Questions on how to write your New Character

I recon that shouldn't be a problem James, and you can use the spell compendium supplement.

I've revised the Ranger/Scout (Swift Hunter) Build for Ivelliohn. I've decided that spell progression is more important than the Scout's special abilities, and would add greatly to the versatility (and thus value) of the character, particularly if some material from the Spell Compendium is available as that supplement greatly improves the quality of the Ranger Spell list. Alas, there's no way to avoid losing three levels worth of spell progression, causing this build to have significantly fewer spell slots than a pure Ranger. However, this should be able to be countered through the use of scrolls or wands to store spells or the use of Wisdom boosting items to grant additional bonus spells per day. (Assuming there are any left over once the Cleric has taken his pick.)

The below build is Ranger 17/Scout 3.

I don't know why but the formatting of tables on this forum means that I couldn't post all of this at once, so I've had to spread it over three posts.

I had a read through, and taking that class would very much require some in game events, so if you really want to Jappas we are going to need to have a chat about it.

On another note, I want to read through the entire supplement and make a decision on whether or not I feel comfortable implementing that into my setting, so if you do want to take this build, i will still need a bit of time to decide if I want to let this text be used

I recall Japas expressing some concerns about his Human Cleric being somewhat 'generic'. I've been doing some research regarding a shape-shifting character I'm working on, and recently I came across this prestige class in the 'Dragon Magic' supplement which seemed to really spice up the typical Cleric: the Swiftwing. In exchange for slightly slower (2 less spell levels) spell progression, a Cleric would gain a number of dragon-flavoured abilities including a bonus domain (Dragon Domain, which adds Intimidate and Bluff to the Cleric's class list), draconic vision, breath weapons, winged flight, energy resistance/immunity (*hem* swimming in lava *hem*), damage reduction, and boosted ability scores.

Effectively, the Cleric adopts this class with the mindset of becoming 'The Dragon' of their respective deity - think Darth Vader to Darth Sidious, or the Witch King to Sauron - by employing some measure of draconic might.

The addition of 'Intimidate' to the Cleric's list of class skills also makes it feasible for him to take the 'Frightful Presence' feat (15 Charisma, 9 ranks in Intimidate) described on page 105 of the 'Draconomicon'. Flavour-wise, this feat instils terrifying awe in those who oppose the cleric. This synergises well with the typical cleric's force of personality derived from the high charisma score needed to 'turn undead' effectively.

Information about the Swiftwing Prestige Class: http://www.scribd.com/doc/49211562/Dragon-Magic-3-5-OEF (Page 50).

every 4 levels (4, 8, 12, 16....) you can add one point to any stat, (ie 18 - 19). So you can get your DEX to 19 by level 16.

Seeking Enhancement combined with Goggles of Foefinding (Magic Items Compendium, 108) looks like it might come close to emulating the effect of Improved Precise Shot in terms of negating the concealment miss chance and cover AC bonus, respectively. Costs a bit, but money is generally easier to come by than extra stat points.

Also, looking through the MIC again - There's so much cool stuff!  (*cough* Tharry + Gloves of Lightning = Darth Sidious *cough*). Magic Items <3.

Ah, good point about the stats issue. Thanks for mentioning it. Ivelliohn currently has 16 Dexterity: Greater Manyshot Requires 17, and Improved Precise Shot requires 19. Would he be eligible for an extra stat point by the time he reaches level 9? That would keep Greater Manyshot on track, but I guess Improved Precise Shot is looking somewhat less readily obtainable at the designated level.

Would the Seeking enhancement be a reasonable substitute for Improved Precise Shot? The former says that it negates miss chance, but the latter mentions negating the AC bonus for less than total cover and the miss chance for less than total concealment as well as allowing complete accuracy at hitting the chosen target in a grapple.

I had a look at the Dire Bat creature entry on the DandD wiki (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Dire_Bat) , and it looks like it has sufficient land movement speed to meet the requirements for Skirmish damage - which makes sense, as the bat isn't solely airborne. So he could ride it around on the ground if necessary. Alternatively, those cramped underground occasions would provide some variety to Ivelliohn's combat tactics if he couldn't ride the bat - he'd have to choose between the Skirmish damage or the multiple attacks.

As for development: I would continue taking Ranger levels up to level 8, and then take Scout levels after that. This has the additional advantage of giving me time to potentially grow fonder of the Ranger and decide not to go ahead with the build after all.

Also note, wish is ludicrously expensive in exp cost and generaly discouraged by DM's.

Interesting build. Just a couple of notes though; magical equipment may enhance your states but there bonus does not apply to core stat modifiers (so for example if your wearing a Headband of intellect +2 when you  level up you don't get an extra skill point, or if you only fulfill a feats requirement while you are wearing bracers of dexterity you can't get it, so on.....), and I would like to express a word of caution that the party does spend a fair amount of time underground where you cannot fly your bat. Other than those points (the later I assumed you have already considered), I recon this is a great build, very well thought out.

Just one last question, will you be focusing purely on developing your ranger levels until you reach your cap, or will you start to stagger your leveling?

As for the unearthed Arcana point, as you already have selected your combat style, I'm going to have to say you can't use that supplement for this character, sorry.

In terms of feat gaining, in addition to any and all feats at first level, and feats gained as class bonuses, you get a new feat every three levels (ie 2, 6, 9, 12....)

As for the cross classing I agree with tosscobble, definitely try not to stray into the domains of other characters, especially as there is still a lot of room for you to move in, as I see it, you currently fill three rolls; naturalist, survivor/traveler, and Archer. If you want to cross class, try cross-classing with a focus on these fields. As you are currently the most diverse character in terms of roles, I highly discourage trying to diversify more...

When I played Rangers, I would often cc into druid, Horizon Walker, or Assassin, depending on what the parties needs were, (healer, guide, thief respectively). You are currently fulfilling the guide roll, so I might suggest HW, that said I was only using the core rule books, so you have more options.

I would not recommend specializing in archery though, as the mages (tharry, Irella and Ri) get to higher levels your usefulness as an archer decreases (even if you focus all your dev on it) normally this draw back doesn't shine through to much but we have three mages, and pretty soon there range powers will be at longer ranges and more effective then your archery.

Also not eventually you will get magical items that remove the threat of running out of arrows ( I think the Quiver of Elhona essentially grants infinite arrow storage...) so I highly discourage cc just to prevent you running out of arrows.

That mounted archery thing might be cool though, it would make you a pretty good scout...

Hope that helped

Genisisect, the DM

After having a quick read of that, John (it's slightly weird calling you that, but if we're using DnD names i'd better get used to it ), i'd try and maximise your archery skills as much as possible. While being able to ride a giant bat is pretty friggin awesome, it's possibly not as useful as some of the other skills you mentioned.

Personally if I had to cross-class/prestige, I would go for the Horizon Walker or the Druid, seeing as we already have a perfectly adept Soul Knife. I would also be more inclined to go for the Horizon Walker as that seems to have some pretty cool and useful skills/feats, but maybe that's just a personal preference.

Hope that opinion makes sense and helps slightly, but i really don't care at all which you go for John (almost called you by your IRL name), as long as you enjoy playing the character that way!

Genisisect (as I can't remember if we're using our IRL names at all on this forum..), how often do our characters gain feats? Is it every 2 or so levels? I know that Fighters gain bonus feats and my Ranger has been given some free ones at various levels, but I'm not sure if we're also gaining them regularly by levelling up multiple times.

I've looked into some prestige classes / multi-class options / variants for my current Ranger. Horizon Walker looks quite interesting and it has one outstanding ability - virtually at will short-range teleportation: awesome! Along with several other 'neat' abilities e.g. Dark Vision, Tremorsense, immunity to fatigue, in addition to bonuses to a variety of skills.

