Makes a nice and steady path in the shadows,1-40. PvP lite
The Dragons Tear. He tasted the words in his mouth. The Dragons Tear. It tasted good. Very good. It tasted the opportunity of a lifetime. The time to retire. It would be the ultimate theft for him. He had gold enough to retire. Gold wasn’t everything. He wanted to retire a legend, and the time for legends was here. He was a tall, slim man, probably in his forties. His movements were that of the most graceful cats, and his balance seemingly perfect.
The Emperor of Drakkhas had received the famed Dragons Tear from one of his generals after they had conquered a neighbouring nation and had found the Tear in a temple they looted and burned. Once, when the great hero of legend, Sigurd Dragonbane, had killed a Great Red Dragon, the dragons mate had been grief-struck beyond what a mortal could live to bear. He swore revenge upon Sigurd, and swore that he would shed no tears in sorrow until Sigurd was ready for his grave. When the Dragon came upon the Dragonsbane hero, he was in the middle of celebrating his victory over the evil Dragon. The Great Red slew him, as well as those in the city Sigurd had “freed”.
Back in his cave the Dragon cradled his lost mate in his strong arms, a tear welling up in his eye. The great tear fell from his eye as his loss was felt the greatest. It hit a scale on the dead Mate and seemed to merge with it and the power of the Dead Dragon. That was the Dragons Tear. A huge red gem, formed as a tear. It was the purest of Gems any man had seen. It was said to hold great magical powers as well, but noone knew exactly what they were.
Later that night the thief Merthin stood in the Shadows behind the Great Palace of The Emperor. He had used the last two months scouting out the building from nearby roofs and was as prepared as he could be. Now or never, he thought, since it was a moonless and clouded night. He wore loose comfortable clothes, and a single rapier was at his hips. He also had a small backpack which was stuffed to the rim. He started to climb up the wall. It was quite slick and almost impossible to climb for most. Merthin was a master-climber and made slow but sure progress hidden in the darkness from the great building. He reached the top of the building just short of two hours later, and climbed on to the roof. He sat in silence, looking out over the roof. There were about a handful of sleepy guards here. He slowly snuck across the roof, to the stair down. The guards weren’t to alert, and he made it easily to the stairs.
He had spent a nice amount of gold when he paid for the info on the location of The Tear. He would see if it was correct, or if he would have to do an assassination this fine night. The guards and security was more aimed at keeping the emperor safe, since not many people knew where the valuables were stored in this great castle anyway. He patiently sneaked around the guards and reached the door where the Tear was supposed to be. He studied it a little while and could easily see it was locked, and had a trap connected to the lock. He withdrew some tools and started to disable the trap. He entered the room and put the trap back into place, but it was no longer connected to the lock. Once inside he opened his backpack and removed several traps. He started to rig them just inside the opening. He needed some defense while he took the gem. He moved a scroll he had bought to his belt for easy access. He went to the pedestal and started to work. First to find and identify all traps and then safely removing them.
THIEF! A voice boomed. Open the door. We know you are in there. If you surrender now, we will spare your life!. Merthin realized that the man who had sold him information also had sold him to the Emperors guards. The fool didn’t realize that it would have him hung to, alongside Merthin. He didn’t reply, just worked patiently with the traps. He heard a click, and the door swung open. The first guard yelled in pain as the poisoned dart from the door trap hit him, and he fell to the floor. Then a mass of guards rushed into the room. And into Merthins trap. First, Acid splashed all over the first row. They screamed in pain, a few even died from the grievous wounds it caused. Then a sleeping gas was released, blocking the view and sending several guards snoring to the floor. But more importantly, it bought him a few more seconds to remove the Tear. Finally he had it. He turned around. Several guards were still about, but were somewhat reduced by his traps. He heard more arriving down the corridor. He had to act fast!
He quickly put the tear in his mouth, since he had no time to put it safely in his pack or a pocket. He drew his blade and rushed to the door. He held his breath as he quickly tumbled past the guards there, easily evading the few half-hearted blows they dealt. He ran full speed down the corridor towards the window, only to find it blocked by a dozen guards. He was a master of the blade, and could perhaps fight his way out. He didn’t feel like risking that and couldn’t be sure there weren’t any more guards on the way. Then suddenly, he just understood what he had to do. He rushed towards the guards then suddenly stopped three yards away. He opened his mouth and a great cone of fire spewed from it, powered by the Dragons Tear. Terror and pain overcame the guards, and Merthin just rushed by and jumped out the window. He just dropped his blade, as he had no time to sheath it. He took the Tear into his hand, and the scroll he had readied earlier in his other. He read loud and quick, activating a featherfall spell just before he slammed into the ground. He took a deep relieving breath. A few close calls there. But it was well worth it. He had just become a living legend. He wandered off into the safety of the streets. Retiring? Nah, how can a legend ever retire? ________ I aimed to get Both Weapon finesse and HiPS as early as possible, while still retaining some OK AB.
AC naked/mundane shield: 31/33. (Tower board gives to high skill check pen)
AB: 44/39/34 with mundane rapier, good for a sneaker Dmg: 1d6 (16-20/x3) + 10d6 sneak attack
Saves Fort 18 Ref 36 +4 vs traps Will 15 +slippery mind. (all saves are +4 vs spells)
Skills 357 Craft Traps 20(22) Disable Traps 20(24) Discipline 42(42) not sure if 42 will help at all…. Hide 43(64) Intimidate 4(3) Prereq for WM Move Silent 43(64) Open Lock 10(21) Search 15(17) Set Trap 43(56) Spellcraft 18(20) Tumble 40(51) UMD 41(40)
This fella takes SD at lvl 8, the earliest possible, most take it at 21 to preserve BAB. I think this makes it so much easier to solo. He takes Weapon finesse at lvl 3, which postpones WM three levels, but also makes him more playable early on. That also costs 1 BAB. If you want you can change either or both of those for a stronger lvl 40. Note that if you improve BAB by at least 1, you get the fourth attack.
He has normal AC, Good AB and good hp’s for a sneaker. He is very playable PvM from the moment he gets Finesse and moreso with HiPS. He has UMD and traps to help generating damage. What he lacks is KD (so rely on HiPS) and IC. Both those can be traded for 2 Gr DEXes. Or you can let go of Slippery mind, take ROG16 at lvl24 and use the bonus feat for Epic dodge, and freeing 1 generic feat for either IC or KD.
He uses a shield to improve AC, but I recommend large shield over Tower, 1 less AC but 8 less skill check penalty. If used for PvP you probably have to be able to use HiPS and UMD to great extent, since you won’t do much damage otherwise. Another weakness is no concealment, but his strengths over other stealth/sneakers will perhaps make up for that. All saves except REF are bad. But with some boosting your slippery mind will start to be helpful. Or get hold of mind protecting items.
Really well done, early finesse and HiPS with 44 AB!!! Impressive. Pity for the lack of the 4th attack, guess you wanna get your hands on some divine power scrolls, eh-eh. You have room for concealment, but it would cost you the two ESF and slippery mind to get SC3... you're probably better off with II scrolls.
Cheers, Kail _________________ Dilegua notte Tramontate stelle Tramontate stelle All'alba vincerò Vincerò Vincerò