Help with Character Concept/Build

[MonkeyIke]

Greetings everyone! I just recently got into Dungeons and Dragons for the first last December and after a handful of session I absolutely love it! I’m currently playing a barbarian and am enjoying him very much (even though I almost got him killed). But what brings me to right this post is that there has been a character concept I’ve always wanted to make in an rpg but never felt like I had a chance till now and would like anyones’ help to make it happen.

I used to watch anime as a kid but just recently go back into it by watching some of the shows like: One Piece, Dragon Ball (Z), Bleach, Naruto, Hunter X Hunter, Yu Yu hakusho, Gintama, One Punch Man etc… And I’ve always liked some of the common aspects that majority of the protagonist (and some of the side characters) usually displayed.

Now I know the stigma behind anime and Dungeons and Dragons. I understand that my character can’t blow up planets or do the crazy over the top feats that some anime protagonist do. All I am trying to do is have these characters as references for my character concept and scale them down or convert them so they can fit into the world of Dungeons and Dragons while also not overshadowing any of my teammates.

The Character
I haven’t exactly formed a backstory yet, but to start off, the best way I can describe (or summarize) this character that I would like to make is that he is a demonic swordsman while also being an expert hand-to-hand (martial artist) combatant, who uses “ki” to perform physical capabilities that exceed the normal human body.

The role in the group that I would like to be is the main tank and damage dealer. I’m mainly aiming for rp flavor but I don’t want to be a detriment to the team. The best way I can describe it is that I would like to do respectable amount of damage. It doesn’t have to be the optimized best of the best but as long as it “feels” like i’m doing a great amount of damage I’m ok with it. Other than that, I don’t want to wear plate (or any armor really), I don’t want to be a hit-and-run type character, and I don’t want to be slow or fragile. I equate it as an mma fighter or boxer who understands the importance of dodging certain blows, but also understands the importance of being able to take a hit (i.e. not having a glass jaw).

Other things that I would like this character to display (keep in mind i’m using hyperboles here) are: monstrous strength, endurance/stamina, agility/speed (basically athletic), as well as tremendous willpower (i.e. great tolerance to pain, able to shrug off and ignore injuries). Sense of leadership (charismatic?), intimidating presence, fighting genius, master swordsman and martial artist (basically his goal to become one) Desire for strength
He also has a code loosely based off of Bushido. Dislikes attacking an opponent while their back is turned (unless friend is in danger). Considers scars on his back as shameful. Prefers to fight his enemies at their best to measure his strength.
I would also prefer it if he had some sort of demonic aura or presence that he gives off as well.

Other miscellaneous personality/flaws/characteristics: Lack of intelligence, fearless, relies on instincts, simple, naive, straightforward, adventurous, passion for fighting/competition, desire to be stronger, short-tempered, stubborn, doesn’t fear death, reckless, protective of comrades, willing to risk life, Enamored with food and alcohol, thrill for combat, perceptive with certain things, likes to train (spar, fight, lift, etc…) and napping, lazy in regards to things he doesn’t care or is motivated about (i.e. politics, money) aside for friends generally prefers animals more than people (humanoids) fears that he is not strong enough to protect those he cares about

Combat wise aside from utilizing his ki and demonic aura for hitting harder, I see him using either two or one katana(s), while utilizing martial arts and his ki to perform powerful feats and sword techniques.

I am mainly trying to keep it in the PHB and SCAG. I just plan on using a whole lot of flavor and re-fluffing to the current classes and abilities. Like paladin smite being re-fluffed to ki strikes. Sneak attack to ki strikes or precise strikes. Barbarian’s rage as battle focus. Warlock for the demonic abilities and eldritch blast for ki blasts or flying blade attacks. Action surge for breaking normal physical limits (and for how awesome it is). Shield spell fluffed to a technique that hardens the body with ki. Short Swords/quarterstaffs fluffed to katanas etc… These were just some off the top of my head.


That is not to say that I don’t prefer homebrew or UA, if you feel as though there is a homebrew out there that fits the concept i’m trying,I would very much like to look at it. It is mainly the fact that I don’t exactly know my DM’s opinion on homebrew of why I am hesitant.

