castlevania like class [Archive] - Wizards Community

castlevania like class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
invaladuser
12-25-06, 08:55 PM What would you suggest as a good castlevania like class. Undead and abberation fighter, With spell casting, or spell like abilitys. I was wondering what other people have though up on this topic since I have seen a few threads talking about a castlevania themed campaign. So what do you think makes a good castlevania like charater?
Grizzled Gryphon
12-25-06, 09:10 PM Well, for me, a cleric comes to mind. However, that doesn't adress the abberation theme, though.

Perhaps a ranger with favored enemies being undead and abberations? Give him a whip dagger, and your all set.

At least, that is what comes to mind at first blush.
Fatalis_902
12-25-06, 10:49 PM I tired this once. Home-brew class, based on Nathan Graves from Circle of the Moon. Had limited proficiency (whip and sub-weapons only), but whip damage scaled at a slightly lower rate than a monk's unarmed strike damage. Also, the whip could deal full lethal damage, even to armored targets. The whip the vampire killer was using eventually gained the ability to overcome DR/evil or whatever vampires have. Also, the whip was able to destroy a vampire, whether or not its coffin or a stake were handy. It gained the special item abilities (kick boots, double jump, roc wing, etc.), but I could not figure out how to implement DSS. Maybe as Invoctaions, I don't know? What would be interesting would be to see a Soma-esque class that capturres the souls of its enemies.:P
invaladuser
12-25-06, 10:55 PM I tired this once. Home-brew class, based on Nathan Graves from Circle of the Moon. Had limited proficiency (whip and sub-weapons only), but whip damage scaled at a slightly lower rate than a monk's unarmed strike damage. Also, the whip could deal full lethal damage, even to armored targets. The whip the vampire killer was using eventually gained the ability to overcome DR/evil or whatever vampires have. Also, the whip was able to destroy a vampire, whether or not its coffin or a stake were handy. It gained the special item abilities (kick boots, double jump, roc wing, etc.), but I could not figure out how to implement DSS. Maybe as Invoctaions, I don't know? What would be interesting would be to see a Soma-esque class that capturres the souls of its enemies.:P

Cool. A few question though. 1. whats circle of the moon? never even heard of it.
2.what scale would you use?
3. what is DSS?
4. A some like character would be really cool, but involve way to many more rules to figure it out. (betting it will come out in a source book eventually)
Fenris_Lathiin
12-26-06, 12:15 AM Circle of the Moon was the first Castlevania game on the Gameboy Advance. The DSS was the magic system, which was based on the use of card combinations to produce magic spells.

My question, however, is what do you mean by a "Castlevania-like character?" Do you want to emulate one of the existing Castlevania characters, or do you want to play a character that would concievably exist in a Castlevania-esque world?

If you want to emulate one of the existing characters, who would you want to be? A Belmont (or one of the offshoots)? A Belenades? Grant DaNasty? Alucard? Soma? You'll have to specifiy.

On the other hand, if you just want to be a character that could concievably pop up in a Castlevania game, than things might be a bit easier. You said you want to be an undead and abberation fighter (although I would say fiends are more common on Castlevania's grounds than abberations), which implies Ranger, as Grizzled Gryphon pointed out. He also mentioned cleric, which would be a good choice as well. Personally, I'd go with a Ranger/Cleric multiclass of some kind. I'm not too sure if it's a combo with good synergy or not, but it might work.
invaladuser
12-26-06, 11:06 AM I was thinking a character that would be able to pop up in the castlevania series. I forgot about the fiends. But a belmont like character was one of the things I was origanly thing of.
Fenris_Lathiin
12-26-06, 01:27 PM Personally, I've always thought of the Belmonts to be one of the combat classes with a template slapped on, carrying around a minor artifact. I want to say a Warblade would be a good choice, but I can't remember if a whip is considered a melee weapon or a ranged (and I'm too lazy to check the SRD). If it's melee, I'd say go with a Warblade or maybe a Swordsage. If a whip is ranged, a Ranger/Fighter combo would probably work the best.

The Belmont's generally don't really have much in the way of magic powers outside of a few tricks (the Grand Cross comes to mind) and seem to focus mainly on physical strength. Granted, every so often we get someone with crazy powers like Juste, but most of them are like Simon, Trevor or Chris; a definite focus on physical power over magic. I'd avoid the spell casting classes if you want to be a Belmont.

