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I am thinking about bringing in Drizz't Do'Urden as a PC in a future campaign. We'll be starting at 14th level. I'm not too worried about the story, I'll figure that out later. I'm just starting to read the books now, but I'm thinking ranger or fighter. My question is, what class would fit him best? What paragon path, feats, powers and magic items should I select to give him an authentic feel? |
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On a more subversive answer, Drizzt is called a ranger, and certainly demonstrates a mastery of nature, but one of the mechanical sub-plots is how angry Drizzt is. We are forced to consider then: what are the essential characteristics of Drizzt's nature, and how can the mechanics best reflect them, without using the names that blind us to the obvious answers. Drizzt is fast, angry, precise. He fights with an animal companion of sufficient integrity to be called another PC (for Guen certainly acts as a sidekick in the novels). Searching the internets for commented on scenes we get:
Without digging out the books again (as they're on the other side of the ocean this presents difficulty) I can say that most of the described fight scenes suggest that Drizzt uses fluid manuvering along with fast swordplay. Depending on book, it's also sitting on top of anger. Mechanically, we are faced with certain constraining elements: The race must be drow (it feels wrong to reflavour another race when the named race already exists) and it must be able to effectively dual-wield non-off hand weapons or give the appearance of doing so. This presents us with the following list: * Whirling Slayer barbarian * Two-Blade ranger * The idea of monk (with its expression of whirling flurry of blades) * Slayer (while there are no dual-wielding rules, the stances fit Drizzt's fluid movement) * Battlemind (ignoring the psionic "flavour" the mechanics of battlemind seem to suit being all over the battlefield, supporting your striker companion (guen) and so on. Slayer has a truly remarkably dex synergy with melee training dex, multi-classing into an off-hand as minor attack. It is partial to two-handed weapons, but we can't have everything. Stances: Battle Wrath, Duelist's Assault, and Mobile Blade. This is best used with the level 16 boots "Survivor's Boots" (character needs to start at level 15 optimally) MC Fighter, PP Shock Trooper Speed of Thought Battlemind has significantly less damage spam, but can be optimized for striker level output (recommended in this case.) My best recommendation is just to follow this fantastic guide, use drow instead of goliath (take the stat hit) and just call your hammers scimitars. Scimitars are severely underwhelming in 4e, and I think that flavour wise, lightning lure and brutal barrage, the obscenely fast out-of-turn movement, and the sheer toughness fit Drizzt very well. The idea of monk is counterintuitive only if you accept the flavour of monk. If you instead understand it as "a combination of drow fighting styles and the expertise of the surface" centered or iron fist flurry of blows could fit Drizzt's style well. And the movement techniques fit him perfectly as he's known for pulling off all kinds of insane maneuvers. Iron soul + wintertouched, alone with starblade flurry (again, call the mechanical requirement a "scimitar" and don't fuss overmuch about trying to match mechanics of something 2 editions past.) Guide here. Whirling slayer is very important to keep in mind, as there are some fun builds there, but it's close enough to the two-blade ranger to make it a toss up between which powers you want more. I'd like to formally warn you that the ranger drizzt will get exceedingly boring as his most optimal attack (after the inital daily-drop, depending on situation) is twin strike. If you want more sophisticated tactical choices, don't take ranger. Of all of these, the one that fits drow best is monk, and the one that fits drizzt's flashing style of combat best, surprisingly, is battlemind. While using battlemind would take an almost complete flavour-mechanics divorce, the resulting character will be effective (but not stupidly over-powered), tactically interesting, useful alone or in groups, and fun to play. |
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They have one in the (now) old character builder. Drow Ranger 21st levelTwo-Blade Fighting Style/Prime Shot Paragon Path: Blade Dancer Epic Destiny: Redeemed Drow Attributes:
Stats:
Feats:
Powers:
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14th level, drow, two-weapon fighter. Cheesy and stereotyped (but quite quite lethal). I think I can do better than the "default" build. Drizzle has a number of characteristic moves and equipment:
Moves are not strongly detailed in the wiki, so we'll go with the cheesiest possible combination. Most build details will be references from This Guide Ranger, Two-blade fighting style (required, because scimitars don't have an off-hand property.) Prime shot, because of feats in paragon. Background: Cult Escapee, because I find it amusing to characterize Lolth's priesthesshood as a cult, and because the arcana skill represents his time at the academy. PP options are: Blade-dancer, Pathfinder, Stormwarden, or Ruthless Punisher. if starting at level 16, Pathfinder is my recommendation, as rangers are incredibly squishy, but Drizzle doesn't behave that way. At 14, my recommendation is Ruthless Punisher as it seems to fit his usual enemies of humanoids. Looking at multi-classing, barbarian fits Drizzle's backstory the best, giving us the very sold "berserker's fury" feat that represents the "The Hunter" state he falls into. It costs us 2 points of strength, but we can't have everything. There are two useful powers that we'll be multi-classing into later, that get that lethal feel across as well. Pre-racial ability scores are a fairly dismal: 16/13/14/10/14/8. The str/dex/con/wis MAD stems from the need for not-completely crappy melee defenses, though this is an argument for potentially trying to build this character as an Essentials build, to simplify all the requirements considerably. The PP and a number of powers require wis, and the barbarian requires con. This is one of the large problems inherent in trying to build a character to a fictional character set in a different edition. Try to get your GM to give you an extra +2 dex, if possible. Trained skills to taste, I chose: Arcana, Athletics, Dungoneering, Nature, Perception (Barbarian Training), Stealth. Flavour to suit, and choose appropriate background, depending on what emphasis you want.
