D&D 3E/3.5 Help me build this character in 3.5

[Jimlock]

So it's been a long time since I've played 3.5. Between Pathfinder, 4th, and some other stuff I've been having plenty of fun with other systems. But a group I know has invited me to play in their 3.5 campaign. So I've got this character concept, but I don't know how to make it work. I don't mind if the concept isn't very optimized, but I do want to capture the flavor with as much oomph as possible.

So, here's the person I want to play:

He's a kindly old man, wise and deeply knowledgeable about a variety of subjects. He isn't flashy about it, but he often gets his way in social situations by honest persuasion, and he's good at finding things out by research or investigation. I also want him to be a good healer, to reflect his deeply held compassion. He's a plainly clothed traveller, who owns little but the contents of his pack and his walking stick. He probably knows a little of surviving in the wild.

I'm not much of an an optimizer to advice you. Still I salute you for attempting to create a character the proper way (...or my proper way)... Concept first, numbers afterwards... an art almost extinct!!

 

[Thrallherd]

Factotum! You got all the skills points you need(6+INT, your main score, and another if you go human), healing, UMD, INT as your major score(for those Knowledges), the awesome Cunning Knowledge(for when you just HAVE to convince the King to lend you a small army) and you can even have decent physical skill checks cos of Brains over Brawn. And no muss multiclassing cos Factotum is passable right up to 20, though you can multiclass into whatever you need latercos Factotum has such an easy time fulfilling prereqs due to every skill, arcane casting and then some.

Factotum is amazing. Especially with the Chameleon PrC, though that doesn't fit the concept.

 

[marcielle]

Factotum is amazing. Especially with the Chameleon PrC, though that doesn't fit the concept.

Well, it gives him ALL the abilities he wants. And fluff has always been mutable for me.

 

[Dandu]

Bards are also good. Your physical stats may suck, but you can SING!

 

[shurai]

Well, I prayed for rain and got a flood. : D I haven't posted to enworld regularly in a long time (is my account really nine years old?) so it's great to see the community is still thriving. Thanks for all the advice and other thoughts, folks! Let's see if I can work through it:

What sources do you have available?

If I remember rightly, the entire 3.5 corpus.

Bonus trick: you said "Old Man." If you mean it, take a look at the effects of aging upon a character. You'll get negatives to physical stats, but bonuses to the mental stats. Given your PC concept, this is a win for you.

I really like that idea actually. I've played so many athletic characters that playing a frail one is going to be something akin to a treat.

So regarding racial suggestions, I'm conceiving of just an ordinary middle-aged or elderly human being as far as race and template are concerned, so that cuts out a lot. I want the concept to be more or less realized at our starting level which is four, so that rules out prestige classes at least for now. I'm going to keep your good suggestions in mind until later though, when maybe I can look at those.

For now though, that leaves feats, classes, and class abilities. I have to say much of this I wasn't even aware of in the first place, and they seem like good choices besides, so I'm thankful for that. On the other hand I now have many viable builds and it's a little dizzying.

Feats

Dannyalcatraz suggested Sacred Healing. This seems like a good choice depending on the class(es) I ultimately pick. Herzog, parinho, and Thanael mentioned Able Learner, which seems key for picking up those missing skills. Why are divine characters so commonly bad at Sense Motive? You'd think they'd be good at it.

Classes

This is obviously the meat of my build. Dannyalcatraz, did you mean the Shaman from Oriental Adventures, or the Spirit Shaman from Complete Divine? I don't think he's the kind of old man who's Flying Tiger Style will defeat the Shaolin's Drunken Monkey Kung Fu. : ]

There's no way he's a bard. I don't want him to be that frail. ; ] Sorry Dandu.

StreamOfTheSky and parinho both seemed to like my Cloistered Cleric notion, so I'll have to give that another look. Parinho also suggested human paragon, which looks good too.

I'm not sure about the Factotum. Marcielle makes a useful suggestion (yet another thing I didn't know existed), but I'm not sure the old man's spry enough to justify a good Reflex save. On the other hand emoplato and thanael pointed out the Archivist, which I'm definitely going to consider.

Class Abilities

Thanael, I don't think I much care for Skilled City Dweller. A bit of the rustic is in my concept and I don't want to give it up. Thanks for suggesting it though; no way to know I didn't want it if I didn't know it was there.

General Advice

Ask the DM if you can have Sense Motive as a class skill.

I kinda wanted to avoid bending the rules if possible.

. . . Gather information can be roleplayed out if you want. Your character doesn't "need" the skill to find out what you want to know . . . Also sense motive can be negated by spells . . .

I agree, but even though the campaign is expected to be RP-heavy I'd rather avoid unpleasant surprises. A lot of DMs will ask for a combination of roleplaying and dice. In addition, the concept is that he groks human nature in an every-day sort of way, and that makes him good at reading people and finding things out. Not that he'd be opposed to getting help from spells and gear when possible.

Anyway, in summary, I'll probably gin up a build or two and post them in the next day or three. Stay tuned if you're interested in seeing them. Also I know some folks like doing builds for their own sake so by all means post 'em.

Thanks again!

 

[Herzog]

I'm a bit hesitant to suggest it, since the class lists barely above 'Expert', but there's a Master base-class in War of the Lance.
It's a class that lets you specialize in one (actually, after a certain level, two) of the skill-groups: Craft, Knowledge,Profession and Perform.

It gives access to the listed skill group, gives related bonus feats, and related 'knacks'.

If the sourcebook is available to you, I suggest to take a look at it, if only to dismiss it

The main reason I didn't suggest it before though is that the 'Sage Master' doesn't have Sense Motive as a class skill.....

 

[Thanael]

The Pact Domain grants Sense Motive as a class skill.

Oh and note that Church Inquisitor is one of the few PrCs that you can enter after level 3. Though you have to be lawful good or lawful neutral.

 

[Dandu]

There's no way he's a bard. I don't want him to be that frail. ; ] Sorry Dandu.

Bards are d6 hit dice. Clerics, Druids, and Spirit Shamans are d8.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This is obviously the meat of my build. Dannyalcatraz, did you mean the Shaman from Oriental Adventures, or the Spirit Shaman from Complete Divine? I don't think he's the kind of old man who's Flying Tiger Style will defeat the Shaolin's Drunken Monkey Kung Fu. : ]

I did in fact mean the OA version- especially with the 3.5Ed update from Dragon #317 or 318 (I forget which, at this time)- but if you've no interest in playing the wizened, jovial Sufi, no problem. The Spirit Shaman is interesting if you want to go with an animist faith system...but I think the OA version still does that better.

Of course, other classes have interesting "Old Man" associations. Think about the Artificer, the Druid, or a priest of Farlanghan...or Odin...or Bahamut...

Then there are classes like Ardents, Psions, and Totemists who could put a funky spin on things.

 

[marcielle]

Well, you could justify the good reflex by experience. The old man has seen it a hundred times before and knows to start moving BEFORE even the sharpest rogues.