So my friend is trying to devise a Greek campaign of sorts. The campaign would take place in ancient Greece, and would be focused around the ancient Greek deities (Zeus, Hades, etc. I am not sure as of yet what the logistics would be or how any other aspect of the setting would work (only the future GM really knows). What I do know is that prepared magic users excluding the cleric (wizards, witches, magus) would not be allowed, and the spontaneous casters would be limited, and reflavored in a way in which they would draw their power from the gods.
I am attempting to come up with a character design that would work in this setting, but I am having a hard time picturing anything other than a standard fighter. Anyone have any ideas as to what kind of character would fit in that setting well?
The best classes for an ancient Greek heroic campaign are the Tome of Battle classes from 3E, *especially* the Warblade, who is all about seeking fame, glory, and fortune through his unmatched combat prowess. Some things might need to be renamed, but the maneuvers work quite well for it.
The Monk, preferably one with full BAB and other buffs to make him a worthy melee class and probably using Martial Artist archetype, would work well refluffed slightly as a Pankratiast.
Fighter Archetype Phalanx Fighter would be theme appropriate.
While not using a greek theme, the campaign I am working on is very similar.
Good classes for characters are fighter, rogue, skirmisher ranger, barbarian, and oracle. Sorcerers for rare NPCs, though I actually prefer using witches and giving them the spells known and spells per day of sorcerers instead.
Also, you mention the DM is limiting spont. casters. I hope he is also limiting clerics...
May I suggest two things to help,
1) use the rules about bronze and Elysian bronze from Ultimate Equipment along with the upcoming mythic rules to have more of a demigod feel to the game characters in comparison to the "regular" Greeks.
2) there is a useful 3.5 supplement that can help Relics & Rituals: Olympus. It's based on a 3.5 system but should be easy to convert. You should be able to find a PDF online for free. :) it's got details on how to play basic 3.5 RPG classes and races that can be useful for a pathfinder Greek myth adventure.
I would suggest to not use rules for bronze weapons and armor. Those are laughably bad, with equipment shattering all the time. Bronze is not bad. Bronze is even better than many early steels. The idea that it breaks all the time is nonsense.
Instead, it makes more sense to limit the equipment options to items that can actually be made from bronze.
That mostly means no greatswords, bastard swords, falchions, half-plate armor, full-plate armor, and banded armor. I think in theory you could even make bronze full-plate, but since it has never been done it would be out of place in a Greek themed campaign. Long blades made of bronze won't work. Those would actually behave quite like the rules for bronze weapons if anyone would make them.
I would suggest to not use rules for bronze weapons and armor. Those are laughably bad, with equipment shattering all the time. Bronze is not bad. Bronze is even better than many early steels. The idea that it breaks all the time is nonsense.
Then what I would do is then remove the fragile quality from the bronze considering that all the weapons at the time were bronze. There are also rules about weapon and armor choices in the relics and rituals book that would be useful in limiting your list.
http://www.seankreynolds.com/skrg/products/002TNA/tna.html - The New Argonauts
I am compelled by Hera to continue plugging this incredible (free) e-book by Sean K. Reynolds (yes, THE Sean K. Reynolds) that details how to play a classical Greek game of 3.0 D&D.
Easily convertible to Pathfinder. Even if you don't use it, grab it and skim it, as the information displayed therein is both enjoyable and valuable for your purposes.
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Barbarians, those who lived outside the city states.
Bards were definitely present. I mean, what do you think Homer was?
Witches pop up quite a bit in Greek mythology.
Druids, of sorts, appear.
Clerics of various Greek deities and thus Paladins of a few.
Oracles feature as well. Could even homebrew Cassandra rules.
Cavalier, of course for horse warfare.
Greek fire? Medicine? Alchemist!
Storytellers show up everywhere, but wandering magicians who rouse the morale of troops in battle are a bit more specific.
I think oracles are the better choice over cleric in anything that isn't intended to be a D&D world. The cleric class simply is too different from priests in pretty much every other context.
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I am compelled by Hera to continue plugging this incredible (free) e-book by Sean K. Reynolds (yes, THE Sean K. Reynolds) that details how to play a classical Greek game of 3.0 D&D.
Easily convertible to Pathfinder. Even if you don't use it, grab it and skim it, as the information displayed therein is both enjoyable and valuable for your purposes.
I absolutely second this, especially as The New Argonauts was created by Sean K Reynolds of Pathfinder fame and is excellent in it's own right.
Linked for ease of perusal. 64 pages. Free. I printed it on good paper and had it bound at Staples. It is a wonderful resource on Greek adventuring.
Show your dm the super genius games Godling Its available on D20pfsrd as well. In particular if he's looking for a way to re-theme magic users as being tied to the gods, why not have them be descendants (mystic godlings). The godling classes are a great way to play out things ancient greek heroes of all sorts.
I am compelled by Hera to continue plugging this incredible (free) e-book by Sean K. Reynolds (yes, THE Sean K. Reynolds) that details how to play a classical Greek game of 3.0 D&D.
Easily convertible to Pathfinder. Even if you don't use it, grab it and skim it, as the information displayed therein is both enjoyable and valuable for your purposes.
I absolutely second this, especially as The New Argonauts was created by Sean K Reynolds of Pathfinder fame and is excellent in it's own right.
Linked for ease of perusal. 64 pages. Free. I printed it on good paper and had it bound at Staples. It is a wonderful resource on Greek adventuring.
Once again I want emphasize that one of the gods of the game design industry has a FREE BOOK that quite literally is all about this subject.
Interestingly enough, it disposes of spellcasting classes almost entirely and all of the given player spellcasting classes get dropped for a lesser variant (not unlike an Adept).
If you've replied to this thread and haven't looked at New Argonauts yet, you are missing out on some amazing stuff. Go get it.
I was considering showing him the Godling classes, but he isn't a fan of third party.
I've spoken to him and he meant that we can only have one dedicated caster, and he/she must be spontaneous...I guess that's what he meant by limiting.
He doesn't count clerics as spontaneous casters, but did state that we can only have one at max (but this applies to every class).
At this point, I'm trying to decide between a Cleric of either Poseidon or Zeus himself, an oracle that draws his strength from Apollo, or an archer paladin descendant of Apollo who wishes to prove his worth.
Hmm...the New Argonauts book looks interesting. I'll have him take a look at it.
I am attempting to come up with a character design that would work in this setting, but I am having a hard time picturing anything other than a standard fighter. Anyone have any ideas as to what kind of character would fit in that setting well?
Keep the personality, profession, etc. separate from the chracter class. A rogue could be a gladiator. A ranger could be a charioteer. A fighter could be a military commander or village elder. A cleric or paladin could be offspring of a god seeking to please his or her parent. A barbarian could be that too, or a hermit.