Red Sonja; She-Devil with a Sword.....

I had the entire 5 volumes series of books in paperbacks, unfortunetly I lost one of them through water damage.

But Red Sonya, wore a complete suit of mail soon after getting rid of the cheap mail given to her at the beginning of her adventures. Her first outfit was more for show than use. So she has armor, give it to her, I mean that, I'll hunt you guys down through the esoteric threads of the internet and give you an electric wedgy, don't think I can't!
:)
 
Hey, Kulan Gath is returning to comics in the new Red Sonya comic. Kulan Gath fought Conan in the Marvel series and even battled the Avengers. Plus, Linsner (who did the first DH Conan covers) is lending his talents by doing a cover:

RS13LinsnerCover.jpg
 
With all due respect to Mr. Darlage, a recent discussion elsewhere on the web prompted me to try and create a Shield Maiden version of Red Sonja, using his Nomad 8 Sonja mentioned earlier in this thread as a starting point.

Red Sonja, Fugitive in Darkwood
(Circa "Episode", "Red Sonja, She-Devil with a Sword", "The Temple of Abomination," and "The Day of the Sword")

Medium Humanoid (Hyrkanian Shield Maiden 8 (Temptress 4/Soldier 4)
Hit Dice: 4d6+ 4d10+24 (72 hp)
Initiative: +12 (+5 Dex, +5 Reflex save, +2 Lightning Reflexes)
Speed: 30 ft.
Dodge Defence: 19 (+4 level + 5 Dex)
Parry Defence: 17 (+4 level +3 Str)
DR: –
Base Attack Bonus/Grapple: +7/+2
Attack: Broadsword +11/+6 melee
Full Attack: Broadsword +11/+6 melee
Damage: Broadsword 1d10+3/ 19-20 x2/ AP 6
Special Attacks: Sneak Attack 1d6, Light Calvary Formation Combat
Special Qualities: All Hyrkanian Racial Qualities, Comeliness, Saviour-Faire, Aura of Authority +2, Dance of Desire 1/per day, Spurn Seduction, Seductive Savant
Space/Reach: 5 ft. (1)/5 ft. (1)
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +9 (+12 vs. Corruption)
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 21, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16

Skills: 86 Skill Points used. Craft (bowyer), Ride and Survival have +2 Racial Bonus
All Charisma Checks, even ones without ranks, get +2 for Comeliness
Aura of Authority: +2 To Intimidate
+4 to Bluff, Diplomacy Gather Information, Intimidate and Perform for Sed. Savant

Craft (bowyer) +6 Craft (cook) +6 Craft (herbalism) +6 Craft (seamstress) +6 Heal +5
Hide +7 Intimidate +14 Knowledge (local - Hyrkania) +6 Listen +12 Move Silently +10 Perform (dance) +13 Ride +18 Spot +10 Survival +9 Swim +4 Tumble +12

Feats: Combat Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Sleep Mastery, Track, Weapon Focus (Broadsword)
Reputation: 18 (Brave)
Leadership: –
Code of Honour: Barbaric
Allegiances: None
Possessions: Broadsword, mail bikini (grants no armor bonus), belt, boots, horse

Order of Skills
1st Level: Craft (bowyer) +2 Craft (cook) +4 Craft (herbalism) +4 Craft (seamstress) +4 Heal +1 Hide +2 Intimidate +4 Knowledge (local - Hyrkania) +4 Listen +2 Move Silently +1 Perform (dance) +4 Swim +1 Survival +2 Tumble +3
2nd Level: Ride +4
3rd Level: Heal +2 Intimidate +2 Listen +2 Move Silently 2 Ride +1
4th Level: Ride +2 Survival +1
5th Level: Listen +4 Spot +4 Tumble +2
6th Level: Ride +2 Survival +1
7th Level: Listen +2 Move Silently +2 Spot +4 Tumble +2
8th Level: Ride +2 Survival +1

Order of Feats:
1st Level: Weapon Focus (Broadsword), Track (two feats for taking prefered class at first level)
2nd Level: Lightning Reflexes (Soldier feat)
3rd Level: Combat Reflexes (character feat)
4th Level: Mounted Combat (soldier feat)
6th Level: Sleep Mastery(character feat)
8th Level: Ride-By Attack (soldier feat)

This version of Sonja lacks a bit of attack power and defense compared to the pure nomad version (lacks the favored terrain ability and the BAB is one lower), but I believe this is balanced out in other areas.

1. More skill points.

The biggest problem here is that survival, which is something Sonja would have to have living off the land, is neither a class skill for soldiers or temptresses. I do have the skill maxed out as much as is possible for a cross-class skill, though. The brunt of the skill points, I put into Move Silently and Hide, to reflect Sonja's time working as a sneak thief and her tendency to use ambush tactics. I also put ranks into Tumble, to account for Sonja's quickness in battle and make up somewhat for the loss of the Web of Death feat.

2. Feats

I gave Sonja Sleep Mastery rather than Web of Death, since in one story from this time she woke up just before a poisonous snake struck her.

3. Temptress/Shield Maiden Abilities

Aura of Authority and Spurn Seduction are very good abilities for Sonja. The former gives her a bonus to will and Intimidate while the later makes her immune to any attempt to seduce her. Seems a good equalizer to her vow.

While Sonja is not likely to user her "Dance of Desire" ability, it does seem to match the effects seen when we HAVE seen her hop on a table while relaxing in a tavern.

