Please Help With My 4th Edition Dragonborn Warlord

[Josh the Aspie]

As I have previously stated, I only play 4th ed at the RPGA as a favor to those that want to play it, but otherwise couldn't due to lack of other players.

As such, I haven't really done much with the hurriedly built character. I don't even have a name. I do, however, want to finish him out, and make sure that if I do need to play him again, he's finished enough for others not to need to wait on me.

Any help on fleshing him out would be appreciated.

He is a Dragonborn Warlord
His stats are as follows
18 Str
13 Con
10 Dex
14 Int
8 Wis
16 Cha

Trained Skills are:
Athletics
Diplomacy
Endurance
Intimidate (I intend to re-train this)

Feat:
Armor Proficiency (Scale)

I have taken the Inspiring Presence benefit

At-Will Powers:
Viper's Strike, Wold Pack Tactics

Encounter Powers:
Guarding Attack
Inspiring Word
Dragon Breath (cold)

Daily Powers:
Bastion of Defense

Equipment:
Longsword
Javilin x2

Scale Mail
Light Shield

Standard Adventurer's kit (used one sun rod)
Tent
Climber's Kit

I recently gained a Flaming Weapon (I get to, and need to, choose what kind)

I also have 78 gold.

This is all locked in stone at this point, save for the retraining rules I can use, and equipment I can buy and sell.

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My over-all concept for this character is to assist other players in having fun, and pick abilities that make it more difficult for the group to be caught with their pants down.

I basically view him as a proud member of a proud warrior race, who's entire purpose for adventuring is to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and (secondary to that) to uphold the social order. He is one of those who sacrifices his own happyness and comfort to keep others safe, by facing the threat before it reaches home.

He dislikes Tiefling, but has learned that there is the occasional Tieifling that can be trusted. Drow have not even earned that, in his estimation.

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So, given that I'm probably already screwed with my existing selection, what should I retrain in what order, what weapon should I pick for my flaming weapon, and what gear should I buy/sell?

I'm considering retraining Intimidate into Heal
Someone has suggested retraining Armor Proficiency (Scale) to Improved Init

Also, any advice on good names?

[Josh the Aspie]

Oh, also, the only book I have is the PHB. I am not currently interested in using any material outside of it.

[Josh the Aspie]

Yes, I know I've said that I dislike 4th ed, and so far that is true. I hope I did not offend people so much that they would not want to help me give it an honest try.

[Sir Homeslice]

Looks pretty solid overall, but...

I personally would recommend switching Viper's Strike for Furious Smash, as FS' rider keys off of Charisma. Your encounter power is fine, but I personally prefer Hammer and Anvil, if you have an ally with a good melee basic attack. In addition, since you have a +2 int mod, you could switch your daily with Lead the Attack, which gives pretty much all of your allies a +3 power bonus to attack rolls against a single target for the entire encounter.

For the level 2 utility, I'd recommend Knight's Move, as it's a free move action for an ally, and you'll invariably find yourself not needing your move action. Level 3 should be Warlord's Strike, the damage bonus is just candy and rainbows.

As for feats, you eventually want to pick up Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword) and Weapon Focus: Heavy Blades, though WF isn't that useful for you. Enlarged Dragon Breath is nice as it gives you the option fo a blast 3 or 5 when you need it.

You could also look into multiclass feats for a bit of something else to do. You can easily qualify for Fighter for an on demand +1 to an attack roll (and a mark), or Ranger for a bit of extra damage.

[Colmarr]

So, given that I'm probably already screwed with my existing selection, what should I retrain in what order

Actually, you're not. It's no Pun-Pun (and nothing in 4e is), but the build is definitely viable.

what weapon should I pick for my flaming weapon, and what gear should I buy/sell?

A lot of people recommend that warlords use reach weapons, so that they can use their "Melee weapon" powers without actually being adjacent to the enemy.

However, that only really works in parties with a strong enough front line to allow the warlord to act as a second rank PC. Given the nature of RPGA play, I don't think that it's safe to assume you'll have that luxury. Longsword is a perfectly fine choice.

I'm considering retraining Intimidate into Heal

I'd agree. Having both Diplomacy and Intimidate is likely overkill on the one RPGA character, particularly since there are a number of striker classes that have Intimidate as class skills.

Someone has suggested retraining Armor Proficiency (Scale) to Improved Init

Again, this depends on the group you're in. A group with 2 defenders doesn't really need the warlord to have scale. However, for RPGA play, scale proficiency is a perfectly viable choice.

