-street fighter
-mortal kombat
-fatal fury
-soul calibur
even the less remebered ones:
-Battle Arena Toshinden
-Killer Instict
-Mace: the dark age (anyone else remember this one?
)There could be stuff if you wanted to crate you own similar themed characters, or the iconic characters themselves.
Opinions, please? Thanks.
I remember Mace: The Dark Age, but I've never actually played it. Mace was one of the very few fighting games available for the Nintendo64.
OK, out of all the games you listed I'm most familiar with Soul Calibur. Specifically, Raphael from Soul Calibur II. Incidentally, Soul Calibur was one of the games mentioned by name as a source of inspiration for ToBBoNS.
Soul Charging is best represented, in my opinion, by psionic focus and feats such as Psionic Weapon. Diamond Mind has strong synergy with psionics anyway, since by you can take 15 (like taking 10, but better) on any Concentration check by expending your psionic focus.
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Raphael Sorel
Human Warblade 13
Abilities (elite array): Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 10
Notable Equipment: +5 leather armor, +4 rapier
Armor Class: 20 (+7 armor, +3 Dex), Flatfooted 20, Touch 13
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +5
Base Attack +13/+8/+3, Grapple +14
Melee Attack: +20 rapier 1d6+5 or +16 unarmed strike 1d10+1
Skills: Concentration +18, Jump +21, Knowledge (History) +8, Martial Lore +8, Perform (Dance) +8, Tumble +23
These are just Raphael's most important skills. Customize the rest as you see fit.
Feats: Wild Talent, Weapon Finesse, Psionic Weapon, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Trip, Blade Meditation (Diamond Mind)*, Acrobatic*, Iron Will*, Combat Reflexes, *Combat Reflexes
* Warblade bonus feat
Class Features:
Battle Clarity: Int to reflex saves
Weapon Aptitude: Easy retraining for weapon feats
Uncanny Dodge: As barbarian
Battle Ardor: Int to critical confirmation rolls
Improved Uncanny Dodge: Can't be flanked
Battle Cunning: Int to damage on flatfooted/flanked foes
Initiator Level: 13 (7th level maneuvers)
Maneuvers Readied: 4
Maneuvers:
1st; sapphire nightmare blade, steely strike, douse the flames
2nd; claw at the moon, wall of blades
3rd; insightful strike
4th; white raven tactics
5th; disrupting blow
6th; greater insightful strike
7th; avalanche of blades
Stances: stance of clarity, punishing stance, dancing blade form
Style: Raphael has unusually long reach with his vertical attacks. He can constantly needle the other player from afar, while staying just out of reach of all but maybe Kilik and Seung Mina. This is the Dancing Blade Form stance, which gives you +5 foot reach but only on your turn (so you can't take AoO's on people 10 feet away).
When Raphael closes in, he can do some very decent damage, but he leaves himself open a lot, even when blocking. This is the Punishing Stance, which lets your attacks deal +1d6 damage but lowers your AC by -2.
When he needs to, Raphael can shift into a very light-footed and hard to hit style. This is Stance Of Clarity, which gives you a +2 bonus to AC against one person. When switching from Punishing Stance to Stance Of Clarity, the difference is a dramatic 4 points of AC.
These stances form the basis of Raphael's style. He will always be in one of these stances, since stances last forever and it only takes a swift action to change your stance.
Techniques: Soul Calibur II has a very subtle and nuanced system of moves, which contrasts heavily with D&D's highly abstracted combat system. Tome Of Battle lowers the abstraction somewhat, but even then more than half of Raphael's attacks simply boil down to "5-ft step and full attack."
Soul Charge: Raphael's face is contorted with concentration, as he focuses all of his will, all of his heart, and all of his soul into his sword. This technique is nothing more than gaining psionic focus, and then losing it on your next turn to fuel the Psionic Weapon feat, or to take 15 on a Concentration check as part of a Diamond Mind strike. Psionic Weapon add +2d6 damage to a single attack.
