Dust was settled over everything. A chill, dry wind howled in the alleyways, and the red earth was painted with blood. At one building, the windows were knocked inward, glass and wooden panes scattered across the dark interior. Another structure, once an inn by the smell of burst ale kegs, was all but knocked over. Everything was charred by fire.

Radragar surveyed his holdings with pride. His men loitered about, conversing idly, sleeping, or else sharpening their weapons and keeping a lookout. His handiwork was beautiful, he decided, all but glowing. He fingered the axe slung across his back, his thumb brushing against its blade, the skin splitting slightly. He brought his hand to his mouth, and sucked the wound for a moment, then went back to surveying his accomplishment.

They had moved quickly and quietly, and the men were the first to die. The town had its fair share of well trained warriors, but his were better, axes and swords cutting apart those who had dared oppose them. He had leapt into battle like a madman, disregarding his defense - his moves too swift to allow his opponents a chance to strike him down.

They had barricaded the buildings, of course, hid in their rooms with those men too old or cowardly to fight. One building's inhabitants were slow to guard their windows. He had leapt through the glass, thinking nothing of the pain, the old man and the woman and child coming apart before they could blink, the teenager with the sword not even managing to parry his killing swing.

Once all they could kill were dead, they had planted the corpses near the buildings, setting them alight. The blaze had begun to spread quickly, as flame spread from oil to cloth to flesh to wood. The inhabitants burst out of their firey homes, and they were slaughtered.

Radragar was very pleased with himself.

The Agent, however, was not pleased with Radragar.

Radragar roused himself from fantasies of burning and killing as his sentries shouted for him. He rushed outside his tent, and saw a single figure crossing the red clay toward his camp. Taking a stand in front of his sentries, he drew his greataxe one-handed and grinned at the woman - a halfling, one with a hooded cloak wrapped around herself, obscuring her features.

Radragar had already decided that the halfling would know the error of crossing paths with the High Blackguard Radragar.

The Agent, conversely, had decided Radragar would know the error of crossing paths with justice.

As she approached, he stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air. "Die," he explained, squeezing her throat. She smiled a moment before he could bring his fingers together. Twisting her arms around his massive wrist, she moved them suddenly, producing a sickening crunch. She hit the ground in a crouch, and brought her foot around into his groin, producing another crunch. He doubled over, and her hand collided with his face, knocking him down completely.

His minions started to move, to protect him, but she brought a kama out from her cloak and across the back of his neck in the blink of an eye, severing his spine. She leapt back, moving into a stance shrouded by her cloak. One man rushed at her, and she ducked under a thrust of his sword, bringing her kama up and into his thigh, pulling it out with a twist and bringing the blade around again to chop at his other leg.

An axe whizzed down at her, but she leapt over it, using her cloak to conceal her moves as she landed and avoided several swipes from a sword, focusing on her defense while launching a few experimental swipes at her assailants - moving quickly and tumbling between their legs to keep herself from being surrounded and losing her mobility.

One man came close to the ground to swipe at her, and she moved ahead of his slash, bringing her kama into the side of his neck as it reached its full extent. A dagger shot through the air at her, and she was forced to step aside without retrieving her weapon. The knife thrower shot another at her, and she caught it harmlessly, dropping the weapon and moving up to him in a moment. Knocking him over with a vicious trip, she smashed her elbow into the center of his chest, satisfied with the cracking sound she heard as his ribs fragmented.

A burst of flame shot at her, and she dove out of the way, rolling away from the fireball before it could explode. She saw one of the men toss aside a scroll, and she jumped at him, landing on his face with a savage kick, flipping, and smashing her fist into each of his knees as she hit the ground. Unable to finish him off as she dodged an axeblow, she sighed in frustration vanished before their eyes.

Radragar's former minions peered about, but the Agent of Shadow was done and gone, her task finished.

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This build was built on the premise of building a monk who could deal multiple damage types and used CoT to get the essential combat feats. Pretty good results - epic dodge, empty body, perfect self, exceptional AB and AC, fine stealth. Very good saves, too.

I was inspired for the build by the Zen Guardian /Monk 25/Shadowdancer 5/CoT 10 by grizzled_dwarflord. Good build that essentially does the same thing as mine with a different method.

