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Total Members Voted: 22

[RAM]

So a naturey, fightery, type thing, maybe a paladin, with limited rules references and lots of options... Well, I will stick with the S.R.D.

Well, ranger is an obvious choice, but the combat styles are a little tricky, They have two-weapon fighting if they don't wear armour or archery, which doesn't seem to be what you are looking for.
You might be able to get swim replaced by disguise. a desert ranger probably doesn't swim much and the desert may make conventional hiding more difficult...
You might be able to get your animal powers converted to vermin powers. Vermin in D&D are mindless, which makes it difficult to just swap them, but someone with familiarity with them should be able to control their actions somewhat, consider talking to your local D.M. and bear in mind that camel is already on the animal companion list...
Woodland stride could be replaced with sand stride easily enough...
If you want a melee ranger, the dire flail can be used to make trip or disarm attempts, which is good for giving you options. Alternatively you could use a whip, you can hold a double weapon in one hand if you are not actually using it, so you can wield a whip at the start of combat and drop it when you want to deal damage...


Hmmm, here is a thought, a ranger with 13+ strength, lots of dexterity, weapon finesse, power attack, and exotic weapon proficiency(spiked chain). You can use power attack (two-handed), trip, disarm, reach, your dexterity should give you a decent armour class, you can take the archery combat style to be effective at range. Combat expertise is another great feat for having options.

Possible prestige classes are:
 Dwarven defender, for defensive stance and uncanny dodge, damage reduction would cost a lot of levels and isn't really your style.
 Horizon walker would make your desert mastery official, but is a little odd...
 Shadowdancer, once again for uncanny dodge. Shadow jump and hide in plain sight could also be fun but be warned that Shadowdancer will cost some base attack bonus.
 Duellist is interesting, but has severe equipment restrictions.
 Monk is not actually a prestige class, and may well cause an experience penalty, along with a loss in base attack bonus, but all its saves are good and it offers some possible AC if you are not wearing armour.

So... Dwarf, 6+x+6+6+6+0=str14, dex15, con16, int14, wis14, cha6... That dexterity is less than inspiring.
ranger, exotic weapon proficiency(spiked chain), weapon finesse, some flaw...
monk(cobra strike variant)
monk, combat reflexes
ranger
ranger
ranger, power attack
ranger
Duellist
Duellist, Toughness
Shadowdancer
Shadowdancer
Dwarven defender, Improved disarm
Dwarven defender...

Not really poetry, I am trying to do too much again...

[The Fool]

Don't worry about it Haika, I've swapped characters MANY times. I suggest thinking about how you want to roleplay before you build a character sheet. Here is a short list of things that I suggest considering:

You want someone that won't kill everyone either intentionally or unintentionally by RPing (ran into this problem twice in this campaign).

Think about groups within the party and how your character would react to them. We have a nature cult, a Procan cult, and halflings (culture counts right?). We have elves, but I don't think the RP shows well. Character friction works and adds a new dynamic to the group. Vaba is a great example of this.

You don't want to powergame without an RPing concept or you will end up with a faceless adventurer that hits hard (my first character of the campaign).

Lastly, don't take Vow of Peace (Book of Exalted Deeds) in a setting that revolves around killing creatures and traveling vast distances. No one who is RPing will thank you for it no matter how powerful you are.


ALWAYS get a character and their roleplaying down before you pick a class. I wanted someone raised by dire wolves, and so I picked classes that would allow me to have a pack of dire wolves. If you have a concept, but are having a hard time finding a class we can help.

[Heron TSG]

You don't want to powergame without an RPing concept or you will end up with a faceless adventurer that hits hard (my first character of the campaign).

Aye, in some cases you have to shoot yourself in the foot repeatedly. I'm a powergamer at heart, but I wanted a character with a goal. Rolled up Procan as a god, decided to find an ocean somewhere. Rolled on a chart, ended up with Water Orc. Orc fighters generally worship Gruumsh or Kord and similar gods, so I went with a more magical form of orc - a Sorcerer. Orcs like melee fighting though, so he's a sworcerer. (I never get tired of that portmanteau.) Orcs like being direct - focus on direct damage instead of the really good spells. Blammo, I have a character with constraints and a goal that I can still optimize within those constraints.

[Kogan Loloklam]

How about a Wasteland Ranger?
Get your strenght up as high as you can and put the remaining points where you feel it is most useful to you.
Get Exotic Weapon proficiency and Get a pair of Masterwork Great Scimitars. Your fighting style would be two weapon combat, so you wouldn't need anything to turn it into -4 -4. With the 18-20 threat range of the scimitars and 1d8 damage they do, you should see some nice critical hit actions going on.

Get Scorpion's Resolve. When you got 8 ranks of hide, make yourself a Scorpion Herator prestiege class. (I think that'd be level 6, but if you can pull it off earlier it would be worth getting as soon as you can.)