Unending Stings: Raphael steps forward, with one hand he forces an opening, with the other he delivers a lightning-fast barrage of stabs from his rapier. To perform this technique you must first initiate an avalanche of blades strike to deliver the "stings," then initiate the White Raven Tactics boost to take another turn. On this turn, take a full attack to attack with your rapier and trip your opponent.
Avalanche of blades lets you keep making attacks at cumulative -4 penalties until you miss.
Spiral Envelopment/Circular Envelopment: Raphael spins his sword and taunts his enemy, but when they attack he steps out of the way and counter attacks with blinding speed. This move is actually eight moves. A sidestep followed by a kick, a stab, a wide slash, or a series of small slashes, which can be in response to either a vertical or horizontal attack (depending on whether you use Spiral or Circular). But that's in the videogame. In D&D, abstraction keeps it a little simpler.
This is the Wall Of Blades counter, followed up with a strike or full attack on your turn.
Quick Parade + Staccato Rampage: "Go for it!" Raphael taunts, before parrying his enemy's attack, delivering a deadly barrage of strikes, and shifting into a quick light-footed stance. Use the Wall Of Blades counter to parry your opponent's attack as an immediate action. Then on your turn you use Avalanche Of Blades to deliver the multitude of stabs. To lead into Preparation II (see below), simply switch your stance at the start of your next turn.
Preparation: Raphael becomes light on his feat, dancing, twirling, and sidestepping, across the battlefield. There are four preparation stances, and there isn't much difference between any of them. This is simply the Stance Of Alacrity stance, which increases AC.
Quick primer on Tome Of Battle
Each maneuver you have prepared can only be used once per encounter, until you recover. Warblades recover by taking a swift action after not initiating any maneuvers for one round, and making either a normal attack or performing a flourish as a standard action. You can only about half of your maneuvers ready to use in any given fight, but you can change your line-up of readied maneuvers at any time by taking 5 minutes to practice, exercise, or meditate.
Maneuvers come in three flavors; strikes, boosts, and counters. Strikes are always either a standard action or a full-round action, and involve attacking. Boosts are always a swift action, and give you some benefit which lasts for one round or less. Counters are always an immediate action, and either protect you, hurt the guy attacking you, or both.
Stances take a swift action to activate, and last until you either fall unconscious, helpless, or simply choose to end the stance. They're similar to boosts, but give smaller benefits over a longer time period.
Maneuvers come in three flavors; strikes, boosts, and counters. Strikes are always either a standard action or a full-round action, and involve attacking. Boosts are always a swift action, and give you some benefit which lasts for one round or less. Counters are always an immediate action, and either protect you, hurt the guy attacking you, or both.
Stances take a swift action to activate, and last until you either fall unconscious, helpless, or simply choose to end the stance. They're similar to boosts, but give smaller benefits over a longer time period.
I haven't really taken a look at book of nine swords, but I think I will now. It might be just the right thing I need for this sort of thing. Thank you very much.:DI'm starting to think Raphael may be more accurately represented as a Swordsage, mostly because of the Setting Sun discipline. However, I'll keep writing him up as a Warblade unless it becomes impossible for some reason (like if Warblades don't get enough maneuvers or something).
Taki is definately a Swordsage. Maybe a Swordsage/Rogue.
Mitsurugi is definately a Warblade. He might have been a better example.
Astaroth probably has mostly Stone Dragon maneuvers.
Cassandra has got to be using mostly Iron Heart.
Talim is a good example of a typical Tiger Claw adept.
Anyway, I'll update again after doing some more "research."
The feat Superior Unarmed Strike gives you an unarmed damage progression similar to the monk (about one step behind). If you're already a monk, it gives you the unarmed strike of a monk four levels higher.
The feat Snap Kick lets you make a free unarmed strike attack whenever you make a normal attack, but all your attacks take a -2. This works on everything. If you just stand still all round, and make an attack of opportunity, then you get a free snap kick in addition to your AoO. If you hit with strike maneuver, you get a free snap kick. If you move, make a single attack, use that attack to trip, and get a free attack thanks to Improved Trip, then you get a free snap kick. If you make a full attack, then you get a free snap kick.
