If you were in my shoes...

[SamTheCleric]

What would you build?

After a particularly nasty fight against a ghost wizard and his hordes of undead minions, my cleric ended up going to -10 just as the fight ended... (Greater Dispel Magic, Maximized Enervation, Cloudkill, Evard's... the ghost didn't like elves)...

So now I sit with the option wide open as to what to make and play. The DM is allowing me to come back in at the same level since I died as a result of good gameplay and not because I just felt like switching.

The Party (all around level 12)
Dwarf Fighter - Uberchargin' cleave mastah.
Whisper Gnome Scout/Ranger/Rogue [Melee] - Skill monkey doin' the scout dance.
Wizard/Geometer/Fatespinner - He makes us fly and then blows stuff up.
Human Marshal/Chameleon - We don't know he's a chameleon... we think he's a marshal wizard. Like... we didn't even know OUT of character until recently.
Warlock/Cleric/Eldritch Theurge - he gets Healing Blast soon.

Edit: The marshal has a cohort. Monk/Shadow Sun Ninja, 11th level.

I -was- a Cleric/Radiant Servant/Sacred Exorcist.

Now I can be annnnything. Level 12. All books but the setting specific stuff (pretty much).

What would you make? I did make a jade pheonix mage as a backup char... but the wizard covers the majority of what i'd be doing. Maybe a normal ToB character.. Anything really.

[Tempest Fennac]

How often can Healing Blast be used, and how good is it? Being as there isn't a full healer in the group unless the Warloc/Cleric would be effective, I would suggest Favoured Soul while taking Vigour spells due to them being more cost effective then Cure spells as long as you have time for them to work. Alternatively, if you need more Knowledge, an Archivist would probably work well (you would really be needed on the frontline that badly due to the other party member's classes).

[SamTheCleric]

Healing Blast converts his Eldritch Blast (which I think is 7d6... maybe 8d6) into a healing blast... that can be shaped like a normal eldritch blast (he has Chain right now, so he'd get 3 people with it)... and it costs a turn attempt to do it... of which he will have like 7-10.

[Tempest Fennac]

That sounds pretty effective. Perhaps a Druid would work well? It's always a good idea to have a back-up healer, and you'd be useful in combat and wilderness scenaios. If you didn't want to be overpowered, the Shapeshifter variant would probably work well.

[SamTheCleric]

What about a Crusader? They get some limited heal-like abilities right?

[Tempest Fennac]

I honestly don't know that much about the ToB classes. I think Crusaders get 1 ability which allows them to use Fast Healing 2 on all allies within 30 ft. as long as they are fighting, but I don't know anything specific about them (they may have a maneuver which can be used for more effective on-the-spot healing).

[SamTheCleric]

Hmm. Druid may work... I just don't want to go 'zilla and overshadow everyone.. (I almost did with my cleric... persisted divine power was fun... till it got dispelled)

[Vortling]

Crusaders get multiple abilities that heal, including a stance that lets them heal 2 hp to anyone within 30 feet whenever they hit an enemy. The downside to their abilities is they're all combat oriented and can't really be used during down time.

[Tempest Fennac]

That's why I suggested the Shapeshifter variant (if you think Spontaneous SNA is too powerful, you could ask the DM if you could use the Sponaneous Rejuvination variant as well: Chronicled said a while back that he found that Druid variant was well balanced). If your not familiar with these variants, check out page 38 of http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules...asses-Base.pdf .

[theterran]

If it's wide open, what do you enjoy more? blasting things w/ spells or hitting them w/ a big stick?

[_Puppetmaster_]

If you want to do ToB, you could go Swordsage 7/Master of nine 3/Legacy Champion 2. If you go legacy champion all the way to level 20 and add the level bonuses, to master of nine, you will have a lot of maneuvers readied and known.

[SamTheCleric]

Hmm. Variant Druid... I'll have to read exactly what they do at each level.. but that may work.

I dont want to leave them without ANY healing... My Darts of Life were kinda important.

I did like the Idea of a Favored Soul/Malconvoker... and that could easily serve as back up healing as well.

[Moff Chumley]

How about a Bard?

This party has all of the main character types covered, though more healing wouldn't be out of the question. Melee combat appears to be pretty well covered. My recommendation is a Dragon Shaman (Extra healing and clericness, more melee, some odd abilities), War Weaver (buff everyone), or Druid (Healing, druidy goodness)

[Tempest Fennac]

What exactly is a Malconvoker? I've never heard of those before.

[SamTheCleric]

A good summoner that uses bluff to summon evil creatures and lies to them to stick around longer, etc.

[Vortling]

It's a PrC from Comp. Scoundrel that lets a good cleric trick demons into doing their bidding. Nicely flavorful and gets a bunch of bonuses to the summon planar ally line of spells.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for telling me (it sounds interesting). Just out of curiosity, does it grant any armour proficiencies, and does it cause you to lose spell levels? (The latter shouldn't be that much of an issue in this particular game, but I'm just curious).

