Min/Max Boards

What's the best way for a ranged scout to deal with miss chances in E6?

So I have a player who found "Ipecac" in the back of the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft.

His primary intended use for wanting it is that, if he ever gets swallowed whole, he can pour a dose out into the creature who will then be forced to immediately vomit him back up with no save, and afterwards will be nauseated for 1d4 rounds. Without a save.

  ...uh huh...

So before I even have to make a ruling on whether or not you can force a potion down a creatures throat, even if it has swallowed you, there's something else I want to clarify:

Being swallowed puts you in a grapple, while the creature that did the swallowing is not.

There is a specific list of things you are permitted to do while in a grapple.

And while retrieving a spell component is on that list, retrieving a stored item is not. Nor are there any further clarifications on the matter in the Rules Compendium.
So is it even possible to get at the ipecac after he's been swallowed for his intended purpose?

I'm going to be starting up Red Hand of Doom for a few of my players soon.
One of them is interested in playing, but he has no idea what he wants to be.

-He is a creative player and does well with most 3.5e mechanics, but generally dislikes primary spellcasters and their largely limitless spell lists. In his words, it's just too much to read and keep track of. He tried a Factotum once, and didn't like it for exactly this reason.
-On the other hand, he does like primary casting classes with limited lists. Dread Necromancer is his favorite class. He played a Favored Soul once with help picking out his spells and enjoyed it. He likes Warlock. And he expressed mild curiosity in Beguiler.
-He also does generally well with anything that has a melee focus

I am specifically forbidding for this game:
-Mindsight
-Large scale undead minionmancy, mostly because of the massive graveyards at Rhest, and the huge amounts of unattended corpses that they will find at the Battle of Brindol. because I don't feel like upscaling encounters to compensate.

The party so far consists of:
-A druid
-A goliath warblade
-An undecided, but definitely a (horrifically unoptomized) cleric or a (mostly competent, if attention-deficit) rogue
-An egoist focused psion

I'm hoping for some advice on something that might appeal to him, and that would give him plenty to do throughout Red Hand of Doom.

Any thoughts?

Can a duskblade use Arcane Channeling on any SLA's it might have that are touch spells?

I'm trying to put together an antagonist for the party to fight in an E6 game. He's supposed to be in charge of a squad of soldiers as well as have some survivability/tankiness. So far I have this:

Human - 32 PB
Str 12
Dex 13
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 17 + 1 point from level 4

1. Bard 1 - Extra Music, Combat Reflexes
2. Marshal 1 - Skill Focus: Diplomacy
3. Crusader 1 - Stand Still
4. Crusader 2
5. Crusader 3
6. Crusader 4 - Extra Granted Maneuver
I also swap out Fascinate for Healing Hymn, Countersong for Mimicking Song, and Bardic Knowledge for Bardic Knack

BAB/Saves
 +4, F: +6, R: +3, W: +9

Skills
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 9, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 9, Perform (oratory) 3, Tumble 7
Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered

Bard Spells:
2/day - Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Message, Resistance

Maneuvers and Stances
3. Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Stone Bones, Leading the Attack, Douse the Flames, Martial Spirit
4. Thicket of Blades
5. White Raven Tactics
6. Swap Leading the Attack --> Revitalizing Strike

Possible post-6 feats:
-Martial Study (Steel Wind)
-Song of the White Raven (I guess?)

I'm going to give him a Badge of Valor to bump up his IC to +2.

Is there anything else I should be doing? Is there another (better) way to do what I'm trying to accomplish?

A buddy of mine is starting in a game soon and asked me about some build advice for his character.

The rules that he's said are in effect are as follows:

-Any sources open, even third party, pending DM approval.
-Starting level is 1, play will continue until everyone gets bored.
-Stat generation is obscene: the players are rolling six sets of 4d6, rerolling 1's and 2's until they are 3 or higher, and then adding ALL FOUR dice together. This means the lowest stat anyone will have is a 12, and characters will likely be averaging 16's in everything. Basically stat prerequisites are probably going to be irrelevant.
-Most fluff is NOT mutable
-Each character will be given a template (at no cost) designed by the DM, with a large number of special qualities including scaling damage reduction, scaling spell resistance, the player's choice of up to three energy resistances as they get higher in level, and removing the stat changes from aging as well as the maximum age from each race table.

My friend really, really doesn't like spellcasters on principle and really likes the Mage Slayer feat. I asked him, "That's cool, but Mage Slayer is a mostly passive effect. You stand their and screw the other guy over. What else do you want the character to do, and how do you want to deal with non-magical enemies?"

His responses were, "be sort of tanky" and "beat face with melee damage". He is quite fond of Tome of Battle and likes Warblades. He also really, really wants to do something with a spiked chain, but I think that part might be a bit more negotiable than Mage Slayer.