There's a Swordsage variant, actually listed as an adaptation note in the Swordsage class description, which grants it the Monk's unarmed damage progression and removes it's light armor proficiency.
And if you know a technique that lets you punch through stone golems as though they were paper, or toss a man 30 feet with your bare hands, or kick pressure points that paralyze your enemy, then nobody is going to care that you don't have a big flaming sword.
As far as unarmed combat goes, my favorite supplement of all times is Blood and Fists for d20 Modern. A nice and simple system combined with the most accurate and varied style research. I don't think many things went wrong with that book.
But hm, Tome of Battle sounds like an excellent option that covers much about everything =P
Soul Calibur 3
Siegfried
Medium Humanoid (Good)
HD: 20d8 + 60 (150 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 30 (+18 armor, + 2 Dex) touch 12, flat-footed 28
BAB/ Grapple: +15/+23
Attack: + 5 Zweihander (Soul Calibur) + 34 melee (2d10 + 12)
Full attack: + 5 Zweihander (Soul Calibur) + 34/+29/+24/+19 melee (2d10 + 12)
Space/reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special attacks: Base Hold, Chief Hold, Earth Divide, Grounder, Side Hold, Soul Charge
Special qualities: Armored Combatant, Swordmaster
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +8, Will +6
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 11
Skills: Concentration +21, Intimidate +17, Jump +23, Tumble +17,
Feats: Armor Proficiency ( Heavy), Cleave, Great Cleave, Great Fortitude, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Environment: Anywhere
Organization:Solitary (Unique)
CR: 17
Treasure: Soul Calibur
Alignment: Neutral Good
Combat: Siegfried uses his massive sword to defeat his foes.
Armored Combatant: Siegfried gains Armor Proficiency (Heavy) as a bonus feat, even though he doesn’t meet the requirements.
Base Hold(Ex):Siegfried crouches down, while holding his sword in front of him in a defensive position. He gains a +2 bonus to AC while in this stance as well as the following abilities:
-Reborn Basher(Ex): Siegfried makes a charge and gains a +4 bonus.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Chief Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword, behind his back, with one hand.
-Hell Slayer(Ex):Siegfried swings his massive sword in an upward motion knocking his target 10 ft. in the air. This deals damage as a Power Attack would + the falling damage.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Side Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword with one hand.
-Reaver (Ex): Siegfried swings his sword in a downward motion, slamming his target into the ground. This deals damage as a Power Attack would. Target must succeed a Fortitude save DC (28) or lose a turn. This ability is Str based.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Earth Divide(Ex): After a Soul Charge, Siegfried can make a Power Attack and ignore his target’s armor and natural bonuses to AC.
Grounder (Ex): After making a Full Attack, Siegfried can make a Trip attempt with a +4 bonus.
Soul Charge(Su): Siegfried can charge up and deal extra damage. Soul Charge has 3 levels. Each level allows Siegfried to deal an extra 1d6 points of damage (3d6 max).
While Soul Charging, Siegfried provokes attacks of opportunity. If hit, Siegfried must succeed a Concentration check DC (10+ damage dealt + attacker’s Str bonus), to maintain his charge. If unsuccessful, Siegfried gains no bonus to damage. This is a standard action.
Swordmaster: Siegfried is well trained in wielding massive swords, such as the zweihander. He gains the Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization as bonus feats, even though he does not meet the requirements. He also does not receive penalties for wielding oversized-weapons.
Soul Calibur: This is a +5 Zweihander. It heals its wielder. Siegfried recovers 1d6 hp each round, while wielding this sword.
I'm glad you like it. Tome Of Battle is one of my favorite D&D books, and the best one to come out of WotC in a long time.
I'm starting to think Raphael may be more accurately represented as a Swordsage, mostly because of the Setting Sun discipline. However, I'll keep writing him up as a Warblade unless it becomes impossible for some reason (like if Warblades don't get enough maneuvers or something).
Taki is definately a Swordsage. Maybe a Swordsage/Rogue.
Mitsurugi is definately a Warblade. He might have been a better example.