For an animal companion, I recommend talking to Shoruke and seeing if you can't get yourself a Riding Scorpion or something equally exotic and awesome

For a Race, Bhuka might be interesting, but the -2 strength would hurt pretty badly here. Painted Elf would be interesting. Human would be useful for the extra feat and skill points.

[RAM]

Wood Elves are the same as normal elves except their favoured class is ranger and their ability score modifiers are +2 strength, +2 dexterity, -2 constitution, -2 intelligence.

Also, people keep saying that you should have one-handed weapons, this is silly... A weapon weight category adds 1 point of damage. Using a light weapon in your off-hand adds 2 points of attack bonus. Instead of exotic weapon proficiency, take power attack, with two kukri and 2 points of power attack you will do the same average damage as the great scimitars. Exotic weapon proficiency is only a damage-increasing option for people with too many feats or a weapon-specific class or feat in mind. Exotic weapons are primarily useful for their special tricks. Exotic weapon proficiency dire flail for example gets you +2 to disarm checks and ability to trip with your weapon, it grants 1d8 damage on the off-hand with no penalty, and lets you freely switch between two-handed and two-weapon fighting... If you are still desperate for bigger dice after that, ask about monkey grip...

If you are a strength-based two-weapon ranger, hit points become extremely important because you have no AC, which brings us back to dwarves...

Dwarf: 17str(13) 8dex(0) 16con(6) 13int(5) 14wis(6) 8cha(2)
ranger1: Exotic weapon(dire mace), combat expertise, flaw
ranger2: two-weapon fighting
ranger3: power attack
ranger6: improved two-weapon fighter, improved disarm
ranger9: improved trip...

The main problem that I see is that off-hand attacks get half the damage bonus from strength, you are better off with a cleric or something that can get extra damage on all attacks...

[Kogan Loloklam]

Ram, he had a picture of a character in his head. That's why I suggested the Double Great Scimitars. If I could think of a light version of a weapon that would fit with his mental image I'd have suggested that for the off hand to improve his average damage. The ability to accurately hit will be much more valuable since we are talking about adding Backstab at level 7-8ish. (5-6 Ranger, 2 Scorpion Herator)

It isn't the "Ideal" killing character, but it's got that Arabian guy from the Prince of Thieves movie, and the Desert Ranger guy from the modern Mummy Movies.

Desert Ranger guy I think: http://splicd.com/vc74BKr75O4/48/87
Arabian guy I think he means this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXvdwCb5zP4

They are both wrapped in lots of cloth and carry around a Scimitar. They both use a single weapon, but that would put him at a disadvantage. As such, I figured adding a second great Scimitar would be a good idea. He could drop the feat and go with standard scimitars instead, or use the great scimitar two handed.

I suggested the riding scorpion because it fit with the Scorpion Herator class he might want to do, but alternatively he might go horse and eagle like desert ranger guy went.




Edit: Here's the details of a possible Desert Orc:
22Str(16), 12Dex(4), 14Con(6), 8Int(2), 8wis(2), 8cha(2)
WasteRanger1:Exotic Weapon (Great Scimitar), Weapon Focus (Great Scimitar), Flaw of some sort, {+Track, 1st Favored Enemy, & Wild Empathy}
WasteRanger2:{Combat Style:Two Weapon Fighting}
WasteRanger3:Scorpion's Resolve {+Heat Endurance}
WasteRanger4:{Animal Companion:If Shoruke allows a Riding Scorpion}
WasteRanger5:{2nd Favored Enemy}
After Ranger 5, you should qualify for Scorpion Herator. At Scorpion Herator 2 you gain Sneak Attack +1d6. You might want to consider taking Oversized Two Weapon fighting here as well which makes the Great Scimitar count as a light weapon. Complete Adventurer Page 111.

The high strength is to ensure the best chance of hit possible. This build should result in lots of hits. Since Scorpion Herator is a Prestige class, he doesn't have to worry about Multiclassing.

[Heron TSG]

You might want to consider taking Oversized Two Weapon fighting here as well which makes the Great Scimitar count as a light weapon. Complete Adventurer Page 111.

This. It will reduce your accuracy penalties for dual wielding immensely.

[RAM]

Or you could single-wield the great scimitar and take the exotic weapon master prestige class for their superior strength bonus to damage and... oh, right, I was trying to limit it to SRD...

Oh my, I just noticed those movie references.


Hmm, actually, ranger really doesn't seem to fit with those references...

What about combining wilderness rogue and feat rogue to have a skill monkey with feats and a nomad feel.

I think that we are definitely looking at lawful neutral., both characters clearly took charisma as a dump stat...

Human... probably, I don't like human... Hmmm, Bugbear could work, the alignment is way off, but adventurers are freaks... Lizardfolk might be fun, but replace the hold breath ability for a similar ability that applies to thirst and hunger...

