16th level is a fantastic level to try out a hybrid build that takes a while to get going normally. Eldritch Archer and Dragon Disciple are a couple builds that get really cool up around those levels and can do some exceptionally funky stuff.
Abjurant Champion.....ahhhh those were the days. Of course, it was good but not AS good without using Wraithstrike as a spell. That spell was so fun with the 3.5 Power Attack. War Weaver: The best buffer character ever. You were the ultimate enabler of your group, and it was amazing. Suel Arcanamach: ASF reduction, cool spells, cool abilities, awesome flavor. Spellsword: Why are there no classes that give permanent, flat reductions to ASF in Pathfinder? I agree with Knight of the Raven and Swiftblade, which were already mentioned. Two little known gems: Jaunter: a 5 level PrC from an obscure source that gave really cool teleportation based powers. So cool. Knight Phantom was basically a re-skinned Eldritch Knight with much cooler powers and much cooler flavor. So awesome.
Edit: Bleh...nevermind. I hope your group enjoys your houserules.
So you're taking more player options away from the players and putting them under DM control? If that's fun for you and your group, more power to you guys. The knowledge skills are extremely important to the game, and there is really nothing wrong with players initiating the checks. For example, if I role play a character who studies religion...and yet I haven't read everything about the Gods of Golarion....I'm going to be asking for a lot of knowledge checks. It'd be the same thing if I roleplayed a Professor of Psychology (hint: I'm not a professor of psychology)...I'd need to use knowledge rolls frequently to see the difference between what my character knows and what I know as a player. Of course this involves the meta-game, but it HAS to. We're not medieval fantasy characters who have spent their lives devoted to things that...well...don't exist in our world. We have to use the knowledge checks to figure out what we know and what we don't. To simply take that away or only use it when you feel like it as a DM just seems wrong. And if you have a huge issue with item creation, just ban it. The feats themselves represent your character's ability to figure out how to make the items in question, especially in conjunction with spells involved and whatnot. It's why there is a spellcraft check involved...it represents your ability to figure it out and make it work. Someone who is pretty well trained in carpentry can probably figure out how to build a nice back-porch, even if they've never done it or seen one before. If they try to get fancy, it's a higher check and demands more aptitude on their part...same with item crafting.
Ranger (Trapper - Guide) 1/Wizard (Transmuter 5)/Eldritch Knight 10/Arcane Archer 4 Starting at 8 is right around where this starts to get beastly. The ranger level is there so you can be the group's trapfinder, if needed. If that's not needed, it might be better to take 1 level of Fighter to start the build. By the end of the build you end up with 9th level spells and 17 BAB....something you won't come close to accomplishing without prestige classes. Also, it looks like your group could use some Ranged support, and this can fill that role. If you want to avoid prestige classes, I'd still recommend an Archer build for the group you're playing with.
The group I'm in uses and loves both the Critical Hits and Fumble decks. For whatever that's worth. I find it makes the game more fun (and I attack roll based characters), but YMMV. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as people are making it out to be. I suggest trying the decks out and deciding after you've actually seen them in play for a while.
Ranger 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 10/Arcane Archer 4 works well as an overall build if you want better spellcasting. You can stagger the AA levels in as pointed out earlier around 10-13 if you really want those abilities. Otherwise, Ranger 6/Wizard 1/Arcane Archer 3/Eldritch Knight 10 works really well, too.
Things don't get saves unless they "interact" with the illusion, so there are many uses for an illusion that are amazing, and that can influence creatures to do things before they ever get a chance to "interact" with the illusion and even get a save. For example, if you make an illusion of a giant lock and chains on a door, enemies may not even try to use it, thus never even getting a save. You've just taken away their ability to retreat with no save. I find it more useful when I have time to prepare, as most DMs will give creatures saves to disbelieve if something just appears or happens (especially without sound when it probably should have sound). If goblins run into a room and see a dude just leaning against a wall smiling and waving at them, they won't get a save until after they've rushed up and "interacted with him in some way. The big warning here is that DMs all tend to adjudicate illusions slightly differently. What counts as interaction will sometimes be a fluid definition as opposed to something you can always rely on when you cast an illusion.
