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Magness · 09-19-2003, 10:27 AM

Maelakin , I don't really think that rogue evasion is worth spending 2 levels on for your 2 tanks, particularly on the character with the 18/12/16/10/10/10 stats. Evasion is a DEX based ability and this character will have a rather low Reflex save.

On the Fighter X/Rogue 2/Ranger 1, if you intend to take the Ranger 1 to get the free dual wielding, you should know that that ability only works when wearing light or no armor. It's a good ability for a high DEX ranger-archer or a rogue to have, but for a front line tank, it's really not worth it. Front line tanks just don't survive without wearing heavy armor.

What's up with your cleric? Sure, an 18 WIS is great for the spellcasting, but how do you foresee playing this cleric in battle? What I see with these stats is a strictly spellcasting cleric that avoids melee. I'd strongly suggest dumping the cleric's DEX down to 10, drop the INT and CHA by 2 each, and split the 8 extra stat points between STR and CON. A higher CON will be good for a better Concentration (a critical cleric skill) roll. And a higher STR will be good for a better BAB in melee.

The bard/rogue looks OK, stat wise. I'm not a big fan of bards, but those are good bard stats.

I'll admit that in a sorceror, I prefer taking an INT of 14 or 16 so that I can get as many skill points as possible to cover the various important arcane skills (Alchemy, Knowledge Arcana, Spellcraft, Concentration, for example).

Regarding lowering stats, don't be quite so rigid about it. Like tancred says, a little tweaking gives the characters some well, character. There's nothing wrong with going down to 8 on INT, WIS, or CHA. Heck, most of my rogues and rangers and fighters end up with CHA's of 8. And, yes, it does get a few more stat points.

I would look at your first tank as the "main damage dealer", not the 2nd one. The "Fighter (X)/Rogue (2)/Ranger (1) ? 16/16/14/10/10/10" character looks much more like what I call a "light fighter". A character that fights with both bow and sword (or whatever) and wears lighter armor and relies on stealth. I'd suggest going with a pure or near pure class ranger so that you can take advantage of the the ranger's stealthy skills.

My favorite ranger build had the following stats: (wild elf) STR 12, DEX 20, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 6. This character was a very terse and surly wild elven ranger-archer. He prefered fighting with his longbow, but would whip out his 2 short swords at need and wieldi the with great skill (due to weapon finesse). He was a VERY fun character to play in tandem with a good, stealthy rogue, because I would have the pair act as a search and detroy team of stealthy assassins. And having a good archer or 2 in a party is never a bad thing either.

09-19-2003, 10:27 AM	#3
Magness Quintesson Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Manchester, NH, USA Posts: 1,025	Maelakin , I don't really think that rogue evasion is worth spending 2 levels on for your 2 tanks, particularly on the character with the 18/12/16/10/10/10 stats. Evasion is a DEX based ability and this character will have a rather low Reflex save. On the Fighter X/Rogue 2/Ranger 1, if you intend to take the Ranger 1 to get the free dual wielding, you should know that that ability only works when wearing light or no armor. It's a good ability for a high DEX ranger-archer or a rogue to have, but for a front line tank, it's really not worth it. Front line tanks just don't survive without wearing heavy armor. What's up with your cleric? Sure, an 18 WIS is great for the spellcasting, but how do you foresee playing this cleric in battle? What I see with these stats is a strictly spellcasting cleric that avoids melee. I'd strongly suggest dumping the cleric's DEX down to 10, drop the INT and CHA by 2 each, and split the 8 extra stat points between STR and CON. A higher CON will be good for a better Concentration (a critical cleric skill) roll. And a higher STR will be good for a better BAB in melee. The bard/rogue looks OK, stat wise. I'm not a big fan of bards, but those are good bard stats. I'll admit that in a sorceror, I prefer taking an INT of 14 or 16 so that I can get as many skill points as possible to cover the various important arcane skills (Alchemy, Knowledge Arcana, Spellcraft, Concentration, for example). Regarding lowering stats, don't be quite so rigid about it. Like tancred says, a little tweaking gives the characters some well, character. There's nothing wrong with going down to 8 on INT, WIS, or CHA. Heck, most of my rogues and rangers and fighters end up with CHA's of 8. And, yes, it does get a few more stat points. I would look at your first tank as the "main damage dealer", not the 2nd one. The "Fighter (X)/Rogue (2)/Ranger (1) ? 16/16/14/10/10/10" character looks much more like what I call a "light fighter". A character that fights with both bow and sword (or whatever) and wears lighter armor and relies on stealth. I'd suggest going with a pure or near pure class ranger so that you can take advantage of the the ranger's stealthy skills. My favorite ranger build had the following stats: (wild elf) STR 12, DEX 20, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 6. This character was a very terse and surly wild elven ranger-archer. He prefered fighting with his longbow, but would whip out his 2 short swords at need and wieldi the with great skill (due to weapon finesse). He was a VERY fun character to play in tandem with a good, stealthy rogue, because I would have the pair act as a search and detroy team of stealthy assassins. And having a good archer or 2 in a party is never a bad thing either.