Gatts [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Gatts [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
D.K.R.
04-22-04, 11:29 PM Not sure if many are familiar with the character Gatts from the Manga/Anime 'Berserk', but I am wanting to create a character based off of his same basic story - how would you incorporate it into a typical d&d setting?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
04-23-04, 10:32 AM Well your first problem with playing a gatts like character is that he is probably epic level when you get to thinking about it. However you can build him from the ground up at level one.

He's probably a fighter/barbarian mix. Feats include things like power attack and cleave.

But anyways, story wise it depends on how much you want to incorporate into a typical D&D setting. Now if your starting at epic levels you can toss all of it in. It is hard to have an NPC that became a devil and is trying to take over the world and you survived the abyss basicly at level one.

Alignment wise gatts would be neutral evil. He isn't chaotic because he has a certian goal and a way he wants to do things. He is evil though. He does fight for the greater good by killing the demons but he does it in a way that is evil, using innocent people as bait, not carrying about the innocent people, or about people's feeling. He's evil with some tendecys towards good.

There is a feat in vile darkness that is called Evil Brand, it gives you a +2 to diplomecy and itimidate checks.

I would use Gatts background except that he joined the mercenary group and while traveling they encountered a demon/devil that killed everyone except the main character who now has an undying hatred for any demons and devils. If your at low levels you can't really fight any of them since most evil outsiders have high CR's.
TheMightyMcClaw
04-23-04, 01:23 PM You'd better beware,
You'd better take care,
The SPOILERS are on the attack

I'd have to say that Gatts was more Lawful Neutral or straight-up neutral. He certainly wasn't a moralist; he even killed a little kid. But he DID at least feel bad about killing the little kid.
He also does show some motivation towards good; there's his obivously his wish to destroy Griffith at the end, the extents he takes to take care of Caska, as well as his reluctance to become an assassin. He still did it in the end though; showing that his moral standards weren't strong enough to disobey orders; a very LN moment.

As for class, he seems to represent the "Fighter" class in D&D as well as I've ever seen. Despite the name of the anime being "Berserk," he's really not a berserker in combat; he generally eps his head.

The 'epic level' thing wouldn't be much of a problem. Firstly, because combat characters are easy to scale up or down in power. Second, the anime does take place over a fair coarse of Gatts' life, as well as his "level". Just look at the two duels with Griffith.

Perhaps it was different in the Manga or the Dreamcast game, but most of the anime took place BEFORE Gatts had his little "encounter" in hell; thus, it seems like it would be easier to base a character off of that Gatts.
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
04-23-04, 08:38 PM Well I'm not sure where the anime cuts off, but in the manga only the first 13 volumes and a bit of the 14th happen in the past before it goes back to the present. (1st to about half of the third start in the present before the flash back of Gatts life, and the 14th volume picks up after the events of the first half of the 3rd volume) And continues on to currently volume 26 was the latest released.

Alignment is really up to the viewer/reader, but the alignment system again can't really accurtely show Gatt's alignment as he tends to shift to helpping people out but then followed by some sort of evil like act.

And I have to say YES he does have some barbarian class to him, he fuels all his hatred, anger and fear towards the demons/griffith. Which fuels some of his strange strength and stamina during such fights. Just remember that rage doesn't turn you into a mindless warrior.

Epic levels may or may not come to play in his campaign, but its hard to start out like Gatts post-eclipse if your only level 1. Even before the eclipse Gatts was either probably epic or high levels. Not many normal people can kill 100 people by themselves.

Background wise you can probably use most everything, you might have to change why your character hates demons/devils and wants to hunt them depending on what your DM says. Also you might want to change the events in your life depending once again on what level you start. Being famous for killing a hundred soldiers probably isn't possible unless they all lined up for you and you got healed after every fight. Again with Gatts first encounter with Zodd, a powerful demon (probably equivilent to a pit fiend about maybe?) and surviving it and even damaging the demon wouldn't be possible at level 1 unless the demon let you hit it for what ever reason.

Also the storyline revolving around Griffith ascending to god like hood would probably not be included for the fact that it's possible that the DM doesn't want such a powerful NPC for his or her campaign, an NPC you'd basicly design since it would be background related unless you sat down with said DM and talked it out.

Best thing to do would be to take your manga/anime and sit down with your DM to read/watch it so your DM gets a good idea.
BlackFlame
04-27-04, 02:21 AM Well.....as The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger said, alignment is hard to nail down for any character...Guts being particularly hard. He did good things....he did bad things....he felt bad, but he did them anyway. He couldn't really be trusted to follow the battle plans that had been laid out, and honestly couldn't really lead very well, he did ok, but he was no Griffith. Because of the huge behavior shifts I'd go with Chaotic Neutral. He was just one unpredictable guy, even though he had a goal and was VERY driven.
Strife
05-02-04, 07:07 AM Not a problem pre-eclipse - but if post eclipse, what kind of weapon would one use in a D&D setting to represent Gatts sword? ...somehow I doubt a fullblade would be enough...
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
05-02-04, 10:27 PM Probably large greatsword or huge longsword. By D&D standards Gatts is probably Epic level by that time or 'house ruled' since he has the strength he could use a weapon that size without the wield oversized weapon feat which is epic.
debatedeus
05-03-04, 12:15 PM Gatts need not be Epic level by the time the Anime is over.

When he fought and killed 100 men, he only barely did so. He blacked out at the end, so we don't know how he did it (Perhaps he went into a berserk rage, doesn't matter). Most of the people he fought were level 1 or 2 warriors. He defeated a man who killed 120 men at once easily, and took down Giffith in one swing before the eclipse, so I imagine he made it to about level 15 before the eclipse. After the eclipse Gatts might have made Epic, that's arguable, but he is definitely close.

In any case, I think that people decide that so and so a character has to be epic because they are really bad*****. It isn' the case; low level people are still really powerful compared to the average joe (read: us). According to the legend lore spell, a level 10 character has done enough awesome things that they are detectable by it.
Bantam
05-12-04, 12:18 AM One word: FULLBLADE!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
D.K.R. 04-22-04, 11:29 PM	Not sure if many are familiar with the character Gatts from the Manga/Anime 'Berserk', but I am wanting to create a character based off of his same basic story - how would you incorporate it into a typical d&d setting?
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 04-23-04, 10:32 AM	Well your first problem with playing a gatts like character is that he is probably epic level when you get to thinking about it. However you can build him from the ground up at level one. He's probably a fighter/barbarian mix. Feats include things like power attack and cleave. But anyways, story wise it depends on how much you want to incorporate into a typical D&D setting. Now if your starting at epic levels you can toss all of it in. It is hard to have an NPC that became a devil and is trying to take over the world and you survived the abyss basicly at level one. Alignment wise gatts would be neutral evil. He isn't chaotic because he has a certian goal and a way he wants to do things. He is evil though. He does fight for the greater good by killing the demons but he does it in a way that is evil, using innocent people as bait, not carrying about the innocent people, or about people's feeling. He's evil with some tendecys towards good. There is a feat in vile darkness that is called Evil Brand, it gives you a +2 to diplomecy and itimidate checks. I would use Gatts background except that he joined the mercenary group and while traveling they encountered a demon/devil that killed everyone except the main character who now has an undying hatred for any demons and devils. If your at low levels you can't really fight any of them since most evil outsiders have high CR's.
TheMightyMcClaw 04-23-04, 01:23 PM	You'd better beware, You'd better take care, The SPOILERS are on the attack I'd have to say that Gatts was more Lawful Neutral or straight-up neutral. He certainly wasn't a moralist; he even killed a little kid. But he DID at least feel bad about killing the little kid. He also does show some motivation towards good; there's his obivously his wish to destroy Griffith at the end, the extents he takes to take care of Caska, as well as his reluctance to become an assassin. He still did it in the end though; showing that his moral standards weren't strong enough to disobey orders; a very LN moment. As for class, he seems to represent the "Fighter" class in D&D as well as I've ever seen. Despite the name of the anime being "Berserk," he's really not a berserker in combat; he generally eps his head. The 'epic level' thing wouldn't be much of a problem. Firstly, because combat characters are easy to scale up or down in power. Second, the anime does take place over a fair coarse of Gatts' life, as well as his "level". Just look at the two duels with Griffith. Perhaps it was different in the Manga or the Dreamcast game, but most of the anime took place BEFORE Gatts had his little "encounter" in hell; thus, it seems like it would be easier to base a character off of that Gatts.
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 04-23-04, 08:38 PM	Well I'm not sure where the anime cuts off, but in the manga only the first 13 volumes and a bit of the 14th happen in the past before it goes back to the present. (1st to about half of the third start in the present before the flash back of Gatts life, and the 14th volume picks up after the events of the first half of the 3rd volume) And continues on to currently volume 26 was the latest released. Alignment is really up to the viewer/reader, but the alignment system again can't really accurtely show Gatt's alignment as he tends to shift to helpping people out but then followed by some sort of evil like act. And I have to say YES he does have some barbarian class to him, he fuels all his hatred, anger and fear towards the demons/griffith. Which fuels some of his strange strength and stamina during such fights. Just remember that rage doesn't turn you into a mindless warrior. Epic levels may or may not come to play in his campaign, but its hard to start out like Gatts post-eclipse if your only level 1. Even before the eclipse Gatts was either probably epic or high levels. Not many normal people can kill 100 people by themselves. Background wise you can probably use most everything, you might have to change why your character hates demons/devils and wants to hunt them depending on what your DM says. Also you might want to change the events in your life depending once again on what level you start. Being famous for killing a hundred soldiers probably isn't possible unless they all lined up for you and you got healed after every fight. Again with Gatts first encounter with Zodd, a powerful demon (probably equivilent to a pit fiend about maybe?) and surviving it and even damaging the demon wouldn't be possible at level 1 unless the demon let you hit it for what ever reason. Also the storyline revolving around Griffith ascending to god like hood would probably not be included for the fact that it's possible that the DM doesn't want such a powerful NPC for his or her campaign, an NPC you'd basicly design since it would be background related unless you sat down with said DM and talked it out. Best thing to do would be to take your manga/anime and sit down with your DM to read/watch it so your DM gets a good idea.
BlackFlame 04-27-04, 02:21 AM	Well.....as The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger said, alignment is hard to nail down for any character...Guts being particularly hard. He did good things....he did bad things....he felt bad, but he did them anyway. He couldn't really be trusted to follow the battle plans that had been laid out, and honestly couldn't really lead very well, he did ok, but he was no Griffith. Because of the huge behavior shifts I'd go with Chaotic Neutral. He was just one unpredictable guy, even though he had a goal and was VERY driven.
Strife 05-02-04, 07:07 AM	Not a problem pre-eclipse - but if post eclipse, what kind of weapon would one use in a D&D setting to represent Gatts sword? ...somehow I doubt a fullblade would be enough...
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 05-02-04, 10:27 PM	Probably large greatsword or huge longsword. By D&D standards Gatts is probably Epic level by that time or 'house ruled' since he has the strength he could use a weapon that size without the wield oversized weapon feat which is epic.
debatedeus 05-03-04, 12:15 PM	Gatts need not be Epic level by the time the Anime is over. When he fought and killed 100 men, he only barely did so. He blacked out at the end, so we don't know how he did it (Perhaps he went into a berserk rage, doesn't matter). Most of the people he fought were level 1 or 2 warriors. He defeated a man who killed 120 men at once easily, and took down Giffith in one swing before the eclipse, so I imagine he made it to about level 15 before the eclipse. After the eclipse Gatts might have made Epic, that's arguable, but he is definitely close. In any case, I think that people decide that so and so a character has to be epic because they are really bad*****. It isn' the case; low level people are still really powerful compared to the average joe (read: us). According to the legend lore spell, a level 10 character has done enough awesome things that they are detectable by it.
Bantam 05-12-04, 12:18 AM	One word: FULLBLADE!