Making Sephiroth

[tadkins]

Had the idea earlier to incorporate a character into my future campaign that's very similar to the same Sephiroth of FF7 fame, in that it'd be a wickedly powerful swordsman capable of wiping out parties.

Unlike the actual Sephiroth, the character will likely be the right hand to the main villain of my story, feared and powerful in it's own right.

Otherwise, how would you guys build Sephiroth as a 3.5 D&D character?

[Crake]

probably just make him a warblade?

[ArcturusV]

Well... Probably want a lot of ranks of UMD, with various wands and other command use items to fit the Materia Feel.

Honestly though I think if you multiclassed or Gestalted a Warblade/Warlock you might get the right feel for it. Guy should be loaded to bear with Wands and similar items. Maybe homebrew up a line of Heritage feats (similar to Fey Heritage), to cover the Jenova cells and Genocidal Pure Evil Alien thing.

[Man on Fire]

I would suggest Swordsage/Warblade combination. Maybe mixed with either Warlock of Psychic Warrior, if you can find good PrC for it (any suggestions?)

[The-Mage-King]

Warblade//Wilder is my suggestion.

Yes, Gestalt, but that's to represent the sheer power of him in comparison to the PCs. Wilder provides magical ability, especially with refluffing, and Warblade makes him a damn good warrior.


Use the homebrewed Army of One (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5710146) discipline, Diamond Mind, and some Iron Heart for maneuvers, and that should be about right.

Masamune is a custom WoL, with benefits to allow it to be wielded safely and easily despite its length and size.

Supernova is a Microcosm variant that deals damage instead of just an illusion.



EDIT: Jenova stuff is represented by a variant form of Mineral Warrior, possibly it merely refluffed without the Int or Cha penalty, but with a social interaction one. Bumped up a LA or so if players want to see if they can get it, of course. And with a massive penalty to Will saves against the equivalent of Jenova in the setting.

[tadkins]

Thanks so far, everyone. Loving these ideas, especially regarding making it a gestalt character.

The idea is to definitely make it a very challenging encounter for an entire party, yet fixed so that the party is only fighting that one person, making him seem all the more impressive.

[The-Mage-King]

Army of One will help a little, since it's the 1 v many homebrewed discipline, as will giving him stuff like extra actions.

Perhaps a normal round for 1-3 PCs, a round and a half (standard, move, swift, standard or move)for 4, and two rounds for 5-6? Extra actions go at his Initiative spot -10. A couple CR more than the party would help too, as well as CC powers.

Have background fluff point out that he's always been able to do things quicker than most, and have that found BEFORE they fight him. Have some other monsters with similar speed show up, too.


...


In fact, I should go make a Boss template, for loners...




On topic, basically give him some rough parity in the action economy, and it should be fine.

[tadkins]

Army of One definitely looks cool. It's even more appealing because it's homebrew, therefore would be unexpected.

The extra speed is a good idea too. I was also thinking of buffing his saves up a bit as well, just so he's not taken out by the first Save or Die cast by the party wizard. Could include something like that as part of a Boss template?

As far as the similar-speed monsters, you're suggesting they're there so that the party can get used to fighting something much quicker than normal?

[The-Mage-King]

Army of One definitely looks cool. It's even more appealing because it's homebrew, therefore would be unexpected.

Yeah, and the fluff fits perfectly for a solo boss, too.

Mind, if you use that, your players might also want to pick up some homebrew disciplines. Steer 'em towards TDO's if they do, and you should be fine for balance.


The extra speed is a good idea too. I was also thinking of buffing his saves up a bit as well, just so he's not taken out by the first Save or Die cast by the party wizard. Could include something like that as part of a Boss template?

Good idea, though 'tis only the barest glimmer of an idea at the moment.


As far as the similar-speed monsters, you're suggesting they're there so that the party can get used to fighting something much quicker than normal?

That, and so that when you want to pull out more Solo bosses with the same action economy parity, they're supported in backstory as a Thing.

[Lapak]

Why not a Warblade/Wu Jen/Jade Phoenix Mage?

Warblade has the swordsmanship.

Wu Jen has the materia-style elemental attacks.

Jade Phoenix Mage gives gishy progression to both, and allows him to pull off a videogame-style 'death throes --> no one could survive THAT --> boss returns at full power to kill you' move.

[Rubik]

A high level psion COULD fit the bill, especially if gestalted with factotum. It's got action economy to spare, and can be a seriously heavy hitter with buffs and inspiration points.