Totally agree with Tels. Most players (and even the whole group in my experience) have enjoyed moments where people fall to Suggestion or other mind control (suggestion is the most fun, in my opinion, as it lets the player keep control, but really they're playing for the DM). You get the element of fear an suspense that isn't there versus NPCs....and nothing beats one player rolling while looking at his friend sadly and saying, "I'm so sorry, bro..." Situations like that are memorable, tense, and dramatic when done by a group with a good dynamic who enjoys the game. If you have a bunch of entitled neckbeards who only feel good about their lives through their PCs....well....then I'd avoid mind control in your games.
If the DC of your spells is based off of Intelligence, that's all I'd worry about. Maybe the character turned to Enchantment magic BECAUSE he only had a 10 charisma and people didn't really respond to him the way he would like....
Hire a team of rouges to steal me even more infinate amounts of money, as I screamed "To Infinaty and beyond!" from atop my Simian Wonder Castle. On a serious note, I'd get the absolute best magical gear in the game, hire the best army money could buy, and just start going around killing evil leaders and installing puppet regimes in their places, with agendas more amenable to my own plans.
I like Pathfinder. I also generally enjoy these forums. I usually just stop reading threads that degenerate into arguments (and have been trying to actively avoid getting involved in any as of late). However, I think there are more people out there who are good roll-players AND good role-players then people realize. However, it is the internet, and people are going to take shots at each other. Doesn't make it right, but it's certainly not constrained to roll/role problems. It happens with casters/martial, guns/no guns, houserules and different variants, RAW/RAI..... Just try not to take it personally.
What self-respecting Rogue doesn't have a sliver of adamantine hidden inside his own flesh that he can use his fingernails/teeth to claw out? Jeesh. Once you bite your arm open and get the adamantine, no lock (or even bars) is gonna stand in your way if you have a lil time.
I just want SOMEONE to make a Final Fantasy: Tactics style game using d20. It should, in theory, be super easy to do, and it would be fairly simple to stay faithful to the rules and really make it like a turn based dungeon crawl. It'd be awesome.
The witch's actions require standards to start, and investing move actions is still a large chunk per turn (especially on a Witch who is probably squishy and needs to maneuver to stay within 30' to make her hexes useful anyhow.) Not to mention Cackle only works on creatures within 30', so to even extend it the Witch may have to spend a move to get in range then another move to Cackle. Also, Misfortune from the witch affords a will save to cancel it. Also, you must invest in 3 hexes to get all of these affects, which means feats and/or more levels, which makes it more costly than the Oracle's ability. So, to recap, this Witch version requires a Standard action, affords a will save, and the witch must use move actions to maintain it, all while staying within 30'. Plus you can only target the creature once, whether they make the save or not. This makes it way harder to set up and have ready to go with an SoS spell as the Witch has to land her Hex first, and the other caster may be delaying to wait for that (an action that might not even cause a reroll in the first place due to a will save). The Oracle on the other hand does this automatically, no save, doesn't have to spend a move or a standard on any turn to get the effect in place, and can also use it on allies if needed. The two abilities aren't even close to equal. While the Witch's does scale with level and become even better, it will always afford a save and require a standard to activate. An Oracle with SoS spells can simply GO on round one with its version of Misfortune. At higher levels, combine it with Quickened Ill Omen and Persistent Spells. Witch's can do that last bit as well, but my thoughts on Ill Omen are a different can of worms.
Ok, I'll bite the bullet and go first: Group Grade for the Day: B
Individual Ranks: 1: Oracle
2: Monk
3: Wizard
4: Sorcerer
Note: I was torn on the wizard and sorcerer rankings. I like the sorcerers chances to contribute with those ranged attacks, to be honest, but the one good SoS from the wizard AND his ability to try to provide flank was what very slightly gave him the edge. I thought the SoS and the Sorc's better ranged attacks were even, in my mind....so, as strange as it is, just the wizard's ability to get in flank was the difference for this encounter day. The rest of the rankings were clear cut and easy for me. I hope this was what we're looking for from the judge section. Let me know if I need something more or did something incorrectly. I'm open for discussion at this point, though attempts at shouting at me to try and get me to change my rankings will be met with derision and scorn :p Edit: For what it's worth, and I do not mean this in any way as an insult or to be offensive to anyone...I think this actual party would get TPK'd over the course of the actual AP. Just thinking ahead to the encounters later....and it scares me. That said, I can't wait to really see what you guys all come up with, and I hope y'all convince me otherwise. (I'm not saying that as a bias, just looking forward in an abstract sense).
