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grailfinders · 2 years

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Fate and Phantasms #270: Astolfo (Saber)

Yahoo! Summer might be over, but that doesn't mean we're done with mixed up spirit origins yet! Saber Astolfo has come to wish you all a merry Christmas! ...In April!

Yeah, that 5% sanity boost doesn't fix too much.

Astolfo's still Astolfo, so they're still a Devotion Paladin, though that extra 5% knightliness means they're a Swords Bard now. We also dip into Battle Master Fighter a bit so your whip sword can do all sorts of tricks.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet here!

Next up: They say laughter is the best medicine. This is incorrect. The best medicine is Gun.

Race and Background

Keeping the theme of FGO's power creep in mind, Astolfo is still a human, but now they're a Variant Human instead. That gives them +1 Dexterity and Charisma, as well as Animal Handling proficiency and the Slasher feat. This also bumps up their Dexterity, and attacking with a slashing weapon (like a whip) reduces their target's speed once a turn. Also, scoring a critical hit gives them disadvantage on all attacks for a round. We're not even level 1 yet, and your whip/sword/net is already tripping people up!

And yes, Astolfo is still Astolfo, so Astolfo is still a Knight of the Order for Persuasion and History proficiency.

Ability Scores

Astolfo is, as usual, best when he can factor her Charisma into a fight, so that's ability #1. They can shame even the most stalwart of servants into doing the right thing. After that is Dexterity. Not sure if you noticed, but a bunny suit still isn't armor, and whips are finesse weapons. The Stolf still has Monsterous Strength, (and we need to multiclass), so even without wielding a lance they still have a lot of it. This does mean our Constitution is lower than I'd like for a melee character, but we'll work with it. That leaves Intelligence being pretty low and Wisdom getting dumped entirely. A 5% boost doesn't do that much to help out.

Class Levels

Paladin 1: As a first level paladin of Charlemagne you can activate your Divine Sense Charisma times a day, finding any extraplanar beings nearby as an action. You can also Lay on Hands, healing yourself or another creature with a touch. You have a pool equal to five times your paladin level per day, and you can spend 5 of those HPs to fix a disease or poison affecting someone. Astolfo is a delight to be around, he's kind of a living pick-me-up. Even though servants technically aren't living, just don't think about it too hard, ok? Paladins also get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, plus Insight and Athletics. Tying someone up with a whip is still, sadly, an athletics check, so if we're not beefing up your strength we'll have to go the 'weak but skilled' route.

Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a Fighting Style, and yes, Dueling would be a great pick to bolster a whip's terrible offense. But bards get dueling as one of their two fighting style options, so we'll wait on that. Instead, grab the Interception fighting style to tie up the baddies even more. If another creature in 5' of you would get hit, you can use your reaction to tangle up the creature hitting them and reduce the damage by 1d10+ your proficiency. I'd argue it could be a 10' range if you use a whip, but I'm not your DM so I can't help you there. Fortunately, if you still want to deal tons of damage there's always Divine Smites, letting you spend a spell slot to shove a ton of radiant damage in a creature's face as long as you're using a melee weapon. Despite the increased range, a whip's still melee. You could use these spell slots to cast Spells that you prepare and cast with your Charisma, but where's the fun in that? I guess Heroism would give you immunity to being frightened and more HP and Wrathful Smite would let you deal damage and pull out La Black Luna at the same time, but raw damage is nice too.

Paladin 3: Third level paladins are immune to disease thanks to their Divine Health. Just the character, not the player, please get vaccinated and wear a mask. You're also a Devotion paladin, so you can Channel Divinity in one of two ways once a short rest. You can turn Vulcano Caligorante into a Sacred Weapon, adding your charisma modifier to your weapon attacks (not damage) and your whipsword shines 20' of bright light then 20' of dim light. Slasher only works if you hit the target, and a +6 to your attack rolls will help make that happen. Alternatively, you can Turn the Unholy, turning fiends and undead that fail their wisdom save. Mephistopheles and Shuten Douji are both casters, sometimes, and you have class advantage over them. It's not hard to make them want to run away. Wait, that's rider you... ah well, just use the Sacred Weapon thing then. Finally, you get subclass spells that you'll always have prepared. Protection from Evil and Good will keep your friends from getting frightened or possessed by ghosts and the like for up to 10 minutes. I mean yeah you actually helped your friends get possessed by the spirit of Santa, but you could probably do that in reverse too, right? On the other hand, Sanctuary prevents the targeted creature from getting attacked directly, forcing would-be attackers to make a wisdom save which redirects their attack on a failure. If there's nobody around to take the hit, they waste the attack. A lot of talking happens in Fate duels, it would be nice if there was an excuse for it.

