Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber. Pathfinder Society Member. 6 posts (14 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Pathfinder Society character.
1. Nobody is saying never ever heal your buddy and/or let them die. That is ridiculous.
2. Nobody is saying you will never ever have to heal.
3. What is being said is that the bad guys can put out damage faster than you can heal so the best thing to do is kill bad guys. The less bad guys there are the less damage output there is.
4. Most of the time if you have decent characters and use good tactics you will not have to heal in combat.
5. Once again, most of the time does not mean never.
6. Bookmark this thread if you have too.
Hello everyone! This is a brief summary of concepts and tricks used to create a build that I call the Hangover Cleric. Credit goes to the Shadowcraft Mage handbook for the format.
Introduction
Something that has nagged me for a while is that there are quite a lot of feats to improve or change channel energy, yet at its heart the ability simply doesn't do enough past the low levels to justify investing much in it. But then Ultimate Magic came along. The builds below use the Variant Channel ability from UC to create a cleric that is specialized in AOE crowd control and spell-casting from 1st level onwards.
The relevant variant channel portfolios are Rulership and Ale/Wine, and from those we will construct a cleric that can repeatedly daze and damage opponents, living or dead, in a 30ft area, as a move action, and still cast spells with a quickened and standard action. You know, like as a hobby.
Variant Channeling:
Quote:
Ale/Wine: Heal—Creatures ignore the nauseated and sickened conditions, as well as ability damage and drain from poison, until the end of your next turn. This does not bring back to life creatures killed by Constitution damage. Harm—Creatures are nauseated for 1 round.
Rulership: Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus on Diplomacy checks and to the DC of their language-dependent and charm effects until the end of your next turn. Harm—Creatures are dazed for 1 round.
The application of nausea and dazing
Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn. A dazed creature can take no actions, but has no penalty to AC.
Some points to remember about these abilities:
This ability deals both half normal channel damage and an effect, and even a successful save still deals the half damage
With selective channeling and improved channel, allies are unaffected while opponents with a weak or normal Will save are likely to fail often
Quick Channel allows the character to channel energy as a move action at the cost of an extra usage; valuable at mid-high levels
Versatile Channel allows the cleric to target both living and undead creatures with dazing (nauseate wouldn't work on undead), or to switch to Positive Energy channeling when he wants to gain the Heal effects of either ability
Because Channel Energy requires a high charisma, the character will have excellent social skills with a little investment.
Phylactery of Negative Channeling: This gives a quick and dirty 2d6 damage boost to Channel Energy
Selection of portfolios
Leadership: The Harm effect dazes opponents, which is a much better status effect than the nauseate from Ale/Wine. The Nobility domain is excellent, with good spells, decent buffs, and the Leadership feat for free at 8th level. The Heal effect (used with Versatile Channeler) is good for bard allies and diplomatic parties.
Some plausible deities (must be neutral for the cleric to qualify Versatile Channeler) are Abadar, Count Ranalc, and Nalinivati. Nalinivati also gains the Charm domain, which works well with Versatile Channeler and the Heal aspect of the channel, while the other two have the excellent Travel domain.
Ale/Wine:
There's nothing I enjoy more than the mental image of a dozen orcs feeling last week's bender come back with a vengeance in mid-battle. Ale/Wine is not tied to any specific domain, though Chaos, Liberation, Love, and Lust are all thematic choices. The Heal aspect (through Versatile Channeler) is excellent for negating ability damage in a pinch or curing allies from a Stinking Cloud. Quick Channel even allows you to un-nauseate yourself as a move action.
Unfortunately there's only one Pathfinder deity that elevates Ale/Wine and that's the amazing Cayden Cailean. Since this build really wants to channel negative energy, your options are to either:
A. Worship him and always rely on Versatile Channeler
B. See if the Separatist variant will allow you to attach Ale/Wine to some other appropriate deity such as Calistria or Besmara
C. See if you can venerate an ideal and use the variant channel (would probably require a houserule)
D. Play in a homebrew/different setting or ask the DM to add alcohol to the portfolio for some more deities.
Feats and traits:
There are quite a few feats that deal with Channel Energy, and the important trick is to strike a good balance between what will always prove useful and what hits the point of diminishing returns.
Versatile Channeler: Provides the versatility to use the Heal aspect of Channel Energy; and allows Rulership-types to Daze undead as well.
Quick Channel: Eventually cleric spells are awesome enough that they are as good or better than an AOE daze+damage effect. Have your cake and eat it too, 3+Cha/2 times per day.
Command Undead: Build a horde of shadows & crush the world beneath an ephemeral boot.
Extra Channel: Extra uses of your main gimmick never hurt.
Bestow Hope Versatile Channeler qualifies you for this feat, which is nice to have I suppose.
Quicken Spell: Allows you to cast two spells in a single round at +4 metamagic.
Shatter Resolve Terrific effect, terrible deity. Nice if you can adapt the feat to a homebrew deity or use Separatist to pick up the appropriate domain/portfolio with a permissive DM, I suppose.
Prestige and base class tips
The only real prestige class I would consider is the Holy Vindicator. You take a so-so feat and lose 2 caster levels for some moderately cool abilities and the chance to do Channel Energy as either a 30-ft cone or a 120 foot line. Going deeper in the PrC loses another CL for some cooler abilities, and your channel sickens and bleeds opponents.
On the base class
I assume cleric in this guide. However, oracles with the Life mystery can channel Positive Energy 1+CHA/day, which means you'd need to use Versatile Channel all the time to do the Harm effect at 2 levels lower. Not terrible, but not great either, even with the Cha focus for oracles.
Paladins, Anti-Paladins, and Inquisitors can all do this as well, but without the luxury of doing so from first level or useful standard actions to combine with quick channel.
Besides the obvious variant Channel Energy, clerics have quite a few options to vary things a bit.
Evangelist: Perform is nice with a Cha focused character, and the spontaneous spells synergize very well with the Rulership alternate channel's Heal ability. But you lose 3 levels of channel energy. Ouch.
Separatist: If there is a deity you want to follow and the DM house-rules this to qualify you to take a variant channel ability, then this is your way in.
On the Aggregate of What Has Come Before
Here's a few sample builds to illustrate the concept.
Sauerton the Red
Spoiler:
Neutral Human Cleric of Abadar 20
Stats: Cha > Wis > Con > Others.
Extreme example (20PB): Str 7, Dex 7, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 16, Cha 20 [Hmn Stat boost to Cha]
More reasonable example (20 PB): Str 9, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 15, Cha 18
Channel negative energy, Sacred Conduit trait, Nobility and Travel domains
This is just a vanilla example with generic, typically useful feats. Assuming at least 3 stat boosts go into Charisma and a tome +5, the end result is a DC 32 Will save for Channel energy (7d6 with a phylactery of damage) and 14 uses/day.
Gorgus the Angry Drunk
Spoiler:
Neutral Human Cleric of Urgathoa 20
Variant: Separatist (and a house-rule/rules interpretation that gaining the domain also adds the portfolio for that PC)
Stats: Cha > Wis > Con > Others.
Extreme example (20PB): Str 7, Dex 7, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 16, Cha 20 [Hmn Stat boost to Cha]
More reasonable example (20 PB): Str 9, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 15, Cha 18
Channel negative energy, variant channel (ale/wine), Sacred Conduit trait and a trait to gain Intimidate as a class skill, Lust and War domains (lust through Separatist)
This is just a nifty example that showcases the effects of fear-stacking. Channel Energy makes opponents within 30 feet shaken, and then Dazzling Display or a Fear-type spell on the following round intimidates them and sends them to frightened.
Last thoughts
Even if you've spent 4 feats on a single trick, remember that you're still a cleric. Unless you're an oracle of life or inquisitor or whatever. The point is, a cleric can still heal, remove status effects, buff allies, animate undead, summon monsters, take a few hits in melee, and buff yourself to be a melee monster. Don't let one cool trick keep you from taking advantage of the incredible range of abilities available.
Also, there are some other solid variant channel abilities that I didn't closely consider. I think Liberation's slow effect is good and it comes thematically attached to an excellent domain. The Madness channel's confusion effect is also very cool and Sivanah would be a cool goddess to build a character around.