Another thing to think about is the Vampire Killer. It's obviously a powerful weapon, probably a minor artifact or a very powerful magic item. I doubt it's a whip you'll be able to carry around at level one, unless you go the Portrait of Ruin route.
HxHunter
12-26-06, 05:01 PM Ranger 3/Fighter 2/Master Thrower 5 with undead as favored enemy and spiked chain with the holy Enhancement. Perhaps adding Witch Slayer for Mettle.

Other types of chain that can be used only with one hand are more whip-like (Drow Scorpion Chain if i'm not wrong).
invaladuser
12-26-06, 05:30 PM I was thinking the whip would be like a legacy weapon. That way it can improve with you level and what you have done.
Cainin
12-26-06, 05:34 PM The 3.0 Lasher prestige (Sword & Fist) may also be a way to go. Combined with Exotic Weapon Master, you could have some interesting results.
Fenris_Lathiin
12-27-06, 12:08 AM the Vampire Killer as a legacy weapon could work. I've always thought of it as a powerful magic weapon. Last time I statted it out, it was a +5 Holy Whip that did 2d6 lethal damage and automatically destroyed vampires when they reach 0 hit points. It could probably use some work.
invaladuser
12-27-06, 12:46 PM yeah. How do you think a belmont templet would work out, for stat incresses and ECL
Fenris_Lathiin
12-27-06, 01:47 PM Honestly, I've got no clue. From what I can gather from the in-game story, they're much stronger than the average human, can use the Vampire Killer without any significant problems and have remarkable agility. Unfortunately, you can't really compare them to anyone else, since everyone that shows up in Castlevania is either A. Supernaturally powered or B. doesn't do anything.

Take heed, possible spoilers for many Castlevania games below.

Take Dawn of Sorrow as an example. There are only three "normal" humans in whole game, and one of them (Yoko) is a magic user. Hammer and Mina don't do anything, so they only people you have to compare Julius Belmont to are Soma, Yoko and (in Julius Mode) Alucard. Even then, it's difficult to tell how much power Julius has, since he's well past his prime (he's in his mid-fifties, after all, although he looks about 15 years younger than he is).

The only other comparison we've got is between Richter and Maria in Chi no Rondo and the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. However, I've not played either of those games, so all I know comes from heresay. As I understand it, Maria is actually more powerful than Richter, but she's magically protected by some kind of pantheon of animal gods or something of that nature.

I'm sorry, but it's just difficult to figure out just what exactly a Belmont would have. Some guidelines, I think, would be improved physical stats (Str, Dex and Con), the ability to use the Vampire Killer with no adverse effects, some spell-like abilities that scale with hit dice and Whip, Dagger and Throwing axe proficencies, I guess.
TheCarrionCrawler
12-27-06, 02:46 PM You could try this (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=723091) thread too. Went through Simon Belmont ideas.
Nikku
12-30-06, 11:27 PM Honestly, I've got no clue. From what I can gather from the in-game story, they're much stronger than the average human, can use the Vampire Killer without any significant problems and have remarkable agility. Unfortunately, you can't really compare them to anyone else, since everyone that shows up in Castlevania is either A. Supernaturally powered or B. doesn't do anything.

Take heed, possible spoilers for many Castlevania games below.

Take Dawn of Sorrow as an example. There are only three "normal" humans in whole game, and one of them (Yoko) is a magic user. Hammer and Mina don't do anything, so they only people you have to compare Julius Belmont to are Soma, Yoko and (in Julius Mode) Alucard. Even then, it's difficult to tell how much power Julius has, since he's well past his prime (he's in his mid-fifties, after all, although he looks about 15 years younger than he is).

The only other comparison we've got is between Richter and Maria in Chi no Rondo and the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. However, I've not played either of those games, so all I know comes from heresay. As I understand it, Maria is actually more powerful than Richter, but she's magically protected by some kind of pantheon of animal gods or something of that nature.

I'm sorry, but it's just difficult to figure out just what exactly a Belmont would have. Some guidelines, I think, would be improved physical stats (Str, Dex and Con), the ability to use the Vampire Killer with no adverse effects, some spell-like abilities that scale with hit dice and Whip, Dagger and Throwing axe proficencies, I guess.

I'm going to second this, this is the real problem. There isn't much information and really however, the other problem I think, is according to the game series, the Belmont's are really nothing too special, it's the whip that gives them their great power, the power to banish undead and evil etc.

