T.G. Cid

/ bktherpg

Greetings and welcome back to the Character Codex! I’m back with my fourth character build. With this one we’ll be traveling to the Kingdom of Ivalice to meet up with the Sword Saint himself. The Holy Swordsman, and valiant general in the Order of the Southern Sky.

Today’s build is a character from Final Fantasy Tactics: Thunder God Cid.

Thunder God Cid from Final Fantasy Tactics in a brown hooded cloak, purple armor and brown under armor, longsword in right hand, left arm obscured by the cloak.

As an accomplished Sword Saint, T.G. Cid uses a wide variety of techniques to thwart his enemies. Be it with the strength of his sword, or the might of his magic. 

Let’s go over a couple of things I hope to accomplish with this build:

Intentions:

  • Swordsmanship – Bring some melee damage to the forefront
  • Sorcery – Place down a spell to harm and/or disrupt
  • Judgment – If they are against you, they will not be for long

Overview:

  • Stat Allotment (Standard Array):
    • STR 15 (+2), DEX 10 (+0), CON 13 (+1), INT 10 (+0), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 14 (+2)

  • Lineage:
    • Custom Lineage: +2 CHA
    • Skill: History
    • Feat: Skill Expert (+1 STR)

  • Proficiencies:
    • Custom Lineage: History, Persuasion, Insight (Expertise)
    • Background: Intimidation, Perception, Vehicles (Land), Gaming set
    • Paladin: Athletics, Insight 

  • Items to Seek Out:
    • Longsword +1/Greatsword +1: +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls (+2, +3)
    • Sun BladeA: +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls, radiant instead of slashing
    • Mithral +1 Plate Armor: +1 Plate, no Stealth disadvantage or STR requirement
    • Amulet of the DevoutA: Bonus to spell attack rolls/saving throw DCs (+2, +3)
    • Shield+1: +1 bonus to AC (+2, +3)
    • Sentinel Shield: Advantage on initiative rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks.
    • Badge of the WatchA: +2 bonus to AC if you aren’t using a shield
    • Belt of Giant StrengthA: Sets your STR score to 21 or higher (depending on belt)
    • Tome of Leadership and Influence: Spend 48hrs reading this book in 6 days, gain +2 CHA

A: Requires Attunement (Can only attune to 3 items at a time. Choose wisely.)

Breakdown:

T.G. Cid’s sword skills are said to be unmatched. So much so that it’s said he can dispatch enemies in one or two swings. Able to wear the heaviest armor, wield any weapon, and with the ability to use magic, Cid will start out as a Paladin obviously. However, to gain some of the abilities he’ll need, we’re going to have to multiclass. And as an amalgamation of a Holy Knight, Fell Knight, and Divine Knight we’ll take a trip down Sorcerer lane for a bit. This will give Cid more spell slots to smite with, as well as cast the spell effects used by his Swordplay abilities. 

Only two feats picked up with this build: Skilled Expert and War Caster, with a possible third (Tough) depending on what magical items you gain along your travels. Going to be taking quite a few Sorcerer levels, so hit points will take a significant drop. Depending on the magical items you acquire along the way, the Amulet of Health might not be a bad one to consider.

Advancement:

Level 1 (Paladin 1) – Starting off as a Paladin we gain Divine Sense. It allows you to know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover as an action. Also, gained is Lay on Hands, a healing touch that is measured by your Paladin level times five. As an action you can dole out the healing piecemeal style, or gather up five healing points to cure someone of a disease or poisoning.

Level 2 (Paladin 2) – At this level we get three features. First up is a Fighting Style. There are a bunch of options to choose from. Defense for a +1 to AC. Dueling for +2 to damage on one handed weapon attacks. Great Weapon Fighting allows you to reroll 1s and 2s on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands. Secondly, as a half-caster, this is when we get access to spells. The leveled spells to start off with are Command, Divine Favor, and Shield of Faith. And the last feature, but not the least feature, is Divine Smite. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal an additional 2d8 of radiant damage to the target, while also wounding with the weapon’s damage. If you use a higher level spell to expend it’s another 1d8 per level. And an extra 1d8 if the target is undead or a fiend.

Let’s look at Command right quick: You issue a one-word command to a creature. If a creature fails a Wisdom saving throw, it must obey the order on its next turn. Just try not to use it against undead, those that cannot understand you, or give it a command to directly harm itself. Command will be our first stand-in for Cid’s Divine Knight Unyielding Blade abilities. For Crush Armor say Disrobe, Crush Weapon – Disarm, Crush Accessory – Untie, Unsnap, or Unpin depending on the item. Crush Helm is a bit trickier. I don’t know of a singular word that specifically means remove your headwear. 

In Final Fantasy Tactics the Crush abilities destroy the item it targets. Since D&D doesn’t work like that, we’ll substitute in Remove for Crush.

Also note, removing armor takes longer than six seconds, so it’s up to the DM to say if the commanded target has less AC or not since their armor is not fully fastened or worn.

Level 3 (Paladin 3) – Time to pick an Oath. We’re taking the Oath of Devotion for T.G. Cid. It automatically adds Protection from Evil and Good, and Sanctuary to our prepared spell list for free. Channel Divinity comes online now, and similar Clerics, Paladins get Turn the Unholy. It turns undead and fiends! A twofer! Devotion Paladins also get Sacred Weapon as an option. It allows you to add your Charisma mod to attack rolls with a weapon making it magical, and it emits bright light in a 20 foot radius, then 20 more feet of dim light.

