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A search just brings up references to levelling tools, which is not incredibly useful.

What I'm thinking of is something that allows you to specify a race and abilities, say what class(es) you want, then it shows you all at once the skills/feats/spells/etc that you can choose from, with complete descriptions of what they do, and lists any conflicts that might arise from choosing different combinations.

I know it's not difficult to do, just a bit time-consuming, so why hasn't anyone done it, or if they have - where is it?

Gah.

*Searches nwvault*

...


Nope, if it aint there; it doesnt exist.

If you didnt want to use it all the time you could just flag down a NWN vet to help you.

I'm definately a NWN whore and I've played 3E DnD for a while (they use the same rules more or less).  If you have anything you want to ask me about making a character go for it.  And about that planner program...sounds like you better get started on that SS.

ehm or finish other things first?

Don't worry opper, I don't intend to take on any more projects until I've done the main parts for my current ones, and have them flowing along nicely.

As for character planning, I have only got one in mind at the moment, but it would still be nice not to need to run to someone else nor spend a million years studying three manuals, alongside several patch changes. :P

The current character I want is essentially a Shadowdancer/Sorcerer.
However, I don't want a combat Sorcerer, I want to strengthen that class in using Counter & healing spells.
So, unless I play through with a big strong half-orc and let him do all the fighting until I get high enough to start levelling as a Shadowdancer (which is a little boring), I'm going to need to start as a fighter/ranger/rogue/barbarian, yes?
But which of these would best complement my main goal? Rogues have the advantage of having the most skill points, meaning I can quickly get the 23 combined ranks in Move Silently, Hide & Tumble which Shadowdancer requires, but they only have a d6 hit die. Barbarians have d12 hit die and quite a few skill points, but don't have any of the three skills I need as class skills. Rangers have the appropriate class skills and as many skill points per level, with a d10 dice, but then again their special abilities are perhaps not quite as useful to me as an extra feat every other level, which Fighters have, although they get less skill points.

You see why a character planner would be good - so I could quickly build each of these and efficiently analyse the overall advantages, without having to spend ages looking through the manual or waste time manually levelling up, noting stuff down, resetting, etc.

Anyhow, suggestions?

I'm not understanding the reasoning for sorceror since you want healing and counter spells.  Multiclassing with barbarian won't do anything helpful for you, except raise your speed a little bit.  You'll get some item that grants the haste property by the time you have the prereqs for shadowdancer so it pretty much gets negated.  You'll never rage as a shadowdancer so that becomes obsolete also.  Having a level in ranger would be good for the dual wield ability, but the experience penalty you get from multiclassing makes having one level of ranger not worth it, in my opinion.  Personally, I would start out with 5 levels in rogue and then go to five levels in cleric.  After that take shadowdancer all the way.  Being a rogue gives you the skill points you need, sneak attack damage, and some rogue abilities (uncanny dodge and evasion I think).  Then being a cleric gives you powerful spells, both healing and offensive, that don't suffer any chance of spell failure due to armor.  Also, both these classes have the same base attack progression, so you don't lose any base attack bonus points.  For example, as a sorceror you get +1 BA every two levels, so if you take an odd number of levels in Sor/Wiz, you pretty much waste +1 to all your attacks.  Skills and feats are totally up to you.  I don't know what shadowdancer prereqs are.  Ability point wise I would go with Dex as my highest and use a ranged weapon/light armor.  Con would be good since your hit dies would never be more than the cleric's 8.  Wis is important for your cleric spells and Int is important for skills, so those two are neck and neck.  Str wouldn't be important if you were using mostly ranged weapons/spells/sneak attacking.  Cha effects undead turning and a couple rogue skills, but still is least important.  I'm too lazy to do it on my own machine but try the Rog5/Clr5 shadowdancer and see how it comes out and what needs to be changed.

Yep... everything Thamior said is correct. If you want to heal - Cleric. Simple enough.

