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View Full Version : Li Mu Bai type character, second and hopefully final draft!



Ossian
2010-07-28, 04:54 PM
Hello folks,

A while ago a number of you came to the rescue of my hopeless character building attempts. The thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157358"]HERE ("http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157358)) provided awesome input on how to go about it.

After consultation with the player, I think we cleared a few issues up and I have now a better sense of what he wants to do. The insane damage output of the boxed set monk with weapon mastery is no longer that important. However, good swordmanship and defense seem still a must. The old character was a monk with the heal self ability, so I had to start at level 7 Monk. With 13 levels available, we came up with this:

Monk 7 / Shintao Monk 4 / Iaijitsu Master 2

The idea is that his only monk weapons are:

Wu Jian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian) (double edged sword, this is an especially long and flexible one)

Shortspear,
Composite Bow,
Throwing knives

Being Wu Jian the monastery's weapon, he can flurry with it and I just added Iaijitsu Focus to the list of class skills.

His stat block at level 1 is

STR 14
CON 12
DEX 17

INT 13
WIS 14
CHA 12

Shintao was reflavored as "Vs outsiders" as opposed to "vs tainted".
Iaijitsu master for 2 levels helps defense and initiative (with INT and CHA) and boosts a little the BAB.

Now, my questions are:

Do you have any suggestions on level swaps to the build above?
How would you use the ability increases at levels 4,8,12?
What feats would you go for?

I like the thought of finessing both the sword and the unarmed strike, which with the Shintao "touch the void dragon" works pretty well towards AC, Initiative and Attack. Superior unarmed strike does not seem at all interesting, as he would progress into level 20 as a monk, eventually. Also, apart from that one sword and a periapt of wisdom +2 which is an essential background item (of little monetary value as a jewel, just a flat disc of bone) he would never go magic item shopping. So, perhaps vow of poverty is a viable option?

Other feats? Thoughts and suggestions?

Cheers,

Ossian

Ossian
2010-07-29, 05:17 PM
Well, sometimes one is lucky, sometimes not. I guess I'll give it stab and try to bump it before it goes to page 3.

First game is in 3 weeks guys, need the characters online ASAP :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

Prodan
2010-07-29, 05:20 PM
Warblade/Swordsage base going into Master of the Nine.

T.G. Oskar
2010-07-29, 07:20 PM
Normally, I wouldn't agree with totally replacing Monk with unarmed Swordsage, since I feel that the Monk could get a fix and/or be used appropriately with Tashalatora.

But, and that's a big but, if you're thinking of wuxia, you HAVE to use Swordsage. It's the best method to deal with wuxia, given the flavor. It'll be hard to get some of the flavor in (mostly the Air Walk idea), but it'll still get some of the other stuff out (Diamond Mind techniques come to mind).

However, to work things out: the jian works mostly like a longsword (it's used both to pierce and to slash, but mostly to block), so you can simply use Whirling Steel Strike (ECS) for a reasonable method of using longswords in a flurry of blows. It would also be great to make it a defending longsword, just in case, since your player will like the extra boost to AC (even though the attack bonus is lost a bit).

If you have a sword and a magic item, VoP is definitely out of the question. Odd that your player might not want to use magic items; he'll be definitely starving for bonuses right out of the box, and he'll starve for bonuses even more without a magic item to compensate. Perhaps he might donate most of what he gets monetarily, but he keeps the magic items that might benefit him; thus, he doesn't buy them, but you can support him with magic items whenever necessary.

Not quite sure about both Shintao Monk and Iaijutsu Master. Iaijutsu works better with Charisma, and what you want is someone that can dish it out without many troubles. Thus, I would recommend at least one level of Shiba Protector (Monk or Swordsage base, it doesn't matter) for Wis to attack and damage rolls, which will be of great benefit to him (especially if he flurries). I find Iaijutsu Master especially troubling, since he'll do mostly burst damage (sheathe weapon, draw, deal damage, sheathe weapon) and remain in one spot mostly all time, not to mention that he'll have to remain hidden OR invisible for that to work appropriately.

If you can convince your player (and yourself!) that Swordsage is a better option for the build (and a dip in Shiba Protector isn't a bad idea either), then by all means do so. You might even make it Monk 2/Swordsage X/Shiba Protector 1 with Whirling Steel Strike and you'll have the benefits of flurry with all of the maneuvers that'll help him, not to mention all of the boosts.

Ossian
2010-07-30, 02:57 AM
Thanks guys, very good input. My bad for not re-stating that Bo9S is probably out of the way. Not only my player would have to snatch a copy (while I am away) and familiarize with the maneuvers concept, but he would also be the only one in the group using them, a group which is still rusty in d20 and slightly perplexed by the shift from the 4 colored boxed sets to this new system.
Unarmed swordsage with a few tweaks would be SWEET for the character I have in mind, but that will have to wait.

On the items, it is really not a problem. They crawled their way up 14 levels with precious little of those (the monk has never had anything at all, and only recently, say level 8, acquired that sword and the periapt). In a group made of a Rogue, and Elf and a Wizard (to give you the old classes) he always had his share of fun and glory. It is mostly a question of rule of cool. When an Ogre shows up everyone draws magical swords sheathed in fire while he just cracks his knuckles and his neck and totally pulls an Hokuto no Ken line.

I agree that Iaijitsu Master seems like a one pony trick, but it grants him the finesse with the weapon of choice for free, canny defense and improved reaction, unlike the duelist which only has the last two and no iaijitsu. The reason we looked at those two classes is also that Canny Defense is highly attractive for a high int character with no protection , magical or otherwise, but other options are welcome too.

Vow of poverty, as I verified, is out of question given that yes, he keeps literally 10gp in his pocket and a day's worth of food, but I don't like things like "he does not need to drink or eat ever again". he is ascetic, but not that ascetic.

Shiba Protector must have flown completely over my head. It has to be the very class before the shintao monk in OA but I have no visual memory of it. I will check the splatbook tonight. WIS bonus to damage isn't bad, but again, the problem is defense. He has a -3 AC (in the old ThaC0 system, which is roughly the equivalent of an AC 23-25 now. How to get there?

Another thing I would welcome ideas on (but it is contingent on the choice of classes) is the stat boosts. I thought something like:

STR 14
CON 12
DEX 17 --> 18 at level IV --> at level XII

INT 13->14 at level VIII
WIS 14->16 with the periapt
CHA 12

Feats (tentative) 5 for the levels, 1 as a human, plus the monk's, plus the Iajitsu, + the Shintao

Dodge, Weapon Focus (US), Weapon Finesse (US), Fists of Iron, Flying kick (or Roundhouse Kick) - levels

Stunning Fist, Deflect Arrows, Improved Trip - monk

Weapon Finesse (Wu Jian) - Iaijitsu

2 feat slots from the Shintao Monk.


I guess that's all I can think of for now, without the books available.!

M.