Help with making a Psychic Warrior with the Mantled Warrior ACF for a webcomic

[danielxcutter]

I'm making a webcomic, and the main protagonist is a Psychic Warrior. Since psywars don't have any real class features, I'm planning on using the Mantled Warrior ACF that trades the bonus feat you get at level 2 for access to a mantle. I have 2 minor problems however:

1) Are the mantle powers automatically usable if you can manifest them? Ardents can manifest any power from their mantles if they can manifest them at all, but Psychic Warriors don't get their powers in that way. I'd personally rule no, but if that's not the predominant reading of the rules, then people will really kick up a storm about how that's not how it works. After all, you can only bend the rules if you play by them in the first place.

2) There are more than two dozen mantles, and due to the flavor mantles have they really have to fit the character's personality. However, what mantle fits which personality isn't really obvious for some of them, such as Elements, Energy, or Force, which makes choosing just one is really hard.

Of course, to choose requires context about the character and the world in general.

In this world, the existance of the Elan race is certainly not a secret, although most stay undercover. There are a few Elans whose status as said race is relatively or sometimes wide-known knowledge, including 1 epic-level character. Due to the comic world having quite diverse populations, most people don't really care about it either - Elf or Elan, they're going to outlive you either way so who cares? Still, most Elans try to pass as human or at least don't blab about it to everyone they meet.(I mean, would you?) This is helped by the fact that the current Council doesn't really have favored traits, resulting in most recent-generation Elans avoiding the stereotypes of racial appearance.

As for our main protagonist, his name is Jaden Keensoul, and don't call him Jade(Jeez, it's a girl's name!). As a Newmade(and a young one at that - he's from the latest batch), he hasn't been an Elan long enough to be influenced that much. His alignment is Neutral Good. He thinks poorly of the "greater good", because the best thing isn't always the right thing to do, and he puts far more weight on morality than method. Neither is he a "smite on sight" kind of person, because he also thinks that people are more than just their alignment. Even in a world where you can reliably determine whether a person is Good or Evil(or Neutral), an Evil person is no more fully Evil than a Good person is fully Good.

What mantle would fit his personality? The Good mantle sounds, well, good, but there should be more than just that.

[Psyren]

1) Mantle powers must still be chosen as powers known before they can actually be used. This is true for Psywars, Ardents, and anyone else with a mantle.

2) There's so much more to personality than alignment. What kind of person is he? Does he relish a good fight, or prefer to avoid combat and conflict as much as possible? When a fight is unavoidable, does he charge into the fray immediately, or hang back tactically and try to prioritize targets? Is he a lone wolf or a natural leader? Is he outgoing and personable, or reserved and reticent? Are his judgments brash and instinctive, or slow and methodical? He's a psychic warrior, so obviously he's not totally opposed to using force to solve problems - but what's his preferred style of combat? Does he prefer melee or ranged, or an equal mix of both? What about his favorite weapon(s), and why? What kinds of abilities do you want him to have in a fight? How about outside of one? And lastly - were any of these answers different before he became an Elan? Do you want his past life to matter at all?

Figure out his attitude/persona and combat style, not merely his alignment, and the mantles will flow from that.

[SangoProduction]

Guardian, Justice, Freedom, Force, and Knowledge, and the first ones to come to mind. (Good exists but it's really bland, and you said you weren't the smite-type.)

Depends on your character's personality type, and approach to problems and combat tactics as to which to choose.

To explain the personalities of the ones I suggested:

Guardian - tank-type character.
Justice - holds retribution to a high standard
Freedom - Values freedom of movement.
Force: A defense-focused personality.
Knowledge: Well this is obvious.

[danielxcutter]

1) Mantle powers must still be chosen as powers known before they can actually be used. This is true for Psywars, Ardents, and anyone else with a mantle.

