JPlayah
2016-02-16, 11:31 PM
Draven character planner
Do you enjoy playing League of Legends? Do you want a character build that lets you transfer the role and obscene offensive power of the AD carry into D&D? Do you want to deal so much damage that you will literally carry your team, forcing strongly encouraging them to take on supporting roles in order to keep you alive? If so, this build is for you! Welcome to the League of Draven!
Apologies for any formatting issues in the tables. Numbers below the ability scores indicate the order in which to prioritize them. In case it isn't clear, the order of priority is Dex, Str, Cha, Con, Int, Wis.
Level
Ability Scores
Class
Feats
Special
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
1st
2
1
4
5
6
3
Fighter 1
Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw
Fighter Bonus Feat
2nd
Fighter 2
Far Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
3rd
Fighter 3
Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
4th
*
Fighter 4
Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
5th
Fighter 5
6th
Fighter 6
Precise Shot, Throw Anything
Fighter Bonus Feat
7th
Fighter 7
8th
*
Fighter 8
Improved Critical (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
9th
Fighter 9
Greater Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
10th
Fighter 10
Combat Reflexes
Fighter Bonus Feat
11th
Fighter 11
12th
*
Fighter 12
Two-Weapon Rend, Weapon Focus (Light Mace)
Fighter Bonus Feat
13th
Fighter 13
14th
Fighter 14
Lightning Mace
Fighter Bonus Feat
15th
Fighter 15
Rapid Shot
16th
*
Fighter 16
Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing)
Fighter Bonus Feat
17th
Fighter 17
18th
Fighter 18
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
19th
Fighter 19
20th
*
Fighter 20
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Fighter Bonus Feat
Draven’s Charisma score
With most fighter builds, Charisma is the least important score. However, since you are playing Draven, it is important to make his Charisma as high as possible so that he always looks awesome and gets all the ladies. Because of this, Charisma is your third highest priority and should be given the highest score after Strength and Dexterity.
Starting the game
At early levels, Draven will not have his super special spinning axes. In order to maximize Draven’s effectiveness in combat and make up for his constant need to reach for more throwing axes, make sure to take these feats: Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, and Quick Draw. When combined with Draven’s base attack bonus, the first two feats will totally counteract the penalties associated with fighting with two weapons, meaning that Draven’s ranged attack rolls should be equal to his d20 roll plus his Dexterity modifier at level 1.
When Draven uses throwing axes, his penalties should be -2/-2 with the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, since throwing axes are light weapons. Point Blank Shot reduces this penalty to -1/-1 by counteracting it with a +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls, and the addition of his level 1 base attack bonus of 1 brings the modifier to zero. Thus at level 1, Draven’s Dexterity modifier should be the only thing affecting his ranged attack rolls. By giving Draven the Quick Draw feat and ensuring that he carries as many throwing axes on his person as possible, the player can ensure that Draven is able to start the game while suffering from virtually no penalties for his unusual fighting style.
Draven starting equipment:
Weapons (16 lbs.): Throwing axes (8)
Armor (15 lbs.): Leather
Gear (34 lbs.): Explorer’s outfit (no weight, no cost), backpack, waterskin, bedroll, flint and steel, tent, hooded lantern, whetstone
Food (4 lbs.): 4 days’ rations (good quality)
Total weight: 69 lbs.
Remaining money: 25 gold pieces
Adding new weapons
As Draven progresses in level, it is important to save as much money as possible for purchasing magical weapons. This means that Draven should make the most of his feats to compensate for a lack of cool magical weapons in the first 10 levels or so.
Once Draven has the Throw Anything feat, consider buying a couple pairs of regular scimitars for him to use. This will allow him to gain the benefits of their large critical range while he is still saving up gold to buy the more expensive magical axes and scimitars.
The Throw Anything feat also allows Draven to throw other weapons, including very large weapons provided Draven only wields one such weapon at a time. Consider getting a greataxe or greatsword for Draven to carry on his back. With his Quick Draw feat, Draven can quickly unsheathe even a massive weapon and throw it at his enemies. Far Shot and Throw Anything give Draven a range increment of 20 feet with any melee weapon regardless of size. A large weapon also helps Draven in case he gets into melee combat. A useful tactic is to ready an action to throw Draven’s greataxe or greatsword at charging enemies. This tends to deter enemies from charging later in the encounter after seeing what happens to the first person who tries it against Draven. Remember that when throwing a one-handed or two-handed weapon with both hands, Draven adds one and a half times his Strength modifier to his damage roll. If Draven improves his Strength score to 18, he will get to add 6 damage every time he does this.
