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View Full Version : If you could only play one character...(3.5)



Harperfan7
2009-04-15, 05:33 PM
...for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Personally, I wouldn't want to play an optimized character with bad fluff over vice versa. Winning ALL the time does get boring, and let's face it, your DM stops trying when you beat everything he throws at you without fiat.

So, basically, what is your favorite character? Stat them out, gear them up, and give however extensive a description and background that you want (strongly encouraged).

I'm currently working on mine.

...go!

Gorbash
2009-04-15, 05:36 PM
Personally, I wouldn't want to play an optimized character with bad fluff over vice versa.

Again with the Stormwind Fallacy... Who says an optimized character has to have bad fluff?!

AgentPaper
2009-04-15, 05:41 PM
Pun-Pun. Why? Because losing means you're dead, so you don't have a choice but to win forever or die. That said, I would almost immediately try to find a way to supplant my consciousness into a "Normal" character, and make sure that, when I do die, my consciousness would return to my body so I could try again.

Jack_Simth
2009-04-15, 05:48 PM
Pun-Pun. Why? Because losing means you're dead, so you don't have a choice but to win forever or die. That said, I would almost immediately try to find a way to supplant my consciousness into a "Normal" character, and make sure that, when I do die, my consciousness would return to my body so I could try again.
Psionic power: Mind Switch (not the true version) as a Psi-like or spell-like ability with an infinite caster level. Infinite range means you're never out of range of it for when it expires (on the death of the target, or when you dismiss it).

monty
2009-04-15, 05:52 PM
I'd go with my current character, who is easily my favorite so far. Necropolitan Human Dread Necromancer 8/Binder 1/Anima Mage X. Massive undead armies are like Leadership, only more awesome and potentially more broken. Binding fills in the DN's dead levels, and also adds a ton of flavor.

Katrascythe
2009-04-15, 05:53 PM
I'd play my gestalt rogue/wizard/were-panther. I freakin' loved that character. Hilarious things happened, like "roll a strength check to break down the door" *rolls* "25" ".... you got a 25?! on a strength check at level 8?!!"

monty
2009-04-15, 05:56 PM
I'd play my gestalt rogue/wizard/were-panther. I freakin' loved that character. Hilarious things happened, like "roll a strength check to break down the door" *rolls* "25" ".... you got a 25?! on a strength check at level 8?!!"

To be fair, a half-orc could do that at level 1, although not consistently.

Harperfan7
2009-04-15, 05:58 PM
Again with the Stormwind Fallacy... Who says an optimized character has to have bad fluff?!

I literally never said that.

Starscream
2009-04-15, 06:25 PM
Halfling rogue, maybe multiclassing to Factotum around level ten. I like characters that are versatile, and this gives you decent combat, good skills, a bit of spellcasting, etc.

And I love halflings. Humans may make better everything, but Hobbitses are always my favorites. Optimization can go hang, I'm not giving up my beloved halflings just for a bonus feat and the ability to get on rollercoasters without standing on the Dwarf's shoulders.

monty
2009-04-15, 06:35 PM
And I love halflings. Humans may make better everything, but Hobbitses are always my favorites. Optimization can go hang, I'm not giving up my beloved halflings just for a bonus feat and the ability to get on rollercoasters without standing on the Dwarf's shoulders.

Strongheart halfling? Unless you really need the skill points, that's better than a human.

Weezer
2009-04-15, 06:35 PM
I'd probably play a character that I've been kicking around for a while but haven't made yet, probably cause he'd make a bad PC. It'd be a rogue/factotum with maxed out stealth skills and athletic skills. Also I'd have all the skill tricks that allow strange movement. All this would be focused to create a character that can run like hell from any situation and survive.

Oslecamo
2009-04-15, 06:36 PM
Again with the Stormwind Fallacy... Who says an optimized character has to have bad fluff?!

Stormwind did. Why do you think the fallaccy is named after him? Heck, the man hardly said anything that wasn't a fallaccy. He was a true wotc forum optimizer, twisting words left and right untill they didn't mean anything anymore.

-Cor-
2009-04-15, 06:39 PM
I'm answering this question like everyone else seems to be answering it and assuming the question actually was, "If you could only play one class..."

In that case, in 3.5. Fighter 20.

So many different characters you could make in 20 levels of Fighter... absolutely my favorite.

