Anime isn't really my scene, but I do vaguely recall Naruto from my youth and how it had a couple of characters that interested me. One of those characters is today's build. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
The Ready to Die YT channel features a video detailing this build if you prefer listening and watching that over reading.
With that, let’s get into the build for Kankuro from Naturo!
KANKURO
CHARACTER Kankuro
SOURCE Naruto
BUILD GOALS
o The middle child of the Sand Siblings, Kankuro is a shinobi of Sunagakure
o Lacking their raw destructive power, Kankuro specializes in the use of puppets through chakra threads, often staying out of a fight and even lagging somewhat in personal combat ability
o He can also use the chakra threads to interfere with foes at range, ranging from tripping them up to taking control of them
o This has made Kankuro somewhat of a more traditional shinobi in comparison to others of his world, relying on misdirection and deceit – even disguising his puppet as himself sometimes
o While not responsible for the creation of the puppets he uses, he maintains, repairs, and upgrades them
o He has mentioned that he has some resistance to poison
o Initially, he had only one puppet named Karasu, which is focused on offense. He wields a large number of blades, many of them hidden, and also has bomb launchers that are often used to launch poison gas bombs
o His next puppet is Kuroari who is more specialized in capture rather than elimination and has combination attacks with Karasu
o Kankuro’s third puppet is Sanshouo, which focuses on defense. Its hollow body allows others to ride or can be used to trap foes. In some instances, it has been outfitted with a fire breath
o After these puppets were destroyed, Kankuro also used the puppet body of Sasori, who created the original puppets. This body had stinger attached to a long cable, spinning blades, and flamethrowers
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Skilled Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Unconventional Weaponry – Shuriken
o Skill Increase: Deception (trained)
Background: Entertainer
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained), Theater Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Fascinating Performance
Class & Subclass: Summoner
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Skill (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – mage hand, protect companion, puff of poison, read aura, telekinetic projectile; 1st – noxious vapors, summon construct
Eidolon: Scout Construct (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8)
o Attacks: Blade – 1d6 (deadly d8, finesse, grapple); Spike – 1d6 (agile, finesse)
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 12, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 18)
I’ll admit, I was tempted to build Kankuro as a poppet just so I could have a poppet puppeteer, but I try to save ancestries like this for pertinent builds or when their mechanics help better capture the character. I don’t think poppet really does so for Kankuro, and thus this build sticks with the human ancestry while making use of the skilled heritage. This will make Kankuro trained in Deception since he is surprisingly cunning – disguising his puppets as examiners/himself, swapping places with it even before a fight, and attempting to feign friendship to gather info. Kunai seem to be the favored weapons of all ninjas in the world of Naruto but since such a weapon is lacking in Pathfinder 2e, Kankuro will use Unconventional Weaponry for his ancestry feat for the shuriken, the next closest thing. For his background, the build uses Entertainer not because he has a history in the theater, but because his outfit and facepaint are respectively based on bunraku and kabuki theatre.
Since Kankuro prefers fighting at range while leaving the direct combat to his collection of puppets, summoner serves as the best class for him. The scout construct eidolon best represents his initial puppet Karasu, which will be armed with deadly blades, hidden spikes, and grappling limbs from Advanced Weaponry to wrap up foes, as seen in the preliminary battles of the Chunin exams. Many of Karasu’s weapons utilize poison, which is initially up to Kankuro to provide with puff of poison as well as noxious vapors, which has the added benefit of providing some concealment. Mage hand felt like a natural fit for a puppeteer and as one, Kankuro has utilized multiple puppets, often at the same time. To that end, he utilizes the summon construct spell to try to create the feel of his other puppets.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Ranged Combatant – 1d4 Piercing
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – command
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – final sacrifice
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+1), cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Magical Understudy
o Skill Feat: Magical Crafting
o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – telekinetic maneuver
o Eidolon Spells: Cantrips – needle darts, puff of poison
o Gear: thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blow (+1), necklace of knives, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 19)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 10)
o Ancestry Feat: Clever Improviser
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – wooden double
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), crafter’s eyepiece, thrower’s bandolier, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
As mentioned above, Karasu uses quite a few poison-based attacks but for some reason or another, the summoner is lacking feats in support of this. Poison damage is conspicuously absent form the likes of Energy Heart or Ranged Combatant, but I nevertheless settled on the latter as Karasu is known to spit a storm of needles at targets. The Magical Understudy feat helps compensate for this native lack of poison damage somewhat by allowing Karasu to gain puff of poison as an innate cantrip. Needle darts is another solid way to represent the flurry of needles it spits. Between his tireless work on modifying and upgrading his puppets as well as his use of poisons, Kankuro will take Alchemical Crafting to brew his own toxins – and maybe a few blight bombs to go along with them. Given the unique nature of his puppets, Magical Crafting also felt to be an appropriate fit.