Astaroth probably has mostly Stone Dragon maneuvers.
Cassandra has got to be using mostly Iron Heart.
Talim is a good example of a typical Tiger Claw adept.
Anyway, I'll update again after doing some more "research."
Should Taki be a ninja (complete adventurer)?
I'm gonna start posting some fighting game charactes. Hope you like them.
Soul Calibur 3
Siegfried
Medium Humanoid (Good)...
Interesting. You seem to have left out a few details though. Mostly, what kind of action is needed to perform the various attacks
Base Hold(Ex):Siegfried crouches down, while holding his sword in front of him in a defensive position. He gains a +2 bonus to AC while in this stance as well as the following abilities:
-Reborn Basher(Ex): Siegfried makes a charge and gains a +4 bonus.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Chief Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword, behind his back, with one hand.
-Hell Slayer(Ex):Siegfried swings his massive sword in an upward motion knocking his target 10 ft. in the air. This deals damage as a Power Attack would + the falling damage.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Does he always gain these bonuses? The description of Spin is a little unclear (maybe something more like "Siegfried is quick on his feet" - what you have makes it sound like he needs to take an action for the bonus). Power Attack doesn't deal a specific amount of damage.
Side Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword with one hand.
You forgot "and gains the following abilities" :P
-Reaver (Ex): Siegfried swings his sword in a downward motion, slamming his target into the ground. This deals damage as a Power Attack would. Target must succeed a Fortitude save DC (28) or lose a turn. This ability is Str based.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Why is Spin in all three stances? Maybe you should just give him the Lightning Reflexes feat.
Soul Charge(Su): Siegfried can charge up and deal extra damage. Soul Charge has 3 levels. Each level allows Siegfried to deal an extra 1d6 points of damage (3d6 max).
While Soul Charging, Siegfried provokes attacks of opportunity. If hit, Siegfried must succeed a Concentration check DC (10+ damage dealt + attacker’s Str bonus), to maintain his charge. If unsuccessful, Siegfried gains no bonus to damage. This is a standard action.
You aren't very clear on the levels. Does he charge all of them at once? How long does Soul Charge last? Is there any reason not to use level 3 every time? You might want to consider replacing Soul Charge with psionic focus - the Psionic Weapon feat chain (Psionic Weapon, Greater Psionic Weapon, Deep Impact) grant pretty much the same abilities, and makes things a little less complicated
Nice work otherwise - you're improving.
Just writing him up as a monster with a bunch of custom abilities tacked on seems... well... clunky.
To do this properly, I feel we would pretty much have to go with Inkblot's approach and translate the maneuvers into existing game mechanics in some meaningful fashion.
From what I know Sigfried, he would probably make a decent warblade with focuses in stone dragon items and some iron heart maneuvers. But then again, his personal history profile speaks to devoted spirit. Of course, as of right now, it's hard to say for certain since I don't have the game or the book at my hands.
Actually, a company tried to make and release "Capcom World Championship," a roleplaying game about Street Fighter. Unfortunantly, Capcom drug their feet too long and Living Room Games, the people who were going to release it, ran out of money. Then Capcom let the lisence on the whole thing lapse, but still won't let them release the game, even with all the Capcom items removed! So, it's good that Wizards made this book...
I think I might have played that game before. (or rather, some variation of it) I just remembered having to take four step rolls just to resolve a single punch.
The only grappling intensive discipline "setting sun", has mostly grapples that actually THROW the opponent distance as opposed to slamming them into the ground, which is more zangief / hugo like.
So, yeah, no gigas breaker / final atomic buster for you.
One solution I've seen though, is a guy just went ahead, modified the iron heart discipline a little, replacing all the starting condition from "successful melee attack" to "successful grapple attempt" and that gave a pretty close approximation.
So say I want to do a decent Ryu, it'll take a little creative work here.
To get our grounds covered:
- he'll need a strong unarmed attack.