Random note, before I go into major detail. Yes, Maria is like a 1000 times more powerful, both in Rondo, and Symphony of the Night. Maria's pantheon like powers involve invoking the animals then... well.. unleashing --death-- in spirtual doom, such as waves of fire, meteors crashing down, energy bolts from her fingers, or becoming invincible and just touching things to their doom. ...Her young form, she throws Doves and Dragons out which are disgustingly powerful.

Spoilers from Castlevania lie within. So, here's my warning.

So, here we go. Let's start with what we know about the Belmonts? According to Lament of Innocence [PS2], as the first Belmont before Sophia now, this one explains the origin and powers of Vampire Killer, Leon really wasn't anything too special, other then a remarkable soldier.

It was the craftsman ship and the unlocking of Vampire Killer which brought out his full potential. Each Belmont has some other special catch to them, but usually, that could just be represented as class training or another type of item, really, it was nothing "blood line" with the exception of Juste, who I believed said to have magic from Sypha.

Now, according to Castlevania Bloodlines, other people, such as the Moriss Family can use Vampire Killer, as John Moriss uses the whip to bring down Dracula. Also, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin expands on this idea, with Jonathan Moriss who uses his father's whip, and mid-game explains that Vampire Killer (The whip) drained his father's life. Then it's further mentioned that Vampire Killer's power is 'blocked' from other bloodlines and people from using it, however the Lecarde family's special power is to unlock and "trick" Vampire Killer into thinking that the Moriss family is a Belmont, but it still drains their life force it seems.

So really, all it seems being a Belmont gets you is the ability to wield Vampire Killer at it's full potential without it killing you, and a bad curse to have to deal with Dracula. Some more then others.

In regards to other people, it seems like as long as you're well trained (or a child. :mymy: ) you can get through Dracula's castle, deal with his minions etc. Examples of people: Grant Danasty (CV 3 ), Cornell (Granted, he was a werewolf..., CV64 2 ), Henry Oldrey (CV64 1&2), Nathan Graves (Circle of the Moon), Hector (Curse of Darkness, though he was Dracula's apprentice), Charles Vincent (C64), plus all the other characters who get through, they all seem to do either through skill and or magic.

