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Since losing my primary hard drive - and thus all of my character builds, notes, and hero lab files, barring some pdfs on Skydrive and posts here or on Reddit - I've been poking around at some completely new ideas. Unsurprisingly, they're pretty focused on the APG classes and archetypes.
Right now, I'm mostly building out to seventh level (as that's what our house game is currently at), with notes on feat & ability intentions out to higher levels. This means that I'm scrapping ideas that don't come together well enough at that point. I am slowly trying to recreate some of my old builds from notes, pdf, and memory, but in several cases, I'm abandoning them as not holding up in comparison.
Oltana is an old build re-done; all that really stuck is the concept of a max Strength Dervish Dancer Bard. Once I decided that her steadily increasing Strength (both in backstory, and in the future when she continues the EH Orc feat chain and then prestiges into Dragon Disciple - she should end up with a Str of 34 at level 17 without items if I've done the math right) was both a mystery to her and somewhat frightening, I decided that she should be a mythic character, which meant adjusting her background and traits to work for Wrath of the Righteous. In the process, her personality was changed from the somewhat ditzy partygirl that I had originally devised into more of Buffy expy.
If I were to actually play this, I'd want to have a selection of battle music for her exquisite accompaniment spell.
Oltana
Female human (ulfen) bard (dervish dancer) 7
CG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
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Defence
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AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+8 armour, +1 deflection, +2 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 47 (7d8+7)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +5; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependant, and sonic
Weakness light sensitivity
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Offence
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 silversheen longsword +12 (1d8+9/19-20)
Special Attacks battle dance: inspire courage
Bard (Dervish Dancer) Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +9)
3rd (1/day)—exquisite accompaniment, haste
2nd (4/day)—allegro, blur, heroism, mirror image
1st (5/day)—chord of shards (DC 13), cure light wounds, moment of greatness, silent image (DC 13), vanish (DC 13)
0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, message, open/close (DC 12), prestidigitation, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 21, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 23
Feats Arcane Strike, Eldritch Heritage, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Survival), Step Up
Traits armour expert, chance encounter
Skills Bluff +9, Climb +9, Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (arcana) +3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +3, Knowledge (local) +3, Knowledge (nature) +3, Knowledge (nobility) +3, Knowledge (planes) +3, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +9, Perform (dance) +15, Perform (sing) +6, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +12, Survival +2
Languages Common, Skald
SQ battle dance, battle dance: rain of blows, fleet, touch of rage
Other Gear +2 mithral breastplate, +2 silversheen longsword, amulet of natural armour +1, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, mirror, hemp rope (50 ft.), soap, trail rations (5), waterskin, 51 pp, 8 gp, 2 sp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Battle Dance (move action, 18 rounds/day) - 0/18
Chance Encounter (1/day) - 0/1
Touch of Rage +2 (5/day) (Sp) - 0/5
Trail rations - 0/5
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Armour Expert -1 Armour check penalty.
Battle Dance (move action, 18 rounds/day) Battle dances can create bardic performance effects only on self.
Battle Dance: Inspire Courage +2 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Battle Dance: Rain of Blows +1 (Su) Gain dodge bonus to AC, Ref saves & extra attack as haste.
Chance Encounter (1/day) Re-roll failed Acrobatics, Bluff, Disguise, Sleight of Hand or Stealth check, keep 2nd result.
Fleet (Su) Gain an enhancement bonus to speed when battle dancing.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Step Up When a foe makes a 5 ft step away from you, you can move 5 ft to follow them.
Touch of Rage +2 (5/day) (Sp) Gain listed morale bonus to attack, damage, and Will saves for 1 rd.
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Oltana's parents are both former crusaders who retired when her mother became pregnant. Rather than returning home though, they've stayed in Kenabres and started a small merchant house. While neither of them know how to craft weapons, they both have a keen eye for what they're worth, and had made several connections over their decade of fighting the demons; this has allowed them to make a meagre living importing armaments from the south along with buying and selling the gear of other crusaders.
Oltana grew up playful and carefree, never knowing how unusual the constant threat of demon attack made her childhood. And even though her father insisted on teaching her to use armour and at least hold a sword correctly, she never had any intention of becoming a crusader; Oltana had always assumed that her life would always be a nothing but having fun and doing as she pleased.
As she grew older, she expected to either run off to one of the big cities far to the south on her own, or with some dashing man that would fall hopelessly in love with her. But over the last few months, she's begun to feel... odd. Every day, she wakes up a little stronger than the day before, and she's becoming more and more convinced that something horrible is going to happen to her parents if she leaves.
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Advancement Plan
Dervish Dancer 12 / Dragon Disciple 8
9 Step Up
11 Improved EH (Orc)
13 Improved EH
15 Following Step
17 Greater EH (Orc)
19 Step Up and Strike
Likely Dual-Path Mythic.
May want to use Mythic to switch from longsword to a proper greatsword, but isn't really that important.
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Nestor began as an experiment in creating an armoured Sacred Fist. I changed race, deity, and what class he was going to take at level one several times before settling on this build. He does not, as yet, have any background written, because I can't think of how he would fit into my current Council of Thieves game (beyond poorly, given that he's a devout follower of Ragathiel)
He'd probably be more effective if he got rid of the shield and worshipped Gorum instead, but I was specifically trying to make a sword & board character to compare to a tower shield fighter in our group. I think he compares very favourably. In fact, I don't think I'd bring him into our game even if he did fit thematically - fully powered up, he'd be running a 29 AC and flurrying at +16/+16/+11 for 1d10+20+1d6 vs evil. Sacred Fist gaining access to Crusader's Flurry as a single classed character is remarkably effective. The only downside to making an armoured Crusader's Flurrying Sacred Fist is trying to make any actual use of the Style feats - Dragon Style is useful for enabling charges (I did consider going Dragon Style and using Rhino Hide, but I didn't like being slowed down), but the rest of the chain is pointless. Panther style is the only one where the rest of the chain is remotely useful for this sort of character.
Nestor
Male half-orc fighter 1/warpriest (sacred fist) of Ragathiel 6
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
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Defense
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AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 23 (+7 armor, +2 dexterity, +1 dodge, +2 luck, +4 shield)
hp 60 (1d10+6d8+14)
Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +10
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee
+2 bastard sword +12 (1d10+6/19-20) or
+2 bastard sword flurry +12/+12/+7 (1d10+6/19-20) or
unarmed strike +9 (1d8+4) or
unarmed strike flurry +9/+9/+4 (1d8+4)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, channel positive energy 2/day (DC 15, 2d6)
Warpriest (Sacred Fist) Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +8)
2nd—align weapon, bull's strength, resist energy, weapon of awe (DC 14)
1st—blessing of the watch, divine favor (3), shield of faith
0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, mending, purify food and drink (DC 12), resistance
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Statistics
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Str 19, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 25
Feats Combat Reflexes, Crusader's Flurry, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Panther Style, Power Attack, Shield Focus, Weapon Focus (bastard sword)
Traits armor expert, fate's favored
Skills Acrobatics +12 (+16 to move through a threatened square or enemy's space), Intimidate +2, Perception +12; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Orc
SQ blessed fortitude, blessing (destruction blessing, good blessing), blessings, destructive attacks +3, fervor 2d6, holy strike, orc blood
Combat Gear jingasa of the fortunate soldier, acid (2), alchemist's fire, alkali flask, holy water, liquid ice; Other Gear +1 mithral breastplate, +1 mithral heavy steel shield, +2 bastard sword, belt of tumbling, cloak of resistance +1, bandolier, belt pouch, flint and steel, wooden holy symbol (Ragthiel), holy text, soap, spell component pouch, 1 pp, 6 gp, 2 sp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Acid - 0/2
Alchemist's fire - 0/1
Alkali flask - 0/1
Blessings (6/day) (Su) - 0/6
Fervor 2d6 (5/day) (Su) - 0/5
Holy water - 0/1
Jingasa of the fortunate soldier (1/day) - 0/1
Liquid ice - 0/1
Panther Style (1/round) - 0/1
Warpriest Channel Positive Energy 2d6 (2/day, DC 15) (Su) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
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Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Belt of tumbling +4 competence bonus on Acrobatics to move through threatened square or enemy's space.
Blessed Fortitude (Su) If you succeed at a Fort save for partial effect, take none instead.
Blessings (6/day) (Su) Pool of power used to activate Blessing abilities.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Crusader's Flurry May use flurry of blows with deity's favored melee weapon
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Destructive Attacks +3 (Su) Touched ally gains a morale bonus to dam for 1 min.
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Fervor 2d6 (5/day) (Su) Standard action, touch channels positive/negative energy to heal or harm. Swift to cast spell on self.
Flurry of Blows +5/+5/+0 (Ex) As full-rd action, higher BAB and combo unarmed/monk wep as if two-weapon fighting.
Holy Strike (Su) Touched weapon deals +1d6 dam vs. evil foes for 1 min.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Jingasa of the fortunate soldier (1/day) Activate to negate a critical hit or sneak attack as an immediate action.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Panther Style (1/round) Retaliate against opponents that take attacks of opportunity against you
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Shield Focus +1 Shield AC
Warpriest Channel Positive Energy 2d6 (2/day, DC 15) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Advancement ideas for Nestor are fairly fuzzy, beyond Quicken Blessing being a must-have for level 11.
9 (BAB 7) Dragon Style
11 (BAB 9) Quicken Blessing
13 (BAB 10) Improved Critical
13 (BAB 10) Bonus Style Feat - Panther Claw
13 (BAB 10) Bonus Combat Feat - Critical Focus
15 (BAB 12)
16 (as BAB 16) Bonus Combat Feat (count as Fighter 15) - Versatile Critical
17 (BAB 13)
19 (BAB 15) Bonus Style Feat - Panther Parry
19 (BAB 15)
All the discussions of double dipping stat bonuses had me wondering how effective a (non-wizard) character I could build relying on just Int. I was also hoping to create a skill monkey in the process. One of the clearest ways to make use of Intelligence is a Kensai, but with their low skill points, they don't make great skill monkeys. The new Empiricist Investigator though, makes an excellent Int-based skill monkey.
So my first attempt was to build toward Empiricist 9 / Kensai 11 (which gets Int to AC, Initiative, and Attacks of Opportunity from the Kensai levels, and allows Combat Inspiration as a capstone of sorts)
I figured this could be a character that our party had met a few levels ago when we finished Masks of the Living God (reset in Westcrown - we've kept the temple as our new base). While I can't remember the NPC's name, she was essentially the "one honest cop" in the corrupt city guard. We either inspired her to quit her job, or she got booted for trying to get the corrupt guards who were working with the Razmiri charged. Either way, I figured she's been trying to learn to fight (hence switching from Investigator to Magus).
But at 7th level (Investigator 4 / Magus 3), she's just not there; she would have to buff herself up extensively to be useful in a fight, and her skills aren't quite what I'd hoped for.
Female half-elf investigator (empiricist) 4/magus (kensai) 3
NG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +17
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Defence
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AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+3 armour, +1 deflection, +2 dexterity, +3 dodge)
hp 58 (7d8+14)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +10 (+2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects); +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities canny defence, trap sense +1; Immune sleep; Resist unfailing logic
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Offence
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 inspired silversheen rapier +9 (1d6+3/18-20)
Ranged darkwood hand crossbow +8 (1d4/19-20)
Special Attacks deed: opportune parry and riposte, spellstrike, studied combat, studied strike +1d6
Investigator (Empiricist) Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +9)
2nd—alchemical allocation, cat's grace
1st—ant haul (DC 16), cure light wounds, detect secret doors, heightened awareness, shield
Magus (Kensai) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
1st—feather fall, line in the sand, shocking grasp (2)
0 (at will)—arcane mark, detect magic, light
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 21, Wis 8, Cha 10
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 21
Feats Extra Investigator Talent, Extra Investigator Talent, Fencing Grace, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits magical lineage, student of philosophy
Skills Acrobatics +12, Appraise +9, Bluff +10 (+15 to Bluff checks to lie (Uses Int mod of Cha )), Climb +4, Craft (alchemy) +9 (+13 to create alchemical items), Diplomacy +10 (+15 to gather information (You can use your Intelligence Modifier instead of Charisma), +15 to Diplomacy checks to Persuade others (Uses Int mod of Cha )), Disable Device +19, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +9, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +9, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +17, Sense Motive +15, Sleight of Hand +6, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +6, Use Magic Device +15; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Derring-Do Use 1 panache to add 1d6 (explode up to Dex bonus times) to Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim checks after the initial roll.
Inspiration Use 1 inspiration point to add 1d6+1 to any trained skill after the initial roll. Bluff, Disable Device, Diplomacy, Disguise, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge, Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Sense
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling, Infernal, Kelish, Shoanti
SQ alchemy, arcane pool, chosen weapon, elf blood, inspiration, investigator talent (expanded inspiration, mutagen, underworld inspiration), magus arcana (flamboyant arcana), mutagen, spell combat, trapfinding +2
Combat Gear cold iron crossbow bolts (20), mutagen, pearl of power (1st level) (2), alchemist's fire, antiplague, antitoxin, bladeguard, holy water, smelling salts, vermin repellent; Other Gear +2 silken ceremonial armour, +1 inspired silversheen rapier, darkwood hand crossbow, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, alchemy crafting kit, backpack, masterwork, bandoleer, belt, belt pouch, flint and steel, formula book (13/100 pages) (worth 15 gp, 3 lb), ink, black, inkpen, spell component pouch, spellbook (27/100 pages) (worth 15 gp, 3 lb), thieves' tools, masterwork, waterproof bag, 72 pp, 2 gp, 5 sp, 2 cp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Alchemist's fire - 0/1
Anti-plague - 0/1
Antitoxin - 0/1
Arcane Pool +1 (6/day) (Su) - 0/6
Bladeguard - 0/1
Cold Iron crossbow bolts - 0/20
Holy water - 0/1
Inspiration (+1d6+1, 7/day) (Ex) - 0/7
Mutagen: +4 DEX, -2 WIS, +2 Nat AC - 0/1
Pearl of power (1st level, 1/day) - 0/1
Vermin repellent - 0/1
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Special Abilities
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Alchemy +4 (Su) +4 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Antitoxin This substance counteracts a specific toxin. If you drink a vial of antitoxin, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Arcane Pool +1 (6/day) (Su) Infuse own power into a held weapon, granting enhancement bonus or selected item powers.
Canny Defence +3 (Ex) +INT bonus to AC (max Kensai level).
Ceaseless Observation (Ex) Use INT instead of CHA for gather information (+5)
Chosen Weapon (Rapier) Kensai abilities only function when wielding a weapon of this type.
Deed: Derring-Do (+2 extra dice) (Ex) Use 1 panache, +1d6 to Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check. On a 6, roll another die.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Expanded Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Diplomacy, Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive (if trained).
Fencing Grace Get Dex to dmg with rapiers and +2 CMD vs disarm if you have panache.
Flamboyant Arcana (Ex) Gain a selection of deeds, and can use arcane pool in place of panache for them.
Inspiration (+1d6+1, 7/day) (Ex) Use 1 point, +1d6 to trained skill or ability check. Use 2 points, to add to attack or save.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing colour and detail.
Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Mutagen (DC 17) (Su) Mutagen adds +4 to a physical & -2 to a mental attribute, and +2 nat. armour for 40 min.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Student of Philosophy Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks to persuade others and Bluff checks to lie.
Studied Combat (+2, 5 rounds) (Ex) As a move action, study foe to gain bonus to att & dam for duration or until use studied strike.
Studied Strike +1d6 (Ex) As a free action on a melee hit, end studied combat vs. foe to add precision dam.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +2 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Underworld Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Bluff, Disable Device, Disguise, Intimidate, or Sleight of Hand (if trained).
Unfailing Logic +2 (Ex) +2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects
So I boosted the build to 10th level to see how it looks there. It's still not as good a skill monkey as I'd like, but at least she can contribute to a fight. It'll still take several rounds worth of swift actions for her to be up to speed in a fight, but she gets there eventually.
Female half-elf investigator (empiricist) 4/magus (kensai) 6
NG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +21
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Defence
--------------------
AC 27, touch 21, flat-footed 18 (+4 armour, +2 deflection, +3 dexterity, +6 dodge, +2 natural)
hp 81 (10d8+20)
Fort +11, Ref +12, Will +13 (+2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects); +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities canny defence, trap sense +1; Immune sleep; Resist unfailing logic
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Offence
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 inspired rapier +13/+8 (1d6+5/18-20+6 Precision)
Special Attacks deed: opportune parry and riposte, deed: precise strike, spellstrike, studied combat, studied strike +1d6
Investigator (Empiricist) Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +10)
2nd—alchemical allocation (2), cat's grace
1st—ant haul (DC 17), cure light wounds, detect secret doors, heightened awareness, shield
Magus (Kensai) Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +12)
2nd—bladed dash (2), blur, mirror image
1st—feather fall, line in the sand, intensified shocking grasp (3)
0 (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark, detect magic, light
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 8, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 28
Feats Extra Investigator Talent, Extra Investigator Talent, Extra Investigator Talent, Fencing Grace, Intensified Spell, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits magical lineage, student of philosophy
Skills Acrobatics +16, Appraise +10, Bluff +13 (+19 to Bluff checks to lie (Uses Int instead of Cha )), Climb +4, Craft (alchemy) +10 (+14 to create alchemical items), Diplomacy +13 (+19 to gather information (You can use your Intelligence Modifier instead of Charisma), +19 to Diplomacy checks to Persuade others (Uses Int instead of Cha )), Disable Device +23, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +7, Fly +7, Heal +3, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +11, Knowledge (engineering) +10, Knowledge (geography) +10, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Knowledge (planes) +11, Knowledge (religion) +11, Perception +21, Ride +7, Sense Motive +19, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +7, Swim +4, Use Magic Device +16; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Derring-Do Use 1 panache to add 1d6 (explode up to Dex bonus times) to Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim checks after the initial roll.
Inspiration Use 1 inspiration point to add 1d6+1 to any trained skill after the initial roll. Bluff, Disable Device, Diplomacy, Disguise, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge, Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand and Spellcraft checks can be Inspired for free.
Languages Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling, Infernal, Kelish, Shoanti
SQ alchemy, arcane pool, chosen weapon, elf blood, inspiration, investigator talent (expanded inspiration, mutagen, underworld inspiration), magus arcana (arcane accuracy, arcane deed, flamboyant arcana), mutagen, perfect strike, spell combat, trapfinding +2
Combat Gear mutagen, pearl of power (1st level) (2), potion of cure serious wounds, potion of fly, potion of haste, potion of heroism, alchemist's fire, antiplague, antitoxin, bladeguard, holy water, smelling salts, vermin repellent; Other Gear +3 silken ceremonial armour, +2 inspired rapier, amulet of natural armour +2, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +3, ring of protection +2, alchemy crafting kit, backpack, masterwork, bandoleer, belt, belt pouch, flint and steel, formula book, ink, black, inkpen, spell component pouch, spellbook, thieves' tools, masterwork, waterproof bag, 9 pp, 4 gp, 1 sp, 2 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Alchemist's fire - 0/1
Anti-plague - 0/1
Antitoxin - 0/1
Arcane Pool +2 (9/day) (Su) - 0/9
Bladeguard - 0/1
Holy water - 0/1
Inspiration (+1d6+1, 8/day) (Ex) - 0/8
Mutagen: +4 DEX, -2 WIS, +2 Nat AC - 0/1
Pearl of power (1st level, 1/day) - 0/1
Potion of cure serious wounds - 0/1
Potion of fly - 0/1
Potion of haste - 0/1
Potion of heroism - 0/1
Vermin repellent - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Alchemy +4 (Su) +4 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Antitoxin This substance counteracts a specific toxin. If you drink a vial of antitoxin, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Arcane Accuracy +6 (Su) 1 Arcane Pool: +6 to attack rolls until the end of your turn.
