Class Recommendations for a follower of Auril?

[DM williamfredrickson]

I was thinking about making a worshipper of Auril. I’d want the character to primarily use cold spells for combat… so I was thinking of a cleric and taking the water domain to get ice storm. But are there any other options, such as multicasting with an arcane class that would work well? Or maybe a druid? Thoughts?

RPing is so much more important to me than a powerbuild by far, but I don’t want to be ripped apart by wolves every time I venture out into the woods =]

[broham2]

A cleric/mage combo would be cool for RP purposes I think (using Ice/wind magic and maybe even some necro spells if you RP'd it as the coldness sapping the life, etc)..

Throwing in barbarian from a wintry clime would also be pretty cool to go with the RP of the build I think.

[caveman282]

I think a caster spirit shaman would fite well as druids get wind spells and ice spells both. being a spirit shaman your arnt restricted on the armor you can wear so just take a feat or one lvl of fighter.

Sorc -> Wiz

Spirit Shaman -> Druid

Thats the easiest way to describe one.


I can give ya some build Advice if you decide to go this route. Just send me a PM

[shorn]

Spirit Shaman means a retarded wolf with a peg leg and no eyes will reflex save against most of the spells though.

[caveman282]

Which ever way you go would be fun But if your looking for cold spells to imitate being a follower of Auril don't go cleric route they have very little in the way of cold spells. Here are the wizard and druid spells that could be of interest.



Wizard/Sorc
Ray of Frost: Ray deals 1d4 cold damage.
Gust of Wind: Knocks down some creatures and clears gaseous effects in an area.
Orb of Cold: An orb of cold shoots from your palm at your target, dealing cold damage.
Cone of Cold: 1d6/level cold damage.
Polar Ray: Ranged touch attack deals 1d6/level cold damage.
Burst of Glacial Wrath: You create a burst of icy energy that flash-freezes creatures.




Druid/Spirit Shamen
Creeping Cold: Deals cold damage over time to target victim. (MOTB)
Gust of Wind: Blows away or knocks down smaller creatures, disperses gaseous effects.
Dehydrate: Afflicts the target with a horrible, dessicating curse that deals Constitution damage. (SOZ)
Hypothermia: Causes a target to suffer cold damage and fatigue. (MOTB)
Greater Creeping Cold: Deals cold damage over time to the victim. (MOTB)
Ice Storm: Hail deals 3d6 bludgeoning and 2d6 cold damage.
Drown: Target living creature is taken to brink of death.
Mass Drown: You fill targets' lungs with water. (MOTB)
Storm of Vengeance: Storm rains acid, dealing 3d6 damage/round.
Burst of Glacial Wrath: You create a burst of icy energy that flash-freezes creatures.

[shorn]

I have to agree, though I like the feel of the cleric with cold domain....feels like something a pnp cleric of auril would have, IMO. Just my pure gut instinct call there though.

[mingming]

For RP purposes to get what you want, I'd say Favored Soul 8 + Sorcerer 7 +Eldritch Knight 10 + Harper Agent 5 with the Practiced Caster: Fav Soul Feat. If you can squeeze in the Practiced Caster Sorcerer feat, take that too. On the divine spells, make sure to take Divine Favor and Divine Power, as well as the various Cure spells. Have a decent Dex, and use Mage Armor/Imp Mage armor plus Spiderskin for AC. Make sure you also have Extend Spell and Persistent Spell, and go two-handed strength bonus with your battleaxe (Auril's favored weapon) as the Shield Spell will take care of not having a shield for AC. These classes may seem like an odd combination to get what you want, but seeing as how they are just mechanical tools in the toolbox to simulate what you want to roleplay as a concept, they should be more than adequate to basically be a "Ice Witch of the Frost Queen" style of character. Other suggested feats are Power Attack and Toughness at pre-epic levels, and then select some Epic Spells for your epic feats.

