The Orc's Forks tavern was loud and boisterous, and full of drinking patrons on their way to being drunken patrons. Tabletop lanterns cast flickering shadows on the ceiling which was barely visible through the smoke from pipes and kitchen fires. The caravans had been in the city for two days and the travelers had fallen upon the city's cat houses and drinking houses like locusts on the fields.
Sheffield stood behind the bar, hungrily eying the coins being turned over to his barmen. The tavern master surveyed the crowds and checked on his serving girls. As he glanced into the far corner of the room he stiffened and scowled at seeing an obese man who sat in his fine robes amidst his men like a king holding court. Lord Robbery. And his fawning, simpering fools that followed him everywhere. Sheffield grunted. Bad for business. Sheffield never liked to see Robbery in his tavern. The pompous noble encouraged his henchmen to pick fights with the 'commoners' that frequented these lower city taverns. Tonight wouldn't be the first time Sheffield's staff had to turn over a corpse to the city watch. Sheffield shook his head slightly as he saw one of the fools push back from Robbery's table and make his way to a crowd from the caravans. Sheffield turned his back and went back into the kitchen. He didn't want to watch another one go down without a fair chance.
Kraven glanced back at Lord Robbery as he left the table, a small, cruel grin parting his lips. He wiped his mouth on one sleeve while gripping his sword hilt with the other hand. He was new to the lord's service and felt pressure to prove himself so he could get choicer assignments. And so it hadn't taken much encouragement from his table to push him to make game with the traveling merchants sitting nearby. As he moved closer to the tables holding the teamsters and merchants of the caravan he surveyed the possible targets. There, that one - he'll do. A short, mousy-looking man seemingly on the fringe of his group. Easy pickings. A few words, some accusations, a quick slash or two with his blade at an unsuspecting victim and he'd be returning to his table having earned respect and his lord's trust.
Lord Robbery giggled in anticipation and nudged the man on his left as Kraven reached the caravan table. Of course the lord and his men wouldn't be able to hear what Kraven was saying, but they knew what to expect. They saw Kraven speaking angrily at the short, seated man. Kraven made an obsene gesture at the target while shouting something at him. The man remained seated and half-heartedly waved a hand at Kraven, as if to dismiss him. Kraven glanced back at Lord Robbery, embarassed that he wasn't getting the reaction he anticipated. Frustrated, he grabbed at the victim's shoulder. As his hand descended the seated man shot out his left hand and caught Kraven's wrist in a steely grip. Alarmed, Kraven realized he had reached for the man with his sword hand and was now at a disadvantage. His left hand slipped under his cloak and swept out holding a dirk. As he drew the dagger he put his boot against the man's chair and pushed mightily. The small man lost his grip on Kraven's wrist as his chair toppled over backwards, throwing him back into the crowd behind him.
Kraven quickly tossed his dagger to his right hand, lunged forward, and stabbed into the cloak of his victim but didn’t feel his blow land. Suddenly the cloak flew up as the short man rolled to his feet, easily avoiding Kraven's second thrust. Kraven's eyes grew wide as he saw two large, curved blades suddenly appear in the hands of the cloaked man. He had time to note the grim look of confidence on his victim's face before the twin kukris flashed in a blur. His tunic split open, and his intestines spilled out, tripping him even as he fell to the straw-covered floor. His hands clutched at his abdomen as he felt the blood pouring from him. The last thing he saw was the short man pull his chair upright and seat himself back at his table.
At Lord Robbery's table, the noble watched fascinated as his man was disemboweled. As the short man sheathed his kukris and sat back down Lord Robbery snickered and giggled again, turning to the man at his side and holding out his palm. I told you he’d lose. Now pay up.
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playable 1 - 40 PvM
Death Becomes You (Fighter 11/Weapon Master 7/Assassin 22)
Human Evil
Stats (start/finish) Str 16/26 Dex 15/18 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 8
AC 24 Max 388 HP BA 29 AB: 40/35/30/25 & 40/35 Saves: Fort 22/Reflex 25/Will 15 Death attack DC,34 Skills: Hide & MS: 59, Tumble 40, UMD 41, Discipline 27 + 37 points left over
.... .... .... .... .... griphook ...Added Death Attack DC _________________ The people he knew were less than golden-hearted Gamblers and robbers, drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers Like you and me
Edited By griphook on 10/30/05 21:15
Nice story, nice build! I'm just wondering why you didn't go for overwhelming crit/devastating crit and whether one less lvl of fighter (you don't need fighter for EWS anyhow, just for WS) and one more lvl of assassin wouldn't be better (you get +1d6 death attack and you don't loose anything). Unless you wanna max out discipline (and in that case you need to take the figther lvl much later than 24th lvl) the 11th Fg lvl doesn't bring anything to the build. The 23rd *** lvl would instead increase (altough slightly) your damage output. Just an idea. Cheers, Kail _________________ Dilegua notte Tramontate stelle Tramontate stelle All'alba vincerò Vincerò Vincerò
Quote: Nice story, nice build!
Thanks Kail.
Quote: I'm just wondering why you didn't go for overwhelming crit/devastating crit
The last few PW's I played on didn't have Dev Crit so I stopped building in Dev Crit 5 or 6 months ago. I actually enjoy building non-Dev Crit builds more anyhow. You get more freedom to express your build idea since you don't have to plug in Pwr Att, Cleave, Grt Cleave, Over. Crit, Dev. Crit. In this build I was able to use those feat slots to emulate Grizzled_Dwarflord's very effective manner of creating plate armor-wearing sneak attackers. Of course if Dev. Crit. is a goal for anyone, it's possible to build it in. Interestingly, this build idea first came to me as a Ftr 10/WM 7/Assassin 23. Not surprisingly, that exact build exits already -- in a Dev. Crit. format -- Stepping Razor by mean_liar ( Click Here ). The first time I put my build on paper, he was a Ftr 10/WM 7/Assassin 23, but I couldn't fit in IKD. And I really wanted IKD, so I tweaked him to this current format.
