Specter
2016-01-05, 01:55 PM
"The meaning of justice can change from one day to the next. A professional soldier never brings justice into the mission. Politics are fickle, they change with the times. So long as we remain loyal to our countries, soldiers like us need nothing to believe in." Snake
Big Boss, or Naked Snake, is one of the legendary heroes in the Metal Gear series. A friend of mine had shown interest to play with a character mechanically similar to him after playing MGS5. After a bit of discussion, I decided to turn this into a miniguide for anybody who might also be interested. I'll be using Variant Human as a race.
This is not an optimization guide; if you’re looking for that, the True Assassin handbook, by GladiusLegis going around the boards should give you a better result.
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Stats
Let's start with the bad news: this build has no dump stats. Sad, right? Find out what kind of system or point buy he's planning, and always beg for more. Here they are in order of importance.
Dexterity: Dodging explosions, sneaking through dozens of guards, deflecting blows from supersoldiers... that's all Snake. This is also your (main) attacking stat, since it makes you good at both melee and range.
Constitution: Snake is known for cheating death on several occasions, and taking a beating like no other. According to his mentor, he should be able to run for 30 miles, and that's no joke. If you start as a rogue, leave this at an odd number in the beginning, because you'll need Resilient (Con).
Strenght: not only Dexterity makes a legendary soldier. This will be used for grappling, shoving, punching and other physical activities in which Snake excels at.
Intelligence/Wisdom: Snake is not a booksmart guy, but he's far from a dummy. Being good at hunting, tracking, noticing things and dropping some cool quotes every once in a while are the marks of a wise man.
Charisma: Big Boss is revered as a great leader, but as The Phantom Pain shows us, this is not through charm and sweet talk but heroism and great deeds. If you need a dump stat, I'd go for this. Blame it on his ravaged face.
In any case, you should max Dexterity and improve the others (if possible) after acquiring a few feats.
__________________________________________________ _
Class levels
What you need are Fighter (Battlemaster) and Rogue (Assassin) levels.
How many levels of Fighter are the minimum: 5 (for Extra Attack)
How many levels of Fighter I recommend: 8 (for extra ASIs)
How many levels of Rogue are the minimum: 3 (for the Assassin archetype)
How many levels of Rogue I recommend: 12 (for Reliable Talent and ASIs)
If you’re counting, that means the most basic version of Snake comes online at level 8. We must focus on having 7 ASIs, which are much needed for feats.
“But what about Ranger levels?” While this seems thematically correct, choosing only one terrain would be extremely limiting, and the Favored Enemy mechanics are weak to this concept.
__________________________________________________ _
Variable class features
Rogue archetype: Assassin is definitely the way to go in the Naked Snake concept, since he’s a master at killing unseen. It also gives you proficiency in the disguise kit.
Fighting Style: Pick Archery if you plan to focus on range, or Defense for extra bulkiness.
Expertise: Start with Stealth and Perception, taking the other two on Athletics and another skill that fits your campaign.
Battlemaster maneuvers: Trip Attack, Disarming Attack and Riposte have all seen use by Snake in the series. For the other two at level 7, I’d recommend Precision Strike and Parry.
__________________________________________________ _
Skills
You should be proficient in six skills if you started as a Fighter, and seven if you started as a rogue. Here they are in order of importance.
Stealth: Needless to say, Snake is an expert on solo sneaking missions, and Expertise on this is mandatory.
Perception: Snake is the kind of guy who doesn't miss a thing, even without one eye. With your likely low Wisdom, Expertise on this is also a good idea.
Athletics: Snake does some insane physical activity in the series, like climbing a whole cliff on Ground Zeroes and swimming for his life in MGS3. This is also used for the grappling and shoving department, so don't pass on it.
Survival: If you have played MGS3, you know Snake can take care of himself in the wild. Following tracks is aces too.
Acrobatics: This isn't as important as Athletics, but the checks it covers are definitely the ones Snake would be good at.
History: Snake is always updated with past and present events throughout the series.
Medicine/Animal Handling/Insight: Rogue start? Well, not much else to cover. These are all skills Snake has used at one point or another in the series.
__________________________________________________ _
Feats
Being a legendary soldier, there's a lot to look at here. Again, I'll try to list them in order of importance, but not so strictly this time.
Resilient (Con): If you started as a rogue, take it at level 1. Period.
Alert: If you have started as a fighter, take this. Be quick or be dead. Remember the Reflex Mode in MGS5? This is it.
Grappler: Snake is the master and codeveloper of CQC along his mentor, and therefore you have to expand your grappling horizons.
Tavern Brawler: Snake also needs to punch and kick well enough to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat. You should, however, ask your DM if you can apply your sneak attack damage to your unarmed strikes; if not, this is just not worth it.
Sharpshooter: Snake has beaten legendary snipers and pulled many impossible shots in his career.
Resilient (Dex, Wis): Nothing wrong with reinforcing your defenses. Remember that after Rogue level 7, making a Dex save is not as important as before, since damage will be cut in half anyway.
Skulker: If anybody can pull this off, it’s Snake.
With only 7 ASI’s, you’re gonna have to pick and choose as you see fit in your campaign.
__________________________________________________ _
Equipment
Weapons: a medieval Snake would be using a longbow, and any other finesse weapon (probably shortsword/dagger). These should be upgraded to magical weapons ASAP, of course.
Armor: Studded leather benefits from your high Dexterity, and gives you the same look Snake has on Ground Zeroes.
Goggles of Night: Classic Metal Gear nightvision.
Eyes of the Eagle: The closest thing to binoculars you’ll find.
