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This is for PFS, so RAW only, only 12 levels, yada, yada, yada.
So I've had the idea of doing a cleric of Besmara for a while. For those who don't know, she's the pirate queen, chaotic neutral, favored weapon rapier, and all the other pirate stereotypes you'd expect from such a goddess.
I've wanted to try a negative channeler for a while, too, and this seems like a good fit. Not because I would actually channel negative energy very often. That's kinda hard to pull off in combat because you have to worry about positioning and selective channeling to avoid hurting your allies.
I'm thinking more along the lines of spontaneous inflict spells. Pair this with at least one domain that gives a decent melee touch attack, and you've got the basis for a solid "bad touch" cleric. But as long as I'm channeling negative energy, channel smite is probably worth the investment of one feat, though probably not worth investing in the extra feats and stat points to try and make it really effective (extra channel, guided hand, high charisma, etc).
For domains, I'm looking at Trickery, Chaos (Protean), and War (Tactics).
Trickery looks really good, between the copycat ability, invisibility spell, etc. Lots of stuff to help avoid getting hit while standing on the front line in combat, and getting bluff as a class skill just seems appropriate for a pirate. The other added class skills are ignorable, because clerics don't get enough skill ranks to train everything. This domain offers stuff that's useful both in and out of combat, unlike most.
The first level Tactics ability of rolling initiative twice stood out right away, along with the good spell list, and the combat feat thing at level 8.
But then I noticed the Chaos domain, which has a GREAT level 1 melee touch debuff power. But the domain spell list totally sucks unless you know you'll be fighting lawful enemies, which doesn't happen much unless you're dealing with devils. The Protean subdomain of Chaos helps with that, giving a couple of good replacement spells that clerics normally don't get. So I'm tempted to go with this for the level 1 melee touch power, since it plays well with the whole "bad touch" theme that I'm going for.
I'm just assuming I'll go human on this one, because a cleric will need the extra feat, extra skill ranks, and flexible attribute bonus. Speaking of which, stat array will look something like this:
Str 14 (5)
Dex 12 (2)
Con 14 (5)
Int 7 (-4)
Wis 18 (10) (+2 racial)
Cha 12 (2)
That might get tweaked a little. Wisdom is key for casting, con for survival, and str for hitting in melee, either with a weapon or touch spell. I thought about trying to get the dex higher for armor class, but the Trickery domain should make AC less important than usual for a melee type, so I can settle a little. And charisma is good for social skills and channeling. Like I said, I'll probably pick up channel smite at some point. Though I might consider settling for 10 on dex and cha to get my starting wisdom up to 19, or possibly to get int back up to 10 for an extra skill rank per level.
I dumped int to get the points for everything else. As a human, I'll still get two skill ranks per level. I figure a pirate is less likely to care about stuff like heal or knowledge (religion) than most clerics. I'll probably keep my bluff and diplomacy fairly well trained, along with a rank here and there in perception, sense motive, and profession (sailor).
Since I'll be casting on the front lines, Focused Mind is an essential trait, and Combat Casting has to be my first feat. After that, I'm not sure which feats to take in what order.
Like I said, I could focus on the negative channeling with the rapier by taking Channel Smite, Extra Channel, Guided Hand, and maybe Power Attack and Improved Critical for more extra damage. But that's a pretty big investment to try and be a decent weapon fighter, and it probably won't be worth it unless I rearrange my stats to make charisma my highest and really specialize in it. If I'm not specializing in it, then maybe I can take Channel Smite by itself to use once in a while, and put my focus in the "bad touch" specialization.
So for a casting focus, I could pick up Warrior Priest and/or Uncanny Concentration for an additional +2 each on concentration checks. There's also Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus, probably in Necromancy to increase the odds of doing full damage with the inflict spells. Starting to think about Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration will be necessary by level 7, or maybe 9 at the latest for the first SP feat.