Classes wise the only ones that I think wouldn’t really fit the concept are Bards, Druids, and Clerics. Wizard i’m not too sure on. Bladesinger seems like a cool concept but I feel that it relies too much on intellect which is mainly a stat I don’t think my character would invest in aside from being a strategic fighter.While I like the cantrips of booming blade and greenfire blade as potential ki sword techniques I could get them elsewhere. I also feel as though wizards are too fragile and bladesinger is designed for more guerilla warfare tactics instead of staying in melee range. But if I could be convinced otherwise I would be open to it.

Multiclass is of course allowed and I think it would be needed for this concept. We also roll for ability scores instead of point buy so what are the potential stats I should be hoping for in order to make this type of character?

Bonus action wise I don’t really see what all the fuss is about with having multiple bonus actions competing with each other. Yes I can only use one but I like the versatility that it brings. Some cases applying hex might be good for dps while maybe going into rage or using my ki points to dodge might be the better choice in some situations.

Sorry for making this post longer than it needed to be, but if there is any other questions that I can answer I would be happy to.

Thank You

TLDR:
Need help with coming up with character using just PHB, SCAG, and a whole lot of fluff/flavor. (Also feel free to link any homebrews that might help as well and I’ll be sure to discuss it with my DM)

Race: Human Variant
Character concept: Demonic Swordsman/Martial Artist
Role: Tank and Damage Dealer
Preferably unarmored
Combat: uses two(maybe one) katana and martial arts as well as utilizing demonic aura or ki to strengthen himself in combat and perform extraordinary techniques
Multiclass allowed as well as rolling for stats
What stats should I hope I roll in order to make this concept playable and not useless?

[gfishfunk]

Your character sounds like a shoe-in for a monk - just a straight monk. Your stats are going to be all over the place with what you would like to do.

I think you could do a strength based monk, and reflavor short-swords as katanas. You can use short swords as monk weapons and still use flurry of blows.

Demonic Presence: you could go variant human and take magic initiate to gain a spell for flavor: like protection from good and evil or something like that as a once per day spell. OR you could take Toughness to up your hitpoints right off the bat so you don't have to have a ridiculously high Constitution and it will make you less MAD. OR you could go straight human for the universal +1 to all stats, which would help to get those high stats that you want: high strength / con / dex / wisdom / charisma.

[Grod_The_Giant]

The Character
I haven’t exactly formed a backstory yet, but to start off, the best way I can describe (or summarize) this character that I would like to make is that he is a demonic swordsman while also being an expert hand-to-hand (martial artist) combatant, who uses “ki” to perform physical capabilities that exceed the normal human body.
Okay. Sounds like a Monk so far...


Other than that, I don’t want to wear plate (or any armor really), I don’t want to be a hit-and-run type character, and I don’t want to be slow or fragile. I equate it as an mma fighter or boxer who understands the importance of dodging certain blows, but also understands the importance of being able to take a hit (i.e. not having a glass jaw).
Barbarian? Monk/Barbarian?


Other things that I would like this character to display (keep in mind i’m using hyperboles here) are: monstrous strength, endurance/stamina, agility/speed (basically athletic), as well as tremendous willpower (i.e. great tolerance to pain, able to shrug off and ignore injuries). Sense of leadership (charismatic?), intimidating presence, fighting genius, master swordsman and martial artist (basically his goal to become one) Desire for strength
Okay. So mostly Strength, with a side order of Charisma and a good Wisdom save. Shrugging off hits is a Fighter thing, with Second Wind/Indomitable. Purple Dragon Knight Fighter? Paladin?


Combat wise aside from utilizing his ki and demonic aura for hitting harder, I see him using either two or one katana(s), while utilizing martial arts and his ki to perform powerful feats and sword techniques.
So some sort of magic, one or two swords, some unarmed strikes?


I am mainly trying to keep it in the PHB and SCAG. I just plan on using a whole lot of flavor and re-fluffing to the current classes and abilities. Like paladin smite being re-fluffed to ki strikes. Sneak attack to ki strikes or precise strikes. Barbarian’s rage as battle focus. Warlock for the demonic abilities and eldritch blast for ki blasts or flying blade attacks. Action surge for breaking normal physical limits (and for how awesome it is). Shield spell fluffed to a technique that hardens the body with ki. Short Swords/quarterstaffs fluffed to katanas etc… These were just some off the top of my head.
Okay. Refluffing should help a lot.


Race: Human Variant
Character concept: Demonic Swordsman/Martial Artist
Role: Tank and Damage Dealer
Preferably unarmored
Combat: uses two(maybe one) katana and martial arts as well as utilizing demonic aura or ki to strengthen himself in combat and perform extraordinary techniques
Multiclass allowed as well as rolling for stats
What stats should I hope I roll in order to make this concept playable and not useless?
Hmm. Overall, I'd say that my instinct is to tell you to go Paladin. Especially if you can go Oathbreaker Paladin; that'll get you all sorts of hellish spells and auras-- Dreadful Aspect being the most fitting. If not, Vengeance or Crown are passable substitutes. You've said that you're happy to refluff magic stuff as Ki, so that part is fine. So that gets you the durability, the charisma, the aura, the ki... so what are we missing? Martial Arts, non-armor, and "monstrous" strength and speed.

Hokay.

Non-Armor you can get through Monk or Barbarian. Of the two, my gut says Barbarian; I'm sure you can do something with the Rage, and Dex+Con is probably better for you than Dex+Wis. An extra level or two wouldn't hurt either; Reckless Attack, Danger Sense, and both Frenzy and Bear Totem would all work well for you. (Barbarian in general works well for you, honestly).
On the other hand, Monk is better for martial arts. One level is probably better than Tavern Brawler for unarmed strikes if you can swing it-- wield a short sword and Dueling style, and punch with your off-hand as a bonus action-- and three gets you lovely Open Hand brutal strike type stuff... but that's another stat you'll need.
The other option would be to go Fighter 1 and take TWF style and the aforementioned Tavern Brawler to simulate the whole "punch as a bonus action" business, which would be easier stat-wise. Three levels into Battle Master would give you Action Surge, a still-mostly-crap Second Wind, and a nice set of special martial arts techniques. The downside is that you can't, by RAW, finesse an unarmed strike without Monk.
For the strength and speed, I think you'll want a Rogue level to nab Expertise in Athletics and Acrobatics. That's about as "monstrous" as you can get, unfortunately. A second level for Cunning Action would help with the speed, and a third level into Swashbuckler would net you some lovely Cha synergy.

So... yeah, those are your tools. I'd say that ultimately, Barbarian 1/Rogue 1/Fighter 1/Paladin 17 is your best shot (sort levels to taste), with Tavern Brawler as a feat. Prioritize Dex and Cha, with Str and Con as your secondary stats. That gets you no-armor, punch-plus-sword, "ki" smites and spells and auras without hurting yourself too much with excessive multiclassing or MADness.

[Anchestor]

Monk is the class of choice and following you description I believe Dex > Str Monk for dmg and ac, but you can have 12 str for flavour. The problem is the swordmanship. The Monk earns the ability to make an unarmed attack after using a monkweapon. If you want to use a katana you should ask your DM if its ok to use as a monk weapon.

You should inform yourself about the monk in the players handbook and see if anything works against your plans. Straight human may be better than variant because monks don´t really need feats. And since you want a strong, agile, wise and charismatic guy... you need a lot of stats! You need at 16 dex and 14 wis for at least 15 AC, 14 con if you want to have some hp and be able to take a hit or two and after that 12 in str and char. Int needs to be your dumbstat.

With buy-in you can aim for:

Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 16, Char 12 with standart human having 16 AC from the get go.

[MonkeyIke]

Thank you for the feedback everyone! I greatly appreciate it! Once I finish finals I'll have to sit down again and put some more thought on this. Basically feel that it will come down to whether I want to be mainly paladin (with some multi-classing) or mainly a monk (with some multi-classing).

