I am trying to build a character from another RPG ruleset into the Pathfinder ruleset as a bit of fluff to pass the time between sessions. However, the class that is closest in design to the character is a Warpriest, a Wisdom based class, but the problem is that the character is a Catfolk, a race that has a -2 to their Wisdom.
I am designing it to the rules of my current game so its a 15 point buy, but it means that the drawback is so much greater. I was wondering what options you guys recommend for overcoming it.
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Yeah...Oracle of Battle might be a better choice. Or even Skald. Both work better for most concepts for a Catfolk than Warpriest.
On the other hand...Warpriest doesn't require all that much Wisdom. Go, say 15 before racial, throw your +1 in at 4th level, and grab increasingly better Headbands as necessary and you'll do okay. You'll be, like, a point low on Fervor until 4th, and that sucks, but it's not the end of the world.
The ruleset we used for this character didnt have a class system, it was freeform enough that you could build any class by building the abilities, skills and feats in a certain way. The closest class I have been able to link her to is the Avenger class from 4E DnD.
She is a melee focused divine spellcaster who acts as the weapon of her deity rather than the voice of her deity (like a paladin)
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As BBT says, it's hard to give any detailed advice without more info about the character, but there are other options. Paladins and Battle Oracles would both be divine CHA based spellcasters, depending on whether your focus is on the War- or the -priest side of the equation.
You also could just roll with a warpriest anyway, as the -2 WIS isn't necessarily crippling. Even with 15 points to work with, getting a 14 in it would be enough to hold you over for a long time, depending on what you want to do with it.
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The ruleset we used for this character didnt have a class system, it was freeform enough that you could build any class by building the abilities, skills and feats in a certain way. The closest class I have been able to link her to is the Avenger class from 4E DnD.
She is a melee focused divine spellcaster who acts as the weapon of her deity rather than the voice of her deity (like a paladin)
Inquisitor actually sounds closer than Warpriest, then. And Oracle sounds close enough for government work. I'd go Oracle, for mechanical reasons, personally.
I thought so at first when I was first thinking about it, but the Sacred Weapon class ability is the one ability that makes me think of the character more than anything else. The other drawback is Inquisitor is also a Wisdom based caster.
As for Oracle I can see some possible choices for building her in that way, but I feel the Battle oracle isn't where this character is in a flavour sense.
Uhm, is this for a home game? Make a custom Catfolk subrace!
The character in the setting was a catfolk, that is the only reason for the racial choice.
As for the reasoning for Warpriest.
In the setting our characters were fighting an undead menace that is threatening to take over the continent. My character is a former Paladin, who lost her powers by turning her back on her god for not helping fight against them, instead she turned to the neutral god of Death, a god known for their hatred of undeath. She forged a new bond with this god, but because a Paladin cannot be anything but Lawful Good, their bond could not be that of a Paladin, instead she became the weapon of her new god, an Avenger (I took the 4E name for the class) who would empower her Maul (her prefered weapon for killing Undead) with her own strength and her divine magic to do so.
When I read all the divine classes before the ACG, none of the classes, really stood out to me as matching this idea of the character, the closest would be the Inquisitor, but when I bought the ACG, the Warpriest seemed to be more of a match for the idea I had.
I was looking to build this character under the rules of my current game (15 point buy, Pathfinder RPG core books only, no custom races or classes)
As I said the character design is a bit of fluff, not something I am aiming to play straight away if ever. I was just trying to build her to pass time between games and for a bit of creativity.
You might consider an Agathion-Blooded Aasimar instead of a Catfolk. The character could still have very catlike features and that race at least wouldn't take a penalty to WIS (although no bonus either).
The character in the setting was a catfolk, that is the only reason for the racial choice.
As for the reasoning for Warpriest.
In the setting our characters were fighting an undead menace that is threatening to take over the continent. My character is a former Paladin, who lost her powers by turning her back on her god for not helping fight against them, instead she turned to the neutral god of Death, a god known for their hatred of undeath. She forged a new bond with this god, but because a Paladin cannot be anything but Lawful Good, their bond could not be that of a Paladin, instead she became the weapon of her new god, an Avenger (I took the 4E name for the class) who would empower her Maul (her prefered weapon for killing Undead) with her own strength and her divine magic to do so.
When I read all the divine classes before the ACG, none of the classes, really stood out to me as matching this idea of the character, the closest would be the Inquisitor, but when I bought the ACG, the Warpriest seemed to be more of a match for the idea I had.
