Build me a katana + trenchcoat guy

[hong]

Actually, that movie hasn't aged very well, IMO.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Actually, that movie hasn't aged very well, IMO.

Now you're just repeating what our resident rodent of night was saying!

So, what do you feel about the "Katana + Trenchcoat" suggestions so far? Is it enough? Do you need more?

 

[hong]

This was just to see if 4E could handle the schtick. The previous excerpt on multiclassing, plus the info that classes are now more narrowly defined, meant that I was unsure if the game could do it. So far, it looks like it can.

But, you know, you can never have too many katanae and trenchcoats. So more! More I say!

 

[Cadfan]

So, how would you build a katana + trenchcoat guy in 4E? AKA, big sword/light armour. No books here, or I'd do it myself.

4e can handle the schtick, but...

Basically, a fighter using a bladed weapon uses dexterity as his secondary attribute. So he'll probably put Str as his best score, then Dex. And as he levels up, he'll make boosting Dex a priority.

Once he hits Dex 18, the benefit of Hide Armor + Dexterity is equal to the benefit of Scale Armor. So he might as well switch to the lighter armor and get back some speed, and reduce his skill penalty.

I think its reasonable to declare a guy in hide armor with a greatsword to really be a guy in a heavy trenchcoat wielding a katana, especially considering that he's a dex heavy fighter build.

So that's how I'd go. I'd spend a feat or two on skills along the way, as well, to get Acrobatics and Stealth, and I'd pick up opportunity attack feats like the ones that boost opportunity attacks with a heavy blade, in order to get that "flurry of cuts" feel a katana can have.

The only downside is that until you get to Dex 18, you're either using scale armor, or playing with a suboptimal AC. If you start with a 14 dex (human with 16 str, 14 dex, +2 assigned to str for optimization reasons) that's level 14. If you play an Eladrin with the same stats, you could get there by level 8, but you'd be taking an attack roll penalty. Or you could go the human route, and just accept that you have a slightly lower AC than you'd prefer, in exchange for getting more maneuverability and better skills.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This was just to see if 4E could handle the schtick. The previous excerpt on multiclassing, plus the info that classes are now more narrowly defined, meant that I was unsure if the game could do it. So far, it looks like it can.

I know why you were doing it, just wanted to know how you evaluated the suggestions...

But, you know, you can never have too many katanae and trenchcoats. So more! More I say!

Agreed.

 

[Cadfan]

I'd also go for these feats, in no particular order:

-Human Perseverance
-Blade Opportunist
-Skill Training: Acrobatics
-Skill Training: Stealth
-Skill Training: Perception
-Long Jumper
-Quickdraw

I can't go past heroic tier, since I have neither books nor pdfs, and am working from a list of heroic tier feats someone typed into ENWorld. But that would give me an acrobatic, stealthy, alert guy who can do impressive leaps and who's hard to surprise.

 

[RangerWickett]

Well come on. You have to be a bad-ass to fight while wearing a trenchcoat, so it's fair that heroes might not start off as bad-ass enough to do it.

You'll notice Connor MacLeod doesn't get his trenchcoat until the 80s, by which point he's got to be at least 6th level.

 

[Voss]

From what people have posted at various places
ultimate 'trenchcoat guy':

Bugbear fighter
bonuses to strength and dex, and can use large weapons. (Someone mentioned a FF-style giant blade, I believe...)
level 1 stats:
Stats
Str 18
Con 12
Dex 18
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8
large greatsword +8 vs AC, d12?+4
hide armor, AC 17

plus whatever the bugbear's pseudo sneak attack power can do.
Probably a very good candidate for rogue multiclassing.

Very good For and Ref defenses, and I'd go for Improved Initiative as the first level feat.

 

[That One Guy]

Warlord. Go Inspirational. This way, you're not necessarily puttin' the hurt on the dude, but you look awesome when you do it.

QFT
You completely need his talk smack powers... errr... Inspirational Word? Same thing, right? Maybe multi-class to snag it. Seriously, from silphing through the forums a Str/Dex BAMF of the type you want is completely doable. I think a multi-class feat may be handy, and I'm pro rituals... but I dunno' how that'd fit into the flavour you want.


I liked trickster, so an eladrin w/ a longsword flavoured to inhumanly large satisfies that special part of my heart.

Hong, I think the question you may want to ask if there are any powers to grab enemies from large distances and then throw them.... wait....

Bigsby?
As soon as you get the books you should post your build.

 

[jasin]

The best light armour (hide) is +3, the worst heavy armour (chainmail) is +6 and the best (plate) is +8.

But each kind of armour also has two masterwork varieties. If I understand correctly, magic armour with a +4 and +5 bonus is automatically from the first masterwork variety, and that with a +6 bonus is from the second one ("The cost of masterwork armor is included in the cost of magic armor").

For light armour, the first variety gives another +1 to AC, the second one another +1 on top of that. So +6 hide armour gives +11 to AC.

For heavy armour, the first variety is +3, the second another +3. So +6 plate gives +20 to AC.

Even if you put your best standard array stat (16) in Dex (or Int!) you'll be a couple of points behind the heavy armour guy. Of course, that's just fine if there are other benefits. So what does the light armour guy gain in terms of mobility?

Comparing hide to plate, the skill penalty is -1 instead of -2 and the speed penalty is 0 rather than 1.

Is +1 to skills and speed 6 instead of 5 worth -2 to AC? How about -4?

At first glance, I don't think it is. I think even an agile, jumpy swordsman is probably best off going with plate and just jumping 2 ft. less. More anime, where wearing big chunks of metal doesn't stop you from being a ninja, than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where people who handle sharp sticks for a living wear only robes.