Worst Build Challenge

[Douglas]

I've seen a few threads here from time to time discussing just how poorly it is possible to make a character. Would anyone with an idea for that like to prove just how bad it is? I'm trying to ban most of the obvious ways to dump power, so it might actually be interesting.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Hrmmm, wonder if I should attempt the build that basically turns you into a harmless sandwich without stats.

[Douglas]

I'd categorize that under "permanent negative magical effects", which is banned. Yes, I know the end result is nonmagical. It's still a permanent magically achieved negative effect.

Plus, I seem to recall some arguments that the sandwich psion retains its mind and manifesting ability.

[JackMage666]

I'll take the first opportunity to say...

Goblin Samurai 20

[Dairun Cates]

Multi-classing into every class imaginable starting with the most similar classes and making sure to exit at the worst levels possible so as to minimize abilities gained. Put most stats in dex and keep an abysmally low con, int, and probably str to minimize the impact of most class abilities. Keep others only at sub-par avoid getting higher than a 12. Pick only the most specific and useless spells. Play a half-orc to maximize loss of ability points. Put skills into generally useless skills like intimidate and always make them cross-class. Waste money on magic items like Escape Artist Full-Plate. Wield a weapon you don't have the proficiency for.. two of them. Start feat trees that suck at first but get better later and only take one feat in them (can you say toughness and endurance?). All in all, that should do it. You could probably do worse, and if you give me an actual level and money, I could probably build one.

[SurlySeraph]

^ Uh... IMHO, Dexterity is the most useful stat, but maxing Dex and wearing full plate is a very good idea. Maybe you could wear the Mountain Plate or whatever it's called from Races of Stone, which doesn't allow ANY dexterity bonus. This build definitely calls for Monkey Grip - maybe dual-wield monkey-gripped Large-sized clubs to minimize attack bonus and power. Alternately, you could go with Large-sized rapiers and take Weapon Finesse, which would be wasted because the armor would kill your Dexterity. However, rapiers are more effective weapons than clubs, so I'm not sure which would be worse.

[JackMage666]

What about a Goblin Druid 20, who switches to CN at 20th level? Dual weilds 2 nonmagical Medium-sized Sai's (he's not proficient with), without two-weapon fighting. Wears nonmagical Splint Mail, and a nonmagical Buckler on each arm. Spends all his money on Gloves of Dexterity and Potions of Cat's Grace.
All feats are Metamagic/Item creation feats.
If NPC levels are allowed, make it a Goblin Commoner 20.

[SilverClawShift]

Multi-classing into every class imaginable

That has one single advantage.

+2 Saving throws in at least one save every level. Your saves would ROCK.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Working on an elf wizard that'll get mopped all over the floor by the same housecat that mopped the floor with him at ECL 1.

[SadisticFishing]

That has one single advantage.

+2 Saving throws in at least one save every level. Your saves would ROCK.

Monk 2/Favored Soul 2/Tattood Monk 2/Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries 2/Drunken Master 2/Dragon Descendant 2/Apostle of Peace 2/Sacred Fist 2/Shadow Sun Ninja 2/Disciple of the Word 2.

Yay! +30 to all base saves!

[Saint George]

http://goblinscomic.com/d/20050902.html

It has already been done by Senor Vorpal Kickass'o.

[martyboy74]

http://goblinscomic.com/d/20050902.html

It has already been done by Senor Vorpal Kickass'o.

Psst! They mean RAW builds!

[Saint George]

Psst. It was a joke.

[Dairun Cates]

That has one single advantage.

+2 Saving throws in at least one save every level. Your saves would ROCK.

True enough. You could probably apply some flaws. I was more going around a character having an abysmal AC for level, a huge armor check penalty, no better than level 1 casting, and a conglomerate of class abilities that don't work together. Theorhetically, they'd deal almost no damage, do nothing to higher level opponents, and wouldn't be able to take a hit. Unfortunately, the saves were the only thing I couldn't get down too low, but who cares if you can save against mind control on all but a 1 if the vampire kills you in 2 rounds without it? Oh, and we definitely would not be giving this build evasion.

[Demented]

Working on an elf wizard that'll get mopped all over the floor by the same housecat that mopped the floor with him at ECL 1.

