[3.5] Samus Aran ideas

[Valwyn]

Hey, playground.

I was wondering, if you guys were to build Samus from the Metroid series, how would you do it? I saw a thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?169346-Thoughts-on-building-Samus-Aran) with some pretty good ideas. I personally imagine Samus as some sort of gish or UMD wand user (but I haven't played in a while, so my ideas might be off).

Here are some of my ideas (sorry, I know this is messy):

1) Warlock. Even if ranged warlocks don't deal too much damage, it could make a good fit. Take Battle Caster for medium armor proficiency and buy some mithral full plate. Pick the elemental blasts (Brimstone and Hellrime, I think) plus some other invocations, such as Leaps and Bounds for mobility and See the Unseen for thermal/x-ray visors (it won't help see through things, but you can at least spot ghosts). Then throw in some fighter/paladin of freedom/martial class and gish away. The problem with this is it will limit your eldritch blast a lot. Alternatively, go full warlock with only a dip for armor proficency. Keeps your EB decently high, gets more invocations, and DR.

2) Bard. Same as warlock but you don't have to worry about eldritch blast (and you get better skills) so you are freer to multiclass. Also, you probably focus more on wands. Orbs and Channeled spells are good candidates for Samus' beams.

3) Sorcerer/Wizard gish. Because they can do just about anything. Sorcerer might be better if you plan to blast with your own spells rather than just buffing. You might need to rely on Still spell a lot, though.

4) Warmage (yes, really). Think about it. Samus is a mobile blaster. Warmages get all the orbs spells, sudden metamagic (limited), and casting in medium armor (which means you can Battle Caster your way into mithral full plate). Eclectic learning (ACF) lets them choose spells from other schools as their bonus spells (pick some buffs, divinations can be imitated via items). If that's not enough, you could try Apprentice (Spellcaster). It gives you a bonus level 1 spell known and the ability to swap one of your spell knowns for another of the same level (my DM let use the wiz/sorc list for this, your might need persuading). Or dipping into classes that give you bonus spells (hello, Sandshaper).

5) Martial classes. If you can find a mobile class with full armor (Dread Commando from Heroes of Battle could be great for this), you could use a regular bow and refluff it. Or a repeating crossbow. As long as you are ranged and mobile, it can work. (Can swift hunters wear heavy armor?)

6) Reserve feats. They have a limited range, but they are effectively infinite ammo for your cannon. Of course, the problem is you might not have enough feats to cover Samus' main attacks (basic = Invisible Needle, fire = Fiery Burst, ice = Winter's Blast, electric = Storm Bolt).

7) Others ideas. Warforged could match the look of the power suit, but they aren't human, so, personally, I cross the off the list. Clerics get full armor and spells, and with zen archery they could make a good Samus, but for some reason it doesn't feel right to me. Maybe I'm just being picky.

Items:
Armor: fullplate. Either mithral for mobility or adamantine for a bit of DR (I prefer the former). You could also use psychoactive skins to emulate the zero suit, but I personally focus on the power suit.
Weapon: your blasts/wands/spells. Alternatively, you could use a (cross)bow and fluff it as a cannon. Energy crystals could work great here, or the energy aura enhacement (+2). Switching between crystals could take time, though. If you can get your hands on Hank's Energy Bow (or similar), ranged weapons just got a lot better.
Wands: Orb of X, Channeled X. Make sure to get wand chamber for your weapons. A modified club could pass for a cannon.
Feats: mobile spellcaster (she can move while loading her cannon), reserve feats, somatic weaponry (possibly, could have uses in some situations), metamagic spell trigger (to emulate charge beam if you don't like the Channeled spells), reckless wand wielder (can also be used as a charge beam and it looks like you can use it with metamagic spell trigger, just remember to keep track of how many charges you use up).

By the way, I was focusing on Prime Samus because that's the only game I actually played. I also ignored the morphball (probably a polymorph effect) and see her as a human (with maybe a template or bloodline, but I usually stay away from those).

So, playground, how would you build Samus?

