Sometimes I really love d20!

[Klaus]

Check my avatar. It's a bit of a Todd Lockwood cover for the novel Memories of Ice, bu Steven Erikson. That's Gruntle, Mortal Sword of Trake, the Tiger of Summer (think of it as a God of War, recently ascended).

I thought the image was really cool, and decided to make up a character. And using PHB, PHBII, CW and CAdv, I managed to make exactly the character I wanted, with some really cool options for combat beyond just trading full attacks. I love how the rules allowed me to make this character without the need of piling up levels in a dozen different classes or whatnot, and that the charcater is really cool, even though I didn't min-max him (beyond starting with a 32-point buy).

So I am posting the character below (at 9th-level, when I already had everything I wanted for the character). He started as Fighter, then took a couple of Barbarian levels to mimic the touch of the Tiger of Summer.

Artwork by Todd Lockwood. Please visit his website, eh?

Gruntle CR 9

NG Male Human Ftr6/Bbn3
Medium Humanoid ; HD 6d10+12(Fighter) , 3d12+6(Barbarian) ; hp 93
Init +7; Spd 50
AC 22 (Flatfooted:22 Touch:16) (+6 +1 Mithral Breastplate, +3 Dex, +1 natural, +2 deflection); +1 shield with Two-Weapon Defense
BAB +9
Atk +1 Scimitar +15 melee (1d6+5, 15-20); Composite Longbow +12 ranged (1d8+4, x3)
Full Atk +1 Scimitar +13/8 (1d6+5, 15-20) and +1 Scimitar +13 (1d6+3, 15-20); Composite Longbow +12/+7 ranged (1d8+4, x3)

Saves Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +3;

STR 18, DEX 17, CON 15, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 10.

Skills: Climb +8, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +12, Jump +23, Listen +5, Ride +7, Spot +5, Survival +3, Swim +9.

Feats: Extra Rage, Improved Critical (Scimitar), Improved Initiative, Intimidating Strike, Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Pounce, Weapon Focus (Scimitar).

Possessions: 2 +1 Scimitars, +1 Mithral Breastplate, Ring of Protection +2, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Potion of Cure Serious Wounds (5th), Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Boots of Striding and Springing, Eyes of the Eagle, Heward`s Handy Haversack, Silversheen (x2), composite longbow (+4 Str bonus), quiver with 20 arrows.​

 

[Sound of Azure]

Nice character!

I think it's great that artwork can sometimes cause inspiration like that. It's also great that we are a part of a hobby that allows us to take that inspiration and forge new stories of our own. Thanks for sharing. That really made me smile a lot.

 

[Hussar]

And a bloody fantastic book as well. I have a different cover for mine, but I did see that Lockwood was doing covers. Maybe I'll get it the next time around.

 

[diaglo]

why 9th level?

 

[Klaus]

Because that's when I got everything I wanted. The character started out really well as Fighter 1, with TWF, Oversized TWF and Intimidating Strike right out the gate.

If I were to stat the *real* Gruntle, of course, he'd be an avatar, on top of his human fighting prowess.

And thank goodness this isn't Circvs Maximvs, or you'd have negrepped me for the thread title alone!

 

[diaglo]

Because that's when I got everything I wanted. The character started out really well as Fighter 1, with TWF, Oversized TWF and Intimidating Strike right out the gate.

If I were to stat the *real* Gruntle, of course, he'd be an avatar, on top of his human fighting prowess.

okay so it was the lowest level for your build. but not really what the character should have if he was like the one in the book.

 

[Klaus]

okay so it was the lowest level for your build. but not really what the character should have if he was like the one in the book.

The posted stats aren't inspired by the *book* as much as by the *image*. And 9th isn't the lowest level for the build, but rather the epitome of the build. From this point on, anything else I slap on the character (like, say, Weapon Specialization) would be the cherry on the cake.

One thing I tried to get was Pounce, and I looked over Prestige Classes and whatnot, trying to find it, having totally forgotten PHBII's Two-Weapon Pounce, which filled this need perfectly. And stuff like Extra Rage, Weapon Focus and Improved Critical are already being extras to the original image I had in my head, of a Fighter/Barbarian.

Very, very rarely have my home games lasted past 11th level, so I do my darnedest to imagine builds that are done before that. I guess that's one of the reasons I prefer 5-level Prestige Classes that can be entered at 6th level, as opposed to 10-level Prestige Classes (like Thief-Acrobat, Tempest or Revenant Blade) that you can only enter at 8th level (like the Cavalier).