It does a couple things. 1, it advances Sneak Attack or Skirmish, if you have it, which you will. 2, it gives you access to Divinations from ANY spell list. Cleric list? Divine Insight! Ranger list? Hunter's Eye. Thats the best part. There are a few other abilities, but really, getting Hunter's Eye on your wizard spell list is enough to make it WAY worth it. Go look up Hunter's Eye in the Spell Compendium. Then note that its only a 2nd level spell, and thus rather easily Persisted for an extra 7-8d6 damage all the time.

Combine with the Swift Hunter ability to apply precision damage to your favored enemies, and you'll have a boatload of d6s that will work effectively against anyone. You'd have Trapfinding, decent skills, full wizard casting, and a bunch of other stuff.

[Ryumaru]

Hmm, interesting... I'm not very knowledgable on spells/their locations, or if Spell Compendium is even allowed, but I'll give them a look. Divine Insight?

Edit: Looking for Hunter's Eye in Spell Compendium, but not seeing it...

[PhoenixRivers]

I'm hoping for someone capable, but believable, if you can say so in a world where you can conjure gold by playing with bat crap.

Best. Wizard. Definition. Ever.

[Ryumaru]

What is it about the inspiration points you do not like?

Thought I'd reply to this quick; my main problem with it was having to spend them to do next to anything with the class. I understand it's balance, and I could see it working in a group game, but from a skim, it seemed like you'd be able to do maybe two or three decent sneak attacks at 20ish, and that's it, you're out of special abilities.

[Eldariel]

Hmm, interesting... I'm not very knowledgable on spells/their locations, or if Spell Compendium is even allowed, but I'll give them a look. Divine Insight?

Edit: Looking for Hunter's Eye in Spell Compendium, but not seeing it...

It's PHBII.

[olentu]

Hmm, interesting... I'm not very knowledgable on spells/their locations, or if Spell Compendium is even allowed, but I'll give them a look. Divine Insight?

Edit: Looking for Hunter's Eye in Spell Compendium, but not seeing it...

Try the PHB2.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

For a versatile gestalt character, I'll usually go for (full BAB)//(full spellcasting), making sure at least one side gets a lot of skill points/level. For example, Ranger goes well with most low-skill, low-HP spellcasting classes like Wizard, Sorcerer, and Dread Necromancer. Cloistered Cleric goes well with any full BAB class that doesn't get many skill points/level or a good Will save.

Dread Necromancer makes an excellent solo character, provided you can get some decent undead minions to run around with you. At least solo you won't have to worry about your Ghostly Visage paralyzing your party. Make him a Necropolitan or get Tomb-Tainted Soul and you'll be able to heal yourself to full for free between encounters. If you get Versatile Spellcaster (RotD) and gestalt with another spellcasting class like Ranger you'll be able to spend Dread Necro spell slots to spontaneously cast anything on the other class's list, plus you'll get early access to the next level of Dread Necro spells.

I ran a gestalt game a while back that had started as a solo game. The original protagonist was a Crusader//Warmage who went into Phoenix Servant, an adaptation of Rainbow Servant. He took Warmage at the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th PrC levels where it wouldn't have advanced his spellcasting, and took Crusader at the levels where it did. The character took Dreadful Wrath (PGtF) and put max ranks in Intimidate with the Never Outnumbered skill trick from CS and Imperious Command from Drow of the Underdark, and that combination alone really pulled him out of some tough spots. He had a lot of fun with the character, and I had a lot of fun running that game.

If you're not going to have a bunch of redshirts NPCs helping you out, you should definitely get Leadership and probably also consider Wild Cohort and even Obtain/Improved Familiar.

[Ryumaru]

Mm, trying to avoid the 'I summon tons of minions' deal, and go for a generally powerful character; see next to every shounen anime with a pretty-boy lead in existance. ;D

Started to narrow it down a bit. Possibly Cleric//Wizard (if allowed), the aforementioned Scout/Ranger//Wizard, or potentially some class from Tome of Battle (if allowed)//Wizard or Cleric.

My only downside to Scout/Ranger being that I noticed the 30ft range limit which... hardly makes him 'archer extreme while constantly having to fight in point-blank range.

[Eldariel]

You could try the Eternal Blade Archer shell then; basically Ranger 2/Fighter 1/Barbarian 1/Warblade 6/Eternal Blade 10 with Weapon Focus > Ranged Weapon Mastery, Rapid Shot, Knowledge Devotion (great with Eternal Knowledge), Woodland Archer and the few ToB maneuvers that work with archery. Solid ranged type with some melee ability.

[Ryumaru]

Ah, so there are -some- archery based manuevers in Tome of Battle? Perfect. I don't want too many, want to split them evenly across melee and archery for a typical 'wandering hero' deal. Which schools/abilities in particular?

[Eldariel]

Ah, so there are -some- archery based manuevers in Tome of Battle? Perfect. I don't want too many, want to split them evenly across melee and archery for a typical 'wandering hero' deal. Which schools/abilities in particular?

Tiger Claw has 2 maneuvers that can be used with ranged attacks; Dancing Mongoose and Raging Mongoose. Diamond Mind has one (Time Stands Still). They're all pretty high-level so so with basic attacks on lower levels and use your maneuvers to cover your other bases and to work out your melee.

White Raven is a good third school so you can use your ally-improving maneuvers when you're near allies, but not near enemies. It also has few good attacks. Iron Heart has at least Iron Heart Surge and Wall of Blades which I really like; worth considering.


