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I haven't had time to think about this too deeply, but I had a thought of making a character loosely based on Omar from The Wire.

If you've watched the show, then you know the awesomeness that Omar is.  How would you represent Omar as a character in 4e?

Thanks!
--sam

p.s. I think the obvious is Human Ranger, but this fantastical "Omar" doesn't have to be human and if you think of something else please post in this thread.

Infernal Warlock. 

Seriously.

I like the infernal angle. Omar is intimate with Hell, and as a result he finds all mundane hazards sublimely trivial. But IMO the DnD Omar can't be a ranged build. Part of his thang is always working inside his opponents' comfortable range. That translates to melee in this setting.

Also, Omar has to be Charisma-based, which doesn't exactly rule out Hellock, but it's not optimal. And again IMO he's clearly a leader. (Even Brother Mouzone falls into the Cult of Omar, along with several 5-0 and a legion of alternatively oriented street riffraff.)

The "I've seen Hell and this s--t don't compare" angle can be represented by making DnD Omar a Tiefling, which fits perfectly with all of that roguish charisma as well.


Now looking at secondary stats, one could argue for Constitution ("That was some Ultimate Spider-Man s--t!") with a strong alternative case for Wisdom ("I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?")


Given all of the above, I'd go with:

Tiefling Bard/Assassin/Grave Caller/Prince of Hell

Str 10, Con 17, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 19

Stirring Song of Baator and a Blazing Arc Ki Focus will transform him into a nonstop THP generator for his allies. (Who only get killed when Omar isn't around ...) Just focus on melee weapon attacks for that Omar up-close-and-personal feel, and off you go.


EDIT: And that awful whistling of "Farmer in the Dale"? That's Omar's player doing what bard players often feel compelled to do, paying nominal respect to the fact that he's supposed to be some sort of musician ...  

But what would Bunk be?  Lazy leader?

"There you go again Jimmy.  Gettin farked when it ain't your turn to get farked." 

/got nothin.

Sep 19, 2011 -- 6:44AM, Rancid_Rogue wrote:

I like the infernal angle. Omar is intimate with Hell, and as a result he finds all mundane hazards sublimely trivial. But IMO the DnD Omar can't be a ranged build. Part of his thang is always working inside his opponents' comfortable range. That translates to melee in this setting.

A shotgun is a ranged weapon, and he's comfortable in a distance firefight.  He just likes using his shotgun up close in melee, getting Prime Shot and inviting you to attack him to give him even MORE damage.  He can walk right up to people without being seen until he wants to be (Shadow Walk), he can escape just about any situation (Warlocks LOVE to teleport), when the chips are down the odds tend to break in his favour (powers like Dark One's Own Luck), and when he kills people, he gets stronger (Dark One's Blessing Pact Boon).

Infernal Warlock.

Tiefling Infernal Warlock, Con-primary, more even split between Cha and Int for the second.  At-will Eldritch Strike, and that "rods are Maces" feat - because he WILL smack you with the butt of his shotgun to make you go where he wants, if he doesn't just shoot you with the hellfire end of it.

Sep 19, 2011 -- 7:05AM, mattador666 wrote:

But what would Bunk be?  Lazy leader?  "There you go again Jimmy.  Gettin farked when it ain't your turn to get farked."    /got nothin.

Bunk's a lazylord.

And of course McNulty's a paladin, and Freamon's a wizard.

I would suggest that shotgun = ranged is too literal. There would be no melee classes whatsoever in a Wire:DnD crossover by that reasoning. I prefer to take the abstract approach that characters who like to play up close (Omar, Brother M, etc) translate into melee classes. Range is pretty abstract in DnD, anyway …

Also, Omar is pretty crap at real range. When the bangers in the crackhouse catch his posse on the street, it’s an utter disaster. And he’d rather do his Spider-Man thing than try sniping his target from a distance.

Also also, you’re really building The Legend of Omar. Most of Omar’s scenes illustrate that he is not that legend, though he carefully cultivates it. For instance, the street believes Omar has Shadow Walk, but we see that he just picks his moments after lots of surveillance and brooding over bowls of cereal. When things stray from his plan (as in the previously mentioned battles), his alleged Shadow Walk is nowhere to be found. The Legend of Omar would have just strolled out of both fights.

As for luck breaking Omar’s way and Omar getting stronger with a kill, definitely not.  Again, that’s the Legend of Omar as DPR King of Baltimore. The real Omar avoids fate by being collaborative and avoiding gratuitous violence. Once he breaks that unwritten accord, fate catches up to him in a helluva hurry.

The core of the real Omar is his pacts with other people. Sometimes these people’s deaths cause him to go into pseudo-Avenger mode, so he does minor in striking (per my build with the Grave Caller PP). But it’s neither who he is or what he’s about.

And ultimately, any Omar build that isn’t Charisma-primary is just out of the question. ;-)

YMMV.

As for the Bunk, LazyLord all the way. I was in the French Quarter listening to a street band last year when Wendell Pierce came strolling by with an elegant woman about his age, both of them dressed to perfection and looking simply regal. I couldn’t for the life of me remember either his name nor the name of his character in “Treme,” so of course I bellowed “The BUUUUUUNK!” Pierce started swiveling his head, found me, and flashed that million-dollar hepcat grin of his. The woman, presumably his wife, sort of flinched, then a little hint of a smile formed at the corner of her lips. I really enjoyed that moment.

 

Artful Dodger Rogue with Sharpshooter Talent (crossbows). Sly Flourish and Clever Strike for at-wills. Superior crossbow standing in for the shotgun.

Contrary to conventional crossbow rogues, he doesn't do Cunning Sneak for hiding in shadows. Dude walks around in the open, provoking opportunity attacks all day, completely shrugging it off due to overpowering charisma. This allows his allies to set up the flank for him. He always makes sure to have henchmen (or henchwomen, depending on the circumstances) so he has flanking buddies.

Combat is up-close in the traditional rogue style, risking OAs for the sneak attack. When he's surrounded things go very badly, very quickly.

Other thoughts:

Stringer Bell = Tactical Warlord (methodical, avoids getting his hands dirty but can and will fight if necessary)
Herc = Barbarian (obviously)
Carver = Fighter/Barbarian (Herc is a bad influence, hence multiclass)
Pryzbylewski = Chaos Sorcerer (with unlucky dice rolls and poor target selection)

I like Omar as a bard if only for that scene (I think it's from the first season) where he's walking down the street whistling and carrying a shotgun in broad daylight.  "The cheese stands alone."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueDjiAm5rzE

Great thread guys.  Love the ideas thus far.

I agree that Omar likes to work up close and personal, but I'm not sure if melee is really his thing.  I think maybe he could be a close blast specialist.