Author Topic: The Gish Handbook (raith0)  (Read 22978 times)

Offline Libertad

  • Epic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3618
    • View Profile
    • My Fantasy and Gaming Blog
The Gish Handbook (raith0)
« on: February 13, 2013, 05:18:26 PM »
3.5 Gish Handbook
A Handbook for the Enigmas of Dungeons and Dragons
Contents

Races
Arcane Classes
Divine Classes
Martial Classes
Prestige Classes
Feats and Spells
Builds

     I will be doing the usual Blue is the best, Red is the worst, and Black is average, for all the different choices in this handbook.  I plan on covering Arcane and Divine Gishes because I have the most experience with them.  I have not played a Psionic Gish outside of a Physic Warrior so I am going to leave them alone.  I let someone else cover them more fully.  Please feel free to add suggestions and criticisms.  And remember someone will always find and exception to every rule.   
     I also want to point out that a lot of this handbook is Opinion and ours may vary so please keep that in mind when posting.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2013, 01:12:57 PM by Libertad »

Offline Libertad

  • Epic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3618
    • View Profile
    • My Fantasy and Gaming Blog
Re: The Gish Handbook (raith0)
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2013, 05:18:44 PM »
Section 1 – Races

Human – extra feat, bonus skill points, one of the most versatile races in the game good choice no matter what style Character you our going for.  It’s all been said before and I don’t think I need to get to into detail on this one.

Strong hearted Halfling - see above but add in small size.  One of the best races you can choose no matter what you are doing.

Illumian – Personally one of my favorite Races.  Almost as good as Humans and Strong Hearted Halflings.  And pending DM you can get a ton of extra spells per day from your strength with the Aeshkrau  symbols. 

Dwarf – for a non charisma based Gish Dwarfs are amazing.  And the early hit to charisma isn’t that bad for game going to a full 20 levels or more.  With the ability to cast in full plate and not be slowed down by it either is all ways good.

Orc/half-Orc - Now I know that one or two of the sub races can be good but overall stay clear of these.  You will have much better choices. 

Dragonborn – a lot is based off of the base race you choose but these can be good.
 
Dragonwrought Kobold – add in venerable with no penalty and you have a great base to any Gish.  Getting advanced casting or extra spell lists by adding loredrake in and you have a wrecking ball of a Gish.

Gnome – with small size and shadowmage tricks these are okay but only for a few specific builds.

Elf/ Half-Elf – It’s all about the -2 con here.  Now an elf may fit your theme and RP idea so go for it.  I have never liked the con hit.  Some will argue that this should be black, but it’s my handbook and my opinions

Neraphim –   You’re an outsider and all the good things that come with that and no level adjust.  No real drawbacks but outside of polymorph / alter self tricks no other real advantage. 



Any other +0 races send me a PM and I will see if I want to include them.  +1 race’s I will do at a later time.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2013, 01:14:03 PM by Libertad »

Offline Libertad

  • Epic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3618
    • View Profile
    • My Fantasy and Gaming Blog
Re: The Gish Handbook (raith0)
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2013, 05:19:03 PM »

« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2010, 02:25:14 PM »
Section 2 – Arcane Classes


I will be covering all the arcane classes for the mage side of the abilities here.  I am not covering AFC’s till the end of the section and I will only be listing a few of my favorites not all of them.
 
Wizard – I might as well start with the best of the best here.  The best spell list, solid skills for most builds, and can get access to domains.  Spell casting wise they can have the most versatile list and most options to use on any given day.  There is a reason Wizards one of the best classes in the game.

Sorcerer – The spontaneous version of the wizard.  He doesn’t know as many spells, but he can cast more of them in a day.  This is my personal preference for Arcane Strike Gishes.  You won’t have as many choices and are limited in metamagics compared to a wizard but this is still a solid base here.  Playing note only pick one trick with a sorcerer and you are good to go.

Bard – not a normal choice but these can be fun a base to your casting side.  I would make these blue in Sublime Cord builds.  I like the extra buffing they can bring to the table but you won’t be much of a caster with these.

Wu-Jen – Almost as good as the wizard and a nice flavor if you are looking into an anime/oriental feel to your character.  They also have giant size on their spell list so if you have a natural attack from race you need to worry less about magical arms and armor. 

Warmage – While the name would lend you to think these would make good Gishes they don’t.  I wouldn’t even try.

Beguiler – By far not optimal but it lends to a sneaky Gish build better than a wizard in my opinion.  I don’t think you would want to use them for a standard Gish type.  But they have good synergy with rogues and have lots of skills. 

