Look to make a social character

[Kimi11]

Putting together a character for a new campaign, starting at about level five or six, and I want to play a social, non-magic character. Anyone got any recommendations for classes to look at, notably prestige classes. Any good feats would also be good to have :)

I'm not fussed what books are used, the GM'll let anything go as long as it's not stupid; but the race isn't up for debate, they're human as that's what the campaign dictates. Combat isn't something to care about. It's not a combat heavy game, and doing fancy combat stuff is really boring IMO so it can be totally ignored.


What I'm thinking so far is a Rogue, with all the skills there to be used. But the class features aren't really any use. Traps, Sneak Attack and everythign are of no real use.

Any help would be great.

[psychoticbarber]

Bard it up, baby. That's about the extent of the good advice I can give, I'll get out of the way for more knowledgeable people to tell me I'm wrong and that you should be a wizard.

[Hario]

There is a PrC from Complete Divine called the Evangelist, its Pretty Neat, its great for a diplomancer, though flavor tends to lead to a church or religious calling, it doesn't seem totally needed.

[Human Paragon 3]

Exemplar from complete adventurer gives you amazing skill bonuses that can be applied to social skills if you wish. It's a 10 level PrC though that requires you to be level 10 to take it in the first place. Maybe Rogue with an aim toward Exemplar? The class itself is easy to qualify for, all you need is skill ranks and skill focus.

[Xefas]

Combat isn't something to care about. It's not a combat heavy game, and doing fancy combat stuff is really boring IMO so it can be totally ignored.

Just, as a digression, I'd like to point out that you've probably picked one of the single worst systems possible for you. D&D doesn't actually have any tie-in with roleplaying- it's a combat system. Systems like GURPs and Burning Wheel actually have mechanics that deal with roleplaying and accept it as part of the system, unlike D&D where it's tacked on at the end of a poorly balanced strategy game.

Not that you can't roleplay with D&D. You can do that with anything. It's just one of the relatively worst systems to roleplay in.

In any case, a 1 level dip in Marshal for the Charisma-skill boosting aura will increase your entire party's social influence, including yourself.

[Tengu]

Non-magical so bards and beguilers are out... what about Marshal?

[Thomix]

Courtier, from Rokugan. The perfect class for you. Well...its 3.0...

[Tequila Sunrise]

If your DM will go for it I think your best option by far is to just make a socialite class. As has been mentioned, d&d is pretty much built around combat so every class has at least some focus on it. Like you said the rogue would fit well, if it weren't for trap abilities and sneak attack...I suggest asking your DM to mod the rogue class to suit your needs.

[Ganurath]

Complete Warrior has a non-spellcasting varient of the Paladin, who has Diplomacy as a class skill. Oddly, the Monk has access to Diplomacy as well. Searching the Completes I have access to... Samurai has both Diplomacy and two of the skills that give Diplomacy synergy, as does the Swashbuckler... everything else in the Completes either has spells or doesn't have Diplomacy.

As for feats, good starters are Persuasive and Skill Focus (Diplomacy) to get 9+Cha mod at first level. Goad from Complete Adventurer may be a nice way to diffuse a potentially violent situation, if the person you're goading isn't hostile toward you. Unbelievable Luck leading into Make Your Own Luck can really help in a dicey social situation, but you need to burn a feat for another Luck Feat to qualify for either/both.

Skill Tricks in Complete Scoundrel are a bit limited for Diplomacy, but Social Recovery can work wonders for what you have in mind.

Prestige Classes... you can't qualify for the Exemplar yet... If you're level 6, honorable Dread Pirates get a bonus to Diplomacy, but it requires you be bound to coastal settings. Wait, scratch that, don't get that until L2 DP. If your campaign is good for Psionics, Wild Talent can get you into Psibond Agent by level 6, which will put you on your way to gross abuses of people's decisionmaking abilities. Look into CAd and CSc, respectively.

Questions: Why only humans, and why no magic? Did the Church of Zarus establish dominance before throwing down an epic antimagic field?

[Kagan]

As per classes/prestige classes, I'd second the Exemplar idea. For a base class, I'd say create your own, using the 'Generic Classes' ruleset from unearthed arcana - take a look at the 'Expert' class, found here. Since you don't need sneak attack, you'll instead have a few extra feats. At level 4, actually, you'll have 6 feats in all - provided you're playing a human.

For the 12 skills that you pick, I'd go for: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Forgery, Gather Information, Intimidate, Perform, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device, and your pick of three Knowledge skills.

In terms of feats, I'd look to Nymph's Kiss, from the Book of Exalted Deeds. A +2 on all charisma related checks, and an extra skill point each level? Why not. With all the bonus feats you'd have from being an 'expert', you could also have skill focus for just about every skill you want.

Take levels in expert until you can make the switch to exemplar, and you'll have all the skill ranks and bonuses you need.

[CharPixie]

A rogue is great. For a social game, you care the most about skills, then magic, then saves and finally the rest of the combat stats. Rogues have the most skills to pick. Really, it's just a case of getting enough skills to justify how you play your character. (Hopefully - this varies from DM to DM)

And, if you don't like combat, Sneak Attack is a good thing to have. It's pretty much a lot of bonus damage that you really don't have to worry about -- if you need it, you have it. No feats, no moves, no spells. And unlike the Barbarian, another low maintanence class, you aren't expected to be a combat bunny.

The Bard is also nice -- plenty of skills, strong knowledge skills/abilities, some magic. You get a combat ability which means that you don't do anything in combat. (not a favourite thing -- i prefer to simplify combat and make it about player RPing, not to take away their ability to act) You get saddled with the music thing though -- great if you want it. Hard to RP around if you don't. Rogues have very little you have to explain if you don't want to (stabbing someone in the back is much easier explained than magical music).

