The following requires no fanfare. He is the first of his kind among the Guild.

Battle Shaman of The One-Eyed Gruumsh
________

Cleric26/Assn13/Barbarian1
Race: Half-orc
Alignment: Chaotic Evil, Neutral Evil
Playable: 1-40, PvM, Low Magic
_________

Attributes
Str18 (28)
Int12
Wis15 (20)
Dex8
Con14
Chr6*

Level Guide
1 Barbarian1**, WF: Battle Axe
2 Cleric1, Domains: Strength & War
3 Cleric2, Extend Spell
4 Cleric3, Wis16
5 Cleric4
6 Cleric5, Knockdown
7 Cleric6
8 Cleric7, Wis17
9 Cleric8, Empower Spell
10 Cleric9
11 Cleric10
12 Cleric11, Blindfighting, Wis18
13 Cleric12
14 Cleric13
15 Cleric14, Improved Crit: Battle Axe
16 Cleric15, Str19, (32 points cc-ed Hide/Move Silently)
17 Assassin1
18 Assassin2, Toughness
19 Assassin3
20 Assassin4, Str20
21 Cleric16, EWF: Battle Axe
22 Assassin5
23 Assassin6
24 Assassin7, Great Str I, Str22
25 Assassin8
26 Assassin9
27 Assassin10, Great Str II
28 Cleric17, Wis19
29 Cleric18
30 Cleric19, Great Str III****
31 Cleric20
32 Assassin11, Str25
33 Cleric21
34 Cleric22
35 Cleric23, Armor Skin
36 Cleric24, Great Str IV, Str27
37 Assassin12
38 Cleric25
39 Cleric26, Great Wis I, Epic Prowess
40 Assassin13, Str28

Combat Vitals
BAB: 25
AB: 38/33/28
Buffed Attack Schedule: 64/59/54/64/64***
AC: 30 (Mundane Plate & Tower)
Buffed AC: 51 (Shield of Faith, Cats Grace, Magic Vestment, UEF)
HP: 430
Buffed HP: 670

Skills:
Hide: 8
Move Silently: 8
Tumble: 40
Concentration: 42 (44)
Spellcraft:34 (35)
UMD: 22
Heal: 1

Saves
Fort: 24 (31)
Will: 25 (32)
Reflex: 18 (25)

Advantages
High Damage Potential: 7d6 Sneak Dice, Cleric Buffs, Strength
Improved Invisibility, (50% Concealment)
Divine Power at Level 3 and 4
Cats Grace
Barbarian Speed
Stoneskin gained at Level 5
Aura of Vitality
Good RP potential
UMD for Arcane Casting
No XP Penalty

Disadvantages
Just about any other race can do this better
Evil Alignment
Poor Reflex Save
No Discipline
Both Domain's special powers durations are based on Charisma
Low skill points and has to cross class 32 of them.
__________

Notes

*Alternately, one could start with a Str16 and invest those 4 points into Charisma to increase by 2 rounds the duration of Battle Master and Divine Strength. At 1/day use and limited duration, probablt best left in Str, unless one has RP uses for it there.

**Barbarian is taken only at 1st level for Martial Weaponry, Speed Boost, skill points to assist meeting cross-class prereqs, and to reflect the Orc heritage.

***This attack schedule represents full buffs, to include Divine Power, Battletide, Divine Favor, GMW, Prayer, Aid, Strength enhancements, and Haste through either items, potion or scroll.

**** At the cost of only 1 AB and damage, one could drop two great strengths for Epic Fortitude and Epic Reflexes to give him a major lift against spells and effects from those departments.

As noted, other races are more adept at this kind of template than the Half-orc (and would subsequently allow for a Cleric/Rogue combo without xp or alignment restrictions). Of course, one could always just make a Cleric/Rogue 21/19split and avoid the penalty, but playability is sacrificed as one waits for Cleric spells to advance. In this case, playability was established first and foremost as a prioity, and everything falls into place after that. This isn't a build that waits to mature, or holds it breath for a signature feat. For those who don't mind XP penalties, by all means, go Rogue, and just restructure a little here and there.

