Bio

Body Slots

Arms: none
Body: Mithral Chain Shirt +1
Face: Third Eye Expose
Feet: none
Hands: none
Head: none
Rings (2 slots): Ring of Protection +3 / none
Shoulders: Cloak of Endure Elements
Throat: Chronocharms (and signet ring)
Torso: Shirt of the Leech
Waist: none

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Hasan al-Husam ibn Hatim ibn Hashim al-Hazred
Hasan the Sword, son of Hatim, son of Hashim of Hazred

As the twentieth son of Abu-Karim Hatim al-Jabbar ibn Hashim ibn Khalid, Sultan of Hazred , Hassan was destined for a life of luxury and utter stagnation. As with all of his brothers, his childhood passed in the sheltered paradise of the harem , receiving education from the greatest minds of Hazred and beyond under the watch of the Sultan’s many wives. After a short, symbolic service in the military, he would have taken a minor diplomatic role within his father’s hierarchy; the sort that would guarantee him more than adequate luxury, but with little enough time to get into trouble.

That path was changed with the addition of a new eunuch to the harem, a man who had been the dashing half-orc Swashbuckler Iskandar al-Husam. He had been apprehended attempting to infiltrate the harem and the Sultan—his wisdom be praised—had given him his desire; Iskandar al-Husam (renamed Iskandar Abd-Al-Rahman (Servant of the Merciful)) would be permitted into the harem… forever.

Though now a broken man, Iskandar took a liking to Hasan. For his part, Hasan detected something different about the new eunuch and did the unthinkable, talked to the slave. Iskandar opened up to the boy, telling stories of his daring exploits. These tales of adventure—so different from the dreary fables of his tutors—captured Hasan’s heart.

The former Swashbucklers stories of daring-do inspired the boy to embark on his own adventure. At ten—two years before he would be considered a man and taken from the harem—he escaped into the city. The sights and sounds overwhelmed him, until he climbed over the harem walls, he had never even seen beyond the palace. In fact, they overwhelmed him so much that he was easily and promptly kidnapped.

The ordeal that would follow over the next few days was violent, terrifying, and—to any other child—traumatizing. For Hasan, however, the overriding impression that persisted was of the sheer exhilaration of the event. He was, of course, heavily chastised—not only was his whipping boy beaten almost to death, but Iskandar was slowly executed by the Sultan himself in front of Hasan’s eyes. Any other child would have taken the intended lesson, but Hasan found a surprising sense of bitterness rise within him; he had never recognized an act of injustice before, especially not from his own father.

In his heart, Hasan adopted his friend’s true laqab, al-Husam, though it would be years yet until he would use it openly. (He was born Hasan al-Husayn (Hasan the Beautiful).)

Hasan committed himself to his studies from that point hence, his father and teachers assuming he had indeed learned his lesson. When sent to the military, he learned zealously, even requesting his father to reassign his apprenticeship to an uncle at a distant, dangerous posting. In a letter, he spoke of glory and honor, even quoting his own grandfather. It was a moving piece, and the Sultan acquiesced. It was also lies. Hasan was not interested in the honor of Hazred; he was interested in learning to fight.

And learn he did in his four years of apprenticeship. But, upon receiving the expected cushy commission, he abandoned his post and sought out an elderly half-elf, Khayyam al-Mahir, the man who had been Iskandar’s master. He persuaded Khayyam al-Mahir to train him in the ways of the Swashbuckler; though his teacher was old, his mastery was unparalleled.

After two years of rigorous, if unorthodox, training, Hasan has been loosed upon the world. A true Swashbuckler is not defined by the breadth of his knowledge or the strength of his blade, but by the challenges he embraces, and Hasan is up for anything.

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Hasan al-Husam is brave and reckless to the point of being a fool, but he is by no means a stupid man. Rather, he has little concern for consequences. His primary pursuit is that of excitement, in battle, in bed, wherever he can find it. He loves the tales of great adventures—such as Malak al-Majid and the Forty Orcs, Nizar and the Ring of Wishes, and the heroic exploits of his own ancestors—and longs to create his own legend.

