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I have a tendency to cameo characters and items from other games, and I was having a hard time figuring out what I should cameo in my Kingmaker game: I pushed around the idea of Plants Vs Zombies for awhile, and I considered making the First World even more Carroll-esque, but I decided that somewhere, somehow, I want Kratos to pop up and possibly demolish the party.
I figure the Blades of Agony would be best statted as Short Swords with reach like a Whip, and the Disarm and Trip qualities.
The roadblock I'm running into is exactly what class and feats to give this monster of a demigod. Fighter of the Two-Weapon persuasion seems to be the best so far, but what about his magic? Should I even use that facet?
Any help would be appreciated.
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An old dragon magazine had stats for the weapons.
IIRC they were minor artifacts; +3 keen (ghost touch?) admantine weapons D12 crit x3 (19-20 with keen), 10'(15'?) reach, trip, disarm, immune to disarm, and could be used adjacent (like 3.5 spiked chain).
If they were damaged or destroyed they regenerated at the wearers natural healing rate, and either used the light weapon TWF penalties or no penalties. and i seem to remember them granting the twf feats as bonus feats.
I had a player who wanted a similar weapon i basically used what you said, but i only had it crit on 20 x2
have you looked at using ranger or ranger/barbarian levels for kratos?
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I would go with either a spiked chain, or a scimitar. The God of War wiki describes the Blades of Chaos/Athena as being Falchion-like, but since in PFRPG a falchion is a two handed weapon I would go with the scimitar as the base weapon. I would also go with barbarian or barbarian/ranger as well. The Blade of Olympus is a greatsword.
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An old dragon magazine had stats for the weapons.
IIRC they were minor artifacts; +3 keen (ghost touch?) admantine weapons D12 crit x3 (19-20 with keen), 10'(15'?) reach, trip, disarm, immune to disarm, and could be used adjacent (like 3.5 spiked chain).
If they were damaged or destroyed they regenerated at the wearers natural healing rate, and either used the light weapon TWF penalties or no penalties. and i seem to remember them granting the twf feats as bonus feats.I had a player who wanted a similar weapon i basically used what you said, but i only had it crit on 20 x2
have you looked at using ranger or ranger/barbarian levels for kratos?
Would you happen to be able to recall the issue number?
And I hadn't actually considered Ranger (silly me), but it's fit pretty damn well. What the hell are his favored enemies? lol
I would go with either a spiked chain, or a scimitar. The God of War wiki describes the Blades of Chaos/Athena as being Falchion-like, but since in PFRPG a falchion is a two handed weapon I would go with the scimitar as the base weapon. I would also go with barbarian or barbarian/ranger as well. The Blade of Olympus is a greatsword.
Hmm...they probably SHOULD do more damage than a short sword. And I didn't really want to get into the alternate weaponry he had, as he's simply supposed to be a high level challenge for my party, and I want the Blades of Agony to be their reward.
I seem to remember (can't confirm at the moment) a whip-like weapon in the Adventurer's Armory that had blades on it. As far as the magic goes, may Barbarian/Sorceror combo (not sure which Bloodline).
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Why do you want to make a cameo of a highly recognizable character is beyond me, but anyway, the Setting Sun school of Bo9S is perfect to simulate many of the signature moves of Kratos and changing the fire tipe of Desert Wind school to lighting could imitate some of the other powers; Kratos used a nova effect, the Desert wind has a cone one, change tipe (fire to lighting) and area (cone to ring), the only drawback is that swordsages has only a medium BAB, with TWF could be underwelming, but since you should be using setting sun maneouvers...
Pick improved trip and maybe improved grapple (not sure how it works in pathfinder) the blades of chaos in dragon #328 pag 69 gives you a +4 to grapple, thats a +8 if still works similar, dont bother too much with the TWF tree, the blades gives you whirlwind attack (Meh), keep in mind that the anarch razors of dragon magazine are a toned down version of the blades of chaos.