Keep in mind that while scimitars have a larger critical threat range than throwing axes, they are one-handed weapons while throwing axes are light weapons. This means that when Draven fights with two scimitars at once, the penalty on his attack rolls increases from -2/-2 to -4/-4. Later, Draven needs to spend extra money on magical scimitars so that he can optimize them by adding the aptitude enhancement. Because of this extra cost, scimitars make better weapons at higher levels. The path from low levels to high levels is a transition from throwing axes to scimitars. Eventually, Draven will have enough scimitars to make them his main weapons. However, it is still useful for him to have a few pairs of throwing axes in case he has a difficult time hitting enemies with his scimitars. Scimitars are most useful against enemies with a poor AC. They also make good melee weapons if Draven is attacked in close combat.
Poison is a great way for Draven to improve his attacks. Venom from a common viper can be made into a poison that deals 1d6 points of Constitution damage for both initial and secondary damage. Draven can apply this poison to his axes and deal tons of damage in no time. Pick up some vials and masterwork tools and put some skill points into Craft (Poisonmaking) and Knowledge (Nature) to take advantage of opportunities to find and craft poisons. Draven can also sell poison that he makes to help him buy more magical items.
Getting magical axes
Draven needs to acquire a pair of +1 returning aptitude scimitars at some point. The cost is 18,315 gold per scimitar, for a total of 36,630 gold. If Draven cannot afford these weapons, he may instead use a pair of +1 returning throwing axes. The cost for these weapons is 8,308 gold each, for a total of 16,616 gold. These axes are decent and useful but do not give Draven bonus attacks from Lightning Mace.
Argue to your DM that Draven can have returning scimitars even though scimitars do not normally have a range increment. This is because Draven gains the Throw Anything feat, which allows him to throw his scimitars as though they were throwing axes. When Draven throws his scimitars to attack his enemies, the scimitars come back to him.
The speed enhancement is also useful. A weapon with this enhancement can be used twice in a round. Argue to your DM that this works on a thrown weapon if that weapon also has the returning enhancement because the speed enhancement could make it move twice as quickly and thus return fast enough to be thrown again. This is a very expensive enhancement, but if Draven applies this to all his weapons, he will be able to double the number of attacks he can make each round since he can use each weapon twice. One +1 speed returning aptitude scimitar costs 72,315 gold and a pair of these weapons costs 144,630 gold. Draven can also get this enhancement on his throwing axes. One speed returning throwing axe costs 50,308 gold. A pair of these axes costs 100,616 gold.
Never ever put the aptitude enhancement on regular throwing axes. The only reason Draven wants this enhancement on his scimitars is so he can apply the Lightning Mace feat to them and get bonus attacks when he scores a critical threat. Regular throwing axes have a terrible crit range and almost never give you bonus attacks. However, Draven still wants to get Improved Critical for them because it gives him a slightly higher chance to deal extra damage with them. Once he gets his returning aptitude scimitars, he can simply use the aptitude enhancement to apply the Improved Critical feat to the scimitars, as well as every other feat that improves the performance of his throwing axes.
Never put the vorpal enhancement on throwing axes, either. This would be a complete waste of money, since Draven’s throwing axes will score very few critical hits compared to his scimitars.
As Draven’s level increases and he gains more attacks per round, it is wise to invest in additional pairs of returning throwing axes or returning aptitude scimitars if you can afford them. This allows Draven to always have enough axes to perform the maximum number of attacks each round. This also means that Draven never needs to worry about retrieving his axes, since they have the returning enhancement and will simply come back to him in an endless stream of axes which can be thrown again.
Table: Ideal Weapon Enhancements
Throwing Axes
Scimitars
Bonus Price
Returning
Yes
Yes
+1
Speed
Yes
Yes
+3
Aptitude
No
Yes
+1
Vorpal
No
Yes
+5
Burst (any)
No
Yes
+2
Brilliant Energy
Yes
Yes
+4
The Lightning Mace feat
Getting the Lightning Mace feat can be postponed if necessary, since there is no point in taking it until Draven can afford his spinning scimitar axes. Simply fill in the gap with Two-Weapon Defense or some other desired feat that Draven normally wouldn’t get until later and then get Lightning Mace as soon as Draven has his magical throwing scimitars.
