Help Creating a Belmont/Morris Character

[Master of None]

I'm looking to run some form of Castlevania inspired character. Hoping to get some help planning out for Leon Belmont, Richter Belmont, or Jonathan Morris. I'm not even fully sure where to begin with any of them.

[QuadraticGish]

What kind of material would be available? As some general advice, first level pretty much requires dumping a feat into Exotic Weapon Proficiency to obtain the Scorpion whip as normal whips are just not good. A pile of knives and light hammers should suffice for throwing weapons and bypass DR as needed. Much else is up to you since Belmonts and their relatives are fairly diverse in their own ways. My suggestion would be to pick up a whip and find a good niche that's effective. Preferably a class that has at least Medium BAB and ways of supporting it(like the Magus). Edit: Quickdraw is also choice since it's required for iteratives with thrown weapons IIRC.



If you have some 3PP material available such as SoM, you can grab the Whip Fiend Talent from the Equipment Sphere and use any whip as you please, fancy whip tricks included. If you wish for a more strength focused Belmont, you can obtain the Crushing Thrower talent from the same sphere to treat thrown weapons as if they were melee weapons(str to attack rolls, feats like power attack can by applied, ect). In addition, it has the Throwing Mastery Talent which allows for thrown weapons to return to you when you make an attack outside of a full attack. If you wish more a more mobile Belmont, the Athletics Sphere has Mobile Striker to allow you to get the equivalent of Spring Attack early.

[khadgar567]

agreed on spheres part but for better representation of Leon Belmont, you gonna need to use spiritualist as the class as her fiance is the main power of his version of vampire killer. other vise magus can solve most of your problems.

[Kurald Galain]

I would say Magus, using various spells to duplicate the item abilities, plus the Jump spell.

[Zaq]

We need goals to optimize towards. Are you just interested in using whips without sucking? (How strict is the weapon goal here, anyway? Many Belmonts use whips that are explicitly called “chains” at some point, if memory serves.) Is your main focus on hunting undead things, whip or no whip? Exotic thrown weapons, perhaps? Are you after something else entirely?

It’s totally possible (at many, if not all, levels) to put together a character who meets one or more of the criteria we’re talking about here, but we really need to know what aspects of being a Belmont are relevant to your current goals.

[Master of None]

I'm not sure on what materials I'm open to use, this DM normally says all books are good but stay away from Dragon Magazine. I suppose the most important part to me would be the whip/chain aspect and availability of the thrown weapons. Hunting specific things would just be a bonus if possible but can be avoided. We're still discussing the campaign style so I'm not sure how prevalent undead are going to be anyways.
Edit:Official Sources are preferable. Pathfinder isnt off the table but we'd prefer not to use it. 3rd party is on an approval basis as I show it to him.

[Prime32]

2 levels in the Lasher PrC from Sword & Fist gives a bunch of abilities which make whips more practical weapons, and lets you use them to grab things.

Alternately, Magic of Eberron gives the Tentacle Whip (Eberron Campaign Setting p298-300) a price of 8,000gp. It's by far the best whip in the game, giving you 15ft reach (including the ability to threaten adjacent squares), effective Improved Disarm + Improved Trip (which stack with the actual feats), a mild poison, and the ability to channel touch attacks. It does have a lot of baggage though (it's an evil aberration that latches on to your arm) and it's not easy to enchant. The Impure Prince PrC (MoE again) can also grant you one as a class feature, if your DM doesn't like the idea of simply "buying" something like that.

Since the Tentacle Whip is a melee weapon rather than a ranged weapon, you can deliver Setting Sun maneuvers through it to grab and throw your enemies. And if you keep focusing on Setting Sun by continuing into the Shadow Sun Ninja PrC, you get a capstone ability which causes you to transform into an NPC vampire if overused.

[legomaster00156]

I wonder which characters you've been playing in Smash. :smalltongue:

I would suggest using a spiked chain instead of an actual whip. It can be flavored as their chains exactly as well as the whip, while being a better weapon.

