Friday, April 29, 2016

Samurai (Ronin); Half-Orc



Self-Interested Preface: I only barely remember making this character?  I think my mindset was that I wanted to make a viable samurai and decided that two-weapon fighting with stalwart was the best direction to go.  Looking over this build, I think this character works pretty well as a tough-to-kill critical hit machine- it looks sort of like a fighter with DR abilities.  The Ronin abilities go really well with the lower Will saves of this character, who is meant to wear light armor for mobility and because of its high DEX.

Blade Of Mercy is an amazing religion feat that should probably always be in effect for a slashing character- unconscious enemies are of more use than corpses, either as bargaining chips or displays of mercy or whatever(sometimes the game tricks you into killing someone without knowing all the facts and then you make enemies).  It's not like you can't kill them once they're asleep anyway.  Blade Of Mercy is both a feat and a class/archetype feature, and you can get it plus an extra point of damage with ALL slashing weapons for the cost of a trait.

Reading through this build for what honestly feels like the first time, I think this character's probably superior or at least equivalent to a similarly-built two-weapon fighter- the bonus feats have an excellent replacement in protective class features like resolve and challenge.

This build was created in November of 2015.



Samurai, Ronin, Level 20

Race: Half-Orc, +2 STR (+1 Hit Point/+1 Skill Point)

Racial Traits
City-Raised [+2 to Knowledge (Local), proficiency with whips and longswords]
Sacred Tattoo (+1 luck bonus to all saving throws)
Shaman’s Apprentice (Endurance feat)
Orc Blood (counts as human and orc for the purposes of racial effects)
Darkvision 60’

Character Traits/Drawbacks
Drawback: (Detriment, Circumstance)
Combat: Threatening Defender (Combat Expertise penalty to attack reduced by one)
Faith: Fate’s Favored (+1 to any luck bonuses)
Religion: Blade Of Mercy (Do not take -4 for attacking with slashing weapons as non-lethal, +1 non-lethal damage when attacking with slashing weapons as non-lethal)

Point Buy 20              Racial              Lvl. 4               Lvl. 8               Lvl. 12             Lvl. 16             Lvl. 20
STR     11                                                       
DEX    17                    19                    20                    21                    22                    23                    24
CON   14                   
INT     13                   
WIS     12                   
CHA   7                     

Class Skills: Bluff, Climb, Craft (Any), Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Local), Profession (Any), Ride, Sense Motive, Survival, and Swim.

Known Languages: Common, Orc

1: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 1, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +1
            Base Saves: +6/+6/+3
New Feats: Simple, Martial, Katana, Naginata, and Wakizashi Weapon Proficiencies, Light, Medium and Heavy Armor Proficiencies, Shield Proficiency, (Ronin) Challenge 1/day, Mount, Resolve, Ronin, [1st Level Feat] Combat Expertise, [Anti-Hero] Weapon Finesse
Skills(5): Climb, Knowledge (Local), Survival, Swim, +1 other

2: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 2, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +2
            Base Saves: +7/+6/+3
New Feats: Self-Reliant
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

3: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 3, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +3
            Base Saves: +7/+7/+4
New Feats: Weapon Expertise (Wakizashi), [3rd Level Feat] Two-Weapon Fighting
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)


4: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 4, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +4
            Ability Score Increase: DEX +1 (20)
            Base Saves: +8/+8/+4
New Feats: Challenge 2/day, Mounted Archer
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

5: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 5, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +5
            Base Saves: +8/+8/+4
New Feats: Banner, [5th Level Feat] Die Hard
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

6: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 6, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +6/+1
            Base Saves: +9/+9/+5
New Feats: [Samurai 6th] Stalwart
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

7: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 7, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +7/+2
            Base Saves: +9/+9/+5
New Feats: Challenge 3/day, [7th Level Feat] Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

8: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 8, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +8/+3
Ability Score Increase: DEX +1 (21)
            Base Saves: +10/+9/+5
New Feats: Without Master
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

9: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 9, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +9/+4
            Base Saves: +10/+10/+6
New Feats: Greater Resolve, [9th Level Feat] Improved Critical (Wakizashi)
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

10: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 10, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +10/+5
            Base Saves: +11/+10/+6
New Feats: Challenge 4/day
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

11: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 11, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +11/+6/+1
            Base Saves: +11/+10/+6
New Feats: Honorable Stand 1/day, [11th Level Feat] Improved Stalwart
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)


12: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 12, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +12/+7/+2
Ability Score Increase: DEX +1 (22)
            Base Saves: +12/+12/+7
New Feats: Demanding Challenge, [Samurai 12th] Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

13: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 13, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +13/+8/+3
            Base Saves: +12/+12/+7
New Feats: Challenge 5/day, [13th Level Feat] Lunge
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

