Making the Minato Namikaze/The 4th Hokage/Konoha's Yellow Flash

[Phoenix00]

When rereading a spell called Dimension Hop, I realized the nasty combination of this spell, spell storing weapons, and the shadow pounce ability of Telflammar Shadowlord  or Crinti Shadow Marauder.

This build is meant to be a fun exercise trying to create a playable build at all levels, and does a couple houserules for flavor reasons on some of the "minor aspects of the build" making the fictional character more like the anime character, the main trick/attack is perfectly legal.

Dimension Hop is a touch range spell (wizard/sorcerer 2).  On a failed will save the target touched by the spell is teleported 5 feet for every 2 casters levels in the direction of the caster's choosing.

Spell Storing Weapon allows you to add a singled targeted spell of up to 3rd level in the weapon.  If the weapon hits the target the caster can activate the spell as a free action.

Shadow Pounce allows you to make a full attack if you are subject to the effect of a teleportation effect.

Pretty much the tactic is to do a normal shadow pounce (through any means necessary).  With your last attack of the shadow pounce you quickdraw a Kunai with the spell storing ability that has dimension hop stored into it.  And attack yourself with it (doing nonlethal damage) and intentionally fail the save cause you to teleport and perform another full attack action.  These kunai cost the cost of a masterwork kunai and +2 of weapon abilities, or a little over 8,000 gp new or less than half crafted, you don't need many since you can reuse these kunai after each battle as long as you refill the dimension hop spell (with a wand or an assistant spellcaster).

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Minato Namikaze
The Fourth Hokage
Konoha's Yellow Flash

Uses Arcane Swordsage.  Note this is only used to get the "necessary flavor abilities" of Minato.  All other maneuvers I want to be maneuvers not spells.

General build

• Cleric 1/Monk 1/Swordsage 5/Telflammar Shadowlord 4/Master of Nine 5/Swordsage 4
• Cleric is for Time and Shadow Domains giving you Improved Initiative (Mo9) and Blind Fight (TS and Mo9)
• Monk is for Dodge (TS and Mo9)

I choose to do Master of Nine since you have all the prerequisite feats already chosen besides Improved Initiative and Adaptive Style and these are already made of win for a swordsage.  Plus it just seems right to have a Hokage be a master of nine.

Necessary Feats

• Quickdraw
• Mobility
• Spring Attack
• Dodge (fulfilled by Monk 1)
• Blindfight(fulfilled by Cleric 1 and the Shadow Domain)
• Improved Initiative (fulfilled by Cleric 1 and the Time Domain)

Necessary Maneuvers

• Assassin Stance to qualify for Telflammar Shadowlord

Abilities of the 4th Hokage that we know about.

• Flying Thunder God Technique.  Replicated by Shadow Pounce.
• Rasengan.  Minato is the creator of this move.  Houserule Minato as an arcane swordsage who can cast the spell/manuever Rasengan.  Rasengan is a swift action spell (a boost) that deals extra damage equal to your initator level *d6 and dazes the target for 1 round on a failed fortitude save.
• Ability to Summon Frogs.  Minato is the only one who seems to be able to "control" Gamabunta, in addition when Minato fought the nine tailed demon fox he rode on Gamabunta.Houserule Minato as a arcane swordsage maneuver can summon frogs as a wizard could of his IL/CL with the Summon Monster Line of Spells.  Unlike a normal wizard this summoning only takes a standard action.
• Eight Trigrams Sealing Style/Four Symbols Seal.  Houserule  Minato has the Bestow Curse as an arcane swordsage manuever, this ability improves to be greater bestow curse at IL 15.  The Eight Trigams Sealing style is a custom curse in the line of Bestow Curse and Greater Bestow Curse.  Used by the 4th Hokage to limit the amount of charka Naruto has access to.  Naruto can only access the Yang charka due to the seal, with the Yin charka being blocked due to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
• Dead Demon Consuming Seal.  This ability is approximated by the spells Bestow Curse and the Greater Bestow Curse spells.  Houserule that when perform a great feat that is normally beyond the range of Bestow Curse and Greater Bestow Curse that you can perform such an act at the expense of one's life (similar to Wish).  For example great feats are when the 4th Hokage use this Seal to bind the nine tail demon fox or the 3rd Hokage use this seal to defeat the reanimated 1st/2nd Hokage as well as Bind Orochimaru's arms.

