Most of the things I make are on the other side of the DM screen, but this is a level 1 through 20 build for a Pathfinder Second Edition character. The characters featured in these posts will typically be drawn from various franchises and media because I want to focus more on the building and worry less about the character. Having a character gives me an end goal to work towards to instead of getting lost along the way. It’s also a bit of a challenge for the system, seeing how close I can build to the original vision of the character. I’m gonna try to find a balance between making an effective character and mimicking the chosen character’s abilities.
Related to that, these characters are gonna be created in a vacuum – skills and the likes are picked for what seems best without the context of the adventure. Heist-type adventures might call for Stealth and Thievery on a character that otherwise wouldn’t take it, so keep that in mind. At a friend's suggestion, I'm gonna start including gear in these builds but I'm gonna keep it basic - just picking magical gear based on what level of equipment a character should have at that level.
I’m gonna go level by level for these builds but only cover actual choices – such as skill increases, feats, and ability score boosts. Stuff that automatically increases due to level, such as an increase in saving throws, more HP, and the like, are going to go unmentioned.
So with that, let’s get into the build for Sion, the Undead Juggernaut!
CHARACTER Sion, the Undead Juggernaut
SOURCE League of Legends
GOAL Sion is a tank in League of Legends and is further classified as a ‘vanguard,’ which means that he’s supposed to lead the charge into combat. His abilities in-game allow him to continue fighting even when he should be dead, deliver a powerful blow that can stun foes, create a shield that he can then detonate, a roar that lowers the armor of foes, and a charge that lets him slam into foes with tremendous force. He wields a massive axe and has metal armor bolted into his body. In his lore, he was a grand warlord who died in battle though not before choking the enemy king to death. His rest was interrupted when he was brought back from the dead to serve as horrifying warrior upon the battlefield.
LEVEL 1 Even if Sion probably doesn’t know them, we have to go through our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. While Sion in lore was a human, orc ancestry ends up being a much better fit for him. Instead of taking any of the orc heritages, though holdscarred isn’t a bad choice, we are actually going to take the dhampir heritage to reflect our undead nature. We get one free boost, which we are going to put towards Constitution to become an absolute tank. Our ancestry feat is going to be Orc Ferocity to let us keep fighting when we should be dead, like Sion’s Glory in Death state.
The APG gives us a perfect background for Sion – the returned background. While rare, this background has no other requirements and makes us a being that has returned from death. It gives us a boost to Constitution and the free boost goes to Strength yet again. This only gets us training in the Boneyard Lore skill, giving us knowledge of the afterlife, but it grants us the Diehard general feat, making us hard to kill.
Then our class is going to be barbarian. I don’t think that’s unexpected. The boost from barbarian goes to Strength then we assign our four free boosts. These are going to Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma to give us this array: Str 18, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12. We’re automatically trained in Athletics and we also gain the trained proficiency in Intimidation, Warfare Lore, and Society. Our barbarian instinct is fury for lack of a better option. I thought spirit might be cool, but I was looking at it and it didn’t fit. Thanks to this choice, we get two barbarian feats to start with and with that, we are going to pick Adrenaline Rush, giving us a surge of strength that vaguely mirrors Sion’s Death Surge, and Sudden Charge to go flying into combat.
LEVEL 2 We pick up a skill feat and a class feat at this level. The former is going to be Titan Wrestler so we can shove around enemies of any size, and the latter will be Furious Finish, an attempt to mimic Sion’s Decimating Smash.
Gear: dull gray aeon stone
LEVEL 3 This skill increase goes towards Intimidation, making us an expert in it. Then our general feat will be Toughness to make us even hardier and tougher to kill.
Gear: +1 greataxe, dull gray aeon stone, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4 Another skill feat and another class feat. We pick up Terrifying Resistance to make us a little bit more resistant against magic and the like. Barreling Charge is a barbarian feat that is gonna move us towards mimicking Sion’s charge.
Gear: bracelets of dashing, +1 greataxe, brooch of shielding, dull gray aeon stone
LEVEL 5 First things first, we distribute our four free boosts to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, leaving us at: Str 19, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14. Then we slot our skill increase towards Athletics to become expert in it. Our ancestry feat is gonna give us an effect similar to Sion’s Soul Furnace – Victorious Vigor lets us gain temporary Hit Points whenever we bring a creature to 0.
Gear: +1 striking greataxe, bracelets of dashing, lesser rope of climbing, brooch of shielding, dull gray aeon stone, ring of discretion
LEVEL 6 We take Intimidating Prowess as our skill feat, allowing us to menace foes even when we don’t share a language. Demoralize in general is going to allow us to mimic Roar of the Slayer. While it seems unimpressive, we take Fast Movement as our barbarian feat, allowing us to mime at Sion’s Death Surge.
Gear: +1 breastplate, +1 striking greataxe, demon mask, bracelets of dashing, brooch of shielding, bottomless stein
LEVEL 7 Our skill increases can now bump us up to master, so we’re gonna bump up Intimidation to master proficiency so that it’s level with Athletics. We also get a general feat. Fitting our big tanky build, we are going to take Numb to Death, allowing us to come back from death with gusto.