Dread Necromancer – if you are looking for an undead Gish or something like that.  It’s not a bad choice. The only reason they aren’t red is because they can get some nice immunities early and the fact that once they can cast a spell level they know all spells on their list.  And with the summons undead spells they are better than Warmage but not great.

Duskblade – The Gish in a can.  While good for a simple build, and will be blue in the warrior section.  They are terrible on the arcane side of the build. 

Warlock – While they can be a good 1 level dip for eldritch glaive I wouldn’t suggest them for your whole arcane side.  (I really want someone to prove me wrong on these as I like the flavor)

AFC
 Wizard
Specialist/Focused Specialist – always a good way to get a few extra spells into your spellbook and per day.
Combat Wizard – get fighter bonus feats instead of wizard bonus feats.  Easy way to make prerequisites for other feats and prestige classes.
Domain Wizard – all the good things of a specialist none of the drawbacks.  If you’re allowed to take it it’s recommended.
Domain Granted Power – can be nice in a lot of cases.  And sometimes bordering on broken.

Fighter
Armored Mage – not bad can be interesting and helpful if you’re not a dwarf.


[/color]

« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2010, 02:25:37 PM »
[/size]Section 3 – The Divine Side

Cleric – Some of the best personal buffs, Self healing, cool domains inherently, and easy persistent spells.  Another tier 1 class.  And with most tier 1 classes they have the good to do what they want when they want.

Favored Soul – The spontaneous cleric without domains.  They aren’t bad but fall into the same boat as a Sorcerer.  They are only good for one trick and you need a prestige class to get the ability persist spells easily as well as gain domains. 

Archivist – Access to every spell in the game.  Casting in medium armor.  A nice buff/debuff as a move action for a few types of monsters.  And again access to every spell in the game.  In a lot of cases they are better than clerics. 

Druid – while a tier 1 class, in most cases the druid is usually better by its self than as some sort of Gish.  Although with wildshape they are a Gish on their own.  Not blue because of lack of prestige class support to make a Gish.

Shugenja – I do not know a lot of how these play in the game.  They have an interesting casting mechanic and an okay spell list.  I am not sure I know of a build that I would rather have a Shugenja over a cleric, druid, or archivist.

Spirit Shaman – they have the druids spell list without as many or any of the class features you want more levels in spirit shaman for.  Good for a nature/spirit flavored Gish.  A solid choice even if it’s not the best.


Divine Bard – See the arcane bard.  They have an okay spell list but aren’t really the greatest choice.  The built in buffing always helps.[/size]

Offline Libertad

  • Epic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3618
    • View Profile
    • My Fantasy and Gaming Blog
Re: The Gish Handbook (raith0)
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2013, 05:20:09 PM »

« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2010, 02:25:58 PM »
[/size]Section 4 – The Warrior Side


Fighter – Has everything we need for the melee/archery side of a Gish.  Bonus feats always help for prerequisites.  Good hit die and of course +1 base attack bonus.  Fighter is the stand buy class for making a Gish.
 
Duskblade – You need to take 3 levels of this class to get its best class feature.  Casts off of Int. for good synergy.  Also gives Combat Casting as a bonus feat and has +1 base attack bonus.  Maybe the best choice for a class cannon Gish build. 

Rogue – the sneaky Gish likes this and has a nice bonus of great skills.  I would suggest you only choose this to be a class cannon type Gish.  Maybe not great but at least it’s fun.

Monk – For an extra bit of mobility and great saves the monk really helps.  Only good in Enlightened/Sacred fist type Gishes, not a bad choice but not the normal choice. 

Hexblade – Charisma synergy with the sorcerer.  A decent low level debuff built into it.  Over all one of my favorite choices.  I really want to find a good build with this and warlock but I haven’t been able to yet.

Barbarian – Before you argue that these should be Red just wait a minute.  With the Torc of Lucid Raging you can use all skills and abilities while raging.  It’s in Dungeon Magazine #126 for those needing to know.  With this the Barbarian becomes blue.  Strength and Constitution bonuses, fast movement, and a d12 hit die. 

Warblade – d12 hit die, and maneuvers make this an excellent choice for a Gish’s martial side.

Swashbuckler – Good Int. synergy and skills.  Free weapon fitness and d10 hit die.  Not a bad martial base but it’s not the best in all cases.

Ranger – Good skills, a couple of free feats, and a d8 hit die.  Not bad but not the best.

