Hi all! This time is possibly my nerdiest request.
I'm trying to design a character to emulate the fighting style of an anime character, but if at all possible, without it just being a gimmick build, thus why I'm here.
The character in question is Mifune from "Soul Eater".
For those unfamiliar, he is a character who fights with a large number (approx. two dozen) of swords (katana, to be precise), which he generally leaves stuck in the ground, picking them up for individual hits before letting them go again.
The closest thing I can think of to emulate this would be to have a large amount of swords on me (in dimensional space or physically) and then using Quick Draw feat to draw them as free actions. I'm wondering if there are other options for the build available that anybody can think of.
My ultimate goal is to be able to get as many attacks off in a round as possible, while ideally not using the same sword more than once in a round.
Yes, I am aware of the financial problems such a character would run into.
A good build notable for using a bunch of weapons is Haberdash the Masked.
If you're dead-set on katana, the best option I can think of is combining Iaijutsu Focus from Oriental Adventures with Bloodstorm Blade from Tome of Battle. Basically, with Quick Draw you can draw a katana, get your Iaijutsu bonus and throw it. This runs into the same problem that iaijutsu focus does in general, but Saphire Nightmare Blade can help cover this. Katana being bastard swords by the rules excludes most skill tricks to reestablish flat-footed, though, so you're not going to have as easy of a time unless you're willing to use short swords as well.
Shortswords will do me fine. I'm not set on katana, was just describing the character which I am attempting to emulate.
As is often the case with shounen anime, the best place to turn to is, sadly, magic. Specifically, the Jean Gray trick: Chain Spell + Telekinesis on a character with four levels of Master of the Unseen Hand (CW; definitely take Practiced Spellcaster, and definitely do not take MotUH 5). This allows you to "telekinetically" (which you can describe however you want) wield one weapon per caster level, and make a full attack with each one. The use of Chain Spell also allows you to chain Greater Magic Weapon to all of them, which means they'll be numerically on par anyway. Just pair this with metamagic cost reducers (Arcane Thesis, Practical Metamagic, etc.) and keep your casting up.
The problem with "dropping" weapons is that picking them up is a move action, and you don't have unlimited hands to hold unused weapons in otherwise. There's a similar problem with old-school multi-sword iaijutsu, in that there are ways for free-action drawing, but no ways to speed up sheathing. Thus, this should probably be stylistic at best. However, you can consider moving the swords to be throwing them, and swords fighting adjacent to you to be "wielded" by you in terms of style, even though mechanically you're following Telekinesis.
...One of these days, I'm going to come up with a question for which you do not have the answer, Tempest. You're some kind of crazy god-man.
Thank you for your aid in this. It is sad to know that magic is the answer, but to be expected, I suppose. 
Tempest_Stormwind wrote:
Falcos wrote:
Out of curiosity, does anybody know if there are any rules on sharpening sheathes?
Falcos wrote:
No, I was thinking of having the sheath of a sword be, itself, a bladed weapon.
Sitting down with a whetstone and sharpening the edge of my sheath.
Semi-related to the original character concept.
That doesn't exist as far as I know, but then again this is the game that lets you attach a blade to your facial hair and swing it around like a flail, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was hidden away in one of the weirder splats.
Also, wouldn't that defeat the entire purpose of a sheath?
The main point of asking is wondering if I could attack someone with the sheath (possibly sheathed itself for Iaijutsu focus) and then draw a blade from it, also getting IF.
And yes, kind of.
If the sheath is like a sword, shouldn't it be able to have its own sheath? Following the logic there, wouldn't your sword eventually end up with a whole matryoshka doll of progressively larger sheaths inside each other, each sheath sharpened and able to function like another sword?
But there are advantages to having the sheath unsharpened, since that gives you a bludgeoning weapon (I guess you would basically be using the sheath as a club in that case).
This idea originated as "Can I, at the start of combat, leave my wakizashi in somebody's chest, then later in the fight, "draw" it from their chest to get IF damage on another, nearby enemy?"
The consensus was "no" (although I'd love to hear people here's opinion on it!), thus me wondering about sharpening sheathes.
Weapons don't stick in their targets anyway (except for the harpoon). HP do not represent a wall of meat - they represent a combination of wall of meat, get-out-of-the-way instincts, determination to just not die, and Plot Armor.
If you want a weaponized sheath, I seem to recall there being one for the ninja-to somewhere, but I can't find it in OA. (It might have been a third-party book, sadly.) I do recall it let you treat the specially-reinforced scabbard, in all ways, as a club, but it could be used as an improvised blowpipe as well.
I know where that is, it's in the third-party book Kitsunemori.
It might be elsewhere, too.
It really does strike me as odd that there are no rules about just leaving pointy things in the bad guys.
Falcos wrote:
StevenO wrote:
Fair enough on the Iaijutsu Focus thing. I was mainly looking at potential ways to get more use of it, without resorting to multiple weapons or quickrazors.
Pray for my soul: I am going to be playing a Samurai. (In a different campaign to the original request in this thread)
Falcos wrote:
Fair enough... I was actually unsure if I should build an OA or a CW samurai.
Or if I should throw myself, begging and pleading, at the DM's feet to allow the CW samurai to have the OA samurai's one class feature.
Unlikely, mind.
Falcos wrote:
OA also get 4 skill points/level and a built-in magic item. Which are nowhere near as important as Staredown, but if your GM lets you combine the two, it's a step up, especially with Iaijutsu Focus for more Charisma focus.
Also, worth pointing out that technically Intimidate is not a fear effect, just stopped by mindlessness and immunity to fear. So you can hit people who are immune to mind-affecting effects.
Two questions: One, does Cower count as flat-footed?
Two, would killing a Cowering opponent violate the Samurai Code?
Falcos wrote:
Falcos wrote:
It just came to me as a potential "rule of cool" thing to do, given that Samurai have two weapons.
Leave Wakizashi in someone, fight with the superior Katana, perhaps finish off final enemy with the Iaijutsu'd Wakizashi.
It's definitely "rule of cool" material, but without some ability to pull enemies towards you at the right time, it's hard to set up outside of a pure narrative (like a novel or movie) where the author can just have the attacker and their target move into the right places at the right time. When you're not controlling both, it's hard to put them both in the right positions. It could also work as part of some more general ability to quickly pick up a weapon, with the weapon being "dropped" by leaving it in the body of the first target. Or both benefits could be combined in a single tactical feat.
I vaguely recall something about a check that allowed you to tumble past and pick up a weapon as part of the movement, but I don't recall if it was part of 3.5 rules (where it could be something like a more advanced use of the Tumble skill, a skill trick, or part of a feat), or one of several other game systems.
Tempest_Stromwind wrote:
Stayingpower wrote: