He finally Made It
So where to begin with Marsarlis?
Well, he was actually a Star Wars character first off; a Force Adept who was the 113th in the line of Marsarlis. The original Marsarlis (in that game), was a Jedi Knight that split with the Jedi Council long ago, back when Yoda was a Padawan, over philosophical differences, namely the treatment of the Dark Side of the force. As a tribute to that, the student of the first Marsarlis took up the name of his master becoming Marsarlis II. He also took up the sword of the original Marsarlis because he'd set aside his lightsaber when he broke with the Jedi Council. Marsarlis the 113th then was the latest in the line of Marsarlis who ventured into the New Republic, with the reestablishment of the Jedi as a group, to see if the philosophical differences could be mended.
Unfortunately, the game didn't really go anywhere.
That segued into Marsarlis becoming one of my five Ipsu Dio (of which I only know three names. Go figure). He's tooled around there, being much the same as always only with a highly attuned connection to the air and wind.
He briefly made an appearance as a D&D character, an Iaijutsu Master actually, with a custom made Legacy Item, The Windlord's Edge. It was supposed to be the first of four elemental themed magic items but I never got around to make the others -- Axe of the Steel Road was the one for earth. There was a staff for fire and I don't even know what was up with Water.
It came to me earlier today though that Marsarlis's build -- as an Iaijutsu Master - was the basis for Randal's later build and, as such, I wouldn't really feel right using that one. So I ended up needing to create a new build for Marsarlis 113th.
I decided to keep the fact of him being a Swordsage but to alter things from a focus on Diamond Mind to one of Tiger Claw and Desert Wind with a judicious sprinkling of Stone Dragon. The thing to remember for him though, is that he wouldn't take the fire-related Desert Wind maneuvers but rather the ones that left him move faster or attack quicker. So, in essence, only a few maneuvers.
The other thing he'd be is a Warmind because I fucking love that class and Marsarlis has always been rather militant, even among the Ipsu Dio.
So, classes yes?
Level
1 Swordsage Able Learner, Skill Knowledge
2 Swordsage
3 Swordsage Hidden Talent
4 Swordsage
5 Swordsage
6 Warmind Lightning Reflexes
7 Swordsage
8 Warmind
9 Swordsage Desert Fire
10 Warmind
11 Swordsage
12 Warmind Improved Toughness
13 Swordsage
14 Warmind
15 Swordsage Expanded Knowledge
16 Warmind
17 Swordsage
18 Warmind Expanded Knowledge
19 Warmind
20 Swordsage
So, what's going on here?
Well, the character was made with the idea of using Windlord's Edge again (Hence Lightning Reflexes) and with the idea of being what he was in the Star Wars game as well as in my writing -- durable beyond his appearance and more dangerous than you realize.
Both the Warmind and the Swordsage share the need for a good wisdom so Marsarlis will already be looking at extra power points and being able to add a nice damage bonus to his strikes. Plus he'll have access to the Psychic Warrior powers via Warmind and anything else I can think of with the Expanded Knowledge Feats.
So, feats!
First level, since Marsarlis is human, he gets Able Learner and Skill Knowledge for Knowledge(Psionics). The former is so that his skills won't be totally neutered later one when he hits Warmind and goes from 6+Int Mod to 2+Int Mod a level. And latter is so I can get into Warmind at 6th level.
Then at 3rd I get Hidden Talent which I'd probably take for Adrenaline Surge because it's an awesome power. That'll also give me the power points I need to have to get into Warmind.
6th level is Lightning Reflexes, required for Windlord's Edge. This just means his Ref save is going to be utterly absurd.
Ninth level and I get desert fire and this is where things start getting scary. By this point in time I've already got Discipline Focus for Desert Wind strikes so I'll be adding my Wisdom bonus to damage with them. Now why those? The answer is simple: Flashing Sun. Unlike the Tiger Claw manuevers, it's actually a strike and not a boost. Even though it takes a full round action to initiate it's not the end of the world. Apply Hustle in a few levels when I have it and I can move, trigger Desert Fire (which adds +1d6 damage to a desert wind strike) and then use Sweeping Strike from Warmind. All of that comes in later levels (around 14th-15th) but the ground work is being laid now.
12 level is Improved Toughness (because Psionic Body just doesn't give me enough to justify it) and I want Marsarlis to be tough.
The last two feats are both Expanded Knowledge to give me extra powers known just in case there's more Psychic Warrior powers I want or powers from other sources.
Voting Time:
Siege Engineer, Randal Bernard, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Njal the Warbringer, Kalix of Blade Iron, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Raging Ninja, Tarman Vorse, Urzai Irondancer, Spellsmiter, Elias the Stormwalker, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Shadowhunter, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage
Well, he was actually a Star Wars character first off; a Force Adept who was the 113th in the line of Marsarlis. The original Marsarlis (in that game), was a Jedi Knight that split with the Jedi Council long ago, back when Yoda was a Padawan, over philosophical differences, namely the treatment of the Dark Side of the force. As a tribute to that, the student of the first Marsarlis took up the name of his master becoming Marsarlis II. He also took up the sword of the original Marsarlis because he'd set aside his lightsaber when he broke with the Jedi Council. Marsarlis the 113th then was the latest in the line of Marsarlis who ventured into the New Republic, with the reestablishment of the Jedi as a group, to see if the philosophical differences could be mended.
