Creating Darkness from Konosuba

[morairtym]

So I am attempting to create Darkness from Konosuba. For those who are not familiar with the series she is the epitome of the masochistic tank. Wiki on her here Darkness
I'm going to have to tone her back to PG-13 and not total tank her ability to hit.

My question for you is what Class/Archetype seams the best for her, and what feats would play to her fighting style?

Here is what I have came up with.

I'm leaning towards Paladin over the Cleric(Crusader) because she has not used spells yet (finished anime & reading light novel for more reference martial), and none of the core class ability's/bonus feats from Crusader, seam like a good fit for Darkness over that of the Paladin.

Archetypes - order by personality/usefulness
(Sword of Valor: Not surprised, Bonus to initiative, Temp HP buff & Just give up smite, but no bonus to saves) -- Seems like a good fit for darkness
(Divine Defender: More Def to go around & bond armor, but lose mercy) -- Seems right up her alley
(Core Paladin: detect evil,smite evil, LOH, ect...)
(Hospitaler: Free Channel Positive Energy & Aura of Healing, but lose Some uses of Smite Evil) -- When Darkness is around others hurt les, sounds like her
(Enlightened Paladin: +Cha to dodge & Free Improved Unarmed Strike, but lose med/heavy armor, detect evil, smite evil) -- Not so much darkness only light armor seams wrong
(Holy Tactician: Teamwork Feats & give them to others) -- Darkness is not much of a Tactician

Using a standard 25 point buy this is what I have come up with.
Human Female (LG)
Str: 15
Dex: 12
Con: (17)15+2
Int: 13
Wis: 7
Cha: 16

The main feats I am going for is Archon Style and that eats up a few feats and leaves lvl 7 open along with (11-19)
H: Combat Expertise
1: Improved Unarmed Strike
3: Archon Style
5: -Archon Diversion
7:
9: --Archon Justice

Mainly she will run up with the rest of her group and provided cover to her allies. Wielding a Longsword in one hand and keeping the other free for "Archon Diversion"

Here are some of the things I was think of to fill out the rest of the feats
Chains
Fast Healer: Endurance>Diehard>Fast Healer
Ultimate Mercy: Greater Mercy>Ultimate Mercy
Osyluth Guile: Dodge>Osyluth Guile
Single
Selective Channeling
Extra Channel
Extra Lay on Hands
Toughness
Power Attack

Idea(1)
Feats
H: Combat Expertise
1: Improved Unarmed Strike
3: Archon Style
5: -Archon Diversion
7: Endurance
9: --Archon Justice
11: -Diehard
13: --Fast Healer
15: Greater Mercy
17: -Ultimate Mercy
19: ??

Idea(2)
Feats
H: Combat Expertise
1: Improved Unarmed Strike
3: Archon Style
5: -Archon Diversion
7: Dodge
9: --Archon Justice
11: Osyluth Guile
13: Extra Channel
15: Selective Channeling
17: Greater Mercy
19: -Ultimate Mercy

[kingspikearcher]

I appreciate that this is a serious case of thread necromancy, but this post was the only one that showed up when I Googled the idea! I recently got introduced to Konosuba – the show has some issues but I love the character of Darkness. Our long-term Pathfinder game is on hiatus and my deprived brain latched onto the idea of how I would build her in the system. After several days of compulsive research I'm posting it here in order to get it out of my head...

In my eyes the core feature of Darkness is that she jumps in front of allies to take hits instead of them (partially due to the ulterior motive of extreme masochism). After lengthy searching I've found three ways to do that: the In Harm's Way feat, the Archon Distraction feat and the Stalwart Defender's Intercept power all allow you to suffer a hit for an adjacent ally.
Since Darkness often leaps in from some distance I had hoped to eventually upgrade to moving up before taking the hit. Sadly the game doesn't support this. An 11th level Honor Guard can move up to their ward, but voluntary movement as an immediate action precludes using In Harm's Way or Intercept afterwards (and since both issuing a challenge and entering a stance are swift actions, Archon Distraction can't be used before turn 2). Combat Patrol has potential, but only if the attacker triggers an attack of opportunity before or during their own attack. This could be forced by using the Tactician feature to give everyone Broken Wing Gambit and encouraging them to use it, but that is a lot of effort and hassle for a dubious chance of success. I eventually gave up on the idea. Since what we are left with requires multiple combat feats or a prestige class that doesn't work with rage, I went for Fighter over the slightly tougher Barbarian.

Darkness is mostly about Constitution, but will need Intelligence and Dexterity to use or qualify for some early feats. Using the 15 point buy option and assigning the Human +2 to Con, I ended up with:
Str 12, Dex 13, Con 17, Cha 10, Int 13, Wis 10
Traits:
Pain is Pleasure – for obvious reasons. I'd call Darkness Lawful Good, but Lawful Neutral is acceptable if you focus on her selfish ulterior motives. (Or complain to your GM about the problematic nature of restricting masochism to the non-good and see if they'll waive the restriction).
Rich Parents – average starting gold won't get you a breastplate and a greatsword. This allows you masterworked versions of both, or a masterworked agile breastplate if you prefer.
If the GM will allow you to pull from obscure first party sources, take the Overprotective drawback and grab Cooperative Combatant as well. It will be invaluable.

Level 1:
Take the Unbreakable Archetype – exchanging the 1st level bonus feat for both Endurance and Diehard is too good to pass up. Get Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard as your other feats.
Ensure you take 3 points of Acrobatics in the first 5 levels. I'd also recommend taking a point in Intimidate and/or Diplomacy every level if you want Antagonise later. Always take +1 HP as your favoured class bonus.

