We Lube Knob (53/365)
Ahh Knob....he's been with me in some form or another for years; about four by now I think.
He came about originally in my Necroverse as another attempt to create a unified story that just.... didn't work.
But it left me Knob. Real name of Kevin...something. His last name always seemed to change depending on what I was writing though I just called him Knob. It was originally a placeholder name suggested by Sh33p but it sort of stuck around as a nickname for him. Physically speaking Knob's always been a goliath; closer to seven feet than to six and over three hundred pounds of solid muscle. He's also always used heavy gauntlets to fight with along a specific fighting style that I called Scorokinesis. I imagine most of you aren't large enough geology nerds to get the reference so let me explain:
Scoria is a volcanic rock so Scorokinesis is a fighting style (Or even a magical discipline in some incarnations) that revolves around the manipulation of fire and rock seperately and together in the form of lava. As an extension Knob was able to create various tectonic phenomena like localized earthquakes and rifts.
Unlike most of my characters Knob came from free-form RP first and came to D&D (and Aberrant, in one case) afterwards thus his D&D form is fairly different than the rest his versions.
Centuries ago the dwarven hold of Zok Caldoth was beset by their ancient enemies but in numbers never before seen; it was soon clear that the stronghold was doomed to fall and with it the might of the clans that had built it. In the face of certain defeat their allies abandoned them, all but one noble family. This family had nothing to gain by helping the clans of Zok Caldoth; they had nothing to fear even if the stronghold fell because their lands weren't even near the Derrakonian border. Nevertheless this one noble family stood with the dwarves -- but the lady of the family, Lady Geninvene, took it one step further.
She sold her soul to the beings that existed beyond the realms of existence; to those terrible and powerful beings that existed before time. In exchange for her soul and her bloodline they gave the Lady Geninvene a vast and terrible magic. With that power she laid waste to the hordes that sat in seige of Zok Caldoth but it was too late; the hold still fell, the defenses were shattered and the clans scattered. But the surviving Clans all knealt before the Lady Geninvene and swore an oath to her and to her bloodline that if ever the call come the Clans would answer for the sake of the friendship shown by the Lady.
Each Clan then appointed a single warrior to serve as honor guard to the Lady and her children for as long as the family survived and that is where Knob's story starts.
Knob's father, a dwarven warblade and the last remaining honor guard to the line of the Lady Geninvene and unlike the others he fell in love with a human woman; a jeweler. That woman bore the dwarf a single son -- a halfbreed child that would become known as Knob though she died during the birth.
Knob's father taught his son everything he knew in the hopes that Knob would take up the mantle of honor guard to the line of Lady Geninvene, to continue to honor the friendship of a woman already two hundred years dead. And Knob took to that task with eagerness if truth be told in part to honor his father and mostly because he was in love with the Lady Sonya of the Irae family. Sonya Irae, a warlock like her many-times-great-grandmother. Knob willingly took up the mantle of protector and companion to Sonya.
I never got to play Knob but it would be pretty cool if I could sometime.
While that's his story what does the character build itself look like?
That's actually pretty simple all things considered; a basic two class build of Fighter and Swordsage. But! Not regular fighter, no. For Knob I'm using the Kensai alternate base class for two reasons. One is that it fits him slightly better than the regular fighter class and the second is that it gives him more benefits for being devoted to a single weapon: in Knob's case, the spiked gauntlet but not just any spiked gauntlet. No, Knob uses Heavy Spiked Gauntlets. Basically, take gold or platinum and then magically harden it and you have a heavy weapon (Magic of Faerun). The resulting weapon now takes an exotic weapon proficiency to use correctly but the damage die has increased so instead of doing 1d4 per gauntlet Knob does 1d6 per hit.
Swordsage I chose because it compliments Kensai (fighter technically), very nicely in terms of saves, class abilities, and skills/skillpoints. It also is the only class to give me access to both Desert Wind and Stone Dragon with which I can replicate the scorokinetic abilities Knob's always had.
Level
1 Kensai Combat Expertise, Parry, Two Weapon Fighting
2 Kensai Weapon Focus
3 Kensai Combat Reflexes
4 Kensai Improved Parry
5 Swordsage
6 Kensai Expert Parry
7 Kensai Weapon Specialization
8 Kensai
9 Kensai Improved TWF, Two Weapon Defense
10 Swordsage
11 Kensai
12 Kensai Gtr Weapon Focus, Melee Weapon Mastery
13 Kensai
14 Kensai Gtr TWF
15 Swordsage Improved TWD
16 Kensai
17 Kensai Gtr TWD
18 Kensai Gtr Specialization
19 Swordsage
20 Swordsage
With this build I'm assuming I'm using two flaws because it just works lots better that way; the flaws themselves don't much matter. Probably Shaky and something else.
And without further adieu let's go through the breakdown of his feats.
At first level this is where Kensai really shines -- while I don't list it I'm automatically proficient with the Heavy Spiked Gauntlets thanks to it (basically I lose my first fighter bonus feat for it) which leaves me three more feats (1 from character level 1 and then the two flaws). I pick up Two Weapon Fighting since I've got two gauntlets and then Combat Expertise which is required for my last feat: Parry. This is a feat from Dragon Magazine and does exactly what it sounds like. Using spiked gauntlets I get a +4 to the parry attempt (which is an opposed attack roll) and I nullify the other big problem with parrying: the other guy normally gets a free disarm attempt. Gauntlets can't be disarmed.
At 2nd level is weapon focus (which stacks with the Kensai's bonuses to attack and damage with the chosen weapon; in Knob's case the Heavy Spiked Gauntlets). That puts me at +2 attack/+1 damage.
3rd level is Combat Reflexes which I need for my next feat.
That 4th level feat being Improved Parry -- I can now make more than one parry attempt per round but they all have to be from different opponents. It's useful but it's mostly a pre-req for another feat.
While I normally wouldn't do this I'm going to call out my Swordsage levels too. When I get that first level at level 5 I'm treated as a 3rd level Initiator which means I can choose 6 maneuvers from 1st and 2nd level. The ones I'm taking at Mountain Hammer, Burning Blade, Counter Charge, Flashing Sun, Baffling Defense, and Wolf Fang Strike; I'm picking up Step of the Wind for my stance.
At 6th level I get Expert Parry and that's where things get nasty -- now I can direct all my parry attempts at any number of targets which means as long as I have AoOs left I can make parry attempts. The only restriction left is that I can only parry weapons up to two size larger than my own size (thankfully natural weapons are treated as being slightly smaller than normal for this).
7th level is a Kensai bonus feat and I grab Weapon Specialization which brings me, counting the Kensai bonuses, to +3 attack/+3 damage with my gauntlets.
At 9th level I get two more feats, one from kensai and one from my character level; I pick up Improved Two Weapon Fighting and then Two Weapon Defense. If I'm going for dual wielding I might as well go all the way, right?
10th level is my second swordsage level and I've got an Initiator Level of 6 which means the maneuver and stance I get at this level can both be 3rd or lower. I pick up Roots of the Mountain for the stance and then get Bonecrusher. I also get my Wisdom bonus to AC.
12th level is another two feat level and I get Greater Weapon Focus and then Melee Weapon Mastery for Piercing Weapons since that's technically what the spiked gauntlets are. That brings my total bonuses, counting Kensai, to +7 attack/+7 damage. Doesn't sound like alot but it adds up.
14th level is another bonus feat and I grab Greater Two Weapon Fighting.
15th level and I get Improved Two Weapon Defense. I'm one feat away from getting the entire Two Weapon Fighting tree and it's awesome. This is also my 3rd swordsage level and I have an initiator level of 9th suddenly which means the maneuver I get this level can be of 5th level or lower; I pick Elder Mountain Hammer. And I get to relearn another maneuver so I drop Mountain Hammer for Bonesplitting Strike.
17th level is another bonus feat, my last, in fact, and I get the last TWF feat in the form of Greater Two Weapon Defense. While there are, granted, probably better feats that I could choose to take I decided to go with these.
18th level, my last feat Greater Weapon Specialization. Counting the Kensai bonuses I'm at +8 to attack and +10 to damage with my gauntlets.
Now, 19th and 20th level are both Swordsage levels; giving me a final initiator level of 12th. So my last two maneuvers and my last stance are both from 6th level or under and I get to relearn a second maneuver. So I pick up Desert Tempest and then Irresistable Mountain Strike along with the Fiery Assault Stance. And then I drop Burning Blade to relearn it as Searing Blade.
In reality there's alot more I wish I could've done with Knob -- and I could, probably, if I dropped the Two Weapon Defense feats. But not matter what I do he's going to be feat strapped. Still, I like him.
Voting Time!
Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane, Lady Irae, Naruma
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory, Nature Mage, Ulric Vantir, Gideon of Incarnum, Knob
He came about originally in my Necroverse as another attempt to create a unified story that just.... didn't work.
But it left me Knob. Real name of Kevin...something. His last name always seemed to change depending on what I was writing though I just called him Knob. It was originally a placeholder name suggested by Sh33p but it sort of stuck around as a nickname for him. Physically speaking Knob's always been a goliath; closer to seven feet than to six and over three hundred pounds of solid muscle. He's also always used heavy gauntlets to fight with along a specific fighting style that I called Scorokinesis. I imagine most of you aren't large enough geology nerds to get the reference so let me explain:
Scoria is a volcanic rock so Scorokinesis is a fighting style (Or even a magical discipline in some incarnations) that revolves around the manipulation of fire and rock seperately and together in the form of lava. As an extension Knob was able to create various tectonic phenomena like localized earthquakes and rifts.
