Character generation

[banzai]

Although I´m an old D&D and AD&D veteran I have never used the 3rd edition rules before. So I have some questions regarding character generation - oh, and before you tell me IHRTFM ...

I want to generate a mage later double-classing to rogue. I´m unsure which race to use and how to distribute my 30 stat points.
What do you think is best for this purpose ??? Any suggestions which abilities to choose (besides the ones made for mages/rogues) ??? Or is any of the pregenerated characters perfectly suited for this ???

[theifprowess]

they have pregenerated char but almost no one uses them cause they usually also choose your feats and bonuses at the beginning as well. i like control over my char and his abilities. not to mention dual classing isnt like original bg2 and so on. you have to go up only 20 levels.and if you want to multi class your mage at say lvl 9 then when you go to dual as a rogue its like your still trying to gain as a mage you just get rogue attributes now.dont know if that makes sense .I.E. in bg2 if you were playing a mage and made it up to lvl 9 and you wanted to dual. fine you dual you no longer advance in mage category. now you start gaining on rogue. at lvl 1 and you start to lvl up the rogue pretty quickly.cause it starts back down at lvl 1.

in NWN you start at lvl 1 and its still like your a lvl 10 trying to gain a lvl.so you take longer working up your rogue abilities.

[theifprowess]

race should be human = rogue
elf = mage
why not take the under card and go half elf [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Jerhal]

If you want a low level wizard and a high level rouge then go with the Elf for race. You see if you have more then one class and those two classes are more then 1 level apart you *supposedly* are supposed to have a 20% xp penalty. For instance a level 4rouge/2wizard would get the penalty while a level 3rouge/2wizard would not. An Elf's wizard class does not count to this penalty. So you can take two classes out of 'balance' with an elf if one is a Wizard class. Also Elf's make great rouges because they are constantly 'detecting' traps and invisible things. Other races need to be activly searching which slows their molvement.

As far as abiliy scores, think of a 12 score in 3rd edition as a 15 in 1st/2nd. 12,14,16,18 ect will give a bonus. If I were going to make say, an Elf Wizard/Thief I would start his scores at STR14, DEX18, CON12, INT14, WIS8, CHA10. I think that adds up right. As far as INT goes it depends on how high you would take your wizard char. With my stats a wizard could not cast a spell with a level of 5, but could cast 1,2,3,and 4th. A level 9 wizard would need a 15 Int to make use of his spell abilities. You get to raise a stat every 4 levels, so you get 5 more points to raise over the 20 levels of advancement.

[Blade]

Well from what i have seen so far in the game if you want to duel a mage into anoter class i would go with an elf because they don't get any xp restrictions from dueling the mage because in the abilities of an elf in 3rd ed. the mage class doesn't count twords any penalties. As for stats you would need stats in every catagory to be at least 10 to not suffer any penelties from what i read in the charecter generation. Other than that just experiment with the balances depending on what lv. spells you want to be able to cast at what point.

[Greadius]

Since you probably don't want to have the same levels in Rogue and Wizard, you want to choose a race that does not get exp penalties for multiclassing. Fortunately, because of your class choices, that means there are only two races that get penalties: half-orc and dwarf. The other 5 races: human, half-elf, elf, gnome, and halfling won't get penalties for the multiclassing.

As far as which one to choose, it is my opinion that it depends entirely on what type of character you want. Gnomes and halflings both take a hit to strenght, which wouldn't affect your character much, and both gain a bonus to a vital ability: Constitution and Dexterity. Gnomes have natural spellcasting affinity towards illusions, and halflings have a natural affinity towards being a rogue.
If I were to do a similar character, I would make it a halfling if I was more interested in being a rogue, and gnome if I was more interested in being a spellcaster. Being short is fun

I'd also recommend you multiclass earlier than 9th level. There is no penalty whatsoever for switching earlier, and it allows you to develop your character into the ultimate direction (Multiclass Rogue/Wizard) instead of waking up one level and deciding to go into an entirely different career path. I also recommend focusing on Wizard as your primary class, since the major benefits come later in their career, compared with a rogue whose major usefulness is maxed around 5th level (just my opinion).

[Jerhal]

There really isn't 'switching' classes either like the old dual classing. When you level up you can increase either class a level. So you can be a level 3/5 wizard/rouge and then four levels down the line a 4/8 w/r.

[GodSlayer]

either take human or elf as race

Stats : str:10-14 dex 16-17 con 10-12 int 14-16 win 8-10 cha 8-12

If you want a highlvl mage and lowlevel thief then go for at least 16 int (remember you need 10+spelllevel in int to cast spells) + plus you get bonus spells for high int - REALLY a nice 3rd ed. rule [img]smile.gif[/img]

Dex : well no matter how you mix the wiz/thief levels you cannot have too high a dex, but remember that there's a nifty 2nd lvl spell called Cat's Grace that raise dex.
(My 10 lvl. wiz ALWAYS start the day by casting : Cat's, Bull's, stoneskin and summon IV)

[WOLFGIR]

Oki, take human as race, more feats that way even though an elf wizard is a good choice as well. Go for rouge to start with, most skills points, multi into wizard, and then go on multi as you like. As long as you are human and have two classes, no penalty XP, elf has wizard as favoured, no penalty there either.

Make sure you have a pretty good dex and Int.
As a wizard/rouge go for a light weapon and choose the feat weapon expertise with a rouge weapon that allows you to use the dex modifier instead of strength to hit.