Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 notthegumdropbuttons Nov 14, 2009 2:08:31	Hey all, I'm trying to figure out the best way to build a character whose main weapon is a fan, and wears little to no armor (no armor being preferable).  Sort of a minor noble who can carry around a fan and thus be armed without appearing to be.  Main focus is combat and some face skills.  My first thoughts were either monk or swashbuckler. Pretty much all the WotC books are in, except Tome of Battle and dragon magazine issues.  I have nothing against ToB, and in fact if I can use it, I will, but not all DMs are willing to bother (or have a copy).  I'm also kinda curious what the best build the board can come up with sans ToB.  Normally I have a good idea of where to start, but in this case I've got no idea.
#2 jktrondarr Nov 14, 2009 2:39:14	monk or swashbuckler: both terrible choices for this concept. being a non-piercing, non-monk exotic weapon, the warfan is unusable by either class effectively. i'd start with rogue (swap sneak attack for fighter feats variant from unearthed arcana). this gives you the skill points you want and the feats you need. practically any of the TWF prestige classes will help you hone your combat tricks to suit the style you deside to go with. speaking of tricks, i'd make liberal use of the skill tricks in complete scoundrel with this type of character. for race, go either human (for the bonus feat and skill points), something with a DEX bump to help your mobility and lack of armor. if you dont mind a 1 lvl dip, go cleric 1 and choose war (free prof and focus with any 1 weapon) & travel (freedom of movement for lvl in rounds/day) as your domains. you dont care about the spellcasting, but the domain powers are pretty sweet, plus it bumps your 2 bad saves slightly. - if you use the pathfinder rpg the travel domain instead grants a +10' bonus to your base speed. that's where i'd start. good luck with the concept.
#3 playswithfire Nov 14, 2009 8:44:55	Rather than monk, you might try battle dancer from Dragon Compendium (maybe convince a DM to let you trade the unarmed strike progression for Exotic Weapon Proficiency(fan*); maybe frame it as a feat swap; Improved Unarmed Strike for Exotic Weapon Proficiency) with some bard and Snowflake Wardance.  *Just as a matter of curiosity, were you planning to use the War Fan from Oriental Adventures or the Collapsing Crescent Fan from Sandstorm? EDIT: whoops; skipped the part about no Dragon stuff, or ToB which nixes my next idea of Bard 4+/Swordsage 2+ with Ascetic Mage. I'll try to come up with something more in keeping with your request
#4 notthegumdropbuttons Nov 14, 2009 14:50:53	The one from OA.
#5 tdsaw111 Nov 15, 2009 1:06:25	Ok, I may be wrong, but as I recall "small" weapons in 3.0 were Light Weapons. As such the idea of doing Swashbuckler/Rogue may not be entirely a bad idea. I also know that the fan from Sandstorm is nearly identical except it does not require a bluff check to get the bonus to hit in the first round, only that the opponent be flat-footed and it is indeed light. So I would go something like: Stat Prioritization: Dex/Int/Con/Str/Cha/Wis Human Exotic Weapon Proficiency Fan Rogue 1-3 1st feat being TWF, 3rd perhaps TWD Swash 1-3 Gives Weapon Finesse, minor other bonuses and 6th level feat Daring outlaw. then either go Swash the rest for highest BAB, focusing on TWF, or maybe find a prestige class, Tempest, Dervish, or since you seem to be going for an oriental flair something from one of the oriental sources. If you wanted you could add ToB, Warblade might be a nice add, deceptively heavy hitting with those tiny little fans. As far as defense goes, I would favor Bracers of Armor, Rings, Amulets etc flavor wise, though you could also do something like a Glammered Mithril Breast Plate.
#6 felgoroth Nov 15, 2009 10:45:52	Rather than weilding 2 Warfans you could look in to using a Tessan in your offhand (although the extra EWP is not fun) this way if you don't feel like attacking with your offhand you get a +1 defense.  You could also look into going into Dervish (the dancing would fit the movements a lot of Fan fighters used and I think Warfans are slashing but, I can't remember).  You could also look at Scout instead of Rogue for a better base speed and you eventually get bonuses to AC from skirmishing.  You could do a Swift Hunter build for free TWF and skirmish. Also you could see if your DM would allow you to go into Invisible Blade (although point blank shot and farshot may not help you out, I don't think Warfans had a range.  Maybe take Throw anything if you do this).  That would give you Int to AC and help if your starting as a Swashbuckler.  If you do go with Swashbuckler I only suggest taking the first 3 levels then multiclassing into something else.
#7 tdsaw111 Nov 15, 2009 19:19:15	Well, if you want simplicity, the Rogue3/Swash17 is pretty decent. +18 BAB, 9d6 SA. But it is all depending on what you want. Would also allow you to keep decent skills. But of course there is a lot to be said for a variety of the prestige classes available.
#8 jktrondarr Nov 15, 2009 21:16:06	i must apologize for the bad advice in my earlier post. i somehow had the duelist prc mixed up with the swashbuckler class. and upon further investigation (i believe it's in arms and equipment guide) the warfan was added to the list of monk weapons. so your initial monk concept would work after all. perhaps go swashbuckler 3/monk 17, take at least 1 TWF feat and you've got 6 attacks/round with flurry. get the ki focus enchantment for your warfans and they now count as adamantine, while the collision property adds +5 damage to every hit.
#9 felgoroth Nov 16, 2009 7:18:31	If you go Monk/Swashbuckler you might want to look into taking Kung Fu Genious or look at the Carmandine Monk so you don't have a case of MAD (or whatever that's called when you have too many stats you rely on).  I still suggest looking into Tempest, although the requirements are kind of heavy not taking a penalty while fighting with 2 weapons is great and you'll be doing quite a few attacks with Flurry of Blows + TWF
#10 tshern Nov 16, 2009 7:33:29	Tempest is a trap.
#11 phaedrusxy Nov 17, 2009 13:48:44	Tempest is a trap.
#12 notthegumdropbuttons Nov 25, 2009 17:21:03	So what I was thinking was going either: Rogue 4 (feat variant)/swash 3/dervish 10/x3 or Rogue 4 (feat variant)/Swash 1/monk 2(Cobra variant)/dervish 10/x 3 I wanted to work bard into the mix (for snowflake wardance) and then take two levels of arcane duelist, but I think that's less optimal.  Thoughts?
#13 eyurdagul Nov 25, 2009 21:25:43	Factotum 8/Swashbuckler 3/Iaijutsu Master 5/Exemplar 4 Which nets you dex, int and cha to initiative plus int and cha to damage rolls. If you can boost your three stats high enough, this means you almost always go first and dish out some serious damage using iaijutsu focus. Your other skills will be stellar too, thanks to Factotum and Exemplar.
#14 felgoroth Dec 03, 2009 16:15:13	I've been working on a PrC that specializes in Warfans.  For some reason it won't let me post a link but, if you search "Homebrewed PrC help" you should find it.
#15 awaken_D_M_golem Dec 03, 2009 17:08:41	community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... The Basket Weavers Handbook - sounds like a joke and it is, but it is also functional. Use a Fan instead of Baskets. PAO super swords in the Fan type you want.