There are also general feats like Toughness, Improved Initiative, Dodge, and Blind Fight that are never bad to have. Or if I put one more point in cha, Selective Channeling becomes an option, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to exclude enough allies to bother with it. If I'm going entirely touch spells/abilities and not bothering with the weapon, then maybe Improved Unarmed Strike and/or Improved Shield Bash are worth considering, as well.
Any other suggestions, or things I should be aware of that I may have missed?
I'd suggest focusing on increasing your Concentration first and foremost: you'll almost always have to cast while swaying on a ship's deck.
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Given that it's for PFS, this pirate won't spend a lot of time on ships. I'm more worried about concentrating while standing next to enemies.
That's why I said Focused Mind and Combat Casting up front. That's +6 on concentration checks, plus caster level and wisdom modifier, for a total of +11 at level 1. That'll go up pretty quickly as my level and wisdom increase (figure a +2 wisdom headband by the end of level 4, +4 headband by level 8 or 9, boost wisdom every 4 levels), but the DC to cast defensively on higher level spells also increases.
Let's do some math:
Level 1: CL 1 +4 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +11 (DC 17 to cast level 1 spells defensively)
Level 4: CL 4 +5 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +15 (DC 19 to cast level 2 spells defensively)
Level 7: CL 7 +5 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +18 (DC 23 to cast level 4 spells defensively)
Level 8: CL 8 +6 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +20 (DC 23 to cast level 4 spells defensively)
Level 10: CL 10 +7 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +23 (DC 25 to cast level 5 spells defensively)
Level 12: CL 12 +7 wis +2 trait +4 Combat Casting = +25 (DC 27 to cast level 6 spells defensively)
So there would be at least a 10% chance of losing spells when trying to cast my highest level stuff through most of the character's career, though casting spells one level below my max should be nearly automatic. Picking up the Warrior Priest feat for an extra +2 concentration and +1 to initiative would really help nail those rolls. Or given how uncommon the failed rolls would be, just having a shirt reroll available whenever I play this PC would likely be just as good.
I'm definitely leaning towards the Trickery and Chaos (Protean) domains, and skipping War (Tactics). Tactics is great, but I want to focus more on the touch debuff of Chaos, with Trickery stuff to protect myself.
I'm still not sure on the exact feat progression. Here's what I'm pretty sure of:
1 - Combat Casting
1 -
3 -
5 -
7 - Spell Penetration
9 - Greater Spell Penetration
11 -
As for other feats, Toughness should be taken at level 1, if at all. Channel Smite should be early, so level 1 or 3, if I'm going to bother with it. Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus (probably Necromancy for the Inflict and Slay Living spells) might be good to have. So maybe Toughness at 1, Channel Smite at 3, Spell Focus at 5.
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I play a pirating cleric of Besmara in PFS.
My take's a bit different than what I think you are aiming for though. As a pirate, most of his spells are non-combat or selfish spells, so there's not a need for a high Wisdom for DCs, or a need to worry about casting in combat.
I can tell you one thing I lament about the character is the lack of skill points.
He has had plenty of opportunity to leap obstacles, climb ropes, cliffs, walls, swim, bluff, tap into his local knowledge, his geographical knowledge and intimidate.
With 2 skills per level (3 if you are human, and 4 if you *gulp* don't do HP with your favored class), he's just barely treading water on skills.
Having a 7 Int -- you might find it hard to be "piratey" with 1-2 skill points per level.
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Yeah, I was thinking of bringing that int back up, maybe at the expense of charisma.
I was originally picturing him as a Johnny Depp type of charismatic pirate. But since I'm going negative channeling for the spontaneous inflict spells, I'm probably not going to bother channeling much, so I can get away with lower charisma from that perspective. This would also free up a feat that I won't be spending on channel smite.
So maybe I could do a more "realistic" historic-style pirate - an ugly bearded guy who always smells like booze, dumping the charisma and boosting int back up to 10, or maybe even 12 at the expense of settling for 12 strength.
