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"Kiss my codpiece, Thou Mewling, Malsey-Nosed, Malt-worm!"

The Cheeky Captain
The Saucy Skipper
The Defiant Duellist

A new flavor of Leader.  
Hie now and vituperate thy boorish foes to their dooms at thy companions' blades.

Meet François Jacques Joseph Salí (You must see the excellent, inspirational picture by GrandAnvil here.) 
(Also, great, flavorful insults are essential: Available here, or more complex ones here.)

Please help me optimize this build!  It's build on attitude and flavor more than anything.  His insults strike to the bone, setting teeth on edge, and refuses to allow his words to go unheeded.  Being mostly plain martial, he "heals" by expecting the best from his friends and upholding honor, skill, and bravery as virtues above all else.  He often deigns to use his own sword, unwilling to lightly condescend to honor unworthy foes with a blow from his lace-frilled hand.  Instead his insults and daring disregard of danger creates many ripe opportunities for the weapons of his companions.  

I'm going for anything that fits this saucy Musketeer/swashbuckler/duelist attitude. The build is partly inspired by the Tenacious Troubadour build. The personality concept is inspired by the Montaigne from 7th Sea (see below for more) which matches well with the ethos presented for the Battlelord of Kord (Also see below for more)  So, I'm liking Will attacks, granting allies many, many attacks (I have lots of great strikers), crazy nova buffs to hit and damage.  Basically using the party as my main weapon.  

This build may be efective for a variety of parties, but works especially well with:

• Seeker (Fabulous ranged basic attacks to impose more effects with my powers)
• Any Defenders (3 basic attacks off of Brash Assault is fun)
• Monk (solid basic attacks), flurry of blows can trip Polearm Gamble
• Dual-wield Ranger (Lots of opportunities to take advantage of hit and damage buffs)
• Archer Ranger (Make use of basic attacks even if I'm solo on an enemy, and multi-rolls for damage)
• Rogue (Grant lots of CA, provide extra opportunities for sneak attack, and SA is a separate "roll" so it gets all the dmg buffs too)
• Any other leader (They can focus on healing, and I can focus every other leader-y effect)

I really liked Taclords for buffs and nova-abilities, but my party needed a face and none of us had any Charisma, (and I'm the only leader).  I adjusted the stats and the build followed suit with a whole personality all its own.  In place of Warlord's Favor I was excited about using Righteous Brand as a basic attack used at every opportunity (charges, OA's), giving multiple allies great to-hit buffs most turns.

I welcome all suggestions.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======

Francois Jacques Joseph Sali, level 30
Half-Elf, Warlord|Bard, Battlelord of Kord, Demigod
Divine Spark: Charisma
Divine Spark: Strength
Hybrid Warlord: Hybrid Warlord Will
Hybrid Bard: Hybrid Bard Reflex
Hybrid Talent: Commanding Presence (Hybrid) (Bravura)
Deity: Corellon or Sune
Backgroud Benefit: Born under Bad Sign (Use Cha for starting hp instead of Con)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 26 (+8), Con 15, Dex 12, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 28 (+9).

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 11(13 racial), Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 16 (18 racial).

AC: 45 Fort: 41 Reflex: 40 Will: 41
HP: 173 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 43
Speed: 7, low-light vision
To-hit: 35 Weapon; 33 Implement

TRAINED SKILLS
Bluff +30, Athletics +29, Diplomacy +32, Heal +24, Intimidate +36

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +17, Arcana +17, Dungeoneering +16, Endurance +18, History +17, Insight +18, Nature +16, Perception +16, Religion +17, Stealth +17, Streetwise +25, Thievery +17

FEATS
Level 1: Harlequin Style
Level 2: Armor Proficiency (Scale)
Level 4: Heavy Shield (retrained to Focused  Expertise (Zulaat) at Level 20)
Level 6: Soldier of the Faith (Intimidate)
Level 8: Focused Expertise (Longsword) (retrained to Power of Skill at Level 10)
Level 10: Action Surge (retrained to Psychic Lock at Level 11)
Level 11: Versatile Master
Level 12: Paragon Defenses (retrained to Robust Defenses at Level 22)
Level 14: Hybrid Talent (Bravura)
Level 16: Mighty Challenge (retrained to Supreme Inspiration at Level 23)
Level 18: Avenging Spirit (retrained to Uncanny Dodge at Level 21)
Level 20: Weapon Proficency (Zulaat)
Level 21: Polearm Gamble
Level 22: Plate Proficiency
Level 24: Combat Commander
Level 26: Epic Reflexes
Level 28: Call to Glory
Level 30: Aggressive Leadership

