Unearthed Arcana presents Might & Guile: tweaks and kits for warriors and rogues

[Magevro]

Without the feat system installed, how do I learn new bard songs? Any hint on where they may be located in BG1?

[subtledoctor]

19 hours ago, Magevro said:

Without the feat system installed, how do I learn new bard songs? Any hint on where they may be located in BG1?

You will find scrolls around the world.  honestly don’t remember where, though… 

I think most are in BG2 and IWD. In BG1… I think Black Lily sells one? Is that the name of the thieves’ guild merchant in BG City?

[Greenhorn]

Couple of bugs found in 5.8.1 version: Corsair is without starting specialization in one handed weapon style per kit description and is barred from selecting it in character creation or on leveling up. Improved rangers component doesn't give tracking ability at first level ( luckily it is remedied by similar component from Olvyn's tweaks) at least in BG:SoD. Mage hunter is without spell saving bonus per kit description and his innate Minor spell deflection is more akin to Spell  trap , you can nuke it with magic missiles and other low level spells all day long without ever bringing it down. I actually like that. What I don't like is new name for Weapon master kit, there are way too much these adherents of Bushido, ready to commit Seppuku on the bad day ( two or three kit mods with the same name, maybe more ). WM sounds much cooler and it's unique.  

Edited March 8 by Greenhorn
barred, not bared

[subtledoctor]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:00 PM, Greenhorn said:

Couple of bugs found in 5.8.1 version

Thanks for the heads-up! I’ll look into these. 

On 3/7/2024 at 6:00 PM, Greenhorn said:

What I don't like is new name for Weapon master kit, there are way too much these adherents of Bushido, ready to commit Seppuku on the bad day ( two or three kit mods with the same name, maybe more ). WM sounds much cooler and it's unique

Thanks. I also don’t love the “Samurai” name, it is too culturally specific to me. OTOH it is clearly the inspiration for this kit, which is meant to show off my ‘ki pool’ function. The “Weaponmaster” name addresses the kit’s focus on a single weapon, but is extremely generic and doesn’t imply anything about ki powers. I am really struggling to come up with a name that is descriptive but not cringy. 

[moggadeet]

If you're looking for suggestions - maybe something like "spirit warrior?" Derivative, but not culturally specific, at least.

[subtledoctor]

Maybe... "Sohei Warrior?" That was an actual term for Buddhist warrior-monks of the Kamakura era in Japan.

Realistically, the vanilla Kensai should have been called "Sohei" and a kit like this should be called "Kensei." (Or, quite possibly, I should have had this kit replace the vanilla Kensai instead of being an alternative to it. Believe me, I wanted to do that. I think this is a better Kensai. But, oh my lord, could you imagine the howling if I took away the unarmored "just-getting-ready-to-dual-to-mage" kit with its cheesy AC and attack bonuses? My ears hurt just thinking about it.)

On 3/7/2024 at 6:00 PM, Greenhorn said:

Minor spell deflection is more akin to Spell  trap , you can nuke it with magic missiles and other low level spells all day long without ever bringing it down.

Thank you, I see what this issue is (they changed the way deflection spells work in patch 2.5 or so) and it will be fixed in the next release.

Speaking of the Weaponmaster/Samurai/Sohei, maybe instead of the Mage Hunter getting Breaching Touch and Minor Deflection as individual per-day innates, maybe I should set up a suite of anti-mage abilities and let them use a ki point pool as well. I'm sure I can come up with a couple other cool anti-caster abilities that would be useful. Something causing temporary silence or deafness, probably. (Make it a touch-range spell, like you box their ears or attack their throat, or something.) Maybe something to see through invisibility?

[Greenhorn]

7 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Speaking of the Weaponmaster/Samurai/Sohei, maybe instead of the Mage Hunter getting Breaching Touch and Minor Deflection as individual per-day innates, maybe I should set up a suite of anti-mage abilities and let them use a ki point pool as well. I'm sure I can come up with a couple other cool anti-caster abilities that would be useful. Something causing temporary silence or deafness, probably. (Make it a touch-range spell, like you box their ears or attack their throat, or something.) Maybe something to see through invisibility?

Sohei is close enough but WM sounds more like kit with strong Chinese influences and legacy so maybe Chi warrior or Wudang master/sword hopefully doesn't sound too  bad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudangquan 

Quote

Whereas Shaolin includes many martial art styles, Wudangquan includes only a few arts that use the focused mind to control the body. 

My humble advice is that you don't force any replacement but variations on the same theme are always welcome. For example on my current install for archery I have Archer, Sniper and couple of Sharpshooters each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages so may the best win. No need for replacement of  one of the staple original kits. More ki powers is always a good idea but please don't change Mage hunter too much ( or at all), I had a blast with this guy augmented with Improved rangers, Revised movement bonuses and Animal companions ( from another mod) components before my ancient, venerable PC died it's final death.  And one question for the end: is the option of add Archer purposefully completely replaced with move Archer to fighter kits option even if I change ini settings?

[rpmaster]

Maybe this was already asked, but I haven't found the response yet...

Are there any plans to integrate might and guile feats into talents of faerun feats as HLAs?