Prestige Class: Tempest

[Stratovarius]

It's similar to other builds but there are few diferences

Fighter/Weaponmaster/Tempest - Build

Race: Avariel

Stats:

STR:17
DEX:20
CON:10
INT:13
WIS:10
CHA:8

Skills: Max out: Discipline, Thumble and whatever you like


Feats:

1. Fighter - Weapon Focus(rapier), Dodge
2. Fighter - Expertise
3. Fighter - Mobility
4. Fighter - Spring Attack, +1 Strenght
5. Fighter - 4 to Intimidate
6. Fighter - Weapon Specialization(rapier), Whirlwind Attack
7. Weaponmaster - Weapon of Choice(rapier), Ki Damage
8. Weaponmaster - +1 Strenght
9. Weaponmaster - Ambidexterity
10. Weaponmaster - -
11. Weaponmaster - Superior Weapon Focus, Increased Multiplier
12. Weaponmaster - Two Weapon Fighting, +1 Strenght
13. Weaponmaster - Ki Critical
14. Fighter - -
15. Fighter - Power Attack, Improved Critical(rapier)
16. Tempest - +1 Strenght, Improved Two Weapon Fighting
17. Tempest - Two Weapon Defense, Cleave
18. Tempest - -
19. Tempest - Improved Two Weapon Defense
20. Tempest - +1 Strenght, Greater Two Weapon Fighting
21. Tempest - Epic Character, Great Strenght I
22. Tempest - Greater Two Weapon Defense
23. Tempest - Absolute Ambidexterity
24. Tempest - Great Cleave, +1 Strenght
25. Tempest - Supreme Two Weapon Fighting
26. Fighter - -
27. Fighter - Great Dexterity I, Overwhelming Critical(rapier)
28. Fighter - +1 Strenght
29. Fighter - Devastating Critical(rapier)
30. Fighter - Great Dexterity II
31. Fighter - Epic Weapon Focus(rapier)
32. Fighter - +1 Dexterity
33. Fighter - Great Dexterity III, Epic Weapon Specialization(rapier)
34. Fighter - -
35. Fighter - Two Weapon Rend
36. Fighter - +1 Strenght
37. Fighter - Improved Whirlwind Attack
38. Fighter - Epic Fighter
39. Fighter - Epic Prowess, *Weapon Finesse
40. Fighter - +1 Dexterity


Weapon Finesse - You could take that and max out DEX with items
and put the last point in DEX, or put all in STR
and take any other feat.
I prefer DEX because of AC.

FINAL STATS:

STR:25
DEX:26
CON:10
INT:13
WIS:10
CHA:8


Good: This guy is a killing machine, High AB, plenty of attacks, crit threat range(13-20x3, 10-20x3 wit keen rapiers), Devastating Critical

Bad: Very low HP (Should be raised with items, Boots of Striding etc.)
Low AC, With HOTU equipment 55

But I think you'll kill just about anything before your health drops to zero!

Tell me what you think!

[Stratovarius]

Pixie Tempest with Arms - Scout21/Man at Arms9/Tempest10
Pure 40 again, think i will contrain myself to a playble 1-40 next.Uber race slightly less so due to -6str and needing 13 base for power attack. Can only use races with inherant "dodge" or a free feat

Pixie
Any alignment

Str 13
Dex 25
Con 12
Wis 12
Int 14
Cha 14

1 - Scout 1 Power Attack, Dodge(race granted feat)
2 - Scout 2
3 - Scout 3 Weapon focus Rapier
4 - Scout 4 +1Str, Mobility
5 - Scout 5
6 - Scout 6 Weapon focus Short Sword
7 - Scout 7
8 - Scout 8 +1Dex, Spring Attack
9 - Scout 9 Weapon focus Handaxe
10 - Scout 10
11 - Scout 11
12 - Scout 12 +1Dex, Weapon focus Dart* ,Pointblank**
**1 scout feat of your own choice,wepfocus will most likely determine which one Rapid reload/pointblank/blindfight/expertise)
13 - MAA 1
14 - MAA 2
15 - MAA 3 Weapon Finesse
16 - MAA 4 +1Dex
17 - MAA 5
18 - MAA 6 Ambidex
19 - MAA 7
20 - MAA 8 +1Dex
21 - MAA 9 Two-Weapon
22 - Tempest 1
23 - Tempest 2
24 - Tempest 3 +1Dex, Epic prowess
25 - Tempest 4
26 - Tempest 5
27 - Tempest 6 Greater Dex I
28 - Tempest 7 +1Dex
29 - Tempest 8
30 - Tempest 9 Armour Skin
31 - Scout 13
32 - Scout 14 +1Dex
33 - Scout 15 Superior initiative
34 - Scout 16 Greater Dex II
35 - Scout 17
36 - Scout 18 +1Dex, Greater Dex III
37 - Scout 19
38 - Scout 20 Greater Dex IV
39 - Tempest 10 Imp Power Attack
40 - Scout 21 +1Dex

Str 14
Dex 38
Con 12
Wis 12
Int 14
Cha 14

Saves
Fort 41(45)
Reflex 34(38)
Will 17(21)

316 Skills
Hide/MS 43(57)
Tumble 40
Spellcraft 20
Disc 42(44)
108 leftover

HP 409
AC 40, on the move 45
BAB 27
AB 46/41/36/31 46/31/29/24
Furious Assult 44/39/34/29/46 44/39/24/19
1-6+2(15-20x2)
+3 slashing
Imp-power+10
PRC power +2 piercing damage per -1AB(maxing at -10)
6d6Skirmish