He remains in contact with his mother, periodically sending letters in which he frames his exploits as religious pilgrimage. He rarely receives replies, for he rarely stays in one place long enough. A few weeks ago, he returned to Hazred for the first time, while the entire country celebrated the birth of his eldest brother Karim al-Nur’s first son and future heir. In this festive atmosphere, even his father could not be wrathful for long. Hasan did not stay long and, if anything, the visit dispelled any remaining homesickness.

He is not ashamed of his royal blood, particularly if it may be of use in seducing a beautiful woman, but he prefers to get by on his own merits. Still, it is nearly impossible for him to disguise his aristocratic origins. From his educated diction to his posture to his always-fine clothes, he is, undoubtedly, a product of his upbringing.

Though he was raised to always pay proper homage to the gods, unlike his father he is not a religious man. He doesn’t bother the gods, the gods don’t bother him.

He is eighteen, in excellent physical condition—though not particularly muscular—and handsome… and most definitely aware of it. His skin is light, more dusky than brown, his hair is black and kept short, his eyes are dark and striking, and is clean shaven.

Trained to manage a household/garrison, he is not stupid with large sums of money, but is undisciplined in his personal spending, and appreciates the finer things in life. He is likely just discovering what it means to be without a royal allowance…

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Hasan is a hero. Raised on stories of valiant, legendary warriors both real and fictional, he fights to join their ranks. As a hero, he always does “the right thing” which, through the magic of cognitive dissonance, has led him through some moral quagmires, like theft, possibly destroying universes, and tolerating Feng.

Hasan is chaotic good even if he often seems neutral good. This may be apparent in his shifting morality. The “right thing” can vary with the circumstances and the right thing one moment can be the exact opposite of the right thing from a few minutes ago.

Hasan is not actually an honorable fighter. The first rule of fighting indoctrinated into him by his mentor: the one left alive is the best fighter, not the best man. He prefers to comport himself with dignity, but he prefers being alive even more. He will accept a duel of honor, but only if he thinks he has a good chance. In a melee, he has no problem ganging up on weaker enemies or surprising his foes. After all, the winner can spin his story however he wants.

Hasan is intelligent, but not wise. He is well educated and has a keen intellect, but he is prone to distraction. He has extensive training in focusing on the task at hand but if he does not have a target, his mind wanders quickly.

Hasan is highly social. In addition to being fairly handsome (and aware of it), he enjoys conversation and the company of others and has the gift of gab. He has little compunction at lying or manipulating others, though he prefers not to on principal. For a generally pleasant person, he is surprisingly good at intimidating others; his steely gaze can strike fear into enemies and dishonest merchants alike.

Swashbuckling: A swashbuckler fights for two reasons, the joy of physical challenge and the aggrandizement of the self. A swashbuckler is flashy and acrobatic in combat, using their showiness to distract enemies from the lethal thrust of their rapiers.

Warblade: Like the swashbuckler, a warblade fights for the joy of combat and the creation of a personal legend. Warblades rely on their resiliency and the maneuvers and battle awareness that are the product of extensive, constant drilling and practice. Hasan pursues two schools of martial technique:
Diamond Mind: A student of the Diamond Mind school understands that true quickness lies in the mind, and hones his perception and discipline.
White Raven: A student of the White Raven school knows that true strength lies in one’s allies and mastery of battlefield tactics.

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Hasan in Combat

As a lightly armed fighter, Hasan can hit fast, but can also get hit hard. Even when engaging a single enemy, he should try to remain mobile. His relatively low armor class for a front-line fighter means that he is particularly at risk from being flanked. He should keep moving and position himself as well as possible to avoid getting boxed in.

His primary weapon is the rapier, a piercing weapon that deals d6 damage, low compared to the weaponry of many other fighters. However, it is light and precise, making it ideal for delivering critical hits and taking advantage of his swashbuckler training.