I appreciate the citations and credit given, but I've had tons of help over the span of months in terms of people on these boards helping refine issues with this build (there's a lot of moving parts, so it's easy to fiddle with!) Most importantly though, I'm glad someone's having fun with my favorite style of character! I see you decided to go more hybrid. I usually run this as more of an Archer first, out of combat caster for versatility and awesomeness second. In fact, in my feat progressions I almost never pick up a Metamagic feat until Quicken Spell wayyyyy later on in the build. As you mentioned, I prefer to Craft, if given the chance, as that boosts my own power considerably AND the whole group's power. -I prefer using Greater Magic Weapon to slowly up the enhancement on my bow while devoting my money to stacking abilities on instead of enhancement bonuses. At twelfth level my bow (if I had a +6 base bow as you do) has me at a +3 Corrosive Holy Seeking Electric Longbow. This nets me an additional +2 worth of enhancements over yours at a loss of only 1 attack bonus and one damage (which really isn't a loss considering what I gain). You can, of course, play with which enhancements you prefer. I like Holy as it doesn't get resisted, though it is fairly "all or nothing". Most campaigns I play in we fight evil, though, so it is what it is. Holy also overcomes alignment based DR on some big ol baddies. In our campaigns, Seeking nullifies Mirror Image, and considering one big con of this build is that it doesn't get Improved Precise Shot as early as other archers, I like the other things the Seeking enhancement gets me, too. -Weapon Blanch NEEDS to be mentioned when talking about archer builds. Get to know it. Use it. You need to have arrows ready for ANYTHING you encounter, like a Batman style character. A couple real adamantine arrows to break things from a distance, blunt arrows for skeletons and such, silver blanch'd arrows, adamantine blanch'd arrows for constructs and stoneskin. Also, use cold iron as your base arrows as it costs next to nothing and is big for overcoming DR. With all this stuff, Clustered Shots becomes more optional as a feat, too. -Don't bother with the Ring of Feather Falling, save up for a ring of counterspells to help protect against dispel magic instead. -Armor isn't going to be your best defense. Just get a lesser rod of extend, use it on Mage Armor, and use all the money you dropped on +5 bracers of armor toward other things, such as a glove of storing (to protect from sunder etc.), Pearls of Power for common low level buffs of shorter duration (gravity bow, shield, etc.), Handy Haversack (super important with all the arrows you need to carry as you fire so many per round). Same thing goes with the Amulet of Natural Armor. If you are under attack, use Mirror Image or Invisibility of some kind. Generally you see this coming, as an archer you're not front-line. This leads to being a super glass-cannon, but it never really came back to bite me! Boots of Haste are a must. Don't waste actions casting Haste. Everyone who does full attacks should have these as soon as possible (this is where crafting also helps). Don't forget about scrolls...they GREATLY increase your out of combat versatility. -Your buff spell list needs work. Darkvision is important as a human, and last 1 hour/level as a 2nd level spell. Cat's Grace isn't needed with Dex items, which you should rely on. Once you get Dex items, drop your Transmutation boost into Con. You're missing regular Heroism, which is super, super important and lasts a long time. Stoneskin is another awesome buff later on. Flame Arrows is a big boost to damage with a great duration (and technically stacks with even the Flaming weapon enhancement). Magic Circle vs. Evil is also a great buff, and can replace some of the money spent on a Ring of Protection (as well as protects against mind control!). -The Fireball stuff: Your DC isn't going to be hugely high, the damage is capped at an average of 35, and fire resistance is really common at high levels. Why not spend the swift action on Arcane Strike to do +5 damage per arrow? If you hit 4 times (fairly common as you get 4 attacks at your highest, counting manyshot, haste, rapid shot) you do 20 damage...no save...no resistance. Any other attacks just make it more worthwhile. Plus, it opens up those spellslots. With the volume of attacks you make, it's important to remember that every 1 point of damage you add to attacks can actually be 4 or 5 points of damage. For this reason, take every little point you can. Weapon Specialization is 2 per attack. Greater Bracers of Archery are awesome, and another 1 per attack. Getting 14 in Str instead of 16 in Int is another 2 damage per attack. That's an easy 5 damage per attack, which can actually end up being 25 more damage in