6+2+3+10+20=41
+36Skirmish
77

-20 AB for the above max damage, Powerattack does nto effect the AB at the end of the offhand, so the 24/19 stay the same

Misc
24 Initiative
polymorph/badger Skirmishing!
Strike at Core-Con damage DC19
55SR(not shown in sheet)
6d6Skirmish/5AC
HiPs/invis
Scout Speed


Epic wep replaced with 4 great dex to give the +2 to AB/AC and anyother dex related stat.
Varied weapons useble, darts can be dropped for another melee weapon and a different scout feat at lvl 12, i use blindfight. Or you can focus for 1 more AB on a single weapon or two with a drop of Greater Dex III/IV. One focus only, allows one more feat, toughness perhaps for the 40hp

[Stratovarius]

(all stats given naked and with normanl kamas)
human Lawfull Nuetral 15monk/6WM/19Tempest

lvls 1-15 monk

lvls 16-21 WM

lvls 22-40 Tempest

1) monk: dodge mobility
str:10
dex:18
con:12
int:14
wiz:10
Cha:8

2)monk:
3) monk: weapon finess
4) monk: dex+1 (19)
5)monk:
6) monk: WF:kama
7)monk:
8 ) monk: dex+1(20)
9) monk: spring attack
10)monk:
11)monk:
12) monk: dex+1(21) experties
13)monk:
14)monk:
15) whirlwind attack
16) WM: dex+1(22) WoC:kama
17)WM:
18) WM: TWF
19)WM:
20) WM: dex+1(23)
21) WM: ambidext
22)Temp:
23)Temp:
24) Temp: dex+1(24) TWR(two-weapon-rend)
25)Temp:
26)Temp:
27) Temp: EWF:kama
28) Temp: dex+1(25)
29)Temp:
30) Temp: armour skin
31)Temp:
32) Temp: dex+1(26)
33) Temp: epic prowess imp whirlwind
34)Temp:
35) Temp: PTWF(perfect two weapon fighting)
36) Temp: dex+1(27) imp expertise
37) Temp: epic toughness1
38)Temp:
39) Temp: toughness epic toughness11
40) Temp: dex+1(28)

at lvl 40
str:10
dex:28
con:12
wiz:12
cha:8

saves
fort:21
reflex32
will:20

SR:25

AB mian: 40/37/31/28/25
AB offhand: 40/37

attack base:26

AC 28
AC (with twin-kamas) 31

skills:
tumble 20(base figure for this skill not mmodifier)

discipline:43
Heal:43
intimidate:23
listen:43
parry:52
tumble(with modifier)29

[Stratovarius]

Draconic Tornado
Bard(12), Red Dragon Disciple(10), Tempest(18), Elf
At 20: B(, RDD(, T(4)
True Neutral, Requires PRC
STR 14 (38)
DEX 16
CON 12 (14)
WIS 8
INT 14 (16)
CHA 14 (16)

01 B(1) Two Weapon Fighting
02 B(2)
03 B(3) Ambidexterity
04 B(4) STR+1(15)
05 B(5)
06 RDD(1) Weapon Focus *
07 RDD(2) {STR+2(17)}
08 B(6) STR+1(18)
09 RDD(3) Dodge
10 RDD(4) {STR+2(20)}
11 RDD(5)
12 B(7) STR+1(21), Mobility
13 RDD(6)
14 RDD(7) {CON+2(14)}
15 RDD( Spring Attack
16 T(1) STR+1(22)
17 B(
18 T(2) Blind Fight
19 T(3)
20 T(4) STR+1(23)
21 RDD(9) {INT+2(16)}, Great Strength I(24)
22 RDD(10) {STR+4(28), CHA+2(16)}
23 B(9)
24 T(5) STR+1(29), Great Strength II(30)
25 T(6)
26 T(7)
27 B(10) Great Strength III(31)
28 T( STR+1(32)
29 T(9)
30 T(10) Armor Skin
31 T(11)
32 B(11) STR+1(33)
33 T(12) Epic Weapon Focus *, Great Strength IV(34)
34 T(13)
35 T(14) Two Weapon Rend
36 T(15) STR+1(35), Great Strength V(36)
37 T(16) Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
38 T(17)
39 T(18) Epic Prowess, Great Strength VI(37)
40 B(12) STR+1(38)

Skills: 221 points
Discipline 43(57)
Heal 43(42)
Lore 16(19)
Perform 15(18)
Spellcraft 42(45)
Tumble 40(43)
Use Magic Device 22(25)

[Stratovarius]

Draconic Tornado II
Bard(14), Red Dragon Disciple(10), Tempest(16), Human
At 20: B(, RDD(, T(4)
Any Non-Lawful, Requires PRC
STR 14 (38)
DEX 16
CON 12 (14)
WIS 8
INT 12 (14)
CHA 14 (16)

