[CAG] Li

[BSF]

I am Li Xiang Gao Honorable Warrior and Fleet footed Samurai, or something like that. OK, Li is from a far away place and seems to be thinking that he may have made a mistake leaving. Now, he seems to be seekig honor and prestige so that he may fulfill his goal of being a Samurai. But, what goals does he have over the long term? Does he eventually want to return and take out the Yuan-Ti? In what ways is Li looking to prove himself?

 

[Macbeth]

Li doesn't so much think he made a mistake leaving, as he thinks the choices he made have put him where he needs to be. When he first traveled to Stormhaven he had given up on the useless war with the Yuan-ti, and he was ready to live a new life. But Atomos' death at the hands of the hobgoblins reawakened Li's honorable nature, and he now intends to found a nwe order of samurai, warriors of the west, taking the idea of the samurai from his homeland and preserving it in his new home.

Li would like to prove himself to be a powerful combatant in battle and a wise leader in peace. He holds himself to the highest standards of the samurai, and he wants to make himself a model for others.

In the long term, Li hopes to recruit more people to his point of view, and start to train new samurai in this new land. If he is succesfull in forming a new order of samurai, he hopes to be able to lend their help to his homeland. He is not just planning on forming an army here and then taking it home, he really would llike to see samurai take root in this land, but if he can find the power to lend help in the fight against the yuan-ti, he will.

 

[Macbeth]

Li's goals, at present:

Short Term:
[FAILED]Beat Keldorn to prove his battle prowess
Solve the mystery of Brehnt's murder
[DONE]Create a group name

Middle Term (Is that even a phrase?):
[WORKED ON/ON HOLD]Improve our image around Greerson
[DONE]Go to war, either in Stormhaven or to the south, for Lord Tannerson
Improve the Manor in some way

Long Term:
[DONE]Finish his one year trial period with Lord Tannerson
Start a new order of Samurai
Have an epic composed about the group (by Janek, maybe)
Do Something to justify the above epic

 

[Macbeth]

I was looking at the Kensai PrC. Li can't take it, unless he can get INT up to 13, so he can take Combat Expertise. So I was idly looking at other PrCs.

And I found a perfect fit.

Li was very impressed with Wu Cho, and his crazy skills. Li wants to be able to do things like Wu Cho. And so I think he's going to take the Psychic Adept Prc (when he qualifies). I had originally just skimmed the Psychic Adept, writing it off as just a PrC for Psychis Monks, but it has some great features that match Li's style:

Psychic Strike: Unarmed attacks like a monk of his Psychic Adept level. Not a big deal, but it does make Li even more self sufficent, which is very fitting.

Psychic Stamina: use Wis in place of Con for HP. And it's retrocative! Li has +0 Con, but +2 Wis.

Battlemind: Add Wis bonus to AC. Just what Li needs to boost his AC.

Perfect Balance, Body Equilibrium, Psychic Leap: Cool, almost monk-like, action movie stuff. I like the idea of Li taking on some of Wu Cho's style.

Psychic Speed: All the better to run away.

I am a bit concerned about the Requirements. Li will need 8 ranks in three seperate skills. 8 ranks seems like a lot, and there has been some discussion in the Green Ronin boards about the requirements being too high. This is really a DM call, but some people have pointed out that 3-5 ranks is more in line with other PrC's, even skill based ones. Most PrC's become available around 5th-10th level, which the Psychic Adept theoretically does, but only if Body Control, Balance, and Concentration are all maxed out. Regardless, Li will aim for the PrC, it's just a matter of how long it will take him, getting at most 7 skill points per level (as a Psychic) and only 3 as a samurai.


I am also interested in an improved Preemptive Defense feat. we had talked about this at one point. Perhaps the feat can be taken again to improve the bonus (and the strain)?

If Li can retake Preemptive defense, he will put his next level in Psychic, take Preemptive Defense as his bonus feat, and sink a whole lot of skill points into Body Control, Balance, and Concentration (and Intimidate, of course). Otherwise, he'll probably take another samurai level, and still sink alot of skill points into Body Control, Balance, and Concentration.

Oh yeah, and I found a missing XP Sheet. New total puts Li well on his way to 5th.

 

[Macbeth]

Just thought I'd post my XP total, since there has been some confusion (completely on my part).

Li Currently has 7435, which puts him roughly 3-5 sessions away from 5th. From my math (which very likely may be wrong) Li would have leveled up about 2-3 sessions ago, had I not lost the dang XP sheet. That sounds about right, as I believe that is about when Keldorn, Felix, and Ceru, made 4th.

Just wanted to post that so I have a record, and I don't have to worry about loosing any more XP sheets.

 

[Macbeth]

I've been asked to explain more about why I like the Psychic Adept, so here we go:

1. Base Attack Bonus: Good BAB (i.e. BAB = Level), while still imporving Psychic Abilities.

2. Skill Points: 4+INT Modifier. Better then a Samurai. Note that no Psychic Skills are class skills for the Psychic Adept, but the higher skill points help with that.

3. Improved Ability Enhancement: Li can take 10 on Enhance Ability even in combat, and it becomes a move action.

Basically, I like the idea of a Good BAB class with a few more skill points and some abilities that let Li do action-movie type stuff. Basically, fighting Wu Cho reminded me of my original idea for Li, and why I was willing to use a feat just so he doesn't use armor. I want him to be highly agile and mobile, and being able to do things like walk across water. It would be cool to see Li charge over a lake to attack an enemy (or run away from one ).

 

[Macbeth]

Just for the record, I decided to take Li's 4th level in Samurai, making him Psychic 1/Samurai 3. It was a hard choice (for the next few levels the Psychic's BAB increases at each level), but I need that d10 hp.

 

[Macbeth]

I just finally got around to totaling my XP again. I hadn't been in a big hurry to do it, since I figured I wouldn't have made a level, but what do you know, Li made 5th level by 75 xp.

Heres the breakdown:
7,435 as of 7/14/04, noted on my character sheet
880 on 7/19/04
770 on 7/20/04
990 on a session without a date, but the notes show it was the session with the big battle against the hands.
-------
10,075 XP

5th level is 10,000 and above.

I'm going to start considering what to do with my next level. I'll post here when I make a decision.

 

[Macbeth]

I thought it moght be a good time to create a new/updated goals list for Li. I updated the one earlier in the thread, but so many priorities have changed I thought a new list was in order:

Short Term:
Save the hostages of the neraby gnoll division.

Recruit gnoll survivors to work the manor.



Middle Term:
Stop the gnoll armies.

Increase the Legend of Li and the Seeker of Legend ( ) by defeating the gnoll leader, who Li believes is favored by Lady Morgancia.

Find warriors to join the order of samurai Li would like to start.

Turn a profit with the manor


Long Term:
Have an epic composed about the group (by Janek, maybe)

Do Something to justify the above epic

Save his homeland

 

[Macbeth]

Just curious about something: does Li possesion of a manor entitle him to some special title or form of address? Is he considered 'gentry' (if Greerson has such a thing). I just wanted to know if I could add a title to when Li introduces himself, just something to really impress the folk we save from the gnolls.