[SamTheCleric]

I think it loses only 1 casting level... and gets all sorts of goodies to make up for it (like any time you summon, you get +1 creatures... so summon 1 imp, get 2 imps! and they all have extra HP... etc)

Mastering the Malconvoker - On the Char Op Boards

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for giving me the link. If the class has poor BAB and/or a worse HD, you may want to pick a diety which would allow you to focus on ranged combat (Ehlonna would give you free Longbow proficiency with WF and WS for that weapon).

[Roderick_BR]

Crusader can make you both a secondary healer, and a secondary commander, so you can help the warlock and the marshall, while still being able to fight effectively.

[Eldariel]

I'd try Ruby Knight Vindicator or maybe Crusader-based Eternal Blade or Master of Nine. Also, Druid is always a good choice, of course, but if you've been looking at ToB, there're tons of good options, including the mentioned. Eternal Blade just kicks ass with all the abilities (you'll want some Int and probably few Warblade-levels though), Master of Nine is an incredibly versatile character that can literally be whatever you want it to be, and Ruby Knight Vindicator has few completely unique abilities, most importantly the ability to burn Turn-attempts for extra Swift Actions. So yea, all of those should be enjoyable, or even just a straight ToB-character; Swordsage, maybe?

How about Bard > Arcane Archer > Sublime Chord > Gish? You're on high enough level to pick it up. There's even that Prestige that allows you to pick up Heal so you'd be a full-fledged curing machine in addition to being a master singer, a master of the arcane arts and a superb ranged combatant.

Maybe something Psionic? There's a ton of fun character concepts in there, and around level 20, those damage moving/self-healing comboes have already kicked in so healing is no real problem. A straight Psion is tons of fun and quite powerful.


The sky's the limit. Have fun.

[Lord Tataraus]

Personally I'd go Crusader maybe dip cleric and take Ruby Knight Vindicator (though that might be too close to what you were before). Though if you go Dwarf, you could take Deepstone Sentinel or Elf and Eternal Blade. Of course, Crusader is pretty good for all 20 levels, so straight Crusader would be fun. Another option I would consider is Warblade into Bloodstorm Blade and go ranged by throwing greatswords...and power attacking!

[Reel On, Love]

Yeah, go for a Ruby Knight Windicator. Cleric *and* Crusader goodies.

[SamTheCleric]

Yeah, I think I'll whip up a crusader when I get home today... (Curse no having books at work!)

Thanks for your input guys. I may be back to ask about the maneuvers... cause ... I'm pretty dumb when it comes to selecting ones that are actually effective

[MammonAzrael]

CW Samurai.



Or maybe a Feral Goliath VoP Monk with a focus on grappling.

[SamTheCleric]

Assuming I go for Crusader... Two-Handed weapon or sword-and-board style? Am I relying more on Maneuvers than the 2-to-1 power attack?

(Note, the charging dwarf is sword and board... not exactly uber charger, but his dwarven waraxe does do a lot of damage.)

[Eldariel]

Sword & Board is actually half-decent for a Crusader thanks to the Devoted Spirit-maneuver which allows giving an ally your Shield-bonus +4. However, THF is still better as you can wield a reach weapon for battlefield control (that's what Crusader really is THE best at, thanks to Thicket of Blades). PA can be good, but your maneuvers kinda have that covered.

Really, the good thing about Crusader is that anything works. Sword & Board is ok, THF is good, but both are possible as your maneuvers give you damage and battlefield control.

[Paul H]

Hi

The Eldritch Theurge with Extra Turning feat & good charisma is excellent start.

Also look into the Wraith's Woe in Magic Item Compendium.

Three items (Choker, Gauntlets & Shirt), cost 24,000gp does:

+2 AC vs undead
Protects vs 3 Neg lvls/day
Ignore incorporeal miss chance
+1 D6 melee dam vs incorporeal
Permanent Hide from Undead - ignore undead int (std action to reapply after attack undead)
Detect Undead at will
1/day cure all stat damage to all stats, plus all drain to one stat.

Also try xx/Kensai 7. Upgrade weapon to:
Weapon +1/Holy/Sacred Burst/Ghost Strike with Lssr Revelation Crystal.

You can now hit Incorporeal, do Holy damage, even reveal Incorporeal creatures. Also do extra damage to Undead & Evil Outsiders, more on crit. (See description).

(Also having problem with undead in home campaign - using Samurai 1/Ftr 4/Kensai 6).

Cheers
Paul H

[Lord Tataraus]

Assuming I go for Crusader... Two-Handed weapon or sword-and-board style? Am I relying more on Maneuvers than the 2-to-1 power attack?

(Note, the charging dwarf is sword and board... not exactly uber charger, but his dwarven waraxe does do a lot of damage.)

Since it seems you aren't too worried about optimization, it really doesn't matter, especially with Crusader since you'll never run out of maneuvers to pull. So, in short, go with which you like best for fluff reasons.

[Thrawn183]

Dragonfire Adept Baby. Soooo much funzorz.