Sexy funtimes mystery cultist build


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Arshea, Spirit of Abandon, Empyreal lord / lady of freedom, physical beauty, and sexuality. Can we make an interesting build here? Gotta think so.

Now in pure game terms there are two interesting things about Arshea. One is his/her ritual of obedience, which is "find sexual release daily, either alone or with one or more partners". The other is the second divine boon, which grants you a sacred AC bonus equivalent to your Cha if you're wearing no armor "and revealing clothing". Now, the second divine boon is normally only obtained at 16th(!) level. However, if you take the mystery cultist PrC, you can access it as low as 13th level. Can we shape a build around that? I think we can, yes?

Let's go with a sorceror -- seven levels of that, followed by six levels of mystery cultist to gain the divine boon. Assuming a 15 point build, by 13th level base Cha should be 20 or 21, with at least a +4 boost from items and more likely +6. So that means a base AC of 17 or 18, including touch and flatfooted. Have an okay Dex, invest in a +1 AC item, burn a second level slot to cast Extended Mage Armor every morning while brushing teeth, and you're walking around all day with AC 25 or so before buffs. That's not /that/ amazing -- you're 13th level, after all -- but it's pretty respectable for an arcane caster, and with a couple of rounds of buffing you'll have no trouble getting it up over 30.

In build terms, this suggests a blaster. Yes, thematically you might think a sorceror who has to have hott sex every day would be an enchanter/controller type, but remember, Neutral Good empyreal lord. We're not talking about a succubus here. It's all about freedom, right? So imagine a slave pit, in Cheliax or whatever, people in chains, oppression and misery... and then POOF the scantily clad liberator appears and CRACK KABOOM blasts the whip-wielding slavers into dust! You're free now, brothers and sisters! Follow me! And hm, you're cute, once we're all to safety let's get you a hot meal and a bath and see how you clean up... where was I, oh yes BOOM BOOM BOOM out of the way, oppressors!

Meanwhile, the divine obedience requirement. Now strictly speaking this is a non-issue since the RAW says you can do the job yourself. All you really need is your lively imagination, a few minutes and some personal space. But partners are more interesting, and with a ~27 Cha it shouldn't be too hard to find them. In build terms, the simplest thing to do is take Leadership and get a cohort: when all else fails, there's always good old Carl. And, hell, Leadership is probably a good feat for this build anyway -- either a meat shield fighter, a battle cleric, or just maybe a nice high-Cha bard to lead the prisoners to safety while you're vaporizing those last few slave traders. But being able to find partners at will is probably good too, and that suggests some build directions. You want to max out Diplomacy and Sense Motive, obviously. But you may also want to invest in some spells for screening. I mean, suppose you hook up with the hottie from the other adventuring party, only to find out in the morning that she's really Paracountess Diabolist Cruella Malevila, devoted follower of Asmodeus? /Awkward./ So you need to invest in a few spells along the lines of Seek Thoughts and See Alignment.

So, blaster with a sideline in divination/mindreading. The AC bonus suggests a willingness to get a bit closer than usual for an arcane caster, so some nasty touch and short-range spells should certainly be on the menu. Feats include Divine Obedience, Extend Spell, and Leadership. Bloodlines? Not a critical choice (since you're only taking 7 levels of sorceror) but thematically interesting and there are some minor benefits. Note that going Mystery Cultist costs a level of spellcasting -- ouch -- so crossblooding or anything else that costs more levels.

Thoughts?

Doug M.


First of all, really funny :)
Then, mechanics: a +1 ac item doesn't stack with mage armor. For the sexual partner, I suggest instead of leadership feat, the summon monster, maybe extended. This has a low durability by all means (of you know what I mean - insert malicious gaze here), and it would be nice to do it with planar ally.


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Can druids be Mystery Cultists? They could do that daily obedience with their animal companion.

Scarab Sages

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Master of the Dark Triad wrote:
Can druids be Mystery Cultists? They could do that daily obedience with their animal companion.

That's more of a Lamashtu thing...


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Blackstorm wrote:
First of all, really funny :)

[bows]

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Then, mechanics: a +1 ac item doesn't stack with mage armor.

Well, it depends on the item. Mage armor gives an armor bonus (not deflection, oddly enough). So a +1 ring of protection would, I believe, stack.

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For the sexual partner, I suggest instead of leadership feat, the summon monster, maybe extended.

Putting aside the duration issues, keep in mind that Arshea is all about FREEDOM. (IMO s/he comes across as more Chaotic Good than Neutral Good... but let that bide.) So summoning a creature that has no choice but to do your bidding -- however *awesome* that bidding may be -- is not a good thematic fit here.

