3.5 Core Character Creation (MIC and SC Allowed)

[LordOfCain]

5th Level character, preferred no LA. Core three books only. I would really like an arcane gish. The stats are 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, and 9. Go nuts.

[Eladrinblade]

Gnome Monk 4/Sorcerer 1
1 - Hold Portal, Ventriloquism
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 9, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 11
Improved Grapple, Run, Combat Reflexes, Endurance
Arcana 11, Baker 2, Diplomacy 7, *Disable Device 9, *Open Lock 8, Religion 10, *Search 4, Swim 8, *UMD 3
+1 Chain Shirt, MW Heavy Crossbow

Here's a nice, well-rounded character that should be fun to play.

[LordOfCain]

Baker? What do you mean?

[Eladrinblade]

Proffession (baker), so he can make a little money during downtime.

[LordOfCain]

Or maybe something like craft weaponsmithing or whatever you use to make a crossbow so he does not have to pay as much. FYI I have 4000 gp to spend and a free +2 weapon.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd go Ranger 5/Assassin 10/Dragon Disciple 5. (Or I guess you could also do Assassin 1/Eldrich Knight 10/Dragon Disciple 4, if you'd prefer a bit more BAB). SC adds a bunch of nice spells to your list.

[Zeruel]

Let's see...

If you like spontaneous spellcasters, start like this:

Human Fighter 1/(Stalwart) Sorcerer 4

Stats
Str 16
Dex 11
Cos 13
Int 14
Wis 9
Cha 15+1

Feats
1rst lv:Knowledge Devotion or Apprentice (spellcaster) (to get Knowledge (religions) as class skill), Skill focus (know [religions]), Improved initiative;
3rd lv: Maximize spell

Then go for Divine Oracle 10, Spellsword 3 and another full-progression spellcasting PrC 2, so that you may retain 9th level spells.


If you like prepeared spellcasters...:

Human Fighter 1/Wizard 4

Stats
Str 16
Dex 11
Cos 13
Int 15+1
Wis 14
Cha 9

Feats
1rst lv:Knowledge Devotion or Apprentice (spellcaster) (to get Knowledge (religions) as class skill), Skill focus (know [religions]), Improved initiative;
3rd lv: Maximize spell

Then go for:
Divine Oracle 10/Spellsword 5
or
Divine Oracle 10/Eldritch Knight 5

Use as a basic guide line... ;)

[Flickerdart]

5th Level character, preferred no LA. Core three books only. I would really like an arcane gish. The stats are 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, and 9. Go nuts.

In core, there are basically four ways to go arcane gish, depending on when you want your gishness to start working.

Boring way: Wizard 5. Next level, take Fighter 1. Thereafter, take Eldritch Knight levels. You'll end up 2 levels behind in casting behind, but will have BAB and more HP.

Punchy way: Sorcerer 1/Barbarian 4. Next level, take Dragon Disciple. Your spells aren't doing too much here, to be honest, but you have hella muscles.

Stabby way: Wizard 5. Next level, take Rogue 1, then Assassin 1. After that, go Arcane Trickster. Sneak attack people to death. Who needs BAB?

Wizardly way: Wizard 5. Use alter self to turn into a troglodyte (2 claws and a bite, Multiattack bonus feat, +6 natural AC). You can turn into a locathah if you want a swim speed, but they are nasty looking. When you get 4th level spells, pick polymorph, turn into a hydra, turn your familiar into a second hydra, and eat people.

[ericgrau]

What kind of gish? Primarily fighting with minor casting to boost the fighting, or a mix of casting offensive spells and sword swings.

I'll assume the second one since it's the most general type. Eldritch knight is your only real core choice there. Try this canned gish with good disables and damage:
Human Fighter 1 / sorcerer 4 (eldritch knight comes later)
Str 16, Con 15+1 = 16, Cha 14, Int 13, Dex 11, Wis 9

Spoiler: Build

Show

Feats (4): Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, improved initiative, weapon focus (guisarme, yes this is worth it in core)
In spite of your reach tactics I don't actually advocate getting combat reflexes right away. Assuming multiple foes will rush towards you to eagerly get tripped is a bit naive. Mostly you use your reach like a shield to discourage foes from approaching at all. Take combat reflexes after everything else you like. Likewise in core power attack isn't so great even with a two handed weapon; with your -2 BAB I wouldn't take it at all.

Spells:
Level 0: Whatever
Level 1 (3): Swift expeditious retreat (SpC), mage armor (in wilderness rod extend 3 to get 24 hours, in dungeons cast 1), nerveskitter (SpC), [ray of enfeeblement + empower spell next level]
Level 2 (1): Web, [false life next level & rod extend it]

Skills: Ride 8 (but never get mounted combat), Concentration 8, 4 points remaining for whatever since some of those ride ranks were cross-class.

