Brood of the Mountains....Ranger28/Bard2/Rdd10 (revised)
Thirty years ago, a small group of Dwarven Priests were investigating the appearance of a new Dragon in a nearby mountain range. What they discovered in an isolated pass was the shattered remnants of a large caravan bound for Scornubel . It had been laden with treasure and artifacts, and was heavily guarded. Corpses were strewn about like ragdolls, wagons were charred by a mighty fire, and once proud knights were found with their very armour melted into their boiled flesh. There was no mistaking what happened here. The Priests heard a sobbing coming from a crevasse located several hundred feet away. There they found a human woman, naked, torn and shattered-- but alive. They took her in, and allowed her to recuperate in their Halls in the mountains. She recovered but was severely traumatized, and she had lost the capacity to speak. Approximately 9 months later, she gave birth to a child, but had died in labour so great was the ordeal. The Dwarves took the child and raised it as their own. But right away they knew this was no ordinary child.
And so the child grew among the Dwarves, and was reared by them, and became one of them, in both custom, thought and language, and he loved them as his parents, and they loved him as their own blood son. He spent more time roaming above the Mounatins than below, and became friendly with the animals that dwelt there. As he aged and grew into manhood, he asked the Dwarf Priests of his heritage. They explained that his Mother was a great woman, but they grew dark when questioned about his Father. They suspected, but they would not speak of it, not openly. But they taught him much. They skilled him in the Axe, and in war, and they skilled him in the mysteries of reducing and absorbing damage, and they taught him the weaknesses of otherwordly creatures.
And so it came to be, 20 years later, that this young man was hunting in the Mountain wilderness when he heard the sound of a hundred thunderclaps. Clambering to a spot of high ground, he could see a great winged form assailing the Door to the Halls of his Priest Fathers. Great gouts of fire spewed from the creature's mouth, and he could hear the agonizing cries of those who felt the fire. Mad with fear and panic, he raced up the mountain, across the rocks and ravines, and bounded up the slopes, like a panther, possessed, until he came before the wrecked gates and the burning bodies. There were none left alive. He found his foster father, burnt and twisted, and he held him for many long hours. And it was then that he heard the low rumbling laughter, like boulders scraping together, and a great shadow fell upon him and he felt a dread seep into his heart. "My son." He turned slowly to face the great Wyrm, but when he turned, there was only the wind howling among the rocks. ________
Spawned by Dragons, raised by Dwarves, The Brood of the Mountains is a deadly opponent no matter who he faces.
Human Alignment: Any non-lawful
Naked AB w/mundane Great Axe: +44/39/34/29 Naked AB vs Favored Enemies: +47/42/37/32 Dualwield AB w/normal handaxe :+42/37/32/27/42/37 Ac w/Studded Leather: 29
Revised version of the old build. He seems to be a bit more of a melee monster. Especially vs. Favored. The build gets decent saves again, but for playing I would actually recommend dropping 2 great strength feats and take Bane on a general feat. This will give you another Favored Enemy, and give you one extra feat to fulfill a weakness in the build: either Epic Reflexes, Epic Fort, IKD, or Expertise.
Compared with the original version, this one is more powergamer. A lot more skill points, a lot more damage, much higher AB, higher UMD, more Favored Enemies, etc. It loses a little RP flavor, IMO. In worlds where Dev Crit is banned, I think this build gets even better. It still is a melee machine, and one could easily drop both Overwhelming and Dev Crit and add more Grt Str or more saving throw defenses. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 03/27/09 18:11
powerful, and fairly good on the RP side actually... now, one minor thing that i just looked up. This actually makes it more of a RP guy. drop ranger down to 26 and take 2 more bard.
you dont get anythong for ranger lvl 27 and 28, but for lvl 3 of bard, you get +1 to damage and +1 to fort saves. (from bard song) everything else (including base saves) stay the same.
lvl 4 bard just gives you a +1 to your base saves (fort)
Quote: Posted 05/23/05 23:53:21 (GMT) -- aluka
powerful, and fairly good on the RP side actually... now, one minor thing that i just looked up. This actually makes it more of a RP guy. drop ranger down to 26 and take 2 more bard.
you dont get anythong for ranger lvl 27 and 28, but for lvl 3 of bard, you get +1 to damage and +1 to fort saves. (from bard song) everything else (including base saves) stay the same.
lvl 4 bard just gives you a +1 to your base saves (fort)
If I'm not mistaken, those last 2 Ranger levels help to maximize the Ranger's animal companion. I can't quite remember when Diminishing Returns kicks in on the fellow, but I believe it's actually 27 or 28.
As for the Bard levels, I did consider it, but I then needed to commit more than 6 points to perform, and I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. Believe me, I had a hard time with just 6.
