Hey there pals,
I'm trying to build a Buffyverse Slayer for a homebrewed campaign, and I thought, there's a class literally called Slayer, this is perfect!
However...It may not be. The paizo slayer uses weapons, and although there is the Grave Warden archetype (which would help add flavor), the TV series slayers only used wooden stakes sometimes, but mainly used their fists. Why? Their fists were stronger than any weapons, because of the special power of being a slayer.
I looked at the other thread on here from 2012 suggesting that a Buffyverse slayer be a Monk, and I kind of agree with it, but now that we have the Slayer and Brawler classes out, or maybe even another option I hadn't thought of, there's so much more diversity! CHOICES!
Any advice? :)
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Brawler fits Buffyverse Slayers, they are also well known to be adaptable especially Buffy herself.
It gives you good HD and Full BAB, Flexible Feats which allows her to fight the way she wants to in that moment.
Brawler fits Buffyverse Slayers, they are also well known to be adaptable especially Buffy herself.
It gives you good HD and Full BAB, Flexible Feats which allows her to fight the way she wants to in that moment.
Thanks! I was thinking the same thing, but "brawler" is such a disappointing name haha. And there's no fantastic archetypes for Buffyverse slayers in Brawler, unlike Grave Warden for Slayers... Hmm. I was thinking *maybe* Strangler archetype?
I would say she's some archetype of Monk that gets limited prophetic abilities, and maybe an ability to heal faster over time.
I say Monk because Buffy's not exactly all-natural. I think the Monk's magicky vibes might fit her better.
Yes but she also does not have the calm focused side of the monk.
I would say she's some archetype of Monk that gets limited prophetic abilities, and maybe an ability to heal faster over time.
I say Monk because Buffy's not exactly all-natural. I think the Monk's magicky vibes might fit her better.
Perhaps! My character is just supposed to be similar to Buffy, but not exactly like her although after watching all the seasons recently, I do have a firm grasp of what she is like. However, Faith was a slayer too, and she also did not have the 'calm focused side' of the monk either... in fact, nobody did, except maybe Giles and Xander. Everyone else lost their sh*t pretty often.
Pretty much, they where all about power and taking down the evil. Remember slayers where not really expected to live very long they where given the strength to fight the demons and very limited insight and sent off.
Pretty much, they where all about power and taking down the evil. Remember slayers where not really expected to live very long they where given the strength to fight the demons and very limited insight and sent off.
Sigh, I was really looking forward to the slayer class though haha! Is it possible to stack the grave warden and deliverer archetype? Because I think that could give a pretty buffyverse-slayer feel to the character. Maybe some slayers in the past have used weapons rather than unarmed strikes, just as a preference..? :T Strugglebus haha.
The two do not stack, but if you want to use Slayer then use Slayer.
Something I was looking at for another theme might work quite nicely:
Master of Many Styles & Kata Master Monk 1 / Two-Weapon Slayer X.
The one level of mixed up Monk means you can grab not only Dragon Style + Ferocity and another style of choice (or even more styles eventually mixed with the style master feat if you really want to go nuts); you also get Opportune Parry and Riposte that recharges with Unarmed Strikes from Kata Master, and lastly you get the Monk Unarmed Strike benefit of applying normal strength and power attack to all unarmed strikes.
So you can pick up the Ranger Two-Weapon fighting style feats from Slayer (ignoring Double Slice because it's redundant) and go in throwing 1.5xSTR and full one-handed Power Attack Unarmed Strikes with both hands. Plus you can block and counter-punch when attacked (bring Extra Panache). Throw on a Brawling armor and you're a machine.
As a slayer can't you pick up the ranger style that gives you monk unarmed damage progression (irori's) to emulate your fists being stronger than weapons(eventually)?
Yeah, probably, but I always found the irori style rather dubious. It lacks TWF feats past the first one.
I think that getting another hit in with Improved TWF (which is great for a class with static bonuses on every hit, like slayers) or the extra umph from Two weapon rend would serve you a lot more than just getting the few extra average point on weapon damage dice.
