Virtue is no more than a luxury - Samurai / Shadowdancer

[Vuoripeikko]

TRUE NEUTRAL HOBGOBLIN SAMURAI 6 / SHADOWDANCER 2
15 - POINT BUY

Spoiler:

STR 17 (+1 4th level improvement)
DEX 13 (+2 racial)(+1 8th level improvement)
CON 12 (+2 racial)
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 12

TRAITS:
Scarred - +1 AC
Sneaky - +4 Stealth

SKILLS:
Acrobatics - B2 + C3
Bluff - B5 + C3
Escape Artist B2 + C3
Intimidate - B7 + C3
Stealth - B7 + C3 + R4
Perform (Dance) - B2 + C3
Perception - B2 + C3
Ride - B2 + C3
Survival - B7 + C3

FEATS:
1st - Power Attack
3rd - Combat Reflexes
5th - Dodge
6th - Mobility (BONUS)
7th - Spring Attack

CLASS ABILITES:
SAMURAI:
1st - Challenge, Mount, Order (Ronin / Knight Errant), Resolve
2nd - Self Reliant
3rd - Weapon Expertise (Katana)
4th - Challenge+, Mounted Archer
5th - Banner
6th - Bonus Feat (Mobility)
SHADOWDANCER
7th - Hide in Plain Sight
8th - Evasion, Darkvision, Uncanny Dodge

EQUIPMENT OF CHOICE:
Masterwork Keen Katana
Masterwork Bolstering Breastplate (Agile)

"BLANKNAME is a hobgoblin, who was hired as a guard for a powerful warlord. He learned his trade by travelling with his master and fighting in many successful conquests, before his master fell at the hands of an assassin. Sensing a growing suspicion towards him, he left the warband before any harm would fall onto him. Now he travels as a sellsword, careful and determined to avoid his former comrades that might still hold a grudge towards him. Over the years, the shadows have given him comfort and he has indulged in them, for better or worse..."

I've been thinking about Shadowdancer for a while, but haven't really grown fond of the usual suspects for starting class (Ranger, Paladin, etc). It might be a bit of an odd choice, but using Samurai as a base class seemed like a fun challenge, so I went for it. A teleporting, shadow-skulking katana-wielding vigilante sounds awesome.

There's a few things I'm still thinking about:

Is the stat spread good enough?

What's the optimal level spread with the two classes? Samurai gets the Ronin order ability at level 8, which is great, but Shadowdancer is especially level hungry.

What mount will he use? He's only going to ride around out of combat and once the action starts, he'll hop off to do his bidding. Thus the mount should be competent in someway on it's own.

Where to head from here? I've gone with the stealthy approach, but you can swap the hobgoblin trait for a +4 Intimidate one, pick Dazzling Display and laugh. Critical feats are extremely powerful with a two-handed katana and Keen helps with that. Perhaps Dimensional Agility for added teleporting tricks?

[Vuoripeikko]

I never thought I could imagine hearing cricket sounds on an online forum, but here I am.

[Tirq]

I like it. I'll see what I can do to make for an interesting build for myself. I'll post it here when I'm done.

[Kazaan]

If you want the +4 intimidate, it might be worth it to work in the Order of the Cockatrice for the free Dazzling Display as a Standard action sans-weapon. Maybe he found a new lord in his travels? One who's a bit less virtuous and more of a glory-hog? Why bother with a virtuous lord if his other vassals will cast un-due suspicion all the same?

Mind, though, that Shadowdancer abilities don't count towards the prereqs for Dimensional Agility. You need Dimension Door as either the spell or a spell-like ability, or Abundant Step, the Supernatural ability from Monk. Shadowdancer gets neither of those; it gets a completely different supernatural ability that, while it acts as Dimension Door, it isn't the spell Dimension Door. So any use of Shadowdancer to qualify for DA would be via houserule.

[Vuoripeikko]

I'm fairly certain that I can convice our GM to allow the feat line, but we'll see. The cockatrice order seems actually pretty good! Does the Braggart ability mean that you can use Dazzling Display as a standard action instead of a full-round one?

One problem that the cockatrice order has is the reliance on Charisma, which was the reason I took Ronin / Knight Errant (abilites do not rely on a stat). Of course, Shadowdancer has Charisma - based spells and effects, so there's that.

[Kazaan]

Yes. You can use Dazzling Display as a Standard instead of Full-Round. The Cha reliance isn't a big deal; it just means you can't dump it and, like you said, Shadowdancer has some Cha synergy. Give yourself a good 13 to start, then put one more point into it at lvl 4 to round it out to 14. In fact, if you're not interested in having a mount, you could always pick up the Sword Saint archetype for added goodies. Move in close and demoralize them with your smack-talk, then you're primed for Iaijutsu Strike.

[Vuoripeikko]

Sword Saint synergises well with Order of the Cockatrice, due to the Iaijutsu Strike demoralizing as well. If the smack-talk doesn't get your enemies down, then the awesome blow will. So a new stat distribution would be...

STR 17 (+1 4th level improvement)
DEX 12 (+2 racial)
CON 12 (+2 racial)
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 13 (+1 8th level improvement)

Leveling-wise, I'm thinking of putting 2 levels on each class in turns, first 2 for Shadowdancer shadow companion and teleport, then 2 for Samurai order power.

Feats are a bit tricky for the cockatrice order - you do get Dazzling Display for free, but the next part, Shatter Defenses, requires Weapon Focus.

