Jedi Knight Build

[Droopy McCool]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! As a holiday treat, I thought I'd share my idea for a Jedi character. I've put this under player help, but I'm pretty sure this won't require much (Turns out there were much better options :smalltongue:). Anyway, I've put together my best interpretation of a Jedi. You may recall my lightsaber thread, but I put the enhancements list at the bottom that works specifically for this build.

LG Human Monk 1/ Mantled* (Force) Psychic Warrior 19
Str 15 (+2) Dex 14 (+2) Con 14 (+2) Int 10 (+0) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 8 (-1)

Stat increases
4 - Wisdom
8 - Wisdom
12 - Wisdom
16 - Wisdom
20 - Strength

Level) (PP) Class Level - Feats; Powers
1) (0) M 1 (M,1,H) - (I. Unarmed Strike, Monastic Training (PW)), EWP (Bastard Sword), Deflect Arrows
2) (3) M 1/PW 1 (P) - Practiced Manifester; inertial armor
3) (5) M 1/PW 2 (1) - Tashalatora; precognition (defensive)
4) (9) M 1/PW 3 (0) - precognition (offensive)
5) (12) M 1/PW 4 (0) - concussion blast
6) (16) M 1/PW 5 (1,P) - Narrow Mind, Psionic Meditation; mighty spring
7) (21) M 1/PW 6 (0) - hustle
8) (31) M 1/PW 7 (0) - telekinetic force
9) (37) M 1/PW 8 (1,P) - Power Attack, Snap Kick; telekinetic boomerang
10) (43) M 1/PW 9 (0) - mental barrier
11) (49) M 1/PW 10 (0) - telekinetic maneuver
12) (59) M 1/PW 11 (1,P) - Empower Power, EK; telekinetic thrust, detect hostile intent
13) (69) M 1/PW 12 (0) - force screen
14) (79) M 1/PW 13 (0) - perfect riposte
15) (89) M 1/PW 14 (1,P) - Blind Fight, Quicken Power; psychofeedback
16) (107) M 1/PW 15 (0) - escape detection
17) (121) M 1/PW 16 (0) - personal mind blank
18) (136) M 1/PW 17 (1,P) - Extend Power, Unconditional Power; psionic freedom of movement
19) (150) M 1/PW 18 (0) - dispelling buffer
20) (165) M 1/PW 19 (0) - suspend life

(*The Mantled Psychic Warrior Expanded Class option is from the Wizards Archive: The Mind's Eye)

I figure a Jedi doesn't wear any armor, so that level in Monk gets my Wis to AC, and also gets me Improved Unarmed Strike for free, which allows for the kicking-acrobatics Jedi employ in a fight. I'm sure you know what each feat does, but basically I'm shooting for flavor over optimization (should be obvious with EWP BS thrown in). But hey, it's still a PsyWar Build, how bad could it be?

Then there's the lightsaber. I won't go into the details for everything, but you'll notice I added/removed some enhancements to complement this build directly.

Adamantine 3000 (Ignore DR<20 from hardness)
+1
Psychokinetic +1 (+1d4 force damage)
Hideaway 2000 (Retraction as a swift action)
Sundering +1 (Sunder as w/ improved sunder feat, +1d6 damage)
Parrying 8000 (+1 Insight bonus to AC and saves)
Psychic 35,000 (Larger Enhancement bonus with more PP) <---*Sniff*
Defending +1 (Switch sword's Enhancement bonus to AC) <---I smell Synergy! :smallbiggrin:

Cost: (+4)+48,000=80,000gp

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Call 1-800-DMcCool! Whatever it is, I'm interested to hear your feedback! Just one thing, however: I'm not interested in hearing how bad this build is (suggestions appreciated!). Like I have already said, I build for pleasure of play, not for squeezing out one more point of damage. Thanks for stopping by!

McCool

[Zancloufer]

There is one thing I really don't get. What is with the build wasting most of it's feats on things like Wild Talent and Psionic Talent. You have spent 7 feats to get 8 extra power points. It is an insane waste of feats. Yes I know you are going for a more flavourful build here, but honestly Skill focus or even Toughness stacking you benefit you more. Assuming you have at least a +6 Wis item by level 20 and use no tomes/wishes for more Wisdom you'd have 200 PP WITHOUT those feats anyway. It is literally 4% more PP for about half of your feats.