Cool items
If Draven finds a psionic item shop or meets a powerful psionic character, he should try to acquire Bands of Extended Range. These awesome brass knuckles double the range increment of any weapon that Draven throws. According to D&D math, this should allow Draven to throw any weapon up to 30 feet without taking penalties. This is also the limit of Point Blank Shot’s bonus.
Draven also benefits from Boots of Skating. These psionic boots increase his speed by 15 feet per move action.
Maximizing Draven’s attacks per round
Because of Draven’s fighting style, he can take feats that allow him to attack many more times in a round than a normal character. Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, and Rapid Shot each give him an extra attack each round. For these feats, simply argue to your DM that since Draven is replacing each thrown weapon in his hand with an identical thrown weapon, he should be able to gain extra attacks with the new weapon since an attack with this weapon is identical to an attack with the previous weapon. With these feats, Draven will eventually have a total of 8 attacks per round while fighting with two weapons.
Remember that each of these feats applies penalties to Draven’s attack rolls.
When Draven takes Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, he should always use his highest base attack bonus for these attacks. When the penalties are balanced out with his base attack bonus, his attack bonuses should be +20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5 at level 20 before applying extra attacks and penalties from fighting with two weapons and Rapid Shot. With all his extra attacks, Draven’s attack bonuses should be +20/+20/+20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5. Subtract 2 from all rolls if Draven is using throwing axes or 4 from all rolls if he is using scimitars due to the penalty from fighting with two weapons, then subtract an additional 2 due to the penalty from Rapid Shot. This cancels with the +2 bonus from Greater Weapon Focus. Remember to add 1 back to each roll because the weapons are of masterwork quality, plus another 1 from Point Blank Shot. Also add 2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing). This results in a modifier of +2 if Draven is using throwing axes or a modifier of 0 if Draven is using scimitars. Add Draven’s Dexterity modifier to get the final result.
If Draven adds the speed enhancement to his weapons, he can use each of them twice in a round, giving him a total of 16 attacks per round. The damage dealt with throwing axes or scimitars is then equal to 16d6 plus 16 times Draven’s Strength modifier plus 16 times the 4 bonus damage from Greater Weapon Specialization plus 16 times 1 from Point Blank Shot plus 16 times 2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing) for a total of 16d6 + 16*Str + 112. If Draven has a Strength modifier of +4, his damage output each round is 16d6 + 176 if all of his attacks hit. The damage ranges from 192 to 272 and averages at
232. This does not include any critical hits that Draven may score or any extra attacks he may receive from Lightning Mace.
No Lightning Mace
The table below shows Draven’s build should he not be interested in the Lightning Mace feat. This opens up opportunities for more feats since Draven does not need to take Lightning Mace or its prerequisites.
Level
Ability Scores
Class
Feats
Special
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
1st
2
1
4
5
6
3
Fighter 1
Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw
Fighter Bonus Feat
2nd
Fighter 2
Far Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
3rd
Fighter 3
Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
4th
*
Fighter 4
Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
5th
Fighter 5
6th
Fighter 6
Precise Shot, Throw Anything
Fighter Bonus Feat
7th
Fighter 7
8th
*
Fighter 8
Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing)
Fighter Bonus Feat
9th
Fighter 9
Greater Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
10th
Fighter 10
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Fighter Bonus Feat
11th
Fighter 11
12th
*
Fighter 12
Greater Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe), Two-Weapon Rend
Fighter Bonus Feat
13th
Fighter 13
14th
Fighter 14
Dead Eye
Fighter Bonus Feat
15th
Fighter 15
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
16th
*
Fighter 16
Rapid Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
17th
Fighter 17
18th
Fighter 18
Two-Weapon Defense, Weapon Supremacy (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
19th
Fighter 19
20th
*
Fighter 20
Improved Two-Weapon Defense
Fighter Bonus Feat
The Dead Eye feat is amazing. It allows Draven to add his Dexterity bonus to his damage rolls whenever he scores a hit with a ranged weapon. Since Draven should have a Dexterity modifier of at least +5 by the time he reaches 20th level, this improves his damage by 5 per axe thrown. Each axe should then deal damage equal to 1d6 + Str + Dex + 7 (Point Blank Shot (1) + Greater Weapon Specialization (4) + Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing) (2)) for a total of 1d6 + 16 points of damage. If Draven hits with all 16 potential attacks, he will deal 16d6 + 256 points of damage. The minimum damage is 272 and the maximum is 352. The average damage is 312.
