Presented by Squirrelloid and Iaimeki:
I highly recommend you read the Dead Levels II article now, at least the part about Swashbucklers and Seduce to Learn Secret. (See
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20070227x) Its mostly crap, but the Swashbuckler ability is totally hawtsome. And that's not a word I usually use.
Build Sources: PHB, DMG, MiniHB, CW, CA, MoI, RoD, CV (aid another action rules update)
With no further ado… the seductress.
“Ok, the evil wizard is just through the next door.”
“We take him on 3… 2…”
“Hold on guys, let me try.”
**slips through doorway**
“Oh Edgar, I hear you’ve been a very evil boy!”Half-elf Swa4/Mar1/Warl1/Brd1 (with Brd1 racial substitution)
Relevant stats: 18 Cha starting -> venerable (+3), level (+1) -> 22
Feats: SkF(Bluff), Meld (Silvertongue Mask), Leadership
Items: +2 Cha item, Mwk Tool Diplomacy (make-up kit), Mwk Tool Seduction (sexy lingerie), +8 bluff item, +8 diplomacy item. (16900gp)
Bluff: 7 Cha + 10 ranks + 3 SkF(Bluff) +2 Silvertongue Mask + 8 item + 7 motivate Cha + 6 warlock + 2 mwk item (sexy lingerie) (+ 4 to 6 Aid Another) = +45 (+49-51)
Diplomacy: 6 Cha + 10 ranks + 6 synergy + 2 racial + 2 Silvertongue Mask + 8 item + 6 motivate Cha +6 warlock +2 mwk item (make-up kit) (+4 to 6 Aid Another) = +48 (+54-56).
“Interloper! Now you die!”
“Woh woh, lets not be hasty.” *plays with bauble hanging down near top of bodice to draw attention to ample cleavage* “I’m sure we can think of much more pleasant things to do with each other.”
*Mesmerized* “Yes… yes… of course…”
“Good…. Do you mind if I bring a friend?”Cohort
Half-elf Swa4/Warl1
Relevant stats: 18 Cha starting -> venerable (+3), level (+1) -> 22
Feats: SkF (Bluff), Silvertongue Mask
Items: Mwk Tool Seduction (sexy lingerie), Mwk Tool Diplomacy (make-up kit) (100gp)
For Aid-Another purposes:
Bluff: +6 Cha +7 Motivate + 5 feats + 8 ranks +2 mwk item (sexy lingerie) +6 Warlock = +34
Diplomacy: +6 Cha +7 Motivate + 2 Feat (meld) + 8 ranks + 4 synergy + 2 racial + 2 mwk item (make-up kit) + 6 Warlock = +37
In the hallway, the other party members each have their ear pressed to the door…
“They’ve stopped talking.”
“What the heck is she doing in there?”
Time passes… Party clearly hears loud noises from other side of the door.
“She didn’t…”So, the Dead Levels II article promises low-powered abilities that won’t really balance out classes. Then it gives us Seduce to Learn Secret, which basically gives a character Carte Blanche to air anyone’s dirty laundry (or not, for the right price) with a static skill DC. The advantage here is that knowledge is power. Any adventure that hinges on discovering a crucial piece of information (or not discovering it) can be totally short-circuited by this character.
The next thing that should be noted is that your diplomacy check, even before Aid Another kicks in, is already high enough to take the -10 to make a diplomacy check as a full round action and *automatically make a hostile monster or character friendly*, and a decent shot at hitting helpful too. This means that your hawtsome +49 or better Seduction check also gets a +5 modifier from their attitude, so we’re shooting farther towards not having to sleep with everyone. (I’m sure there’s a lot of disappointed boys out there, but seriously, 1d4+1 hours for *every* secret known by 3 or fewer people you want to know? Crazy. You’ll be in bed all day – and most of that will probably be with old or venerable *humans* (who age poorly, clearly unlike the totally hot half-elves above), so your fantasy bedroom scenes aren’t actually all that… desirable… to think to hard about).
Finally, this ability literally works on anyone. You can totally knock on your deity of choice’s bedroom door, talk them out of their nightclothes, and get them to spill the secrets of the universe. Its not even hard. (You can do it at 7th level!) Really, I’m just sad that Ao is just as easy as Elminster who’s just as easy as Tabitha the Barmaid – there just aren’t any challenging conquests out there for the “high-level” seductress.
Please note that Seduce to Learn Secret requires that the “nonplayer character must find the swashbuckler physically attractive.” Because most DMs are male, most NPCs are going to default to being male because that is more comfortable with the DM, so playing a female character *actually gives you more power*. (But that’s ok, we have nothing against wanting to play hot half-elf women). Furthermore, even though D+D claims gender neutrality, that only seems to hold for PCs – NPCs are stuck in a pseudo-medieval recreation in almost all campaign worlds, which virtually requires almost everyone in a position of power be male. (I’m also willing to bet that 99% of games don’t feature many homosexual characters either). But even if the person you want to learn a secret from is the wrong gender relative to you for their sexual preference, you’ve got Bard 1 casting and thus you take Disguise Self – problem solved.
The write-up also notes that Gather Information will be useful to figure out who knows what you want to know – that’s ok, we also max that badboy out while we’re at it. Your second most important stat is intelligence because you love your skill points. Really, Gather Information to find out who knows the secret you want really isn’t the use you’re really after. Its Gather Information to find out what secrets given people know that will fill your purse when you pry those secrets from them.
Its barely worth noting, but this character has all the abuses of the classic Diplomancer builds as well, with DCs high enough to more than matter. I won’t bother to repeat them here, you can check out:
http://boards1.wizards.com/wotc_archive ... br][I]More Time Passes.
*Slipping out of door, followed by cohort*
*Wakes up sleeping party*
“I found out what we need to know. Let’s get going… well, maybe we could sleep first?”[/I]