My level 6 Chain Devil Druid (reformed to True Neutral, of course) is going to wildshape into a common housecat and kill your elf wizard.

Edit: Scratch that, can't do housecats. However, an Eagle would work.
Or I could settle for a level 16 Dretch Druid....

[Dausuul]

Here's my build. I'm assuming 20th level, 32 point buy and all must be used, and no NPC classes.

Venerable Half-Orc Wizard 20
Str 5 (originally 10)
Dex 3 (originally 8)
Con 5 (originally 10)
Int 9 (originally 6)
Wis 31 (originally 18)
Cha 24 (originally 16)

Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +22
BAB +10/+5
Hp 20, AC 6
Skills: Profession (Dirt Farmer) +28
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Silent Spell, Skill Focus (Profession [Dirt Farmer]), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Light Armor Proficiency, Medium Armor Proficiency, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Weapon Finesse
Equipment: 2,500 gp, tome of leadership and influence +5 (used), tome of understanding +5 (used), manual of bodily health +1 (used), manual of quickness of action +1 (used), manual of gainful exercise +1 (used), two Small-sized +1 returning seeking keen ki focus ghost touch distance plant-bane ooze-bane reptilian humanoid-bane shuriken. (He needs two of them since he can attack twice a round and they don't return until the start of his next turn.)

This fellow can do two things... he can make Will saves, and he can farm dirt. That's pretty much it.

[Kizara]

Here's my build. I'm assuming 20th level, 32 point buy and all must be used, and no NPC classes.

Venerable Half-Orc Wizard 20
Str 4 (originally 10)
Dex 2 (originally 8)
Con 4 (originally 10)
Int 9 (originally 6)
Wis 26 (originally 18)
Cha 19 (originally 16)

Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +20
BAB +10
Hp 20, AC 6
Skills: Profession (Dirt Farmer) +28
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Silent Spell, Skill Focus (Profession [Dirt Farmer]), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Light Armor Proficiency, Medium Armor Proficiency, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Weapon Finesse
Equipment: 50 Small-sized shuriken (+0 to hit, damage 1d1-3), and 759,950 gp worth of "feather token: anchor."

This fellow can do three things... he can make Will saves, he can farm dirt, and he can moor a whole pile of ships. That's pretty much it.

I would have to say that you must at least spend your money on reasonable items, if not one's that would actually be useful. For one thing, there's no need for 20k feather tokens... thats like saying he owns 1000 tons of iron.

[ArmorArmadillo]

Okay, it's possible to make an intentionally bad build pretty easily just by purposefully gimping yourself, but how about another element to the challenge.

Your build has to use the Elite Array and be arranged in a manner that makes sense for your class; and your character has to have a concept that is "supposed" to work.

My idea:
A Kobold Monk-Ranger/Sor-Wiz Ultimate Magus gish.

He's supposed to be able to move quickly and utilize ranged weapons while augmenting it with spells.

[Dausuul]

I would have to say that you must at least spend your money on reasonable items, if not one's that would actually be useful. For one thing, there's no need for 20k feather tokens... thats like saying he owns 1000 tons of iron.

Hmm, just read the rules... okay, fixed. Thank God for magic weapons and one-point stat tomes.

[The Glyphstone]

Like I mentioned in the Recruiting thread, a Grey Elf..uh...Samurai 20 who was Venerable would have Strength 0 and Constitution 0, thus dead before they started fighting...maybe make a rule that they must be able to make some effort at fighting?

[Demented]

A character's physical stats cannot be reduced below 1 due to aging. Unless that's a Samurai thing.

[Tor the Fallen]

I'd go goliath wizard, pump dex, wear mountain plate, get power attack, and get the feat that let's me reroll. That way, I can avoid criticals and always miss while swinging a weapon I'n not proficient in, and have 100% ASF.

[Caxton]

How about a 12 level sorcerer 8th level paladin who fell and became TN and took the mage slayer, pierce magical protection, and pierce magical concealment feats? This would give him a caster level of 0, making him an 8th level fighter without bonus feats but with 12d4 extra hp. woop.

[Douglas]

Normally those feats would actually be pretty useful, but I doubt anyone's going to have significant spellcasting ability to use them against. Go right ahead.