At epic levels, Draven can purchase the incredibly legendary +10 brilliant energy triple-throw vorpal speed returning aptitude scimitars. Each one of these super expensive weapons has the price equivalent of a +30 bonus and costs 18,000,315 gold pieces. A pair of these weapons costs 36,000,630 gold pieces.
The power of the triple-throw weapon enhancement causes each scimitar to generate two temporary copies of itself when it is thrown, which benefit from all damage bonuses except for those which depend on accuracy. Thus, the copies benefit from all damage bonuses except for the one from Dead Eye. These scimitars function as though Draven had Runaan’s Hurricane in his inventory. When Draven throws one of these scimitars, he gets one scimitar that deals 1d6 + 26 points of damage and two more that each deal 1d6 + 21 points of damage. If Draven saves up the 144,002,520 gold pieces required to purchase eight of these badass weapons, he will be able to deal 48d6 + 848 points of damage with the full attack option. That’s an average of 1,016 points of damage per round!
Additional feats: Staggering Critical, Greater Two-Weapon Defense, Manyshot + Improved Rapid Shot, Penetrating Shot, Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting, Double Hit, Defensive Archery, Improved Critical, Improved Precise Shot, Ranged Pin, Ranged Sunder, Ranged Disarm, Daunting Presence, Deadeye Shot, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
Feats at epic levels
Devastating Critical: Every critical hit Draven scores requires the target to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Draven’s level + Draven’s Strength modifier) or die instantly. Taking this feat means that Draven might not need to put the vorpal enhancement on his scimitars, greatly reducing their cost.
Distant Shot: Range increments no longer apply.
Epic Reputation: Draven gains a +4 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and Perform checks because he’s Draven.
Epic Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe): Draven gets a +2 bonus on attack rolls with his throwing axes.
Epic Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe): Draven gets a +4 bonus on damage rolls with his throwing axes, but only while the target is within 30 feet.
Staggering Critical: Draven’s critical hits slow the target for 1 round.
Improved Rapid Shot: Draven no longer takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls when using the Rapid Shot feat.
Storm of Throws: Draven can throw an axe at every opponent within 30 feet as a full-round action. This can be useful if he gets bored of throwing a steady stream of axes and wants to mix things up. Draven also gets to use his highest base attack bonus for all attacks made this way.
Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting: Draven treats his scimitars as if they were light weapons for the purpose of determining two-weapon fighting penalties on attack rolls.
Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting: Draven can make a number of off-hand attacks per round equal to the number of normal attacks he can make. Since Rapid Shot gives him an additional attack per round, this allows Draven to make five off-hand attacks normally for a total of 20 attacks per round with speed axes or scimitars. Keep in mind that he needs to buy two more of his super expensive weapons in order to take advantage of these extra attacks. The total cost is then 180,003,150 gp.
Draven’s final form: Putting it all together
With all of the above feats, Draven should have a series of base attack bonuses as follows:
+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+15/+15/+15/+15/+10/+10/+10/+10/+5/+5/+5/+5
Because of his awesome new feats, Draven no longer takes penalties from using Rapid Shot and his scimitars use the same penalty as his throwing axes for two-weapon fighting. His modifier for each attack is as follows:
-2 from using two-weapon fighting
+10 from weapon enhancement bonus
+1 from Point Blank Shot
+1 from Weapon Focus
+1 from Greater Weapon Focus
+2 from Epic Weapon Focus
+2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery
+ Dex
+ Level -20 (epic level attack bonus)
This gives a total modifier of Level + Dex -5 for Draven to add to his base attack bonuses.
Damage rolls and bonuses per axe are as follows:
1d6 base damage
+10 from weapon enhancement bonus
+1 from Point Blank Shot
+2 from Weapon Specialization
+2 from Greater Weapon Specialization
+4 from Epic Weapon Specialization
+2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery
+ Dex from Dead Eye
+ Str
Multiply all damage except the damage from Dead Eye by 3.
This gives a total of 3d6 + 63 + 3*Str + Dex per axe.
Total Damage: 60d6 + 1,260 + 60*Str + 20*Dex per round.
