benos's page

well i have to say i like the new version,
it may not allow as much damage (and to be honest the usual 3.5 combination was leap attack shock trooper, wraithstrike 2 handed power attack) but it is a lot easier to work out, this is from a group including a maths graduate, and economics graduate working in statistics and a molecular biology graduate. we could do the maths perfectly easily, it was just a hassle to work throug hwhich options we were using. To us it became less of a game and more like work, not a good combination.

Ben

i am assuming this extra damage isn't multiplied on a crit? (like most extra damage ) otherwise keen scythe + this feat = nasty
Ben

ok so you use what 2-3 feats and a 4th level spell to do 1d3 cold damage.

then yes you can re-use it. does mean you are not casting say fireball and having spell mastery and focus on it (and that isn't even pushing the limits of 3-4th level spells)

on the other hand try it with a spell not originally 0 level and the resuslts may accidentally fizzle and the god of magic espresses its disaproval.

to be honest with all of these things its the degree to which they are taken, trying to get free 0 level metamagiced spells , i can live with (having played enough 3.5 with spell casters insisting on resting because they ran out of spells, haveing a non useless mage so the fighter caries on a little longer is fine by me) but trying to get unlimited suggestion may result in dissapointment.

back on topic, just run it by a coherency test? does it make sense or does it seem stupid? weapon focus ray makes perfect sense (practiced at targeting with rays) rapid shot : not really when the spells take so long to cast (now quickened ray of frost with a thrown dagger perhaps)

Ben

i guess you are looking at a spartan image here?

if so

Con, then Str, then Wis, then Dex.
Short spear and large shield.

Lvl 1 : iron will, weapon focus, power attack
lvl2: cleave (much better than in 3.5 as you can potentially get 2 attacks when moving if i've read this right)
lvl 3 : start looking at manouvers , disarm if you fight a lot of humanoids, is good as they then provoke AOO with most actions(draw a weapon, pick weapon of the ground or attack unarmed)
alternativly boost AC with dodge/expertise etc.

then see how the character has developed and what will help in the campaign in question.

note this is for a Spartan Hoplite theme, might get better options for a different theme?

Ben

armour and or weapons made from rare materials might be useless in combat , but thier value is likely to go up, since they will probably be considered objet d'art. so +2 magical gold plate is going to be worth an absolute fortune, but as said useless in actual combat.
bronze and iron weapons overlapped for some time historically (since iron was harder to work and tended to be brittle compared with bronze) also bronze was almost exclusively in the form of scale armour, i would expect gold to be the same.
finally make sure the weight is correctly calculated , density by density gold full plate isn;t going to be a problem of not protecting you , but more you not being able to move under the weight, so the wearers will need to be very very strong!

Ben

AC 32 is quite achievable by a fighter at a lower level, (got a gnome fighter to around AC 30 by 5th level without really trying, higher with 1 level of cleric as a multiclass)
the problem i see with this build is actually the trade-off between a reach weapon and its control and a shield.

back on topic. fighter with 2 weapons is an ok build, but needs high stats to pull off, especially over all 20 levels.
1st level human : two weapon fighting, two weapon defense amd double slice seem the best choices (i may be wrong here, but building upwards implied) but they leave you relying on luck a lot,
level 2 : lots of options, could be almost any feat
level 3 : ok, armour improves, another feat
level 4: feats start to get interesteding here

so for the first few levels it doesn;t look that different

now at higher levels you get the benifit of staying in class, but by then the Rogue has lots of other options.

and of course by then the DM has got bored of pure combat encounters and sent you all to the masked ball ;-)

Ben

I would be loath to advise pre-ordering from Amazon, i have done so in the past for a number of books (usually wargaming titles ) and always seen a message indicating a 2 week delay. the good news is this has only once been that 2 weeks, mostly they have actualy turned up within 7 days, however the 2 week delay was the most recent.

hope this helps reassure those of you waiting paitently.

I may well order through amazon but not for a few weeks due to holiday expenses

Regards
Ben