In fact, if I were DM I'd rule that any participation in the daily Obedience would have to be absolutely and completely voluntary. So good old Carl your cohort would get to have the occasional hangover morning when he's just not in the mood, and you -- as the devoted follower of a Good-aligned angel of freedom -- would have to be cool with that. Presumably you would either find someone else (the preferred solution), forgo the rite for today (and lose the benefits, -8 hit on AC, ow ow) or retire to a quiet room for a while with a nice pot of warm tea and some illustrated literature.

Doug M.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I do think an oracle could do very well with this too.
Maybe even one with an animal companion, like the lunar oracle or nature oracle. Life oracle could also be a good choice.

Consider Aasimar as race, that way you could punp up your animal companion to make up for the levels you loose in the PrC.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Aasimar angelkin or idylkin lunar oracle, primal companion and boon companion feat works out very well it seems.
Just get UMD as a class skill and max it with a wand of mage armor.
Prophetic armor let´s you double use your CHA with the obedience boon.


Douglas Muir 406 wrote:


Well, it depends on the item. Mage armor gives an armor bonus (not deflection, oddly enough). So a +1 ring of protection would, I believe, stack.

Right. Didn't think to different bonuses type :)

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Putting aside the duration issues, keep in mind that Arshea is all about FREEDOM. (IMO s/he comes across as more Chaotic Good than Neutral Good... but let that bide.) So summoning a creature that has no choice but to do your bidding -- however *awesome* that bidding may be -- is not a good thematic fit here.

Hmm. You've some point here, but strictly speaking, doesn't leadership do about the same thing? I mean, you take leadership just to have a sex toy boy to grab and have fun of nothing better is at reach.

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In fact, if I were DM I'd rule that any participation in the daily Obedience would have to be absolutely and completely voluntary. So good old Carl your cohort would get to have the occasional hangover morning when he's just not in the mood, and you -- as the devoted follower of a Good-aligned angel of freedom -- would have to be cool with that. Presumably you would either find someone else (the preferred solution), forgo the rite for today (and lose the benefits, -8 hit on AC, ow ow) or retire to a quiet room for a while with a nice pot of warm tea and some illustrated literature.

Hmm. I would rule an active search. Freedom to change partner, no bounds. Even that way, leadership is a form of bond between you and your cohort.


*Dotted*

This is so cool. *.*
If I'll ever play a Sorcerer, now I know what build to use.


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I thought Arshea's mystery cultist Cha-to-AC was an armor bonus, so it wouldnt stack with mage armor. I havent looked at it in a while though, so I could be wrong.

I do like lunar oracle with this, with the Animal Companion and Prophetic Armor. And Moonbeams! It's a fun mystery.

Another thought is to dip 2 levels of Paladin. The Cha synergy is amazing, and you get a handful of other useful abilities. Plus, as a worshipper of Arshea, you're a RAW paladin of FREEDOM, and that's hard to come by in pathfinder. The icing on the cake here is triple-dipping that charisma bonus to your AC while you're smiting. Take Noble Scion of War as a feat and you barely need dex at all.

All this put together, and I'm just envisioning a very...sensual Batgirl swooping in to free all those slaves.


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Hayato Ken wrote:

Aasimar angelkin or idylkin lunar oracle, primal companion and boon companion feat works out very well it seems.

Just get UMD as a class skill and max it with a wand of mage armor.
Prophetic armor let´s you double use your CHA with the obedience boon.

I think musetouched aasimar would work best of all, though. +2 Cha, +2 Dex, Diplomacy and Perform as class skills and "The musetouched epitomize freedom and joy, and travel the world to liberate less fortunate individuals." Yeah, that would seem a pretty close match.

Prophetic armor -- which lets you use Cha instead of Dex for AC and reflex bonuses -- would be so good that I almost hesitate; dipping a single level of oracle to get +8 on AC smacks slightly of cheese. Mind, for this particular build it's probably a fair-ish exchange, because you're already down one level of casting for taking the PrC and now you're giving up another. And since Mage Armor doesn't stack... yeah, that could do.

Doug M.


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zefig wrote:
I thought Arshea's mystery cultist Cha-to-AC was an armor bonus, so it wouldnt stack with mage armor. I havent looked at it in a while though, so I could be wrong.

You're not wrong! My bad. It's an armor bonus, so it doesn't stack with Mage Armor.

