SangoProduction
2023-11-30, 12:56 AM
Preamble: In Yu Yu Hakusho, there is a foe called the Toguro Brothers. I say "a foe" because they fight as one. As in one turns into a sword (also a very small shield on occasion... because reasons - guess it's a waste to have a shapeshifter who literally does no shapeshifting after being a sword), and the other just becomes real buff and hits people.
So, because I am me, I immediately thought about how I could possibly make this a character. And yes, I did say "a character." Because it's possible.
Race: Dvati
OK. It's 3.5 content. Fine. But this opportunity to make use of my favorite 3.5 content - and the one reason I occasionally go back from spheres - is absolutely perfect.
But, like always, if it's not available... Spheres does technically have you covered with the Conjuration sphere - taking a familiar (or a couple talents) so its always with you, and so on and so forth. But we aren't doing that. So nyeh.
Class: Armorist (Spirit Blade)
Alright. If you knew of this, it should have already been blatantly obvious. You get to turn into a blade.
And because you're Dvati, you can turn one of you into a blade, and wield yourself. You then attack, and then control yourself to attack again.
(You can get fancy with it, and also take an Armiger (Battlefield Tinker) level to grab Improbable Weapon, since the anime really wants you to be sure it's also a shield. And it counts as both. Then take the synergy feat for the two, and gain Shield talents on the shield side. But no reason to make it complicated. The shield is basically a non-factor anyway.)
Absorbing Block: Immediate action, redirect an attack / ability / whatever from the wielder (yourself) to the sword (yourself, but harder). Very much fits the quick shift to (teeny tiny) shield form... even though a sword is equally as protective... a shield is only protective due to surface area... No I won't stop harping on that.
Intuitive Skill: Just a straight up +1 to attack/dmg (+1/7 levels). Eh. It helps. You're not hitting touch. (Unless you are. But that wouldn't be part of the build.)
Improved Materials: Be made out of Adamantine. Simple as.
Improved Equipment: Another +1 to attack/dmg. But with no scaling. But can be selected multiple times. Probably is, because there's not much else the brothers do other than look big and hit things good.
This bonus also adds +2 hardness and +10 HP. So that's cool. (Yes, Weapon Form explicitly calls out that they take on *all* properties of the bound weapon they turn into, including enhancement bonus, and what that comes with.)
And with *that* said, one has to note that the older brother was called out as being invulnerable, so that fits. (And... just... doesn't move after the younger one is stabbed... because reasons.)
Feats of note: (Improved) Transformation
Anthro transformation grants a couple of traits for free, in exchange for not giving much else of anything, unlike normal non-blank transformations.
Here, we'll take Size Change, and Powerful Arms. (PA lets you wield one size larger than yourself without penalty. Meanwhile, Bound weapon does not give a size limit on the weapon you can bind. You just normally don't bind unusually large (or small) weapons because that's not particularly useful.)
Two Slam Attacks (under blank transformation) would be what you'd take with Improved Transformation. Followed by Bully's Push / Pull, giving you free bull rush on Slam hits. Toguro's shown to throw them across the room with a punch.
Spheres: Guardian, Brute, Berserker, Enhancement.
Base sphere: Delayed damage pool. Very useful, since it once again lets you redirect damage from your most injured self to your least injured, even with no other synergies. (Although never used in the Anime, because they forgot the sword was a character as soon as it became a sword) You'd take the Challenge package. So that you boost your squishy self's AC substantially. (Can very much be fluffed as using the sword's move action to be defensive of its wielder).
Cold Iron Call: Sword is shown to be able to totally deflect magical (although still mostly HP-based) effects.
Iron Wall: Grants miss chance against against squishy-you. It's literally transformed into a (tiny) shield to defend its wielder.
Defend Other: Again, makes squishy-you less hurtable. And even when successfully hurt, you still redirect the attack to the harder-you.
Base sphere: Moves in close, and deals bludgeoning damage, and makes them easier to bull rush.