Gah, that makes total sense, dunno how I missed Cleric. :/

If you want to be a healy/casty/fighty person (a real jack of all trades) try a Sorceror/Cleric/Palemaster.

I tried being an evil character before, but I couldn't stop doing good stuff. :mellow:
Maybe I could get away with being a Neutral PaleMaster, but it'd require effort.

Another alternative to the rogue/cleric I suggested would be a rogue/druid.  Druid might even be better than cleric.  You still get spells, including healing spells and offensive spells, but I'm not quite sure how many.  You'd have to check on that.  But being a druid move silently, hide, and a lot of that fun rogue stuff remain class skills.  Also, you would get an animal companion which is pretty strong.  I would take the panther which is also considered a rogue as far as the game goes (it gets sneak attack and rogue skills).  I actually want to make a druid-assassin character.  They fill the prereqs due to the skill similarities and for roleplaying reasons, druids and assassins are both good with poison, so in many cases it would make sense for an evil druid to become an assassin.  So you can try to play around with a rogue/druid shadowdancer too and see what happens.  Here's stuff I forgot to mention before.  I forgot race.  If you go with the rogue/cleric one I'd say go for halfling but I'd recommend elf for the rogue/druid.  Any race would work more or less just the same though.  Okay have fun.

P.S.  Low-leveled sorcerors suck.  Their spells become crap unless every character level you have is in sorceror.  Their familiars get killed in one hit.  They have barely any proficiencies.  They don't get many skills points.  Their hit die is a pathetic d4.  Never multiclass with sorceror unless it's absolutely necessary (ie Arcance Archer).  Even with the level 27 arcane archer I used for HotU, he was Ftr6/Wiz4/Arc17.  I avoid sorcery.

Druids smell. :P

I was planning on going with Humans because of the easier multi-classing and extra skill points.
Although do Prestige classes count for multiclassing? I've never seen it said that they don't, but I've got an odd feeling...

I don't like Halflings, for the same reasons as I dislike Gnomes & Dwarves.

PrCs count for multiclassing.

Druids are ok, but Clerics become stupid-powerful above level 12. Well worth the early levelling issues.

Doesnt Cleric cover all of those?

No, clerics are *really* crap at fighting and apart from Harm their offensive spells arent upto much.

Are you sure about that?  Because I was gonna say that they don't.  Most prestige classes require you to multiclass just to fulfill the prereqs.  If the PrC counted as a class of its own almost every character would suffer an XP penalty.  I know for a fact that they don't count against you in 3E DnD and that's where the NWN ruleset comes from.  I don't think SS plans on taking his character up to Clr12 if he's gonna multiclass for Shadowdancer.  As for what Ripper said, I think SS is going for a stealthy character, which a cleric would definately not be.  SS, what campaign are you looking to play?  That's a big factor in what kind of character you should be making.

I'm playing SoU, but I'll carry it over to HotU afterwards.

The fuck have you been smoking???
If you give them a high/semi-high strength, they are just fighters with spells!

Not fighters because they have lower base attack progression than fighters.  Also, fighters get tons of bonus feats whereas a cleric gets none.  So Ripper is way off on that comment.  But clerics definately don't suck at fighting, but they certainly aren't the best.  They're a whole helluva lot better than sorcerors anyway.

i agree with that last statement :sheep:  

Unless you focus on making them combat worthy (War and Strength domains, the stat enhancing spells kept around you at all times, high str...), a pureclass Cleric will never be a match for anything other than a Wizard, Sorceror and most Bards in a melee.

With full buffs (Inc Undeaths Eternal Foe...), War and Strength domain powers, the following is acheivable with no equipment.

Thats sick; before you consider the fact that the first of those I cast will run out about 3 seconds after the last one  is cast. Fine for showcasing, but no use in actual combat.

(http://www.nwduneauron.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/buffed.gif)


And now, fully equipped (Strength Domain powers ended just before I took this one, so the str would be 3/4 higher... but you get the idea.)


(http://www.nwduneauron.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/eek.gif)

I challenge you to make a Cleric thats better in combat than that beast...