[mingming]

Hrmm... this got me thinking of how I would replicate a paladin-like "Favored of Auril" concept, and this is what I came up with...

• Favored Soul 8 with Practiced Caster
  
• Warlock 9 with Battle Caster feat and the invocations of Devil's Own Luck, Hellrime Blast, Eldritch Chain, and Chilling Tentacles
  
• Blackguard 3 with Divine Might.
  

This presumes a non-epic build. For the remaining ten epic levels, I would advise either ten more levels of either FS or warlock, though Divine Champion might work out quite nicely as well, what with all the epic bonus feats you could get.

[caveman282]

I'm tring to figure out how a warlock or a haper agent has anything to do with RPing a follower of Auril ....

harper agents are good guy spy sorts.

and warlocks are evil demon lovers.

[mingming]

I don't roleplay that people know what your class is magically. Classes are packaged "features" that help simulate what a concept is and does. There's no neon sign blinking over someone's head that has their classes and build for all to see. A good RP-er will roleplay what they see, not what they know OOC. I think of classes, feats, and other abilities as a sort of "toolbox" that you use to create a *character*, a real person you envision in your mind who might display certain traits and be capable of amazing things. From a purely roleplaying basis, there's no difference between the amazing saving throws of a paladin's divine grace, a blackguard's dark blessing, or a warlock's devil's own luck. Mechanically they also all do the same thing. What a character who observed a character with any of these traits would see is that this person is extremely good at rolling with and surviving lethal situations which would kill a lesser man who did not have "someone" looking out for him. So when I often come up with a build, I am not defining myself by virtue of my classes, that's like introducing yourself as "Bob, a third level fighter". I play characters that fit a certain vision or concept in my mind, and then look for the traits that replicate what I want to see my character doing, whether that be vanishing from in front of someone's eyes or casting extremely potent cure spells. So forgive me that I gave advice along the same lines, it's just the way I think and roleplay, I just assumed people would understand that same line of thought.

Dec 22, 2008 17:40:59 GMT -5 caveman282 said:

I'm tring to figure out how a warlock or a haper agent has anything to do with RPing a follower of Auril ....

harper agents are good guy spy sorts.

and warlocks are evil demon lovers.

[His Masters Voice]

Mechanically, yes, lore wise, absolutely not.

[mingming]

*Shrugs* I suppose this is something the DM's need to further define then. Are characters defined by their classes? Are you forbidden from playing a concept character that is adapted from something else? Are all Divine Champions of Torm? Are all Doomguides of Kelemvor? Are all highly skilled warriors Fighters? We've already covered the concept of Stormlords of other gods, and the RPGA has allowed other deities to have Stormlords as well as several other classes, if you looking for an "official" precedent of D&D in a highly conservative worldwide campaign for that matter. I think there is such a thing as being too anal in considering class builds and abilities as *only* one thing or another. What difference in game balance does it make for a character who is roleplayed with one set of abilities as opposed to another with the same abilities and a different personality and character traits? *shrugs*

After all, wouldn't it make sense given the history and lore of the Realms that someone wishing to play a Herald or one of Khelbun's Moonstar agents that the Harper Agent class might make an appropriate class for them to take? Or *gasp* maybe even for a neutral, non-evil Zhentarim agent?! There's a level of flexibility that I feel is practical and pragamtic, particularly since unlike a tabletop game, there's only so many tools in the toolbox that we are given to work with to replicate the near-infinite variety of character concepts and iterations out there in Realms lore.

[daringoutlaw]

Dec 22, 2008 17:56:09 GMT -5 mingming said:

I don't roleplay that people know what your class is magically. Classes are packaged "features" that help simulate what a concept is and does. There's no neon sign blinking over someone's head that has their classes and build for all to see. A good RP-er will roleplay what they see, not what they know OOC. I think of classes, feats, and other abilities as a sort of "toolbox" that you use to create a *character*, a real person you envision in your mind who might display certain traits and be capable of amazing things. From a purely roleplaying basis, there's no difference between the amazing saving throws of a paladin's divine grace, a blackguard's dark blessing, or a warlock's devil's own luck. Mechanically they also all do the same thing. What a character who observed a character with any of these traits would see is that this person is extremely good at rolling with and surviving lethal situations which would kill a lesser man who did not have "someone" looking out for him. So when I often come up with a build, I am not defining myself by virtue of my classes, that's like introducing yourself as "Bob, a third level fighter". I play characters that fit a certain vision or concept in my mind, and then look for the traits that replicate what I want to see my character doing, whether that be vanishing from in front of someone's eyes or casting extremely potent cure spells. So forgive me that I gave advice along the same lines, it's just the way I think and roleplay, I just assumed people would understand that same line of thought.

I agree with you there that's exactly how I approach building my characters.

[DEV Akavit]

Dec 22, 2008 18:39:15 GMT -5 daringoutlaw said:

Dec 22, 2008 17:56:09 GMT -5 mingming said:

I don't roleplay that people know what your class is magically. Classes are packaged "features" that help simulate what a concept is and does. There's no neon sign blinking over someone's head that has their classes and build for all to see. A good RP-er will roleplay what they see, not what they know OOC. I think of classes, feats, and other abilities as a sort of "toolbox" that you use to create a *character*, a real person you envision in your mind who might display certain traits and be capable of amazing things. From a purely roleplaying basis, there's no difference between the amazing saving throws of a paladin's divine grace, a blackguard's dark blessing, or a warlock's devil's own luck. Mechanically they also all do the same thing. What a character who observed a character with any of these traits would see is that this person is extremely good at rolling with and surviving lethal situations which would kill a lesser man who did not have "someone" looking out for him. So when I often come up with a build, I am not defining myself by virtue of my classes, that's like introducing yourself as "Bob, a third level fighter". I play characters that fit a certain vision or concept in my mind, and then look for the traits that replicate what I want to see my character doing, whether that be vanishing from in front of someone's eyes or casting extremely potent cure spells. So forgive me that I gave advice along the same lines, it's just the way I think and roleplay, I just assumed people would understand that same line of thought.

I agree with you there that's exactly how I approach building my characters.

Same here. Oftentimes I will thoroughly abuse the normal use of classes and even races in order to generate the concept I am after. When people look at Golem Lotrus I want them to see a powerful golem, not a barbarian/frenzied berserker Earth Genasi. Twisted character builds are lots of fun.

[DM Sir Carnifex]

Dec 22, 2008 18:39:15 GMT -5 daringoutlaw said:

Dec 22, 2008 17:56:09 GMT -5 mingming said:

I don't roleplay that people know what your class is magically. Classes are packaged "features" that help simulate what a concept is and does. There's no neon sign blinking over someone's head that has their classes and build for all to see. A good RP-er will roleplay what they see, not what they know OOC. I think of classes, feats, and other abilities as a sort of "toolbox" that you use to create a *character*, a real person you envision in your mind who might display certain traits and be capable of amazing things. From a purely roleplaying basis, there's no difference between the amazing saving throws of a paladin's divine grace, a blackguard's dark blessing, or a warlock's devil's own luck. Mechanically they also all do the same thing. What a character who observed a character with any of these traits would see is that this person is extremely good at rolling with and surviving lethal situations which would kill a lesser man who did not have "someone" looking out for him. So when I often come up with a build, I am not defining myself by virtue of my classes, that's like introducing yourself as "Bob, a third level fighter". I play characters that fit a certain vision or concept in my mind, and then look for the traits that replicate what I want to see my character doing, whether that be vanishing from in front of someone's eyes or casting extremely potent cure spells. So forgive me that I gave advice along the same lines, it's just the way I think and roleplay, I just assumed people would understand that same line of thought.

I agree with you there that's exactly how I approach building my characters.

I'd have to say this DM agrees. I don't take the classes literally, though I do believe there should be certain limits.