After last night’s Dark Sun D&D Encounters session, my DM asked me about what I would do if I created the pre-generated characters for this season. I posted my thoughts on the pre-gens earlier, but he asked me to go ahead and re do them in character builder (as best I can since not all the rules are in there yet) and see what happens. So without further ado, here are my revisions to the Dark Sun D&D Encounters party:

Barcan, level 1 Human Sorcerer (Spell Source: Cosmic Magic), Theme: Veiled Alliance
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 14, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 20.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 14, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18.
AC: 12 Fort: 13 Reflex: 11 Will: 18
HP: 23 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Insight +4, Arcana +5, History +5, Diplomacy +10, Bluff +10
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics, Dungeoneering -1, Endurance, Heal -1, Intimidate +5, Nature -1, Perception -1, Religion, Stealth, Streetwise +5, Thievery, Athletics +2
FEATS: Human: Superior Implement Training (Incendiary dagger), Level 1: Arcane Reserves
POWERS: Bonus At-Will Power: Arcing Fire, Sorcerer at-will 1: Blazing Starfall, Sorcerer at-will 1: Burning Spray, Sorcerer encounter 1: Explosive Pyre, Theme encounter: Excise From Sight, Sorcerer daily 1: Grounding Rebuke
ITEMS: Incendiary dagger, Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Adventurer’s Kit

Barcan was not a terrible pre-generated character with the exception of his race. Sorcerers really need a 16 or 18 in their secondary stat to keep pace with other strikers for their damage since their bonus is derived from that stat. Barcan only has a 14 Strength so his damage bonus with spells is only +2, pretty poor compared to the +1d6 of a warlock and ranger or +2d6 of a rogue. The disparity is worse if those classes take the appropriate feats to make their bonus damage die a d8. Originally Barcan had two feats that helped alleviate some of this issue under certain circumstances. The feats were not bad, but Superior Implement Training (incendiary dagger) is better since it applies almost all the time rather than only under certain conditions. Plus it offers a +1 to hit bonus that his other feats did not. Overall though, Barcan did not really change much from his pre-gen form, but the minor changes should make him a far more effective striker.

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Castri, level 1 Elf Ranger (Fighting Style: Hunter Fighting Style, Ranger: Prime Shot), Theme:
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 8, Con 11, Dex 20, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 8, Con 11, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.
AC: 18 Fort: 11 Reflex: 16 Will: 13
HP: 23 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Nature +10, Acrobatics +9, Endurance +4, Stealth +9, Athletics +3
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Arcana, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +3, Heal +3, History, Insight +3, Intimidate, Perception +5, Religion, Streetwise, Thievery +4
FEATS: Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Greatbow)
POWERS: Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike, Ranger at-will 1: Fading Strike, Ranger encounter 1: Hindering Shot,
Ranger daily 1: Split the Tree
ITEMS: Hide Armor, Longsword, Greatbow, Dagger

Elves are not optimal choices for melee combatants for most classes since they lack a +2 Strength bonus so Castri’s original build as a marauder ranger isn’t the best. I have recreated him as a hunter ranger using a greatbow since it has the most damage for a medium ranged weapon. This takes advantage of the elf’s two best qualities, +2 Dexterity and Elven Accuracy and greatly improves his overall damage output as a striker. Unfortunately this change alters Castri’s background somewhat. He can probably still be a gladiator, but I don’t think the theme’s encounter power will work well if it is based on strength. Since we don’t have all the details on the theme powers yet, I can’t say for sure what would be best for the new Castri.

If Castri were to remain a melee ranger, he would be better off as a two-weapon fighter so he gets toughness as a free feat to give him more hit points and two larger weapons will allow him to do more melee damage. Here he is with two longswords. To up his damage he could trade out his feat for Lethal Hunter and/or wield dual battleaxes, but both of those options would decrease his attack rolls by +1 each.

Castri, level 1 Elf Ranger (Fighting Style: Two-Blade Fighting Style, Ranger: Running Attack), Theme: Gladiator
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 11, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 11, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8.
AC: 16 Fort: 15 Reflex: 14 Will: 11
HP: 28 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 7
TRAINED SKILLS: Nature +8, Athletics +8, Endurance +4, Perception +8, Acrobatics +7
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Arcana, Bluff -1, Diplomacy -1, Dungeoneering +1, Heal +1, History, Insight +1, Intimidate -1, Religion, Stealth +2, Streetwise -1, Thievery +2
FEATS: Level 1: Weapon Expertise (Heavy Blade)
POWERS: Ranger at-will 1: Shield of Blades, Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike, Ranger encounter 1: Dire Wolverine Strike, Ranger daily 1: Jaws of the Wolf
ITEMS: Hide Armor, Longsword (2)

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Jarvix, level 1 Tiefling Psion (Discipline Focus: Telepathy Focus), Theme: Veiled Alliance
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 8, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 16.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 8, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 14.
AC: 15 Fort: 10 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 23 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +8, Perception +5, Bluff +10
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics, Arcana +5, Dungeoneering, Endurance, Heal, History +5, Insight, Nature, Religion +5, Stealth +2, Streetwise +3, Thievery, Athletics -1
FEATS: Psion: Ritual Caster, Level 1: Superior Implement Training (Crystal orb)
POWERS: Psion at-will 1: Dishearten, Psion at-will 1: Mind Thrust, Theme encounter: Excise From Sight, Psion daily 1: Mental Trauma
ITEMS: Dagger, Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Crystal orb
RITUALS: Comrades’ Succor, Create Campsite

Jarvix was not a bad pre-gen at all, probably the best of this group. The only change I made to him was his feat since it grants him +1 to-hit and +2 damage with all of his attacks instead of the extra use of Distract one per encounter. He now is much more of a striker than before.