Some questions:

Is there any information out there that kind of measures what exactly the stat attributes play out as?
I'm guessing strength is easier to decipher as someone with 16 strength can lift more than someone with 12. But my concern is mainly with what would be the difference between someone with 12 wisdom to someone with 16 or higher?

Can bonus action unarmed fists be used as another source to apply smites with?

Does an oathbreaker absolutely have to be of evil alignment?

Again, thank you very much for taking the time and responding with feedback! This idea has been bugging me this entire semester.

[Daishain]

Is there any information out there that kind of measures what exactly the stat attributes play out as?
I'm guessing strength is easier to decipher as someone with 16 strength can lift more than someone with 12. But my concern is mainly with what would be the difference between someone with 12 wisdom to someone with 16 or higher?I'm not sure what you're asking for here. Could you be more specific?


Can bonus action unarmed fists be used as another source to apply smites with?Divine Smites are specifically melee weapon only, and the smite spells are similarly limited. Unarmed strikes have been defined as not counting as melee weapons for the sake of such abilities.


Does an oathbreaker absolutely have to be of evil alignment? No, theoretically any paladin that irrevocably turned away from their oath could become an oathbreaker. There are many reasons this could happen without being evil. In fact several good aligned character types come to mind that might choose to break their original oath. This aspect however is more up to your DM than any of us.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Is there any information out there that kind of measures what exactly the stat attributes play out as?
I'm guessing strength is easier to decipher as someone with 16 strength can lift more than someone with 12. But my concern is mainly with what would be the difference between someone with 12 wisdom to someone with 16 or higher?
10% more likely to succeed on checks?


Can bonus action unarmed fists be used as another source to apply smites with?
By the PHB alone? I think so-- they're on the melee weapons table, and melee weapons are defined by as "used to attack a target within 5 feet of you." But apparently there was a Sage advice to the contrary? I wouldn't worry too much; you don't want to burn your spells that fast anyway.

[MonkeyIke]

[QUOTE=Daishain;20750446]I'm not sure what you're asking for here. Could you be more specific?
[QUOTE=Grod_The_Giant;20750496]10% more likely to succeed on checks?

Sorry if I wasn't clear, what I mean from a RP point of view what does someone with a high wisdom do or act?

Like how someone with high strength can lift heavier or jump farther than someone with low strength. What exactly does someone with a high wisdom do? Or is it mainly to succeed on certain checks like perception.

Edit: also got to figure out how this quoting works...

[uraniumrooster]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, what I mean from a RP point of view what does someone with a high wisdom do or act?

Like how someone with high strength can lift heavier or jump farther than someone with low strength. What exactly does someone with a high wisdom do? Or is it mainly to succeed on certain checks like perception.

Edit: also got to figure out how this quoting works...

Mental ability scores can be a little bit harder to quantify than Str, Dex and Con, because they're more conceptual and less "real". The ability score summary table in the PHB (P.12) can help you get a general idea. Wisdom measures awareness, insight and intuition, so a character with a high score would be more attuned with the world and people around them. A character with a low wisdom score, by contrast, might come off as distracted or absent-minded.

For quoting, make sure you keep the [/QUOTE] at the end of each of your quoted posts. It should be there by default when you use the "reply with quote" button, so just leave it and type your message in the area below :smallsmile:

[bid]

By the PHB alone? I think so-- they're on the melee weapons table
Errata: "Weapons (p. 149). Unarmed strike doesn’t belong on the Weapons table."

[djreynolds]

I see no reason why you cannot use unarmed strikes with smite. Its not OP.

Smiting need a melee weapon attack. A monk of the 4 elements can add fire to some of his attacks.

And if you multiclass paladin/monk you will more than likely never see 1d10 fists anyhow.

It would be the same as smiting with a short sword or quaterstaff

[Arkhios]

I'd like to suggest something erring more to the side of cool rather than optimal.

Tiefling (feral variant) Barbarian
Pick Tavern Brawler feat as soon as possible.