14: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 14, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +14/+9/+4
            Base Saves: +13/+12/+7
New Feats: Greater Banner
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

15: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 15, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +15/+10/+5
            Base Saves: +13/+13/+10
New Feats: Chosen Destiny, [15th Level Feat] Iron Will
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

16: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 16, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +16/+11/+6/+1
Ability Score Increase: DEX +1 (23)
            Base Saves: +14/+13/+10
New Feats: Challenge 6/day
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

17: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 17, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +17/+12/+7/+2
            Base Saves: +14/+13/+10
New Feats: True Resolve, [17th Level Feat] Critical Focus
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

18: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 18, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +18/+13/+8/+3
            Base Saves: +15/+14/+11
New Feats: [Samurai 18th] Staggering Critical
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

19: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 19, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +19/+14/+9/+4
            Base Saves: +15/+14/+11
New Feats: Challenge 7/Day, [19th Level Feat] Stunning Critical
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)


20: Samurai, Order Of The Warrior 20, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +20/+15/+10/+5
Ability Score Increase: DEX +1 (24)
            Base Saves: +16/+15/+11
New Feats: Last Stand
Skills(5): (distribute points as desired)

Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher); Nagaji



Self-Important Preface: This character was built as an exercise in making a viable antipaladin, which sort of worked.  The main obstacle I was seeing had to do with mobility- this character's stuck with a 20' move speed in full plate, though Hurtful kind of makes up for it.  Hurtful is an incredible feat for intimidaters, allowing an extra attack as a swift action whenever an opponent within reach is successfully intimidated.  That's a swift-action extra attack at full BAB that stacks with haste!  It grants some impressive versatility to a character (like this one) without a lot of swift action options, allowing an attack in conjunction with Dazzling Display (not that this character uses Dazzling Display), Cornugon Smash, Dreadful Carnage, and any of the other intimidation feats.  

This character is meant to be a heavy one-on-one tank, but I think its lack of movement speed really cripples it.  It was a good exercise, and would be a strong, resistant tank with constant or clever use of haste or boots of haste; maybe telekinetic charge?  It's also unfortunate that intimidate is this character's only skill, though it is very good at it.  As such, it might be a good idea to get the Antagonize feat early and hope the DM doesn't get mad that you use it all the time.

This build was created in November of 2015.

Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher), Level 20

Race: Nagaji, +2 STR, +2 CHA, -2 INT (+1 Hit Point/+1 Skill Point)

Racial Traits
Armored Scales (+1 natural armor AC bonus)
Resistant (+2 against mind-affecting effects and poison)
Hypnotic Gaze (DC 11+CHA Hypnotism SLA, duration 1 round, once per day)
Low-Light Vision

Character Traits/Drawbacks
Drawback: Power-Hungry (-2 to Will against charm and compulsion effects when affecter promises power)
Regional: Dominator (+2 to Intimidate when demoralizing an opponent in combat)
Religion: Defensive Strategist (do not count as flat-footed in surprise round or before acting in combat)
Social: Memorable (social Intimidate effects last 50% longer than normal, and mind-affecting effects which last longer than two rounds last an extra round)

Point Buy 20               Racial               Lvl. 4               Lvl. 8               Lvl. 12             Lvl. 16             Lvl. 20
STR     16                    18                                            19                    20
DEX    12                   
CON   14
INT      10                    8
WIS     7                     
CHA    15                    17                    18                                                                    19                    20

Class Skills: Bluff, Craft (Any), Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Religion), Profession (Any), Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Stealth.

Known Languages: Common, Draconic

1: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 1, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +1
            Base Saves: +4/+1/+0 (+2 against mind-affecting effects and poison)
New Feats: Simple and Martial Weapon Proficiencies, Light, Medium and Heavy Armor Proficiencies, Shield Proficiency, Aura Of Evil, Detect Good, Smite Good 1/day, [1st Level Feat] Power Attack, [Anti-Hero Feat] Furious Focus
Skills(1): Intimidate

2: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 2, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +2
            Base Saves: +8/+4/+4 (+2 against mind-affecting effects and poison)
New Feats: Unholy Resilience, Touch Of Corruption
Skills(1): Intimidate

3: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 3, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +3
            Base Saves: +8/+5/+4 (+2 against mind-affecting effects and poison)
New Feats: Aura Of Cowardice, Cruelty (3rd): Sickened, Plague Bringer, [3rd Level Feat] Hurtful
Skills(1): Intimidate


4: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 4, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +4
            Increased Ability Score: CHA +1 (18)
            Base Saves: +10/+6/+6 (+2 against mind-affecting effects and poison)
New Feats: Antipaladin Spellcasting, Channel Negative Energy, Smite Good 2/day
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 1 Lvl. 1

