DDO @GenCon2012: Quest #1 - Build your character!

[My2Cents]

You'll need Finesse for sure,

And maybe wear The Big Top (Top Hat) and a Spider Mask.

(Wouldn't hurt to have some doubloons in your pockets for emergency spending money.)

[Janitorman]

HORC barb for sure...

Max str and con for when the pushing starts

intimidate to get swag off the smaller, nerdier builds wandering around.

Dismiss rage is a must when security gets comes looking for who started the shoving.

Toughness and all save boosting feats as well.

Starter rags and a greatclub = part in the crowd wherever you go

[Tyrande]

Maximum charisma human sorceress.

Strength: 10 (Enough strength to carry all the swag and walk)
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 16 (To play all the games)
Wisdom: 8
Charisma: 18 (Attract all the important people and repel the non-important ones)

Past Life Feats: Bard, Rogue, Barbarian
Feats:
Force of Personality (its a people skill)
Insight-full Reflexes (for dodging the crowds and get past lines when necessary)

Skills:
Max haggle, diplomacy, bluff: if you can't bargain the swags, or persuade to have the swags, at least cheat your way to some swags.

Epic Destiny: Shadowdancer with improved invisibility ranked 3.

Strategy:
Buff Self with haste, blur, displacement and invisibility.
Cast Otto's dance to create a party. For people that are not dancing, use Irresistible Dance spell. For people that are too strongly willed to join the party: Flesh to Stone so that they can remained statues in line.
Refresh invisibility so that they don't even know who invited them to the party.

Talked to Turbine staff with haggle first, then diplomacy. If neither of those works, try bluff. If that doesn't work, turn on improved invisibility, cast Otto's Irresistible dance, Energy drain and then Flesh to Stone quickened. Take the swag while improved invisible.

Gear:
Twilight: The Element of Magic Staff.

If they aren't impressed with all the party spells, at least they are impressed seeing a pony.
The +3 DC to Enchantment there also helps.

[redspecter23]

Well you would have to be warforged for starters. Immunity to SLEEP! Wow. My number one downfall at any long convention is wasting time sleeping. Going 24/7 is so much more productive. Immunity to exhaustion and energy drain will keep your cash from being wasted on energy drinks to stay active. Disease save bonuses keep nasty cold bugs from ruining your time at the con.

The logical choice for class would have to be artificer. Keeping yourself fully functional at a moment's notice (reconstruction) would be key to keeping up with the massive amounts of mobs. A few handy blade barriers can clear the path to your next destination easily. On the off chance you're running a bit late, send your pet ahead to hold a spot in line or hold a seat for you.

[ThomasMink]

I'd go with a high charisma to help aid those social situations and actually have somewhat of a presence when put in them.. a decent constitution so I could actually survive the convention.. and at least a few points in strength to avoid encumbrance would also be nice.

Would probably also wear some gear to help out fortitude saves to help with conflu, or whatever it's called, that tends to go around at those things.. and perhaps also to help with the many 'stinking clouds' that may or may not be present.

[Memnir]

A WF Ranger/Bard.
You will need the favored enemies human/ooze/vermin - and as the bard's ability to keep morale high as well as crowd control.

Str: 16
Dex: 16
Con: 18
Int: 8
Wis: 12
Cha: 14

You will need a high Str to carry swag, Dex to benefit your evasion while navigating the crowd, and maxed Con to be able to deal with Convention Stench.


Speaking of the particular odor of cons... this is where being a WF is key. No needing to breathe means you can avoid most of the funk - but when it's unavoidable, you should be packing a Filtration Module, just in case.

[jkm13]

The most optimal conventioneer? I'd suggest a Warforged Wizard.

Warforged traits are critical. Immunity to sleep, energy drain, nausea, exhaustion, poison and disease? Yes, please! The bonus to Con is always helpful and frankly the penalty to Wis and Cha are not going to nerf you compared to your fellow convention goers.

For abilities, max INT is a must both for boosts to cross-class skills and to get your DCs higher.

STR needs some attention, mostly because the swag bag missed the recent update so its contents still has weight. Rumors that the devs are going to add "Tenser's floating disc" to the game have so far proven unfounded.

Put a few points in WIS to off-set your warforged penalty because you'll need some Will-save boost and at a convention, Spot is necessary skill. Casting "detect secret swag" won't cut it for every situation. In fact, spend cross-class skill points in Spot (and cannith-craft a cheap +Spot/+WIS item).

As to dump stats, let's pick DEX and CHA. Dexterity, you ask? Yes. You're not going to get it high enough to really matter and you have room in your build for Insightful Reflexes. Spend the build points elsewhere.

Some argue for high CHA to get into parties. Bah. With good enough DCs you can "otto's dancing sphere" and make your own parties. "Mind fog" synergizes nicely both with the Will-save penalty and to make the light show more trippy. Naturally, a few high-will types will fail to succumb to your dweomer-social engineering, but they typically have low fort so a quick "flesh to stone" not only removes their buzz-kill aura but also gives the partiers a convenient place to hang jackets, purses, and swag-bags.