Spoilerness over, short story done, I think you can get the job done with a good background story, a bloodline or really small template, unless I'm forgetting something the Belmont's really weren't too all special instant, it was the training, situations and life experiences that they went through who made them who they were.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
invaladuser 12-25-06, 08:55 PM	What would you suggest as a good castlevania like class. Undead and abberation fighter, With spell casting, or spell like abilitys. I was wondering what other people have though up on this topic since I have seen a few threads talking about a castlevania themed campaign. So what do you think makes a good castlevania like charater?
Grizzled Gryphon 12-25-06, 09:10 PM	Well, for me, a cleric comes to mind. However, that doesn't adress the abberation theme, though. Perhaps a ranger with favored enemies being undead and abberations? Give him a whip dagger, and your all set. At least, that is what comes to mind at first blush.
Fatalis_902 12-25-06, 10:49 PM	I tired this once. Home-brew class, based on Nathan Graves from Circle of the Moon. Had limited proficiency (whip and sub-weapons only), but whip damage scaled at a slightly lower rate than a monk's unarmed strike damage. Also, the whip could deal full lethal damage, even to armored targets. The whip the vampire killer was using eventually gained the ability to overcome DR/evil or whatever vampires have. Also, the whip was able to destroy a vampire, whether or not its coffin or a stake were handy. It gained the special item abilities (kick boots, double jump, roc wing, etc.), but I could not figure out how to implement DSS. Maybe as Invoctaions, I don't know? What would be interesting would be to see a Soma-esque class that capturres the souls of its enemies.:P
invaladuser 12-25-06, 10:55 PM	I tired this once. Home-brew class, based on Nathan Graves from Circle of the Moon. Had limited proficiency (whip and sub-weapons only), but whip damage scaled at a slightly lower rate than a monk's unarmed strike damage. Also, the whip could deal full lethal damage, even to armored targets. The whip the vampire killer was using eventually gained the ability to overcome DR/evil or whatever vampires have. Also, the whip was able to destroy a vampire, whether or not its coffin or a stake were handy. It gained the special item abilities (kick boots, double jump, roc wing, etc.), but I could not figure out how to implement DSS. Maybe as Invoctaions, I don't know? What would be interesting would be to see a Soma-esque class that capturres the souls of its enemies.:P Cool. A few question though. 1. whats circle of the moon? never even heard of it. 2.what scale would you use? 3. what is DSS? 4. A some like character would be really cool, but involve way to many more rules to figure it out. (betting it will come out in a source book eventually)
Fenris_Lathiin 12-26-06, 12:15 AM	Circle of the Moon was the first Castlevania game on the Gameboy Advance. The DSS was the magic system, which was based on the use of card combinations to produce magic spells. My question, however, is what do you mean by a "Castlevania-like character?" Do you want to emulate one of the existing Castlevania characters, or do you want to play a character that would concievably exist in a Castlevania-esque world? If you want to emulate one of the existing characters, who would you want to be? A Belmont (or one of the offshoots)? A Belenades? Grant DaNasty? Alucard? Soma? You'll have to specifiy. On the other hand, if you just want to be a character that could concievably pop up in a Castlevania game, than things might be a bit easier. You said you want to be an undead and abberation fighter (although I would say fiends are more common on Castlevania's grounds than abberations), which implies Ranger, as Grizzled Gryphon pointed out. He also mentioned cleric, which would be a good choice as well. Personally, I'd go with a Ranger/Cleric multiclass of some kind. I'm not too sure if it's a combo with good synergy or not, but it might work.
invaladuser 12-26-06, 11:06 AM	I was thinking a character that would be able to pop up in the castlevania series. I forgot about the fiends. But a belmont like character was one of the things I was origanly thing of.
Fenris_Lathiin 12-26-06, 01:27 PM	Personally, I've always thought of the Belmonts to be one of the combat classes with a template slapped on, carrying around a minor artifact. I want to say a Warblade would be a good choice, but I can't remember if a whip is considered a melee weapon or a ranged (and I'm too lazy to check the SRD). If it's melee, I'd say go with a Warblade or maybe a Swordsage. If a whip is ranged, a Ranger/Fighter combo would probably work the best. The Belmont's generally don't really have much in the way of magic powers outside of a few tricks (the Grand Cross comes to mind) and seem to focus mainly on physical strength. Granted, every so often we get someone with crazy powers like Juste, but most of them are like Simon, Trevor or Chris; a definite focus on physical power over magic. I'd avoid the spell casting classes if you want to be a Belmont. Another thing to think about is the Vampire Killer. It's obviously a powerful weapon, probably a minor artifact or a very powerful magic item. I doubt it's a whip you'll be able to carry around at level one, unless you go the Portrait of Ruin route.
HxHunter 12-26-06, 05:01 PM	Ranger 3/Fighter 2/Master Thrower 5 with undead as favored enemy and spiked chain with the holy Enhancement. Perhaps adding Witch Slayer for Mettle. Other types of chain that can be used only with one hand are more whip-like (Drow Scorpion Chain if i'm not wrong).
invaladuser 12-26-06, 05:30 PM	I was thinking the whip would be like a legacy weapon. That way it can improve with you level and what you have done.
Cainin 12-26-06, 05:34 PM	The 3.0 Lasher prestige (Sword & Fist) may also be a way to go. Combined with Exotic Weapon Master, you could have some interesting results.
Fenris_Lathiin 12-27-06, 12:08 AM	the Vampire Killer as a legacy weapon could work. I've always thought of it as a powerful magic weapon. Last time I statted it out, it was a +5 Holy Whip that did 2d6 lethal damage and automatically destroyed vampires when they reach 0 hit points. It could probably use some work.
invaladuser 12-27-06, 12:46 PM	yeah. How do you think a belmont templet would work out, for stat incresses and ECL