- he'll need the ability to throw a fireball
- he'll need one "trump" maneuver that can deliver a large amount of damage in one hit (to get the Shin-shoryuken)
- he'll need kind an attack method that can hit multiple opponents around him in one go but also can deal multiple hits (for the hurricane kick)
Now if we look at the current existing maneuvers and options, the ki-blast line covers his basic fireball pretty well. If you're really looking for that Shinku-Hadoken bit, the maneuver "fan the flames" does a decent job at doing an upgraded fireball. (though, you'll later end up with the bizarre situation where he can throw more superfireballs than normal fireballs.) That maneuver is from the desert wind discipline, which has another maneuver that is called "flashing sun", giving you an extra attack at a -2. combine this with the "snap kick" feat, (which gives you an extra unarmed attack whenever you attack), will make a decent Hurricane kick substitute.
However, we'll also need his big trump attack, the shin-shoryuken. The Iron Heart discipline just happens to have a "strike of perfect clarity", which gives you a +100 damage on your strike. this would be perfect for it. Again, for the combo effect of the super, just add "snap kick" into the mix. (it doesn't have to be an actual kick, btw, just an unarmed strike)
This however, presents us with a problem. Iron Heart and Desert Wind are respectively exclusive disciplines to the Warblade and the Swordsage. The good thing is that multi-classing with martial adepts is actually not a bad option, since all class levels end up getting added to martial initiator levels. (albeit at half-rate normal) So, to make this work, you can take do swordsage 8 (using the unarmed strike variant)/ warblade 12. The warblade levels also gives you bonus feat that you'll need to fill up on the feats that you need.
To make his unarmed strikes more potent, you can give him the "superior unarmed strike" feat, which upgrades his unarmed strike dice by one level. To make this even better, take the improved natural weapon feat, (which technically counts) and upgrade it by another step.
problems with this build: MAD. You'll need crazy good stats to pull this off well. The swordsage uses a lot of DEX and WIS, the Warblade uses a lot of STR and INT. And this is a warrior character, so CON is always helpful.
The end result? you end needing stats in just about every attribute to pull this off. It's basically impossible to do on most standard point buys.
So the ending builds:
Swordsage 8 / Warblade 12, start at swordsage and leap frog your way through alternating between the two classes.
feats: unarmed strike (free if you take the unarmed swordsage variant), stunning fist, superior unarmed strike, fiery fists, ki blast, and snap kick. If you crunch a little, start with a human swordsage, you can cover about the three of these on the get go.
books you'll need for this: cores and ToB obviously, and PHB 2.
Take note though, he's also known for his fancy flashy kick combos, which can be done through the snap kick feat plus any number of Iron Heart, Diamond Mind, Desert Wind (Flashing Sun), and Tiger Claw discipline. Though, to be honest, I don't really see Ken as someone who has high concentrations. However, he does have far more techniques than Ryu does, which means we'll have to modify it a little. The Swordsage has the most maneuvers per level in his progression, so we can switch up the final build, giving him a couple more levels of Swordsage instead of Warblade. For argument sake, let's say, SS 14 / W 6, giveingyou 9 readied swordsage maneuvers and 19 known swordsage maneuvers. (and the ability to sub out 6 of them for higher level ones). this should be sufficient to cover all the schools that he'll be taking. (Iron Heart, Diamond Mind, Desert Wind, and perhaps Tiger Claw)
It also means his BAB will be a little less than Ryu's as would his eventual maneuver level since he won't be able to get all the highest level maneuvers like Ryu would. This seems appropriate for him if you ask me.
Feats: same as ryu.
Akuma is probably the one case where I would feel appropriate to break the normal conventions of limiting it to a level 20 build and pushing it a little further. He is, after all, some kind of ungodly warrior machine equivalent. How much more, however, is something that can be debated until the cows come home since not even the street fighter lore itself has managed to keep the relative power levels of each character straight.
What we do know, is that Akuma would also have a similar build in terms of feats, like that of Ryu and Ken. He will also have some the signature moves like flashing sun and what not. But he will also have a far larger numbers of maneuvers such as a greater focus in Tiger Claw (for the Raging Demon-like, multi-attack maneuvers), Shadow Hand (for the teleportation maneuvers).