Otherwise, Paladins, Rangers, and Monks you don't worry about customizing too much, and if you like their fluff, it's a premade package.

Still, get the skills to cover your bills, and just RP your character however. I'd be cautious about assuming no combat in the game -- I've run d20-esque games with little or no combat, but it's odd. It's a system that started from a wargame, and you end up calculating a load of combat stuff each level even on a non-combat character.

[Mewtarthio]

You get saddled with the music thing though -- great if you want it. Hard to RP around if you don't. Rogues have very little you have to explain if you don't want to (stabbing someone in the back is much easier explained than magical music).

Actually, it's pretty simple. Just change it over to Perform (oratory).

[Kimi11]

Thanks guys, I'll look into your ideas :)


As for the strange character idea/game:
Human - that's what the GM said. His story, and were going with it
No Magic - i don't like it. The magic system is D&D isn't great, so I like to avoid it.
No Combat - Not really true, but my character will be avoiding it. Again, I dislike the system, and we've got a group big enough so there can be a good size combat going on with everyone needed to take part. (I've got my DS for that part of the game).

We don't normally play D&D, but for a change we're playing it. The groups cool and we know it'll be a messy game with odd results. We're going to be metagaming and abusing the rules, so it's going to be fun.

[Ganurath]

Thanks guys, I'll look into your ideas :)


As for the strange character idea/game:
Human - that's what the GM said. His story, and were going with it
No Magic - i don't like it. The magic system is D&D isn't great, so I like to avoid it.
No Combat - Not really true, but my character will be avoiding it. Again, I dislike the system, and we've got a group big enough so there can be a good size combat going on with everyone needed to take part. (I've got my DS for that part of the game).

We don't normally play D&D, but for a change we're playing it. The groups cool and we know it'll be a messy game with odd results. We're going to be metagaming and abusing the rules, so it's going to be fun.

In that case, I'd like to reemphasize my encouragement of the Psibond Agent from Complete Scoundrel. They are, rather literally, the class that sits on the sidelines and lets other people do things for them, using their psibond to screw over opponents without actually getting her hands dirty.

[Draz74]

I definitely think the Marshal is the best suggestion here. Possibly going into the Exemplar PrC later on.

Unless you're OK with Psionics. (They are a slightly better system than magic, after all.) Then I'd say go with a Wilder. Diplomacy is unfortunately cross-class, but the Attraction power is great fun. You should still start with a 1-level Marshal dip to largely fix the Diplomacy problem and double your Charisma bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks (and it works on your party too).

[Emperor Demonking]

With no magic at all I'd reccomend starting with rogue and then going 1 marshal dip.

[cupkeyk]

Courtier, from Rokugan. The perfect class for you. Well...its 3.0...

Well, we still use the courtier in 3.5, replacing Emotion's various effects with Rage, Good Hope, Crushing Despair. Or you could just copy the 3.0 spell description into that ability. I think that's the only thing that doesn't translate into 3.5.

[Ganurath]

I definitely think the Marshal is the best suggestion here. Possibly going into the Exemplar PrC later on.

Unless you're OK with Psionics. (They are a slightly better system than magic, after all.) Then I'd say go with a Wilder. Diplomacy is unfortunately cross-class, but the Attraction power is great fun. You should still start with a 1-level Marshal dip to largely fix the Diplomacy problem and double your Charisma bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks (and it works on your party too).

If she's going to dip for a psionic class, Telepath Psion would be better than Wilder. It may not be Charisma based manifesting, but the class skills are more suitable for what she's going for. Namely Diplomacy and Gather Information (for Psibond Agent.) As for the Marshal... I'm not familiar with it. What sort of roleplaying implications does it carry?

[Person_Man]

Marshal or Rogue both work fine, heading into Evangelist or Exemplar.

Another option which is probably mechanically much stronger is to be a social Warlock or Dragonfire Adept. Your invocations give you the power of spells, but since they're invocations, you never have to worry about bookkeeping. You just use them whenever you feel like it. Depending upon your character's personality, you can pick up buffs to your social skills, knowledge skills, Charm, Enthrall, Geas, and/or various fear effects. Your breath weapon will keep you useful in combat. And you can get Hide in Plain Site and/or Invisibility if you want to be sneaky.

[Telonius]

There's a pretty nice PrC from Complete Scoundrel called "Master of Masks." It usually synergizes pretty well with Bard, but it works with a Rogue too.

"Every creature is but a role."
-- Beriel, Comedian of Calamity and Tragedian of Triumph

Belief and perception shape reality. In worlds where religions derive might from the faith of believers and where amazing magic sways the mind, those who command the senses hold great power. In such an environment, the master of masks takes center stage. Wearer of a thousand faces, with an identity as fluid as that of a crowd of strangers, this thespian of possibilities decides what is real and what can be.

Becoming a Master of Masks

A master of masks must be a consummate actor. Anyone capable of shifting from role to role convincingly might enter the prestige class. Many are bards, who are the most obviously talented in the performing arts. Particularly theatrical rogues or those who specialize in disguise also sometimes become masters of masks, as do some multiclass sorcerers or wizards -- especially those with a fondness for illusions. Characters of a more martial bent or serious personality usually see acting as frivolous and do not pursue the class.

Entry Requirements

Skill: Bluff 8 ranks, Disguise 8 ranks, Perform (act) 8 ranks.

Languages: Any four.

Special: Must have successfully impersonated an individual, fooling even that person's friends and associates.