Unlike most of my characters Knob came from free-form RP first and came to D&D (and Aberrant, in one case) afterwards thus his D&D form is fairly different than the rest his versions.
Centuries ago the dwarven hold of Zok Caldoth was beset by their ancient enemies but in numbers never before seen; it was soon clear that the stronghold was doomed to fall and with it the might of the clans that had built it. In the face of certain defeat their allies abandoned them, all but one noble family. This family had nothing to gain by helping the clans of Zok Caldoth; they had nothing to fear even if the stronghold fell because their lands weren't even near the Derrakonian border. Nevertheless this one noble family stood with the dwarves -- but the lady of the family, Lady Geninvene, took it one step further.
She sold her soul to the beings that existed beyond the realms of existence; to those terrible and powerful beings that existed before time. In exchange for her soul and her bloodline they gave the Lady Geninvene a vast and terrible magic. With that power she laid waste to the hordes that sat in seige of Zok Caldoth but it was too late; the hold still fell, the defenses were shattered and the clans scattered. But the surviving Clans all knealt before the Lady Geninvene and swore an oath to her and to her bloodline that if ever the call come the Clans would answer for the sake of the friendship shown by the Lady.
Each Clan then appointed a single warrior to serve as honor guard to the Lady and her children for as long as the family survived and that is where Knob's story starts.
Knob's father, a dwarven warblade and the last remaining honor guard to the line of the Lady Geninvene and unlike the others he fell in love with a human woman; a jeweler. That woman bore the dwarf a single son -- a halfbreed child that would become known as Knob though she died during the birth.
Knob's father taught his son everything he knew in the hopes that Knob would take up the mantle of honor guard to the line of Lady Geninvene, to continue to honor the friendship of a woman already two hundred years dead. And Knob took to that task with eagerness if truth be told in part to honor his father and mostly because he was in love with the Lady Sonya of the Irae family. Sonya Irae, a warlock like her many-times-great-grandmother. Knob willingly took up the mantle of protector and companion to Sonya.
I never got to play Knob but it would be pretty cool if I could sometime.
While that's his story what does the character build itself look like?
That's actually pretty simple all things considered; a basic two class build of Fighter and Swordsage. But! Not regular fighter, no. For Knob I'm using the Kensai alternate base class for two reasons. One is that it fits him slightly better than the regular fighter class and the second is that it gives him more benefits for being devoted to a single weapon: in Knob's case, the spiked gauntlet but not just any spiked gauntlet. No, Knob uses Heavy Spiked Gauntlets. Basically, take gold or platinum and then magically harden it and you have a heavy weapon (Magic of Faerun). The resulting weapon now takes an exotic weapon proficiency to use correctly but the damage die has increased so instead of doing 1d4 per gauntlet Knob does 1d6 per hit.
Swordsage I chose because it compliments Kensai (fighter technically), very nicely in terms of saves, class abilities, and skills/skillpoints. It also is the only class to give me access to both Desert Wind and Stone Dragon with which I can replicate the scorokinetic abilities Knob's always had.
Level
1 Kensai Combat Expertise, Parry, Two Weapon Fighting
2 Kensai Weapon Focus
3 Kensai Combat Reflexes
4 Kensai Improved Parry
5 Swordsage
6 Kensai Expert Parry
7 Kensai Weapon Specialization
8 Kensai
9 Kensai Improved TWF, Two Weapon Defense
10 Swordsage
11 Kensai
12 Kensai Gtr Weapon Focus, Melee Weapon Mastery
13 Kensai
14 Kensai Gtr TWF
15 Swordsage Improved TWD
16 Kensai
17 Kensai Gtr TWD
18 Kensai Gtr Specialization
19 Swordsage
20 Swordsage
With this build I'm assuming I'm using two flaws because it just works lots better that way; the flaws themselves don't much matter. Probably Shaky and something else.
And without further adieu let's go through the breakdown of his feats.
At first level this is where Kensai really shines -- while I don't list it I'm automatically proficient with the Heavy Spiked Gauntlets thanks to it (basically I lose my first fighter bonus feat for it) which leaves me three more feats (1 from character level 1 and then the two flaws). I pick up Two Weapon Fighting since I've got two gauntlets and then Combat Expertise which is required for my last feat: Parry. This is a feat from Dragon Magazine and does exactly what it sounds like. Using spiked gauntlets I get a +4 to the parry attempt (which is an opposed attack roll) and I nullify the other big problem with parrying: the other guy normally gets a free disarm attempt. Gauntlets can't be disarmed.
At 2nd level is weapon focus (which stacks with the Kensai's bonuses to attack and damage with the chosen weapon; in Knob's case the Heavy Spiked Gauntlets). That puts me at +2 attack/+1 damage.
3rd level is Combat Reflexes which I need for my next feat.