Racials: +2 Dex, +1 Int

With Point Buy: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 8

Take Berserker primal path.

At 4th level, take Tavern Brawler and up your Strength to 16 for better to Hit and damage.

At 8th level, take Durable feat to up your Constitution to 16, for more hit points, and +1 to your unarmored AC, and upgrade your self-sufficiency via short rest healing with your hit dice. (from 3 - 14 range to 6-15 range).

At 12th level, Increase your Strength by 2 to 18. (+1 to Hit, and damage)

At 16th level, increase your Strength by 2 to 20. (+1 to Hit, and damage)

At 19th level, increase your Constitution by 2 to 18. (+1 to unarmored AC, and again quite a bunch more hit points)

At 20th level, both your strength and Constitution scores increase by 4, up to maximum of 24.

All in all, your character would be quite fierce and brutal force in the battlefield, capable of dealing monk-like damage with unarmed strikes, but also wield a big-ass-sword effectively if he pleases. With the afore-mentioned PtB stats, your unarmored AC would start at 15, which is quite good to be honest. Barbarian rage takes care of the rest.

Alternatively, you could take Great Weapon Master feat instead of one increase to Strength, to increase your damage even further. While you won't have as much Strength at 20th level, as the best barbarians would, your strength will still be higher than anyone else has.

[Specter]

As everybody said, monk is a great bet. If you want the demonic feel without going Tiefling, take the Magic Initiate feat (as Variant Human) for the Warlock spell Hex; as a monk you get many attacks, and adding 1d6 to each of them is Christmas. For cantrips, take Thaumaturgy and Eldritch Blast for a ranged option.

Bonus points for cool speeches while using Hex. "I CURSE YOU TO A BLOODY DEATH BY MY BETRAYED HAND"

[Submortimer]

TLDR:
Need help with coming up with character using just PHB, SCAG, and a whole lot of fluff/flavor. (Also feel free to link any homebrews that might help as well and I’ll be sure to discuss it with my DM)

Race: Human Variant
Character concept: Demonic Swordsman/Martial Artist
Role: Tank and Damage Dealer
Preferably unarmored
Combat: uses two(maybe one) katana and martial arts as well as utilizing demonic aura or ki to strengthen himself in combat and perform extraordinary techniques
Multiclass allowed as well as rolling for stats
What stats should I hope I roll in order to make this concept playable and not useless?

Fiend Bladelock. You almost don't need anything else, but a level in fighter wouldn't hurt (get TWF or Dueling). Reflavor all the warlock stuff to be Ki-based, and use either Scimitars or Rapiers as your katana's so you can use dex for attack and damage.

Go for this build. Roll for stats if you want, but you'll be fine with point buy as well.

Stats: Dex 16, Cha 16 (both start at 15, +1 from human), spread the rest out where you need them.
Feat: Dual Wielder
Level 1: Fighter (TWF style)
Level 2-3: Warlock (Armor of shadows and Devil's sight invocations)
Level 4: Warlock (Blade Pact)
Level 5: Warlock (ASI: +2 dex)
Level 6: Warlock (Thirsting Blade Invocation)

From here, do as you like. With this, by level 6, you can make 3 attacks a round, two of them with a magic weapon. Your AC is 18, 20 if you want to use a shield. You can easily cast Darkness on yourself and give yourself advantage (and all the foes disadvantage). With Dark One's Blessing, you'll be reaping plenty of temp HP. Provided you put a 13 into wisdom, you can then multiclass into Monk to get Martial arts. One thing I've done (and seen other DMs do) is allow a character to use their Unarmed Strike as their Pact Weapon: Mechanically, there's nothing unbalancing about this, and it certainly fuels the "i use my demonic ki to punch harder" flavor.

[Celcey]

Oath breaker you technically do you need to be evil, but that's really just fluff. If your DM is okay with it, just refluff it and that gets you a lot of what you want.

[Oramac]

Some form of Monk is probably your best bet.

If you like, you're welcome to use the Death Knight in my sig. It would pretty easily fit the demonic theme, though it is designed to use armor.

