|
There is no reason to bind yourself to eastern flavor.
Perhaps a devout worshiper of Erastil?
The master archer, mixed with the discipline and self reliance of class flavor could fit nicely.
|
I'm playing a dwarven zen archer in my current game. My zen archer is a firm believer of Irori so everything he does is to better himself and his bow.
Every morning, while the spellcaster prepares his spells, he spends an hour sharpening and straightening his arrows. he then proceeds to shave off his beard with one of the newly sharpened arrows so that his beard doesn't get in the way of him shooting.
He drinks tea instead of beer to help sharpen his senses. He hasn't sworn off beer or alcohol by any stretch of the imagination. He just only wants stay alert whenever possible.
Because he shaves his beard every morning, which I believe is a taboo to dwarves, most dwarves that we meet won't even acknowledge my dwarf's presence until they aboslutly have to. Even then he is treated worse then most some goblins.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I played a dwarven zen archer monk once, and I had an awesome time with it, though in part it was thanks to a partnership with another player.
The characters in our party were all apprentices to a seasoned NPC adventuring group who had retired with their wealth, but who eventually yearned to train young adventurers and pass on their skills.
My dwarf was the son of the veteran party's fighter, and took great pride in his race's skill at arms. However, our party also had a female elf who was the daughter of the veteran party's rogue. The two were practically raised as siblings and quarreled non-stop, usually with the more charismatic elf getting the last laugh.
At some point they got into an argument about which was the superior weapon: the axe or the bow. Large quantities of alcohol got involved and they somehow wound up swearing oaths to train exclusively in each other's weapons on a dare.
Thus, my dwarf wound up being trained by the elven rogue and wound up a zen archer; meanwhile, my friend's impish little elf maiden was trained by the dwarven fighter and wound up an axe-crazy urban barbarian/fighter who dual-wielded agile hand axes (and hurled throwing axes).
It was a lot of fun to roleplay my dwarf being rather awkward with his bow for the first few levels, often throwing temper tantrums and resorting to fisticuffs after missing a flurry of shots; often his beard would get in the way or he'd clip his big nose with the bowstring, etc. Meanwhile, the elf actually took quite naturally to her light axes and got in touch with her sadistic chaotic-neutral side. Eventually my dwarf found his center and learned to love the bow, and became notoriously deadly with the thing - but was still loath to admit his fondness for it, and would make excuses about sticking to his promise to use the bow only for the sake of his honour, etc.
The zen archer, eastern-flavor or not, is a person who sees the truth of the universe in the flight of an arrow, and hears the secrets of perfection in the twang of a bowstring.
Id say the elf wasnt playing fair and should have been fighting with a dwarf waraxe, not some little gnomish toy. That's not an axe.... now THATS an axe!
I imagine a dwarf who stood up for something he believed-in, and was dishonoured for it. He was forced to shave his beard and be exiled.
Because he stuck to his ideals, Torag rewarded him by showing him the monk's path he walks today. Still, his greatest destiny lies ahead of him.
Id say the elf wasnt playing fair and should have been fighting with a dwarf waraxe, not some little gnomish toy. That's not an axe.... now THATS an axe!
Ha ha, yeah, that came up more than once in their bickering. The terms of their agreement, however, simply pitted "bows" against "axes". Even if it weren't, she wasn't the type to play fair and could usually fast-talk her way into or out of any argument. If I recall, she claimed that "axes" meant plural, so she was oathbound to use two. It was kind of hilarious picturing this ~5' tall, ~90 pound elf in the equivalent of her mid-teens, bristling with throwing axes (I think she carried about 6 at all times) and two slender handaxes.
Anyway, in general, sometimes it's fun to riff on the classic stereotypes: dwarves and axes, elves and bows, and dwarves and elves not getting along, etc. The zen archer felt like a good opportunity.
I played a dwarven zen archer monk once, and I had an awesome time with it, though in part it was thanks to a partnership with another player.
The characters in our party were all apprentices to a seasoned NPC adventuring group who had retired with their wealth, but who eventually yearned to train young adventurers and pass on their skills.
My dwarf was the son of the veteran party's fighter, and took great pride in his race's skill at arms. However, our party also had a female elf who was the daughter of the veteran party's rogue. The two were practically raised as siblings and quarreled non-stop, usually with the more charismatic elf getting the last laugh.
At some point they got into an argument about which was the superior weapon: the axe or the bow. Large quantities of alcohol got involved and they somehow wound up swearing oaths to train exclusively in each other's weapons on a dare.
Thus, my dwarf wound up being trained by the elven rogue and wound up a zen archer; meanwhile, my friend's impish little elf maiden was trained by the dwarven fighter and wound up an axe-crazy urban barbarian/fighter who dual-wielded agile hand axes (and hurled throwing axes).
It was a lot of fun to roleplay my dwarf being rather awkward with his bow for the first few levels, often throwing temper tantrums and resorting to fisticuffs after missing a flurry of shots; often his beard would get in the way or he'd clip his big nose with the bowstring, etc. Meanwhile, the elf actually took quite naturally to her light axes and got in touch with her sadistic chaotic-neutral side. Eventually my dwarf found his center and learned to love the bow, and became notoriously deadly with the thing - but was still loath to admit his fondness for it, and would make excuses about sticking to his promise to use the bow only for the sake of his honour, etc.
This sounds like a total blast.
I'm considering making this character as well. I've been looking at the vows a lot. Granted, you can take them unitl later levels, but it's interesting to consider how they might arrive at the desire to take them. I'm also looking very heavily into traits and considering taking as many drawbacks as I can to get more. I think that will help develope the character.
A dwarf is a crafts man, and Archery is the craft of this one, he is totally devotet to his craft.
Pehaps...