Full Build Friday - Von Lycaon [Vlaka Monk]

Just in time for season's beatings, here's my very first build of a male character from ZZZ! That's right, we have broken the curse of Menless Zone Zero, and for one of the OGs. I've also built all but one member of Victoria Housekeeping Company, but Ellen is a tough one to figure out. For the time being, 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.

I'd appreciate you checking out the video on Lycaon, which I think came out quite nicely despite my editing software's attempts to undermine me.

That being said, let's build this boreal and bestial butler, Lycaon from Zenless Zone Zero!

Von Lycaon from Zenless Zone Zero

VON LYCAON

SOURCE Zenless Zone Zero

BUILD GOALS

o    Raised as a phantom thief, Lycaon founded the thieves guild of Mockingbird until but left after the seeming betrayal of his partner

o    He lost his legs and an eye from these events but went to work for an influential family, which led to him joining the Victoria Housekeeping Company and becoming its leader

o    He maintains a professional and elegant demeanor, a perfect gentleman that can accomplish any task his master sets before him

o    He is an Ice Stun agent, designed to leave foes vulnerable to his allies, and he fights with his robotic legs

o    Charging up his basic attacks and Thrill of the Hunt special attack inflicts greater ice damage and daze

o    His ultimate, Mission Complete, unleashes a series of sweeping kicks before he stomps down

o    When he parries an enemy, he creates a spray of ice in an arc

o    Passively, he can reduce an enemy’s ice resistance and increase their stun damage multiplier

o    Investing in his mindscape can give him an ability to gain a shield when attacked or gain damage-boosting stacks when landing his charged attacks

o    The Restrained, his exclusive W-Engine, has a similar effect, stacking up damage and daze as he lands blows

Summary of Goals: While the present Lycaon is as elegant as can be, I don’t want to skip out on his slightly sordid history. I feel like the mechanical legs might be difficult to fully represent, but his lupine nature and leg-focused fighting style should be very achievable. We also want to bring his ice effects into combat and an ability to leave foes vulnerable to his allies, per his stunner role, is important as well.

LEVEL 1 

Ancestry & Heritage: Winter Coat Vlaka (Full Senses)

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Wisdom, +Charisma, -Dexterity

o    Ancestry Feat: Dishonored Contrarian

o    Skill Increase: Thievery (T)

o    Skill Feat: Subtle Theft

Background: Criminal

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Stealth (T), Underworld Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Experienced Smuggler

Class & Subclass: Monk

o    Class Ability Boost: +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (T), Diplomacy (T), Intimidation (T)

o    Class Feat: Qi Spells – inner upheaval

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +1, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +1)

We tap into Starfinder a bit for this build as the vlaka ancestry is perfect for representing Lycaon’s nature as a wolf thiren. Although he is missing an eye, he does have both his hearing and sight, so he will be one of those vlaka with all their senses. The winter coat heritage is mainly a reference to his nature as an ice agent while we use the Dishonored Contrarian and criminal background to represent his rearing as a phantom thief by Jack and his founding of Mockingbird. He takes a slightly more stately option in the form of the monk class, allowing him to focus on the unarmed combat that he regularly displays. He takes Qi Spells for inner upheaval, which you can maybe think of as his charged basic attacks though I do have another concept that further explores that idea. It’s a rather basic start, but competently covers his core capabilities and gives us something to build off of.

Level 1 Lycaon, Page 1

Level 1 Lycaon, Page 2

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Stunning Blows

o    Skill Feat: Additional Lore – Labor Lore

o    Gear: psychopomp mask

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Augmented Body

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (E), Labor Lore (E)

o    Gear: tactical hardlight handwraps, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Elemental Fist

o    Skill Feat: Dirty Trick

o    Gear: charlatan’s gloves, tactical hardlight handwraps, Jack’s tattered cape, psychopomp mask

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +2)

o    Ancestry Feat: Gifted Mentor

o    Skill Increase: Thievery (E)

o    Gear: advanced hardlight handwraps, charlatan’s gloves, bracelet of dashing, Jack’s tattered cape, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

This block honestly captures a lot of the aspects that we want for a Lycaon build. First, it provides us with Stunning Blows, befitting his abilities as a stunner. Then he gets Elemental Fist, which will allow him to deal cold damage when he’s using inner upheaval. It could also let him deal other damage types, but cold is mainly what he’ll be looking for given the ice damage on his charged up basic attacks. I had to look up the servant background, which is the closest thing we have to a butler, and see what their Lore skill was so that I could take Additional Lore for Labor Lore, which should help make him one hell of a butler. Perhaps contrary to this is the inclusion of Dirty Trick, but Lycaon will often have a free hand available and can invest in Thievery, matching his origins as a phantom thief, to make use of this. It will let him make an enemy somewhat vulnerable for his allies to take advantage of, which is the general idea behind stunners. For his general feat, he uses Augmented Body based on his cybernetic legs though I can’t really find a feat that fits them outside of prosthetic limbs. He finishes off this block with Gifted Mentor. While he was trained by Rina, he does serve as a mentor to Ellen and Corin, providing them with guidance and knowledge on how to conduct themselves and excel at their jobs.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: One-Inch Punch

o    Skill Feat: Powerful Leap

o    Gear: tactical flight suit, advanced hardlight handwraps, commercial speed suspension, charlatan’s gloves, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Adopted Ancestry – Human