Arcane Pool +2 (9/day) (Su) Infuse own power into a held weapon, granting enhancement bonus or selected item powers.
Canny Defence +6 (Ex) +INT bonus to AC (max Kensai level).
Ceaseless Observation (Ex) Use INT instead of CHA for gather information (+6)
Chosen Weapon (Rapier) Kensai abilities only function when wielding a weapon of this type.
Deed: Derring-Do (+3 extra dice) (Ex) Use 1 panache, +1d6 to Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check. On a 6, roll another die.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Deed: Precise Strike +6 (Ex) While 1 panache, bonus to att/dam with light/one-hand piercing weapon.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Expanded Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Diplomacy, Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive (if trained).
Fencing Grace Get Dex to dmg with rapiers and +2 CMD vs disarm if you have panache.
Flamboyant Arcana (Ex) Gain a selection of deeds, and can use arcane pool in place of panache for them.
Inspiration (+1d6+1, 8/day) (Ex) Use 1 point, +1d6 to trained skill or ability check. Use 2 points, to add to attack or save.
Intensified Spell You can cast a spell that can exceed its normal damage die cap by 5 (if you have the caster level to reach beyond that cap).
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing colour and detail.
Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Mutagen (DC 18) (Su) Mutagen adds +4 to a physical & -2 to a mental attribute, and +2 nat. armor for 40 min.
Perfect Strike (Ex) Use 1 arcane pool to maximize weapon dam, or 2 for +1 to crit multiplier.
Quick Study (Ex) Use studied combat as a swift action.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Student of Philosophy Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks to persuade others and Bluff checks to lie.
Studied Combat (+2, 6 rounds) (Ex) As a move action, study foe to gain bonus to att & dam for duration or until use studied strike.
Studied Strike +1d6 (Ex) As a free action on a melee hit, end studied combat vs. foe to add precision dam.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +2 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Underworld Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Bluff, Disable Device, Disguise, Intimidate, or Sleight of Hand (if trained).
Unfailing Logic +2 (Ex) +2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects
There's not much planned beyond that; Kensai would be levelled to 11 (Int to Attacks of Opportunity, Evasive Deed becomes available) before switching back to Investigator at the end levels. 15th level would be Evasive Deed via Extra Arcana and Greater Weapon Focus with the Kensai bonus feat. Beyond that, most likely the Extra Investigator Talent feats could be retrained away to get back regular feat slots, perhaps toward Spell Perfection, or just Spell Penetration feats.
As I said, I wasn't entirely happy with the results of the Montoya experiment. Plus, I've been trying to find a better way to make a mechanically similar character to Walther on and off since before I first played him.
And since I was bored with the anger over the new FAQ, I decided to see if I could do better than the Montoya build.
Initially, I was thinking about going SAD and adding multiple stats to as many skills as possible; primarily by adding Inquisitor and Investigator levels together, possibly with the intent of building toward Investigator 4 / Inquisitor 4 / MT 10
But I couldn't come up with anything particularly interesting, so I wound up going back to just concentrating on Int. By starting again with 3 levels of Empiricist (need the third level to get access to Investigator Talents to expand the number of skills that get free inspiration, at which point fourth level for Studied Combat winds up on the yeah, might as well pile.) and 2 levels of Mindchemist (double Int to all Knowledge checks is *huge* I had a good starting point.
Add in all the feats that can significantly boost wide swathes of skills, especially knowledge:
Dilettante
Noble Scion of Lore
Breadth of Experience
Improvisation & Improved Improvisation (not compatible with Dilettante
Deific Obedience (Irori)
(I was sure that there was a Deific Obedience or Tiered boon that gives a sacred bonus to all untrained skills, but I couldn't find it.)
and things were starting to come together.
Initially, I was going with all the feats except Improv & Improved Improv, and was heading for an Archaeologist Bard as a follow up to the first five levels to both keep pushing the knowledge skills up, be useful in combat, and to maximize the skill points.
But I came to the conclusion that I was actually overkilling the Knowledge bonuses. The low ones were at +25.
I initially switched to half-elf and dropped the Breadth of Experience in favour of Extra Investigator talents and dropped Archaeologist to go back to Kensai. I was trying out Improvisation for a while, but Fast Learner is still a bad feat, and Improv and Improved Improv both suffer from a fundamental problem - they're only useful for a character without any skill points, and characters without skill points don't have the intelligence to qualify for them.
In the end, I've gone to human, dropped the Noble Scion and Breadth of Experience feats, and have dipped Swashbuckler as well to get Derring-Do and Inspired Finesse. Starting at eight level, he'll go Kensai to maximize the value of his Intelligence and become more useful in a fight (right now he'd have to spend too much effort buffing, so would be better off just bombing most of the time.) But I think that this time I actually made the skill monkey I was after.
Male human alchemist (mindchemist) 2/investigator (empiricist) 4/swashbuckler (inspired blade) 1
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +14
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 armor, +1 deflection, +2 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 57 (1d10+6d8+14)
Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +5 (+2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects); +2 bonus vs. poison
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1; Resist poison resistance, unfailing logic
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 inspired rapier +9 (1d6+3/18-20)
Ranged bomb +8 (1d6+5 Fire)
Special Attacks bomb 7/day (1d6+5 fire, DC 16), deed: opportune parry and riposte, panache, studied combat, studied strike +1d6
Alchemist (Mindchemist) Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +7)
1st—ant haul (DC 16), cure light wounds (2), shield
Investigator (Empiricist) Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +9)
2nd—cat's grace (2)
1st—bomber's eye, keen senses (DC 16), long arm, shock shield, true strike
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 21, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Brew Potion, Deific Obedience, Dilettante, Extra Investigator Talent, Extra Investigator Talent, Fencing Grace, Throw Anything, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits magical lineage, student of philosophy
Skills Acrobatics +11, Appraise +9, Bluff +9 (+14 to Bluff checks to lie (Uses Int instead of Cha )), Climb +3, Craft (alchemy) +11 (+17 to create alchemical items), Diplomacy +9 (+14 to gather information (Uses Int instead of Cha ), +14 to Diplomacy checks to Persuade others (Uses Int instead of Cha )), Disable Device +15, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +6, Heal +4, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +22, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +22, Knowledge (engineering) +20, Knowledge (geography) +20, Knowledge (history) +20, Knowledge (local) +22, Knowledge (nature) +22, Knowledge (nobility) +20, Knowledge (planes) +22, Knowledge (religion) +22, Linguistics +9, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Sleight of Hand +6, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +11, Swim +3, Use Magic Device +9
Derring-Do Use 1 panache to add 1d6 (explode up to Dex bonus times) to Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim checks after the initial roll.
Inspiration Use 1 inspiration point to add 1d6+1 to any trained skill after the initial roll. Bluff, Disable Device, Diplomacy, Disguise, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge, Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand and Spellcraft checks can be Inspired for free.
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, Halfling, Infernal, Kelish
SQ alchemy, cognatogen, deed: dodging panache, discovery (infusion), inspiration, inspired panache, perfect recall, investigator talent (expanded inspiration, quick study, underworld inspiration), trapfinding +2
Combat Gear boro bead (1st level) (2), cognatogen, alchemist's fire (2), alkali flask, antiplague, antitoxin, holy water (2), oil (2); Other Gear +2 silken ceremonial armor, +1 inspired rapier, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, handy haversack, ring of protection +1, traveler's any-tool, alchemy crafting kit, ear trumpet, flask (2), flint and steel, formula book (alchemist), formula book (investigator), grappling hook, hammer, wooden holy symbol (Irori), ink, black, inkpen, magnet, mwk manacles, measuring cord (10 ft.), mirror, paper (5), periscope, piton (10), silk rope (50 ft.), thieves' tools, masterwork, twine (50'), vial (2), waterproof bag (2), waterskin (2), wire saw, adamantine (2), 9 gp, 6 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Alchemist's fire - 0/2
Alkali flask - 0/1
Antiplague - 0/1
Antitoxin - 0/1
Bomb 1d6+5 (7/day, DC 16) (Su) - 0/7
Boro bead (1st level, 1/day) - 0/1
Cognatogen: +4 INT, -2 STR, +2 Nat AC - 0/1
Holy water - 0/2
Inspiration (+1d6, 7/day) (Ex) - 0/7
Panache Pool (6/day) - 0/6
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Alchemy +6 (Su) +6 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Antitoxin This substance counteracts a specific toxin. If you drink a vial of antitoxin, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Bomb 1d6+5 (7/day, DC 16) (Su) Thrown Splash Weapon deals 1d6+5 fire damage.
Boro bead (1st level, 1/day) Recharge a consumed extract of the chosen level.
Ceaseless Observation (Ex) Use INT instead of CHA for gather information (+5)
Cognatogen (DC 16) (Su) At 1st level, a mindchemist learns how to create a cognatogen, as per the cognatogen discovery.
Deed: Derring-Do (+2 extra dice) (Ex) Use 1 panache, +1d6 to Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check. On a 6, roll another die.
Deed: Dodging Panache (Ex) As an imm action when attacked, use 1 panache to move 5 ft. and gain +0 to AC vs. attack.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Dilettante You can make untrained Knowledge checks up to DC 15.
Expanded Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Diplomacy, Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive (if trained).
Fencing Grace Get Dex to dmg with rapiers and +2 CMD vs disarm if you have panache.
Infusion When created an extract can be used by anyone, but takes up a slot until used.
Inspiration (+1d6, 7/day) (Ex) Use 1 point, +1d6 to trained skill or ability check. Use 2 points, to add to attack or save.
Inspired Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on rapier crits.
Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Perfect Recall At 2nd level, a mindchemist has honed his memory. When making a Knowledge check, he may add his Intelligence bonus on the check a second time.
Poison Resistance +2 (Ex) +2 to save vs. Poison.
Quick Study (Ex) Use studied combat as a swift action.
Student of Philosophy Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks to persuade others and Bluff checks to lie.
Studied Combat (+2, 5 rounds) (Ex) As a swift action, study foe to gain bonus to att & dam for duration or until use studied strike.
Studied Strike +1d6 (Ex) As a free action on a melee hit, end studied combat vs. foe to add precision dam.
Throw Anything Proficient with improvised ranged weapons. +1 to hit with thrown splash weapons.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +2 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Traveler's any-tool Acts as masterwork tools for most Craft or Profession skills.
Underworld Inspiration (Ex) Free Inspiration on Bluff, Disable Device, Disguise, Intimidate, or Sleight of Hand (if trained).
Unfailing Logic +2 (Ex) +2 save vs. illusion and disbelievable effects
With the ACG, I've managed to completely rebuild the Lantern Bearer character I came up with for Second Darkness Seven layers of Stygian Slayer makes for a nice base to jump to Lantern Bearer from, and presumably by that level, he'd have had an in-game chance to meet the Lantern Bearers and earn entry into their ranks.
This has far, far fewer fiddly bits than the last few characters I posted.
Rilamon Onondor
Male half-elf (shoreborn) slayer (stygian slayer) 7
CG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 17 (+5 armour, +1 deflection, +5 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 61 (7d10+14)
Fort +8, Ref +11, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments, +1 trait bonus vs. charm and compulsion while a friend is within 30'
Immune sleep
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 agile elven curve blade +13/+8 (1d10+6/18-20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, studied target
Slayer Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th)
1/day—invisibility
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 23
Feats Arcane Strike, Bodyguard, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Swift Aid, Weapon Finesse
Traits criminal, fools for friends
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +8, Climb +4, Disable Device +13, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +3, Linguistics +5, Perception +8, Profession (sailor) +4, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +13, Survival +8, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Kelish, Osiriani, Shoanti, Skald, Varisian
SQ arcane training, combat style (two-handed weapon), elf blood, slayer talent (combat trick, finesse rogue, ranger combat style), spell use, track +3
Other Gear +1 benevolent mithral shirt, +1 agile elven curve blade, amulet of natural armour +1, cloak of resistance +1, gloves of arcane striking, ring of protection +1, 2 pp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Invisibility (1/day) - 0/1
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) - 0/2
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +2 damage and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Arcane Training +1 CL for spell trigger/completion items for favored class, or use them as if 1st level.
Bodyguard Use an AoO to use aid another to improve an ally's AC.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Fools for Friends +1 to aid another actions, +1 save vs. charm and compulsion effects if a friend is within 30'.
Gloves of arcane striking Arcane strike bonus is added to aid another, and deals splash dam around hit foe.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing colour and detail.
Power Attack -2/+4(+6 w/ two-handed) You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Spell Use Can use spell completion/trigger items as though had narrow spell list.
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Swift Aid Can Aid Another as a swift action, for a reduced bonus.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
--------------------
Rilamon Onondor doesn't talk about his past much. In all likelihood, he probably can't remember most of it - he's spent most of his waking life blackout drunk since before he was old enough to drinking in the first place. These days, his life is fairly straightforward - fight whoever needs fighting so that he can earn enough coin for his next bender.
And while Rilamon himself doesn't talk about it, anyone in Riddleport who knows anything knows that he used to be a pirate of sorts - until he figured out that being a pirate involves a lot more hard work, deck swabbing, and terrifying storms than it does wenching, drinking, or swashbuckling.
Got distracted while planning a different character entirely when I noticed that a Sanctified Slayer could get into Arcane Trickster without any multiclassing by using the same trickery that can get any divine caster to qualify. (Two-World magic trait to get mage hand as an orison, plus a race with a 2nd level arcane SLA)
He won't actually enter AT until 9th level as Inquisitor 8 is too useful to leave off until later.
Given the Inquisitor's dearth of damaging spells, he'll be focused on Necromancy for fear and inflict spells and to a lesser extent evocation for the various semi-divine blasts. Between that and the magic domain's ability to telekinetically throw his weapon at enemies, I think that a full face mask and dark robes are appropriate. If only Nethys' chosen weapon was some sort of sabre instead of a tiny little dagger.
Sith in Training
Male half-elf inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Nethys 7
N Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +3 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 55 (7d8+14)
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
Weakness light blindness
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 cruel dagger +9 (1d4+4/19-20)
Special Attacks bane (7 rounds/day), hand of the acolyte (6/day), sneak attack +2d6, studied target
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +6)
1/day—dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +10)
At will—detect alignment, discern lies
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +10)
3rd (2/day)—dispel magic, lightning lash
2nd (4/day)—align weapon, blistering invective (DC 16), cure moderate wounds, darkness, inflict moderate wounds (DC 16)
1st (5/day)—cause fear (DC 15), cure light wounds, divine favor, ear-piercing scream (DC 15), expeditious retreat, inflict light wounds (DC 15), shield of faith, wrath
0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, mage hand, read magic
Domain Magic
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 21
Feats Allied Spellcaster[APG], Dazzling Display, Outflank, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Focus (necromancy), Weapon Focus (dagger)
Traits river rat, two-world magic
Skills Bluff +3, Climb +6, Diplomacy +3, Disable Device +10, Disguise +3, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (local) +3, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +15, Sense Motive +13, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +18, Swim +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Infernal
SQ elf blood, monster lore +3, solo tactics, stern gaze +3, track +3
Combat Gear maiden's helm; Other Gear +1 shadow darkleaf lamellar, +1 cruel dagger, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, belt pouch, wooden holy symbol (Nethys), holy text, soap, spell component pouch, thieves' tools, masterwork, 3 pp, 1 gp, 8 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Bane (+2 / 2d6, 7 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/7
Command (3/day) - 0/3
Dancing Lights (1/day) - 0/1
Darkness (1/day) - 0/1
Discern Lies (7 rounds/day) (Sp) - 0/7
Faerie Fire (1/day) - 0/1
Hand of the Acolyte (6/day) (Su) - 0/6
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) - 0/2
Teamwork Feat (change 3/day) - 0/3
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Allied Spellcaster +2 vs. SR if adj ally with same feat. More if has same spell.
Bane (+2 / 2d6, 7 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Dazzling Display (Dagger) Intimidate check to demoralize can affect those within 30' who see you.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (7 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Domain (Magic) Granted Powers:
Hand of the Acolyte (6/day) (Su) As a standard action, melee weapon strikes at foe in 30 ft. Use Wis for att bonus instead of Str.
Light Blindness (Ex) Bright light blinds for 1 rd, then dazzled as long as remain in it.
Monster Lore +3 (Ex) +3 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus (Necromancy) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Two-World Magic (Mage Hand) Add a 0-level spell from another class to your spell list.
8 Shatter Defenses
9 Spell Pen
11 Intimidating Bane
13 GSF (Necro)
15 GSF (Evoc)
17 Threnodic Spell
19 GSP
I've been thinking about trying to make a dual wielding slayer build for quite some time now. And as a fan of the Sentinel class, I was looking for a way to combine the two. But I really wasn't liking Norgorber or Pharasma and decided to go with Asmodeus. Once I started into the slayer build though, I realized that the sacred bonus to attack and damage from Sentinel really wasn't worth stopping advancement of Studied Target (and Sneak Attack). So for the first time in quite some time, I've wound up with a character that's intended to stay in a single class from levels one through 20. He doesn't even use an archetype! At this level, my handy little enforcer doesn't really need to flank or surprise most enemies; the first hit he lands will give him a free demoralize against his target, leaving it shaken for longer than the fight will last and the second will activate Shatter Defences so that his attacks from then on will be adding the 2d6+4 SA to them. Of course, if he comes up against something immune to fear, non-lethal damage, or precision damage, he's suddenly in real trouble.
Unnamed Underworld Enforcer
Male half-orc slayer 7
LN Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +2 dexterity, +1 natural)
hp 61 (7d10+14)
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 merciful light mace +12/+7 (1d6+7 nonlethal plus 1d6 non-lethal) and
+1 merciful light mace +12/+7 (1d6+4 nonlethal plus 1d6 non-lethal)
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, studied target
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 21, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 25
Feats Dazzling Display, Enforcer, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Intimidating Prowess, Sap Adept, Shatter Defenses, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (light mace)
Traits finish the fight, slave taker
Skills Bluff +4, Climb +9, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +3, Knowledge (geography) +3, Knowledge (local) +10, Perception +10, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +9, Swim +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate, +2 Knowledge (local), +2 Perception
Languages Common, Orc
SQ combat style (two-weapon combat), orc blood, slayer talent (combat trick, ranger combat style, ranger combat style, weapon training), track +3
Other Gear +1 agile breastplate, +1 merciful light mace, +1 merciful light mace, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1, belt pouch, manacles, hemp rope (50 ft.), 31 pp, 14 gp, 17 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) - 0/2
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Dazzling Display (Light mace) Intimidate check to demoralize can affect those within 30' who see you.