If the question really was character in 3.5 then it would have been my Fighter named Lox. I loved that guy. He was so much fun to play and I never got to figure out his whole story.

Maybe I'll play an iteration of him again someday.

FMArthur
2009-04-15, 06:39 PM
I'd be a changeling chameleon (if I couldn't play my homebrew, a factotum chameleon works fine, too). I know for sure that I would get sick of any other kind of class, so I pick the one that lets me switch from class to class within its own class. :smallwink:

Changelings can have great fun roleplaying, and if the master-of-disguise gimmick loses its flavor, I can just find a race to role-play as. It doesn't make a difference that my character is actually role-playing in-game, because I'm still the one role-playing my character. :smallbiggrin:

The actual character is named Terris, but as you can imagine with a character like this, it's easy to forget sometimes. I didn't give him any particularly unusual traits, but he's Chaotic Good-aligned, very loyal, and doesn't play tricks on his friends (but no one else is exempt :smallwink:).

Katrascythe
2009-04-15, 06:44 PM
To be fair, a half-orc could do that at level 1, although not consistently.

The part that made me happy was that before the applied template she had a strength score of like... 9, I think. Which went up to 20 or so in hybrid form XD

arguskos
2009-04-15, 06:46 PM
I... would probably play my first "real" character (ie. the first one I gave lots of thought and effort to): Hextoler Alier Abakaar, NG male moon elf Wizard 6/Geometer 5/Archmage 5/Wizard +4

Basically, he is a powerful elven archmage who survived the utter annihilation of his nation (by virtue of being on a field trip), swore to take vengeance on those who devastated his family and people, and actually manages to restore his people along the way. His story ended when he defeated the man responsible for the destruction, though the battle weakened him so greatly he retired from active adventuring/ruling, and became a sort of "Professor X" figure, training elven adventurers and sending them out into the world. He died a peaceful death at his home, attended by his wife, children, and many friends he made along the way.

Please note that I wrote this when I was like 13. My writing really has gotten better, I swear.

Berserk Monk
2009-04-15, 06:51 PM
Half-orc multiclass barbarian/ranger that goes two weapon fighting. I like the warrior class and being a brutish jerk hence the half-orc and barbarian. Also, barbarians get the best prestige classees in my opinion. However, ranger adds some depth to the character (someone skilled in nature that isn't just a powerful weapon), as well as some other skills and abilities other than "I crush its face in." The whole woodsman thing has an appeal to me too (I almost decided to put druid down on for this thread).

SurlySeraph
2009-04-15, 06:56 PM
Um... some kind of paladin-necromancer-gish-skillmonkey. I'll go with a normal Lawful Good human.
STR 16, CON 14, DEX 16, INT 14, WIS 14, CHA 10. That's what, 38-point buy. I could survive with lower DEX and CON and CHA, but if this is the only character I get I want those stats.
Classes: Paladin. I'll take the Charging Smite alternate class feature instead of the mount. I might go into the Gray Guard PrC later.
Skills... oh boy. Lots of Concentration and a little Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Survival, Spot, Listen, Search, Hide, and Move Silently. If I have to sacrifice some skills to make others functional, I'll give up the Spellcraft, survival, sense motive, stealth, diplomacy, heal, and knowledge. In that order.
Feats: Sword of the Arcane Order, which allows me to cast arcane spells with my paladin spell slots. Able Learner, which allows me to have ranks in cross-class skills as full ranks, so I can take all those skills I want. Maybe Death Devotion, Battle Blessing, Arcane Strike, Power Attack, Practised Spellcaster so my non-caster levels are still useful, Black Lore of Moil, the Combat Focus line... I'm going to cut this off before I start trying to find a way to take every feat ever published.
Equipment: Cloak of Charisma to make my paladin abilities useful, boosts to my physical stats if I can get them.
As I have an irrational love of save-or-die abilities, I'll take either the Mask of the Skull or the Nine Lives Stealer longsword. And I'll try to get a Holy Avenger, too. If I can get either of the swords I want made into a greatsword version, that's great; if not, I'll just two-hand them.
If whoever is DMing this theoretical exercise rules that my arcane spells count as arcane spells (and are thus subject to spell failure), twilight mithral armor. If not, whatever gives the best protection and let me use my full Dex bonus.
If my arcane spells are arcane spells, I'll take a Ring of Wizardry or two to get more spell slots.
I might take a composite longbow, but I think I'll use arcane spells for most of my ranged combat needs.
Spells: Oh God, so many options. Some healing and restoration, of course. Bull's Strength, Dispel Magic, Magic Weapon/Holy Sword are nice to have. As for non-core paladin spells... I'm just not going to let myself look at them, I'd want far too many. Oh screw it, I want Rhino's Rush.
For the arcane spells I can now cast, I'll stick pretty closely to the necromancy theme because I'd never stop if I didn't. Core: Ghoul Touch, Enervation, maybe Vampiric Touch and False Life. Non-core: Negative Energy Ray, Death Armor, Blade of Blood.
And I'm not getting into the backstory and description right now; I'll edit it in later. It will probably be Forgotten Realms-specific (what with me using an FR-specific feat as an integral part of my build), and will definitely be excessively long and complicated.