01 B(1) Two Weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity
02 B(2)
03 B(3) Blind Fight
04 B(4) STR+1(15)
05 B(5)
06 RDD(1) Weapon Focus *
07 RDD(2) {STR+2(17)}
08 B(6) STR+1(18)
09 RDD(3) Dodge
10 RDD(4) {STR+2(20)}
11 RDD(5)
12 B(7) STR+1(21), Mobility
13 RDD(6)
14 RDD(7) {CON+2(14)}
15 RDD( Spring Attack
16 T(1) STR+1(22)
17 T(2)
18 B( Curse Song
19 T(3)
20 T(4) STR+1(23)
21 RDD(9) {INT+2(16)}, Great Strength I(24)
22 RDD(10) {STR+4(28), CHA+2(16)}
23 B(9)
24 T(5) STR+1(29), Great Strength II(30)
25 T(6)
26 T(7)
27 B(10) Great Strength III(31)
28 T( STR+1(32)
29 T(9)
30 T(10) Armor Skin
31 T(11)
32 B(11) STR+1(33)
33 T(12) Epic Weapon Focus *, Great Strength IV(34)
34 B(12)
35 T(13)
36 T(14) STR+1(35), Two Weapon Rend, Great Strength V(36)
37 B(13)
38 T(15)
39 T(16) Epic Prowess, Great Strength VI(37)
40 B(14) STR+1(38)

Skills: 225 points
Discipline 43(57)
Heal 43(42)
Lore 16(18)
Perform 18(21)
Spellcraft 43(45)
Tumble 40(43)
Use Magic Device 22(25)

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/26/06, 13:43
Lawful Good Githzerai Ranger 7 / Shining Blade of Heironeous 23 / Tempest 10

Starting Abilities
STR 14 / DEX (14+6) 20 / CON 10 / INT (14-2) 12 / WIS (12+2) 14 / CHA 14

All ability increases go into Charisma

Ending Abilities
STR 14 [+2] / DEX 20 [+5] / CON 10

• / INT 12 [+1] / WIS 14 [+2] / CHA 24 [+7]

Fort / Refl / Will: +26/+21/+27

Hitpoints: 40d10 = max 400 + 30 (Epic Toughness III) = 430

Armor Class: 22 (Dexterity Bonus +5) (Natural Armor +2) (Two-Weapon Defense +3) (mundane Leather Armor +2)

Main Hand (mundane longsword): +36/+31/+26/+21/+34
1d8 + 2 slashing damage (19-20/x2)
Off Hand (mundane longsword): +36/+31/+26
1d8 + 1 slashing damage (19-20/x2)

Should the longsword be considered a 'light' weapon? In NWN it weighs less than a handaxe. If it is, the attack bonuses should be 2 points higher.

Racial Feats
- Darkvision: Githzerai are able to see in the dark
- Spell Resistance: Innate spell resistance of 5, plus 1 per character level = total of 45
- Spell Ability - Daze: Can cast 3 times per day as 3rd level
- Outsider: Githzerai are considered Outsiders for the purpose of spells
- Human: Githzerai are considered Human for the purpose of spells

Character Feats
- Dodge
- Mobility
- Exalted Companion
- Spring Attack
- Weapon Focus (Longsword)
- Sanctify Martial Strike (Longsword)
- Ethran
- Epic Weapon Focus (Longsword)
- Epic Prowess
- Improved Critical (Longsword)
- Force of Personality
- Tactile Trapsmith
- Nimbus of Light
- Holy Radiance

Ranger (Levels 1 - 7)
- Proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields.
- Skill Points (*4 at 1st level): 5 / level = 50
- Spend at least 7 points on Lore (required for SBoH)
- Spellcasting: Ranger Spells. Divine (Wisdom based, armor-related chance of spell failure is ignored).
- 1st/2nd/3rd/4th level spells per day: 2/0/0/0
- Class Feats
- Animal Companion (Brown Bear)
- Dual-Wield (acts as Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting when wearing light or no armor)
- Favored Enemies: Dragon, Undead
- Trackless Step

Shining Blade of Heironeous (Levels 8 - 16, 27-40)
- Skill Points: 3 / level = 69
- Spellcasting: Increases effective Ranger level by 12 levels (to 19) for calculating spells per day
- 1st/2nd/3rd/4th level spells per day: 4/4/3/2
- Class Feats
- Brilliant Blade 13/day
- +1d6 Electrical damage
- +2d6 divine damage against evil
- Attack Bonus +20
- Duration is 30 rounds
- Natural Armor (AC+2)
Bug: The only epic bonus feats available in the SBoH class are Natural Armor and Epic Toughness, not 'the bonus feats available to a Fighter'. As a result I was forced to take:
- Epic Toughness I, II, III
and use character feats for Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Prowess, and Improved Critical. I would prefer to have taken Great Charisma I & II, plus Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting instead.

Tempest (Levels 17 - 26)
- Skill Points: 3 / level = 30
- Class Feats
- Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
- Two-Weapon Defense +1 / +2 / +3
- Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
- Absolute Ambidexterity
- Supreme Two-Weapon Fighting

This character is able to make many attacks with lots of bonuses against evil, undead, outsiders, etc. 390 round per day with an additional +20 to attack helps a lot too! If the Epic Toughness feats could be replaced with the suggested ones above the Brilliant Blade effects would last 31 rounds each, for 403 rounds a day!

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/26/06  21:42
Maestro of the Twin Blades

(Bard 22/Minstrel of the Edge 10/Tempest

A centerpoint amidst the whirling noise of battle, the Maestro serves as both inspiration to his allies, and a deadly and rapid display of slashing blades to his foes. Combining Bardic music, spellcasting, magical items, and swordplay, he is a foe not to be underestimated.

You can also use Strongheart (bonus feat - Martial weap), or a Race that gets Martial Weapons naturally, but Orc/Rak/Mino bards seem goofy to me, personally. Perform and Disicpline are the required skills for the MotE, the rest are a personal choice. Spell selection is also personal choice, but combat buffs, protections, and healing are recommended. There's not much allowable variance in the feats til later on, where I've chosen to go more for the Spell/Song side then raw melee power (Great Cha, Cha stat points, etc).

