The Monkey King

[Zombulian]

Hey playgrounders! I've been thinking about making a character based on Sun Wukong (or a disciple of his who is following the Buddha's path of Victory Through Strife) but I am a little lost on how to go about it. I've thought of a couple ideas to start with, either a Crusader/Warblade or a Crusader/Swordsage - but for those plans everything kind of stops around lvl5 cuz I don't really know ToB that well and I don't know good mixes or builds for things like that.

-Alternate plan: Factotum 20. Just because that is applicable to any character concept :smalltongue:.

P.S. anyone know anything in D&D that can be a cloud mount?

[ngilop]

Crusader/warblade would be the most fitting as such thngs as iron heart surge is all its open endedness is what Wukong was all about.


more warblade than crusader IMO, soehting liek 12 warblade/8 crusader.

[Waker]

What exactly do you want him to be able to do? In myth, Sun Wukong was capable of superhuman strength and speed, is capable of shapeshifting, casting spells of a huge variety including making copies of himself, commanding the elements and more.
You gotta narrow it down, unless you do want all of that, in which case I would just say play a wizard.

[ThiagoMartell]

Sun Wukong knows more than a thousand spells according to legend, so there is that. Also, you need shapeshifting.

[Tanuki Tales]

And Class ~8 Strength.

[KillianHawkeye]

And a power level of OVER 9000!!!!
I'm sorry

[Crasical]

P.S. anyone know anything in D&D that can be a cloud mount?

Falls under more 'There's no rule against it', but you can pick up a Medium Air Elemental and enough ranks to compensate for it not 'being suitable for a mount'.

[Arcanist]

What exactly do you want him to be able to do? In myth, Sun Wukong was capable of superhuman strength and speed, is capable of shapeshifting, casting spells of a huge variety including making copies of himself, commanding the elements and more.
You gotta narrow it down, unless you do want all of that, in which case I would just say play a wizard.

an Anthro Monkey, Arcane Heirophant (Wizard/Druid) :smalltongue: and just like that you have Sun Wukong (as you've described) OH and use Balance abuse so you can walk on clouds :smallamused:

EDIT: or a medium Air elemental works :smalltongue:

[Zombulian]

Falls under more 'There's no rule against it', but you can pick up a Medium Air Elemental and enough ranks to compensate for it not 'being suitable for a mount'.

Hehe Zhentarim Skymage... ANYTHING THAT CAN FLY IS NOW MY PET.

[Frosty]

Wukong is a Gestalt Swordsage//Beguiler who gets Shapechange as an SLA probably x/day.

[Tanuki Tales]

Wukong is a Gestalt Swordsage//Beguiler who gets Shapechange as an SLA probably x/day.

And 56 Strength.

And the Soul-Locked Creature template.

Among other things.

[Zombulian]

Yea how about I play a DISCIPLE of Wukong so I don't have build a GOD. I'm thinking a good race would be Vanara from OA. For some reason I want him to have his main weapon just be a big ol' gauntlet that he smacks people with.

[ThiagoMartell]

Yea how about I play a DISCIPLE of Wukong so I don't have build a GOD. I'm thinking a good race would be Vanara from OA. For some reason I want him to have his main weapon just be a big ol' gauntlet that he smacks people with.

Madness. You want a staff.

[Zombulian]

Madness. You want a staff.

Part of this guy's backstory is finding Sun Wukong's staff broken and using the pieces to kill some of the troops that took him away to Lao Tsu's cauldron. So he keeps the pieces with him to be reforged, but for now he uses his own weapon of choice.

[WinWin]

Cloud Chariot. Wu Jen 8. An actual cloud to ride on. Otherwise, the cloud step ability can be reproduced by teleport or dimension door.

Body out of Body. Wu Jen 7. To create clones. Fabricate, minor creation or Polymorph any Object can reproduce most of the other creation abilities.

Disguise Self/Alter Self/Polymorph/Shapechange. All Wu Jen Spells.

Add on buff spells like Skin of Iron, Heart of Earth, Giant Size and the like, and you should be able to reproduce many of Sun Wukong's magical abilities from the legend.

[Grail]

He'd need impossible DR, impossible Energy Resistance, impossible Strength, impossible Dexterity, impossible acrobatics, actually there's too many impossible things.