a round. That matters fairly often. -You eventually qualify for greater weapon focus, and are already on the lower BAB than many archer builds. I'd scratch and claw for any +1 I could get at all. Whew. All that said, I like that you've put your own spin on it. It's definitely more war-wizardish and blasty. I normally make necromancy and evocation my opposed schools as they have the fewest buffs I feel I really need (I do miss False Life, though later on in the build I would often spend two 4th level slots to be able to cast Greater False Life.) Last bit of advice: Don't rely on minute buffs. They're gravy if you have time to get them up, but many times you'll be fighting without them unless you KNOW your DM basically just does dungeon crawls. Rods of Extend and 10 min./level or hour/level spells are hugely important to this concept. Magical Knack: Just improves your Caster Level, so things like damage dice and duration. Doesn't give more spellslots or THAT kind of advancement. That said, you're down 3 CLs by 20th, so an orange ioun stone is needed if the 20th caster level means anything to you (it does for me since I use Arcane Strike every round and Greater Magic Weapon). It's another reason why I hold off so long on Arcane Archer levels, since until you take that first level in AA, you're of CL equal to your level thanks to Magical Knack. Edit: One last, strange note. I played this character through Rise of the Runelords. Here there may be something spoilery, so I will block it off:
On being Sadistic:
There is a specific style of weapon enhancement introduced, Runeforged Weapons. The "sadistic" runeforged weapon is AMAZING for an Eldritch Archer. It is a get out of jail free card against one dispel attempt per day, and it also functions as a bane weapon against any creature with an active abjuration effect up (read: pretty much all casters). I dunno if you'd ever be able to get it in a game or not, but I figure it's worth mentioning. Edit 2: One last other note. If you're allowed to use Emergency Force Sphere in your game (from the Cheliax supplement), it's one of the most hilarious (and one of the few decent) uses of Imbue Arrow. Just aim it at the feet of someone you want to "bubble" out of a fight for a good few rounds. It's also pretty nifty to have around just in case. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/emergency-force-sphere
Could you post a full build? As it stands, you're just saying it does stuff without saying what is actually doing the 'stuff'. If that's directed at me, sure. Here's Ek the Archer at level 11. It's a good level for him as he gets some feats and 5th level spells (Overland Flight and Teleport are BIG spells in terms of out of combat versatility, team benefit, and also...flying all day = win for a good archer unless all you do is play in ten foot tall corridors). Keep in mind this is done at 15 point buy (just to avoid having to do it later for the negative nancys out there). He gets better with more points as he can be somewhat MAD. Ek the Archer: Ek the Archer Human Lore Warden 1/Wizard (Transmuter) 5/Eldritch Knight 5 Neutral Medium Human Initiative +12 Senses Perception +21, Sense Motive +19 Darkvision 60' Defenses
Offense
Statistics
Racial Trait(s): Extra Skill Point per level, extra feat at first level Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow), Scribe Scroll, Rapid Shot, Arcane Strike, Craft Wondrous Item, Deadly Aim, Improved Initiative, Manyshot, Weapon Specialization (Longbow), Clustered Shots, Alertness (from Ioun Stone) Language(s): Common, Elven, Draconic, Giant, Thassilonian Wizard Powers: Bonded Item (Composite Longbow: Str 3), Bonded Item spontaneous spell 1/day, Telekinetic Fist (6/day), Physical Enhancement +2 (applied to Strength), Opposed Schools: Evocation, Necromancy
Skills: (+2 all skills from Heroism not included) Spellcraft +17, Knowledge Arcana +17, Knowledge Nature +10, Knowledge Religion +10, Knowledge Planes +10, Knowledge Dungeoneering +10, Knowledge Engineering +7, Knowledge History +12, Knowledge Geography +7, Knowledge Local +7, Fly +10 (+5 additional when using Overland Flight), Linguistics +9, Craft (Bows and Arrows) +7 (+5 additional if using Crafter’s Fortune), Sense Motive +19, Perception +21 Traits: Adopted (Elf) [Warrior of Old: +2 Initiative], Magical Knack: +2 caster level up to HD Spells Prepared:
Equipment:
All arrows are cold iron to start with, but Ek also packs blunt arrows and an assortment of arrows that have weapon blanch (a bunch of silver blanched arrows and a bunch of adamantine blanched arrows) He crafts the cold iron arrows in downtime on the road or on watch or whatnot as the DC and cost are both very low. He also carries a couple of real adamantine arrows, as one can never be sure when a chain needs to be broken from a distance to drop a chandelier on someone.