Paladin – I have always liked them for the Charisma synergy.  The smite ability is always fun.  D10 hit die.  Some will argue them to not be blue but with the Unearthed Arcana alternate alignment Paladins you have more than 1 option.

Crusader - Not one of my favorite classes in general but always a good class for a Gish.  I am just not a fan of the random maneuver from your list mechanic.

Swordsage – Best list for maneuvers Wisdom to AC not a terrible choice at all.  Lots of good skills and options allowing you to qualify for prestige classes that need sneak attack without being Rogue.


[/size]
[/color]

« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2010, 02:27:16 PM »

Section 5 – Prestige Classes

Abjurant Champion – Maybe the best prc for an arcane Gish.  Full casting, full base attack bonus, free extend and quicken for an entire school of magic, and some nice bonus from class features.  The d10 hit die doesn’t hurt.  And it’s easy to qualify for. 

Eldritch Knight – 9/10th casting, 1 bonus feat, full base attack bonus.  Always a great choice to fill out a build or help along a character.  The only downside is d6 hit die and no class features.  This class will always help out but it won’t make you shine.

Runesmith – You get to cast in plate and its full casting.  Nuff said.  One of my favorite for Dwarves Gishes.

Spelldancer – Free persistent spells.  Its 3.0 but it is official material so most DM’s wont scream unless they have seen someone go nuts on this one before.

Spellsword – Half casting so this is a dip Prc. or it would be blue.   You get to lessen arcane spell failure and get a channeling ability. Over all a good 1-2 level dip for some solid abilities.

Rage Mage – Half casting, and a magic item makes the class abilities worthless I would skip this but if you want to it’s not going to kill you.

Bladesinger – This can get you Int. to AC but only up to your class level.  Its half casting and while it has its appeal this can be done better without the class.  Plus you have to be an elf or half-elf.

Jade Phoenix Mage – a good overall Gish class.  Some neat abilities and you get maneuver progression with your casting progression.

Ruamathari Battle Mage – you miss 2 caster levels and only ¾ base attack bonus.  Other than that this is a great class.  May have problems if you aren’t allowed setting specific material.

Swiftblade – Haste personified is a great class but you lose to many caster levels if you want all 10 levels of it.  Great abilities and hit die.   This would be broken if kept all caster levels.

Ordained Champion – gives a lot of good features and only give up 2 caster levels.  Better classes out there for you but not a bad class for a divine Gish.  A good overall class.

Ruby Knight Vindicator – The other Gish type class from Tome of Battle.  This can make a better Paladin than the Players Handbook Paladin. 

Enlightened Fist - not a bad themed class.  i dont like the loss of 2 more caster levels but has some good abilities.  hold ray being the best of the best.  a Duskblade entry might be better than a standard caster build.  but becarefull of the dual edge of SR if you take all 10 levels. 

Sacred Fist - this will be based on if your DM goes by the text or the chart.  if text its a nice fill in for a monk/favored soul netting you 9th level spells and some added defense.  i dont like druid entry unless you are doing the shapeshifter druid AFC.  and i think a cleric 20 is better over all.  fits a fun theme and isnt a terrible class

If you feel I left out any Prestige classes that I should be covering drop me a line.[/size][/font]

Offline Libertad

  • Epic Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3618
    • View Profile
    • My Fantasy and Gaming Blog
Re: The Gish Handbook (raith0)
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2013, 05:20:41 PM »

« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2010, 02:27:42 PM »
[/size]Section 6 – Feats and Spells

I thought about going over every spell printed in every book.  Then I realized I liked my Sanity and didn’t want to have about 50 posts with half of them not contribution to anything.  Same thing with the feats.  So I am going to list the Feats and Spells that you should try to incorporate into a build whenever possible.  I am not going into feats needed as prerequisites to for other feats and prestige classes. 

Power Attack – if you are casting wraith strike, or divine power, or both this feat will give you a ton of extra damage.  Arcane strike Gishes love this feat as well.

Arcane Strike – a great way for an arcane caster to add a nice bonus to hit and to damage.  There are tricks for this feat that will let you add +20 to your attack.  Run them by your DM before using because I personally do not think this was RAI.  It is RAW so it will depend on group/dm.

Ability Enhancer – and Additional +2 bonus to all transmutation spells that give an enhancement bonus to a stat.  Great for buffing. It also adds no spell level.

Quicken spell – always good for added actions.  If you can do it for free it’s even better.

Extend spell – nice for hour per level buffs

Persistent spell - if done for free this can get broken. Do I need to say more?