[Kazaan]

Ok, so we have the following:

Ability scores and traits

Spoiler:

Hobgoblin
Str: 16 (10)(+1 @lvl4)
Dex: 14* (2) (w/ racial +2)
Con: 12* (0) (w/ racial +2)
Int: 10 (0)
Wis: 10 (0)
Cha: 13 (3) (+1 @lvl8)

Your numbers were off, you had 16 points on your build. I dropped the Str down to 16 and put 2 to your Dex since Shadowdancer gets Evasion (which, mind you, is limited to light armor so your defensive options are limited).

Traits:
- Omen (faith) +1 Intimidate and demoralize 1/day as swift action.
- Dirty Fighter (combat) +1 damage when flanking (multiplies on crit)

Omen is good since you have a strong intimidate focus and allows you to swiftly shake one enemy if need be. Dirty Fighter means that, when you flank with your shadow, you deal more damage; never a bad thing.

Level Progression

Spoiler:

1) Sword Saint of the Cockatrice 1: BAB +1, Power Attack (lvl 1)
2) Samurai 2: BAB +2, Dazzling Display (Cockatrice)
3) Samurai 3: BAB +3, Dodge (lvl 3), Katana Spec
4) Samurai 4: BAB +4, +1 Str
5) Samurai 5: BAB +5, Combat Reflexes (lvl 5)
6) Samurai 6: BAB +6, Mobility (Samurai bonus feat)
7) Shadowdancer 1: BAB +6, Skill Focus: Intimidate(lvl 7)
8) Shadowdancer 2: BAB +7, +1 Cha
---
9) Shadowdancer 3: BAB +8, Talent(Weapon Training: Katana), Shatter Defenses (lvl 9)
10) Shadowdancer 4: BAB +9
11) Samurai 7: BAB +10, WSpec: Katana (lvl 11)
12) Samurai 8: BAB +11, +1 Str
13) Shadowdancer 5: BAB +11, GWFocus: Katana (lvl 13)
14) Shadowdancer 6: BAB +12, Talent(Intimidating Prowess)
15) Samurai 9: BAB +13, Improved Critical: Katana (lvl 15)
16) Samurai 10: BAB +14, +1 Str

General strategy and continued progression

Spoiler:

At this point, you have to decide if you're going to focus more on Shadowdancer or Samurai levels. You have Iaijutsu Strike as a standard action, Greater Weapon Focus, Improved Critical, and Shatter Defenses along with a nice Intimidate bonus that now scales with both Cha and Str. You can rely on your 1/day Omen talent to intimidate them as a swift action if you don't have the opportunity to Dazzle them. Two more levels of Samurai will get you another bonus Combat feat as well as open up Greater Weapon Specialization (good option on which to spend that bonus feat). Your shadow companion gives you a nice flanking buddy and the +1 damage for flanking that multiplies on crit works nice with a crit-focused katana build. Focusing more on Samurai levels will deal more with the "in your face" aspect, just using Shadowdancer abilities to position yourself and for quick retreats and repositions. By contrast, if you forego further Samurai levels in favor of maxing out Shadowdancer, you'll get more defensive and positioning abilities. If you have a good means to provide dim light, these benefits can be significant. By this route, I'd suggest picking up the Fast Stealth rogue talent and focus more on a stealthy approach followed by the "AH HAH" cockatrice response after you drop them. You'll be the loudest shinobi ever and might as well name your character Naruto. Of course, grab yourself a Ominous Katana and the best light armor you can find (or medium armor that counts as light) so you can preserve the use of Evasion.

[Vuoripeikko]

Awesome! Thanks for fixing the mistake with stats and for the good strategy on leveling. Darkness can be provided with a magical item, such as Cloak of Dusk Walker. As for the character, the cockatrice order sounds good, although I don't imagine him being very boisterous as he's keeping a low profile. More of a determined, hard-working and somewhat intimidating person. (which works, nevertheless)

Ronin / Knight Errant does provide a reroll for Will saves, which are a weakpoint for Samurai / Shadowdancer (?). Also, could Whirlwind Attack be worth it? I can imagine the hobgoblin appearing from the darkness as a whirling death machine.

Mithral medium armor works too. Not too cheap, but it's light armor.

[Xethik]

Love posts/threads like these. Always inspiring for another character in my PC/NPC notebook. Before this, I would have never considered Samurai for a Shadowdancer character (I had a Fighter/Shadowdancer 'badguy' in my notes), but now I'm adding one in as I type this.

Thanks for the ideas Vuoripeikko and the refinement Kazaan.

Not an amazing combo, but Defensive Roll and Without Master would make the quite character who just refuses to die.

[Vuoripeikko]

Thank you Xethik! Hopping from Samurai to Shadowcaster was a bit of an hurdle, but it's what I wanted to try out. Besides, hobgoblins are one of my favorite races and having one teetering between good and evil is my secret vice.

[Kazaan]

This character is just a whole bundle of duality, isn't he? He stealthy sneaks up to the target and then yells "HAH BOO YA!" just as he delivers his strike. He's a scumbag who is loyal to his lord... who is also a scumbag. He's in it to win it.

[Vuoripeikko]

A bit, yes. He challenges someone to a duel, only to disappear and appear behind him. "Weak an' slow boyo!" Cue the head of his foe rolling on the floor. He might come off as quite the douche, but the party will later notice there's something redeemable deep down within him.

Or not. Who knows? Who pays most?

[Kazaan]

Believe it.