DUDE! this so makes me want to get back into the DM chair!!

I still like my socially unacceptable fighter...few if any spells hurt my character, same for traps.  He heals all the time so no need for being a claric, and anything in his way is subject to being smashed to itty-bitty bits.  :D

can you say 'power play'?  I know I can
he's easy to role play too.  but I don't have anyone to role play with, so it really doesn't matter :sheep:  

My current main character (being played on the persistant world Avlis) is a shy, stuttering elven cleric with a dark past she really doesnt want to talk about, and a lot of phobias...

Great fun.

I'm not a fan of when people overaccentuate their characters, but if that's how you want to play a character I guess you're entitled to.  It's more fun to have a kleptomaniac character who focuses on stealing doorknobs.  Then you just use a "Sack Full of Doorknobs" as your weapon in combat.  You have to take an exotic weapon prof. feat, but it could be worth it.  Bludgeoning damage is good vs. undead at least.  And smi, I wish you lived by me.  I need a group of decent people to game with, especially ones who want to DM.  Mostly people bitch and moan if they don't play a PC so our DM has his own (N)PC as well.  Don't ask me how that's supposed to make sense.

ooo I had a bag full of skulls once.  mole stole it and put it in a safe tho :( now I am weaponless

Omg, do you spam every thread you come across?

Methinks a certain little burning fey-folk needs a spam warning, perhaps?

playing a centuar is wierd but my RPing is crap. i need to hit off with the good old woodland creature riddles

So what'd you finally decide on for the direction you're gonna take with your character SS?

no no i'll be good.  so umm how long have you people been playing NWN?

I'm going down the Cleric/Rogue route. :)

I think the Cleric/Rogue is a good pick, and it would be very fun to play.  More or less (more then less) an evil character, SS?
Thamior, my last game I DMed lasted about 4 year I think... <_<  and yes, DMs should not have (N)PCs, my group has a sound effect for those NPCs that get forgotten.  And besides, it's not very fun to get helped/saved by the DM (I let PCs die..)
One of these days I'll have my new campaign that's well thought out (which is new for me) and I'll post it here.  Don’t hold your breath, it may not come... :( I'm not a very good DM :sheep:

Note: it's a pain in the ass when the PCs know the DMG just as well as they know the PHB.  The players talk back to the DM, 'but in the DMG it says..' or 'but my character already knows..' (which no, he shouldn't know...)  it's so much easier for the DM when people don't meta-play!

I've said before, I'm no good at being evil. :P

If my memory is correct then I'm currently 100% Good and 13% Lawful.

I don't have a DMG but knowing the PHB pretty well allows me to correct our DM pretty often since he was such a dumbass.  Just on dumb things like attacks of opportunity and some combat rules.

Playing an evil character can be very tough, if for no other reason just because it usually cuts your quests and subplots short.  When you tell an NPC to "Fuck off!  I don't wanna hear your bitching!" it gets kinda hard to have them offer you a job.  If you play an evil character you would have to play him so that he's nice to people up front, but he has evil, concealed motives.  The other thing you can do which I enjoyed A LOT is to download a module specifically made for an evil character.  I recently played and finished a three part series called the Rogues of Quinn designed for a Lawful Evil Rogue.  It was an insane amount of fun and I couldn't pull myself away from it.  I would say it took more than 20 hours to complete.  I highly recommend it.  It took my character from 1-12th level and had a good storyline.

P.S.  Class specific modules usually turn out to be the coolest since you get personalized equipment and the module really utilizes your skills and combat techniques to the fullest.  So far I've played the Twilight series (Paladin), Kale's Rangers, and Rogues of Quinn.

Being evil doesnt mean you have to flip everyone off, though I will concede that playing Lawful Evil is a darn sight easier than Chaotic Evil.

im neutral chaotic, for the sould purpose and making my own rules with blatent disgregard for others though i dont hafta destroy everything i see, problem is avlis death plains  :(