And then Phil finally understands his build...

Ah okay, I understand how Usopp's ridiculous feats are being portrayed now. It's just Phil occasionally managing to figure out the broke-ass combinations that others intended Usopp to be utilised with, which he usually misses as the newbie of the group.

yeah, and SniperKing will be him finally getting how his character is to he played.

Aw...

I was thinking Usopp was a good example of all those "super-builds" that don't actually work, usually because the person creating it... well... goofed.

I mean, I know I did that. Not just as a player, but even as a GM (the campaign didn't last long). It happened with multiple systems, even ones I [b]thought[b] I knew. Of course, I still see this a lot on online; someone just needs to miss one tiny clause like "X doesn't work with Y" and you'll have bad builds passed on an "honored" for years until someone finally noticed "Hey, that isn't legal according to the rules as written."

that's a other possibility. and then theses moments where he does impressive stuff would be thanks to some tweaking to adjust the build.

Personally my best builds are usually due to me wanting to do something fun and basing the character on that, then noticing a neat side-effect and just seeing how far i could take that.

Oh yeah, me too.

My favorite build ever started just by browsing the books and seeing some interesting feats.

- I built a fighter, utilizing the "Stone Thrower" feat for my proficiency and using fighter bonus feats to improve it over time via ranged feats.
- I used my regular feats to gain access to spells and to slowly gain more.
- Also used a feat and a craft slot to gain runecrafting.
We started the game at level 5, so the basics were in place for this at the start.
I had to work with my DM to fudge a few requirements, with the drawback being that I had to stick to mostly low level spells, but with the right creativity even they can be used effectively.
Such as rocks that "stick" to the enemy on one side and have "darkness" on the other to keep the enemy blinded.
Or using open/close to opening enemy pockets/pouches/etc in combat, making things keep falling out.
Or a "launch" rock that slammed hard into enemy when thrown at their face, knocking out teeth and choking them while going down their throat.

TLDR:
I built a fighter who throws rocks, with spell effects on impact.

We'll see how our esteemed author takes it, but I could see Usopp being a flawed min-max character, maybe built on some dubious rule assumptions and definitely difficult for a novice player to run correctly.

Phil and Usopp come into their own as Phil learns how to be a better player, "patches" some of the mistakes with the character's build, and oddball situations occur where the build actually works as intended (the other reason I've seen such builds fail; mistaking rare occurrences for common ones and vice versa).

Also, a heavy emphasis that Usopp is actually nigh immortal thanks to his build... he just can't do most other things as well as was planned. "The good news Phil is that you are still alive. Again. The bad news is, you're incapacitated. Again."

It's amazing how many amazingly broken things actually aren't that bad if anyone had read the rules.
And then it's amazing how many time you end up wondering if the writers even proofread their own rules and how they missed so many critical things.

I'm suddenly thinking that Phil evolves into Red Mage.

"That feat doesn't work that way..."
"I accidentally wrote down the wrong name! It's actually THIS feat, which does the same thing but with a +9 bonus!"
"Phil."
"And lets me summon 8000 followers!"

I always thought he would get Sogeking off taking the Montebank prestige class. Even comes with alternate identities.

What are you rolling ?! What are you rolling?!
Something happen?!

Nope, nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.




<rolls>

Go Phil! you can defeat this mailman!

It's a little known fact that mailmen have a weakness for alcohol and long stories. might come in handy