[Forrestfire]

I would build her as an Abjurant Champion Mailman. Probably something like Sorcerer 6/Incantatrix 4/Abjurant Champion 5/whatever else. Her power suit is summoned by willpower and can be represented by persisted buffs (Fly, Greater Mage Armor/Luminous Armor, Shield, various vision things), and the rest of your spell slots can be spent on things like mildly metamagic'd Orbs of Fire, possible AoE things, and the like. Bombs can be AoE spells, or possibly items.

Take Flyby Attack to be able to move while using standard action spells, and then just go for a normal Mailman-ish build, with power level turned down to fit your game.

[Valwyn]

That does work if you fluff the armor as spells. The only problem I see with that is when you have to deal with AMFs (my DM loves throwing those around).

[lytokk]

The only problem I've ever run into with building Samus is that you're actually building two characters. You've got samus in her chozo armor, and then samus in her zero suit. Zero suit Samus is more roguelike and fast moving (even though technically she's only ever REALLY been playable in one game) whereas chozo suit samus is a walking tank. For reasons like that, I've only ever thought she could be an artificer, if you were going to try and roll both into a single concept. Granted, warlock would have been my second choice, just for the variety that eldritch blast can give you with its invocations.

[Valwyn]

That's a good point. Personally, I prefer to focus on armored Samus. The Zero Suit just doesn't give the same space-terminator-bounty-hunter feel. Or you maybe you could focus on Dex (since you use it to aim), and use the ZS as a psychoactive skin? I'm not sure if you can improve those, but skin of ectoplasmatic armor gives +8 AC, +2 max dex, -6 APC, 25% ASF and counts as light armor (the last two could hurt dependinf on your casting class). Only weights 2 lbs, though, and you could reasonably wear one under your armor.

[KillianHawkeye]

The problem with trying to make Samus in D&D is the same one you run into when trying to make Link from The Legend of Zelda series, which is that almost all of the character's abilities are equipment-based. Like Link, Samus is more or less a regular albeit athletically-inclined person who upgrades her abilities by acquiring new weapons and accessories. Her only inherent quality of note is the one that allows her to use the Chozo power suit (something ordinary people cannot do), and while she is a well trained bounty hunter, all of her other abilities come from items.


So... if I were going to build Samus, here's the equipment you probably need:

- the armor: I agree with the mithral full-plate. Get it enchanted with fire and heat resistance or immunity for the Varia. And maybe something that grants freedom of movement?

- high-jump boots: Perhaps a combination of Sandals of Springing with Boots of Agile Leaping?

- visor: Something that grants see invisibility should be good enough. Maybe a ring of x-ray vision if you want to go all the way?

- grapple beam: A rod of ropes should do the job.

- morph ball: I really can't think of anything, but most of the reasons for having the morph ball and its various upgrades are to keep certain things away from the player until they can come back with the right power-up, so I don't think it's necessary in a game of D&D even if it is her most iconic ability.

- screw attack: Again, I've got nothing. But while it's another iconic power-up (and a totally sweet one), it always comes very late in the game (or not at all in the Prime series) and we can probably do without it.

- bombs: I'm not going to even try to think of one. We don't need this.

That leaves weapons. These will highly depend on what sort of character you're building. You could certainly go with spells or wands or eldritch blast fairly easily, but I like the idea of an archery build using Hank's energy bow. IIRC, the energy bow does not need arrows, but can use them if you want, so some of Samus' special beam upgrades can be replaced by magical arrows:

- missiles: Easy, arrows with the explosive enhancement (Complete Warrior).

- ice beam: I couldn't seem to find anything that would let a weapon freeze, immobilize, or entangle the target, but I have a feeling it exists. If not, we'll just have to settle for frost arrows. Actually, I have a feeling that a lot of Samus' special beams are just going to have to end up being arrows that do some kind of extra damage in this build, but I guess that opens it up for the player to add whatever kind of extra arrows they want. Maybe you'll just have to take the Ranged Pin feat for this one.


As for the actual build, I'd be tempted to do something like Scout 5/Fighter or Ranger 2 into Order of the Bow Initiate, but you can't skirmish in medium armor (which is what mithral full-plate counts as). Hmm... Rangers can't wear medium armor, either....