Also, you would have to take a lot of the style feats using normal feats anyway just to get the character online. So you would not get much from the style besides monastic legacy.
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I think that getting another hit in with Improved TWF (which is great for a class with static bonuses on every hit, like slayers) or the extra umph from Two weapon rend would serve you a lot more than just getting the few extra average point on weapon damage dice.
It's a good point, but when you are going from 1.5 average damage die to 5.5 average damage die, it is a significant boost. If you are a dex based slayer, it's worth it as you can get ITWF with a regular feat. STR based, not so much. It also allows you to skip Double Slice.
And if you are unarmed, Boar Style is a better feat than Two Weapon Rend.
I think that getting another hit in with Improved TWF (which is great for a class with static bonuses on every hit, like slayers) or the extra umph from Two weapon rend would serve you a lot more than just getting the few extra average point on weapon damage dice.
It's a good point, but when you are going from 1.5 average damage die to 5.5 average damage die, it is a significant boost. If you are a dex based slayer, it's worth it as you can get ITWF with a regular feat. STR based, not so much. It also allows you to skip Double Slice.
And if you are unarmed, Boar Style is a better feat than Two Weapon Rend.
Not necessarily. Against anything immune to bleed (or has fast healing), then boar style loses some of its edge.
Plus, it makes it harder to take pummeling style. I bring that up because, even with the delay since you are not a monk/brawler, that is still the perfect style for unarmed builds. Hell, even more so for non monk/brawlers (since it lets you forget about DR for the most part; DR/20 is DR/3 against 7 attacks- you could honestly just get greater magic weapon cast on you instead of going for the amulet of mighty fists)
I know a MoMS dip lets you get multiple styles up...but that takes multiple swift actions, and the slayer has more important things to do with those swift actions
I'd say Buffy's class is brawler. But a lot of her abilities are from more of a racial subtype.
Yes but she also does not have the calm focused side of the monk.
And yet she frequently meditates and attempts to get more calm and focused. Her lack of focus is a weakness she overcomes by Season Five. She's still playful, sure, but where's the rule saying all monks must be boring and stiff?
However, Faith was a slayer too, and she also did not have the 'calm focused side' of the monk either...
And she was kinda a crappy slayer. ;)
EDIT: Also, if we're going with Slayer as a template, I think Buffy's much more likely to be a slayer (the class) or even a mobile fighter. She fights unarmed a lot (might have a level or two in brawler or monk), but she's also incredibly skilled with pretty much any weapon, including improvised stuff. I think unarmed combat is just one of her many tools.
I agree Buffy would have a template. If you wanted to spec it out, then I recommend looking at the Half-Troll template and stripping out the Claw and Rend stuff, Remove Scent and you have a close Aproximation of what the Slayer is. +4 Natural Armor, Fast Healing 5, +6 to Str and Con +2 Dex -2 Int and Cha (for most slayers at least buffy tends to have a higher Cha so her human +2 goes into Cha to cancel it out)
(Might suggest dropping Str and Con to a +4)
Slayer makes sense if you are going weapon wielder slayer, which yes she can do with almost every weapon but thats through training and practice she is a gifted unarmed fighter without training.
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I think that getting another hit in with Improved TWF (which is great for a class with static bonuses on every hit, like slayers) or the extra umph from Two weapon rend would serve you a lot more than just getting the few extra average point on weapon damage dice.
It's a good point, but when you are going from 1.5 average damage die to 5.5 average damage die, it is a significant boost. If you are a dex based slayer, it's worth it as you can get ITWF with a regular feat. STR based, not so much. It also allows you to skip Double Slice.
And if you are unarmed, Boar Style is a better feat than Two Weapon Rend.Not necessarily. Against anything immune to bleed (or has fast healing), then boar style loses some of its edge.
Actually, after the FAQ The initial Boar Style feat is not bleed, but a rend effect.
I agree that Pummeling Style is better, but it requires more investment to be worthwhile.
