"Is your team ready?" "Aye," said the grim-bearded dwarf. "I have hand-picked the best and most experienced assassins from my Guild." "Good," said the silver-haired elf. 'The fact that it is Dwarves who kill her will cast suspicion off myself and my....society." "I see." The Elf studied the Dwarf for a moment. He was tall for a Dwarf, nearly 5 feet, and his beard was black and lustrous. His hair was pulled back from his head in a series of braids. His face was worn and scars interesected across his face like a roadmap. He wore a type of leather that was as black as onyx, and it made no sound when he moved. Upon his belt were a pair of deadly handaxes that gave him the uncomfortable feeling that they longed for the taste of flesh, and upon the Dwarf's back were a pair of shortswords with hilts wrapped in black leather to conceal any reflection. He was known only as Lassiter, and he held a high reputation in select circles for being a Dwarf who "gets results." "My sources have informed me that she is on the North Road, approximately 20 leagues south of Stormgate. See to it that she never arrives...and make it appear like the work of common highwaymen. And return to me the Crystal that she carries." "Consider it done," said the Dwarf, and he turned to leave. "There is one thing," the Elf said as the Dwarf's hand reached for the door. "She travels in the company of a human. A man whose name we have not ascertained." The Dwarf stiffened, and he let go of the door and slowly turned back around. "A man with no name, you say?" the Dwarf's face was suddenly dark. "Yes," the Elf studied Lassiter carefully, "Is that a problem?" There was a silence, and the Elf held the Dwarf's gaze for several heartbeats. "No, it's not a problem."
Lassiter surveyed the camp. It was cleverly hidden in a vale, and even their small campfire was built to give only a faint light and no smoke. Even their pack animals were cleverly concealed near the woodline and they gave no sound. Around the campfire he could see the small silhouette of the Elf-child, and the larger form of the man. The elf-child appeared to be eating a meal, but he noted that the man never moved. Another Dwarf appeared silently beside Lassiter's shoulders. "The others are in place, milord." "Good. Make sure you kill the Man first. I will see to it that the Elf-child doesn't sneak away. Count silently to thirty, then make your move." "Yes, sir," he whispered, and disappeared back into the shadows. Lassiter felt a tingling along the back of his neck. Something wasn't right, but what? Rather than make his move, he decided to watch his team make their strike.
In a few moments he watched his three most-experienced Dwarf assassins suddenly materialize from thin air directly behind the human who still never moved. A half-dozen blades flashed in the firelight and his form slumped to the ground. But simultaneously, the Elf-child disappeared completely from view. That was not expected! Then he heard one of his men cry, "What the--"
"Sir, it's a simalcrum! It's just a dummy stuffed with straw and grasses!"
You fool! Lassiter cursed himself silently. They had walked into a trap, and he suddenly realized who they were dealing with. His men, he knew, were already dead. He pulled forth both his blades because he knew now that his own life was in peril.
And as he began to examine the surroundings behind him there was suddenly a brilliant explosion that came from the center of the camp and he saw the Dwarves running, full aflame and screaming, as they were engulfed in a deadly conflagration of sparks and fire. As they ran, their bodies and beards ablaze, he saw one fall through the earth and disappear, and the other two hit a tripwire that ignited a massive surge of electricity that ripped through them with such force that it blew out the fire upon their bodies. And they lay unmoving on the earth, trails of smoke vaporing from their corpses.
Lassiter quickly concealed himself using the special art he had acquired over the years, and quickly but carefully made his way back out of the area using the exact he came. He understood that the entire region was loaded with deadly traps, and he wasn't taking any chances. He no longer cared about the Elf-child at this point, but was more concerned with saving his own neck. After taking a mere dozen steps, he paused, for even though he couldn't see him, he knew he was there. He could smell him. "Ill met by moonlight, proud Lassiter." "You!" "I could kill you Dwarf, but the thought of you explaining your failure to your Master pleases more. Get thee hence, before I change my mind." Lassiter considered for just a moment that he could battle him head-on, but he knew this opponent, and he knew what he was capable of, and so the moment fled. And then Lassiter fled, too.
playable from level 1 - 40 PvM
. The Professional
Rogue16/Wizard14/Champion of Torm10
This was a concept build and character more than anything, and a desire on my part to have a character that could really do a little of everything without being hopelessly watered down. The original version was a Fighter14/Rogue13/Wizard13 and, while having great offensive potential, suffered from fairly weak saves and an experience penalty for about 6 levels. That build is still viable however, and I can offer that version for those interested. I found this build more appealing as its Rogue side matured much earlier, and didn't have to clunk around in Heavy armour but could still wear light or medium armour and still basically get the same AC. Many will note the Exotic Weapon proficiency. I found it necessary to take because I needed a decent weapon to focus in to access CoT, but yet I didn't want to take martial proficiency since CoT gives you that. Therefore, i could justify the feat so that he could A) use any weapon in the game, and B)gain some style points if a player chooses to take katana, bastard sword or WarAxe.