Maneuvers
The maneuvers Hasan has learned from his warblade levels, while purely physical, are complex, unique actions that represent the product of extensive training and focus, not unlike spells. They fall into four categories, counters, boosts, strikes, and stances.

Counters are maneuvers that may be performed immediately in response to a particular stimulus. Hasan only has one counter, moment of perfect mind, which may be used whenever he is called to make a Will save, as long as it is available.

Boosts are swift actions that modify another action. Hasan currently has no boosts.

Strikes are specialized melee actions, which are played as a standard or full-round action, typically involving a regular attack roll. He may not use strikes as part of a full-attack action and he must commit to using a maneuver before making any rolls. The effects of a maneuver vary, but unless otherwise noted the result deals the same type of damage as a normal attack using the same weapon and are affected by any attack/damage bonuses or penalties he is currently affected by. Strikes that involve attack rolls may result in critical hits (unless otherwise noted), but any extra damage granted by the maneuver is not increased, as if it were sneak attack damage.

Warblades ready maneuvers through a five-minute meditation exercise. In combat, he may use any of his readied maneuvers though, once used, a maneuver is temporarily exhausted. A warblade regains all of his expended maneuvers by taking a swift action, followed by a standard action spent doing nothing or attempting a standard melee attack (which may be part of a full-attack action).

• Stances
Stances operate differently than other maneuvers; a stance is an extended condition that modifies a warblade’s behavior for as long as they are active. A warblade may activate a stance as a swift action and it remains in effect indefinitely, even outside of combat, until it is replaced with another stance or voluntarily ended as a swift action. Stances end if the warblade is rendered helpless for any reason. Unless noted, using a stance does not prevent a warblade from using maneuvers or otherwise acting normally in combat. Hasan generally remains in his tactics of the wolf stance at all times, ready to slip into a combat leader role at a moment’s notice.

Initiator Level
Hasan’s training in other classes contributes to his broader knowledge of combat techniques; unlike spellcasters, who generally use only their relevant spellcaster class for determining caster level, a warblade has an “initiator level” equal to his warblade level, plus half of his total level in other classes. Hasan’s is 8 (Warblade 5 + (Swashbuckler 6/2) = 8). If Hasan gains a negative level due to energy drain, subtract that negative level directly from his initiator level to determine the relevant penalty.
If his initiator level is reduced to 6, he loses the ability to use fourth level maneuvers (white raven strike is his only fourth level maneuver). If his initiator level drops to 4, he loses tactics of the wolf and insightful strike. If his initiator level drops to 2, he loses battle leaders charge. If his initiator level drops to 0, he loses the ability to use maneuvers. Of course, he’s probably also dead. If these negative levels are restored, he regains access to any readied maneuvers that he had lost the use of in this manner.

Attacking
At his current level, Hasan should be attacking an enemy every turn and inflicting an average of 20hp of damage. If he is consistently unable to do this much damage, consider changing his combat tactics, such as switching weapons to bypass damage reduction, or applying buffs. If he is still unable to do an adequate amount of damage, he should focus on using positioning, distractions, Intimidation, and Aid Another actions to help his allies. Finally, he should try to flank enemies whenever possible.

• Attacks vs Maneuvers
Facing an enemy with no special defensive properties, Hasan has two options: using a maneuver or a regular attack. If you can only make one attack, use a maneuver, otherwise use a full-attack action. Considering the possibility of a critical, a full-attack action yields a slightly higher amount of damage than most of his current maneuvers. If he has to take a movement action, he should use a maneuver to compensate for the lost attack. Against opponents resistant to his regular attacks (high DR, critical immunity, etc), he should focus on maneuvers.

• Critical Hits
With his Improved Critical (rapier) feat, Hasan threatens a critical hit with his rapier on a natural 15 or higher; 25% of his attacks should threaten critical hits. His Battle Ardor warblade feature allows him to add his INT bonus to rolls to confirm a critical. A standard rapier strike deals 2d6+10 damage on a critical, more with buffs.