How about Fighter 4/Whatever Racial Paragon class 2 into OotBI? It almost doesn't even matter what classes you take as long as you have a decent BAB and get your standard archery feats in there. If you're a human, Human Paragon would even let you make UMD a class skill forever if you want to dip into the wands and rods to get Samus' missing abilities.

I dunno, for some reason I like the idea of having a single big hit a round for Samus. It's definitely not the most powerful, but if you were going for power you'd be using a full spellcasting build. At the very least, it will save you on special ammunition costs compared to the more traditional "shoot more arrows" archery styles.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The thing I like best about going archery is that the energy bow's Power Shot ability is a great way to simulate Samus' charge beam. :smallwink:

[Valwyn]

The problem with trying to make Samus in D&D is the same one you run into when trying to make Link from The Legend of Zelda series, which is that almost all of the character's abilities are equipment-based.

Sadly true. I tried building Link once. Didn't turn out well.


As for the actual build, I'd be tempted to do something like Scout 5/Fighter or Ranger 2 into Order of the Bow Initiate, but you can't skirmish in medium armor (which is what mithral full-plate counts as). Hmm... Rangers can't wear medium armor, either....

I was actually thinking of OotBI myself for a martial build. It's kinda sucky, but it does a good job as a charge beam (range might be an issue). For a non magic build I was thinking of something like Ranger 1/Fighter 4/Dread Commando 5/Order of the Bow 10.

Ranger is there for the skills (along with Able Learner), Fighter for BAB and feats, and Dread Commando for lessened penalties in armor and sudden strike. I do like the idea of Human Paragon.

I'm thinking whether to give her a bow or a crossbow. The crossbow is more fitting (and you can use Quickloading to full attack), but bows need less work.

[DMVerdandi]

Man, this would be so easy with an Aegis in pathfinder...

[Prime32]

If you can port some of the stuff Dreamscarred Press has written for PF, then be a Soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife)/Aegis (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/aegis)

The soulknife's Soulbolt (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/soulbolt) archetype gives you an arm cannon that can shoot fire, lightning, whatever. You can even pick up an ice shot that freezes enemies solid, and a shot that grabs enemies and pulls them towards you. Plus you have Psychic Strike for Charge Beam.

Aegis-wise, if you take Harness Power Stone and/or Harness Shard, then you can literally pick up orbs from statues and absorb them into your suit for new powers. Other customisations let you become immune to an energy type, gain blindsight, and fly around ramming objects to destroy them.
Be sure to take the Trailblazer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/aegis/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/trailblazer) archetype for extra Samus-y goodness.

The Metaforge (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-prestige-classes/metaforge) PrC advances the abilities of both base classes at once (while also granting something that's kind of like Crystal Flash if you squint), and both aegis and soulknife have feats that improve your effective level like Practiced Spellcaster.

Then you've got Soul Archer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-prestige-classes/soul-archer) (basically a Soulbow update) to improve your ranged combat ability.

[IZ42]

I have a homebrew! Magitech Templar! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?176276-3-5-Magitech-Templar-Iron-Man) It might not have exactly everything, but I'm sure upgrades could be written easily enough.

[Snowbluff]

Her power suit is summoned by willpower

Ugh. After 2 it becomes obvious that it isn't the case except in Prime (maybe) and Other M. In fusion it stayed on even after she went into a coma, almost died, was genetically re-engineered, and underwent bio mechanical surgery to remove portions of it and to add Federation tech.

Zero Suit samus isn't really a consideration. She would have ranks in acrobatics skills; the mobility would just be her without the armor check penalty.

Maybe she is an artificer who is custom-crafting the armor pieces? Missiles can be wands of fireball that you empty with metamagic optimization.

Man, this would be so easy with an Aegis in pathfinder...

Samus is a threat on a planetary scale. Does aegis really have that kind of power by itself? :smallconfused:

[Forrestfire]

Ugh. After 2 it becomes obvious that it isn't the case except in Prime (maybe) and Other M. In fusion it stayed on even after she went into a coma, almost died, was genetically re-engineered, and underwent bio mechanical surgery to remove portions of it and to add Federation tech.