Human
Str16(32) Int14(16) Wis10 Dex14 Con14 Chr8
1Rogue1, Knockdown, Toughness 2Rogue2 3Wizard1, Extend, School of Illusion 4Wizard2, Str17 5Rogue3 6Rogue4,Exotic 7Rogue5 8Rogue6, Str18 9Rogue7, WF: Bastard 10Rogue8 11CoT1 12Rogue9, Still, Str19 13CoT2, Blindfighting 14CoT3 15Rogue10, Skill Focus: Set Traps, Crippling Strike 16CoT4, Improved KD, Str20 17Rogue11 18CoT5, Expertise 19CoT6, Improved Crit 20CoT7, Str21 21CoT8, Epic Prowess, EWF: Bastard Sword 22Rogue12 23Rogue13, Epic Skill Focus: Set Traps 24Wizard3, Great Strength I, Str23 25Wizard4 26Wizard5, Great Int I 27Rogue14, Great Strength II 28Wizard, Str25 29Wizard6 30Wizard7, Great Strength III 31Wizard9 32Rogue15, Str27 33Wizard10, Great Int II, Great Strength IV 34Wizard11 35Wizard12 36Wizard13, Great Str V, Str30 37CoT9 38CoT10, Armor Skin 39Wizard14 Great Str VI, (spellcraft 42) 40Rogue16, Skill Mastery, Str32
AB: 41/36/31/26 Buffed AB: 67/62/57/52 (True Strike +12 Strength) AC: 30 in plain chain & shield Hit Points: 372 Skill points: around 350
**Note, the required DC for Epic Traps is 65. He is only 5 ranks shy of this. A simple buff or item will give him the capacity to lay them.
Advantages 8d6Sneak Dice Can use any weapon found in the game Can Still spells up to 6th level Tremendous skillset Highly Improvisational Great AB for only 10 melee levels Gains Concealment from 4th level Wizard spells (x5 a day at peak) Excellent Saves
Disadvantages Low Hit Points (some Con-enhancing items will mitigate this) Wears light or medium armour which affects Dex-based skills Low DC on spells--not an issue using only buffs or spells with no saves/bypass DR _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/12/07 16:01
I know it's a human because he gets the bonus feat, but you might want to write it down in the stats.
As a tip for the dwarven assassins, it might be better to darken the blade of your weapon by holding it over a fire to gather soot, that way you can keep it drawn
EDIT:
Quote: Posted 07/15/05 20:06:22 (GMT) -- Set Traps: 56 (60)**
...
**Note, the required DC for Epic Traps is 65. He is only 5 ranks shy of this. A simple buff or item will give him the capacity to lay them.
I just noticed this and I'm a bit confused. With skill mastery you will always take twenty on this, even in combat, so wouldn't you reach the DC of 65 with just 41 ranks and no skill focus? (41 base + 2 dex + 2 synergy + 20 "roll") Or perhaps I've just totally misunderstood how trap setting works?
Edited By pulse cap on 07/15/05 22:39
Sorry, about that, yes, he's Human. I thought it was obvious in the narrative but I forgot to put it in the description.
As for Skill Mastery, that only comes into play at Level 40. The goal was to get him laying Deadly and Epic Traps as soon as possible. At 23rd level, he can reach a DC of 63, and it would only take 1 Cats Grace to push him to that threshhold of 65. By 40th level, it doesn't really matter, as that bonus feat is almost a throwaway feat, so I decided to take something that fit with the concept of the character. A tad redundant, perhaps, but quite effective when he has both Stoneskin and Improved Invis going, as he can take his time in the midst of combat and sew the seeds of Epic Traps all around your opponent. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Very Cool!! Build. I've been wanting to try a spellsword type character and have seen several lately that sparked my interest. Now here's one I think I'm going to try. I feel he could do just about everything in the game with his varied skills.