[Master of None]

Lol Richter is so so fun in Smash.
I'm liking the idea of Magus, and I'm thinking 2 levels of Lasher would be a good idea. What should I be taking in terms of feats and such and what other classes should I look into dipping in. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

[PrismCat21]

Nab yourself a Whip-Dagger or Mighty Whip-Dagger.

A few levels in Fighter wouldn't hurt in order to grab necessary feats.

A third level in Lasher to grab Crack of Fate is worth it.

The skill trick Whip Climber is fun and useful. Lasher lets you do the same thing, but using a different mecchanicc. It's good to have options.

Feats: Imp. Disarm. Flick the death stick out of someone's mouth, steal their weapon or spellbook from across the room.
Whirlwind attack is great for a whip, allowing you to attack every creature around you out to 15 feet.

A level in Pyrokineticist for a psionic whip would be fun. It doesn't have to be fire, it could be cold, electricity, acid, or sonic.

Kensei gives you special options and attacks for a specific weapon and mimics many feats that'll be great for a whip.

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If you want to specialize in Undead Fighting as well... Ranger for Favored Enemy, Foe Hunter prestige class, Favored Power Attack feat.

[RedMage125]

Representing a Belmont in 3.5e is difficult. Leon, for example, is probably a Fighter, Knight, or Paladin for his first few levels. He did not get into specializing in undead and monster hunting until after the start of the game. Also, probably not much, if anything, in the way of spellcasting. I would absolutely characterize Leon as Lawful Good.

Richter may have some magical powers (item crush abilities), after all, he is the culmination of the combined Belmont and Belnades bloodlines, like the rest of Trevor's descendants. He had a lot of specialized training in fighting monsters and undead, so Ranger is a good base class, as is Fighter, and he could certainly have the Lasher PrC to start, as he heavily trained with the family weapon.* Richter, however, is Neutral on the Good/Evil axis. He made no move to oppose Dracula until his own fiancee was kidnapped, and he was easily swayed by Shaft 5 years later into resurrecting Dracula for the sake of his own glory. Richter is shamefully a black mark on the Belmont legacy, and is pretty much the reason that another one did not properly step up again until 1999.

Jonathan Morris is another one with almost no magical power, relying on Charlotte's magic to bypass such obstacles. He's kind of moody and selfish to start (which may be understandable, he is very young), but grows into the kind of selfless hero needed to defeat the Dark Lord. He REALLY does not know how to use the whip, however, so he would be a character I would be reluctant to make a Lasher. I would characterize Jonathan as Chaotic Neutral, transitioning to Good by the time he defeats the spirit of the whip.

Most of the Belmonts are strictly combat-no-magic classes, although, like I said, any of Trevor and Sypha's descendants might have some spellcasting ability. Any of them but Leon may likely have levels in Ranger for favored enemy. And I think Jonathan Morris, specifically, is the only one who is SO non-proficient in the whip that he would not have the Lasher PrC. Barbarian seems unlikely for any of them. Perhaps Simon, he's a bit hot tempered, and the Lords Of Shadow version of Simon would absolutely be a barbarian.

*Ok, the whip. Scorpion Whip or (Mighty) Whip Dagger are absolutely the ways to go, with perhaps Spiked Chain as the next best choice, and your last choice that even remotely resembles it would be the flail. Weapon Of Legacy rules quite deserve their crappy reputation, but they're also perfect for representing Vampire Killer. That was, in fact, the first though that crossed my mind when I first read them 10 years ago. This is a family weapon, passed down, only properly usable by a blood member of the clan, which each member must attune to and strengthen in his own way. So I would suggest a Weapon Of Legacy Scorpion Whip.

I'm a HUGE Castlevania fan, and have played every canon game except Order of Ecclesia. And by "canon" I mean that I have not played the Game Boy game with Sonia Belmont, nor the second N64 one with Cornell the werewolf.

[Buufreak]

Had a buddy try something like this, the general character theme being a Belmont. He went with a Crusader using the spiked chain and appropriate tripping feats. He had some decent CC going, and the maneuvers helped to fill in the weapon skills and spells.