NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 6245910" data-attributes="member: 79141">Matunaaga SnapshotIt is to the player’s credit that there is little to say about Matunaaga at this stage.  He created a self-effacing ascetic character and maintains that cool detachment and professionalism at all times.  This is not the player’s stock-in-trade by any means: he also created and successfully ran the memorable cameo characters Saladoor Saan and Lord Azure Blackthorn (a flamboyant swashbuckler and a belligerent pixie). So this is not a case of a shy, retiring player playing a strong, silent type for convenience, but a proactive portrayal of a quiet, dedicated man.  A fine example is his refusal to use vendetta bullets because he will not allow himself to hate his enemies. Matunaaga is an outsider.  When his people, once sworn to serve the Kings of Risur, abandoned their oath and returned to the mountains, he remained.  He had fallen in love with a Risuri healer named Ayesha and settled down with her in the eastern Cloudwood.  Unable to have children (as Matunaaga is not really human) they have adopted ten, and Matunaaga was living in peace, using cormorants to fish on the nearby river, when Korrigan tracked him down.  He initially refused to join the unit, but changed his mind when Ayesha had a vision that told her Korrigan was a man worth serving.  Having arrived in Flint, he finds the city overwhelming, and lives a few miles down Stray River in a house he built for himself. While he used to fight with obsidian weapons crafted by himself, Matunaaga has since created his own fighting style using firearms and his fists and feet.  Much of his time is devoted to study of the Palimpsest, an ancient artefact of his people which he recovered from the corrupt godhand, Gene. [sblock]MatunaagaLevel 11 SnapshotRace Maustin (reskinned githzerai)Class Bespoke hybrid Monk/RangerParagon Path Rrathmal/StorvakalTheme Bespoke caji theme, Martial ScientistBackground Mountains (+2 to Athletics)Bonus Akashic memory (temporarily train one skill once per day)Played in the movie by Daniel Day Lewis Racial FeaturesDanger SenseDefended MindShifting Fortunes Class/Paragon FeaturesCentred Breath Flurry of BlowsHunter’s QuarryHybrid Monk FortitudeHybrid Ranger FortitudeUnarmed CombatantUnarmoured DefencePsychic ResistanceUnfettered Action   ABILITY SCORESSTR 11CON 13DEX 22INT 11WIS 21CHA 8 (introversion caused by Palimpsest) AC 27Fort 22Ref 25Will 24HP 83Surges 11Surge Value 20 TRAINED SKILLSAcrobatics +18, Athletics +19, Perception +15, Stealth +16 POWERSIaijutsuRacial Power: Telekinetic LeapRacial Power: Iron MindCentered Flurry of BlowsHunter’s QuarryRanger Attack 1: Careful AttackRanger Attack 1: Twin StrikeMonk Attack 1: Five StormsMonk Attack 1: Crane’s WingsMonk Attack 1: Drunken MonkeyRanger Attack 1: Sure ShotRanger Attack 3: Disruptive StrikeMonk Attack 5: Water Gives WayRanger Attack 7: Biting VolleyRanger Attack 9: Attacks on the RunUtility 2: Invigorating StrideUtility 6: Centred DefenseUtility 10: Iron Dragon DefenseRrathmal Attack 11: Trace Chance FEATSLevel 1: Weapon Proficiency (Superior Crossbow)Level 2: Fluid MotionLevel 4: Superior Implement Training (Fluid ki focus)Level 5 bonus: Weapon MasterLevel 6: Internalize the Basic KataLevel 8: Unarmored AgilityLevel 10 bonus: Quick Draw (Battalion Training)Level 10: Improved DefensesLevel 11: Zuoken’s CenteringMatunaaga has both hybrid talent feats (heroic and paragon) to make his build viable ITEMSDrakren RifleBracers of ArcheryGhost Mask Fluid Ki FocusBrace of PistolsReaving AmmoShiver-strike ammoPearl of Power – ability onePearl of Power – ability twoMercurial Mind (boon granted by close study of the Palimpsest) In combat, Matunaaga is graceful and fluid. Having sought to avoid conflict for many years, he has returned to service because of his wife’s faith in Korrigan, which he now shares.  As a result, he has single-handedly renewed the oaths that the maustin caji once made to the Kings of Risur, and regards each occasion when he is required to support Korrigan’s goals as an expression of his oath. It might sound odd, but I enjoy watching Matunaaga’s turns in combat.  There’s always a certain elegance and simplicity involved.I’ve discussed Matunaaga’s development in the past, how he was first designed as a hunter ranger and then redesigned as a heavily modified ranger/monk.  The player and I were searching for something new, and we didn’t find it through planning and discussion, only through play.  Matunaaga sought perfection as a ‘living weapon’ and was unique among his kinsmen (the maustin caji) in that he did not eschew modern technology.  It was then that the idea of marrying mankind’s oldest weapon (fists, feet) with its latest (firearms) came about.  At first we tried to reskin the hunter ranger powers, but this proved unsatisfactory.  A hybrid ranger/monk was clearly the most appropriate build, but the hyper-cautious design of 4E hybrids left that build with no armour at all (to avoid monk-controller build picked up free armor, I guess).  So we used the hybrid talent feats to shore up his deficiencies and make the combination work (granting him unarmoured combatant and unarmoured defence).  Now Matunaaga is equally proficient in both close combat and at range.  He is slightly less tough than a true monk, and slightly less deadly than a true ranger.  But as his plans for paragon tier were always suboptimal (choosing paths that flesh out his story rather than emphasise his strengths) I was never concerned that he would overshadow the others.Through his study of the Palimpsest – an ancient artefact of his people – Matunaaga has gained access to both the githzerai racial paths (Rrathmal and Storvakal).  He can use the benefits/powers from either, but once he has used one on a particular day or during a specific encounter, he cannot use the other.  The Palimpsest provides the means for me to grant all manner of boons to Matunaaga which he can only unlock through study.  They are all zenlike in form and will go on to cover such benefits as the ability to eschew food, water, sleep, even air in pursuit of his oath.Matunaaga’s maustin caji theme is also bespoke, and enables him to ignore penalties and difficult terrain when running, and grants him the iaijutsu power (which we don’t call ‘iaijutsu’, natch).[/sblock]</blockquote>

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