Against enemies immune to critical hits, his power is reduced; his Insightful Strike swashbuckler feature, which adds his INT bonus to damage rolls, is lost. Faced with such foes, he should focus on maneuvers and aiding allies.

• Nesr, Hasan’s Eager Mitrhal Rapier +1
Hasan’s rapier is eager, providing a few benefits that should be taken advantage of. While wielding it (which should be the default assumption as his hand is never far from his hilt), he gains a +2 bonus to initiative checks. The weapon is literally eager to fight and so may be drawn as a free action, as if he had the Quick Draw feat, allowing him to draw his rapier and make a full-round action. Finally, he deals +2 damage during a surprise round and during the first round of combat.

Maximizing Defense
Hasan has a few defensive tricks at his disposal.
• He does not lose his DEX bonus to AC if he is flat-footed (though he loses his shield).
• He has two +1 dodge bonuses. Dodge bonuses can stack with other dodge bonuses, allowing him to gain +2 AC versus a single foe. Alternately, he can split these bonuses between two foes. He must select his dodge bonus targets during his action.
• His White Raven Defense feat gives him a +1 AC bonus if he is in a White Raven stance (tactics of the wolf) and adjacent to an ally.
• His stance of clarity should be used if he is ever in single combat.
• He is difficult to hit with movement-provoked attacks of opportunity; in addition to having a high Tumble check, his Mobility feat grants him an extra +4 dodge bonus to AC (which can stack with his +1 bonuses) against attacks of opportunity caused by moving.
• His Battle Clarity warblade feature adds his INT bonus to his Reflex saves whenever he is not flat-footed.

Important Restrictions
Hasan is at full power only when lightly armored, unencumbered, and when wielding weapons compatible with Weapon Finesse. Do not load him down with stuff and avoid using heavy weapons whenever possible. He is more lethal with a dagger than with a broadsword. Additionally, like a spellcaster, he needs to ready his maneuvers every morning; though it only takes him five minutes to do this, that still leaves him maneuver-less for the first ten minutes or so of the day.

Magic Items
• Chronocharms: Hasan wears two chronocharms, the Chronocharm of the Grand Master and the Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker. Both can only be used once per day.

Grand Master: Once per day, as an immediate action, Hasan can use this charm to gain a +5 dodge bonus to AC against a single ranged attack. Generally this should be used against the first ranged attack made against him that poses a serious threat. Note that this can include ranged touch attacks, like a ray spell, but not against effects that do not require an attack roll, like a fireball.

Horizon Walker: Once per day, as a swift action, Hasan can use this charm to move up to half his speed (15’). This does not provoke attacks of opportunity. An effective use of this is to move around an obstacle that blocks a charge or to put him in position to make a full attack action.
• Shirt of the Leech: This blood-red shirt allows Hasan to instantly recognize a healing spell of 4th level or lower cast within 30’ of him. This is a continuous effect. As an immediate action, he may activate the shirt to gain the effect of any healing spell cast within 30’, instead of the spell affecting its intended target. He must have line of sight to both caster and target. This ability functions three times per day. A good use of this is to “steal” a healing spell from Lyr or Nessisus without making them move to the front lines. This should also be used to prevent enemies from healing each other.
• Other: He wears a Third Eye Expose and Ring of Protection +3, giving him an insight bonus to Sense Motive and a deflection bonus to AC respectively. Insight and deflection bonuses stack with bonuses of different types, but not with bonuses of the same type.

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Hasan’s Maneuvers

Though he knows several maneuvers, Hasan should keep the following four as his readied maneuvers. He also knows two stances, which do not need to be readied.

