Lots of great suggestions. Thanks guys! I will look at bard, didn't even think of that. Cavalier has a lot I like, and I can get spellcasting from my other class, and I saw an order that let me get easy grapples, so that would help biting people.

My DM has let our group be a very interesting group of misfits, and I was trying to make the mechanics try to catch the fluff of my character. It is to be a vampiric knight with some spell casting ability. That would point to divine casting, but his god and lord are both arcane casters, and we can build our characters using gestalt rules.

My thought is to throw sorcerer with another class, whether an blackguard, knight, what have you. I imagine him in heavy plate armor, so barb is off the table, and I am not too much a fan of fighters or the magus for this character. What are some recommendations?

A friend of mine is starting a new game, and my original character idea could not work. Luckily I was struck by an random character concept, and I have no idea how to do it. Any advice or input would be great.

Now for the idea. A warrior possessed by a fiendish spirit slain by his great warrior ancestor. I was going to originally try barbarian (fiend totem) and sorcerer with cross-blooded abyssal/wild infernal for beefiness while "possessed" (which would be represented by the rage. However, messing with it a bit just seemed to be lack luster, and did not seem it would be fun to play currently (the friend likes gestalt, so i will try it again there). I was toying with the idea of barbarian/battle oracle/rage prophet, but all I have been hearing is that too is lack luster. So I am back at barbarian (with possible eldritch heritage abyssal). Any ideas? I am not going for full on maximization, but for something that would be fun. Using the rage as a possessed mechanic, I would probably not be as effective in combat in most situations, but it seems like a fun idea. I am still holding out for some spellcasting (not a lot, but I always love cantrips and low level spells) but I know that is unlikely.

Please help!

Thanks TarkXT. I'll talk to my dm and see if he would allow me to upgrade to a classical fantasy mount as we progress, maybe a pegasus or gryphon.

Thanks guys! I shall take this in into making the character. Gonna cut the sword and board. I will also read and re-read the mounted combat rules until I can recite them in prep for the character. I just had one last question. TarkXT, you said the default mount becomes really sub-par after awhile. Why is that? I'm curious, because I am trying to build the character with a lot of leaning towards a stereotypical knight, and I would prefer a heavy warhorse as much as possible.

Hi, I am going to be starting a new game soon, and I was looking at creating a cavalier. Two focuses I was thinking of doing for the character were mounted combat (comes with the territory) and sword and board tactics. Any advice I should have? I was thinking of going shield bashing with sword and board, is that a good choice? And of mounted combat, I haven't really done it before, anything I should know? (Such as weird or odd rules that don't seem apparent, or general things that are often overlooked.)

Thanks!

Dotting

Lincoln Hills wrote:

....and about as socially acceptable as a Cigarette Golem - to name just three disadvantages of undeath - is that you get more value out of raising your Charisma.

Not saying undead are weaker than living creatures, mind you, because Undead is a stronger creature type than Humanoid in almost every way. But neither is it Pure Awesomeness.

Hey! I resent that remark!

Stop the oppression of the Heart Beat Challenged!!

I call for equal undead rights!

Hey, I was really interested in this spell, just for the ability to freeze enemies in their tracks. I was just confused on two things.

1. For save, it lists reflex partial and fort negates (see text). I understand reflex changing from frozen solid to just entangled, but I cannot see what the fortitude save negates. Is it the whole thing? I have a habit of missing things, so its probably right under my nose and it is not regestering.

2. When frozen, it says the target can breathe normally, but I've heard people say they risk suffication. Since the spell does not describe it, I would assume that that is not a risk. Which is the correct interpretation?

Thanks in advance. I'm still going to use this spell for the flavor, just want to be sure I am using it right.

Just a little thing I wanted to say: with enlarge, the targets weight is increased by x8, but his gear and items, according to the core rule book, is only increased by x2. A character with enlarge cast on themselves would never gain an increase in weight encumbrance, for his gear and weight tolarence increase by the same amount. In fact, he would get more room because of the increase in strength. Still not sure why the wizard is casting enlarge on himself.

Thanks for the replys guys. Well, either his dm will give hin spells or not, which is not what this thread is about. Just wanted to know why they took em away.

I know a player that often played an assassin in 3.5, and he is likely to switch to a pathfinder group. First thing he noticed is that the pathfinder assassin has no spells. What was the reasoning behind this? I know that they got some other buffs, but removing the spell selection seems to do a lot of harm to the class, doesn't it? Anyone with the idea behind it, or just if there were some balance reasons, please say them, I am eager to find out why.

I, like many dms, have my own basic list of house rules. This community as a whole seems very kind and knowledgeable, so I wanted your opinions on them. Just a warning, I tend to give my players alot, so my games tend to be on the strong side.

Starting HP: I have it that instead of full HD, I have my players roll, but give them their CON score as an addition to it.
(That gives my players a bit tougher barrier of hp when fighting, yet gives a bit of luck of the dice that I enjoy to influence their starting HP.)

Ability Scores: Whenever a character hits a 4th level (4th, 8th, 12th...) They can increase two scores by one.
(My reasoning for this, is that it helps character types that depend on multiple scores scale a bit better along with those that depend on just one, yet everyone benefits from it.)

Death Spells: I have reverted every spell that does 10 damage per level of the caster with the death effect into a save or die spell.
(This was one of the few things I didn't like with the pathfinder changes, I liked the risk of death at that level of play to be constantly in the air.)

Stat Boosting Items: I was never a fan that they tended to remove the effect of the spells they are based on, and I have removed all of those that are above +2, attempting to give a greater importance to the spells.

I am very interested in receiving all of your input and advice. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the response Rath, I feel better now that I have confirmation. Yeah I know there are more constructs, but golems are the main thing that come to mind when I think of a construct, and can be a scary enemy for a spellcaster (again I say can be, simple done tactics can make them a joke too).

I remember disintegrate being one of the major spells to use against undead and contructs back in 3.5, but it seems I was misinformed. Disintegrate allows for a spell resistance check, which means that it is entirely ineffective to use against a golem unless they are specifically affected by it, such as the clay golem. Is this correct, or am I overlooking a rule somewhere?

In the campaign I'm currently running, there is a strong presence of fiends, especially from the hells. I know the idea of infernal pacts is going to come up, in fact I look forward to it, but I am not sure what to do exactly about it. I don't want the common "I'll give you this <blank> if you give me your soul" but something more like "I'll give you this power, (and you serve my aims in life or your eternal soul in death)." Any ideas? Anything would be appreciated.