Paladin 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC, more accurate whippings, and more damage. That +1 per hit actually means a lot when you're stuck with a d4 damage die.

Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack for two attacks per attack action. That's 2d4 a round, which is practically a d8! That means you're dealing damage on par with a level 1 paladin with an actual sword now! Mean whip-based jokes aside, you also get second level spells. Your freebies are Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth, but to be honest there aren't many second level spells I want from the paladin list. Magic Weapon is useful though- all your weapons are powerful ancient artifacts, after all.

Fighter 1: Did you think we had enough knightliness? Of course not! Going over to fighter lets you knight while you knight with another Fighting Style. As a taste of what's coming up, grab a Superior Technique for one Superiority Die per short rest (a d6) for the maneuver Parry. Now you can do the Interception thing when someone hits you, though you reduce damage with a smaller die plus your dexterity modifier. You also get a Second Wind you can use as a bonus action to cheer yourself up for extra HP.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge for another action in a turn once a short rest. That's up to 4 whip attacks in a single round! More importantly, that's 4 chances to smite something, or you can use this to heal multiple people with Lay on Hands. It's flexible, like you are. At least according to some fanfic I've read.

Fighter 3: At third level you become a Battle Master, giving you four more Combat Superiority dice and turning all of them into d8s. You can spend these on three more maneuvers, so you can use your whip on a Sweeping Attack, dealing that roll's damage to a nearby creature if the original attack roll would hit them as well. You can also Trip up your opponent, adding the die to the attack's damage and forcing a Strength save (DC 8 plus your proficiency plus your dexterity modfiier) or they fall prone. The last big slowing effect battle masters get is a Grappling strike, though that sadly doesn't wrap them in your sword. Instead you can grapple as a bonus action, adding the die to your athletics check, and since your athletics isn't good, neither is this option. We'll get a better wrapping option in a bit, don't worry. Oh right, you're also a Student of War, for proficiency in one kind of artisan's tools. I think a horn counts for that, so we've got your conch now!

Fighter 4: We're sticking in fighter for just a bit longer so we can bump up your Charisma with this ASI. Stronger spells, a better sacred weapon, and your auras are stronger too! Wait, hold on a sec...

Paladin 6: Okay, here we go! Sixth level paladins get an Aura of Protection, adding their charisma modifier to all saves made by friendly creatures within 10' of you. Your lack of wisdom doesn't make you easier to control, if anything it's harder to take you over, with a +7 to wisdom saves despite your dumped wisdom stat.

Paladin 7: Seventh level paladins keep all their friends safe from getting charmed with an Aura of Devotion. There's no way in hell Astolfo's master from Apocrypha didn't try some kind of charm magic on him, to no effect.

Bard 1: Bards have a bit more buildup to knighthood than fighters and paladins, but I promise we'll get there. As usual, you get a second set of Spells cast with your Charisma. Check the PHB to see how your spell slots mix. Aside from that, you can use your bonus action to spread a Bardic Inspiration die, one of four d6s you get each day. When an ally has one, they can spend it to add that roll to an attack, save, or check in the next minute. For cantrips, pick up Blade Ward for even more damage reduction and Friends to stun just about anyone into going along with your Christmas-themed nonsense. After a minute they'll start catching on though. For first level spells, Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals will make sure you still have a good relationship with your Gryphon while you two are separated. Longstrider will help keep your agility up while you're stuck walking like a peasant, and Identify will help you keep all your artifacts straight when a new moon comes in.

Bard 2: At the second level of bard your protagonist powers kick into overdrive, making you a Jack of All Trades for at least half proficiency in all ability checks. You also get a Song of Rest, but at level 13 I don't think a d6 of extra healing each short rest helps much. You can use Healing Word for another kind of pick-me-up as a bonus action though, and you can boost healing spells (or damage too, I guess) with your Magical Inspiration. Now your inspiration dice can be used by allies casting spells as well!