With diplomacy and bluff as class skills, I probably don't want to dump his charisma all the way. And I'll use strength to hit with my touch spells, so I don't want to drop that much. But maybe something like this:
Str 13 (3)
Dex 12 (2)
Con 14 (5)
Int 12 (2)
Wis 18 (10) (+2 racial)
Cha 8 (-2)
Or maybe settle for 10 int to keep the str at 14 for the extra +1 to hit. Being human, I'll get an extra skill rank per level, and the 14 constitution means I can probably spare the favored class bonus on skill ranks at least some of the time, especially since I'm considering taking Toughness.
I also still have to decide on a name this guy. For a background, I got the idea of making him come from the nation of Rahadoum, which is a lawful neutral country where all religions are banned. It's a coastal country, so he became a sailor, and decided he loved the freedom of the open sea, and getting away from the overly-lawful nation that he came from. He heard about various religions for the first time as an adult sailor, and embraced the concept of religion wholeheartedly just to rebel against his upbringing, inevitably settling on Besmara as his patron.
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I knew about Spell Storing. I'll have to look at Conductive. I'm leaning towards skipping channel smite at this point. For 12 charisma and a feat, I'd get to add smite damage to 4 attacks per day, and the save to cut that extra damage in half would be relatively easy. It just doesn't seem like I'll get enough out of it to be worth the investment. If I go with the less sociable pirate idea, I can dump charisma, spend some of those points on intelligence to get skill ranks instead, and save myself the feat.
I briefly looked at the variant channeling, but it has the same problem as regular channeling for me: I'd have trouble excluding my allies.
I guess it boils down to what I'll be doing offensively in combat. At low levels, I'll have 7 uses per day of the Touch of Chaos from the Chaos (Protean) domain, along with only a couple of inflict spells per day. What else can I do offensively? Minimal weapon damage, which is probably good enough at levels 1-4. By level 5, I should have enough spells to keep me busy all day on top of the Touch of Chaos, and rarely need to bother with the weapon.
Yarr, yer title says it all, matey! Make what ye want an just say "Arrr!!!!" a lot and ye'll do fine. Especially on September 19th.
Aside from that, it might be worth noting that even a scurvy pirate knows he's better off not letting all his mates die in battle around him, so the negative channeling is a touch risky. It can be fun, to be sure, but PFS means you'll have random groups each time and they won't have much chance to plan for your negativity. So it's risky. You can still do it, and I say go for it since it's what you want, but then you also want to cast inflict spells. Now it's double-risky. Perhaps you should hang onto some way to keep your priate's mates alive in a pinch. You know, like being able to heal their wounds during combat, or between combats without having to spend 8 hours with a healing kit.
I'm not saying turn yourself into a heal bot, that's for land-lubbers, no self-respecting salty scourge of the bounty main pirate would bother with that. But, still, keeping an open mind to having a few healthy, fully healed scallawags between you and your enemies AND them knowing that they owe you a blood-debt forever because you kept them alive, now, that's better'n booty any day.
Oh, have you considered a peg leg? Or a parrot? An eye patch? Or at least a tri-corner hat?
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Like I said, I'm not really planning to negative channel. I just want to do something different as a cleric (I already have two positive channelers). That's why I was thinking channel smite as something to do with the channels, and mostly take advantage of the negative energy thing to let me cast inflict spells spontaneously. It's the whole "bad touch" cleric thing - between that and the 1st level Chaos domain power, he'll revolve around melee touch attacks.
As for the pirate bling, I was lookin' at this beauty.
You know, I've just been assuming I'd go human, because clerics are so skill starved that I'd need the extra skill ranks, and the extra feat and flexible stat bonus are always good. But then I remembered that half orcs can give up their darkvision to get the same extra skill rank every level, and they already have the same flexible stat bonus. There are a few feats that could be handy, but not really much that's absolutely essential for this build, so I don't think I'd really miss the bonus feat. And they have a few other little things that could work well with this character, like the sacred tattoo for +1 to all saving throws, and the favored class bonus that adds 1/2 use per day of the level 1 domain powers, for even more of that Touch of Chaos! I've never played a half orc before, so now I'm considering it just for variety.
