i have a character in mind but i am having some trouble picking what class to make him.
the character is a monster slayer who hunts and kills all sorts of beasts, now the obvious choice would be ranger but i have no interests in spells, nature or archery or twf, i plan on using a great ax so i need some help in picking what class would work best.
I have also considered the Inquisitor but it is a little too divine for my taste as well i don't want magic.
what do you think i should do?
Obvious answers are barbarian, fighter or rogue.
i understand why you suggested those classes but none of them have any class abilities oriented towards fighting monsters specifically.
this is why i have this problem, the only 2 classes that gain any specual abilities towards fighting monsters don't work for me.
is this a situation were i could just make my own class for my group, a fighter class that grants bonuses towards fighting monsters.
Sorry I always considered doing massive amounts of damage a great way to hunt monsters... class mechanics don't have to be there for the fluff to be.
Some ranks in a few different knowledges (arcane, dungeoneering, and the planes are good choices, while even history or local could help you with unique and local monster types), while more ranks in survival (to track) stealth (to sneak up on) and perception (to find) will help you catch your prey.
For feats you aren't really going to do anything that different than what you normally would, and I would suggest that the Shanto barbarians are rather good monster hunters...
IF you want to edit the fighter for this I would suggest dropping the weapon training, heavy armor and tower shield training and possibly the first level bonus feat and instead get survival perception stealth as class skills, another 2 skill points per level and favored enemy like a ranger.
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the character is a monster slayer who hunts and kills all sorts of beasts, now the obvious choice would be ranger but i have no interests in spells, nature or archery or twf,
I was going to recommend the spell-less ranger variant from Kobold Quarterly, but the no-nature, archery, etc....y'know.
This character, is he sort of a big-game hunter type? Adventurer's club, Saxton Hale-like fellow?
well he sort of is a big game hunter you know collecting dragon skin and monitor horns. he enjoys killing creatures that attack villages and kingdoms, i feel the hunter element can be accomplished by skills but i would like to gain some abilities that focus on killing these monsters.
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well he sort of is a big game hunter you know collecting dragon skin and monitor horns. he enjoys killing creatures that attack villages and kingdoms, i feel the hunter element can be accomplished by skills but i would like to gain some abilities that focus on killing these monsters.
Get appropriate bane weapons and be a fighter/rogue/barbarian.
There is an accomplishment feat in the LoF that gives you a bonus to will saves if you have a trophy taken from a kill... have to kill 20 gnolls or followers of lamashtu to get it though... however I would say most monsters count as followers of their "mother".
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I still think that a Half-Orc rogue would be amazing for this. If you use Traits, there's one that gives +1 to survival and makes it a class skill, making tracking possible. Take some ranks in Craft(Trapmaking) to set up various traps in the woods. Fast Stealth means that you'll be able to tail a target at your full speed without alerting them to your presence. Sneak attack ensures that you'll be able to drop them much faster in the surprise round
Maybe even take 2 levels of Barbarian and get the rage power that gives you a secondary Bite attack (not to mention Survival as a class skill if you don't use traits). The fast movement and Rage really helps in this regard as well... I would see if you could get the Whirling Frenzy rage variant from 3.5 Unearthed Arcana. +4 Str, +2 dodge bonus to AC, extra attack with full attack with all attacks at -2, +2 reflex saves... Once you close the distance, you can shred them with your greataxe.
Yeah the best way to handle this with core rules is to roll a human fighter or barbarian with a decent intelligence score for knowledge skills.
I'd suggest 1 level of ranger for track and a single favored enemy as well as the whopping 6+int skills/level.
Knowledge skills you'll want are arcana, nature, dungeoneering, the planes, and religion. For hunter flavor and track you'll want survival. Stealth would be nice too as long as you stick to armor that doesn't clang too much (read: medium or lighter).
My suggestion would be Human Ranger 1/Barbarian X.
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You want to be a ranger. Then take Favored Enemy Animal, Magical Beast, Dragon or what have you. It is exactly what you are describing. Ranger!
Saying you want to fight "monsters" doesn't mean anything though. You want a class that's good at fighting monsters? They all do that! It's like a third of the whole damn game (even more at some tables.) There is no reason to make a new class for something like that.
Also; Define Monster. Aberrations? Outsiders? Dragons? Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh my? Everything that's not like a humanoid is a monster and some people would still classify some of this category as monsters as well.
I agree with TLO3 and Morgen. In fact, even if you want to avoid spells altogether, Taking Ranger up to Level 4 is a great option.
And I especially echo what Morgen said -- the core of the game, going back to First Edition is to a great extent about fighting monsters.
I'd suggest that you go one step beyond his "Define Monster" comment, and say: Then Pick One (one monster or one category). Once you pick a monster to hunt, go from there. Your choice will better inform your class progression. Different monsters have different strengths and weaknesses, and different classes are best suited for exploiting that.
For instance, my last 3.5 character was all about fighting the undead -- I'm fairly certain you know what base class I started with.
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I agree with TLO3 and Morgen. In fact, even if you want to avoid spells altogether, Taking Ranger up to Level 4 is a great option.
And I especially echo what Morgen said -- the core of the game, going back to First Edition is to a great extent about fighting monsters.
I'd suggest that you go one step beyond his "Define Monster" comment, and say: Then Pick One (one monster or one category). Once you pick a monster to hunt, go from there. Your choice will better inform your class progression. Different monsters have different strengths and weaknesses, and different classes are best suited for exploiting that.
For instance, my last 3.5 character was all about fighting the undead -- I'm fairly certain you know what base class I started with.
Bard?
Bard?
How'd you guess?
the character is a monster slayer who hunts and kills all sorts of beasts, now the obvious choice would be ranger but i have no interests in spells, nature or archery or twf, i plan on using a great ax so i need some help in picking what class would work best.
So the concept is someone who "hunts and kills all sorts of beasts"; this means he is good at tracking creatures down, e.g. it will be best for him to have survival as a class skill.
As for "all sorts of beasts" I agree this needs more definition but the description of needing to hunt them down suggests specializing in certain kinds of creatures. This suggests favored enemy.
REMEMBER: you design the fluff for your character, the class does not. You pick the mechanics that will work for you. Not all rangers prance about the woods hugging trees and shooting things with elven arrows.
This is why you want ranger up to level 3 or 4:
Class skills: Stealth, Perception, and Survival all essential for the concept. Depending on what you're hunting down, Knowledge Dungeoneering or Knowledge Nature also useful.
Favored Enemy: Obvious part of the character concept
Wild Empathy: Also suits the character concept very well
Track: Makes character even better at "hunting down" than survival skill alone.
Combat Feat: Take either Quick Draw from the melee tree, or one of the archery feats, as even if you don't used ranged weapons as primary, it's always useful to be able to fight at range if you need to, and if you're a bounty hunter type, that may become a useful backup.
Endurance: Suits concept of unrelenting hunter
Favored Terrain: Less essential to concept, but certainly if character often operates out of the same area, makes a lot of sense he would be a master of fighting in that kind of terrain
Hunter's Bond: Your character can extend his expertise to his allies. That's cool, and makes him all the more viable in a party setting.
The rest of the way--if the hulking axe fighter is attractive, I'd take fighter for weapon training and weapon specialization. Plus Armor training may come in handy as well.
If the concept is more of a rough survivalist, as much beast as the creatures he slays--or he believes he gets his fighting strength from the creatures he slays--I'd go for barbarian instead.
If he's more of a sneaky stalker of the living, add rogue levels and use your tactics to set up lots of sneak attacks. Fast Stealth and Ledgewalker will come in handy, among a number of other things.