I recognize that this is more complex that you might want and also a barbarian/ranger could be tematically more apropiate, BUT I think that this translates much better than a vanilla ranger/barabarian the awesome moves of the videogame, the players arent going to know if he has barbarians levels or not, the only thing they will know is how it plays, when people complain about multiclasing too much I wonder, If that combination plays just the way a character you think should play why you should stick to a base class who says that is the character you want to play but isnt (paladin i´m looking at you).
Oh and by the way, yes I have made two alternative progressions for Kratos.
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I don't remember the Blades of Agony in God of War. Of course I only played the first instalment in the series so what do I know. There is a Blade of Agony in WoW that I remember. You loot that from the Litch King. That strikes me as being a longsword or a bastard sword.
Sorry, they were the Blades of Chaos in the first game, the Blades of Athena in the second game, and the Blades of Exile in the third game. I just decided to call them the Blades of Agony in my game and forgot that I invented it.
I seem to remember (can't confirm at the moment) a whip-like weapon in the Adventurer's Armory that had blades on it. As far as the magic goes, may Barbarian/Sorceror combo (not sure which Bloodline).
Yes, the Scorpion Whip. I'd also like to stay away from Charisma based casters, as Kratos is far from personable.
@ Name Violation: I found the issue! Dragon #328.
Anarch Razors
Anarch Razors are +3 adamantine weapons designed by the gods to deliver more damage than what the size and shape of the actual blade would suggest. These cruel, curving weapons have 10-foot lengths of chain extending from their pommels, which extend through their wielder's flesh and fasten directly to his bones. Found only in twin sets, both blades (and accompanying chains) have 40 hit points and a hardness of 20--but the weapons cannot be sundered in a traditional fashion (see Mettle of the Gods below). As a standard action, the wielder may command the anarch razors to mimic the characteristics of any metal the wielder chooses, allowing them to overcome damage reduction even though the actual metal does not change. For example, the wielder could choose cold iron and the anarch razors would act as though they were made of that metal for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. This designation persists until a new choice in made by the wielder.
Anarch razors have reach and can strike opponents 10 feet away as well as adjacent foes. Any character who wields a pair of anarch razors is considered proficient with them.Ritual of Linking:
Anarch razors are not items found on the shelf. Rather, they are bestowed upon those willing to make a great sacrifice. In fact, beyond the rare wielders of anarch razors, few even know of the sacrifice wielding such weapons entails.
Attaching anarch razors requires a ritual that demands the permanent sacrifice of one point of Charisma and one point of Strength. Note that installation of a single blade is not possible, bot anarch razors must be fused to a wielder and the ability score cost accommodates both blades.
In addition, the ritual demands an offering of allegiance. As such, the wielder must worship--and swear his service to--a deity willing to grant the wielder the blades. The specifics of the ritual and any associated expensive material components are best left to the Dungeon Master to decide based on a sacrifice appropriate to the campaign.
Once the ritual is complete, the weapons are permanently attached to the appendages the wielder chooses. Nothing but the deity or the permanent loss of those appendages can take away anarch razors once attached, not even miracle or wish.Mettle of the Gods
If some event should destroy the blades or the chains (such as exposure to a sphere of annihilation or similar powerful artifact) then whatever is left of the anarch razors retracts into the appendages of the wielder and remains dormant for 24 hours, after which new chains and blades are reconstituted and are available for use. Deities do not let something as trivial as the destruction of the material representation of their will stop their plans.All Are Subject
The ritual installation of anarch razors whispers secrets into the wielder's mind. Once the ritual is complete, the wielder is able to use the anarch razors as though he had the Whirlwind Attack feat, regardless of whether he qualifies for the feat. Note that this application is only useful when the wielder is using the anarch razors, not with any other weapon.Chaotic Womb
Anarch razors can wrap around enemies, making it difficult for them to extract themselves from a successful grapple. Anarch razors grant the wielder a +4 bonus on grapple checks.One-Handed Melee Weapon
Anarch Razors
Cost: Special
Damage: 1d12 (M), 1d10 (S)
Critical: 19-20/x2
Range Increment: --
Weight: Special
Type: Slashing
Wow, that was a lot more text to type up than I thought. As of now, it just looks like we need to update some of the wording to bring it up to Pathfinder standard.