So I've seen a few different threads about Crane style and how people thinks its broken. At the very least, its very good. And cool. Which is where I'm going with this. What other styles do you like/think are strong/think are cool?
First off I want to thank A highly regarded expert for his guide and the inspiration to do my own. I do not agree with him on some points but lots of props to him for making one in the first place and for suggesting to me that I should do my own.
Secondly mine is still a work in progress. I intend to continue progressing on it of course but it is currently not complete. If you see something you think I missed, or that you disagree with by all means tell me. You can leave a comment on the document itself or here. If you leave it here I'll probably see it sooner however.
OK, Dice. We all use them. Well, except for maybe the online gamers.
As a GM I see a lot of dice infractions that, for the most part, I'm sure are completely unintentional. Still, nobody likes to be the bad guy and these dice disses put the GM in the awkward position of just letting them slide or making a fuss so that proper dice respect is observed.
So here are some suggestions on proper dice etiquette for PFS:
1. The GM is above the law. It is the GM's table and the players are either willing to trust the GM's rolls or they shouldn't be playing at that GM's table.
2. If the players are not willing to accept #1 and the GM is cool with it, then the GM should follow these suggestions as much as the players do. However, #1 is assumed unless otherwise discussed at the table.
3. Dice must be readable from across the table. This includes:
3a. No micro dice.
3b. No swirly dice where the numbers are not easy to read.
3c. No dice with extra graphics that hide the numbers.
3d. No clear dice without numbers filled in with a contrasting color.
3e. No dice with a logo where the '1' (or any other number) belongs.
3f. No dice that the player has to pick up in order to read the number.
I'm sure there are other additions to #3. Feel free to add more.
4. All dice rolls are made in the open, in full view of the GM.
4a. No rolling behind your books.
4b. No rolling in a box or tray that the GM can not observe.
4c. No rolling across the table to a spot behind another player's books.
4d. No rolling off of the table onto the floor and having another player confirm your roll (because it was a good one). On the table or it doesn't count.
5. Dice must come to a rest and not be touched for at least 3 seconds or until the final number is determined and told to the GM. In other words, no rolling and picking up the die to read it before it comes to rest.
6. Dice may not be thrown into the air above the player's head. It is a dice roll, not a dice toss.
7. Dice may not be tossed across the table beyond the reach of the roller requiring others to return the dice.
8. Dice may not be rolled into the middle of the battlemat taking out mini's in the process.
9. No rolling with an App on your laptop, tablet, phone, etc. The exception is online play of course.
10. Dice will be rolled. Not spun, not dropped, not flipped, not shaken in the hand and then slammed down onto the table. The use of a dice cup is acceptable, but only if the die is allowed to visibly roll for at least 4 inches across the table.
11. Cheat dice are grounds for ejection from a PFS game.
11a. No dice with the high number in place of the '1'.
11b. No cooked dice.
11c. No lacquered dice.
11d. No fixed dice of any kind.
12. Consider replacing your 4-sided pyramid dice with the "barrel" style 4-siders. They hurt much less when you step on them barefoot.
13. It is perfectly acceptable to commiserate on how bad your luck is when rolling dice. It is not acceptable to throw those dice away at such speed that they are capable of achieving a low earth orbit. A gentle toss into a nearby trash can is acceptable, but consider recycling them as a green alternative.
14. Never leave dice in the middle of the battlemat after rolling them.
15. Do not use dice as a substitute for a mini or to indicate a special condition (like flight) or a spell effect. Dice work hard for you and deserve more respect.
16, Do not bring every dice you own to the table and spread them all out in front of you. The ones you actually use are special and deserve a little space. Don't coup them up with all the dice you own. Give them their time of glory at the table. Make your other dice covet a spot "at the table". If any of your all-stars fail to perform, send them back to the minors and give some other dice a chance to sit at the table.
Anyone else have any suggestions on Dice Etiquette?
Here's another cut at converting this class. First, I renamed it the Sema to avoid confusion with the other Dancing and/or Dawnflower Dervishes floating around Golarion. (Sema is a reference to the Sufi religious tradion that infuses the divine with dance.) Second, I used the Rage Prophet in the APG as a template converting the signature Dawnflower Dance ability into a rage-like mechanic where the Dance is powered by Cha and ends with fatigue. Finally, I added a few signature abilities - nothing game breaking hopefully - that attempt to embellish this prestuge class with additional flavor. All in keeping with a martial sect of Sarenrae. Let me know what you all think ...
The Sema of Sarenrae
“Dawnflower Dervish” prestige class converted to PFRG by John Walker
Originally developed by Lissa “SunshineGrrrl” Guillet
Spoiler:
The Sema are a militant sect of the Church of Sarenra. Most hail from Qadira where Sarenrae’s faithful embrace a particularly austere interpretation of the Book of Light and Truth. They regard themselves as the truest believer - able to channel the sweeping curves of body and blade into martial rapture. They dance to inspire the faithful, celebrate the solstices, or simply commune with their Goddess.
Role: Though not formally recognized as clergy Sema are welcomed by lay believers as inspirational symbols of their deity, and by the Church as a final remedy for those enemies that cannot be redeemed.
Alignment: The Dawnflower’s legendary tolerance extends to the Sema. They can be of any Good alignment.
Hit Die: d8.
Requirements
To qualify for the Sema a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Special: selected deity is Sarenrae
Skills: Perform (Dance) 5 ranks
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Spells: Ability to cast 1st level divine spells.
Class Skills
The Sema’s class skills are Craft (Weapons) (Int), Fly (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Perform (Dance) (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifer.
Class Features
The following are class features for the Sema prestige class:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Sema’s gain no proficiencies with any armor or weapons.
Spells per Day: At each level (except 1st, 5th, and 9th), the Sema gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in any one divine spellcasting class she belonged to previously. She does not gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before she became a Sema, she must decide to which class she adds each level of Sema for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Channel Energy (Su): The Sema’s class level stacks with levels in any other class that grants the channel energy ability.
AC Bonus (Ex): A Sema gains a +1 bonus to armor class. This bonus to AC applies even to touch attacks or when she is flat-footed. She loses this bonus whenever she is helpless or immobile, wearing medium or heavy armor, carrying a medium or larger shield, or under a medium or heavy load. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level and +3 at 9th.
Dawnflower Dance (Ex): A Sema can use a swift action to enter an ecstatic dance. She must be wielding a scimitar and able to Perform (Dance). At 1st level she can Dance a number of rounds each day equal to 4 plus her Cha modifier. She gains adds an additional 2 rounds per day for each Sema class level beyond 1st.
In this state, the Sema adds her Wis bonus to all scimitar attack and damage rolls. In addition, if the Sema charges a foe, she can make a full attack (instead of a single attack). While Dancing, she cannot cast spells (except as described under domain dance) or activate magic items that require a command word, spell trigger, or spell completion. She can use bardic performances that utilize Perform (Dance). At the end of the dance a Sema loses the Dance’s benefits and restrictions, and becomes fatigued.
Domain Dance (Su): At every even level, a Sema may choose one of Sarenrae’s domains. She may cast divine spells from the chosen domain (as domain spells or from her regular slots) during a Dance. This ability does not give access to the domain’s spells or granted powers; just the ability to cast those spells during a Dance.
In addition, whenever she casts a spell from a chosen domain during a Dance, she gains a magical effect related to the spell’s domain. This effect lasts until the end of her next turn, until she is disarmed, or the Dance ends. While any of these effects are active her scimitar attacks are treated as good-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
• Fire: The priestesses’ scimitar(s) ignite(s) with fire gaining the flaming weapon quality.
• Glory: Golden runes appear along the scimitar(s) blade dealing an extra 1d6 points of damage to evil outsiders.
• Good: The Sema’s scimitar(s) glows with golden light radiating a magic circle against evil.
• Healing: The scimitar(s) loses its luster, and the Sema can choose to deal nonlethal damage with the weapon without penalty.
• Sun: The scimitar(s) trails sunlight inflicting an extra 1d6 points of damage to Undead and Evil Outsiders. Multiple instances of the same effect do not stack.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a Sema gains a 5-feet enhancement bonus to her speed. At 5th level this becomes 10-feet, at 7th level this becomes 15-feet, and at 9th level this becomes 20 feet. A Sema loses this bonus if she is wearing medium or heavy armor, carrying a medium or heavy shield, or under a medium or heavy load.
