Some fight scenes with Balsa from Seirei no Moribito
So, part of putting the system through its paces is feeling out the various ways you can tweak a concept to get a specific feel. Balsa is a straight up spear wielder, but there are lots little things that make a build not obvious. Looking for some ideas!
Ancestry: Human
Background: Martial Disciple (athletics)
Class: The one thing that's probably unavoidable is being Fighter, so that she can reach the peak of martial capability with a weapon. That's not to say she's legendary, but in an even matchup she doesn't fall behind anyone, which means her spear proficiency has to be at fighter levels.
Weapon: You would think Spear, obviously, right? But the weapon she uses is a shortspear for one, which is an unremarkable simple weapon with only Thrown as a redeeming trait. Longspear would work just fine, but its traits really don't help the rest of the character's tactics which are all non-lethal. The ideal weapon would be something spear-like with trip and disarm.
For mechanics, I think the war flail would be amazing. Sweep for her ability to take on multiple opponents at once, trip to knock people down and get away, and disarm to remove lethal threats. Too bad it's a huge flail!
Ranseur comes in next with reach and disarm, with a shape that could reasonably approximate Balsa's weapon if you squint.
The bo staff might be a winner with parry for defensive maneuver's like hers, and reach, and trip, and since she hardly ever actually attacks with the spear end, maybe your GM will let you just put a blade on the end for looks?
What would you do for her weapon?
Armor:
She is clearly lightly armored and has a high dexterity. I would think Explorer's Clothes may be sufficient.
Class Feats:
1: Sudden Charge. She's pretty fast to spring into action.
1: Exacting Strike. Seems like she'd be the type to not let a miss slow her down.
2: Lunge. She does quite a few lunges.
4: Knockdown? Quick Reversal? Swipe?
6: Really wish Guardian's Deflection didn't have the one hand free requirement. Maybe go back and get one I didn't grab at level 4?
8: Blind-fight. It seems like her combat senses are just really sharp.
10: Improved knockdown? Certain strike? Combat reflexes? Monk's Flurry? Basic Kata?
General Feats:
1: Assurance, athletics. To trip and disarm mooks.
3: Toughness. She's undeniably pretty sturdy.
7: Incredible initiative. She's quick to react to danger.
Ancestry Feats:
1. Natural ambition
5. General Training (Fleet)
9. Multitalented (Monk)
Oh hey, this show was fantastic!
I'd say that the bo staff is the best weapon to represent her fighting style; as you said, she doesn't actually stab anyone with her spear and for the most part uses it like a staff. I would lean heavily on the trip property - again, her main goal is to subdue enemies without killing them and knocking them on their butts is a good way to do that.
I think I'd actually build her as a Monk; that will allow her to go 18 STR/16 DEX while still having very good unarmored AC. I'd say she definitely has fast movement, and Flurry helps with her hyper mobile style that seems to work awfully well when thoroughly outnumbered.
I think I'd actually build her as a Monk; that will allow her to go 18 STR/16 DEX while still having very good unarmored AC. I'd say she definitely has fast movement, and Flurry helps with her hyper mobile style that seems to work awfully well when thoroughly outnumbered.
She does give a bunch of nasty headbutts and kicks... however I could multiclass for fast movement and flurry, but I can't multiclass for higher weapon proficiency. Hmmmm
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You also can't multiclass for higher unarmoured proficiency, though, and not getting hit is often as big a part of those big cinematic exchanges as actually attacking. Either way probably works, but I'd agree that monk is a closer fit out of the box.
My first thought was that it's too bad Monks have no special abilities with spears as that would be perfect. So if you're willing to switch to a bo staff...
Monk.
Monastic Weaponry, Stunning Fist, then well, that's actually enough of a base that you can play with the rest and get cinematic.
Many of her abilities, like awareness & proficiency, can be explained just as easily by her being a higher level. But her chassis is Monk.
Could you imagine her picking up a great club and using it just as well?
That'd be true with a Fighter build. And while a Fighter may have a higher attack roll, a Monk can flurry w/ it and stun people which shows a different kind of "better".
Plus, as stated, it's harder for a Fighter to go unarmored.
One problem is she's the main hero, so can do many things well. It may be hard to pick up enough skills or settle for 10 Int and so forth.
Yeah, but she's not just good. She was mentored by one of the greatest spear wielders to ever live (of the King's Spears) who praised her for her natural talents, and then she went on to become *so* good with the spear that she could afford to deal with threats non-lethally.
If she's not a prime case for someone with the highest skill level with a weapon possible, I don't really know who would be. She's not legendary just because the story's setting probably caps out at level 10.
The fact that she does take quite a few hits shows her AC is probably fine being a bit weaker.