Now what should I make the rest of his feat progression be as well as his maneuvers?  I always get a headache trying to build a maneuver progression/spells list.

[Negative Zero]

So you get effectively infinite attacks, assuming you have effectively infinite spell-storing kunai? Pretty cool, that's a new trick to me.

[Azrael]

Or you can just be a Ruby Knight Vindicator...

[Unbeliever]

So you get effectively infinite attacks, assuming you have effectively infinite spell-storing kunai? Pretty cool, that's a new trick to me.

It's not really infinite since it depends on the number of spell-storing daggers you have, but I like it.  A really cool riff on the Shadow Pounce. 

[Prime32]

Nice trick, but relying on house rules for the other stuff is cheating.

You should take a look at this thread - the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was statted as a combination of inconstant location and greater psionic teleport.

The 3rd Hokage build statted the "Reaper Death Seal" as a massively Overchanneled psionic disintegrate (the feedback damage is enough to kill the caster). There's a spell which renders a possessing fiend unable to leave its host in one of the Eberron splats - maybe if that was made into a permanent magic tattoo and combined with a suggestion to enter the host...

[Phoenix00]

Nice trick, but relying on house rules for the other stuff is cheating.

You should take a look at this thread - the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was statted as a combination of inconstant location and greater psionic teleport.

The 3rd Hokage build statted the "Reaper Death Seal" as a massively Overchanneled psionic disintegrate (the feedback damage is enough to kill the caster). There's a spell which renders a possessing fiend unable to leave its host in one of the Eberron splats - maybe if that was made into a permanent magic tattoo and combined with a suggestion to enter the host...

It is cheating, but I wasn't trying to do overpowered maneuvers that are unbalanced.  The summon monster line is exactly the same as learning an arcane swordsage maneuver except it is conjuration instead of evocation, transmutation, or abjuration.  In addition it isn't too strong of mechanic for Binders have almost the exact same ability with the vestige Zceryll. 

Bestow Curse is a similar arcane swordsage spell.  It is a necromancy spell not evocation, transmutation, or abjuration but it fits with the feel of arcane swordsage and replicates the ability very well.
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Rasengan is kinda cheating though.  I believe it should be a swift action not a standard action due to it not require handseals and it can be used quite quickly.  That is why I modeled it as a boost.  Furthermore dissipating touch doesn't have the daze/stunned effect that some people who are hit by Rasengan seem to experience.

I don't think Psionic Disintegrate describes the Dead Demon Consuming seal that well.  If you don't model it as a curse the closest thing in my mind to the effect is Trap the Soul, but a curse would also do.  I believe I shouldn't have to worry about this ability for when this ability is used you are sacrificing yourself thus it is sorta once in a campaign, and thus a little deus ex machina seems okay.  The DM is either going to be okay with it or not.  Just like you can use wish to do more powerful things but it is now up to the DM to decide if your wish is perverted and what really happens.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

My build would be something with
-persistant unfettered heroism
-Siberys mark of passage
-Dragonmarked mastery
-Mark of stars feat

That *should* get you unlimited uses of greater teleport as a swift or immediate action.

There's some sort of dimensional marker thing that doubles the length and increases precision, but it's really expensive. 


On a budget, quicken dragonmark + least mark of passage +spellthief 6 gets unlimited usage of dimension leap as a standard action.   Or just levels in blade of orien to make it a move action.

[Phoenix00]

Some more work done.  Is this the best feat and maneuver progression?

[awaken DM golem]

Hey welcome aboard Ph00.
 

[bearsarebrown]

Unless you need Weapon finesse for a prereq, you could use Fey-Craft weapons.

[Phoenix00]

Unless you need Weapon finesse for a prereq, you could use Fey-Craft weapons.

I forgotten about feycraft, now I need another martial feat which doesn't require any BAB

Hey welcome aboard Ph00.
 

Hey Golem

I been lurking for a while, shocked and not feeling the spontaneous urge to create after the great purge cause by the deletion of the archives at 339

[bearsarebrown]

I was going to say Improved Initiative but it looks like you beat me to it. You could still take that and get a different Domain, that might be useful.