In many ways, the easiest way to do akuma would be to simply go Swordsage 20 and just pick up all the required maneuvers. This would also give make him physically weaker than ken and ryu by just having less hit points and it will give him the necessary maneuvers to get his ungodly combos. Time Stand Still + Girallion Windmill Flesh Rip + Rage Mongoose = a ridiculous number of attacks and damage. It would serve well as a raging demon of sorts.
This, however, means you'll get far fewer feats to work with.
The first problem you're going to have with the modification is that you'll need a couple more feats to make the build viable. for one, you're going to need improved grapple else every single time somebody smacks you you're going to lose your maneuvers. Second, you're gonna have to find ways to boost your grappling abilities through the roof because at some point you ARE going to find something much much larger than you and without some amazingly improved grappling abilities, you're not going to be pulling off half of your maneuvers.
that or you can go with the "new discipline" approach where you modify the maneuvers to fit the grappling needs, and make that that grappling discipline. Then you just spend additional maneuvers learning other maneuvers that ARE just striking.
one way you can do this is by just taking a feat that allows you to use your maneuvers with the OPTION to replace the attack with the grapple. That way, you still retain the option of being able to just hit people REALLY REALLY hard.
that or you can go with the "new discipline" approach where you modify the maneuvers to fit the grappling needs, and make that that grappling discipline. Then you just spend additional maneuvers learning other maneuvers that ARE just striking.
Jeeze, thanks a lot, ha ha ha! Now I can't decide which way to go! I like having the back-up option to hit REALLY hard, but a also like the new dicipline route. Would I be able to mix them up a bit?
Also, how would you rule a move like Zangief's Spinning Lariat? In most of the fighting games, it would have the ability to "spin" past projectiles,
without suffering damage.
Night Terror: Nightmare with the half-dragon and half-fiend templates, increased to Large size
Siegfried (SC4): Crusader/paladin/fist of raziel/vassal of bahamut
Jeeze, thanks a lot, ha ha ha! Now I can't decide which way to go! I like having the back-up option to hit REALLY hard, but a also like the new dicipline route. Would I be able to mix them up a bit?
Also, how would you rule a move like Zangief's Spinning Lariat? In most of the fighting games, it would have the ability to "spin" past projectiles,
without suffering damage.
No problem! And while we're at it, here's a jigsaw puzzle to solve!!!
I kid I kid.
the way I see it, if you make a feat to that allows you to use some moves out of a grapple check, you're pretty much golden. (you'll have to discuss with your GM though, as the particulars of that would be a little tricky) This, however, has the potential problem that certain disciplines like Blood Claw have actual maneuvers that ties straight into grappling and can cause issues. So this is where you have to talk to GM about what he would allow or what he wouldn't allow.
The second approach I suggested has the benefit that the grappling part is all written into the maneuver itself so that you don't have to worry about cross discipline issues.
Having said that though, it is a lot more work since this means you need to write up (or rather, copy and modify) existing disciplines and re-organize it into a discipline.
Prime32:
this is not a bad build for him. He'll end up with an IL of 15 (netting him level 8 maneuvers) and gain some nice abilities with it. However, this will make him weaker than a full martial adept build. Not that there is anything wrong with that as canonically, Sigfried is supposed to be the better anyway.
the key to this though, is that you have to take your last warblade level late into your build so you get a chance to swap out the maneuvers.
But seriously, thanks for the help. Though, I would like to see a ruling on "Spinning Lariat".