Unfortunately, the game didn't really go anywhere.
That segued into Marsarlis becoming one of my five Ipsu Dio (of which I only know three names. Go figure). He's tooled around there, being much the same as always only with a highly attuned connection to the air and wind.
He briefly made an appearance as a D&D character, an Iaijutsu Master actually, with a custom made Legacy Item, The Windlord's Edge. It was supposed to be the first of four elemental themed magic items but I never got around to make the others -- Axe of the Steel Road was the one for earth. There was a staff for fire and I don't even know what was up with Water.
It came to me earlier today though that Marsarlis's build -- as an Iaijutsu Master - was the basis for Randal's later build and, as such, I wouldn't really feel right using that one. So I ended up needing to create a new build for Marsarlis 113th.
I decided to keep the fact of him being a Swordsage but to alter things from a focus on Diamond Mind to one of Tiger Claw and Desert Wind with a judicious sprinkling of Stone Dragon. The thing to remember for him though, is that he wouldn't take the fire-related Desert Wind maneuvers but rather the ones that left him move faster or attack quicker. So, in essence, only a few maneuvers.
The other thing he'd be is a Warmind because I fucking love that class and Marsarlis has always been rather militant, even among the Ipsu Dio.
So, classes yes?
Level
1 Swordsage Able Learner, Skill Knowledge
2 Swordsage
3 Swordsage Hidden Talent
4 Swordsage
5 Swordsage
6 Warmind Lightning Reflexes
7 Swordsage
8 Warmind
9 Swordsage Desert Fire
10 Warmind
11 Swordsage
12 Warmind Improved Toughness
13 Swordsage
14 Warmind
15 Swordsage Expanded Knowledge
16 Warmind
17 Swordsage
18 Warmind Expanded Knowledge
19 Warmind
20 Swordsage
So, what's going on here?
Well, the character was made with the idea of using Windlord's Edge again (Hence Lightning Reflexes) and with the idea of being what he was in the Star Wars game as well as in my writing -- durable beyond his appearance and more dangerous than you realize.
Both the Warmind and the Swordsage share the need for a good wisdom so Marsarlis will already be looking at extra power points and being able to add a nice damage bonus to his strikes. Plus he'll have access to the Psychic Warrior powers via Warmind and anything else I can think of with the Expanded Knowledge Feats.
So, feats!
First level, since Marsarlis is human, he gets Able Learner and Skill Knowledge for Knowledge(Psionics). The former is so that his skills won't be totally neutered later one when he hits Warmind and goes from 6+Int Mod to 2+Int Mod a level. And latter is so I can get into Warmind at 6th level.
Then at 3rd I get Hidden Talent which I'd probably take for Adrenaline Surge because it's an awesome power. That'll also give me the power points I need to have to get into Warmind.
6th level is Lightning Reflexes, required for Windlord's Edge. This just means his Ref save is going to be utterly absurd.
Ninth level and I get desert fire and this is where things start getting scary. By this point in time I've already got Discipline Focus for Desert Wind strikes so I'll be adding my Wisdom bonus to damage with them. Now why those? The answer is simple: Flashing Sun. Unlike the Tiger Claw manuevers, it's actually a strike and not a boost. Even though it takes a full round action to initiate it's not the end of the world. Apply Hustle in a few levels when I have it and I can move, trigger Desert Fire (which adds +1d6 damage to a desert wind strike) and then use Sweeping Strike from Warmind. All of that comes in later levels (around 14th-15th) but the ground work is being laid now.
12 level is Improved Toughness (because Psionic Body just doesn't give me enough to justify it) and I want Marsarlis to be tough.
The last two feats are both Expanded Knowledge to give me extra powers known just in case there's more Psychic Warrior powers I want or powers from other sources.
Voting Time:
Siege Engineer, Randal Bernard, Knob, Alikin, Hidden Talent Fighter, Joshua Numenor, Multiterrain Shocktrooper, Ubertrooper, Warblade/Lurk Concept Char, Njal the Warbringer, Kalix of Blade Iron, Balthas Kasra, Kurth, Alarian Thrakos, Raging Ninja, Tarman Vorse, Urzai Irondancer, Spellsmiter, Elias the Stormwalker, Highlander Build, Original Gideon, Dragonmage, Melee-ist Fighter, Skarn Bloodclaw, Paladin of Revelry, "Standard Fighter", Master of Chains, Shadowhunter, Mounted Archer, Arisias, Whirlwind, Vykes, Anarok Tor, Cerberus Ranger, Kobold Pick Fighter, Magekiller, Ebin, William Corshek, Grappler, Stormlord Cleric, Storm Mage