3.0/3.5 Blind Swordswoman

[FateStayDragon]

So I am starting in a 3.0/3.5 campaign in a week and came up with a build for a blind swordswoman. Now a few things to note, it is mainly 3.5 but my DM is allowing some 3.0 content, it just needs to be O.K. by him. Secondly he has modified the monk to be a 20 progression, however but most of the the kit is still intact, just a few minor tweaks to some of the abilities.

So stats for the game were given. They are 18,16,14,12,10,8

My Race is a Lesser Aasimar
Im taking Blind as a flaw, (though I am only obtaining 1 feat)

My Build

Class Feats
Fighter Blind-Fight(B), Intuitive Strike(F), Combat Focus(1)
Fighter Weapon Focus - LS(B),
Monk Stunning Fist (B), Whirling Steel Strike(3)
Monk
Monk
Monk Combat Stability (6)
Monk
Monk
Monk Dodge (9)
Monk
Monk
Monk Combat Awareness (12)

So with this build I should have blingsight (effectively) by Level 12
Not sure how to progress from here, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

A note to is that intuitive strike was O.K.d to be used with a long sword because I am taking whirling steel strike.

[TroubleBrewing]

... How set are you on playing a Monk?

[FateStayDragon]

... How set are you on playing a Monk?

Not terribly. Although the benefits are kinda nice

By moving most of my combat stats to wisdom, I can effectively keep 1 stat up with not much issue.

I am also considering it, being a low income campaign, so items may be scarce. I am more heavily relying on build to gain the things I need.

But suggestions are welcomed.

[Cerussite]

If you want the flavour, why not go with Swordsage instead?

[JaronK]

Well, I'd recommend the Blindfold of True Darkness as an item... it's cheap, blinds you, and gives you short range Blindsight.

If you want to go with Monk, I'd recommend 5 levels of Shou Disciple. That gives full BAB and lets you flurry with any weapon you want.

But if you want to be a really good swordmaster type, consider levels in Warblade and Iaijutsu Master.

JaronK

[FateStayDragon]

If you want the flavour, why not go with Swordsage instead?

Wanted to, but my DM is one of those no ToB DMs. So unfortunately I am stuck with this idea.

[FateStayDragon]

Well, I'd recommend the Blindfold of True Darkness as an item... it's cheap, blinds you, and gives you short range Blindsight.

If you want to go with Monk, I'd recommend 5 levels of Shou Disciple. That gives full BAB and lets you flurry with any weapon you want.

But if you want to be a really good swordmaster type, consider levels in Warblade and Iaijutsu Master.

JaronK


"If you want to go with Monk, I'd recommend 5 levels of Shou Disciple. That gives full BAB and lets you flurry with any weapon you want."

That is cool. Might consider it. Thanks!

[Silva Stormrage]

Seconding the blindfold of true darkness. Incredibly awesome item for blind characters and it looks cool anyway :smalltongue:

Also for monk I would suggest not taking more than 2 levels, you get pretty much everything in those two levels. Also the Shiba Protector PRC is actually pretty good. It will grant wisdom to hit and damage rolls (Stacking with intuitive attack).

[Psyren]

How does he feel about psionics? You can negate blindness in combat at level 1, (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/synesthete.htm) and it only gets better (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/touchsight.htm) from there.

[FateStayDragon]

Seconding the blindfold of true darkness. Incredibly awesome item for blind characters and it looks cool anyway :smalltongue:

Also for monk I would suggest not taking more than 2 levels, you get pretty much everything in those two levels. Also the Shiba Protector PRC is actually pretty good. It will grant wisdom to hit and damage rolls (Stacking with intuitive attack).

Shiba protector would be cool to take definitely. Will help with the wisdom convergence

[FateStayDragon]

How does he feel about psionics? You can negate blindness in combat at level 1, (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/synesthete.htm) and it only gets better (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/touchsight.htm) from there.

I'll setup a psionic build and do a comparison.

[Oko and Qailee]

Haha, I originally jokes around with a friend about making a blind fighter (and I did!).

Something interesting is that Bull Rushing isn't explicitly considered an attack and it's arguable whether it's subject to concealment. So you can make pretty nice Dungeon crasher fighters being blind if your DM allows it.

TBH I wouldn't really do monk more than two levels (bonus feats FTW!) because.... you're blind and I don't know if you REALLY want to do Unarmed Fighting as a blind guy, your miss chance is already bad enough.

It's much better to try and keep BAB as high as possible, maybe net in rage as a barbarian, etc, so that the only way you'll ever miss is because of concealment.


ALL THAT BEING SAID, being a blind spell caster is WAY better, because spells don't get hurt as much by concealment.

[FateStayDragon]

Haha, I originally jokes around with a friend about making a blind fighter (and I did!).

