Playground advice:

[ReluctantDragon]

So, I'm creating a new character for a potential game starting at level 1. I'm unsure of what I want to play, honestly. I like a well-built character, but nothing overpowered. I have access to all 3.5 WoTC books and have the following stats:

11
13
15
15
15
16

I almost thought Monk, but wasn't sure about it, with those stats. Advice, fellow playgrounders?

[Magdela]

Oh deity, not a monk! They have MAD (Multi Attribute Dependence) which means that they have to spread out those oh-so-valuable skillpoints. And they're not very good beside that.

Try playing a sorcerer(they focus on CHA) in your first game if the party doesn't already have a caster, it's easier than a wizard since I'm sure you're not really familiar with the day-to-day challenges that adventurers face.

Alternatively, a fighter. Your DM will hopefully not throw super challenges at you nor will the game go too long. Fighters tend to "do good" at first, then the party casters or barbrians start overshadowing them. The fighter is, however, just an easy class to play. (first campaigns tend to not go on too long from what I've been reading)

But hey, a Vow of Poverty Monk "works" if you're playing a low power game with a bunch of other new players.

Edit: I wrote this Assuming it was your first time playing. A thousand apologies if it isn't. Bad habit.

[HunterOfJello]

Tome of Battle classes do amazingly well at low levels (1 to 5). That's the swordsage, warblade and crusader. Warblade is the simplest and possibly the most fun, depending on your playing style.


Fighters are a very simple class that do well at low levels. Barbarians can also be fun.

If you want to go the caster route i'd suggest a Sorcerer, as mentioned already. That, or a Beguiler can be fun also.


Avoid the monk at all costs.

~

Your amount of experience playing d&d, your playstyle and what classes you've played before would all be very helpful to know.

[Human Paragon 3]

Factotum? Can hardly go wrong with Factotum. You'd be well set up to be a Chameleon too, with those middling stats. When you invoke your class abilities, you become good at whatever you need at the moment.

Human Factotum 5/Chameleon X. Able learner gets you all skills as class skills for your entire career and qualifies you for chameleon. You can now do anything!

[ReluctantDragon]

Thanks for the advice, Magdela!

Let me clarify, though, this isn't my first game. This will be my first game in a long while, but I've been in the rodeo before. My big concern here is what to play with those stats. I want to focus at least a little bit on the crunch, and am at a loss as to what class/race combo would mesh well with those stats.

Thanks,
RD

*edit*

@HunterofJello

Hopefully this clarifies. Not really wanting to go Initiator classes, but you make good points.

@Gaurd Juris

I have never been a fan of the Factotum, although you are correct, it would do well with those stats, I think.

[Greenish]

Tome of Battle classes do amazingly well at low levels (1 to 5). That's the swordsage, warblade and crusader. Warblade is the simplest and possibly the most fun, depending on your playing style.

I'll second that: if you want a melee combatant, you want a ToB class. Crusader is the meatshield, everything that knights should have been, warblade can be pretty much anything, and swordsages are better ninjas/rogues than those classes. Maneuvers are fun and packed with style.

Fighters are a very simple class that do well at low levels.

This I can not support. Even at low levels, picking wrong feats will seriously hinder you.

Barbarians can also be fun.

Barbarians are perhaps the most straight forward of base classes, but compared to ToB their options are poor to non-existent.

If you want to go the caster route i'd suggest a Sorcerer, as mentioned already. That, or a Beguiler can be fun also.

Sorceress is a hard mistress, punishing for taking non-optimal spell choices. Beguiler (PHBII) and Dread Necromancer (Heroes of Horror) have decent to good class features and all spells known, making them pretty nice for new players, since you'll never get shafted for bad decisions. Warmages (Complete Arcane) share this trait, but their spell list is much worse than that of beguilers or dread necromancers.

Avoid the monk at all costs.

This. Monk abilities have poor to no synergy. They are a very weak class, and everything they do can be done better for example with unarmed swordsage (adaption scheme for swordsages in Tome of Battle) or tashatalora ("Tashatalora" is a feat from Secrets of Sarlona that allows sstacking monk unarmed damage, flurry and AC bonus to a chosen psionic class, most often psychic warrior [Expanded Psionic Handbook, SRD] or ardent [Complete Psionic]).

