After seeing the Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire movie, I was inspired by its villain to create a build. However, I did come across an issue in my first attempt and I had to pivot. But I liked the concept for the build enough that I have a legal version of the build as well as an illegal version that requires an allowance from the GM. I ran into further issues when trying to produce PDFs for the sheets in Pathbuilder, so I had to go old school for these sheets. Sorry if there's any mistakes on them! 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.
If you prefer watching over reading, check out the YouTube video on the character.
Let's get into the build for Skar King from the MonsterVerse franchise!
SKAR KING
SOURCEÂ MonsterVerse Franchise
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BUILD GOALS
o   The Skar King is the sadistic and tyrannical ruler of a society of ape-like titans within Hollow Earth
o   Ages ago, he led an attack on the surface world with his army
o   He is notably sadistic and cruel, mocking Kong’s metal tooth in their first meeting and growing angry when others didn’t laugh hard enough at his taunts
o   Despite his advanced age, the Skar King is a highly capable and agile warrior who dodges and leaps around his foes
o   He wields a weapon called Whipslash, a giant weapon formed from a Titan’s spinal column that leaves terrible gashes with its blows
o   He was unwillingly aided by the ice-based titan named Shimo, a particularly immense and ancient titan able to freeze victims with her icy breath that he controlled through a pain-inducing crystal
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LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Lahkgyan Vanara
o   Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Strength
o   Ancestry Feat: Sudden Mindfulness
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Background:Â Warrior
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained), Warfare Lore (trained)
o   Background Feat: Intimidating Glare
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Class & Subclass: Gymnast Swashbuckler
o   Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o   Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Nature (trained), Stealth (trained), Survival (trained), Thievery (trained)
o   Class Feat: You’re Next
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Details
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +4, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +1)
In a first use of the ancestry for Full Build Friday, the Skar King is built as a simian vanara with the lahkgyan heritage, referencing both his gnarly looking tusks and his distinctive red fur and face paint. Due to lacking certain physical qualities, Skar King uses the Sudden Mindfulness ancestry feat. This isn’t particularly representative but might be reflective of his spitefulness. Our knowledge of his background is limited but we know that he waged war against the surface world, lending to the use of the warrior background. Finally, given his acrobatic fighting style, his clever use of his whip, and the way that he debilitates his opponent, he is built as a swashbuckler with the gymnast style, which will give him a bonus on maneuvers whenever he has panache. Skar King is also a very menacing figure and with the remastered Disarm already having similar effects to Disarming Flair, he uses You’re Next as his class feat to threaten his victims as seen when he kicked one of his followers into the lava to remind others of what happens when he’s displeased.
LEVEL 2
o   Class Feat: Unbalancing Finisher
o   Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o   Gear: eye slash
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LEVEL 3
o   General Feat: Toughness//Ride
o   Stylish Trick: Quick Jump
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o   Gear: +1 scorpion whip, eye slash, psychopomp mask
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LEVEL 4
o   Class Feat: Flamboyant Athlete//Mammoth Lord Dedication – Riding Drake
o   Skill Feat: Combat Climber
o   Gear: one hundred victories, +1 scorpion whip, necklace of knives, eye slash
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LEVEL 5
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +4.5, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +2)
o   Ancestry Feat: Ragdya’s Revelry
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o   Gear: +1 striking scorpion whip, one hundred victories, charlatan’s gloves, necklace of knives, eye slash, psychopomp mask
Skar King will use his whips to pull people around and throw them off-balance and will therefore use Unbalancing Finisher to do exactly that. He takes Flamboyant Athlete as his next class feat, granting him a climb speed befitting a great ape as well as enhancing his ability to leap and jump around. While a titan, Skar King is notably slighter and a little shorter than Kong and will therefore use Titan Wrestler. He is also a highly capable climber and uses Combat Climber, allowing him to clamber across rocks and scale buildings while still making Strikes with his weapon. He also gains a stylish trick, which will be spent on Quick Jump to make better use of his Flamboyant Athlete. Toughness as a general feat will help him hang in combat while Skar King can use Ragdya’s Revelry when a creature fails but doesn’t critically fail and trigger his Opportune Riposte.
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In the illegal build, he needs to take Ride so that as his next class feat, he can take the Mammoth Lord Dedication to get a primeval riding drake, which is meant to represent Shimo. However, I forgot that the riding drake only has fire damage – I thought you could choose it. So to actually represent Shimo properly, you have to ask your GM if all the riding drake’s fire damage could be converted to cold damage. This doesn’t feel like a big ask, but it does break my rule on only using published rules.