POWERS
At-Will:

Righteous Brand (as melee basic attack w/ Power of Skill-- great synergy with Battlelord of Kord's Path of the Storm power at lvl 20 -- shift 9, 9 attacks against 1-9 targets, and +9 +2 to hit for everyone!) Errata'd so it's not so cool
Viscious Mockery (especially fun with Psychic Lock)
Brash Assault (with Harlequin Style I get so much boost to defenses out of this (+9). Not to mention, it's jolly fun mocking time RPwise "What? You can't even bite me when I bare my neck or put my whole arm down your throat? Worthless dung-begotten beast! Or does my skill overwhelm you. Give up now ::Roll Intimidate:

Dilettante: Righteous Brand

Hybrid Bard at-will 1: Vicious Mockery
Hybrid Warlord at-will 1: Brash Assault
Hybrid encounter 1: Blunder
Hybrid daily 1: Stirring Shout
Hybrid utility 2: Heroic Effort
Hybrid encounter 3: Diabolical Strategem
Hybrid daily 5: Stand the Fallen
Hybrid utility 6: Canon of Avoidance
Hybrid encounter 7: Sacrificial Lure
Hybrid daily 9: Song of Discord
Hybrid utility 10: Bolstering Shout
Hybrid encounter 13: Foolhardy Fighting (replaces Sacrificial Lure)
Hybrid daily 15: Renew the Troops (replaces Stand the Fallen)
Hybrid utility 16: Heroic Interjection
Hybrid encounter 17: Masks of Menace (replaces Blunder)
Hybrid daily 19: Inspiring Charge (replaces Stirring Shout)
Hybrid utility 22: Climactic Chord
Hybrid encounter 23: Pillar to Post (replaces Foolhardy Fighting)
Hybrid daily 25: Relentless Assault (replaces Song of Discord)
Hybrid encounter 27: Uplifting Assault (replaces Diabolical Strategem)
Hybrid daily 29: Inexorable Surge (replaces Renew the Troops)

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Disguise Kit, Drum, Screaming Elderscale Armor +6, Shield of the Barrier Sentinels Light Shield (epic tier), Torc of Power Preservation +6, Lilting Songblade Longsword +6, Sandals of Avandra, Helm of Heroes, Healer's Sash, Luminary Ring

====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

From 7th Sea RPG game on the importance of Style:

If there's one thing Montaigne have and respect, it's style. In order to play such a Hero, you have to do more than simply kill your enemies. You have to humiliate them first Only when they've realized that they never stood a chance against your skill can the final blow strike home. The Montaigne are Heroes, not butchers.

Reckless courage is a virtue to the Montaigne. They take stupid chances just to prove a point, or to catch the eye of a lady. This can be anything from scaling a high wall to deliver a love letter, to handicapping themselves during a sword fight. A Montaigne is never so alive as he is while laughing in death's face. 

You cannot be Montaigne and play the pragmatic anti-hero. When you disarm the Villain, you should offer him back his sword, not shoot him in the head with a concealed pistol. This sort of behavior is something you must look upon with contempt. It is the action of a coward who is unsure of his own worth. Instead, go forth and do not fear that you will fail. You are Montaigne — success is in your blood. 

From the Battlelord of Kord PP on Bravery, Strength, and Skill:
The glory and fame that Kord admonishes his followers to seek involves striving to win the respect of their fellows for upholding their duty and facing danger with their heads held high.

“It is the fate of a few to stand against senseless oppression and destruction. We will do so without flinching.  We uphold the right to independence that Kord’s wild nature demands.  When battle is done, revelry, boasting, and toasting--celebrating life and health -- are all that Kord requires as thanks.”

Leaders must be strong and courageous.  They must hone their talents to assure victory and survival in bloody days.  Renown should be earned through bold and decisive action that serves as an example to one’s comrades.  A valiant warlord leads his fellow soldiers by leading from the front and luring in the enemy.

Oct 19, 2009 -- 2:07AM, Sea-Envy wrote:

A great replie to add to your insult list would be " Kiss my rebuttle"
That was what the scoundrel roving don Castian said to my Montaigne swordsman knight R+C last week.

So you play 7th Sea as a Montaigne?  I'd love to hear what you think of my 4e representation of such an attitude?  I've never played 7th Sea, only DD4e.