Do you enjoy playing League of Legends? Do you want a character build that lets you transfer the role and obscene offensive power of the AD carry into D&D? Do you want to deal so much damage that you will literally carry your team, forcing strongly encouraging them to take on supporting roles in order to keep you alive? If so, this build is for you! Welcome to the League of Draven!
Apologies for any formatting issues in the tables. Numbers below the ability scores indicate the order in which to prioritize them. In case it isn't clear, the order of priority is Dex, Str, Cha, Con, Int, Wis.
Level
Ability Scores
Class
Feats
Special
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
1st
2
1
4
5
6
3
Fighter 1
Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw
Fighter Bonus Feat
2nd
Fighter 2
Far Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
3rd
Fighter 3
Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
4th
*
Fighter 4
Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
5th
Fighter 5
6th
Fighter 6
Precise Shot, Throw Anything
Fighter Bonus Feat
7th
Fighter 7
8th
*
Fighter 8
Improved Critical (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
9th
Fighter 9
Greater Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
10th
Fighter 10
Combat Reflexes
Fighter Bonus Feat
11th
Fighter 11
12th
*
Fighter 12
Two-Weapon Rend, Weapon Focus (Light Mace)
Fighter Bonus Feat
13th
Fighter 13
14th
Fighter 14
Lightning Mace
Fighter Bonus Feat
15th
Fighter 15
Rapid Shot
16th
*
Fighter 16
Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing)
Fighter Bonus Feat
17th
Fighter 17
18th
Fighter 18
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
19th
Fighter 19
20th
*
Fighter 20
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Fighter Bonus Feat
Draven’s Charisma score
With most fighter builds, Charisma is the least important score. However, since you are playing Draven, it is important to make his Charisma as high as possible so that he always looks awesome and gets all the ladies. Because of this, Charisma is your third highest priority and should be given the highest score after Strength and Dexterity.
Starting the game
At early levels, Draven will not have his super special spinning axes. In order to maximize Draven’s effectiveness in combat and make up for his constant need to reach for more throwing axes, make sure to take these feats: Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, and Quick Draw. When combined with Draven’s base attack bonus, the first two feats will totally counteract the penalties associated with fighting with two weapons, meaning that Draven’s ranged attack rolls should be equal to his d20 roll plus his Dexterity modifier at level 1.
When Draven uses throwing axes, his penalties should be -2/-2 with the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, since throwing axes are light weapons. Point Blank Shot reduces this penalty to -1/-1 by counteracting it with a +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls, and the addition of his level 1 base attack bonus of 1 brings the modifier to zero. Thus at level 1, Draven’s Dexterity modifier should be the only thing affecting his ranged attack rolls. By giving Draven the Quick Draw feat and ensuring that he carries as many throwing axes on his person as possible, the player can ensure that Draven is able to start the game while suffering from virtually no penalties for his unusual fighting style.
Draven starting equipment:
Weapons (16 lbs.): Throwing axes (8)
Armor (15 lbs.): Leather
Gear (34 lbs.): Explorer’s outfit (no weight, no cost), backpack, waterskin, bedroll, flint and steel, tent, hooded lantern, whetstone
Food (4 lbs.): 4 days’ rations (good quality)
Total weight: 69 lbs.
Remaining money: 25 gold pieces
Adding new weapons
As Draven progresses in level, it is important to save as much money as possible for purchasing magical weapons. This means that Draven should make the most of his feats to compensate for a lack of cool magical weapons in the first 10 levels or so.
Once Draven has the Throw Anything feat, consider buying a couple pairs of regular scimitars for him to use. This will allow him to gain the benefits of their large critical range while he is still saving up gold to buy the more expensive magical axes and scimitars.
The Throw Anything feat also allows Draven to throw other weapons, including very large weapons provided Draven only wields one such weapon at a time. Consider getting a greataxe or greatsword for Draven to carry on his back. With his Quick Draw feat, Draven can quickly unsheathe even a massive weapon and throw it at his enemies. Far Shot and Throw Anything give Draven a range increment of 20 feet with any melee weapon regardless of size. A large weapon also helps Draven in case he gets into melee combat. A useful tactic is to ready an action to throw Draven’s greataxe or greatsword at charging enemies. This tends to deter enemies from charging later in the encounter after seeing what happens to the first person who tries it against Draven. Remember that when throwing a one-handed or two-handed weapon with both hands, Draven adds one and a half times his Strength modifier to his damage roll. If Draven improves his Strength score to 18, he will get to add 6 damage every time he does this.
