This character's story is the story of the thread in the general forum Melee Characters Including RDD. In this thread it was posited that a fighter 28/bard 2/RDD 10 wasn't any better than a fighter 28/sorc 2/RDD 10, and that a bard 26/fighter 4/RDD 10 was better than both.
To offer a counter example and to take on the challenge of making such a character that would give a bard-buffed build a run for his money, I made this guy.
There is another build with the same level split: Dragon Warrior by Spooky222. I'm posting this version because the level progression is different, race is different, some feats and various other details are different.
And because I already posted it someplace so I can just copy paste it here again
Dwarf, non-lawful
Str 16 Dex 10 Con 18 Wis 10 Int 14 Cha 6
1 f (1): Luck of Heroes, Weapon Focus (Greatsword)+ 2 f (2): Knockdown+ 3 f (3): Iron Will 4 f (4): +1 Str, Weapon Specialization (Greatsword)+ 5 f (5): 6 f (6): Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack+ 7 f (7): 8 f (8): +1 str, Improved Knockdown+ 9 f (9): Expertise 10 f (10): Cleave+ 11 f (11): 12 f (12): +1 con, Improved Power Attack, Called Shot+ 13 f (13): 14 f (14): Blind Fight+ 15 f (15): Toughness 16 f (16): +1 str, Disarm+ 17 f (17): 18 f (18): Improved Critical (Greatsword), Improved Disarm+ 19 f (19): 20 f (20): +1 str, Improved Expertise+ 21 b (1): Great Str 1 22 r (1): 23 r (2): 24 r (3): +1 str, Great Str 2 25 r (4): 26 r (5): 27 r (6): Great Str 3 28 r (7): +1 str 29 r (8): 30 r (9): Great Str 4 31 r (10): 32 f (21): +1 con 33 f (22): Epic Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Epic Weapon Specialization (Greatsword)+ 34 f (23): 35 f (24): Armor Skin+ 36 f (25): +1 str, Epic Damage Reduction 1 37 f (26): Epic Damage Reduction 2+ 38 f (27): 39 f (28): Epic Damage Reduction 3, Epic Prowess+ 40 b (2): +1 str
+ - Fighter Bonus Feat
Ending Stats: Discipline 43, Tumble 40, Taunt 43, Use Magic Device 41, Spellcraft 10, Lore 8, 1 or 2 points left over. (188-190 skillpoints total I forget the precise number)
36 str 22 con 16 int 8 cha
AC 24 naked, 32 in mundane plate 644 max hp (if I calculated right) DR 9/- F 29, R 19, W 19
AB +47 with mundane greatsword +25 damage per hit
Instead of the FAQ I usually write, I'll add my follow-up to the build in that thread:
This sort of build is best off in a high, or at least plentiful, magic environment where you can use scrolls with UMD and potions for buffing, and especially if you can get immunity to mind spells from an item (to cover his will save). You don't need particularly high-bonus permanent items if you can get a lot of expendables (scrolls and potions).
But even without particularly powerful magic items, like I said in an earlier post, with this sort of build you can run around with Power Attack or Expertise on almost all the time and still have the same AB, or even a better one, compared to many other melees.
With a successful Taunt, you can turn on Improved Expertise or Improved Power attack and still be able to hit a non-trivial foe. Or Taunt and use both normal Expertise and Power Attack at the same time. Being able to absorb -10 to your AB and still hit on less than a 20 against a non-trivial enemy is nothing to sneeze at.
Turn off special modes and you can use Improved Knockdown, Called Shots, or Improved Disarm with that AB too.
Add in tumble for extra AC and avoiding AOOs due to movement, around the same AC as a dex build, and DR 9/- and you're pretty darn tough as well. Your saves are low at base, but dwarves have +2 to spells, and you get +2 more from spellcraft. Still not stellar, but not completely useless either. And you can inflict up to 30% spell failure with taunt.
A sorcerer wouldn't have taunt, or tumble - or would have to crossclass them. That means 4 to 8 lower AC, vulnerability to movement AOOs, and much weaker taunt abiltiy. You also wouldn't have UMD. I think it's pretty conclusive that the 28 fighter/10 RDD/2 bard is a lot better off than one with 2 sorcerer.
And depending on the environment, it's likely you'd at least break even with a bard-heavy build. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
Edited By griphook on 11/18/05 16:16
You know, I think this build would be much more powerful with 14 or more levels of Bard.
(Nice build Xylo.) _________________ What I'm reading now: The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer.