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I do like lunar oracle with this, with the Animal Companion and Prophetic Armor. And Moonbeams! It's a fun mystery.

It's growing on me. Mind, you really don't want to dip more than one level of Oracle. It's tempting, but your casting is already pretty badly ganked, and you don't want to make it worse.

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Another thought is to dip 2 levels of Paladin. The Cha synergy is amazing, and you get a handful of other useful abilities. Plus, as a worshipper of Arshea, you're a RAW paladin of FREEDOM, and that's hard to come by in pathfinder. The icing on the cake here is triple-dipping that charisma bonus to your AC while you're smiting. Take Noble Scion of War as a feat and you barely need dex at all.

If I were going that route I'd probably throw Sorceror overboard altogether and play an Oracle/Paladin. Which would be interesting in its own right, but I've grown rather attached to the Sorceror version.

Noble Scion of War isn't a perfect fit thematically, but dang -- +6 to initiative (plus a bonus bonus to a minor Knowledge skill) is pretty sweet.

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All this put together, and I'm just envisioning a very...sensual Batgirl swooping in to free all those slaves.

That's the version built off a daredevil Bard, I think.

Doug M.

Sczarni

what book are the boons in?


Akinra wrote:
what book are the boons in?

Chronicle of the Righteous.

Scarab Sages

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

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I do like lunar oracle with this, with the Animal Companion and Prophetic Armor. And Moonbeams! It's a fun mystery.

It's growing on me. Mind, you really don't want to dip more than one level of Oracle. It's tempting, but your casting is already pretty badly ganked, and you don't want to make it worse.

I think the thought is to go full oracle and ignore sorcerer. They both use Cha for casting after all. That way you advance your Mystery to get more than just prophetic armor, and you can get at least the first upgrade for your curse.


Yeah, it'd pretty much be a totally different build. The main question then becomes, what is the sexiest curse?


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Blindness. Because then EVERYONE is sexy, for all you know.


Dotting; love PRC optimization, and this is a weird one. Wondering, which books are the "boons" of empyreal lords?

Edit: I'd either make it an oracle or paladin, unsure at the moment.


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williamoak wrote:
Dotting; love PRC optimization, and this is a weird one. Wondering, which books are the "boons" of empyreal lords?
Scavion wrote:
Chronicle of the Righteous

Right here.

Scarab Sages

Not wasting, because eeeewww..

Lame is probably the best, because immunity to fatigue lets you go longer.


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I'd say sexiest curse is "haunted". Also the most surprising in bed.

Least sexy curse: LAW

Scarab Sages

williamoak wrote:
I'd say sexiest curse is "haunted". Also the most surprising in bed.

I bet it would come up with some creative uses for mage hand, too.


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Well, what about other aspects of the mystery cultist PrC?

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Glorious Aura (Su)

Starting at 2nd level, a mystery cultist can shroud herself in a glorious aura for 1 round per mystery cultist level. These rounds need not be consecutive.

Her features radiate with divine beauty, but the force of her presence can be frightening to others. The mystery cultist gains a +4 sacred bonus to her Charisma score and radiates a 10-foot aura of terrible awe. Creatures within the aura must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + the mystery cultist's class level + the mystery cultist's Charisma modifier) or become frightened for 1d4 rounds. Regardless of whether the save is successful, a creature cannot be affected by a mystery cultist's glorious aura more than once in 24 hours.

This is a fear effect.

Yeah, I'll bet it is. "Hey, slavers! I'm now boosting my AC and all my spell DCs by +2, AND I'm adding a Cha-based debuff to disorganize and scatter your meat shields!" "I... I'm terrified." "Me, too." "Paralyzed with fear over here." "Yes! Keep talking about your feelings, I love that."

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Brand of Healing (Sp)

At 4th level, the mystery cultist gains the ability to cast heal as a spell-like ability once per day. The target of this ability is branded on the forehead or another visible area with an incandescent tattoo of the holy symbol of the mystery cultist's patron. The holy brand lasts for 24 hours before fading.

Okay, are we all thinking about this right now?

No, I mean... this would be useful against undead, right? We've already established that this character is willing to get unusually up-close for an arcane caster. I mean, in melee. So, delivering 130 points of damage on a touch attack works.

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Starting at 4th level, a mystery cultist can use summon monster VI once per day to conjure one lillend, 1d3 bralanis, or 1d4+1 hound archons to serve her.

