Author Topic: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People  (Read 11613 times)

Offline SneeR

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Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« on: January 10, 2012, 04:00:07 AM »
I am playing in a campaign characterized by social schism: the rich are very rich, the poor very poor, and the people of power wanting it to stay that way. Orcs and elves are kept out of the lands of the king, and they are preached to not exist along with every magical creature. Casting is forbidden except by government employees, and there is much frustration over this amongst peasant casters. However, the last hundred years of peace have dissuaded casters from focusing on spells of death and more on divination and knowledge seeking. There are muskets that are not very common, and engines based on decanters of endless water are being put to use.

Now for the character:
I want to play an elf that grew up on the outskirts of human society, beaten away by the royal guard and forced to cohabitate with orcs. Now he is sick of it and is determined to have elves, if not orcs, too, stand equal in this society. He speaks a message of self-determination and self defense for elves. He believes that elves should be equal to humans, and that they should stand up for themselves until they are made so. He is much like early Malcom X: our races should be separate but equal in every way. Integration is nice and all, but equality is the goal of the day, with all things coming second. And he does this by using muskets to assassinate human targets until they give in.

So here are the requirements:
-needs to be a leader:
I would do this with skill points in social skills, nice CHA, etc.
-needs to be a musketeer:
I can take crossbow feats for the musket
-needs to be viable at fairly high level
so ranged fighter with leadership won't cut it
-must be an elf of some sort

Starts at level 4.

Here are some pieces I thought of:
-rogue gets nice skill points and good skills; factotum, too
-fighter levels could get me on the road to musketeering early on
-swordsage has maneuvers for high-level usefulness as well as skill points, but not great class skills

I am curious of how to do this!

tl;dr: socially influential assassin using guns and viable through the levels
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Offline Wiggins

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2012, 11:30:33 AM »
Shadowbane Inquisitor?

Factotum/Warblade could do the job though, especially if you like the Warblade fluff as it's written.

Other similar options...maybe a Swiftblade?

Offline Soundwave

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2012, 11:43:09 AM »
Id go with a thrallherd build and have your minions commit assassinations on your behalf. If you actually want the visceral feeling yourself you could toss in a few levels of psychicwarrior. Skill points would be an issue though. How focused on the social skills will your character be as opposed to some of the others?

If its a narrow enough focus you can get away with fewer skill selections and fewer points since as a thrallherd your minions could have the skills you dont.


Offline sirpercival

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2012, 11:44:03 AM »
So, is your concept for someone who works towards his goals in the shadows?  Or someone who is a charismatic leader that also tries to get his point across by shooting people in the face?
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Offline SneeR

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2012, 01:11:20 PM »
So, is your concept for someone who works towards his goals in the shadows?  Or someone who is a charismatic leader that also tries to get his point across by shooting people in the face?

He is a charismatic leader who threatens violence. What people don't know is that he actually goes out and kills people, true to his word.

Good suggestions so far! I'll have to look at Warblade again, see if it combines with factotum correctly...
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Offline Tenebrous Apostle

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2012, 04:19:31 PM »
How about a Rogue/warlock Scar Enforcer? It might not be the best option but is most certainly the right flavor and you can always finsih the class and go for assasin if you like..
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Offline NiteCyper

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2012, 07:57:01 AM »
(click to show/hide)
You imply no magic. I recommend being a pure Factotum or Savvy Rogue. I don't know what you refer to by "et cetera" when you refer to your leader need "with skill points in social skills, nice CHA, etc.". Options: Leadership, diplomacy, and/or no mechanics, just roleplay.
Indeed, the Swordsage (or the Crusader) does not have Diplomacy as a class skill. Warblade does. None of the Sublime Way disciplines have crossbow as one of the discipline preferred weapons. As a Warblade, "recover all expended maneuvers with a single swift action, which must be immediately followed in the same round with a melee attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the round (such as executing a quick, harmless flourish with your weapon)."
« Last Edit: January 11, 2012, 10:14:10 AM by NiteCyper »
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Offline Wiggins

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2012, 08:57:26 AM »
Does anyone have a link to the Tome of Battle Archery Build that I think was called something like "Being a God without Casting".

It was all through "target a 5 ft square with your bow" with daze and similar effects. It might have been a variation on "Lockdown", or even the original?

Offline NiteCyper

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2012, 09:16:15 AM »
Does anyone have a link to the Tome of Battle Archery Build that I think was called something like "Being a God without Casting".

It was all through "target a 5 ft square with your bow" with daze and similar effects. It might have been a variation on "Lockdown", or even the original?
Have you tried searching in the Tome of Battle Build Compendium II?
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Offline SneeR

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2012, 11:07:33 AM »
Thank you, everyone, for your great suggestions! I just have a few questions:

@Tenebrous Apostle:
What is a scar Enforcer?

@NightCyper:
Warblade does indeed have Diplomacy. Do you know if they have any maneuvers that make them better snipers/gunslingers?