Of course, that changes the back story, at least a little. And I still need a name for this guy.
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Now here's an idea: Varisian Tattoo (Necromancy). The +1 CL will give me an additional point of damage on the inflict spells, help with the concentration checks on those spells when casting adjacent to an enemy, help me overcome SR when I reach the level where that becomes an issue, and it comes with Touch of Fatigue 3 times per day as a spell-like ability, which works well with my melee touch theme. The prerequisite is Spell Focus (Necromancy), which I was considering taking anyway, since it'll up the DC for my enemies to take half damage from the inflict spells.
And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of going half orc. I give up the bonus feat from being human, but I can get a few other bonuses instead. Sacred Tattoo instead of Orc Ferocity is +1 on all saving throws, and the fluff says it can be a piercing, which works well with the pirate fluff of having a big earring. Replace the normal half orc weapon familiarity with the city raised variety, and I'll have +2 on knowledge (local), along with whip and longsword proficiency. I can see carrying a whip for the occasional trip attack from 10-15 feet, just for variety. And I have the choice of the normal +2 intimidate, or giving it up for the Endurance feat (sleep in medium armor without penalty!) or a +1 bonus to both acrobatics and climb.
And really, this isn't a feat dependent build. Combat Casting is essential, and I'll definitely need Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration at higher levels, but all other feats are just nice optional bonuses. So the human bonus feat won't be missed.
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So I've settled on the idea of going half orc, and using the racial favored class bonus to get more uses per day of Touch of Chaos from the Chaos (Protean) domain and/or Copycat from the Trickery domain.
Now for the most important question. Which name sounds better for a half orc pirate: GroknAARRR or Green Beard the Pirate?
GroknAARRR the Green Beard!
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So I played this character for the first time last night. He already had 2 GM chronicles on him, so he had the money and prestige to start with much more equipment than a normal starting level 1. That also means he's already level 2 after last night's game, though he qualifies for the PFS rebuild rules until I actually play him at level 2, so it's not too late for last minute tweaks.
Here's the build as I played him last night:
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Green Beard the Pirate
CN Half-Orc Cleric of Besmara, Sczarni faction
Negative Channel, Trickery and Chaos (Protean) domains
Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 18
Cha: 7
Traits:
Focused Mind (+2 concentration)
Bad Reputation (+2 trait bonus to intimidate and becomes a class skill)
Feat:
Combat Casting (+4 to concentrate defensively or while grappled)
Racial Traits:
Intimidating (+2 racial bonus to intimidate)
City Raised (+2 racial bonus to knowledge (local), proficient with whip and longsword)
Sacred Tattoo (+1 luck bonus on all saving throws)
Skilled (1 extra skill rank per level)
Spells:
1: Lesser Confusion (Domain), Cause Fear, Murderous Command
Armor: Chain mail and heavy steel shield
Weapons: Cestus, whip, dagger, light crossbow
Other equipment worth mentioning: Wands of Cure Light Wounds and Protection from Evil (both acquired with prestige points), scrolls of Bless, Air Bubble, Comprehend Languages, and a couple of other utility spells that I don't remember right now, and I had a couple of flasks of acid and an alchemist's fire
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As you can see, I ended up deciding to just dump charisma altogether. I described him as a big, ugly half orc who smelled like cheap rum. With a rank in intimidate, along with the trait and racial bonuses, he still has a +6 in that, so it's his "go to" social skill, which I think makes sense for a pirate. I'm happy I went with the +2 strength bonus, as it came in handy a little bit last night. And the 12 int for skill ranks lets me get 4 ranks per level, which is enough to be useful.
