Oriental style character suggestions from list of set books 3.5e?

[Albions_Angel]

Set Books:
PHB, PHB2, Complete [something], Races of [something], Dragon Magic, Sandstorm, Frostburn.

I am with a group that plays custom campaigns with content only from the above books, ie, no characters, races, creatures, items or classes from other books. Also, no home rules.

I am rather new to DnD 3.5e and we are closing in on this campaign. I like oriental characters and I loved layering my PC in backstory, to the extent that I have created an entire world based on a Feudal Japan based area that future characters will come from. But I need some help picking my next character.

So I am looking for Oriental level 1 builds you would suggest. I dont mean Ninja (my current class), monk and samurai. I could theoretically build those myself. I mean Oriental based characters, that use unusual weapons and pick certs that help with eastern style abilities. People good with Lajatang for example. Or Naginata or something like that.

A bit about my preferences if you want a challange. I like elven characters. I dont like dwarfs at all. I dont mind you picking an older character if you have a reason for the stat changes.

I think thats all. I tried reddit and all they wernt helpful at all. Quite rude actually. But you guys seem to deal with this sort of thing more often.

So, without further ado, lets here your level 1 Oriental Characters from the above books and a short plan of where you would take them after level 1. 32-point buy. Go :)

[Sian]

I think thats all. I tried reddit and all they wernt helpful at all. Quite rude actually.

... everyone, raise your hand if your surprised ... anyone? nope, not me neither

something you really should do if you want to run a oriental character is to get a look at Oriental Adventures (yeah, i know) ... its 3.0 so it need some updating, but from the standpoint of getting interesting ideas then its quite handy ... and its Samurai Class is stupidly much stronger than CW (... not that thats much of a challenge really) ... and it haves stats for Naginata and Nagamaki as Martial Weapons

obivous classes if going caster would be Wu-Jen, (Complete Arcane) Shugenja and Spirit Shaman (both Complete Divine). The part about getting special weapons is merely a question of talking your DM into it, since it would make sense that certain weapons were common weapons for you instead of some of the more western weapons that's default

[ZamielVanWeber]

Dragon 318 has some nice updates to Oriental Adventures.

[Red Fel]

First rule: Asian-flavored stuff plays almost exactly like regular-flavored stuff... But it's Asian.

That Paladin? He's a samurai, empowered by the noble spirits of his ancestors and charged by his feudal lord. That Rogue? He's a member of the Beggar's Guild, a band of scoundrels and martial artists. That Wizard? He's a master of the Tao, a student and master of the nature of the universe. That Monk? He's a frigging Monk.

You want something fun? Go with an Elf Warblade/Eternal Blade with an Ancestral Weapon. Bam. Tome of Battle is your go-to source for wuxia-style over-the-top martial arts moves. Warblade is your cunning, well-trained, flashy swordsman; Eternal Blade is his big bad Elven brother, empowered by an ancestral spirit. Ancestral Weapon is just the icing on the cake. Heck, turn it up to 11 and make the weapon an Item Familiar.

[Telonius]

I suppose my first question would be, what do you consider to be an "eastern style ability?" You could make any class from the PHB Eastern-themed, with the right description. You don't need to restrict yourselves to class features and abilities that have Japanese words in them.

(If you just have to write "katana" on the character sheet, there's always a one-level dip in Master of Masks to get exotic weapon proficiency in everything).

[BWR]

First rule: Asian-flavored stuff plays almost exactly like regular-flavored stuff... But it's Asian.

That Paladin? He's a samurai, empowered by the noble spirits of his ancestors and charged by his feudal lord. That Rogue? He's a member of the Beggar's Guild, a band of scoundrels and martial artists. That Wizard? He's a master of the Tao, a student and master of the nature of the universe. That Monk? He's a frigging Monk.


Seconded. Just build what seems like a fun character then reflavor and reskin it as whatever Asian culture you wanted to portray. Weapons in the various books are also easily reflavored. The katana is mechanically identical to a bastard sword, so it's a bastard sword. Dao is a basically a longsword that deals only slashing damage, spears are spears no matter what they look like.

[Blackhawk748]

Red_Fel, normally i agree with you, but sadly the OP cant use ToB (or maybe they could convince their DM with large Puppy Dog eyes, idk) so baring that, you could play a Lawful honorable Fighter who wields a Katana, or whatever weapon you prefer, and then just grab whatever Alternate Class feature fits your fancy. Aligned Strike may be useful (you can smack them with Law) Resolute is always nice, and i think fitting for a stubborn Samurai Warrior.

The Ronin PrC isnt terrible, i've played it once and enjoyed myself (Full BaB and Sneak attack? yes please!)

Also i second Oriental Adventures for equipment, and some cool monsters.

[Coidzor]

You want to use a Naginata? Ok, refluff a glaive from the PHB. Or a fauchard if you only have simple weapon proficiencies and can get fauchards OK'd despite not being on your source list. They're just longspears that deal slashing instead of piercing damage in terms of mechanics from what I recall. Not gonna break anything by existing.

Lagatang? Well, you'll have to eat the exotic weapon proficiency anyway, since double-weapons that aren't the quarterstaff are generally exotic weapons.

Takahashi No Onisan (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=153726) is an excellent example of an oriental-flavored character, though the central feat, Imperious Command, does draw from outside your source list. Still, it is a rather interesting build. He demonstrates the potential of intimidation as a combat tactic, so that anything he can get close enough to to intimidate and isn't immune to fear is at his mercy.

I'd almost suggest a Hexblade 3(for mettle)/Wizard X/Spell Sword 1/Abjurant Champion 5 or Ranger 2(Take the Arcane Hunter ACF for FE: Arcanist, only take the second level as ranger if you want the combat style, otherwise go any other full BAB class)/Wizard X/Spell Sword 1/Abjurant Champion 5 gish and concentrate on using spells for movement and empowering the gish in order to emulate a wuxia warrior feel.