Keep in mind that while scimitars have a larger critical threat range than throwing axes, they are one-handed weapons while throwing axes are light weapons. This means that when Draven fights with two scimitars at once, the penalty on his attack rolls increases from -2/-2 to -4/-4. Later, Draven needs to spend extra money on magical scimitars so that he can optimize them by adding the aptitude enhancement. Because of this extra cost, scimitars make better weapons at higher levels. The path from low levels to high levels is a transition from throwing axes to scimitars. Eventually, Draven will have enough scimitars to make them his main weapons. However, it is still useful for him to have a few pairs of throwing axes in case he has a difficult time hitting enemies with his scimitars. Scimitars are most useful against enemies with a poor AC. They also make good melee weapons if Draven is attacked in close combat.
Poison is a great way for Draven to improve his attacks. Venom from a common viper can be made into a poison that deals 1d6 points of Constitution damage for both initial and secondary damage. Draven can apply this poison to his axes and deal tons of damage in no time. Pick up some vials and masterwork tools and put some skill points into Craft (Poisonmaking) and Knowledge (Nature) to take advantage of opportunities to find and craft poisons. Draven can also sell poison that he makes to help him buy more magical items.
Getting magical axes
Draven needs to acquire a pair of +1 returning aptitude scimitars at some point. The cost is 18,315 gold per scimitar, for a total of 36,630 gold. If Draven cannot afford these weapons, he may instead use a pair of +1 returning throwing axes. The cost for these weapons is 8,308 gold each, for a total of 16,616 gold. These axes are decent and useful but do not give Draven bonus attacks from Lightning Mace.
Argue to your DM that Draven can have returning scimitars even though scimitars do not normally have a range increment. This is because Draven gains the Throw Anything feat, which allows him to throw his scimitars as though they were throwing axes. When Draven throws his scimitars to attack his enemies, the scimitars come back to him.
The speed enhancement is also useful. A weapon with this enhancement can be used twice in a round. Argue to your DM that this works on a thrown weapon if that weapon also has the returning enhancement because the speed enhancement could make it move twice as quickly and thus return fast enough to be thrown again. This is a very expensive enhancement, but if Draven applies this to all his weapons, he will be able to double the number of attacks he can make each round since he can use each weapon twice. One +1 speed returning aptitude scimitar costs 72,315 gold and a pair of these weapons costs 144,630 gold. Draven can also get this enhancement on his throwing axes. One speed returning throwing axe costs 50,308 gold. A pair of these axes costs 100,616 gold.
Never ever put the aptitude enhancement on regular throwing axes. The only reason Draven wants this enhancement on his scimitars is so he can apply the Lightning Mace feat to them and get bonus attacks when he scores a critical threat. Regular throwing axes have a terrible crit range and almost never give you bonus attacks. However, Draven still wants to get Improved Critical for them because it gives him a slightly higher chance to deal extra damage with them. Once he gets his returning aptitude scimitars, he can simply use the aptitude enhancement to apply the Improved Critical feat to the scimitars, as well as every other feat that improves the performance of his throwing axes.
Never put the vorpal enhancement on throwing axes, either. This would be a complete waste of money, since Draven’s throwing axes will score very few critical hits compared to his scimitars.
As Draven’s level increases and he gains more attacks per round, it is wise to invest in additional pairs of returning throwing axes or returning aptitude scimitars if you can afford them. This allows Draven to always have enough axes to perform the maximum number of attacks each round. This also means that Draven never needs to worry about retrieving his axes, since they have the returning enhancement and will simply come back to him in an endless stream of axes which can be thrown again.
Table: Ideal Weapon Enhancements
Throwing Axes
Scimitars
Bonus Price
Returning
Yes
Yes
+1
Speed
Yes
Yes
+3
Aptitude
No
Yes
+1
Vorpal
No
Yes
+5
Burst (any)
No
Yes
+2
Brilliant Energy
Yes
Yes
+4
The Lightning Mace feat
Getting the Lightning Mace feat can be postponed if necessary, since there is no point in taking it until Draven can afford his spinning scimitar axes. Simply fill in the gap with Two-Weapon Defense or some other desired feat that Draven normally wouldn’t get until later and then get Lightning Mace as soon as Draven has his magical throwing scimitars.
