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I would like to base a PFS character on Zaotichi, the blind swordsman. *actual* blindness seems too much to overcome, so I was going to dip Oracle with the clouded vision curse on the Samurai/Soul Sword archetype.
I planned to go two levels of Oracle to get Lead Blades from the Metal revelation, and then continue to level in Samurai. I want to take as many blind-related feats and tricks possible. his only weapon will likely be a katana, tho I may burn a feat to get the double katana walking stick as well (not sure why samurais aren't proficient with that?).
I know this is likely to be a burden on the other players at the table, so I want to make sure I'm as badass as possible. Zatoichi didn't need to see his enemies to lay waste to them. looking for suggestions as to how I can build him to enhance his other senses? the idea of a blind guy taking AoO's is hilarious to me.
suggestions?
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I'm not sure a truly blind character would be long for the PFS world. it's not like I can enhance his other senses. he would just take massive penalties to his perception and never actually hit anything. I want to be hindered, but I'm not suicidal.
mostly looking for ways I can make this a viable character while still in theme.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16
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I think your idea of taking a level or two of oracle with the clouded vision curse is a good way to thematically represent want you want.
Remember, perception is not limited to vision. I think taking skill focus(perception) would be a good way to represent enhanced hearing or other heightened senses.
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I understand that people want to have a cool character. Everyone wants to have a cool character. I understand that it is a lot easier to add depth to a character by giving him/her a gimmick. What I don't understand is why people want to give their character massive penalties in order to add depth to their characters.
On these forums I've seen a pacifist monk who don't fight because it is against his code (this is not a monk with the archetype, but just a monk who refused to ever target a hostile target combat) and who had no skills to help the party. I've seen a wizard who hated magic and wouldn't cast spells because of his brooding. I've seen 18 charisma rogues who are pretty because they want to be pretty. I've seen one armed fighters. I've seen...
I'm glad you understand that such characters can hinder the table. This is a big issue with PFS where I live. It is the reason why my characters are broken. This is not to say that your character will be useless, as I don't know the build, but please rethink gimping your character for flavor.
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If you are going to be taking a level or two in Dual-Cursed Oracle I really recommend picking up Misfortune. It is a very powerful ability which can be used to add flavor to your character. As an archer goes to shoot you you make him reroll his 19 and he gets a 17, allowing you to cut down the arrow before it reaches you. Or you can call out a warning to an ally before she is caught off guard, giving her just enough time to react and avoid a vicious cleave.
If you are expecting to not be completely blind (i.e. Blindness/Deafness vs Clouded Vision) do not take Blind-Fight. The feat will not help you have the Blind status effect.
Using a trait (Cosmopolitan/Eyes and Ears of the City)to make Perception a class skill, as opposed to Skill Focus (unless you are a Half-Elf,) lets you become more powerful faster as you won't be spending a feat to make up for your penalty.
There was an advice or general discussion thread about this, look at it!
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There was an advice or general discussion thread about this, look at it!
yes, I've read them. none of them appeared to be about PFS legal characters, nor did they mention the sword saint archetype. most of them just seemed to be "work out a deal with your GM" - which won't work in PFS.
I'm going to dip two levels of oracle of metal with the clouded vision curse. enough to get lead blades and effectively make me blind without completely nerfing the character. after that it'll be straight samurai/sword saint.
he will still be capable in combat, and he has some skills that will be valuable. he's a balanced character (16 STR, 10 CHA are the outliers), he just won't do much at range.
I'm taking the "seeker" trait from ultimate campaign to get me perception as a class skill. taking the blind fight tree as it becomes available, and will otherwise just focus on making his katana as awesome as possible.
I prefer to play characters with flaws and drawbacks. it's more fun that way. I don't impede the progress of the table. I find the "broken" characters that end an encounter immediately to be far more annoying than one with a rich RP aspect. I don't play PFS to roll dice.
Well you could do an oracle and call him a swordsman. Maybe even take levels in sword saint or fighter or whatever
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also - any idea if it's possible to combine the katana and "sword cane"? sword cane just appears to be a short sword with a 35 gp scabbard. is there a PFS legal way I can sheath the katana in a walking stick?
Sort of. You can use Sleight of Hand to hide the katana (at some pretty decent penalties) and say that you've hidden it in your walking stick. It becomes a standard action to draw it, though.
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I'm all for RP, and even for limiting characters for fun (I have an 11 Whip Paladin) I just have yet to see a character who brings nothing to rolls yet shines with RP. A cursory glance at your stats shows that you will not be deadweight, and for that I'm glad. I just can't stand a rogue that spend all game throwing daggers for d4 damage at level 9.
What is your other curse going to be?
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single curse: clouded vision. metal mystery with armor mastery revelation. added the dodge and mobility feats to help him get around a battlefield without getting slaughtered (extra +4 AC for AoO gets him to 23 overall at third level). first level was samurai, followed by two levels of oracle (to get lead blades bonus spell), and will take him through 12 or death (whichever comes first) with more levels of sword saint.
he will suck at range, I didn't even bother with a ranged weapon as he can only see 30 ft. and I'm going to treat even that as more of an "awareness" than actually knowing where everything is. he'll have a sort of watered down blindsense.
giving thought to the enlightened philosopher archetype for the oracle dip. since I don't plan to go more than two levels anyway, I won't miss the spells and gain all knowledges as class skills. it fits the wandering ronin theme pretty well. I had originally pictured him as more of a monk than a samurai.
I've got enough GM credit to get him to level 3 before I inflict him on PFS, so he should be able to hold his own.
S:16
D:14
C:14
I:10
W:12
C:13
27 hp, 19 AC, +6 attack with his 1d8+4 katana. maxed out sense motive and perception, spread the rest of the skill points around. even took obscuring mist as a 1st level spell and bought some smokesticks to make use of the blind-fight feat. if I can get into melee with total concealment, I'll have a huge advantage over the bad guys. and hell, he's got some oracle, so he could be a battlefield healer in a pinch.
if you haven't seen the 2003 remake of zatoichi the blind swordsman, I highly recommend it. he's a total badass.
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BigNorseWolf hit it on the head, that's exactly what I'm going to do. his clouded vision will be more of a heightened awareness of his surroundings than anything. he'll still be useless against ranged attacks, but I'm okay with that.
I'll look into extra levels of oracle, just not sure how much more I want to water down his katana skills.
that's for the feedback, everyone!