Gear: ring of the ram, fearsome property rune, +1 breastplate, +1 striking greataxe, bracelets of dashing, lesser rope of climbing
LEVEL 8 Another skill feat nabs us Battle Cry, letting us Demoralize at the start of battle. Renewed Vigor is another barbarian feat that grants us something of a shield effect by letting us take an action to gain temporary Hit Points.
Gear: boots of bounding, ring of the ram, fearsome property rune, +1 breastplate, +1 striking greataxe, demon mask
LEVEL 9 We take our skill increase to Athletics, allowing us to reach master proficiency in it. While a bit late in the game, we take Iron Fists as our ancestry feat to represent Sion’s use of his fists when he’s in Glory in Death.
Gear: +1 resilient breastplate, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II), ring of the ram, moderate rope of cliimbing, +1 striking greataxe
LEVEL 10 These four free ability boosts go to Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma, which gives us the following array: Str 20, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16. The Hefty Hauler skill feat makes us an absolute pack mule while Overpowering Charge builds off of Barreling Charge and lets us trample enemies underfoot when we charge.
Gear: mask of the banshee, +1 resilient breastplate, frost property rune, boots of bounding, ring of the ram, +1 striking greataxe
LEVEL 11 This level’s skill increase will grant us the trained proficiency in Survival. The general feat is going to be Pick Up the Pace so we can Hustle to the next fight.
Gear: +2 striking greataxe, armbands of athleticism, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient breastplate, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II)
LEVEL 12 Taking Terrified Retreat lets us send lower level targets running when we get a critical success to Demoralize them, vaguely reflecting Roar of the Slayer’s ability to launch a minion. Knockback and another barbarian feat that it builds into is the closest thing I could get to the functionality of Decimating Smash.
Gear: +2 resilient breastplate, +2 striking greataxe, greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, frost property rune, bag of holding (type II)
LEVEL 13 Our skill increase goes to Warfare Lore, granting us expert proficiency in it. We also receive an ancestry feat, which we are going to use to take Incredible Ferocity, allowing us to use that ability more regularly.
Gear: +2 greater striking greataxe, +2 resilient breastplate, bag of holding (type III), greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, horn of blasting
LEVEL 14 Although it seems a little late to take it, we can grab Quick Jump, allowing us to spring across gaps as a single action instead of two. Then Awesome Blow lets us Shove and Trip people that we hit with Knockback.
Gear: greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking greataxe, greater fearsome property rune, +2 resilient breastplate, greater demon mask, horn of blasting
LEVEL 15 Our boosts go Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma, leaving us with this array: Str 21, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 18. Since we can now increase skills to master proficiency, we’re gonna do that with Intimidation. Then we take Caravan Leader which lets us push people we’re traveling with even farther.
Gear: +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater ring of the ram, greater fearsome property rune, +2 greater striking greataxe, bag of holding (type III), greater demon mask
LEVEL 16 Since we got Intimidation to legendary, we obviously have to take Scare to Death as our skill feat. By taking Silencing Strike, we get the chance to stun enemies.
Gear: greater frost property rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking waraxe, bag of holding (type III)
LEVEL 17 This skill increase is going to get us up to master proficiency in Athletics. We then take Rampaging Ferocity, which means whenever we use Orc Ferocity, we get a chance to hit somebody. If we kill them, we can activate Orc Ferocity for free.
Gear: +3 greater striking greataxe, greater frost property rune, antimagic property rune, +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater ring of the ram, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18 While it isn’t hugely useful, the Battle Planner skill feat essentially gives us a chance to roll twice on initiative when we have forewarning about a fight. Shattering Blows is useful for breaking through structures that are stopping us from hurting our enemies.
Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking greataxe, antimagic property rune, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient breastplate, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19 This skill increase goes to Society, making us an expert in it. It’s late in the game, but it’ll be nice to identify who we’re killing! Then we’re going to take a skill feat as our general feat, grabbing Group Coercion so we can intimidate multiple people at a time.
Gear: +3 greater resilient breastplate, belt of giant strength, vorpal property rune, +3 greater striking greataxe, antimagic property rune, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20 Our last set of boosts go to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom, which puts our final array at: Str 22, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 18. This late boost to Intelligence gives us training in Occultism as we begin to understand the dark forces that brought us back and gives us Necril as a language (since we’re undead). Sion was never going to be a skill monkey, so we’re gonna take Lasting Coercion to make the people we coerce obedient for longer. For the class feat, I think the choice is obvious – we have to take the one that shares the name with the character. So we take Unstoppable Juggernaut to become even tankier.
Gear: +3 major striking greataxe, +3 greater resilient breastplate, belt of giant strength, vorpal property rune, antimagic property rune, greater boots of bounding
CONCLUSION At the end, we’re left with a burly barbarian who wields a massive greataxe and refuses to die. We aren’t able to simulate all of his abilities, but I think we got decently close enough with the feats we chose. I like the ring of the ram item on Sion to help replicate part of his Roar of the Slayer ability, but some other stuff felt like a better choice at the end there.
Thanks for taking the time to check out this build and please let me know what you think. Does this build work? Does it represent the character? What would you change about it? Is it something you’d like to play?
Lemme know what other characters you might like to see and if you’re so inclined, join the blog’s Discord server at the following link: https://discord.gg/W4THAs5
Have a great day!
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