Enforcer If you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, make a free Intimidate check to demoralize.
Finish the Fight +1 trait bonus on atk vs. opponents you already injured in the past 24 hours.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Sap Adept Gain 4 bonus damage on nonlethal attacks
Slave Taker Whenever you deal nonlethal damage in combat, that damage increases by +1.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Studied Target +2 (Swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
8 Talent: ??
9 Sap Master
10 Ranger Feat: Greater Two Weapon Fighting
11 Violent Display
12 Ranger Feat: Two Weapon Rend
13 Disheartening Display
Been messing around with Battle Herald and Aid Another builds in general. Chana is a non-casting, full-BAB attempt at such a character. While working on this idea, I came to the conclusion that two characters both built around using Aid Another could work very well for the players who ask what the most effective paired characters are. If both characters can use their attacks of opportunity to aid one another's AC and either swift or move actions to aid one another's attack rolls, both of them should wind up being highly accurate and very difficult to hit. Now I just need to build the partner to this character - I'd like that build to have Arcane Strike for the Gloves of Arcane Striking, which would suggest going Skald since their performance will stack just fine with Chana's Inspire Courage, or perhaps Kensai magus, although they're not exactly swimming in spare swift actions. An Inquisitor seems like the obvious way to go to partner up to a teamwork-feat-centric build, and the Sanctified Slayer would even get some real benefit from the flanking-related feats, but I don't really want to use any SLA shenanigans to get Arcane Strike.
Chana Listari
Female human brawler (exemplar) 3/cavalier (daring champion) 4
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +4 dexterity, +1 dodge, +1 natural)
hp 57 (7d10+14)
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +5
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 benevolent nine-ring broadsword +13/+8 (1d8+5/×3+4 Precision)
Special Attacks inspire courage +1, brawler's flurry, deed: opportune parry and riposte, deed: precise strike, challenge, panache
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +7; CMB +8; CMD 24
Feats Bodyguard, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Gang Up, Outflank, Slashing Grace, Weapon Focus (nine-ring broadsword)
Traits battlefield disciple, mentored
Skills Acrobatics +13 (+17 to move through a threatened square or enemy's space, (+14 Jump - ACP is reduced by one for Jump & Climb)), Bluff +6, Climb +5, Diplomacy +10, Escape Artist +7, Heal +2 (+4 to stabilize a dying creature), Intimidate +10, Perception +12, Perform (oratory) +8, Profession (soldier) +7, Sense Motive +6, Survival +2 (+4 to provide food and water for allies or to protect allies from harsh weather); Racial Modifiers dragon's skills
Languages Common
SQ aid allies, call to arms, champion's finesse, deed: dodging panache, deed: swashbuckler initiative, inspiring prowess, martial flexibility, order (order of the dragon), tactician
Other Gear +1 benevolent mithral agile breastplate, +1 benevolent nine-ring broadsword, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of tumbling, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, 98 pp, 5 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Dragon's Challenge +4 (2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
Inspiring Prowess (5 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/5
Martial Flexibility (Move action, 4/day) (Ex) - 0/4
Panache Pool (2/day) - 0/2
Tactician (Outflank, 5 rds, 1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aid Allies +3 (Ex) Aid Another grants +3
Bardic Performance: Inspire Courage +1 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Battlefield Disciple +2 on Heal checks to stabilize. +1 when using aid another to grant ally a bonus to attack.
Belt of tumbling +4 competence bonus on Acrobatics to move through threatened square or enemy's space.
Bodyguard Use an AoO to use aid another to improve an ally's AC.
Brawler's Flurry +5/+5/+0 (Ex) Can make full attack & gain two-wep fighting, but only with unarmed strike, close, or monk wep.
Call to Arms (Move action) (Ex) As a move action use 1 martial flexibility, allies in 30 ft are no longer flat-footed.
Champion's Finesse Weapon Finesse with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Deed: Dodging Panache +2 (Ex) As an imm action when attacked, use 1 panache to move 5 ft. and gain +2 to AC vs. attack.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Deed: Precise Strike +4 (Ex) While 1 panache, bonus to att/dam with light/one-hand piercing weapon.
Deed: Swashbuckler Initiative (Ex) While have Panache, can use a free hand to draw a light or one-handed piercing weapon as part of the initiative check.
Dragon's Challenge +4 (2/day) (Ex) +4 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, allies gain +2 to hit the target of your challenge.
Dragon's Skills +2 (Ex) +2 to Survival checks for allies.
Gang Up You are considered to be flanking your target if another ally is also adjacent to that target
Inspiring Prowess (5 rounds/day) (Ex) Can use bardic performances by displaying own martial talent.
Martial Flexibility (Move action, 4/day) (Ex) As a Move action, gain a combat feat for 1 min. More gained for greater actions.
Mentored (Perform [oratory]) +1 to skill checks when making an aid another roll.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Slashing Grace (Nine-ring broadsword) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can had Dex instead of Str to dmg.
Tactician (Outflank, 5 rds, 1/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your teamwork feats to all allies in 30 ft.
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Chana doesn't really remember where she was born or who her parents were. She had been bought, sold, and sold again more times than she could keep track of for years before the mercenaries known as the Broken Throne found her among the few survivors of a slave caravan that had been attacked. Chana never even knew who or what had attacked the caravan - she'd found a hiding spot and stayed there until long after the fighting had ended.
When it became clear that the child had no home and no family to be returned to, the mercenaries took Chana in. And while the entire band helped raise her, it was Vidan who taught her to fight, to protect her allies, and to command. It is his name that she took as her family name, and he is the man she thinks of as her father.
Now, with the band almost entirely wiped out, Chana and Arne are taking what jobs they can find and keeping one another alive until they can find the men responsible for the deaths of the Broken Throne.
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I got very interested in a character idea that Wyked posted over on Reddit a couple days ago - taking a third level Hunter's ability to share his teamwork feats with his companion at all times with the rage power to share his rage with his companion. Amplified Rage along with a high strength mount gives both the companion and the barbarian a double powered rage. I made a few suggestions on different ways to make the build work (it's very annoying that tigers as mounts can pretty much only be accomplished by going into Mammoth Rider. Battle Cat should only be large, not huge.) Decided to see what I could come up with by letting the tiger go.
And so, I've created Asawa - the Raging Rhino Rider.
Asawa
Male half-orc barbarian (mounted fury) 4/hunter 3
CN Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 59 (7 HD; 3d8+4d12+14)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +5
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1
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Offence
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 furious nodachi +11/+6 (1d10+7/18-20) or
mwk lance +11/+6 (1d8+6/×3)
Special Attacks rage (19 rounds/day), rage powers (ferocious beast, swift foot +5 ft)
Hunter Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
1st (4/day)—lead blades, longstrider, magic fang, resist energy, summon nature's ally I
0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, enhanced diplomacy, mending, purify food and drink (DC 12), read magic
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 22
Feats Amplified Rage, Beast Rider, Boon Companion, Combat Expertise, Outflank, Pack Flanking
Traits berserker of the society, legacy of sand
Skills Acrobatics +5, Climb +7, Handle Animal +12, Heal +6, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (nature) +7, Perception +12, Ride +11, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +5, Survival +6, Swim +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Handle Animal, +2 Intimidate
Languages Abyssal, Common, Orc
SQ animal companion (rhinoceros (charger), animal focus (3 minutes/day), fast rider, hunter tactics, nature training, orc blood, track +1, wild empathy +3
Other Gear +1 mithral breastplate, +1 furious nodachi, mwk lance, 345 pp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Animal Focus (3 minutes/day) (Su) - 0/3
Rage (19 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/19
Teamwork Feat - 0/3
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Special Abilities
--------------------
Amplified Rage +4 to rage attribute bonuses adj to or flanking with ally with same feat.
Animal Companion (animal companion (rhinoceros (charger)) (Ex) Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Animal Focus (3 minutes/day) (Su) As a swift action, gain bonuses from emulated animal(s). If no companion, +1 slots.
Beast Rider (Animal Companion) You gain the service of a monstrous companion or mount.
Berserker of the Society +3 rounds of Rage a day.
Boon Companion (Animal Companion) +4 levels to calc familiar/animal comp abilities (max of your HD).
Bull +2 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Str.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Fast Rider (Ex) The speed of any ridden mount increases by 10 ft.
Ferocious Beast (Ex) When raging, animal companion also rages. Spend 1 extra rd if adjacent, or 2 rds if not.
Hunter Tactics (Ex) Animal companion also gains the bonus teamwork feats, but doesn't need to meet pre-reqs.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Pack Flanking If you and comp are adj or share square and threat same target, you're considered flanking.
Rage (19 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Sandkin These half-orcs face the world with a self-assurance that’s unusual for their kind—the result of a confluence of fortunate factors.
Share Spells with Companion (Ex) Can cast spells with a target of "you" on animal companion, as touch spells.
Swift Foot (+5 ft) (Ex) While raging, gain the listed enhancement bonus to speed.
Track +1 bonus to survival checks made to track.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Wild Empathy +3 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
rhinoceros (charger)
N Large animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 26 (+6 armour, +2 Dex, +11 natural, -1 size)
hp 63 (+30)
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +3
Immune fatigue
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee gore +11 (2d6+12)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks powerful charge (4d6+12+2d6)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 26, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 5 (Animal Focus: Bull applied)
Base Atk +4; CMB +13 (+15 overrun); CMD 25 (27 vs. overrun, 29 vs. trip)
Feats Amplified Rage, Charge Through, Improved Overrun, Outflank, Pack Flanking, Power Attack
Tricks Attack, Attack Any Target, Come, Defend, Guard, Heel, Stay
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+10 to jump), Climb +12, Intimidate +1, Perception +5, Stealth +2, Swim +12
SQ animal focus, attack any target, barding training, come, defend, guard, heel, indefatigable, stay, woodland stride
Other Gear rhino hide
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Special Abilities
--------------------
Amplified Rage +4 to rage attributes bonus adj to or flanking with ally with same feat.
Animal Focus (Su) As a swift action, gain bonuses from emulated animal(s).
Attack Any Target [Trick] The animal will attack any creature on command.
Barding Training 1 Worn armour -1 check penalty, +1 max DEX.
Bull +2 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Str.
Charge Through You can make a free overrun as part of a charge.
Come [Trick] The animal will come to you on command.
Defend [Trick] The animal will defend you.
Guard [Trick] The animal stays in place and prevents others from approaching.
Heel [Trick] The animal will follow you.
Hunter's Trick (Surprise Shift) (Ex) The ranger can move 5 feet as a swift action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and does not count as a 5-foot step.
Hunter's Trick (Upending Strike) (Ex) The ranger can use this trick as a free action just before he makes a melee attack. If the attack hits, he may make a free trip combat manoeuvre against the target.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Improved Overrun You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when overrunning, and foe can't choose to avoid you.
Indefatigable (Ex) At 6th level, a charger becomes immune to fatigue. This ability replaces devotion.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing colour and detail.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Pack Flanking If you and comp are adj or share square and threat same target, you're considered flanking.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Powerful Charge (4d6) (Ex) Your charge attacks deal additional damage.
Rhino hide Extra 2d6 damage on charge attack rolls.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Stay [Trick] The animal will stay where it is.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
Just riding around, these two are reasonably effective, with decent damage and solid accuracy since they're always flanking for +4 to hit so long as they're adjacent to one another, and Asawa will get +1 more for high ground while mounted. Most mounted builds are concerned with Mounted Combat feats so that the rider can protect his mount, but the Rhino has slightly more hit points than Asawa (they both have 87 hp when raging), and has a much much better AC. When they rage, the rhino's strength becomes a ridiculous 34; it may not be as strong as the recently banned from society Spinosaurus, but I'm still impressed by it. I still wouldn't try this in Society play until the ACG errata comes out and clarifies how the Hunter Tricks work for companions though.
The biggest problem with this build is the lack of gold. Sticking Rhino Hide on the rhino is entertaining (and effective - the Charger archetype means that it isn't slowed down by it and suffers no penalty for not having proficiency), but it cuts into available gold for the barbarian. And getting the Rhino a Furious Courageous amulet of mighty fists, while highly desirable, is prohibitively expensive at the current level.
Building at level eight now instead of seven.
Slayer also makes for a simpler Dimensional Dervish via Horizon Walker dip than most any of the older methods; full BAB, single class, with some sneak attack damage for the self-flanking, along with the Ranger's ability to get the TWF chain without needing a crazy high Dex score.
Fyx Accio
Male human (varisian) horizon walker 2/slayer 6 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 53, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 265)
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +13
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Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural)
hp 69 (8d10+16)
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +6
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 cold iron shortsword +14/+9 (1d6+4/19-20) or
. . +2 silversheen shortsword +14/+9 (1d6+7/19-20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, studied target +2 (2nd, move action)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 27
Feats Dodge, Endurance, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Mobility, Power Attack, Precise Strike, Shadow Strike, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (shortsword)
Traits reactionary, shadow child
Skills Acrobatics +12, Bluff +5, Climb +9, Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (local) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (planes) +4, Perception +13, Ride +5, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +12, Survival +6, Swim +9
Languages Common, Varisian
SQ combat style (two-weapon combat), favored terrains (astral plane +2, urban +4), slayer talents (combat trick, ranger combat style, ranger combat style, weapon training), terrain mastery (terrain mastery [astral plane]), track +3
Other Gear +2 mithral breastplate, +2 cold iron shortsword, +2 silversheen shortsword, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, 72 pp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Studied Target +2 (move action, 2 at a time) (Ex) - 0/2
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Special Abilities
--------------------
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Favored Terrain (Astral Plane +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls when in Favored Terrain (Astral Plane).
Favored Terrain (Urban +4) (Ex) +4 to rolls when in Favored Terrain (Urban).
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Shadow Child No 20% miss chance for attacks in dim lighting.
Shadow Strike You can deal precision damage against targets with some concealment.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Studied Target +2 (move action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Terrain Mastery (Astral Plane) (2 rds) Grant allies bonus in terrain. +30 ft fly on subjective/no gravity plane.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
--------------------
Fyx has wandered Avistan for as long as he can remember. As a boy, he wandered with his family and clan in Varisia, and as a teen he wandered on his own, from city to city little interested in the open spaces in between.
And in city after city, he's wound up leaving town five minutes ahead of the authorities, who always find something about him to object to.
He's recently come to Westcrown and it suits him perfectly. Dangerous nighttime alleys, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement, powerful, abusive crime syndicates, and tons of oppressed citizens to save.
At level 9, Fyx will qualify for Dimensional Agility. And then he'll retrain Mobility, Dodge, and Power Attack into the rest of the feat chain.
At 11th he'll grab Outflank. Both teamwork feats are to improve the effectiveness of his attacks when he's BAMFing around the battlefield. Gang Up is worth considering, but it's unlikely that he'll wind up in very many situations where he'll threaten the same opponent three times without already flanking it.
He'll take Horizon Walker 4 to get Terrain Mastery (Plains) before going back to Slayer (hooray for dual wielding sneak attackers in mithral full plate); and then, at level 20, takes one final level of Horizon Walker.
Finally got around to messing about with Daring Champion. And I think it's exactly as powerful as the boards have suggested. I even built around a dwarf for the amusement value of "finessing" a dwarven waraxe. Admittedly, the dwarf's Cavalier FCB does a lot to make up for the Charisma penalty - when Power Attacking a challenged enemy, Rees is swinging at +16/+11 for 1d10+25+8 precision. He's not 100% functional yet, as I felt that it was necessary to take Extra Panache before Combat Reflexes so that he'd actually be able to make use of Parry & Riposte - having only one Panache point is rather limiting.
Rees Kaven
Male dwarf cavalier (daring champion) 8
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
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Defense
--------------------
AC 27, touch 18, flat-footed 20 (+6 armor, +1 deflection, +6 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural, +2 shield)
hp 78 (8d10+24)
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +5; +2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +2 trait bonus vs. charm and compulsion
Defensive Abilities defensive training, fortification 25%, nimble +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 adamantine dwarven waraxe +16/+11 (1d10+7+8 Precision)
Special Attacks banner +2, challenge 3/day (+12 damage, allies gain +3 to hit), greater tactician 2/day (Outflank, 7 rds), hatred, opportune parry and riposte, panache (3), precise strike
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +8; CMB +9; CMD 27 (31 vs. bull rush or trip)
Feats Cornugon Smash, Extra Panache, Outflank, Power Attack, Slashing Grace, Weapon Focus (dwarven waraxe)
Traits friend in every town, strong willed
Skills Appraise +0 (+2 to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones), Bluff +4, Climb +5, Diplomacy +4, Handle Animal +3, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (local) +5, Perception +12 (+14 to notice unusual stonework), Sense Motive +12, Survival +5 (+9 to provide food and water for allies or to protect allies from harsh weather, +7 to avoid becoming lost), Swim +5; Racial Modifiers dragon's skills, +2 Appraise to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones, +2 Perception to notice unusual stonework
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ aid allies, champion's finesse, dodging panache, mount, order of the dragon, strategy, swashbuckler initiative
Other Gear +1 vital guard mithral kikko armor, +1 fortification (light) buckler, +1 adamantine dwarven waraxe, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, boots of striding and springing, cloak of resistance +1, cracked pink and green sphere ioun stone, plume of panache, ring of protection +1, wayfinder, 53 pp, 1,305 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Dragon's Challenge +12 (3/day) (Ex) - 0/3
Greater Tactician (Outflank, 7 rds, 2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
Panache Pool (3/day) - 0/3
Plume of panache (1/day) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aid Allies +4 (Ex) Aid Another grants +4
Banner +2/+1 (Ex) Allies who can see your banner gain +2 save vs. fear & +1 to hit while charging.
Champion's Finesse At 1st level, a daring champion gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, and he can use Charisma in place of Intelligence for the purpose of combat feats prerequisites. A daring champion also coun
Cornugon Smash When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Deed: Dodging Panache (Ex) As an imm action when attacked, use 1 panache to move 5 ft. and gain +0 to AC vs. attack.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Deed: Precise Strike +8 (Ex) While 1 panache, bonus to att/dam with light/one-hand piercing weapon.
Deed: Swashbuckler Initiative (Ex) While have Panache, can use a free hand to draw a light or one-handed piercing weapon as part of the initiative check.
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Dragon's Challenge +12 (3/day) (Ex) +12 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, allies gain +3 to hit the target of your challenge.
Dragon's Skills +4 (Ex) +4 to Survival checks for allies.
Fortification 25% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Greater Tactician (Outflank, 7 rds, 2/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your teamwork feats to all allies in 30 ft.
Greed +2 to Appraise to determine price of nonmagic goods with precious metals or gemstones.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs Goblinoids/Orcs.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Plume of panache (1/day) Provides 1 panache point for used for a deed.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Slashing Grace (Dwarven waraxe) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can had Dex instead of Str to dmg.
Stonecunning +2 +2 bonus to Perception vs. unusual stonework. Free check within 10 feet.
Strategy (Ex) Grant varying bonuses to allies within 30'
Strong Willed Your fervent desire to choose your own path gives you strong willpower, and you receive a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.