Human (Str-10, Dex-16, Con-12, Int-14, Wis-10, Cha-14)

Level 1 (Bard)
Feats - Martial, Perform focus
Skills Conc. 4, Disc. 4, Listen 4, Perform 4, UMD 4, Tumble 4, Jump 4

Level 2 (Bard)
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 3 (Bard)
Feats - Curse song
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 4 (Bard)
Dex +1
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 5 (Bard)
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 6 (Bard)
Feats - Finesse
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 7 (Bard)
Skills Conc. 1, Disc. 1, Listen 1, Perform 1, UMD 1, Tumble 1, Jump 1

Level 8 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Dex +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 9 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Feats - Ambidex, Hymn of The Cat
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 10 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 11 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Feats - Quiet Melody
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 12 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Feats - Two-weap
Cha +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 13 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Feats - Milathur's Lullaby
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 14 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 15 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Feats - Dodge, Song Of Alacrity
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 16 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Cha +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 17 (Minstrel of the Edge)
Milathur's Sluggish Rhapsody
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1

Level 18 (Bard)
Feats - Mobil
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +11, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +11

Level 19 (Bard)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 20 (Bard)
Cha +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 21 (Bard)
Feats - Spring attack
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 22 (Tempest)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +1

Level 23 (Tempest)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 24 (Tempest)
Feat - Perfect Two-Weap Fighting
Cha +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 25 (Tempest)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 26 (Tempest)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 27 (Tempest)
Feat - Armor Skin
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 28 (Tempest)
Cha +1
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 29 (Tempest)
Skills - Conc +1, Disc +1, Listen +1, Perform +1, Tumble +1, Jump +1 UMD +1

Level 30 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +9, Tumble +9, UMD +2
Feat - Epic Prowess

Level 31 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2

Level 32 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2
Cha +1

Level 33 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2
Feat - Great Charisma

Level 34 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2

Level 35 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2

Level 36 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2
Feat - Great Cha 2

Level 37 (Bard)
Skills - Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, Tumble +1, UMD +2

Level 38 (Bard)
Skills - Conc. +2 Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, UMD +1

Level 39 (Bard)
Skills - Conc. +2 Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, UMD +1
Feat - Lasting Inspiration

Level 40 (Bard)
Skills - Conc. +2 Disc +1, Listen +1, Jump +, Perform +1, UMD +1
Cha +1

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06 00:27

I made this character primarily to have fun playing with self-concealment before level 30. The build works fine without SC, though, if you prefer to play a less cheesey race that can't get 30 DEX by level 24.

Rogue/R-16+ | Champion of Torm/C-6+ | Tempest/T-8 (2.2c)

01 R-01 Ambidexterity, Dodge (assuming Pixie -- TWF if can pick it)
03 R-03 Weapon Finesse
06 R-06 Exotic Prof.
09 R-09 Weapon Focus Kukri
10 R-10 Improved Evasion
11 C-01
12 C-02 Mobility, Two-Weapon Fighting (Dodge if picked TWF at 1)
14 C-04 Spring Attack
15 T-01 Improved Critical Kukri
16 R-11
17 R-12 (top off rogue skills @20: umd, tumble, hide, etc)
18 T-02 Blind-fight
20 C-05 (BAB=17 here)
21 C-06 Holy Martial Strike, Epic Focus Kukri
22 T-04
24 T-06 Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
26 T-08 (Tempest stops here, nothing to gain after perfect ambidexterity)
27 R-13 Self-concealment 1&2 (needs DEX 30, Hide 30, Tumble 30)
30 R-16 Self-concealment 3&4
30+ More Rogue if you like sneak attacks
30+ More CT if you want more feats (like say I/KD, CS+Sap, Pwr/Cleave/G.Cleave)

This is what I'd do for a DEX build using a race that can't get 30 DEX before level 27 (or ever).

27 R-13 Improved Sneak-Attack 1&2
30 R-16 Improved Sneak-Attack 3&4

This is what I'd do for a race that doesn't get a free Tempest/Torm prereq bonus feat by level 9; eg. not human, strongheart halfling, or pixie (maybe others, too):

01 R-01 Ambidexterity
03 R-03 Weapon Finesse
06 R-06 Two-Weapon Fighting
09 R-09 Focus Rapier
12 C-02 Dodge, Mobility

For a STR build, I'd rip out Finesse and put in Knockdown and maybe switch to scimitars. More things have DR for piercing than slashing. I might also max Discipline for a STR build. For DEX build, Discipline is a waste of points (also pointless for many STR builds, if you have decent AC).

--

I had fun playing it. Any build that uses one of the cheesey races is overpowered, but it plays pretty much the same with a normal race, too. You just don't get self-concealment. Actually, the extra sneak-attacks instead of SC is a lot more powerful. You'll typically get 3 opening sneak attacks by level 24. That usually kills off most anything right there if you're using the typical HotU weapons (+10, +2d6 acid, +2d6 divine v. evil) + the sneak attack damage. Constructs are the hardest thing for this build, since they're usually non-evil and always crit/sneak-immune. Most everything else you'll fight will be evil and open to the holy martial strike bonuses or not crit/sneak-immune or both.

The only thing I really miss in this build is no Knockdown or Called-Shot+Sap for even more sneak-attacks. Fortunately, the NWN combat AI solves that for you by having critters cast heal-spells and using heal-potions, pretty much comitting suicide by offering you free AoO's for your sneaks.

