[Private-Prinny]

Those statues are doomed.

Originally Posted by Bertram Urrni

Bertram Urrni, NE Raptoran Scout 2/Cleric of Malar 1/Druid 3/Cancer Mage 4/Birdlord 10

“They think I’m just a pigeon? Handle pigeons with care.”

SOURCES

Spoiler

Player’s Handbook (skills, Great Fortitude feat, Toughness feat), Complete Adventurer (scout class, animal lord prestige class), Complete Warrior (Zen Archery feat), Races of the Wild (Raptoran race, Improved Flight feat), Races of the Dragon (Wing Expert feat), Book of Vile Darkness (Poison Immunity feat, cancer mage prestige class), Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Malar religion fluff).

STR 8 DEX 10 CON 14 INT 14 WIS 18 CHA 10. Boost WIS with levels.

Bertran Urrni
*Quicken Spell obtained virtually through Cancerous Companion’s ability
Spells per day/Spells Known
Key: Cleric Spells//Druid Spells

So, you want to know about me? Careful what you wish for there, pal. All right, fine, I’ve got some time to kill. What is it you want to know? How I got started down this path, and how I ended up as the wondrous being you see before you today, I suspect. Grab a snack; this could take a while.

When I first left the nest I had a real explorer’s spirit. I had what my parents called a smattering of knowledge, rather than any sort of real direction toward a future. I was trained to be a scout, but I’m a Raptoran, so an outdoorsy sort of scout, you know? I had only a passing knowledge of how to search out traps or deactivate all those nasty surprises enterprising folks put on their treasure chests as deterrents. I was even nice enough to tell that very thing to the first boss to hire me on a treasure hunt, but do you think she listened? Nah, she just sent the freak with the feathers ahead to make sure everything was hunky dory for the flight-impaired. Naturally, I missed a needle on a lock and got pricked with it. It made me feel weaker than a hatchling, and that tavern wench of a boss told the others I was good as dead and should be left there. I thought I was going to die, truth to tell.

Spoiler

At first level, Bertram is a recon and nature focused skirmisher. With Toughness and a decent CON, he takes a bit more of a beating than most in his role, while the high WIS shores up his low Will save. His basic role in a party is just to scout ahead, get a feel for the lay of the land, and report back so the group can be prepared. His skirmish ability largely makes up for his low STR to let him handle surprises while he’s apart from the group.

Lucky for me, there was a cleric of Malar trailing along behind us. He never did explain why someone whose god teaches “survival of the fittest” chose to drag my sorry backside to the safety of his clergy, but I’m not going to complain that he decided to do just that, even if I don’t see the point. He told me that it looked like I’d been hit with the venom from a large scorpion. I was grateful enough to join up with the church of Malar for a while, if you can believe that. I can’t say I really took to it so well, though. They were always trying to get me to “spread the word of Malar to the masses,” whatever that meant. It was just too much hassle dealing with all those needy hangers-on for my taste. Before long, I was back working at scouting. I got a little quicker, and a whole lot hardier, thanks to my time with those priests and then continuing to find work as a scout, but not hardy enough. That second stint as a scout saw me come down with filth fever. Once I recovered, I decided that was just about enough as a traditional scout for me. I figured any more time spent as a scout and I’d end up spewing out a kidney or something. Not my style, you know?

So, I figured maybe those nature boys and girls who worked as Malarites were on to something. It was just all the proselytizing that wasn’t for me. Solitary practitioner was more my speed, and meant I wasn’t going to have any other land-bound types expecting me to do their bidding. Druid seemed just about my speed. It got me Goldy, too. She’s the eagle I keep as a companion. The wingless types around the Nelanther Isles started to treat me as a bit of a pariah around this point, between the stories about me being poisoned and the obvious results of filth fever. I figured, if they thought they needed to avoid me, the least I could do was look to make it worth their while.

Spoiler

At 5th level, Bertram plays similarly to a ranger of his level with bad combat skills, minor spellcasting abilities and an eagle animal companion. He and the eagle combine to cover a ton of ground when doing recon work for the party because of their ability to fly off in different directions at once. Being unimpeded by difficult terrain means he doesn’t need to stay in the air to stay mobile. Thrice daily Turn Undead and the ability to speak with animals add to that recon ability to provide reasons why a group would put up with his BAB lagging behind the typical expectations for his role if he’s emulating a ranger for the party. Great Fortitude at 3rd level along with Battle Fortitude gives him a Fort save that dwarves envy, and a minor boost to initiative that his average DEX can’t provide.

I kept going with the druid path a bit longer so I could call on elementals when it came to that. I didn’t mind being able to overcome these skinny little toothpick arms of mine for a few minutes a day or further improve my intuition, either. Ever since I’d first found out that the poison on that needle was large scorpion venom, I’d purchased small amounts of it when I could, building up a tolerance until I was immune. Once stung, twice shy, you could say. Then, I was ready to teach those people who thought my job was to get sick and die for them a lesson.