I'd also like to stay away from Charisma based casters, as Kratos is far from personable.
True, Cha doesn't necessarily mean personable. I look at Sorceror's use of Cha as more presence of personality.
To quote Monsters Inc.
"It all about PRESENCE! About how you enter the room!"
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Why do you want to make a cameo of a highly recognizable character is beyond me, but anyway, the Setting Sun school of Bo9S is perfect to simulate many of the signature moves of Kratos and changing the fire tipe of Desert Wind school to lighting could imitate some of the other powers; Kratos used a nova effect, the Desert wind has a cone one, change tipe (fire to lighting) and area (cone to ring), the only drawback is that swordsages has only a medium BAB, with TWF could be underwelming, but since you should be using setting sun maneouvers...
Pick improved trip and maybe improved grapple (not sure how it works in pathfinder) the blades of chaos in dragon #328 pag 69 gives you a +4 to grapple, thats a +8 if still works similar, dont bother too much with the TWF tree, the blades gives you whirlwind attack (Meh), keep in mind that the anarch razors of dragon magazine are a toned down version of the blades of chaos.
I recognize that this is more complex that you might want and also a barbarian/ranger could be tematically more apropiate, BUT I think that this translates much better than a vanilla ranger/barabarian the awesome moves of the videogame, the players arent going to know if he has barbarians levels or not, the only thing they will know is how it plays, when people complain about multiclasing too much I wonder, If that combination plays just the way a character you think should play why you should stick to a base class who says that is the character you want to play but isnt (paladin i´m looking at you).
Oh and by the way, yes I have made two alternative progressions for Kratos.
You know, Bo9S is actually a fantastic idea. I have a tendency to forget to check all my non-Pathfinder books for ideas, but Swordsage would actually be a really good implementation. As for why I'd want to cameo a highly recognizable character? Its fun, especially when the players at the table are familiar with the character and just how beastly they are. Not much scares a group of experienced players until you toss out something that they recognize, but don't have stats for.
VikingIrishman wrote:
I'd also like to stay away from Charisma based casters, as Kratos is far from personable.
True, Cha doesn't necessarily mean personable. I look at Sorceror's use of Cha as more presence of personality.
To quote Monsters Inc.
"It all about PRESENCE! About how you enter the room!"
A very good point. ^_^
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At this point, I'm considering dropping the casting altogether. There's a point where true faith to the inspiring character just gets unwieldy. Fighter (Two Weapon Archetype or Mobile Archetype) looks good enough to me, especially since as a demigod I'm giving him straight 25s. Any suggestions on feat choice aside from the obvious Two Weapon line?
Also, any assistance in statting out suitable Dominus Armor would be greatly appreciated.
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I once made a superhero game where Deadpool appeared and embarrassed the party. They s~!@ themselves. I suspect making players s~!@ themselves is one motivation.
I usually try to avoid blatant copies of high known characters, places, etc. Sure, we all are inspired for them, but in my gaming group just dropping a known character out of place will feel strange, but if it works for some people, its your game.
At this point, I'm considering dropping the casting altogether. There's a point where true faith to the inspiring character just gets unwieldy. Fighter (Two Weapon Archetype or Mobile Archetype) looks good enough to me, especially since as a demigod I'm giving him straight 25s. Any suggestions on feat choice aside from the obvious Two Weapon line?
Just remebered that my first tough was making him a gish, but as abilities would be too spread (I made him a playing character build) and feats too thin, I ended dropping the idea altogether and settle to a swordsage with a number of maneouvers for the most arcane powers. As a sorcerer gish you also would have the problem of too many spells known in fact (Kratos only have a fairly limited number of powers).