Swordsage Help

[Octauianus]

Hey guys,

I am building a swordsage based on the character Kanade Tachibana (from Angelbeats!) for a new campaign. We have a 32 point buy and we are playing 3.5e format with pathfinder skills and classes allowed only by approval. Below is the link for the character and her abilities and also my sheet. Any suggestions on manuevers, items, and feats would be deeply appreciated.

Kanade: http://angelbeats.wikia.com/wiki/Kanade_Tachibana

Character Sheet: http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=74800


Thank-you!!

P.S. if you can't see the character sheet, let me know!! Thks!!!

[Nettlekid]

Why choose Swordsage? The only real "ability" we see her do is Hand Sonic, which I could see as being either a Soulknife thing or basically any caster class that can cast a spell like Mordenkainen's Sword or Flame Blade. I guess she has her sensing and deflection skills too.

The whole thing screams Psychic Warrior in my eyes. The Call Weaponry power, especially in conjunction with the Soulbound Weapon ACF, could be Hand Sonic. There are plenty of invisible AC boosts like Inertial Armor and Mental Barrier, miss chances from (Greater) Concealing Amorpha which is a bit like Distortion, and Psychofeedback for Overdrive. Plus HP and ability score healing, which fits with the fact that she doesn't die heals from damage dealt.

[Octauianus]

Thank-you very much!! I was originally planning to do Psionic path but the DM insisted on Swordsage. I think the main thing was because of getting Anglelic aspect or Celestial Aspect to get the angel looking wings. What would be a better way in Psionic//Psychic Warrior to get this?

-Octauianus

[Nettlekid]

I would strive toward this (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3541096), but with different power choices. Kanade isn't exactly a storm-in-and-wreck-the-place kind of character, she's mostly peaceful but kind of unbreakable. This build uses Incarnum (which fits the soul/spirit theme of Angel Beats pretty well) to manifest a lot of powers for free. The build's power choices focus on long term buffs, but you don't necessarily need to go that direction. The most important thing is it lets you just keep churning out your special thing, like Distortion or Hand Sonic, without limitation, which is sort of why I assumed you wanted to go with Swordsage.

The way the trick works is that the feat Psycarnum Infusion works by expending your psionic focus and, for a round, treating one of your Incarnum feats as though it had the maximum amount of Essentia invested as allowed. The feat Azure Talent lets you, 1/day, invest Essentia into the feat. You then gain Power Points equal to twice the invested Essentia. The feat Midnight Augmentation lets you 1/day, choose a single power, you invest Essentia into the feat, and can manifest the power with a reduced PP cost equal to the invested Essentia. Do you see where this is going? With Psycarnum Infusion (and extra Psionic Foci, such as that stored by Psicrystal Containment,) you can make Azure Talent and Midnight Augmentation count as having full Essential stored, getting 2*that PP and a serious reduction on a single power's cost for a round. EXCEPT that the 1/day limit states that "1/day you may invest Essentia into this feat." And you never actually did that. So feasibly, what you do is make them count as maxed, use those bonus PP to manifest a cheapened power, and then it wears off and you do it again with a different power. Cool beans. Your DM may not allow you to change the power you chose for Midnight Augmentation, because the choosing of the power is tied into the 1/day thing, but even still it's worth it for a power you plan to manifest a lot. Azure Talent is pretty airtight, though.

As for powers to choose...For starters, I'd say take the Soulbound Weapon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a) ACF, because even though it locks you into taking Call Weaponry as your 1st level power (which you probably would, because of Hand Sonic) and forces you to take Weapon Focus as your 2nd level feat (it says you lose that feat, but then you gain Weapon Focus, so it balances out,) having your own personal weapon is super cool. And when you augment it, you can specialize it each time you call it. Super cool.

For Powers Known...I'd go with (choosing mostly for flavor and partly for effectiveness):
Level 1 Powers: Call Weaponry (Hand Sonic), Inertial Armor or Deflection Field (Distortion), Vigor
Level 2 Powers: Body Adjustment, Body Purification, Emphatic Transfer (these just seem like things she would do)
Level 3 Powers: Greater Concealing Amorpha (Delay), Dimension Slide, Emphatic Feedback
Level 4 Powers: Psionic Freedom of Movement, Weapon of Energy, Steadfast Perception
Level 5 Powers: Adapt Body, Psychofeedback (Overdrive), Metaconcert
Level 6 Powers: Personal Mind Blank, Inconstant Location, Mind over Energy, Stygian Touch, Suspend Life.

If your DM lets you, try to find an Ardent with the Good mantle and the power Psychic Chirurgery, to gain Planar Embrace as a 6th level power. It makes you a Half-Celestial, which would give you wings. In fact, try to do the same (any Psion will do for this one)(or just take Expanded Knowledge) for Energy Burst or Energy Lance as a 3rd level power. Use it for Sonic damage, and that's your Howling done. The only one I can't think of (beyond getting a StP Erudite with Magic Mantle to give you a Wu Jen's Body outside Body with Psychic Chirurgery, somehow making it a 6th level power instead of 7th, and doing more cheesy stuff) is Harmonics, but you could always say that you CAN make copies but choose not to because bad stuff happened the last time you did. Wink wink.

[Octauianus]

This is great!!! I will definitely take up your recommendations!! Thank-you so much for all your hard work and time!!!