A journal about a character’s creation and career. Ryan Costello starts at the ground floor of his latest character, Daitora, the sumo brawler.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Part 4 – The Build

It’s hard to convince a GM that because I have a mini, I’m good to go. Even if that mini is a sumo with a tiger’s face painted on his chest. I actually need to build the character. Fortunately, painting the mini gave me some ideas for specific options I want for my character.

To build my character, I used the following:

·My netbook, open to the following pages:

o35privatesanctuary.com’s Sites of Interest;
Not just plugging the site, I’ve collected links that are perfect for this exact situation.

oThe Creating NPCs page from the PRD;
No, I’m not creating an NPC and yes, I’ve made a tavern load of PCs, but it’s nice to have the steps to character creation to keep me on track.

oThe PfSRD;
There are a few things the PfSRD does better than the SRD: it’s spells list all the classes that can cast it rather than the classes as the spell is printed (so a spell from the Core Rulebook that is on the witch spell list mentions the witch on the PfSRD but not the PRD), and archetypes.

oThe Pathfinder Wiki;
If I need to remind myself or look up Golarion lore, this is the place to get it.

oThe Archives of Nethys.
Archives of Nethys is cleaner than the PRD or PfSRD, and my go-to site for traits.

·A PDF of the Advanced Class Guide playtest document;

·A print-out of Happy Camper’s generic character sheet, as well as the Happy Camper page 4 with the combat maneuvers;

·One inventory sheet;

·Two blank pages;

·A reliable writing instrument.

Yeah, Herolab’s “literally a godsend” (Jeff Chapman, circa 2013) and could do most of the referencing for me, but I’m set in my ways and enjoy the exploration that comes from a less efficient tactic.

According to the Creating NPCs page from the PRD, step 1 is the basics. Got it.

Step 1: The Basics

I am making a human brawler with a sumo theme. He has a thing for tigers. I have enough GM credits to start him at level 2.

 

Step 2: Determine Ability Scores

This is always the step I spend the most time on with PFS characters. In my home game, we roll 4d6, drop the lowest, so I’m limited to six numbers to place. In PFS, with points-buy, I have a massive array of numbers to choose from. I could blow it all on an 18, bumped up to 20, and level everything else mediocre, or I can get a bunch of 12s and 14s, or go roller coaster and have as many 16s as 7s.

The brawler isn’t as MAD as the monk, so I could have gotten away with one meteoric stat, but PFS calls for such an intellectual range of skills that I don’t feel right dumping anything.

At first I settled on the following:

Str 16

Dex 13

Con 14

Int 12

Wis 12

Cha 13

But I need an Int 13 to get Combat Expertise, and I want that for the brawler’s martial maneuvers class feature (more later), so, as much as I didn’t want Charisma to be my lowest ability score, I ended up with the following:

Str 16

Dex 12

Con 14

Int 13

Wis 14

Cha 10

Okay, some significant changes there beyond just switching Charisma and Intelligence. After reading Faiths & Philosophies, I was drawn to the meditation feats. The one I’m looking most forward to, Slow Time, requires Wis 15. By 7^th level, when I qualify for the feat, I’ll have bumped my Wisdom up to 15. Or I can wait until 8^th level, although the only other ability score worth bumping up at 4^th is Intelligence, and I don’t really need the extra skill points. Unfortunately, that means one of the two +1 to ability scores I get in my PFS career goes to waste. I suppose I could bump Strength up to 17 and, if my sumo becomes a seeker, have something to look forward to at 12^th level. Generally, though, and this is metagamey, I try to keep two ability scores odd in PFS.