I was also considering the benefits of multi-classing to SoulKnife (2 levels) and then multi-classing again to Soulbow (Complete Psionic) (1 level)  - my Ranger archery feats would still benefit the 'mind arrows', and I wouldn't be beholden to ammunition all the time. I'd also gain access to a number of bonus feats related to archery through the Soulbow class progression, if I chose to take more levels in it, as well as the ability to 'tune' my weapon enhancements at will like a Soulknife can with his mindblade. I'd also have access to Psionic feats and items, which could be handy. I'd still be able to use a regular bow - with any relevant enhancements - and arrows if I wanted to, and I'd probably use them most of the time anyway. The 'mind arrows' are in case I run out of ammo, or just feel like shooting lasers from with my mind for the fun of it.

Or, how about a mounted archer? At level 8, my Ranger would have access to a Dire Bat (Flying) as an animal companion - they're large creatures and thus rideable by a medium character. I'd need to start taking ranks in the Ride skill in order to handle it, though, and that would spread my skill points even thinner. I'd have to take the Mounted Combat and Mounted Archery feats, otherwise I'd be badly penalised for shooting while mounted.

Additionally, there is a variant form of the Ranger found in the 'Unearthed Arcana' that gives him the ability to wildshape into small or medium animal forms at the expense of his combat-style bonus feats. One of the main reasons I want to be a Druid is wildshape - it's just so cool and useful to be able to change into an animal! But the team needs a decent ranged combatant and I'd have to devote a lot of levels to Druid in order to make the most of it. I'd have to ret-con John's existing feats (Weapon Finesse/Point Blank Shot + Combat Style: Rapid Shot), though, in order to accommodate the loss of the combat-style bonus feats - I don't know whether that would be acceptable.

I think i should be fine for character creation now. The only thing i may get stuck on is writing it all down, so i'll skype you if i need help.

O.k everyone, with the first session of the new campaign looking like it will be in a week, that means that you all have a week to get your characters finished. Besides 1 shift between now and then (on Saturday) I am pretty much free the entire time between now and then, and don't have any prep work for the early sessions of this campaign, this means that if you need help and I'm on Skype don't hesitate to ask, because helping you guys get your characters done is the last job I have before we start play, please don't hesitate. You don't want to be the one person on Wednesday saying 'give me a sec I'm almost ready'.

Also if everyone could scan their character sheets and email them to me once there done that would be great, I need to get some info of them.

Genisisect, the DM

Milo's Skills (and ranks) are:
-Appraise(6)
-Disable Device(7)
-Escape Artist(7)
-Gather Information(7)
-Handle Animal(6)
-Hide(7)
-Knowledge: Local (1)
-Move Silently(7)
-Open Lock(1)
-Search(7)
-Sleight of Hand(7)
-Use Rope(7)

Skills as John the Ranger (Ivellios Amakiir)

I have ranks in:
- Climb
- Handle Animal
- Heal
- Jump
- Knowledge (Nature)
- Move Silently
- Survival

And I'll probably be taking ranks in Spot and Ride, too.I've only levelled my character up to level 2 at the moment, while I've been deciding on whether I'll multi-class to druid or anything, or not.

Skills I currently have ranks in are:

• Autohypnosis
  
• Concentration
  
• Knowledge(psionics)
  
• Move Silently
  
• Spot
  
• Tumble

That's only currently, though I'm pretty sure you only need to know what ranks I have right now. Still, if I remember, whenever I rank something up which I haven't before, I'll post on this thread.

Hey everyone, can you all quickly post what skills you have ranks in.

yep that's all correct

Okay, that makes sense. There's not much point in doing it in the evening as I lose my focus when I sleep, but when we pack up camp in the morning sounds good. I just need to make a concentration roll then?

And then it only gets expended when I announce I'm going to attack with the psionic weapons feat? So I can like, attack without it until I announce I want to attack with it, and then I make my attack roll and see if I hit -and if I hit, then woohoo, I think that's like two extra d6 of damage I can inflict!- Of course, if I miss then I lose the bonus.

I'm pretty sure Xephs require 8 hours of sleep (hence must have two watches sleep). But you will be able to become focused either at the evening while the camp is set up) or in the morning when it is packed up