However, giving him 4 Bard levels legitimizes him somewhat....but see, that was the point, he's not legitimized, he's an illegitimate bastard spawn of a malice conceived in hate and fear, and born in death and suffering,and lives for vengeance and the Reckoning. I wanted him to be a freak of sorts. A 36 Natural Strength, along with Bane of Enemies and 7 stacked Favoreds (8 if you follow the other path), with a full compliment of bad-to-the-bone Bard skillset (like to work in Taunt somehow), I wanted him to be even more of a monster than most RDD combos, if such a thing were even possible.
Still, it is something to consider, especially when playing from the ground up. Since the build already requires a Bard level in pre-epic, it wouldn't affect the build at all to take 1 more, and then scatter the other two (can two be scattered?) in Epic. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I was interested in a dual-wielder RDD/Ranger build, but I wanted to use Bastard Swords. I traded Lightning Reflexes for Exotic Weapons and Iron Will for Curse Song. I also shifted 4 points out of DEX and put 1 in STR and 2 in INT, then added the two more Bard levels as recommended... and realized I could simply drop two FEs and add FOUR more levels of Bard for one more to AB!
That's a loss of two FEs, 2 Will, 1 Reflex, and 1 AC... in order to gain Curse Song, 1 AB, 1 Fortitude, and maxed Hide and Move Silently. I know there are seven major races in NWN (talking about PvP here), but you can ignore Half-Elves and Gnomes. The former are too rarely used, and the latter only really make good casters or dexers, so they'll have less HP and perhaps even less AC.
That's a lot of gain, and the only thing you really lose is the 1 AC - and Curse Song makes up for it! Unless you're talking PvM, and then I guess the two FEs do count for something. Dual wielding Bastard Swords does drop the AB by 2 (resulting in a net 1 loss), but that's just my weapon preference. By all means, go with two Shortswords... by neglecting that proficiency feat, you also get Improved Knockdown! Middle of the road would be Longswords, which allow IKD and more damage but cost the 2 AB, but keep in mind, it still means a net +2 to AB when attempting knockdowns.
How about that for a tweak? Maybe I'll test the build tomorrow and post stats for everyone.
...Maybe.
Edited By johann_howitzer on 02/20/07 09:33
More tweaks! I messed with the feats and ability scores some more and managed to get the same STR in the end, while boosting initial CHA to 11 and dropping WIS to 13. The upshot of this is:
- Switching Armor Skin for a Great Strength loses 2 AC, but 1 of that is made up thanks to Mage Armor - Loss of Level 4 Ranger spells, which are junk anyway, except for Freedom of Movement - Gained Bard spells through level 3, which has Keen Edge! This means the weapon options for the primary hand are greatly increased. If you have a high-enhancement or high-damage-bonus weapon, you don't have to choose a Keen weapon over it for Dev Critting purposes. Also Wounding Whispers, useful in PvP at the very least. I dropped the now-useless 22nd level of Ranger for another level in Bard, which gives a second level 3 spell slot.
So that's a loss of 1 more AC in exchange for Keen and other juicy Bard spells! Rangers don't get Bull's Strength or Ghostly Visage, after all. Ghostly Visage by itself pretty much makes up for that 1 AC.
Me like! I think I'll try this build out. It seems pretty amazing in both PvM and PvP.
Edited By johann_howitzer on 02/20/07 10:10
Bad form johann... I hope someone in authority points this out! Bad form. _________________
Eewha? What'd I do wrong?
Hm. Still no answer. I wonder if he meant bad form for digging up a two-year-old thread? If so, I see no problem with it - it's a very good build, and warrants attention.
If he meant that I was violating the RP nature of this build... it had been said that two more levels of Bard would make this even more RP-ish, and I was simply following that through!
Oh well. Can't please everyone. I do find it more than a little odd that he called me out without saying WHAT he was calling me out for, though.
Hm. Still no answer. I wonder if he meant bad form for digging up a two-year-old thread? If so, I see no problem with it - it's a very good build, and warrants attention.
If he meant that I was violating the RP nature of this build... it had been said that two more levels of Bard would make this even more RP-ish, and I was simply following that through!
Oh well. Can't please everyone. I do find it more than a little odd that he called me out without saying WHAT he was calling me out for, though.
Well, I dont want to speak for avado but, I think it might have to do with this being a 2 year old post (a lot can change with builds over time) and the fact that you have posted a lot of info about how you would build this today. Maybe in the future it would be better to make a new post with your build and give a link to grizzled's build stating that it was the inspiration for your build. Or, I could be wrong.
Quote: Posted 02/22/07 02:05 (GMT) -- galelabriel
Maybe in the future it would be better to make a new post with your build and give a link to grizzled's build stating that it was the inspiration for your build. Or, I could be wrong.
That sounds good, sir. Here, have a cookie!
*passes cookie to galelabriel* _________________ "With Europe liberated, the people of the world turned their attention to that old devil, the United States of America [...] We taught that monster of old the true meaning of freedom." Star Wreck
I, for one, can't see anything wrong in Johanns post, I think I'll leave that for the Dwarflord or Avado to point out to me. _________________ We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind Sons of Odin fights to die and live again