Brace Weapon: (I mean, adding upwards of +5 attack and damage to shove does help. I guess. Doesn't super fit Toguro Brothers. Save for the idea that they share spirit energy, which can easily be the justification for this.)
Break Defenses: (Depends on if "not you" means not either of you, or just not the you who did the bull rush. If it's the latter, the sword would get some free hits in on knocking them back. Useful, but not something the Toguro brothers really did.)
Giant Physique: A stance to treat yourself as larger or combat maneuvers, including bull rush. Very much fits the guy who transform himself into... bigger... more buff guy.
Greater Brute: (Could be replaced with Improved / Greater Bull Rush, with substantial benefits. But screw it.)
Hammer: Shoving someone into a wall does damage based on their size.
Smash: Adds the enhancement bonus of your weapon to your bull rush. And gives the rushes automatic (unarmed) damage.
Alternatively, Follow Through lets you get the same bonus, but without the damage. But gives you free bull rush on attack action. But not full attack, so no Slam attacks thrown into the mix. Can easily be fluffed as a slam attack though. Follow Through is likely *better.*
Base Sphere: Free action, trade AC for temp HP. Incredible for durability's sake, especially considering Guardian sphere. Both of you have your separate HP pools, including temp hp pools. And it's built from the split class HP. So not only are you getting double value, but the relative percent of you real health (on the squishy you at least) is also doubled.
You also get Brutal Strike for free, adding +20 damage by level 10. Which is +40 damage per round, between the two of *you.* Could you do better? Sure. Does it totally fit? Definitely! Also, since you're not already using a SAA, it's literally no cost (outside of not using Slam in the squishy-you's rotation).
Bloody Counter: (Not really shown in-anime, but letting them hit your hard-self in order to unleash a can of whoop-axe on them is fun. And makes attacking either of you really unattractive.)
Heavy Swing: He just hits real hard. So hard as to stagger his foes. This fits as good as he hits.
Beat Down: Battered Conditions inflicted by Brutal Strike last longer. Not really needed with Shove. But if you have extra talents, sure. It fits.
Base sphere: Not super useful, unless you're trading out the base enhancement modifiers for weapon bonuses. In which case, take all the typical weapon enhancement bonus talents.
Deep Enhancement: All enhancements last longer.
Dual Enhancement: Enhancements that have multiple options (like Physical Enhancement and Staunch Resistance) can apply 2 options in one cast. Useful since dvati still can't cast twice in a round. But can cast and transform, or the like.
Harden/Weaken: Lets you increase Hardness by your caster level. Which is admittedly only half your level (and +2 with trait). That's still +7 hardness by level 10. That's really not bad.
Lighten: Despite the sword's size in the anime, it's wielded one-handed. You can definitely make an argument that it's thusly enhanced to be lighter. They've been given the opportunity to buff up just before battle.
Physical Enhancement: Goes without saying. Although you might have better than +4 enhancement to strength by level 10, you probably won't for both dex and con. And they are both useful.
Staunch Resistance: We can probably assume the big, buff demon guy had exceptional resistances. These are untyped bonuses.
Superior Reflexes: More attack of opportunities.
Let's assume you've got a +5 weapon by level 10, and applied all the appropriate bonuses, including being made of adamantine.
Then you would have 20 hardness (adamantine) +10 from enhancement, +7 from Harden.
HP increases by 50 (enhancement) plus one third of normal (adamantine).
That's a very tough little cookie. Even at level 10. Not even adamantine can scratch it. And that's just from being a weapon, ignoring the other talents we took. And it's in addition to the fact that you generally are going to get 1/2 off the damage of any most elemental attacks, before hardness.
Unfortunately, the encounter itself in the anime is just "Big dude is big and strong, and hits things good." And they completely forget the sword is a character. I think it literally got 1 line of dialogue as it crushed some birds, for no reason than to make some girl cry. And I might even be mistaken on that front.
You don't have to play it that way, and you have plenty of tools to make it more interesting than that, even with this template. (Including what weapon abilities you give yourself. And other equipment you summon. And stuff.)
