Magic must exist in the world, but sentient races are deemed unfit to wield magic (both divine and arcane) by the gods. In that same motion, the ebb and flow of arcane and divine energies must manifest themselves in different ways as either a side effect or a law of balance. Henceforth, the gods bestowed upon the natural creatures of the world with all manner of fantastic powers along with the instincts to use them. Without ambition, the animals make use of their powers to survive, but are not corrupted by the power they wield. Entire ecosystems radically change to acommodate the repurposed creatures of the Material Plane. In a world where true power is held by nature itself, the sentient races try to come to terms with two forces that were once under their control. Some have deemed this a time to defy the gods openly, and bring both nature and magic back into their grasps by any means necessary. However, a few individuals have come to the natural and arcane as friends, guardians, or even servants. They throw themselves to this new paradigm with a show of humility, trust, and restraint. As a result, some of these animals have bonded with these individuals. Thus, the first trainers of Golarion are made manifest. With love and respect, these trainers entreat these majestic beasts to perform amazing feats of power. Through their bonds, both man and beast teach one another. Welcome to the world of Golarion, the world of Pokemon.
1st Class) Cavalier 4/ Druid 16
End result: 3 wolf companions, 2 being actual wolves, and 1 being a nightmarish epitomy of lupine ferocity. Also tons of castings of arcane and divine spells per day, to summon MOAR wolves, and then turn into a wolf yourself. I repeat, must have MOAR WOLVES.
Do you have any idea how much I love you right now?? Whether you were serious about your post or not, it gave me an idea for an alchemist with access to the Monstrous Physique I extracts and potions, along with the Extend and Eternal Potion discoveries, to be in the form of a Kappa (small monstrous humanoid that's basically a humanoid turtle) for long periods of time (eventually permanent). Not to mention it will have access to MUTAGENS. What mutant turtle isn't complete without mutagenic ooze, after all? Also, if you're not particular about what exactly is a mutant turtle, you can alway get a turtle animal companion and have anthropomorphic animal casted upon it. Might be dumb as hell, but if you can get it to 3 int, Improved unarmed strike would be a nice addition. Teach the poor thing to squawk simple phrases like 'Pizza!' and 'Cowabunga!'.
I was looking through some of the spells for a sorceror, and I started to look at Detect Thoughts, when I came across something a bit funny about it. The material component for Detect Thoughts is a copper piece! Well, what's so funny about that?? A copper piece is akin to a penny. "A penny for your thoughts?" HAR HAR! If this is already well-known, then keep your 'well, that's old news' business to yourself, pretentious hipster! Has anyone else come across little things like this in their perusal of Pathfinder materials.
Veldebrand wrote:
That seems about right. However, make sure your DM doesn't attempt to sunder the weapon cords, as they have 0 hp. Also make sure he doesn't consider reloading a gun a 'finer action', as weapon cords may interfere with such actions. Do you plan on having these cords attached to you and your weapons at all times?
Whether it's rules ambiguity, inherent gishyness, or something else entirely, I can't seem to shake the thought of playing a synthesist summoner as a guilty pleasure. Depending on how your DM interprets it, these guys are potentially unstoppable and capable of a good variety of damage-dealing, punishment-taking and utility -- all at the same time. Pounce at 1st level, godly saving throws when multi-classed with a paladin, admirable AC without wearing a single bit of armor, multiple natural attacks that don't count towards iterative attacks with manufactured weapons (can you say 7 natural attacks, then 6 more whilst two-weapon fighting?), and that's not all of it. However, I'll stop right there. Despite this being a munchkin's dream come true, I can't help but feel that this is the lesser of the two sides to a Synthesist. Now, I know that Pathfinder, like any other tabletop rpg, is limited only by what the DM and your own imagination allows. But I've never seen a larger, more versatile canvas than what this archetype has to offer. For those of you not familiar, a synthesist summoner literally wears his eidolon like a second skin or armor, translucent though it may be. It seems a small detail to allow this skin to be completely invisible or completely opaque. This makes a ton of story options mechanically viable: a super-hero with a power suit, a bestial character that can allow himself to be a mount for other character, an otherworldly creature that nurtures/protects a physically frail member of a mortal race within itself, a pair of beings with a natural symbiosis to one another birthed from the First World of the fae, etc. Do you need this class to be able to weave stories about fantastic character origins? Absolutely not. However, it just seems to me that the other classes restrict the way players and DMs believe a character can come about. The previously mentioned statement is the point of this long-winded post -- how do I justify playing one of these guys without going overboard with the mechanics? |