How would you go about building Artorias the Abysswalker in 3.5 or PF?

[aleucard]

It's under Optimization because it's the only one that includes build-advice also.

Basically, I've put myself under a resolution that the next character I play will be quite possibly the single most badass character in the past 2 years. Namely, the guy mentioned in the title. Preferably, I'll be getting a non-corrupted version, but something to work with that would be interesting too. The only issue I really have is that, aside from having a primary Base class as either Warblade or Swordsage, I have no real ideas of how to do this properly. So I'm asking the people that know best; AKA you guys.

Assume that the rest of the party will be playing to T2 at most; anybody playing higher will likely either be doing so stealthily (think Batman Wizard) or be asked to tone it down. Otherwise, as long as it doesn't necessitate too many books that will need DM approval (ToB is already going to be a bitch depending on the DM, but if you have any better ideas.....), it works. I'm going to try and keep the cheese to a minimum, too. Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Gildedragon]

So as Abysswalker

Probably hellbred to get the evil exception and the name. He walked through the abyss and came back. Or Tiefling. PF alternate tieflings are cool, penalty goes to wis...

Chaotic-Good alignment probably
High Kn the planes

Access to planeshift would be good
Jaunter seems like a good class, as it can be entered at lvl 5ish

Before that: Warblade might be quicker
Factotum 1 or 3, Fighter 1, Warblade 1, Jaunter, Warblade more...

[torrasque666]

If you want to build true to the lore you'll need at least Monkey Grip as he one hands a greatsword(i know its possible in the game, but not in D&D/PF) along with his shield, at least before corruption. That's all I can really contribute. Unless... would powerful build and a Large longsword work?

[Gildedragon]

Ohwat...
I thought it was just a name of an OC
Hahaha! Kk, feel damn stupid now.
NVM, no idea of nothin Dsouls. -bows out-

[Aegis013]

But do you want the character to handle/replicate the boss in Dark Souls DLC or represent what vague idea we have of him pre-corruption?

Pre-corruption: Warblade 20 with Wild Cohort/Natural Bond + other feats you deem appropriate, use Wild Cohort for a Wolf, ask DM if you can train it to get it the Warbeast template. Give Sif a mouthpick weapon if you want, or not since he didn't seem to have an Artorias' Greatsword until post Artorias' death. Use a Towershield (blow a feat on it) and strongarm bracers + large longsword. Mithral Full plate. Pump physical skills, Jump, Balance, etc.

Post-corruption is more interesting. Because then we need to find a way to release an area burst attack while simultaneously buffing, but you wouldn't take Wild Cohort to make Sif.

[The Grue]

If you want to build true to the lore you'll need at least Monkey Grip as he one hands a greatsword

All together now, everyone!

Monkey Grip does not work that way!

[aleucard]

But do you want the character to handle/replicate the boss in Dark Souls DLC or represent what vague idea we have of him pre-corruption?

Pre-corruption: Warblade 20 with Wild Cohort/Natural Bond + other feats you deem appropriate, use Wild Cohort for a Wolf, ask DM if you can train it to get it the Warbeast template. Give Sif a mouthpick weapon if you want, or not since he didn't seem to have an Artorias' Greatsword until post Artorias' death. Use a Towershield (blow a feat on it) and strongarm bracers + large longsword. Mithral Full plate. Pump physical skills, Jump, Balance, etc.

Post-corruption is more interesting. Because then we need to find a way to release an area burst attack while simultaneously buffing, but you wouldn't take Wild Cohort to make Sif.

You know what, you convinced me.

NEW RULE TIME!

All builds from here on, unless if they are specific enough to be usable as a character sheet after rolling whatever dice needs rolling, are to focus on the post-Corruption Artorias.

For that, my best ideas were to either refluff some of the existing Maneuvers, make some new ones in (probably) some sort of new Discipline, or dip/PrC into something that can cast and do the necessary modifications from there. Maybe some DMM Cleric stuff for various personal buffs? Have his Cleric casting come from the Corruption itself if possible (adds flavor, makes the Corruption much more painful to remove, and doesn't bind me to the whims of whatever stand-in my DM has for the Abyss). Maybe add in some sort of Frenzy thing that fires at the DM's discretion (though I know the conditions that it would; things that'd piss Artorias off, someone specifically ******* with the Corruption, etc.). Really, the only 2 reasons I would've preferred pre-Corruption to post is Sif and him not being completely feral. That's fun in small doses, but I like playing characters with an Int score above 3.