The only thing I think you did "wrong" was to split your secondary scores between Int and Cha. But as you say, that's locked in now so there's little point in me harping on about it

Also, any advice on good names?

Flip to the page in the PHB for Dragonborn and pick one you like

[Josh the Aspie]

You're right about not being able to count on much of anything being present in RPGA play. I might even wind up being the only tank at some point (yeeeouch).

I do like the idea of using my powers without being on the front line if we have to many front line fighters, but would definitely need a backup weapon, just in case (I've been told that the local group often has choke ups on who gets to attack the baddy). So I figure I'll at the very least get a reach weapon as a backup. I can talk to the people when we 'team up' and then adjust what equipment I'm using based on that.

"So? Who do we have? No front line? Sword and board then." "You all want to be front line? Fine with me. Let me just find my Gusarm-Gusarm-Gusarm-Glave." ... which actually really fits my original concept of making a character that is there to let others play the role they want to play, but better.

That still leaves open the question of which weapon to make my primary.

The big thing here making me hesitant about taking the advice on the bastard sword is that I either need my flaming weapon to be a weapon I'm proficient with now, or be unable to use it until I gain a proficiency in something else... if I make the bastard sword my primary weapon.

I had origonaly been thinking about making my Dragonwarrior basically a more talkative version of Teal'C from stargate atlantis as a jumping off point, but that's changed, so yeah, Intimidate is going to go.

Someone advised me that my Wis makes Heal not a viable option, but another person told me that with increasing level bumps, and set heal skill DCs, I have a chance of using it correctly now, and that it will become a perfectly viable choice over time. Your opinion?

[Josh the Aspie]

I'm currently thinking of taking a non-reach weapon for the flaming sword, as it's mostly intended to be a util/backup weapon at higher levels for fighting things vulnerable to flame. And at the current level, it would make my sword/board option stronger when I need to be the primary front liner (if that ever happens).

Unless there is something equivalent to the spiked chain I can gain proficiency in. Having a magical weapon of a powerful weapon type that you can't use well makes a particularly good reason for training to expand your proficiency.

[Artanis]

Someone advised me that my Wis makes Heal not a viable option, but another person told me that with increasing level bumps, and set heal skill DCs, I have a chance of using it correctly now, and that it will become a perfectly viable choice over time.

8 WIS and trained in Heal means you have a +4 to checks with that skill already. The three DCs listed in the PHB are 10 and 15 (twice), so even with your WIS you've got at least a 50/50 chance of getting any of them (and a 75% chance of hitting that 10 DC).

The only scaling DC in the PHB is for treating disease, where your Heal check will replace the sick character's Endurance check if it's higher. If somebody is untrained in Endurance (which is often the case, since Endurance is pretty situational), it'd take a really high CON to have a higher mod than a trained Heal check.

So might as well go with it unless you're absolutely certain that somebody with a better WIS is trained in Heal (and even then it isn't necessarily a bad thing to train Heal anyways).

[Hal]

I'm currently thinking of taking a non-reach weapon for the flaming sword, as it's mostly intended to be a util/backup weapon at higher levels for fighting things vulnerable to flame. And at the current level, it would make my sword/board option stronger when I need to be the primary front liner (if that ever happens).

Unless there is something equivalent to the spiked chain I can gain proficiency in. Having a magical weapon of a powerful weapon type that you can't use well makes a particularly good reason for training to expand your proficiency.

It depends on what you want to be primary and what you want to be secondary.

If you're going to be front-lining it primarily, grab a shield and make that magic weapon a sword of some kind. If you're going second-rank, make it a reach weapon.

There actually IS a spiked chain, but it's a military weapon and it's not PHB. It's not as broken as it was in 3.5, as this time around it's just a reach weapon with 2d4 damage (and I think +3 or +4 proficiency bonus). If you end up taking a weapon focus or weapon expertise feat (the latter being non-PHB again), you'll be best keeping your reach weapon and melee weapon in the same weapon category.

Whatever you end up doing, try to maximize your to-hit. Everything in 4e works much more smoothly when your attacks land.

[DM Raven]

You also might want to grab the character builder demo off the WOTC website.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...aracterbuilder

It can give you a lot of great options for a character up until level 3. And it includes most of the extra goodies up to this point. Base 4.0 is pretty bland IMHO, the spice really comes from Martial Powers book and Dragon Magazine.