Level 2:
Take the In Harm's Way feat. This brings the character's main point 'online'. You also get a strictly better replacement for Bravery.

Level 3:
Take Toughness. You also get Armour Training 1 so you can move at normal speed again.

Level 4:
Raise Con to 18 for more HP! All the rest of the Ability increases will probably go into Con too. Take Combat Expertise. This allows you to take an attack penalty in exchange for better defense, which is always appropriate to this character. It is mostly for later use though.

Level 5:
Misses often represent attacks bouncing harmlessly off the target. However, Darkness' ability to endure/enjoy taking hits is more satisfying to represent using Damage Reduction. AC also doesn't help when you are In Harm's Way. The Stalwart feat allows you to convert the dodge bonus of total defense, fighting defensively and Combat Expertise into DR/- to a maximum of 5. By fighting defensively for +3 AC (assuming you took those 3 ranks of Acrobatics) and using Combat Expertise at BAB 5 Darkness can flail ineffectually at -6 to hit in exchange for taking the return hits against herself or an ally with DR5/-. (We also get Heroic Recovery instead of Weapon Training). This is a pretty much perfect portrayal of her by level 5, so I'd call that a win!
One problem that may arise is that using In Harm's Way requires successful use of Aid Another. This means hitting AC 10, which is no sure thing at -6 to hit. If you got Cooperative Combatant you should have at least a 65% chance though. If your GM allows you to fight defensively when using Aid Another as a Standard Action (a hotly debated topic) you can spend your turn doing that and use Bodyguard as a second chance if it fails.

Level 6:
If the GM is restricting the sources you can use, take Dodge and go into Stalwart Defender next level. This isn't optimal though because Intercept and In Harm's Way can't be used on the same turn. If possible take Archon Style this level instead, since Archon Diversion can be.

Level 7:
It is typically best to take General feats at odd numbered levels since they can't be taken as bonus feats. I have three ideas for levels 7 and 9 – take the two you like best in any order.
The Unbreakable feat is a less good version of Toughness, but stacks with it and this build can never have enough HP. It also allows you to fall further into negatives before death.
Depending on how the discussion around Pain is Pleasure went, Flagellant is a possibility. It reduces the effect of nonlethal damage to the point that you never pass out from it. This is mostly for flavour as we don't have anything to 'downgrade' regular damage to nonlethal.
Antagonise is an alternative means of forcing a more distant foe to swing at you instead of others when used with Intimidate. It can also be used to 'fluster' a foe with Diplomacy – a fun way to represent how enemies on the show often react to her eagerness. The issue is that you will need to spend a huge chunk of your scarce skill points on these skills and the lack of any other bonuses will still make you mediocre at the required rolls. If you do take Antagonise consider Persuasive as your other feat instead of the two above.

You also get Armour Training 2. Whilst useful, I would drop the bonuses in favour of the Advanced Armour Training option Armoured Sacrifice. It requires your immediate action for the turn, but can save the life of yourself or an ally by shifting the damage of a lethal hit to your armour (probably smashing it off you in the process). This is very Konosuba...

Level 8:
Take Archon Diversion. You can now take an extra hit per turn for an ally with fewer conditions to activate. The feat does require a shield or free hand to use, which is an issue as Darkness uses a greatsword. Strap a masterwork buckler to your arm and embrace another -1 to hit in order to tank better. The buckler can also be nominated instead of your breastplate when using Armoured Sacrifice, making it more practical and economical to carry spares.

Level 9:
Take another feat from the list above. Get Heroic Defiance for free.

Level 10:
Take Dodge. It still makes sense to move into Stalwart Defender eventually and this is the only prerequisite you still need. (Take it at level 9 for earlier entry). Unflinching increases again.

Level 11:
You now qualify for the Improved Stalwart feat which will double the DR you gain to 10/-. There are two options for class this level – starting Stalwart Defender now will maximize your final DR and allow you to take Bolstered Resilience at level 15 instead of 17. On the other hand, taking one more level of Fighter provides immediate benefits. You can use Armoured Sacrifice twice per day (which could be life or death) and become cured of fatigue whenever you receive healing (handy later if we have to break stance to move mid-combat).

Level 12-20:
These levels are all Stalwart Defender. For defensive powers I would recommend Intercept and Roused Defense for the first two, with Increased Damage Reduction at class levels 6 and 8. If you get a fifth, Mighty Resilience and Renewed Defense are both good candidates.
Favoured Prestige Class is a reasonably good feat at level 15 if you took either Unbreakable or Antagonise as earlier feats. Bolstered Resilience will make a good pick after your 5th class level gives you permanent DR. I don't have any other suggestions - to be honest most campaigns don't get this high and even fewer players will run a one-trick anime character for this long without getting tired of them.

The most important purchase for this character is one that you should check with your GM. The downtime rules for retraining allow you to compensate for low hit dice rolls by paying (30 x level) gp for +1 HP unless you already have the maximum. You should throw gold at this to the point where you leave each level on maximum HP. Unfortunately each purchase requires 3 days of downtime with an appropriate level trainer, so it is worth telling the GM that this is something you want to do.

Obviously Darkness should be wearing the biggest Con and save boosting items you can get at any given time. Benevolent or Fortified armour will help too. Things that provide elemental resistance will become vital as her poor Reflex save starts to tell. If you take Antagonise get the Circlet of Persuasion. Rings of Friend Shield will be perfect when you can afford their huge cost. An item that provides the Sadomasochism spell will probably be counter-productive – it increases the damage you both deal and receive and you won't be dishing out enough to balance the scales. Of course, forcing foes to make Will saves every time they hit you is fun.