| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Okay, so I had another random idea after reading a small description of what those who worship Tsukiyo usually do in Champions of Purity. Basically, those who are at least somewhat knowledgeable about anime and Japanese video games know that shrine maidens can be pretty darn awesome. What I thought of was this Dark is Not Evil, elegant yet subtly scary lady dressed like a fusion of a goth and a shrine maiden.
What I was wondering was that which one fits the miko image better, a Cleric or an Inquisitor? I have never played the latter and rarely has it fit a character concept I've had, so I have a feeling I might strike for gold with this one. If I do decide that I'll make this character for a game, what kind of domain choices and stats, feats and such would I want to focus on if I make the Longbow my weapon of choice. Ranger is an option, but it's not as fitting thematically IMO.
I'm also debating whether to go with a Human or Samsaran, but for once the former seems more viable for a character of mine. Thanks in advance!
She's basically a shrine maiden gone youkai hunter who is good with swords and has some limited fire magic.
I wondered if Oracle or Inquisitor would work as thematically fitting options, though a Ranger does get the Sun Metal spell...
Check out the What are your thoughts on the Inquisitor thread for how they are good and what you can do with them.
Tsukiyo has interesting domains so if you're after the domain powers you need to go with cleric.
Inquisitor sure sounds fun though...
What do you want to do with this PC?
That's kind of the problem here for now. I have no group where this character would hang around in yet so I have no idea of what role she should (or should) fill, aside from ranged combat and support via spells. I would want to stick with Inquisitor since the repertoire seems to fit the Shrine Maiden image better in general (at least at first glance), but I could be wrong about that.
For Tsukiyo's domains, I heard the Moon sub-domain is viable for an Inquisitor as well.
Sticking a few levels of zen archer in there for using wis on your longbow attacks would be both mechanically helpful and thematically appropriate. Samsaran could be pretty cool.
Define a few levels?
Get out of my head! I just built a paladin/ ninja with the same premise and deity! Pal 5 for ONI-hunting goodness, and ninja 7 for stealth ki SA and general skill monkey goodness. My combat style centers around imp feint + vital strike (and SA) with a nodachi using wand of lead blades. 4d8 + SA + smite + static dmg criting on a 15-20 and using the weapon bond for holy on top of that.
|
I can't help but imagine some sort of monk cleric for this but inquisitor could be just the ticket.
Only problem is inquisitors don't get a lot of feats and archery is feat heavy progression. With that is mind are 3 separate ideas for you.
Inquisitor- take the Night domain and attack from the shadows or the madness domains to give yourself great bonuses. Be a human and take the archery feats down the line. Optional: Take sin eater archetype and enjoy the flavor for your darkness focused character or take Spellbreaker archetype because the teamwork feats won't be great for you.
Monk/Cleric. More versatile. Probably a Zen archer though that might be two much. I would make it 15 levels of cleric and 5 of monk. enough to be a solid holy archer. Take Law and madness for flavor and power.
Cleric/Fighter. Versitility but more military focused. more feats and bab but less stat synergy. on the plus side you can wear armor and take weapon training and weapon spec to keep damage up without worrying about strength. Again I would say go with Law and madness (maybe night).
I hope these ideas help.
In Rite Publishing's Kaidan setting of Japanese horror, miko shrine maidens are oracles. This is a favored class for Kitsune of Kaidan as well. Really in Japan miko are seers/fortune tellers as part of their divine jobs - so even by Japanese standards miko are oracles.
Inquisitors of Kaidan are called metsuki, which is the Shogun's secret police. Metsuki is the organization that punished and tortured Christians, after Tokugawa made Christianity illegal in feudal Japan, circa 1610.
The only problem I see when I see the Oracle as an option is the Curse and all.
Some of them just do not fit the concepts I have in mind, but I can work around that I guess.
I don't consider the oracles curse a negative aspect, rather it's a class feature - one that gives oracles their edge as they level up.
I would go for inquisitor all the way, with maybe fighter 2-4 dip for feats and weapons. If this is a home brew where you roll your stats (and if you roll particularly high) I would suggest a ninja/ cleric. Zen Archer monk is not a bad move at all, but depending on wether you want to focus more on combat or spells I would dip inquisitor (combat) or cleric (spells). The ninjadin option isn't bad either for a more combat focused maiden and has great synergy with the darkness theme, but the darkness domain is pretty sweet. Final suggestion is a bit weird, but zen archer/ empyreal- umbral shadow cross blooded sorc may be cool too.
Zen Archer gets the ability to use wis instead of dex on their bow attacks at 3rd. They also get a bunch of other fun tricks and a ton of feats, which is nice, but the number of levels is really up to you. Three is the bare minimum though.
I have a zen archer/sin eater in pfs, and she's really fun. Maybe not quite as ridiculous with the bow as a straight zen archer, but she's got some great flavor, marking the souls of the worthy that she's slain as prospects for the Black Daimyo to claim for his dark armies. And her init is pretty darn high, and having some spell versatility doesn't hurt.
The only problem I see when I see the Oracle as an option is the Curse and all.
Some of them just do not fit the concepts I have in mind, but I can work around that I guess.
The concept of a haunted shrine-maiden oracle nearly writes itself. :D
That's one of the few I am willing to accept.
I still need to work on her personality and backstory.
That's one of the few I am willing to accept.
I still need to work on her personality and backstory.
You've already put more thought into it than most shounen anime/manga story writers.
Thanks. As someone who writes fiction on his free time and hopes to one day publish something,
I can say that compliment means a lot to me, even if it probably wasn't intended to do so in that context.
Darn, I thought it would be cool and thematic if this Shrine Maiden Inquisitor (or Oracle) was a Fetchling, but the former option becomes less viable due to the racial penalty to Wisdom.
Don't let racial modifiers interfere with great RP potential.
I guess a 16 Wisdom is decent if I can roll an 18 for that.
Though I wonder how to convey that "kindly but kinda scary" vibe.
14 wis is all you really need to start out with for an inquisitor or melee focused cleric. Stat boosts and ability score increases take care of the rest.
A lot of Fetchling flavor can be bought with the Eldrich Heritage line of feats and the shadow bloodline, but that requires having a higher charisma. It would work well with an Oracle build.
A lot of Fetchling flavor can be bought with the Eldrich Heritage line of feats and the shadow bloodline, but that requires having a higher charisma. It would work well with an Oracle build.
+1
Fetchlings get a bonus to Charisma, so that can be arranged.
Again, I'm more concerned about how to RP this person at the moment.
So you want "kindly, but scary", just make her seem a little crazy. Have her answer unheard questions, apparently being asked by the invisible spirits of her Haunted curse. Since she has 'contact' with the outer or other world, whenever she is having a conversation with a PC or NPC, have her needing to blurt out answers to unasked questions, or telling the spirits to be quiet, since she's busy having a conversation. If she is constantly responding to unseen activities - she might come off as kindly, but scary.
I'm not sure if crazy is what I'd wanna go for.
Wish I knew how to explain this vibe I want better...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Give her the habit of speaking quietly and without a raised voice in a matter-of-fact way, no matter the topic.
Diplomacy in a court? polite, serious, succinct.
Giving surrender terms to a group of bandits on the road? polite, serious, succinct.
Passing a judgement that leads to an execution? polite, serious, succinct.
Ratherndar's approach is better, but I wasn't suggested she acted crazy, rather that she is actually in constant contact with spiritual beings - which in my mind would seem scary to observers.
I agree with Rathendar. not much scarier than someone who is absolutely calm and polite when ordering someone to death, or during battle.