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (M), Labor Lore (M)

o    Path to Perfection: Reflex (M)

o    Gear: vaultbreaker’s harness, tactical flight suit, lesser rending gauntlets, advanced hardlight handwraps, charlatan’s gloves, bracelet of dashing

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Advanced Qi Spells – qi blast

o    Skill Feat: Wall Jump

o    Gear: security badge, ring of the ram, vaultbreaker’s harness, tactical flight suit, advanced hardlight handwraps, commercial speed suspension

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Rogue Dedication

o    Skill Increase: Deception (T), Performance (T), Thievery (M)

o    Skill Feat: Quick Jump

o    Gear: advanced flight suit, security badge, advanced dragon gland (cold), vaultbreaker’s harness, lesser rending gauntlets, advanced hardlight handwraps

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +5, Dex +3, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +2)

o    Class Feat: Entwined Energy Ki (cold) or Wall Run

o    Skill Feat: Quick Climb

o    Gear: armbands of athleticism, advanced flight suit, commercial frost module, security badge, vaultbreaker’s harness, advanced hardlight handwraps

We gain another key component of Lycaon’s kit with the first class feat of this block, One-Inch Punch. This can help give the feel of him charging up his attacks, taking multiple actions to deliver more powerful blows. Picking up qi blast through Advanced Qi Spells might seem a little odd, but it provides him with a second focus point and there is some area on his ult and parry, which this can be thought to slightly resemble save for the lack of cold damage. However, we could take Entwined Energy Ki for cold damage except for one issue. This feat was from an adventure path and hasn’t been remastered. On top of that, it’s uncommon. You’ll have to check with your GM about using it for qi blast, and if he doesn’t give it the OK, I’d look at Wall Run instead, referencing his made race up the Ballet Twins at the climax of his introductory chapter. Before discussing skill feats, he does technically have one more class feat, but before we can talk about that, we have to look at his Adopted Ancestry for the human ancestry. As far as we know, Jack is the closest thing that Lycaon had to a father and appears to be a human, making this a decent get and letting us take Multitalented for a Rogue Dedication, which further develops Lycaon’s time with Jack and subsequently Hugo.

In part because of that, this block comes with a collection of skill feats, which are all kind of based around that climax of his chapter, especially if you don’t end up taking Wall Run. Quick Climb might be the most obvious example, but the Quick Jump, Powerful Leap, and Wall Jump will all help him make the mad jump he needed to get to the zeppelin.

Level 10 Lycaon, Page 1

Level 10 Lycaon, Page 2

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (E)

o    Path to Perfection: Will (M)

o    Gear: superior hardlight handwraps, armbands of athleticism, thunderblast slippers, advanced flight suit, security badge, advanced dragon gland (cold)

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Basic Trickery – Nimble Dodge

o    Skill Feat: No Cause for Alarm

o    Gear: superior flight suit, superior hardlight handwraps, sash of prowess, armbands of athleticism, commercial frost module, tactical speed suspension

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Protect the Pack

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (M)

o    Gear: elite hardlight handwraps, superior flight suit, mala beads of foresight, greater choker of elocution, armbands of athleticism, thunderblast slippers

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Advanced Trickery – Head Stomp

o    Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler

o    Gear: greater ring of the ram, elite hardlight handwraps, advanced speed suspension, superior flight suit, greater choker of elocution, sash of prowess

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +3)

o    General Feat: Incredible Initiative

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (L), Labor Lore (L)

o    Path to Perfection: Reflex (L)

o    Gear: elite flight suit, greater ring of the ram, propulsive boots, elite hardlight handwraps, mala beads of foresight, greater obsidian goggles

We use this block to explore rogue a bit, pulling two class feats from it. Nimble Dodge is mainly to set him up for Advanced Trickery, but all agents in ZZZ have a dodge, so this isn’t exactly a bad fit for him either. But the entire reason I went rogue in the first place, outside of the reference to his history, was to take Head Stomp, which is entirely based on his character demo. I’ve also just had the idea on how to make the most of this rogue feat for a while, and I’m glad to finally find the chance to do so. No Cause for Alarm references the reassurance that he faithfully provides to the Proxy, and any other masters that he takes on, but then he changes track to Titan Wrestler. This is less based on anything outside of some Ethereals being really big and is instead just going to improve his general operation. Speaking generally, he’ll take Toughness as he is a burly brawler buried in a butler as well as Incredible Initiative so that he can take better advantage of the surprise attack class feature that he gained from his Rogue Dedication. That leaves us with Protect the Pack and while it is yet another option that doesn’t entirely match his mechanics, it is a fantastic fit for how he guards Eous from potential harm as well as how he looks after the younger members of the Victoria Housekeeping Company.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Wall Run or Master Qi Spells – medusa’s wrath

o    Skill Feat: Legendary Professional

o    Gear: tactical frost module, elite flight suit, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, elite hardlight handwraps, advanced speed suspension

