The Dragon's Weapon

The Asha'man of the Black Tower are faithful warriors of the Dragon Reborn - talented swordsmen, and able to channel the One Power to create destruction. Training their skills with the blade, and their ability to channel every day, they are pushed to the limit to prepare for the Last Battle. Destined to go mad due to the taint on the male half of the One Power, Saidin, these men are feared by most, even with their acts of kindness urged by Rand Al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn. Muttering, cursing, or just gazing blankly into the sky, these men are a force to be reckoned with, no matter their respective rank - be it Soldier, Dedicated, or Asha'man.

Often called Al'Thor's weapons, their purpose is to drive back the Shadow at the Last Battle. Representing the Asha'man's rank, power, and strength in Saidin, is the two pins that don their lapel - a silver Sword pin, and a golden-enameled Dragon pin.

Human, Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good.
PvE/PvP 1-40

STR 14 (26)
DEX 14
CON 14
WIS 14 (20)
INT 14
CHA 8

Lvl 1 Cleric 1: Weapon Proficiency: Martial, Extend Spell {Travel/Trickery Domains}
Lvl 2 Cleric 2:
Lvl 3 Cleric 3: Weapon Focus: Greatsword
Lvl 4 Cleric 4: WIS +1, [WIS=15]
Lvl 5 Cleric 5:
Lvl 6 Cleric 6: Toughness
Lvl 7 Cleric 7:
Lvl 8 Cleric 8: WIS +1, [WIS=16]
Lvl 9 Cleric 9: Great Fortitude
Lvl 10 Cleric 10:
Lvl 11 Cleric 11:
Lvl 12 Champion of Torm 1: WIS +1, Blind Fight, [WIS=17]
Lvl 13 Champion of Torm 2: Improved Criticals: Greatsword*
Lvl 14 Cleric 12:
Lvl 15 Cleric 13: Skill Focus: Discipline
Lvl 16 Cleric 14: WIS +1, [WIS=18]
Lvl 17 Cleric 15:
Lvl 18 Cleric 16: Maximize Spell
Lvl 19 Champion of Torm 3:
Lvl 20 Champion of Torm 4: WIS +1, Expertise*, [WIS=19]
Lvl 21 Monk 1: Great STR I, [STR=15]
Lvl 22 Monk 2:
Lvl 23 Champion of Torm 5: {Divine Wrath}
Lvl 24 Champion of Torm 6: STR +1, Great STR II, Epic Weapon Focus: Greatsword*, [STR=17]
Lvl 25 Champion of Torm 7:
Lvl 26 Champion of Torm 8: Epic Prowess
Lvl 27 Monk 3: Great STR III, [STR=18]
Lvl 28 Cleric 17: STR +1, [STR=19]
Lvl 29 Cleric 18:
Lvl 30 Cleric 19: Great STR IV, [STR=20]
Lvl 31 Cleric 20:
Lvl 32 Cleric 21: STR +1, [STR=21]
Lvl 33 Cleric 22: Great STR V, [STR=22]
Lvl 34 Cleric 23: Armor Skin**
Lvl 35 Monk 4:
Lvl 36 Cleric 24: STR +1, Great STR VI, [STR=24]
Lvl 37 Monk 5:
Lvl 38 Cleric 25:
Lvl 39 Cleric 26: Great STR VII, Great WIS I**, [STR=25]
Lvl 40 Monk 6: STR +1, {Knockdown, Improved Knockdown}, [STR=26]

* Denotes Champion of Torm bonus feat;
** Denotes Cleric bonus feat

Skills:
226 to disperse -
Concentration 43(45)
Discipline 43(51)
Heal 14(19)
Listen 43(48)
Spellcraft 43(45)
Tumble 40(42)

HPs:
456 at max rolls.

Base Saving Throws (versus spells):
Fortitude: 32(41)
Reflex: 25(34)
Will: 30(39)

Attack Bonus:
BAB = 26
Mundane Greatsword/unbuffed/naked: 26 + 3 (Weapon Focus + EWF) + 1 (Epic Prowess) + 8 (base STR bonus) = +38/33/28/23
Fully Buffed/+12 STR gear (GMW + Bless + Divine Favor + Aid + Prayer + Divine Power + Battletide + Haste) = +61/56/51/46/61

Damage Bonus:
Mundane Greatsword = 2-12 +12 (Critical 17-20 x2)
Self-buffed, with +12 STR gear/Keened Greatsword = 2-12 + 21 (15-20 x2)
+5 Slashing (GMW)
+1 Slashing (Prayer)
+5 Magical (Divine Favor)
+2 Magical (Battletide)
+ any Elemental Damage on Greatsword

Armor Class:
Naked/Mundane Full Plate = 28/29
Self-buffed (Haste, Undeath's Eternal Foe x1) in robes, +5 x 4 AC items (amulet, cloak or ring, robes, boots), +12 WIS/DEX gear = 68

Pros:
Decently high AB
KD/IKD
High AC for a Greatsword user
Decently high damage for a Cleric
Strong saves
Potential to use Divine Wrath when wearing CHA gear
Variety of buffs, self Haste/Improved Invisibilty
+20% Monk Speed (when in robes)

Cons:
Mediocre HPs
Low spells per day
Low DC on spells (even for a melee Cleric)
No Uncanny Dodge
Relies heavily on 4 stat categories, possibly 5 (STR/DEX/WIS/CON/possibly CHA)

Notes:
This character was build for a mid-magic world, consisting of mostly +5 gear, be it AC or ability bonuses. It may be favorable to replace two Great STR feats for Epic Fortitude, and ESF: Discipline, depending on your mod. Also, taking 4 Monk pre-epic would increase the saving throw bonus by +2.