Despite only being level 1, and not being a heavy damage dealer, I felt like the optimized munchkin at the table last night. We had a level 2 bard, and the rest of the party was level 1. We were playing a subtier 1-2 adventure from season 0 that was tougher than I usually expect from those older scenarios. My 19 AC and Copycat domain power from the Trickery domain made me the heavy armored tank of the party, since the only other front liner was a rogue. We had a couple of rangers who weren't bad on the front lines when necessary, but they both were intentionally designed as archers.
We fought swarms, which used up my acid and alch fire, along with everyone else's. Much to my surprise, the negative channeling actually came in handy in that fight, when I told everyone to clear the area and finished the swarms off with 4 points of channel damage.
Also surprisingly, I had an opportunity to use my whip. I just picked that thing up on a whim, since I get the proficiency with it from my race. But we faced an enemy with a reach weapon who was using the terrain to avoid anyone being able to engage him in melee. The squares adjacent to him were inaccessible, but he could attack people exactly 10 feet from him. So I pulled out the whip and disarmed him.
As predicted, I was rolling concentration checks constantly to cast spells and spell-likes while adjacent to enemies. I actually failed two of those, despite only needing a 6 on the die. That will get easier with level, especially if I end up picking up one of the feats that gives an additional +2 for it, so I'm not too worried about it.
My spells turned out to be totally ineffective this adventure. One bad guy made his save on the Murderous Command. Cause Fear ended up being a waste, despite actually working. We retreated early from that particular battle and waited for the enemies to come to us, by which time the fear affect had worn off from the one I'd sent running. I would have been better off saving that spell slot to convert to an Inflict Light Wounds, since we needed more damage capability. I also ended up using my cestus more than expected, for the same reason.
That +1 bonus from the Sacred Tattoo racial trait, the Copycat domain power, the Touch of Chaos domain power, and the Protection from Evil wand all saved me in battle at least once each. And I ended up using something like 6 charges from the Cure wand, despite the fact that there were four of us with wands in this group. We just needed LOTS of healing in this one.
The armor check penalty is awful right now. I actually rolled a -5 to stealth at one point (natural 1). I also missed an acrobatics check to avoid slipping off a ledge into the sewer, but being covered in sewer water just added to the role playing of being a smelly, ugly pirate. I'm going to ditch the steel shield for a darkwood shield with no AC check penalty with the money from this one, so that eliminates the -2 penalty from the shield. Then I'll save up for a mithral breastplate, at which point I'll only have a -1 total AC check penalty, but I probably won't be able to afford that until level 3 or 4.
All in all, my character was surprisingly effective for level 1, sometimes just for things like being the guy who brought the most splash weapons, Bless scroll, and enough armor to be the tank. Oddly, the scroll of Air Bubble came in handy at one point, too. The fact that things like the whip, cestus, and negative channel that I didn't expect to use much ended up being so useful really surprised me.
Another thing that I learned the hard way is that Touch of Chaos (and other debuffs, generally) only work when the rest of the party is dealing damage while I'm holding off the bad guys. In our final fight, party members kept being eliminated temporarily from the fight, so we just needed more damage dealing. So I ended up punching things with the cestus more than using Touch of Chaos. But I used Copycat almost every round that I was adjacent to enemies, since it's a move action to activate, so there was nothing else competing for those actions.
So now I'm thinking that instead of giving myself extra uses of Touch of Chaos per day with my racial favored class bonus, I should use it for extra Copycats per day instead. I'm already at 7 of each per day, which will go up when I raise my wisdom at higher levels. Copycat lasts one round per level, so it'll last longer as I go up in level, but any successful attack that misses because of the Copycat's 50% miss chance destroys it, forcing me to re-activate it the following round. Besides, I'll have other things to do with my standard actions, to compete with Touch of Chaos, as I get more spells and stuff to cast. But once I'm on the front line of a fight, I rarely have anything that will compete with Copycat for what to do with my move actions. As a caster, it's not like I'll be full attacking, even when I'm high enough level to get multiple attacks when I do.