Now... This makes me think of the idea of having a Dvati Spirit Blade that is actually a dual-wield monster. I mean, even at level one, there's the opportunity to both turn into the same blade
So, because I am me, I immediately thought about how I could possibly make this a character. And yes, I did say "a character." Because it's possible.
Race: Dvati
OK. It's 3.5 content. Fine. But this opportunity to make use of my favorite 3.5 content - and the one reason I occasionally go back from spheres - is absolutely perfect.
But, like always, if it's not available... Spheres does technically have you covered with the Conjuration sphere - taking a familiar (or a couple talents) so its always with you, and so on and so forth. But we aren't doing that. So nyeh.
Class: Armorist (Spirit Blade)
Alright. If you knew of this, it should have already been blatantly obvious. You get to turn into a blade.
And because you're Dvati, you can turn one of you into a blade, and wield yourself. You then attack, and then control yourself to attack again.
(You can get fancy with it, and also take an Armiger (Battlefield Tinker) level to grab Improbable Weapon, since the anime really wants you to be sure it's also a shield. And it counts as both. Then take the synergy feat for the two, and gain Shield talents on the shield side. But no reason to make it complicated. The shield is basically a non-factor anyway.)
Absorbing Block: Immediate action, redirect an attack / ability / whatever from the wielder (yourself) to the sword (yourself, but harder). Very much fits the quick shift to (teeny tiny) shield form... even though a sword is equally as protective... a shield is only protective due to surface area... No I won't stop harping on that.
Intuitive Skill: Just a straight up +1 to attack/dmg (+1/7 levels). Eh. It helps. You're not hitting touch. (Unless you are. But that wouldn't be part of the build.)
Improved Materials: Be made out of Adamantine. Simple as.
Improved Equipment: Another +1 to attack/dmg. But with no scaling. But can be selected multiple times. Probably is, because there's not much else the brothers do other than look big and hit things good.
This bonus also adds +2 hardness and +10 HP. So that's cool. (Yes, Weapon Form explicitly calls out that they take on *all* properties of the bound weapon they turn into, including enhancement bonus, and what that comes with.)
And with *that* said, one has to note that the older brother was called out as being invulnerable, so that fits. (And... just... doesn't move after the younger one is stabbed... because reasons.)
Feats of note: (Improved) Transformation
Anthro transformation grants a couple of traits for free, in exchange for not giving much else of anything, unlike normal non-blank transformations.
Here, we'll take Size Change, and Powerful Arms. (PA lets you wield one size larger than yourself without penalty. Meanwhile, Bound weapon does not give a size limit on the weapon you can bind. You just normally don't bind unusually large (or small) weapons because that's not particularly useful.)
Two Slam Attacks (under blank transformation) would be what you'd take with Improved Transformation. Followed by Bully's Push / Pull, giving you free bull rush on Slam hits. Toguro's shown to throw them across the room with a punch.
Spheres: Guardian, Brute, Berserker, Enhancement.
Base sphere: Delayed damage pool. Very useful, since it once again lets you redirect damage from your most injured self to your least injured, even with no other synergies. (Although never used in the Anime, because they forgot the sword was a character as soon as it became a sword) You'd take the Challenge package. So that you boost your squishy self's AC substantially. (Can very much be fluffed as using the sword's move action to be defensive of its wielder).
Cold Iron Call: Sword is shown to be able to totally deflect magical (although still mostly HP-based) effects.
Iron Wall: Grants miss chance against against squishy-you. It's literally transformed into a (tiny) shield to defend its wielder.
Defend Other: Again, makes squishy-you less hurtable. And even when successfully hurt, you still redirect the attack to the harder-you.
Base sphere: Moves in close, and deals bludgeoning damage, and makes them easier to bull rush.
Brace Weapon: (I mean, adding upwards of +5 attack and damage to shove does help. I guess. Doesn't super fit Toguro Brothers. Save for the idea that they share spirit energy, which can easily be the justification for this.)