"Power word: stun" is useful for getting to the front of lines as is "invisibility". (shh!) "Symbol of fear" and "symbol of stunning" can also work, but remember there are other casters around and symbols get wonky when they're used near each other. Best to stick with power words.

All the charm and dominate spells are useful but use them judiciously. Becoming the center of attention makes navigating around more difficult and remember you have to be adjacent to a mob to dismiss the charm. Especially towards the end of the convention you do *not* want to be adjacent to hygene-penalized mobs, immunity to nausea and poison notwithstanding. (You *did* pick warforged, right?)

Depending on where you are and where you want to get to, "teleport", "dim door" and (surprisingly) "shadow walk" all come in handy at one point or another. Shadow walk? Yes, some zones have anti-teleport magicks thanks to previous year pranks and oddly many parts of the convention are not considered public zones so your Phiarlan pendant won't cut it. Oh and speaking of movement boost, "jump" is mandatory.

Do not attempt to target any DDO Devs you encounter. As deep-purples, they're immune to most non-damage effects, have heavy resistance to all damage types (including untyped, which I think is a bug), have reflex saves that jumpy kobold shamans only dream of, and you do NOT want their aggro.

One last note on spell selection:
1) No damage spells - they will get you perma-banned immediately.
2) No summons - as usual they are more trouble than they are worth, especially the air elemental.
3) Only cast "grease" if you want every single person around you to beat you to death with plushies.

[Chefd261]

halfling druid would be the way to go for not other reason than using quench (its going to be hot outside)

stats str 18 con 180 dex 20 int 6 wis 6 chr 180

feats dragon marks of finding

skills intim and diplo

[Thar]

Str - dump stat. rolling dice requires no str
int - high int to min/max your character in the best time
con - high con to handle 96 hrs of non stop gaming along with the fresh aroma of 10,000 gamers doing the same.
dex - dump stat - sitting in a chair for hours requires no dex. some points required if LARPs are involved.
wis - some points to take lessons learned in prior conventions
chr - some points to impress dm's with roleplaying or haggle with vendors

spot - to search out bargains at the vendors
haggle - to beg borrow and trade for new gear
tumble - to roll the best dice
bluff - to hide bad rolls
umd - because everyone needs it.

feats - dodge - crowds
negoitator - get that 3rd edition book you always wanted
toughness - see above 96 hours of gaming

gear- backpack of holding
- dice
- i <3 the cube tshirt
- hard rations - mountain dew, candy bars, and doritoes.

[Cardoor]

Charisma/Haggle/Perform - befriend/bribe the Reaver to cast fly on you so you can hover over the crowd and fascinate them. When you want something - suggestion.

[joe1838]

monk druid/arti splash for pet, improved evasion and alot of other nice things. had a nice detailed build but the cube ate it befor i could even post it.

my log in timed out and i didnt save it :'(

[gphysalis]

Need a really high move speed, and also some jump

[Torin17]

I think Warforged is the way to go. Immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis (which can occur when you see some of the costumes some of the women are wearing ), disease, nausea, fatigue and exhaustion!

No need to breath, which can be very useful especially as you head toward the end of the convention.

Inherint +2 Con bonus and light fortification, both helpful for being tough enough to make your way through the crowds.

I think combining Warforged with the Barbarian class would also be a help when attending something like GenCon. Remember, through brutal training extremely tough barbarians are able to shrug off hits that would stun or kill others and can do so while continuing to remain conscious.

Torin

[ShadowFlash]

Pale Master...Just so you can annoy everyone in real life with the obnoxious death aura sound effect.

ShadowFlash

[Hokiewa]

ASpeaking of the particular odor of cons... this is where being a WF is key. No needing to breathe means you can avoid most of the funk - but when it's unavoidable, you should be packing a Filtration Module, just in case.

This is the key right here. I swear my loss of smell is due a Con 20 years ago in Baltimore....which already has it's own distinct odor.........

[HungarianRhapsody]

Dump Wis. Anyone who is stable and mature enough to get an appropriate amount of sleep will miss some of the best parts of GenCon.

Yet another benefit of choosing Warforged.

[PuppiesAndRainbows]

put plenty of points in turbine points

[yynderjohn]

Any caster class with Gust of Wind to get rid of the "stinking cloud" effects of the dealer room lol

[whittey]

18/1/1 Drow Rogue/Monk/Fighter Assassin. Screw waiting in line.
8/14/10/14/8/20 all levels into cha.

Max Bluff, Hide, Move Silently, Jump, OL and UMD (Use Mundane Devices). Max faster sneaking, bluff and reduced threat.

[Arthnoxx]

Lots of strength and dex to push and dodge your way through the crowds. And of course con so you can stay the whole time. Dump into cha. TRing 3 times into both paladin and barbarian would keep you afloat if you got sick.
Toughness is always mandatory.
Evasion to avoid the creepy guy that's coming towards you.
Best class would be monk or barbarian for fast movement.
Cannith boots of propulsion is a must. "Look, that guy is about to get the last ddo swag!" That's when you activate your boot and beat him to it. The jump and striding boots are extremely helpful as well for getting around the convention and jumping up to check where the stalls are.
Also skills to max out are jump, spot, and search, for obvious reasons.