It looks like I will be starting up a second RuneLords group in the next month.
I have a player who is a bit of a munchkin, but he can brought back into line (you just have to pay attention and gently redirect). We've been talking about a character and I wanted to pass some ideas around for peer review. The Editorial Team is free to comment too!
The Idea He Brought To Me
A dwarven duskblade.
I Suggested to Him
That I disliked duskblades because they aren't supported by my Campaign Setting (not SRD) I thought about it, and it occured to me that a duskblade based around the concept of a Dwarven Magesmith from Janderhoff might work as a template. After all I might see the end of the campaign before anything official is available anyway. Why not try to work with him?
I advised him to take appropriate Professions and Crafting Feats sometime during his career, and he was excited about that.
He was Enthused With That
But then he asked if he could take the Varisian Tattoo , specifically the Evocation one.
Now Watcher might be new to 3.5, but I'm learning quick. This player mini/maxes if you don't watch him (as I mentioned). He wants the Evocation Tattoo to boost the touch spells that Duskblades can channel.
I asked him as a dwarf, how does he have a Varisian Cultural Feat?
He poses to me that he's left Janderhoff to study the ancient magics to learn how to apply them in new ways that established magesmiths have never tried before. Travelling with Varisian tribes, trying to be accepted by them culturally in order to learn about them. He also plans to take Thassilonian as a language to augment that academic side, and to demonstrate his interest in the "Ancients."
What Do You Think?
Is this a sound background for a character? Am I being too hard on him?
I have known him to 'dump stat' on the point buy in, and I've had to school him on unauthorized selling down of stats. I'm confident that he understands that I don't wish him to do that.
I'm thinking he needs at least an average Charisma to pull this concept off though. In order to be accepted by another culture, travel with them, and in order to learn of their magical traditions. He needs to gloss over that he's more of a mage than a sorcerer (unless duskblades are sorcerers? I don't have a book handy right now). I'm thinking a few points in Diplomacy and Bluff are in order.
I reckon some tribes might accept him for a time because of the value of a smith.
Anyway, any feedback would be appreciated.
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Duskblades are a combination of Wizard and Sorcerer. INT to cast. You gain 1 spell per character level after first (opposed to wizards getting 2 per character level.) Like the Sorcerer, you can cast any of the spells you know X times per day and don't have a spellbook.
So yes, Charisma or atleast a good combination of varisian knowledge and diplomacy are important.
The background sounds good to me and much more detailed then one would expect for a munchkin.
Duskblades are a combination of Wizard and Sorcerer. INT to cast. You gain 1 spell per character level after first (opposed to wizards getting 2 per character level.) Like the Sorcerer, you can cast any of the spells you know X times per day and don't have a spellbook.
So yes, Charisma or atleast a good combination of varisian knowledge and diplomacy are important.
So all in all.. You'd let him take the tattoo feat, provided he can backs it up with the skills you mentioned above?
Sure, the only harden requirement is Spell Focus, so why not?
I guess I'm just suspicious. :)
All other additional feedback is still welcome and appreciated!
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I don't mind min/maxers as long as they roleplay the stats they mangle doing it. Often times I find myself gimping characters in favor of good and interesting roleplay (we go 4d6 drop lowest often around here.) :)
same here - as long as they have a backstory to back up their equipment, I don't care what it is. (within certain bounds) I have given my players +1 weapons for good backstories before so I don't think that the tattoo feat will unballence too much- and it may make some of the harder encounters that people are complaining on other threads more playable
For an SRD version, use a Battle Sorcerer and trade out Summon Familiar for the ability to channel spell energy (gain +1 on the attack roll and +2 on damage for each spell level of the spell slot sacrificed, 0-level spells grant +0/+1) into a melee weapon that he has personally crafted with Craft (Weaponsmith). This fits the concept of a combat magesmith a bit better than a duskblade, IMO. The character only gains a +3 BAB/4 levels, but the bonus from channeling spell energy compensates. Note, the character will have to take Craft Magical Arms and Armor to enchant his own magic weapons, instead of using what he finds or buying replacements, but that is part of the concept.
For an SRD version, use a Battle Sorcerer and trade out Summon Familiar for the ability to channel spell energy (gain +1 on the attack roll and +2 on damage for each spell level of the spell slot sacrificed, 0-level spells grant +0/+1) into a melee weapon that he has personally crafted with Craft (Weaponsmith). This fits the concept of a combat magesmith a bit better than a duskblade, IMO. The character only gains a +3 BAB/4 levels, but the bonus from channeling spell energy compensates. Note, the character will have to take Craft Magical Arms and Armor to enchant his own magic weapons, instead of using what he finds or buying replacements, but that is part of the concept.
Interesting idea.... thanks!
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I think your player's story is interesting and fun. I would give him the tattoo but I have a few words of caution from my group's experience.
To preface, I have 4 players who know 3.5 very well and have a good sense of tactics and a knack for finding back doors. The composition is a Grey Elf Wizard, a High Elf Scout, a Halfling Druid and a Human Duskblade.
Somewhere around 5th level I began to notice that I needed to make some of the encounters a bit tougher to challenge them. A 5th level fighter that can do 1d8+4 followed by 5d6 from shocking grasp (no save) tends to chew the monster hit points rather quickly. It's an interesting class and can be really helpful if your party needs the power in the front line but can become a bit overpowered in some situations as well.
That's not so bad. Trying to get the Vow of Poverty (from the Book of Exalted Deeds) in a game where the DM is getting rid of magic items, that's bad. And yes, someone in our gaming group just tried to pull this off.
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Somewhere around 5th level I began to notice that I needed to make some of the encounters a bit tougher to challenge them. A 5th level fighter that can do 1d8+4 followed by 5d6 from shocking grasp (no save) tends to chew the monster hit points rather quickly. It's an interesting class and can be really helpful if your party needs the power in the front line but can become a bit overpowered in some situations as well.
The once-a-day Power Attack + quickened True Strike combo doesn't hurt either.
I wouldn't let him take the Varisian Tattoo feat, even if he has thought up an interesting background for the character. This is how it reads to me: Magesmith seems to be a traditional dwarven arcane caster, focused on building things and using order to control magic. Varisian magic stems from the pulse of the world, the way things move. Getting a tattoo would mean that he's become part of a Varisian tribe and isn't really a magesmith anymore. The two tradtions are opposites and you can't be both.
However, spell focus (evocation) is definently not out of the question.