This was the only warning Shula had before the ham sized fist attached to Gulg's arm clipped her along side the head. She almost dropped the venison leg and tankards she was carrying. As fast as possible, she dropped the food and drink in front of the warriors that were huddled over the dice table and quickly retreated.
"It's not fair. It's not my fault I'm not as strong as the rest. Do you think I wanted to be born to a slave.." Shula's thoughts wandered down a well travelled path, cursing all the gods for letting her be born a half-orc, and then cursing her mother for being a slave, and then cursing the tribe just for good measure. Life hadn't been easy for Shula. She was smaller then the rest of the tribe, and not able to compete physically even with children a few years her junior. As usual, she wandered over to the slave pens. Here at least the guards didn't shun her. Of course, that could be because while she was there, they could slip away for more ale.
Shula stopped and looked into the pen at the newcomers. The slender guy with the pointy ears didn't look too well. He was real pale, and shaking uncontrollably. His leg and hip were also aligned at a weird angle. Shula thought that he had probably been knocked from his horse by one of her cousins. They just loved using large halberds against mounted people. Shula snorted, "Stupid elf... not even hardy enough to deal with the winter air. He'll probably end up in the pot tomorrow. Wonder how elf tastes...."
As she stood there lost in her thoughts, the elf's fingers continued to twitch, though it appeared that they were making a repeating pattern. This caught Shula's attention as she was more curious then most. A flash of light stunned Shula and she stepped backwards as her vision was overwhelmed by a myriad of little stars.
"Damn," thought Caelneswyn, "I should have let her get closer before using that Daze cantrip. Don't think I have anything left"
Shula blinked the stars from her eyes and slowly shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Did the elf do that?" she wondered.
"What did you do to me !" Shula demanded.
"You may as well kill me now, I have no more magic and don't think i'll last the night."
An idea slowly formed in the back of Shula's mind, and she hastily ran through all the steps in her newly hatched plan.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Shula asked with a new gleam in her eye.
"Me!?!? Teach a half-orc, thats like throwing pearls before swine" quipped Cael.
Shula's growl made him choke on his emerging laughter, and he fell silent.
Shula thought for a minute, then slowly started to speak.
"If you can teach me that, I can keep you alive. For as long as you can teach me new things."
Cael shrugged, "What do I have to lose? I can't go anywhere till this hip heals and I don't want to be part of the menu"
With that Shula unlocked the door with the spare key she kept hidden and helped the elf towards the back of the cave. There was a small passage to the right and Shula went down it without any hesitation then turned and squeezed into a small crack in the wall. The elf started to gag.
"What's that horrific smell?" he asked.
"That tunnel leads to garbage hole. No one ever follows me back here"
The crack went in about 3 feet then made an abrupt turn and continued on for about 10 meters more before opening into a small cave. From the front it looked like the crack just ended. Shul had used this place for years as her private retreat and would be the elf's new home for a couple months as he healed.
And thus began her training as a wizard. As she learned stronger magics and to make herself invisible to others the weeks turned into months, she watched the new prisoners and stole any books they carried. Always looking for more spell books, for more arcane knowledge. Her thirst for knowledge and power was almost unquenchable.
Her invisible skulking did enable her to spy on the assassins in the tribe. And one of her favorite new games was to sneak into their training cave and watch them. Occasionally she would throw a small pebble at someone while they struggled with a difficult task or test. The resulting beating from the master when the student failed to remain silent always amused her.
Eventually the day arrived when her mentor could teach her no more. By this time Shula was a fairly adept mage, and had also learned quite a bit from watching the assassins. It was time to put her plan into action and punish those that had tormented her for years. As the warriors ate, Shula entered carrying a large leg of roast boar. She walked up behind Gulg and smashed him over the head with it.
As Gulg sputtered and scrambled to his feet, Shula was busy chanting. She hoped the spells she had cast on herself already would last long enough. They weren't much, her skin was tough as stone, and she appeared to be standing slightly closer then she really was. The elf had called it displacement, but she had never tested it before. A cloud started to coalesce as her chant ended. A dire tiger stepped forth and growled at Gulg. Gulg growled back. Only then did he notice the wall of fire that had separated him from any help from his friends.
"I'll gut you and dance in your entrails" Gulg snarled.
"Not this time wind bag" Shula sneered as she started casting again. The tiger started stalking Gulg as he tried to circle towards her. Shula quickly fired off two spells, hoping that they would both hit. Gulg's muscles stiffened as her Hold spell took affect. Her second spell was the hardest for her , dominating a shaman was never easy. The tribal shaman stepped forward.