Swirling Steps (Ex): At 2nd level, a Sema moves with the grace of fire when armed with a scimitar. When wielding a scimitar she can choose to use Perform (Dance) in lieu of Acrobatics for all skill checks that would normally require Acrobatics.
Blade Balance (Ex): At 3rd level, a Sema’s extended practice with curved blades allows them to treat scimitars as Light Weapons. It also provides them proficiency with the lighter kukri and the heavier falchion sword.
Rapturous Focus (Ex): At 4th level, a Sema may take 10 on any Perform (dance) or Acrobatics check at any time, even in times of stress.
Elaborate Parry (Ex): At 5th level, a Sema gains an extra +4 bonus to Armor Class when she fights defensively or uses all-out defense.
Searing Radiance (Ex): At 8th level, a Sema can treat any one blade he wields as having the properties of a Sun Blade for a number of rounds per day equal to his Wisdom modifier.
Redeemed Vigor (Ex): At 9th level, a Sema is no longer fatigued after a Dawnflower dance.
Dawnflower Blossom (Su): At 10th level, while performing a Dawnflower dance, a Sema can gain the magical effects of domain dance by expending one or uses of Channel Energy as a swift action. The Sema may activate any number of domain dance effects of her choice. These effects last for two rounds per turn attempt expended, until she is disarmed, or the Dance ends. For example, a Sema can expend two uses of Channel Energy to keep the Fire, Sun, and Good domain effects up for four rounds. In addition, while these effects are active, a Dawnflower dervish radiates daylight as the spell, except that it dispels spells with the Darkness descriptor of 6th level or lower.
Level BAB Fort
Save Ref
Save Will
Save AC
Bonus Special Spell Progression
1st +0 +0 +2 +2 +1 AC Bonus, Channel Energy, Dawnflower Dance -
2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 +1 Domain Dance, Swirling Steps +1 level existing divine class
3rd +2 +1 +3 +3 +1 Fast Movement +5 ft, Blade Balance +1 level existing divine class
4th +3 +1 +4 +4 +1 Domain Dance, Rapturous Focus +1 level existing divine class
5th +3 +1 +4 +4 +2 AC Bonus +2, Fast Movement +10 ft -
6th +4 +2 +5 +5 +2 Domain Dance, Redeemed Vigor +1 level existing divine class
7th +5 +2 +5 +5 +2 Elaborate Parry, Fast Movement +15 ft +1 level existing divine class
8th +6 +2 +6 +6 +2 Domain Dance, Searing Radiance +1 level existing divine class
9th +6 +3 +6 +6 +3 AC Bonus +3, Fast Movement +20 ft -
10th +7 +3 +7 +7 +3 Dawnflower Blossom +1 level existing divine class
Well, we are back, and more organized than before. MultiClass Productions is proud to present the new MCA thread, and links to the now completed and soon to be updated Core and Advanced class-based MultiClass Archetypes.
This thread is primarily meant to provide links to the MCA Wiki site, and the pages on the Pathfinder SRD that present our MultiClass Archetypes. However, it is also meant to provide a venue for MultiClass Productions to present our MCA creation process, and allow you, the fans, to participate in that same creation process for your own MCAs.
The MCA creation process has undergone various stages of development and refining until we have what we believe is one of the best and truly universal gestalt-style methods for multiclassing. It combines the BAB, saves, and class features of two classes in such a way as to, in reality, create a new single class-styled MultiClass Archetype.
The MultiClass Archetype creation process allows one to develop an MCA to meet one’s individual needs, whether by personal preference or the needs of a campaign. For example, one could MultiClass a Fighter and Rogue. Depending upon one’s tastes or needs, the new MCA can use one or the other class as its Primary class, while the other becomes the Secondary class. For a more militant rogue that enters the fray directly, one would likely use the Fighter as its Primary class, while a tougher but very stealthy rogue may use the Rogue as its Primary class. A detailed description of Primary and Secondary classes in reference to creating MCAs, and the general guidelines used in creating MCAs can be found at the links presented below.
We welcome all who are interested in participating in the MCA creation process, both GMs and Players alike, whether to develop their own MCAs specific to their individual campaigns, to post ideas, and seek the wisdom and aid of the very knowledgeable and skilled members of the MultiClass Production crew in your endeavors.
Also, consider this thread as a discussion forum for those who playtest the MCAs. Any feed back is much appreciated, since the number of MCAs (100+) is difficult for just the 5 members of MCP to play test themselves.
For further information on MultiClass Archetypes, finished works, creation guidelines, or the MultiClass Production crew, go to the following links.
I love the nature of adventuring. Adventuring has traditionally been a very dangerous if lucrative profession. Adventurers die, and die, and die some more. Some are lucky enough to only have to die once. What separates the adventurers that make it from the ones who were just another party that never returned? Well, I think creativity and preparation make the largest difference. I didn't think much about this sort of thing, until Peter Stewart said the following in another thread.
Peter Stewart wrote:
Honestly some of your tactics here have given me a great deal to think of for future characters. I'd be interested in a general thread on purchases you think are viable or needed at various levels, along with various tricks. A heightened continual flame hadn't even occurred to me, for instance.
My party could use some more asymmetrical means of combating such problems, as right now our tendency is to bully through them using brute force (usually taking tons of damage and expending tons of resources in the process). We're coming up on a long period though were we'll be able to resupply and reequip. :)
So since Peter asked, here's the beginning of a short advice column concerning D&D/Pathfinder and preparing for adventure. I'm cool with people asking questions or advice or tips on specific things; and I'll also answer questions concerning D&D 3.x as well (though I may have to reference the 3.0 SRD for particularly old school stuff, to make sure I'm not blurring too much).
As a simple disclaimer, I want to let everyone know that the advice below will assume that the standard rules are in play. It doesn't assume house rules or changes to the system. Just the goods, plain and simple. If your GM has any quirks concerning item availability, changes any spells, or otherwise alters something, YMMV.
Enough babbling, on with the tips!
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Introduction: Adventuring is a hard life. Few take up its call. Those who make it, go down as legends, and retire wealthy and with many amazing stories. Those who do not, inevitably forge their own stories as the ones who just survived, or never came back, or was the one that didn't make it. Yes, adventuring is a hard life. A life that takes you by surprise. The key to surviving isn't just about whose muscles are largest or who knows the most spells. Preparation, and clever thinking, can lead you to greater degrees of success. Shall you brave the dangers and come out on top, or be another tavern tale of the ones who never came back?
The first installment covers some general adventuring equipment.
Motel 6: There are a lot of monsters and enemies who like to spam darkness spells (and deeper darkness). Creatures like tieflings, drow, shadow demons, darklings, and dark folk are notorious for this. Many people complain that this is unfair; especially since most of these creatures either care nothing about the lighting condition's drawbacks, or can see through them fine (such as in the case of darklings and dark folk). So what is an adventurer to do?
Light spells (that is, the light subtype) such as light, continual flame, and daylight pierce magical darkness spells that are a lower level than themselves. A good adventuring tool is to have an item or two that has had a heightened continual flame spell cast on it to at least 4th level. That costs 330 gp including the material component, to have it purchased by NPC spellcasting. Suddenly, the legions of darklings and dark folk are nothing to you, as your continual torch (be it a torch, amulet, or even your belt buckle) shimmers and provides light that is unquenchable by spells such as darkness or deeper darkness unless they are also heightened. Since spell-like abilities are the level of the spell they are mimicing, that means a 4th level continual flame is never overpowered by a creature's SLAs.
I'm most fond of having continual flame cast on the inside of a locket, so you can conceal or reveal the light easily enough, and carry it without having hands free.
We'll leave the light on for you!
First Aid: There's a lot of terrible things that will hurt you in your adventuring career. Poisons, disease, incorporeal touch attacks. A lot of this stuff can leave you weathered, or even dead. So how do you deal with these things? How do you prepare for them away from the comfort of civilization?