 

Step 3: Skills

Brawler is 4+ Int, I have a +1 Int mod, and as a human I get an additional skill point per level. 6 skill points a level, not bad for a warrior. And the brawler’s skill selection is decent. I maxed out Acrobatics and Perception, no questions asked. They are the most fun and the most used skill in the game, respectively. Next I maxed out my only Knowledge skill (history) because PFS. That leaves me with three other skills to max out or up to six other skills to invest a single point in. I maxed out Intimidate because it’s the brawler’s only Charisma-based skill and it’s better to have Intimidate than nothing. Then I maxed out Sense Motive because I’m better off with some skill for social situations. With my last two skills I took Climb and Swim. I probably won’t keep up with these skills, but with one skill point invested in a Strength-based class skill nets me a +7, and that’s nice in case of walls or water.

 

Step 4: Feats (and Traits)

I love feats, and I love that it was clarified that brawlers qualify for style feats as monks, which usually means early access. But there’s a snag; martial maneuvers is a class feature I get at 1^st level that lets me count as having certain feats for 1 minute. This is a defining feature of the brawler and promises versatility and improvisation –no longer will I want for Improved Bull Rush when I face a villain with his back to a chasm. But I still need to meet the prerequisites. That means that if I want to qualify for all the combat maneuver feats, I need Power Attack and Combat Expertise. The thing is, I don’t see myself using either. Even with a full BAB and +3 Strength mod, I don’t see myself using an ability that reduces my attack bonus until my total to hit is +10 (7^th level). That means I’m taking two feats I don’t expect to use so that I qualify for feats I’ll temporarily gain access to when I need them. I’m worried I’m hedging my bet in the wrong direction.

I have three feats at 2^nd level (human and class bonus feats), so with my third feat I went with something fun: Meditation Master. If I meditate for 1 hour after sleeping 8 hours, I can add a +1 bonus to 1 d20 roll after the roll is made but before the result is revealed. Simple, flavourful, useful. And it chains with some really cool meditation feats that I am looking forward to exploring.

Speaking of flavour, I plan to take Tiger Style at 3^rd level, which is the earliest I qualify. It’s not the best style, but it serves its purposes. It’s too bad boar style serves the some purposes better and earlier and has better progression, but I’m not the Big Boar. I’m the Big Tiger.

For traits, I went with Ambush Training and Bred for War. I especially like that Bred for War gives me a size bonus to CMD, which fits my build (*rimshot*).

 

Step 5: Class Features

By 2^nd level I have Improved Unarmed Strike, martial maneuvers, a bonus feat, and brawler’s flurry. I feel adequately feated up and able to use my bare hands to take it to my enemies. That’s a nice blend of fighter and monk, what more could I ask?

 

Step 6: Gear

Whenever I use the Creating NPCs page, I always feel like I’m further along in character creation than I am until I reach step 6. Shopping takes as long as any other step in character creation. Except this time. I wanted to go WYSIWYG with my miniature. That means packing light. I bought the first armour listed in Ultimate Equipment, the haramaki. Not exactly a mawashi, but pretty close. Plus no armour check penalty, so *squeal*. I don’t know why I dislike armour check penalties so much, but it’s one of the reasons I mostly play lightly armoured warriors. That and the speed reduction.

Next, I bought a fighter’s kit and a grappling hook. And that’s it. 13 gp for all the items my figure represents. Granted, that leaves me with 12 AC. I’m curious how that will play, but I suspect a bandolier and some healing potions are in my future.

 

Step 7: Details

Even though Japanese isn’t a language spoken on Golarion, I thought I’d Google Translate Big Tiger. It gave me Daitora. A compound word. Tora is Japanese for tiger. I like that. A lot. So I went with it. Daitora, the Big Tiger. Hopefully no one notices I don’t have Tiger Style until next level, cause until then I’m just Big Guy with Tiger Paint.

Looking over my bare-chested, high-kicking sumo, I get this feeling that I’m making a brawler who should be a monk. The Eastern flavour, lack of armour, meditation, tiger style. Daitora isn’t a bar thug, he’s a warrior of discipline. And yet I prefer the mechanics of the brawler. They’re lighter and more versatile than a monk. I wonder if I would ever choose monk again for a martial artist concept now that the brawler is around.

We’ll find out soon enough, after Daitora makes his PFS debut.

 Part 5