[Josh the Aspie]

What I want is to be able to enhance the abilities of others, and be flexible enough to fill slots empty in the party.

Looking things over, it appears as if reach weapons are definitely viable, as I can still attack things adjacent to me with them, and still make adjacent AoOs.

What's too bad is that Wizards still doesn't seem to get that it's possible to fight with a long spear one-handed, and they haven't given the option for both flexible and reach on the same polearm. *sigh* Ah well. Given that swords have the best attack bonus, I think I'll switch between the Glave and the Longsword on occasion, depending on if I am using a shield or not. That way I can still use any feat that focuses on that group on both weapons.

As for which I want to be my primary... I really am not sure. If I could do reach/versitile on the same weapon, I'd do that for sure. As it stands, I'll likely go with the Glave as my primary weapon, and then switch to the longsword if disarmed, or if the party needs another person on the front line.

[Josh the Aspie]

I'm also considering swapping to sword and light board, if we need a light source when going into a cave. I'm considering getting an everburning torch for my board hand in that case.

Any other advice on gear to grab?

[Josh the Aspie]

You also might want to grab the character builder demo off the WOTC website.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...aracterbuilder

It can give you a lot of great options for a character up until level 3. And it includes most of the extra goodies up to this point. Base 4.0 is pretty bland IMHO, the spice really comes from Martial Powers book and Dragon Magazine.

... yeah, ya see this is yet another reason I am NOT really interested in D&D 4th ed. I don't subscribe to MMORPGs, I don't continually buy new sets of CCG cards, I don't pay for online service versions of software I can buy once, and I don't intend to subscribe to inane magazines to get the feats that would be included in the books if they weren't publishing the magazine. If Playing well requires subscribing to one of those money-grubbing worthless rags, this is yet another reason why I see no point in playing the game.

If all the good stuff is in subscription suplements, I'd rather just go play 2nd or 3rd edition. At least then I bout a -few- books, had a huge number of options, and have them for all time. >.<

Edit: *DEEEEP Breath*

Thank you for your suggestion. Truely. However, I am becoming less and less enamored with splatbooks, and online tools as time goes on.

The tighter their grasp, the more of my dollars will slip through their fingers.

[Josh the Aspie]

Adoy. I just realized. If my main weapon is on fire, I probably don't need to swap it out for a torch. >.<

Also, yeah, it looks like I'll retrain intimidate to diplomacy.

I've heard some good things about the dragon breath feats, and one person above mentioned it as a good option. What do the rest of you fine folk think about them?

[Josh the Aspie]

Well, I just looked over the weapons, and realized something.

The spiked chain has reach -and- the Proficiency +1 bonus... and respectable damage as well (Expected value 5, only 1 less than the greatsword).

Unfortunately, none of the other flails have a +3 proficiency bonus, nor do any of the heavy blades with the +3 proficiency bonus have reach.

Nor do I have high enough dex for any off the proficiency group special feats that I like from higher levels. >.<

AND any high level feats for weapon users require high strength and either high con, or high dex. It's like they're -trying- to be mean to warlords!

[Colmarr]

... yeah, ya see this is yet another reason I am NOT really interested in D&D 4th ed. I don't subscribe to MMORPGs, I don't continually buy new sets of CCG cards, I don't pay for online service versions of software I can buy once, and I don't intend to subscribe to inane magazines to get the feats that would be included in the books if they weren't publishing the magazine. If Playing well requires subscribing to one of those money-grubbing worthless rags, this is yet another reason why I see no point in playing the game.

If all the good stuff is in subscription suplements, I'd rather just go play 2nd or 3rd edition. At least then I bout a -few- books, had a huge number of options, and have them for all time. >.<

Edit: *DEEEEP Breath*

Deep breath indeed.

The demo that Raven referred you to is free to download, and includes all D&D "active" rules (eg. power, items, rituals etc). It goes up to level 3, which is more than enough to give you some options for your (currently) level 1 character.

When you hit level 4, that's when you can rant about MMOs and subscription fees (although even then all you need to do is subscribe for a single month and you get the full character builder up to level 30 and including all materials published up to the day you subscribe).

The builder is by far the best value part of the DDI right now, and is easily worth the cost of a month's subscription.

[erikun]

Well, I ran a Warlord for a level and a half, so I might as well chime in.

