This feat would help tremendously for a build I’m making of Lion from Steven Universe. He currently has all his feats taken assuming CR 4 for an Awakened Lion, and that he counts as a Level 4 Cohort (I think he’d be Steven’s Cohort in Pathfinder mechanics) before class levels, which means a max of 13 (or 15 if you translate the Monsters as PCs rules over, which would give him half his Base CR as additional class levels gained over time, but I’m not counting on that being allowed) levels in classes. But if I got this feat, I could knock off 4 feats for 2 instances of this, meaning I could lower his level (for when the build has as accurately as possible replicated Lion in Pathfinder) to 10 levels of Fighter, or effective level of 14. Which would help a lot.
However, it has a requirement of Human, which means he can’t take it. Right now the only way this build works is if the GM will allow an Awakened Lion to count as level 4. If they rule it counts as a mere 2 levels higher, then the build won’t work at representing Lion, so this looks like my only hope of ensuring this build works.
Unfortunately, the part about them needing to be legal choices for the feats doesn’t work. I was wanting to have Ascetic Style (using Unarmed Strikes as the chosen weapon) and Ascetic Strike be under Martial Versatility, so I could use the fact that Unarmed Strikes are in both the Monk and Natural Fighter Weapon Groups to get his Bite basically under the effects of Feral Combat Training without needing Weapon Focus, so I can use it alongside Weapon Style Master (for two active Styles) and Dragon Style->Dragon Roar, since Lion has a roar attack in Steven Universe.
Furthermore, the reason I wanted Bite damage for Dragon Roar is because I was originally planning on using Unarmed Strikes in place of Claw attacks, with Weapon Versatility allowing me to still have them be Slashing so I could flavor it as his claws, and I didn’t want his Bite, which should be stronger, to fall behind, so for a feat Advanced Weapon Training, I was going to take Focused Weapon, which would make his Bite stronger than his Unarmed Strikes damage, which all of that is traded away by the second Martial Versatility on Ascetic Strike. So 4 feats traded into 2, for nearly the same effect.
He would have less attacks than the Unarmed “Claws” method, and his Bite is weaker, but I could get this build up and running at effective level 14 for Lion instead of 16.
WOOO! I found a way to make this work. Training (Weapon Enchantment) on an Amulet of Mighty Fists. Using the same ruling as allowing multiple Bane enchantments on the same weapon, I can have multiple Training. The Training enchantment says you pair a Combat feat to it, and the wielder gains that feat while they have this weapon wielded. It doesn’t say it has to be a legal feat for the wielder. And Martial Versatility is a Combat feat. So now I’ve knocked off 4 feats for the cost of a +2 Amulet of Mighty Fists, which I’ll likely make better later on.
The Training enchantment says you pair a Combat feat to it, and the wielder gains that feat while they have this weapon wielded. It doesn’t say it has to be a legal feat for the wielder.
I'm afraid it does.
training wrote:
That feat cannot be used as a prerequisite for any other feats and functions for the wielder only if she meets its prerequisites.
The Training enchantment says you pair a Combat feat to it, and the wielder gains that feat while they have this weapon wielded. It doesn’t say it has to be a legal feat for the wielder.
I'm afraid it does.
training wrote:
That feat cannot be used as a prerequisite for any other feats and functions for the wielder only if she meets its prerequisites.
Great. I thought I had this figured out. Guess I don’t after all.
As someone that has watched the show on and off, Lion doesn't strike me as one that has combat power far above a Tiger animal companion. Most of his usefulness comes from magic, mainly teleportation spells and his roar, which is definitely a sonic based blasting spell.
As someone that has watched the show on and off, Lion doesn't strike me as one that has combat power far above a Tiger animal companion. Most of his usefulness comes from magic, mainly teleportation spells and his roar, which is definitely a sonic based blasting spell.