Something interesting is that Bull Rushing isn't explicitly considered an attack and it's arguable whether it's subject to concealment. So you can make pretty nice Dungeon crasher fighters being blind if your DM allows it.

TBH I wouldn't really do monk more than two levels (bonus feats FTW!) because.... you're blind and I don't know if you REALLY want to do Unarmed Fighting as a blind guy, your miss chance is already bad enough.

It's much better to try and keep BAB as high as possible, maybe net in rage as a barbarian, etc, so that the only way you'll ever miss is because of concealment.


ALL THAT BEING SAID, being a blind spell caster is WAY better, because spells don't get hurt as much by concealment.

Lol. Good Points

Lucky the DM is letting monk be a 20 progression BAB. And having flurry of blows eventually going even, I have a decent number of attacks. Granted the Shiba protector mentioned above would be cool to go into eventually.

[Emperor Tippy]

Blindfold of True Darkness for the Blind bit.

Factotum 1/ Swashbuckler 3/ Decisive Strike Martial Monk 1/ Factotum 2/ Assassin 1/ Factotum 5/ Assassin 7

Put Int as your primary stat with Strength as your secondary.

For feats you want Kung Fu Genius (Int to AC for Monk), Craven, and a lot of Font of Inspiration.

By level 4 you can get +2xInt to damage and +Int to attack.

Level 7 sees you get Brains Over Brawn and bring up your skills and Initiative.
Level 8 gets you Sneak Attack, which means that you get to take Craven at level 9 and then add your HD to sneak attack damage rolls. It also gives you Cunning Strike for potentially massive sneak attacks.

Level 13 sees you get Cunning Surge and when that is combined with Decisive Strike you get to deal truly massive damage. How about half a dozen full AB attacks that each deal a minimum of +4xInt damage +2xStr damage.

The rest of your levels give you some modest spellcasting ability and eventually Hide in Plain Sight (although that is at level 20, which is quite late).

[Lyndworm]

Remember that Monks aren't multiclass-friendly. Unless your DM rules otherwise, you can't take more Monk levels after Shou Disciple or Shiba Protector. You probably don't want more than two levels of Monk anyway (six at the most), but I wanted to remind you.

Since you're considering psionics (which I cannot recommend strongly enough if you follow this advice), you might want the Tashalatora feat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/secrets-of-sarlona--14/tashalatora--3415/). It makes Monk 2/Psychic Warrior X an amazingly viable option.

[A.A.King]

You might want to consider the feat "Blindsight, 5ft Radius" it requires a Wisdom of 19 which works well for monks and it grants you Blindsight to all adjacent squares. Which reads as: No miss chance in melee which doesn't require an item which can be stolen or powers which can run out.

[Beardbarian]

Wanted to, but my DM is one of those no ToB DMs. So unfortunately I am stuck with this idea.

No ToB means no Hear the Air stance :smallconfused:

[Lyndworm]

You might want to consider the feat "Blindsight, 5ft Radius" it requires a Wisdom of 19 which works well for monks and it grants you Blindsight to all adjacent squares. Which reads as: No miss chance in melee which doesn't require an item which can be stolen or powers which can run out.
If for some reason you don't can't or want to rely on magical powers of detection, Fate, you could do a lot worse than following A.A.King's advice.

While we're on the subject of incredibly powerful non-magical senses, you'll want to look at Hear the Unseen (http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-adventurer--54/hear-the-unseen--1359/), Keen-Eared Scout (http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-ii--80/keen-eared-scout--1710/), and/or Quick Reconnoiter (http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-adventurer--54/quick-reconnoiter--2318/).

[danzibr]

How did your character become blind? Born, or inflicted?

If your character was born blind, I imagine she would, from a young age, seek for a way to overcome this. In which case I'd endorse Psyren's course of actions.

If the blindness was due to an injury or something, then... swordswoman seems much more likely.

[Dexam]

How set are you on Lesser Aasimar for race?

With Silverbrow Human (Dragon Magic) Dragonblood Sorcerer (Races of the Dragon), you can have Blindsense 20' at level 1:

- 1st level: Draconic Senses
- Class bonus: Draconic Heritage (replaces Sorcerer familiar)
- Human Bonus and Flaw: any two other Draconic feats (personally I like Draconic Knowledge for all knowledge skills as class skills, plus a bonus on knowledge skills equal to total Draconic feats which synchs well with Knowledge Devotion; and Draconic Toughness for some bonus HP).

Throw in some Stalwart Sorcerer ACF (Complete Mage) and/or Battle Sorcerer variant (Unearthed Arcana) for the swordswoman flavour.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would take the sorcerer build into a gish myself, if going for a swordsman build. Listening lorecall persisted can provide all day blindsight. At low levels it still lasts 10min/level, so long enough to last a short adventuring day.

Sorcerer 6 / Ruthgar 3 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Stuff X