Bard 3: At third level, you finally become a knight threefold when you graduate from the college of Swords. We finally pick up the Dueling fighting style for a +2 to damage with one-handed weapons. You can also use your inspiration dice on Blade Flourishes now. When you take the attack action your speed goes up by 10', and once per action you can spend an inspiration on one of three flourishes. All three add the die's roll to the attack's damage, but a Defensive Flourish adds the roll to your AC, a Slashing Flourish deals the damage to a nearby creature as well, and a Mobile Flourish drags the enemy 5 + the roll feet away, and you can use your reaction to follow them. Most importantly, you can also cast second level spells now, like Hold Person. It's a much more functional net than Grappling Strike was, and it gives any attack against that target advantage, and attacks that hit are always crits. Hopefully you can tell why that's a big deal for a paladin.

Bard 4: Pick up Light for even more holiday decorations and Mirror Image for Astolfo's sealed NP. That's right, we're getting Crazy Trip Drive Idol in here! Sadly the body limit is only 4, not 100, but it'll protect you from getting hit. You also get another ASI, so pick up the Sentinel feat to really lock down your foes. You can ignore a creature's disengage, and you can also attack enemies who attack other creatures. Most importantly, hitting a creature with an opportunity attack reduces their speed to 0 for the rest of the turn.

Bard 5: Fifth level bards get a d8 for their inspiration, and they become a Font of Inspiration, so your flourishes come back on short rests instead of long ones. You also get one third level spell, so pick up Fear for a proper unleashing of La Black Luna. Or that trumpet you got that freaks people out, either or.

Paladin 8: Sadly, we don't have much time to bump up Astolfo's constitution, but we can at least use this last ASI to grab the Tough feat. It's simple: 34 HP now, plus an extra 2 HP each time you level up from here.

Paladin 9: Ninth level paladins get third level spells. Again, there really isn't much we want here, though you get Beacon of Hope and Dispel Magic for free. One good pick here though is Spirit Shroud. It's a bonus action to activate, and then it lasts up to a minute if your concentration lasts, adding radiant damage to all your attacks, preventing healing for a round, and any creature that starts its turn within 10' of you gets slowed by 10'.

Paladin 10: Tenth level paladins get an Aura of Courage, making you immune to frightening effects as well. As long as it's not the new moon, at least.

Paladin 11: Our final level gets us the holy grail of whip paladins: Improved Divine Smite. Now you'll always add 1d8 radiant damage on every attack with a melee weapon.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

With a spirit shroud, flourishes, superiority dice, and improved smites all running at the same time, you can deal a lot of damage before we even touch the paladin's premiere feature. With your action surge, you're dealing 4d4+12d8+24 damage in a single round, or 88 on median rolls. If you're fighting a humanoid you can use Hold Person instead for 8d4+16d8+24 damage, a.k.a. 116 damage, all without smites. With smites that's another 20d8 (90 damage) for the first scenario, or 40d8 (180 damage) for the latter. So yeah you chunk a lotta damage when you need to.

You're also great at locking down enemies, keeping them from getting too close to the squishy party members. Slasher and Sentinel work to keep whatever you're fighting too slow to get at any other party members, and your whip's range gives you plenty of space to control the battlefield.

You don't mind all that attention though, since you're such a good tank. With several ways to reduce incoming damage and/or heal yourself plus ridiculously good saves against magic, it'll be a while before you crack under pressure.

Cons:

All that damage from earlier uses limited resources. You need spell slots, inspiration, and an action surge to make it work, so you can't pull out the big guns too often without exhausting your extra dice.

When you don't have the big damage, you have the little damage. Whips still only do a d4, and while Improved Divine Smite is great, you only get that at level 20.

You also have to put up with conflicting ranges on your skills. Interception is cool, but you have to be within 5' of an ally to use it. Slashing Flourishes also only have 5' of range. Most damming, your auras have the same range as your whip, so if your allies want your buffs they also have to stand in the same area as the monster you're trying to tank.

#FGO #Fate Grand Order #D&D #DND 5e #Astolfo #Fighter #Bard #Paladin

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