BTW, I don't think I put as much work into any build as I did for this one. It was nearly impossible to get all the things I wanted into it. It was very tempting to use UR instead of Rogue, but that would mean no UMD or Tumble and even UR HIPs is cheesey. UMD let's you the use the nice monk boots & haste robe while leveling up. Final build has 8 unhasted attacks, 12-20 threat, dual-wields, improved-evade, self-conceal, tons of skill-space, etc.. Also, I wanted it to be fun to play from level 1 all the way up. Some builds are completely boring to play pre-cap -- just slogging away at levels until you *finally* have the playstyle you want isn't fun. This one uses dual-weapons right off and kukris pretty quick. It's play feels similar at all levels and offers nice carrots at each feat level to keep interest going.

Oh, I also wanted this one to be different in a lot of ways from what I normally do. I typically use 2H strength builds for melee-centric characters.

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06  00:39
Tempest Kurky Master
Fighter 8/Weapon Master 22/Tempest 10

Race: Troll

Stats:
Str 26 (Increase at lvl 28,32,36,40)
Dex 19 (Increase at lvl 12,16,20,24)
Con 26
Int 12 (Increase at lvl 4,8)
Wis 6
Cha 4

1-6 Fighter
7-12 Weapon Master
13-20 Tempest
21-22 Weapon Master
23-24 Tempest
25-29 Weapon Master
30-31 Fighter
32-40 Weapon Master

Feats
1 Exotic Weapon Proficiency
1 Weapon Focus (Kurki)
2 Dodge
3 Mobility
4 Spring Attack
6 Expertise
6 Whirlwind Attack
9 Two Weapon Fighting
12 Ambidexterity
15 Improved Critical (Kurki)
18 Power Attack
21 Cleave
24 Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
27 Improved Whirlwind Attack
29 Epic Weapon Focus
30 Weapon Specialization
31 Epic Weapon Specialization
33 Great Cleave
34 Overwhelming Critical
36 Blind-Fight
37 Devasting Critical
39 Toughness
40 Armor Skin

Skills:
Discipline 43
Heal 10
Intimidate 16
Jump 6
Spot 43
Tumble 20

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06  00:56

Somebody had to post it...

The basic premise of this character is munchkinism at its worst. The Blender sacrifices the upper end of its AC capabilities (working out to a Max of 55 with HotU gear, compared to a char I once had with 78 AC at the end of HotU), but for her sacrifice, she gets a minimum of 9 attacks per round including haste bonus*, with a 54% chance of critting, and Devastating Critical. Not to mention a bunch of hitpoints to help offset the relatively low AC.

Doing the math you'll notice that in the title, it only adds up to 23 levels. That's because for the remaining 17 levels, you can choose Tempest or Fighter without seriously affecting the final outcome of the character. Both have their advantages, and their disadvantages, and though Fighter is probably a better choice, I went with Tempest for the levelling tree below.


* I need to do some checking to be certain, but I'm relatively sure that Haste only adds 1 attack per round. Unhasted, The Blender has 8 attacks per round.


The Coles Notes version:
Take 6 levels of fighter. Take 7 levels of WM. Then go Tempest until 40.

The Advantages:
Assuming max rolls, 640 hitpoints at level 40 when naked.
A mind-blowing 8 attacks per round before haste.
A crit roll of 13-20x3 with mundane rapiers, and 10-20x3 with keen rapiers.
Overwhelming Critical = +2d6 damage
Devastating Critical = Not a major advantage, until you make the rapiers keen and realize that you're critting an average of 54% of the time on a minimum of 8 attacks per round unhasted....
At low levels, can ignore the light armour requirement of the Tempest in favour of the higher AC on heavy armour.

The Disadvantages:
Relies on decent gear to get the AC up. Only has 14 AC naked at level 40. (Could be higher. Since this class doesn't rely on skill point distribution, no reason you can't take Tumble, except that it's a cross-class skill. For speed, I was just clicking on "Recommended" for the skillpoints while levelling.)
Restricted to light armour. Loses a major advantage in number of attacks per round if equips medium or heavy armour.
Delays getting Cleave/Great Cleave for a long time.


Enough of the screenful, here's the levelling scheme. For the purposes of this evaluation, I chose a human for my Blender. Realistically, she can be any race, and would only lose one feat. (I recommend you drop Weapon Specialization.) I will assume you know how to reorganize the feat tree to make up for this.

Starting Stats:
STR - 15
DEX - 15
CON - 14
INT - 13
WIS - 10
CHA - 9

The Levels: (Note, I'm only telling you where you *must* put skill points. You can do whatever you want with any leftover skill points, as they are not critical to the character build. Tumble would probably be a good skill to take with the points. So would Discipline.)
1 - Fighter - Intimidate 2 - Dodge, Expertise, Mobility
2 - Fighter - Weapon Focus (Rapier)
3 - Fighter - Intimidate 1 - Power Attack
4 - Fighter - STR - Spring Attack
5 - Fighter - Intimidate 1
6 - Fighter - Weapon Specialization (Rapier), Whirlwind Attack
7 - WM - Weapon of Choice (Rapier)
8 - WM - STR
9 - WM - Ambidexterity
10 - WM
11 - WM
12 - WM - STR - Two Weapon Fighting
13 - WM
14 - Tempest
15 - Tempest - Cleave
16 - Tempest - STR
17 - Tempest
18 - Tempest - Improved Critical (Rapier)
19 - Tempest
20 - Tempest - STR

Progress Check:
Fighter 6/ WM 7 / Tempest 7
BAB - 20 = 4 attacks per round primary, 2 attacks per round secondary, +1 for Greater Two Weapon Fighting = 7 attacks per round before haste.
With mundane rapiers, 13-20x3 crit range. With keen, 10-20x3.

