Requesting party feedback

:evilgrin:Hi all,

this is my second playthrough of this game (though the first time I never finished, got only to the first dungeon level of the temple), and I'd like to see if you can help me with fine-tunin my planned party (in case anyone wonders, this is a homage-themed party of the Order of the Stick. I've always wanted to play those clases in a game, and ToEE is the first one where I can do it):

BTW: I always have my chars, both in PnP and CRPG's with at least two weapons, one ranged and one melee, sometimes with a secondary melee for backup. Also, I have my chars planned until level 10, since I don't know how high will they be at the endgame.

-LG male human fighter: main tank and damage dealer. Main weapon: greatsword. Secondary weapons: longbow, and maul or greatclub.
Feat Selection: Improved initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Combat Reflexes, Cleave, Weapon Specialization (greatsword), Great Cleave, dodge, greater Weapon focus (greatsword), Mobility, Greater Weapon Specialization (greatsword)

-LG male dwarf cleric of Moradin: healer and front liner, and secondary crafter. Domains: Earth, Good
Main: warhammer; Secondary: light crossbow. (Yes, I know this is somewhat inefficient yse of a feat slot, but I do this from a flavor/roleplaying perspective)
Feats: Martial WEapon Proficiency:Warhammer, Improved initiative, Combat Casting, Craft Magic Arms & Armor.

-CE male halfling ranger/barbarian. Third frontliner (I'll create him with a N alignment, then change him to CE with console :evilgrin
Main: Twin shortswords; Secondary: dunno, shortbow I guess
Plan to take him to 6th level of ranger to get Improved Two Weapon Fighting, and finish with barbarian.
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Finnesse, Two Weapon Fighting, Two WEapon Defense, Improved Two WEapon Fighting, one extra*
*currently undecided on the remaining feat. Candidates include: Weapon Focus (short sword), Stealthy, Improved Critical (Short sword); thoguhts?

-CG male human bard. Spokesperson, and support.
Main: rapier (though planning on giving him Scather eventually); Secondary: light crossbow.
Feats: Improved Initiative, Negotiatior, Persuasive, Combat Expertise, Power Attack
Spell suggestions? currently considering Tasha's, some of the buffs and field control spells.

-CG female human rogue . Archer and lock & trapsmith. Also appraiser.
Main: short bow; Secondary: short sword or dagger.
Feats: Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Nimble Fingers, one other Feat*
*Considering Rapid Shot or WEapon Focus (short bow). Suggestions?

-N male elf evoker. Item crafter and rainer of Arcane destruction.
Forbidden schools: Necromancy, Illusion.
Main: longbow (thank Pelor for elf proficiencies ); secondary: quarterstaff (not that it matters much)
Feats: Improved Initiative, Spell Focus: Evocation, Greater Spell Focus:Evocation, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Wand, Craft Magic Arms and Armor

Feedback will be greatly appreciated

 

That's actually a great idea, sounds fun.

I didn't realize V was an Invoker...?

 

Yup. He specialzied in evocation and has as forbidden schools Necromancy and Conjuration. I decided to go with different forbidden schools since I like conjuration spells too much, second only to evocation ^_^. IMO, good Necromancy spells only come late in the game (save perhaps Ray of Enfeeblement), and the only Illusion spell I'll miss is Mirror Image.

 

I'm still not convinced V is a him ...:twitch:

 

I did it mostly for convenience's sake, since you don¡t have to option to set an "androginous" sex, and i'm not conviced V's a "her" neither perhaps the world'll never know

 

Ahhhhh, point taken.

I long for some new OoTS.

 

Start Durkin as a fighter for the weapons and extra feat (weapon focus?) then switch him over. Losing one level of cleric won't hurt your spell casting too much and dwarves favored class is fighter, so no XP penalty.

Belkar may need to duel daggers, not sure if halflings can use 2 medium weapons. Maybe go with the Tiny Rapiers and pretend they are tiny short swords. Rapiers have a better threat range anyway. Plus Belkar did go into barbarian until 12th level (you will get there with this party).

 

Good Idea with Durkon. That would free 2 feat slots. Any idea for the remaing feat? I think Weapon Focus might be an option, and I'm not sure if it would be advisable to take another of the crafting feats, perhaps potions or wands?

