[PFS] New character advice


Advice

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Hey all,

I'll be going to GenCon for the first time, and it's right around the corner! It has now occurred to me that I'm signed up for a couple of Tier 1-5 scenarios, and currently all I have in-tier is a 3rd-level cleric.

In case I'm at an otherwise low-level table, I'd like to have another low-level PC available.

I have a 3XP GM credit baby, so I could start a new PC at 2nd level. The downside is that I don't have much time to prepare, and whatever I threw together would be locked in permanently. Also, with tieflings and aasimar going away, that slot is my last chance at such a race, so it's a bit valuable to potentially lose. But on the plus side, he'd end up very close to 3rd level, the point where I actually have a good chance of playing him in the foreseeable future. (I've played most low-level scenarios, and my local PFS scene tends to keep re-running the old favorites, so some of the older ones I missed come up so rarely that all it takes is one scheduling conflict to keep me locked out of it for another year or longer.)

Alternatively, I could just start a totally fresh PC with 0XP. This has the advantage of being able to still change things after the fact, but on the downside, it means that at the end of GenCon I have two different slots at 3XP or less, and not very many low-level scenarios to play them in. Given that I recently retired a character at 13.2, will be retiring another after GenCon, and my next will be 7th and then the next 3rd; having two characters stuck at bottom tier means they won't be played for a long time.

Any suggestions/advice?


Tiefling Magus?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Ironically, I've had a concept for a tiefling magus for a long time and was thinking of making him for PFS, but then had (another) TPK in my Mummy's Mask group and built him there. :/

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

What characters do you already have? I don't think you've done a big beefy melee type yet. Or an archer, for that matter.


Tiefling Hexcrafter is where I would go with it. DEX based seems most likely, have people already received their downloads for ACG? Does that DEXtoDamage feat exist yet?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

RainyDayNinja wrote:
What characters do you already have? I don't think you've done a big beefy melee type yet. Or an archer, for that matter.

I just retired a STR-based Eldritch Knight.

I'm about to retire a melee cleric.
I have a blaster-but-with-options sorceress.
I have a melee bard (paired with my wife's magus).
I have a casting-focused cleric.

Scarab Sages

If you go with a 0 XP baby, you'll have the benefit of the new races. Do you have any Kitsune, Wayangs, or Nagaji ideas?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Imbicatus wrote:
If you go with a 0 XP baby, you'll have the benefit of the new races. Do you have any Kitsune, Wayangs, or Nagaji ideas?

I already have a (boon-using) kitsune; he's the melee bard paired with my wife's (also kitsune) magus. Pretty fun. :)

I don't currently have any ideas for the other two, though I'm open to suggestions.


If you do decide to make a new character, here is my collection of PFS build skeletons.

My flavor for them is all written out by hand and thus not easily share-able, but maybe you'll be inspired by something there.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

It looks like you're missing:

-Full martial/non-magical
-Ranged attacking
-Nature magic
-Skill-based

So perhaps an archer fighter (I've had fun with my Wayang Lore Warden), zen archer, a hunter from the ACG, a support druid, a ranged slayer, an alchemist or investigator.

And FYI, my level 2 is my melee inquisitor of Norgorber with all the Wis-based CSI-type skills. So plan accordingly.


Aasimar Monk. I'd go Garuda Blooded. You just seem to play a lot of gish and I encourage people to go outside their normal comfort level for characters. There's a lot of potential on a monk to be something very different and being 2nd makes the class more into it's role.

If you didn't want to blow the 2nd lvl character, I'd encourage a Barbarian. Just because I think everyone can get some solid enjoyment out of SMASH!!!


Jiggy wrote:
Also, with tieflings and aasimar going away, that slot is my last chance at such a race, so it's a bit valuable to potentially lose.

Tiefling Alchemist?

Tiefling Mystic Thuerge?

It seems that capturing one or the races that are going away has a lot of merit.

Thank you for pointing out these are going away. I was unaware and have an Aasimar Evangelist Cleric I want to play. I have one more scenario happening prior to GenCon (thankfully Tier 1-5). I will now be creating that character for that game.

Can you link the new PFS changes perchance?

Scarab Sages

Rory wrote:


Can you link the new PFS changes perchance?

Race Changes

Faction changes

Silver Crusade

Wayang alchemist. I don't think I need to say anything else, lol.

Also, if your cleric is level 3, he's getting out of tier gold for any 1-5 he plays. Why not play him with a bunch of 1-2 level characters to help get them through the scenario?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Bigdaddyjug wrote:
Also, if your cleric is level 3, he's getting out of tier gold for any 1-5 he plays. Why not play him with a bunch of 1-2 level characters to help get them through the scenario?

Certainly an option as well. But additional options is never bad, right? ;)

Scarab Sages

Wayangs look like they will make awesome investigators.

Silver Crusade

Jiggy wrote:
Bigdaddyjug wrote:
Also, if your cleric is level 3, he's getting out of tier gold for any 1-5 he plays. Why not play him with a bunch of 1-2 level characters to help get them through the scenario?
Certainly an option as well. But additional options is never bad, right? ;)

As long as additional options doesn't leave you with 20 registered PFS characters and not enough time to play them...

Imbicatus wrote:
Wayangs look like they will make awesome investigators.

This, too. And damnit Imbicatus, now I have to make a -21 character that I'll never get a chance to play. At least I'll have the excuse of not having the ACG for a reason not to play this one or my swashbuckler.

Silver Crusade

Tiefling : Slayer, or Rogue : With Fiend Sight twice for see in darkness.
Aasimar : Hunter : With Celestial Servant To have a Celestial hunting companion.

I tend to make themed characters. Then do the optimization to fit the theme.

Scarab Sages

Bigdaddyjug wrote:
Jiggy wrote:
Bigdaddyjug wrote:
Also, if your cleric is level 3, he's getting out of tier gold for any 1-5 he plays. Why not play him with a bunch of 1-2 level characters to help get them through the scenario?
Certainly an option as well. But additional options is never bad, right? ;)

As long as additional options doesn't leave you with 20 registered PFS characters and not enough time to play them...

Imbicatus wrote:
Wayangs look like they will make awesome investigators.
This, too. And damnit Imbicatus, now I have to make a -21 character that I'll never get a chance to play. At least I'll have the excuse of not having the ACG for a reason not to play this one or my swashbuckler.

Yeah I know. I haven't had altitis this bad since City of Heroes shut down.


CoH :-( Oh how I miss thee...

Silver Crusade

Mine was pretty bad before. I've had 10 or 11 PFS characters rolled up and with some form of credit on them, either a single scenario or a GM credit from all the times I GMed The Confirmation. Then HeroLab added character creation to their iPad app some time last Friday. Since then I've created 8 new characters and have another 3 or 4 kicking around in my brain.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I guess ultimately what I think I really WANT is to use my 3XP slot in those 1-5s, to push it up out of the range where it can ONLY be used in 1-5s, since the chance to play in those is so rare for me now.

It's just that doing so carries the risk of quickly building an unsatisfactory character, shelving him, and then needing EVEN MORE tier 1-5 scenarios to get a new character going. :/

Silver Crusade

That is why I tend to be carful when building characters. I make sure they have a goal in how I expect them to preform. The play them to there strengths and try to minimize there weakness.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

I'd like to recommend Mystic Theurge, because I always recommend Mystic Theurge.

Alternately, you can try out a non-druid, druidic feel with the First Worlder summoner and pick up the starlight, moonlight, and sunlight summons feats.

Try doing ranged damage, using an uncommon weapon type, or both. Perhaps the Sling Glove?

Natural attack builds can be fun, if a little odd and/or complex. I've enjoyed my dex-based one.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Oh, here's a thought that just occurred to me: I've retired my EK and will be retiring my melee cleric after one more session. This will leave me with my sorceress, bard, and caster-cleric. With the bard being something I only play occasionally alongside my wife, that leaves me with nothing but my two primary casters.

I think it's time for a weapon user.

Silver Crusade

Tiefling inquisitor of Szuriel. No, wait. That's my newest character, lol.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Jiggy wrote:

Oh, here's a thought that just occurred to me: I've retired my EK and will be retiring my melee cleric after one more session. This will leave me with my sorceress, bard, and caster-cleric. With the bard being something I only play occasionally alongside my wife, that leaves me with nothing but my two primary casters.

I think it's time for a weapon user.

Either bloodrager or ranged hunter


I would suggest either Bloodrager, Skald, or Warpriest.

Scarab Sages

Have to agree with overlord VIII, play a ACG character with tiefling or aasimar as your race . Since who knows when you"'ll get another chance to make one again with our a boon .

Scarab Sages

Sorry double tapped .

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Tiefling Meele Alchemist. If you can start at 2nd, you will have 3 attacks at your full BaB.


Go either brawler, or maybe an Aasimar Swashbuckler. Both sound like fun to me.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I'm actually kind of thinking about the brawler, though whenever I think about it, all I can picture is Sanji from One Piece, and conversion characters get old fast. :/

Don't like alchemists. Or natural attack users, for that matter. Personal aesthetics is all.


You don't need a weapon user, you need a living weapon. Oni-spawn Tetori.


I've currently got a Brawler reserved for later myself named Captain Eagle, but I decided to make it more a composite character than a conversion. Based partly on Captain Falcon and partly on a misunderstanding of Moon Knight, so the Eagle persona is more the result of a fractured mind. Might be loud and willing to punch people in the face one minute, then suplexing people while as silent as a grave the next. I figured that was a good way of representing the Brawler in a fun way.

So if you keep thinking Sanji, then embrace it to an extent and then find a twist you can make on the character. Flip the gender, make him cook with feet and fight with hands, or just come up with a different profession altogether.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Kalvit wrote:
Based partly on Captain Falcon

You know, someone spoiled some kind of feat that let you do all your unarmed strikes at once (ala Clustered Shots). One of my first thoughts was "Falcoooon PAWNCH!"

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