Stats:
STR - 20
DEX - 15
CON - 14
INT - 13
WIS - 10
CHA - 9

Back to Levelling:
21 - Tempest - Toughness
22 - Tempest
23 - Tempest
24 - Tempest - STR - Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
==== From this point forward, you may prefer to go with pure fighter instead of pure tempest. It will not affect the final combat capabilities of the Blender much, but will give you access to a different feat tree. Basically, anywhere you see Epic Toughness is another feat of your choice that you can take for an epic-level fighter. I chose to continue as a tempest because I was too lazy to switch to fighter, and because I was content with the Epic Toughness tree instead. I have a feeling that PTWF isn't needed, in which case you can switch to Fighter from level 24 on instead of 25 on. ====
25 - Tempest - Epic Focus (Rapier)
26 - Tempest
27 - Tempest - Great Cleave, Epic Toughness I
28 - Tempest - STR
29 - Tempest - Epic Toughness II
30 - Tempest - Blind Fight
31 - Tempest - Epic Toughness III
32 - Tempest - STR
33 - Tempest - Overwhelming Critical (Rapier), Great Strength I
34 - Tempest
35 - Tempest - Epic Toughness IV
36 - Tempest - STR - Devastating Critical (Rapier)
37 - Tempest - Epic Toughness V
38 - Tempest
39 - Tempest - Armor Skin, Epic Toughness VI
40 - Tempest - STR or DEX, your choice. I went with STR for this build.


Final Stats:
STR - 26
DEX - 15
CON - 14
INT - 13
WIS - 10
CHA - 9
BAB - 30

Attack Bonus with mundane rapier and otherwise naked:
Primary - 38/33/28/23
Secondary - 38/33*
Remember, though, that you've got Perfgect Two Weapon Fighting, so that should be 38/33/28/23. I've a feeling that PTWF is bugged and I shouldn't be able to get it with this character, but that said, even without, the tempest is at 4 attacks in the offhand with Supreme Two Weapon Fighting, though the AB is slightly different.

That's 8 attacks per round at 13-20x3/Devastating Critical with *mundane* gear.

Maximum Hitpoints calcs:
40 levels at 1d10 = 400 hitpoints
40 * CON bonus of +2 = 80 hitpoints
40 * Toughness = 40 hitpoints
6 * Epic Toughness = 120 Hitpoints
============================
Grand Total = 640 hitpoints assuming max rolls.

I seeded a dummy module with gear that drops in HotU, and was able to twink up to 55 AC. Not great, but not bad for gear at the end of HotU. By the end of HotU, she would have had 8 attacks per round at 10-20x3, but no Overwhelming or Devastating Critical.

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06  00:59

After something I read earlier today, I figured I'd try something out. The result was pretty respectable, I think. Forgive the pun in the class name.

The Dragon Storm - Bard 20/Tempest 10/Red Dragon Disciple 10
Should probably be a human. You can choose another race if you like, but you'll be sacrificing a feat (I'd suggest the final feat, Improved Expertise, if you choose to do that.) Also, the final stats may be a bit different if you choose a different race. I'd recommend against that, though, because it means sacrificing a class skill, and because this character build is very light on feats, as it doesn't have any epic class levels.


For the levelling progression, I'm going to assume you can figure out where to put the skill points, how many to bank for a future level, and what to do with the spells. At the end, I'll put what I'd suggest for your spellbook at two critical points, and the rest of it is up to you.


Initial Stats:
STR: 12
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 12
WIS: 10
CHA: 15

Levelling/Feat/Stat Bonus progression:
1 - Bard - dodge, mobility
2 - Bard
3 - Bard - weapon finesse
4 - Bard - DEX
5 - Bard
6 - Bard - spring attack
7 - Bard
8 - Bard - DEX
9 - Bard - two weapon fighting
10 - Bard
11 - Bard
12 - Bard - DEX - ambidexterity
13 - Tempest
14 - Tempest
15 - Tempest - weapon proficiency (martial)
16 - Tempest - DEX
17 - Tempest
18 - Tempest - toughness
19 - Tempest
20 - Tempest - DEX
21 - Tempest - armor skin
22 - Tempest
23 - RDD
24 - RDD - DEX - great charisma
25 - RDD
26 - RDD
27 - RDD - power attack
28 - RDD - CON
29 - RDD
30 - RDD - cleave
31 - RDD
32 - RDD - CON
33 - Bard - great cleave
34 - Bard
35 - Bard
36 - Bard - CON - expertise
37 - Bard
38 - Bard
39 - Bard - improved expertise
40 - Bard - CON

Final Stats:
STR: 20
DEX: 20
CON: 20
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 18

Fortitude: 25
Reflex: 25
Will: 20
BAB: 27 (17 at 20, for 4 attacks per round)

Naked AC (with two of any weapon equipped. you can pick what you prefer): 32
With Improved Expertise active: 42

Final skillpoint distribution:
concentration: 43
lore: 43
perform: 41
tumble: 40
umd: 40
spellcraft: 20
(you can check the character sheet if you like. I'm not going to copy those values here)

Hitpoints:
20 * bard (6) = 120
10 * tempest (10) = 100
4 * rdd (6) = 24
2 * rdd ( = 16
4 * rdd (10) = 40
40 * CON bonus of 5 = 200
40 * toughness = 40
=========================
540 naked hitpoints at level 40

So that'd be AC of 42 and 540 hitpoints (almost) naked.