That 4th level feat being Improved Parry -- I can now make more than one parry attempt per round but they all have to be from different opponents. It's useful but it's mostly a pre-req for another feat.
While I normally wouldn't do this I'm going to call out my Swordsage levels too. When I get that first level at level 5 I'm treated as a 3rd level Initiator which means I can choose 6 maneuvers from 1st and 2nd level. The ones I'm taking at Mountain Hammer, Burning Blade, Counter Charge, Flashing Sun, Baffling Defense, and Wolf Fang Strike; I'm picking up Step of the Wind for my stance.
At 6th level I get Expert Parry and that's where things get nasty -- now I can direct all my parry attempts at any number of targets which means as long as I have AoOs left I can make parry attempts. The only restriction left is that I can only parry weapons up to two size larger than my own size (thankfully natural weapons are treated as being slightly smaller than normal for this).
7th level is a Kensai bonus feat and I grab Weapon Specialization which brings me, counting the Kensai bonuses, to +3 attack/+3 damage with my gauntlets.
At 9th level I get two more feats, one from kensai and one from my character level; I pick up Improved Two Weapon Fighting and then Two Weapon Defense. If I'm going for dual wielding I might as well go all the way, right?
10th level is my second swordsage level and I've got an Initiator Level of 6 which means the maneuver and stance I get at this level can both be 3rd or lower. I pick up Roots of the Mountain for the stance and then get Bonecrusher. I also get my Wisdom bonus to AC.
12th level is another two feat level and I get Greater Weapon Focus and then Melee Weapon Mastery for Piercing Weapons since that's technically what the spiked gauntlets are. That brings my total bonuses, counting Kensai, to +7 attack/+7 damage. Doesn't sound like alot but it adds up.
14th level is another bonus feat and I grab Greater Two Weapon Fighting.
15th level and I get Improved Two Weapon Defense. I'm one feat away from getting the entire Two Weapon Fighting tree and it's awesome. This is also my 3rd swordsage level and I have an initiator level of 9th suddenly which means the maneuver I get this level can be of 5th level or lower; I pick Elder Mountain Hammer. And I get to relearn another maneuver so I drop Mountain Hammer for Bonesplitting Strike.
17th level is another bonus feat, my last, in fact, and I get the last TWF feat in the form of Greater Two Weapon Defense. While there are, granted, probably better feats that I could choose to take I decided to go with these.
18th level, my last feat Greater Weapon Specialization. Counting the Kensai bonuses I'm at +8 to attack and +10 to damage with my gauntlets.
Now, 19th and 20th level are both Swordsage levels; giving me a final initiator level of 12th. So my last two maneuvers and my last stance are both from 6th level or under and I get to relearn a second maneuver. So I pick up Desert Tempest and then Irresistable Mountain Strike along with the Fiery Assault Stance. And then I drop Burning Blade to relearn it as Searing Blade.
In reality there's alot more I wish I could've done with Knob -- and I could, probably, if I dropped the Two Weapon Defense feats. But not matter what I do he's going to be feat strapped. Still, I like him.
Voting Time!
Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Tarman Vorse, Spellsmiter, Highlander Build, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage, Lucky Adventurer, Toguro Character, Slashing Killer, Meta-Mage, Hunter of Man, Force Mage, Bardic Dervish, Halberdier, Assassin Homage, Dragoon, Draco-Blade, Missile Mage, Aiel Homage, Graeme, Archer Mage, Vartyr Kellisk, Trapper, Blessed Hunter, Dwarven Thane, Lady Irae, Naruma
Gestalt Builds:
Seige Engineer, Ubertrooper, Leon Thrakos, Ravenclaw Bard, Tri-Weapon Fighter, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Alikin, Bloodclaw Master, Wordspeaker, Dread Pirate Roberts, Disarmer, Joshua Numenor, Direfrost Mage, Incarnate Dragon, Fortress Sorcerer, Voice of the Forgotten, Voice of Gruumsh, Kalix of Black Iron, Shadow Hunter, Elias the Stormwalker, Njal the Warbringer, Randal Bernard, Marsarlis #113, Eddie the Pierce Sniper, Graul the Ice Fisted, Tero Dach, Armored Tank, Earthbender Sorcerer, Mindreader, Dusk Commando, Eldritch Fistfighter, Lucian Thrakos, Merek Stonebreaker, Flash, Captain America, Arhmis Diei, Liam Ironarm, Runecaster Dwarf, Horizon, Desmond Arlin, Undead Psy-Warrior, Paladin of Revelry, Lord of Moil, Master of Fears, Jokhan Thrakos, Arch Druid of Cair Moloch, Duskblade Vindicator, Anarok Tor, Fangborn Martial Artist, Original Gideon, Edward Mallory, Nature Mage, Ulric Vantir, Gideon of Incarnum, Knob