Flickerdart
2009-04-15, 06:58 PM
Definitely a Changeling Factotum/Chameleon with Bind Vestige and Soulmeld feats. Playing a single character is for suckers when I can play them all!

I would then abuse Fission and Clone and such, and play every character at the same time.

Graymayre
2009-04-15, 07:09 PM
I have two. I don't care if you said one, these both need good treatment.

Maximum Fun-to-Time Ratio: Elf (or similarly long living race) Artificer. With a class that can cast anything, craft all kinds of crap, and make a good living, all on top of having epic adventures to far off planes and with amazing creatures. Yea, it really doesn't get better than that.

Badass Fluff Win Character: Changeling, Bard / Inquisitive. I like investigators. So who better than the ultimate one? This combination can potentially get me friends in high places (considering bard). To top it off; the changeling race will let me look like whoever I want, when I want. One day I could be unraveling the Curious Incident of the Owl at Dawn as Sherlock Holmes. The next, I can be investigating the high profile death of a famous adventurer as Rorschach!

gibbo88
2009-04-15, 07:11 PM
Currently I have a Gnome warlock/wizard/elritch theurge at level 8, and am finding it to be a pretty fun character, since he's pretty dark for a gnome, and I like RPing something that isn't exactly following the trend...plus, there is something about watching an NPC run away scared because the Gnome wasn't jolly.

Dr_Horrible
2009-04-15, 07:17 PM
Definitely a Tome of Fiends SLA user. Nothing like at-will SLAs and eating your enemies souls for great knowledge to keep things eternally interesting. Oh yeah, and you can actually be immortal, so even more justification for always using the same character.

wadledo
2009-04-15, 07:45 PM
I'd probably play a dwarven warblade/wizard/runecaster/X.
Just because it's both very fun, a gish, and a dwarf.

WaterTengu
2009-04-15, 07:46 PM
I would use a character I play a lot. Yunaiga, my human raised elf assassin. She runs a world-spanning organization that acts primarily as an elite assassin's guild, but will handle just about any assignment. Her classes are Rogue 19/Assassin 11/Master of Masks 6.

She was the first character I made, and I am very proud of how far she has come. She has killed Boccob (not single-handedly of course), assassinated countless leaders she found to be corrupt, and has collected more magical items than one could ever need.

ocato
2009-04-15, 07:52 PM
Well, to be honest, my go-to character is typically a wizard. I've loved melee characters a lot and I've really gotten into the Artificer. But for some reason, if I'm in a funk or I can't find what I really want to play, Wizard does it. I'd add Bard, but I play a lot of 4e now and for some reason, the 4e Bard doesn't grab me for some reason.

But to be honest, I couldn't play any class forever. I need to be able to go from character to character (not in a campaign, necessarily, but from game to game) or anything will eventually get dull to me.

Bonecrusher Doc
2009-04-15, 08:04 PM
Human paladin, because save-the-day heroics are one of the biggest attractions of D&D to me, but I would make sure to have some sort of flexibility built into his backstory so he could go on adventures other than just fight-against-pure-evil quests.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-04-15, 08:12 PM
Definitely a Changeling Factotum/Chameleon with Bind Vestige and Soulmeld feats. Playing a single character is for suckers when I can play them all!

I would then abuse Fission and Clone and such, and play every character at the same time.This. Completely, totally, this. And I'd give him MPD, so that whenever he changes faces he forr all intents and purposes is his new disguise, meaning I get to roleplay whatever character I want to, by playing him.

Starbuck_II
2009-04-15, 08:37 PM
My last campaign character Slavic Numenstra, Wu Jen /Fatespinner /Loremaster.

