The Rod of Seven Parts

Scarecrow71 · Nov 13 '12, 5:06pm

Ok, so that's 6 levels. But is there an ECL or LA for this? If so, what would the final leveling look like?

See, this is why 3.5 is so confusing to me. Far too many options, less than half of which make sense. Granted, I am making this more difficult on myself than I need to. I mean, I don't really need to create some weird-ass, flaked out dragon character. But for some reason, when campaigns start beyond 1st level - especially when everyone in the thread is throwing out all this advanced character creation stuff - I feel the need to have to try and keep up. 6th level [insert singular class here], or prestige class with weird race for all these extra benefits? Well, which one will help me keep up with the rest of the group? Right...

Siberys · Nov 13 '12, 8:48pm

Basically the LA is those Half Dragon template levels. Basically you're treating the LA as class levels for the purposes of buying it off. Your ECL is 6, but you'll only have 4 proper class levels.

Going into templates is one of those things that the more you do it, the more sense it makes. And at the end of the day, you should play a character you want to play. I mean, I've built some pretty non-functional characters just because I liked them conceptually.

Grim Fandango · Nov 13 '12, 9:22pm

1 Class Level = 1 HD = 1 LA. They're all effectively the same, hence the acronym ECL; they just represent slightly different things. Add them all together and you have your ECL.

Multiclassing in 3rd Edition just means you're stacking all those different things on top of one another. Fighter 3/Wizard 3 is an ECL 6 character with three levels in Fighter and three levels in Wizard; 3 Class Levels + 3 Class Levels = ECL 6. A Troglodyte Wizard 1/Cleric 1 is an ECL 6 character. 2 HD + 2 LA + 1 Class Level + 1 Class Level = ECL 6. Rocket science, no?

It's not anywhere near as complicated as you're trying to make it for yourself.

Burning Spear · Nov 13 '12, 9:31pm

^^ what he said, its simple, as pie, dont make it more complicated then you think it is...

Scarecrow71 · Nov 13 '12, 11:09pm

The problem is that it's not written in the book in a way that I would easily understand it. I'm not making it difficult; to me, it's already written difficult. Which is why I need the help.

I think maybe this might be too difficult to pull off. For me, anyhow, seeing as I have about a dozen PBP posts for 3.5E under my belt. Yes, that's right - no tabletop experience with this edition, and a dozen PBP posts. That's my experience with 3.5. And the more I try to do it, the more I am getting convinced that it isn't the system for me.

TheFred · 2:37pm

Firstly, I think you are getting confused by those progression classes. Those are a way for someone to play something which wouldn't normally be allowed at this level. Since we are starting at L6, that shouldn't be necessary for races and things which aren't super-powerful.

Secondly, I don't think you need to worry about "keeping up". Monstrous races actually tend to be worse for a lot of things; if you play a plain Human Wizard, Druid, or Cleric, say, you already have world-changing power at your fingertips. Now actually it's easy to screw those classes up because there are a lot of bad options for them but all you need to do is rest and memorise new spells, and you're good to go again.

If you want some dragon flavour, I'd say the simplest options are as follows:
-Half-Dragon template. You get a bunch of cool dragon powers etc. This has an LA of +3 so instead of starting at L6, you start at L3 (L3 + 3 LA = ECL 6).
-Draconic template [Races of the Dragon, Draconomonicon]. A lesser version of the above template, you don't get as much but it's only LA +1, so you start at L5. I'd suggest this over the above, as you get quite a bit of "bang for your buck", so to speak.
-A race from Races of the Dragon, like the Spellscale or Dragonborn. Completely LA +0, so it's nothing to worry about full stop..

Coolplayer · Nov 14 '12, 1:18am

Everyone is going to be the same ECL, regardless of race or class so don't worry about keeping up. If your not really used to the system or new, just stick with something out the PHB. Nothing like a plain fighter for a hack and slash type game.

Gameplay is basically going to go something like this:

Introduction, Go after first artifact piece, return with artifact piece, city exploration/shopping/find a side quest or two, 2nd mission to get another piece of artifact, repeat.

I'm not going to railroad you guys as far as which you decide to do and in what order but this isn't going to be a wide open game it's going to be quick paced and action packed with downtime for crafting/shopping/a little rping.

As far as classes go, I'm looking for a well rounded group. They'll be traps/locked areas/secret doors so I'm def lookin for a rogue. Arcane/divine casters might want to look into some portal/planer type spells (check out Manual of the Planes).

Some of you may want to put at least some ranks in knowledge of the planes because you'll be coming up against various outsiders and traveling to various planes.

Devils will come into play as well as demons so checking out the fiend folios wouldn't be a bad idea as their are some feats that could help you against them.

Just throwing these ideas out there so you can help to develop characters further. Also, if you guys want, you can apply with another character, but either use the same set of ability scores you have for your first character or pick another in the set.

Siberys · Nov 14 '12, 3:58am

Yeah, someone else is probably going to have to cover the planar angle arcane spell-wise. As a Wu Jen, I pretty much only get what's listed in the Complete Arcane, which doesn't really delve into that much. I have a pretty solid Knowledge (planes) though.

Later I might start buying some pure element, if The Planar Handbook is allowed, so I'll always have an element on hand if I need to manipulate it.

DMDracoMoondragon · Nov 14 '12, 4:32am

I think my character would definitely give you the rogue you're lookin' for. ^_^ She's a good balance of damage and skills, so she'd be well suited for dungeon crawling.

wanderingbishop · Nov 14 '12, 12:06pm

...don't you just love it when you go to write a backstory for a character and before you know what's happened, you've written a 1000-word short story?

*goes to try and slim down the exposition*