Savage Tide : Out Of Character

[Mardoc]

Dtay, are you restricted to light armor as a Warblade? Studded leather and no shield seems awfully minimalistic, especially for a frontline sort of guy.

[TheHumanHydra]

I really don't know the druid list at all - there's a reason both my spells are on other classes' lists . What would you recommend?

I actually don't know the druid list that well either; I just remembered thinking Faerie Fire was kinda meh and double-checked it and still thought it was kinda meh ... Looking at the list, though, I'd say Entangle seems the real stand-out; of course your spontaneous summons will be quite strong once you've gained a few levels so they actually have a duration. I've heard Obscuring Mist is useful, as is Shillelagh if you're planning on heading into melee, which you aren't right away. But I'm not an expert by any means; just trying to help.

Oh, speaking of summons, one solution for traps which is kinda cheesy (and resource-intensive) is to just throw summoned animals at them.

[Lewwyn]

Any chance we get a packmule on this venture? I can't carry the whole bard's kit at light load.

Also looking at the Districts, I am thinking I'll go Noble District and grab the Academy Graduate in order to make Disable Device a class skill. That would make Open Locks the only Cross class skill I'd have to worry about for the sneaky bit of our party. Also search usually only allows a rogue to find a trap, but if I make Search a class skill using this feat as well, can I find traps like a rogue?

I am considering Nimble Fingers feat (+2 to Disable and Open locks) to also aid our party. Actually I should be a pretty good thief by the end of it. The only issue is that means I can't take weapon finesse: rapier and will basically be useless in direct fight until level 3.

Lewwyn, you need the trapfinding class feature to find traps with a DC greater than 20, and to disarm magical traps.

Well I know that. That's why I'm asking if Sian would consider it. But after some research I have another possibility.

Sian would consider allowing me to take trapfinding as a feat? Seems pretty common. There is precedence:

http://hastur.net/wiki/Trapfinding_(D%26D_feat)

and a discussion on it:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147639

It would require me to have at least 4 ranks in Search and Disable Device, which I have.

My current sheet: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.ph...tid=753013

I haven't finished. Still need to add my spells.

Edit: And to be clear I would replace either dodge or nimble fingers with trapfinding at lvl 1. Which means again pushing back weapon finesse rapier to lvl 6 unless I get nimble fingers at 3 or 6 instead. Eh I'll have to think about it.

[Mardoc]

So, a backstory for Himo. I'm thinking something like this:

Himo grew up in the Sunrise district, child of elven immigrant parents. He never managed to get them to explain why they uprooted and left behind their ancestral lands, friends, and family, just a vague sense of fear. They obey the laws religiously, work hard at one of the plantations, and generally keep their heads down and blend in.

Himo...wasn't quite capable of subtlety and blending in while working as a drudge. He'd sign up to work with the best of intentions, but somehow by the end of his shift he wouldn't be weeding anymore. Instead, he'd be studying the weeds, to figure out how they grew so fast, or he'd pick some of the crop to feed to birds, so that he could look at their wing structure up close. Not surprisingly, it wasn't long before he couldn't find someone to hire him. He wasn't too worried, since he still had his parents to support him, but at their urging he started exploring the jungle, bringing back valuable specimens for sale. If he couldn't blend in, at least he wouldn't be around people.

That's how he met his animal companion, a wolf he calls 'fluffybuns'. Fluffybuns is quite happy to roam with Himo, sticking his nose into everything and hunting together.

Maybe Himo convinced Anders to partner with him? They'd have met while doing different things at a plantation - maybe Anders was hired to guard the paychest, giving him plenty of time to watch this weird elf 'weed' the fields. Or he had a low week, signed on as a fieldhand just long enough to make rent after a dry spell guarding things.

Anders is nowhere near as fascinated by the natural world as Himo, but he can remember what's currently hot in the markets and make sure Himo brings in valuable stuff, not just his current fascination. Plus, of course, Anders is good at spotting predators, especially the ones who stalk the marketplace, and at convincing them to try elsewhere. And Anders' physical abilities make him quite good at harvesting once Himo has brought him to the nut, fruit, or animal that's currently bringing in the big bucks.

At this point, Himo is starting to get a little bit bored with just the portions of jungle within an easy journey to Sasserine. He'd be happy to join up with an adventuring company just for the opportunity to see new flora and fauna. It's more likely that his friend Anders would find the chance than that Himo would, though. After all, to Anders, this jungle harvesting is just a way to bring in some coin.

[dtay]

I can use light and medium. I want to be using medium, but the medium armor I can afford right now is only worth +1 AC compared to the light armor I can afford, which I don't think is worth the reduction in movement speed. 125gp just goesn't go very far. I probably want to end up in Breastplate as soon as possible, and Mithril Fullplate in the long term.

Shield I kind of forgot the existence of the (much cheaper) wooden shields when doing it the first time... so fitting that in now.

[Mardoc]

Edit: And to be clear I would replace either dodge or nimble fingers with trapfinding at lvl 1. Which means again pushing back weapon finesse rapier to lvl 6 unless I get nimble fingers at 3 or 6 instead. Eh I'll have to think about it.

Possible compromise, assuming Sian's ok with making Trapfinding a feat: save it for lvl 3? I'm not sure this will be the type of campaign with a lot of traps, and low level traps might be less than DC20 anyway. That'd give us a chance to see if we really need that skill or can get by without it.

@dtay: ah, that makes sense. Forgot that money might constrain others, too. I hate to point this out - but a greatsword is a 2-handed weapon, which doesn't work with a shield. Not sure which is more core to your character concept.

[TheHumanHydra]

Lewwyn, you need the trapfinding class feature to find traps with a DC greater than 20, and to disarm magical traps.

Well I know that. That's why I'm asking if Sian would consider it. But after some research I have another possibility.

Sorry, Lewwyn! I don't know how experienced everyone is and it sounded to me like you were asking a rules-question. My mistake!

I think your feat suggestion is a good one (up to Sian, of course!) There's actually precedent for it in the rules as well: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classe...lasses.htm (under Bonus Feats), in some of the optional rules from Unearthed Arcana.

[dtay]

@dtay: ah, that makes sense. Forgot that money might constrain others, too. I hate to point this out - but a greatsword is a 2-handed weapon, which doesn't work with a shield. Not sure which is more core to your character concept.

Yeah, no shield with greatsword (hence the longsword), but warblades can 'respec' feats like weapon focus with an hour of practice from weapon to weapon. The long term idea is definitely focused on 2h weapons for the 1.5 power attack/strength dmg bonus (also I think its cooler), but shield+longsword is useful at low levels when hp is low.

[Mardoc]

Yeah, no shield with greatsword (hence the longsword), but warblades can 'respec' feats like weapon focus with an hour of practice from weapon to weapon.

Oooh, that's cool. And here I thought your weapon focus was going to be wasted.

Have you had a chance to look at my proposed backstory integration with your character? I can take it back out if you don't like it.

[dtay]

Looks Good//Work for me, that's pretty much the sort of connection I had in mind. When I write mine up formally you should check over it as well for sensible-ness on my end.