He was good in melee, spellcasting, etc.
Plus, he let me pretend to be Asian: Priceless.

I got to eat Dwarf stew, rat stew, etc. The party Dwarf was standing 10 feet away while I was eating Dwarf stew: good times!

JonestheSpy
2009-04-15, 08:52 PM
My fave style is a human rogue/fighter/ranger type. I like melee, love the flexibility. And the "use magic item" skill lends to all sorts of possibilities. Rogue levels generally equal to fighter/ranger levels combined.

A bit of light armor, a sword and dagger combo, or maybe a two-bladed sword for showing off. Athletic, stealthy, but able to stand pretty well toe-to-toe, more likely to use Combat Expertise than Power Attack. Trusts his skills more than magic.

To me this is just the classic old school/pulp "adventurer". Somewhat disreputable but capable of heroics, motivated by wanderlust, a thirst for for adventure and excitement, and a tendency to burn through loot at an alarming rate.

Thrud
2009-04-15, 09:03 PM
My favorite ever character was a 2nd ed Magic User who was totally unsuited to combat in any way. He was a pampered wizard taught in a city of wizards where magic was used to do everything technology would normally do for us in the modern world. However the city was restricted and walled themselves off from the rest of the world. He had an 18 chr and an 18 int starting out, and all the rest of his stats sucked. We also used Comliness, which was a stat for sheer physical attractiveness, which was also very high, so he used his great charms to seduce the wife of the city's ruling mage, and got himself banished. This of course would be considered a fate worse than death, as he was basically being banished from civilization to barbarism.

Most days he memorized cantrips(basically the old way of doing prestidigitation, which required giving up 1st level spells) to clean himself up, cool down is drink, and flavor his food. He had several unseen servants memorized every day to do anything resembling physical labor that he might be asked to do during the day, including setting up his camp at night and taking it down in the morning. He was prissy and annoying, but very very skilled at magic.

I loved playing him, and he grew as a character, learning as time went on that the city he came from was terribly flawed and self destructive, that taking part in world events was necessary, and that sometimes getting you hands dirty was important. Early on the concept of actually harming someone with magic horrified him, as that was normally something that was only done by specially trained enforcers in the city he came from. But over time he had a somewhat Spider-Man like epiphany realizing that because he had power he had an obligation to use it to help those less fortunate than himself.

I played that character from 3rd lvl to 18th, and he remains my favorite character of all time. I don't think I have ever had a character who grew and changed as much as he did.

I have always wanted to play him again, and yet at the same time I never want to play him again because the campaign ended, and the group is permanently separated, literally scattered across the world. Playing the character just wouldn't be the same without the rest of the players from that group.

Salt_Crow
2009-04-15, 09:10 PM
I'd love to be my old Druid character. He had this knack for dying more often than any other characters in the party (total of 9 times, with 2 being the party average) and somehow having just enough money to be resurrected. Of course I was a few levels behind everyone else but... I couldn't care any less. I just liked that character very much XD

Doresain
2009-04-16, 01:24 AM
id play a changeling rogue/cabinet trickster/chameleon

Tehnar
2009-04-16, 01:57 AM
Fighter 20.

mikeejimbo
2009-04-16, 01:58 AM
Dwarf Cleric.

You pretty much don't even have to prevent me from playing other characters to get me to play chiefly dwarf clerics.

Thurbane
2009-04-16, 01:58 AM
I'm very partial to Wizards, have been even since 1E. Not so much for their power, but the concept and versatility.

Nohwl
2009-04-16, 09:01 PM
if you want a race and class elf archivist.

if you want a specific build it would be an elf dragonborn archivist 5 / singer of concordance 2 / sacred exorcist 1 / divine oracle 2 / dweomerkeeper 10.

Vexxation
2009-04-16, 09:19 PM
Changeling Factotum Chameleon with high Int and fairly high Wis.
Much like Careo Novo, my PbP character.

Versatility! Be all you can be! In fact, be all ANYONE can be!