LEVEL 6
o   Class Feat: Agile Maneuvers//Mature Megafauna Companion
o   Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o   Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking scorpion whip, lifting belt, one hundred victories, necklace of knives, Jack’s tattered cape
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LEVEL 7
o   General Feat: Fleet
o   Stylish Trick: Quick Climb
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o   Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 leather, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking scorpion whip, one hundred victories, charlatan’s gloves
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LEVEL 8
o   Class Feat: Bleeding Finisher//Incredible Megafauna Companion – Indomitable
o   Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o   Gear: wounding weapon rune, lesser grub gloves, lesser dread rune, +1 leather, +1 striking scorpion whip, demon mask
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LEVEL 9
o   Ancestry Feat: Legendary Size
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o   Gear: +1 resilient leather, ash gown, wounding weapon rune, lesser grub gloves, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking scorpion whip
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LEVEL 10
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +3)
o   Class Feat: Targeting Finisher
o   Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o   Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient leather, frost weapon rune, ash gown, lesser dread rune, +1 striking scorpion whip
With the heavy use of maneuvers in this build and the way that the Skar King makes use of them, Agile Maneuvers is a fantastic fit for him. Between this and the bonus from panache, the Skar King has a solid chance of landing maneuvers made as the second attacks or even third attacks of his turn. Bleeding Finisher demonstrates the nasty scars he can inflict with his weapon, Whipslash, and Targeting Finisher represents both his cunning cruelty and targeting of limbs to debilitate opponents in his fighting style. Intimidating Prowess increases the Skar King’s bonus to Intimidation checks, making them more likely to land and Battle Cry lets him start a fight with one of the classic roars of kaiju movies. As an ape, he takes Quick Climb as his Stylish Trick and then Wall Jump to bounce around the battlefield. Fleet helps to enhance his Speed, which is a little lacking when he doesn’t have his vivacious speed active. Another important feat in this block is Legendary Size. While it doesn’t make him permanently Large, it grants him a single casting of enlarge to reference his titan nature within the films.
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For the illegal build, we enhance Shimo with Mature Megafauna Companion and then Incredible Megafauna Companion to make Shimo indomitable – this greater increase to Constitution will be more useful for her breath weapon. In the class feat that doesn’t have a way to enhance Shimo, he slips in Bleeding Finish for reasons already discussed.
LEVEL 11
o   General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o   Skill Increase: Thievery (expert)
o   Gear: +2 striking scorpion whip, armbands of athleticism, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient leather, fossil fragment (deinonychus claw), wounding weapon rune
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LEVEL 12
o   Class Feat: Flamboyant Cruelty//Gigantic Megafauna Companion
o   Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance
o   Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking scorpion whip, greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, frost weapon rune, flaming weapon rune
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LEVEL 13
o   Ancestry Feat: Ragdya’s Dance
o   Skill Increase: Thievery (master)
o   Gear: +2 greater striking scorpion whip, +2 resilient leather, thoughtwhip claw, greater demon mask, armbands of athleticism, bloodknuckles
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LEVEL 14
o   Class Feat: Flamboyant Leap//Specialized Megafauna Companion – Wrecker
o   Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o   Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking scorpion whip, moderate grub gloves, +2 resilient leather, greater demon mask, standard of the primeval howl
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LEVEL 15
o   Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +5.5, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +4)
o   General Feat: Fast Recovery
o   Stylish Trick: Cloud Jump
o   Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o   Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking scorpion whip, greater ash gown, thoughtwhip claw
With Targeting Finisher, his use of Intimidation, and his use of maneuvers, Flamboyant Cruelty felt like a natural fit for the character and also matched the sadism that he demonstrates. His flamboyance is further demonstrated through the likes of Flamboyant Leap as he does make a few attacks mid-leap during the battles throughout the film. He invests in some more Intimidation skill feats this block and also gets a stylish trick in the form of Cloud Jump to let him make some insane leaps and bounds. Incredible Initiative lets him get into the fight quicker to put enemies at a disadvantage. Fast Recovery seems to be a staple of the titans, leading to its usage. Finally, Ragdya’s Dance allows him to reposition enemies, which can help him get out of flanks or other tight situations.
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A big reason that I used the mammoth lord archetype for this build is that it allows Shimo to be come Huge through the Gigantic Megafauna Companion class feat. Then she becomes a wrecker through the Specialized Megafauna Companion given the devastation and damage kaiju classically cause.