Level 4 (Paladin 4) – ASI/Feat time! This time we will take the ASI. Bumping Charisma and Constitution both by 1. CHA 16, CON 14 now will be a good buff for the future. With that Charisma increase, that brings the total number of spells we can prepare is five. Nothing else I’m really interested in. Maybe Wrathful Smite could be neat.

Level 5 (Paladin 5) – 2nd level spells! Two more free spells we pick up are Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth. Okay to have in a pinch, but not spells needed to fulfill this build. Aid and Branding Smite may be good spell pickups here. Extra Attack also comes online now, which is great for martials. Always good to get that on time. 

Level 6 (Paladin 6) – At this level, we get Aura of Protection. It allows us to buff ourselves and any friendly creature within 10 feet of us whenever a saving throw is needed to be made. The increase is equal to our Charisma mod. A +3 boost is nice and will increase in this build. 

Level 7 (Paladin 6/Sorcerer 1) – Time to multiclass! Going Sorcerer to gain more spells and spell slots needed to fully realize those Sword Skills, and Divine Soul Sorcerer will be our ticket to achieve that. With Law as our affinity we get the Bless spell automatically to our Sorcerer spells. Some cantrips to consider: Guidance, Resistance, Sacred Flame, Sword Burst, Word of Radiance. Healing Word for some encouragement, Shield to accentuate your parrying skills. Also acquired at 1st level Sorcerer is Favored by the Gods. It allows you to roll 2d4 and add it to a missed attack roll or failed saving throw. Once used, this ability recharges after a short or long rest.

Level 8 (Paladin 6/Sorcerer 2) – Sorcery Points are unlocked at second level Sorcerer. With them, we’re able to (at the moment) convert sorcery points into spell slots (and vice versa) as a bonus action. For now, it’s an extra 1st level spell slot. Enough for another Divine Smite! Pick another 1st level spell, but we’ll switch it out next level.

It is worth noting that we’re mixing spellcasters here, and that could lead to some wonky spell slot realizations. A 6th level Paladin (a half-caster) only has four 1st level and two 2nd level spell slots. Whereas a Sorcerer (a full caster) at level 6 would have four 1st level, three 2nd level, and three 3rd level spell slots. Right now as far as spell slots go we are Paladin 6 and Sorcerer 2 (three 1st level spell slots). So we can treat it as if the Paladin was at its next slot threshold. Our total slots are four 1st, three 2nd, and two 3rd level spell slots. No 3rd level spells, but we have the ability to upcast a spell if needed. Hope you took a sip of water every time you read ‘spell slot(s)’.

Level 9 (Paladin 6/Sorcerer 3) – Metamagic time! Metamagic allows you to alter your spells in unique ways. The two options we’ll be using for this build are Quickened Spell and Subtle Spell. Quickened allows us to spend 2 Sorcery Points to make any spell with a casting time of 1 action to be a bonus action instead. While Subtle lets us ignore any somatic (hand movements) or verbal components of a spell for 1 Sorcery Point. The 2nd level spells to get are Hold Person (Judgment Blade), and Crown of Madness (Divine Ruination). With Hold Person if the target fails a WIS save, it is paralyzed but can remake the save at the end of its turn. For Crown of Madness it also involves a WIS save, but the target is charmed by you and must make a melee attack against another target, then be able to move. If not, they can act as normal. As with Hold Person, they can remake their save after their turn. Best to use early in a fight, since it costs your action to continue this spell.

Level 10 (Paladin 6/Sorcerer 4) – Time for an ASI/Feat! Grabbing War Caster here to help out our concentration checks by giving us advantage when we need to make them. As well as not worry about somatic components when our hands are full, but we got that from the Subtle Spell Metamagic. So, we’ll drop that for Twinned Spell. In Final Fantasy Tactics they say phrases when doing their special abilities, still having a verbal component makes sense. Additionally, when the chance for an opportunity attack arises, we can cast a spell instead of just making a melee attack as long as it has the casting time of 1 action and only targets that creature. We can get another cantrip to choose from, and Booming Blade would be an awesome pick here, since it damages on a hit and if the target moves from that space. Learn Silence now for a combo later on. 

Okay. We’ve reached the end of this part of the build. Let’s see what we can do!

Level 10 stats are STR 16 (3), DEX 10 (+0), CON 14 (+2), INT 10 (+0), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 16 (+3). With a Spell Save DC of 15, it’s pretty decent for a half-caster. Best skills are +9 Insight. +7 Athletics, Intimidation, and Persuasion, +5 Perception, and +4 History. The rest have a +3 down to a +0 modifier. Base AC of 19 or 17 if wielding a weapon with two hands.

At 10th level let’s see what I’ve achieved in this build: 

  • Melee damage will be high with those Divine Smites. 
  • Casting Command or Crown of Madness to disrupt the battlefield a bit. 
  • A moderately high Insight and Zone of Truth should ferret out lies.

Techniques:

T.G.Cid should be played in the front lines demoralizing enemies with his martial might. Get up close, use a bonus action to cast a Smite spell, then swing away. When you connect, drop a Divine Smite. Even better, when you crit, drop a Divine Smite, since all those dice get doubled! However, when subtler actions are needed, cast Crown of Madness in a group of foes before action starts. Being 120 feet away will keep you in relative safety, and the controlled enemy might take out one of their allies or allow you a distraction to make a hasty retreat from a possible dangerous situation.

Part two of this build is out now.
Stay safe and have fun!
Peace!

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