@Wiggins:
Do Factotum and Warblade have any synergy besides INT?
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2012, 11:09:04 AM »
SneeR, is homebrew acceptable?  There are many homebrew disciplines that could help if you went with a Warblade.  I also noticed someone posted a Sniper base class in the homebrew forum.
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Offline SneeR

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2012, 11:23:17 AM »
Homebrew is definitely taken only on a case-by-case basis. You would need to point out exact things to me, but all homebrew is on shaky ground for this campaign.
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2012, 11:28:10 AM »
OK, so some comments.

1) Warblade and Factotum have great synergy besides just Int.  For example, Sapphire Nightmare Blade + Iaijutsu focus, weapon aptitude, etc.  I have a fantastic warblade/factotum build if you'd like some info about it.

2) The particular discipline I was thinking of is Falling Star, which is for ranged combat; in the homebrew compendium you can find tons of others (there really are a lot).

3) Scar Enforcer is a prestige class from Races of Destiny, page 130.  "Scar enforcers are angry, embittered half-elves who have rejected both sides of their ancestry. They band with others of similar attitude, collectively known as the Scars, using stealth and violence to strike back at the societies that marginalize them."

EDIT: As awesome as the flavor of Scar Enforcer sounds, I find the mechanics kind of lackluster.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2012, 11:30:14 AM by sirpercival »
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It's begun — my things have overgrown the previous sig.

Offline Tenebrous Apostle

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2012, 03:49:48 PM »
Sneak attack and spellcasting progression, even at 1/2 is nothing to snease at but nevertheless I never said that it is the best choice. mearly an adequate and flavorful one.
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2012, 03:54:42 PM »
Sneak attack and spellcasting progression, even at 1/2 is nothing to snease at but nevertheless I never said that it is the best choice. mearly an adequate and flavorful one.

Oh I agree that the flavor is certainly appropriate... but mechanically, Unseen Seer and even Daggerspell Mage do it better.  The 1/2 casting is killer.  Better to stay away from casting altogether.

What level are you starting at, SneeR?  That gives me a guideline for the Factotum/Warblade build.
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Offline SneeR

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2012, 04:12:56 PM »
Level 4.
If you have any general suggestions, I would appreciate them, but I don't really want a build. I want to figure some stuff out myself! Even though I have been playing D&D for 4.5 years, I still kind of suck at making killer characters...
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Offline Wiggins

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2012, 07:57:06 PM »
General suggestions only? Ok  :cool

I'm sure with a good read through, the Factotum and Warblade combinations will start to shine through. Especially if you read up online about what they can be turned into, even without reading what they can do in combination.

Martial adepts multiclass well because every 2 levels of non initiator classes counts as 1 towards their initiator level.

One obvious advantage if you're in an odd setting with lots of strange weaponry like muskets and rifles and cannons, a single "exotic weapon focus" combined with Warblade class abilities lets you change that focus to whatever weapon you get.

Though many of the martial abilities only work in melee, that is not always the case. Many are boosts and counters and so forth, it all depends on what you want to get out of it.

From a narrative perspective, the Warblade's recharge method isn't wasted at range. It is acheived with a either a single melee attack or a turn of no consequence. How often is a single melee attack that useful anyway? The point is that the turn represents a dramatic flourish, a one-liner, a gunslinger trick, perhaps blowing across the barrel of a smoking gun.

I'll admit, getting restricted use out of abilities that are generally sub-par to spells isn't great, but if you're going to be multiclassing enough, I'll often take a 3rd level maneuver over a 2nd level spell.

As sirpercival says, If you're looking to combine spellcasting and sneak attacks, there are a decent few prestiges that get you in with full spellcasting. Unseen Seer and Arcane Trickster are usually the favourites. I presume we're looking at a sorcerer, rather than a wizard? Getting that high charisma for Diplomacy?

It might be worth looking into what else a high charisma can do for you; here's a link to a list of what the attributes can be made to do.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125732
« Last Edit: January 12, 2012, 07:58:56 PM by Wiggins »

Offline SneeR

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2012, 08:28:56 PM »
Oh, thank you! Helpful, that.

So, can anyone tell me how a Factotum plays without Font of Inspiration? I've never played a Factotum before, and there is a good chance FoI will not be permitted. Is a Factotum/Warblade combo good enough without FoI?

How does Factotum play in combination with Warblade with FoI?
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Offline Soundwave

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2012, 11:16:12 PM »
Without font I felt frustrated when i played a factotem.  I was level 6ish but it just seemed like I didnt have much in the way of resources available as compared to the classes I was trying to emulate.  Your mileage may vary.

Offline NiteCyper

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Re: Civil Rights Leader, Assassin, Man of the People
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2012, 11:28:11 PM »
So, can anyone tell me how a Factotum plays without Font of Inspiration? I've never played a Factotum before, and there is a good chance FoI will not be permitted.
There're feats that the Factotum would like to take, Font of Inspiration notwithstanding. Intellectualize keenly, scallion rap, kung fu...genius, sight mind, initiate Faerie Mysteries (of Passions), world otherly, initiate improved, blood, now in troll flavour, ship leader, poison, devote knowledge, buckle swash (finesse weapon, strike insightfully, and stunt arcanely), focus iaijutsu, bomb alchemically, and learn ably.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2012, 11:29:42 AM by NiteCyper »
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