I became a cancer mage. I spent enough time hanging around the sewers and back alleys and other haunts of the unwashed and unwanted that I picked up better ambush skills, better weapons skills, and warp touch. I grew an extra eye and developed scales that made my skin tougher. The extra eye and scales meant I had to procure a hat of disguise, but I called it the cost of doing business. Before long, the hate and resentment over being so regularly thrown toward destruction so someone else could benefit congealed into a cancer at the pit of my stomach. It gave me a new view on the world, let me tell you. The next thing I knew, the cancer in my gut was communicating with me. More than that, it was helping me, making the limited spells I had more quickly cast. To my delight, I soon found my very touch poisonous to those I wished to harm, and felt myself armored in the tattered rags my position as pariah pressed upon my person.
Having been spurned by the society of the land-walkers – and having spurned their society, in turn – I sought companionship amongst Goldy’s brethren, the denizens of the skies. I strengthened my bond with my feathered friends, and learned to detect them, almost as if by magic.

Spoiler

Bertram finally gets in to Birdlord at 10th level. Qualifying for Cancer Mage without flaws, and using the most currently printed version of the Improved Flight feat (Races of the Wild) cut down on the speed with which he could do so. Using the aforementioned better weapons skills, Bertram starts most combat encounters at these levels at range, firing large scorpion envenomed arrows from a +1 collision footbow for an average of +11 damage (on top of the weapon’s base), then closing in to infect his targets with disease. He has just enough spells to continue to fulfill a secondary role as a summoner, and has continued to emphasize the skills most useful to recon work. He’s now getting a fairly solid +20 or so to spot checks, depending on magic, and the animal bond shores up the limited ranks spent in handle animal. His contagion ability operates at a respectable 19 Fort DC, before counting any investments in a WIS boosting item which he most assuredly would seek by now. Cancer mage has more ridiculously powerful disease options than warp touch, but those are generally better discussed in the realm of TO than in a practical build.

I stayed with the ways of the birds for a bit, as this path made me a more dangerous marksman, before succumbing once more to the lure of the cancer mage’s power. With it, I harnessed the bats, the rats, and the spiders, giving myself access to all those places the flightless seem to think of as their own. Often I would infect them myself, before unleashing them on those people who saw me as nothing more than a pawn to be pushed forward to die on their grand chess board. The voice of the cancer in my core kept me centered and granted me extraordinary abilities to avoid harm. By finding my center, I also became a much more skilled archer. I was done lurking in back alleys and cloaking myself in the castoff rags of a society that didn’t want me, though. I was ready to throw myself, and all my new allies, down the throats of those who abandoned me to die in their world. I doubled up on my abilities to speak with my avian allies, so they could better understand the role they needed to play in my revenge.

Spoiler

At these levels, Bertram becomes a SAD terror, as zen archery lets him derive most of his combat and non-combat powers from his high Wisdom modifier. Although the chart does not show it in the numbers, Bertram should have a WIS-boosting item of +6 by 15th level. Any further than four levels along the path of cancer mage would cost a point of BAB and, consequently, a vital 4th attack, so he gets out for good after obtaining the children of the night and evasion abilities. Mobile spellcasting is extremely useful to him, even with only low-level spells, because of the premium he places on mobility. Unfortunately, the updated improved flight feat’s wording from Races of the Wild makes the wild aspect of Birdlord completely superfluous. Because Bertram has the animal domain ability, he can now speak with his birds twice a day. Typical tactics at this level include infecting the ravens, bats, spiders, and rats he summons in fairly high numbers to attack his enemies, and sneaking ahead to spread disease in enemy camps while on recon duty.

With my army of flying, crawling friends, I waged guerilla war on everyone who marginalized me. I learned to minimize the dangers of a counterattack while swooping in to share the gift of warp touch with them. I made my bird friends grow, so they could instill terror and wreak more havoc on the landlocked losers who laughed and leered at me. I learned their thoughts so well that I could send my own wishes to them without a spoken word. The flightless fools became frazzled by my use of all three dimensions in combat and by my intelligent use of my wings. As I became fully aware of the world and my place in it, the numbers of those who could find the will and the way to stand against me and my avian allies dwindled and disappeared.

Spoiler

By the end, Bertram is unleashing four attacks a round from overhead with envenomed, infected arrows and a flight of birds and bats to cause pain, confusion, and disease. His spot check, hovering around +42, makes staying out of his sight extraordinarily difficult without using TO cheese. Although designed to function at range, Bertram is too dangerous for most enemies to consider approaching for melee or a grapple, with both the poison and contagion spells transmitted through his touch, and his known use of scorpion venom and the warp touch disease. His mobility options and perception abilities make him an ideal scout, his cleric and druid levels give him some ability to restore his own health if threatened, and anyone that can withstand his arrow barrage still has to deal with his animal companion and summoned flying hordes.

EQUIPMENT AND EXTRAS:

Spoiler

Most of the vital equipment is already mentioned. Bertram cannot craft poison himself, other than the spell-like ability he gets. Large scorpion venom is, fortunately, relatively cheap, so he should keep a good supply from the moment he develops an immunity, if not before. His rags provide armor thanks to cancer mage, enchanted to suit his needs. Options that reduce the Fort saves of his enemies should be favored, in addition to the obvious fortification choice. The collision enhancement for weapons, from the Expanded Psionics Handbook, is in the SRD. Pair it with a toxic or virulent enhancement if available to synergize with the abilities Bertram already excels in. If allowed access to Unearthed Arcana and Libris Mortis, grab a pile of nightsticks, shuffle Great Fortitude and Poison Immunity to 1st level with flaws, and get the extend/persist/nightstick trifecta underway, even if it’s only with 1st level spells.

At higher levels, invest in scrolls and rods and similar for higher-level spells on the Cleric/Druid lists, for those times when hitting something really hard, infecting them, or trying to poison them are all bad plans.