Witch Doctor

[jguy]

After looking at the Diablo 3 trailers and classes I got a sudden urge to make a witch doctor. What classes to you think fit him better? Druid? Wizard with certain spells selection? Spirit Shaman perhaps?

[Prodan]

Please list all relevant abilities.

[jguy]

Well he should be able to do what witch doctors in classical myth can do. Talk to spirits, curse people, be a spiritual man. Probably have a minor connection to animals and nature like snakes, lizards, and bats. Fear spells are big for the boogey man part.

If there is no one class that fits this I was thinking of homebrewing one with parts from separate classes but I didn't know if there was one already up.

[Prodan]

Cleric with nature domains?

[Rosalinath]

for classes from wotc I would highly suggest spirit shaman. It has all the spells of the druid, can talk and 'smite' spirits, heal people, and if u wanted the voodoo aspect in it I'm sure u could talk a dm into letting u get a divine focus as a doll enchanted like a holy symbol.

Out of wotc I remember seeing a couple of witch docter classes roaming about thse forums as well as others. I'll go looking, but u should as well

hope that help

[jguy]

I will have to look it up. Perhaps I can convince my DM to allow the Hexblades Hex ability as part of the Witch Doctors curse.

[KillianHawkeye]

Probably Adept.

[Greenish]

Dread Necromancer.

[TooManyBadgers]

I've been having a good time with Pathfinder's Witch.

Otherwise, I'd go with Cleric (Cloistered, if possible) or Dread Necromancer,

[hamishspence]

Maybe if you can find Diablo 2: Diablerie, you could start with the Diablo Necromancer, and rebuild from there?

[Cahokia]

That PF Witch does seem to fit the bill pretty well. I would also suggest a Hexblade (but only 4 levels of it to gain a Dark Companion, or just get a familiar and take the Improved Familiar feat). Warlock wouldn't be a bad idea either. Some Binder levels in there could give it a nice occult feel, but the thing I'd say would be most helpful in reproducing the Witch Doctor?

Make an artificer (and take a dip into binder, 'cause it's cool). You could make dust to sprinkle in the eyes of the dead to communicate with them, talismans that allow you to speak with animals or even command them, wands to animate the dead or shoot blasts of energy, plenty of potions...

[jguy]

Wow, never heard of an artificer concept not in the lines of crazed creator but Witch Doctor Artificer...sounds awesome

[thegurullamen]

I'd have to push the PF witch with a tweaked spell list (summon ghost-, elemental- and fey-type spells). Maybe pick up the spirit shaman's rebuke spirits ability.

I've also got a WD homebrew in my sig. Technically, it's a bokor, which is the evil version of a witch doctor, but the flavor's the same.

[thompur]

My favorite is Tom Baker, followed closely by David Tennant but... huh...Oh Never mind... go with the gurullamen's suggestion.

[Critical]

I'm pretty sure the Spirit Shaman is the closest you can find, also, I'm pretty sure, that pretty much any full-caster is able to do stuff that witch doctor does.

[onthetown]

I think there was a good homebrew Witch Doctor around these forums not so many months ago... I remember making a note of it in one of my scribblers of homebrews I want to try...

Ah, here it is.

It might be along the same lines of what you're thinking of.

[DementedFellow]

I've been having a good time with Pathfinder's Witch.

Otherwise, I'd go with Cleric (Cloistered, if possible) or Dread Necromancer,

On a semi-related note. How is the PF Witch not a spontaneous caster? And would there be any harm in making her one?

[TooManyBadgers]

On a semi-related note. How is the PF Witch not a spontaneous caster? And would there be any harm in making her one?

Assuming you mean in the Dread Necromancer/Beguiler sense, it seems like a pretty versatile spell list to dig through spontaneously (blasts, debuffs, BC, enchantments, buffs, summons, divinations, heals, various utility spells).
The 3 existing full-list spontaneous casters generally have one or two distinct spell effects and a long list of variants (DN-debuff/summon; B-image/enchant/skill replacement; WM-damage/minor BC).
You may or may not consider that imbalanced.

On the other hand, there's nothing more annoying than a spellcaster announcing a 15 minute break every 2 minutes of RL play, and the results wouldn't be that dramatically different (if you're 'being batman,' you're going to have the right spell; there's just the tediousness of scouting/scrying/filling slots to divide it from spontaneous casting).

I'd recommend a "spells known" model, if you want it to cast spontaneously, both to differentiate mechanically between members of the class and to somewhat cut back on the number of options the class would have at any given moment.

[But I'd also recommend avoiding prepared casters with long spell lists altogether, so take from that what you will.]

[Optimystik]

On a semi-related note. How is the PF Witch not a spontaneous caster? And would there be any harm in making her one?

I don't see a major problem with it - their low spells/day (same as a generalist) and limited spells known are decent balancing factors. The main thing you'll have to watch out for is that they know their entire spell list. This can cause shenanigans with Rainbow Servant, etc.

They also have a much more diverse list than Beguilers, Dread Necros and Warmages. Witches can blast, summon, heal, control the battlefield, and target every save with suck/death.. and all that is in addition to their Hexes, and the bonus spells their familiars provide.

Blast, ninja'd.