One-Armed Swordsman, One-Legged Kickboxer, Blind Archer

[ExemplarofAvg]

The title are just all examples of the:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HandicappedBadass Warning, Read at your own peril, Click only if you want to derail your entire day.

My friend and I were catching up yesterday and were talking about a few different ones, most notably Shanks from One Piece, Tousen from Bleach, Edward, Alphonse and pretty much everyone near the end of FMA (Buccaneer being the coolest)

So we were wondering how would a handicapable character be made/function in DnD? Most specifically a swordsman, because that's the stereotype. (Blind AND NO-ARMED being just a little too far, ha. Assuming that they were merely born without the limb (in the armless scenario) so it can't just be regenerated, or assume that they don't want to regain the limb if it was lost (honour reasons, dislike of magic, pride, etc.) Blind is actually easy as I'm writing this, the Blindfold item that gives Blindsight/Sense (True Darkness or something)

[Campbellk8105]

Wield a sword with no arms is easy. Willing deformity(teeth) gets you a bite attack. Get a mouthpick weapon, +1 weapon ability.

Also, I'm guessing, without actually reading the article this is for a human. If not specifically a human, the options change up a bit. You could get a race with blindsense and a bite attack and go that route and save from the blindfold. Still get a mouthpick weapon.

My friend is going to be playing "Zolo" and use a mouthpick weapon and two swords.

[Greenish]

One-armed swordsman?

Warblade, feats Educated, Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightenment (War domain), Knowledge Devotion, PA. 1 level dip to Exotic Weapon Master at level 7 (the Touchstone gives you both EWP and WF for a bastard sword, with right deity), pick up Uncanny Blow stunt, which gives you 2:1 returns for PA with an exotic one-handed weapon.

Really, in lower OP, just picking a martial adept and nice damage-boosting strikes should allow you to keep up with a one-hander.

[ExemplarofAvg]

Wield a sword with no arms is easy. Willing deformity(teeth) gets you a bite attack. Get a mouthpick weapon, +1 weapon ability.

Also, I'm guessing, without actually reading the article this is for a human. If not specifically a human, the options change up a bit. You could get a race with blindsense and a bite attack and go that route and save from the blindfold. Still get a mouthpick weapon.

My friend is going to be playing "Zolo" and use a mouthpick weapon and two swords.

Okay, Small to Medium to Large tick, I'm hoping you're saying "Zolo" to differentiate between Zorro and Zoro. And yeah, Humanoid at least, core races.


One-armed swordsman?

Warblade, feats Educated, Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightenment (War domain), Knowledge Devotion, PA. 1 level dip to Exotic Weapon Master at level 7 (the Touchstone gives you both EWP and WF for a bastard sword, with right deity), pick up Uncanny Blow stunt, which gives you 2:1 returns for PA with an exotic one-handed weapon.

Really, in lower OP, just picking a martial adept and nice damage-boosting strikes should allow you to keep up with a one-hander.

Wow, just, WOW So uh, you win the One-Armed Swordsman. Where is this Touchstone? Also, Uncanny Blow, isn't it only when you two hand a one handed weapon? or is that just a 4 for 1 Power Attack trick?

[Greenish]

Where is this Touchstone?Planar Touchstone is, surprisingly enough, from Planar Handbook. The build would work with simply picking EWP and WF instead of Education and Planar Touchstone, but I prefer to get a little more mileage out of my feats.


Also, Uncanny Blow, isn't it only when you two hand a one handed weapon? or is that just a 4 for 1 Power Attack trick?Uncanny Blow has two effects. If you wield a one-handed weapon two-handed, you get 2*Str (instead of 1.5*Str) to damage. It also gives you 2:1 PA returns, which by my reading works just fine when one-handing the weapon. If it didn't, the last sentence of the description would be meaningless. Check with your DM, though.

[ExemplarofAvg]

Planar Touchstone is, surprisingly enough, from Planar Handbook. The build would work with simply picking EWP and WF instead of Education and Planar Touchstone, but I prefer to get a little more mileage out of my feats.

Uncanny Blow has two effects. If you wield a one-handed weapon two-handed, you get 2*Str (instead of 1.5*Str) to damage. It also gives you 2:1 PA returns, which by my reading works just fine when one-handing the weapon. If it didn't, the last sentence of the description would be meaningless. Check with your DM, though.


Ah, I didn't even think of that, and understandable.
Ah, alright. Again, you win.

[Morph Bark]

Well you got #1 and #3 covered (I had an enemy NPC blind monk with that blindfold attack the party several times). However, #2 is harder, as losing a leg doesn't have any consequences in DnD unless you use houserules or variant rules.

[ExemplarofAvg]

Well you got #1 and #3 covered (I had an enemy NPC blind monk with that blindfold attack the party several times). However, #2 is harder, as losing a leg doesn't have any consequences in DnD unless you use houserules or variant rules.