Here is the build so far (note, I have worked some things around since the op and have managed to lower his level. I also retrained two of the base feats of lions, since Lion doesn’t seem to have Improved Initiative nor Run, but I feel like he is always on point with his Perception, so I kept the Skill Focus):
Lion would have 8-12 levels in Fighter and 1 level in Monk (Unchained). He will take at 9th level Advanced Weapon Training Warrior Spirit (not necessary, but I figured it was better than the other options)
He will have a triple Training Amulet of Mighty Fists tied to Advanced Weapon Training all three times
He will have the following feats:
Advanced Weapon Training (Item Mastery (Teleportation Mastery (Bite))) (Amulet)
Advanced Weapon Training (Focused Weapon (Bite)) (Amulet)
Dragon Style (any level after Improved Unarmed Strike)
Dragon Ferocity (any level after Dragon Style and Stunning Fist)
Dragon Roar (any level after Dragon Style)
Ascetic Style (chosen weapon Unarmed Strikes) (bab +1, any level after Weapon Focus)
Ascetic Form (bab +5, any level after Ascetic Style)
Ascetic Strike (bab +7, any level after Ascetic Form)
Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strikes) (any level)
Improved Unarmed Strike (free)
Stunning Fist (free)
Dodge (free)
Skill Focus (Perception) (base)
Weapon Focus (Bite) (any level)
Feral Combat Training (Bite) (any level after Improved Unarmed Strike and Weapon Focus)
Weapon Versatility (any level after Weapon Focus)
Flickering Step (any level starting level 9)
Dimensional Agility (any after Flickering Step or Teleportation Mastery)
The build works as follows:
Awaken is cast on a lion, to allow the lion to take class levels and be a Cohort with the Leadership feat.
Teleportation Mastery and Flickering Step allow Dimension Door (both are needed as they give so little in the number of times per day it can be used). Also, Teleportation Mastery being tied to his Bite is as close to him roaring open a portal as I could get. Dimensional Agility will allow him to keep moving afterwards, allowing his rider (Connie) to strike with a weapon, and then get out of the way so they don’t get full attacked on the enemy’s next turn. This is important because this was done in the same scene as the spoiler below.
Feral Combat Training, Focused Weapon (Bite), and Dragon Roar allow his Roar attack to be his strongest attack, because in the latest episode
Steven Universe Spoilers for Newest Episode:
Lion’s Roar staggered for a moment Blue Diamond, who is the third strongest being in the show right now.
Ascetic Style->Ascetic Form allows him to use his character level, which includes his 7 racial HD, as Monk levels for the number of times he can use feats like Stunning Fist. Which is important because Dragon Roar uses 2 uses of Stunning Fist, and he could only do that twice in a day without Ascetic Form.
Ascetic Strike and Dragon Ferocity are here because their prerequisites were already filled, so he might as well have them. Plus it gives him Unarmed Strike Damage of a Monk of character level -4.
Weapon Versatility is so he can use Unarmed Strikes in place of Claw attacks, and get iteritives, and he will be able to make the US have Slashing damage, so it can be flavored as his claws. This is mainly why I wanted Martial Versatility, so I could actually use his Claws but with Unarmed Strike damage.
Weapon Style Master is so he can have Ascetic Style and Dragon Style both active.
If he continues to take levels past Fighter 8/Monk (Unchained) 1, he should take Combat Stamina (if allowed, so he can use only 1 Stunning Fist use plus 5 Stamina Points for Dragon Roar), (Greater/Improved) Two-Weapon Fighting, and maybe Elemental Fist since with Dragon Ferocity and Dragon Roar, he uses Elemental Fist like a Monk of the Four Winds, and can add its damage to the Dragon Roar. But I say maybe because it can only be fire, acid, electricity, or cold damage, which doesn’t really fit Lion. Also, he should have his comrades improve the Amulet for more Training, for things like Power Attack, or maybe some of the feats I just listed above.
At the end of the day, his build is highly specialized, and he mainly does hit and run tactics, but I didn’t want him to die if he somehow got into a corner and had used up all his Dimension Doors of the day, which is why I made it so he could use Unarmed Strikes in a manner that seemed believable, thus granting him iterative attacks.
I just want to say that while this wasn’t solved, I’m no longer requiring this for my build. I’ll be posting a topic about Steven Universe characters in Pathfinder on the Conversions forum for any interested, though probably tomorrow, since I’m still working on a few details for Connie. (I made her Samurai since fluff wise it sounds like the concept of a knight being used in Steven Universe, just got to find an archetype that trades away the mount since Lion won’t qualify as Awakened Animals can’t be Animal Companions. Also got to figure out which Order to put her in.)