Break Defenses: (Depends on if "not you" means not either of you, or just not the you who did the bull rush. If it's the latter, the sword would get some free hits in on knocking them back. Useful, but not something the Toguro brothers really did.)
Giant Physique: A stance to treat yourself as larger or combat maneuvers, including bull rush. Very much fits the guy who transform himself into... bigger... more buff guy.
Greater Brute: (Could be replaced with Improved / Greater Bull Rush, with substantial benefits. But screw it.)
Hammer: Shoving someone into a wall does damage based on their size.
Smash: Adds the enhancement bonus of your weapon to your bull rush. And gives the rushes automatic (unarmed) damage.
Alternatively, Follow Through lets you get the same bonus, but without the damage. But gives you free bull rush on attack action. But not full attack, so no Slam attacks thrown into the mix. Can easily be fluffed as a slam attack though. Follow Through is likely *better.*
Base Sphere: Free action, trade AC for temp HP. Incredible for durability's sake, especially considering Guardian sphere. Both of you have your separate HP pools, including temp hp pools. And it's built from the split class HP. So not only are you getting double value, but the relative percent of you real health (on the squishy you at least) is also doubled.
You also get Brutal Strike for free, adding +20 damage by level 10. Which is +40 damage per round, between the two of *you.* Could you do better? Sure. Does it totally fit? Definitely! Also, since you're not already using a SAA, it's literally no cost (outside of not using Slam in the squishy-you's rotation).
Bloody Counter: (Not really shown in-anime, but letting them hit your hard-self in order to unleash a can of whoop-axe on them is fun. And makes attacking either of you really unattractive.)
Heavy Swing: He just hits real hard. So hard as to stagger his foes. This fits as good as he hits.
Beat Down: Battered Conditions inflicted by Brutal Strike last longer. Not really needed with Shove. But if you have extra talents, sure. It fits.
Base sphere: Not super useful, unless you're trading out the base enhancement modifiers for weapon bonuses. In which case, take all the typical weapon enhancement bonus talents.
Deep Enhancement: All enhancements last longer.
Dual Enhancement: Enhancements that have multiple options (like Physical Enhancement and Staunch Resistance) can apply 2 options in one cast. Useful since dvati still can't cast twice in a round. But can cast and transform, or the like.
Harden/Weaken: Lets you increase Hardness by your caster level. Which is admittedly only half your level (and +2 with trait). That's still +7 hardness by level 10. That's really not bad.
Lighten: Despite the sword's size in the anime, it's wielded one-handed. You can definitely make an argument that it's thusly enhanced to be lighter. They've been given the opportunity to buff up just before battle.
Physical Enhancement: Goes without saying. Although you might have better than +4 enhancement to strength by level 10, you probably won't for both dex and con. And they are both useful.
Staunch Resistance: We can probably assume the big, buff demon guy had exceptional resistances. These are untyped bonuses.
Superior Reflexes: More attack of opportunities.
Let's assume you've got a +5 weapon by level 10, and applied all the appropriate bonuses, including being made of adamantine.
Then you would have 20 hardness (adamantine) +10 from enhancement, +7 from Harden.
HP increases by 50 (enhancement) plus one third of normal (adamantine).
That's a very tough little cookie. Even at level 10. Not even adamantine can scratch it. And that's just from being a weapon, ignoring the other talents we took. And it's in addition to the fact that you generally are going to get 1/2 off the damage of any most elemental attacks, before hardness.
Unfortunately, the encounter itself in the anime is just "Big dude is big and strong, and hits things good." And they completely forget the sword is a character. I think it literally got 1 line of dialogue as it crushed some birds, for no reason than to make some girl cry. And I might even be mistaken on that front.
You don't have to play it that way, and you have plenty of tools to make it more interesting than that, even with this template. (Including what weapon abilities you give yourself. And other equipment you summon. And stuff.)
Now... This makes me think of the idea of having a Dvati Spirit Blade that is actually a dual-wield monster. I mean, even at level one, there's the opportunity to both turn into the same blade