How would you build Arilyn Moonblade? (3.5)

[Seharvepernfan]

Her official stats are Rog 1/Ftr 4/Harper Agent 5.

Ive read two of the books and never seen her cast a spell or otherwise show that she has levels in harper agent, but the rogue 1/fighter 4 meshed fairly well with how she is represented.

However, since Ive read ToB, I have to say she seems very swordsage/warblade-ish.

The question is, which and how much?

How would you stat her up?

Bonus points for her equipment.

[Greenish]

Feat rogue 2/warblade X, with Able Learner (half-elves can qualify as per RoD). Feats: probably Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Ancestral Weapon, Item Familiar.

Ancestral Weapon and Item Familiar are for the Moonblade, naturally.

[Alleran]

I wouldn't change much if anything about her build.

"Harper agents are the 'field agents' of the Harper organisation, acting directly to gather intelligence and eliminate threats to the greater good. Equally adept at operating alone or in small groups, Harper agents display a versatility that few others can match."

That fits her quite well. She doesn't mesh with Harper Paragon all that well, and she isn't a Master Harper, priest or wizard. So of the five Harper classes, that's the only one she fits (not that all Harpers have levels in a Harper class, but they tend towards it at the lower levels of the organisation).

Arilyn was (in the early Songs and Swords books) at first only affiliated with the Harpers. After she became one, earned the Harper pin, and so on and so forth, she would have started taking levels in Harper Agent. You don't need spellcasting to be in the class, and it doesn't add spellcasting levels, either. It advances spellcasting if you already have it, but that's it.

I think you might be mistaking narrative description for abilities (as in, the swordsage/warblade stuff) that just aren't there. IIRC, Elaine Cunningham said she was a Fighter/Thief or something like that in 2e, and would have become a Rogue/Fighter combination in 3rd edition.

EDIT: Heroes Lorebook statted her as a 9th level Fighter. Code of the Harpers marks her as a Fighter 12. Yep, she's a Fighter, all right. Maybe some levels of Rogue for the skill points and such, but that's it.

[hamishspence]

Her infiltration of Darkhold was pretty rogue-ish.

But yes- I would say in general she's more a fighter.

[Jazath]

Her infiltration of Darkhold was pretty rogue-ish.

But yes- I would say in general she's more a fighter.

In one of the books I do recall her infiltrating a assassins guild and posing for quite some time as a assassin.
Most of the time in Silver Shadows she was involved for awhile in a guild as an assignment. So I think she might have levels in Assassin. She did take many jobs as one.

[Wildstag]

In one of the books I do recall her infiltrating a assassins guild and posing for quite some time as a assassin.
Most of the time in Silver Shadows she was involved for awhile in a guild as an assignment. So I think she might have levels in Assassin. She did take many jobs as one.

She would almost certainly NOT qualify for Assassin solely based on the Evil prerequisite.

[Jazath]

She would almost certainly NOT qualify for Assassin solely based on the Evil prerequisite.

I forgot that was a requirement! That is true.

[Psyren]

"Harper Agent" is one of those prestige classes they kept making to mechanically represent group membership that is ultimately wholly unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. All sorts of vocations can be Harpers, that's kind of the point.

Anyway - yes, for Arilyn I'd go with an agile martial class/initiator (with a style based around her titular moonblade) with some skills and/or feats aimed at infiltration/espionage. Her sword is probably a legacy weapon.

[hamishspence]

There's official rules for Moonblades in Magic of Faerun as I recall. They are a lot better than Weapons of Legacy weapons, generally.

[Ramza00]

I forgot that was a requirement! That is true.

It been a while since I thought weird 3.5 prestige classes, but isn't there another version of Assassin with a different name for the non evil characters?

[dysprosium]

It been a while since I thought weird 3.5 prestige classes, but isn't there another version of Assassin with a different name for the non evil characters?

You are thinking of the Avenger prestige class from the WotC website.

[Ramza00]

You are thinking of the Avenger prestige class from the WotC website.

Thank You!

[hamishspence]

The main reason I'm a bit doubtful that she's an Assassin or an Avenger, is that she never does anything that you need to be an Assassin or an Avenger, to do.


When she's hired to slay a foe, she doesn't use a Death Attack. Instead, at least according to her account, she normally challenges them to a straight weapon-on-weapon fight, and defeats them, killing them in the process.

[Eladrinblade]

Mods, there is a necromancer on the loose.

Arilyn is supposed to be a Drizzt-tier master swordsman. In the first book, she beats four master swordsmen in a fight at the same time (they are described as "rare champions of their race", gold elves, in swordsmanship). Her fight with Kymil has them moving so fast that the onlookers cant make out the individual movements. All while wearing no armor. Rog 1/Ftr 4 just doesnt cut it.

The closest thing would be a bg2 kensai in terms of martial ability, but perhaps a bg2 swashbuckler to also cover her skills. A soldier from fantasycraft definitely fits, if we assume she wears some partial padded armor or something. In 3.x, Id probably go Rog 2/Warblade x, with diamond mind and ironheart maneuvers/stances, with high dex and weapon finesse with a courtblade. Id say dex is her only especially high stat; her strength is low for a warrior. The rest are 14 or less if I had to guess. The fact that she doesnt wear armor is a problem, but at least she has stuff like wall of blades.