Retrain: invigorating or snarling-wolf for Tiger's claw rage, depending if you are OK with the "throw a dagger or shoot a bow to open" mechanic of invigorating. Feats:
Choice here: Two-Weapon fighting + Two-weapon Opening (if you like crits) versus Prime Punisher + Prime Quarry (instead of scimitar dance, optional) + Called Shot (Retraining). My recommendation is to trade in scimitar dance for weapon proficiency bastard sword, and just call your bastard swords "scimitars." Equipment wise, using the old rules, we start with a 15+14+13, and 13th level gold. While Icingdeath and Twinkle are statted, they are level 25 weapons and therefore not appropriate. However, the "Chill Wind" weapon, Level 15, is a perfect match for icingdeath. An uninsipiring alternative for defensive is the "Shielding Blade" which provides a flat +1 to AC. (Better would be rhythm blade, but that applies only to light blades. Armor is significantly harder, as the mechanics of mithril have changed over the last two editions. Given that Agile Armor is the closest but conflicts with the more appropriate level 15 item slot, I'll try to find a 11-13 armor that matches with the "damage absorbing spider-silk shirt" Unfortunately, the only decent armor at an appropriate level is "Predator's Hide" Speak with your GM about options here (try to get the hide reflavoured as chain, at least.) We're now left with a choice between necessary neck slot and the last named equipment on Drizzle, that of his "feet-bracers." The Amulet of Scales seems to neatly suppliment the protection found from the spider-silk shirt, and can be trivially reflavoured to shirt or holy-symbol. No singular piece of equipment allows an increase in speed and to dance circles around ones opponent. One item that approximates them are "Survivor's boots" that, as a level 16 item, cause you to not provoke in combat, while bloodied. Item wishlist:
Damage breakdown: Assumptions: have hit the enemy in the previous round, and thus they have vulnerability 5 to cold. The current rules about keywords apply (specifically, if a power gains a keyword, all damage from that power has the keyword.) (Caution, reading the referenced threads will cause headaches) And we're the only ally in range of the enemy To hit (with Twin Strike): +22 to hit = +5 str + 2 weapon (boo) + 3 enhancement + 7 half-level + 2 master-at-arms +1 prime punisher (prime shot) + 2 combat advantage (lasting frost) Average level 14 monster will have 28 AC, for an acceptable 55% to-hit (unbuffed) or 70% buffed. (60-75% with bastard sword "curvy scimitars"). Damage (twin strike): 1d8+3 +2d6 (once per round) + 5 (called shot, only on hit) + 3 (any humanoid designated as quarry) + 5 cold (through vulnerability) +3 silvery glow Average damage per twin-strike (scimitars): crit for chill wind: 2d8+3d6+10 (10 ongoing cold is just awesome.) Crit for shielding: 2d8+3d6 (.65 * (4.5+3+7+5+3+5+3) + .05 * (8+3+7+5+3+5+3+9+10.5+10)) + (.65 * (4.5+3+5+3+5+3) + .05 * (8+3+5+3+5+3+9+10.5) + .3 * 4 + .3 * 4) = 43 average damage per round, not counting the many out of turn attacks, minor action attacks, etc... Another test of this character is whether or not they can solo an equal level elite, as there are a number of quite epic fights in the books that feature that kind of duel. Sample elite is the Drow Assassin, level 14. Assuming that it's mostly just a sword duel, with the assassin disengaging whenever stinging bolt recharges.
-- I believe this combat illustrates the flavour of the hugely over-powered Drizzt perfectly. :) |
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