Siegfried
Medium Humanoid (Good)
Fighter 20
HD: 20d10 + 60 (260 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (in full plate) 40 ft. (without)
AC: 35 (+18 armor, +5 deflection, + 2 Dex) touch 17, flat-footed 33
BAB/ Grapple: +20/+28
Attack: +5 holy, keen, mighty cleaving, large greatsword, Soul Calibur + 35 melee (3d6 + 21 +2d6 unholy damage against evil creatures/17-20/x2)
Full attack: +5 holy, keen, mighty cleaving, large greatsword, Soul Calibur +35/+30/+25/+20 melee (3d6 + 21 +2d6 unholy damage against evil creatures/17-20/x2)
Space/reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special attacks: Base Hold, Chief Hold, Earth Divide, Grounder, Guard Impact, Side Hold, Soul Charge
Special qualities: Armored Combatant, Swordmaster, Skilled Combatant
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +10, Will +7
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 11
Skills: Concentration +26, Intimidate +19, Jump +27, Sense Motive +20, Tumble +21
Feats: Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Cleave, Combat Expertise, Great Fortitude, Greater Weapon Focus (greatsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (greatsword), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Concentration), Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon Specialization (greatsword)
Environment: Anywhere
Organization:Solitary (Unique)
CR: 25
Treasure: Soul Calibur
Alignment: Neutral Good
Combat: Siegfried uses his massive sword to defeat his foes.
Armored Combatant: Siegfried gains Armor Proficiency (Heavy) as a bonus feat, even though he doesn’t meet the requirements.
Base Hold(Ex):Siegfried crouches down, as a swift action, while holding his sword in front of him in a defensive position. He gains a +2 bonus to AC while in this stance. If attacked while in this Hold, he must succeed a Concentration check DC 10 +damage dealt. If he fails the check, he looses the Hold. He can switch between any Hold, of his choosing, as another swift. He gains the following abilities while in this Hold:
-Reborn Basher (Ex): Siegfried makes a charge and gains a +6 bonus to attack and damage rolls. He receives no penalties to AC. This charge only has a range of a 10 ft. line. If he hits his target, they must succeed a Tumble check DC 28 or be knocked down for 1 round.
-Spin (Ex):Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +3 dodge bonus to AC against anyone attacking him. Whenever he spins, he automatically shifts to the next possible Hold. Example: Base Hold>Chief Hold>Side Hold>Base Hold>and so on.
Chief Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword, behind his back, with one hand as a swift action. He can switch between any Hold, of his choosing, as another swift If attacked, while in this Hold, he must succeed a Concentration check DC 10 +damage dealt. If he fails the check, he looses the Hold. He gains the following abilities while in this Hold:
-Hell Slayer(Ex):Siegfried swings his massive sword in an upward motion knocking his target 10 ft. in the air. This single attack deals full damage (39 points), at a +30 attack bonus, plus 1d6 points of falling damage. A successful Tumble check DC 28 negates damage from the fall, and the target lands on their feet. DC is Str-based.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +3 dodge bonus to AC against anyone attacking him. Whenever he spins, he automatically shifts to the next possible Hold. Example: Base Hold>Chief Hold>Side Hold>Base Hold>and so on..
Side Hold(Ex): Siegfried holds his sword by his side with one hand, as a swift action. If attacked while in this Hold, he must succeed a Concentration check DC 10 +damage dealt. If he fails the check, he looses the Hold. He can switch between any Hold, of his choosing, as another swift action. He gains the following abilities while in this Hold:
-Reaver (Ex): Siegfried swings his sword in a downward motion, slamming his target into the ground. This single attack deals full damage (39 points), at a +30 attack bonus. Target must succeed a Fortitude save DC 28 or lose a turn. DC is Str-based.
-Spin(Ex): Siegfried spins to the side gaining a +3 dodge bonus to AC against anyone attacking him. Whenever he spins, he automatically shifts to the next possible Hold. Example: Base Hold>Chief Hold>Side Hold>Base Hold>and so on.
Earth Divide(Ex): Siegfried gathers all his strength and makes a devastating slash. This deals double the damage at a +25 attack bonus. The target must then succeed a Fortitude save DC 28 or be knocked prone for one round. DC is Str-based.
Grounder (Ex): After making a Full Attack, Siegfried can make a Trip attempt with a +4 bonus.
Guard Impact (Ex): Once per round, whenever Siegfried is attacked, he can attempt a Guard Impact. He must succeed a Sense Motive check DC (10 + ½ the attacker’s HD + their Dex bonus). If unsuccessful, he takes damage from the attack. However, if he is successful he guides the targets movement, effectively canceling their attack, and exposing them to an attack of opportunity from him. He cannot perform a Guard Impact against a full attack.