Now if you wanted to base him off the Monkey Magic version, that's more doable. :smallbiggrin:

[Waker]

Yeah, I'd say the easiest method to build something like Sun Wukong would be to go Wu Jen/Swordsage/Jade Phoenix Mage, or if ToB is disallowed, Wu Jen/Monk/Enlightened Fist.
If you decided to go without spells, you might also consider going into the Animal Shen PrC from Dragon 319. They are basically nature monks who emulate the shaolin animal styles. Going with Monkey Shen makes you a specialist at fighting with a quarterstaff and gives you access to several acrobatic abilities. Ranger would be the easiest progression into the class.
Vanara is a good choice of race for obvious reasons, you might also consider the Shifter race from Eberron.

[Zombulian]

The Shen looks really cool, so I may go into it later on. So far it's looking to me like Crusader 8/Unarmed SS 2/Shen 10 (Maybe Half-Monkey half something else? There was a note for part of the PrC that said each animal was a separate PrC, so I assume you can take it in different ways for different animals.)

[Waker]

Yes, the different Shen are technically different PrCs as they have different entry requirements, meaning that one could hypothetically take the class more than once if they met the requirement for each animal style.
I would say that if you plan on taking the Shen class, that you stagger your levels of Crusader and Swordsage between and after the class so you can access higher level maneuvers. You might also consider begging your DM really hard to allow Shen to count as full levels of an initiator class, but that is unlikely to work.

[Zombulian]

Btw is there some magical item that's a glove that enhances unarmed strikes anywhere around? Just curious... And right now it's looking a wee bit better to go Crusader 4/Unarmed SS 2/Wu Jen 1/JPM 10/and then somethin else to tie it together. Maybe Archmage for INFINITE CLONES.

[ThiagoMartell]

Btw is there some magical item that's a glove that enhances unarmed strikes anywhere around? Just curious... And right now it's looking a wee bit better to go Crusader 4/Unarmed SS 2/Wu Jen 1/JPM 10/and then somethin else to tie it together. Maybe Archmage for INFINITE CLONES.

There are a few gauntlets that help.
there is one in MIC (a relic of bahamut) that adds +4 (IIRC) to monk level for unarmed damage.
Gauntlets of War is a flat +3 to damage if you worship a god of war.
Mighty Arms + Battlefist, of course.

[Asheram]

For a weapon you might want the "Rod of Surprises" 6000gp from the Magic Item Compendium. ((Essentially a cheaper Rod of Lordly Might))

[Zombulian]

There are a few gauntlets that help.
there is one in MIC (a relic of bahamut) that adds +4 (IIRC) to monk level for unarmed damage.
Gauntlets of War is a flat +3 to damage if you worship a god of war.
Mighty Arms + Battlefist, of course.

Awesome, I could stack that with a Monk's Belt and Carmendine Monk feat for some decent dice damage :smallbiggrin:.
Mighty Arms and Battlefist sound promising, where can I find them?


For a weapon you might want the "Rod of Surprises" 6000gp from the Magic Item Compendium. ((Essentially a cheaper Rod of Lordly Might))
That weapon is hilarious, I will make sure to get it.


ION: Waaaait a second, why am I trying to BUILD a character that can do everything, when I can just play a straight Factotum with Martial Study and Superior Unarmed Strike?

[ThiagoMartell]

ION: Waaaait a second, why am I trying to BUILD a character that can do everything, when I can just play a straight Factotum with Martial Study and Superior Unarmed Strike?

Play Haberdash (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5266526).

[Zombulian]

Just a repeat of earlier question, Battlefist and Mighty Arms. Where can find?

[ThiagoMartell]

Just a repeat of earlier question, Battlefist and Mighty Arms. Where can find?

Battlefist - Eberron Campaign Setting
Mighty Arms - Faiths of Eberron, IIRC

[Deth Muncher]

Re: Cloud mount - Sandstorm has the Dust Devil, which is a form of air elemental that specifically allows someone to use it to travel on - the only particular caveat there being that if it's not traveling on the ground, it only goes 5ft per round. Somewhere to start, anyway, though the Wu Jen spell is obviously a good plan too.

[Prime32]

A silver dragon could be a pretty good base for Wukong, having basic transformation abilities, fast flight, and the ability to walk on clouds.

[Zombulian]

A silver dragon could be a pretty good base for Wukong, having basic transformation abilities, fast flight, and the ability to walk on clouds.

Yea I plan on playing this character...

[Zombulian]

Re: Cloud mount - Sandstorm has the Dust Devil, which is a form of air elemental that specifically allows someone to use it to travel on - the only particular caveat there being that if it's not traveling on the ground, it only goes 5ft per round. Somewhere to start, anyway, though the Wu Jen spell is obviously a good plan too.

Hmm that is pretty cool. The next problem here would be getting one that does what I say.