So yeah, I suggest you main Tiger Claw (it's not a school for Eternal Blade so you gotta either Feat or Item the two maneuvers from the school you want; main it as Warblade to make the prerequisites) and Diamond Mind (it's amazing school anyways) with some White Raven and Iron Heart.

I statted up a level 20 version (modified a bit to function better vs. casters; most notably Mage Slayer + Pierce Magical Concealment) here; check the maneuvers out and note how you can use Eternal Training to get the melee maneuver you need when you need it.

[Ryumaru]

Eh, both sound like they're made for dual-wielding and throwing, which is not what I'm looking for. -Is looking for archery, not throwing knives- I already hate rolling four attacks a round, let alone thirteen. And considering it's solo, I'm not really going to have anyone to buff, or any interest in buffing anyone but myself. -Would probably veto Tiger Claw. Doesn't want dual-wielding weak weapons-

[Eldariel]

Eh, both sound like they're made for dual-wielding and throwing, which is not what I'm looking for. -Is looking for archery, not throwing knives- I already hate rolling four attacks a round, let alone thirteen. And considering it's solo, I'm not really going to have anyone to buff, or any interest in buffing anyone but myself. -Would probably veto Tiger Claw. Doesn't want dual-wielding weak weapons-

There ARE dual wield maneuvers in Tiger Claw, but many maneuvers, including the ones I've suggested, are very solid for two-handers or archers. There's also Rabid Wolf Strike, the Jump-related Strikes and so on in Tiger Claw, none of which are two-hander attacks.

And just because you'd get an additional extra attack when using Mongoose-maneuvers doesn't mean you NEED two weapons to use them; indeed, you actually can gain bigger benefits from extra attack on one big weapon, than two extra attacks on two weaker weapons. The clause is just there so TWFers can use the maneuvers too.


And Time Stands Still...well, it's just awesome. But yeah, all that involves more rolling. It's harder to get numerical bonuses to archery; that's mostly done through feats. ToB does offer means to fire extra arrows though.

Firing a large number of arrows is pretty much the only good way of dealing a lot of damage with a bow at a long range, and ToB helps with that.

[Ryumaru]

Hmm... I'll have to give things a look. With some of the manuevers, I'm tempted to take Swordsage/Warblade, and go full out on the martial. One side of huge blowing up places with fire and taking out mooks, and another for heavy on dueling with enemies of worth. Uncanny Dodge and Evasion = <3

[Eldariel]

Hmm... I'll have to give things a look. With some of the manuevers, I'm tempted to take Swordsage/Warblade, and go full out on the martial. One side of huge blowing up places with fire and taking out mooks, and another for heavy on dueling with enemies of worth. Uncanny Dodge and Evasion = <3

I also wish to point out that Eternal Blade is GOD with Wizard on the other side (what I'm trying to say is that they get great Intelligence-synergies).

[Ryumaru]

Hmmm, interesting... damn you, 3.5, and your hundreds of classes all over the place. x.x And damn you, indecision.

[Zaeron]

Just so you know, Ryu, I'm currently playing a ninth level Warblade//Wizard in a gestalt game I play - I wield a big-ass greatsword and use the Wizard side as purely a buff machine - Polymorph (well, I use a homebrewed spell similar to polymorph that allows me to keep my shape, my DM and I both disliked the flavor of Polymorph), Wraithstrike, Displacement, Greater Mage Armor, Greater Blink - all amazing spells. The schools I've focused on are Iron Heart, Tiger Claw (this school is a MUST. Leaping Dragon Stance (lv. 3 tiger claw), Sudden Leap (Lv. 1 Tiger Claw boost) and Pouncing Charge (Lv. 5 tiger claw strike) are AMAZING. Also look into Diamond Mind's Ruby Nightmare Strike (Lv. 4) - With power attack and a successful Ruby Nightmare Strike, I'm dealing upward of 60 damage per attack, non-crit. (While I realize this could have been more optimized, with leap attack especially, I intentionally handicapped myself - I'm playing a blind swordsman, and my DM homebrewed several feats that basically give me very short range blindsight, so even with flaws, I'm functioning from a pretty bad position feat-wise.) - I haven't had a chance to actually use Pouncing Charge yet, but combined with Haste and Shock Trooper, I expect fun things to result.

In summary - it's a LOT of fun to play. The only thing I would warn you about is that your AC ends up being VERY low. I am a huge healing sponge for my party - I take easily 100-150 damage in any given fight. Admittedly, we are playing a 5 person gestalt campaign - I'm pretty sure I could take down any CR equivalent enemy in one round.

[Glimbur]

Beguiler//Warblade?

[Zaeron]

Beguiler//Warblade?

Warblade has a lot of features that trigger off of INT though.

[Human Paragon 3]

Beguiler is Int-based casting.

How about one side beguiler, the other side Sneak-Attack fighter into Dread Commando.

Full BAB, you use beguiler to go invisible and then sneak attack the hell out of everybody. Starts working at level 4 when you get Blinding Color Surge. Dread commando lets you hide will running and charging, and totally eliminates ACP from mithral full plate. Which is medium armor. Which Beguiler can cast in if you take the battlecaster feat (requires the ability to cast arcane spells in light armor).

So, in the end you'd have great skills, two good saves, full BAB, full +6d6 sneak attack at level 10, which you could make use of basically all the time, and beguiler casting in full armor.

Dread Commando gives you full use of your skills in armor, a +5 to all your initiative checks, full bab, sudden strike, and the ability to hide while moving at no penalty (hide while running or charging at -10).