Arelith

There used to be a very cool thread in one of the old forums with a bunch of neat Class/Character concepts, and the build/choices to create it on Arelith. Back then, I found it a very interesting read, and with the build monkeys riding wild and free for the past few weeks, I figured it'd be a cool idea to present everyone with a fun challenge, that of coming up with ways to represent varied concepts. Perhaps it'll inspire folks who want to roll up something new.

Here's a fist concept:

The Deepwarden

Deepwardens are typically adventurers or retired dwarf militia members who wish to explore the depths of the earth. They travel deep underground and survive on their own, far from civilization. There they search for new resources, threats, or other interesting findings, and send reports back to their city comrades.


I actualy tried to play one of these for a few months, and though I had fun exploring some of the themes in the character, I ended up disapointed with the roleplay I was producing.

Build wise, and keep in mind I suck at building, I tried a ranger/cleric combo. I do not remember specifics, only that he had earth and travel domain, and I was focusing heavily on spot and listen, to represent his time spent below ground.


What do you guys got?

I love concepts like these. In my own RP they are always mid to late game goals so I've got enough RP and character development to grow into them.

Given I completely ignore builds, I can't give you any advice on that. But I would have started out being a Scout for the Dwarf Guard as a fighter and/or ranger up to about level 14-15, and have my toon develop a hobby of mapping cave systems and bringing back samples to talk to druids or wizards about. That would then branch into hiring gnolls or goblins as guides, especially to talk undercommon for the toon in Andanor. I'd would have probably made him with a neutral good/true neutral build so he could look and interact with exotic things, beg an audience with a drow matron and give her gifts for the experience of it all, etc. Finally, level 21 plus, it would be exploring down deep, and guiding other dwarf soldiers/scouts through the UD, taking them to the cloaker canopy, etc.

I played a Deepwarden! It was a dwarven 'caver' (dwarven ranger).
Just went straight 30 and relied on my massive bear called Bjorn.

I recommend what I like to call an Aragorn build. It's basically a mishmash of rogue, paladin/bg & fighter.
It's a dex-based archer who can whip out some delicious smite to surprise the enemy.
You get two GCharismas, EDodge, divine might & shield etc.
You primarily use a short or longbow.

Tomb Guardian

Tomb Guardians are elves that have dedicated their lives to the protection of elven crypts. They are known for tracking defilers to the ends of the earth.

Build wise they tend to have some form of arcane as well as stealth and tracking. I like wizard/harper scout (This one you can use Labelas to add elven artifacts, magic and history) or wizard/ranger (You can add hunting evil undead if you pick Sehanine as your main god). Of course, you can mix it up with any of the elven gods (or all of them) to give it a twist.

This concept is fun to me because it focuses less on revelry or drow-hate aspects of elven culture.

-S

One of my characters was originally intended to be a tomb guardian. Went ranger cleric. RP took her elsewhere, but I always enjoyed the theme

I am not quite sure but this thread seems to be the appropriate place to ask, since its about build concepts and stuff.

I am thinking about making a con dwarf, with pure wizzard classes and none of those specialised stuff.

His story is something in the line of him being a very curious dwarf, stealing the magic tomes and scrolls from traders that passed closeby his home and studying them, learning a little magic. Unfortunately his clan didnt take to him dabling in the arcane instead of their crafting trade and all that, so he left and arrived in corder, where his story begins.

What im asking is, is for advice what type of school would a dwarf most likely take to? I personally feel this dwarf isnt inherintly evil, but maybe a little mischievous. SO something like necromancy seems a bit hectic? I was thinking conjuration maybe, or enchantment? What do you guys think?

then- he obviously wont be retardedly powerfull with magic, as he is a typical dwarf( heavily con based), so what would you suggest I do in terms of leveling? I know mages arent the best for early game, especially the one im planning here...

Any and all advice appreciated, be it critical or otherwise.

Thanks guys, see you in game

*Just an edit, im not sure how the scribe scroll thing works on this server? would it be possible for me to take like really crappy spells when i level just so i have spells, then I make it so he can only use spells he has learned from scrolls etc? would that be a possible way to play? or will i get 1 spell every 6 RL months?

*maybe play the spell thing normally, but for rp purposes make him search for more spells he can learn (via scrolls)?

Luckily you have plenty of Dwarven gods for exploration and curiosity and knowledge (and even one with non-evil trickery) so you're covered there (none for magic, though, sorry).

For a trickster/thief type I would recommend enchantment, illusion or transmutation because all of these have really great spells to play with but that doesn't mean you need to focus in them. Conj and abj will help during exploring/searching for tomes. You'll find necromancy a bit lacking if you can use your undead (I know I did but if you have a healer type, it is a good addition to your toolset).

Leveling isn't that tough with a mage/caster, it is just slower (if you go alone). Your best bet is to lure everything, learn to have control over your summon at all times, and preparing for your terrain/foes. So long as you don't expect to run through everything, you'll be fine.

