samuraijaques
2013-05-06, 11:09 PM
hello all,
I have a build that i would love some help with. If any of you have played the game "Mark of the Ninja" by Klei animation you will know the main character whose name I don't recall. He is basically the ninja version of Sam Fisher and does all kinds of crazy ninja takedowns while remaining totally undetected (if you are good at the game).
My goal is to make him in dnd.
Here is what I have so far
I will be employing the rather dubious incarnate construct warforged trick to apply the shadow template from lords of madness at level 1. I have already cleared this with my DM as it is the best way to make the character without him having to be higher level than the campaign is likely to get. the shadow template provides the main stealth aspect of the build with their ability Shadow Blend to gain total concealment by blending into shadows, much like the main character does in the game.
as for the class I feel like many of the maneuvers from the shadow hand discipline are good examples of things this "magical ninja" would be capable of doing or already does in the game so swordsage is a must.
I was thinking of taking a dip into rogue for a few levels to get some more sneak attack and some more class skills that swordsages lack.
beyond that though i don't really know what other classes, prestige or otherwise, to take.
as for feats
two weapon fighting isn't really necessary, the character tends to kill enemies with one strike and i would like to stick to that as much as possible. but obviously most enemies aren't going down in one shot unless I am doing significant amounts of damage so if it absolutely must be then two weapon fighting will have to find it's way into the build.
the following feats seemed like good ideas
-darkstalker: because he is going to rely on non magical stealth
-craven: for extra damage
-shadow blade: for extra damage and making my character less MAD
-adaptive style: feat tax for swordsages
-gloom razor: because it's really cool and synergizes well but if the build ends up feat starved it can go away.
-staggering strike: the grand daddy of all sneak attack feats, definitely goes in and i can take it at 9.
-skill knowledge: for iaijutsu focus. I am a little unsure about this one, it feels like this would be a really great way to reflect the one shot one kill style that the character has but i don't know how high i could reasonably expect to get it.
-and finally sacred vow and vow of poverty: the character has given himself up to undertake a ritual that will give him the power to save his people but also slowly drives him insane. basically martyrs himself. its good enough for me and good enough for my DM and I think the build could really benefit from it as it doesn't rely too heavily on magic items, i could be wrong though.
and to the items
-he definitely needs a kusari-gama or a spiked chain
-he needs a ninja-to which can just be a short sword
-reskin some throwing knives to be kunai
-he needs smoke bombs which can be smokesticks
-there are few traps that he uses that i wouldn't really know how to make. basically they are just bear traps if anyone has any good ideas
-and a grappling hook which can be a rod of ropes if he doesnt take vow of poverty or a regular grappling hook if he does
here is a video of the character in action for a better idea of what i am going for
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZvTIztzDL8
so anyway, sorry about the wall of text, i just need some advice and wanted to be clear as to what i was asking. I need advice on the following.
-how would you go about building this character? do my suggestions seem sound?
-what things would you suggest for the build? what would you suggest i stay clear of?
-how am i going to quickly and silently kill enemies with only a few strikes? what would be a good way to go about hiding the bodies?
-should i or shouldn't i take vow of poverty? do the benefits outweigh the costs?
-do you think the character would be viable overall? would it be both enjoyable to play and effective in it's roll?
-how exactly does the shadow blend supernatural ability of the shadow creature template work? is it a standard action to activate? how long after i use it does it persist?
really looking forward to hearing your responses
cheers.
I have a build that i would love some help with. If any of you have played the game "Mark of the Ninja" by Klei animation you will know the main character whose name I don't recall. He is basically the ninja version of Sam Fisher and does all kinds of crazy ninja takedowns while remaining totally undetected (if you are good at the game).
My goal is to make him in dnd.
Here is what I have so far
I will be employing the rather dubious incarnate construct warforged trick to apply the shadow template from lords of madness at level 1. I have already cleared this with my DM as it is the best way to make the character without him having to be higher level than the campaign is likely to get. the shadow template provides the main stealth aspect of the build with their ability Shadow Blend to gain total concealment by blending into shadows, much like the main character does in the game.
as for the class I feel like many of the maneuvers from the shadow hand discipline are good examples of things this "magical ninja" would be capable of doing or already does in the game so swordsage is a must.
I was thinking of taking a dip into rogue for a few levels to get some more sneak attack and some more class skills that swordsages lack.
beyond that though i don't really know what other classes, prestige or otherwise, to take.
as for feats
two weapon fighting isn't really necessary, the character tends to kill enemies with one strike and i would like to stick to that as much as possible. but obviously most enemies aren't going down in one shot unless I am doing significant amounts of damage so if it absolutely must be then two weapon fighting will have to find it's way into the build.
the following feats seemed like good ideas
-darkstalker: because he is going to rely on non magical stealth
-craven: for extra damage
-shadow blade: for extra damage and making my character less MAD
-adaptive style: feat tax for swordsages
-gloom razor: because it's really cool and synergizes well but if the build ends up feat starved it can go away.
-staggering strike: the grand daddy of all sneak attack feats, definitely goes in and i can take it at 9.
-skill knowledge: for iaijutsu focus. I am a little unsure about this one, it feels like this would be a really great way to reflect the one shot one kill style that the character has but i don't know how high i could reasonably expect to get it.
-and finally sacred vow and vow of poverty: the character has given himself up to undertake a ritual that will give him the power to save his people but also slowly drives him insane. basically martyrs himself. its good enough for me and good enough for my DM and I think the build could really benefit from it as it doesn't rely too heavily on magic items, i could be wrong though.
and to the items
-he definitely needs a kusari-gama or a spiked chain
-he needs a ninja-to which can just be a short sword
-reskin some throwing knives to be kunai
-he needs smoke bombs which can be smokesticks
-there are few traps that he uses that i wouldn't really know how to make. basically they are just bear traps if anyone has any good ideas
-and a grappling hook which can be a rod of ropes if he doesnt take vow of poverty or a regular grappling hook if he does
here is a video of the character in action for a better idea of what i am going for
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZvTIztzDL8
so anyway, sorry about the wall of text, i just need some advice and wanted to be clear as to what i was asking. I need advice on the following.
-how would you go about building this character? do my suggestions seem sound?
-what things would you suggest for the build? what would you suggest i stay clear of?
-how am i going to quickly and silently kill enemies with only a few strikes? what would be a good way to go about hiding the bodies?
-should i or shouldn't i take vow of poverty? do the benefits outweigh the costs?
-do you think the character would be viable overall? would it be both enjoyable to play and effective in it's roll?
-how exactly does the shadow blend supernatural ability of the shadow creature template work? is it a standard action to activate? how long after i use it does it persist?
really looking forward to hearing your responses
cheers.