Cool items
If Draven finds a psionic item shop or meets a powerful psionic character, he should try to acquire Bands of Extended Range. These awesome brass knuckles double the range increment of any weapon that Draven throws. According to D&D math, this should allow Draven to throw any weapon up to 30 feet without taking penalties. This is also the limit of Point Blank Shot’s bonus.
Draven also benefits from Boots of Skating. These psionic boots increase his speed by 15 feet per move action.
Maximizing Draven’s attacks per round
Because of Draven’s fighting style, he can take feats that allow him to attack many more times in a round than a normal character. Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, and Rapid Shot each give him an extra attack each round. For these feats, simply argue to your DM that since Draven is replacing each thrown weapon in his hand with an identical thrown weapon, he should be able to gain extra attacks with the new weapon since an attack with this weapon is identical to an attack with the previous weapon. With these feats, Draven will eventually have a total of 8 attacks per round while fighting with two weapons.
Remember that each of these feats applies penalties to Draven’s attack rolls.
When Draven takes Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, he should always use his highest base attack bonus for these attacks. When the penalties are balanced out with his base attack bonus, his attack bonuses should be +20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5 at level 20 before applying extra attacks and penalties from fighting with two weapons and Rapid Shot. With all his extra attacks, Draven’s attack bonuses should be +20/+20/+20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5. Subtract 2 from all rolls if Draven is using throwing axes or 4 from all rolls if he is using scimitars due to the penalty from fighting with two weapons, then subtract an additional 2 due to the penalty from Rapid Shot. This cancels with the +2 bonus from Greater Weapon Focus. Remember to add 1 back to each roll because the weapons are of masterwork quality, plus another 1 from Point Blank Shot. Also add 2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing). This results in a modifier of +2 if Draven is using throwing axes or a modifier of 0 if Draven is using scimitars. Add Draven’s Dexterity modifier to get the final result.
If Draven adds the speed enhancement to his weapons, he can use each of them twice in a round, giving him a total of 16 attacks per round. The damage dealt with throwing axes or scimitars is then equal to 16d6 plus 16 times Draven’s Strength modifier plus 16 times the 4 bonus damage from Greater Weapon Specialization plus 16 times 1 from Point Blank Shot plus 16 times 2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing) for a total of 16d6 + 16*Str + 112. If Draven has a Strength modifier of +4, his damage output each round is 16d6 + 176 if all of his attacks hit. The damage ranges from 192 to 272 and averages at
232. This does not include any critical hits that Draven may score or any extra attacks he may receive from Lightning Mace.
No Lightning Mace
The table below shows Draven’s build should he not be interested in the Lightning Mace feat. This opens up opportunities for more feats since Draven does not need to take Lightning Mace or its prerequisites.
Level
Ability Scores
Class
Feats
Special
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
1st
2
1
4
5
6
3
Fighter 1
Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw
Fighter Bonus Feat
2nd
Fighter 2
Far Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
3rd
Fighter 3
Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
4th
*
Fighter 4
Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
5th
Fighter 5
6th
Fighter 6
Precise Shot, Throw Anything
Fighter Bonus Feat
7th
Fighter 7
8th
*
Fighter 8
Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing)
Fighter Bonus Feat
9th
Fighter 9
Greater Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe)
10th
Fighter 10
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Fighter Bonus Feat
11th
Fighter 11
12th
*
Fighter 12
Greater Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe), Two-Weapon Rend
Fighter Bonus Feat
13th
Fighter 13
14th
Fighter 14
Dead Eye
Fighter Bonus Feat
15th
Fighter 15
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
16th
*
Fighter 16
Rapid Shot
Fighter Bonus Feat
17th
Fighter 17
18th
Fighter 18
Two-Weapon Defense, Weapon Supremacy (Throwing Axe)
Fighter Bonus Feat
19th
Fighter 19
20th
*
Fighter 20
Improved Two-Weapon Defense
Fighter Bonus Feat
The Dead Eye feat is amazing. It allows Draven to add his Dexterity bonus to his damage rolls whenever he scores a hit with a ranged weapon. Since Draven should have a Dexterity modifier of at least +5 by the time he reaches 20th level, this improves his damage by 5 per axe thrown. Each axe should then deal damage equal to 1d6 + Str + Dex + 7 (Point Blank Shot (1) + Greater Weapon Specialization (4) + Ranged Weapon Mastery (Slashing) (2)) for a total of 1d6 + 16 points of damage. If Draven hits with all 16 potential attacks, he will deal 16d6 + 256 points of damage. The minimum damage is 272 and the maximum is 352. The average damage is 312.