Lore Warden because, well, you don't need heavy armor or shield proficiencies, and it lets you grab two extra skill points. It's a really minor benefit, to be honest, but...it fits the idea of the character and grabs you those two extra skill points. Early levels are certainly not THE BEST with this build, though with intelligent play you are still pretty good. At first level, you're a fighter with a bow...after that you can still shoot your bow at about the same level as a bard or whatever 3/4 BAB class (see...it's not THAT bad). You'll want to avoid spells that focus on making enemies save, but there are plenty of other really good spells you can use as an (almost) full wizard early on, too. Really, you're good at 1st, decent 2-8, and scale REALLY quickly after that to the point of ridiculousness. Feats aren't that tight as a human, considering you get the fighter bonus, scribe scroll and a craft feat for free from wizard, and then three freebies from EK. You also end up with pretty awesome skills (by the end you have all the Knowledges available, Sense Motive, Perception, Spellcraft, Stealth, etc.) If you start as a human with 14 Int, you get 5 skills per level, plus whatever you decide to put on Headbands of Int when you craft them (so a few more maxed skills, basically) Also, you're DEFINITELY an archer who uses spells to buff and for versatility outside of combat. The biggest downside is that people are just going to ignore you at the playing table when you try to tell them what buffs you have on (it gets to be a lot), especially if your group plays a lot of dungeon crawls where you know combat is coming (this character OWNS in that setting, but is less effective, though still good, in campaigns where you NEVER know when combat will happen).
Sounds good to me. So encounter day 1 is the series of fights in the festival, correct? I have all the books, so I will have to look back through at the fights to really gauge what players are saying they will do. This is a really interesting idea. Looking forward to contributing. Edit: It'd be great if someone could copy and paste the players' responses for a specific encounter day into one post in spoiler blocks after all 4 have posted. Maybe you could do that as MC, ciretose? Otherwise it's gonna be a slog to find 'em all and try to figure out how they all fit together.
3-5 people. 3 people can make a well-rounded enough party that I'm not gimped as a GM. 2 people have a hard time with this, and, usually, I end up having to run DMPCs, which I detest at this point. 4 people can make an iconic party, and is a good medium amount where roles are covered, yet there is room for good roleplay and everyone gets to shine. 5 people is really nice simply because it's still small enough to handle, and because of the number, people can make really specialized characters to really suit their vision without gimping a small group that is strongly relying on them to fill some iconic role. 6 starts getting to bogged down in a rules heavy system. Also, people don't get to shine all the time, side conversations are more likely, etc.
Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 10/Arcane Archer 4 is generally the way to roll in terms of a build skeleton. For Wizard, transmuter is definitely the right choice, as the +2 you get to a physical ability score from your wizard levels can be a huge benefit. I would flip your Strength and Con. You're a damage dealer, and a ranged one at that. When you get a Dex item, you can use the transmuter boost on Con to grab extra hp and a boost to saves, or add it to strength to boost your damage a tiny bit. Dropping Necromancy and Evocation work the best for a build like this, in my opinion. An arcane bonded ring is a good option. You'll want to have a ring of coutnerspells with dispel magic loaded into it when possible, as you'll rely heavily on pre-buffs for much of your effectiveness. For feats, I'd use your bonus feat at Wizard 5 (character level 6) to grab either Craft Wondrous or Craft Arms and Armor. Since you're spending a feat on one of those, see if another caster in the group can pick up the other.
Weapon Blanch from the APG alchemical items is a godsend to archers. Also, you can afford to use only cold iron arrows as your base arrow pretty much from level one. You'd be surprised how often that will rule. Carrying a bunch of weapon blanch'd (adamantine) arrows as soon as you can afford some is much cheaper than buying actual adamantine arrows. However, grab a couple adamantine arrows in case you ever need to shoot locks off or sever chains from a distance or anything like that. Doesn't always happen, but when it does everyone will look at you in awe as you one shot steel chains holding up bridges and chandeliers with your arrows that ignore hardness. Also, the APG has blunt arrows. Being able to switch between dealing Bludgeoning or Piercing damage with ranged attacks is very important in some situations. High Int, a couple ranks in Craft (Bows and Arrows), and the first level spell Crafter's Fortune will let you make arrows easily, and most DM's just see what score you can achieve on that easily and simply assume you're doing it extremely cheaply in the downtime of the campaign. With your fairly high number of skill points from being human and having high Int, you can get fairly Rangery...Arcane Archer eventually gets Stealth and Perception as class skills, and Eldritch Knight has Sense Motive. Your wisdom isn't fantastic, but you can get pretty good at these skills (and eyes of the eagle and an ioun stone of alertness also help with these). Bonuses to Stealth are also fairly easy to come by. Don't forget that Int headbands can be crafted with whatever skills you want attuned to them as well, so something like Stealth later in your build when you can afford it is a cool choice for the headbands you'll inevitably want. Grabbing a point in each Knowledge skill you're not overly specializing in is always fun too. At least you get to roll a lot, and you never know what you'll come up with at times. With all your arrows and magic and skills, you can really make a cross between Batman and Hawkeye. I've very much enjoyed playing characters who were exactly like that in the past. You're dead on with the traits. If you want a lil more flavor, you can always take "adopted - elven" and grab "warrior of old" for the same mechanical outcome, but a possible backstory that explains your casting and archery proclivities and magical knack as a human. The Holy enchantment can be DEVESTATING on an archer in a campaign where you fight many evil things. Due to your high volume of attacks, adding +2d6 that isn't subject to any DR shoots your damage through the roof. Stacking other elemental enhancements is nice too, but you run into lots of stuff later in the game that resists the common ones. If you pick one, start with corrosive. You'll have fire covered with the third level spell Flame Arrows (which lasts for 10 min/level and is great for the style character you're thinking of). I'm also a fan of the Seeking enhancement, especially if your DM rules that it ignores Mirror Image. A +1 Bow is pretty much fine. Give it enhancements and then up the numerical bonus with Greater Magic Weapon. (On that note, a lesser rod of extend is awesome in the mid levels to make GMW and Mage Armor last all day.) I wouldn't bother with armor. Just try to stay out of the way, and if you are in an area where trouble may occur, remember to drop shield. With Mage Armor, Shield, and your Dex, your AC shouldn't actually be that bad. Mirror Image is also incredibly effective. Boots of Haste as soon as you can afford them and get your grubby hands on them. Can't think of anything else at the moment that's not really common sense, like "really look through and choose efficient long duration buffs when possible...Darkvision is a great second level spell for a human archer." Hope something in there is helpful. Edit: Advance Warning - you're not really going to be all that great (though you'll be a decently functioning low level caster) until around level 7 or so. Then, pretty much by level 10 your groupmates are going to be looking at you when you drop multiple hundreds of damage on something and going..."Uhh, where the heck did that come from? A few levels ago you were pinging away one shot at a time for like 14 damage."
