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grailfinders · 2 years

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Fate and Phantasms #2P: Artoria Pendragon

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re rebuilding the King of Knights Artoria Pendragon! Unsurprisingly, Artoria is a Champion like Mash, but you’d be surprised how different two characters can be even if they share a class. She’s also a Marshal to rally her knights to action, a Duelist to summon her sword just a little bit faster, and a Swordmaster to focus on skill above brute force.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here! Yeah! We have character sheets again, go nuts!

Ancestry

Despite Tristan’s arguments to the contrary, Artoria is still a Human, which gives her two free stat boosts which we’ll put in Strength and Charisma. You gotta king and you’ve gotta swing. That giant freaking sword, I mean. If you swung more often the thing with Lancelot might not’ve happened. As a Versatile Human, we get the Ride feat right away letting you command an animal without making any checks. The riding skill’s so much easier to set up in this game! You can also Keep Up Appearances when you’re affected by an emotion effect, letting you make a deception check against the observing creature’s perceptions. On a success, they can’t tell you failed the save and thus can’t benefit from that effect. If they can’t tell you’re hurting, nothing can go wrong! Right? Right?

At level 5 you can Sense Allies, so undetected friends who want to be noticed are just hidden instead (so at least you know what space they’re in), and you can sense these hidden allies with a check DC of only 5, not 11.

At level 9 you become a Hardy Traveler, increasing your Bulk limit by 1 and increasing your speed while traveling. Heavy armor is heavy, and that riding skill is coming in handy on road trips.

At level 13 your Stubborn Persistence becomes truly legendary. If you’d become fatigued, you can attempt a DC 17 check to just… not do that. We’ll definitely be using this again when it’s Casgil’s turn, but Artoria’s no stranger to pushing herself too hard as well.

Finally, at level 17 your Heroic Presence can inspire your knights to victory. Once a day you can cast Zealous Conviction on up to 10 willing creatures, giving them temporary HP and a bonus to their will saves against mental effects. Also, if you tell a target to do something, they have to do it unless it’s something they would normally find repugnant. You don’t exercise the king part of your title too much, but you are trying to rule a country here.

Background

Artoria is a Chosen One, giving her two ability boosts and a skill training in something related to the prophecy plus Fortune-Telling Lore. I’d pick Deception here, since a big part of being king is tricking people into thinking you’re perfect, and also a guy. For your abilities, Charisma and Constitution.

You also get the Prophecy’s Pawn free action, letting you re-roll a failed save, attack, or check. After doing so, your DM can then force you to re-roll a successful save, attack, or check to balance things out. You can use this once every 24 hours or after the DM screws you over. You’re gonna be a great king. Just don’t expect too much else to work out for you.

Class Levels

1. Once again we’re taking the Champion class, and once again Strength is your Key Ability, giving you a free boost. This makes you Trained in Perception, Religion, Reflex saves, all attacks, and all defenses. You’re also an Expert in Fortitude and Will saves. Once again you get retroactive skill training every time your intelligence goes up, so we’re just including the whole list here and now: Diplomacy, Intimidation, and Medicine.

You also get four more ability boosts to increase your Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma. You follow the Tenets of Good like Mash, but unlike the soft-hearted shielder you are a Paladin, a Lawful Good champion. You still get Lay on Hands as your devotion spell, which you can cast once a day or by recharging with a 10 minute focusing session. You’re not much of a healer, but servants have their own healing factor, so it kind of works. Also, thanks to our Champion Feat Deity’s Domain, you can use that focus point to cast Oathkeeper’s Insignia instead since you’re all about that Duty. When you cast this spell after making a promise, a trinket is created. If you complete the promise while the trinket exists, it fades away with a pleasant chime. If you violate the promise, it breaks instead. At level one it lasts an hour. At level 5, a day. At level 9, a week, at level 13, a month, and finally at level 17 it lasts a full year.

Also, if one of your knights gets hit near you, you can make a Retributive Strike against the idiot attacking them. The ally gets resistance 2+your level to the attack, and you can make a Strike against the enemy if they’re within range.

One last thing, you can use the Shield Block feat, though we’re using a greatsword, so it’s not going to come up much.

