God of War

[RangerWickett]

I want to make a Kratos-esque PC as a 36th level character for a short epic campaign I'm playing in. Please help me. Pretty much any WotC book that's not Eberron-based, Weapons of Legacy, Magic of Incarnum, or Tome of Magic is available.

My basic idea is to make him a Warblade 20/Swordsage x, and maybe a few other classes or prestige classes in there. I basically expect to be able to use any Book of Nine Swords ability I want.

The first thing I need to figure out are his weapons. Should I stat them as wierd kusari-gama (one-handed spiked-chain-esque weapons in the DMG), or as normal swords with a magical ability to extend? Is there anything from WotC that can do that? Preferably, to reflect my divine nature, I want them to be holy power weapons (a +8 enhancement bonus option that inflicts +3d6 holy damage and a negative level per hit against evil creatures).

Second, I need a way to not be screwed for not wearing armor. Admittedly, my stats will probably be ridiculous at this level, and I get to add my Wisdom mod due to Swordsage, and can still wear light armor. I don't necessarily need a Golden Fleece style defense, but some way to avoid all the countless doomsday attacks at epic level would be nice.

Third, I need ranged combat options. Kratos in the game gets to hurl lightning bolts, or shoot spectral arrows. The arrows option is easy. Any way to have nigh-infinite magical attacks that do an effective amount of damage at epic level?

I'll post more as this idea crystallizes in my mind.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Do you have access to Dragon Magazine?

They statted out the Blades of War as an artifact weapon in one issue. I can search the "library" if you'd like...

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Herobizkit]

I'd stat them as the Kusari-Gama... weapons that can vary between reach and non-reach at no penalty and can be wielded in one hand.

Might as well make 'em Flaming Burst, Holy, Speed, Bane vs. (something) and Ghost Touch for an equivalent +8.

AAAAND....

Might as well throw on some OA Monk levels for a free proficiency in the Kusari-Gama.

ORRR....

Make 'em Throwing/Returning Kuari-Gama.

 

[Klaus]

Light Armor, you say?

+5 Spell Resistance Mithril Breastplate of Heavy Fortification. +10 armor bonus, negates crits and has a chance of stopping enemy spells.

 

[RangerWickett]

(Work in progress)

Kratos - Human Warblade 20/Fighter 1/Barbarian 1/Monk 2/Bloodclaw Master 3/Master of Nine 5/Swordsage 4

Str 44
Dex 20
Con 24
Int 10
Wis 24
Cha 8

Original Stats
[sblock]32-pt. buy
Str 18 + 9 levels + 5 book + 12 item
Dex 10 + 4 book + 6 item
Con 14 + 4 book + 6 item
Int 10
Wis 14 + 4 book + 6 item
Cha 8[/sblock]

HP 486 (24d12+1d10+11d8+252, Greyhawked)
AC 46 (+10 armor, +2 shield, +5 Dex, +7 Wis, +5 natural, +5 deflection, +1 insight, +1 Weapon Supremacy); Dodge

Saves (assuming I go Warblade 18/Barbarian 1/Fighter 1/and then 16 epic levels)
Fort +36 (+15 pre-epic +8 epic +7 Con, +5 cloak +1 ioun)
Ref +25 (+6 pre-epic +8 epic +5 Dex, +5 cloak +1 ioun)
Will +27 (+6 pre-epic +8 epic +7 Wis, +5 cloak +1 ioun)

Feats: Adaptive Style, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Epic Prowess, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Weapon Specialization (kukri), Greater Weapon Focus (kukri), Greater Weapon Specialization (kukri), Improved Buckler Defense, Improved Critical (kukri), Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Melee Weapon Mastery (kukri), Quickdraw, Tiger-Blooded, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (kukri), Weapon Specialization (kukri), Weapon Supremacy (kukri), 2 more
(1 human, 13 levels, 1 fighter, 3 monk, 1 swordsage, 4 warblade)

BAB: +29

Blades of Chaos +59/+59/+54/+49/+44, d6+33 (+29 bab, +17 Str, +6 weapon, +4 weapon focus, +2 melee weapon mastery, +1 ioun stone)

Typhon's Bane +44/+39/+34/+29, d8+27 (+29 bab, +5 Dex, +5 weapon, +4 weapon focus, +1 ioun stone)

8.8 million GP of gear at this level I believe. We're not allowed to spend more than 2.2 on a given item.

Option One (Some of these items are combined using Magic Item Compendium rules)

• Armor of the War God (+5 mithral breastplate of heavy fortification) - 104,200 gp
• Chains of Chaos (two +8 wounding adamantine kukri), with adamantine chains attached to them so I can make makeshift reach attacks - 4,012,066
• Typhon's Bane (+5 aptitude evil-outsider-bane holy mighty composite longbow [+14 Str]) - 163,800
• The Gold Fleece (+1 great reflection buckler) - 1,210,015 gp
• Book of Strength +5, Dex +4, Con +4, Wis +4 - 467,500 gp
• Belt +12, Periapt +6, Amulet +6, - 1,512,000 gp
• Ring of Protection +5, Amulet of Natural Armor +5, Ioun Stone of Insight +1, Ioun Stone of Competence +1 - 138,000
• Eyes of Petrification, two Gloves of Storing, Periapt of Proof Against Poison, Wings of Flying - 214,500
• Bracers of Greater Archery, Cloak of Greater Displacement and Resistance +5 - 100,000
• Quiver of Ehlonna, 18 javelins of lightning, Rod of Cancellation - 39,800
• Ring of Fire Elemental Command - 200,000
• Boots of Swiftness (epic) - 256,000

Total so far - 8,401,471.

I think I need Magic Item Compendium gear. Like maybe weapon and armor crystals.

