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I've been DMing our group's gaming sessions for the last three to four months, so lately I've gotten a bit antsy, wanting to actually play the game again. The campaign I'm running has two to three months of story left, and I'm afraid of my campaign being lost in the shuffle if we swap DMs/stories. Instead of that, I've decided to channel my character ideas into something useful: more articles.
Note: We play using Gestalt rules almost exclusively, so these characters will use those rules.
The Tank
One of the characters I want to play more strongly is a defensive juggernaut. His first two levels would be Knight/Paladin, before switching to Knight/Fighter. The idea here is mainly to acquire the Paladin's Divine Grace ability, because a nameless bonus to saves is awesome for any defender. Also, having the Knight's taunt functions would make his defending ability more useful, as most baddies ordinarily go for the guy dealing damage, not the one who can soak it. As a Knight/Fighter, he would acquire feats to support his defending nature, such as Shield Specialization, Shield Ward, and probably Shield Sling and Active Shield Defense (all four from the PHB II). The Dwarf recommends looking into Hammer & Helm, especially for a prestige class (whose name I don't know) that permits the use of two shields concurrently. If that prestige class would force me to be a Dwarf, I'd do it, otherwise I'm thinking of this character as Human. If the prestige class doesn't look so great once I can actually check it out, then I'd probably progress to Dwarven Defender, instead. The Traps Specialist
This one really takes advantage of Gestalt possibilities. He would be a simple combination of Wizard/Rogue, probably specializing in Conjuration. The Immediate Magic option for Conjuration from the PHB II is one I'd go for. The Traps Specialist would, in his spare time, create traps, especially magic ones. These traps would then be shrunk (shrink item, Sor/wiz 3) and kept easily accessible, probably on a belt. Whenever necessary, the Specialist could remove one of these traps and cast a researched version of teleport object with greatly reduced range and spell level. In combat, this combination move would serve as his attack, and out of combat he could harm or capture targets as necessary. The Throwing Master
Not anything special, I know. This concept has been done before, but not by me, and I've never personally seen it done. I haven't looked too much into the special feats for thrown weapons specialization, but this guy would be a Fighter/Ranger type, most likely. Sneaking around and hurling small axes and even javelins sounds like fun, especially once getting returning on them wouldn't be a big deal. The Quick Draw feat is a necessity, of course, and the Dwarf has mentioned a Dual Throwing feat of some kind that I'd have to check out. I could just see this character having a slew of weapons at his disposal, two or three of significant power and the rest just options for special circumstances. The Grafter
Either a Wizard or Sorcerer, but I don't have a second class in mind. This guy's main pursuit would be augmenting himself with parts of magical beasts and other creatures to gain their powers. For instance, he might replace one of his eyes with part of a basilisk's eye to gain its petrifying gaze attack. He might even find some way to harness a dragon's breath weapon. Granted, these abilities would be most likely reduced in potency from their originals, but it'd still be fun. The Kender suggested that I create a new prestige class specifically designed to incorporate monster parts. Perhaps the class's abilities would function like a Fighter's feats, one every two levels and with prerequisites for each. If I do design this prestige class, I'd probably incorporate at least twenty options, some of course only available at higher levels. |