So I am DMing the Sins of the Saviors leg of the campaign for our group. I'm prepping the Runeforge (the group just defeated the Old White, though with some difficulty...2 deaths averted only by hero points) and I couldn't help but look at Athroxis and realize how much she had lost out in the 3.5 ---> Pathfinder conversion over the years. I've redone her, keeping her as a level 15 character, but bringing her into the Pathfinder fold and really focusing on strengthening her damage and survival capacity. After I did my best with it, I realized that it would probably be overkill to keep the demon around. As some sort of compensation I traded around some equipment and gave Athroxis a little more money to play with (without overwealthing the party...just tacked a few things on her bonded ring). I'm really looking for all y'all's thoughts about the rebuild. I'm worried she's going to annihilate a few characters, but I also don't believe in softballing the bad guys once you get towards the mid-high levels. The group is also 5 to 6 people, all level 13, with a a HUGE point buy at character creation and everyone is well above recommended wealth per level. Highlady Athroxis:
Highlady Athroxis CR 15
Defense AC 34, touch 16, flat-footed 30 (6 mirror images) (melee hitters take 1d6+15 cold, half damage from fire, none with Reflex save); 38 AC with Combat Expertise
Offense
Melee +3 flaming ranseur +31/+31/+26/+21 (1d10+18/19–20 plus 1d6 fire)
Ranged Touch: +21 Touch: +26
Spells Prepared (CL 13)
Prohibited Schools abjuration and conjuration Tactics Before Combat: Athroxis starts each day by casting Greater Magic Weapon on her Ranseur and Armor Spikes, Overland Flight, and Greater False Life. Once she realizes the PCs are in the Halls of Wrath, she casts See Invisibility and Keen Edge (both armor spikes and ranseur), and Comprehend Languages. As soon as the fight in the previous room ends and Athroxis has watched the PCs, she begins buffing for their arrival. How many rounds they take determines how many buffs she casts. (She uses Arcane Armor Mastery to reduce her ASF to 5%. If she is unlucky and fails to cast one of the spells below, she uses her Arcane Bond ability to spontaneously cast it again.): 1: Giant Form 2: Greater Heroism 3: Mirror Image 4: Bear’s Endurance 5: Bull’s Strength 6: Cat’s Grace 7: Owl’s Wisdom 8: Anticipate Peril 9: If the PCs have not arrived yet, she once again watches them, waiting until they enter the teleporter to cast Haste. These buffs are already included in her statistics. If the group delays long enough that she Athroxis thinks her buffs might end, she moves into the transporter and attacks them where they are, casting Greater Invisibility and Haste just before doing so. She is not a patient woman. During Combat: In the form of a female fire giant, Athroxis tries to maintain ranged superiority and incinerate the PCs with Scorching Ray spells, all while screaming at them and taunting them in Thassilonian. In the first round of combat she activates her Flame Shield. In the event that PCs end up clustered near her, she uses an Empowered Still Detonate, trusting her resistances to take most of the sting out of it. If her mirror images run low, she uses her still quickened mirror image spell to reset them. If things get really desperate, she may try to use Quickened Still Vanish to escape PCs that can’t see invisible creatures and regain a favorable position. Wall of Force is used to try and separate the PCs into more easily handled groups, and Wind Wall is cast if there is a ranged threat in the group. If she gets the chance (and it strategically makes sense), Athroxis will use Vampiric Touch on a very wounded or even unconscious PC to finish them off in front of the rest of the group, as well as reset her Temp HP buffer.
If a Greater Dispel Magic is used on her she gets EXTREMELY angry and begins to scream about how much it cost her just to get one of the other wizards from a different faction to cast that into her Bonded Ring, continuing on into a tirade against people who use Abjuration magic, making references to how many people she killed and the damage she personally caused when the factions temporarily banded together to take down the fools in the Abjurant Halls of Envy. Anyone who targets her with Abjuration magic instantly becomes the object of her wrath.
Statistics Str 26, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 24, Wis 14, Cha 7
Feats: Scribe Scroll, Weapon Focus [Ranseur], Improved Initiative, Combat Expertise, Quicken Spell, Combat Reflexes, Greater Weapon Focus [Ranseur], Weapon Specialization [Ranseur], Empower Spell, Toughness, Eschew Materials, Arcane Armor Training, Arcane Armor Mastery, Still Spell, Spell Perfection [Scorching Ray] Skills: Knowledge: Arcane +30, Knowledge: Planes +30, Spellcraft +30, Sense Motive +25, Perception +22, Fly +26, Knowledge: Nobility +30, Appraise +30 Languages: Draconic, Infernal, Thassilonian, Giant SQ mark of wrath, arcane bond: ring Combat Gear: Wand of clairvoyance/clairaudience (14 charges); Other Gear +4 mithral full plate(tinted red), Masterwork Armor Spikes in the shape of tongues of flame coming off her armor(tinted orange and yellow), +1 flaming ranseur, amulet of natural armor +2, headband of intellect +4 (Knw: Nobility and Appraise), Bonded Item: ring of counterspells (greater dispel magic) and protection +2, scarf of resistance +2 (takes cloak slot), spellbook, ivory statuette of herself worth 1500 gp, 150 gp worth of Detonate components Special Abilities Mark of Wrath (Su) Highlady Athroxis wears the mark of her rulership on her flesh—a faintly glowing tattoo-like rune on her forehead that moves through the generations from one ruler to the next. The mark of wrath provides her with a +1 insight bonus to AC and on attack and damage rolls. Once per day as a swift action, she can call upon the mark to protect her with a fire shield (CL 15th). If she is slain in combat, the mark of wrath transfers to the brow of her defeater. It can only be transferred again on that character’s death at the hands of another, but can be removed with a successful break enchantment against CL 20th. Once removed in this manner, it vanishes forever. Intense Spells (Su) Athroxis adds +2 damage to any evocation spell that deals damage, but only once per spell. Versatile Evocation (Su) When Athroxis casts an Evocation spell that does acid, fire, cold, or electricity damage she may change the damage dealt to any other one of the four energy types. Athroxis may use this ability 10 times per day. Feat planning, just to make sure it all works and makes sense:
Thanks ahead of time!