Sephiroth always seemed extraordinarily intelligent to me, both before and after his alien-inspired apotheosis to Chaotic Evil.

[vhfforever]

Why not a Warblade/Wu Jen/Jade Phoenix Mage?

Warblade has the swordsmanship.

Wu Jen has the materia-style elemental attacks.

Jade Phoenix Mage gives gishy progression to both, and allows him to pull off a videogame-style 'death throes --> no one could survive THAT --> boss returns at full power to kill you' move.

I was just about to suggest this very thing. Just use the Evil variant mentioned for JPM and go for the gusto. Maybe with a level or two of Swordsage for additional 'magicy feeling' options to add into the progression.

[Agrippa]

I have a more interesting question. Who's this Sephiroth expys boss going to be based on? Ra's al Ghul, General Zod, Doctor Doom, the Mandarin? Maybe even Slade Wilson A.K.A. Deathstroke, the Red Skull, Vandal Savage or Loki from Marvel comics. That's because figuring out who he works for can help determine his role in the organization. He could be more than just an attack dog and be a leader of men or even parademons.

[Lapak]

The extra speed is a good idea too. I was also thinking of buffing his saves up a bit as well, just so he's not taken out by the first Save or Die cast by the party wizard. Could include something like that as part of a Boss template?Another advantage of using a Martial Adept base is that you can pick up the Diamond Mind 'replace a saving throw with a Concentration check as an immediate action' Counters to help out with this. It's only once a round (and you have to refresh between using it) but that's actually a good thing for a boss fight; if he uses them intelligently he'll only burn them on save-or-lose effects and - if the PCs pick up on this - be forced to let minor penalties slip by in case they're trying to get him to waste it.

[Mirakk]

I had this idea myself, and here's what I came up with.


Sephiroth was supposed to be beyond normal SOLDIER members, right? And at the end of the game you end up facing him with a party vs just him. So he'll have to be more powerful than standard.


So I made him the only Gestalt character in the campaign. He was also the only character that used Tome of Battle. He was a Swordsage/Sorcerer that I gave a level advantage and a larger point buy to. This allowed him to manifest "Materia"-like powers, while still being good as a melee combatant in relation to other PC characters. Epicly throwing the party around, leaping through the air and wielding his specialized sword, and tossing fireballs about.. that sort of thing.

I did give it a little spin though, where I had him in the party from the beginning. He began manifesting these powers and becoming stronger than his comrades as the party leveled. Eventually, he discovered the secret of his creation and flipped out and started to annihilate the village one night after the party went to sleep. He was able to escape from the party, and thus the chase was on. Made a really cool setup for the whole thing because it gave the party a sense of personal responsibility to stop him.

I felt it captured his essence as a villian, which is what I was really shooting for. Who Sephiroth WAS and the fact you could almost understand why he flipped out is a huge part of his memorability as a badguy I think, and I wanted to capture that. As a side effect, it also was a good representation of his abilities mechanically.

[tadkins]

I have a more interesting question. Who's this Sephiroth expys boss going to be based on? Ra's al Ghul, General Zod, Doctor Doom, the Mandarin? Maybe even Slade Wilson A.K.A. Deathstroke, the Red Skull, Vandal Savage or Loki from Marvel comics. That's because figuring out who he works for can help determine his role in the organization. He could be more than just an attack dog and be a leader of men or even parademons.

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to complicate the purpose of the thread with the story I had planned for the character. The character in question is actually a female drow and right hand to a powerful demon lord bent on corrupting and enslaving the worlds.

In terms of fighting style, I wanted her inspired by Sephiroth. In terms of character role and personality however, she would probably be more akin to Darth Vader.

[Agrippa]

Okay then, I'd say you should make her a warblade//psion gestalt with the Feral Death Blow and Time Stands Still maneuvers and powers like Psionic Flight, Psionic Overland Flight, Catfall, Psionic Charm, Inflict Pain and Energy Wave. Then make her a drow Sephiroth/DeSaad (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/DeSaad_(New_Earth)) hybrid. It makes sense since your demon lord sounds just a little like Darkseid (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Uxas_(New_Earth)).

P.S. Maybe throw in a bit Granny Goodness (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Granny_Goodness_(New_Earth)) too.

[Waker]

Dipping into Hexblade or Pious Templar for Mettle could go a long way towards improving his survivability. You might also consider Crusader with RKV for a boss that is hard to kill with the constant healing.
Having trouble thinking of any really good ideas. Might have to check this thread again later.