Wayfinder (1 @ 0 lbs)
--------------------
Rees Kaven has been travelling around Cheliax, and especially to and from Westcrown for decades. It's always been his job to protect the caravan. To defend against the bandits. To help unload the crates. To help load the next bunch of crates. To watch as the bosses kowtow to a bunch of disrespectful devil-worshipping humans. To put up with bosses half his age b!$&#ing at him because some random hobgoblin wannabe-raider almost got close to scratching the paint on his precious wagons.
Rees Kavan has had quite enough of that s+$@, quite frankly. The last time the caravan bosses started b$+*%ing at him that he was taking to long to load up all the "third-hand" merchandise they'd been buying off the local lowlifes in Westcrown, he just turned around, picked up his axe, and walked the f*+& away from that s&!$.
He's been wandering around the town for a couple weeks since then, considering what to do with himself now that he's a free agent for the first time. He knows he needs to find work, but he really doesn't want to work for criminals or the devil worshippers either.
He's started hearing rumours about a group of adventurers that seem to have the same attitude though...
Wow. A month since the last post.
Started playing around with a bloodrager for the first time a couple days ago. Went back and forth on crossblooded or not several times - I quite liked the idea of a dwarf with a 60' movement speed (fire bloodline) and both the destined and celestial bloodlines could have added something to the mix. But in each case the hit to the will save was too much to accept. In the end, he's arcane because auto blur+haste every time he rages is too powerful to ignore, especially since that means that Moonlight Stalker will be in effect all the time without having to come up with the 24K for a lesser cloak of displacement. The fact that the first level ability and the spells are going completely to waste doesn't matter in comparison to that benefit.
Likewise I've been waffling back and forth on using a two-handed weapon or not. The actual damage dice of a a two-hander isn't really any improvement over a dwarven waraxe once you start using enlarge person. If he can get an ally to throw lead blades on him as well, then there's no actual difference in damage - 3d8 vs 4d6 is only a half point difference in average and no difference in max. In the end I stuck with the longhammer, mainly because it matched the art. A nodachi would be produce better damage than the hammer, but wouldn't provide the reach. And feels too far off theme. With the auto-haste during a rage, his DPR is high enough that a two-hander feels like overkill, but using a shield instead of a shield spell is just too hard on the budget.
Wound up re-using an old character's name and art for this, mainly because most of the old characters that I lost feel rather sub-par by comparison to some of these newer ones.
He's a primalist because I intend to trade out the 12th probably the 20th level abilities (if he's ever played that high). When I was messing around with Destined instead of Arcane, I was dumping the 8th level power to take Improved DR twice. I might revisit that idea at some point with a different bloodrager with a more traditional race selection. He's a rageshaper solely because Blood Sanctuary isn't worth the space it takes up on the character sheet; it won't actually be relevant unless he makes it to level 16.
Morgarr Narhain
Male dwarf bloodrager (primalist, rageshaper) 8
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
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Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex)
hp 104 (8d10+40) (I rolled incredibly well, and took all hp for FCB)
Fort +12, Ref +6, Will +5; +2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +1 trait bonus vs. spells, spell-like abilities, and poison
Defensive Abilities defensive training, uncanny dodge; DR 1/-
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 furious adamantine dwarven longhammer +13/+8 (2d6+7/x3) (courageous furious is not really in the budget at level 8, and until GMW is an option, it wouldn't be really doing much anyhow)
Special Attacks blood casting, bloodrage (22 rounds/day), hatred
Bloodrager (Primalist, Rageshaper) Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +9)
. . 2nd (1/day)ironskin, mirror image, stone call
. . 1st (2/day)enlarge person (DC 12), expeditious retreat, long arm, magic missile, shield
. . Bloodline Arcane
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 13
Base Atk +8; CMB +12; CMD 25 (29 vs. bull rush, 29 vs. trip)
Feats Arcane Strike, Blind-fight, Combat Expertise, Eschew Materials, Moonlight Stalker, Power Attack
Traits dangerously curious, glory of old
Skills Acrobatics +10, Bluff +9, Climb +5, Handle Animal +5, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Perception +12, Ride +3, Spellcraft +5, Survival +5, Swim +5, Use Magic Device +13; Racial Modifiers lorekeeper
Languages Common, Dwarven, Giant
SQ arcane bloodrage, bestial aspect, disruptive bloodrage, fast movement, furious transformation, rock stepper
Combat Gear 2 pearls of power (1st level), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), wand of shield (50 charges); Other Gear +1 vital guard breastplate, +1 furious adamantine dwarven longhammer, belt of physical might +2 (Str, Con), cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, soap, trail rations (5), waterskin, weapon cord, weapon cord, wrist sheath, spring loaded, wrist sheath, spring loaded, 31 pp, 22 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Bloodrage (22 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/22
Pearls of power (1st level, 1/day) - 0/2
Trail rations - 0/5
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges) - 0/50
Wand of shield (50 charges) - 0/50
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bestial Aspect (increased polymorphed damage) (Su) Increase dam of nat attack granted by polymorph spell.
Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Blood Casting (Su) Cast bloodrager spells while in bloodrage.
Bloodrage (22 rounds/day) (Su) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Combat Expertise +/-3 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Disruptive Bloodrage (Su) +2 to DC for enemy spellcasters in threatened area when raging.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Furious Transformation (Su) Extend polymorph spells while bloodraging with a concentration check.
Glory of Old You receive a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against spells, spell-like abilities, and poison.
Greater Arcane Bloodrage (2 spells) (Sp) Apply two spells to yourself when entering bloodrage.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs Goblinoids/Orcs.
Lorekeeper +2 for Knowledge (History) checks relating to dwarves and their enemies. These checks can be made untrained.
Moonlight Stalker Gain +2 on damage and attack rolls when you have concealment vs. foe
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rock Stepper Ignore rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when taking 5 ft step. (I believe that this should work very nicely with Stone Call.)
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges) Add this item to create a wand of a chosen spell.
Wand of shield (50 charges) Add this item to create a wand of a chosen spell.
Weapon cord (Don't want to have to drop the shield wand in the middle of a fight.)
--------------------
People always ask me what I'm so angry about. I just look at the world around me, filled to the brim with cruelty and corruption masquerading as civilization, and respond, why in the hells isn't everone else just as angry about the world as I am?
Thanks 666bender. The idea of using Hunter Tactics in this way wasn't mine at all, but I spent a lot of time trying to find a Barbarian animal companion that I liked. Mostly I went with Rhino because it amused me to put Rhino Hide armour on an actual Rhino.
Why didn't you make Chana into a Battle Herald?
She actually starts Battle Herald at level 8.
While I've been holding off on couple of characters that aren't quite finished, I realized that I've failed to post one that I actually did finish a couple weeks ago.
Avora is another old character that I'm trying to recreate from nothing but the saved pdf of her first level character sheet. But since she was originally conceived as a hidden priest because I'd (wrongly) expected our Council of Thieves campaign to make life difficult for non-Asmodean clerics, I haven't kept much except the background and the interest in Sarenrae. Now she's an inquisitor (I confess to liking skill points more than full casting) and her personality is more spoiled rich kid than secret revolutionary.
Cuddles is Avora's favourite thing in the world, and she's convinced that he's just a lovable ball of fur. Everyone else sees the leopard for the murderous ball of hate that it really is. (I may have been thinking Archer & Babou a bit here) Cuddles didn't take the size increase at level 4, instead choosing to get his Dex even higher. Babau's stats are given with Bear and Tiger animal focuses active as Dex and Con boosts are going to be the most useful for him in nearly all situations. Spirit's Gift is set to Bones for the same reason; it's the most likely to be useful default setting.
Over the next few levels, Avora will be looking at Broken Wing Gambit, Swarm Strike, and Evolved Companion for feats, and increasingly expensive adorable outfits for Cuddles to wear. (I'm considering the amulet to be an expensive jewel-encrusted collar and the uniform and cape to be a cat-shaped sailor outfit - nauseatingly "cute" yet surprisingly effective.)
Avora and Cuddles almost certainly won't see actual play until the Hunter's Trick Ranger Tricks are clarified though. I'm especially interested in finding out if Cuddles counts as his own ally for purposes of an Aiding Attack. Because getting a +2 to hit on a subsequent attack every time he hits someone is just a little bit more useful than knowing how to fetch Avora's slippers.
Avora Trelarion
Female human (chelaxian) inquisitor (infiltrator, sacred huntmaster) of Sarenrae 8
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +13
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 20 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, +1 natural, +2 shield)
hp 60 (8d8+16)
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +10; +8 vs. abilities that detect lies or force the truth
Resist fire 10
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 keen scimitar +11/+6 (1d6+5/15-20)
Special Attacks greater bane (13 rounds/day)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +10)
. . 5/day fire bolt (1d6+4 fire)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +10)
. . At will detect alignment
Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sacred Huntmaster) Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +10)
. . 3rd (2/day) flame blade, heroism, magic vestment
. . 2nd (5/day) cure moderate wounds, invisibility, resist energy, lesser restoration, see invisibility, silence (DC 14)
. . 1st (5/day) blessing of the watch, cure light wounds, divine favor, expeditious retreat, protection from evil, shield of faith, sun metal (DC 13), wrath
. . 0 (at will) detect magic, disrupt undead, guidance, light, stabilize, virtue
. . Domain Fire
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 22
Feats Combat Reflexes, Divine Protection, Improved Spell Sharing, Outflank, Paired Opportunists, Precise Strike, Spirit's Gift
Traits armor expert, beast bond
Skills Bluff +15, Climb +8, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +6, Handle Animal +14, Heal +6, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +8, Perception +13, Ride +7, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +7, Survival +6, Swim +8
Languages Common
SQ animal companion (leopard (racer) named Cuddles), animal focus (8 minutes/day), animal focuses (bat, bear, bull, falcon, frog, monkey, mouse, owl, snake, stag, tiger, wolf), forbidden lore, hunter tactics, improved empathic link, misdirection, necessary lies, solo tactics
Other Gear +1 mithral breastplate, +1 light steel shield, +1 keen scimitar, amulet of natural armor +1, bane baldric, 11 pp, 6 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Animal Focus (8 minutes/day) (Su) - 0/8
Fire Bolt 1d6+4 fire (5/day) (Sp) - 0/5
Greater Bane (+2 / 4d6, 13 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/13
Teamwork Feat (change 2/day) - 0/2
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Animal Companion (animal companion (leopard (racer) named Cuddles)) (Ex)
Animal Focus (8 minutes/day) (Su) As a swift action, gain bonuses from emulated animal(s).
Bat (90 feet) (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain darkvision with listed range, or blindsense at higher levels.
Bear +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Con.
Bull +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Str.
Falcon +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Perception.
Frog +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Swim & Acrobatics to jump.
Monkey +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Climb.
Mouse (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain evasion, or improved evasion at higher levels.
Owl +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Stealth.
Snake +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed bonus to att on AoO & to AC vs. AoO.
Stag +10 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to speed.
Tiger +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Dex.
Wolf (20 feet) (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain scent with listed range.
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Energy Resistance, Fire (10)
Fire Bolt 1d6+4 fire (5/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch attack deals fire dam to foe in 30 ft.
Forbidden Lore (Ex) May cast spells of alignment opposed to own or deity alignment.
Greater Bane (+2 / 4d6, 13 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Hunter Tactics (Ex) Animal companion also gains the bonus teamwork feats, but doesn't need to meet pre-reqs.
Improved Empathic Link (1 mile) (Su) As the familiar ability, but as a swift action can see through companion's eyes (but not own).
Improved Spell Sharing Divide share spell dur evenly between you and companion. Can move apart w/o ending effect.
Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sacred Huntmaster) Domain (Fire) Granted Powers: You can call forth fire, command creatures of the inferno, and your flesh does not burn.
Misdirection (Lawful Evil) (Sp) When prepare spells choose an alignment to count as for magical detection.
Necessary Lies +8 (Su) Gain bonus to saves vs abilities detecting lies or forcing truth.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Spirit's Gift (Bones, Animal Companion) You commune with a spirit of your choice, and it grants your animal companion or familiar a boon.
--------------------
Avora is the daughter of a very minor house in Westcrown - too minor to have any political power, but just important enough that they strive to act like a "proper" Chelaxian family. Which means that Avora was largely raised by her maids and nannies, seeing her parents only during each evening's formal meal.
One of those maids in particular was a Qadiran cleric of Saranrae, and Avora grew up learning a great deal about the Dawnflower. Now Avora herself secretly worships the forbidden Goddess, and has searching for ways to weaken Asmodeus' hold on Cheliax.
--------------------
Cuddles
Leopard (racer)
N Small animal
Init +10; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +6
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 28, touch 21, flat-footed 18 (+2 armor, +10 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size)
hp 69 (+28)
Fort +10, Ref +16, Will +4
Defensive Abilities evasion
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 60 ft., sprint
Melee bite +16 (1d4+10), 2 claws +16 (1d2+10)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 30, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 26 (30 vs. trip)
Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Spell Sharing, Outflank, Paired Opportunists, Power Attack, Precise Strike, Weapon Finesse
Tricks Attack, Attack, Attack Any Target, Defend, Deliver, Fetch, Flank, Heel, Seek
Skills Acrobatics +14 (+26 to jump), Climb +6, Fly +16, Perception +6, Stealth +18 (+22 in Undergrowth), Swim +6; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in Undergrowth
Other Gear +1 silken ceremonial armor, agile amulet of mighty fists, cloak of resistance +1
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Blur (Constant) - 0/0
Sprint (1/hour) (Ex) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Attack [Trick] The animal will attack on command.
Attack Any Target [Trick] The animal will attack any creature on command.
Defend [Trick] The animal will defend you.
Deliver [Trick] Delivers item to indicated point or person.
Fetch [Trick] The animal will get a specific object.
Flank [Trick] Attempts to attack and flank indicated enemy.
Heel [Trick] The animal will follow you.
Hunter's Trick (Aiding Attack) (Ex) The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he hits a creature with an attack. The next ally who makes an attack against the target creature before the start of the ranger's next turn gains a +2 circumstance bonus on that attack roll.
Seek [Trick] The animal moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate.
Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Combat Reflexes (11 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save.
Improved Spell Sharing Divide share spell duration evenly between you and companion. Can move apart w/o ending effect.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Sprint (1/hour) (Ex) Can move ten times normal speed when you make a charge.
Trip (Ex) You can make a trip attempt on a successful attack.
Bat (90 feet) (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain darkvision with listed range, or blindsense at higher levels.
Bear +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Con.
Bull +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Str.
Falcon +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Perception.
Frog +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Swim & Acrobatics to jump.
Monkey +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Climb.
Mouse (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain evasion, or improved evasion at higher levels.
Owl +6 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed competence bonus to Stealth.
Snake +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed bonus to att on AoO & to AC vs. AoO.
Stag +10 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to speed.
Tiger +4 (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain listed enhancement bonus to Dex.
Wolf (20 feet) (Su) When assuming this aspect, gain scent with listed range.
I've also been messing around with the pseudo-sith character, trying to accomplish the same sort of thing with an arcane character. Believer's Boon means that I don't have to use a divine character to get the magically throwing his weapon at an enemy shtick.
An Eldritch Knight seems like it would likely work, possibly even from a sorcerer or arcanist base rather than wizard.
But a hexcrafter magus gets some interesting options - like the Charm Hex that lets him "charm an animal or humanoid within 30 feet by beckoning and speaking soothing words". And I've been wanting to make a bladebound magus for a while anyhow.
This character will go Evangelist starting at level 9; mainly for the skill points, although the 10th level Evangelist power could certainly be used to walk around in blue ghost form.
Unnamed Hero
Human (chelaxian) magus (bladebound, hexcrafter) 8
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +11
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 56 (8d8+16)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +8
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee black blade +11/+6 (1d6+4/18-20)
Special Attacks arcane pool (+2, 9 points), hand of the acolyte (4/day), hex arcana (arcane accuracy, flight), improved spell combat, spellstrike
Magus Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +17)
. . At will feather fall (self only), fly (self only)
. . 1/day levitate (self only)
Magus (Bladebound, Hexcrafter) Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +17)
. . 3rd displacement, haste, lightning bolt (DC 18)
. . 2nd blindness/deafness (DC 17), blur, frigid touch, invisibility, mirror image
. . 1st chill touch (2, DC 16), expeditious retreat, shield, intensified shocking grasp (2)
. . 0 (at will) brand (DC 15), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 15), mage hand, open/close (DC 15)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 15, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 9
Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 22
Feats Believer's Boon, Deific Obedience, Extra Arcana, Improved Initiative, Intensified Spell, Weapon Focus (scimitar)
Traits magical lineage, student of philosophy
Skills Acrobatics +0 (-4 to jump), Bluff +5 (Use Int mod instead of Cha mod (+6) to convince others that a lie is true.), Diplomacy +5 (Use Int mod instead of Cha mod (+6) to persuade others), Fly +11, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (religion) +8, Perception +11, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +16, Swim +7
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, Infernal
SQ black blade, black blade: arcane pool, black blade: energy attunement, black blade: strike, black blade: telepathy, black blade: unbreakable, hex (charm), hex arcana, hex magus, knowledge pool, medium armor
Combat Gear pearl of power (1st level) (3), spellguard bracers; Other Gear +2 breastplate, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of physical might +2 (Str, Dex), cloak of resistance +1, mask of conflicting energies, ring of protection +1, 65 pp, 1,000 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Arcane Pool +2 (9/day) (Su) - 0/9
Black Blade: Arcane Pool (2/day) (Su) - 0/2
Feather Fall (self only, At will) - 0/0
Fly (self only, 8 minutes/day) - 0/8
Hand of the Acolyte (4/day) (Su) - 0/4
Levitate (self only, 1/day) - 0/1
Mask of conflicting energies (3/day) - 0/3
Pearl of power (1st level, 1/day) - 0/1
Spellguard bracers (3/day) - 0/3
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Accuracy +5 (Su) 1 Arcane Pool: +5 to attack rolls until the end of your turn.
Arcane Pool +2 (9/day) (Su) Infuse own power into a held weapon, granting enhancement bonus or selected item powers.
Believer's Boon Domain (Magic) Granted Powers: You are a true student of all things mystical, and see divinity in the purity of magic.
Black Blade (Ex) You gain an intelligent bonded weapon whose power grows with your own.
Black Blade: Arcane Pool (2/day) (Su) The Black Blade has an Arcane Pool used to fuel its own abilities.
Black Blade: Energy Attunement (Su) Replace weapon dam with fire/cold/elec for 1 point, or sonic/force for 2 points.
Black Blade: Strike +2 (Sp) The Black Blade can grant itself a damage bonus for 1 min.
Black Blade: Telepathy (Su) The magus can telepathically communicate with his black blade if it is worn or held.
Black Blade: Unbreakable (Ex) The Black Blade is immune to the broken condition while the arcane pool is not empty.
Charm +2 (5 rounds, DC 19) (Su) Improve attitude of humanoid or animal in 30 ft. by 2 step(s).
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Hand of the Acolyte (4/day) (Su) As a standard action, melee weapon strikes at foe in 30 ft. Use Wis for att bonus instead of Str.
Hex Arcana You can substitute Hexes for Magus Arcana.
Hex Magus (Su) You gain access to witch hexes.
Improved Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Intensified Spell You can cast a spell that can exceed its normal damage die cap by 5 (if you have the caster level to reach beyond that cap).
Knowledge Pool (Su) Spend Arcane Pool points to prepare a magus spell that is not in your spellbook for 1 day.
Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Mask of conflicting energies (3/day) Change energy type of spell of up to 3rd level to opposition type.
Spellguard bracers (3/day) +2 to cast defensively. Activate to roll twice and take better roll.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Student of Philosophy Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks to persuade others and Bluff checks to lie.
Tullus is a character that won't really come fully online until 12th level. The Envoy of Balance's Twinned Channelling ability combines quite nicely with the Death Domain's 8th level ability.
Trying to build a channelling-focused cleric is difficult, since channelling just isn't really all that strong to begin with. I think Tullus is a decent attempt though.
Tullus
Male human (chelaxian) cleric of Pharasma 8
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +18
Aura ward against death (30 ft., 8 rounds/day)
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 natural, +1 shield)
hp 58 (8d8+8)
Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +18
Defensive Abilities death's embrace
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk cold iron dagger +8/+3 (1d4+1/19-20) or
. . mithral dagger +8/+3 (1d4+1/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 8/day (DC 20, 4d6)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +15)
. . 8/day bleeding touch (4 rounds)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15)
. . 4th death ward[D], greater magic weapon
. . 3rd magic vestment (2), speak with dead[D] (DC 18)
. . 2nd bull's strength, false life, gentle repose[D] (DC 17)
. . 1st blessing of the watch, deathwatch[D], shield of faith
. . 0 (at will) create water, detect magic, enhanced diplomacy, read magic
. . D Domain spell; Domains Death, Repose (Souls subdomain)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 7, Wis 20, Cha 20
Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 20
Feats Divine Protection, Fateful Channel, Quick Channel, Selective Channeling, Versatile Channeler
Traits conspiracy hunter, sacred conduit
Skills Diplomacy +10, Heal +9, Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +18, Sense Motive +10, Spellcraft +6
Languages Common
SQ touch the spirit world (8 rounds)
Other Gear mithral breastplate, darkwood light wooden shield, mithral dagger, mwk cold iron dagger, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, eyes of the eagle, handy haversack, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis, Cha), ring of protection +1, tunic of careful casting, belt pouch, flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), holy text, silver holy symbol of Pharasma, soap, spell component pouch, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, wooden holy symbol of Pharasma (2), 25 pp, 2 gp, 2 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Bleeding Touch (4 rounds, 8/day) (Sp) - 0/8
Masterwork cold iron dagger - 0/1
mithral dagger - 0/1
Torch - 0/10
Touch the Spirit World (8 rds, 8/day) (Su) - 0/8
Trail rations - 0/5
Versatile Cleric Channel Positive Energy 4d6 (8/day, DC 20) (Su) - 0/8
Ward Against Death (30 ft., 8 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/8
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bleeding Touch (4 rounds, 8/day) (Sp) Melee touch attack deals 1d6 bleeding damage.
Cleric Domain (Death) Granted Powers: You can cause the living to bleed at a touch, and find comfort in the presence of the dead.
Cleric Domain (Souls)
Death's Embrace (Ex) Heal damage from channeled negative energy.
Fateful Channel Creatures healed by your channel can reroll one attack, skil check, or save.
Quick Channel Channel energy faster by expending more uses
Selective Channeling Exclude targets from the area of your Channel Energy.
Touch the Spirit World (8 rds, 8/day) (Su) Allow touched weapon to harm incorporeal targets.
Versatile Channeler Channel both positive and negative energy
Versatile Cleric Channel Positive Energy 4d6 (8/day, DC 20) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Ward Against Death (30 ft., 8 rounds/day) (Su) 30'r aura immunity to death effects, energy drain, and suppresses negative levels.
--------------------
Tullus is even dumber than he looks. And he looks like a slack-jawed oaf. He's a lovable oaf though, always ready with a kind word or helping hand.
He was raised by the church of Pharasma in Westcrown, having been abandoned there when he was only a few weeks old. And while he's grown up simple and obedient, he's been getting increasingly angry, in his own quiet way, about the state of Westcrown. He doesn't think people should be afraid to walk the streets of their own city, or to pretend to worship any god but the one they choose to, or to be ruled by criminals.
I've been wanting to build a Magambayan Arcanist since the first time I saw Paths of Prestige. Adding a bit of druidic flavour to the wizard is just fun.
Mechanically, the main use I could see for the various abilities that boost [Good] spells is on summoning, since there really aren't very many [Good] spells other than summons. And that aura of good means that they're the only arcane caster that can actually use Sacred Summons (afaik at least). So, he's going to be summon-happy.
Since we're already adding druid spells to the mix, I figured I'd go whole hog on the expanded spell list and made him a mystic past life Samsaran. I figure he may have actually met Old Man Jatamebe during some previous life.
He has the Foresight school for two reasons; the first is that Prescience and Forewarned are nice bonuses, the second is that after living dozens of lives, he hardly needs to use magic to predict what's going to happen next in nearly any situation.
Aegan Yeshing Tuken
Male samsaran magaambyan arcanist 3/wizard 5
CG Medium humanoid (samsaran)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 42 (8d6+8)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +9; +2 vs. death effects, negative energy effects, negative levels
Defensive Abilities lifebound
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee quarterstaff +3 (1d6)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +15)
. . 4th greater invisibility, scrying (DC 21), summon monster IV (2)
. . 3rd fly, haste, spiked pit (DC 21), summon monster III (2), tongues
. . 2nd create pit (DC 20), ironskin, mirror image, resist energy, lesser restoration, see invisibility
. . 1st enlarge person (DC 18), identify, mage armor, shield, silent image (DC 18), summon monster I (2)
. . 0 (at will) detect magic, light, prestidigitation, read magic
. . Opposition Schools Enchantment, Necromancy
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 24, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Sacred Summons[UM], Scholar[ISWG], Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (conjuration), Spell Mastery, Summon Good Monster
Traits outcast's intuition, student of philosophy
Skills Appraise +11, Bluff +8 (Use Int mod instead of Cha mod to lie. (+7)), Diplomacy +16 (Use Int mod instead of Cha mod to persuade others. (+7)), Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +12, Knowledge (engineering) +11, Knowledge (geography) +11, Knowledge (history) +11, Knowledge (local) +14, Knowledge (nature) +17, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Knowledge (planes) +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Perception +14, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +18
Languages Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Samsaran, Terran, Thassilonian
SQ arcane bond (wand of cure light wounds [50 charges]), aura of good, forewarned, intoned recollection, lasting goodness, mystic past life, prescience, superior spell mastery, virtuous spells
Combat Gear pearl of power (1st level), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges); Other Gear quarterstaff, blessed book, cloak of resistance +2, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, dweomer's essence, eyes of the eagle, handy haversack, headband of vast intelligence +2, living garments, air bladder, candle (10), chalk (10), flask (2), flint and steel, grroming kit (worth 1 gp, 2 lb), ink, black, inkpen, marbles, mirror, sack (2), scroll box, shaving kit (worth 1.5 gp, 0.5 lb), silk rope (50 ft.), spell component pouch, spell component pouch, trail rations (5), twine (50'), waterproof bag, waterskin (2), wrist sheath, spring loaded, 383 gp, 9 sp, 2 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Arcane Bond (Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges)) (1/day) (Sp) - 0/1
Comprehend Languages (1/day) - 0/1
Dweomer's essence - 0/1
Intoned Recollection (1 minute, 7/day) (Ex) - 0/7
Pearl of power (1st level, 1/day) - 0/1
Prescience (10/day) (Su) - 0/10
Trail rations - 0/5
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges) - 0/50
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Bond (Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges)) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Aura of Good (Ex) You emit an aura of good.
Enchantment You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Enchantment school.
Foresight Associated School: Divination
Forewarned +2 (Su) Can always act in surprise rounds.
Halcyon Magic Cure Light Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Ironskin
Intoned Recollection (1 minute, 7/day) (Ex) Quickly fill an open, unused spell slot from spellbook or Spell Mastery list .
Lasting Goodness (+3 rounds) (Su) Extend duration of [Good] spells unless duration is concentration, instant or permanent.
Lifebound (Ex) +2 to save vs death/neg energy/neg levels and Con checks to stabilize.
Living garments On command, change coloring, fit, and basic design. Repairs 1 hp a round.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Mystic Past Life (Wizard) (Witch - Death Ward, Raise Dead, Remove Blindness, Remove Disease, Resurrection, Water Walk)
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Outcast's Intuition +1 to your Caster Level against dispel attempts.
Prescience (10/day) (Su) Roll a d20 at the beginning of the round, and use that result as the result of any other d20 roll before the next turn.
Sacred Summons Summon monsters whose alignment subtype matches yours as a standard action
Scholar (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [nature]) +2 bonus on two Knowledge skills
Spell Focus (Conjuration) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Mastery (Scrying, SM 4, Haste, CLW, Gtr Invis, Fly, L Resto) You can prepare the chosen spells without a spellbook.
Student of Philosophy Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks to persuade others and Bluff checks to lie.
Summon Good Monster You can summon from a special list, who gain Diehard as a bonus feat.
Superior Spell Mastery (Ex) Spend 24 hours over 3 days studying to change mastered spells.
Virtuous Spells (Su) Cast good descriptor spells at +1 caster level.
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges) Add this item to create a wand of a chosen spell.
I'm having a hard time lately believing that unarmed strike isn't the best weapon in the game. It's just so easy to get crazy numbers out of it.
I started this new character with the intention of making a demoralizer build that wasn't using swift actions to maximize the value of the new Hurtful feat. I became somewhat distracted by revisiting a halfling with Risky Striker.
Kenwick here is, in theory, a slayer, maybe a vanguard. But he hasn't actually taken any Slayer levels yet. He'll be doing that for the rest of his career though.
Taunt+Enforcer+Hurtful is certainly a good option going forward. And that will make Sap Adept + Sap Master rather attractive as well. In the meantime, he punches harder than a heavyweight fighter despite being the size of a human toddler.
Kenwick
Male halfling fighter (weapon master) 3/ranger (divine tracker) 2/sentinel 3
N Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +8; Senses Perception +13
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 18, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +6 Dex, +1 size)
hp 65 (8d10+16)
Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +4; +4 vs. effects that cause you to lose your grip on weapons, +1 bonus vs. effects targeting a Unarmed strike held by you, +2 vs. fear
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +23/+18 (1d6+14)
Special Attacks combat style (irori), favored enemy (humans +2), weapon training
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +8)
. . 1/day haste
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +8; CMB +7 (+9 grapple); CMD 24 (28 vs. disarm, 28 vs. sunder)
Feats Deific Obedience, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Improved Unarmed Strike, Monastic Legacy, Piranha Strike, Risky Striker, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike)
Traits mizu ki hikari rebel, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +14, Bluff +1, Climb +4, Handle Animal +4, Heal +4, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (geography) +9, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (religion) +11, Perception +13, Sense Motive +1, Stealth +14, Survival +4, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Dwarven, Halfling
SQ bonus feat, symbolic weapon, track +1, weapon guard
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), wand of ironskin (50 charges); Other Gear +1 brawling mithral chain shirt, agile amulet of mighty fists, cloak of resistance +1, gloves of dueling, ring of protection +1, 65 pp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Haste (1/day) - 0/1
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges) - 0/50
Wand of ironskin (50 charges) - 0/50
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Favored Enemy (Humans +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Humans) foes.
Fearless +2 racial bonus vs Fear saves.
Gloves of dueling These supple gloves grant the wearer a +4 bonus to her CMD against disarm attacks, attempts to sunder her wielded weapons, and effects that cause her to lose her grip on her weapons (such as grease). The wearer doesn't drop held weapons when panicked or stunned. If the wearer has the weapon training class feature and is using an appropriate weapon, her weapon training bonus increases by +2.
Haste 1/day (Sp) 1/day use haste as a spell like ability.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Piranha Strike -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage with light weapons.
Risky Strike -1/+6 Subtract from your AC to add to damage vs foes 2 sizes larger.
Symbolic Weapon (Good) (Su) Deities favored weapon counts as a holy symbol when wielded.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges)
Wand of ironskin (50 charges)
Weapon Guard +1: Unarmed strike (Ex) +1 CMD vs. Disarm and Sunder or other effects targeting your chosen weapon.
Weapon Training +3: Unarmed strike (Ex) +3 to hit and damage with your chosen weapon.
--------------------
Kenwick grew up in Cheliax as the only child of free halfling parents. He was never much worried about the humans though, and was running around the city getting into mischief and fights whenever his parents let him out of their sight for more than half a minute. The only things that have kept him from a life of crime (or more likely, a life in prison) is Irori, who he was introduced to by some older halflings. The focus and calm that the daily meditation brings Kenwick allows him to stay focused on one task for more than a few minutes and that, in turn, has kept him from getting himself arrested, enslaved, or killed.
At least so far.
I think your Fyx Accio needs to work in Combat Reflexes somewhere in the early build.
IMO, the best part of combining Dimensional Savant & Outflank is provoking attacks of opportunity for yourself when you land critical hits.
Outflank + Ring of Tactical Precision + a Menacing Weapon will add up to a +7 to hit when you bamf.
You just need to swing as many times a possible.
Eh, with a 19-20 crit range, I don't think he'll be likely to crit more than once per round often enough to worry about it. Reflexes can go on the "at some point down the road" pile, especially with a Dex of only 14.
Rees Kaven's the one that I'd really like to be able to get Combat Reflexes for.
That's why he needs to use higher crit threat weapons as well.
It's too much trouble to go to to spend 4 feats on the dimensional feat chain just to get 3 or 4 dice of sneak attack damage without a flanking buddy a few rounds per day.
If your crits lead to more attacks, which can lead to even more attacks ... then you can get some impressive DPR on the few rounds per day that you blow up on people.
All-in-all, it's probably a better feat chain on a Two-Weapon Warrior who can swing twice with each attack of opportunity.
I was mostly looking at Outflank as a source of accuracy to land the SA + Precise Strike damage. Could give up Precise Strike for Combat Reflexes and switch his shortswords out for a scimitar or cutlass and a kukri (or paired kukris) I suppose. I mainly chose shortswords to match the art that I've had favourited on DeviantArt for a very long time, but yes, higher crit weapons are always stronger mechanically.
nice picture
Trying to make an Ifrit Immolator work. It's the only way that I know of to actively lower an enemy's energy resistance, and while Burnt Offering is a rather significant power reduction from Bane, I quite like the idea of defeated enemies instantly burning down to a pile of ash. And I've been wanting to build an Inquisitor into Divine Scion for a while; using an archetype that doesn't have Greater Bane to worry about delaying seemed like a good time to do so.
I'm not really certain that I'm entirely happy with what I've wound up with; she's not really very effective in melee (partially because needing 5 levels of a 3/4 BAB class to get into a prestige class really slows down BAB progression), isn't a super-effective skill monkey, and doesn't really have much in the way of offensive spells (fire-focused or otherwise) to take advantage of Divine Wrath when she gets to Divine Scion 4. I suppose at some point it'll work nicely with Flame Strike.
She's taken Power Attack & Cornugon Smash mostly because I want to make use of her "take 10 on Intimidate in a fight" trait; she doesn't really have a high enough attack bonus to be power attacking much in the first place unfortunately. Alternately, I could take Dazzling Display and Greater Weapon Focus or Weapon Specialization with those two feat slots, but I dislike the idea of spending a standard to demoralize for what would likely be only a one round effect.
On the fun side, I was able to chose a bunch of her spells on the basis of them being exactly the sort of magical abilities that a particularly stern nanny of spoiled noble children would be expected to have. When Dinah tells someone not to do something, or to be quiet, they pretty much listen. (Forbid Action, Forced Quiet)
Dinah
Female ifrit divine scion 3/inquisitor (immolator) of Sarenrae 5
NG Medium outsider (native)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 48 (8d8+8)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +16
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 guided scimitar +12 (1d6+6/18-20)
Special Attacks judgment 2/day
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +9)
. . 1/day burning hands (DC 12)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +9)
. . 8/day fire bolt (1d6+3 fire)
Divine Scion Spell-Like Abilities (CL 0th; concentration +0)
. . Constant detect evil
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +13)
. . At will detect alignment, discern lies (5 rounds/day)
Inquisitor (Immolator) Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +13)
. . 3rd (3/day) magic circle against evil, magic vestment, greater magic weapon
. . 2nd (5/day) align weapon, blistering invective[UC] (DC 17), brow gasher[UC], cure moderate wounds
. . 1st (6/day) cure light wounds, divine favor, forbid action (DC 16), forced quiet (DC 16), protection from evil
. . 0 (at will) brand (DC 15), create water, detect magic, light, read magic, stabilize
. . Domain Fire
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 20, Cha 12
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 19
Feats Cornugon Smash, Ferocious Loyalty, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (scimitar)
Traits conspiracy hunter, fiery glare
Skills Bluff +8, Climb +4, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +4, Heal +9, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +16, Ride +5, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +9, Survival +9
Languages Common, Halfling, Ignan
SQ burnt offering, domain specialization (good), judgment of immolation, monster lore +5, opposition alignment, solo tactics, stern gaze +2, track +2, wildfire heart
Other Gear +1 mithral breastplate, +1 light steel shield, +1 guided scimitar, circlet of persuasion, cloak of resistance +1, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis, Cha), ring of protection +1, 82 pp, 6 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Burning Hands (1/day) - 0/1
Burnt Offering (flaming, 5 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/5
Detect Evil (Constant) - 0/0
Discern Lies (5 rounds/day) (Sp) - 0/5
Fire Bolt 1d6+3 fire (8/day) (Sp) - 0/8
Judgment (2/day) (Su) - 0/2
Teamwork Feat (change 5/day) - 0/5
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Burnt Offering (flaming, 5 rounds/day) (Su) Grant weapon flaming ability. Slain opponents burn to ash.
Circlet of persuasion +3 competence bonus to CHA-based checks (skills already included).
Cornugon Smash When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (5 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Domain Specialization: Good (Su) Heal 2 x spell level damage when casting a spell from specialized domain.
Ferocious Loyalty +1 morale bonus vs. foe threatened by ally with this feat.
Fiery Glare You can always take 10 on Intimidate checks, even in combat.
Fire Bolt 1d6+3 fire (8/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch attack deals fire dam to foe in 30 ft.
Inquisitor (Immolator) Domain (Fire) Granted Powers: You can call forth fire, command creatures of the inferno, and your flesh does not burn.
Judgment (2/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Judgment of Immolation -5 (Su) Reduce target's fire resistance by listed amount.
Monster Lore +5 (Ex) +5 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Opposition Alignment (Evil) (Ex) A divine scion must pick one of the following alignment subtypes as her opposition alignment: chaotic, evil, good, or law. The opposition alignment she chooses must be one that she does not possess as part of her own alignment. She gains a +1 bonus o
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Track +2 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Wildfire Heart +4 racial bonus on initiative
--------------------
Dinah has spent much of her adult life as a slave in Westcrown. Most of that time has been spent educating and raising the young children of the extended Trelarion family. While she normally dresses as a demure servant, and doesn't discuss her background or her faith with anyone, she has a soft spot for her charges, and several of them over the years have learned of her short stint as an adventurer decades ago. One such child took her stories too much to heart and not only decided to follow the Dawnflower, but also decided that she would become a heroic adventurer and try to help make Westcrown a better place.
Now no one in the family has heard from her for over a week, and Dinah has found a sword and armour and is seeking out these so-called "Children of Westcrown" to find out what they know about the girl's disappearance.
Posted this earlier and then deleted when I realized I hadn't actually bought any of his non-crafted equipment yet. He crafted the armour and weapons himself, which is the only reason he can afford them.
I'm not normally big on Barbarians because I find most of the rage powers uninteresting, annoyingly limited (1/day, 1/rage), or stuck behind prerequisite powers that I don't want (anything that requires me to have a claw or bite attack I don't like for the majority of barbarians. Scratching someone and gnawing on their ankles doesn't scream berserkergang to me, it just seems like someone's not been taking his meds.) Lesser Elemental Rage is just the sort of 1/rage power that annoys me - it's of either annoyingly limited use, or you find a way to "rage cycle" to avoid it. But Elemental Rage just works all the time, so I'm building toward it. Lesser Elemental Blood & Elemental Blood aren't much better (3/day might be more than 1/rage. except on days where it isn't), but again, I'm only really interested in them for the third power. I like mobility, and flying whenever I'm raging is a pretty good rage power.
As much as I like dwarves thematically, I don't care for making slow characters. I'd much rather my characters are waiting for other people than be the one slowing the group down. It sucks not being able to get across a room to join a fight too. Armored Hulk Barbarian is one of the ways that a dwarf can run around with a decent movement rate, which is why Kiergar was one of the many characters that I lost a few months back.
As for Master Craftsman, that simply came down to Barbarians not really needing many feats to be effective at their day job; Power Attack to squish enemies and Raging Vitality to not die in the process. So spending a couple feats and half his skill points to make his own gear seemed workable. Well, that and I liked the art that I'd chosen for him.
Kiergar Sharpblade
Male dwarf barbarian (armoured hulk) 8
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (+12 armour, +1 Dex, +5 shield)
hp 93 (8d12+24)
Fort +9, Ref +3 (+1 bonus vs. trample attacks), Will +3
+2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +1 trait bonus vs. spells, spell-like abilities, and poison, +2 morale vs. fear
Defensive Abilities defensive training; DR 1/-
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +2 courageous furious adamantine dwarven waraxe +14/+9 (1d10+6/x3) or
. . father's forgehammer +12/+7 (1d4+4)
Special Attacks hatred, rage (29 rounds/day), rage powers (elemental blood, elemental blood, lesser 1d6 electricity, elemental rage, lesser, reckless abandon), relentless
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 19, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12
BAB +8; CMB +13; CMD 23 (23 vs. bull rush, 23 vs. grapple, 24 vs. overrun)
Feats Craft Magic Arms & Armour, Master Craftsman, Power Attack, Raging Vitality
Traits defensive strategist, glory of old
Skills Acrobatics -5 (-9 to jump), Craft (armour) +13 (+15 on checks related to metal or stone), Craft (weapons) +15 (+17 on checks related to metal or stone), Intimidate +12, Perception +12; Racial Modifiers craftsman
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ indomitable stance, resilience of steel, rock stepper
Combat Gear acid (2), alchemist's fire (2), alkali flask (2), antitoxin (2), caltrops (5), holy water (2); Other Gear +3 full plate, +3 mithral heavy steel shield, +2 courageous furious adamantine dwarven waraxe, father's forgehammer, anvil, blacksmith, bandoleer, bandoleer, bedroll, belt pouch, blanket, block and tackle, canteen (2), chest, large (treasure), crowbar, dominoes, flint and steel, iron spike (10), lock, superior, magnet, masterwork artisan's tools, masterwork artisan's tools, masterwork backpack, pocket watch, sack (10), silk rope (50 ft.), skillet, soap (2), twine (50'), waterproof bag, 49 pp, 4 gp, 9 sp, 7 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Acid - 0/2
Alchemist's fire - 0/2
Alkali flask - 0/2
Antitoxin - 0/2
Elemental Blood, Lesser (1d6 electricity, Electricity, 3/day) (Su) - 0/3
Elemental Rage, Lesser (1/rage) (Su) - 0/1
Father's forgehammer - 0/1
Holy water - 0/2
Magic Weapon (1/day) - 0/1
Rage (29 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/29
Shield Other (1/day) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Antitoxin+5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Craftsman +2 on Craft/Profession checks related to metal/stone.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Defensive Strategist Your study of dwarven history has trained you in defensive strategy. You aren't flat-footed during a surprise round that you don't get to act in or before you get to act at the start of a battle.
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Elemental Blood (Su) Gain electricity resistance 10 when raging.
Elemental Blood, Lesser (1d6 electricity, Electricity, 3/day) (Su) Melee attacks do extra energy damage for 1 round.
Elemental Rage, Lesser (1/rage) (Su) Attacks deals +1d6 energy dam (your choice) for 1 rd.
Glory of Old You receive a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against spells, spell-like abilities, and poison.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs Goblinoids/Orcs.
Indomitable Stance (Ex) +1 to Reflex vs trample & to hit, dam, and AC vs charging foe.
Master Craftsman (Craft [weapons]) +2 to chosen craft skill, its ranks count as CL for Craft Magic Arms and Armour and Craft Wondrous Item.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (29 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Vitality +2 CON while raging, Rage does not end if you become unconscious.
Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Relentless +2 Gain CMB bonus to bull rush/overrun while both self and foe stand on ground.
Resilience of Steel +2 (Ex) Gain bonus to AC vs a foe's critical confirmation rolls.
Rock Stepper Ignore rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when taking 5 ft step.
--------------------
Kiergar has an anger problem. Well, his clan feels that it's a problem. Kiergar believes that his anger is justified. After all, if people would just stop doing things to piss him off, he'd be a perfectly content dwarf.
But no; they have to insist on doing things wrong and believing the wrong things and generally acting like a bunch of jackasses.
For example, why should Kiergar make weapons and armour for the dwarves who don't want to learn to do it themselves? And why don't the other smiths ever get out there and use the stuff they make? Madness! The idiots who can't make a breastplate don't know why all their "helpful suggestions" are idiotic, and the genius smiths don't understand why a bunch of fancy embellishments on a weapon's blade just leads to the dwarf that has to use it to get killed. Practical, hands on experience! That's the only way! Hey! I'm still talking to you! Fine, go buy from someone else! What do I care? Ingrates.
Well, since the new rollback of the using SLAs to meet prerequisites ruling has invalidated several of my characters (although only one that's posted in this thread), I figure I'll post something new and completely magic-less.
Hava is a re-work of my favourite PFS character who was unfortunately killed in his first scenario after hitting level 2. I've posted slightly different versions of the idea on these boards over the last couple years, going back and forth on duellist levels and going after Improved Stalwart or not.
This iteration is a straightforward single classed build, and his rage powers are the part that I'm least happy about. I really dislike Superstition's forced saves against ally's spells, but I really like Ghost Rager and Witch Hunter (and need to do something about his otherwise abominable Will save).
I decided to change his outlook on life (and his deity) to mesh up with an idea I had at the table a couple weeks back when someone mentioned they were considering playing a Calistria worshipper. Everyone was focused on the prostitution-goddess aspect over the vengeance goddess aspect, and I suggested that John Wayne's quote from The Shootist could easily be used as the basis of a Calistria worshipper. Hava doesn't get involved in other people's business but if you butt into his, he'll put you down for it.
Hava Marinos
Male human (taldan) barbarian (savage barbarian, urban barbarian) 9
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6 (+8 raging); Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 27, touch 19, flat-footed 19 (+1 armor, +1 deflection, +6 Dex, +2 dodge, +2 natural, +5 shield)
AC (raging) 29, touch 29, flat-footed 19 (+1 armor, +1 deflection, +8 Dex, +2 dodge, +2 natural, +5 shield, +8 morale (touch only))
hp 94 (9d12+18)
Fort +10, Ref +11 (+13 raging), Will +5; +3 morale bonus vs. fear, +8 morale bonus vs. spells, supernatural abilities, and spell-like abilities while raging but must resist all spells, even allies'
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge; DR 1/0 when raging
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Favourite Son +18/+13 (1d8+7/19-20)
(Raging, Power Attacking) favourite son +19/+14 (1d8+17/19-20)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +16/+11 (1d8+2/×3)
(Raging) +1 composite longbow +18/+13 (1d8+2/×3)
Special Attacks rage (22 rounds/day), rage powers (ghost rager, increase damage reduction +1, superstition +7, witch hunter)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 22 (27 raging), Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 29 (31 raging)
Feats Cornugon Smash, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (aldori dueling sword), Power Attack, Slashing Grace(aldori dueling sword, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (aldori dueling sword)
Traits bandit (river kingdoms), sword scion
Skills Acrobatics +18 (20), Climb +5, Diplomacy +5, Disable Device +17 (19), Intimidate +13, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Perception +12, Ride +10 (12), Sleight of Hand +14 (16), Stealth +19 (21), Swim +5
Languages Common, Kelish, Varisian
SQ controlled rage, crowd control
Combat Gear cold iron arrows (20); Other Gear +3 mithral heavy steel shield, +1 composite longbow (+1 Str), Favourite Son (+1 courageous furious aldori dueling sword), amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, bracers of armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, belt pouch, canteen, climber's kit, flight grapnel, flint and steel, masterwork backpack, masterwork thieves' tools, silk rope (50 ft.), sunrod (2), wire saw, adamantine, 126 pp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
cold iron arrows - 0/20
Rage (22 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/22
Sunrod - 0/2
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bandit +1 to Stealth checks, Stealth is always a class skill for you.
Controlled Rage (Ex) (22 rounds/day) May gain lesser bonus split as desired, but without normal drawbacks.
Cornugon Smash When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.
Crowd Control +4 (Ex) If 2+ foes adjacent, +1 to hit & AC. Unslowed by crowds & bonus to intimidate.
Ghost Rager (Su) While raging, the barbarian deals normal damage to incorporeal creatures even when using nonmagical weapons. She also gains a morale bonus to touch AC equal to her saving throw bonus from her superstition rage power.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 13+.
Increase Damage Reduction +1 (Ex) While raging, your DR increases by 1.
Naked Courage +2 (Ex) +2 AC and save vs. fear when not wearing armor.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Slashing Grace (aldori dueling sword) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can apply Dex instead of Str to dmg.
Superstition +7 (Ex) While raging, gain bonus to save vs magic, but must resist all spells, even allies'.
Sword Scion +1 to hit and CMB with longswords and Aldori Dueling Swords.
Witch Hunter +3 (Ex) Bonus to damage spellcasters while raging.
--------------------
Hava grew up in Oppara with his destitute father, who spent most of his time reminiscing about the days when he was a proper gentleman knight, rather than one of the lowly beardless. Hava doesn't really remember what caused his father's loss of status, mainly because he never really cared. As Hava grew up, his father descended further into alcoholism. Hava stayed in Taldor only until the day his father finally failed to wake after his latest bender. By midday, Hava was walking out the north gate, intending to leave Oppara forever, with his father's sword as the only reminder of his old life.
Hava has spent the last three years bouncing from one group of outlaws and bandits to another, never able to get along with any of them for very long. He's actually a very skilled thief, but doesn't like to rob or burgle anyone who "doesn't deserve it".
Finishing up Hava inspired me to get around to making the Halfling-raised (sort of) Aldori Swordlord I've been meaning to build for many months. The entire character is just an effort to see how ridiculous an AC can be achieved by fighting defensively; an Aldori Swordlord 11 / Duellist 9 with Crane Style and Cautious Fighter should end up at +11 AC with no penalty to hit during a full attack (+9 AC for -2 to hit on a single attack). I expect that should make up for having to keep his off hand empty.
Alius
Male human (taldan) duellist 2/fighter (aldori swordlord) 7
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +10
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Defence
--------------------
AC 25, touch 20, flat-footed 15 (+5 armour, +7 Dex, +3 dodge)
hp 72 (9d10+18)
Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +5 (+2 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities canny defence, defensive parry, parry
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Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +3 sword, aldori duelling +20/+15 (1d8+12/19-20) or
. . unarmed strike +16/+11 (1d3+1)
Ranged +1 paueliel composite longbow +17/+12 (1d8+2/×3)
Special Attacks disarming strike, precise strike
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Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 24, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 30
Feats Crane Style, Dodge, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (sword, aldori duelling), Improved Unarmed Strike, Mobility, Power Attack, Racial Heritage (halfling), Slashing Grace (Aldori duelling sword), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (sword, aldori duelling)
Traits fencer, influence
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +9, Climb +5, Diplomacy +9, Escape Artist +15, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (engineering) +6, Perception +10, Perform (oratory) +4, Ride +11, Sense Motive +10, Survival +5, Swim +5
Languages Common, Halfling, Varisian
SQ steel net
Combat Gear cold iron arrows (20); Other Gear +2 darkleaf cloth studded leather, +1 paueliel composite longbow (+1 Str), +3 sword, aldori duelling, belt of incredible dexterity +4, cloak of resistance +1, handy haversack, belt pouch, hammer, holy text, iron spike, jewellery, noble's outfit, signet ring, silver holy symbol of Milani, trail rations (5), wire saw, 119 pp, 3 gp, 9 sp, 5 cp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
cold iron arrows - 0/20
Trail rations - 0/5
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Canny Defence +2 (Ex) +INT bonus to AC (max Duellist level).
Crane Style Penalty when fighting defensively reduced to -2 and dodge bonus increases by 1.
Defensive Parry +2 (Ex) +1 bonus to AC against melee attacks after making a full attack.
Disarming Strike (Ex) At 5th level, when an Aldori swordlord successfully disarms an opponent using an Aldori duelling sword, the swordlord also deals normal damage to the target, but without the normal Strength bonus to damage. This ability replaces weapon training 1.
Fencer +1 to hit with dagger or sword AoOs.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Mobility +4 to AC vs. AoO provoked by moving out of or through a threatened area.
Parry (Ex) Forego an attack to defend against enemy attacks.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Precise Strike (Ex) Extra damage when using light / 1-handed Piercing weapons.
Racial Heritage (Halfling) You count as another race for the purpose of prerequisites.
Slashing Grace (Sword, Aldori duelling) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can add Dex instead of Str to dmg.
Steel Net (Ex) When fighting defensively as a full-round action with an Aldori duelling sword, the swordlord's penalties on all attacks in a round are reduced by 2, and the dodge bonus to AC is increased by 2 for the same round.
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Alius has detested slavery since he was a boy. His parents have never had much interest in their youngest son's opinion of such things though. While they've never disowned him, they've come close on several occasions when he's made a scene or found ways to free slaves owned by the family, or by family friends. As a boy, he caused several of the halfling slaves that filled his family's estate to be sold or beaten when the family assumed (correctly) that much of his anti-slavery attitudes were coming from the servants. When he learned of the consequences of his actions, he was distraught and planned to keep his opinions entirely to himself in the future - but some of the slaves convinced him that the world would only change if men like him continued to speak out, regardless of the short term consequences.
As he grew from boy to man, Alius spent a great deal of money buying a freeing slaves, and often spent his evenings breaking into the slave quarters of other families' homes and breaking out the slaves he could not afford to buy. A couple years ago, after barely escaping from one such raid with his skin intact, his father confronted him and gave him an ultimatum - put an end to his illegal excursions or be kicked out of the family estate, written out of the will, and cut off from the family money and the duelling instructor that came with it.
And so these days he is careful to only use legal (if socially rude) means of obtaining ownership of slaves before he frees them. Well, he sticks to legal means when the owners could cause him trouble if they tell anyone what he's done - out of town people without noble title are of no interest to Alius' father, and so Alius considers them fair game.
For the most part Alius frees slaves by baiting hotheaded duellists of other families into betting their slaves against his own wealth in informal duels. Usually, he is able to convince his opponents that they ought to duel just to first blood, but if they won't agree to that, he accepts whatever terms are offered. Thus far, he's managed not to get himself killed in his duels or jumped in an ally by a sore loser. Sooner or later though, his luck is going to run out.
Feats to take in remaining levels:
Cautious Fighter - 2 extra AC from fighting defensively
Blundering Defense - bonus AC to adjacent allies
Risky Striker - -1 AC for damage bonus
Quick Draw
Aldori Dueling Mastery - 2 initiative, 2 shield bonus to AC
Cornugon Smash - Free demoralize when power attacking
Hurtful - Swift action attack after successful demoralize
Expectations at level 20:
Aldori Swordlord Fighter 11 / Duellist 9
Dodge for 1 AC
Dex at 26 for +8 AC
Int at 24 for +7 AC
Fighting Defensively for +11 AC (+5 AC to adjacent allies)
Risky Striker for -1 AC (assuming large+ enemies are the norm by then)
Aldori Duelling Mastery for +2 AC (unless there's a magic item that I'm not aware of to give a better shield bonus than this)
Celestial Armour for +9 AC (more if a +5 custom version is allowed)
+3 AC for the round following a full attack
+5 natural and +5 deflection from standard magic gear
I'm thinking that an AC of 60 ought to make him reasonably hard to hit, even by enemies that are reasonable for that level. Someone else will probably have to actually kill things for him, but at least he ought to be able to avoid being pasted.
Finally got around to rolling up Chana's drill sergeant partner. I was thinking of doing a Fated Champion, maybe Fated Champion + Belkzen War Drummer with a one level Daring Cavalier dip to get Tactician along with Amplified Rage, but with it being unclear if a Skald can actually qualify for Amplified Rage in the first place - and which, if any, of Chana's abilities would be affected by Rage, I went back to my older plan of a Spell Warrior.
Female human brawler (exemplar) 3 / cavalier (daring champion) 4 / battle herald 2
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +14
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Defense
--------------------
AC 30, touch 17, flat-footed 24 (+9 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural, +3 shield)
hp 77 (9d10+18)
Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +7
Defensive Abilities nimble +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 benevolent nine-ring broadsword +16/+11 (1d8+6/×3+4 Precision) or
. . +1 benevolent nine-ring broadsword flurry of blows +14/+14/+9 (1d8+6/×3+4 Precision)
Special Attacks banner +3, brawler's flurry, challenge 2/day (+4 damage, allies gain +2 to hit), tactician 2/day (Outflank, 6 rds), inspire courage +2, martial flexibility 4/day, opportune parry and riposte, panache (3), precise strike
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 27
Feats Bodyguard, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Gang Up, Outflank, Slashing Grace, Swift Aid, Weapon Focus (nine-ring broadsword)
Traits battlefield disciple, mentored
Skills Acrobatics +16 , Bluff +7 (+9 vs. creatures with whom you share a language), Climb +5, Diplomacy +15, Escape Artist +8, Heal +2 (+4 to stabilize a dying creature), Intimidate +11 (+13 vs. creatures with whom you share a language), Perception +14, Perform (oratory) +9, Profession (soldier) +7, Sense Motive +6, Survival +6 (+8 to provide food and water for allies or to protect allies from harsh weather), Swim +4;
Languages Common
SQ aid allies, brawler's cunning, call to arms, champion's finesse, dodging panache, easy march, inspiring command, inspiring command (teamwork), inspiring prowess, martial training, mount, order of the dragon, swashbuckler initiative, voice of authority
Other Gear +3 benevolent mithral agile breastplate, +2 buckler, +1 benevolent nine-ring broadsword, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of alluring charisma +2, ring of protection +1, backpack, banner, simple, belt pouch, flint and steel, soap, 212 pp, 7 gp, 5 sp, 5 cp
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Tracked Resources
--------------------
Dragon's Challenge +4 (2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
Easy March (1 hours/day) (Ex) - 0/1
Tactician (Outflank, 6 rds, 2/day) (Ex) - 0/2
Inspiring Command: Teamwork +1 (move, 9 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/9
Inspiring Prowess (6 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/6
Martial Flexibility (move action, 4/day) (Ex) - 0/4
Panache Pool (3/day) - 0/3
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aid Allies +3 (Ex) Aid Another grants +3 (+5 to attack rolls, +6 to AC)
Banner +3/+2 (Ex) Allies who can see your banner gain +3 save vs. fear & +2 to hit while charging.