And Seductive Savant and Comeliness give Sonja a fair to midling chance of passing most Charisma-based skill checks (i.e. The beautiful woman has no trouble convincing the Barbarian to help her rob a tower) despite having no ranks in most of the appropriate skills. With her Charisma, it's like she has near Max-ranks for a character of her level without having to spend any skill points on Diplomacy, Bluff or Gather Information.

I think the skill points need tweaking but overall, I think this is a good take on Sonja. All comments are welcome.
 
Thamilon said:
The biggest problem here is that survival, which is something Sonja would have to have living off the land, is neither a class skill for soldiers or temptresses. I do have the skill maxed out as much as is possible for a cross-class skill, though.
Click to expand...

If you spent her bonus points for INT on the skill, the skill is treated as a class skill.
 
If you spent her bonus points for INT on the skill, the skill is treated as a class skill.
Click to expand...

I always forget about that rule being different for Conan than in 3.5 D&D.

Apart from that though, does the master have any comments?
 
It's not. 3.0, it was different. 3.5 INT points spent on skill ranks don't take class/cross class into account.

8)
 
Well, my personal group is still mostly running 3.0 campaigns so I'm still hazy on some of the changes. Still... thanks for the info.
 
Given how she is portrayed graphically, I would assign a MUCH higher CHA than 16, unless her conduct/behavior in the stories or comix counteract her scarlet-haired hotness (hey, I've personally seen that happen scores of times!)
 
Charisma isn't just a measure of beauty, though. It is a measure of presence, demeanor and command. And granting that Sonja has been shown to be a great general (especially later in her carrer) this sheet reflects her during her days as a fugitive on the run.

Also, 16 is still a phenominally good charisma. IIRC, for a slavegirl to be worth extra money for exceptional beauty, she has to have a Charisma of 15.

So yes, Sonja is comely. But with the prevaling attitude toward women in most regions being decidedly anti-woman warriors in principle, if not in actual practice, being what she is probably more off-putting than exotic to most people.

Consider also how Sonja has always shown little interest in using her feminine wiles, apart from her body, to draw advantage. The only time I can ever think of her doing such was on Conan in her first appearance... and then it made a sort of sense - she could bully or strong-arm most men into doing what she wanted. She saw how Conan was looking at her and figured beauty could succeed where the beast failed.

I reflected this with no ranks in Bluff, Diplomacy or any of the usual "temptress" skills. With the bonuses to Charisma-based skills from the Temptress class abilities Sonja DOES have, however, it balances out. She can lie and seduce if she has to, but it's not something she has interest in doing actively. She's a warrior first.

That's why I think the Shield Maiden progression from Hyboria's Fallen fits Sonja a bit better than making her a straight-class Nomad. Having Sonja start out as a 1st level temptress (and the templates do have one for a comely farmer's daughter) makes a bit more sense than her having always been a nomad since her homelife was always depicted as being non-migratory. Going that route, she should start out with 1 level of commoner before taking any levels of Soldier or Nomad.
 
I've reworked the skill points per corrections.

Medium Humanoid (Hyrkanian Shield Maiden 8 (Temptress 4/Soldier 4)
Hit Dice: 4d6+ 4d10+24 (72 hp)
Initiative: +12 (+5 Dex, +5 Reflex save, +2 Lightning Reflexes)
Speed: 30 ft.
Dodge Defence: 19 (+4 level + 5 Dex)
Parry Defence: 17 (+4 level +3 Str)
DR: –
Base Attack Bonus/Grapple: +7/+2
Attack: Broadsword +11/+6 melee
Full Attack: Broadsword +11/+6 melee
Damage: Broadsword 1d10+3/ 19-20 x2/ AP 6
Special Attacks: Sneak Attack 1d6, Light Calvary Formation Combat
Special Qualities: All Hyrkanian Racial Qualities, Comeliness, Saviour-Faire, Aura of Authority +2, Dance of Desire 1/per day, Spurn Seduction, Seductive Savant
Space/Reach: 5 ft. (1)/5 ft. (1)
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +9 (+12 vs. Corruption)
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 21, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16

Skills: 86 Skill Points used. Craft (bowyer), Ride and Survival have +2 Racial Bonus
All Charisma Checks, even ones without ranks, get +2 for Comeliness
Aura of Authority: +2 To Intimidate
+4 to Bluff, Diplomacy Gather Information, Intimidate and Perform for Sed. Savant

Appraise +2 Bluff +9 Climb +3 Craft (bowyer) +6 Craft (cook) +6 Craft (herbalism) +6 Craft (seamstress) +6 Diplomacy +9 Disguise +5 Escape Artist +5 Forgery +2 Gather Information +9 Heal +6 Hide +6 Intimidate +14 Jump +3 Knowledge (local - Hyrkania) +6 Listen +12 Move Silently +10 Perform (dance) +13 Ride +18 Search +2 Slight of Hand +5 Spot +10 Survival +15 Swim +4 Tumble +12 Use Rope +5

Feats: Combat Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, Mounted Combat, Ride-By-Attack, Sleep Mastery, Track, Weapon Focus (Broadsword)
Reputation: 18 (Brave)
Leadership: –
Code of Honour: Barbaric
Allegiances: None
Possessions: Broadsword, mail bikini (grants no armor bonus), belt, boots, horse
 
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