In addition to controlling his puppets, Kankuro is also capable of using his chakra threads to manipulate others, which will be represented through command and telekinetic maneuver. He has also demonstrated that he will load some puppets with bombs, which leads to the use of final sacrifice. Notably, he cannot use this on Karasu since that will kill him. It would be hilarious, but is generally a bad idea. When he starts getting 3rd-rank spells at 5th level, he can grab wooden double, which is a pretty standard jutsu used in the Naruto-verse and wonderfully represents it.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Master Summoner
o Skill Feat: Quick Disguise
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), wand of shrouded step, thrower’s bandolier, exquisite surprise doll, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Reconfigured Evolution: Defend Summoner
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – suggestion
o Gear: clandestine cloak, +1 explorer’s clothing, lesser boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), crafter’s eyepiece, bracelet of dashing
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Magical Adept
o Skill Feat: Backup Disguise
o Eidolon Spells: 1st – spider sting; 2nd – humanoid form
o Gear: collar of the eternal bond, clandestine cloak, staff of conjuration, +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), wand of shrouded step
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Monk Dedication
o Skill Increase: Deception (master), Survival (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – cloudkill
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, collar of the eternal bond, venomed tongue, clandestine cloak, lesser boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking)
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 20)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Class Feat: Constricting Hold
o Skill Feat: Inventor
o Eidolon Spells: 2nd – humanoid form; 3rd – noxious vapors
o Gear: ventriloquist’s ring, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, Cordelia’s construct key, collar of the eternal bond, clandestine cloak, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking)
This might be a feat that could be dropped and I would swap it for Skilled Partner, which I will cover later, but Master Summoner allows him to have more uses of summon construct so that he can pull more puppets out when necessary. Magical Adept grants Karasu additional spells with spider sting giving it some more poison options while humanoid form allows it to disguise itself as its master. During this block, Karasu as a construct eidolon gains a Reconfigured Evolution feat and will pick up Defend Summoner, which is a little closer to Sanshouo than Karasu with the frill it can raise. A number of Kankuro’s puppets focus on capturing victims and during the prelims, Karasu crushed the foe in a hug, which will be represented through Constricting Hold. Whether he swaps places with them or disguises himself beforehand, Kankuro seems to like pretending to be the puppet carried on his back, which will be represented through the likes of Quick Disguise and Backup Disguise. As previously mentioned, while Kankuro hasn’t created his puppets, he dreams of doing so and modifies them considerably, which will be covered by the Inventor skill feat. It’s a minor thing, but in the data books released for the characters, Kankuro’s martial arts abilities notably improve over time as he tries to cover his weakness in that area, and a quick dip into the Monk Dedication with the Multitalented feat is at least a small nod to that.
Suggestion covers a similar effect as command while cloudkill givens him a way to spread poison smoke as sometimes seen with Karasu.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 6th – dominate
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+2 striking), tradecraft tattoo, ventriloquist’s ring, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, collar of the eternal bond, venomed tongue
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Flexible Transmogrification
o Skill Feat: Discreet Inquiry
o Eidolon Spells: 4th – mercurial stride
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 striking), cape of the mountebank, tradecraft tattoo, Cordelia’s construct key, swarmeater’s clasp
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Shadow Pact
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, ebon marionette, cape of the mountebank, greater bracers of missile deflection, tradecraft tattoo
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Transpose
o Skill Feat: Specialty Crafting – Poison
o Eidolon Spells: 5th – cloudkill
o Gear: boots of speed, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), stampede medallion, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, cape of the mountebank, greater staff of conjuration
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 21)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 21, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary), Society (trained)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, sandstorm top, smuggler’s sack (type IV), handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), ebon marionette, moderate boots of free running
The construct eidolon already grants some fantastic adaptability, which will help the build represent other puppets in Kankuro’s arsenal, and that will be expanded upon with Flexible Transmogrification that grants an additional 6th-level evolution feat each day. While many ninjas swap places with logs, which this build represents with wooden double, Shino will sometimes do so with his puppets, an effect that he gains through the Transpose class feat. While minor, Kankuro did try to gather information by pretending to be friendly with Naruto, which can be represented by his Discreet Inquiry skill feat. He also uses Specialty Crafting for poison to become even better at making them though this could just as easily be taken as something for his puppets. Toughness helps Kankuro and Karasu alike hang in the battle longer while Fast Recovery is meant to represent his self-acclaimed resistance to poison.