Using a reach weapon has its benefits - namely being out of range against enemy counterattacks, and having a larger selection of targets to hit at once. The Warlord at-will powers benefit from this quite a bit; as someone who rolled all 1's for several sessions in a row, still granting the benefit of Wolf Pack Tactics for the rogue 3 squares away was very nice.

The problems are lower AC and not helping with flanking when attacking from a range. The to-hit would also be a problem, but I was using a Spiked Chain (which did burn up a feat).

Also, I found myself not moving much when I did have reach - over half the time, there was at least something within 2 squares to hit. This might change if you're going sword-and-board, especially if you're actively trying to set up flanking with an ally.

The damage from the Spiked Chain (2d4) was rather disappointing, though. Hitting someone with White Raven Assault for less than 20 damage was a bit of a letdown, but pretty on par with the character overall. (I swear, the dice hated him. )

The basic Spear is a one-handed weapon, and so can work with a shield. To-hit is generally more important to a leader, so a longsword will probably be preferred. Assuming there isn't an appropriate spear in Adventurers' Vault, you may convince a DM to allow a "Heavy Spear" that deals 1d8 with a +3 proficiency. There is not a +3 prof weapon with Reach that doesn't require a feat, and the only one-handed reach weapon I can think of is the whip.

Other than that? Lead the Attack might be a better daily, as +2 to hit for your whole party will probably help more than 8 temp HP for everyone. (Especially true if enemies are focusing on just one or two characters.) Hammer and Anvil is nice if you have a Str-based heavy hitter, as they'll probably do more damage with their 1[W] than you would. (Strikers don't apply bonus damage to this attack unless they missed on their turn, though.) I found Shake it Off to be invaluable when savings throws came up, and that was with just a Cha 12; if you're running into a lot of save-ends effects, consider that over Knight's Move.

[Colmarr]

I found Shake it Off to be invaluable when savings throws came up

QFT.

I can speak from experience (we once had our fighter and rogue immobilised for 6 straight rounds) that failed saving throws can suck.

Shake it off is massively better than the cleric equivalent (minor action vs standard).

In a similar vein, the Martial Power feat Inspiring Save (I think it's called) allows you to forego your bonus healing on Inspiring Word to instead grant the ally a saving throw. Can be a lifesaver in the right circumstances.

[cupkeyk]

I recommend switching your dex with your int. with a 15 dex at paragon level, you can get heavy blade opportunity. at epic level you can get heavy blade mastery. Avoid the int based powers, but your cha based anyway and it won't really hurt your reflex or ac.

i recommend sword and board for AC and Flanking assistance/secondary defending with a longsword for AB.

[DM Raven]

... yeah, ya see this is yet another reason I am NOT really interested in D&D 4th ed. I don't subscribe to MMORPGs, I don't continually buy new sets of CCG cards, I don't pay for online service versions of software I can buy once, and I don't intend to subscribe to inane magazines to get the feats that would be included in the books if they weren't publishing the magazine. If Playing well requires subscribing to one of those money-grubbing worthless rags, this is yet another reason why I see no point in playing the game.

If all the good stuff is in subscription suplements, I'd rather just go play 2nd or 3rd edition. At least then I bout a -few- books, had a huge number of options, and have them for all time. >.<

Edit: *DEEEEP Breath*

Thank you for your suggestion. Truely. However, I am becoming less and less enamored with splatbooks, and online tools as time goes on.

The tighter their grasp, the more of my dollars will slip through their fingers.

o.O

Er...demo is free dude. It's a good tool to build low level characters and give you an idea of what's out there. As for the price...6 bucks a month is pretty badass for a hobby. Hell, thats about 70 bucks a year...I buy one video game and spend almost that much. Plus, no one's forcing you to buy anything besides the PHB, you can play D&D just fine with the core book. The extra stuff just adds a bunch of flavor. It's pretty much the same idea as 3rd and 3.5

[Josh the Aspie]

Yes, free up until level 3, as everyone has already stated.

If I want to swap for more dex, I would need to rebuild the character from scratch, and loose the XP, gold, and item the adventure granted. This is definitely an option, but it's one I'd rather take.

[Josh the Aspie]

As for the comment on the Dex... yes, you are not the only one to suggest this.

The only way I can swap the dex like that is to scrap this character, and create a completely new one. While this -is- an option, it's not exactly the most attractive one, as I prefer to play my characters till they are not longer available. Still, given that death is far from permanent in the new RPGA....