Hello. Some days ago I suddenly found what type of character I'd like to play - and to build. Unfortunately, despite being a player with some experience, I appear to be pretty bad at building characters with any mechanical convolutions. That is, I lack sufficient knowledge and practice to build (and to optimize) a character with some particular not fully standart functionality. But, well, it's alwaysthe correct time to begin! So I began reading whatever useful I could find on different CO boards. I found a lot of information and even managed to produce a couple of rough sketches of the build but the exact answer still eludes me. So I've come here to ask for help and advice. Thanks in advance!
All right, enough with foreword and on to the character in question.
I'm looking for a build with the following properties.
what I want the character to do- In non-combat situations to be able to be a partyface, at least partially. Preferrably by "honest" means (that is, Diplomacy is preferred to Bluff, though the point is not crucial).
- In combat situations... Ah, some clarification is in order. At least partially the desired character is inspired by Guild Wars mmorpg Mesmer. For sure I don't want to try to emulate the class in D&D terms. But to introduce a little of Mesmer feel? I guess so.
So, what I want to have in combat? I want it to be a type of battlefield controller who says (ideally): "You want to attack me or my friends? Than you'll see some consequence. Do you think it's worth it?" A controller who punishes enemies for any attempt to do anything. Or somehow prevents them from acting. Yes, debuffs, fear effects, condition-like effects (blindness, etc) seem in order. - To be able to finish his victims at least in cas of emergency (so not to be totally dependent on the party).
- Not to be dependant on wands/potions/... . Hands/mind/vestige/even a trusty rapier is ok. A lot of arcane machinery - better not. That includes familiars. I don't like familiars. Even item familiars.
- To be human. Preferrably.
what I do not want the character to do- To be a melee creature.
- To be any type of summoner (even cute things a-la Warlock's summon swarm are best avoided).
- To be overly sneaky. Here is actually a funny thing. The whole line of though, which led me to this concept started from a desire to have a "sneaky" but "honest" character: able to damage/debuff/punish/whatever more severe than expected at first glance without being "unfair": not backstubbing people for instance.
- To wear any serious armor.
Some other points (not musts, just stuff I'd like to achieve due to roleplaying reasons):
- not to be a straightforwar Wizard (or Sorcerer for that matter);
- to be of NG aligment or not far from it.
Before I move to the rough drafts I was able to compose, let me outline what materials are allowed, what level I'm aiming at and all that stuff.
Since I'm pretty sure I can talk my GM into allowing me more or less anything (since he knows that I'm not the kind of player who tries to sneak in a really cheesy character), the only limits are what I myself feel appropriate. Those are:
- All the WotC-published books (including web) are allowed;UA is treated cautiously, though. If it's possible to avoid it, it's a benefit.
- Unofficial errata of a class by the class's author is ok (for example Shadowcaster errata by Ari Marmell or Hexblade errata by Mike Mearls).
- Surely no stupid multiclassing rules. Multiclassing is free and ecouraged.
- Aligment requirments for certain classes are easied. Again, it's best not to contradict written rules, but I'm not opposed to a good-aligned character entering an evil-aligned PrC if the latter can be reasonably reflavored (realigning Assassin into an Avenger is the best example).
- Material from setting-describing books is ok only if it's setting independent.
The earlier the build starts to work, the better. The campaign I'm thinking to bring the character into starts at about 4th or 5th level, so I think most interesting levels for me are 5-10. A 20 level build would also be appreciated at least from theoretical interest (and possibilities for future use).
Finally, what I've managed to do myself (not much, unfortunately).
The overall outline of the concept feels pretty bardish. So a bard with Doomspeak, Haunting Melody and the like debuffs pretty much meets the bill. And with Perform: Oratory even the stupid need to carry an instrument and to play it in the middle of the battle (something always upsetting me as a flavorwise destroyer of the class) is not a problem.
So I know that a good debuffer bards can be made. I've even found some decent builds. But I still feel it to be a bit not what I'm looking for. Maybe because it's so fear-themed. Fear debuffs are great but they are not exactly (or solely) the type I'm looking for. I'd prefer my enemies not to run away shouting, but to became weaker, to suffer some disabilities, to be punished for every hostle act (like "cast a spell - suffer damage"). And their actions to be disrupted (yes, counterspelling would be appreciated if made viable).
So debuff bard is ok but only as a dip (making his fearsome musimgs an option but not the main power output).
Like Bard 1/? with Extra Music, Inspire Awe ACF, Doomspeak...
Thematically, Hexblade is almost ideal. Moreover, with author's errata it's even more or less playable. For instance, many spells of Hexblade's spell list are exactly what I'm looking for (like Karmic backlash). The problem is, that Hexblade gets a lot of unnessesary features like full BAB and serious weapon/armor proficiencies paying for that with getting his spells and other nice stuff too late for my purposes. Moreover, 2 skillpoints per level make Hexblade a poor choice for a partyface. So again, a 1 or 2 level dip is ok for the Curse and flavor but not more.
Binder appeals to me. The are some nice debuff oprions there. And while Chupoclops is far too high-level to be considered the core of the build, Focalor is easily acquired as early as at third level via Improved Binding feat. So a Hexblade 1/Binder 3+?/? with Improved Bind and stuff could be a beginning. But again, too few skillpoints.
I'm a bit stuck. There are debuffer builds all over the Internet, but none of them gives me exactly the desired.
Wow, it's a lot of text and, I'm pretty sure, of misprints of all kinds. Sorry for a bit crampled description, ask your questions (if any
), I hope answering them I'll be able to clarify what I'm aiming for. I'm also going to edit this post from time to time to keep it up to date with your ideas and my finds.
Once again thanks in advance are in order. Waiting for comments!