5: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 5, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +5
            Base Saves: +10/+6/+6 (+4 against mind-affecting effects and poison; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Touch Of The Crypt, [5th Level Feat] Signature Skill (Intimidate)
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 2 Lvl. 1

6: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 6, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +6/+1
            Base Saves: +11/+7/+7 (+4 against mind-affecting effects and poison; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Cruelty (6th): Diseased
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 2 Lvl. 1

7: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 7, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +7/+2
            Base Saves: +11/+7/+7 (+4 against mind-affecting effects and poison; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Smite Good 3/day, [7th Level Feat] Cornugon Smash
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 2 Lvl. 1, 1 Lvl. 2

8: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 8, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +8/+3
Increased Ability Score: STR +1 (19)
            Base Saves: +12/+7/+8 (+4 against mind-affecting effects; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Fortitude Of The Crypt
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 2 Lvl. 1, 2 Lvl. 2

9: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 9, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +9/+4
            Base Saves: +12/+8/+8 (+4 against mind-affecting effects; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Cruelty (9th): Nauseated, [9th Level Feat] Critical Focus
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 3 Lvl. 1, 2 Lvl. 2

10: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 10, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +10/+5
            Base Saves: +13/+8/+9 (+4 against mind-affecting effects; +2 against death effects)
New Feats: Cloak Of The Crypt
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 3 Lvl. 1, 2 Lvl. 2, 1 Lvl. 3



11: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 11, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +11+6/+1
            Base Saves: +13/+8/+9 (+6 against mind-affecting effects; +4 against death effects)
New Feats: Will Of The Crypt, [11th Level Feat] Dreadful Carnage
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 3 Lvl. 1, 2 Lvl. 2, 2 Lvl. 3

12: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 12, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +12+7/+2
Increased Ability Score: STR +1 (20)
            Base Saves: +14/+9/+10 (+6 against mind-affecting effects; +4 against death effects)
New Feats: Cruelty (12th): Stunned
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 3 Lvl. 1, 3 Lvl. 2, 2 Lvl. 3

13: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 13, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +13+8/+3
            Base Saves: +14/+9/+10 (+6 against mind-affecting effects; +4 against death effects)
New Feats: Smite Good 5/day, [13th Level Feat] Destroy Identity
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 4 Lvl. 1, 3 Lvl. 2, 2 Lvl. 3, 1 Lvl. 4

14: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 14, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +14+9/+4
            Base Saves: +15/+9/+11 (+6 against mind-affecting effects; +4 against death effects)
New Feats: Weapons Of Sin
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 4 Lvl. 1, 3 Lvl. 2, 2 Lvl. 3, 2 Lvl. 4

15: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 15, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +15+10/+5
            Base Saves: +15/+10/+11 (+6 against mind-affecting effects)
New Feats: Crypt Lord, [15th Level Feat] Antagonize
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 4 Lvl. 1, 3 Lvl. 2, 3 Lvl. 3, 2 Lvl. 4

16: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 16, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +16+11/+6/+1
Increased Ability Score: CHA +1 (19)
            Base Saves: +16/+10/+12 (+6 against mind-affecting effects)
New Feats: Smite Good 5/day
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 4 Lvl. 1, 4 Lvl. 2, 3 Lvl. 3, 2 Lvl. 4

17: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 17, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +17+12/+7/+2
            Base Saves: +16/+10/+12 (+6 against mind-affecting effects)
New Feats: Soul Of The Crypt, [17th Level Feat] Lunge
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 5 Lvl. 1, 4 Lvl. 2, 3 Lvl. 3, 2 Lvl. 4



18: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 18, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +18+13/+8/+3
            Base Saves: +17/+11/+13 (+6 against mind-affecting effects)
New Feats: Cruelty (18th): Blinded
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 5 Lvl. 1, 4 Lvl. 2, 3 Lvl. 3, 3 Lvl. 4

19: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 19, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +19+14/+9/+4
            Base Saves: +17/+11/+13 (+6 against mind-affecting effects)
New Feats: Smite Good 6/day, [19th Level Feat] Blind-Fight
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 5 Lvl. 1, 4 Lvl. 2, 4 Lvl. 3, 3 Lvl. 4

20: Antipaladin (Knight Of The Sepulcher) 20, +1 Hit Point
            BAB: +20+15/+10/+5
Increased Ability Score: CHA +1 (20)
            Base Saves: +18/+12/+15 [now has undead immunities (see below)]
New Feats: Undying Champion
Skills(1): Intimidate
Base Spells Per Day: 6 Lvl. 1, 5 Lvl. 2, 4 Lvl. 3, 4 Lvl. 4
(Verbatim) Undead Traits: Undead are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, phantasms, and patterns), paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless). Undead are not subject to ability drain, energy drain, or nonlethal damage. Undead are immune to damage or penalties to their physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects. Undead are not at risk of death from massive damage.