Xykal's page

Good point, Gortle. If you're using the base attack bonus from the spell, you cannot add item bonuses to that. But if you're using your own modifier, you would probably include the item bonus.

I've put together a guide for the Druid class

Gortle's Guide to Druids.

It took much longer than I thought but I was happy to do it. Please let me know what you think. I need to put in some images and example builds.

Maybe I'll do Sorceror next.

Cheers

Gortle, are you sure you can use the item bonus from handwraps while wildshaped? Polymorph seems to exclude item bonuses...

Xykal

It's been mentioned already but just thought I'd say I loved the Shapeshifting Hunter feat with a single level dip into Ranger when I was playing my dwarven druid. I coupled it with the world walker druid archetype to keep ranger's favoured terrains as well as favoured enemies. My guy was a middle grounder as you called it, but I found the favoured enemy bonuses really helped with the transition from caster to melee when they kicked in.

*Edit* Stats were, I think, 14 12 16 12 18 5, with dreams of eventual heavy armour.

I'm playing something similar right now, but I'm using the Goliath Druid archetype and mostly focusing on melee despite being a decent caster. It's a pretty potent combo... And just for fun I'm also using the magus variant multi-class for arcane pool fun and spellstrike. You lose a bunch of feats, but as long as you focus on shapeshifting hunter and power attack you'll do just fine. And I recommend heavy armor proficiency plus dragonscale plate.

Nice build!

I took a different approach with my half-orc goliath druid, more melee oriented. Also have shapshifting hunter, but I took Big Game Hunter (+1 to hit and +2 to damage vs large creature, which include giants, but also several other enemies), and heavy armor (you can get a dragon hide armor for cheap, and it stays with you in wildshaped form, unlike beast form, giving you a good AC to stay in the frontline). I'd get Heavy Armor instead of Power attack at lvl 3. But I'll take a look to your feats, maybe I get favored enemy spellcasting and giant bane. My starting wisdom isn't very high, but with those 2 feats, you can get a really good DC, it's a nice idea that I didn't really thought about (I ussually memorize spells that don't need save, like summon swarm, sleet storm, buffs like barkskin, etc)

Also, Craft woundreous item is wonderful for classes like druid, because it covers also your weapon (amulet of mighty fist). I suggest to take a look at it.

One really good feat for dwarves is Steel Soul, which you can get only at lvl 1, another good feat to think about.

What's your stat line?

Craft Wondrous is something I was considering. I may drop Favored Enemy Spellcasting altogether, but I'm going to stick with Giant-Bane Hunter. Even a mediocre Wisdom will have decent DCs with that feat.

I was considering heavy armor as well. You mention a dragonhide breastplate, but you do know that it's medium armor, right? I actually took the Rich Parents trait so that I could start with a dragonhide breastplate. Seemed important enough to use a trait on it...

And my stat line is in the original post. Thanks for the response.

I am thinking about this class as well. I am pondering:

Unchained Monk 1 / Golaith Druid X with the domain and not the animal companion.

Feats
1 Power Attack
3 Steel Soul
5 Rime Spell
7 Natural Spell
9 Raging Vitality
11 Planar Wild Shape

The monk level gives an extra attack in giant form (probably with a temple sword) and wisdom to AC. Or, I can heavily focus on an amulet of mighty fists and use either natural weapons or unarmed strike. Between Mage armor or bracers and the monk AC bonus I can have a solid AC.

Two quick questions:

1) I spent a long time looking for ways to flurry with a war hammer, battleaxe, or pick and came up short. Best I saw was getting channel and taking crusader flurry. That would require I give up another level or lose a ton of feats to get the cleric variant multi classing. I would love to flurry with a traditional dwarf weapon, but can't see a good way to make that happen.

2) where does it say you have to take Steel Soul at lvl 1?

Raging Vitality? Do you qualify for that based on the domain you chose? Even so, is it really worthwhile?

Planar Wild Shape? Are you going to spend much time in animal form? Personally I plan on having my Goliath Druid spend most of his time in Giant form. It's the reason I took the archetype after all.

And you may want to check with your GM about Steel Soul. You'll be wildshaped most combats, and I believe you lose the Hardy racial ability whilst wildshaped.

The problem with Steel Soul is that I believe you lose the Hardy racial ability while wild shaped. You lose anything that is based on your physical body like darkvision and I believe Hardy qualifies. Unfortunately.

Hi! I'm planning on playing a dwarven goliath druid for Giantslayer and I could use a little advice regarding my build. The plan is to take a level of ranger at lvl 2 and then the "shapeshifting hunter" feat at level 5 for all kinds of Favored Enemy goodness. By level 7 or so I envision fighting wildshaped as a large giant.

The question I have is primarily in regards to the "Favored Enemy Spellcasting" feat from the Advanced Class Guide. I was planning on taking it at level 1, but I'm beginning to wonder how much bang for my buck I'll get out of it.

Here's the concept:

Dwarf Druid (Goliath) 19 / Ranger 1
STR 18 DEX 12 CON 15 INT 10 WIS 16 CHA 6
(We use the heroic array and then add 10 more points on top of that)

1 - Drd 1 - Favored Enemy Spellcasting (giants)
2 - Rgr 1 - Favored Enemy Orc +2
3 - Drd 2 - Power Attack
4 - Drd 3
5 - Drd 4 - Shapeshifting Hunter / Favored Enemies Orc +2 & Giant +4
6 - Drd 5
7 - Drd 6 - Giant-bane caster (and gain Wild Shape: Giant)
8 - Drd 7
9 - Drd 8 - ?

And so on. I'll be using an Animal Companion spinosaurus, by the way. And I'll probably be using a nodachi.

Does Favored Enemy Spellcasting seem worthwhile?

Thanks a bunch,

Xykal

45 here

Karnath's Hand: This CC is led by the Dread Necromancer, a viscount in House Karnath, and its members are referred to as Acolytes. This CC is responsible for the utilization and research of necromancy for the betterment of Golgotha and her citizens.

I've entered my application at paxgaming.com. If accepted, I'd be very interested in joining Karnath's Hand. Has someone taken up the role of "Dread Necromancer" yet? I'd love to chat with him/her sometime.

Regards,

Xykal

Well... I'm getting pretty excited for EE, so I might as well de-stealth. =)

You could put me down as unaffiliated for the time being. My initial character will be a cleric, but I'm undecided beyond that.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in game!

Xykal

Hi, there. I'm going to start running WotR next week and was wondering if anyone has a hero lab file I could "borrow". =)

The d20pfsrd site has files for most APs, but there doesn't seem to be one for Wrath yet... unless I missed it.

Any assistance would be appreciated!

Thanks a bunch,

Xykal

I'd like to stir up the hornet nest a bit...

How does reach weapons (particularly with bonus CM bonuses) and weapon proficiency stuff tie in according to you, if you have a melee heavy party?

Looking specifically at Fauchard, Lucerne Hammer, Guisarme, etc. Given that you have Solo Tactics, it helps open up things like:
Paired Opportunists
Swap Places
Tandem Trip
One idea is to be lining up behind a meat shield, reaching over their shoulder with a reach and trip weapon and having Tandem Trip or Coordinated Manoeuvers, or perhaps disarming using a Bill... And still being able to hack away with iterative attacks whenever you like.
As long as you have Combat Reflexes to power AoO you can also be in a position to chop away at anything attempting to get into a flanking position.
The Dwarven Dorn-Duergar would be awesome but the Darting Viper feat tax might be a deal-breaker.

Has anyone investigated the usefulness of this stuff here?

Just don't forget about the cover rules...

Necrocrafts? Where would one find the rules for these? Thanks...

Not sure if this is up your alley, but there's an interesting synergy between the Heirophant mythic ability "Channel Shockwave" and an Aasimar (Angelkin) Oracle of Life. You use the Aasimar Oracle's favored class ability to supercharge his channel energy and then wield a high crit weapon so you can crit more often and boost your damage numbers through the roof.

I recommend 1 level of fighter at level 1 for heavy armor proficiency, martial weapon proficiency, and the bonus feat. Then use full plate, a heavy shield, and a scimitar (or cutlass). You'll be tanky and dealing significant damage if you buff yourself with Divine Favor, etc. And don't forget the Fate's Fortuned trait to increase your luck bonuses...

Your stats would probably be:

STR 20
DEX 13
CON 17
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 15

You're not really an offensive caster, but you'll still have 9 levels of spellcasting and you'll be heck of a buffer...

Virgil Firecask wrote:

I'd like to see it be a spontaneous caster if they're going to move it in the druid direction.

Agreed. Cant say that I like the currently spellcasting system, it feels clunky and low level shamans are underpowered (until the wandering mechanic kicks in) when compared to clerics and oracles of the same level.

My suggestion would be to give the shaman the oracle's spontaneous casting system while being able to choose known spells from: druid / witch lists or druid / cleric lists. The wandering spirit's spells would enter your list of spells known temporarily.

Love this idea. I was really hoping the shaman would cast spontaneously from the druid spell list to begin with. Add in some shapeshifting but no animal companion, and Christmas comes early for me. =)

Evangelist also does not synergize well with a low charisma at lower levels. The number of rounds per day you can use Inspire Courage is still charisma based... Not the end of the world, but something to consider.

I'd recommend you not focus on negative energy channeling. It might seem ok early on, but it doesn't scale well. Mid to high levels the dmg / healing output is very underwhelming and you'll regret the feats you spent. ymmv, of course.

Using your channels to "command undead" and to heal up your undead in between battles will be your best use for them. The good news is doing so frees up some feats to use for other purposes.

Because you'll need a decent CHA (14ish), you probably won't be able to have a high wis, too. That's what makes the cleric a bit challenging as a necromancer.

By the way, both the oracle (bones or juju) and the witch (gravewalker arch. or plague patron) offer you a class that is single attribute dependent for both "commanding undead" and casting spells. I'd say both of those classes have better optimization potential for a necromancer, but optimization isn't everything so make sure you go with the choice that you will enjoy playing the most.

Xykal

I'm not sure that you can take Extra Path Ability more than once. Usually a feat that can be taken more than once says so in the description of the feat...

Instead of going the martial route which, in my opinion, is a bit sub-optimal for the evangelist, have you considered just going heavy spells or summoning? Summoning + evangelist has a lot of synergy...

Consider the Leadership sub-domain for even more synergy. There's no limit to the number of times you can use that 1st lvl power per day...

Seeker Life Oracle.

Now, you heal better than the Cleric, and Disable Traps better than the Rogue.

Plus, spells.

+1

And if you go Aasimar and use their Oracle favored class ability on your channel revelation, you will channel as a cleric 1.5 times your Oracle level. At 20th level, you would channel as a 30th level cleric...

From a newbie GM who has recently begun running RotRL, thank you so much for this. =)

I'm currently GMing RotRL. If the bard wanted to use a trait on Rich Parents and use the cash to purchase a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, things will go MUCH smoother in the beginning.

Beyond that I think you're going to struggle w/o a full caster in the group. This AP is serious...

I've come up with a system that is working well and isn't very time intensive... but it does require an iPad and the Battle Map app ($30).

Here are the steps:

1 - Copy the map (in Acrobat, use Edit -> "take a snapshot"
2 - Paste into paint then save as an image
3 - sync the image to your ipad pictures using iTunes (just like you would with photos)
4 - Open a new map and change the background image to your saved map
5 - Resize the background image. Not so the squares line up... that won't happen. Just get the squares on the map to be roughly the same size as Battle Map's grid.
6 - Hide Battle Map's grid and turn off "snap to grid"
7 - Using the "background" button at the bottom of the screen, pick one of the background tiles and "color" in all the parts of the map you don't want the PC's to see (ie, the interior of the building, or all areas except for the starting room, etc.)
8 - Place your PC's "tokens" on the map, switch to player mode, and begin

As the player's move into a new area, simply take the iPad back, switch to GM mode, erase the tiles that are covering that portion of your map, switch back to player mode, keep going.

It sounds like a lot, but it goes really quick once you've done it a few times. And you don't have to draw anything...

I've come up with a system that is working well and isn't very time intensive... but it does require an iPad and the Battle Map app ($30).

Here are the steps:

1 - Copy the map (in Acrobat, use Edit -> "take a snapshot"
2 - Paste into paint then save as an image
3 - sync the image to your ipad pictures using iTunes (just like you would with photos)
4 - Open a new map and change the background image to your saved map
5 - Resize the background image. Not so the squares line up... that won't happen. Just get the squares on the map to be roughly the same size as Battle Map's grid.
6 - Hide Battle Map's grid and turn off "snap to grid"
7 - Using the "background" button at the bottom of the screen, pick one of the background tiles and "color" in all the parts of the map you don't want the PC's to see (ie, the interior of the building, or all areas except for the starting room, etc.)
8 - Place your PC's "tokens" on the map, switch to player mode, and begin

As the player's move into a new area, simply take the iPad back, switch to GM mode, erase the tiles that are covering that portion of your map, switch back to player mode, keep going.

It sounds like a lot, but it goes really quick once you've done it a few times. And you don't have to draw anything...

I'd say Rise of the Runelords, it's the most acclaimed of the APs and has been played by the most people, so you can enjoy swapping war stories.

I was beginning to think the same thing.

Thanks a bunch...

X

Wow... ok. So scratch Serpent Skull. Thank you, KutuluKultist, for helping me narrow down the list. =)

X

So I'm going to run an AP for three friends of mine and my choices are:

Rise of the Runelords
Legacy of Fire
Serpent Skull
Shattered Star
Slumbering Tsar

Which of these would you recommend and why?

Btw, most or all of us have some experience with the other Paizo AP's, so these are the only other ones that are options... although I suppose there might be a 3rd party AP out there that I'm unaware of.

Thanks a bunch...

X

Out of curiosity, did you consider choosing to have Lermos receive inflict spells for free instead of cure spells for free?

Seems like the mass versions of the inflict spells would be great to both heal your undead and harm your enemies. And of course it synergizes well with Bleeding Wounds.

I assume that instead you were going to take those spells as spells known, but I'm just curious.

Cheers,

Xykal

Thanks, all! Just the info I was looking for.

Xykal

Considering an Inquisitor build that makes use of mounts + a Heavy Repeating Crossbow (HRC) but I'm not exactly sure what Rapid Reload does for the HRC. Does Rapid Reload reduce the reload time of a HRC to a move action?

Thanks a bunch...

Oh oh oh. I hadn't even thought of that. Sorry, I don't have anything other than the Core rulebook and have been looking everything up online, so sometimes things escape my notice.

Thank you for bringing that class to my attention, I'll have to look into it.

I'm a big fan of both classes and I believe both classes will work with only 2 players. The question is do you want to be:

A) a full caster that can wear medium armor, buff, play a role in melee combat, and potentially summon some monsters here and there

or

B) Cast much less but summon lots of critters, have an eidolon that will range somewhere between skill monkey (master summoner) or melee monster (normal summoner), and buff

Keep in mind that the summoner will have quite a bit in the way of record keeping / admin. You'll have to keep track of what you can summon, what you have summoned, you, your eidolon, initiative, attacks... so on and so forth. Personally I love that stuff, but ymmv. =)

Xykal

A great way to think about this is do you want to be either:

A) A damage dealer with some buffing options (Alchemist)

or

B) Extremely versatile with potentially very different roles (damage, crowd control, buffing, summoning, etc.) from one day to the next (Wizard)

Another thing someone told me was to think of the Alchemist not as a replacement for a wizard but as a replacement for a rogue. I currently have a 9th lvl bomb based Alchemist and I can tell you that he is NOT a replacement for a wizard. =)

Xykal

I'd pick up the animal companion / mount at lvl 3. Later on make sure you take the Beast Rider feat and ride a Rhino or a Mastodon. =)

Looking at my best case point builds, I'm still not sure between Human and Samsaran

Human:
16 Str (10) Raised to 18 with mod
8 Int (-2)
12 Cn (2)
14 Cha (5)

Samsaran:
17 Str (13)
7 Int (-4) Final 9
7 Wis (-4) Final 9
14 Cn (5) Final 12
14 Cha (5)

So, the human has more skill points (4 per level vs 3 per level)
Extra Feat and higher Strength (19 at level 7, 20 at level 8)

The Samsaran gets to add some broken Paladin spells to the list but is weaker (18 at 7 19 at 8), has 3 skill points per level, and a -1 to Will Saves.

Are those extra spells worth that cost?

Samsaran is cool, but I'd recommend you either stick with Human or take a hard look at Half-Elf (still gets bonus spells like human but also opens up access to Paragon Surge). Samsaran bonuses and penalties to attributes are just all in the wrong places for Oracle. And Paragon Surge adds a tremendous amount of flexibility.

Eldritch Heritage also adds flexibility to the Oracle. And it's extra cool in conjunction with Paragon Surge. At the very least, take a look at the Arcane bloodline. At lvl 3 you can add either a familiar or a bonded item. If you take a familiar, the options for an Improved Familiar at lvl 7 are really nice. At lvl 11 by either taking the Improved Eldritch Heritage feat or simply casting Paragon Surge, you gain access to Wiz/Sorc spells...

I'm also a newly converted huge fan of the Dual Curse Oracle. For curses, I personally chose the Tongues curse to not progress and the Haunted Curse to progress. It's working well so far. Adding Ill Omen to your spell list is game changing. And as an Oracle, you can sit back and spam it if you like. Misfortune and Fortune are icing on the cake. By the way, Misfortune is named poorly... you can use it on anyone once per day. You can use it on your party members to assist as easily as you can use it on bad guys to hinder.

Love the Oracle. =)

Have fun!

Xykal

Also, Half Elf Oracle Necromancer can use paragon surge to cast ANY undead-making spell without having to worry bout pesky things like having it on his spell list

That is a great point and a great tactic. You won't use any of those spells in combat anyway, so that's a great way to do it.

Wasnt the juju oracle the go-to for non-evil necromancers?

This.

Half-elf JuJu Oracle is the way to go. Less MAD than a cleric, your Command Undead will be strong with your high Charisma, you'll have a ton more Undead with Lvl times 6 instead of lvl times 4 in undead Hit Dice.

Your high Charisma will also make Eldritch Heritage easy to qualify for. Animate Dead, Lesser is a lvl 2 spell so you won't reliably be able to create undead till then. Take your revelation that gives you Command Undead at lvl 1, however, and you make be able to take control of a non-intelligent undead sooner.

Eldritch Heritage: Arcane. Paragon Surge. Use the feat gained from Paragon Surge for Improved Eldritch Heritage. Hello to temporarily having access to any sorc/wizard spell.

Wow... just wow.

I would suggest considering Dual Curse Oracle and switching your curses to Haunted and Tongues. Choose Tongues to not progress and make sure your allies spend 1 skill point on linguistics and choose the language you will speak in combat.

Dual Curse Oracle gives you 2 more revelations and also gives you Misfortune and Fortune... 2 great revelations. Get Misfortune as early as possible and use it on enemies, allies, and yourself 1 time per day. The name is a bit misleading because it allows you to force any creature within 30 feet reroll once per day. No save and no spell resistance.

Fortune is probably better later on to give yourself multiple rerolls. Dual Curse also adds Ill Omen to your spells known at level 2. Between Ill Omen and Misfortune you'll feel a bit like a witch. And you'll have plenty to do in and out of combat.

Lame is tough if you're going to be in melee.

For Eldritch Heritage, it's hard to go wrong with arcane...

You're welcome! And I just realized that there's a bit of a disconnect. Inspire Courage is a mind-affecting ability, which undead are immune to. So one of your abilities doesn't work with the other.

Also, animate dead is a 3rd-level spell; so your onyx doesn't make much sense, unless you're starting out at a higher level.

Holy crap... how did I not know that Inspire Courage doesn't affect undead. Thanks for pointing that out! And the onyx is for later. Just trying to spend all the starting cash. By the way, Animate Dead, Lesser is only a 2nd level spell. Thanks again...

I wondered what happened! Feedback: Yeah I'd choose Deception over Tactics. I don't think that you still get a Skill Focus feat, since Water Child replaces adaptability and multitalented; but if you do, then you'd hardly ever regret having better Perception.

Also, it takes Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) to get the most from detect magic. But you're kind of starved for skill ranks, so hopefully that just won't be an issue.

Yeah, herolab has an error in that it doesn't eliminate skill focus when you choose water child. That's why it's "blank"... ie, I didn't choose a specific skill.

And yes... I'm super skill rank challenged. =) Things will get better with levels, though.

Thanks for the response and feedback.

Sorry for the delay! A couple of things have changed. The player who was going to play the Master Summoner had a work schedule change and will no longer be able to join us. So that leaves the Shark Shaman druid and myself, but we got a stat buff to compensate a bit. We also had a 2 week delay in getting started.

With a decrease to the party size, I made a few changes to my priorities.

So the new build is Cleric (Evangelist) 1 / Gunslinger (Gun Tank) 1 / Cleric (Evangelist) 18.

The 1 level of Gun Tank gives medium and heavy armor proficiencies, shield proficiency, martial weapon proficiency, complements my class skills nicely, provides a gun for flavor, and the Gun Tank replacement deed (essentially) gives me light fortification 4 times a day.

Evangelist eliminates medium armor prof, heavy armor prof, and shields (compensated by the 1 lvl dip in Gun Tank), eliminates 1 domain (I'm leaning towards keeping the Deception domain and eliminating the Tactics domain), reduces Channel Energy effectiveness (which I decided wasn't really worth heavily focusing on as an "in combat" ability anyway), but gives you some bardic performances to include inspire courage.

Inspire courage plus undead "friends" plus a summon or two from the druid plus some help from our pirate crew mates seems like a whole lot of win.

Here's the hero lab output for anyone interested:

Thanks again for all the awesome suggestions! I haven't made a final decision yet, but I will definitely let everyone know.

=)

Xykal

Having a STR based CHA is simply something I want to try out.

Eesh... that should say STR based character.

Well, focusing on the Rapier could do you well. Channel Smite is not needed, and a Consecrated Weapon will allow you do as the feat does.

With the Rapier, you can be Dex focused, and cut down on MAD. Later, when you can afford it, you can nab an Agile Rapier, and up your damage.
If allowed, the Guided enchantment will work even better.
If you choose to be more of a martial PC, then the Crusader archetype may work well for you.

Thank you and I'm sure this is the more optimized route. And, frankly, the normal route I would take. Having a STR based CHA is simply something I want to try out. I never play the big strong character with the high armor ratings. =)

Now consecrated weapons is something I wasn't familiar with. I'll have to give this some more thought as either a replacement of Channel Smite or as an interesting addition to Channel Smite.

Thanks!

I would reduce Cha to 14 which is enough for you to exclude your 2 friends from negative channel and switch Dex and Con stats. My personal preference is always to have higher Con.

Generally this type of cleric is almost impossible to pull of with 20 point buy but seems okay relatively with 25 points. Battle clerics generally ditch charisma in favor of other stats.

Your low skills will poke you in the brain a bit tho, be warned.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm not a huge fan of having my primary casting stat at 14 (trust me, this is a departure for me). But CHA also governs channels per day and the DC of my channels. Ultimately this character is a fighter who channels and can cast spells versus a spellcaster who can fight a little, so I think I'll stick with the 16 CHA.

On further review, I agree with erikdlan, and also think that Channel Smite is pretty weak. Too limited in times per day, and then again for being resistible, and then again for being expended even if the attack misses... yeah. No.

You could just replace Channel Smite at level 3 with Versatile Channeler, to good effect.

I'll consider this. My thought was that Channel Smite would be reserved for the BBEG. On non-BBEG fights the choice between making an attack and channeling should be pretty straightforward. Against the BBEG, I think I'll really want to have the option to attack and channel. Also, I'm not sure that Versatile Channeler will be super helpful if I only have 6 channels per day and I'm planning on using those offensively.

Also, if you go with a gunslinger splash, then the buccaneer archetype is very flavorful, as well as counting grit off of Cha instead of Wis.

I've considered this as well (although not the Buccaneer because it's human only) but ultimately it seems like I won't be investing any feats in ranged combat which makes Gunslinger less attractive.

Again, I really appreciate the comments. I love the feedback!

Xykal

You've clearly put a lot of research and thought into this. I really like how you combine thematic appropriateness with effective choices; I try to do the same thing. (The domains in particular look like very good choices for your character.) I'll give the best feedback that I can on those splash options.

1. I like this one a lot, and not just because I like rangers a lot. I wasn't too sure about Freebooter's Bane at first, since it looked like a limited inspire courage; but then I realized that it's quite the opposite! It encourages the sound tactic of reducing the enemies' actions ASAP, while discouraging (or at least not contributing to) the 15-minute adventuring day.

Also, just one level is nice. The smaller the splash the better, to keep up the channels that you're investing so many resources in. We're talking about 2/5 of your ability score points, 1/2 of your traits, and your first four feats! (I assume you mean Command Undead for 7th.)

2. Meh. I mean, yay a feat! But Skill Focus adds +3 to +6, so every class skill is the equivalent of 1/2 a feat. Did I mention that I love rangers?

3. Now you're talking! But you'd have to give up two levels of channel progression; and I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I don't see how that fits with investing so much in a particular class feature.

4. Again with the two levels problem. And I question some of the benefits. Would you even use mounted combat, when your characters appear to be designed to be on a ship? Does it matter how fast you can move in medium armor, when one of your comrades-in-arms has a 5 ft. base speed? And is it really worth a full-round action to inflict the shaken condition, even in a radius?

I thank you for the interesting question, and hope you fid this useful! :)

Very useful and detailed. Thank you. Command Undead is definitely what I meant at 7. The merman actually has a 20' base move (strong tail alternate racial ability plus the fleet feat at 1st lvl).

