It was the Year of the Wolf and Astonia was ruled by the the hated Regent Genini. The Regent had ascended the throne not too long ago thanks to a convenient hunting accident that the old king had suffered. The young prince was believed to be alive, although his current whereabouts were unkown to the Regent. Those who expressed their disapproval of the Regent's ways were rewarded with a large, grotesque tattoo - the Mark of the Swine, it was called. What's more, the heirs of the offender were branded for life as well. People thought long and hard before they offered work or aid to those that carried the dreaded Mark. And so the dissenting voices faded away, first into poverty, then into misery, and finally into oblivion. It was more effective than torture and imprisonment and Regent Genini was particularly proud of this program of his.
These and other thoughts were running through Marto Wilenen's mind as he stood in his little garden just outside the capital city of Astonia. A slow smile crept upon his strong but old face as he exclaimed, "Boo!". The little rascal who had been creeping up behind him froze in his tracks. "Perhaps you were looking for this," said Marto holding out a bagful of gold coins. Before the young man could react, Marto's hand shot out like a lightning flash catching his cheek. The young man was soon lying face-down in the dust. "I thought one of your age would put up a bit more resistance than, that. Then again, you are just a common filthy thief," remarked Marto. The young man's eyes were blazing by now. "What would you have me do? Do you see this or are you a dolt?" he queried pointing to his Mark. "Ahh there is anger in you. Anger is good, if you learn to channel it properly. Always remember that," remarked Marto. The young man retorted, "If only the blasted folk of this land would get angry enough to do something about Genini. There, I have committed blasphemy. Run to Genini with your tail between your legs and get me hanged. Go on!"
Marto stared at the young man curiously for some time. "You have pluck, laddie. I think I like you. Come, for we have work to do and things to learn," Marto said with with a little smile.
A few months passed and Marto summoned the nameless young man one day. You've been a good pupil, lad. You are ready now. I dub thee the Wolf. So saying, he started working on the young man's mark. Very soon, the mark represented not a grotesque swine, but a fierce wolf. The Wolf gathered followers swiftly and his legend grew everyday. He became famed for his stealth, his rage and his mystical powers. The wolfpack swept all evil that it encountered. It seemed to appear out of the dark night, silent, swift and deadly for its foes. Very soon, the Regent was also swept away in its tide.
The young prince returned to claim the crown and peace reigned in Astonia under the vigilant eyes of the Wolf and his pack. The year of the Wolf had truly begun. __________________________
The Wolf - Barbarian/Rogue/Wiz(illusionist)
Here's my first attempt at a build of any sort. Was shooting for a versatile char and a class combo that hasn't been tried much before. The level split could've been better except for the fact that I wanted to avoid XP penalties (this one carries no penalties anywhere). Also wanted to grab Epic Dodge as early as I possibly could (2nd bonus rogue feat). Please be gentle with my feeble attempt at a story Any suggestions/critique of the build, however, would be welcome.
Race: Human Alignment: CG (for RP reasons). Any non-lawful should be fine Playable 1-40 PvM (Only tested it with the lvl 40 fighter and rogue in the novice to epic char maker mod. Those two were easy – not a scratch - with no equipment other than a mundane rapier/shield)
Skills: Concentration 39(41) Discipline 43(44) Heal 30(29)* Hide 39(48) Listen 43(42) Move Silently 39(48) Spellcraft 39(43) Taunt 43(42)* Tumble 39(48) UMD 39(38) * Might be worth dropping Heal, stealing some points from Taunt to pump up Set Traps. In general, the skill points could be tweaked a bit more, I suppose.
HP: 426 Skilpoints: 393 AC (naked/mundane shield): 28/31 AB (max, naked): 39 (melee), 36 (ranged)
Equipment: AC boosting Monk robes (UMD) Rapier/Board (switch the shield out while sneaking/casting)
Pros: - Greater Rage 4x/day: +6 to Str, Con, +3 to Will (seriously weak throw for him) - Lvl 6 Wiz spells - Load up on buffs, reciprocal damage spells, no save spells, and maybe 1 or 2 offensive spells - Stealth - 7d6 sneak attack - Decent AB - Dexer feats - Epic Dodge, Uncanny Dodge - Decent HP (for a rogue/spellcaster combo) - DR of 2 points (ok its only 2 but still ...)