See discussion upthread re: summoned creatures, so get your minds out of there. These are weakish creatures, but the lillend does have some minor useful spells and SLAs -- hey, you'll be the only sorceror ever to cast Hallucinatory Terrain without a wand or scroll -- and they can be okay when you have a round to spare for casting and want to bulk up a combat with mooks. As is often the case with summons in PrCs, this is for flavor.

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Fervor (Su)

At 5th level, the mystery cultist can enter a religious fervor for a number of rounds per day equal to her class level, and can enter a fervor or end it as a free action. While in this fervor, the mystery cultist gains a +2 sacred bonus on all weapon attack and damage rolls, DR 5/evil, and a +2 bonus to her caster level for the purposes of determining the range, duration, and level-dependent effects of spells. In addition, her base speed increases by 10 feet.

So, yeah, this pretty much screams "I am a caster who will dance into melee -- gorgeously -- in order to blast and shrivel you with close-up touch and ranged touch attacks." Like... like the audition scene in 'Flashdance'? Only with bad guys screaming and exploding? You have the Glorious Aura power above for AC and spell DCs, this for when you need to get close to something to blow it up with a touch attack. Combine the two for boss fights, aw yeah.

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A mystery cultist takes a –4 penalty on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks during the fervor and for a number of minutes afterward equal to 2 × the number of rounds spent in the religious fervor.

"Ah-huh... ah-huh... sorry... all sweaty..."

Doug M.


Hahah! Wow. Great thread.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The curse heavily depends on what you want to do in combat besides casting. Oracle spell list is a bit special, isn´t it.

Haunted is funny, but prohibits things like wands often.
Lame or blind ar ok.
Blackened might be interesting for offensive casting.

Same is true stats-wise.
DEX will mainly be replaced by CHA eventually.
STR for melee is ok, but you need more armor then early on.

Noble scion of war is surely a good feat, especially if you dip paladin and dump DEX. Get some solutions for skill checks then!


Yeah, pretty much gotta dip at least one level of lunar oracle. With Prophetic Armor you roll out of bed in the morning (looking all adorably rumpled, no doubt) with a base AC around 26 or so. Oh, and it lets you have decent AC all through your career until you hit 13th level, get that Cha-into-armor divine boon, and start stripping down for combat. So there's that.

I'd agree that going full oracle (possibly dipping a couple of paladin levels, possibly not) is probably the stronger build. You get pretty strong spellcasting, and the first upgrade on your curse, yadda yadda. But I'm sticking with the sorceror for the moment, if only because I like the visual. Of an arcane caster charging into melee, I mean.

Doug M.


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Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

Yeah, pretty much gotta dip at least one level of lunar oracle. With Prophetic Armor you roll out of bed in the morning (looking all adorably rumpled, no doubt) with a base AC around 26 or so. Oh, and it lets you have decent AC all through your career until you hit 13th level, get that Cha-into-armor divine boon, and start stripping down for combat. So there's that.

I'd agree that going full oracle (possibly dipping a couple of paladin levels, possibly not) is probably the stronger build. You get pretty strong spellcasting, and the first upgrade on your curse, yadda yadda. But I'm sticking with the sorceror for the moment, if only because I like the visual. Of an arcane caster charging into melee, I mean.

Doug M.

HEY! Us magi (and soon, our friends the bloodragers) already charge into meelee! Aint as sexy as a sorcerer, but still...


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williamoak wrote:
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

Yeah, pretty much gotta dip at least one level of lunar oracle. With Prophetic Armor you roll out of bed in the morning (looking all adorably rumpled, no doubt) with a base AC around 26 or so. Oh, and it lets you have decent AC all through your career until you hit 13th level, get that Cha-into-armor divine boon, and start stripping down for combat. So there's that.

I'd agree that going full oracle (possibly dipping a couple of paladin levels, possibly not) is probably the stronger build. You get pretty strong spellcasting, and the first upgrade on your curse, yadda yadda. But I'm sticking with the sorceror for the moment, if only because I like the visual. Of an arcane caster charging into melee, I mean.

Doug M.

HEY! Us magi (and soon, our friends the bloodragers) already charge into meelee! Aint as sexy as a sorcerer, but still...

Whats the fun in reading some musty old book for spells when you could be *ahem* bowing down in worship to Arshea?

Scarab Sages

It's probably not as powerful as a Wis Based Empryeal Sorc dipping a level of monk for Wis to AC, but it is much more flavorful.


I AM PLAYING THIS EXACT BUILD!