Eldariel
2009-04-16, 09:31 PM
Let's see, out of that character I'd want:
-Versatility to cover my moodswings, to manage solo games, and all that. Therefore I'd want a character proficient in spellcasting and a variety of combat styles.
-It'd have to be an Elf. I just can't see myself playing a non-Elf character for the rest of my life.
-The character would have to be skilled. Preferably able to do it all him/herself - don't like having to rely on others and want to be able to hold my own be it a discussion or a.
-It'd have to be a leader-type of some sort, although able to hold his own intellectually, in discussions and problems alike with quite the magnetic personality. He'd also need a rather good eye and awareness - I wouldn't want to be someone who can't pay attention to his surroundings.
-It'd have to be more nimble than he is strong; I've never particularly cared for brute strength, and wouldn't favour a character who relies on it. Being strong is ok, but relying on strength is just...eww.
-It'd have to be altruistic, but vary enough not to be abused for it and rigorously opposed to unnecessary control - a strongly individualistic person.
-A traveler, not one like to get stuck in one place for extended periods of time, probably conflicting with the leader-like personality; I'd probably want a reluctant leader-sort out of it.


For the mechanical side, one solid option would be a Star Elf Sublime Archer (Bard/Arcane Archer/Sublime Chord/Abjurant Champion/Sacred Exorcist). I could do pretty much whatever I want with that, being a proficient spellcaster, pretty darn good with the bow and rather skilled (although that half really takes a hit over the higher levels and he has no access to martial maneuvers...meh, I'd probably write a homebrew prestige class to play for this particular character, as I'm usually wont to do whenever I want to play something with ToB as the ToB PrCs are a tad limited). It'd also serve the stats I want well (high Int, Cha & Dex).

For the rest, I think I lined it out pretty well above. The one thing I can't decide is the sex. Maybe I should just make it a V so I'd never need to find out. I mean, we are talking about a pseudo-outsider Elf. Who likes to frolic in the moonlight (ok, so all Elves do).

aje8
2009-04-16, 10:19 PM
Some kinda optimized Wizard with alot of PrCs.... probably a Strongheart Halfling Focused Specalist Conjurer with Abrubt Jaunt and the usual stuff.... then going Master Specalist and Mage of the Arcane Order. I just find DnD more fun as a Wizard what can I say?

For back-story.... I don't really know beyond CG. I find LG and NG too limiting to play for a life-time so CG leaning towards CN in terms of allignment. (Red/Blue in terms of color system, my perferred alignment substitute)

tcrudisi
2009-04-17, 12:47 AM
Since this question is asking about 3.5, this is an easy question for me to answer. My favorite classes have always been: Bard, Rogue, Enchanter, Illusionist, and Druid. So which one would I pick?

The Beguiler. It's basically a bard / rogue / enchanter / illusionist hybrid. If I could find a way to give it shapeshifting, I would never play anything else. The sad thing is that by the time it came out, I rarely got to play D&D until 4e came out. I was only able to play it once, and that for 2 sessions. Though I did manage to wreak a lot of havoc in those sessions!

Darth Stabber
2009-04-17, 09:43 AM
In PHB/DMG

Gerhardt Schroeder(CG Human rogue4/Wizard(abjurer)2/Ranger2/Fighter2/Duelist10) - Master swordsman (Fencer before swashbuckler saw print). He had 1 homebrew feat that Said once a class skill always a class skill, so able learner would fit Though I might redo him as CG Human Rogue4//wizard2/swashbuckler16.

This characters stats were 4d6 drop 1 in order, ended up with Str 12/Dex18/Con14/Int18/Wis9/Cha12. Final stats(Str12/Dex24/Con14/Int20/Wis10/Cha12 naked). When I was done the GM said I should be a wizard, but given that I was the last one to make a character and the party consisted of Elf wizard, Dwarf Barbarian, and a human Cleric, I thought I am going to be a rogue instead. After seeing the wizard pull some crazy crap, I picked up wizard. Decided that I would never be a great caster, so I took up the mantle of ranger so I could get TWF for free, get full bab and some skills, but later figured out that ranger spells were Wis based so I switched to Fighter, and realized that there were not that many feats that I wanted, Noticed I already met the prerequisites for Duelist and decided to go with that. Though as splat books progressed, I had my spell book filled with so many 1st lvl spells it would make your head spin (no offensive spells, just utility and buffs). Decidedly non-optimized, In fact built without knowing what i going to do from 1 lvl to the next, but ended up being a fun build. Though again swashbuckler exist, and I might rebuild the guy (without his Survival/Tracking/Favored enemy).