It is a bit trickier with a group atm because wizzies are stuck in a sort of limbo in terms of spell count compared to other casters but if you save your most helpful spells for the most helpful time, you won't be left out.

As for scrolls, I'm not really sure what you mean but everyone wizzie can scribe scroll and so you can learn all the spells that you can have by learning them from scrolls, you just have to find/trade them. You can definitely rp him constantly searching for new spells from scrolls (you'll never get them all just by lvling up).

Hope that helps!
-S

Thanks man, sounds good Seems ill be having a dwarf soon!

-Super Matteo

Name: Matteo Idraulico
Race: Human
Build: plump
Head model: mustached with a hat
Class: Monk, rogue, warrior
Weapons: Small hammer, war hammer, and battle axe

Schtick: runs around and believes he becomes super upon consuming Guaji Roots. Hates tutles. Spends most of his time in the sewers.

Lost my originals three computers ago, and anyway the server's changed a lot since then. So.
I'll be working through Drow of the Underdark first.

Arachnomancer
"By discarding the religious traditions dominating drow culture, the arachnomancer finds a different way to serve the Weaver of Webs. Through careful study, the arachnomancer comes to understand spiders in a unique and disturbing way, developing a rapport with the vermin. It doesn't take long for the arachnomancer to shape his magical studies to awaken the Spider Queen's blessings within himself, allowing him to assume the form of a monstrous spider."

Entry Requirements
Any Evil
Climb 4, Knowledge Nature 4, Knowledge Religion 8
Feat: Verminfriend
Spells: Ability to cast spider climb, summon swarm, or web as an arcane spell.

Class features, with Arelith substitutions:
Spellcasting: Simple. No way to run this without a caster class. Interestingly, the sourcebook claims that only arcanists can become arachnomancers, but sweet mercy how horrible would that be. We're running this as ONE OF: an NE spider totem druid of Toril, who through some spiritual jumprope believes that serving spiders and the caves that they live in somehow serves Lloth, OR: A wizard/sorc with a real affinity for polymorph self. OR: A semi-heretical cleric of Lloth with the plant and animal domains. (Animal grants polymorph self)

Poison Save Bonus: Well, druids gain immunity. Real nice in the UD. If you really want to get a spider-venom-y vibe, though, roll 3 or so levels of assassin into it for poison use. Poison's as natural to the UD as, well, mushrooms. Note: The arcanist version will absolutely want this. It's just nice flavor for the druid.

Handle Spiders: What is essentially a spider-only bonus to animal empathy. Sadly I... don't believe spiders are empathy-able here? Something about mind spell immunity? Is that snakes? Anyway, the arcanist is going to want, somewhere in there, ranger or druid levels if it IS possible. (A couple druid levels for a spider companion would not be amiss, really.)

Spider Domain: Mostly, this gives you powers like webs, spider summons, and the ability to rebuke vermin. Not much of a thing in NWN, not really.

Spider Shape: Pretty much the big one. This is where druid really shines versus the others, since their spider shape is combat ready, rather than just for aesthetics.

Tremorsense: I guess high listen ranks can imitate this.

Webwalking: The ability to ignore web effects. Or: Something druids can do innately. Really, no matter what you're running (cleric or arcanist) you'll probably want a Couple druid levels in there.

Climb Speed: is this a thing here? no? later.

Playing an Arachnomancer wrote:"You are obsessed with spiders. They fill your dreams and your waking thoughts. The extent of your preoccupation does not stop with ordinary spiders. You are fascinated by all spiderkind, from the monstrous spiders of the Underdark to the dreaded bebiliths that the priestesses conjure for th emost profane rituals.

Even when not studying spiders, you find ways to bring them up in conversation, dropping fascinating (to you) tidbits and trivia about different breeds of spiders, their mating habits, and their hunting habits, and going to great lengths to extol the virtues of the vermin. Although the drow might tolerate or even appreciate such insights, your attraction to spiders does little to endear you to members of other races."

In Summary: So in PnP the Arachnomancer class serves, basically, as a way for drow arcanists (who are stereotypically male) to interact more fully with the 'drow ideal' of a crazed spiderkisser. They're semi-heretical in the way that everything that isn't the 3 generic drow archetypes Salvatore presented is, but serve an interesting purpose as basically hyper-nerdy spider tenders, which is apparently a necessary enough role in drow society that there's a class about it.

On Arelith, the best way to run this is with a studious totem druid who does some semi-heretical mental gymnastics (so, a drow) to justify their behavior. Like, it's really just the druid class with a spider bent, an evil restriction, and dedicated to a non-druidic god. (Although the argument could theoretically be made that a deity of vermin sort of counts as a druid god, maybe.) It's doable as a wizard or sorc with some messy multiclassing, but your mileage may vary, etc.