Even animals should be smart enough to be able to stay out of range of a threat. And that's what, 2 intelligence? No, it's a 10-13 wisdom.
If wielding a bow requires two hands, you could never draw arrows to shoot them. That's just the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Seriously, is anyone arguing that a bow must be wielded in both hands even THINKING? I understand it's listed as a two-hand weapon, because it requires both hands to fire. But if you've ever seen a bow fired, you know that it only takes one hand to hold while the other works independently. This would make it easy enough to cast spells. Also, as Dragonborn said, just say you're using it as an improvised club and your fine.
Build: Human Fighter 1/Transmuter 5/Eldritch Knight 3/Arcane Archer 3/Eldritch Knight +7/Arcane Archer +1 Traits: Adopted (Elf) which lets you also choose an Elven trait...I'd go with Warrior of Old. 2nd Trait = Magical Knack. Feats: 1 – Weapon Focus
Bonded Object: Ring (A bow is just asking to be sundered, which would gimp you in every possible way...such a scary thought) -Using Craft Magic Arms and Armor lets you make your bows at half price anyhow, as well as really benefits your entire group, money-wise.
Hope that helps with some ideas.
I'm playing this exact build right now.
Traits: Magical Knack and Warrior of Old In my campaign I'm a Human raised by elves (I actually have the Adopted trait and then Warrior of Old), so I'm being allowed into Arcane Archer. Bonded item: Ring (I took craft magic arms and armor at 6th with my bonus wizard feat, so I can make my bows at half price anyhow...this is good as otherwise every time you up your strength you would need a new composite longbow of the right strength mod. And always remember, you get Greater Magic Weapon, so all you need is a +1 Bow with every elemental enchantment on it...and you even get one of those free with AA 3...so perhaps +1 Corrosive Shocking Frost Ghost Touch and then just the AA elemental ability for Flaming and GMW to make it +5 eventually. Saves some serious cash for other items.) Specialization school: Transmutation. That bonus to an ability score really helps at lower levels, which is really the only place you need it with this build. Also, the spells are better for you, and you won't be sucking it up by memming a conjuration spell at some levels that isn't totally ideal for you. Restricted Schools: Evocation and Necromancy. Not much for you in either place. Your DCs will be low, and you'll do more damage full attacking than imbuing crap onto your arrows. Enchantment has some decent buffs (Heroism is awesome and helps make up for the early lost BAB, as well as really helping with Saves). Also, the teleportation option from the focused conjuration school functions like Dimension Door, which means if you use it, you're done for the turn. This does not make it that handy for teleporting in order to then take a full attack. It really limits its usefulness. Especially limited if you only ever take 5 levels of Wizard. Ability Scores: Dex first, Str second, and a 14 in Int to start is really all you need. End Result: You're going to have 17 BAB and 17 wizard casting levels (CL 20 with Magical Knack and an orange ioun stone at higher levels), which means Full iterative attacks and 9th level spells. You're not going to be a primary caster, as you'll be 3 levels behind the curve, but you'll be a damn fine damage dealer and secondary caster. Trick: The best use of Imbue Arrow is with Anti-Magic Field at later levels. Just hoses certain enemies. Other than that, it's really not even that useful, but you need those AA levels to get to 17/17 anyway. Hope some of that helps.
Mage Armor is not a personal spell, nor was it in 3.5. That's why it even has a Mass version later on. Correcting people is fine, but don't tell people to hit the rulebook when you have the rules wrong. Also, Shield spell is +4 Shield bonus, not +2. Shield, however, is personal only. Protection from Evil is a real good one. Enlarge Person hurts AC, but is awesome. |