Battlefield Disciple +2 on Heal checks to stabilize. Bonus is +1 when using aid another to grant ally a bonus.
Bodyguard Use an AoO to use aid another to improve an ally's AC.
Brawler's Flurry +7/+7/+2 (Ex) Can make full attack & gain two-wep fighting, but only with unarmed strike, close, or monk wep.
Call to Arms (move action) (Ex) As a move action use 1 martial flexibility, allies in 30 ft are no longer flat-footed.
Champion's Finesse At 1st level, a daring champion gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, and he can use Charisma in place of Intelligence for the purpose of combat feats prerequisites.
Combat Expertise +/-3 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Deed: Dodging Panache +3 (Ex) As an imm action when attacked, use 1 panache to move 5 ft. and gain +3 to AC vs. attack.
Deed: Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack, then counterattack.
Deed: Precise Strike +4 (Ex) While 1 panache, bonus to att/dam with light/one-hand piercing weapon.
Deed: Swashbuckler Initiative (Ex) While have Panache, can use a free hand to draw a light or one-handed piercing weapon as part of the initiative check.
Dragon's Challenge +4 (2/day) (Ex) +4 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, allies gain +2 to hit the target of your challenge.
Dragon's Skills +2 (Ex) +2 to Survival checks for allies.
Easy March (1 hours/day) (Ex) Allies within 60' can hustle or force march without ill effects.
Gang Up You are considered to be flanking your target if another ally is also adjacent to that target
Greater Tactician (Outflank, 6 rds, 2/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your teamwork feats to all allies in 30 ft.
Inspiring Command +1 (move, 9 rounds/day) (Ex) Grant bonuses to allies who can hear you.
Inspiring Command: Teamwork +1 (Ex) Allies in 60 ft gain bonus to skills and aid another attack rolls. Aid another bonus increases as well.
Inspiring Prowess (6 rounds/day) (Ex) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Martial Flexibility (move action, 4/day) (Ex) As a Move action, gain a combat feat for 1 min. More gained for greater actions.
Mentored (Perform [oratory]) +1 to skill checks when making an aid another roll.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Slashing Grace (Nine-ring broadsword) Treat chosen weapon as 1-handed piercing weapon and can had Dex instead of Str to dmg.
Swift Aid Can Aid Another as a swift action, but only grants a +1 bonus (+3 to attacks, +4 to AC)
Voice of Authority +2/+2 (Ex) +2 Diplo & Intim vs. those sharing language. +2 for allies to hear you & know secret messages.
--------------------
Chana doesn't really remember where she was born or who her parents were. She had been bought, sold, and sold again more times than she could keep track of for years before the mercenaries known as the Broken Throne found her among the few survivors of a slave caravan that had been attacked. Chana never even knew who or what had attacked the caravan - she'd found a hiding spot and stayed there until long after the fighting had ended.
When it became clear that the child had no home and no family to be returned to, the mercenaries took Chana in. And while the entire band helped raise her, it was Vidan who taught her to fight, to protect her allies, and to command. It is his name that she took as her family name, and he is the man she thinks of as her father.
Now, with the band almost entirely wiped out, Chana and Arne are taking what jobs they can find and keeping one another alive until they can find the men responsible for the deaths of the Broken Throne.
I see Arne as the closest that a half-orc can come to being a grizzled veteran. At twenty-six years old, he's getting close to middle age, and has been running with mercenary groups for at least half his life.
Sargeant Arne
Male half-orc skald (spell warrior) 9
N Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12
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Defense
--------------------
AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 23 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 natural, +3 shield)
hp 62 (9d8+18)
Fort +12, Ref +11, Will +10; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge; DR 1/—
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 benevolent longsword +10/+5 (1d8+4/19-20)
Special Attacks rage powers (increased damage reduction +1, quick reflexes, reckless abandon), raging song 31 rounds/day (move action; enhance weapons, song of marching, song of strength)
Skald (Spell Warrior) Spells Known (CL 9th; concentration +12)
. . 3rd (4/day)—clairaudience/clairvoyance, haste, invisibility sphere, see invisibility
. . 2nd (5/day)—heroism, invisibility, silence (DC 15), tactical acumen[UC]
. . 1st (6/day)—cure light wounds, feather fall, liberating command[UC], silent image (DC 14), unseen servant
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, ghost sound (DC 13), know direction, light, mage hand, message
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 24
Feats Arcane Strike, Bodyguard, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Improved Counterspell, Swift Aid
Traits fate's favored, helpful
Skills Acrobatics +15, Appraise +6, Climb +7, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +10, Knowledge (engineering) +10, Knowledge (geography) +10, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Knowledge (planes) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +12, Perform (percussion instruments) +15, Perform (sing) +15, Profession (soldier) +5, Ride +7, Spellcraft +6, Swim +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc
SQ bardic knowledge +4, greater counterspell, lore master 1/day, orc blood, rage powers, versatile performances (percussion, sing)
Other Gear +2 benevolent mithral agile breastplate, +2 mithral light steel shield, +1 benevolent longsword, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +2, gloves of arcane striking, headband of alluring charisma +2, ring of protection +1, 127 pp, 6 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Lore Master (1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
Raging Song (move action, 31 rounds/day) (Su) - 0/31
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +2 damage
Bardic Knowledge +4 (Ex) Add +4 to all knowledge skill checks.
Bodyguard Use an AoO to use aid another to improve an ally's AC.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Gloves of arcane striking Arcane strike bonus is added to aid another, and deals splash dam around hit foe.
Greater Counterspell (Two spell slots) (Su) Can spend 2 same/higher level spell slot to counterspell (no school match req).
Helpful Aid Another grants +3 (+6 to attack rolls, +7 to AC)
Improved Counterspell Use a spell of the same school 1+ levels higher to Counterspell.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 13+.
Increase Damage Reduction +1 (Ex) While raging, your DR increases by 1.
Lore Master (1/day) (Ex) Can take 10 on any trained knowledge checks. Activate to take 20 as a standard action.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Quick Reflexes (Ex) While raging, you may make one additional attack of opportunity per round.
Rage Powers (Ex) Skald rage powers affect self and allies under inspired rage.
Raging Song (move action, 31 rounds/day) (Su) Song can inspire allies in a variety of ways.
Reckless Abandon (+/-3) (Ex) Trade AC penalty for to hit bonus while raging.
Swift Aid Can Aid Another as a swift action, but only grants a +1 bonus (+4 to attack rolls, +5 to AC).
Versatile Performance (Percussion Instruments) +15 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Percussion Instruments skill for Handle Animal or Intimidate checks
Versatile Performance (Singing) +15 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks
--------------------
Arne has been a mercenary for the majority of his life, and was the drill instructor for the Broken Throne for nearly half a decade when they were wiped out. Now he and Chana are all that remains of the band, and while Chana's goal in life is to find out who killed their friends, Arne is much more pragmatic and is mainly worried about keeping himself and the former recruit he thinks of like a little sister alive.
As I mentioned back when I posted Kenwick, unarmed strikes are surprisingly easy to optimize. I started this character around the same time while playing around with using Ranger and Slayer levels to avoid feat prerequisites. The Irori combat style lets a character with no monk levels take Monastic Legacy and the Two Weapon fighting style lets a character with mediocre Dex go through the TWF chain. Three levels of weapon master (or five levels of regular fighter if you're willing to go that far) get weapon training, and as soon as 15,000 gp isn't an unreasonable purchase, that becomes +3 to hit and damage. Three levels of Sentinel is another +2 to hit and damage. Eventually, this character should finish up at Ranger 12 / Slayer 2 / Fighter 3 / Sentinel 3, with all stat increases to Strength.
I never really had any idea who this guy was beyond being Lawful Evil, worshipping Irori - or at least the self-improvement aspect of Irori, and liking to hit things. But someone posted an old Dungeon cover that was recycled in the 5E monster manual and gave me the rest of the character concept.
So, here's Laon (that's two syllables, and rhymes quite well with Gaston); a Westcrown native who's not really that unhappy with the way things work in Cheliax, except that he figures he ought to be more widely respected than he is; after all
No one's slick as Laon
No one's quick as Laon
No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Laon
For there's no man in town half as manly
Perfect, a pure paragon!
You can ask Lord Mayor Arvanxi
And he'll tell you whose team he prefers to be on
No one's brave like Laon
Kicks in doors like Laon
No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Laon
As a specimen, so very intimidating
My what a guy, that Laon
Give him all of your silver and your gps
Laon is the best
The rest are just NPCs
No one fights like Laon
Defeats thieves like Laon
In a wrestling match nobody bites like Laon
For there's no one as burly and brawny
And you see he's got biceps to spare
Not a bit of him's scraggly or scrawny
And ev'ry last inch of him's covered with hair
No one hits like Laon
Matches wits like Laon
In a spitting match no-one spits like Laon
I'm especially good at expectorating!
Ptoooie!
Ten points for Laon!
When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs
Ev'ry morning to help me get large
And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs
So I'm roughly the size of a barge!
Oh, ahhh, wow!
My what a guy, that Laon!
No one hits like Laon
Makes those beauts like Laon
Then goes tromping around wearing boots like Laon
I find punching enemies quite invigorating!
My what a guy, Laon!
Laon
Male human (Taldan) fighter (weapon master) 1/ranger (divine tracker, urban ranger) 6/slayer (cleaner) 2
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +12
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Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+6 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural)
hp 86 (9d10+24)
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +5
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +17/+17/+12/+12 (1d8+9/1d8+5)
Power Attacking w/ Studied Target & Strength Surge active +18/+18/+13/+13 (1d8+16/1d8+9)
Special Attacks combat style (two-weapon combat), favored enemies (evil outsiders +2, humans +4), studied target +1 (1st, move action)
Ranger (Divine Tracker, Urban Ranger) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
. . 1st—feather step (DC 12), lead blades
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 24, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +9; CMB +16 (+18 grapple); CMD 31
Feats Cornugon Smash, Deceitful, Dodge, Hurtful, Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Monastic Legacy, Power Attack, Stunning Irruption, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike)
Skills Acrobatics +14, Bluff +13, Climb +11, Disable Device +19, Disguise +6, Heal +5, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (religion) +2, Perception +12, Ride +6, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +13, Survival +5, Swim +11
Languages Common, Kelish
SQ blessings, blessings (law: axiomatic strike, battle companion, strength: stength of will, strength surge), combat style (irori), favored community (Westcrown +2), slayer talent (ranger combat style), swift tracker, track +3, trapfinding +3
Other Gear +2 brawling mithral chain shirt, amulet of natural armor +2, belt of giant strength +4, ring of protection +2, backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, hemp rope (100 ft.), masterwork thieves' tools, soap, torch (10), waterskin, 379 pp, 6 gp, 4 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Blessings (6/day) (Su) - 0/6
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) - 0/1
Torch - 0/10
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Special Abilities
--------------------
Blessings (6/day) (Su) Pool of power used to activate Blessing abilities.
Cornugon Smash When you damage an opponent with a Power Attack, you may make an immediate Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to demoralize your opponent.
Favored Community (Westcrown +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls when in Favored Community (Westcrown).
Favored Enemy (Evil Outsiders +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Evil Outsiders) foes.
Favored Enemy (Humans +4) (Ex) +4 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Humans) foes.
Hurtful Make melee attack against creature you have just demoralized as swift action.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Stunning Irruption (DC 19) Smash through wall, window, or door to stun foes in 20 ft. for suprise +1 round
Swift Tracker (Ex) Tracking penalties when moving at normal speed or faster are reduced.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Trapfinding +3 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
My Oradin got killed Saturday night by shadows (Stupid shadows. My would-have-been-a Rage Prophet was killed by shadows at level one in the same campaign.) The party bravely pulled my backpack with the portable hole full of party treasure off my body before I (and the party witch) rose as shadows, then finished the fight.
So. Now I need a new character for this week. I've decided to go with something I started thinking about a few weeks ago - a brown-fur transmuter headed into Pathfinder Savant. Dropping powered-up stat boosters and self-targeting transmutations on the party beatstick should hopefully be reasonably effective.
So, Skittik, the nervous little ratfolk Pathfinder, is going to show up to help the party clean up Westcrown.
Skittik
Male ratfolk arcanist (brown-fur transmuter) 9
N Small humanoid (ratfolk)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +16
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 19, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+1 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 insight, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 59 (9d6+18)
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +7; +2 vs. disease
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee silversheen dagger +5 (1d3-1/19-20)
Special Attacks arcane reservoir (7/12), arcanist exploits (consume magic items, dimensional slide, lepidstadt shifter, potent magic), consume spells
Arcanist (Brown-Fur Transmuter) Spells Prepared (CL 9th; concentration +16)
. . 4th—monstrous physique II[UM], stoneskin
. . 3rd—fly, haste, resinous skin
. . 2nd—alter self, bull's strength, cat's grace, mirror image
. . 1st—blood money, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, mage armour, shield
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, disrupt undead, ghost sound (DC 17), mage hand, message, prestidigitation, read magic
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 8, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 24, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 19
Feats Eschew Materials, Extra Arcanist Exploit, Magical Aptitude, Scribe Scroll, Still Spell
Traits clever wordplay, transmuter of korada
Skills Acrobatics +4 (+0 to jump), Appraise +19, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (engineering) +11, Knowledge (geography) +11, Knowledge (history) +11, Knowledge (local) +15, Knowledge (nature) +15, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Knowledge (planes) +15, Knowledge (religion) +15, Linguistics +19, Perception +16, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +18, Survival +0 (+2 to avoid becoming lost), Use Magic Device +24; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Use Magic Device
Languages Azlanti, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Infernal, Orc, Osiriani, Osiriani, Ancient, Shoanti, Thassilonian, Undercommon, Varisian
SQ cheek pouches, cleanliness, powerful change +2, share transmutation
Combat Gear reach metamagic rod (lesser); Other Gear silversheen dagger, dusty rose prism ioun stone, belt of incredible dexterity +2, blessed book (164/1000 pages), cloak of resistance +1, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, cracked incandescent blue sphere ioun stone, cracked pale ruby trillian ioun stone, cracked pink and green sphere ioun stone, eyes of the eagle, fetish of natural armor +2, handy haversack, headband of vast intelligence +2, ring of protection +1, wayfinder, belt pouch, ink, black, inkpen, 1210 gp spent on spells, 63 pp, 8 gp, 9 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Arcane Reservoir +2 DC or CL (12/day) (Su) - 7/12
Reach metamagic rod (lesser, 3/day) - 0/3
silversheen dagger - 0/1
Transmuter of Korada (Bull's Strength, 1/day) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Reservoir +2 DC or CL (Su) Pool of points fuel exploits, or can expend to add +2 CL or DC while cast spell.
Cheek Pouches You can store things in cheeks, but suffer 20% failure with verbal spells.
Cleanliness +2 vs. disease, exceeding disease save by 5 counts as 2 consecutive saves
Consume Magic Items (Su) Move act, destroy potion/scroll or -5 wand chg for +1/2 spell level to reservoir. Staves better.
Consume Spells (Su) As a move action, expend a spell slot to add its spell levels to arcane reservoir.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Dimensional Slide (90 feet) (Su) Use 1 reservoir as part of move/withdraw, move to spot in sight for only 5 ft movement & no AoO.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Lepidstadt Shifter (Su) Expend 1 Arc. Res. to cast a spell while polymorphed.
Powerful Change +2 (Su) Spend 1 reservoir point to bolster ability score gain from transmutation spell.
Share Transmutation (Su) Spend 1 reservoir point to cast personal range transmutation as touch.
Still Spell You can cast a spell with no somatic components. +1 Level.
Transmuter of Korada (Bull's Strength, 1/day) Double duration of chosen spell (doesn't stack with Extend Spell).
--------------------
Skittik encountered a group of friendly Pathfinders in the Absalom alley where he'd lived his entire life when he was barely more than a child. Once they earned his trust, he followed them home to the lodge, where he was initially treated as something of a mascot. When a venture lieutenant noticed his magical talents starting to develop, Skittik was encouraged to study at the Arcanamirium. And while the Lieutenant put a stop to his pathfinders treating "Skit" as less than an equal, and the backing of the pathfinders meant that he was treated reasonably well during his time at the magical college, he remained a timid and nervous student, always doing his best to remain unnoticed among the more flamboyant students.
Since completing his studies, Skittik has remained at the pathfinder lodge, doing whatever work the lieutenant asked of him - at least so long as it didn't mean leaving Absalom or getting into fights or interfering with his magical studies. Recently though, Skittik has finally acquiesced to his benefactor's repeated requests that he travel to Westcrown to check up on Ailyn Ghontasvos who hasn't made a progress report for longer than usual. The last the lieutenant heard, she was getting involved with some local group of troublemakers calling themselves the "Children of Westcrown".
1. I think you need Double Slice to get full STR on off-hand unarmed attacks.
I haven't seen the Melee Tactics book yet. I'm not surprised that there's more stuff in there to supercharge unarmed combat. As for Laon taking Double Slice, I imagine he'll get to it eventually, but it wasn't a huge priority. It would probably have been a better choice than Stunning Irruption, but punching his way through walls and doors is so much more fun than a few more DPR.
Haven't posted anything in a while. Figure I ought to do something about that.
Langus is a re-work of a character I actually played for a while, around sixth or seventh level. Playing a devout Erastil worshipper was fun while it lasted; I basically see Erastil's faithful as small-town Republicans - helpful, hard-working, and staunchly traditional.
Mechanically, this Langus is very similar to my unarmed characters farther up - three levels of Weapon Master & three levels of Sentinel to get as many static attack & damage boosts as possible. He was originally made as a Ranger, and played in Council of Thieves. This version is built as a Slayer, and is re-written to fit in a Runelords game.