Throw in some buffs:
AC: Bard Song (+5), Cat's Grace (+2), Mage Armor (+4) = 53ac self-buffed
HP: Bard Song (+26), Greater Heroism (+20) = 586hp self-buffed
DR: 20/+3 DR, immunity to level 2 or lower spells, 25% concealment (Ethereal Visage), 40/- against all elemental (Energy Buffer)


The Spellbooks:
As I said, this is really up to you. You can choose whatever you like, but this is what I'd take, because let's face it: with a caster level of 20 at level 40, you probably won't be doing a lot of nuking. Not that bards get many nukes to begin with. As you can probably guess, they're almost all spells with a base DC irregardless of caster level, or utility spells/buffs.

At level 12 (important, because it's the last bard level for a while):
0 - all but Read Magic
1 - Grease, Identify, Lesser Dispel, Mage Armor
2 - Heroism, Ghostly Visage, Cure Moderate Wounds, Cloud of Bewilderment
3 - Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Legion's Curse of Impending Blades, Gust of Wind
4 - Cure Critical Wounds, Neutralize Poison, War Cry

At level 40 (the final spell load):
0 - all but Read Magic
1 - Balagarn's Iron Horn, Cure Light Wounds, Grease, Identify, Mage Armor
2 - Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Cloud of Bewilderment, Cure Moderate Wounds, Darkness
3 - Find Traps, Gust of Wind, Legion's Curse of Impending Blades, Remove Curse, Remove Disease
4 - Cure Critical Wounds, Dismissal, Mass Ultravision, Neutralize Poison, War Cry
5 - Ethereal Visage, Greater Dispelling, Greater Heroism, Mass Cure Light Wounds, Summon Creature V
6 - Animate Object, Energy Buffer, Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass Haste


The Good:
High UMD skill allows usage of many class-restricted items.
High naked hitpoints. Not as high as a pure-hitpoint build can get, but...
Very high naked AC. With top-end gear, can get a very high AC. (quick number run reveals it to be at least 111ac, and I'm surely overlooking something.)
8 attacks per round with the reasonably high BAB of 27, not counting melee feats* and stat bonuses.
Access to all non-epic bard spells.
Immunity to sleep, paralysis, fire.
Darkvision.
6d10 dragon breath.
Wings. Because they're just plain cool.

The Bad:
BAB isn't as high as a pure melee could have. Pure melee has 30 BAB, + weapon feats, which this build has decided not to take, and stat bonuses. You can mitigate this partially by taking Weapon Focus if you like, but it means sacrificing a feat. Fortunately, the stats are high across the board, which also helps mitigate this. This will hurt when you try to tank a top-end mob.

Caster level isn't high enough to be effective at debuffing/nuking resistant mobs. This is mitigated by your choice of spells, as described in the spellbook section.

A HotU build. You'll notice that I don't take Weapon Proficiency (Martial) before level 15. That's because I was trying to get Tempest levels as soon as possible, so that I could have 4 base attacks per round. If I had taken the proficiency any earlier, I would lose attacks per round and BAB. Unfortunately, this means that until level 15, you're probably going to be using a crossbow for melee. Fortunately, you're a level 12 bard, and can choose a spellbook that's still in relative synch with the mobs you're facing.

Wasted Feat. You'll notice that the STR and DEX are the same at level 40. This means that the only purpose for weapon finesse is to unlock the Tempest class. Dex is consistently higher until level 32 (RDD 10), but once you reach RDD 10, your STR and DEX are the same and you have a feat that does nothing.

No weapon feats. I haven't taken any weapon feats at all. No weapon focus, no improved critical. On the plus side, it means that all weapons are equal, and you can use whatever weapon you find, ignoring whether it's your weapon of choice. On the minus side, it means that all weapons are equally bad.

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06  01:01

In my efforts to understand how the engine works to its fullest, I've come up with the following submission. Apologies if I'm stepping on somebody's toes, but I don't remember seeing it before. Yes, I know, it's another human build. Chose that for the XP penalty more than anything, but one extra feat and one extra skill in the final build are both very useful.

My suggestion if you're going to go with another race is that you drop two levels of Great Dex, replacing one of them with something like Iron Will. The will save is fairly weak in this build due to the low wisdom.


[insert creative name here]
Human

Starting Stats:
STR - 14
DEX - 16
CON - 12
WIS - 10
INT - 14
CHA - 10

A note on skills - Do not take any skills on Fighter or Tempest levels, except for Heal. This character doesn't have spare skill points to spend on anything that is a class skill for either class until it's stopped levelling as either class.
Skill list: Heal, Disable Trap, Open Lock, Search, Tumble, UMD

Levels:
1 - Fighter - Focus Rapier, Two-weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity
2 - Rogue - max the skills
3 - Fighter - Dodge, Mobility
4 - Fighter - Dex
5 - Fighter - Specialization Rapier
6 - Fighter - Power Attack
7 - Rogue - max the skill
8 - Fighter - Dex - Cleave
9 - Fighter - Spring Attack
10 - Fighter - Improved Crit Rapier
11 - Tempest
12 - Rogue - Dex - max the skills - Weapon Finesse
13 - Tempest
14 - Tempest
15 - Tempest - Great Cleave
16 - Tempest - Dex
17 - Rogue - max the skills
18 - Tempest - Toughness
19 - Tempest
20 - Tempest - Dex