2) There's so much more to personality than alignment. What kind of person is he? Does he relish a good fight, or prefer to avoid combat and conflict as much as possible? When a fight is unavoidable, does he charge into the fray immediately, or hang back tactically and try to prioritize targets? Is he a lone wolf or a natural leader? Is he outgoing and personable, or reserved and reticent? Are his judgments brash and instinctive, or slow and methodical? He's a psychic warrior, so obviously he's not totally opposed to using force to solve problems - but what's his preferred style of combat? Does he prefer melee or ranged, or an equal mix of both? What about his favorite weapon(s), and why? What kinds of abilities do you want him to have in a fight? How about outside of one? And lastly - were any of these answers different before he became an Elan? Do you want his past life to matter at all?

Figure out his attitude/persona and combat style, not merely his alignment, and the mantles will flow from that.

Well, the best way to describe him combat-wise is that he is a mix of force and finesse.

Some of his powers will be centered on defense, such as Damp Power, Vigor, or Energy Adaption; some are offensive, like Metaphysical Weapon, Power Weapon, or Greater Stomp; some will be related to movement like Skate, Psionic Dimension Door or Inconstant Location; and some will be more supportive ones like Stygian Erasure, Body Purification, or Incite Bravery(Note: these are more examples than final decisions).

He might not be a natural leader, but he is willing and able to take the helm if required.

His weapon is a falchion, and he might buy a Scabbard of Keen Edges, enchant it with the Keen enhancement, or take the Psionic Keen Edge power to maximize critical hit chance, but he also would use the Power Attack feat for extra damage.

He sucks at ranged combat, which is why he has several movement-related powers - so he can get up close and personal. However, while he will not always avoid fights if he can, neither will he charge head-on. He's not a charger, so he won't be the first to jump into combat, but he won't hang back for long either - he'll take a round or two to buff and look for openings, and then he'll strike where the enemy is weakest.

He won't be that open with his teammates at first, but he'll grow closer to them as time passes.

He was a little more impulsive before he became an Elan. He's more relaxed and patient now, which is partly due to his now almost infinite lifespan and partly due to a higher Wisdom score.

And I'm still not sure what mantle to choose. :smallannoyed:

[SangoProduction]

Then I'd say Freedom would fit him best.

[Psyren]

Or Fate, since he's meant to be the protagonist. Since he uses a big two-hander, you can't go wrong with Physical Power either.

He seems like a bit of a loner so Guardian and Justice probably won't work, and I'd skip the alignment ones too as they're a bit trite. He doesn't seem very glib so I'd rule out Communication and Deception too. I'd also rule out Pain, Corruption and Destruction as being too dark.

[danielxcutter]

Then I'd say Freedom would fit him best.

Freedom is a great mantle, both in terms of flavor and mechanical ability... if it didn't have too strong of a Chaotic flavor to me. I know, freedom isn't the exclusive property of the Chaotic alignments, but as a mantle it still seems better for someone who's Chaotic Good than someone who's Neutral Good.


Or Fate, since he's meant to be the protagonist. Since he uses a big two-hander, you can't go wrong with Physical Power either.

He seems like a bit of a loner so Guardian and Justice probably won't work, and I'd skip the alignment ones too as they're a bit trite. He doesn't seem very glib so I'd rule out Communication and Deception too. I'd also rule out Pain, Corruption and Destruction as being too dark.

Fate seems okay, especially the special ability which could be easily used to create more than one Crowning moment of Awesome. Not just by using it to do the impossible, but to have it already been spent - yet having whatever he was trying to do succeed anyways. The powers given don't seem that awesome for a Psywar however, although they certainly could have their uses.

Physical Power is actually a poor choice for a Psychic Warrior, since literally all the powers that a mantled warrior could get are on the Psywar list anyways.

Jaden will have a rather low Charisma stat compared to Wisdom, which will be represented by not being able to tell a lie to save his life(both literally and figuratively), and having trouble telling his worries and problems to other people. He's the kind of person who locks that kind of stuff inside until he bursts, so Communication and Deception really, really won't work for him.