[SilverClawShift]

I was more going around a character having an abysmal AC for level, a huge armor check penalty, no better than level 1 casting, and a conglomerate of class abilities that don't work together.

Actually, I brought it up because my group played a game where we were intentionally underpowered to various levels. My character was a 'no more than 1 level in any class' build, with alignment restrictions ignored.

It was actually less horrible than you'd think. Now mind you, I wasn't a powerhouse in any sense of the word, I was definately sub-par compared to even casual builds. But I wasn't unplayable. In low levels, my BAB was decent (2/3ish), my saves were incredible like I said, and having a whole host of low level abilities can be interesting in a pinch. Never earth-shattered stuff, but it can still be valuable. A level of wizard gets you cantrips and first level spell access, with all the little tricks and cunning things you can do with them (Mage Hand, Silent Image, Erase, Enlarge Person...). A level of rogue gets you 1d6 sneak attack, which is an edge when you might not expect having one. A level of soulknife gets you a mindblade, which if nothing else means you always have a real weapon, even if you wake up naked in a locked cell. Cleric? Emergency "Stop him from bleeding to death" healing and more spell slots. Fighter bonus feat and proficiencies, Barbarian fast movement. Your skills are all across the board and you've got plenty of places to put them. Ect, ect, ect.

Sure, you're not twinked out, but if you play the character for what it is (5th wheel), you'll be very memorable, bizarrely versatile, and surprisingly useful.

[Dairun Cates]

Oh, I realize it can be very interesting to play. I've played some really weird cross-classes before. While not powerful, they were interesting and fun to play.

Still, I was mostly assuming cutting off at the 2nd or 3rd level when the class gains almost nothing that level, or at least nothing too useful. I think multi-classing at the wrong times can make an extremely underpowered character if done "right". There's a few combinations of low-level classes that don't go well together. You can make some interesting characters through one level combinations, but I also think there's some really horrible possibilities with it as well.

[FoxHush]

Black gaurd with holy armor that lowers you a lvl and he's daul welding without feats daggers with the "holy" enchant for -2 levels. Better yet make him a evil wizard in holy fullplate.

[CASTLEMIKE]

+10 LA Half Celestial, Half Dragon, Svirfneblin (FRCS starting PC race (Worse could be found in other source books but this is pretty close to core as a campaign source book using an Underdark race adventuring above ground) without the optional LA buydown.

Starting out as a Battle Sorcerer - S 12 Dex - 14 Con - 13 Int - 8 Wis - 12 Char - 11 after Svirfneblin racials ability modifiers without half templates 11 Hit Points a total of 4 skill points in class skills like Arcana - 1, Concentration -1, Craft -1 and Spellcraft - 1.

Finishing up as a Battle Sorcerer - 4, Wilder -4, Cerebrancer - 1, Samauri - 1 with St - 15 Dex - 14 Con - 14 Int - 8 Wis - 12 and Char - 12 for a ECL 20 character with +7/+2 BAB before adding the half templates:

Celestial Armor 22,400 GP for walking around town.

+10 Mithril Breast Plate 100,000 GP

+10 Mithril Buckler 100,000 GP

Weapons: +1 Vorpal Katanna 72,000 GP

+2 Wakizashi Two Wishes 102,660 GP (One of the best uses would probably be for "I Wish I didn't S..." for a super charged magical psychic reformation.

+6 Cloak of Charisma 36,000 GP

Half Charged Helm of Brillance 63,000 GP

Stone of Good Luck 20,000 GP

+ 6 Amulet of Health 36,000 GP

+ 3 Ring 18,000 GP

Ring of Theurgy 20,000 GP

Ioun Stones:

Pink 8,000 GP,
Dusty Rose 5,000 GP
Pink and Green 8,000 GP
Clear 4,000 GP
Scarlet and Blue 8,000 GP
Vibrant Purple 36,000 GP
Pearly White 20,000 GP
Lavender Green 40,000 GP

Heward's Handy Haversack 2,000 GP

Potions and Scrolls to taste 38,000 GP

Other Temporary items to taste 38,000 GP

2,000 GP in Gems and Gold Pieces.

Still tweaking.