Agent of Shadow Halfling Monk 21 /Shadowdancer 5 /Champion of Torm 14

Starting Attributes
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 12
Wis 14
Int 14
Cha 8

Playable 1-40 PvM/PvP
Alignment: Any

Attribute Bonuses
Levels 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 go to dexterity

Leveling
01: Monk(1) Dodge
02: Monk(2)
03: Monk(3) Weapon Finesse
04: Monk(4)
05: Monk(5)
06: Monk(6) Mobility
07: Monk(7)
08: Shadowdancer(1)
09: Monk(8) Weapon Focus (Kama)
10: Shadowdancer(2)
11: Champion of Torm(1)
12: Shadowdancer(3) Weapon Focus (Unarmed)
13: Champion of Torm(2) Blind Fight
14: Shadowdancer(4)
15: Champion of Torm(3) Improved Critical (Kama)
16: Monk(9)
17: Champion of Torm(4) Improved Critical (Unarmed)
18: Monk(10) Expertise
19: Monk(11)
20: Monk(12)
21: Monk(13) Great Dexterity I
22: Monk(14)
23: Shadowdancer(5)
24: Champion of Torm(5) Epic Dodge
25: Champion of Torm(6) Armor Skin
26: Champion of Torm(7)
27: Monk(15) Great Dexterity II
28: Champion of Torm(8) DEX+1, Epic Weapon Focus (Unarmed)
29: Champion of Torm(9)
30: Champion of Torm(10) Great Dexterity III, Epic Prowess
31: Champion of Torm(11)
32: Monk(16)
33: Champion of Torm(12) Great Dexterity IV
34: Champion of Torm(13)
35: Champion of Torm(14) Epic Weapon Focus (Kama)
36: Monk(17) Great Dexterity V
37: Monk(18)
38: Monk(19)
39: Monk(20) Great Dexterity VI
40: Monk(21)

Final Attributes:
Str 10
Dex 34
Con 12
Wis 14
Int 14
Cha 8

Final Saves (Vs. Spells)
Fortitude 32 (36)
Reflexes 44 (48)
Will 30 (34)

AB and Damage
(No buffs, normal kama)
43/40/37/34/31/28, 1d6 (19-20 x2)
(No buffs, naked)
43/40/37/34/31/28, 1d12 (19-20 x2)

(+12 to Strength, +12 to Dexterity, +5 keen kama, haste)
54/51/48/45/42/39 6+1d6 (18-20 x2)
(+12 to Strength, +12 to Dexterity, +5 gloves, haste)
54/51/48/45/42/39 6+1d12 (19-20 x2)

AC
39 (40) (naked)
75 (76) (+5 braces of armor, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 Amulet of Natural Armor, Haste, +5 Boots of the Sun Soul, +12 Dexterity, +12 Wisdom)

Hit Points 388 (Max Every Level)

Final Skillpoints 240
Concentration 35 (36)
Discipline 43 (43)
Hide 43 (59)
Move Silently 43 (57)
Spellcraft 18 (20)
Tumble 40 (52)

Skillpoint Distribution
01: Discipline(4), Hide(4), Move Silently(4), Spellcraft(2), Tumble(4), Save(4)
02: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(6)
03: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(6)
04: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(8)
05: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(8)
06: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(10)
07: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(10)
08: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(15)
09: Discipline(2), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(14)
10: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(19)
11: Discipline(2), Spellcraft(1), Save(19)
12: Hide(2), Move Silently(2), Tumble(2), Save(21)
13: Discipline(2), Spellcraft(1), Save(21)
14: Hide(2), Move Silently(2), Tumble(2), Save(23)
15: Discipline(2), Spellcraft(1), Save(23)
16: Discipline(1), Hide(2), Move Silently(2), Tumble(2), Save(22)
17: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(23)
18: Discipline(1), Hide(2), Move Silently(2), Tumble(2), Save(22)
19: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(22)
20: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(24)
21: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(24)
22: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(26)
23: Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(1), Save(29)
24: Discipline(2), Save(31)
25: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(32)
26: Discipline(1), Save(35)
27: Discipline(1), Hide(4), Move Silently(4), Spellcraft(1), Tumble(4), Save(26)
28: Discipline(1), Save(29)
29: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(30)
30: Discipline(1), Save(33)
31: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(34)
32: Discipline(1), Hide(5), Move Silently(5), Tumble(5), Save(24)
33: Discipline(1), Spellcraft(1), Save(25)
34: Discipline(1), Save(28)
35: Discipline(1), Save(31)
36: Discipline(1), Hide(4), Move Silently(4), Tumble(4), Save(24)
37: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Tumble(1), Save(26)
38: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(29)
39: Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1), Save(32)
40: Concentration(35), Discipline(1), Hide(1), Move Silently(1)
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CATS! very nice build

Only thing I'd drop are the feats, expertise, improved crit unarmed, blind fight

For the line of two weapon fighting feats

Other then that looks solid

// Maniac_Mailman
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"Omnes morimur et quasi aqua dilabimur in terram, qua non revertuntur..."
- Maniac_Mailman aka Nr|Five

Admin @ NWN BOTD Team PvP
Admin @ www.gameshrine.org

Member of the Epic Character Builders Guild Expertise gives a stackable bump to AC, and is very much worth it against an opponent with high AB. Not as good as improved expertise, but worth it as is.