Major Gear (~7,700 gp):
Masterwork guisarme (~400 gp)
Materwork sling & ammo (~300 gp)
Weapon crystal of least fire assault (600 gp, MIC): +1 fire damage. Combos well with web, helps against various low level monsters and makes for good utility.
Lesser rod of extend spell (3,000 gp)
Heavy warhorse (400 gp). You may have to leave him outside often, but he is amazing when you can use him. Extra attacks, good hp, +1 to hit, often a +4 to AC. The key is not to invest too heavily in him besides the ride ranks, so that way it's all gravy with little drawbacks. If/when he dies after level 7-8 you might want a light warhorse for a cheaper more disposable replacement since his attacks and hp won't be as impressive by that point.
Scale male barding (200 gp)
Bracers of quick strike (1400 gp, MIC): 1/day extra attack
Anklets of translocation (1400 gp, MIC): 2/day teleport 10 feet as a swift action. Great get away button to withdraw without losing your standard, escape a grapple, or to squeeze between an ally and foe without provoking.
Qual's feather token, tree (400 gp each): You never know when you'll need a giant oak tree.

Scrolls (1,050 gp with 4 party members):
Level 1 (900 gp with 4 party members): 3x shock and awe (SpC), 1x CL 4 alarm, [party members]x endure elements, 1x hold portal, 2x protection from evil, 2x shield, 2x mount (good guinea pig), 1x obscuring mist, 3x unseen servant, 1x comprehend languages, 2x CL 3 tenser's floating disk, 1x disguise self, 1x silent image (no save if illusion is not examined or interacted with, such as a wall on a side passage), 3x enlarge person, 1x magic weapon, [party members]x jump
Level 2 (150 gp): 1x spider climb

Wand:
I couldn't squeeze it in but see if you can buy a used wand of invsibility asap, which typically means a random number of charges at a reduced price. Spam it on the party and it bypasses entire encounters and also works on objects like doors you want to see through and major plot elements you want to hide.

There's a bit more gold left for whatever you like. If your leveling is slow then more scrolls may be a good idea. Double everything with duplicates except leave endure elements at [party members]x. Leave the 1x scrolls at 1x, except increase magic weapon to 2x.

Combat Tactics:
Buff Round (if any): Scroll of enlarge person. Or shield if you don't plan on tripping or if mounted.
Round 1: Nerveskitter if you don't plan on moving far on foot. Web what/if you can, otherwise see round 2. Move to a good spot to protect allies and full attack next round, swift expeditious retreat if necessary and if on foot. Trip with your attack of opportunity unless foe is large size.
Round 2: Full attack trip with bracers of quick strike. Swift Expeditious retreat if necessary and if on foot.
Round 3+: Keep tripping. Move in front of an ally if it will help protect that ally.

Between combat tactics:
Solve many tricky situations with utility scrolls.

Future: Pick up sleet storm and use round 1 on sleet storm, web or empowered ray of enfeeblement depending on the foe arrangement. Next take swift fly and ditch swift expeditious retreat for something else, perhaps unseen servant.

[nedz]

Druid 5, then more Druid

• Call your Animal Companion your Familiar
• Cast Spells which look Wizardly
• Summon Natural Allies, but insist that they are all Monsters
• Tell everyone you are a Wizard and beat them up if they disagree

[eggynack]

Druid 5, then more Druid

• Call your Animal Companion your Familiar
• Cast Spells which look Wizardly
• Summon Natural Allies, but insist that they are all Monsters
• Tell everyone you are a Wizard and beat them up if they disagree

Seems like a good plan. Would be better with broader resource access, because then you could use stuff like contemplative, initiate feats, aberration or dragon wild shape, and maybe even urban companion, along with a broader set of spells, to really get that wizard feel, but it's doable in the more narrow environment too. There are some great wizardly spells, and some spells that even cross over lists, like wood wose as an unseen seer facsimile in the first category and wall of smoke in the second. Come to think of it, one big problem I can see is that the spells I consider "wizardly" also tend to be ones that don't fit into a gish build, but you're getting a lot of your face beating power from "polymorph" anyway.

[Urpriest]

Note that in general, DMs who restrict their players to Core-only are either trying limit the range of character archetypes, or the mechanical sophisticatedness of the characters. Either way, many such DMs wouldn't appreciate a gish PC.

[Ermanti]

You could just go with a bard, I find they make fine gishes. For more of a focus on the melee aspect, try and be a tiefling or aasimar (with LA Buy-off), they get martial weapon proficiency and will allow entry into eldritch knight without losing a caster level to fighter. Bards can also go into dragon disciple as well.