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence

o    Skill Increase: Thievery (L)

o    Gear: ultimate hardlight handwraps, tactical frost module, guiding aeon stone, elite flight suit, greater ring of the ram, propulsive boots

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Grandmaster Qi Spells – qi form

o    Skill Feat: Cloud Jump

o    Gear: avalanche boots, ultimate hardlight handwraps, quicklock weapon upgrade, tactical frost module, elite flight suit, greater ring of the ram

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (L)

o    Gear: ultimate flight suit, avalanche boots, greater sash of prowess, ultimate hardlight handwraps, tactical frost module, guiding aeon stone

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +4)

o    Class Feat: Lightning Qi

o    Skill Feat: Discreet Inquiry

o    Gear: paragon hardlight handwraps, ultimate flight suit, sandals of the stag, greater sash of prowess, ultimate force field armor upgrade, quicklock weapon upgrade

If you didn’t take Wall Run earlier, I would grab it now for the reasons that I described above. If you did take it back then, I would switch to Master Qi Spells to gain another focus point and pick up medusa’s wrath. While he already his Stunning Blows, this gives him another way of limiting the actions of his adversaries and also aids his allies in their abject annihilation. I do actually really like the idea of this as a I type it up, so I could see taking Master or Gradmaster Qi Spells at level eighteen though I suppose qi form only really feels like it fits if you were allowed to take Entwined Energy Ki. If you are, a notable boon is that this adds ice damage on all of his Strikes instead of having to spend a focus point each time to activate inner upheaval. Finishing off his class feats is Lightning Qi, which will really only be useful with qi blast and can let him launch the two-action version for only one-action, which does match how quick his parry tends to go. The other feats at this level aren’t bad, but I don’t think any particularly fit him and I could see him getting the most use out of this.  Naturally, on the skill side of things, he uses Legendary Professional for his Labor Lore so that he’s ready to carry out any task he might be charged with. Cloud Jump further covers the leap of faith made during his chapter and then I grabbed Discreet Inquiry based on his investigation into the false Mockingbird during his agent story. Fleet is always good for the speed boost, even as a monk, but his Heroic Presence is a bit more noticeable. This was actually another reason behind using the human Adopted Ancestry as I struggled to find another way for him to gain temporary Hit Points to resemble the latter effects of his Mindscape, gaining a shield when he’s attacked.

Level 20 Lycaon, Page 1

Level 20 Lycaon, Page 2

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Further exploration of the Rogue Dedication could let him take Sneak Attacker, which is useful if not necessarily fitting, and would also give him room take fit in a few of his monk feats a bit better, such as Wall Run. The Harder They Fall isn’t a bad feat for him either, and encourages him setting himself up for his own Head Stomp. Beyond that, I actually think that his refinement and elegance makes him a fantastic recipient of the Dandy Dedication, letting him admonish wholes groups of foes with Tut-Tut or limit actions with the likes of Statement Strut, which is funny to imagine him doing.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Von Lycaon is a winter vlaka monk with a sordid past as a criminal, referencing his training at the hands of Jack and his founding of the phantom thieves guild, Mockingbird though this concept is also explored by his Rogue Dedication. Augmented Body references the cybernetic legs that has replaced his own lost limbs while the training as a butler drilled into him by Rina is reflected through his Additional Lore for Labor Lore and the Legendary Professional that he takes for it. While anybody can get a frost module or rune, Lycaon can deal ice damage to his foes with the combination of inner upheaval and Elemental Fist or qi blast and Entwined Energy Ki if your GM allows it. The daze that he inflicts as a stun agent comes from his Stunning Blows or even the critical specialization of his unarmed attacks though you might also end up with medusa’s wrath. The last blow of his Mission Complete features a pretty hefty stomp, which we might be able to replicate through Head Stomp, even if that isn’t the original reason that I took it. His qi blast might also cover the area of his ultimate or the spray of ice from his parry. We’re also able to mimic the shield created by investing in his mindscape through the Heroic Presence ancestry feat.

A beast lies barely buried beneath this burly butler’s bravado, but each blow brings a boreal blast that batters and bashes baddies until they’re buried by the barrage of bashes.

Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!

If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog. In hopes of bringing you a white Christmas, next week is one howl of a build.

Have a fantastic Friday!