Anyone Interested in a Powergamer-Friendly 3.5 game?

I love dnd, but I hate playing it as a person who likes to optimize and make crazy builds. Therefore, I was thinking about starting a game in which interesting, powerful builds were more than welcome, and a challenge would be provided at that level. The setting is homebrew. Players will be mercenaries, fresh out of a prestigious academy which specializes in training the very best warriors the world has to offer. You will be free to do as you please from there, wandering a world of warring, squabbling city-states after the collapse of a giant empire. Players who are interested will receive the setting in its entirety [I am too lazy to post it all here] It will be text-based, with a fairly heavy emphasis on roleplaying, as it will be up to the PCs to get themselves stuck into fights, what with the game being very free-form. The way I am making sure that everyone does not just roll wizard and run wild is this: I am using the partial-gestalt method of character generation. I will be going by this tier list [ <a href="http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php" rel="nofollow">http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php</a>?... ] For every level of a tier 5-6 class one takes, they get another for free, with everything that goes along with it. Tier 3-4 levels get an additional NPC class level, again with all bells and whistles. Anything tier 1-2 get jack shit, because they are already well on their way to godhood. Level 10 starting, 32 point buy and standard wealth by level. I will accept just about anything, as long as it does not ruin the fun for the rest of the group. I will hold veto power for anything, but so long as it is rules-legal, you can PROVE it is rules-legal, and it is fun for the group and yourself, go nuts. The time will be afternoons-evenings EST, with the day being up to the players, [the choices being wednesday, thursday(late), friday, saturday] Good luck, fellow munchkins. May all your ventures be profitable.

Not able to play (sadly). Just curious about the rules you use. Does that mean you can at level 10 have 20 fighter levels for instane? I assume the extra levels must be same class, or at least same tier?

Shame you can't play. Not quite- you get a level of a DIFFERENT class in the same tier bracket if you are leveling tier 5-6. So fighter//paladin for example.

I may be interested.

This still lets people have a theoretical 2 BAB, but there is no super early access to capstones. On the topic of prestige classes, they are treated as the same tier as the one that led into them. So wizard of the rainbow bullshit would be tier 1, as it is led into by wizards.

Excellent: welcome to the party megan

Want to play (but can not): Factotum 10, Expert 10. Need skills? I have skillz :)

I looked at that tier system, and it... really sucks... It seriously puts the NPC expert on the same level as a fighter, monk or paladin? An NPC adept above them? I've played fighter types before, and I've never felt "worthless" around the spellcasters. It sounds like this system was made by someone who has a serious beef against the spellcaster and skill-based classes.

This is meant to help me make a balancing system, so I appreciate criticism. I am more than happy to be proven wrong, or change my cobbled-together rules, though I will not be making changes until after I see it in action. I encourage you to make whatever character you want, and if you believe that this system allows for a very imbalanced build, I especially encourage you to make it. That being said, I would be thrilled to see your version of a tier list - other opinions are always welcome. On the topic of your critique of this particular list, it is formulated on a "flexibility times power" basis. Wizards have incredible power, and can bring that about in virtually any situation due to the way they prepare spells. A Fighter, on the other hand, may be very powerful in combat, but cannot bring that potential to the other areas of a DnD game [espionage, social situations, infiltration etc.] with ease.

Here is the link to the LFG forum: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/17555/freedom-magical-europe" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/17555/freedom-magical-europe</a>

Well, the problem that I have with that formulation is that it assumes that those areas are somehow on par with combat in relevance and importance. In a game where the core mechanic is "beat things up and take their stuff" I think that's really downplaying the importance of those warrior types. If you really sat down with the majority of players and asked "would you rather I play a fighter or an adept?", how many are really going to say that they'd rather have the adept at their side instead of a skilled fighter? Yet, according to this system, the adept is a higher tier, so they should benefit a party more than the fighter, monk or paladin. Then, you have the NPC expert, which is at the same level as the fighter types. Yet, it has no real offensive capability. It uses simple weapons and light armor. It's considered to be "equal" to the fighter types because it has a bunch of skills, which may never even see use. This character would be at the back of a party, and most people would view it as a useless character that should stay at home. Again, in a game that focuses heavily on combat, the expert has almost none, but somehow is going to hold a candle, gamewise, to fighters and paladins? Then, you have the generic expert class (from Unearthed Arcana) which beats the NPC expert hands-down. It should, by this system, probably be a tier above fighters and paladins, since it seriously outclasses the NPC expert which shares their level. Yet, I still wouldn't want to pick one over a fighter. Yes, spellcasters do tend to have a bit of power, but I don't think that the overshadowing is as drastic as the maker of this tier system is trying to suggest. A group of all wizards would no doubt come across obstacles that they couldn't face, because they can't have a spell prepared for every possible event. Plus, fighters can keep swinging a sword forever, while a wizard only has so many spells. I don't think that any DM worth his salt should have a problem working with spellcasters in the group. They're intended to be in the group, which is why the "classic" party would be fighter/rogue/wizard/cleric. They fill necessary spots to make a group balanced.

Seriously I don't know what you're complaining about, if you like fighters so much then play one. You even get to have gestalt classes. If they're as powerful as you think they are then you just slip under the radar with an OP class combo. This game is made for OP. Prove everyone wrong. That said. I would love to play an artificer in a game that doesn't care how broken they are.

Thanks for the backup Gordon, though I appreciate your point Megan. Gordon, play whatever you want, as long as it is fun for you and the rest of the group, I am more than happy to run it.

Well, that's just the thing... Gestalt doesn't make a class considerably more powerful. It adds depth to a character, usually giving them more options, but this is versatility, not power. Only a rare few gestalt options (like rogue/fighter) really creates a situation where the abilities of multiple classes stack to make something that's more powerful, rather than just more adaptable, and that's only if the build is set up to take advantage of both a fighter's attack options and a rogue's sneak attack.

In this case, though, I think that fighter/monk is calling to me. Those, in fact, stack quite nicely...

So, what's allowed for this game? Any homebrew at all? Because I want to shoot for a Spellwarp Sniper build using a Warmage, but there is a Warmage remake that I absolutely love and feel really captures the power of a Warmage. Actually for that matter, how the devil would PrC's would with this partial Gestalt system?

No homebrew, and there is a separate tier list for prc that I am working on integrating. Are you interested in joining?

Pity no homebrew is allowed... but yeah, I'm still interested in joining. Still going to be going Warmage/Spellwarp Sniper. So, I'll like to see what Tier you would consider Spellwarp to be. Oh and, as I'm going to be Ray Focused... might I be able to get the Sorcerer's Hand from Arms and Equipment? Its a +1 light crossbow that when I use it as a focus for Ray spells, lets me apply the enchantment bonuses of the crossbow to the ray, and increase its DC by 1, though its rather expensive.

I would be interested in joining, when do you plan on playing? I was thinking of using a dragonfire adept as my class, not sure what the second class would be yet.

Idk - I am free every day except sunday and tuesday, and monday is a pretty bad day. apart from that, i am free as a bird to cater to your every whim.