Arcane disciple – usually you want war or hero with this for divine power and or giant size.  You need wisdom to make it work so low point buy builds may run into problems.

Spell focus/greater spell focus – can be tempting since you will have a lower casting stat in general but I always have problems finding room for them.  If you get more feats than normal these won’t hurt but I wouldn’t say they are great or needed in most cases.

Some spells for thought

Bite of the Were line – great round per level buffs.  If you can get them persistent or quickened for free they are even better.

Wraith Strike – most things have a lot lower of a touch AC second level and swift it’s a great spell in general for arcane Gishes.

Polymorph line – always broken and I don’t know a reason not to cast them in most cases.

Mage Armor/ greater mage armor – solid ways to give you a decent AC. 

Luminous Armor line – even better but you have to be good and you shine like the sun.  Could be worse

Dimensional hop/door – easy ways to get out of bad situations or into great situations for full attacking.  Dimensional hop is 2nd level so it’s easy to quicken

Battle Field Control Spells – you personally can take advantage of these spells so they are always going to be nice to have available.  But try to chose them wisely your saves will be lower than a typical caster.

Blaster type spells – if you focus most of your character on melee these can be great for ranged attacks.  And vice versa.  Not always the best choice but sometimes they aren’t bad either.


[/size]
[/color]

« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2010, 02:28:09 PM »

Section 7 – Builds

Here are some links to other threads instead of me just stealing the builds from them.  Feel free to post your own builds now as well I hope everyone enjoys the this handbook
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19868042/Character_Build_Spotlight:_Gishhttp://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/22080093/The_Colossus_of_War

I haven’t searched the boards here yet so feel free to post them for me.

A few builds.  note not all of these are comepletly optimized.  some will be listed for simplicity to be expanded on as experience is gained.  i feel sometimes vetran optimizers forget not everyone is used to or capable of playing some of the character builds we normaly post.

Dwarven Tank
28 point buy
str 12
dex 12
con 16
int 8
wis 8
char 14 

fighter 4/ sorcerer 2/ abjurant champion 5 / runesmith 1/ eldritch knight 8   BAB -18  CL 15

suggested feats - Arcane strike,exotic armor pro - Dwarven Battleplate , Armor SPecialization and weapon spec with a two handed axe or hammer ( for stereo typical dwarven feel ). 
Pro - good HD for most levels, simpole build that doesnt have a lot of dipping, natuarly high base attack bonus so does well in anti magic areas. sorcerer gives lots of spells for arcane strike without a huge casting score, or rings of wizardry to gain extra spells per day. no arcane spell failure in
Cons- lower Caster level only get access to 7th level spells pre epic.  ( not a huge problem but not always desirable) and small lack of spells known due to sorcerer base.
i like this for a first attempt at playing a gish it is playable from levels 1 and on as well as letting oyu learn the basic tatics of a gish in combat.  also with the high starting con you can tank and be front line melee at all times.  when you add in buff spells you can get more HP than the tarrasque or an ancient dragon easily by 20th level. 

I personaly recomend a this build or a similar build to anyone playing there first gish.

Fighterless Gish

Human Paragon 3/ Wizard 3/ Eldritch Knight 2 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Archmage 1 / Eldritch Knight 6
BAB - 16 CL - 18

Feats Needed - Militia , 2 spell focuses, Arcane devotee (War) , skill focus - spellcraft
Pro's - almost full casting, Divine power as a spell like ability , natural 16 base attack bonus ( better than astandard rogue ) can play muliple rolls in combat from a pure spell caster to a tank.  and with divine power has 18-20 base attack bonus.

Con's- a little feat intensive.  not the greatest Hit Dice at all levels.  requires the alaignment with a diety of with the war domain ( barring house rules DM fiat) doesnt really feel like a gish at low levels feels more like a pure caster.  doesnt do well in an antimagic area.  probably wont be casting in armor so you need to use one of your 3 remaining feats on extend spell or using multiple castings a day on AC buffs.

This is my personal favorite Divine Power arcane gish.  gives a lot of flexabilty to spells and only gives up 1 caster level.  the last 6 levels of eldritch knight can be dropped for other Prc's to add in other special abilites bonuses.  if you add in Ardent Savant you can generate an AC into the mid 80's easily and higher with a little bit of effort.  overall the true skeleton of this build is Human Paragon 3 /wizard 3 and can go into either a pure caster or gish build from there.  having access to 9th level spells and an above average BAB you have very few situations you will not shine in.  [/size][/font]