I've been trying to put something together for him that will suit his needs. So far I've come up with this:

Human Warblade 20
1st- EWP: Spiked Chain, Jotunbrud (RoF)
3rd- Mage Slayer
5th- Warblade Bonus: Combat Reflexes
6th- Improved Trip
9th- Warblade Bonus: Blind-Fight, Pierce Magical Concealment
12th- Stand Still
13th- Warblade Bonus: Improved Initiative
15th- *open*
18th- *open*

Or possibly this:

Human Crusader 20
1st- Extra Granted Maneuver, Combat Reflexes
3rd- Mage Slayer
6th- Blind-Fight
9th- Pierce Magical Concealment
12th- Stand Still
15th- *open* (Improved Initiative?)
18th- *open*
This character will focus on Thicket of Blades to limit mobility. Perhaps squeezing in Aberrant Blood and Inhuman reach with flaws if the DM will allow it.


I'm unsure of how else to proceed. The first one gets him pretty much everything he likes, but the second one just feels more "tanky" to me.

Is there anything else I missed? Any way I can improve on these?

So my buddy wants to start a new campaign with some very... interesting restrictions.

Rule #1: No primary spellcasters- In his words, any class that gets 9th level spells or manifesting is banned.
Corollary #1: I asked him about classes that draw from limited spell lists, like beguiler or war mage. He said they were "fine".

Rule #2: No planar travel. Anything that gets any form of planar travel is banned (teleport, dimension door, ethereal jaunt, etc.)
Corollary #2: Classes that conditionally get such spells  and effects are allowed provided you do not use those effects (i.e.: Rangers are fine, just don't prepare Tree Stride, and Meldshapers are fine, don't shape Blink Shirt)

Rule #3: No non-humanoid races, and any non-humans will frequently be greeted with suspicion and prejudice.

Rule #4: He is using the sanity rules, as detailed here.
EDIT: Specifically here is what he has said so far:
-All spells that can cause negative sanity will do so. All spells that heal or interact positively with sanity are in EXCEPT Mind Blank. That spell still exists but has no effect.
-Drugs exist
-We are using the moderate spellcasting table, but may adjust downward if it becomes too detrimental.
-Full psionic/magic transparency. Manifesting has the same effect on sanity as spellcasting.

We are starting at level 5.

My first thought was Binder 15/KotSS 5, but the vestige I wanted for my patron (Chupoclops) is out, as is Zceryll and Astaroth, and he kept making jokes about driving party members insane using class features.

  What would you play under those rules?

My google-fu is failing me on this one.

I'm looking for some inspiration for a character based on any collected information on bogatyr's in Russian mythology and folklore.

More specifically on Ilya Muromets. So far I've read that bogatyrs are famous for wielding maces in battle. I'm trying to find out if there are any weapons specifically attributed to him, and if they were named.

Any help would be appreciated.

I've often read that one of the biggest complaints regarding design in D&D is that a house cat will kill a first level commoner most of the time.  Well I happened across the stats for a cat in the back of my Monster Manual for the first time today and... I'm not entirely sure I understand how that's possible.

Let's assume a household encounter with ideal conditions for the cat:
1) the cat has +0 BAB, same as the commoner
2) do NPC classes not get max HP at level 1?  The book says to treat them exactly like any other class.  Oh well, even without that a commoner will average 2 hp, same as the cat

According to the monster manual, cats prefer to sneak up on their prey.  So let's say it's midday, the commoner is working in the kitchen preparing food, and the cat sneaks up behind him and prepares to strike.  The cat has a superior Hide check, (even on a 1 there's only a 30% chance it will be spotted), but with a +6 to Move Silently, he only has a 40% chance of not being heard by a particularly inattentive owner with no ranks in listen (35% chance against an average one), but let's assume he catches his owner unaware.

For the cats surprise round, it executes a partial charge for a +6 to hit with his claw attack.  Against an average commoner this gives it an 80% chance to connect for 1 point of damage, and a 5% chance of a critical hit for 2 points of damage.  In either case it has zero chance of dropping the commoner before combat begins, and an exceedingly low chance of putting the commoner in significant danger, so let's assume the cat connected for 1 point.

The owner turns to see what is clearly a feral cat, and, armed with a kitchen knife, prepares to defend himself.  The cat has only a +2 to Initiative from its Dexterity, giving it a 10% chance of going before the average commoner.  Assuming the cat does win out, it can proceed with it's full attack routine: two claws at a +4 and a bite at a -1, the claws have a 75% chance of hitting and the bite has a 45% chance and the cat must succeed with at least two of these attacks in order to incapacitate the commoner before he has a chance to retaliate.  Discounting critical hits, it has roughly a 78% chance of doing that.  Good odds, but certainly not guaranteed.