For Belakr, that's one of my doubts. How does ToEE handle weapons and sizes? In PnP he would get small short swords which are essentially daggers (1d4) and light weapons (short sword is a light weapon, so elegible for Two Weapon Fighting and Weapon finesse). For the Barbarian levels, since I'm not sure what level my party will be by endgame, I was planning on keeping the barbarian levels roughly even with the ranger ones, to avoid xp penalties and to booost his hp's (since he's another frontliner).

 

I like to farm a little XP early in the game by way of random road encounters, but either way with the new content you should make it to at least 13th level, even with extensive crafting. I'd give weapon & armor crafting to both V and Durkin, so as to spread the XP hits around. V can get the weapons to +2 or 3, with Durkin adding the Holy part.

As to the second hand weapon, it has to be light to avoid the to hit penalty. With a small character, that second weapon needs to be small and light to qualify. I'm not even sure a regular dagger qualifies, but I have had a halfling druid/ranger dueling the tiny rapiers. Never did much damage, but with proper feats, you can get lucky with a critical now and then.

As to the XP hit for adding the barbarian levels later, the hit won't hurt much, your casters will be a little behind due to crafting, so one more character one level behind won't matter. And realistically, the damage output of a 12 level halfling ranger/barbarian won't be much more than an 8th level ranger/barbarian. Just accept belkin for flavor and know he won't do much to help the party in fights, unless you break character and have him use a composite shortbow.

Obvoius choice for animal companion is the dog, as belkar used his as a mount.

 

1-Yeah, That's one of the reasons I'm giving V the craft magic arms and armor feat too. Then again, seeing how he'll be doing most of the wondrous itme crafting (and some wands and scrolls too) the crafting of arms and armor might rest squarely onto Durkon's back.
2-short swords are light weapons, that's why you usually see them being used along longswords for dual wielders (see iconic ranger in D&D 3.5 handbook, or iconic fighter in PF). My question comes from the fact that 3.5 intrduced different sized weapons ie there are medium short swords (1d6) for Medium-sized creatures, and small short swords (1d4) for small creature, yet both are considered light weapons. Then again, if you said there are tiny rapiers, I'm guessing there SHOULD be small shortswords. If not, then i guess belkar'll have to do with daggers.
3-the dipping/uneven nature of belkar's comic progression fires my OCD up, not to mention already having to alter his alignment with the console, so I'll be leaving him as an even ranger/barbarian, with barbrian only one level behind ranger :Being_a_s

 

Daggers may be good anyway, you find several Daggers of Venom, and the poison function matches his character well.

 

So... anyone has any comments/suggestions regarding feat selection?

 

On Haley, rapid shot is crap, don't get it. Weapon Focus: shortbow is the better choice. When you get to 10th level take crippling strike for more mayhem.

 

I can't really agree with rapid shot being crap. I thought it was great, but I was using a fighter dip for a couple more feats and BAB than normal. I suppose it depends when you plan on taking the feat, though. Rapid shot makes it even more painful to hit early (if you use it), whereas weapon focus would alleviate that, while their utility is reversed later.

I have trouble believing Elan has the 13 intelligence required for expertise. I guess it might cripple his skill selection if you made it too low, though, which is tough for a face man.

 

I could argue that perhaps Elan's obliviousness is due to low Wisdom rather than Intelligence, but truth be told, other than race/class/alignment and weapon selection, I'm not trying too hard to recreate the OotS; regarding stats/skills/feats, I plan to let my powergaming side take a bit more control (other than Durkon's Warhammer feat, which I plan to leave as is), so I won't sacrifice potencial bonuses skills. ie Belakr has admited on having a -2 Widsom modifier, but my Belkar has +2, aside from that beign the luck of the dice, seeing as he is my sole user of Survival, I plan on taking every advantage I can.

A bit off topic, but I'm dissappointed at the lack of more colors for Mystic Garb, and the fact that the robes look more like a dress (V didn't look wizardly at all with the red robes, so i had to make do with a green mystic garb (orange would have been ideal) and orange cloak (again, red would have been preferable)).