At epic levels, Draven can purchase the incredibly legendary +10 brilliant energy triple-throw vorpal speed returning aptitude scimitars. Each one of these super expensive weapons has the price equivalent of a +30 bonus and costs 18,000,315 gold pieces. A pair of these weapons costs 36,000,630 gold pieces.
The power of the triple-throw weapon enhancement causes each scimitar to generate two temporary copies of itself when it is thrown, which benefit from all damage bonuses except for those which depend on accuracy. Thus, the copies benefit from all damage bonuses except for the one from Dead Eye. These scimitars function as though Draven had Runaan’s Hurricane in his inventory. When Draven throws one of these scimitars, he gets one scimitar that deals 1d6 + 26 points of damage and two more that each deal 1d6 + 21 points of damage. If Draven saves up the 144,002,520 gold pieces required to purchase eight of these badass weapons, he will be able to deal 48d6 + 848 points of damage with the full attack option. That’s an average of 1,016 points of damage per round!
Additional feats: Staggering Critical, Greater Two-Weapon Defense, Manyshot + Improved Rapid Shot, Penetrating Shot, Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting, Double Hit, Defensive Archery, Improved Critical, Improved Precise Shot, Ranged Pin, Ranged Sunder, Ranged Disarm, Daunting Presence, Deadeye Shot, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting
Feats at epic levels
Devastating Critical: Every critical hit Draven scores requires the target to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Draven’s level + Draven’s Strength modifier) or die instantly. Taking this feat means that Draven might not need to put the vorpal enhancement on his scimitars, greatly reducing their cost.
Distant Shot: Range increments no longer apply.
Epic Reputation: Draven gains a +4 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and Perform checks because he’s Draven.
Epic Weapon Focus (Throwing Axe): Draven gets a +2 bonus on attack rolls with his throwing axes.
Epic Weapon Specialization (Throwing Axe): Draven gets a +4 bonus on damage rolls with his throwing axes, but only while the target is within 30 feet.
Staggering Critical: Draven’s critical hits slow the target for 1 round.
Improved Rapid Shot: Draven no longer takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls when using the Rapid Shot feat.
Storm of Throws: Draven can throw an axe at every opponent within 30 feet as a full-round action. This can be useful if he gets bored of throwing a steady stream of axes and wants to mix things up. Draven also gets to use his highest base attack bonus for all attacks made this way.
Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting: Draven treats his scimitars as if they were light weapons for the purpose of determining two-weapon fighting penalties on attack rolls.
Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting: Draven can make a number of off-hand attacks per round equal to the number of normal attacks he can make. Since Rapid Shot gives him an additional attack per round, this allows Draven to make five off-hand attacks normally for a total of 20 attacks per round with speed axes or scimitars. Keep in mind that he needs to buy two more of his super expensive weapons in order to take advantage of these extra attacks. The total cost is then 180,003,150 gp.
Draven’s final form: Putting it all together
With all of the above feats, Draven should have a series of base attack bonuses as follows:
+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+20/+15/+15/+15/+15/+10/+10/+10/+10/+5/+5/+5/+5
Because of his awesome new feats, Draven no longer takes penalties from using Rapid Shot and his scimitars use the same penalty as his throwing axes for two-weapon fighting. His modifier for each attack is as follows:
-2 from using two-weapon fighting
+10 from weapon enhancement bonus
+1 from Point Blank Shot
+1 from Weapon Focus
+1 from Greater Weapon Focus
+2 from Epic Weapon Focus
+2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery
+ Dex
+ Level -20 (epic level attack bonus)
This gives a total modifier of Level + Dex -5 for Draven to add to his base attack bonuses.
Damage rolls and bonuses per axe are as follows:
1d6 base damage
+10 from weapon enhancement bonus
+1 from Point Blank Shot
+2 from Weapon Specialization
+2 from Greater Weapon Specialization
+4 from Epic Weapon Specialization
+2 from Ranged Weapon Mastery
+ Dex from Dead Eye
+ Str
Multiply all damage except the damage from Dead Eye by 3.
This gives a total of 3d6 + 63 + 3*Str + Dex per axe.
Total Damage: 60d6 + 1,260 + 60*Str + 20*Dex per round.