Quote: whether one less lvl of fighter (you don't need fighter for EWS anyhow, just for WS) and one more lvl of assassin wouldn't be better (you get +1d6 death attack and you don't loose anything).
Not sure what you mean here - I do need the epic Fighter level to take EWS. And with a dual-wielder, it's nice to have that extra damage with every blow. Although it's much less critical for a Strength-based character than it is for a Dexer.
Admittedly, to maximize this character, one should move Fighter 11 to level 39, permitting you to maximize Discipline and take EWS at the same time. I had meant to put that in my write up, but was too tired last night. Thanks for pointing this out.
Thanks for the feedback! Kaliban _________________ The people he knew were less than golden-hearted Gamblers and robbers, drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers Like you and me
He's right, you don't need fighter for EWS, but you need fighter OR CoT. Very good story, it identifies your build more. I personally dont like to take all those feats to become WM without investing more levs in it, but I do see the advantage it brings. I just feel that the prize is very high. you should include your Death attack DC, which is 34, and that makes it highly useful. a fighter 40 has fort save of 22, plus CON modifier.
Quote: whether one less lvl of fighter (you don't need fighter for EWS anyhow, just for WS) and one more lvl of assassin wouldn't be better (you get +1d6 death attack and you don't loose anything).
Not sure what you mean here - I do need the epic Fighter level to take EWS. And with a dual-wielder, it's nice to have that extra damage with every blow. Although it's much less critical for a Strength-based character than it is for a Dexer.
Admittedly, to maximize this character, one should move Fighter 11 to level 39, permitting you to maximize Discipline and take EWS at the same time. I had meant to put that in my write up, but was too tired last night. Thanks for pointing this out.
Thanks for the feedback! Kaliban
My mistake, sorry, I got the impression from the grimoire that EWS is a general feat, I thought you could take it regardless of class on a feat lvl (*edit* seems like you need Fg or CoT instead as Grimnir77 pointed out). Considering this I believe EWS is a better choice vs +1d6 death attack. In a PW build I think I would get EWS as soon as possible (like you did), but for a lvl 40 build it can be delayed till 39th lvl so as to maximise discipline... but it seems we both agree on that
Good work, I really like your build cheers Kail _________________ Dilegua notte Tramontate stelle Tramontate stelle All'alba vincerò Vincerò Vincerò
He's right, you don't need fighter for EWS, but you need fighter OR CoT.
Well, true and good to point out for those that don't know, but not applicable with this build since he can't take CoT
Quote: Very good story, it identifies your build more.
Thank you! It was fun to write. It's odd that my stories end up seeming to focus more on people other than my characters...
Quote: I personally dont like to take all those feats to become WM without investing more levs in it, but I do see the advantage it brings. I just feel that the prize is very high.
I agree somewhat - I think it's good to take 7 levels of WM if you can spare the bonus feats, otherwise push on for a minimum of 19. I wanted it in this build because I like how it makes the kukris that much more effective and deadly.
Quote: you should include your Death attack DC, which is 34, and that makes it highly useful. a fighter 40 has fort save of 22, plus CON modifier.
Great point and thanks for stating the DC. Death Attack DC should be included in an Assassin build.
Thanks, Kaliban _________________ The people he knew were less than golden-hearted Gamblers and robbers, drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers Like you and me
Edited By Kaliban99 on 10/03/05 13:19
I like the story as well, Kal. I like the build as well, though see my PM for comments (which I sent before I saw your build here). _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Thanks Grizz. I appreciate the feedback. You provided some great ideas.
For everyone's benefit, here is a summary of Grizz's suggestions:
Take Mobility at level 4, Spring Attack at level 6, then take Expertise at level 8. This allows the character to make use of the very useful feats Mobility and SA earlier in the build.
Take Fighter 10 at level 21 to get EWF and EWS ASAP
Take Fighter 11 at level 39 to maximize Discipline
Possibly take a 12th level of Fighter late in life to free up a general Epic feat, garner another Fighter bonus feat (at the cost of the Assassin 22 bonus feat, and one point on the Death Attack DC)
Thanks, Kaliban. _________________ The people he knew were less than golden-hearted Gamblers and robbers, drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers Like you and me
Edited By Kaliban99 on 10/03/05 15:25
Kal, cool story. Lord Robbery, Kraven - pure gold! Those suggestions by Grizz are solid (as usual) - don't know why I didn't see them myself (I guess I'm slipping). Nice build. _________________ Wave upon wave of demented avengers marched cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream...
Thanks Cinn!
Look for the Orc's Forks to make an appearance again soon.....
Looking for a warm and dry place to to celebrate your recent acquisitions, you hurry through the lower city. As you hold your coin purse close to you under your cloak, you can feel the mystical gem pulsing inside. Alert and on guard, you hear a rhythmic sound from down the lane. You peer ahead to see the source of the squeaking noise. It's a tavern sign, showing an obese orc holding a pitchfork with a buxom blond human before him. It swings back and forth in the autumn gusts. You chuckle and push the door open. The Orc's Forks indeed. _________________ The people he knew were less than golden-hearted Gamblers and robbers, drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers Like you and me