Not actually looking for those in specifics, just as ideas. Blind Monk is well recorded and do-able. Just the One-Armed Swordsman was a cool idea.

[Morph Bark]

For a mute: take one level in Mindbender. Get telepathy. Don't be a Bard. Don't use spells with somatic components or get Silent Spell and somehow reduce the cost to +0. Alternatively, just don't cast spells.
For a deaf person: ...not as handicapped as a blind one in DnD. Has a harder time spellcasting though, same as a mute.
No legs: get wings. :smalltongue:

[Flickerdart]

If you've only got one leg, and the urge to kick things strikes you, then look no further than the Elocater (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/elocater.htm)'s first level ability, Scorn Earth.

[Feralventas]

First thing that came to mind with a blind archer was a high-level binder with both Orthos and Leraje bound; the latter for bonuses with bow-related abilities and the former for blind-sight 30, but that's a bit late game to finally be competent at something. What might work instead is a ranged rogue multi-classed either with Psion (Seer) or a divination caster before going into Unseen Seer and Arcane Trickster. Seer would eventually grant Touch-Sight as well as some other methods of expanding one's senses (synesthate power allows using one's skin to make spot checks rather than one's eyes). A wizard could still read their book via Read Magic (doesn't require literacy, why would it require sight?) or simply use a non-book-dependant 'caster, then use divination effects to tell you where your target is without needing to see them, or else granting you sight from a 3rd person perspective and being a bit of a complex-geometric-estimation savant.

Going for the dip in Mind-bender and taking a feat from Lords of Madness gives knowledge of the locations of all creatures with a mind within the range of your telepathy. The Dark Ones from Fiend Folio (I think >.>; ) also get blindsight off the bat.

1-armed swordsman has been covered quite nicely via ToM, as has the 1-legged kick-boxer via Elocator; A tashalator monk build could probably fit in well with that via Psychic Warrior.

If Pathfinder stuff is included, the Oracle class specifically gains a debuff/disability as part of their class features and gains abilities accordingly; a lame leg slows the character down, but they're never encumbered by weight and avoid exhaustion and tiring effects. The Deafened oracle gains bonuses to visual perception checks and tremmorsense.

The disability might not be a single part of the character's body for that matter; I rolled four 1's on a character stat once, but high for the rest. Nerve malformation left the character with little physical strength, but magic made them a valuable asset to the team (sorcerer str 4, cha 18) and floated around on a chair on top of Tenser's Floating Disk to keep up. Constitution is another one; roll enough of a negative for it, and one can play a character dying from a wasting disease. Roll high enough on their HP count, they're getting better. Roll negatives, relapse.

[Greenish]

For a mute: take one level in Mindbender. Get telepathy. Don't be a Bard. Don't use spells with somatic components or get Silent Spell and somehow reduce the cost to +0. Alternatively, just don't cast spells.A psionic character can do mute. Telepaths can get telepathy from an ACF.

[Edit]: Could also be blind and deaf, there are powers to compensate for those.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Okay, Small to Medium to Large tick, I'm hoping you're saying "Zolo" to differentiate between Zorro and Zoro. And yeah, Humanoid at least, core races.
Zolo is a translation issue, like Ruffy. It irritates me somewhat less than rouge, but I still hate it (I just don't fly into a grammar rage over it).
Also, Uncanny Blow, isn't it only when you two hand a one handed weapon? or is that just a 4 for 1 Power Attack trick?

No, it's either a communication error between writers, or it's meant to be 2:1 when used one-handed, seeing how it's spelled out in Power Attack that you get 2:1 returns when two-handing a one-hander.

[ExemplarofAvg]

First thing that came to mind with a blind archer was a high-level binder with both Orthos and Leraje bound; the latter for bonuses with bow-related abilities and the former for blind-sight 30, but that's a bit late game to finally be competent at something. What might work instead is a ranged rogue multi-classed either with Psion (Seer) or a divination caster before going into Unseen Seer and Arcane Trickster. Seer would eventually grant Touch-Sight as well as some other methods of expanding one's senses (synesthate power allows using one's skin to make spot checks rather than one's eyes). A wizard could still read their book via Read Magic (doesn't require literacy, why would it require sight?) or simply use a non-book-dependant 'caster, then use divination effects to tell you where your target is without needing to see them, or else granting you sight from a 3rd person perspective and being a bit of a complex-geometric-estimation savant.

Going for the dip in Mind-bender and taking a feat from Lords of Madness gives knowledge of the locations of all creatures with a mind within the range of your telepathy. The Dark Ones from Fiend Folio (I think >.>; ) also get blindsight off the bat.

1-armed swordsman has been covered quite nicely via ToM, as has the 1-legged kick-boxer via Elocator; A tashalator monk build could probably fit in well with that via Psychic Warrior.

