A character thought

[trillex]

I am, again, calling out to the wise people here at Layonara, for I believe I am stuck when it comes to this.
  I want to create a character which will only use one 1 handed weapons, like a katana, preferably a weapons master - but I am having troubles keeping him alive. Expertise helps a bit, but just seems to be the wrong way to go and I am pondering if he really should be going for strength - but perhaps go dexterity and specialize in parry. But, to have a decent parry, you will need to wear something lighter than heavy armor, giving a kick in his AC, making him an ideal target for death.
  He is currently a fighter, but I've been thinking of perhaps going barbarian instead - since that would make more sense with the no armor.

[ZeroVega]

A few observations I've made in my time playing here on Layonara.

1. Dual Weilding weapons benefits rogues more than any other class for two reasons. First, they don't wear heavy armor or use sheilds to being with, so using another weapon isn't depriving them of protection (sheild) like it does a fighter. Second, the damage they can do with an extra attack or two from the offhand weapon is considerable (due to sneak attack); which is something the fighter lacks.

2. 90% of the time. The fighter that's using a big ole sheild will last longer than the fighter using a giant weapon without a sheild. Three, four, five, or even six AC can be THAT big of a bonus as to keep one alive when everyone else is dead.

3. The big weapons hurt more.

4. Weapon's Master's get two very valuable and related skills (their main skills). The first is a Crit Range extended by 2 and the second is +1 to their Crit Multiplier (Ie: A Longsword Weapon's Master would Weild a Longsword as if it did x3 on a Crit instead of x2, which is what it normally does). These skills mean three things: First, a rogue won't benefit in a huge way from it because sneak attack isn't improved on a critical hit. Second, big bad weapons would have a LOT better chance of doing big damage, which is what they're made for. Third, this simply gives the normal sword and sheild fighter another way to improve after level 14-15 (which is around the time fighters stop getting the really useful skills... they pick up again in Epic levels).

I believe that these reasons were the cause of what I call the "Bipartite Fighter Explosion," in which more and more Fighter/Rogue combos started popping up. In the end, any class can be powerful on it's own and in it's own way (or if the right classes are joined to accent each other's skills). If being a Dual Weilding fighter is an integral part of your character then go with it and work with it. If not, I suggest re-evaluating the reason for wanting playing said character in the first place.

Derrick Loadson was a Dual Weilding Fighter/Weapon's Master. He did really really well for some odd reason but he died A LOT. That's because he didn't like to pull out his sheild often. Still, when he got in combat, he usually owned damage wise. That's because he was nuts enough to use two longswords in combat and they just happened to have amazing critical ranges. When he pulled out his sheild, he still rocked, and he lasted longer. Still, I wouldn't suggest that build for a fighter. But I'm just letting you know, if you work it right, it can do well. (Light weapons won't go over as well though.)

[trillex]

I want to avoid dual wielding, though - what I have in mind is such a character that is so amazing at using just one 1 handed weapon, like a katana (Which already got a very decent crit range) that he can actually defend himself with just that. Seems to be impossible to create in D&D, though.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Well, seeing as a Katana is identical in all mechanics to a Bastard Sword... I really wish there were an option to wield the hand-and-a-half weapons as either one or two handed, but... Well, this is NWN1, and one of the few truly vexing limitations of NWN1 is that.

You'll want a fighter with 14 DEX, 13+ INT, and 12+ CON... STR is helpful, too (of course). Invest ranks cross-class into Tumble, then some into Parry, Discipline, and Heal (assuming 14 INT... Drop Disc if only 13).

In PnP, this is a great build... In NWN, it is definitely lacking, though I run a similar character myself (Bjosef Bourne, longsword).

Expertise and Toughness, then the Dodge tree and go for Whirlwind attack.

Round about level 8, you'll get +1 AC from Tumble, and add on your Iron Chain Shirt... Bada-bing.

If you're alright with losing that Katana, trade up for a Rapier and go the full Dex-fighter route.

This has been another edition of Stephen's Build Notes.

[trillex]

You wouldn't happen to know if NWN2 got that hand and a half feature?