Maybe make the kukri large, so I can take Power Attack, since then they'd be one-handed weapons.

 

[Satori]

I haven't played God of War (aside from a few minutes at friend's homes), but I just checked the Wikipedia article. Let me see if I can sum up the basics:

-Blades of Chaos: They look like Short Swords attached to chains that can be flung about. This would definitely need some type of special magic property. Maybe a Short Sword pair that morphs into a Spiked Chain at will?
-Rage of the Gods: Barbarian or Frenzied Berzerker rage?
-Spartan: Spartan Hoplites traditionally wore Breastplates, Greaves, Helmets, and Shields. Hence, you will still stay true to his "roots" if you wear some armor pieces.
-Ares' Servant: There aren't really "Good" and "Bad" gods in Greece, but Ares is probably closer to a Devil/Demon than Celestial...hence, you could use "Half-Fiend" to simulate that.
-Various Power Ups: Having not played the game, this is hard for me to say. Still, he has a LOT of various power ups listed (Medusa's Gaze, Poseidon's Rage, etc...). From what I've been told, it sounds like you can use these ALL the time, hence no per day limit.

---

Overall, this sounds something like a:
Half-Fiend Warblade/Warlock/Frenzied Berzerker

Granted, this may not be the most optimized character...but the mix of "Ares' Servant" (selling his soul, i.e. Half-Fiend/Warlock), "Rage of the Gods" (Frenzied Berzerker...he killed his own family!), "Spartan Warrior" (the movie 300 will always mean Spartans = Warblades), and "Unlimited Blasts per Day" (Warlock) makes the above build feel appropriate.

Also, perhaps the easiest way to simulate the Blades of Chaos is to take "Eldritch Glaive" as an Invocation, then RP the appearance to resemble the "Sword Chucks" Kratos uses.

Heck, if you went that route, then something like Warlock 20/Barb 6/FB 10 would yield a fairly solid character, if built right. Your Eldritch Glaive (Sword Chucks) would let you full attack (as a touch attack) at 9d6 points of damage per hit...combined with Frenzied Berserker's Enhanced Power Attack and the Touch Attack facet, you'd inflict MASSIVE damage each round.

The ability to fling 9d6 Ranged Touch "Arrows/Bolts" would also mesh with the flavor, and Rage/Frenzy would fit nicely with the "Rage of the Gods". Warlock is also sufficiently "Fiendish" enough to perhaps simulate Kratos' odd nature.

Just a thought.

 

[RangerWickett]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I really want to use Bo9S stuff.

Right now I'm looking at Warblade 20/Barbarian 1/Fighter 1/Bloodclaw Master 3/Monk 2/Master of Nine 5/Swordsage 4. I could count his weapons as kukri (since they look sorta like one), and find some magical way to extend their reach, or transform them into whips. Actually, there's a Desert Wind maneuver that gives me +5 ft. reach and makes my attacks do fire damage, so that could work.

Feats:
1 human (Adaptive Style)
13 for levels (Weapon Spec, Melee Weapon Mastery, GWF, GWS, Improved Critical, Weapon Supremacy (kukri); Improved Buckler Defense, Epic Prowess, Epic Weapon Focus, EWS (kukri), Adaptive Style, two others)
1 fighter (Two-Weapon Fighting)
4 warblade (Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Quickdraw, Tiger-Blooded)
1 swordsage (Weapon Focus (kukri))
3 monk (Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Combat Reflexes)

What two other feats should I take?

 

[gnfnrf]

Rather than going the TWF/Bloodclaw Master route, you could consider treating the Blades as one weapon (a spiked chain, possibly slashing if the DM will allow the substitution) and go into Bloodstorm Blade for targets beyond 10 ft. Many of the Bloodstorm Blade abilities have a very God of War feel to them, and I don't think TWF is necessary for the feel.

The only catch to this plan (and it is a big one) is waiting the round for returning. If only there were some kind of epic super returning property...

--
gnfnrf

 

[RangerWickett]

Still working on polishing this.

 

[RangerWickett]

20 levels of Warblade gets me 13 maneuvers (7 readied) and 4 stances.

3 levels of Bloodclaw Master gets me 2 maneuvers (1 readied).

5 levels of Master of Nine gets me 8 maneuvers (5 readied) and 2 stances.

Then 4 levels of Swordsage gets me 9 maneuvers (5 readied) and 4 stances.

So I effectively have 23 maneuvers (13 readied) and 6 stances available via warblade, and 9 maneuvers (5 readied) and 4 stances available via swordsage.

Warblade
Stances - Blood in the Water, Immortal Fortitude

Maneuvers

• Devoted Spirit (gained via Master of Nine) - Foehammer, Greater Divine Surge, Thicket of Blades^S.
• Diamond Mind - Action Before Thought^C, Diamond Defense^C, Diamond Nightmare Blade, Emerald Razor, Moment of Perfect Mind^C, Quicksilver Motion^B, Time Stands Still
• Iron Heart - Iron Heart Surge, Wall of Blades^C
• Stone Dragon - Mountain Tombstone Strike
• Tiger Claw - Feral Death Blow, Pouncing Charge, Raging Mongoose^B, Sudden Leap^B, Swooping Dragon Strike
• White Raven - Leading the Charge, White Raven Tactics^B

Swordsage
Stances - Flame's Blessing, Giant-Killing Stance, Shifting Defense

Maneuvers

• Desert Wind - Burning Brand^B, Inferno Blade^B
• Setting Sun - Clever Positioning^C, Counter Charge, Fool's Strike^C, Giant Killing Stance^S, Shifting Defense^S, Tornado Throw
• Shadow Hand - Shadow Blink

^B = Boost
^C = Counter


So it looks like I still have a fair number of maneuvers to spare. I don't think I really need that many more.