[Albions_Angel]

Thanks guys. Some good ideas coming out. Yeah, i know oriental chars will probably just play like regular ones, but I was looking more at playing them more unusually, for example, weaker, faster fighters with crazy spinning weapons and the like. Everything else is fluff and fluff i can do no problem.

I have looked at OA, but I cant use it. There is no wiggle room on my set books. Its a real pain because I was thinking a Clawlock styled as "Wu Jan of the Tiger" or something, but Clawlock requires Dragon Mag. Its super annoying. Or one of the OA magic classes.

I am really very new to this so I want to ask, when you say things like "Class A 3/ Class B X/ Class C 5" you mean multiclass right? Start with Class A for 3 levels, then Class B for (I guess) 10 levels? Seems a bit long, or is X just "As many as you want"?

Multiclassing I think is gunna give me the variation I want. That and unusual weapons. Or just pick one of the 3 basic oriental classes (ninja, samurai and monk) but monk looks dull as anything (also didnt like them with the old Pool of Radiance game), Samurai looks all right, and I am playing a ninja (now level 9, CQC focused, and surprising effective, to the point that I am the second highest damage dealer in a fairly standard party).

Anyway, keep the ideas coming, you guys are great.

[HammeredWharf]

The problem with ninja, CW samurai and monk is that they are awfully weak. Ninja is probably the best of them, but I'd rather just make a rogue and call it a ninja. Wu Jen is a strong class and shugenja is alright, but I take it you want to make a melee character?


I am really very new to this so I want to ask, when you say things like "Class A 3/ Class B X/ Class C 5" you mean multiclass right? Start with Class A for 3 levels, then Class B for (I guess) 10 levels? Seems a bit long, or is X just "As many as you want"?

No, not ten levels. To qualify for Spellsword after three levels of hexblade, you'd have to take three levels of wizard. Taking more doesn't make much sense.

Speaking of gishes, Suel Arcanamach from Complete Arcane is a nice PRC. You can mix it with bar levels to qualify for Sublime Chord and get a solid melee mage with decent social skills.

[Blackhawk748]

I feel like an idiot for forgetting to recommend this, but you could play a Knight. They are durable as all hell and have some solid abilities. Call yourself the Iron Samurai, grab a Tetsubo (greatclub) or an Odachi (a Greatsword or Falchion) and wear Great Armor, its non crap Half Plate, and your good. Though i should warn you, with the knight you dont really move a lot, or at least not quickly anyway.

[Metahuman1]

I look at this and think to myself that it's an absolute Crime your not being allowed access to Tome of Battle, Tome of Magics Pact Magic Section, and Magic of Incarnum.

[Urpriest]

First of all, I'm assuming you have access to at least the DMG and MM1 on top of your list.

Second, you have the Completes, which includes Complete Arcane. That, by itself (well, plus PHB), is enough for a Wu Jen Unarmed Gish. DMG gives you Archmage, which will let you exploit Body Outside of Body at the higher levels. At the low levels, play a more casting-oriented build, then later pick up some levels in Monk and Enlightened Fist and "flip out".

[Metahuman1]

As an alternative, play the monk religiously, take levels in cleric as your "Spiritual Power/Connection Deepens" and then go to Complete Divine and pick up Sacred Fist and DMM: Persist.

For added cheese, make an affiliation that gives you extra turning as a bonus feat as many times as you can squeeze in so that you've got no shortage of turn undead attempts to use.

[Albions_Angel]

If DMG is allowed, its for DMs only. No PC stuff from it. I know, its annoying as hell.

I see a lot of people saying I should build Wu Jen (a class I saw and loved the look of) from Complete Arcane. How would you go about doing that? Out of interest.

[Windstorm]

If DMG is allowed, its for DMs only. No PC stuff from it. I know, its annoying as hell.

I see a lot of people saying I should build Wu Jen (a class I saw and loved the look of) from Complete Arcane. How would you go about doing that? Out of interest.

wat. just wat.

restricting player access to DMG essentially means he has removed magic items and major core PrCs from the game..... I don't even.

also, Tome of Battle and Magic of Incarnum are some of the best sources for refluffing to make for interesting exotic characters. failing that I guess you could go with a psychic warrior, since that's SRD material at least (I'm assuming your GM isn't stoned enough to remove XPH from the core books list)

talk to him about the DMG restriction though, there are several sections in that book that can be pretty critical to all kinds of characters, and casters like a wu-jen you might as well throw in the trashcan without them.

edit: for extra entertainment, most of the basic oriental weapons are actually a DMG listing, not PHB, so katana and related are out if he restricts access.......

[Hangwind]

My thought would be to take cleric and fluff you deity as your ancestors. Then just go melee focus and you have a perfect Asian themed character. Bonus points if you get your DM to let your sword be your holy symbol.:smallbiggrin:

[Coidzor]

Actually, this is kind of embarrassing, but how long do you think the game is going to last/what do you think the max level will be?

[Urpriest]

Here's a Wu Jen handbook. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246975)

I'll echo the others that "no DMG" is just silly. It means you can't inflict or suffer from conditions, since most of them are described in the DMG, for example.

[Nightraiderx]

If DMG is allowed, its for DMs only. No PC stuff from it. I know, its annoying as hell.

I see a lot of people saying I should build Wu Jen (a class I saw and loved the look of) from Complete Arcane. How would you go about doing that? Out of interest.

I was going to suggest kusari-gama from the DMG, you could've used a twf-trip type build from it. but nooooo guy had to ban it, fo shame