Gear @ 20: Bracers of Armor +8, Gloves of dex+6, Hat of Mind blank, +2 adamantine Keen/flaming/shocking Burst/ghost touch/speed rapier, +1 Cold Iron Flaming/Frost/Shock Rapier, +1 Briliant energy Speed Dagger, +1 Silver Flaming/Frost/Shock Rapier, Winged Boots, cloak of resistance +4, Amulet of Natural Armor +4, Ring of Prot +5, Ring of Freedom of Movement, Custom Shirt of Blur, Custom Belt of +4 Int, +2 Flaming Frost Shock Hand Crossbow.

Feats (the ones I remember): Able learner, Dodge, Weapon Finesse, Mobility, Spring Attack, Combat expertise, improved Feint, Improved Disarm, Weapon Focus(Rapier), Improved Initiative.

Nearly always first initiative, AC 44+ (not counting expertise and/or spells and/or dodge), decent Hit chance, and Fair Damage (especially when flanking)

Typical Spells prepared:Detect Magic, Prestidigitation*2, Arcane Mark, Shield, Protection from Evil, True strike, and Obscuring mist


In SRD

Esteban Miguel Alvarez Abdul (TN Elan Psion {Shaper}) - Creator of the Plane of Mynvar, Home of the Mynv Elan enclave, and psionic training ground. Specialized in Astral Constructs and Item Production.

Torba VanKetel, the Hidden Impulse (CN Human Psion{telepath}/Psion Uncarnate) - This character joined a level 15 game after the death of my previous character, so he came fully Incorporeal, and we RP'd the party not knowing I was helping them until much latter. The other characters marveled at how easy social situations had become, and how a strange voice spoke to them in their minds with relevant information, and then finally the situation for my reveal happened after 3 enemies collapsed in 3 turns from Psychic Crush, Death Urge and Crisis of Breath, and none of them had cast a spell. At one point he had a tribe of jungle people worshiping him as a god and his astral construct(Expanded Knowledge is awesome) was seen as his avatar.

What Ever I can get away with

Fenival, the Near fallen(LN/LE Assimar Dread Necromancer) - Originally set about to turn evil against evile but every day his actions seem more and more amoral, leading to his fall form the glory of his celestial ancestors. Upon realizing just how far he had fallen, He felt a remorse that quickly gave way to flush of new resolve, if an abomination he was, an abomination he would be.

The Manly Man
2009-04-17, 11:50 AM
A beguiler, either human or changeling.

With that spell list, there's no way not to have fun. Sure, you may have difficulty with creatures immune to mind-affecting spells, but that's when you have to start getting creative...

sombrastewart
2009-04-17, 12:02 PM
I'd probably want to keep my rogue. I've played him from level 8 to level 25. He's an Elf with the Dark template, he's got levels of rogue, Thief Acrobat, Exemplar and the Void Incarnate class. I'll take him at whatever level, and reincarnate him to whatever was being asked. I enjoy him as basically as an incredibly skillful character who can do some serious damage in combat and is incredibly hard to find.

Dr_Horrible
2009-04-17, 12:21 PM
The Beguiler. It's basically a bard / rogue / enchanter / illusionist hybrid. If I could find a way to give it shapeshifting, I would never play anything else. The sad thing is that by the time it came out, I rarely got to play D&D until 4e came out. I was only able to play it once, and that for 2 sessions. Though I did manage to wreak a lot of havoc in those sessions!

You know, you could just keep playing a Beguiler in 3.5. They didn't actually built self destruction into the PHB II.

monty
2009-04-17, 01:00 PM
Now, you said you wanted them statted out and equipped, so here goes (building out to 20, even though I haven't played him that far yet):

Caleb, NE spellstitched bone human dread necromancer 20
Cha>Wis (min 13 if possible)>Int>Dex>Str>Con

Feats (in no particular order): Corpsecrafter, Versatile Spellcaster, Arcane Disciple (Time), Arcane Disciple (Evil), Craft Wondrous Item, Fell Animate, Necromantic Presence, Necromantic Might. Maybe switch one for Tomb-Tainted Soul if the campaign starts at a low level, in which case Con also goes up in priority.

Gear: Rod of Undead Mastery, Lyre of the Restful Soul, Rod of Defiance, Scepter of the Netherworld, Phylactery of Undead Turning, Bag of Holding, Cloak of Charisma +X, Amulet of Wisdom +X, Tome of Leadership and Influence +X, and several metric craptons (remember, those are larger than regular craptons) of black onyx. Probably some other stuff, too. I have no idea what that even adds up to; I was just listing useful items off the top of my head. I'm assuming the undead-related items don't stack with themselves; otherwise, I have multiples of those.