How strong you want to make your character depends on the rest of your group: D&D is teamplay, and if one character is strong enough to solve every problem (or even most of them) by himself, you have a problem.

If your group is somewhat proficient with the game, ToB classes are a great fun, if they aren't, you could play a buffer to make them better.

[Edit]: As has been said, factotum is a great skillmonkey and very fun to play.

If you don't warm up to these suggestions, look at the Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Magic.

[subject42]

If you don't mind being a beatstick, I'd suggest a Dragonborn (Races of the Dragon) Mongrelfolk (Races of Destiny) Totemist (Magic of Incarnum).

If you drop that 16 into CON, you'll end up with 22 CON at Level 1. That's good for a Totemist. Put the 15s in DEX, STR, and INT or WIS and you'll be good to go.

On top of that, Dragonborn will give you natural flight, awesome vision, or a breath weapon.

[Greenish]

On top of that, Dragonborn will give you natural flight, awesome vision, or a breath weapon.

Since totemists can gain both flight and breath weapon(s) from their soulmelds, the vision is probably the best choice.

[subject42]

Since totemists can gain both flight and breath weapon(s) from their soulmelds, the vision is probably the best choice.

I don't have my books with me, but I think you can get several different vision modes from melds as well.

[Amphetryon]

Don't care for the Initiator classes? Okay, try this:

Darfellan (Stormwrack) Barbarian 1/Psychic Warrior 2/Totemist 7/Totem Rager 10. You'll be a natural attack melee monster.

[Zergrusheddie]

I'll go again on the Warblade, but this time Bard 4 / Warblade X. There are a bunch of items that make your Inspire Courage better. I think at level 6 or so you can bump it to like +4 hit and damage. Add in the fact that the guy has 19/20 BAB and gives the entire party a big bonus to attack and you got a decent damage dealer. If you are not a fan of Warblades, just go straight Bard. They have some pretty decent spells.

Beguilers are awesomely fun. Just take Greater Spell Focus: Illusion and Enchantment and you can get DC's high enough that nothing is going to make it. Add the fact that you are a skill monkey that is keyed off Intelligence for casting and you have so many damn skill points you don't know what to do with them.

If you are a new player, Warlock. They are not very powerful but they are incredibly hard to get 'wrong.' Every round, you just deal 4d6 damage. Nice if you want to roll dice without thinking too much.

Dragonfire Adepts are very balanced characters and are really fun to play. They are surprisingly good at Battlefield Control (Entangling Exhalation, no Save Slow, Solid Fog) and are very similar to Warlocks. They deal less damage then Warlocks on average, but they hit more guys and their abilities are just awesome. The helpful handbook can be found here if you are interested.

Best of luck.
-Eddie

[Everyman]

Since you don't seem to have any preferences, here's a couple builds with a variety of party roles. I'll put in the adjusted values below, with the original stats in parentheses. I won't include leveling bonuses, though. I'll leave that decision to you.

Halfling Rogue 4 / Ranger 2 (ranged combat style) / Master Thrower
Str 13 (15), Dex 18 (16), Con 15, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 11
Halflings are already great at throwing things. Why not show what they can really do? Works best with sneaky tactics. Consider grabbing the choker from Tome of Magic that can give you the Dark template (ie Hide in Plain Sight)

Human Paladin 5 / Greyguard
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 16
You've actually got the stats to support a MAD class like this, and the greyguard allows you to trade the stick-in-your-bum morality paladins are stereotyped with for a shiny Batman-like morality.

Human Sorcerer 5 (metamagic variant - PHBII) / Mindbender 1 / Dread Witch
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 16 (put all stat bonuses into it)
Somehow, the idea of a mage that can literally scare anything makes me smile. The Mindbender level is just padding to get you to 6th level (memory is failing me whether you'd actually need it, but telepathy is just cool).

Dwarf Law Incarnate
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 17 (15), Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 9 (11)
Specialize in melee combat using Incarnum Weapon and various other "save or die" melds. I recommend Mr. Sinfire's Incarnate Handbook on the matter. If you wanted to improve on the idea, the dwarf has some nice sub. levels that may work with your party.