2. As a second level champion, your Divine Grace makes you a little harder to rattle, giving you a +2 bonus to a save against a spell as a reaction. Wow, you’re getting magic resistance right away too, we’re on a roll!

We’re actually going to pick up the Marshal Dedication first, giving you a marshal aura that extends 10’ around you, giving yourself and your allies a +1 bonus against fear effects. This dedication also gives you Expertise in Intimidation, which opens up our skill feat, Terrifying Resistance. If you demoralize a creature, you have a +1 bonus to all saves you make against that creature’s spells. You cut a terrifying figure in battle, might as well put it to use, right?

3. At third level you gain a Divine Ally in your blade, letting you add the effect of a disrupting, ghost touch, returning, or shifting rune to your greatsword. You also get the greatsword’s critical specialization effect, making the target flat-footed when you score a critical success. This means they have -2 AC until the start of your next turn. You probably can’t use that too much, but that’s why you’re part of a team. You’d be totally lost without the round table!

Also, to go over the runes: disrupting deals extra damage to undead, ghost touch can touch ghosts, returning lets you throw a weapon and get it back, and shifting lets you turn your sword into another weapon as an action. I personally think disrupting is the best option, but none of them are that in -character.

Your healing factor kicks up again with the general feat Fast Recovery. You successful saves against diseases and poisons cause you to reduce their effectiveness by an extra 1 point per success, and sleeping reduces being drained by 2 points instead of just 1.

Also let’s get Deception up to Expert, just in case anyone looks too closely at the paladin ripping ghosts apart.

4. At fourth level you get another point of focus as well as the Sun Blade devotion spell, letting you properly EX-CALIBAAAAAH at a target, firing a ray of fire damage. The target also takes good damage if they’re evil, and positive damage if they’re undead. Each damage type deals 1d4 damage, or 1d6 if you’re standing in direct sunlight. At fifth level and every two levels above that, increase each damage type by 1d4/1d6 in sunlight. So if you’re fighting an evil undead, this beam can do 3d4 damage in a single attack, which is roughly as much damage as an actual sword swing could do. In ideal circumstances at level 20, you’d be dealing 27d6 damage in a single beam, truly an attack worthy of being your noble phantasm.

But wait, there’s more! You can also don a Backup Disguise in three action, allowing you to quickly transform into your knightsona before any of the other members of the round table can wake up.

For your archetype feat, the Inspiring Marshal Stance, using a diplomacy check to determine how powerful your stance is. On a success, your allies get a +1 bonus to attacks and saves against mental effects. On a critical success, the aura increases to 20’.

5. Fifth level is pretty quiet in terms of new stuff. You get a buff to Charisma, Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, all weapons, and Religion, but nothing new happens outside of your race stuff.

6. Sixth level definitely makes up for it though! You can now Smite Evil, picking out one foe to deal extra good damage against with each attack until the start of your next turn- unless they’re dumb enough to attack one of your knights, in which case the duration is extended a round. This can last until they wise up or until they’re a pile of ash on the ground, whichever happens first.

You can also make a Group Impression, making a Make an Impression check against two targets at once. This hits four at Expert level diplomacy, 10 at master, and 25 at legendary. You’re the king, you’re going to turn heads wherever you go.

From the Marshal class, you gain a Rallying Charge, moving yourself and striking an enemy. If you hit and deal damage, each ally nearby gains temporary HP. That’s the power of charisma! The feature’s also literally powered by charisma- it’s how you determine how much THP everyone gets.

7. At seventh level you become an expert in all armors as well as Diplomacy. I was really hoping we could avoid levelling diplomacy since you’re actually kind of bad at talking to people properly, but intimidation is more Alter’s style.

On the plus side, your Weapon Specialization lets you deal extra damage with weapons you’re an expert or better in, which is practically all of them!

You can also Exhort the Faithful, letting you use a religion check instead of diplomacy or intimidation if you’re requesting or coercing members of your religion. You get a +2 to the check if you do this, and on a critical fail their attitude doesn’t get worse. Just tell them you need it to get the holy grail, I’m sure they’ll go along with it.