Buy potions of delay poison and lesser restoration for 50 gp each. Yes, you heard me, 50 gp. Both are 1st level spells at 1st caster level, thanks to Paladins and Rangers. That sets the price of these items at 50 gp. The magic item creation rules clearly state that the value of magic items are based on the lowest possible caster levels, regardless of who makes 'em; so even if a cleric makes either, they're still only worth 50 gp.
Both potions are useful for helping a party keep up and going. Delay poison makes you immune to poison for 1 hour and ends poisons, but won't cure any of the ability damage taken beforehand. Lesser restoration removes ability penalties, heals 1d4 ability damage, and removes fatigue. Good potions all around to have on hand during an adventure.
+1 Swords? We don't need no stinkin' +1 Swords: Magic weapons are expensive, but sometimes you just need one. DR/Magic is pretty common, incorporeal creatures are a pain, that wizard is getting you down with protection from arrows; but you don't feel like shelling out 2,000 gp for what amounts to +1 damage over a masterwork blade?
Well magic weapon oils are 50 gp, and they last 1 minute at caster level 1. The oil can be applied to a melee weapon, ranged weapon, or poured right into a 50-stack ammunition sack. This is one of the main methods for 1st-3rd level PCs to even be able to combat incorporeal creatures like Shadows with any hope. Works for monk unarmed strikes as well. Since you can decide which weapon to apply it to, it's less of a gamble; as if you need it on your melee weapon, you use it on your melee; if you need it on your bow, you use it on your bow; and so forth.
Lay off the Juice Son: Okay, so steriods aren't a to be abused, but oils were made for it. You can apply an oil to a willing target during your turn. Having several party members slather down the party's melee with cheap potion effects can turn a fight really fast. Have one PC slather him or her with an oil of enlarge person, then the rest of the PCs apply oils like protection from evil or shield (I recently checked, yes you can make potions of shield, as personal range spells still declare you as a target), and expeditious retreat (see commentary about shield, above), true strike (see above, yadda-yadda), and remove fear.
Suddenly, you have a juggernaut of destruction, at the cost of 50 gp per potion. Best yet, the person you apply the oil provides you with soft cover if you come in directly behind them in relation to the enemy, which means enemies cannot make AoOs against you for applying the oil. Notice I mentioned using enlarge person first? Well there's a reason for that. Your ally expands, providing cover to the other PCs who jump in to apply oils.
For a 200 gp investment, you can hit your main tank with up to 4 solid buffs all in one round, many of which normally are only available to mages. Screw aid another. 50 gp can get your party's fighter a +20 to his next grapple check, which can end a fight instantly (hint: the penalty to bind up an enemy during a grapple is -10).
Right to Freedom of Alignment: Ok, let's face it. Sometimes your alignment bites you on the butt. It's great being a good guy and all, except when you're trying to infiltrate that evil cult that has the "No Paladins" sign hanging out side. So what's the poor poorly aligned fellow to do? Drink a potion. 50 gp nets you 24 hours of undetectable alignment. Thanks bards!
Alchemy? Alchem-you!: Alchemical goodies can often be overlooked, but they can be pretty useful, especially at low levels; but some are useful even at higher levels. Turn some vicious villains into trivial trials with a clever splash of chemical supremacy!
Alchemical weapons such as alchemist fire or acid flasks are beautiful when used by the whole party. They ignore damage reduction and target touch AC. They're ranged weapons, so they benefit from feats like Point Blank Shot, and Rapid Shot. They can be dual-wielded as well. By having your party focus-fire on a single tough cookie, you can bring them down to size in short order. For example, let's say you're facing down an enemy NPC in banded mail and carrying a tower shield. His AC is easily 22-23 at 1st level. Excellent time for a BBQ wrapped in tinfoil! Have everyone toss an alchemist fire. A 4 person party can easily land 4d6 damage on round 1, and another 4d6 on round 2 (from the burning). Sucks to be that guy!
Tanglefoot bags are amazingly good. Chuck a few of these at people or creatures you just don't like. It's an auto-entangle, which is already a petty nice debuff, but also threatens to glue them to the ground, prevent them from flying, and forces tough concentration checks to cast spells. Worst case scenario, the critter is still slowed by 1/2 its speed.
Probably the most overlooked alchemical item is the humble smoke stick. Cheap, and surprisingly effective. Unless wind conditions are much against you, dropping one of these lets you use Stealth as if you were a Ninja Turtle collecting bells, gain total concealment vs ranged attacks, and ruins sneak attacks. Yes, ruins sneak attacks. You can't sneak attack a target with concealment. You can drop a single smoke stick at your feet and even if you're surrounded by 20th level rogues, blind, and in the dark, you're immune to their sneak damage. Excellent against dirty roguish sorts, and even prevents an assassin's Death Attack. Brutally efficient.
Holy water. The anti-shadow. At 25 gp a pop, this stuff is kind of like acid of alchemist fire for undead and evil outsiders. Incidentally, it specifically affects incorporeal creatures as well. It deals 2d4 damage as a ranged touch attack that doesn't provoke attacks (see item description) if you shake the water at the enemy. 2d4 averages 5 damage, which means a 1st level party can tear a shadow apart by just running up and splashing it with holy water. Statistically, 4 holy waters will outright kill a shadow (and less should force the shadow to flee for its unlife), and frankly, 100 gp for a dead CR 3 enemy seems entirely reasonable to me! The fact it also deals splash damage, and is party friendly is double the fun. Alchemists even get to add their Intelligence modifier to the damage, allowing them to take apart some truly nasty critters in short order.
Aw, Nets: Nets are arguably one of the strongest weapons in the core handbook. They deal no damage, but are a non-magical ranged touch attack (meaning even the -4 non-proficiency penalty isn't so bad usually) which inflicts the Entangled condition on the target, and all that implies. To escape it, you must spend a full-round action to even attempt to be free (either via a hard Strength check or a DC 20 escape artist), which means that either an enemy has to deal with it, or waste actions to be free. Hitting the same enemy with multiple nets in the same round almost ensures the condition will remain for the entire encounter; because no one wants to spend round after round trying to de-net themselves.
Who you gonna call?: A good investment for anyone who really hates incorporeal creatures is a +1 ghost touch net. Valued at 8,000 gp, it's not a terribly expensive tool if the entire party chips in to get it. Why is this tool so great? Well it has full effect on incorporeal creatures, who auto-fail on Strength checks to move away from you (allowing you to control how far they move away from you), and since it counts as both corporeal and incorporeal, you can prevent them from moving through objects while ensnared in your net. Entangled is also a sucky (if rare) condition for incorporeal creatures, as they rely heavily on Dexterity for both offense and defense (-2 to attacks and -4 Dex means -4 to incorporeal touch attacks and -2 AC) and most thrive on improved mobility which is outright denied in this case.
I'll try the 9 Iron: Golf-bagging is often a complaint by some of the casual gamers. Personally, I love golf-bagging. I like having that extra weapon on hand for a particular occasion. Ever look at the Pathfinder iconics? Loaded with seemingly random assortments of weapons, with obvious spares and backups. Golf bagging has lots of advantages.
Grab a cold iron, silver (or mithral), and maybe adamantine weapon. Carrying them allows you to bypass the DR of virtually anything. Definitely have an assortment of silver and cold iron arrows (they're cheap and easy enough to store/carry). It's cheaper to carry lots of +2 weapons of different materials than it is to carry one or two +3 weapons, and it makes you less of a target vs sundering or shattering (because who bothers with that when you've got a backup weapon in easy reach?).
You can go a very long way with just different material weapons and a greater magic weapon spell to keep your hit and damage top notch. It's also easier to rely on special materials for all the low CR enemies who require things like silver or cold iron to hit (such as imps, quasits, lycanthropes, or fey).
It's not magic, it's brains: There's a lot of very mundane methods for dealing with magical effects that suck. One of my favorites is the bag of chalk. A piece of chalk is 1 copper piece. A hundred pieces of chalk is thus 1 gold piece. Crush the chalk up into chalk powder and store it in cloth bags with a tie. Now you have the perfect weapon against invisible people. Have you ever seen the clingy puffy mess that chalk dust makes just when you're dealing with basic chalk erasers in school? Now imagine grinding up 100 pieces of standard issue chalk and scattering it through the air. You'd create a nice 10 ft. cloud of super clinging dust. Better than flour for spotting invisible creatures! Anti-invisible grenades, for 1 gp. Eat that Will o' Whisp.