"Let them fight" the shaman yelled. "This is between two warriors".
Of course it helped that this is what Shula had commanded him to say. Shula drew her scimitar and slowly walked to Gulg's side. The blade seemed to be encased in flames and glittered in the firelight. More spells she had mastered. Her fingers tracing over his ribs, counting the bones and looking for just the spot the assassin master had pointed out the other day.
"There it is", she thought as she planted her steel. His eyes widened as her attack hit vitals. With him paralyzed from the blade as well her spell, Shula had plenty of time to make herself invisible and head for the door.
The last words the tribe heard were her commands to the tiger...
"Eat the runt slowly......."
--------
The dwarflord once said that if you wanted a unique character, to take a half-orc and shake it up with something unusual. I figured what's more unusual then an intelligent half -orc?
There's one other build in the guild with the same classes, but they went for more barb, less Assassin, and less wizard, more brains and less brawn. Ohh... and Human as well.
Dark Magic Permeater (Barbarian 15/Assassin 5/ Wizard 20) by whiZard
I picture this character as a spell-sword, but with more of a sneaker attitude. Hide and Move Silently were ignored in favor of invis and pets/summons for distractions, holds and the Bigsby line to give us access to Death Attacks.
Barb was taken because of the background idea, Assassin for skills and no XP penalty this way. Mage just for the fun of it. Besides, think of the potential. You walk in wearing heavy armor and wielding a scimitar. Being a half-orc most expect you to charge them and bash away. Instead you cast Bigsby Grasping hand, acid fog, cloudkill, Incendiary cloud, and if anything still twitches, unleash a few empowered Greater Missile Storms. The leftovers are fodder for your Death Attack.
Much thanks to Kail Pendragon for wading through my many versions of this character. Without his help, she wouldn't be half of what she is now....
----- PEARL AMONG SWINE - BARBARIAN(4), ASSASSIN(6), WIZARD(26) A spell-sword for those that want something unusual. Strength and brains all wrapped up in a face only a mother could love. But with the ability to make you think twice before mentioning it where she can hear you.
Half-orc, Neutral-evil or Chaotic-evil PvM, Playable 1-40 though best in a lower magic world
Thanks for looking, and any ideas for making her better are welcomed...
Conlaoch
Edited: removed whining about not being able to link to whiZard's post
Edited By FinneousPJ on 11/26/08 13:43
Great story! Haven't had one of those in a long while.
Looks fresh and original. You have a typo in the class heading, where it's labeled as a Barb4/Assn6/Wiz26. I think you meant to put Assassin10.
As for improvements: I would suggest postponing Wizard level 10 for Epic levels and take another Assn pre-epic. No loss of AB, and you gain an Epic Bonus Feat that might get you more flexibility. You'll lose a spell slot, but you won't lose current spell access. Of course, you'd have to drop Toughness or Knockdown, and I'd probably drop KD since it isn't essential to this type of character.
I was looking at ESF: Discipline and wondering if that's a good fit. Since the last Barb level was taken at Level 13, that means you'll need to cross-class Discipline (I think a total of 8 skill points) in order to take the ESF at Level 27. Not sure if you factored that in or not.
Also, at the expense of AB, it might be worth considering to take more Wizard pre-epic, just to accelerate spell power and bring those Auto-Still Feats closer to reach. Maybe Wizard14/Barb2/Assn4. Maybe even skimp out on 3 Assn levels for 3 more Wiz levels. It would give access to another Epic Feat....Wizard29/Assn7/Barb4. Just an idea.
Anyway, I love the build. And style points for an intelligent half-orc with a story. Well done. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
I can't seem to edit it to fix the levels in the subject, so hopefully a moderator will wander by eventually and fix it.
GD: The AB is already going to be low because of so many wiz levels, wouldn't it lower it a lot more if I moved more wiz levels into pre-epic? or lost 3 more assassin levels?
All that discipline is mainly because I hate getting knocked down when trying to cast spells.... its almost as annoying as the dispel spam on WoG
Conlaoch
Quote: Posted 11/26/08 01:47 (GMT) -- Conlaoch
All that discipline is mainly because I hate getting knocked down when trying to cast spells.... its almost as annoying as the dispel spam on WoG
But is it enough? IMO, no. For the investment (oodles of skill points, and an epic feat), the return is not great. You're still going to get knocked down.
It aint gonna help this build at all, but for WoG, I'd just get KD boots/helm. If the environment doesn't include such, well, then ya got a problem. If you are going to still go for discipline, I think you need to fit in more barb as skill dumps, even at the expense of assassin levels. Even two more barb levels would probably be sufficient.