8. At eighth level your Focus Pool is filled with all three points thanks to your Advanced Deity’s Domain, allowing you to cast a Dutiful Challenge against a target for up to a minute. A challenged creature gets a -1 penalty on attacks, damage, and checks targeting creatures other than you, and you take the same penalty for creatures other than it. Duels were big back then, right?

You can also use Quick Coercion to coerce someone after 1 round instead of one minute. If the king yells at you, you’re gonna shit a brick. You can’t do this mid-combat, but I think you’ll have other issues to deal with in a fight.

Finally, you can fight Back to Back with your allies. If the two of you are adjacent, both of you have to get flanked before you become flat-flooted. You can have this bonus for everyone around you, but it stops working as soon as you and one other ally get flanked.

9. Ninth level is another nothing happens level. You get a Divine Smite, but that just adds persistent good damage to your retributive strike. Outside of that, you get a boost to your Class DC, Fortitude and Reflex saves, and Diplomacy. Not every level has to be chock full o’ stuff like level 1 was.

10. Tenth level is a different story. You get four more ability boosts in Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma, as well as the champion feat Radiant Blade Spirit which lets you pick three more runes for your blade: flaming, axiomatic, or holy. The first deals fire damage on each hit, as well as persistent fire damage on crits. Useful, if more gawain’s thing. Axiomatic weapons deal extra damage against chaotic targets, and crits always deal average damage on each die. Holy weapons deal extra damage against evil creatures, and once a day you can react after dealing a critical hit to heal yourself for twice the evil creature’s level. Personally I like the Axiomatic effect, but that’s mostly since I’m not much of a gambler.

You can also make Shameless Requests, reducing outrageous requests’ DCs by 2, and you can’t critically fail a request any more. Again, just tell them you’re going after the holy grail in sixth century Wales, because obviously Christ had been hanging around there in that time period.

We also pick up a pretty weird archetype. The Duelist Dedication isn’t good for much since we’re using a greatsword, but it does grant you the Quick Draw feat, letting you attack with the same action you draw your weapon. Almost like you’re summoning it mid-swing. I know it’s a stretch, but returning runes only work if you throw the damn thing.

11. Level eleven is another pretty quiet one. You’re an expert in perception and a master in will, and we’ll also pick up some training in athletics so you can stay on your horse better. Aside from that, you can now Exalt when using your Retributive Strike, so every creature within 15’ of you and within melee of the target you’re hitting can also use their reaction to attack them with a -5 penalty. Ganging up on someone might not be chivalrous, but damn if it isn’t effective.

The only other new thing is now you’re Diehard, which means it takes five stacks of Dying to kill you, not four. If Saber was easy to kill, she wouldn’t be the protagonist of the whole franchise, would she?

12. A twelfth level champion can become a Blade of Justice, spending two actions to deliver a Strike against someone who’s harmed an ally or innocent being. The strike deals two extra damage dice against evil creatures, as well as adding all benefits from your Retributive Strike like Divine Smite and Exalt.

You also gain an Intimidating Prowess, giving you a +1 bonus to all checks made while coercing or demoralizing someone, and you ignore the penalty for not sharing a language, so not even the French are safe from your steely glare now!

Finally, you can lead a coordinated charge- you can stride and strike like the last one, but this time if it hits and hurts every ally within 60’ can react to move closer to the poor bastard you just hit. Easy out guys, easy out!

13. Thirteenth level is another slow one. You’re a master in weapons and armor now, plus you’re an expert in Athletics. Mana burst is one hell of a drug.

14. At fourteenth level you can bring down a Litany of Righteousness down on your foes, since it’s not really a Nasu game until we spend half an hour detailing our exact ideology on life and What Good Means. Sadly this doesn’t increase your Focus Point amount since the max is three. The litany can target an evil creature and give them weakness 7 to good for a round.

You can also put your mana burst to good use with a Powerful Leap, adding 5’ to your horizontal and vertical leaps. When your only weapon is a sword, you have to make your own ranged attacks.

As a marshal you can also let out a Cadence Call as an action once per minute, quickening everyone in your aura until the end of their next turn, giving them an extra action to stride with. If they use that action, they become slowed on their next turn, losing one action. No, you’re not calling that Cadence. Probably. (That’s my “jokes only like eight people in the audience will get” quota marked off for the day.)