Clay jugs are pretty heavy when filled, but are pretty useful. Their obvious use is for carrying large quantities of water or similar liquids (ideally packed on burden beasts such as mules, horses, or oxen), but can often be adapted for adventuring purposes. They can just as easily carry coins and the like, or you could place food in them, fill them with black powder to make a bomb (if your campaign has such fare), create weapons or traps with them (fill them with spiders, scorpions, snakes, or whatever), or even keep potted plants in them (carrying around your own plants makes the entangle spell useful in the most amusing places). At only 2 copper pieces, you can figure out what to do with them later. Flasks are 3 coppers with similar uses.
Keeping a few vipers in a state of sedation (via nonlethal damage, sleep spells, or other means) can be a good method of extracting lots of injury poison for the budding assassin, alchemist, or other poison using character. Just milk their glands for poison daily. Finding and keeping vipers isn't usually very difficult for adventurers. In fact, the clay pots can be useful storage devices in this case. If someone has a viper familiar, you could just ask nicely for venom.
His name is Babe: Paul Bunyan had the right idea. Oxen rock as animal cohorts. They're cheap at 15 gp and share statistics with aurochs. They are large quadruped beasts of burden with impressive strength, which means they can carry some truly astounding loads. They are also beefy and dangerous in combat. They have gore attacks for 1d8+9 damage and can even trample. Training them for war is not a bad idea for someone with Handle Animal. Have the party ride around on these strong beasts with high Constitution, and just dare something to try and harass your mounts while you rest. For a good 1-4 levels, the oxen will be more dangerous than your PCs. You can train 3 of them at a time, and cover them in leather or studded leather barding on the cheap.
Oxen cost 15 gp, have a 40 ft. movement speed, +9 Perception, low-light vision, scent, +7 gore at (1d8+9), trample (2d6+9, DC 17), and the following carrying capacity: 600 lb. light, 1,200 lb. medium, 1,800 lb. heavy, 9,000 lb. push/drag. Horses are so last season.
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I'm going to pause here for a moment. I'm not even finished with equipment, but I need a bit of a break. ^-^"
Our group is about to start new characters this coming Saturday and reading through a couple of the other thread's has really gotten me wanting to play a half-orc ranger. I like the idea of playing a “switch-hitter” style character like in Treantmonk's Guide to Rangers with a good mighty composite longbow and a falchion. Just to be clear, I really enjoyed Treantmonk's guide. Now that being said it only uses the core book and I'm allowed to use the APG, UM, UC . Does anyone have any opinions on possible new “must have's” feat's or archetypes that pertain to this kind of ranger build?
Actually if anyone wants to take it a step farther and show me how they would do their version of a switch-hitter ranger that would be cool too. I haven't actually played a ranger since the beginning of 2nd edition. My parameters for building the character are ... we're using the 25pt buy-in, and we're starting at lvl 8. Magic items will be limited for awhile most likely. Also we have a house rule that rangers can take any animal companions a druid can take so the companions out of the Bestiary and Bestiary 2 are a go, although my animal companion should probably be something that can make good use of stealth. Dinosaur's are sweet but I want to be able to fill a scout role as necessary.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
what about an archery ranger using crossbows for background purposes? Just kinda wondering how Harsk lives up to the guide, and the feat picks would have to change due to adding reload time.. i do agree with most of these ratings though.. I would put Favored Terrain as strong if not stronger than favored enemy though - it's just more universally useful
Its one powerful picture that crossbow toting dwarf. Its also a wonderful archetype.
To go this route I would build something like this, it would fly with the power level of most campaigns I know:
Dwarf: Dex 13.. your ranged loss to hit will be countered by good bab (vs multiclass archers), single attacks and eventual ability to ignore most AC sources.
1. Power Attack (Dwarven Waraxe and a shield puts you in good stead)
2. Ranger: Precise Shot (ignores melee chaos)
3. Quick Draw (Your a DWARF.. have multiple axes and crossbows loaded and go from ranged to melee OR melee to ranged at whim.. don't forget you can shoot crossbows ONE HANDED if you really like that shield otherwise loose it). I would go a heavy crossbow but thats cause my d10s are good and I like the one die ju-ju for melee and ranged.
5. Deadily Aim (burn the hit penalties others take wasting ammo for DR penetrating damage)
6. Ranger: Improved Precise Shot (ignores cover and concealment of hiding coward elven ponces)
7. Vital Strike (+d10)
9. Rapid Reload
10. Ranger: Pinpoint Targeting (ignores armour, natural armour and shield for ONE attack IFF you do not move.. but you can still use your move action to not move... say reload !) Now dex is irellevant you can FULL deadily aim with impunity and even one handed shots with a heavy crossbow with full deadily aim will be hitting.
(past 10 it might be worth going another class).. 3 ftr (armour boost), 1 rogue (traps), 1 wizard (no supprise and feather fall and true strike so you can do the same in melee as ranged) etc... more ftr for some shield featery perhaps or whatever takes your fancy.
Longstrider makes up for your move... but no elf can outrun old faithful your trusty heavy crossbow either way !
Use skill points on acrobatics.
Gloves of storing might be worth it as dex gloves are for fairy bread eating elves !
This build goes thru less ammo and also is higher damage than multiple shots at ranged thus mitigating some of the DR worries of using multiple weapons and the costs involved in that.
11. Critical Focus (works on axe and crossbow)
13. Staggering Critical
Disclaimer: Many elves were harmed in the making of this post because bows are better but no dwarf will ever accept that EVER !
I don't mean to be an idiot, but I thought I'd come for clarification on a topic that has been really bothering me. I am a ten-year veteran of D&D and Pathfinder, starting from the release of third edition. I know the rules of the game cold, I make effective characters, and I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how to use battlefield control. I fully accept that I'm an idiot, sure, but my group doesn't know how to use them either. I don't think I've ever played with anybody who used these spells in a decisive way.
There's this whole class of spells and effects that are supposed to be godly. Indeed, I'm currently playing a conjurer, using the idea of a God wizard, as set down in Treantmonk's wonderful guides. I see this bunch of spells that are light blue, and that means the best. So, if you take them... what do you do with them?
Let's take Black Tentacles. People say this spell ends an encounter. Now, I've never seen it cast, but I can certainly see how that would drag an encounter to a halt. Here's my question. How does Black Tentacles end the encounter in a way that is interesting? You don't want to trap your allies in the spell. Do your fighters just use bows while the tentacles have their way with the enemies that stay trapped? Does everyone wait out the duration and hope the tentacles make the enemy much softer?
Grease. Apparently so good, for a first level spell. Where do you put it so that it's relevant? Once both PC and NPC are next to each other, they don't tend to move, so the Acrobatics check and the flat-footed thing don't really come up.
Web. Where do you put this so that it doesn't just apply the same penalties to everybody?
Walls. Separate the enemies, that I can see. That's useful. What else do these things do that makes them so good?
Sleet Storm. Okay. You've made the area where the enemies are dark, and you make them slower. What do you do when they emerge from the spell effect 5-10 rounds later?
Please help me and my group understand how to use these spells.
Yup, sorry, still working on it and have barely gotten it started. So really I'm starting the thread early to get an open dialogue going on it. To gather opinions, thoughts, and ideas while I write this guide.
Meanwhile let me share some thoughts of my own while working on this.
~Order of the Cockatrice does not have to be a douche or a loner. In fact they are amazing when others are around to bask in their glory.
~Gendarme is actually a pretty bad archetype.
~Tactician is very powerful. It's only a shame that the level you get it at kind of makes it suck.
~Cavalier's are at their best when others are around to join them in the fray. They are enablers that make the good great and the great overwhelmingly good.
~Every cavalier needs to be a beast rider if not a hound master or musketeer.
~The mount, when compared to a paladin mount or druid companion sucks. Better off just riding around on the druids Roc companion. At least it can fly.