Also, due to the lack of representation of these stupid oafs, I thought it refreshing to have another more RP-centric build to share that can still kick some booty in PvM play.

No Elves were harmed in the making of this character (except for about 9).
_________________
Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server
(with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)

Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!

Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/14/07 13:48

Uhmmm... call me thick if you must, but why have you listed "evil alignment" as a disadvantage? Is it because your vulnereable to "smite evil", or do you just prefer being good/neutral?
Quote: Posted 07/16/06 13:49:24 (GMT) -- Big Meph

Uhmmm... call me thick if you must, but why have you listed "evil alignment" as a disadvantage? Is it because your vulnereable to "smite evil", or do you just prefer being good/neutral?

Any good or evil alignment is a disadvantage, because you're subject to smites.
_________________
CATS! An interesting build Grizz, and well done. I must confess to some surprise at the lack of a story for this one, as it would seem replete with possibility for a good yarn.
_________________
This signature will self-destruct in 5 seconds...
Quote: Posted 07/16/06 13:49:24 (GMT) -- Big Meph

Uhmmm... call me thick if you must, but why have you listed "evil alignment" as a disadvantage? Is it because your vulnereable to "smite evil", or do you just prefer being good/neutral?

Well, there is the Smite thing, but I associate that with more PvP than PvM. It's just that Evil can be a bit hard to rp in worlds and mods that are geared for the good/neutral-centric player. Of course, good mods and PWs provide alternate paths other than good (something the OCs failed to do). Being evil and a Gruumsh worshipper can also affect other players, who may frown on you with distaste, mistrust, or even fear. Don't expect any Paladins to invite you into their party.

In some PW cultures, Blackguards can typically slide by such taboo because they at least don't look like a monster, and are often (but not always) still upholders of some semblance of law and order. At the very least they can deceive people that they are good. Assassins can get away with it because they can just disappear, or also "pretend" to be a Rogue, Wizard, etc... but a large, half-orc with bloodshot eyes, foaming at the mouth, and the One-Eyed symbol of Gruumsh painted all across his armor is a bit harder to explain. He is an agent for Chaos and Slaughter, and he should be represented as such. At the very least I would play him like a blood-thirsty Klingon who is just waiting for someone to look at him funny so he can wreak carnage on those about him, and then bathe in blood and slap high-fives to any of his companions that are still alive and didn't get "accidentally" brained.

It was my idea that this would be a fun bad guy to play, plus I found that there really aren't that many Half-orc templates around unless they are just heavy, thumper-Barbs or "Highest Str AB Imaginable". There are plenty of Clerics to Moradin, Clangeddin, Torm, Tyr, Corellon, Cyric, Avoreen, blah, blah, blah, but there were few if any dedicated to Gruumsh.
_________________
Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server
(with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)

Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Quote: Posted 07/15/06 21:36:28 (GMT) -- grizzled_dwarflord
No Elves were harmed in the making of this character (except for about 9).
LMAO. To me, that part alone makes this a good build.
_________________
Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.
Quote: Posted 07/15/06 21:36:28 (GMT) -- grizzled_dwarflord

The following requires no fanfare. He is the first of his kind among the Guild.

Not the first cleric/assassin (hmmm... that's the second time today I used the search engine and one of my builds didn't show up.) but certainly the first cleric/assassin/barbarian.

Quote: 
Race: Half-orc

A half-orc from the dwarflord? Could an elven build be soon to follow?

Quote: 
No Elves were harmed in the making of this character (except for about 9).

Only 9?!? You're slipping.

This is a well made build. There aren't any suggestions I can make that would improve it. All of the feats are well chosen and the attribute split is pretty good too. Other than going for a human or a dwarf instead, this is a good build. You hardly even notice the double attribute penalty in this build. I can honestly say this is the best half-orc build I've seen in the guild.
_________________
Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.