[Biggstick]

I'd like to suggest something erring more to the side of cool rather than optimal.

Tiefling (feral variant) Barbarian

This is actually a really good idea. Thaumaturgy and Hellish Rebuke are great flavor spells to create the "dreadful" aura that the OP is looking for. Having Tavern Brawler also takes care of his hand to hand combat capabilities.

Any Paladin Oath path would work here as well (probably not Ancients though). Devotion for your following of Bushido, Vengeance for hitting hard, and Crown for controlling the battle field with Spirit Guardians and the channel divinity. Whichever Oath you end up going, I'd recommend going Polearm Master as well. Reflavor the Polearm as a massive katana, and all of a sudden you'll have great use of your reactions and bonus actions on every turn. You'll have the Charisma to lead your party, as well as help in shedding blows (save aura). Going Paladin for at least 11 levels will definitely serve a Polearm build well.

[Arkhios]

Reflavor the Polearm as a massive katana, and all of a sudden you'll have great use of your reactions and bonus actions on every turn. You'll have the Charisma to lead your party, as well as help in shedding blows (save aura). Going Paladin for at least 11 levels will definitely serve a Polearm build well.

wouldn't a naginata be a polearm without reflavoring? A very cool weapon and much flavor on its own ;)

[Sir cryosin]

Try a monk way of the long death with magic initiative warlock. Or a few levels of warlock it's MAD if you dip warlock but you will get more of the feel you want

[MonkeyIke]

Apologies for my absence (life getting in the way and such). So far, I still haven't decided how I want to build this character yet. Debating on whether I want martial arts to determine my unarmed damage or Tavern brawler feat. Also still debating on whether he is a twf or a single sword wielding badass (but I suppose with all my refluffing, is there anything preventing me from re-fluffing say a shortsword as two katanas just as long as I treat it as he has the shortsword? Basically weapon dice = shortsword, but describe him fighting with two katanas. If disarmed just "drop" both weapons even though in reality it is just a shortsword.)

But more importantly, still trying to figure out which class to spend most of my levels into and possibly which class to dip. I actually like all the possible builds that everyone has replied with. I wish i could try them all.

So possible builds for this Demon/dark aura swordsman martial artist:
Role I want: Main tank (hard to kill) and Great damage dealer.
Concept: Badass swordsman, who is also a proficient martial artist, that utilizes his "ki" to perform superhuman feats with his blade or fists. Gives off a demonic presence (maybe a manifestation/illusion from his spirit alone?). Great athleticism, and bodily power. Physical agile and great reflexes as well as stamina. Horrible at recalling information but is a great fighter. Good awareness and insight while also displaying leadership skills.

Way of the long death monk: gets me the temporary HP (making me somewhat tanky and hard to kill), martial arts, somewhat good damage (although from what I hear becomes less so further into the campaign). Aura that can frighten as well. Stunning strike sounds amazing, as well as evasion.


Paladin: I like the smites for more damage as well as opportunities to provide burst damage when needed. Aura of protection can help with my other saving throws that I am not proficient in. Overall provides tankiness and damage which I want. Plus importance of having high charisma since I would like to be the leader of the group.



Oathbreaker paladin: Aura of Hate for additional damage (got to love more damage), Dreadful aspect for frightening enemies. Resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing which can be good. Dread lord seems like a cool capstone (but I don't think I'm going to be a pure class with this character).




Vengeance paladin: Like I mention before I like to deal damage and Vow of Enmity, hunter's mark, haste etc.. provides ways of me dealing more damage. Hold person I can re-fluff as just being a intense glare that "frightens" the enemy and prevents them to move.



Fiend Blade Pact Warlock: gives me the demon aura feel. Eldritch blast for a small range option ever once in while in case I can't get close to the enemy. Hex for more damage. temporary hp for tankiness and Lifedrinker for more damage. Also gain some flavorful spells to play with my demonic side.



Rogue: I pretty sure would only be a 1 level dip just for expertise since I want my character to feel strong physically and expertise in athletics will help with that if I had a low strength.