Blind fight is a necessary feat to fight opponents with concealment, and thus is important against casters, assassins, monks and shadowdancers.

Improved crit (unarmed) doubles your chances of a crit from 5% to 10%. It may not seem significant, but it often is.

In any case, in order to go the dual kama route, I would also have to sacrifice either 3 AB and 1 AC (if I went elf) or 4 AB (if I stayed halfling due to kamas being small size weapons).


Corrected AB/AC typo - Kail Pendragon
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CATS!

Edited By Kail Pendragon on 05/29/06 10:34

I dunno if I'm missing something here...but why 14 levels of CoT instead of SD and/or Monk lvls?? CoT for bonus feats and save boosts. Conceptually, you could go CoT 10/Monk 25, but you would have to hold off armor skin until level 40. Which is actually quite a viable, route, and probably turns out better due to higher speed and armor class. Thanks for the advice.
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CATS! Do you damage the opponent purely by number of attacks? The damage output in these builds is VEEEERRRY low. Okay, say after HiPS, you would increase playability, but even when you hide to start attacking again from hiding you have no sneak-attacks, so it doesn't really help all that mucho grande.

It's a defensively good build, but don't you like to kill your opponents? Hitting an undead with even the slightest amount of DR would be Trouble. You have no sneak-attacks, no EWS, no magical assaults, no strength, no nothing, except base-damage. Sorry to seem hard on you, but I often like my builds to be able to have good offense.

Except for that, it's a well-tuned build, with excellent defense.

And thank you for the story, it was very entertaining.
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I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide.
I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.

I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience. Ah ... I know, damage is a significant problem. In fact, strength buffing is probably more important than dex buffing for this build, given the low damage output. You could raise the damage for unarmed strikes by going elf, but you'd lose 1 AC and 1 AB.
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CATS! I find it interesting that you're focusing in both kama and unarmed, since most monks pick one or the other. Because you are a halfling kamas are more attractive than fists... so you can free up some feats by dropping the unarmed focus methinks.

Of course you can justify keeping it as a way to beat up enemies who resist slash and pierce, if you want. Either way though, as noted you'll have trouble fighting things with DR. I'd recommend this build more in mid or high magic environments where high +'s on weapons and elemental damage can help it.
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Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience. Good story, too bad the Agent didn't got a "fearsome name", can't brag about the job now.

Theoretically, you could beat anything fighting unarmed with monk gloves, higher magic the best of course, and your AC might be good enough to cover you meanwhile.

Quote: In any case, in order to go the dual kama route, I would also have to sacrifice either 3 AB and 1 AC (if I went elf) or 4 AC (if I stayed halfling due to kamas being small size weapons).

Why would you lose 4 AC staying halfing, or should it read 4 AB? wait, kama is small? I somewhy thought it was tiny and you could dual wield kamas with a halfing at -2/-2. Kamas are listed as small, so dual wielding them as a halfling gives you a -4 AB penalty instead of -2. Unless the listing is wrong, I haven't ever made a dual kama halfling monk.

However, the way things work with magic weapons... a 1d6+4 kama will cause more average damage per hit than 2d6 fists. A +4 kama will do 5-11 damage for an average of 8 per hit, level 16 halfling monk fists will do 2-12 damage for an average of 7 per hit.

So single-wielding a kama, provided +4 or better weapons are available, outdamages your punching if you're a halfling (or a gnome). Granted this is contingent on your being able to find kamas that match the elemental damage most gloves give, and on the environment not having much better gloves than kamas.

For reference, for a medium-sized race, the kama has to have a +7 enhancement bonus to outdo the 1d20 punches, while +6 is roughly equal I believe.
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Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience. It is supposed to read -4 AB, not AC.

As to kamas dealing more damage - I know, but multiple damage types are useful, especially since it helps with his greatest weakness (damage resistance).
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CATS!