Thanks for sharing this build!!! _________________ A Man of War who treads the world's roads alone, as I do, must be quick. Long ago I learned to strike swiftly and without scruple. I trouble no man without cause, but one who attacks me had best resolve himself to die!
I love it! dwarflord, i too had to look twice to see if you had made a human or dwarf! With the rush of dwarf assassys posted in the last while (im sure, cuz of you ) i was expecting the master to do a dwarf. Very cool idea and concept.
Peace
The concept and all the numbers he gets are very good. Just that there is one thing troubleing me. Is he easy and smooth to play, or i will need to pay alot of attention and use every trick and tip and travel in a party?
The concept and all the numbers he gets are very good. Just that there is one thing troubleing me. Is he easy and smooth to play, or i will need to pay alot of attention and use every trick and tip and travel in a party?
That's a very good question, Sheff. My initial answer is "yes," he's smooth to play, and "no", he doesn't need a party. Indeed, this type of character might be hampered by a party because he relies on tact, skill and knowing his environment.
But back to the "is he easy and smooth to play" aspect, you must understand that this is the type of character I prefer to play. I prefer puzzles, and problem-solving, and roleplaying, and thinking my way through a situation, rather than to just rely on my overwhelming AB and hitpoints and criticals to see me through a situation(even in those situations where it is warranted). For once, I wanted a character who had neither Dev Crit, nor SC V/HiPS, nor 52 levels of Weaponmaster, nor a boney arm accompanied with floppy red wings. I wanted a character who was diverse, many-colored, and yet down-to-earth, crafty, yet could still go nose to nose if it came to straight-out melee. I wanted to character who could have the Stone to Flesh spell if he wanted it, or who could cast a Bigby's spell or Improved Invis, and still wade into a battle with all the melee potential of a fighter, but yet who could sit back and stealth, and recover traps, and lay his traps of Epic proportions.
No, it was my intention all along that he should be soloed, but what character doesn't benefit from having a party? In those conditions, he becomes quite handy. He's not your tank, he's not your Arcane Howitzer, so you have to play him as such. He has many weapons, and it's just a matter of mastering your particular PW or environmnet to maximize his potential. Hope that helps, Sheff. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Let me also post a few minor corrections to some errors I disovered:
The highlighted selection is in error. He cannot take Empower until he has the capacity to cast 2nd level spells. I would suggest Expertise in its stead.
This is another error, and is a result of my fuzzy math skills. The correct saves should read:
Fort:25(34) Will:23(32) Reflex:29(38)
''''' ''''' ''''' griphook ..Corrected _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By griphook on 07/17/05 23:11
Yeah. It helped. I didn't really mean that he has 1 superior ability and alot of weak sides. I meant ask that if he will suffer from some kind of weakness at any level or will he be versatil and yet fun to play at any level and will be able to give out punishment as any other character : >. Hmm. I like this character. He can wear heavy armor and mop the floor with his weapon and sneak attacks and he can Buff his weapon and himself. Or he can pull on his shady outfit and do some robin hood- take from the rich, give to the poor. Or he can dress himself as ye olde mage and cook something with firebands, icestorms and what ever you can think of! Wow, he is quite amazing!
Yeah. It helped. I didn't really mean that he has 1 superior ability and alot of weak sides. I meant ask that if he will suffer from some kind of weakness at any level or will he be versatil and yet fun to play at any level and will be able to give out punishment as any other character : >. Hmm. I like this character. He can wear heavy armor and mop the floor with his weapon and sneak attacks and he can Buff his weapon and himself. Or he can pull on his shady outfit and do some robin hood- take from the rich, give to the poor. Or he can dress himself as ye olde mage and cook something with firebands, icestorms and what ever you can think of! Wow, he is quite amazing!
One small note: he doesn't nor cannot wear heavy armour. He acquires medium armour prof when he gets Cot Level 1, and any shield, and that's it. That was one of the drawbacks to this build versus the Fighter version. However, it seems any more that characters are either in Full Plate, or just Robes, and there's no in between. I found it refreshing to actually have a character who wears chainmail, or scale, or go to leather if he needed.