If Pathfinder stuff is included, the Oracle class specifically gains a debuff/disability as part of their class features and gains abilities accordingly; a lame leg slows the character down, but they're never encumbered by weight and avoid exhaustion and tiring effects. The Deafened oracle gains bonuses to visual perception checks and tremmorsense.

The disability might not be a single part of the character's body for that matter; I rolled four 1's on a character stat once, but high for the rest. Nerve malformation left the character with little physical strength, but magic made them a valuable asset to the team (sorcerer str 4, cha 18) and floated around on a chair on top of Tenser's Floating Disk to keep up. Constitution is another one; roll enough of a negative for it, and one can play a character dying from a wasting disease. Roll high enough on their HP count, they're getting better. Roll negatives, relapse.

Zen Archery Monk with the Blindfold of True Darkness.



Zolo is a translation issue, like Ruffy. It irritates me somewhat less than rouge, but I still hate it (I just don't fly into a grammar rage over it).

I know, it's just, I was part of the anime club at school and had to listen to all sorts of people call him Zolo, and it just... just too much for me, and other people as well. It's ingrained in me to correct, or smash my fist into a wall.

[Greenish]

Zen Archery Monk with the Blindfold of True Darkness.Range is a tad short for it to be proper archery. Also, monk? :smallconfused:

[Dusk Eclipse]

Apart from swordsage that is the only wis-bases non-spellcasting class that I can recall of hand; but still a swift hunter with a blindfold of true darkness would work better at those ranges (besides skirimish is restricted to that range anyway).

[Greenish]

Apart from swordsage that is the only wis-bases non-spellcasting class that I can recall of handPew pew soulbow. :smalltongue:

Hell, I'm not entirely convinced Ninja would be worse than Monk for the role.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I did say that it was only class I could recall off-hand >_>

[Greenish]

I did say that it was only class I could recall off-hand >_>Better use a two-hander next time you're trying to recall something. :smalltongue:

[kardar233]

For the blind archer, take a leaf from the Drizzt books and play a Binder archer, binding Malphas and use your bird to spot for you.

[gorfnab]

Other One-Armed Swordsman builds.

Human or Strongheart Halfling
1. Cobra Strike (UA) Deceptive Strike (PHBII) Monk - Camendine Monk, Combat Expertise, B: Dodge
2. Cobra Strike (UA) Monk - B: Mobility
3. Swashbuckler - Deadly Defense, B: Weapon Finesse
4. Swashbuckler
5. Swashbuckler
6. Thief Acrobat - Combat Reflexes
7. Thief Acrobat
8. Thief Acrobat
9. Thief Acrobat - Einhander
10. Thief Acrobat
11. Warblade
12. Warblade or Duelist - Ironheart Aura
13. Duelist
14. Duelist
15. Duelist - Robilar's Gambit
16. Duelist
17. Duelist
18. Duelist - Stormgaurd Warrior
19. Duelist
20. Duelist

Levels 10 through 12 can be rearranged depending on your needs. The current setup gives you Improved Evasion and Uncanny Dodge at these levels. However if you don't need Improved Evasion take one less level of Thief Acrobat and move the first level of Warblade to level 10. If you don't need Uncanny Dodge don't take the 2nd level of Warblade and instead go into Duelist a level early. If you don't need either abilities take Warblade at level 10 and enter Duelist at level 11.

If flaws are available pick up EWP: Broadblade Shortsword (pre-errata version if possible) or Versatile Unarmed Strike and Snap Kick (may need to rearrange later feats). If traits are available pick up Cautious.


Human or Strongheart Halfling
1. Cobra Strike (UA) Deceptive Strike (PHBII) Monk - Camendine Monk, Combat Expertise, B: Dodge
2. Cobra Strike (UA) Monk - B: Mobility
3. Swashbuckler - EWP Broadblade Shortword (pre-errata version) B: Weapon Finesse
4. Swashbuckler
5. Swashbuckler
6. Thief Acrobat - Deadly Defense
7. Thief Acrobat
8. Thief Acrobat
9. Thief Acrobat - Einhander
10. Thief Acrobat
11. Duelist
12. Duelist - Combat Reflexes
13. Duelist
14. Duelist
15. Duelist - Robilar's Gambit
16. Duelist
17. Duelist
18. Duelist - Karmic Strike, Improved Combat Expertise, or Snap Kick
19. Duelist - B: Deflect Arrows
20. Duelist

If you can't get or don't want EWP: Broadblade Shortsword, move Combat Reflexes to 3rd level and add Snap Kick (best option) or Improved Combat Expertise (decent option) to 12th level.

If flaws are available pick up Versatile Unarmed Strike. If traits are available pick up Cautious.

[deuxhero]

Blind archer in D&D?

http://lparchive.org/Planescape-Torment/Update%2070/4-Torment_2008-05-04_12-14-20-78.jpg

Too easy!

[Pilo]

No arms and no legs:
Go for totemist:
Blink dog shirt allows you to move.
lvl2 : Girrallion arms bound to totem give you 2 arms with claws.