However, assuming the cat does not win the Initiative roll:
Since the cat is a tiny creature with a reach of 0 ft, it must enter the commoner's space in order to attack it, and it does not threaten adjacent squares.  If the commoner wins initiative, it takes a 5-foot step away from the cat and attacks it with the knife.  With his BAB of +0 he has a 45% chance of hitting the cat's modified AC of 12(the -2 from charging doesn't go away until the start of the cats turn).  If he hits, even with an average damage roll of 2 the cat is immediately disabled: it moves at only half speed and it can only take a single move or standard action each round, and any standard action puts it to -1 hp.
But let's assume the commoner misses.  Since it is too close to charge, the best the cat can do is move in to attack.  Entering the commoner's square provokes an attack of opportunity, with a 35% chance of success to once again incur the penalties above.  So even with surprise, only 1 round after losing initiative there is about a 50% chance the cat has been disabled and a 5% chance the commoner has been.

Now granted, an unarmed commoner the odds shift more in the cats favor.  But I would be more surprised to find that going up against a creature with natural weapons when you have no weapons of your own resulted in anything else.  The instant the commoner picks up even an improvised weapon it becomes far from a sure thing.  In an actual D&D game, with all the myriad of possible mitigating circumstances, I find it very unlikely that a house cat that randomly attacks it's owner would win.

...Am I just thinking about this too much?

This is yet another character for the game discussed here.
The short version of the story is I finally caved and re-worked the character in that thread to Bard4/Warblade 16||Duskblade 20 and presented that to the DM.  His response was if I wanted to do that I had to put bard on the duskblade side of the build.  Why?  Because, "can't have caster classes on opposite sides at the same time."  Apparently that would be overpowered or something.
...Yeah.... So putting bard over there meant duskblade 16, which is probably sub-optimal for what I want to do.  It also meant losing BAB and HP's.  It also probably meant losing Song of the White Raven.  It also meant redoing maneuver selection.  Basically, it meant being pretty much back at square one.
So I said, "@$%! it", and told him I'll make a Factotum 4/Wizard 4 instead, and he said fine.  Irritated at having to redo a character for his game three times now, I mentioned going in to Incantatrix, and he said that was also fine.  I don't normally like to do this but I feel this is one of those special circumstances that call for an object demonstration on what precisely "power" means.

Rules are 32 point buy, everything but Dragon Mag, starting at level 4, no traits or flaws.
the rest of the party is a Cleric||Crusader, a Dread Necro||Unknown, and an Ur-Priest


So here's this:

Fash Durgan
Neutral Evil whisper gnome
32 PB: STR 8, DEX 12, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 14, CHA 8 (all bonuses to Int)

*Note:  Otyugh Hole is not an option

1.    Factotum 1||Wizard 1                        Specialist: Conjuror, Abrupt Jaunt variant, Iron Will
2.    Factotum 2||Wizard 2
3.    Factotum 3||Wizard 3                        Item Familiar
4.    Factotum 4||Wizard 4
5.    Factotum 5||Wizard 5                        Extend Spell
6.    Factotum 6||Incantatrix 1                   Persistent Spell, Spell Focus (illusion)
7.    Factotum 7||Incantatrix 2
8.    Factotum 8||Incantatrix 3
9.    Factotum 9||Shadowcraft Mage 1        Heighten Spell
10.  Factotum 10||Shadowcraft Mage 2
11.  Factotum 11||Shadowcraft Mage 3
12.  Factotum 12||Shadowcraft Mage 4      Metamagic School Focus (Illusion)
13.  Factotum 13||Shadowcraft Mage 5
14.  Factotum 14||Incantatrix 4                 Twin Spell
15.  Factotum 15||Incantatrix 5                 Spell Mastery (Orb of Fire, Silent Image, Celerity, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Teleport)
16.  Factotum 16||Incantatrix 6
17.  Factotum 17||Incantatrix 7                 Quicken Spell
18.  Factotum 18||Incantatrix 8                 Uncanny Forethought
19.  Factotum 19||Incantatrix 9
20.  Factotum 20||Incantatrix 10               Sculpt Spell

Skills ranks:
Appraise 1, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 23, Decipher Script 1, Diplomacy 23, Disable Device 12, Disguise 1, Forgery 1, Gather Information 1, Hide 4, Knowledge (arcane) 19, Knowledge (architecture) 5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) 12, Knowledge (local) 12, Knowledge (nature) 13, Knowledge (religion) 17, Knowledge (the planes) 16, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 23, Spot 23, Survival 5

Tricks:
Collector of Stories

Given the enormous amount of full casters the choice option appears to be persisting their buffs with Cooperative Metamagic, to that end the item familiar will be a custom Tunic of Spell Reinforcing (+5 comp. to Spellcraft) worn under my normal clothes and all bonuses from it will go into Spellcraft.  Assuming I did it right (put every skill point into the item), and I did the math correctly that's a +66(derp) +23 to spellcraft at level 20, which will allow me to persist 19th level spells when taking 10.  Beyond that I'll likely focus on battlefield control or summon monsters and leave the killing to the others.  Orb of Fire is in case I need to blast for some reason, though Shadow Evocations can also function for that purpose.  The main purpose of Factotum is intelligence to things and extra spells with Cunning Surge.

Any suggestions are welcome, especially for targets for spell mastery, more optimal class and feat progression, and how else to best utilize an item familiar for my purposes (I've never used one before).