Personally I would use those feats elsewhere. At the very least get some more combat maneuvers, maybe a Psi-Crystal, Psi-Crystal Containment and that feat that let's you use a move action to get your focus back. Get some combat feats that require you to have/use your psionic focus at the very least.

Yes you want to have fun, but IMHO some neat tricks/buffs even if you only can use them a few time per encounter would probably be more fun that a few more PP.

[Droopy McCool]

While I understand completely, I just couldn't find any more feats I actually wanted to use. Start listing suggestions, all books allowed, but I'm not familiar with ToB (which I believe you are referencing). Obviously, I want to keep this as close to a Jedi as possible, which is why I didn't take Deep Impact; it's an inherent property of the lightsaber, not the wielder. Stuff like that.

On another note, I'm not sure where you got +8PP from, because the feat states


Psionic Talent
Benefit: When you take this feat for the fi rst time, you gain 2 power points.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take the feat after the first time, the number of power points you gain increases by 1 (for example, you gain 3 power points if you take this feat a second time).

So the +2 and +3 stack, along with all the rest, to give me +22PP. Sure it ain't great, but like I said, don't know what else to grab (keeping flavor in mind).

McCool

[Zancloufer]

Okay I admit I read that wrong. +22 PP is a little better, still not a huge increase and not worth 7 feats. Some feats you could take just flipping through the SRD:

Psi-crystal Affinity and Psi-crystal Containment. Get a second Psionic Focus for yourself. Might need some work on the fluff to make it work though. Not totally out of place.

Speed of Thought is solid. +10 insight bonus to speed as long as you have a Psionic Focus. Combined with the other pair of feats makes it easier to keep this up.

Combat Reflexes. +2 AoO, more if you get a bonus to your Dex.

Stand Still. Gives you battlefield control (Stop an enemy). Combat Expertise/Improved Trip would work better, but you need 13 Int, which you lack. Stand Still however still has a decent chance to work.

BLIND FIGHT. No long flat-footed vs invisible opponents and you have two chances to get past any miss chance, plus less penalties for being blind. Fits the character concept VERY WELL.

Improved Critical. Doubles the threat range of your weapon. Get a 20% crit threat instead of 10%.

Extend/Empower Power: One of the better Meta-Psi feats. +2 PP and your focus for 50% duration/damage increase. VERY good IMHO as Psionic powers scale a little weaker than spells, yet these feats are at least as good of a buff as their magic equivalents.

From Tome of Battle:

Snap Kick: Requires BaB +6, but for a -2 to hit to all attacks that round you get a free unarmed attack any time you attack in melee, be it one attack, or a full attack.

Superior Unarmed Strike: Requires BaB +3. This one depends on how you DM rules. It increases your unarmed strike damage (1d4 at first, 1d6 level 4, 1d8 level 8, 1d10 level 12 and 2d6 level 16+) OR if your a monk as a monk +4 level. However, that is only 1d8 unarmed damage, which is less than this feat grants at level 12+. Depends on how your DM rules I would suppose.


That makes, 11 feats, that I think could fit the build thematically, and are from a limited number of sources. Not to mention you'd probably get more Millage out of them than 2-4 extra PP.

[Xerlith]

There is a lot that can be improved, actually. Going by your idea of Monk/PsyWar, this grants a lot better "introspective warrior-monk" flavor. Swordsage allows for more flashy martial stuff, while Tashalatora+Whirling Steel Strike allow to use Flurry of Blows with a longsword.

Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8
Human
Monk2/PsyWar6 (Mantle: Force)/Unarmed Swordsage2/PsyWar+10

Build Skeleton:

Feats:
1: Dodge
H: Deflect Arrows
M1: Monastic Training (Psychic Warrior)
M2[Eberron Monk ACF]: Whirling Steel Strike
PsyWar1: Psionic Weapon
3: Tashalatora
6: Psionic Meditation
PsyWar5: Deep Impact
9: Practiced Manifester
12: Mobility
PsyWar8: Elusive Target
15: Instant Clarity
18: Snap Kick
PsyWar14: Whatever

Maneuvers:
SS1 (IL 5): Wind Stride, Sudden Leap, Wolf Fang Strike, Emerald Razor, Mind Over Body, Mountain Hammer; Stance: Stance of Clarity
SS2 (IL 5): Burning Brand; Stance: Pearl of Black Doubt

It ain't pretty. But it works. It's all over the place (Flurry with full damage, then suddenly one-attack Touch Attacks and standard action maneuvers), but it seems to reflect the Jedi flavor quite well. More or less.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'll also recommend the Focused Sunder and Mental Leap psionic feats. They're not amazingly good feats, but pretty flavorful for a Jedi-style character. They even synergize with a couple of the things you've already got going here.

[Troacctid]

If you're only going to use your human bonus feat to get Wild Talent anyway, doesn't it make more sense to just play a Kalashtar or Synad or something? At the very least, you should use one of the variant humans from Complete Psionic and get a better version of Wild Talent.

[Malroth]

you're going into a psionic class anyway, Tashalatora will let your monk class features continue to stack with all your Psi-war levels and post lv 3 will be Far more helpful than a redundant wild talent feat. As for Feats, Up the walls, Psionic meditation, Psionic Strike, Deep impact, and Expanded Knowledge are all solid contenders that will be far more helpful than the 22PP your'e getting from Psionic talents.

[Droopy McCool]

Ya see, this is why I come here. I know I said I wouldn't change much, but so many good ideas, and I've never heard of Tashalatora! Thank you everyone for your comments, and you'll notice that I updated the first post with some of your suggestions applied. Sure, I kept Bastard Sword instead of using Whirling Steel Strike, but I just like it.

Oh yeah, I just don't care for dipping "this and that", so I left the backbone of my build untouched. Good suggestions nonetheless though. But it comes down to preference in the end I suppose. :smallsmile:

Because of this change, my PP has dropped significantly at low levels, but I rarely take stat boosting items into account when I build. This will be taken care of by an item or two.

Thanks again!

McCool

[Xerlith]

I'm happy you're happy, but I'd like you to notice a few things you seem to have overlooked:
1. Power Attack was there because of Psionic Weapon/Deep Impact synergy - you could make touch attacks while PAing for a lot more than you would normally.
2. Dodge and Mobility are there ONLY as the Elusive Target prerequisites
3. Tashalatora is there for the Flurry progression to work with Whirling Blade.
4. YOu don't need Blind-Fight that late in the game, because you have access to powers that duplicate it and do it better.
5. Hustle is basically a must. The power is too good not to take in a melee PsyWar build.

[Droopy McCool]

I'll hit each of these separately:
1. I always take Power Attack anyway, and Deep Impact doesn't fit with my concept (I believe I said why in my second post).
2. I'm glad for the AC boost alone. Not to mention, as soon as I start negating my DM's PA, he's not gonna like it. Plus, Jedi are dodgy.
3. Like I said, I would rather use the Bastard Sword for image alone. Rule of Cool if you will :smallcool:. Plus, again, as soon as I start Flurrying with a Longsword my DM is gonna flip out! Things just get cheesy, obviously not as much as the French like, but you catch my drift.
4. Pretty sure I don't have any powers (listed) that replicate this. I could switch for one, I guess, but I don't care to. Perhaps a different feat though.
5. This is the one I agree with. I had it on the list originally, but I removed it w/o remembering to put it back apparently. I'll fix that soon.> Fixed

Thank you for your concerns!

McCool

[Xerlith]

That's good. You know best what level of optimisation you play at and I guess if you know the tricks, you can always adjust upwards. Have fun with the build!

[Droopy McCool]

I changed one more thing by replacing the feat at level 2 with Practiced Manifester. Bonus PP and higher save DCs are both nice, and I figured +1 ML is better than Dodge. Thanks for all the ideas.

McCool