I probably missed something, but please let me know what you think. I realize there are several other class-splits similar or identical to this, but I could not find any others that were STR based and used Greatsword/robes. My friend asked me to document this build, so I decided to post it as well.

Kaliban's Robed Disciple of Light used robes/Greatsword, but was WIS based (caster).

dmuzzy's Chek Fai was also similar in that it was STR based and used robes, but it did not use Greatswords, and had different stat allocations.

--mantis3

Edit: Fixed a type, and also note - this is based on Robert Jordan's books, the Wheel of Time. Made for a PW based loosely off the aforementioned books.

Edited By Kail Pendragon on 10/10/07 14:28

For a cleric, I would take Empower Spell over Maximize. I would probably drop the SF: Discipline to fit in both Empower and Maximize (unless it's there for RP purposes). I might consider dropping Great Fort as well for something else (Imp. Expertise?).

I'd also be tempted to take adjust the level order to Cleric 13/CoT 5/Monk 3 pre-epic to get the Wis bonus to AC a lot earlier, and some Monk levels pre-epic will boost all saves as well (although they are already quite high).

Last thought - do you plan for this character to fight in robes, or wear heavy armor? If in robes, keep the Monk levels (this matches the RP, since the characters in the Wheel of Time generally don't wear armor). If you plan to wear armor, then monk doesn't get you much. In that case, you might want to sub Rogue or Bard, and take a few more CoT levels to make up for KD/IKD (although they come quite late as is). Cleric 26/CoT 10/Rogue 4 or similar.

TM
Quote: Posted 04/27/07 01:17 (GMT) -- Tattoed Monk

For a cleric, I would take Empower Spell over Maximize. I would probably drop the SF: Discipline to fit in both Empower and Maximize (unless it's there for RP purposes). I might consider dropping Great Fort as well for something else (Imp. Expertise?).

I'd also be tempted to take adjust the level order to Cleric 13/CoT 5/Monk 3 pre-epic to get the Wis bonus to AC a lot earlier, and some Monk levels pre-epic will boost all saves as well (although they are already quite high).

Last thought - do you plan for this character to fight in robes, or wear heavy armor? If in robes, keep the Monk levels (this matches the RP, since the characters in the Wheel of Time generally don't wear armor). If you plan to wear armor, then monk doesn't get you much. In that case, you might want to sub Rogue or Bard, and take a few more CoT levels to make up for KD/IKD (although they come quite late as is). Cleric 26/CoT 10/Rogue 4 or similar.

TM

I mentioned taking 4 Monk pre-epic to boost the saves, but I didn't think about the pre-epic WIS bonus to AC helping - thanks for the tip, it is definitely more viable upon reading that.

Second - yes, he would be in robes (or any cloth). Hence the Monk levels and 14 DEX.

Third - dropping SF: Disc. for Empower spell definitely seems like a better option.

Finally - I chose Great Fortitude because Devastating Criticals are allowed on the PW I designed this for; that said, certain builders may prefer Improved Expertise, if Fortitude saves aren't a problem. But as I said, this build won't fit so well on low-magic worlds, because it relies on so many stat categories. But with buffs, a +5 cap on gear should do the trick.

Thanks,
--mantis3 I'd rather have Luck of Heroes in this build than SF: Discipline. I'd go with Empower over Maximize too.

Try to keep your monk levels at evens pre-epic... You get an extra +1 to every save for every two levels, so it's worth it.
Quote: Posted 04/27/07 14:55 (GMT) -- Ariel Thomas

Try to keep your monk levels at evens pre-epic... You get an extra +1 to every save for every two levels, so it's worth it.

Quote: Posted 04/26/07 18:39 (GMT) -- mantis3
Also, taking 4 Monk pre-epic would increase the saving throw bonus by +2.

Yup, I covered that in the notes. The reason why I decided not to do such, is to have more tumble skill dumps post-epic, because I would think it more important there than pre-epic. Also, having the Cleric spells early on are nice, for more buffing capabilities.

If this was built to 40, it could certainly go 12/4/4 pre-epic. It seems this character could easily go plateless pretty early in it's career... Which makes the monk more lucrative to me. With a shot of Cat's Grace and Owl's Wisdom you can easily pull +3 to AC (75% chance), giving you a naked AC of 17 at level 1, which is 2 shy of the full plate bonus, easily supplemented by a combination of low level Wis and Dex gear. Assuming potions of Cat's Grace are easily accessable at level 8, which they have been in every world I've played in, you can wear a +2 Wis item (you probably have more at this point, maybe not) and have full plate equivalent AC without full plate drawbacks. If potions are somehow expensive, you'd still want to pump Wis as much as possible for your cleric spellcasting, so, you'd need a +6 to Wis from items at level 8 to have an equivalent to full plate. (assuming you cast Owl's wisdom and it always gives you the mimimum +2)

I also find that the tumble bonus at these levels is way more useful than it is later on, especially until you get enough tumble to move freely in combat, but I suppose I prefer to get the effect of those skill points now rather than later.