Fenris_Lathiin 12-27-06, 01:47 PM	Honestly, I've got no clue. From what I can gather from the in-game story, they're much stronger than the average human, can use the Vampire Killer without any significant problems and have remarkable agility. Unfortunately, you can't really compare them to anyone else, since everyone that shows up in Castlevania is either A. Supernaturally powered or B. doesn't do anything. Take heed, possible spoilers for many Castlevania games below. Take Dawn of Sorrow as an example. There are only three "normal" humans in whole game, and one of them (Yoko) is a magic user. Hammer and Mina don't do anything, so they only people you have to compare Julius Belmont to are Soma, Yoko and (in Julius Mode) Alucard. Even then, it's difficult to tell how much power Julius has, since he's well past his prime (he's in his mid-fifties, after all, although he looks about 15 years younger than he is). The only other comparison we've got is between Richter and Maria in Chi no Rondo and the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. However, I've not played either of those games, so all I know comes from heresay. As I understand it, Maria is actually more powerful than Richter, but she's magically protected by some kind of pantheon of animal gods or something of that nature. I'm sorry, but it's just difficult to figure out just what exactly a Belmont would have. Some guidelines, I think, would be improved physical stats (Str, Dex and Con), the ability to use the Vampire Killer with no adverse effects, some spell-like abilities that scale with hit dice and Whip, Dagger and Throwing axe proficencies, I guess.
TheCarrionCrawler 12-27-06, 02:46 PM	You could try this (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=723091) thread too. Went through Simon Belmont ideas.
Nikku 12-30-06, 11:27 PM	Honestly, I've got no clue. From what I can gather from the in-game story, they're much stronger than the average human, can use the Vampire Killer without any significant problems and have remarkable agility. Unfortunately, you can't really compare them to anyone else, since everyone that shows up in Castlevania is either A. Supernaturally powered or B. doesn't do anything. Take heed, possible spoilers for many Castlevania games below. Take Dawn of Sorrow as an example. There are only three "normal" humans in whole game, and one of them (Yoko) is a magic user. Hammer and Mina don't do anything, so they only people you have to compare Julius Belmont to are Soma, Yoko and (in Julius Mode) Alucard. Even then, it's difficult to tell how much power Julius has, since he's well past his prime (he's in his mid-fifties, after all, although he looks about 15 years younger than he is). The only other comparison we've got is between Richter and Maria in Chi no Rondo and the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night. However, I've not played either of those games, so all I know comes from heresay. As I understand it, Maria is actually more powerful than Richter, but she's magically protected by some kind of pantheon of animal gods or something of that nature. I'm sorry, but it's just difficult to figure out just what exactly a Belmont would have. Some guidelines, I think, would be improved physical stats (Str, Dex and Con), the ability to use the Vampire Killer with no adverse effects, some spell-like abilities that scale with hit dice and Whip, Dagger and Throwing axe proficencies, I guess. I'm going to second this, this is the real problem. There isn't much information and really however, the other problem I think, is according to the game series, the Belmont's are really nothing too special, it's the whip that gives them their great power, the power to banish undead and evil etc. Random note, before I go into major detail. Yes, Maria is like a 1000 times more powerful, both in Rondo, and Symphony of the Night. Maria's pantheon like powers involve invoking the animals then... well.. unleashing --death-- in spirtual doom, such as waves of fire, meteors crashing down, energy bolts from her fingers, or becoming invincible and just touching things to their doom. ...Her young form, she throws Doves and Dragons out which are disgustingly powerful. Spoilers from Castlevania lie within. So, here's my warning. So, here we go. Let's start with what we know about the Belmonts? According to Lament of Innocence [PS2], as the first Belmont before Sophia now, this one explains the origin and powers of Vampire Killer, Leon really wasn't anything too special, other then a remarkable soldier. It was the craftsman ship and the unlocking of Vampire Killer which brought out his full potential. Each Belmont has some other special catch to them, but usually, that could just be represented as class training or another type of item, really, it was nothing "blood line" with the exception of Juste, who I believed said to have magic from Sypha. Now, according to Castlevania Bloodlines, other people, such as the Moriss Family can use Vampire Killer, as John Moriss uses the whip to bring down Dracula. Also, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin expands on this idea, with Jonathan Moriss who uses his father's whip, and mid-game explains that Vampire Killer (The whip) drained his father's life. Then it's further mentioned that Vampire Killer's power is 'blocked' from other bloodlines and people from using it, however the Lecarde family's special power is to unlock and "trick" Vampire Killer into thinking that the Moriss family is a Belmont, but it still drains their life force it seems. So really, all it seems being a Belmont gets you is the ability to wield Vampire Killer at it's full potential without it killing you, and a bad curse to have to deal with Dracula. Some more then others. In regards to other people, it seems like as long as you're well trained (or a child. :mymy: ) you can get through Dracula's castle, deal with his minions etc. Examples of people: Grant Danasty (CV 3 ), Cornell (Granted, he was a werewolf..., CV64 2 ), Henry Oldrey (CV64 1&2), Nathan Graves (Circle of the Moon), Hector (Curse of Darkness, though he was Dracula's apprentice), Charles Vincent (C64), plus all the other characters who get through, they all seem to do either through skill and or magic. Spoilerness over, short story done, I think you can get the job done with a good background story, a bloodline or really small template, unless I'm forgetting something the Belmont's really weren't too all special instant, it was the training, situations and life experiences that they went through who made them who they were.