First, do not stress time constraints. I know Rise of the Runelords has some built-in deadlines - just gloss over them. With a 3 person party, they are going to need to retreat and rest more often. (fewer players = fewer resources = quicker resource exhaustion)
Second, as others have said, having conjuration specialist classes would help (druid, conjurer wizard, summoner). A high charisma paladin is certainly not a bad choice for the front-line fighter - hold the line, heal the party, eventually heal self as a swift action.
Third, if the leadership feat doesn't give you hives, encourage any high-charisma characters to take it.
Fourth, don't do experience points. Just level the characters when it is appropriate, and try to keep them one level above what is expected for a normal sized party. If you use xp to pace progression, the characters are going to start at low levels well behind the power-curve, but at later levels, they will be getting so much extra xp that they will jump ahead of the power curve too much.
There seem to be two common choices for the Master Summoner's eidolon: Mount and Skillmonkey. I think the Skillmonkey's a better choice because you don't want to be sitting on some freaky extraplanar goon when you could be summoning pack upon pack of beautiful dogs. In fact it's not even possible to use your eidolon as a mount until 8th level unless you are a Gnome or Halfling or take extra evolution. (I suppose a half-elf could do it at 6.)
In general I'd recommend a Quadraped so you have the option of a mount later but Biped also works. You'll also want to choose feats and class skills that will mesh with his later role.
At levels 1-2 your eidolon isn't really behind so feel free to have him show up the fighter while you can.
Quadraped: Pounce, Claws, Reach (Bite) or Reach (Bite), Trip
Biped: Bite, Reach (Bite, Claws) or Bite, Trip
At level 3 or 4 he's going to start sucking so then you can turn him into a skillmonkey by reallocating his evolution points. Shrink him down to Small size and load him up with most Skilled evolutions.
Good choices include:
Perception (for scouting/trapfinding)
Stealth (for scouting)
Disable Device (if your GM insists it can't do this with its feet, just get a tentacle)
Survival (take with the Scent for tracking)
Diplomacy (if you can't be bothered to do it with your own +5 CHA)
Bluff (your lime green raccoon-fish has an honest face)
Sense Motive (if he's just going to all the talking anyway)
Use Magic Device (if you find wands too splintery for your silky hands)
If you're going to use him as a mount you'll need to spend an evolution point on it and he needs to be at least one size category larger than you. It should also probably be able to fly.
As for the Summoner himself just pump your Charisma up. Strength and Wisdom are pretty dumpable. Choose Con and Dex such that you don't die. An INT of 12 or 14 isn't a bad idea since you have only 2+Int skills and some decent options on your list but it isn't a priority.
You can shoot with a crossbow if you like, but if you're small you're better off spamming Acid Splash with an Alchemical Power Component (Adventure's Armory), merely keeping an Acid Flask on your person will make at 1d3+1 vs touch, which is better than 1d6 vs AC.
Feats don't matter that much to your core business except that you should take Improved Initiative at level 1 and Superior Summons at level 3. There's an Extra Summons feat but it only gives +1 summon/day. Spell Focus (conjuration) is alright if you want to use a lot of offensive battlefield control spells which are almost exclusively conjurations.
People always say you should take a lot of languages so you can talk to your summons but this really only applies to elementals, dretches and hellhounds. All of your other options either don't have languages at all (animals), can communicate in any language (celestials and fiends) or speak Common (mephits and a few others.) So maybe take Auran, since you sometimes want Air Elementals to fly around and do things for you besides murder.
Summoners get some really nice spells, but not so many of them and you'll either get them late or at a lower save DC than a full caster. The really big deal is haste, which is one of the best spells in the game and is available to you at level 4 (wizards don't get it until 5). Grease, Enlarge Person, Invisibility, Fly, Dimension Door, Black Tentacles, and Wall of Stone are also standouts. Note that you can continue to summon and buff allies without breaking invisibility.
Peruse the Summon Monster lists and decided which ones you like best before you get to the table. Until level 5 you'll be summoning a whole lot of Riding Dogs but your options open up once you get SMIII. With SMIII I favor Lantern Archons, Leopards, Crocodiles and Dire Bats. SMIV brings your eternal bro the Hound Archon, Lions, Rhinos and a selection of Mephits that give you access to a whole bunch of Spell-like abilities.
You'll mostly want to add the Celestial template since enemies tend to be evil, but the other templates offer you other options on resistance.
This Master Summoner will spend battle buffing, tossing out battlefield control spells and mostly just summoning lots of critters into flanking positions. Out of battle you can summon up your dewy-eyed little roguebeast to walk ahead of the party and talk to strangers. Try not to feel too bad if he's incinerated by a trap. He'll be back tomorrow.
In general avoid dips, but there's one trick that's cool but questionably worth it. A 1-level dip in Nature Oracle with the Friend to the Animals revelation will give you Summon Nature's Ally and give any animals near you your CHA bonus on saves. You can also get CHA as a bonus to AC with the Extra Revelation feat. Getting access to Summon Nature's Ally means you can take the Starlight Summons feat which gives all your summons Blind-fight, a bonus to Perception and makes their natural weapons into cold iron. You also get a few extra spells and the ability to use wands from the oracle list. The drawback is that you slow down your spell progression and summoning and you are afflicted with an oracle's curse. Tongues (celestial) would be the least annoying.
This is an application I created for myself a few months back and have been slowly improving. It's a simple initiave manager linked with the monsters data pulled from the SRD (as posted at d20pfsrd.com). I've also got tabs for Searching Spells (updated for APG) and Feats.
The application runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, and requires the .Net Framework 4.0.
Rather than doing an Olympics for damage, I thought that since we now have the favorite system why not use the same criteria that is used in the DPR Olympics to post characters for people to vote on as "Guys I would like in my party".
So the rules are (partially stolen from the DPR thread...)
- Level 10, since pretty much all classes are expected to have come into their own by then, plus it's a good round number. If you don't think this is a good level to use, feel free to redo the math for some other level; I know level 10 is arbitrary and any other level from about 4 on would work just as well.
- Elite array. While I know most people play with more forgiving point-buys or rolling schemes, this is a baseline. The CR system was originally based around players using elite array or a comparable point buy.
- Standard wealth by level in magic items. Items can be crafted if you have the pre-requisities. Being able to craft can be something you "sell" on (see below).
- Spell lists for arcane casters must be provided. For prepared casters this includes the spellbook and costs for spells beyond those received for "free" should be accounted for in scroll costs as well as cost to add to spell book. Spellbooks are 100 pages, unless using something like a "blessed" book.
- Post the build under spoilers, then follow with an explanation of why someone should want this character in their party.
Exe: "Can buff X amount", "Has X knowledges", "Can make itmes for group" etc...
Readers mark characters as favorite if they would want to have them in their adventuring party. And so the idea is to make a Character others would want to join their party.
I would like to request a sticky thread be created (not this one because I can't edit it after an hour), that would, in the first post, give a list of guides in this sub-forum.
In the thread we'll discuss which guides to include and which category they should be in - it would be a community project.
This is my no means a complete list...its just a start.
Also, if you are going to post a guide for this list, please have a discussion thread for said guide in the Advice forum so we can link to it. The guide can be off-site, but we need a discussion thread for it, please. Also somewhere in your guide please reference which books you use (Core, APG, UM, UC, etc...).
Yes it's ok to use the Eidolon as a mount and it can act as just the MOUNT on my turn, but then it still gets it's own turn to use it's turn. This doesn't seem very proper in the gameplay mechanics because the mount is essentially getting two movements each round.
Nooo… nothing that can be used as a mount (Eidolon, Animal Companion, Monstrous Cohort, whatever) gets more than its normal allotment of actions in a given round. Creatures controlled by the player act either at the same time as the PC or on their own initiative, which is a call for the DM, unless the creature is being used as a mount and/or is a summoned creature. Summoned creatures and Mounted creatures always act at the same time as the PC controlling it. They no longer have their own initiative, they act on the PC’s initiative.
Below are links to the relevant rules.
As for your original question, your DM might allow it if the Eidolon also has the spring attack feat chain, but that would only allow a single attack and not a pounce (unless your DM is really nice). HOWEVER, as THIS THREAD mentions, it would be possible to ride-by-attack one creature, and continue on to another creature that becomes subject to your mounts pounce (provided you also make a DC 10 ride check so that it can attack at the same time as you’re riding it).