Edit: and, yeah, as GD says, you'll probably want a barb level later than 13th, so you don't have to CC to meet the requirement for the ESF.
Edited By onion eater on 11/26/08 03:18
This is a different one. Smart Half Orc? Hmmm I gotta say points for making that possible. _________________ The secret to eternal youth is simply in your imagination.
Quote: Posted 11/26/08 03:17 (GMT) -- onion eater
But is it enough? IMO, no. For the investment (oodles of skill points, and an epic feat), the return is not great. You're still going to get knocked down.
Well, changing lvl 20 from Assassin 7 for a barb 4 lets me get the required discipline without having to cross class any skill points. AB would stay the same, only thing i'd lose would be +1 poison save, and +1 reflex save, and +1 to the DC for Death Attack.
Granted I have craft wand, but I like the idea of still having the Improved Invis from Assassin lvl 9. Its saved my butt many times when I run out of wands, or spell slots. I usually end up buffing my party members a lot, so wands tend to get burned up at a fast pace.
The important question then is, with a modified discipline check of 61 (without buffs), how much is enough? The wiki says that the DC is the attackers AB, and with knockdown the attempt is at -4. So that means the attackers AB would have to be 65+ right? So what's the magic number for discipline?
Inquiring half-orcs wanna know.....
Conlaoch
Quote: Posted 11/26/08 01:47 (GMT) -- Conlaoch
I can't seem to edit it to fix the levels in the subject, so hopefully a moderator will wander by eventually and fix it.
Title fixed. Nice build, I like it. _________________
Quote: meatpimp
Pish tosh. We should now turn our attention to those dastardly devices that actually TIE one's body to the vehicle. No thank you, I prefer to have inertia throw my body clear of an accident, kindly.
No, I'd say your Discipline has some use in this build. Not only for KD, but for Called Shots and Disarms. If he's going to be mixing it up, so to speak, in combat, I would keep it, unless you know your environment and think you can squeak by. Discipline skill is one of those things that really comes down to environment, and what you can and can't get away with. I often forego it altogether just to liberate those skill points for other more useful things. I didn't look to see what you invested in Concentration, but if you did drop Disc, I'd put it into that. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Being a high level caster, I always max the concentration. Frees me from having to take CC and ICC.
Course it took me a long time to realize that I could get away without CC and ICC. Old habits die hard I guess..
If we did ditch Discipline, it would let us pump up Set Trap and Disable Trap, but I'm still curious as to what Discipline we need to avoid knockdowns...
Conlaoch
You can never really avoid KD with dis alone. I know its sad, but its true. I have seen a dude with 80+ dis get knocked on his arse.
It sounds like your main concern is to NOT get kd'd. Let onion be your guide! I take it you play on WOG? I have just started there myself. Onion says there are anit-kd boots/helms? Use that and forgo dis. There is no need to have both dis and anit-kd items.
btw, if what onion says is true (and i have no reason to doubt him at all), this is a huge bonus! On my old server we had only one choice for Kd and that was boots. After lv 30 or so, we gave up those boots for high dis (100+). That is really the only way to be safe. Even then you can roll a 1... LOL.
btw, nice idea for a build. I am guessing that the barb lvls have been changed (i read lv 13 was last and see lv 40 barb..) _________________
Just generally speaking, my experience has shown me that getting by with discipline is a losing battle. Only if you're STR based, max it, and have the ESF is it really effective at all, and even then it's only 'effective,' not a guarantee. Of course, this does depend on environment, but in a challenging setting, you really need all you can get. IMO, it should not be this way, and a maxed disc, w/ a STR based PC, or a maxed disc, w/ ESF, should be enough. Towards that end, more and more often I find myself foregoing discipline entirely, and relying on items. This too is not a perfect solution, as KD immunity obviously does nothing for disarms and called shots, but it beats investing so much in something that still aint gonna keep ya safe.
I guess this is dragging off topic, but I feel like this is the perfect build to drop discipline entirely. Again, of course it depends on environment, but generally speaking, I've found discipline to be a bit of a sucker's game. Even w/out KD immunity available, this guy could always back off from KDers and use his considerable arcane arsenal. That's what I would do.
Quote: Posted 11/26/08 22:50 (GMT) -- avado Even then you can roll a 1... LOL.
Rolling a 1 on a discipline check is not an issue. _________________ They can't stop us Let them try For Heavy Metal We will die
Hey. Really cool build, and not what you see every day. A very good build addition to our guild, and finally a story to go along. _________________ We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind Sons of Odin fights to die and live again