At level 20, that gives me an effective turning level (treating the penalties as bonuses for simplicity) of 43, and (assuming 18 Cha base) an animate dead cap of 640 HD. I'll probably be playing more characters than the rest of the party combined.

Background: some stereotypical thing about some experience with death that led him to become fascinated with the subject, or something like that. I'm still working on this part.

Uin
2009-04-17, 04:34 PM
Standard
Gnome Shadowcraft Mage: Although I can never decide what to use as my base normally, if I had to play forever I'd choose beguiler for the vast varied skill list.

//
Whisper Gnome Barbarian//Swordsage: Whirling Frenzy with Trap Killer or Spellsense leaning heavily on Shadowhand and Tigerclaw. Pump Strength and Wisdom. Shadowblink Fleshripping. All good saves, good HP, good touch AC, huge stealth checks. I can't think of a better simple pure melee combo.

mostlyharmful
2009-04-17, 05:42 PM
Human Generalist Wizard. Can play a different character every 8 hours and can be as reasonable or as broken as the campaign requires. And can have a whole lot of silly fun at the same time.:smallbiggrin: Or Gnome wizard for the RP.

GO TEAM GNOOOOOOMEEEE!!!!!!!:smallbiggrin::smallwink::smal ltongue:

Yahzi
2009-04-17, 09:37 PM
I'd play the same character I always play... a priest.

I just don't see how Raise Dead isn't the greatest ability ever.

tcrudisi
2009-04-17, 09:38 PM
You know, you could just keep playing a Beguiler in 3.5. They didn't actually built self destruction into the PHB II.

They did in my area. Out of all the gaming groups that I've ran into, if they are playing D&D then they are playing 4e. One group is playing Pathfinder, but I just can't find myself getting into a game that's even more "twinky" than 3.5 was. And yes, I've tried it.

And so I don't hijack the thread: when I wanted to try to twink the Beguiler, I'd take the Practiced Spellcaster feat and take Rainbow Servant. All cleric spells as spells known? Beguilers able to cast all their spells known as a sorceror does? Yes, please.

The Blackbird
2009-04-17, 09:42 PM
Garl Marsh, my gnome wizard who sticks up for the elderly, and other gnomes. He's more Lawful Good than the paladin in the group. (He refers to the Super Old Plot Exposition Wizard Uber Guy as "Old Man" and refers to Garl as "Gnome" and he's given the order to fireball our own troops to hit a bunch of undead enemies in a battle. My gnome has givin him numerous telling offs. Seriously this guy has no idea how to play a real paladin.

Sorry about the rant.

Cruiser1
2009-04-17, 09:56 PM
Another vote for generalist Wizard. If you're playing the same character for an entire RL lifetime, leveling up will happen at a slow rate. The nice thing about Wizard is you can grow in power without levelling up, by learning new spells and adding them to your spellbook. After a few years you should have half the Spell Compendium in your spellbook(s)! Make sure to take the Geometer PrC so spells take up less pages in your spellbook. Wizard of course has the versatility of arcane spellcasting, so you'll never get bored of all the different things you can do (e.g. last month I was a summoner, this month I will be a buffer).

erikun
2009-04-17, 10:42 PM
I find the question a bit odd, because I generally play specific characters. As such, I really couldn't see changing them into a different race/class. Celian is a human wizard and Zrika is a half-drow cleric; I really wouldn't make them differently.

This is, of course, assuming we're sticking with the same campaign. If you're talking different campaigns, then I wouldn't want the same character over and over. There's only so many times you can play the intelligent naive wanderer from the north that it becomes old hat.

For "myself", it would be a close call between pure cleric and a ranger/mage. I do like clericyness, but absolutely HATE when everyone looks to me as a walking band-aid and a wet blanket. (Seriously, what is with the good-hate in some groups?) Ranger/mage is probably my ideal character, with good skills, full freedom of spells, and reason to wander freely. The only problem is that in 3.5e, I'd probably need to be gestalt, or possibly Ranger 17/Mage or Ranger 1/Mage 19 to make it work - I don't think there's even a ranger/mage hybrid PrC out there. Erudite makes a close 3rd, for similar reasons.

BlueWizard
2009-04-18, 05:22 AM
Human Wizard.