However, pouncing the same creature the rider charges then moving on via Ride-By attack does NOT appear to be a legal combo. You can pounce and charge the same target but not ride-by, or you can charge/ride-by one target, then your mount can pounce another target at the end of its movement, PROVIDED that the entire movement follows all of the rules regarding charges. (Straight line from start to finish, etc)
Mounted Combat
...important quote is “Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move.”
Pounce
...and the Eidolon evolution 'Pounce' is worded like this: “An eidolon gains quick reflexes, allowing it to make a full attack after a charge. This evolution is only available to eidolons of the quadruped base form.” (bold is mine)
Eidolons
...Important quote is “Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures”
Summon Monster
...Important quote is “It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn.”
I enjoy playing mounted halflings. They're charasmatic, little, have good saves, and like to charge into danger. While there are a number of threads and guides dedicated to summoners and/or eidolons, there's a shortage of good advice specific to mounted summoner builds. For a general guide to summoners, this post is a good post, and thorough. The mounted halfling (or gnome) summoner fills a pair of primary roles: a skirmisher who packs a punch on charges and a caster who focuses on controlling the battlefield or buffing allies. If you're interested in a mounted archer build, I think that the master summoner subtype or a nature oracle would make for good builds. Keeping a fully developed eidolon out of melee so that you can shoot underwhelming arrows while mounted is not such a good idea.
On Ability Scores
There are a number of options depending on your combat preferences. I highly recommend starting with strength 13. It's a prerequisite for Power Attack. Furthermore, you really want to get to strength 14 as soon as you can. You'll be using two-handed weapons most of the time, so moving from 12 to 14 strength will boost you from +1 to +3 damage. If you start lower, you'll have to invest in a belt of giant's strength to get Power Attack. You're probably better off with a belt of constitution or, if you don't dislike the thought of a belt-wearing mount, a belt of strength on your eidolon. With a good skill list and only 2+INT skills per level, it's hard to take less than 12 intelligence.
I like the following for a 20-point build with a +1 to strength at level 4:
Str 15 (13) +7
Dex 13 (15) +3
Con 14 (14) +5
Int 12 (12) +2
Wis 7 ( 7) -4
Cha 15 (17) +7
For a little more combat resilience, drop the charisma to 16 and boost dexterity to 16. If you plan to focus on buffing instead of spells that require a save, you can drop charisma further still. You won't need it to be very high to cast all your spells and, since you'll be mounted, you will rarely use up your daily allotment of summon monster spell-like abilities. You can also invest as much as you want in a headband of charisma.
On Feats
I divide the feats into four groups: the mounted combat tree, damage-increasing feats, summoning feats, and utility feats. Most threads I've seen recommend the tree of mounted combat feats. These feats, however, are a bit too situational and not always the most useful. I don't recommend taking more than Mounted Combat.
Giddy up
Mounted Combat: I think this feat looks better on paper than it actually is. First, your GM will generally attack your summoner not the eidolon. You'll find you use it less frequently than you expected. Second, it doesn't scale particularly well. By level two, your eidolon will have an AC of 20 with mage armor. Depending on what you've invested in your ride skill and traits, you probably have a maximum ride check of around +10. Depending on your enemies' attack bonus, this will let you beat about a third of the melee attacks that hit your eidolon; pretty damned good, if anyone bothers to attack the eidolon. By level ten, even if you've invested between one-quarter and all of your skill points (depending on intelligence) in ride, you'll be dodging fewer attacks. Both the Eidolon AC and the attack bonus of enemies will be proportionally greater. That said, it's still a good feat and it works quite well against touch attacks. At the cost of a feat, trait, evolution, and a lot of skill points, however, it's probably overpriced.
Ride-by Attack: It's an already situational feat that you won't use too frequently. Worse, the consensus seems to be that your eidolon can't attack as part of the ride-by attack. It will be very rare, indeed, that you choose to forgo a full-attack pounce with your eidolon just to ride on by.
Spirited Charge: x3 damage with a lance is great. However, it costs three feats for something that you'll only get to use 1 to 3 times per encounter.
Kapow
If you follow the giddy up tree, you'll get Spirited Charge at level 5. A strength 14 fling charging with a lance will deal an average 19.5 points of damage with Spirited Charge: 3(1d6+3). With power attack and arcane strike, he will, at a -1 penalty to hit, deal an average 23 points of damage: 2(d6+3 [power attack] + 2 [arcane strike] + 3 [strength]). At most ACs, the EV of the Power Attack/Arcane strike will be higher. At level 6, the damage increases to 29 points. The feats are also more versatile and will be used a lot more frequently. Still, Power Attack and Spirited Charge combine quite nicely.
Power Attack: Great damage bonus, particularly on a charge with two-handed weapons. It's a feat that you'll want.
Arcane Strike: An underrated feat, methinks. Damage bonuses that scale with level and a feat that works with ranged and melee weapons. It also stacks with weapon enhancements and can give the occasional but critical DR-penetration to mundane weapons.
Martial Weapon Proficiency (Lance): Please find another way to gain proficiency. Heirloom weapon (make sure to take mend as a level 0 spell), a class dip, ioun stone, and a crafty gnome are all options.
From the depths of hell, I summon thee
All good feats. If you don't mind using a spell to summon your eidolon, these are particularly good. Try to summon and mount the eidolon just before combats, rather than during, if you can.
Spell Focus Conjuration: The summoner has a lot of good conjuration spells at a number of levels. This works well if you like the save-or-suck spells. Grease, glitter dust, and pits can really turn the tide of battle. At higher levels, you may prefer to use walls.
Augment Summoning: Nuff said.
Superior Summoning: I really like summoning multiple creatures. 1d3+1 creatures gives an average of three creatures. Even if weaker, three creatures can occupy more enemies than one and get a lot of AoO. I have a personal and unfulfilled goal to summon enough mud elementals to entangle, make helpless, and deliver a coup de grace to an enemy in a single summon.
Utility Belt
These are the utility feats that don't fall into the other categories. There are plenty of others. I like the first three.
Improved Initiative: I had to put it here. You really don't want your charge to miss. Ride past flat-footed meat-shields and splatter yourself a flat-footed caster.
Lucky Halfling: You're a halfling knight, plucky, courageous, and friendly. This is an appropriate and useful feat, given your high saves. If you're selfish, save it for your eidolon. If you're very selfish, dismiss your eidolon and save it for brainwashed or dead allies. Nothing brings out the adoration, love, and respect of your friends and allies like undoing a failed coup-de-grace fortitude save.
Resilient Eidolon: You've just charged the orc shaman gish, nearly scewering him to death. He swings his battle axe, tagging you in the face with a critical hit. You pass out and your eidolon disappears. Two-on-one against a near dead opponent can quickly turn into a dismissed eidolon and an angry enemy standing over a lonesome halfling. The quick coup de grace comes next. This feat will save you. I wish it was an eidolon feat.
Defensive Casting: You'll be in melee a lot. This saves you from having to quick-dismount to avoid an AoO when casting a spell. I wouldn't take it, but it's an option.
On Skills to Pay the Bills
Such a pretty skill list! You really want to max out ride...oh, and UMD...and spell craft. Don't forget some linguistics to tell your d3+1 earth elemental trap-finders to let you know if they tremor-sense any enemies or to glide through the dungeon walls and report back what's in the next room. It's worth putting at least a point in all of the knowledge skills too. You can never know too much and knowledge is half the battle. Perception, it's what's for dinner. With such high charisma and your natural halfling charm, you probably want some points in diplomacy too. You'll eventually be flying too, right?
Oh wait, you only get 1 to 4 skill points per level. So sad. You really need to let your eidolon deal with skills like perception, sense-motive, intimidate, and maybe one-or-two knowledge skills. If there's a wizard in your party, ignore spellcraft. If there's a cleric or druid, ignore UMD. It's painful, but so is having only 2+INT skills in a class that could otherwise dump intelligence. If you're not too concerned with using Mounted Combat, you probably still want +9 in ride to auto-pass your ride checks to attack. If you get to +13, consider dropping the mounted evolution and spending the point on something else.