--- Snapshot:
Fighter 8/Rogue 4/Tempest 8
STR - 14
DEX - 21
CON - 12
INT - 14
WIS - 10
CHA - 10

BAB - 19 - 7 attacks per round +23/+18/+13/+8/+23/+18/+13, +2d6 Sneak Attack, mundane rapier is 15-20x2 crit range
20 points in each of "the skills", giving +4ac from Tumble, and an effective (skill-wise) rogue level of 17 for Open Lock/Disable Trap
---

21 - Tempest - Armor Skin
22 - Rogue - max the skills
23 - Tempest
24 - Fighter - Dex - Epic Focus Rapier
25 - Fighter - Epic Specialization Rapier
26 - Rogue - As all levels from here on out will be rogue, add whatever skill you want to The Skills (tm). At this point, I'm adding Lore to my list as the 7th skill.
27 - Rogue - max skills, dumping remaing points (should be 5 per level) into your 7th skill.
28 - Rogue - Dex - max the skills
29 - Rogue - max the skills
30 - Rogue - max the skills - Defensive Roll, Great Dexterity I
31 - Rogue - max the skills
32 - Rogue - Dex - max the skills. Can add an 8th skill, as the 7th should be maxxed by this point. I added Appraise
33 - Rogue - max the skills - Improved Evasion, Great Dexterity II
34 - Rogue - max the skills
35 - Rogue - max the skills
36 - Rogue - Dex - max the skills - Epic Dodge, Great Dexterity III
37 - Rogue - max the skills
38 - Rogue - max the skills (remove Tumble and UMD, as those only matter in multiples of 5, and they're at 40 already, and won't get higher than 43)
39 - Rogue - max the skills - Blinding Speed, Great Dexterity IV
40 - Rogue - Dex - max the skills

Final Stats:
Fighter 10/Rogue 20/Tempest 10
STR - 10
DEX - 30
CON - 12
INT - 14
WIS - 10
CHA - 10
BAB - 29 - 8 attacks per round. Naked with dual mundane rapiers: +40/+35/+30/+25/+40/+35/+30/+25, rapiers are 1-6+8/15-20x2 and 1-6+7/15-20x2
Saves - 24 Fort/28 Reflex/15 Will
Skills - 40 each in Tumble, UMD, and your 8th skill (Appraise), 43 each in Open Lock, Disable Trap, Search, Heal and your 7th skill (Lore)

Hitpoints:
10 * Fighter = 100
10 * Tempest = 100
20 * Rogue = 120
40 * Toughness = 40
40 * CON bonus (1) = 40
Total = 400 hitpoints



Advantages:
- +10d6 Sneak Attack
- Epic Dodge: Avoids first attack each round
- Blinding Speed: Self Haste
- Uncanny Dodge 5
- Improved Evasion
- +29 final BAB is only 1 less than a pure fighter can achieve
- Rogue skills: Open Lock/Disable Trap/Search and Lore
- All specialization/focus/enhancement feats for chosen weapon (Rapier)
- There's probably a couple more I'm missing, or don't consider an advantage that you do....

Disadvantages:
- not a specialist. pure fighters can squeeze out a slightly higher modified AB and damage output.
- final stats suffer a bit from the need to focus on a number of stats at build time.
- relatively low hitpoints for a fighter-type, mitigated slightly by higher AC than most fighter-types get, but cannot take a great deal of punishment compared to other fighter-types.
- low will score


Thoughts?



... and if you're wondering why I'm writing this on the night before Christmas eve, I'm waiting for my electric blanket to warm up. Brass monkeys beware, it's cold outside, and while it seemed like a good idea at the time, having 25 square feet of window in your bedroom is not a brilliant idea when the mercury is known to fall below -50 degrees in the winter.... Happy holidays, all

[ThE LoSt BoY]

Re-post from Strat 10/27/06 01:04

I don't know how efficient this build is, but I like it, and if you have any suggestions as to how to improve it, i'd like to hear them.

Well, here goes:
"Raging Storm"

Human Barbarian(16)/Frenzied Berserker(10)/Tempest(14)

Alignment: Chaotic neutral

STR:16(26-all to strength)
DEX:15
CON:14
INT:10
WIS:12
CHA:8

Progression:
1-Barb(1) Power Attack, cleave
3-Barb(3) WF:scimitar
6-Barb(6) Intimidating Rage
9-Barb(6)/FR(3) Dodge
12-Barb(6)/FR(6) Mobility
15-Barb(6)/FR(9) Spring Attack
18-Barb(/FR(10) TWF
21-Barb(11)/FR(10) Ambidexterity
24-Barb(11)/FR(10)/Tempest(3) EWF:scimitar
27-Barb(11)/FR(10)/Tempest(6) IC:scimitar
30-Barb(11)/FR(10)/Tempest(9) OC:scimitar
33-Barb(11)/FR(10)/Tempest(12) Perfect-TWF, Armor skin*
35-Barb(11)/FR(10)/Tempest(14) Epic Prowess
36-Barb(12)/FR(10)/Tempest(14) DC:scimitar
39- Barb(15)/FR(10)/Tempest(14) Extended Rage*

*-Non-essential feats

Skills: Discipline, Taunt, Tumble(cross-class), anything else to taste



PS: Sorry for the incomplete post gotta run, I'll add the other stuff later, tell me what you think?