Zero Suit samus isn't really a consideration. She would have ranks in acrobatics skills; the mobility would just be her without the armor check penalty.

Maybe she is an artificer who is custom-crafting the armor pieces? Missiles can be wands of fireball that you empty with metamagic optimization.

It was stated in background materials of Zero Mission, but I see your point about Fusion. What I was getting at was more "she summons it," and magically-summoned forcefields and anti-element/attack buffs seem like a decent approximation (although honestly, Artificer can pull off the same thing with the Metamagic Item infusion. Wandificer with crafted armor and persisted Shield/Resist Energy/Freedom of Movement/etc, maybe.).

[KillianHawkeye]

No idea why I didn't think of this before, but are their any items in D&D which take the form of giant shoulder pads? :smallbiggrin:

[Snowbluff]

It was stated in background materials of Zero Mission, but I see your point about Fusion. What I was getting at was more "she summons it," and magically-summoned forcefields and anti-element/attack buffs seem like a decent approximation (although honestly, Artificer can pull off the same thing with the Metamagic Item infusion. Wandificer with crafted armor and persisted Shield/Resist Energy/Freedom of Movement/etc, maybe.).

Ah, I see. If it's not a Luminous Armor spell, it could be a suit of calling armor.

If you're using pathfinder with the 3.5 Artificer, Construct Armor with a mithril golem might be best bet. It's expensive, but it makes a breastplate that gives extra hp and can absorb spells.

[iceifur]

You could always use a re-fluffed Incarnum system.

In fact, Garryl came up with a metroid-inspired one here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?285976-Power-of-Cybernetics-Sci-fi-Incarnum).

[lytokk]

Man, this would be so easy with an Aegis in pathfinder...

after looking through that, yeah, Aegis would work really well, though I'm not seeing a lot in order to create the 4 beams. The standard power beam is force, wave is electricity, ice is cold, plasma is hot. I think just for the purpose of this exercise we forget about hyper beam. Kelgore's fire bolt is a bit of an underused spell with a lot of nice thematic uses for Samus, considering its damage is determined by the casting time.

I noticed on the aegis astral suit powers, one of them was powerful build, but I wonder if slight build would be allowed. From the lore I remember, the morph ball is about a meter in diameter. Slight build would allow Samus to squeeze into areas too small for a meduim creature, but about the right size for a small creature. Since thats about all morph ball was good for (barring spring ball and boost ball, well and timed bombing to achieve high ledges).

Boost boots? The ones that let Samus run fast which were missing from the prime series (understandably. took them 3 games before they could work screw attack and moon jump into the mix). Would this just be haste?

Speaking of bombs/power bombs, how to emulate those?

I think we've just about hit all the powers Samus should need to have.

[FocusWolf413]

after looking through that, yeah, Aegis would work really well, though I'm not seeing a lot in order to create the 4 beams. The standard power beam is force, wave is electricity, ice is cold, plasma is hot. I think just for the purpose of this exercise we forget about hyper beam. Kelgore's fire bolt is a bit of an underused spell with a lot of nice thematic uses for Samus, considering its damage is determined by the casting time.

I noticed on the aegis astral suit powers, one of them was powerful build, but I wonder if slight build would be allowed. From the lore I remember, the morph ball is about a meter in diameter. Slight build would allow Samus to squeeze into areas too small for a meduim creature, but about the right size for a small creature. Since thats about all morph ball was good for (barring spring ball and boost ball, well and timed bombing to achieve high ledges).

Boost boots? The ones that let Samus run fast which were missing from the prime series (understandably. took them 3 games before they could work screw attack and moon jump into the mix). Would this just be haste?

Speaking of bombs/power bombs, how to emulate those?

I think we've just about hit all the powers Samus should need to have.

The person who said aegis ALSO said soulknife. Soulknife takes care of most of the weapons.

[lytokk]

The person who said aegis ALSO said soulknife. Soulknife takes care of most of the weapons.

point made. Used to thinking about 3.5 soulknife which wouldn't help. Also for some reason I keep thinking in terms of single classing things.