Andrew Troemner's page

Historical oracles really weren't that helpful, divination-wise. At best, they rambled and led people to make absolutely terrible decisions.

Stylistically, I love this class. It's like an embodiment of the great forces of the universe (other than the gods, most of the time) toying around with a little plaything, and watching it squirm under the influence of its particular curse.

If anything, I'd say that the Eidolons are too customizable. Perhaps in toning it down a bit there could be a bloodline or origin definition that gives at the very least some flavor differences, depending on which plane/material they're composed of.

For example, those drawn from the astral plane might be whispy, while those from the ethereal plane might have bizarre appendages, or Eidolons from the plane of shadow might be completely jet-black.

Again, Eidolons aren't particularly well-defined. Given their mutable nature, I reckon they wouldn't necessarily be individual creatures residing on another plane, but rather made from the raw stuff of that plane.

This isn't really even something that needs an Errata, the RAW is clearly only relevant to ATTACKERS using WEAPONS (I would say Touch Spells, as opposed to weapon-like spells like Flame Blade, would also not count as an 'attack' for this purpose)

It would still be nice to explain it in the class description, yup yup.

The question of loving one's Eidolon came up shortly after the class was released. James Jacobs wrote at the time that he was just glad the question hadn't come up when they released the Druid. =) Seriously.

It seems a little dirty doesn't it? I mean, its not like the Eidolon has much control over its life. I wouldn't call it rape perhaps but certainly no better than a mail order bride from Asia or where ever...

I think it'd be a little deeper than that. We're talking about an ethereal construct willed into shape by an entity to whom it's telepathically linked.

Assuming it has its own distinct charisma score from the PC, it would have its own personality, and therefore will. However, given the rather... intimate telepathic connection, I reckon there would be a serious bent in that direction.

However, given the dynamic of the summoner controlling its actions at his leisure, the possibility of abusing that connection means that evil-aligned summoners would quite often maltreat his Eidolon, whether or not the abuse is of a sexual nature. Maltreated minions and what not, beaten around by the evil summoner. What's even more disturbing is the fact that if one were to kill the summoner, the Eidolon could lose cohesion and be lost forever in the ethereal mists. Even if you WANTED to free it from its abusive master, its very essence is linked to the well-being (and even location!) of its abuser.

Gross Goethe. The uncomfortable situations are endless -- at the DM's discretion, of course.

Edit: Err, of course, this all depends on the interpretation that Eidolons are made from stuff from the Ethereal Plane and take shape at the summoner's discretion entirely. I assume, though, that since the Eidolon is completely customizable, that it comes from some bizarre plane, like the Plane of Shadows or the Ethereal Plane.

Who all's in favor of different "origins" depending on what plane the Eidolon is drawn from, and that those different origins give different benefits?

I must say, though, that in an antimagic field, the fighter rocks a serious quantity of face. If you're worried about CoDzilla out-buffing a fighter, drop a spell turret (DMG2, 3.5E) into the encounter with Dispel Magic and Greater Dispel Magic on it, or hand a low-level adept a Wand of Dispel Magic and tell them to stand on a ledge or some other inaccessible area and fire it ad infinitum.

It's perfectly legitimate to have your clerics buff up to an insane amount, but just as much it's possible for a well-prepared enemy to be loaded to the hilt with debuffing tools. If it's such a danger, the well-prepared should be ready for it!

Edit: What I'm trying to get at is that the fighter is a very conservative option, and as such it is reliable in so many different situations.

Hrm, well, the forums will remain open until the 31st, so I demand some closure on this plot, dear sir!

I reckon that Paizo might have another round of playtests after they've rebalanced the classes (especially Summoner). I mean, the rumored release date for the APG is sometime in August. That could give a ton of time for another round of balance testing. Or maybe we'll test something else! That sounds tasty! Nom nom nom!

OK, so here's the scoop:

Let's assume that you're going to have to be a human. This also helps out with the whole concept of being a shifty Dex-based fighter, as your racial bonus can be applied to Dex rather than Wis and Cha, as is the case with Aasimar racial bonuses. This is pretty easy to change, but hey, I like to min-max occasionally, especially when I'm statting up someone else :D

If you're really in love with the concept of an Aasimar, then you might want to take a page out of 3.5's Unearthed Arcana, and claim a celestial bloodline. If your DM pushes it, this can be pretty easily nerfed into just a fluffy background element without any mechanical influence.

I'm assuming that we go for an 8th-level fighter, as that seems like a good medium-term goal that you can build up to. Just take any of the feats listed in the block below as you progress and what not. Stylistically, it seems like you want to play a very technical, swashbuckling-type fighter, which would mean that your charisma would be pretty high for RP purposes. You'd also need a reasonable intelligence for any technical options you might want to take. So, your wisdom would probably have to be your dump stat.

Above and beyond what you have on your wishlist, you still have a number of slots left open depending on where you want to go. You could get better at attack, defense, mobility, or RP. Just switch out Shield Focus, Greater Shield Focus, or Iron Will for any of the following:

Attack: Greater Weapon Focus (rapier), Weapon Specialization (rapier)
Defense: Toughness, Combat Expertise, Wind Stance, Lightning Stance
Mobility: Lunge, Fleet, Nimble Moves, Acrobatic Steps
RP: any skill feats, Leadership

To start out, you'd look something like this:

Stats: Str 16, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 7, Cha 13

Equipment: rapier, longbow, chain shirt, buckler, potion of cure light wounds, 40 gp

Feats: Dodge, Weapon Finesse, Iron Will

So, onto the stat block! Your character should look somewhat like this when you've leveled up quite a bit.

====================
Sorrasiel Michealina
====================

Fighter 8
NG Medium humanoid
Init +8

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Defense
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AC 26 (+4 Dex, +6 "+2 chain shirt", +3 "+2 buckler", +2 Greater Shield Focus, +1 Dodge)
touch 15 (+4 Dex, +1 Dodge)
flat-footed 17 (+4 chain shirt, +1 buckler, +2 Greater Shield Focus)

hp 61 (8d10+16)
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +2

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Offense
-------

Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 rapier +15 (2d6+5, crit 18-20/x2) / +10 (1d6+5, crit 18-20/x2)
Ranged +2 composite longbow (+3 Str) +14/+9 (2d8+5, crit x3)

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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 7, Cha 13
Base Atk +8/+3; CMB +2; CMD 12
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Improved Initiative, Spring Attack, Weapon Focus (rapier), Weapon Finesse, Vital Strike, Iron Will, Shield Focus, Greater Shield Focus
Skills: ((YOU stat these out!))
Languages: Common, Celestial

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Equipment
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+2 rapier, +2 composite longbow (+3 Str) +2 chain shirt, +2 buckler, 7,565 gp

Hope that works for you!

Sounds like a pretty fun character to play! Just a quick question: what level are you looking at creating this character? Are you starting over at 1st level? If so, do you want a final target build for a certain level? If you're playing only 2 modules, you may only be able to get to 6th level, which means you might have to prioritize a little bit :)

And by "targe" do you mean a buckler?

Edit: that's more than just one quick question XD

It's good to know that "typical Paizo" means that it's an instant classic, revolutionizes and reinvigorates how we play at low levels, and almost immediately sells out. Kudos to Paizo for the phenomenal first year on PFRPG!

Bang-up job on the playtest, guys. This format works really great, what with running a party to playtest it and upload session notes. I think I'll use this same format for my own group for when Paizo throws down more playtests. In fact, I think I would recommend it for just about every group!