Dominate follows the same line of thought of command and suggestion but doesn’t really find many other spells after that. However, Karasu does find a few spells to make use of – mercurial stride’s effect is a little extreme, but it is a fun spell that combines movement with poison damage, sticking within its theme, and it finally gains access to cloudkill.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Skilled Partner
o Skill Feat: Lengthy Diversion
o Eidolon Skill Feats: Quick Jump (1st), Backup Disguise (2nd), Slippery Prey (7th)
o Eidolon Spells: 6th – mercurial stride
o Gear: major spy staff, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of the ash puppet, boots of speed, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), stampede medallion
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Eidolon Transcendence: +Dexterity
o Ultimate Reconfiguration: Resilient Shell
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Spell Repertoire: 8th – final sacrifice, wooden double, noxious vapors; 9th – dominate, summon construct
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), major spy staff, wand of the ash puppet, +2 greater resilient armor, boots of speed, smuggler’s sack (type IV)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Magical Master
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Eidolon Spells: 1st – spider sting; 2nd – humanoid form; 3rd – noxious vapors; 4th – mercurial stride; 5th – cloudkill; 6th – arrow salvo; 7th – vampiric maiden
o Gear: circlet of persuasion, handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), headbands of translocation, major spy staff, +2 greater resilient armor, wand of the ash puppet
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, circlet of persuasion, greater boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), major spy staff, wand of the ash puppet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 22)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: True Transmogrification
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mask of allure, greater boots of free running, headbands of translocation, major crown of the fire eater
Earlier, I talked about swapping out a feat for Skilled Partner, which I ended up taking later in this build. If you did use it earlier, I’d replace its appearance here with Effortless Concentration so that Kankuro can have a multitude of puppets out without losing actions. For the skill feats it grants, Quick Jump will help with mobility, all his puppets have a Backup Disguise as Kankuro, and finally Slippery Prey may help them turn the tide on those attempting to pin them down though Swift Sneak could also make sense for ninja puppets. With Magical Master, Karasu gains a spell of every level that it can cast with options such as arrow salvo representing the spray of needles and force cage representing some of the capturing effects of Sanshouo and Kuroari though as I’m writing this, I realize that vampiric maiden may better represent the latter’s combination attack with Karasu. Rather than taking a capstone feat from his class, Kankuro makes sure he can adapt his puppets into any form that he needs for the day with True Transmogrification. This adaptability helps reflect his use of multiple puppets within the show, particularly after he gains the Sasori puppet. Additionally, the puppets gain Resilient Shell. In this version of Kankuro, he shares his health with them which means that any damage mitigation he can create while they’re on the front line will be better for him.
From what I’ve read, Kankuro actually seems to be one of the most ninja-like ninjas in the show he hails from, which this build will try to represent with his Deception feats, including this block’s Lengthy Diversion and his final dip into a Stealth skill feat with Swift Sneak, allowing him to be fast but silent. Naturally, he needs Craft Anything for work on his puppets and poisons and while initially an antagonist, Kankuro proves himself to be a hero within the show.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: While this build already has Kankuro dipping into the Monk Dedication through an ancestry feat, there are two others that stand out to me. Rogue Dedication includes some handy options while granting him the ability to delve further into his skill feats, possibly picking up Swift Sneak earlier through the Skill Mastery feat. Alternatively, while I may have already focused on it too much in this build, I feel as though the Poisoner Dedication wouldn’t be bad for him. Rogue offers some options such as Poison Weapon already, but this nets him a wider range of poisons and some neat exclusive feats. Finally, since he does already take the Monk Dedication, he could stand to grab a few feats from it with Monastic Weaponry followed by Shooting Stars Stance having some fun possibilities.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Kankuro is a skilled human summoner with a scout construct eidolon and the entertainer background. As a shinobi that prefers staying in the back and is maybe truer to the idea of a ninja than some of his colleagues, he leaves most of the fighting to his eidolon, Karasu, and other puppets he summons through summon construct. In addition to controlling his puppets, he can use his chakra threads to trip up foes with telekinetic maneuver or usurp control of their body with the likes of command, suggestion, and dominate. More reliant upon deceit and trickery, he uses options such as Quick Disguise, Backup Disguise, and his investment in Deception to disguise himself as his puppets while they, through Magical Adept and humanoid form, do the reverse. He also maintains, repairs, and upgrades his puppets, which can be reflected through the reconfigurable nature of the construct eidolon, his Crafting skill, and the Flexible Transmogrification line of feats. His proclaimed resistance to poison is demonstrated in the Fast Recovery general feat. When beset by opponents, Kankuro can escape danger with options such as wooden double or Transpose, bringing Karasu into the fray instead. Karasu is armed with blades and needles that it can spit thanks to Ranged Combatant and through Magical Understudy, Magical Adept, and Magical Master, it can eventually launch clouds of poisonous gas through cloudkill or puff of poison. Karasu also crushed an opponent in a bear hug, which can be represented through its Advanced Weaponry for the grapple trait as well as the Constricting Hold feat. These abilities in general match many of Kankuro’s puppets though Defend Summoner is closer to Sanshouo, which can be further built by utilizing Flexible Transmogrification to pick up Steed Form. To represent the fire breath and flamethrowers exhibited by both Sanshouo and Sasori, True Transmogrification should be used to swap in Energy Heart and Ranged Combatant both for fire.
Deft and duplicitous, this desert duelist deals in diabolical dolls that dish out dreadful damage with debilitating draughts.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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