Elminster1
2009-04-18, 03:06 PM
Elven Wizard. I LOVE magic and mysticism. :smalltongue:

Bluebeard
2009-04-18, 03:32 PM
Cleric. Cloistered, if possible.
Out-fight the fighter and out-gish the gish.
Redefine yourself every day more effectively than the Binder, Incarnate or Chameleon.
Don't track spellbooks or fiddle with spells known.

And (this is the big one) don't even look like you're trying.
It's the guy using 4 prestige classes and 14 very specific magic items to make an effective Monk who gets clocked with a DMG.
Never the guy with a single Core class and a variant that appears to -- if anything -- weaken him.

I think I could enjoy playing him blindly enthusiastically and optimistically.
He'd be a bookworm who believed himself a master of whatever he'd most recently read (and through the Cleric's spell list, he probably would be).
Not quite Quixotian because he'd usually be dead right.

Amiria
2009-04-18, 03:47 PM
Amiria !!! http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j179/Kotzgeist/amiriasmiley.gif

Wizard (Transmuter)3/Specialist Wizard (Transmuter)3/Metamuter*10/Ruathar1/Archmage1

Prohibited schools = Enchantment, Necromancy. Neutral good, archeologist (tomb raider ? :smallwink:), hunter of demons and undead, daughter of a Count, a Baroness in her own right (of Silverthorn and Oakenford).

* = mix of Specialist Wizard (Transmuter) and Incantatrix (not more powerful than the latter).

Other house rules include fractional BAB and saves (without stacking +2 to new class good save bonuses). I play her since the last millenium :smallsmile:, but not in the past three years or so*. :smallfrown:

* = RL group mainly. I play(ed) her in the Town and elsewhere here until this day. Really, on these boards I am Amiria ! :smallbiggrin:

Jera
2009-04-18, 04:44 PM
Miro

My 3.x Kender Socerer 7/Red Wizard 6 who "specialized" in conjuring exact copies of items people just lost.

During his test of High Sorcerery he had to stay quit and still for 15 minutes.

His death was quite possible the most epic thing I have ever witnessed in any session. I cant remember how it happened but he had a ring of three wishes with one charge left. One day while out on the road we were attacked by a blue dragon(dragonlance campaign), IRL it was about 4am so I was a little delerious, I won initiative and the only thing i could think of doing was yelling "I wish the dragon was a cow with wings" the DM looked at me for a full minute, rolled the dragons save and got a natural 1. He rolled a few more di, then asked me to roll a reflex save. To my shame I rolled a natural 1 as well.

The wish worked and the dragon was turned into a cow with wings, unfortunatly the wings could not hold the cow airborne and it crash landed, right on top of me.
:smalleek:

Elemental_Elf
2009-04-18, 04:46 PM
I'd probably choose a Ranger, focused on both Ranged and Melee combat because if I'm forced to play only 1 character, I want to make sure he has a lot of mechanical depth and variety. One day I could be skill monkey assassin, the next a Drizz't style fencer with 2 scimitars, the next a WoW style Hunter and the day after that a bounty hunter.

As they say, variety is the spice of life!

Dogmantra
2009-04-18, 05:24 PM
Since I'd have the character for a while, if I could get LA buyoff, I'd use a LG Pixie sorceress who only manifests Necromantic powers, that she considers evil. I just love the idea of shooting off an Enervation, whilst shouting "I'm so sorry!" and breaking down.

I am absolutely doing this for my next character.

Demons_eye
2009-04-18, 05:33 PM
Normal- Monk2/SS8/FoF3/DM2/SS5 Get him high con and wis monks tatto and some other goodies. He lives In the forst fight in the forst and does not like city people.

//
Changeling Factorm10/Chamlemon10//Binder 20
As said before Why play one class?

Random NPC
2009-04-18, 06:01 PM
Generalist Grey Elf Wizard, with its proper racial substitution levels.

I enjoy wizards

Flickerdart
2009-04-18, 06:11 PM
Since I'd have the character for a while, if I could get LA buyoff, I'd use a LG Pixie sorceress who only manifests Necromantic powers, that she considers evil. I just love the idea of shooting off an Enervation, whilst shouting "I'm so sorry!" and breaking down.

I am absolutely doing this for my next character.
Ahaha, genius. I'm so stealing your idea.

Dogmantra
2009-04-18, 06:28 PM
Ahaha, genius. I'm so stealing your idea.

I'm so stealing this for my sig... if you're okay with that!