15. Use this round or Ability Boosts to bump up your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma again, and then use your mana to become a Hefty Hauler and increase your bulk limits by 2. Artoria might be scrawny, but she’s packing a lot of muscle under that armor. Also, her Greater Weapon Specialization lets her deal more damage with weapons she’s trained with- a +6 as a master, and a +8 if she’s legendary. Speaking of skill stuff, let’s get trained in Nature for another boost to your riding skills.

16. At sixteenth level your Aura of Righteousness protects you and your allies from evil. Specifically, it gives you evil resistance 5. You also become an Express Rider to pick up the pace while riding, using a Nature Check to speed up your mount while traveling.

I also want to get another Archetype, but first we need to get two feats from Duelist. Literally none of them are worthwhile since a greatsword is two-handed, so grab whatever you want.

17. Another boring level. Class DC go up, Armor go up, Nature go up. Moving on.

18. At eighteenth level we can finally do that cool thing where Saber sheds her armor to fight a particularly powerful opponent or lancer thanks to Sacrifice Armor. When you take a hit, you can reduce the damage as a reaction by twice your armor’s level. This breaks your armor, or if it was already broken, it’s destroyed instead.

You can also find a Bonded Animal now by spending a week of downtime hanging out with a friendly animal. If you pass a DC 20 Nature check (which you should you’re level 18 for god’s sake) they become permanently helpful to you, though you can only have one Bonded Animal at a time. I know Artoria doesn’t love horses any more but damnit I can dream!

Oh right also pick up a second duelist feat so we can ignore that archetype again I’m sick of looking at it.

19. You’re a protagonist, so we should probably pick up Untrained Improvisation to add your level to your untrained skills while we still can. You can also use focus points to cast Hero’s Defiance, healing you when you’re about to take an attack that would reduce you to 0 HP. You can’t do this again until you refocus, or until your next long rest. It also can’t be used to protect you from Death effects or disintegrate.

We’ll also boost your Nature skill one last time, why not.

20. For our final level, use your last Ability Boost to increase your Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. You also become a Sacred Defender, giving you a permanent resistance 10 to physical damage types caused by evil creatures. Also, regardless of alignment, creatures and effects that score a critical hit on attacks against you don’t gain any bonus effects.

To guarantee your riding skill is always at its peak, you have Nature Assurance, allowing you to forgo a roll to instead score 10 plus your proficiency bonus on Nature checks.

Finally, now that our Archetype is free once more, you can become a Swordmaster. This gives you a +2 bonus to the DC against being disarmed. You could swap this and the duelist archetype around to get swordmaster feats that actually help, but waiting til level 20 to get something she could do from the word go doesn't sit right with me, y'know?

Pros

As you’d expect from the strongest class, Saber is great at combat. With almost 300 HP and 40 AC she can eat up damage like Shirou’s cooking, and her Excalibur- sorry, Sun Blade- is a powerful offensive option, dealing plenty of damage against evil and undead targets.

Even though you can stand on your own, you don’t have to thanks to your various auras coordinating your party as well as yourself, granting them protection from mental effects, extra damage, and even helping them move and attack as a unit.

With untrained improvisation and an Axiomatic sword, you’re also really consistent when it comes to both combat and exploration, along with several tricks to save your hide in social encounters as well. It’s almost like the saber class has no weakness…

Cons

That no weaknesses thing was a blatant lie. Your range is awful. Yes, Sun Blade is a ranged attack, but you can only use that three times per focus, and your focuses also power your Not Dying ability which is pretty fucking useful. Sure you can add the returning glyph to your sword, but I seriously doubt throwing your greatsword around will do much of anything.

Despite not having many weaknesses in terms of skills, you’re also not a master in any of them. I mean you are in quite a few actually, but I’m talking about Legendary tier training. Not being legendary locks you out of the high-end skill feats which can be super useful for a low-magic character.

Your best buffs are also pretty situational, working only on evil or chaotic creatures. Sure your regular knightly questing will be fine, but if you find yourself fighting another honorable knight you’ll be up the creek! Thank goodness that’ll never happen!

#fgo #fate grand order #pathfinder 2e #pf2e #Artoria Pendragon #Champion #Marshal #Duelist #Swordmaster

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