Garet Jax, the Weapons Master

[Iwasforger03]

I've embarked on a project to recreate my own version of "Garet Jax, the Weapons Master." To that end, i've finally delved into the Tome of Battle, book of Nine swords.

I'm currently looking at using Warblade as his baseclass, and i'm going to be using a lvl 20 build (possible lvl 22).

Ability scores after lvls added at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20
Str 22 (b17, lvl5), Dex 15, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 15

My maneuvers known are:
1st: Steel Wind (Iron heart), Sapphire Nightmare Blade(diamond mind), Stone Bones (stone dragon), Moment of Perfect Mind (Diamond Mind)
2nd: Wall of Blades (Iron heart, at 3rd lvl), Disarming Strike (replaces Steel Wind, Iron Heart at 4th lvl), Emerald Razor (diamond mind, at 6th, replaces sapphire)
3rd: Bone Crusher(Stone, at 5th lvl), Flesh Ripper (Tiger 3, at 10th)
4th: Mind Strike (diamond mind, at 7th), Lightning Recovery (Iron, at 8th, replaces disarming strike)
5th: Elder mountain Hammer (Stone, at 9th), Disrupting Blow (Diamond, at 14th, replaces emerald razor)
6th: Rabid Bear Strike (Tiger, at 11th), Manticore Parry, (iron, at 12th, replaces Wall of Blades)
7th: Swooping Dragon Strike (tiger, at 13th),
8th: Diamond Nightmare Blade (diamond, at 15th), Earthstrike Quake (Stone, at 16th, replaces Stone Bones) Ancient Mountain Hammer (at 18th, replaces fleshripper)
9th: Feral Death Blow (tiger, at 17th), Time Stands Still (diamond, at 19th),

Stances: Blood in the water (tiger 1) Punishing Stance (iron 1), Giant’s Stance (Stone 5), Wolf Pack Tactics (Tiger 8)

So that's my list of stances and maneuvers known. It took me a few hours to do those level by level so that i was positive i had everything correct and possible and I wasn't cheating.

I'd like to ask for suggestions for feats, any good prestige classes, magical equipment, weapons, etc. I have everything by paizo and Wizards both available to me for this build (which may never get used in an actual game, and it if it does, i'll probably have to fight it), but I wanted to get it right, so i'm asking the playground for assistance.

Thanks gentlemen/ladies.

[Jormengand]

I don't know much about the character, but you should read this. (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/587/roleplaying-games/dd-calibrating-your-expectations-2)


People love to stat up their favorite heroes from fantasy literature as 20th level juggernauts. Fafhrd? 20th level. Elric? 20th level. Conan? 20th level. Aragorn? 20th level Luke Skywalker? 20th level.

I mean, they must be 20th level, right? They’re the biggest, bestest heroes ever! They’re the greatest warriors in a generation! Some of them are reputedly the greatest swordsmen who ever lived in any universe EVAH!

But when you stop and analyze what these characters are actually described as achieving, it’s rare to find anything which actually requires a 20th level build.

[Iwasforger03]

I know he wouldn't be lvl 20 if you actually stated him by the book. But I'm making his equivalent by the rules of a campaign i'm in... where the party is lvl 18, so i figure putting him at 20 or higher is the perfect spot to keep him comparable to the party. He's supposed to be the best, and if he ever saw play, he'd be an enemy.

[Thanatosia]

Garet Jax might be an exception to the 'what have they realy accomplished' logic behind heros not being high level. He's from the book Wishsong of Shannara, and honestly, what he accomplishes is pretty dang impressive. At one point he pretty much solos a Kraken, a giant towering monster destroying a dwarven fortress. He even killed the Jachyra, an eldritch abomination from before time (a signature sign of an epic level creature), a creature summoned by the shannara version of the Nazgul to defeat - and ripped apart the most powerful druid who ever lived (possibly excepting the warlock lord). Garet Jax killed it, though he afterwards succumbed to it's poison and died himself.

I'm not sure he'd neccisarily have to be lv20, but mid to high teens I'd say at the least. I would very confidently place him at a much higher level then Conan, Aragorn, or Luke Skywalker. The Shannara books go on through 5 or 6 trillogies, and though Jax appears in the final volume of the first one, I don't think any character ever makes a credible claim for being higher level then him (though some may be more powerful, due to them being casters or otherwise magically empowered while he's just a badass melee mundane). He spent his whole life fighting, and never lost a single one, even in his death he killed his opponent first.

[holywhippet]

Maybe, but level is only part of the equation. You could add a template to a character giving them bonuses to make them far more than the average person. With high levels would come high HP making the character able to survive a beating that would kill a normal man several times over. If you give them bonuses to AC and BAB they are just better at avoiding damage and dealing it out.

[Iwasforger03]

Conceptually i wanted to approach it from the standpoint: "This guy is badass. He's the best. It's not his equipment, or spells, or any supernatural ability. It's him. He's an ordinary human, and its skill, talent, training, practice, expertise, THAT'S why he's awesome. He has no magic, no templates. Just feats and class levels."

I fully intend to provide him with magical equipment, but my thought was that level to level, magical equipment is gonna come out the same. that is, it cancels out. So i need to approach this from the perspective of all the things he has, the things he can do, that are HIM, and not the stuff that comes from outside, the stuff anybody can get. So he needs to be AWESOME BEFORE you apply equipment and magical items. His base stats need to ROCK THIS WORLD.

I thought Warblade was a good choice for achieving that, and I focused str with his lvl up bonuses. I selected the martial maneuvers and stances I thought would be effective and and fun, ways to give him options and more than one method of fight and attack.

Plus I realized his feat retraining from warblade could apply to Exotic Weapon Proficiency.

[holywhippet]

Well, the main reason I suggested a template and not high base stats is that mechanically the stats wouldn't really fit. To have such awesome skill in melee he'd need a really high attack bonus which generally comes from the strength statistic unless he's using light weapons and weapon finesse along with a really high dexterity bonus. I'm pretty sure he isn't using anything that can be called light weapons in the book though. If he had high strength for an attack bonus he'd likewise be very strong, but he isn't that in the book either.

For template I'd be thinking homebrewed, just something to give him the extra boost he needs to be a master of combat but still fit his appearance in the books.

[Iwasforger03]

I decided against the template for now.

Manyfang is the magical enchantment on the manyfang dagger as an equivalent enhancement bonus. I used a +4 as the manyfang's enhancement bonus even though by price it would probably be a +3.

all items except tomes/manuals are at 40% of normal price because only lawful warblades can use their magical properties.

Garet Jax (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eisj0PWfDAx1kzS21ZoIT6LTbxGn3zoYzF7Qh1SSKQg/edit?usp=sharing)

[Talya]

Garet Jax has been the most badass melee combatant in my mind ever since I first read Wishsong, more than 25 years ago. What makes him better yet, is there was nothing marty-stu-ish about him. He was a selfish mercenary, and died in glorious combat. He never took over the story. Yet when I think of the most badass son of a B that ever picked up a weapon, he still outshines everybody in my mind.