User:Jota/101

101

The Lone Wander, 3.5e incarnate, with no attempts at rule modifications or any of the sort, just a straight conversion, even if the weapons don't really transfer.

Builds

Daddy's Boy (Intelligence)

• Factotum 19/whatever 1

Littlehorn's Associate

1. +00 - Rogue 1 - Weapon Finesse, Craven, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus: Kukri
2. +01 - Ranger 1
3. +02 - Ranger 2 - Reckess Offense, TWF
4. +02 - Psychic Warrior 1 - Psionic Talent
5. +03 - Rogue 2
6. +04 - War Mind 1 - Combat Reflexes
7. +05 - Rogue 3
8. +06 - Invisible Blade 1 (using the revised entry requirements as posited by the author)
9. +06 - Swordsage 1 - Shadow Blade
10. +07 - Swordsage 2
11. +08 - Psychic Warrior 2 - Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
12. +09 - Slayer 1 - Gloom Razor
13. +10 - War Mind 2
14. +11 - War Mind 3
15. +12 - Nightsong Enforcer 1 - Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
16. +13 - Sneak Attack Fighter 1
17. +13 - Assassin 1
18. +14 - Assassin 2 - FEAT ME!
19. +15 - Assassin 3
20. +16 - Warblade 1

9 SA, 16 BAB

I'm sure there's probably a better way to do this, as this is just a rough draft. Maybe losing the warblade and assassin levels to fill out invisible blade (gains one BAB, same sneak attack), although I do sort of like the separate abilities granted by the assassin and the warblade.

Classes

Psionics is something some might question, and by a similar token the presence of the factotum, arcane archer, and assassin, classes with links to spellcasting (even the ranger, too, although I would recommend leaving the class behind long before spellcasting becomes relevant). On the other hand, I find psionics an appropriate way replicate V.A.T.S. So, much like the decision to use V.A.T.S. is a player's choice, so is using psionics, or spellcasting. Limiting one's power and spell selection (as detailed below) to a constrained list makes either or these reasonable adaptations in my mind.

With that said, I'm operating under the general presumption that the class will be dealing damage through physical attacks, since our hero (or jerk) doesn't exactly go around setting things on fire with his mind.

• Factotum^DS 1, 8, X
  • Cunning Surge is as good a V.A.T.S. emulator as any, if you'll take the class that far. I like the idea of opening with factotum, even for a level, even if your build isn't Intelligence-based, simply for all the skill points, assuming you don't need that level for something else. If you carry the class further you have spells which can fill various functions (see spell selection below), are a bitching skill monkey, and are somewhat viable in combat. Call a wand of scorching ray a tri-beam laser rifle and enjoy the beam spam, or whatever you prefer.
• Fighter 1, 2
  • For the bonus feats and the BAB, whether going melee or ranged, two-weapon fighting or whatever else floats your boat.
• Psion 2
  • Like the psychic warrior below, this is an avenue of opening psychic prestige classes, although it could be carried further. As noted above however, I'm assuming attacks by weapons for damage, so losing too much BAB is generally inadvisable.
• Psychic Warrior 1, 2
  • As with the fighter, the real gem here are the feats. I'd recommend two levels to get the BAB out of your investment, although it isn't strictly necessary depending on your direction. The psionics are really just a bonus here but coupled with the feats they make this two-level dip highly valuable for opening up War Mind or Slayer, should you choose either of those roads.
• Ranger 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, X
  • One level in ranger nets you the Track feat which opens up Slayer. It's also nice in that it's a full BAB class and has two good saves. Wild Empathy can serve as a pale imitation of the Animal Friend perk, and Favored Enemy (Super Mutant) can't hurt. At level two you have Combat Style, which can enhance your ability as either an archer (Small Guns) or dual-wielder (Melee Weapons). Normally I'd suggest taking fighter or psychic warrior if the feats are want you really want, although the ranger is a great fit thematically to the Lone Wanderer. Third level nets Endurance, which opens up the Horizon Walker. Four is the animal companion, for Dogmeat. And lastly six has the improved combat style and a first level spell, although you have to through a rather mediocre level five to get there. If combat functionality isn't so important, or you're playing in a fighter level campaign (which Fallout essentially is, in my mind) then going straight ranger isn't the smartest thing you could do but it's not suicide either.
    • If you're the stoic type, just hate Dogmeat, or need the extra damage, an alternate (homebrew) variant can be found here, which should offer a reasonable damage output increase.
• Rogue 3
  • For the Sneak-oriented 101. I say three primarily to get your BAB, get some Sneak Attack dice, and get out, but you can carry the class further. 11 is a logical cutoff point if your DM will allow special ability cheese (selecting feats you don't meet the pre-requisites for). Otherwise it can be combined with the swashbuckler^CS for more BAB, as demonstrated here.
• Swordsage^ToB
  • For the shishkebab wielder in all of us; like the psionics and spellcasting, maneuver selection needs to be regulated to achieve emulation within some acceptable bounds.
• Warblade
  • Although the warblade doesn't have access to Desert Sun, which in my opinion is the most appropriate discipline, at least thematically, for the shishkebab, it does have full BAB and there's no reason other maneuvers from different disciplines cannot be generic enough to make this a solid fit.
• Wilder 2, 3, 4
  • Another psionics option, this time Charisma-based, and also with medium BAB. More power points is nice, too.

Prestige Classes

• Arcane Archer X
  • Racial entry requirement aside (you could either have your DM waive the requirement (best solution) or play as a human but use half-elf mechanics or whatever) this is a solid class for an archer-type in a fighter level campaign. However you deal with the racial stuff, you can use the factotum's arcane dilettante class feature to qualify for this prestige class, which is the most desirable way to gain access in my mind (although using the assassin, below, would work as well). Phase Arrow is the only class ability which doesn't really fit thematically, and you could either ignore it, rationalize it somehow, not take the class that far, or whatever. I'd cut it at four or five if you don't want to deal with phase arrow, but if you're willing to work around it, the fact that the class has full BAB means you can take it more or less as far as you want, although the tenth level is one I'd pass on.
• Assassin 3, 4, 8
  • Everything is a pretty good fit (the class abilities are pretty mundane, which is nice for our purposes) except for the higher level spells, although call a Stealth Boy improved invisibility and it can work out, sort of (or just using the higher level spell slots on lower level spells). I like three, four, and eight as the breaks here, looking at BAB primarily, but also at pertinent class abilities.
• Horizon Walker X
  • A good fit before planar mastery comes in, and even some of those work out. Overall it's really a very fighter level class (except for specific purposes), but that's not a bad thing for much of what we want. Could be reflavored for Fallout. I may have to get on that.
• Slayer 1, X
  • Enemy Sense at level one is really the best ability in terms of emulation of the source and everything else is kind of lolwut, but building on the psion, psychic warrior, or wilder with full BAB is nice if you can ignore or rationalize the class abilities that don't fit at all.
• War Mind X
  • Full BAB, separate power points, two good saves, semi-relevant class abilities; the war mind has a lot of what you might want. If you're going the psionics route (and Wisdom/Perception) then this is probably the class you want.

Feats

Wizards of the Coast

• Leadership
  • Broken from a practical perspective, but perfect from an emulation perspective. You could re-create Dogmeat as a dog with fighter or ranger class levels.

Homebrew

• Pyromaniac
  • My take on the Pyromaniac feat. Not particularly useful unless you're really throwing out fire damage a lot, and even then it needs some work to be worth it. Such is the nature of the beast, for it had to be balanced for conventional 3.5e play as well.