Let's Build: Captain America

"You can't beat me, because I'm an American!"

-Bandit Keith, Yu Gi Oh Abridged Series

One of the coolest things about D&D 3.5 edition is the sheer freedom the volume and range of published content give you to build just about anything you want. This is one build I've always wanted to play: Captain America, i.e. shield-based melee fighter.

The basic concept of Captain America builds is pretty simple: acquire shield, hit people with it. Indeed, you can do a bare-bones build just by being proficient with a Heavy Steel Shield and putting the Returning enchantment on it...but let's take it a step further than that, shall we?

Again, the build concept is simple enough (hit things with shield, throw shield sometimes, punch stuff rest of the time) such that you can use several combinations of classes and PrCs to pull it off, but here is one I came up with:

-

The Build

Race: Human

Fighter 2/ Warblade 3 / Bloodstorm Blade 5/ Warblade 1 / Fighter 2 / Warblade 7

Feats:

Level 1: Improved Shield Bash, Power Attack, Shield Specialization

Level 2: Point Blank Shot

Level 3: Shield Charge

Level 6: Agile Shield Fighter

Level 9: Shield Slam

Level 12: Superior Unarmed Strike

Level 13: Shield Sling

Level 15: Stormguard Warrior

Level 18: Snap Kick

Max out the following skills:

Concentration

Jump

Put 8 ranks in Balance by Level 5

Put leftover skillpoints into Diplomacy

-

The Stats

Assuming 32 point buy...

If you're trying to replicate Captain America the character as much as possible, I suggest the following distribution of stats:

16 Str

14 Dex

14 Con

12 Int

10 Wis

12 Cha

If instead you're trying to optimize your stats as much as possible:

18 Str

10 Dex

16 Con

12 Int

8 Wis

8 Cha

In other words, prioritize your stats in the following way, from highest to lowest priority:

Captain America: Str>Con>Dex/Int/Cha>Wis

Optimized: Str>Con>Int>Dex/Wis/Cha

-

Build Notes

The Bloodstorm Blade is a PrC from the Tome of Battle that basically lets you use melee weapons as throwing weapons, and gives you various boosts for doing so. For example, with levels in Bloodstorm Blade you can make Power Attacks with thrown weapons (including 2-handed power attacks for double the damage!), key your throwing attacks off of your Strength instead of Dexterity, and attack everyone in range at once by expending a maneuver. It also gives you certain feats for free, like Throw Anything (which lets you throw stuff like shields without taking the usual Improvised Weapon penalty). Meanwhile, the Warblade is not only a great melee class, but you also need to know Iron Heart maneuvers to get into the Bloodstorm Blade PrC and use its class features.

As for the levels in Fighter...well, doing stuff with the shield requires a big number of feats. Levels of Fighter is a good way to get those feats quickly.

This build was designed to be viable and fun to play starting from Level 1. If you were starting at higher levels, a different combination of classes and feats might be better.

Following this progression of classes, here is a recommended list of Warblade maneuvers, and when to get them:

Character Level 3 (Initiator Level (IL) = 2): Steel Wind, Steely Strike, Moment of Perfect Mind, Bolstering Voice

Character Level 4 (Initiator Level (IL) = 3): Wall of Blades

Character Level 5 (Initiator Level (IL) = 4): Mountain Hammer

Character Level 11 (Initiator Level (IL) = 7.5): Leaping Dragon Stance, Switch out Steel Wind for Iron Heart Surge

Character Level 14 (Initiator Level (IL) = 8.5): Battle Leader's Charge

Character Level 11 (Initiator Level (IL) = 9.5): Switch out Steely Strike for Sudden Leap

Character Level 16 (Initiator Level (IL) = 10.5): Pouncing Charge

Character Level 17 (Initiator Level (IL) = 11.5): Nothing

Character Level 18 (Initiator Level (IL) = 12.5): Covering Strike

Character Level 19 (Initiator Level (IL) = 13.5): Change Battle Leader's Charge to White Raven Strike, Dancing Blade Form

Character Level 20 (Initiator Level (IL) = 14.5): Manticore Parry

The maneuvers list is focused on getting some good staple maneuvers (Moment of Perfet Mind, Wall of Blades, Pouncing Charge), getting Iron Heart Maneuvers to expend on Bloodstorm Blade abilities, and White Raven stuff because that's the sort of thing Captain America would do.

