acid_ninja
2010-05-12, 04:27 AM
Hi guys,
New to posting but I've been lurking for a while.
I'm creating a character for use in a one-shot (two players can't make the regular date). We're losing the rogue and the fighter so I'm trying to create a character who can fill the melee damage and trap disarming roles. The rest of the party consists of a cleric (death and pleasure domains) and a battle sorcerer (UA variant - light armor and a rapier) so no one is especially squishy. I've created a 2/2 Human Swordsage/Ninja who I'm pretty happy with but I'd like some opinions on his third feat. While I do want him to be pretty bad, flavor and roleplaying are important to me (so no out there feats like Neraph charge or Dragonfire Strike and Craven doesn't fit the character concept).
Although this is for a one-shot if I can convince one of my players to take over some of the DMing I'd like to play him as my mainstay. He might get a bit of tweaking (mostly skills) if that was the case to take into account a different party composition so the long run is also taken into account.
Stats (Point buy - 32 points)
Str 9
Dex 18 (17 +1 from char lvl 4)
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 16
Cha 8
I'm using both shadow blade and weapon finesse so Str is pretty pointless (especially since I won't be wearing armor and don't need to carry anything).
Cha is the obvious dump stat and fits in with the backstory (raised by a secretive assassin cult and trained never to show emotion)
Skills:
Going with Max ranks in Tumble, Hide, Move Silently, Concentration and Disable Device
5 ranks in jump (for the +2 to tumble and tiger claw manuevers)
6 ranks in Open Lock (With MW tools that gives me a 20 when I take 10)
The rest into spot and listen (to serve as a scout)
No UMD because its not class and we won't be seeing any wands and won't have the chance to go shopping for one
Gear
Bracers of Armor +1 - every little bit of AC helps
Boots of Agile Leaping - with ninja's great leap ability my jump check rocks your face off and as a bonus I no longer fear trips - best. 600 gp. Ever.
MW weapons
A few potions - mage armor and cat's grace
Feats (Where I'd like help)
Weapon Focus (from the Swordsage class feature - I'll be using shortswords and daggers)
Weapon Finesse - no brainer for a Dex build like this
Shadow Blade - ToB - totally doing away with the need for Str, plus its a pre-req for the Shadow Hand tactical feat which is plenty awesome.
For the third feat I'm torn between TWF for offense or Dodge or Combat Expertise for Defense.
He's got a high enough attack bonus (+3 BAB, +4 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, MW Short Sword +1 = +9 that he wouldn't be too inconvenienced by the -2 from two weapon fighting. Plus he'll have sudden leap (ToB) and a pretty good jump check from ninja class feature + boots of agile leaping (jump based on Dex) so he'll be able to cover a lot of ground and get off a full attack in one round so TWF may be the way to go.
On the other hand the cleric doesn't wear a lot of armor (he's new to the game) and neither does the sorcerer and my AC isn't the greatest (+4 Dex, +3 Wis, +1 Bracers of Armor = 18, but I will be bringing along some potions of mage armor for another +4 for two hours for a max of 22 but I can't rely on that all the time) and I don't have a lot of hp - low con and d8 and d6 HD so I was thinking of either dodge or combat reflexes. Dodge is nice because it doesn't hurt my attack at all, Combat Reflexes can really help the ol' AC and in the future I'd be looking at Deadly Defense for another d6 of damage (It'll be like playing the old Star Wars system.
Having said that I think I may have just convinced myself to go with TWF. I can always fight defensively and with my high tumble I'll get another +1 to AC for a total of +3 for a -4 to attack - only one off of combat reflexes best bonus. With CR or TWF I get a -2 to attack but with TWF I trade that for a lot more damage instead of a +2 to AC that I can get from the cleric casting Cat's Grace (which will also help damage and attack.
Still, those low hp are a little scary. Any thoughts?
Oh, as far as manuevers I'll be aimed at Shadow Hand stuff to give me a miss chance to further bolster the defenses and lots of ways to get a sudden strike in, Tiger Claw for movement and Flat-footed fun (especially if I go TWF) and Diamond Mind for attacking and to help out the meager fortitude save later on (the most glaring weak spot in the character).