I'm thinking of using the virtues from Undertale(Determination, Bravery, Justice, Kindness, Patience, Integrity, Perservance) to make the party members' personalities. Each will have a primary virtue that's the main part of their character, a secondary virtue that's a part of them but less important than the primary one, and a flaw, which is their weakest virtue. I believe that based on the personality I've made for him, Jaden's strong virtues are Patience and Kindness, while Bravery may be one of the weaker ones since he's not very confident and you could say he lacks the courage to tell other people about his personal problems. He's certainly no coward however, and he heavily disapproves of flat-out injustice. As I mentioned before, however, he is not a smiter. He has a strong opinion on what is right and wrong, and he particularly dislikes the "greater good" train of thought. Despite that, he would fight against a wrong-doer to protect innocents, not to judge them for their sins, and he would give them mercy if the situation allowed it, so the Justice mantle doesn't fit him either.

Guardian doesn't fit because he's not defense-focused, he's rather balanced.

Pain, Corruption, and Destruction could fit certain characters, even Good-aligned ones, but not Jaden.

So... what the heck should I choose? :smallannoyed:

[SangoProduction]

I would like to debate that Freedom is not chaos. When taken to an extreme, it is anarchy, but justice taken to an extreme is oppression, vengeance - a dictatorship built by the blind. At best, Freedom is is Neutral Good with chaotic leanings, especially when talking about only one Freedom - Freedom of Movement.

He lacks confidence, his bravery is low, and likes a hit-and-run tactic with opportunistic strikes. Freedom is exactly what fits this guy.

Justice kinda works, but is outright worse than just going Psychic Warrior. Time might be a good fit, as you said he was patient, and that has a relation to time. It doesn't give much to call home about, but hey.

Of course, you can just like...I dunno...just go Psychic Warrior.

[danielxcutter]

I would like to debate that Freedom is not chaos. When taken to an extreme, it is anarchy, but justice taken to an extreme is oppression, vengeance - a dictatorship built by the blind. At best, Freedom is is Neutral Good with chaotic leanings, especially when talking about only one Freedom - Freedom of Movement.

He lacks confidence, his bravery is low, and likes a hit-and-run tactic with opportunistic strikes. Freedom is exactly what fits this guy.

Justice kinda works, but is outright worse than just going Psychic Warrior.

Of course, you can just like...I dunno...just go Psychic Warrior.

I said that while Freedom might not be the sole property of Chaotic alignments, it still doesn't fit with him. He's more than capable of using hit-and-run tactics, but he isn't limited to that. In Tvtropes terms, he'll be a Lightning Bruiser - as in fast, powerful, and tough. What powers he uses depends on the situation. If his enemy is fast but weak, then he might use Psionic Dimension Door, Skate, and/or Hustle a lot. Against a powerhouse, however, he'll mostly be using powers like Damp Power(if said powerhouse is a blaster), Vigor(multiple uses of Vigor do stack, right?), and Precognition, Defensive.

Also, why would the Freedom mantle only be associated with freedom of movement? The powers on that list do have that theme, but my interpretion of freedom is much wider than that. It's one of the best mantles, period, just not to my taste.

Justice isn't one of Jaden's main traits, plus the extra powers you can get aren't that really good, so yeah, I'm not going with that.

Knowledge does sound kinda cool, plus mantled warriors can get all the powers on the list, but while Jaden will have decent ranks in Knowledge(psionics), as well as a couple cross-class skill ranks in Psicraft, he's no scholar.

In terms of mantle abilities, Fate is the best mechanically, and since Jaden's the main protagonist I could pull a small miracle without fudging the dice roll too much. The powers on that mantle list could be better, since the only new power related to combat is Precognition, Greater, but the non-combat powers are decent I suppose.

And while I could go with vanilla Psywar... where's the fun in that? :smalltongue: