Advice for Spending 8000 gp


Advice


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Hi there,

I'm playing my first Pathfinder campaign. I'm a level 5 bard gnome. I have 8000 gp to spend on weapons and other magical items to beef up my aresenal. I currently have the following weapons: a shortbow, a rapier, and a masterwork longbow. My armour consists of light leather armour and a buckler. I also have a riding dog.

I tend to play a supporting role in our group, usually hanging back during combat and using my performances and spells to bolster my companions' abilities. I like to use my knowledge and diplomacy to help the group.

I'm finding the list of items I can purchase overwhelming and am seeking advice on some useful items to buy.

Thanks!

Sovereign Court

kkirkpat wrote:

Hi there,

I'm playing my first Pathfinder campaign. I'm a level 5 bard gnome. I have 8000 gp to spend on weapons and other magical items to beef up my aresenal. I currently have the following weapons: a shortbow, a rapier, and a masterwork longbow. My armour consists of light leather armour and a buckler. I also have a riding dog.

I tend to play a supporting role in our group, usually hanging back during combat and using my performances and spells to bolster my companions' abilities. I like to use my knowledge and diplomacy to help the group.

I'm finding the list of items I can purchase overwhelming and am seeking advice on some useful items to buy.

Thanks!

Which other characters are in your group?

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

1 person marked this as a favorite.
kkirkpat wrote:

Hi there,

I'm playing my first Pathfinder campaign. I'm a level 5 bard gnome. I have 8000 gp to spend on weapons and other magical items to beef up my aresenal. I currently have the following weapons: a shortbow, a rapier, and a masterwork longbow. My armour consists of light leather armour and a buckler. I also have a riding dog.

I tend to play a supporting role in our group, usually hanging back during combat and using my performances and spells to bolster my companions' abilities. I like to use my knowledge and diplomacy to help the group.

I'm finding the list of items I can purchase overwhelming and am seeking advice on some useful items to buy.

Thanks!

My recommendations for a ranged support bard:

1.) Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp
2.) +1 longbow - 2000gp (added to your existing masterwork)
3.) wand of cure light wounds - 750gp
4.) masterwork chain shirt - 250gp
5.) cloak of resistance +1 - 1000gp

Short, simple, and effective. Yeah, you could go for the "swiss army knife" approach and just get bunches of wands, alchemical items, and potions, but intelligently choosing your spells known and staying mobile while firing arrows should pretty much take care of things.


GeraintElberion wrote:
kkirkpat wrote:

Hi there,

I'm playing my first Pathfinder campaign. I'm a level 5 bard gnome. I have 8000 gp to spend on weapons and other magical items to beef up my aresenal. I currently have the following weapons: a shortbow, a rapier, and a masterwork longbow. My armour consists of light leather armour and a buckler. I also have a riding dog.

I tend to play a supporting role in our group, usually hanging back during combat and using my performances and spells to bolster my companions' abilities. I like to use my knowledge and diplomacy to help the group.

I'm finding the list of items I can purchase overwhelming and am seeking advice on some useful items to buy.

Thanks!

Which other characters are in your group?

We have a gnome barbarian, a human monk, a druid of some sort, and a human sorcerer.


Fatespinner wrote:


My recommendations for a ranged support bard:

1.) Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp
2.) +1 longbow - 2000gp (added to your existing masterwork)
3.) wand of cure light wounds - 750gp
4.) masterwork chain shirt - 250gp
5.) cloak of resistance +1 - 1000gp

Short, simple, and effective. Yeah, you could go for the "swiss army knife" approach and just get bunches of wands, alchemical items, and potions, but intelligently choosing your spells known and staying mobile while firing arrows should pretty much take care of things.

Hi Fatespinner,

Thanks for the advice. That's a great list. I feel much better about spending my money now.

Thanks,
Kelly


Bag of Everlasting Dung 500 GP, a daily supply of fuel for your fire and fertilizer for your home garden.
Efficient Quiver 1,800 gp, good resource management for your weapons and ammo.
Eyes of the Eagle 2,500 gp, +5 to the most commonly used skill in the game.
+1 longbow (added to yours) 2000 gp
Versatile Vest 2000 gp, handy especially for gear you need on hand quickly.

200 gp for expenses and mundane gear.


Fatespinner wrote:

1.) Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp

2.) +1 longbow - 2000gp (added to your existing masterwork)
3.) wand of cure light wounds - 750gp
4.) masterwork chain shirt - 250gp
5.) cloak of resistance +1 - 1000gp

I agree with Fatespinnder's suggestions. Assuming you an sell off some of your older gear and scape up an exre 250 gold, I'd go with this:

* Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp
* +1 longbow - 2075 (added to your existing masterwork)
* +1 Chain Shirt - 1250
* cloak of resistance +1 - 1000

I would buy the armor instead of the wand because the armor will last you for a very long time, while the wand will quickly get used up by the party. Also, since you can cast cure spells already, the wand isn't going to do anything to make your group win fights, it's simply going to be a way of converting money into hit points after the fight. If the party wants to do that, they should pool money to buy a wand rather than having you pay for it.

I would suggest that your next purchases be:
* +1 Rapier - 2320
* +1 Buckler - 1165

After that, there are still a lot of solid choices depending on what your character does most of the time, but I'd say it's time to go for something fun next.


How often do you use your shortbow, just curious?

Because if it isn't too often, maybe 2 grand would be spent better elsewhere.

But the basics for 8 grand is what you should do. When you divy up treasure and go up a level you can spread out a bit more and buy other things.


I'd bypass the headband unless you get an additional 2nd level bonus spell from it (22). It's really not worth half your wealth at this level unless you're going all-out enchantment spellcasting. A true support bard doesn't necessarily max out Charisma. It's assumed you're going to be doing all kinds of things with the bard -- a little ranged/melee combat, a little offensive casting here and there, a lot of support.

Being a gnome means you're not going to have optimal damage with a bow, but having a primary magic weapon is important. I assume you have some trait or feat to get proficiency with a longbow (since Bards don't automatically have that proficiency). Otherwise, I'll use the shortbow (since that's a more standard bard weapon).

Since you don't have a cleric, you will need some healing support -- the CLW wand is a good choice.

In terms of usefulness, few items are as generally effective over the course of a campaign as the handy haversacks. I always pick one up as soon as possible. . . especially as a gnome because I usually dump Str as much as I can get away with. This also allows you to carry ALL KINDS of gear you normally wouldn't take.

You also want to have a heavy steel shield and rapier on hand -- you never know when you'll need them.

I also always have an invisibility scroll on my characters -- just in case I have to get out of dodge.

Never leave home without an everburning torch, even if you have darkvision (which gnomes don't in PF). Just throw it in your haversack if you don't need it.

2330 +1 shortbow (2000 + 300 MW + 30 base)
2000 handy haversack
1250 +1 chain shirt (1000 + 150 MW + 100 base)
1000 cloak of resistance +1
750 wand of CLW
330 MW rapier
150 invisibility scroll
110 everburning torch
20 MW heavy steel shield
60 gp on odds and ends (***ROPE***, food rations, a donkey, flint and steel, a grappling hook, battering ram, etc)


SPCDRI wrote:

How often do you use your shortbow, just curious?

Because if it isn't too often, maybe 2 grand would be spent better elsewhere.

But the basics for 8 grand is what you should do. When you divy up treasure and go up a level you can spread out a bit more and buy other things.

I don't use the shortbow very often, actually. I think I'll probably put the money into my longbow.


rat_ bastard wrote:

Bag of Everlasting Dung 500 GP, a daily supply of fuel for your fire and fertilizer for your home garden.

Efficient Quiver 1,800 gp, good resource management for your weapons and ammo.
Eyes of the Eagle 2,500 gp, +5 to the most commonly used skill in the game.
+1 longbow (added to yours) 2000 gp
Versatile Vest 2000 gp, handy especially for gear you need on hand quickly.

200 gp for expenses and mundane gear.

Thanks for the idea of Eyes of the Eagle. It's very cool. The vest, too.


meabolex wrote:

I'd bypass the headband unless you get an additional 2nd level bonus spell from it (22). It's really not worth half your wealth at this level unless you're going all-out enchantment spellcasting. A true support bard doesn't necessarily max out Charisma. It's assumed you're going to be doing all kinds of things with the bard -- a little ranged/melee combat, a little offensive casting here and there, a lot of support.

Being a gnome means you're not going to have optimal damage with a bow, but having a primary magic weapon is important. I assume you have some trait or feat to get proficiency with a longbow (since Bards don't automatically have that proficiency). Otherwise, I'll use the shortbow (since that's a more standard bard weapon).

Since you don't have a cleric, you will need some healing support -- the CLW wand is a good choice.

In terms of usefulness, few items are as generally effective over the course of a campaign as the handy haversacks. I always pick one up as soon as possible. . . especially as a gnome because I usually dump Str as much as I can get away with. This also allows you to carry ALL KINDS of gear you normally wouldn't take.

You also want to have a heavy steel shield and rapier on hand -- you never know when you'll need them.

I also always have an invisibility scroll on my characters -- just in case I have to get out of dodge.

Never leave home without an everburning torch, even if you have darkvision (which gnomes don't in PF). Just throw it in your haversack if you don't need it.

2330 +1 shortbow (2000 + 300 MW + 30 base)
2000 handy haversack
1250 +1 chain shirt (1000 + 150 MW + 100 base)
1000 cloak of resistance +1
750 wand of CLW
330 MW rapier
150 invisibility scroll
110 everburning torch
20 MW heavy steel shield
60 gp on odds and ends (***ROPE***, food rations, a donkey, flint and steel, a grappling hook, battering ram, etc)

Thanks for the ideas. I hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about the small items, and the invisibility scroll and everburning torch will be great to have.


Blueluck wrote:
Fatespinner wrote:

1.) Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp

2.) +1 longbow - 2000gp (added to your existing masterwork)
3.) wand of cure light wounds - 750gp
4.) masterwork chain shirt - 250gp
5.) cloak of resistance +1 - 1000gp

I agree with Fatespinnder's suggestions. Assuming you an sell off some of your older gear and scape up an exre 250 gold, I'd go with this:

* Headband of alluring charisma +2 - 4000gp
* +1 longbow - 2075 (added to your existing masterwork)
* +1 Chain Shirt - 1250
* cloak of resistance +1 - 1000

I would buy the armor instead of the wand because the armor will last you for a very long time, while the wand will quickly get used up by the party. Also, since you can cast cure spells already, the wand isn't going to do anything to make your group win fights, it's simply going to be a way of converting money into hit points after the fight. If the party wants to do that, they should pool money to buy a wand rather than having you pay for it.

I would suggest that your next purchases be:
* +1 Rapier - 2320
* +1 Buckler - 1165

After that, there are still a lot of solid choices depending on what your character does most of the time, but I'd say it's time to go for something fun next.

I proposed your idea of having the group buy the CLW wands and they agree that it's fair, so thanks!


Bard casting CLW wands that were bought from money pooled by party members. Yep, that's my first campaign. Ahh, memories.

Anyway, beware the Robe of Useful Items, aka the Robe of Useless Items if you roll poorly, which you likely will. A friend of mine got 2 rowboats and 2 coffers from it. lol

Don't forget your trusty 10 ft pole.

Scarab Sages

An Ioun torch for 75 gp with no hands makes more sense than an everburning torch for 110, AFAIK.

Sovereign Court

A couple of potions of Lesser Restoration always come in handy. They're a touch expensive for a one-use potion but they only take a standard action to drink rather then 3 rounds to cast.

I'm more a fan of having mundane gear then just a few magic items, especially at low levels. Makes things more interesting and you can usually get more use out of them over the life of your character.


Rust Bag of Tricks is 8500...


I'm with Morgen on this one, I would also buy the armor and magic bow, but add a handy haversack, and start filling it with the rope, grappling hook, cold weather gear, courtier's outfit, healer's kit, antitoxin, etc.

Liberty's Edge

I'm curious, but what is your Use Magic Device bonus? Your playing a ranged support character in a group with no cleric. I'd assume you'd have bardic music up when you can, but have you given thought to when your out, a wand of bless can go a long ways. Also, forget the rapier unless your married to it, and go with a simple club and a wand of shilleghle. Since clubs are light wpns, you'll still get to use wpn finess if that is how you built it for melee, but your 1d4+1 piercing, would become 1d8+1 bludgening. You can then focus your magical armament attention to your bow alone. Also feel free to look at other spells on the cleric list or wizard sorceror list so as to cover the bases of those spells not in the party. Finally, consider the pathfinder pouch from the seeker of secrets. Carry around a necklace of fireballs in here and you can whip it out for AOE support when the sorceror and druid are spent. Lastly, don't forget the importance of alchemical items. That 1d6 fire may not sound like a lot, but when everything else is failing because of SR, a none magical touch attack could be what saves the party. Same goes for Holy water.


The hands free light source and the haversack are the first things I buy with any character.

At this level I wouldn't worry about buying magic weapons. Your masterwork bow is almost as good at a fraction of the cost and you will probably start finding magic weapons in treasure drops about now anyway.

I often buy Mithril armor... as it is much better than standard masterwork and well worth the extra gold.


Akritas wrote:
An Ioun torch for 75 gp with no hands makes more sense than an everburning torch for 110, AFAIK.

I didn't see this one at first. Great suggestion. Definitely getting one.

The Exchange

Wand of Haste (Summoner, 2nd level) 6000 gp.

You have the ability to give people bonuses to attack via inspire courage etc. Your group is fighter light - increase the number of attacks they do will leverage your bonuses to hit.

See if you can pic up a skill bonus item to help your UMD. Cost is cheap (bonus squared) times 100 - so +4 to UMD = 1600.

Your party is going to need you to pick up the slack as a support caster - things like fly/spider climb/ knowledge Arcana, grease, see invisible.

UMD will help you address those issues.


Zephyre Al'dran wrote:
I'm curious, but what is your Use Magic Device bonus? Your playing a ranged support character in a group with no cleric. I'd assume you'd have bardic music up when you can, but have you given thought to when your out, a wand of bless can go a long ways. Also, forget the rapier unless your married to it, and go with a simple club and a wand of shilleghle. Since clubs are light wpns, you'll still get to use wpn finess if that is how you built it for melee, but your 1d4+1 piercing, would become 1d8+1 bludgening. You can then focus your magical armament attention to your bow alone. Also feel free to look at other spells on the cleric list or wizard sorceror list so as to cover the bases of those spells not in the party. Finally, consider the pathfinder pouch from the seeker of secrets. Carry around a necklace of fireballs in here and you can whip it out for AOE support when the sorceror and druid are spent. Lastly, don't forget the importance of alchemical items. That 1d6 fire may not sound like a lot, but when everything else is failing because of SR, a none magical touch attack could be what saves the party. Same goes for Holy water.

My Use Magic Device bonus is currently 12. Do you think that is sufficient at this point?

I hadn't thought of looking at non-bardic spells. Thanks for the idea.

I do have a list of alchemical items to buy, and I have Alchemy as a craft.


cp wrote:

Wand of Haste (Summoner, 2nd level) 6000 gp.

You have the ability to give people bonuses to attack via inspire courage etc. Your group is fighter light - increase the number of attacks they do will leverage your bonuses to hit.

See if you can pic up a skill bonus item to help your UMD. Cost is cheap (bonus squared) times 100 - so +4 to UMD = 1600.

Your party is going to need you to pick up the slack as a support caster - things like fly/spider climb/ knowledge Arcana, grease, see invisible.

UMD will help you address those issues.

My UMD is 12. How high do you think it should be at this point?

I'll definitely try to cover a good set of spells.


For UMD, the higher the better. Take a look at the skill page for it to see the DCs. 12 at 5th level maxed out means your Charisma is at a +4. What are your stats? What was the method for generating them? Seems to me that you like being a support caster and for that build I'd recommend the highest Charisma you can manage.


SPEND MONEY ON GOLDEN GUITAR LIKE AM REAL ROLEPLAYER WOULD.


AM REAL ROLEPLAYER wrote:
SPEND MONEY ON GOLDEN GUITAR LIKE AM REAL ROLEPLAYER WOULD.

AM FAIL SUGGESTION LEADING TO GETTING GUITAR SMASH BY REAL ROLEPLAYER. THAT AM HOW WE ROLL.

RAT SUGGESTION WAY BETTER.


nategar05 wrote:
For UMD, the higher the better. Take a look at the skill page for it to see the DCs. 12 at 5th level maxed out means your Charisma is at a +4. What are your stats? What was the method for generating them? Seems to me that you like being a support caster and for that build I'd recommend the highest Charisma you can manage.

I have:

STR 9
SEX 14
CON 13
INT 14
WIS 12
CHA 18

I rolled for them when I was creating my character. This is the first time I've played a tabletop RPG, so I didn't really know what I was doing. My GM helped me out.

I do like being a support caster. When I got the extra ability score point, I put it in CHA. Do you think the Headhand of Alluring Charisma would be a good purchase for me, then?

I actually haven't used UMD up to this point, so I hadn't thought about it too much. I didn't have any wands or scrolls or anything.


Freud?


MacFetus wrote:
Freud?

To be fair, the S is next to the D on the keyboard.

If it was my character with that array I'd go:

Str 12
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 13
Wis 9
Cha 18

If you're a standard bard you have Versatile Performance, which goes quite a ways in giving you more skills. More HP and a higher Fort save are probably more important.

If you'll be using a Longbow or Shortbow your Str penalty will apply to all damage rolls. I'd make it my 12 and get a composite bow. The main bad things about cutting Wisdom is you lose a couple of points to your Perception roll and Will save, so it's close with Str as to what's more important. It depends on if you'd like more damage with your bow as opposed to the higher chance of something going wrong for you in the surprise round or Will save departments. Though, with a lower Str, you could be in bad shape on a Climb or Swim roll as well, Depends on your campaign.

The main things you'd get for increasing Cha are higher DCs for spells and an extra first level spell per day. If you like buff spells or spells in general that offer no saving throws, the DC isn't as big a deal. However, an extra spell is nice. You'd also get more performances. It'd also help Versatile Performance and your skills in general, including UMD. All of that is a quite good benefit, but it's also a significant amount of your WBL. I may wait on the Headband anyway, but it's definitely one of your first major purchases.


I want to thank everyone for giving me ideas for this. It was way easier than going through the books alone. I've made me choices and I'm excited to use my new toys.

Thanks again.

Lantern Lodge

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet: masterwork everything. Seriously. Armor, shield, instruments, backup weapons, Craft skill toolkits, everything. The masterwork surcharge is chump change at this point, so you might as well, and it leaves you open to having them enchanted later. +1 weapons are not really that much better than masterwork except to defeat DR/magic, and they cost seven times as much, so in my opinion you can honestly pass on that for a little while longer. Get a wand of magic weapon for those awkward DR/magic enemies (or even just a couple dozen scrolls), it's cheap and it'll last plenty long enough that by the time it runs out, getting a REAL magic weapon will be trivial cash.

Magic armor is actually better than masterwork, as well as being cheaper than magic weapons, so you might consider that. Or alternately, if your Dex is very high, consider springing for mithral armor. You'll be happy you did one day. If you don't ever plan to have more than 18 buffed Dex then you don't need it, just get magic instead.

At level 5, equipment of stat +2 is always a favorite. For defensive casters it's not so critical, since you don't tend to have stat-dependent save DCs you need as high as possible, but it's still useful. And you know you'll need one eventually.

Don't forget your handy haversack. Never leave home without it! Also, don't forget your rope! Or your 11' pole. Make the rest of the party pool money to buy you a wand of cure light wounds. At 15g per charge it's way cheaper than potions. All the other suggestions in this thread are good too. Just don't get stuff that's obviously terrible (like hideously expensive 1-shot items) and you should be ok.

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