I was leaning towards number 4 mostly because there are (numerically) more benefits plus I like the thought of the character having a pistol for brandishing and generally looking piraty... piratish... piratesque? Anyway... you're right, though. Mounted combat probably won't see much use. And maybe I'm giving too much credit to dazzling display's usefulness. On top of that, the character will have lots of options in combat so I'm not sure how often dazzling display would come into effect.

I will continue to evaluate and hopefully I'll get a bit more feedback from some other folks, too. I really appreciate your well-written and thorough response. =)

Xykal

Have you considered Inquisitor? Decent crossover with a Cleric, and there's a feat that lets you count your Inquisitor levels for channeling to do harm.

It's an interesting idea. The 3/4 BAB bonus and no martial weapons (I see the character wielding a falchion at some point) are definitely cons, however.

I appreciate the suggestion, though. =)

So we're starting a new campaign with 3 players. One player will be a melee focused Shark Shaman and the third player is playing a Merfolk Master Summoner. My character will be a half elf cleric of Besmara with the "water child" alternate racial ability.

That being said, we have 25 points to work with (a bonus from the GM because there are only 3 of us) and I'm going with a battle cleric + negative energy channeling build. A decent CHA is typically tough to pull off on a battle cleric, but the 25 point build helps a ton.

STR 16
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 8
WIS 14
CHA 16

Domains: Tactics, Deception

Traits: Armor Expert, Sacred Conduit

Feats:

1 - Selective Channel
3 - Channel Smite
5 - Improved Channel
7 - Control Undead
9 - Power Attack
11 - Toughness
13 - Improved Initiative
15 - Extra Channel

At first level I'm going Cutlass (GM fiat to allow as replacement for Besmara's normal favored weapon, the rapier) and buckler. This plus leather lamellar brings my ac to a fairly respectable 17.

I'm considering splashing another class to add flavor and utility and would like feedback on my options below:

1 - Freebooter Ranger (1 level) for skills, martial weapons, and Freebooter's Bane

2 - Fighter (1-2 levels) for martial weapons and 2 feats

3 - Corsair Fighter (2 levels) for martial weapons, 1 feat + free cleave w/o an AC penalty

4 - Musketeer/Emissary/Order of the Cockatrice Cavalier (2 levels) for a pistol (thematically nifty), martial weapons, mounted combat, medium armor w/o decreasing land speed, and Dazzling Display for free (you also don't need a weapon in hand and you get an additional +2 to attack rolls when attacking a demoralized foe)

Critique / comments / advice on the build and the splash options are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Xykal

So we're starting a new campaign with 3 players. One player will be a melee focused Shark Shaman and the third player is playing a Merfolk Master Summoner. I gave him a little bit of a hard time regarding his speed, but after much consideration I think I'm going to (if you can't beat 'em) "join 'em" and play a Merfolk Cleric. Both of us will have the "strong tail" alternate trait so we'll have a 15' move. I understand this will be problematic tactically.

That being said, we have 25 points to work with (a bonus from the GM because there are only 3 of us) and I'm going with a fighter + negative energy channeling build. A decent CHA is typically tough to pull off on a battle cleric, but between the 25 points and the Merfolk ability bonuses, I came up with this for stat points:

STR 16
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 8
WIS 16
CHA 16

Domains: Tactics, Deception

Traits: Armor Expert, Sacred Conduit

Feats:

1 - Selective Channel
3 - Channel Smite
5 - Improved Channel
7 - Control Undead
9 - Power Attack
11 - Toughness
13 - Improved Initiative
15 - Extra Channel

At first level I'm going Cutlass (GM fiat to allow as replacement for Besmara's normal favored weapon, the rapier) and buckler. This plus leather lamellar brings my ac to a fairly respectable 19.

I'm considering splashing another class to add flavor and utility and would like feedback on my options below:

1 - Freebooter Ranger (1 level) for skills, martial weapons, and Freebooter's Bane

2 - Fighter (1-2 levels) for martial weapons and 2 feats

3 - Corsair Fighter (2 levels) for martial weapons, 1 feat + free cleave w/o an AC penalty

4 - Musketeer/Emissary/Order of the Cockatrice Cavalier (2 levels) for a pistol (thematically nifty), martial weapons, mounted combat, medium armor w/o decreasing my already tiny land speed, and Dazzling Display for free (you also don't need a weapon in hand and you get an additional +2 to attack rolls when attacking a demoralized foe)

Critique / comments / advice on the build and the splash options are greatly appreciated.

Xykal