Woah, sorry for yelling. I'm excited. Mine's a summoning/buffing-focused sorceress; Arshea is anything but a violent god, so the blaster concept works mechanically, but not with the flavor. Not to mention: the first boon (+4 to CHA-based checks w/someone who could conceivably be attracted to you) suggests party face/Diplomancer over a combat fiend. Let me know how it actually plays out.


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So um...

We are going to fit the agile tongue feat into this somehow right?


Alex Cunningham wrote:
I'm excited. Mine's a summoning/buffing-focused sorceress; Arshea is anything but a violent god, so the blaster concept works mechanically, but not with the flavor.

I disagree. S/he is clearly not one of the more violent E-lords, but that doesn't mean violence never comes up. Any deity who has Liberation and Strength in the portfolio is at least occasionally considering some head-knocking. And hir description specifically mentions "liberation from bonds". Yes, sometimes that will mean liberation from social bonds or the chains of expectation but sometimes it's going to mean blasting a slave trader to the Nine Hells.

Also, while a summoner/buffer sorceror would be fine, it's probably not the strongest build. The boons are pointing you towards investing heavily in Charisma, yes? And then the Glorious Aura is giving you another temporary Cha boost. Summons and buffs don't much care what your Cha is, though. You certainly don't have to build a blaster, but the strongest build for this PrC is likely to be one that throws a lot of save-or-sucks.

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Not to mention: the first boon (+4 to CHA-based checks w/someone who could conceivably be attracted to you)

(which as a player I would argue that, since I have a 27 Cha and spend at least an hour every day having sex, is probably everybody and everything except for golems and /maybe/ oozes -- right, carry on)

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suggests party face/Diplomancer over a combat fiend.

[rubs chin] You do have a point there. But there's no reason we can't have both. Mind, the fact that both sorcerors and the Mystery Cultist PrC only get two skill points/level somewhat crimps our style as a face. A good face is maxing out at least two of Diplomacy, Bluff, and Sense Motive. But we have to put seven ranks into Knowledge (religion) to enter the PrC, so right there we're ganked -- unless we're human or have good Int, we *can't* max out two face skills. And that's never mind throwing the occasional rank at Spellcraft or Perception or what have you.

(Brief digression: most Paizo PrCs are 2 + Int / level. Minor but kinda annoying, as it makes a lot of them both harder to enter and noticeably less fun to play. Wish they'd stop that.)

Doug M.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Angelkin with alter self can help a lot for the obedience ;)

Oracle works much better as the sorcerer i think.
A bard would be something to be tried too though, especially when you use it as partyface. Of course you loose out on the performances, but maybe you could use an archetype and/or take the Kithadorian academy feats buffing your performance. Inspire courage + heroism/good hope is already pretty awesome though.

The Exchange

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I'm pretty sure all of this has been brought up at one point or another in this thread, but I have to say I think you can have the best of all worlds if you go Oracle.

If you choose elf as your race, go Ancient Lorekeeper archetype to gain access to wizard/sorcerer spells and all of their yummy blasts.

If I were putting together an Elven ancient lorekeeper lunar oracle blaster with the blackened curse that prestiges into mystery cultist at level 9 (to get fireball at level 8 thanks to the archetype, its 2 levels behind the sorcerer but eh) I would be able to

Do Stuff:

1. Select a 0th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level blast spell from the wizard/sorcerer spell list at 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th levels respectively to add to my list of spells known thanks to the Ancient Lorekeeper archetype. This will be in addition to burning hands, flaming sphere, and scorching ray; which I will get a la the blackened curse. I will also see both wall of fire and delayed blast fireball by the time I hit level 20. Basically fireball will be your bread and butter blast for this build.

2. Use the elven favored class bonus + boon companion to advance the primal companion revelation to well beyond my oracle level (it should be oracle level + 4 by the time I prestige into mystery cultist if I'm entering at lvl 9). By level 20 my animal companion should be at my ECL -2. Though someone let me know if I'm thinking about that wrong.

3. Have double my CHA bonus added to my AC since the Prophetic Armor revelation replaces my dex in determining your AC and Flawless Form gives an Armor bonus based on CHA bonus. I think by RAW they stack now, but I could be mistaken.

4. Be able to use the form of beast revelation to have sex with my animal companion and get that +4 sacred boon to CHA based checks if... ya know... I'm into that. This probably won't be a thing for my character though, maybe yours. So at the cost of being a weirdo who has sex with my pet, I can add +4 to the DCs of my spells.

I'd suggest taking the Magical Lineage (Fireball) trait and Spell Specialization (Fireball) feat to get really nasty with your fireball blasting.