I'd probably spec Buffy as a Brawler or as a Warpriest (Sacred Fist archetype), possibly with a mythic tier or one of the mythic simple templates.
I don't think she is mythic level though.
She can fight Vampires which are superhuman sure, but by the end of the series Xander and Giles are doing that as well. In fact by season two of Angel we see Wesley fighting Vampires albeit with some difficulty but by season 3 and onward Gunn and Wes are fighting toe to toe with Vampires in hand to hand.So I say Buffy would have a template that gives Fast Healing, maybe a Divination SLA once a day and buffs her physical abilities.
The thing about Buffy is that she uses all manner of weapons, but usually uses none. This sounds a lot like a brawler using martial flexibility to gain weapon proficiencies to me.
I wouldn't say Fast Healing. She doesn't heal on-the-spot, she just heals more over time. I'd say she has an ability that lets her heal double her hit dice from rest.
The thing about Buffy is that she uses all manner of weapons, but usually uses none. This sounds a lot like a brawler using martial flexibility to gain weapon proficiencies to me.
I agree, her and Angel's favorite finisher is the Necksnap after pummeling the baddie down. Weapons are for those who have DR lol
I wouldn't say Fast Healing. She doesn't heal on-the-spot, she just heals more over time. I'd say she has an ability that lets her heal double her hit dice from rest.
Possibly but we do see her resist injury and heal quickly. Her fight with that robot who wanted to marry her mother shows this. He had super strength and his grabbing of her and hits didn't leave a bruise by the time the cops arrived so either she took no damage from that, or she as she put it "heals quick"
True. On the other hand, that was a silly Season One episode that nobody remembers. ;D
It would be more like Fast Healing 0.1. Maybe 0.05. Much faster than a normal person, but not so fast you notice it in real time.
And consider Buffy's robot bruises to be mostly nonlethal damage.
True. On the other hand, that was a silly Season One episode that nobody remembers. ;D
*Sulks* I remember...
True it was a season 1 but we see her recover from epic beatings in season 7 from the uber vamp within a day.
And also, that episode had John Ritter, so is automatically awesome.
And also, that episode had John Ritter, so is automatically awesome.
Agreed. And I feel in general about season one of Buffy that while the episodes lacked the polish of later seasons most had enough thought in them that they were special and enjoyable in a manner different from what came later in the series.
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Celestial Bloodline bloodrager. Increased strength and toughness plus bonuses when fighting evil.
- Avoid flashy spells in favour of subtle buffs, or just take Untouchable.
- Take Primalist to trade your Wings of Heaven for more thematic rage powers (such as Improved DR).
- Consider Spelleater if you're keen on fast healing.
- Fast Healer feat is recommended. Mechanically it works well with Spelleater but if you don't take that archetype it fills the "healing fast" theme.
- Dip Brawler for Improved Unarmed Strike, the basic version of Martial Flexibility, and misc. goodies.
All of the mentioned archetypes are compatible with each other, though Untouchable does make the Spelleater's second ability useless so if you don't like spells but like the Spelleater it might make more sense to just use your spell slots for healing instead of actually casting.
Brawler's good too, but if you don't get a separate template or possibly mythic rank to represent the "slayer" stuff Bloodrager covers that.
I don't think she is mythic level though.
Maybe not a high mythic level, but "endowed by destiny with special powers" kind of screams mythic to me.
It could be someone with class levels.
IMO, unless she has some abilities that can only be covered by using mythic, then there's no reason of being mythic.
If being special with powers means mythic, then why aren't creatures like a Phoenix or colossal god spawns (behemoths, spawns of rovagug) mythic? I don't think she needs it.
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Dotting for interest
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Almost Never watched more than the intro episope thaturned.me off quick. Oddly , I stumbled across the last episode where they were playing D&D. Thought they were discussing battle plans and got a good laugh when I saw they were playing D&D! I recall reading a thread that suggested an Inquisitor would be a good class for the "magical girl" theme. Examples were Buffy, rainbow bright, gem(tech) and the gelfling girl from the dark crystal. Hope that helps, if not for your pc, someone else.