I would like to start a petition to give all races the option to replace their first hit die with a character class...

You could take a Duergar, they have some nice benefits. Orcs... Orcs are stupid, literally, you want intelligence to have combat options.

Bugbear, Lawful neutral, Str21(13), Dex14(4), Con16(6), Int13(5), Wis12(4), Cha6(0)
1, Humanoid1: Combat Expertise, Power attack, flaw.
2, Humanoid2:
3, Humanoid3: Exotic weapon proficiency(a falchion with an increased damage die is simple enough to house-rule in, just increase the size category and... 2d6... seems high but it is only a greatsword with a threat range increase, it is perfectly appropriate for a proficiency step, call it a beaked falchion, it has a barb on the end that deals more damage but makes it difficult to use...
4, Level adjustment: You start the game with a +5 strength bonus, 2 BAB, 36 HP, and saves of +4 +5 +2. Skills are a bit of a sore point unless you can get a rogue level.

5+: Rogue, preferably with lots of feats instead of sneak attacks, you are not about precision, you are about power...

[Heron TSG]

Here's a guide to Dervishes, the kind of desert-based scimitar-wielding nomad you seem to be looking for, down to a T.

[Haika]

This all looks good guys, but I was hoping to have some druid-like magic in there someplace. More than just embracing the ranger.

I think at this point, I'm more interested in building a druid+crossbow type character, than a full on melee type. I was thinking a multiclass painted elf, as if I'm reading this right, a Ranger or fighter with a druid subclass wouldn't take exp penalties.

Also, the more I read this sandstorm book, the more I'm liking the animal companion varients on Dinosaurs. From Deinocyus to Protoceretops to full on Triceretops. *imagines riding just behind the frill of a Triceretops shooting bolts at enemies as the dino charges* eeee.

Sand Shaper is also very interesting. Though that requires arcane casting levels. It looks like I can do what I like using a shapesand jug, if it's allowed. Getting a bit into psionics here though. The description on shapesand says it's sand that is psychoreactive. And I make wis checks to shape it into things.

And, I'm gritting my teeth right now, as this book has 'desert throwing knives' that do 1d6 damage, unmodified. Along with 5more ft distance, that would give Isaak 10 more range. *makes a note for later when I fix that character.

I'm starting to develop a storyline idea, like I did for my psion character. A Drift Magic druid, seeking to find the lost magics of the ancient desert, and ressurect the destroyed Sand Shaper empire(even if he might not be a sand shaper himself to start). Maybe even with a level or two of Barbarian, to keep myself from being totally magic focused. Any ideas here Number crunchers?

[Shoruke]

Personally, I don't apply multiclass penalties in my game. They kick people in the teeth, when too much multiclassing is enough of a burden already. Multiclassing *too* much gives you supremely high saves, but all of your class features are likely to be weak, and you likely won't be casting any high-level spells. The exception is multiclassing into the Tome of Battle at high levels. Certain guides suggest that Rogue builds should multiclass into Swordsage at level 9 (or level 7 and 8, depending on your GM's interpretation of the phrase "begins play with") so that you can take Assassin's Stance and gain +2d6 sneak attack damage in one level (or two levels, which is still faster than normal).

I'm calling shenanigans on Red's really really specific Item Creation stuff. Race and Class are the only appropriate restrictions. The person using the Item Creation feat must meet the restriction he places on it.
(("Hey, nice gizmo."
"Thanks, I invented it myself."
"How does it work?"
"I dunno, I'm not an elf."))
You might be able to get away with lowering the cost by making it require a concentration check, though......

Also, I am once again unavailable to GM on Saturday, godammit. Grr. Tuesday's no go this next week, either. So, we've got Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday. Pick.
Also, I think that once school starts, I'm going to have to move "regular D&D day" to one of the weekdays... Since my work requires of me that I keep my Friday and Saturday evenings (plus one weekday evening) available as a bare minimum, and I will probably want Sunday as Designated Homework Day. I'll have more information later (next week, probably), but in the meantime, your thoughts/schedules do nothing but help in the decision-making process.

[Heron TSG]

Weekdays? Tuesdays are my XC meet days, so I can't usually make those. Any other day is fine. This actually might work out fantastically, considering I have my meets primarily on Saturdays...

[Haika]

I'd like to vote Sunday for next session myself. Hard to say when otherwise. Tuesday was working well for me, I could probably do either Monday, Tuesday or Thursday as far as my current game sessions seem set up for a set weekday sesison.

[Heron TSG]

Sunday would be optimal for me as well. Monday/Thursday/Friday would be next best. Wednesday would be third best, though I'd be split across two games for a large portion of the session.

[RAM]

Personally, limiting an item to a race/class/alignment is something I would charge the creator extra for. It would lower the base price, but cost more to make. As far as I can tell it is adding extra magic to an item so that your enemies cannot use it. But it makes it limits the resale value...