What's even better than this ostensibly SAD build is that there are a lot of roleplay hooks you can pull from it. For one, the minimal sexual dimorphism found in elves complements the minimal amount of attention paid to it by Arshea. Also Elves already have a goddess that uses sex as a tool, Calistria. Maybe this character is a former sacred prostitute in a Calistrian temple that was cursed for wanting to use sex for something other than personal satisfaction, and Arshea blessed her by making her an oracle. Though you're on your own as to why this particular elf decided that doing her tiger (named Babu) was the most awesome idea in the history of mankind, ever.

I haven't built it, but all in all I think this that is a better blaster option than the sorcerer, though if you have racial or role play preferences you can ignore all of that. If in your game half-elves can choose elven FCBs then all the better, now you don't have the con penalty and can increase survivability without armor.

You can also take the racial heritage (elf) feat along with an Agathion-blooded Aasimar to get +2 Con, +2 Cha and access to the celestial servant feat to now have a Celestial tiger named Babu that feasts on the charred bodies of your enemies. But by now things are already silly enough.


Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Alex Cunningham wrote:
I'm excited. Mine's a summoning/buffing-focused sorceress; Arshea is anything but a violent god, so the blaster concept works mechanically, but not with the flavor.

I disagree. S/he is clearly not one of the more violent E-lords, but that doesn't mean violence never comes up. Any deity who has Liberation and Strength in the portfolio is at least occasionally considering some head-knocking. And hir description specifically mentions "liberation from bonds". Yes, sometimes that will mean liberation from social bonds or the chains of expectation but sometimes it's going to mean blasting a slave trader to the Nine Hells.

I think we are mainly of one mind: violence in the name of liberation is certainly a huge part of the campaign I'm in already*. I remember hearing somewhere that sex and violence were pretty cool together...

At any rate, here's my character, FWIW, with a sweet illustration my (very understanding) girlfriend made for me:

https://the-worldwound-incursion.obsidianportal.com/characters/astreide

*A few sessions ago, my PC gave a stern lecture/demo on masturbation to a villain she felt had despoiled the act. Good times.

Scarab Sages

Alex Cunningham wrote:
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Alex Cunningham wrote:
I'm excited. Mine's a summoning/buffing-focused sorceress; Arshea is anything but a violent god, so the blaster concept works mechanically, but not with the flavor.

I disagree. S/he is clearly not one of the more violent E-lords, but that doesn't mean violence never comes up. Any deity who has Liberation and Strength in the portfolio is at least occasionally considering some head-knocking. And hir description specifically mentions "liberation from bonds". Yes, sometimes that will mean liberation from social bonds or the chains of expectation but sometimes it's going to mean blasting a slave trader to the Nine Hells.

I think we are mainly of one mind: violence in the name of liberation is certainly a huge part of the campaign I'm in already*. I remember hearing somewhere that sex and violence were pretty cool together...

At any rate, here's my character, FWIW, with a sweet illustration my (very understanding) girlfriend made for me:

https://the-worldwound-incursion.obsidianportal.com/characters/astreide

*A few sessions ago, my PC gave a stern lecture/demo on masturbation to a villain she felt had despoiled the act. Good times.

Unfortunately, your GM has restricted your campaign, cant view it :(


Let me try to actually build this out. Note that this is a fun build, not an optimized one. Yes, I KNOW that a straight oracle would be stronger. Let's say I like the sorceror's greater flexibility and leave it at that.

Race -- strong options include human, half-elf, half-orc (really), halfling (really), ifrit, and musetouched aasimar. In pure mechanical terms the halfling may actually be the best by a nose... +1 AC, +2 Perception, +1 to all saves all work well for a part-time blaster. But at the end of the day I'll go with human because this build is going to be a bit hungry for feats and REALLY starved for skill ranks, and being human will help with that.

Class: dip one level of lunar oracle, then six levels of sorceror, then six levels of Mystery Cultist. The least bad curse is probably tongues (shut up) since we won't be using a lot of language-dependent spells in combat. The consumed curse would work okay too, though its connection to Abaddon is a bit of a head-scratcher. Bloodlines, the thematic bloodlines are all pretty feeble mechanically and vice versa. Arcane would be the clear strong choice here but just for the hell of it let's go with Destined. That gives us nothing useful but the +3 Touch of Destiny, but wth. And, hey, sometimes that can be way useful.

Stats: Assuming a 15 point build, start with Str 8 Con 12 Dex 12 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 17. Racial and level increases all on Cha, so at 13th level Cha is 22; a +4 Headband of Alluring Charisma or similar item boosts that to 26.