On another note, how viable IS a Wild Cohort without dumping so many resources into it that you may as well be playing a stool pigeon for all your combat ability is concerned?

EDIT: A few things.

One, isn't there a mechanic of some kind already on the books for wielding weaponry in non-standard methods? I know that it's baked into crossbows at least, but you'd think there'd be something official for other weapons.

Two, What maneuvers or spells exist that would be able to stand-in for Artorias' abilities in-game with minimal if any mechanics tweaking? I don't care about having to refluff something, that's damn near encouraged with ToB at least, but the raw mechanics are a bit more stringent. Most of his more mundane attacks could probably be pulled exactly from Tiger Claw if nowhere else, but the more arcane ones are tougher.

Three, Why couldn't someone just enchant a weapon to give the Wield Oversized Weapon feat to the user, or even better make the requirements a little less than retarded? How much more powerful is a couple points more damage on average per swing? Sure, the reach might be a bit concerning, but there's much more hassle-free methods of boosting that than this. The Strength requirement makes perfect sense, though.

[torrasque666]

All together now, everyone!

Monkey Grip does not work that way!

Unless there's some errata I'm missing, it would work in a SIMILAR way as it would allow for a Large Longsword(which is equatable to a medium greatsword). I never said it HAD to be a greatsword. But my point remains that especially for Post-Corruption Artorias, you need some way to wield an oversized weapon. Monkey grip was just what first came to mind.

[Gildedragon]

Why not instead opt for EWP Heavy Bastard Sword EWP Bastard Sword to wield in one hand a weapon that counts as an oversized bastard sword.
Just refluff the gold as being large

[Aegis013]

Your best bet is probably DMM quicken Dance of Ruin with Extraordinary Spell Aim plus a standard action buff. Means RKV is the best bet, but Diamond Mind and Iron Heart make more sense than White Raven and Devoted Spirit. Though Shadow Hand strikes still generally fit.

You can ask your DM, but based on what you've shared I don't know if those tweaks would be allowed.

[Snowbluff]

Pretty much the entirety of the Tiger Claw maneuvers will help out.

Battle Jump and the ability to pounce would be good, too.

[Doorhandle]

Titan-mauler barbarian lets you one-hand two-handed weapons, among other things. Seems approximate as Artorias seems to be in a maddened rage thought his boss-fight. Raging leaper and intimidating howl seem like other rage-powers he'd have, even if the former's not too useful. His wild swings could be represented by cleave and the like. If you want your party to hate you/are full dedicated to the class concept, see if you could get wild rager in there as well for the extra attack/chance to flip out on your own party.

Perhaps combining it with oracle of the dark tapestry and then going into rage-prophet for all the abyss-magic goodness? With spontaneous inflict spells, because, seriously, when would Arterials heal people?

A magus might also work past the first Barbarian levels for rage/jotengrip, but it would take a very high level before you could wear heavy armour; unless you wanted to splurge on/later retrain arcane armour proficiency and Mithril armour.

When you complete the build, can you post it on the relevant boss characters thread?

[aleucard]

A few other PrC's from ToB are also interesting for this.

Shadow Sun Ninja is almost a perfect fit, save for the 'Ninja' part. While he IS sneaky, he doesn't strike me as the Assassin type. Refluffing and reworking this into a more armored class would be viable.

Jade Phoenix Mage also has some good stuff for this, though more tweaking would be required. If we want to make it as faithful to the source material as possible, maybe swap the fire out for Negative Energy? Maybe also change the level 10 capstone into a 1/encounter Rage equivalent, and have that as the stand-in for Artorias' personal buff.

At the moment, one of the big issues is whether to dip Arcane or Divine for the few magical abilities he has. I'm wondering on your opinions, and which specific one would do best.