Oh please do!  Fill up the thread with your most audacious, witty bits, be they gentlemanly or bawdy, intelligible or not. I've already got a Word document full of the Shakespearean Insult Kit options to mix and match.  Message me if you're interested, or the links are at the top of the build. (I'm going for my best French accent on him as well, though I don't speak French.  Any tips on that would be great too.)

And as for standing out, I thought the same thing, since the build sort of happened upon me unawares. 

I was intrigued by the heretofore undiscovered potentials of hybrids, and very much hoping to create a fencing/dancing around the battlefield sort of swashbuckler leader based off of a Taclord plus a little Swordmage (for Luring Strike+Mark of Passage=pretty much go anywhere at-will, and constant flanks, and for little things for DMs to hate like Dimensional Vortex, Arcane Deflection, etc.  That guy had good movement and attribute synergy (Str+Int) but he didn't have the heals, flexibility, armor , or Charisma that my party needed from their leader. 

At first, I really doubted the feasibility of a not-underpowered War-Bard, since Str isn't something very helpful to a bard and I didn't really see a Dragonborn fitting the flavor.  So, I'm actually suprised how this came out so far myself.  I really have no idea what numbers (defenses, to-hit, etc.) should be at level 30 so please critique.

Oct 19, 2009 -- 12:54PM, Kaerius wrote:

I decided to try and build this up in the character builder and noticed a bit of a quibble.

Mind you so far the build works... but you have to worship a different deity(battlelord of kord doesn't require you to worship him for some reason... but his domains are strength, storm and war, thus you cannot take power of skill if you worship him!)

I was going with Jacques tipping his hat to Corellon (Arcana, Skill, Wilderness) for a focus on art/elves/aesthetics, and to Kord for strength/skill/bravery.  More thematic than technical as far as domains go, but I think it fits very nicely. 

Oct 19, 2009 -- 11:05PM, Sea-Envy wrote:

The mechanics look good enough

The only little things would be that Valroux THE Montaign school mocks the enemy by proving the swordsman's superior speed and skill as opposed to making the other guy look like a fool and of course it is a rapier / parrying dagger school. And religion went out of style in Leon XIV's court.

Sea Envy  makes a good point in that this build may well be rather agnostic or even irreverent, or simply values aesthetics above all. This would tie in with the Demigod ED, in that he really could challenge immortals and primordials. 

He seems best against single targets, like the big boss, Kord-warlord style (striker/avenger-like), and his at-will combo lets him stand head to head with those big dogs who don't target Reflex without flinching too much. Dagon, Graz'zt, Orcus, Demogorgon, and Mual-Tar can't hit him with basic attacks unless they crit, then they still may not actually exceed his AC to get auto-full damage. (Orcus +37 +20 = 57, no way man.)  Even against my reflex, my weakest NAD, Orcus would have to roll a 14 to hit me, and cuts his hit chance to hit my allies in half (depending on their squishiness). 

Also to Sea Envy about Montaigne style and parrying.  I think I'll flavor my foes misses as parries (and oh will they miss)  How can I maximize on enemies missing technically-speaking?  Or would it actually be worthwhile to drop the shield and switch into a zaluut (reach+defensive?) or double sword?

Check out what I figured out yesterday:

Jacques' At-will synergy rocks.  I may just use them all the time and make all my dailies and encounters stances and auto-effect buffs or massive damage (something like Follow-up Blow (Ranger) or Magnetic Strike - rouge/daring blade/double sword? 6[W]Cha+Str+Cha dmg)

Observe the at-will tricks: against target of my Divine Challenge:
- minoricious Mockery = -2 attks (-4 with Psychic Lock, I'm considering it)
- move up to him
- standard: Brash Assault = I get +9 AC, he might get hit twice and get another -2 all attks from rattling (Righteous Fury), -2 from Impending Doom style.
Result: -8 (-10 w/ PsyLock) to hit all my allies, and if he doesn't include me, some fun radiant damage
- and -6 (-8 w/ PsyLock) to hit me and +9 AC, so I essentially have 45+15(17PS)=60(62PS) AC against him, and 63 (65PS) if I'm flanked!!

Is optimizing an at-will combo worth it?  Takes a lot of feats.  I would want White Lotus (Master) Hindrance, and maybe riposte if I could.  I can throw in Righteous Brands as OAs (+9 to hit) and Inspiring words (+2 to hit and +9 damage) as minors.  The occasional daily and encounter when they're needed...  I don't know.