What you have to keep in mind is, even though he is a Strength-based character, you have to play him as if he were dexterity driven. That means casting your extended Mage Armors and Shields at lower levels, and using tactics, etc, because he doesn't have Heavy Armour nor the hit points normally associated with Strength-based characters. I'm not going to kid you, but the lower-levels could be a bit of a challenge due to this. The alternative was the Fighter variant which was much more playable at lower levels, but yet whose Rogue side matured much later in the build, and who suffered an XP penalty at various points throughout the build. In addition, this variant also suffered from lower saves, but yet had a bit more offensive potential due to the WS/EWS that Fighter provided. The Wizard side of the build matured earlier as well, which was a plus. I'll share that with you as well so you can compare the two:
Ftr14/Rogue13/Wizard13
Str16(30) Int15(18)--even though he doesn't cast 8th lvl spells, I wanted the 4th lvl spell slot this provided Wis10 Dex12 Con14 Chr8
1Rogue1, Strong Soul, LoH 2Fighter1, WF: Longsword 3Fighter2, Toughness , Knockdown 4Fighter3, Int16 5Fighter4, Wpn Spec: Longsword 6Wizard1, Still Spell 7Rogue2 8Wizard2, Str17 9Wizard3, Blindfighting 10Fighter5 11Rogue3 12Rogue4, Iron Will, Str18 13Fighter6, Improved KD 14Fighter7 15Fighter8, Extend, Improved Crit 16Wizard4, Str 19 17Rogue5 18Rogue6, Empower Spell 19Rogue7 20Fighter9, Str 20 21Fighter10, EWF, Great Strength I 22Wizard5, Great Int I 23Wizard6 24Wizard7, Great Str II (picks up Improved Invis here), Str 23 25Wizard8 26Rogue8 27Rogue9, Great Str III 28Wizard9, Str 25 29Wizard10, Great Int II 30Rogue10, Skill Mastery, Epic Skill Focus: Set Traps 31Fighter11 32Rogue11, Str 26 33Wizard11, Great Str IV 34Fighter12, Epic Prowess 35Fighter13 36Wizard12, Armor Skin, Str 28 37Rogue12 38Wizard13 39Fighter14, EWS, Great Str V 40Rogue13, Slippery Mind, Str 30
AB=40 AC=32(plate/shield) Hit Points: 384 Skill Points: around 350 Fort: 23 (32) Will: 22(31) Refl: 20 (29) _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 07/18/05 02:57
Great Build.
Just a few questions/comments.
You have a 16 in intelligence, yet go up to level 14 wizard. is this just to get a few (4 i believe) more spells, or did you add another point to intelligence somewhere and get the 7th level spells? also, do you have any recommended spells, perhaps some which would directly help this build? i was trying out the build, and started to have trouble choosing useful spells. should i choose some direct damage spells? those without saves are best i assume.
i like the idea of using impr invis and stoneskin to let you set traps, even in the middle of combat. a really sneaky and ingenious way to attack.
just plain nifty build. i like the stronger saves as well. just one more thing he can withstand.
Nice build, very versatile indeed. I am a little dissapointed that the Dwarven Assassins were taken out so quickly though .
You have a 16 in intelligence, yet go up to level 14 wizard. is this just to get a few (4 i believe) more spells, or did you add another point to intelligence somewhere and get the 7th level spells?
That is a good question, and I wish I had a good answer, because frankly, he probably should have an 18 Int. If you look at the Fighter variant above, he goes with an 18Int. Going with a 16 Int is an oversight, if anything, on my part, for he can't still 6th level spells without access to 7th level slots. The 18Int will also provide an additional 4th level spell which highly works in the build's favor. It might just be a matter of dropping to Great Strengths for Great Intelligences near the end of the build. A loss of 1AB but that won't matter by then, as those spells will be more than an even trade. If I recall, Power Word Stun is still a vocal only, and a well-timed one of those can make the difference in a long drawn out boss-battle where he is nearly dead, and so are you, and you need the old knockout punch. I believe that's the only vocal spell in the 7th lvl bunch, but ShadowShield is still a great spell and worthy of memorization.
Quote: also, do you have any recommended spells, perhaps some which would directly help this build? i was trying out the build, and started to have trouble choosing useful spells. should i choose some direct damage spells? those without saves are best i assume.
You get the idea, I think, but I'll jot down my hot picks, 1-7:
It's just a hard and fast list. Basically, you are only choosing spells that enhance you somehow, or beef up your defenses, or, in a few cases, to harass your enemy while you work some Rogue magic and sneak attack on them. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 07/19/05 03:31
A few options that might help you get those extra spells, while doing the minimum damage to the integrity of the build.
