So I'm currently reflecting on a build as indicated before. Going for an "inspiring/wise swordsman" called Myamoto. Here's my beginning:
Race: Tengu
Class: Samurai (sword saint) 4/Monk (sensei) 1/Battle Herald 10
Stats (25 pts)
Str: 10 Dex: 18 Con: 14 Int: 12 Wis: 16 Cha: 8
Feats:
Samurai:
1 Weapon Finesse
2
3 Piranha Strike
4
Monk:
5 Extra Performance, Dodge
Battle Herald:
6
7 Lingering Performance
8
9
10
Wont be ideal, but it will have decent BAB, good saves, good AC, (damage may suffer), and decent buffage while still being a full martial. Any other Ideas?
bump
I do have a soft spot for PrCs... But in this case, I'm really trying to optimize around the samurai/sensei concept, and not the "best battle herald", I know full well there are more optimal options. But I am curious about the best sensei/samurai/battle herald
i doubt its as optimized as a bard/cavalier (especially the one mors mentioned) but it seems like a fun/interesting build that you won't see many of. if you took 2 levels of monk you could drop weapon finesse and use Wis instead without really losing anything. in fact... you might open up some interesting options if you went qinggong|ki mystic|sensei 4/sword saint 1/battle herald?
@nate lange: your idea isnt bad. However, I favored the dex build to shore up the low reflex this char would have. Still, I'll have to think about it.
@ X mors X:
Problem is, a samurai cant take horse master, they cant qualify. THey dont got expert trainer.
The rest of the advice is sound.
This is how I would pull off this concept:
Ability Scores (20 pt. Buy):
STR 13 DEX 16 CON 11 10 INT 12 WIS 17 CHA 10
You'll want to advance CON, WIS, DEX, DEX, DEX in that order. Bumping up Strength might be tempting, but you only have a 13 to grab Power Attack.
Classes:
Cavalier (Honor Guard / Monk (Sensei) / Battle Herald
01 Monk 1
02 Monk 2
03 Cavalier 1
04 Cavalier 2
05 Cavalier 3
06 Cavalier 4
07 Monk 3
08 Monk 4
09 Battle Herald 1
10 Battle Herald 2
11Battle Herald 3
12 Battle Herald 4
13 Battle Herald 5
14 Battle Herald 6
15 Battle Herald 7
16 Battle Herald 8
17 Battle Herald 9
18 Battle Herald 10
19 Monk 5
20 Monk 6
Here are two good levels to stick four levels into Monk:
At 2nd level, a sensei may use his Wisdom bonus in lieu of his Strength or Dexterity on attack rolls and combat maneuver checks with unarmed strikes or monk weapons.
Benefit: Add half the levels you have in classes other than monk to your monk level to determine your effective monk level for your base unarmed strike damage. This feat does not make levels in classes other than monk count toward any other monk class features.
While we're at it, here are two good reasons to go four levels into Cavalier
At 3rd level, an honor guard learns to better disrupt the attacks of his enemies. He gains Bodyguard as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisite. In addition, whenever the honor guard uses the aid another action to increase an ally’s Armor Class, the bonus to Armor Class granted by the aid another action increases by +1.
Benefit: Use your character level to determine your effective druid level for determining the powers and abilities of your mount.
By grabbing Horse Master and Monastic Legacy, you're allowing for two major aspects of each of your component classes to stack. Furthermore, inspire courage (the only bardic performance that the Battle Herald progresses) caps at 14th level, and look here! 4 levels of monk + 10 levels of battle herald = +4 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws against fear effects!
Because your second level of Monk allows you to use Wisdom on attack rolls with monk weapons instead of your Strength or Dexterity, I dropped the Weapon Finesse / Piranha Attack aspect of your build because it is simply unnecessary. I kept the great Dexterity bonus because its appropriate for the build and a Strength of 13 is all you need to get Power Attack. Plus this way you'll still get to add +1 damage on your sword's attack rolls. The catch is that you need to use a sword with the monk type; I recommend the temple sword, a one-handed weapon, myself.
With this build, your aid anothers will be pretty darn awesome; the Battle Herald has an inspiring command that allows you to greatly increase your aid another bonus, the order of the dragon will give you +1, and the intercept ability gives you another +1 when you use aid another. In addition to slicing people open like a boss, you'll be parrying blows out of your allies way all day long.
Finally, since you'll be stacking unarmed strike damage and you'll get to use Wisdom on your attack rolls, going Two-Weapon Fighting to fight sword and fist is not only iconic, but a pretty darn-good idea.
Feats:
Monk Bonus (1st; Combat Reflexes, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist)
01 Two-Weapon Fighting
Monk Bonus (2nd; your choice, I recommend Dodge or Deflect Arrows)
Tactician (3rd; your choice, I recommend Precise Strike or Outflank)
03 Power Attack
Honor Guard Bonus (5th; Bodyguard)
05 Combat Expertise
07 Horse Master
09 Monastic Legacy
11 Improved Trip
Tactician Bonus (13th; your choice, I recommend Precise Strike or Outflank)
13 Greater Trip
15 Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
17 Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
19 Swift Aid/Leadership/Freebee
Final Build:
So by the end of this build, you'll have a few great tricks going for you. You'll be completely focused on two stats; Dexterity and Wisdom with Strength only serving to allow you to use Power Attack. You'll be Two-Weapon Fighting with a temple sword and your unarmed strikes, both of which allow you to use your Wisdom modifier on attack rolls. You'll be able to spend your attacks of opportunity protecting your allies with Bodyguard (a +7 bonus to AC by the end without any magic items backing you up) or striking them an additional time when you trip them with Greater Trip. Your base attack bonus is not horrendous; you have a +18 at 20th level and you have decent base save bonuses: +14 For, +9 Rex, +11 Will. You add your Wisdom +1 and your Dexterity (your best stats) to your Armor Class; you'll likely have an AC of 23 or so. While not great, you can supplement this by grabbing bracers of armor (+1 to +5), an ioun stone of AC (+1 insight bonus), a monk's robe (+4 to your monk level for a bunch of stuff, including unarmed strikes and AC), and a ring of protection (+1 to +5 deflection bonus). You could easily be looking at an AC of 34, which is much more respectable. Your unarmed strikes will hit as a 13th level monk (2d6) and as a trip weapon, your sword is actually more for swordplay then dishing out damage. Your inspire courage allows you to give yourself and your allies a +4 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls and you can use tactician to make flanking an even better option (+4 on attack rolls instead of +2 and an additional +1d6 damage).
In addition to all of this, you have the same mount as a 20th level cavalier.
Enjoy.
I love the build, however, I have two comments.
Inspire Courage caps at 17th level making Cavalier 3 the max if you want Inspire Courage +4.
Sensei replaces the 2nd level Monk Bonus feat.
I've never thought about using the sensei archetype to enter the battle herald prestige class. Awesome idea, and very flavorful!
+1 to Alexander's build idea. Alternatively, you could petition the GM to allow "Mounted Archer" to be used in place of "Expert Trainer" when meeting the prerequisites for the Horse Master feat, allowing you to stay samurai/monk.
Also, be on the look out for a guided weapon if available in your GM's setting; with a guided katana, you'd be using Wisdom for attack/damage and AC (very "old, wise swordsman", indeed)!
One last thing—if you're intent on playing an older character, try and get your hands on a mantle of immortality as soon as possible. If you have one crafted custom, you could add the benefits of the monk's robe for an extra 19,500 gp (bringing the total to 69,500 gp—or half this value if you'e got a crafter in the party).