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Phye, level 1 Human Ardent (Ardent Mantle: Mantle of Elation), Theme: Noble Adept
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 20.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 18.
AC: 16 Fort: 14 Reflex: 11 Will: 17
HP: 31 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 7
TRAINED SKILLS: Streetwise +10, Heal +5, Insight +5, Athletics +4, Diplomacy +10
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics -1, Arcana -1, Bluff +5, Dungeoneering, Endurance +1, History -1, Intimidate +5, Nature, Perception, Religion -1, Stealth -1, Thievery -1
FEATS: Human: Weapon Expertise (Spear), Level 1: Toughness
POWERS: Ardent at-will 1: Energizing Strike, Ardent at-will 1: Focusing Strike, Bonus At-Will Power: Demoralizing Strike, Theme encounter: Adept’s Insight, Ardent daily 1: Implanted Suggestion
ITEMS: Iron Longspear, Chainmail, Adventurer’s kit

I changed Phye to an Elation Adept rather than a Clarity Adept to slightly increase her survivability since she is the only leader in the party. Her Reflex went down by one, but her Fortitude and Will increased by one each and she has two more hit points and one more healing surge per day. I also changed her mantle of Readiness feat (which is nice, but not great) to Weapon Expertise (spear) to grant her an additional +1 to hit. Her ardent weapon powers now have an attack bonus of +8 instead of +6 and she does one more point of damage with them. The to hit bonus is important since the secondary effects of her powers only take effect if she hits and since she is using a reach weapon to stay out of harm’s way, she will not likely have combat advantage to help her hit.

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Shikirr, level 1 Thri-Kreen Battlemind (Psionic Study: Battle Resilience), Theme: Wilder
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 11, Con 18, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 11, Con 18, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 10.
AC: 19 Fort: 14 Reflex: 13 Will: 15
HP: 38 Surges: 13 Surge Value: 9
TRAINED SKILLS: Intimidate +7, Endurance +7, Athletics +3
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics -1, Arcana -1, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +3, Heal +3, History -1, Insight +3, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion -1, Stealth -1, Streetwise, Thievery -1
FEATS: Level 1: Toughness
POWERS: Battlemind at-will 1: Bull’s Strength, Battlemind at-will 1: Iron Fist, Racial encounter: Thri-Kreen Claws, Theme encounter: Wild Surge, Battlemind daily 1: Aspect of Elevated Harmony
ITEMS: Scale Armor, Heavy Shield, Battleaxe

Shikirr was tough to change since Thri-Kreen are not in character builder. I changed my previous assumption of stat bonuses to +2 Dex and +2 Wis after a colleague pointed out the stats don’t add up right with +2 to Con, not the greatest for a battlemind since they are Con based so he can’t get a 20 in his primary stat. Plus, since he has a +2 to Wisdom, he fits the Resilient Battlemind build better than the Quick Battlemind. Shikirr is now the party’s true tank with an AC of 19. Since he has four arms, you could also assume that he has two light shields rather than one heavy shield. He no longer has reach, but he needs to be adjacent to his marked enemies to invoke his abilities anyway. Now he has a little more staying power to do so.

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Yuka, level 1 Mul Fighter (Fighter: Combat Superiority, Fighter Talents: Tempest Technique), Theme: Wasteland Nomad
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 20, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8.
AC: 17 Fort: 17 Reflex: 11 Will: 11
HP: 36 Surges: 12 Surge Value: 9
TRAINED SKILLS: Intimidate +4, Endurance +7, Athletics +11
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics -1, Arcana, Bluff -1, Diplomacy -1, Dungeoneering, Heal, History, Insight, Nature +2, Perception, Religion, Stealth -1, Streetwise -1, Thievery -1
FEATS: Level 1: Toughness
POWERS: Fighter at-will 1: Grappling Strike, Fighter at-will 1: Dual Strike, Fighter encounter 1: Spinning Sweep, Racial encounter: Incredible Toughness, Theme encounter: Wasteland Fury, Fighter daily 1: Ruinous Assault
ITEMS: Chainmail, Longsword, Spiked gauntlet

Originally I was going to change Yuka from a Grappling Fighter to a Battlerager Fighter to take advantage of his Con bonus, but after rebuilding Shikirr as the party’s main tank, I decided to keep Yuka a little more like his original comcept and opted for Tempest Technique. He can still use grappling strike to grab enemies, but now he does a little more damage than before.

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Well, there they are. Not the best characters in the world, but better IMHO than they were before. The party has a little more resilience and damage output which is the name of the game when it comes to D&D Encounters.

Until next time…