On Multiclassing
In general, it's not recommended to multiclass with summoners. Both your spells and your eidolon will suffer for it. That said, you need a lance and would desperately like a bit more punch and survivability in melee. I think it's worth a one-level dip into barbarian or fighter. The boost to fortitude, access to mithril breast plate, higher BAB, and martial weapon proficiencies are great for your wee skirmisher. Level 2 is the time to take the dip into those icey waters, if you're so inclined. Level 4 will hurt when you look at all those nifty level 2 spells that you can't yet take. So will 7, 10, 13, and 15 for that matter. Level 5 will be all the sweeter though with a +4 BAB Power Attack charge and your second level spells. I don't much mind losing an eidolon level (see below). I also can't bring myself to spend a precious feat on a martial weapon proficiency.
Barbarian: Rage adds some vulnerability but a good damage boost and extra fun on charges. Two more skill points! One more hit point. Extra movement! If you take a second level, you can learn a nifty rage trick, rage a bit more, get two more skill points, and never get caught flat-footed. You may also want to consider a mounted barbarian for extra mounted speed or an urban barbarian for more conservative raging. The Extra Rage feat may be worth taking.
Fighter: A bonus feat is very useful. Dragoon is a good option if you plan to take combat riding. Heavy armor proficiency isn't useful. No extra hitpoints (d10/2 = d8/2+1) or skills. There's no reason to consider a second level.
Paladin: Good bonuses to attack from smite, hurray. Lawful halfling, boo. No sir, I don't like it.
On Eidolons
It's a mounted halfling summoner, not a halfling-mounted eidolon. The eidolon should complement the halfling, not the other way around. If you're interested in maxing DPS with the eidolon, I don't think you want a rider. Combat Riding seems like a nice defensive bonus, but having the summoner in combat adds another kink in the already weak armor of the various DPS-focused eidolon builds.
Evolutions like skilled, trip, and reach are good complements to the halfling. Defensive evolutions are not so important, since the halfling is the one with a big target on his back. I took toughness at level 1, but don't think it was a great choice, despite the eidolon's unpleasantly low number of hitpoints.
The really nice thing about eidolons is that you can play around with the build each level and figure out what you like. In that spirit, I recommend taking feats that are useful with a variety of builds.
On Combat Tactics
My preferred tactic is to take turn number 1 to set myself up to charge a caster or ranged-weapon specialist. If possible, I move a bit to the side to get a clear line and cast a combat control spell. At early levels, I like grease on a fighter or cleric's weapon or to block a hall or door. Pits work well, as does glitterdust, particularly for the weak-willed. At higher levels, you can use walls and not worry about saves or pits and not worry about SR. Stonewall and maze ignore both. During the first turn, the eidolon, with full ranks and an evolution in intimidate, demoralizes one of the spell's targets. Dazzling Display or Antagonize are useful eidolon feats for this first turn.
Pointless Rant:
Frustrated with no one attacking my eidolon and rarely using Mounted Combat, I looked into Antagonize. I checked the forums to see how people interpreted the loose-ended "[t]he effect ends if the creature is prevented from reaching you or attempting to do so would harm it..." I was pretty surprised to find a number of posts claiming how overpowered the feat is. With an effective range of 30 feet, a need to be able to communicate in order to antagonize, and the other restrictions, it's a pretty situational feat. Sure, a fighter can force a caster to melee attack and this puts said caster into a bad position and prevents the use of a spell for that round. Given the other actions available, however, this seems hardly overpowering. At level 3, a human summoner or any master summoner could surround that same caster with d3+1 riding dogs, that will maim, trip, and provide d3+1 AoO. Any archer build can unleash a full attack or attack whenever the caster tries to use any spells. A monk can dodge around meat shields and trip, grapple, or attack the caster. A fighter or barbarian, depending on the build, can ignore the meatshield's AoA's and charge or move and attack. Wizards, clerics, and druids have a host of options. If everything in the game is overpowered, nothing is. Antagonize is a situational feat. Usually, you'll have better things to do with your turn.
If you rolled well on initiative and have a clear charge line, it's often worth charging on the first round. You can't afford to waste spells on every encounter either. Against swarms and other specialized opponents, you may have to dismiss your mount--a sad state of affairs--and use your SLA--a happy state of affairs. Air elementals' whirlwind attack is particularly effective against fine and diminutive swarms. Your knowledge skills should come in handy here, but you'll need to know what summons work well against various SR, DR, or special defenses.
The eidolon and the summoner, since you probably can't afford to invest much in magic weapons, are particularly weak in melee against monsters with good DR. Drop them in a pit, blind them, cast haste, and otherwise find a way to help your team win. Charging into monsters and full BAB bosses is generally a poor idea. There are times, particularly in society play, however, when you have to play the tank. Dismount and let your eidolon go soak up the hits. When he falls below 0 hit-points, dismiss and summon something with as many hit points as you can get. A knight without his pony is better than a dead knight without his pony.
On other Tactics
With a shortage of skill points, the summoner needs to rely on SLA's and the eidolon for dungeon crawling, finding things, or doing most anything that doesn't involve knowledge checks. Your party needs to enter some castle unarmed? Stash their weapons in saddlebags on your eidolon and dismiss it. Summon when needed and arm yourselves. Likewise, it's fun to look through cracks or keyholes and summon creatures into locked rooms. Elementals are particularly useful servants that can deal with a lot of tricky situations, traps, and blocked passages. Learn the summon eidolon spell and you'll feel better about using SLA's out of combat.
On Equipment
Beyond the standard belts, headbands, and cloaks, I like the following items specifically for mounted summoners:
Scabbard of Vigor: After charging, you likely still need to fight in melee a bit. If you can afford any weapon enhancements, you probably want them on your lance. You also don't want to keep your distance, on account of the eidolon. This is a good and inexpensive way to boost damage with your secondary non-reach weapon when you get stuck in. Criss-crossed adamantium and cold-iron greatswords with scabbards of vigor are pretty cheap, relative to the benefits. I like +3 for 3 rounds.
Boots of Speed: Somewhat expensive, but stacks well with the scabbard of vigor and rage. To be an effective skirmisher, you need to do some damage when you strike. I'm not sure you want to be making full attacks much more than 10 rounds per day, so use it whenever you can.
Banners: I like all the banners except for swiftness. I think they're well-suited to the mounted halfling's style and swagger. For style points, I'm particularly fond of the banner of terror. That's right, cower before my 35 lbs.
Ring of Invisibility: For the buffing summoner, who wants to use Mounted Combat more often.
Ring of Retribution: Loads of fun once per day with fast movement and the immunity to fire evolution. At the GP price, 4 evolution points, and Aspect, this is probably better conceptually than tactically. Still, it's pretty funny and an immediate action that does 10d6 damage (with a reflex save for half) is nothing to sniff at. You probably only want to use immunity (or energy resistance to save evolution points) on either the summoner or the eidolon. Evasion and good reflex saves on the eidolon help.
Ioun Stones: I don't much care for the idea of my eidolon wearing belts, capes, or boots. Gag! I'll probably have to suck it up and buy him an amulet of mighty fists at some point in time and maybe even a ring of retribution. I don't, however, mind dozens of weird stones floating around my three-headed dog or rainbow colored dragon mount. This also gets around the shared slots problem. Check out the cracked stones. They're often pretty cheap for a decent bonus.
On Ugly Cousins
If you've seen Leprechaun in the Hood or eaten a bowl of Lucky Charms, you know who I'm talking about. Gnomes make good mounted summoners too. Master Tinker is an easy way to get all the weapons you'll need without dipping into another class. The +2 constitution is as good or better than the +2 dexterity.
Dervish Dancers like the Dervish in complete warrior and the Dervish of Sarenrae are built to use two-weapon fighting. The Dervish Dance feat below only allows one-handed fighting.
Feat: Dervish Dance
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform
(dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar.
This feat allows a character to add dex to attack and damage with scimitar when in one hand.
Would the creation of the feat below Improved Dervish Dance be too powerful or overbalancing?
Feat: Improved Dervish Dance [Combat]
Prerequisites: Dex 17, Dervish Dance, Perform (dance) 4 ranks
Benefit: When wielding a scimitar in each hand, you can
use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier
on melee attacks and damage rolls. The scimitars must be for a creature of your size.
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