[Umarth]

Seems to me like a sorc/wiz build with a 9 or lower int/cha would win this at that point they are even worse than a commoner. Couple it with a low con and your a real winner/loser

Lowest HD in the game
Lowest BAB in the game
1 good save
Metamagic feats for all the spells you can't cast

Only bad side to this is you could still use wands and rods and such. Perhaps combine this idea with the thread a while back on banning the largest number of schools of magic possible.

[CASTLEMIKE]

Tanarukk Races of Faerun, 5 Racial HD +3 LA Orc Outsider with levels in UA Spellcaster variant - 1, PRC Spell Fire Channeler-10, Merchant Prince -1 (Favored Class is Barbarian) for ECL 20.

Medium sized. Land speed 20. Darkvision - 60'. Fire Resistance - 10, Spell Resistance - 14 + 12 (Class levels) = SR 26. +4 Natural Armor. Proficient with all martial weapons. 5 Ousider Hit Dice. Natural Attack Bite 1D6. Control Flames within 10' diminish or flare 1/Day. Orc Blood. Automatic languages Orc, Abyssal and Regional.

Base BAB +5, +0, +5, +0 = +10/+5 BAB

Using 32 point buy and averaging ability scores:

Base St - 14, Dex - 14, Con - 14, Int - 14, Wis - 14 & Char - 15

After Racial:

St - 18, Dex - 16, Con - 14 (18 for HD/Levels), Int - 14, Wis 12 & Char - 11

5D8 + 11D4 + 1D6 + 34 = 91 Hit Points.

General Feats HD/Level: 1 Spell Fire Wielder, 3 Endurance, 6 Business Savvy, 9 Favored in Guild, 12 Skill Focus Profession Merchant, 15 Uncanny Dodge (Spellcaster Bonus Feat option so should be available as a general feat)

Merchant Prince: Master of Commerce and Mercantile Knowledge

UA Spellcaster Variant Bonus Feat: Evasion

Spellcasting as a Spellcaster - 2 using the Merchant Prince variant:

Daily Spellcasting as a CL 2: 5 / 3

Known Spells 5 / 2

Cantrips: Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation & Read Magic

First: Color Spray and True Strike

Spellfire Channeler:

Drain charged items as a standard action can drain a single charge item and convert the energy into a single spellfire energy level.

Drain permanent items.

Increased Storage 18 Con times 5 = Up to 90 spellfire levels

Improved Healing 2-5 Hit Points per Spell fire energy level

Weapon Focus Spellfire

Rapid Blast can release Up to 3 blasts as a standard action although each blast suffers a consecutive -2 penalty to attack rolls.

Flight (SU) can fly up to 1 minute per spell fire energy level leaving a visible trail of light.

Deflect Arrows (SU) Deflect Arrow feat using a single level of spellfire energy to knock the missile away.

Crown of Fire (SU) By expending 10 spellfire energy levels a channeler can manifest the Crown of Fire (Halo of Spellfire) equal to a Daylight spell which confers DR 10/Magic and automatically melts all nonmagical weapons that strike the spellfire wielder. It also confers SR32. Maintaining the Crown costs 10 spellfire energy levels a round which can be done as a free action. The Crown does not interfere with a PC channeler's other actions including using spellfire.

Maelstrom of Fire (SU) the spellfire channeler can release spellfire energy is a 20' radius spread doing 1D6 damage per spellfire energy level expended to all creatures in the area (Reflex half, DC 10 + CL + Char Mod).

760,000 GP:

Heward's Handy Haversack 2,000 GP

+7 Bracers of Armor 64,000 GP

+6 Amulet of Health and Natural Armor +4, 72,000 (Doubled) + 32,000 GP = 104,000 GP

Robe of the Arch Magi 75,000 GP

+3 Ring of Theurgy 58,000 GP

+6 Weapon to taste 72,000 GP

Ring of 3 Wishes 97,500

+2 Missile Weapon to taste 8,000 GP

+10 Mithril Buckler 100,000 GP

Boots of Speed and Striding and Springing 5,500 GP + 20,000 GP (Doubled) = 25,500 GP

60,000 GP in assorted scrolls, potions and other temporary items up to 18,000

90,000 GP in other minor gear up to 18,000 GP

Still tweaking.