Cons: - Lousy AC (Improved Expertise and buffs should help) - Ordinary Will and Fort saves (too bad this build doesn't have spare feats to boost saves) - Limited damage output (greater rage and buffs such as bull's strength and greater magic weapon should help) - Fairly low DC on Wiz offensive spells (the two penetration feats might help a bit, if that's what spell penetration does in the first place)
Edited By feodore on 05/31/06 15:30
Looks pretty workable, but there are some things that need changing.
Your AC isn't really that bad, actually, especially since, unlike a full plate-wearing build, you can improve it with dex items. Not brilliant, but not bad. Your AB is much more of a problem, so I'd see if you can work in Epic Prowess somewhere. I'd probably drop one of the Spell Penetration feats for it, since you're not going to be getting through any substantial SR with 12 wizard levels anyway, and drop the other Penetration for something else you want (maybe Epic Skill Focus in Taunt).
Because your AB is quite low, I don't think I'd bother with Expertise/IE. Also, contrary to what the manual says, I don't think you actually need Dodge in order to take Epic Dodge, and it's a pretty worthless feat unless you're using it to qualify for something. In place of those, I'd rather have Knockdown/IKD and maybe Extend Spell to make some of those 1 round/level spells last a useful 24 rounds, rather than the paltry 12 rounds they're holding on at the moment.
Other than that, switch the rogue and wizard levels at 36 and 37 and take Tumble to 40 base. This won't get you an XP penalty, but will improve your AC by 1, since the +1/5 rank bonus from Tumble works off of base ranks, not modified skill value.
If you're going to take post-creation boosts to int, I'd take them at level 4 and 8, because skill point bonuses are not retroactive. You don't have to do any feat shuffling, since you'll still have 25 dex at 36, when you take Epic Dodge, and I don't think the temporary -1 AB, -1 AC will hurt playability much. The only difference at level 40 will be that you'll have more skill points.
If you're not too attatched to your skillset, though, you should consider dropping the 18 int altogether. You only need 16 to cast all the spells a level 12 Wizard has access to, and since you'll be fighting with a shield and using your Wizard levels primarily for buffing (at least, that's what I'd do), concentration isn't going to do you that much good. I'd keep Int at 16, drop concentration, and take two more points of dex, which will help out your AB and AC.
At a more basic and general level, I question the role of Barbarian in this build. You're not really using Greater Rage to its full potential, since it doesn't help your AB as a dexer, and your Con bonus is so low it will only last a little while with each use. You already get Uncanny Dodge from Rogue, so it's not helping you any. The 10% speed increase and DR 2/- are nice to have, but neither one is any kind of major advantage, so I don't know if they're worth the 15 levels you've put into them.
This looks like a pretty good build concept, but it needs some reworking, maybe at a level as basic as the classes it uses.
You can get terrifying rage on 15 barbarian levels... you probably should do that, or else change to a fighter or COT for the bonus feats. Take your 15th barb level at 39 to get the feat. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
Thank you. Pretty much every suggestion there was great.
I could drop the following: Spell Pen. Greater Spell Pen. Dodge (didn't know you could get Epic Dodge without this one!) Expertise Improved Expertise Armor Skin 2 points of Int Maybe even a couple of the Great Dex feats
Could grab: KD IKD Extend Epic Prowess Thundering Rage (could pump up Intimidate instead of Heal/Taunt to get this) 2 points of Dex
Will try to get Tumble up to 40 by taking the latter levels with a little more care (switching the last Wiz and Rogue levels as Nimueh rightly pointed out). I'd still like to keep Concentration, just in case (occasional spell on the fly and protection vs taunt). Also, I'd still prefer Barbarian to Fighter for the foll. reasons (perhaps misguided ones): 1 - A raging barechested barbarian such as this one should be ok but I'm having trouble picturing a fighter without armor 2 - The higher hit die would be nice since the wiz and rogue ones are poor 3 - Skill points would help this build since I'd be dropping Int down to 16 (from 18). Might need them for Conc 4 - Rage should help with the damage
I guess I'll post a summary of the leveling and skills once I finish rebuilding. Thanks again folks.
Any suggestions/critique of the build, however, would be welcome.