Skilled Combatant (Ex): Siegfried is very skill and gains 2 times the skill points for a fighter. (96 skill points)
Soul Charge (Su): Siegfried can charge up and deal extra damage. Soul Charge has 3 levels. Each level allows Siegfried to deal an extra 1d6 points of damage (3d6 max). It takes Siegfried a while to charge through the different levels. Use the following to determine the types of actions it takes to charge:
Level 1: free action
Level 2: standard action
Level 3: full-round action
While Soul Charging, Siegfried provokes attacks of opportunity. If hit, Siegfried must succeed a Concentration check DC (10+ damage dealt + attacker’s Str bonus) to maintain his charge. If unsuccessful, Siegfried gains no bonus to damage. The Soul charge bonus lasts for 1 round.
Swordmaster: Siegfried is well trained in wielding massive swords, such as the zweihander. He gains the Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization as bonus feats, even though he does not meet the requirements. He also does not receive penalties for wielding oversized-weapons.
Soul Calibur: This is a +5 holy, keen, mighty cleaving, large greatsword. It heals its wielder with each swing. Whenever Siegfried attacks with this sword, successful or not, his hit points are recovered by 3 points. This cannot exceed his maximum hit points. Soul Calibur also provides the wielder with a +5 deflection bonus.
To me, this write up will almost certainly make Sigfried into an NPC character because he's getting all of these abilities that is not possible to get in any fashion. (not to mention that fighter 20 is.... well... not that great of a build)
where is he getting all of these special abilities from? I mean, not in the game sense (since I do play Sigfried myself), but in the build mechanics. As a fighter, he wouldn't be getting any of these really nifty abilities you've got in here.
To me, this write up will almost certainly make Sigfried into an NPC character because he's getting all of these abilities that is not possible to get in any fashion. (not to mention that fighter 20 is.... well... not that great of a build)
This is how I'm gonna make my soul calibur characters.
First, I pick a class that they represent. Ex: Siegfried (fighter 20)
Second, I pick only the class features or bonuses I want them to have. Ex: Siegfried (I only used the bonus feats class feature, saves, attack bonus, and d10 to determine his hp)
Third, I play the game and determine which abilities would be more effective in d20 style combat.
Here's another example:
Maxi
1st step: i chose a monk
2nd step: i picked the flurry of blows, saves, attack bonus, monk bonus to AC, and d8 to determine his hp. All other class features I just got rid of.
3rd step: i picked certain abilities in the game.
that's basically how i did it.
Those characters might have CRs of 20, but they would not have ECLs of 20.
Oh, and
Armored Combatant: Siegfried gains Armor Proficiency (Heavy) as a bonus feat, even though he doesn’t meet the requirements.
Fighters already get the armour proficiency feats for free. And if you're statting him as a monster, there's no need to include this - they're considered proficient with whatever they have equipped.
It's also why I think ToB would be great for this, as the whole concept behind stances already provide the basis for all the various holds that Sigfried would have.
The thing is though, we have to ask ourselves at what point does a move deserve an actual maneuver set. After all, every character in Soulcalibur has the ability to guard impact. Does this mean every one of them will take on Setting Sun maneuvers or Wall of Blades? Not necessarily. Fact is, when a move within a game is a system design rather than a unique character design, I think it would simply be better to portray that portion of the character through description instead of setting down actual mechanics.
Take this example even further, every soulcalibur character has the ability to side step and such, while only specific streetfighter characters have the same capability. (What with SF being a 2D fighting game and all) Does this mean that Soulcalibur characters should get some kind of extra dodging ability versus the Street Fighter characters? I personally don't think so.
1 - How would special attack bars be handled? I think it would be more faithful to standard fighting games if I could incorporate those.
2 - I was thinking that in terms of fighting games, weapons should add a specific damage number, not a die. The die should be assigned to the fighter instead, the more damaging and forceful the style, the higher the die. What say you all?