-

 The Tactics

From levels 1-5, before you get Bloodstorm Blade levels, you will basically just be a regular Warblade type except you smack people with a shield instead of a sword. Maneuvers, full BAB, and a d10/d12 should be more than enough to carry you through levels 1-5. Make sure to wield your shield two-handed for that 1.5x Str bonus to damage!

From Level 6 onwards, you have a lot of options up your sleeve. You can fight in melee, or you can throw your shield around, even use maneuvers by throwing your shield; after Level 9, you can debuff enemies by charging into them in melee (Daze and also trip them) or make a full-attack while throwing your shield. And, of course, there are your maneuvers.

As for Stormguard Warrior: this feat has a special clause where you can spend one round making melee touch attacks that do no damage on one opponent. For each touch attack you successfully make this way, then the next round you get a +5 bonus to hit on that opponent. So if you can get 3 or 4 touch attacks on your enemy, you can two-handed Power Attack your opponent for, like, a billion damage and not have to worry about missing.

-

The Shield

Of course, we can't forget the shield itself!

At Level 1, get yourself a Heavy Steel Shield. As soon as you can, put some Shield Spikes on it: it buffs the shield bash damage from 1d4 to 1d6. (I know Captain America's shield isn't spiky—fluff it so that it's, like, shield reinforcements or something that lets the shield hurt more when it bashes someone.)

As you can levels, try to get the following properties on your shield, ordered from highest priority to lowest:

Bashing enhancement (PHB) (+1 enhancement): Boosts the size of your shield's bash damage die by 2 steps. If you have Shield Spikes, this makes your Heavy Steel Shield do 2d6 damage.

Make the shield out of Obdurium (Stronghold Builder's Guide) (+4000 gp): Obdurium is from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, which is a 3.0 book, so ask your DM if you can use it—if you can't, just make the shield out of Adamantium. Obdurium is the same as Adamantium, except objects made out of it have twice the hitpoints as an item made of Adamantium, plus it has 30 hardness. Sadly, Vibranium does not exist in the D&D world, so Obdurium is the best you've got.

Valorous enhancement (Unapproachable East) (+1): When you charge with a weapon with the Valorous enhancement on it, you deal double damage with that weapon.

Ghost Ward (Magic Item Compendium) (+1): Ghost Ward gives you a bonus to your AC against touch attacks. The bonus is equal to the enhancement bonus on the shield.

Also, remember that, for the purposes of magical enhancements, the shield and the spikes on the shield are different; the spikes count as a weapon, so you can enchant it separately from the shield. You can only apply weapon enhancements on the spikes. Some good ones to get:

Collision (Expanded Psionics Handbook) (+2): +5 to damage on the weapon. This is technically a psionic enhancement rather than a magical one, but putting this on a magical weapon shouldn't be a problem.

Defending (Player's Handbook) (+1): At the beginning of your turn, you can transfer some or all of your weapon's enhancement bonus to your AC. So if you have a +5 sword, you trade away some or all of that +5 and add it to your AC instead. This is probably better for someone who uses a shield mostly for defense rather than offense like you, but it's an option.

Other equipment:

Breastplate: Breastplates are the best Medium armor in the game, and for melee fighters who want to stay mobile (i.e. not get slowed down to 20 ft. per round movement by heavy armor), the best melee armor in the game when made of Mithral (which makes it light armor, and therefore does not slow you down).

Fanged Ring: Your Unarmed Strike is going to be your backup option, for when your shield is out of commission or you otherwise need to punch someone in the face—like, say, when you're being grappled. The Fanged Ring, as mentioned in the Totemist, gives you Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike). Once you get Agile Shield Fighter (make an extra shield bash attack, with all attacks that round taking a -2 penalty to attack) and Snap Kick (make an extra unarmed strike, with all attacks that round taking a -2 penalty to attack), you can spam quite a few attacks per round. Make up for the accuracy penalty with Stormguard Warrior.