[Doc Roc]

Don't care for the Initiator classes? Okay, try this:

Darfellan (Stormwrack) Barbarian 1/Psychic Warrior 2/Totemist 7/Totem Rager 10. You'll be a natural attack melee monster.

This + Rapid Strike + Lulz?

[Darklord Xavez]

So, I'm creating a new character for a potential game starting at level 1. I'm unsure of what I want to play, honestly. I like a well-built character, but nothing overpowered. I have access to all 3.5 WoTC books and have the following stats:

11
13
15
15
15
16

I almost thought Monk, but wasn't sure about it, with those stats. Advice, fellow playgrounders?

monk, monk, monk, monk, Monk, Monk, Monk, Monk, MONK, MONK, MONK, MONK!!!!

Monks are awesome characters. Don't listen to what anybody else says. If you have good rolls in at least 4 abilities, the monk is the best possible class choice. Just use a quarterstaff and get casters to enchant it; unarmed strike damage carries through monk weapons. Either that, or play a psion.
-Xavez
Also: don't go into any of the monk or psion prestige classes. They suck. Even worse than most people say the monk does (but it doesn't! )
Let's hear it for the monk!

[Eldariel]

monk, monk, monk, monk, Monk, Monk, Monk, Monk, MONK, MONK, MONK, MONK!!!!

Monks are awesome characters. Don't listen to what anybody else says. If you have good rolls in at least 4 abilities, the monk is the best possible class choice. Just use a quarterstaff and get casters to enchant it; unarmed strike damage carries through monk weapons. Either that, or play a psion.
-Xavez
Also: don't go into any of the monk or psion prestige classes. They suck. Even worse than most people say the monk does (but it doesn't! )
Let's hear it for the monk!

Somehow I'm reminded of this comic strip.

[lsfreak]

Monks are awesome characters. Don't listen to what anybody else says. If you have good rolls in at least 4 abilities, the monk is the best possible class choice.

You are entitled to your own opinions. You are not entitled to your own facts. Quote from a TED talk. I don't remember the guys name.
The FACT is, monks are a bottom-tier character no matter what stats you roll. You can put those stats to better use on pretty much any other character, including building a 'monk' with a psywarrior, swordsage, or even fighter base.

If you're willing to put the time into learning it, a solid spread like that might be a good binder, filling in whatever role is needed. You'll want a main focus (my preference is going for eventual Air Blast + pounce + Power Attack), but binders have enough flexibility that you can switch up your role on a daily basis if needed.

[Il_Vec]

CHA 11
WIS 13
INT 15
DEX 15
CON 15
ST 16

Lesser earth genasi

Go Lion Totem Barbarian 1/ Fighter 2/ Wizard 4/ Abjurant Champion 5,
or Fighter 2/Wizard 5/Spellsword 1/ Abjurant Champion 5.

Lots of fun on early, mid and high level, without being Uber.

[SaintRidley]

Seconding (thirding?) the warlock.

Your scores never have to be terribly high with one - you can always opt to go for invocations that have no saving throws attached. Multiclass rogue and see if the DM can't work with you to make Arcane Trickster an option. Sneak Attack and Eldritch Blast are beautiful together.

[Darklord Xavez]

You are entitled to your own opinions. You are not entitled to your own facts.

Yes, I do know that, but everyone always says "monk sucks," not "I THINK monks suck." If others force their opinions on mine, I will force mine on them. And I think that the Monk is one of the best classes in existence. I'd say it's second-from-the-bottom-tier, above bard.
-Xavez

[lsfreak]

Yes, I do know that, but everyone always says "monk sucks," not "I THINK monks suck."

That's because it's pretty much provable fact that monks are worse than basically every other class, mechanically, on their own. Main exceptions being CW samurai and truenamer. Whatever monks can do, someone else does better. Not an opinion.

Doesn't mean you can't like monks anyways. Doesn't mean that the specific way a group plays means the weaknesses won't show up. But it's not opinion that they're bottom-rung in terms of mechanical prowess.

EDIT: And not continuing this here, as I've threadjacked enough. If you want other opinions, do a search. There's a new monk thread every 1-2 weeks where we all explain the same things over and over.