Standard Attack
With his rapier, Hasan deals 1d6+5 (STR+INT+1) (6-11) damage per hit (2d6+10 (12-22, average 17) on a critical hit) or 1d6+2 vs creatures immune to critical hits. With bonuses from buffs and other sources, he should be doing at least 10 damage per hit. He has Weapon Finesse and so uses Dexterity, not Strength to attack with light weapons or his rapier. Hasan’s backup weapons, his dagger and hammer, are light weapons, and also benefit from his Insightful Strike swashbuckler feature (+INT to damage) and Weapon Finesse feat.

Moment of Perfect Mind
Diamond Mind (Counter)
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
You can use this maneuver any time you would be required to make a Will save. Make a Concentration check instead of the Will Save and use the result of that check to determine the save’s success. You must use this maneuver before you attempt the Will save. A result of a natural 1 on your Concentration check is not an automatic failure.

Hasan should use this maneuver every time he has to make a Will save. Recover this ability as quickly as possible after using it.

Battle Leader’s Charge
White Raven (Strike)
Initiation Action: 1 full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
As part of this maneuver, you charge an opponent. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity for moving as part of this charge. If your charge hits, it deals an extra 10 points of damage. (Normal Damage: 1d6+15 (16-21) Critical: 2d6+20 (22-32, av.27))

Any time Hasan has a straight run to an enemy that he intends to attack, he should use this maneuver. The immunity to attacks of opportunity can be useful for closing in on exactly the right target. Normally a charge yields plus 2 to hit and minus 2 to AC, his Combat Expertise feat can be used to offset this if desired.

Insightful Strike
Diamond Mind (Strike)
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
As part of this maneuver, make a melee attack. If this attack hits, you do not deal normal damage. Instead, you make a Concentration check and deal damage equal to the check result. Your Strength modifier, your weapon’s magical properties, and any other extra damage you normally deal do not modify this check (including extra damage from class abilities, feats, or spells). (Damage: 1d20+12 (13-32))

This maneuver is excellent for breaking through the defenses of resilient foes, particularly those immune to critical hits or with high damage reduction. Remember that he loses any damage bonuses, such as those from bardic music, on this damage roll.

White Raven Strike
White Raven (Strike)
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
As part of this maneuver, you make a single melee attack. If it hits, you deal an extra 4d6 points of damage and the target is considered flat-footed until the start of his next turn. (Normal Damage: 5d6+5 (10-35, av 24) Critical: 6d6+10 (16-46, av.33))

This is Hasan’s most powerful maneuver and should be used judiciously. Though its damage dealing potential is great, the effect of leaving an enemy flat-footed can be even greater. To take full advantage of this, Hasan should attack at a time when an ally can use this, possibly by holding his action until immediately after his target has acted, leaving him flat-footed for an entire round.

Stances

Stance of Clarity
Diamond Mind (Stance)
By focusing your mind on a single opponent, you gain a +2 insight bonus to AC against a chosen foe, though you take a -2 penalty to AC against all other opponents. You must choose a single opponent as the target of this stance at the start of your turn.

+2 to AC can be a powerful advantage, but the penalty against additional foes can be disastrous. Only use this stance when in combat with a single opponent or when faced by an extremely deadly opponent with weak support. Using Hasan’s Combat Expertise can offset the penalty, if hitting is not as necessary (such as in cases where he is acting more as an obstruction to enemies or aiding allies.)

Tactics of the Wolf
White Raven (Stance)
By actively coordinating your allies’ efforts, you enhance the lethality of your teamwork. When in this stance, you and allies who flank an enemy with you gain a bonus on damage rolls against that opponent equal to half your initiator level (+4).

Hasan should stay in this stance as a default; if he is ever rendered helpless (such as by getting knocked unconscious), he should resume this stance as soon as possible. Hasan should always try to flank enemies as is and so this should be considered part of his normal combat behavior. Don’t count on other players to remember this bonus; watch for ways to position Hasan to allow for easy flanking and encourage allies to take advantage of this. This can be especially devastating against large creatures, as two allies can benefit from this bonus.