Fighter: Most likely just be a possible dip especially if I main warlock for twf. Only see taking it up to level 3 for BM if I really wanted to.

Barbarian: I love the barbarian that I am currently playing. I actually might incorporate the build that was suggested into my current barbarian so I can try something else for this campaign. So I don't think I am going to be a barbarian who dips in other classes. I see myself either dipping for unarmed defense and rage for when my character loses his temper or going up to level 3 for bear totem resistance.



So from what I can figure out is that I'm torn between mainly being a monk, paladin, or warlock, who dips into other classes. Just jotting my thoughts down because I feel that it helps organizes this stuff out for me :smallsmile: I'm working on a brief backstory at the moment maybe that will help narrow down my choices.

Backstory so far (subject to change):
Orphan boy (couldn't get any more cliche could it?) whose dream involves becoming one of the best swordsman/martial artist. Traveling, and training, at a young age he would challenge those who fit his criteria of the type of opponent he would face. One day however, a women challenges him. She easily defeats the boy, who becomes angered by the fact that this is one of his rare losses. The boy immediately demands a rematch for the next day. The women agrees. The boy trains, but is defeated yet again. (repeat this for several weeks) The boy starts becoming frustrated that he can't defeat her.

Admiring his persistence and drive, the woman offers to train the boy in swordplay and martial arts. Years later, (still thinking on this part) they are attacked by a skilled swordsman-assassin type character, even though she kills him, she is fatally wounded in the battle from protecting the boy, who is also wounded badly. Before she passes, her last words to him involve her desire to see his dream fulfilled, her appreciation of their time together (blah blah more backstory on her), and entrusts her sword to him.

Years later, still mourning her death, the boy continues to train not only for himself but to honor her memory. One day after training, he visits her grave, as he has been accustomed to do every day after her death, (where he leaves her sword believing he was unworthy because he was unable to help her, as well as feeling responsible for her death) and notices a man standing over her grave holding her sword.

The boy angered by this, confronts the man, blade(s) drawn and all. (insert backstory of man: old friend of the woman, fellow student from the past, old rival? etc...) The boy challenges the man to a duel. The gap between their strength and skill is so great that the boy can't possibly fathom how fast, and strong this man is. Yet, the boy refuses to back down. At a certain point, the edge of the man's blade is pierced near the boys heart, but the boy refuses to step back. The man puzzled asks why doesn't he step back? Why does a weakling like him want to seek power? The boy says that if he takes one step back, then all the training, all the effort, and the promise/oath he made will be for nothing. And further mentions that death would be better than to give up. For once he decided on his goal of being a great swordsman/martial artist, he already discarded his life.

The man, admiring the boys strong will, releases the embedded tip of the blade from the boys chest. The boy regroups and they both lunge at each other for a final strike, but of course the boy was no match. The boys blades are destroyed from the impact of the man strike and was of course injured from the slash receiving a large cut across his chest and abdomen. Before the boy blacks out, he apologizes to his mentor (the woman) for only making it thus far in his journey.

The boy wakes up several days later, bandaged up but still injured. Confused the boy struggles to walk from his bed and wonders how he is still alive. The same man he lost his duel to, is overlooking the grave of the boy's mentor. The boy stumbles toward the man, the man fully aware of the boy's presence. (blah blah blah mentions more backstory with the woman, perhaps the actual motive of the assassin yada yada) Long story short, the man believing it would be a waste to kill someone with great potential in his eyes, is going to train the boy. Warning the boy however, that his training will be "hell" (perhaps where his demonic aura develops [also could the aura be his mentor watching over him? idk just random thoughts as i write this]) compared to hers. He leaves her sword on her grave and promises to return.

Years later, the boy, now a man (upper teens to low 20s) returns. Takes her sword and begins his journey of accomplishing the goal he promised to her.

((Obviously still a work in progress but I feel as though this can somewhat help flesh out the character a little bit more as well as narrowing which classes fits him. Also this was first attempt at a backstory so apologies for being either vague, cliche etc...))