Hey there Giants! Playgrounders? Forum goers. Long time lurker, first time poster here. I've played quite a bit of DnD 3.5 and Pathfinder in my day, but for the most part I've played straight PsyWar's, with a brief campaign as a factotum, so I find myself quite a bit outside of my wheelhouse. A friend of mine is starting up a new campaign, and I've been planning a character for it but I'll need The Collective's help, as things aren't quite coming together for me. I need you, Obi-Playground Kenobi. Here is what I know for absolute certain.
- Our characters will begin the campaign at Level 7. A distinction between character level and ECL was not made, but knowing the DM, I have serious doubts as to his willingness for level adjustments.
- I can safely assume that I'll have the normal character wealth of a 7th level character.
- All official WOTC material from 3.5 (and 3.0 material if not gruyere level) is legal, including Dragon Magazines outside of the Compendium. The DM did note that he *prefered* the campaign be psionics free. Also, Pathfinder material is legal. The DM has explicitly said that wherever something exists in 3.5 and Pathfinder, we will be using the better of the two -- Power Attack for example.
- The party will likely be three players counting myself, with the possibility of a fourth. All I know about the other party member's intentions at this point is that one of them plans on building some sort of standard issue ClericZilla.
- Perhaps most importantly, feats are assigned a la Pathfinder, at every odd level including numero uno.
With this information in mind, I decided that the only path forward was to be a gish boy. Not to be confused with fish boy. I've always been enamored with the Swiftblade prestige class -- I love the flavor, and mechanically, I love that it lends itself very well to a more martially focused gish, while adding extra actions also gives you the opportunity to be a switch-hitter so to speak. I'm completely married to the idea of taking the full nine levels of Swiftblade. Swiftblade was my high school sweetheart, I can't imagine my life without her. The tenth level of Swiftblade holds little value to me. Although saying that I fully understand the value of a Time Stop spell would be a blatant overestimation of my own abilities, I feel like it's much better suited for a wizard with less martial intentions that myself. I would even go as far as to say that ninth level spells are not a priority for me, let alone a requirement. I wish that I had a stub of a build to show you all, or basically something to show you at all to help you help me, but I've been having some serious struggles with the build thus far. But I do have some talking points! Or goals? I'm not entirely sure what to call them.
Spoiler: I want to go all-in on the Swiftblade theme of being an elusive target.
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Currently my plans to be an elusive target come down to some feat selection, and levels in Abjurant Champion, specifically for the use of Greater Luminous Armor. I don't technically have a plan for how to deal with the ability damage, and any advice in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Dodge (specifically expeditious Dodge) and Mobility are obvious inclusions as they are required for entry into the Swiftblade prestige class. This DM has also ruled in the past that Dodge (and derivatives) and Mobility can be taken using a single feat. My rudimentary plan to get those said feats is currently Monk - well, a Dragon Magazine monk ACF that I believe is called "Cobra Strike". I know that on this forum and at basically any table, the taking of even a single level of monk is considered to be High Heresy, but note that I've already condemned myself to hell by admitting that I am willing to forgo 9th level spells. More on Monk at a later spoiler tag. Other obvious feat inclusions would be Elusive Target. The Swiftblade feat for Swiftblades, yeah? I expect judicious use of power attack, and I would like said power attacks to not kill me, if at all possible. Extra feat(s) which I know I won't have could be put to use in the form of Improved Initiative? Thematically it feels right, and I here that if you're not first, you're last.
Spoiler: I am opposed to a Trapsmith entry to Swiftblade.
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I believe that a Trapsmith entry would be easier, what with all the crazy stuff that I'd really like to cram into my build, but there are many more arcane spells I'd like to cast than just haste. Like Wraithstrike maybe. Or Greater Luminous Armor. Especially those two. Though speaking of entry into the Swiftblade class, I had considered using some mild cheese in qualifying for this prestige class (and any other, technically). In our playgroup, Versatile Spellcaster cheese has been used before to meet the requirements of being able to cast 'X' level spells, within reason. I have no reason to believe that said cheese will not be allowed here, to shave off two levels of a spellcasting class such as wizard or sorcerer.
Spoiler: I wish the vast majority of my lethality to come from melee strikes. More on my planned damage sources in spoilers.
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My plan for dealing damage is... well, Power Attack, Arcane Strike, and Shadowblade. I wouldn't be opposed to Skirmish damage, or other forms of precision damage like sneak attack honestly, if thats the way the Collective deems the build to go. Coincidentally, I'm completely invested in Shadowblade as I also plan to take the Gloom Razor tactical feat, as it lends itself nicely to the passives from Swiftblade's mega-haste. On the topic of the monk levels, I can substitute the second level of monk for the Exemplars of Evil "Invisible Fist", trading out evasion for the ability to become invisible once every three rounds as a swift action. Between Gloom Razor, and the plethora of ways even I could think of to become invisible, denying opponents Dex should be an easy feat. I guess another potential reason to consider more precision damage? Furthermore, does a Hit and Run Fighter's Dex to damage against flat-footed opponents stack with Shadowblade? Who knows?!
Spoiler: Take me to flavor town! Picture of Guy Fierri in spoiler. Kidding, its relevant stuff, I swear.
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As I alluded to in the thread title, I had planned on the character remaining unarmed, so to speak. Note that this is not of a high priority to me, as if we're being honest with each other, I doubt that this character will be making regular use of Flurry of Blows anyway with what little monk progression I think we can squeeze out. That being said, what is of high priority to me (right now, I suppose my opinions might change after seeing what you more experienced players have to show me), is the Pathfinder "Snake Style" feat chain. I saw it after I'd written down Cobra Strike monk on a sheet of paper and thought to myself "wow! It fits both mechanically and thematically!" As I was unfamiliar with the feat chain, I'll summarize it below, or in nested spoilers. The cap of the Snake Style feat chain is "Snake Fang". It requires Combat Reflexes, Improved Unarmed Strike, the previous two snake style feats, Acrobatics 6, and Sense Motive 9. The just of it reads that when an opponent's attack misses me, I can make an unarmed strike against that opponent as an AoO. If this AoO hits, I can use an immediate action to make another unarmed strike against the same opponent. Another one. Snap Kick and Arcane Strike, anyone?
SO, in summation, my mind went to a thousand different places at once. Although I have a clear idea of what I imagined this character to be, I've never found myself more at a loss for how to put it together. I apologize in advance for spoiler mishaps and generally inane, rambly walls of text. Hope to hear from y'all soon!
Re: I am bored and like building characters 3.5
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