1) drop your base wisdom to 8 and increase int to 15 2) drop two CoT levels and armor skin for two wizard levels and an epic bonus feat you could use for great intelligence. 3) place epic prowess as an CoT epic feat and use the regular epic feat for great strength feat. Use a regular attribute bonus to increase your INT, if you couple this with suggestion 1 you can pick up some extra skill points.
I would suggest 1 and 2. This would give the build an 18 INT and level 8 spells, in return for -1 to fortitude and reflex saves, -2 to will saves and -2 to AC. I like this one a bit better than Grimblade, it's a bit tougher but Grimblade gets style points for using the assassin levels. _________________ Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
A few options that might help you get those extra spells, while doing the minimum damage to the integrity of the build.
1) drop your base wisdom to 8 and increase int to 15 2) drop two CoT levels and armor skin for two wizard levels and an epic bonus feat you could use for great intelligence. 3) place epic prowess as an CoT epic feat and use the regular epic feat for great strength feat. Use a regular attribute bonus to increase your INT, if you couple this with suggestion 1 you can pick up some extra skill points.
I would suggest 1 and 2. This would give the build an 18 INT and level 8 spells, in return for -1 to fortitude and reflex saves, -2 to will saves and -2 to AC. I like this one a bit better than Grimblade, it's a bit tougher but Grimblade gets style points for using the assassin levels.
Excellent suggestions, Mith, as usual. I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you do this for a living. Option 1 seems most definite in coming. I would even suggest keeping the CoT levels and dropping Rogue 16 for Wizard15. That last Rogue bonus feat seems most expendable to me. This would then change nothing in the rest of the build, and voila! 18Int. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I just have a question on this build. You don't take dev crit with this build yet you go strength based. wouldn't you gain more going dex instead of str in ac? Just wondering why with the rogue levels and not taking dev you went strength instead of dex?
Edited By Bulragus on 03/18/06 11:24
Quote: Posted 03/18/06 11:16:01 (GMT) -- Bulragus
I just have a question on this build. You don't take dev crit with this build yet you go strength based. wouldn't you gain more going dex instead of str in ac? Just wondering why with the rogue levels and not taking dev you went strength instead of dex?
If you'll notice, 98% of the strength builds here don't use Dev Crit. Dev Crit is either banned in most PWs, or most players find it cheesy and that it makes the game dull. Personally, I have always found it tedious to have to go power attack, cleave, great cleave, improved crit, Overwhelming crit, and then dev crit. It's right up there with WM prereqs. I can't abide them. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I didn't make my post trying to suggest that you take dev crit and I agree I think it's a little cheesy. I was just wondering why you would go strength based instead of dex? Is it for the versitility of being able to use more weapon types? Or was it because of feats? I happen to like dex builds and was wondering if this could work with a dex based character or it you'd end up loosing something? Wouldn't you gain ac if you made him dex based instead of strength?
Quote: Posted 03/18/06 17:02:57 (GMT) -- Bulragus
I didn't make my post trying to suggest that you take dev crit and I agree I think it's a little cheesy. I was just wondering why you would go strength based instead of dex? Is it for the versitility of being able to use more weapon types? Or was it because of feats? I happen to like dex builds and was wondering if this could work with a dex based character or it you'd end up loosing something? Wouldn't you gain ac if you made him dex based instead of strength?
I think Dex would be just fine. Replace Still with Finesse, and pursue an Epic Dodge track. It should work out to be the same in all respects. You're reflex save will be much higher as a good side effect. I would probably attempt to get Crippling Strike in addition to Epic Dodge in such a career. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I have actually tested this build on a rather difficult server. I am impressed with its overall playability. I tweaked a few things to accomidate my server. I dropped the Epic Traps feat and took slippery mind to help with the low will saves. Also I change a bit here;
21CoT8, Epic Prowess, EWF: Bastard Sword 22Wizard3, 23Rogue12, 24Rogue13, Great Strength I,Slippery Mind, Str23 25Wizard4 26Wizard5, Great Int I
I feel the only thing about this build is that you are waiting to get your wiz levels higher. Which is why I switched on level here so I could get a few short lived buffs. All in all its a great build. Just wish there was a way to improve the wiz earlier without loosing attacks per round.
) i was expecting the master to do a dwarf. Very cool idea and concept.