"Oh I'm a Catfolk from this other region. I don't get a -2 to Wisdom but a -2 to Intelligence because my race is usually brash."
Another option is going Divine Tracker Ranger, taking on Skirmisher archetype too. It has very good bonuses for having high Charisma and doesn't need that high of a Wisdom.
BTW here's the Divine Tracker's stuff:
Favored Weapon: At 1st level, a divine tracker becomes proficient with the favored weapon of his deity. If his deity's favored weapon is unarmed strike, he instead gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. This ability replaces wild empathy.
Blessings {Su): At 4th level, a divine tracker forms a close bond with his deity's ethos. He selects two warpriest domains from among the domains granted by his deity, and gains the minor blessings of those domains. A divine tracker can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain. If a divine tracker isn't devoted to a particular deity, he still selects two blessings to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities, subject to GM approval. The restriction on alignment domains still applies. A divine tracker uses his ranger level as his warpriest level to determine the effect of the blessing. At 13th level, a divine tracker gains the major blessing from both of his domains. This ability replaces hunter's bond.
And as far as I know, you don't need Wisdom for Blessings unless they have a DC.
For your character, you can easily take the Death Blessing and the Destruction Blessing... if you keep a 10 WIS, then the DC of your Major Blessing from the Death Domain won't be too high but still pretty respectable.
I am trying to build a character from another RPG ruleset into the Pathfinder ruleset as a bit of fluff to pass the time between sessions. However, the class that is closest in design to the character is a Warpriest, a Wisdom based class, but the problem is that the character is a Catfolk, a race that has a -2 to their Wisdom.
I am designing it to the rules of my current game so its a 15 point buy, but it means that the drawback is so much greater. I was wondering what options you guys recommend for overcoming it.
15 pt buy....ouch....that is painful for melee casters, even if you aren't playing a race that has a penalty to the important mental stat.
Oracle really might be better. Depending on how dark you want it (god of death? Check plus plus), you could play on the idea that an oracle is someone that the gods/divine forces/eldritch powers/laws of the universe reach into and tinkered with for their own purposes- and kind of ended up breaking them in the process (thus, the oracle curse, which can only be side stepped, rather than overcome).
You could have your god literally trying to turn you into a living weapon for his purposes (interesting motifs- a weapon often must be smacked with hammers and subjected in deadly flames in order to takes on its proper composition and shape)
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Putting your +1 per 4 levels, you only need to start with a 12 wisdom to be able to keep up with your spellcasting from level 1-20, even if you never get a +wis item. If that's the race and class you want then by all means go for it.
I have no idea what you're going for from your limited info, so here's just one random idea:
Catfolk warpriest of Desna level 1. CG
s14 d16 c12 i12 w12 ch9
AC 19 (+5armor +3dex +1shield)
hp9
fort +3, ref+3, wil+3
star knife melee +3, thrown +4 (1d6+2/x3)
battle axe +3 (1d8+2/x3)
knowledge religion +5
perception +3
spellcraft +5
stealth +0
survival +7
languages: common, catfolk, celestial
low light, cat's luck, natural hunter, sprinter
aura (CG), sacred weapon (1d6), spontaneous casting (cure), orisons
blessings: liberation, good
weapon focus star knife, pb shot
spells/day 3/2. concentration +2
gear:
scale mail, light wood shield, 2 starknives, battleaxe, warpriest's kit
(favored class bonus and traits not included)
That build doesn't actually look all that bad. Sure its not an optimal build for a character when you compare it to one that is minmaxed for power gaming. But it does have enough merits to be a playable one.
I suppose using those definitions the best description is anthro. The best example I can give is the Leonin race from Magic the Gathering.
Aasimar could work, since they often have animalistic features. Ss could Skinwalker. Unfortunately, weretigerkin also have a Wis penalty, but the generic Skinwalker traits are +Wis, -2 Int, +2 to a physical stat, which could work out just fine for a Warpriest. You could make it look like a cat without using the weretiger stats.
After taking a glance at the Blood of Angel's Player Companion guide I noticed that Aasimar can be born of Catfolk too, so even without taking Agathion Blooded I'd be able to keep her Catfolk appearance.
As this is just fluff, I might just do that, or at least build two versions of this character, one as a pure catfolk, the other as a catfolk born Aasimar.