Pause; comments so far?

Doug M.


Skills: even with the human skill bonus, we're only looking at (oracle 4 + sorc 12 + MCultist 12 + human 13) = 41 skill ranks. Not a lot at 13th level. Max out Diplomacy and the mandatory 7 ranks Knowledge (Religion) for the PrC and that leaves 21. On the plus side, the Touch of Destiny gives +3 to skill checks almost at will, so it's not a bad idea to throw single ranks into things just in case. So, one rank each in Acrobatics, Heal, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Planes), Perception -- yeah, it'll never be very good -- Spellcraft, Survival, and Use Magical Device. These are all class skills, which means that given a round to use Touch of Destiny we can get respectable rolls with any of them. That leaves 12. Intimidate doesn't seem a good fit here, so I think six each into Bluff and Sense Motive. A trait that makes Disguise or Perform a class skill might be worthwhile to draw a rank or two into those.

Feats: man, this gets me every time. We have a total of eight feats, of which one has to be Celestial Obedience, and as noted upthread I think Leadership and Extend Spell make a lot of sense here. That leaves five feats. The character concept is a blaster with sidelines in mindreading/divination and being a face; here's where we really start making choices. So, suggestions very welcome.

Doug M.


Well then, finishing out the feats: Arcane Blast (because it works against everything, including golems and things with SR) and Weapon Focus: Ray to help ensure it hits. Intensified Spell. Dodge because that's just always a decent feat and I'm about high AC, and Skill Focus: Diplomacy because +6 Diplomacy and I am all about love, not war. Well, except when I'm about war. Hm, this makes my base Diplomacy (13 ranks + 8 Cha + 3 class + 6 feat) +30 before buffs or items. That's nice.

So spells and items! Spells, I'm casting like an 11th level sorceror, and I know 5/5/4/3/2 plus my bloodline spells (Alarm and Blur, woo), oracle spells (two cast at first level, woo) and my three Empyreal Lord spells. Must-haves would seem to include Mage Armor, Shield, Suggestion, Eagle's Splendor, Haste, Invisibility, Fly, and Fireball. Very open to suggestions here. Spells that are usefully boosted from my Mystery Cultist dailies (7 rounds/day with +4 Cha, and a separate 7 rounds/day with +2 CL) would be particularly of interest.

Doug M.


I took the Tattooed Sorcerer archetype and the Abyssal bloodline for a couple of mechanical reasons and a couple of flavor reasons:

Mechanical:
- Tattooed gives some sweet boni (boosts to caster level in important areas and a familiar!) in exchange for lame bloodline powers and spells.
- For a familiar, I took a pig, for the +11ish to Diplomacy at first level (ranks, trait bonus, CHA bonus, +3 familiar)
- Abyssal gives that delightful DR/Good, which it turns out is hard for evil foes (in Wrath of the Righteous) to overcome.

Flavor:
- I like playing a gothchick Suicide Girl; I think Arshea would be down with it
- If you're a tattooed sorceress, you gotta get a familiar you can tattoo. So the PC has a tattoo of a pig with its own tattoos.


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I was seriously considering this for exactly this reason. I decided against a familiar basically because everyone on this board seems to assume that if a worshipper of Arshea has an animal companion or a familiar... honestly, people, wth? I can have an active sex life and also have a dog and *those two things do not have to overlap*.

Where was I... oh, yeah, the tattooed definitely sounds viable. Especially given that you're not going all the way with your bloodlines anyway. And having DR/Good for playing WotR is indeed clever, and thematic too! Well played!

Quote:
- I like playing a gothchick Suicide Girl; I think Arshea would be down with it

Of course s/he would be. Totally.

Quote:
If you're a tattooed sorceress, you gotta get a familiar you can tattoo. So the PC has a tattoo of a pig with its own tattoos.

Which should include a tattoo of you, just because.

Seriously, great stuff. So what did you do for the rest of the build, then? Other feats, items, spells and such? (And how are you liking WotR? I just read the first half and it looks better than I expected.)

Doug M.

Sczarni

My thoughts (I have a similar Oracle already, not going to learn MC, just because Prophetic Armor already handles Cha to AC).

If I was going to make a sorcerer of Arshea, I think I would go Half Orc for the Sacred Tattoo/Fate's Fortuned synergy. I would also take the Chain Fighter alternate racial trait just for the access to a flail and general theme.

I would certainly take the tattooed sorcerer archetype, ties into the sacred tattoos, and a Thrush familiar for the +3 to Diplomacy, the ability to fly, and the language.