[Doc Roc]

Yes, I do know that, but everyone always says "monk sucks," not "I THINK monks suck." If others force their opinions on mine, I will force mine on them. And I think that the Monk is one of the best classes in existence. I'd say it's second-from-the-bottom-tier, above bard.
-Xavez

Well, you are entitled to your opinions. I won't force mine on you. However, I can present you with extremely strong counter-evidence, in the form of a huge number of PvE and PvP tests. On the topic of useful builds, I would lean towards either a shadow-pouncer or a Imperious Gaze barbarian, given your expressed preferences.

Cordially,
Jake

[arguskos]

Well, you are entitled to your opinions. I won't force mine on you. However, I can present you with extremely strong counter-evidence, in the form of a huge number of PvE and PvP tests.

Cordially,
Jake

This post needs an "awww, SNAP!" attached to it.

Also, someone mentioned Binder, the most enjoyable class ever, but complex to learn. Tome of Magic, check it out.

[lightningcat]

MAD is not nessicerily a bad thing. Monks and bards may not be the greastest of classes, but they can be fun classes. And remember that this is a game, and the most important part is having fun.

But with those stats, and as none of them are bad (remember that an 11 is average) i second looking into binder.

[Jastermereel]

I generally agree with those who attack The Monk, but my first PC was one and it was a lot of fun. It was everyone's first campaign and I got to do a fair share of the battling and more than a fair share of the exploring and scouting. Sure, I was weak in both HP and BAB, had little-to-no ability synergy and, thanks to the painfully low loot-levels of the campaign, was essentially without any magical boost until 90% of the way through.........but I had fun.

So yeah, if you want to play a monk, go forth and have fun, but know what you're getting into.

[Greenish]

Just use a quarterstaff and get casters to enchant it; unarmed strike damage carries through monk weapons.

It doesn't.

Anyhow, a bard could make use of the stats spread you have, and they're funny and versatile. I'm thinking silverbrow human dragonfire inspiration bard.

[Darklord Xavez]

That's because it's pretty much provable fact that monks are worse than basically every other class, mechanically, on their own. Main exceptions being CW samurai and truenamer. Whatever monks can do, someone else does better. Not an opinion.

Doesn't mean you can't like monks anyways. Doesn't mean that the specific way a group plays means the weaknesses won't show up. But it's not opinion that they're bottom-rung in terms of mechanical prowess.

EDIT: And not continuing this here, as I've threadjacked enough. If you want other opinions, do a search. There's a new monk thread every 1-2 weeks where we all explain the same things over and over.

Monks don't do individual things as well as certain other classes, but here is proof that they are still good. Read the end of the article.

[Darklord Xavez]

Well, you are entitled to your opinions. I won't force mine on you. However, I can present you with extremely strong counter-evidence, in the form of a huge number of PvE and PvP tests. On the topic of useful builds, I would lean towards either a shadow-pouncer or a Imperious Gaze barbarian, given your expressed preferences.

Cordially,
Jake

You, sir, know how to talk. Read my post in response to what Isfreak said.
-Xavez

[Greenish]

Monks don't do individual things as well as certain other classes, but here is proof that they are still good. Read the end of the article.

Start a new thread if you want to keep arguing about this, or find any of the old ones. There have been many, many discussions about this.

[Darklord Xavez]

So, I'm creating a new character for a potential game starting at level 1. I'm unsure of what I want to play, honestly. I like a well-built character, but nothing overpowered. I have access to all 3.5 WoTC books and have the following stats:

11
13
15
15
15
16

I almost thought Monk, but wasn't sure about it, with those stats. Advice, fellow playgrounders?

Back on track:
Maybe a psion? They need a different ability to use powers from different disiplines, and with good ability scores across the board, you'd have an excellent psion. Use the 16 for primary discipline, and one of the 15s for wisdom (will save and all that).
-Xavez

[Greenish]

Back on track:
Maybe a psion? They need a different ability to use powers from different disiplines, and with good ability scores across the board, you'd have an excellent psion. Use the 16 for primary discipline, and one of the 15s for wisdom (will save and all that).
-Xavez

You're thinking about 3.0 psionics, which are completely different from 3.5 psionics.