He waits silently in the brush. He doesn't think, every move is instinct. He has but one thought, the mission the Harpers have charged him with, get the boy back and punish those that took him.
He creeps silently past the sentries to the tent where the boy is held. As he crawls under the canvas to enter the tent, he smiles to himself. His eyes meet the boys and they silently communicate his intent. As he frees the boy from his bonds he stops to draw a map in the dirt showing the way to safety. The boy nods and the halfling smiles. It's a wicked smile that shows broken teeth and reason for his silence, his tongue long since cut out, a parting gift fron Zhentil Keep.
He pushes the boy from the tent through the opening he had dug and sends him on his way. Now it's his turn. There's only four of them he thinks to himself as he adjusts his daggers, I can have a little fun. He then rolls himself in the blankets they had thrown on the boy and waits.......
Last Halfling Standing
There were a handful of other builds with the same classes and one with the same leveling scheme, but none with the same build intent. The idea behind this build was to create one tough little bastard with Epic Dodge, SC 5 and all 3 EDR feats. My vison is of a specialist employed by the harpers for some of the most dangerous missions they have.
Pro's 1) Defense - With a naked AC of 28, easily equipable into the 60's with commonly available items. Couple this with Epic Dodge & SC V and he is almost untouchable in melee combat. And if he is hit, he can take it. 576 HP's and the 3 EDR feats means he will be standing for quite some time. 2) Offense - Dual wielding Daggers with an unbuffed AB of 38 and 11d6 sneak attack. He can self buff with stacking Cats grace from potion or scroll with his inate harper ability to add +2 to +5 to his AB.
Con's 1) Low damage output. Even with EWS in the Dagger, he only gets a +4 damge adjustment due to his low strength score. The right magic items can go a long way to mitigating this weakness, but only if they are available. 2) Microscopic will save. Tymora's smile helps, but that won't be enough to save him versus even a mid level caster. I couldn't fit slippery mind in the build and still achieve what I wanted defensively. UMD is your friend here and he should equip himself with any mind protecting devices scrolls he can find. 3) Low skill points for a rogue heavy build. His intelligence modifier makes getting all but the life preserving skills undoable.
I ran this guy through the Halls of Epic Training and he held his own against most melee types without any buffs or magic items. As expected, spell chuckers ate him for lunch!
Leveling was very tricky to achieve all the targeted feats so ther may be some room for improvement. _________________ In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. Yes, Father. The Almighty says don't change the subject; just answer the &%$#@& question.
Edited By FinneousPJ on 06/27/06 19:02
I like idea and concept, but like you, I question if it is really worth the cost. Playability is really hampered in pre-epic. I also noticed that even your skills get a little gimped. 35 in Tumble sells your AC short 1, and the stealth skills also are on the low side. On the bright side, I'd say he is a tough bugger to kill in melee once you hit those high Epic levels.
Edit: Actually, now that I look at your skills again, it's worse than I feared. No Open Lock? How is he going to get a chest open? Or a locked door? He's not going to be able to damage it until he gets some elemental form of damage. Also, no Disable Traps or Set Traps? Not that he would find them anyway with a 3 Search. Combined with a lower than normal stealth skill, basically the only thing he has to rely on is UMD in pre-epic. Yikes! I suppose in multiplayer settings his weaknesses would be covered, but I think the party would be a little upset by the Rogue Halfling who couldn't unlock a door, chest or disable a trap. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Edited By grizzled_dwarflord on 06/27/06 19:20
I fixed the damn rouge
edit: nevermind _________________ "We keep our Feast of Feasts, sure of our bourne, Our aims self-same: The Guest of Guests, friend Zarathustra, came! The world now laughs, the grisly veil was torn, And Light and Dark were one that wedding-morn."
Edited By FinneousPJ on 06/27/06 19:06
Have you tested his damage output? I wonder if it will ever be below 7. It might be (if I understand PnP right) That his weapon damage roll must be at least 1 before you add in EWS. That is 1d4-2 for STR= 1-1-1-2, then you add 6 from EWS. Try it. ( Yeah, I know, I should have done it myself).
I feel it has at least a little relevance though. Especially in the early build with only WS and very little sneak-damage. _________________ I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.
I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
Self Concealment V and EDR III? that's some tanking, although you sacrifice quite a lot your stats for it.
Good use of Harper Scout there to improve DEX a bit more.
Self Concealment V and EDR III? that's some tanking, although you sacrifice quite a lot your stats for it.
Not to mention Epic Dodge _________________ "We keep our Feast of Feasts, sure of our bourne, Our aims self-same: The Guest of Guests, friend Zarathustra, came! The world now laughs, the grisly veil was torn, And Light and Dark were one that wedding-morn."
I like idea and concept, but like you, I question if it is really worth the cost. Playability is really hampered in pre-epic. I also noticed that even your skills get a little gimped. 35 in Tumble sells your AC short 1, and the stealth skills also are on the low side. On the bright side, I'd say he is a tough bugger to kill in melee once you hit those high Epic levels.
Edit: Actually, now that I look at your skills again, it's worse than I feared. No Open Lock? How is he going to get a chest open? Or a locked door? He's not going to be able to damage it until he gets some elemental form of damage. Also, no Disable Traps or Set Traps? Not that he would find them anyway with a 3 Search. Combined with a lower than normal stealth skill, basically the only thing he has to rely on is UMD in pre-epic. Yikes! I suppose in multiplayer settings his weaknesses would be covered, but I think the party would be a little upset by the Rogue Halfling who couldn't unlock a door, chest or disable a trap.
There is no doubt that this build has its downfalls, although most are controllable in a mid to high magic world.
I could sacrifice some skill points from discipline, hide, move silently or UMD to at least get some ability to open locks, disable devices and set traps. With his dex score it wouldn't take much in the open locks & set traps skills.
+12 strength item would solve the next most glaring deficiency. Another few trinkets and voila!
Only real problem I see playability wise is living long enough pre-epic to aquire the items. _________________ Him? That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man.
Edited By Highlander44 on 06/27/06 23:03
Interesting concept. Nice combination of EDR and a dex build. Your AC isn't as good as I'd have expected, but that shouldn't matter. I'd dump your stealth skills and take trap skills and 40 tumble instead. Let your traps do the killing for you.
Will be hell to play pre-epic. Might want to just bill it as a "straight 40" build. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
nevermind