Bloodline wise, I think I would focus on the genie lines for the various movement effects, probably shaitan for burrow. Hard to hit a burrowing sorcerer! Otherwise probably Orc to synergies with race and to help with damage dealing.

I would bump Cha to 20 if possible, 19 otherwise, and aim for Cha>Dex>Con>anything else


Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
I can have an active sex life and also have a dog and *those two things do not have to overlap*.

Hashtag Sh!tJustGotReal

The rest of her build is the typical summoner stuff right now: SF: Conj, Augment Summons, Celestial Obedience, etc. The real tough choices will happen when we hit Mythic. I am thinking dual-path Hierophant and Archmage, for the summon boosts/buffs of the Hierophant and the extra spellpower of the Archmage. But I'm really not sure.

In the mean time, it's fun having a wand of Enlarge Person and coming up with various non-combat, Arshea-worship uses for it.


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Alex Cunningham wrote:

I took the Tattooed Sorcerer archetype and the Abyssal bloodline for a couple of mechanical reasons and a couple of flavor reasons:

Mechanical:
- Tattooed gives some sweet boni (boosts to caster level in important areas and a familiar!) in exchange for lame bloodline powers and spells.
- For a familiar, I took a pig, for the +11ish to Diplomacy at first level (ranks, trait bonus, CHA bonus, +3 familiar)
- Abyssal gives that delightful DR/Good, which it turns out is hard for evil foes (in Wrath of the Righteous) to overcome.

Flavor:
- I like playing a gothchick Suicide Girl; I think Arshea would be down with it
- If you're a tattooed sorceress, you gotta get a familiar you can tattoo. So the PC has a tattoo of a pig with its own tattoos.

Bonus bloodline flavor: succubus genes.


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This great thread came out on my birthday and I missed it. :(

But I can catch up now. :) Here're my thoughts:

• Your success as a diplomancer is dependent on whether others are sexually attracted to you, and such things are subject to GM whim. Parochial sorts would stick to "same race, opposite sex" while those knowledgeable about Golarion's lore (bisexuality is the norm) would drop the sex restriction. Even the race restriction should be handled on a by-case basis; for example, some dragons are disinterested in humanoids (save as minions) while a few others are very interested in them.

• While it goes against the point of this thread, I tend to avoid prestige classes since I just don't like giving up class features. The situation for an Arshean is only being able to pick two of: low Skill Ranks per level, Charisma as a core stat, class features they plateau at low-mid levels.

• The celestial obedience not only boosts Diplomacy but also Bluff and Intimidate, Arsheans should look into feats that boost feints and demoralizing if they're front-line combatants. And speaking of which...

• An alternative is to play an Arshean who doesn't have Charisma as a core stat, particularly an armor-wearer. I offer as an example my Wrath of the Righteous PC. The buff's just as good without Cha and I won't have to ditch my armor (though I will want something without penalties). Don't forget to look into archetypes and traits that make Bluff, Diplomacy and (maybe) Intimidate into class skills.

• Remember, you don't need a high Cha to look good, just look at Laori Vaus (on left) and the android from Inner Sea Bestiary. Laori's Cha is 8 (Pathfinder #9, p.20) while the android's is 6 (ISB, p.3)!


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Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

For clerics and inqusitors there are some archetypes and conquisitions who let you add or take WIS to/for CHA in diplomacy and others.


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Bisexuality is not the norm, AlgaeNymph. This was already covered in the "World's most beautiful girl" thead. Plotsexuality is the norm.

Jessica Price wrote:
Werebat wrote:
Assuming the OP of the information was correct, Paizo would have been better served stating that the cultures of Golarion are very open-minded and tend not to discriminate based on sexual orientation than by announcing that PF humans are bisexual by default.
We didn't.


AlgaeNymph wrote:


• Your success as a diplomancer is dependent on whether others are sexually attracted to you, and such things are subject to GM whim.

? Why so? Diplomacy is diplomacy. If I invest the feat, I've got a whopping +30 completely regardless of whether the target finds me cute or is only interested in me as flammable material or a potential host for spores.

Doug M.


I think the importance of the obedience has been overstated; after all, it is just a +2 bonus to diplomacy (for the +4 sacred bonus to charisma), not that much. Nice boost though. But that's why "gm whim" was mentionned.


Is it a straight +4 bonus to charisma?

If so then the importance of it cannot be overstated for a sorcerer, oracle and potentially for a paladin or bard. That's a huge increase in power at very minor cost for those characters.

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