Bag of Holding: To carry everything a prime agent like you needs on the field.
__________________________________________________ _
Feel free to contribute. Thank you for your time.
Big Boss, or Naked Snake, is one of the legendary heroes in the Metal Gear series. A friend of mine had shown interest to play with a character mechanically similar to him after playing MGS5. After a bit of discussion, I decided to turn this into a miniguide for anybody who might also be interested. I'll be using Variant Human as a race.
This is not an optimization guide; if you’re looking for that, the True Assassin handbook, by GladiusLegis going around the boards should give you a better result.
__________________________________________________ _
Stats
Let's start with the bad news: this build has no dump stats. Sad, right? Find out what kind of system or point buy he's planning, and always beg for more. Here they are in order of importance.
Dexterity: Dodging explosions, sneaking through dozens of guards, deflecting blows from supersoldiers... that's all Snake. This is also your (main) attacking stat, since it makes you good at both melee and range.
Constitution: Snake is known for cheating death on several occasions, and taking a beating like no other. According to his mentor, he should be able to run for 30 miles, and that's no joke. If you start as a rogue, leave this at an odd number in the beginning, because you'll need Resilient (Con).
Strenght: not only Dexterity makes a legendary soldier. This will be used for grappling, shoving, punching and other physical activities in which Snake excels at.
Intelligence/Wisdom: Snake is not a booksmart guy, but he's far from a dummy. Being good at hunting, tracking, noticing things and dropping some cool quotes every once in a while are the marks of a wise man.
Charisma: Big Boss is revered as a great leader, but as The Phantom Pain shows us, this is not through charm and sweet talk but heroism and great deeds. If you need a dump stat, I'd go for this. Blame it on his ravaged face.
In any case, you should max Dexterity and improve the others (if possible) after acquiring a few feats.
__________________________________________________ _
Class levels
What you need are Fighter (Battlemaster) and Rogue (Assassin) levels.
How many levels of Fighter are the minimum: 5 (for Extra Attack)
How many levels of Fighter I recommend: 8 (for extra ASIs)
How many levels of Rogue are the minimum: 3 (for the Assassin archetype)
How many levels of Rogue I recommend: 12 (for Reliable Talent and ASIs)
If you’re counting, that means the most basic version of Snake comes online at level 8. We must focus on having 7 ASIs, which are much needed for feats.
“But what about Ranger levels?” While this seems thematically correct, choosing only one terrain would be extremely limiting, and the Favored Enemy mechanics are weak to this concept.
__________________________________________________ _
Variable class features
Rogue archetype: Assassin is definitely the way to go in the Naked Snake concept, since he’s a master at killing unseen. It also gives you proficiency in the disguise kit.
Fighting Style: Pick Archery if you plan to focus on range, or Defense for extra bulkiness.
Expertise: Start with Stealth and Perception, taking the other two on Athletics and another skill that fits your campaign.
Battlemaster maneuvers: Trip Attack, Disarming Attack and Riposte have all seen use by Snake in the series. For the other two at level 7, I’d recommend Precision Strike and Parry.
__________________________________________________ _
Skills
You should be proficient in six skills if you started as a Fighter, and seven if you started as a rogue. Here they are in order of importance.
Stealth: Needless to say, Snake is an expert on solo sneaking missions, and Expertise on this is mandatory.
Perception: Snake is the kind of guy who doesn't miss a thing, even without one eye. With your likely low Wisdom, Expertise on this is also a good idea.
Athletics: Snake does some insane physical activity in the series, like climbing a whole cliff on Ground Zeroes and swimming for his life in MGS3. This is also used for the grappling and shoving department, so don't pass on it.
Survival: If you have played MGS3, you know Snake can take care of himself in the wild. Following tracks is aces too.
Acrobatics: This isn't as important as Athletics, but the checks it covers are definitely the ones Snake would be good at.
History: Snake is always updated with past and present events throughout the series.
Medicine/Animal Handling/Insight: Rogue start? Well, not much else to cover. These are all skills Snake has used at one point or another in the series.
__________________________________________________ _
Feats
Being a legendary soldier, there's a lot to look at here. Again, I'll try to list them in order of importance, but not so strictly this time.
Resilient (Con): If you started as a rogue, take it at level 1. Period.
Alert: If you have started as a fighter, take this. Be quick or be dead. Remember the Reflex Mode in MGS5? This is it.
Grappler: Snake is the master and codeveloper of CQC along his mentor, and therefore you have to expand your grappling horizons.
Tavern Brawler: Snake also needs to punch and kick well enough to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat. You should, however, ask your DM if you can apply your sneak attack damage to your unarmed strikes; if not, this is just not worth it.
Sharpshooter: Snake has beaten legendary snipers and pulled many impossible shots in his career.
Resilient (Dex, Wis): Nothing wrong with reinforcing your defenses. Remember that after Rogue level 7, making a Dex save is not as important as before, since damage will be cut in half anyway.
Skulker: If anybody can pull this off, it’s Snake.
With only 7 ASI’s, you’re gonna have to pick and choose as you see fit in your campaign.
__________________________________________________ _
Equipment
Weapons: a medieval Snake would be using a longbow, and any other finesse weapon (probably shortsword/dagger). These should be upgraded to magical weapons ASAP, of course.
Armor: Studded leather benefits from your high Dexterity, and gives you the same look Snake has on Ground Zeroes.
Goggles of Night: Classic Metal Gear nightvision.
Eyes of the Eagle: The closest thing to binoculars you’ll find.
Bag of Holding: To carry everything a prime agent like you needs on the field.
__________________________________________________ _
Feel free to contribute. Thank you for your time.