LEVEL 16
o   Class Feat: Stab and Snag//Flamboyant Cruelty
o   Skill Feat: Slippery Prey
o   Gear: fossil fragment (triceratops frill), +2 greater resilient leather, fossil fragment (petrified wood), propulsive boots, +2 greater striking scorpion whip, moderate grub gloves
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LEVEL 17
o   Ancestry Feat: Monkey Spirits
o   Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o   Gear: +3 greater striking scorpion whip, fossil fragment (triceratops frill), greater frost weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, propulsive boots
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LEVEL 18
o   Class Feat: Tumble Behind//Flamboyant Leap
o   Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o   Gear: pilferer’s gloves, +3 greater striking scorpion whip, quickstrike weapon rune, fossil fragment (triceratops frill), +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding
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LEVEL 19
o   General Feat: Diehard
o   Skill Increase: Thievery (legendary)
o   Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, pilferer’s gloves, greater armbands of athleticism, +3 greater striking scorpion whip, fossil fragment (triceratops frill), greater frost weapon rune
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LEVEL 20
o   Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +5, Dex +6, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +4)
o   Class Feat: Panache Paragon
o   Skill Feat: Too Angry to Die
o   Gear: +3 major striking scorpion whip, +3 greater resilient leather, mercurial mantle, greater armbands of athleticism, major crown of the fire eater, greater dinosaur boots
While it isn’t a Disarm and can’t target held objects, Skar King does strip Kong of his axe while being highly mobile, which inspires the use of Stab and Snag. This also makes use of the Thievery I’ve quietly been investing in for the last few levels, which was originally based on his Ragdya’s Revelry feat. With the way that Skar King flips behind Kong in their first fight to get him into a position favorable to the amoral ape, I felt that it was finally time to take Tumble Behind. Alternatively, for either of these, Combination Finisher wouldn’t be bad. The gymnast is somewhat unique among swashbuckler styles that to get in a state to unleash its finisher, it needs to use an action with the attack trait. While he could simply wait a round, some players may want to deliver their finishers while they have an enemy freshly Tripped or Grappled, and this would facilitate that. Finally, he takes Panache Paragon meaning that he is permanently quickened to use such maneuvers, which has some fun potential usage. He could Stride to an enemy, Trip them, make a finisher, and then still potentially Grapple them (aided in this effort by his agile maneuvers) to pin them while they’re down since they are immobilized and can’t stand until they Escape the grapple.
Slippery Prey fits with his agile maneuvers and you know there’s no chance I’m passing on Scare to Death. Too Angry to Die may not be totally represented, but it feels right for a character who, even when frozen solid, gives a death glare until the very end. Monkey Spirits is partially meant to simulate the army of apes that he commands but is another feat that can take advantage of his Thievery investment.
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With most of the feats he already wants from the mammoth lord archetype, Skar King can move onto feats from his actual class – though you could always make Shimo further specialized. Flamboyant Cruelty and Flamboyant match similar reasons as already discussed though the former may require more help from his teammates. Panache Paragon becomes even more valuable in this build, where he wants to command Shimo and gives him an action to help ensure that he has his panache.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: In a free archetype game, I would start with the Acrobat Dedication just to get that scaling Acrobatics skill. From it, I would take Show-Off, Tumbling Strike, and maybe Dodge Away, but he already has plenty of reactions. Then at tenth level, I would pick up the Provocator Dedication and take feats such as Murderer’s Circle and Pin to the Spot, which match nicely for him.
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For the illegal build, he can simply take his Mammoth Lord Dedication through it while having all his regular class feats be as shown in the legal build. For the gaps, I do think either of the above suggestions work fantastically depending on what you want.
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BUILD CONCLUSION
Skar King is a laghkyan vanara swashbuckler with the gymnast style and the warrior background, referencing him being a warlord that attempted to lead the apes of Hollow Earth against the surface world. While limited in usage, slipping in Monkey Spirits can help, if only briefly, to demonstrate the army he led. His sadism is exemplified through his Flamboyant Cruelty and exemplary finisher though unfortunately, these don’t stack. He reigns over his apes through terror with the aid of his Intimidation investment and its feats. While ancient, he has an agile and acrobatic fighting style that the swashbuckler helps exemplify, particularly with options such as Agile Maneuvers, Flamboyant Leap, and Tumble Behind. His ancestry feats also get in on this aspect with his Ragdya’s Dance. The nasty scars of his Whipslash and debilitating blows it deals is covered by Bleeding Finisher as well as Targeting Finisher while his use of it to tangle, trip up, and even strangle foes is exemplified by his gymnast style. Finally, since he is a titan himself, he takes Legendary Size to gain a daily casting of enlarge, referencing his menacing size.
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Regrettably, we have to cheat to represent Shimo, using a homebrewed riding drake that deals ice damage instead of fire. By gaining this through the Mammoth Lord Dedication, he can demonstrate her kaiju colossalness with the Gigantic Megafauna Companion. Making her specialized as a wrecker also helps demonstrate the devastation doled out by this enslaved beast.
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Making maneuvers most multiplicative, this marauding monkey mastermind manages many with malicious might.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!