What do we think?
New to posting but I've been lurking for a while.
I'm creating a character for use in a one-shot (two players can't make the regular date). We're losing the rogue and the fighter so I'm trying to create a character who can fill the melee damage and trap disarming roles. The rest of the party consists of a cleric (death and pleasure domains) and a battle sorcerer (UA variant - light armor and a rapier) so no one is especially squishy. I've created a 2/2 Human Swordsage/Ninja who I'm pretty happy with but I'd like some opinions on his third feat. While I do want him to be pretty bad, flavor and roleplaying are important to me (so no out there feats like Neraph charge or Dragonfire Strike and Craven doesn't fit the character concept).
Although this is for a one-shot if I can convince one of my players to take over some of the DMing I'd like to play him as my mainstay. He might get a bit of tweaking (mostly skills) if that was the case to take into account a different party composition so the long run is also taken into account.
Stats (Point buy - 32 points)
Str 9
Dex 18 (17 +1 from char lvl 4)
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 16
Cha 8
I'm using both shadow blade and weapon finesse so Str is pretty pointless (especially since I won't be wearing armor and don't need to carry anything).
Cha is the obvious dump stat and fits in with the backstory (raised by a secretive assassin cult and trained never to show emotion)
Skills:
Going with Max ranks in Tumble, Hide, Move Silently, Concentration and Disable Device
5 ranks in jump (for the +2 to tumble and tiger claw manuevers)
6 ranks in Open Lock (With MW tools that gives me a 20 when I take 10)
The rest into spot and listen (to serve as a scout)
No UMD because its not class and we won't be seeing any wands and won't have the chance to go shopping for one
Gear
Bracers of Armor +1 - every little bit of AC helps
Boots of Agile Leaping - with ninja's great leap ability my jump check rocks your face off and as a bonus I no longer fear trips - best. 600 gp. Ever.
MW weapons
A few potions - mage armor and cat's grace
Feats (Where I'd like help)
Weapon Focus (from the Swordsage class feature - I'll be using shortswords and daggers)
Weapon Finesse - no brainer for a Dex build like this
Shadow Blade - ToB - totally doing away with the need for Str, plus its a pre-req for the Shadow Hand tactical feat which is plenty awesome.
For the third feat I'm torn between TWF for offense or Dodge or Combat Expertise for Defense.
He's got a high enough attack bonus (+3 BAB, +4 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, MW Short Sword +1 = +9 that he wouldn't be too inconvenienced by the -2 from two weapon fighting. Plus he'll have sudden leap (ToB) and a pretty good jump check from ninja class feature + boots of agile leaping (jump based on Dex) so he'll be able to cover a lot of ground and get off a full attack in one round so TWF may be the way to go.
On the other hand the cleric doesn't wear a lot of armor (he's new to the game) and neither does the sorcerer and my AC isn't the greatest (+4 Dex, +3 Wis, +1 Bracers of Armor = 18, but I will be bringing along some potions of mage armor for another +4 for two hours for a max of 22 but I can't rely on that all the time) and I don't have a lot of hp - low con and d8 and d6 HD so I was thinking of either dodge or combat reflexes. Dodge is nice because it doesn't hurt my attack at all, Combat Reflexes can really help the ol' AC and in the future I'd be looking at Deadly Defense for another d6 of damage (It'll be like playing the old Star Wars system.
Having said that I think I may have just convinced myself to go with TWF. I can always fight defensively and with my high tumble I'll get another +1 to AC for a total of +3 for a -4 to attack - only one off of combat reflexes best bonus. With CR or TWF I get a -2 to attack but with TWF I trade that for a lot more damage instead of a +2 to AC that I can get from the cleric casting Cat's Grace (which will also help damage and attack.
Still, those low hp are a little scary. Any thoughts?
Oh, as far as manuevers I'll be aimed at Shadow Hand stuff to give me a miss chance to further bolster the defenses and lots of ways to get a sudden strike in, Tiger Claw for movement and Flat-footed fun (especially if I go TWF) and Diamond Mind for attacking and to help out the meager fortitude save later on (the most glaring weak spot in the character).
What do we think?