Langus Ambrix
Male human (Varisian) fighter (weapon master) 3/sentinel 3/slayer 6
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +19
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 29, touch 18, flat-footed 23 (+9 armour, +2 deflection, +6 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 88 (12d10+12)
Fort +14, Ref +16, Will +8; +4 vs. effects that cause you to lose your grip on weapons, +1 bonus vs. effects targeting a Longbow held by you
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Ranged +2 adaptive seeking paueliel composite longbow +27/+22/+17 (1d8+12/19-20/×3)
Ranged (Deadly Aim, Studied Target, Rapid Shot, Point Blank)+2 adaptive seeking paueliel composite longbow +24/+24/+19/+14 (1d8+23/19-20/×3)
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, studied target +2 (2nd, move action), weapon training
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +12)
. . 1/day—flame arrow
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 23, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10
BAB +12; CMB +15; CMD 33 (38 vs. disarm, 38 vs. sunder)
Feats Clustered Shots, Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Deific Obedience, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Snap Shot, Manyshot, Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow), Weapon Specialization (longbow)
Traits deadeye bowman, merchant family
Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +4, Climb +5, Disguise +4, Handle Animal +4, Heal +5, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (engineering) +4, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (local) +4, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +19, Ride +8, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +19, Survival +16, Swim +5
Languages Common, Varisian
SQ combat style (archery), flame arrow 1/day, slayer talents (deadly range, ranger combat style, ranger combat style, weapon training), symbolic weapon, track +3, weapon guard
Combat Gear cold iron durable arrow (60), silversheen durable arrow (20), thistle arrows (20), whistling arrows (20); Other Gear celestial armour, +2 adaptive seeking paueliel composite longbow, amulet of natural armour +2, belt of physical might +2 (Str, Dex), bracers of falcon's aim, cloak of resistance +3, efficient quiver, efficient quiver, gloves of duelling, ring of protection +2, bedroll, belt pouch, canteen (2), flint and steel, masterwork backpack, mess kit, torch (10), trail rations (3), 812 pp, 3 gp, 1 sp, 5 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Clustered Shots Total damage from full-round ranged attacks before applying DR
Combat Reflexes (7 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Deadeye Bowman When using a longbow, your target is denied the soft cover AC bonus from one creature.
Deadly Aim -4/+8 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Deadly Range +10 (Ex) Increase the range at which can make ranged sneak attacks.
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Flame Arrow 1/day (Sp) 1/day use flame arrow as a spell like ability.
Gloves of duelling These supple gloves grant the wearer a +4 bonus to her CMD against disarm attacks, attempts to sunder her wielded weapons, and effects that cause her to lose her grip on her weapons (such as grease). The wearer doesn't drop held weapons when panicked or stunned. If the wearer has the weapon training class feature and is using an appropriate weapon, her weapon training bonus increases by +2.
Improved Precise Shot Ignore AC bonuses and miss chance from anything less than total cover/concealment.
Improved Snap Shot You threaten an additional 10 feet with Snap Shot
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Merchant Family Increase gp limit of settlement by 20% & +10% when selling off treasure.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Snap Shot Threaten squares within 5 feet of you when wielding a ranged weapon
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Studied Target +2 (move action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Symbolic Weapon (Su) Deities favored weapon counts as a holy symbol when wielded.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Weapon Guard +1: Longbow (Ex) +1 CMD vs. Disarm and Sunder or other effects targeting your chosen weapon.
Weapon Training +3: Longbow (Ex) +3 to hit and damage with your chosen weapon.
--------------------
Langus is the eldest child of wandering Varisian merchants who settled down in Sandpoint when he was a toddler because his father felt that growing up in the clan's caravan was not what was best for his children. He wanted them to experience more than just the insular world of the clan, and to have at least the opportunity to become something other than vagabonds, petty criminals, and wandering tinkers.
And so Langus and his siblings grew up with little connection to their ancestral culture - the youngest children do not even speak more than a few words of Varisian. Unlike his younger siblings, who don't remember wandering Varisia's roads, or his parents who have grown content with their urban lifestyle, Langus has grown more and more restless as he's grown older. Now that he's both old enough and skilled enough to live almost entirely off the land, Langus often spends days, or even weeks, away from the village, returning from time to time to visit his family and to trade in the shops.
Another character written up for a Runelords game. Changing him to fit another AP wouldn't require much, just a change in traits - preferably maintaining the best intimidate bonus possible.
There's nothing particularly innovative about Andrios; just a dual wielding Slayer, using Intimidate as his method of choice for landing sneak attacks. The stat block below is still at first level, but there's also a full 20 level feat & talent plan at the end.
(Artwork that inspired the character.)
Andrios
Male human (Chelaxian) slayer 1
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +4
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +0
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee kukri +4 (1d4+3/18-20)
Full Atkkukri +2 (1d4+3/18-20) and kukri +2 (1d4+1/18-20)
Ranged shortbow +4 (1d6/×3)
Special Attacks studied target +1 (1st, move action)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Power Attack, Two-weapon Fighting
Traits armor expert, city born - korvosa
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +4, Climb +7, Disable Device +4, Intimidate +8, Perception +4, Stealth +7
Languages Common
SQ track +1
Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, alchemist's fire; Other Gear studded leather, arrows (18), kukri, kukri, shortbow, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, grappling hook, hemp rope (50 ft.), masterwork tool (intimidate, featureless mask), thieves' tools, trail rations (2), waterskin
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
City Born - Korvosa +1 bonus on Reflex saves and a +2 bonus on Intimidate checks.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
--------------------
Andrios grew up poor in Korvosa. Which isn't actually a crime, but often times may as well be. When many of the children from his neighbourhood began lives of petty crime to survive, Andrios started avoiding them in hopes of staying out of trouble. But that distance made him an easy choice for one of those kids to give up to keep himself safe when the guards caught up. Andrios never found out who named him, and he doubts he ever will - his cousin told his parents what was going on, and they made him run before the guard had a chance to arrest him.
For most of the six and a half years since that day, Andrios has been living in Magnimar, with his new name, making a living as best as he could. For the last couple of years, that's meant working as an enforcer for the Sczarni. He doesn't like working for criminals, but they mostly only have him act as a deterrent during meetings and the like; he's never been asked to directly harm innocent "civilians". Still, the lowlifes of Magnimar's slums have learned to be wary of the man with the paired blades and the grey mask.
Talents
2 Weapon Training
4 Ranger Combat Style - Double Slice
6 RCS - ITWF
6 Combat Trick - Cornugon Smash
8 Trapfinding
10 RCS - GTWF
12 - Evasion
12 - Opportunist
14 - Slayer Camouflage
all remaining talents - Terrain Mastery
Feats
1 Two Weapon Fighting
1 Power Attack
3 Dazzling Display
5 Hurtful
7 Intimidating Prowess
9 Shatter Defences
11 Two Weapon Rend
13 Improved Critical
15 Violent Display
17 Disheartening Display
19 Motivating Display
I suppose as long as I'm posting bog-standard slayer builds, I may as well post the cleric & wizard builds from that Runelords group.
Aravenia is intended to be a reach cleric, and she's a crusader. While the consensus seems to be that the crusader archetype is a bad one (except for single level dips to gain access to crusader's flurry), I quite like a cleric with a few bonus fighter feats.
Aravenia Penrose
Female human (Chelaxian) cleric (crusader) of Shelyn 1 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 40)
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +3
Aura deflection aura (2 ft.)
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 11 (1d8+3)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +5
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee glaive +3 (1d10+4/×3)
Ranged sling +2 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 3/day (DC 11, 1d6)
Cleric (Crusader) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1st—charm person (DC 13), shield[D]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic
. . D Domain spell; Domain Protection (Defense subdomain)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats Combat Reflexes, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Improved Initiative
Traits seeker, student of faith
Skills Acrobatics -2 (-6 to jump), Diplomacy +4, Heal +6, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +3
Languages Common
Other Gear scale mail, glaive, sling, sling bullets (10), backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, candle (10), flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), holy text, mess kit, pot, silver holy symbol of Shelyn, soap, spell component pouch, spell component pouch, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, wooden holy symbol of Shelyn, 8 pp, 20 gp, 11 sp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Cleric (Crusader) Domain (Defense)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (3/day, DC 11) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Deflection Aura (1 rounds, 1/day) (Su) 20'r aura grants +2 AC and +2 CMD
Student of Faith +1 caster level of cure spells. +1 to DC of channeled energy.
--------------------
Aravenia Penrose hails from Korvosa, and was sent to Sandpoint to attend the Swallowtail Festival and witness the consecration of the new Cathedral. And while her superiors weren't interested in the politics of doing so, Aravenia is fully aware that there are those in Magnimar that will see her presence as a political move by Korvosa to gain influence in Magnimarian territory. Ultimately she doesn't much care about that - she was happy to make the trip for the opportunity to see the new cathedral. Now that she's arrived, she's hoping to find an excuse not to hurry back to Korvosa - she doesn't much care for the architecture, and hardly anyone there cares about art or beauty.
Feats
1: Heavy Armor (Bonus), Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes
3: Summon Good Monster
5: Weapon Focus (Bonus), Sacred Summons
7: Spell Focus (Conjuration)
9: Augment Summons
10: Weapon Specialization (Bonus)
11: Superior Summons
13: Power Attack
15: Greater Weapon Focus (Bonus), Open Feat
17: Open Feat
19: Open Feat
20: Greater Weapon Specialization (Bonus)
Standard Action Summon Options
SM III
Foo Dog (SGM)
Silvanshee Agathion (SGM)
SM IV
Foo Lion (SGM)
SM V
Vulpinal Agathion (SGM)
SM VII
Movanic Deva (SGM)
SM VIII
Monadic Deva (SGM)
SM IX
Astral Deva
Leonal Agathion (SGM)
Rounding out the Runelords group, Rinah is pretty much a by-the-numbers blockbuster wizard. Given the strength of Outsider (Lore Seeker) campaign trait, it's hard not to want to make use of it.
(No particular art this time. It's annoyingly difficult to find fantasy art of a non-caucasian persuasion.)
Rinah
Female human (Shoanti) wizard 1
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +0
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 8 (1d6+2)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee quarterstaff -2 (1d6-2)
Special Attacks intense spells (+1 damage)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +6)
. . 1st—burning hands (DC 18), burning hands (2, DC 18), mage armor
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, ray of frost
. . Opposition Schools Enchantment, Necromancy
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 7, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 9, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 10
Feats Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Specialization[UM]
Traits magical lineage, outlander - lore seeker
Skills Appraise +9, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (engineering) +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +9, Knowledge (planes) +9, Perception +0, Spellcraft +9
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, Shoanti, Varisian
SQ arcane bond (ring), versatile evocation
Other Gear quarterstaff, - arcane bond ring -, belt pouch, canteen, ink, black, inkpen, spell component pouch (2), spellbook (24/100 pages) (worth 175 gp, 3 lb), trail rations (2), 8 pp, 22 gp, 11 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Arcane Bond (Ring) (1/day) (Sp) - 0/1
Versatile Evocation (8/day) (Su) - 0/8
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Admixture Associated School: Evocation
Arcane Bond (Ring) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Enchantment You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Enchantment school.
Intense Spells (+1 damage) (Su) Evocation spells deal listed extra damage.
Magical Lineage (Fireball) A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Outlander - Lore Seeker +1 Knowledge (Arcana), it is a class skill. Three selected spells gain +1 CL and DC. (Burning Hands, Mage Armour, Fireball)
Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Specialization (Burning Hands) Pick one spell and cast it as if you were higher level
Versatile Evocation (8/day) (Su) Change the damage type and descriptor of a spell from acid, electricity, fire, or water to any other of those types.
--------------------
Rinah is a Shoanti of the Sklar-Quah. As a child, and even as a teenaged girl, she always assumed her entire life would be lived with the Quah, perhaps to become a Burn Rider herself someday. But several years ago, a Chelaxian Pathfinder interfered with the coming of age trial of Tomast, Rinah's older brother. He was taken prisoner, and eventually rode the trial alongside Tomast when the wind was sufficient to start a new grassfire. In the meantime though, his stories of the cities of the south planted a seed of wanderlust in Rinah. Once she was old enough to choose her own path, she began her journey south.
Her travels continued for nearly two years, during which time she met many strange and wonderful people and learned of the wide array of lives she could choose to lead. She eventually found her way to Korvosa, and to the Acadamae. By this time, she'd learned of the many things that arcane magic could achieve, and that she had a natural affinity for the study that it requires.
Now that she's completed her education, Rinah has decided to go explore the world.
Feats
1 Spell Focus, Spell Specialization
3 Heighten Spell
5 Preferred Spell, Intensified Spell
7 Empower Spell
9 Spell Penetration
10 Quicken Spell
11 Greater Spell Focus
13 Greater Spell Penetration
15 Spell Perfection, Dazing Spell
17 Ectoplasmic Spell
19 Creative Destruction
20 Selective Spell
I was going to post some more Council of Thieves characters, but while trying to rebuild the E.Nigma character build above to a more straightforward single class character, I got distracted by the idea of a Norgorber-worshipping Alchemist bomber who is mostly just using his self-described anarchist goals as an excuse to blow up and poison people.
So I'll get back to him, and the other CoT character ideas at a later time.
For now, I'm going to post some of the character ideas that I'm considering for an upcoming Giantslayer game.
Two of them that I'm considering are Morgarr and Rees from upthread, with adjusted backstories and traits. Another is a re-worked Dwarf Ranger (dual-wielding hammer & throwing axe) that still needs to be fleshed out.
----
As much as I like the new unchained barbarian, I keep finding that my barbarian character ideas don't work with it.
Case in point, the latest Giantslayer idea I've had is a hateful rager. Which is one of only a couple archetypes that doesn't work with the Unchained rager. Which is unfortunate, as favoured enemy makes two weapon fighting much more attractive, and the unchained barbarian is considerably better at it that the regular one.
Koreth's not a full build yet, but I figure I'll post it now so I have it for reference later.
No art for this. For some reason, no one seems to want to draw characters using weapons that don't actually make any damned sense. (double weapons in general are kind of nonsensical; the double axe is just more nonsensical than most)
Koreth
Male half-orc barbarian (hateful rager) 1
CN Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armour, +3 Dex)
hp 14 (1d12+2)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee orc double axe +4 (1d8+4/×3) or
. . bite +4 (1d4+4) or
. . orc double axe +2 (1d8+3/×3), orc double axe +2 (1d8+1/×3), bite -1 (1d4+1)
Ranged sling +4 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks rage (6 rounds/day)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
BAB +1; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Two-weapon Fighting
Traits finish the fight, trunau native
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+11 to jump), Climb +7, Perception +4, Survival +4, Swim +6; Racial Modifiers +1 Acrobatics, +1 Climb
Languages Common, Orc
SQ fast movement, orc blood
Other Gear hide shirt, orc double axe, sling, backpack, belt pouch, blanket, flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), soap, trail rations (5), waterskin, 1 gp, 9 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Rage (6 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/6
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Finish the Fight +1 trait bonus on attack vs. opponents you already injured in the past 24 hours.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Rage (6 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
1: TWF
2: Favoured Enemy (Orc)
3: Power Attack
4: Dex 17, Superstition
5: Extra Rage
6: Ghost Rager
7: ITWF
8: Dex 18, Favoured Enemy (Giant)
9: Weapon Focus
10: Witch Hunter
11: Two Weapon Rend
12: Dex 19, Eater of Magic
13: GTWF
14: Favoured Enemy
15: Thrill of the Kill
16: Str 17, Rage Power
17: Double Slice
18: Favoured Enemy
19: Hammer the Gap
20: Str 18, Rage Power
I was looking at the Speaker for the Past shaman a while back, and posted a thread about it. I saw two ways to use the archetype - either a pseudo-martial character, or a Japanese horror movie antagonist. The horror movie antagonist is discussed in that thread; Jezka is the pseudo-martial idea instead.
The idea behind Jezka is simply that she's haunted by her own ancestors; each time she levels, another generation of ancestor spirits start talking to her, and, in a few cases, helping her.
Jezka
Female half-orc shaman (speaker for the past)
N Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +5
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee greataxe +1 (1d12+1/×3) or
. . unarmed strike +1 (1d3+1 nonlethal)
Ranged sling +2 (1d4+1)
Shaman (Speaker for the Past) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1st—cure light wounds, frostbite; enlarge person[S] (DC 13)
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, guidance
. . S spirit magic spell; Spirit Mammoth
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Combat Expertise
Traits highlander (hills or mountains), orphaned by giants
Skills Appraise +4, Heal +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Perception +6 (+8 to find hidden objects (inc. secret doors and traps), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste), Spellcraft +6, Stealth +5 (+6 in hilly or rocky areas), Survival +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Appraise, highlander (hills or mountains), scavenger
Languages Common, Draconic, Giant, Orc
SQ orc blood, powerful smash
Other Gear lamellar (leather) armor, greataxe, sling, belt pouch, blanket, canteen, canteen, ember pot, feed (per day) (8), flint and steel, masterwork backpack, pack saddle, sack (2), soap, spell component pouch, trail rations (7), trail rations, 18 gp, 3 sp, 9 cp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Powerful Smash (3/day, DC 10) (Ex) - 0/3
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Cragkin Descended from reckless and brutish mountain orcs, cragkin are fearless masters of hilly terrain.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Highlander (hills or mountains) +1 to Stealth checks, Stealth is always a class skill for you. Double this in hilly or rocky areas.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Orphaned by Giants +1 trait bonus on atk rolls and +2 trait bonus to confirm criticals vs giants.
Powerful Smash (3/day, DC 10) (Ex) Unarmed Strike as if Improved Unarmed Strike feat, daze opp. on failed save.
Scavenger +2 Perception to find hidden objects (inc. secret doors and traps), determine if food is spoiled or identify a potion by taste.
--------------------
Jezka's father was a human mercenary who travelled to the Mindspin Mountains in search of a powerful artifact. But his information about the exact location of the relic was vague, and his team was not willing to stay in Orc-controlled territory once he revealed that he did not know specifically where to search.
Varrus formed a new plan - he sought out the closest Broken Spine encampment and announced that he wished to join the tribe. Amused by the human's gall, the chief allowed him to earn a place with the tribe if he could defeat three of their warriors at the same time.
Within two years, Varrus had taken several of the tribe's females as his wives, and had diverted much of the tribe's time to systematically searching for the caverns he believed the artifact to be hidden in. Jezka was one of the many half-orc children he fathered over the next decade.
Although they never found what Varrus' sought, the tribe did manage to anger a large group of local stone giants, who gathered an invasion force to seek out and destroy the foolish human and his band of orc interlopers that repeatedly entered their territory.
Jezka, who had been increasingly trying to work up the courage to run away from the tribe before her father decided she was old enough to be married off, was almost relieved to return home that night and find her entire family and tribe killed, and her hut flattened by an enormous boulder.
In the years since, she's been wandering the southern end of Belkzen, learning to survive off the land and scavenging from the dead bodies left behind at battles and in the ruins of fortresses and villages that have been destroyed by war. For the last year or so, she's been selling the best salvage off in Trunau, and has even started to trust a few of the locals there.
And thanks to that friendly contact with adult half-orcs, Jezka's begun to realize that being haunted by the spirits of your dead parents isn't just a normal part of growing into adulthood. Other people don't have to listen to their disembodied father constantly encouraging them to engage in reckless plans to achieve personal power, or to their ghostly mother's cringing advice to keep their heads down and avoid notice at any cost.
Note: This progression has no hexes selected past level 2, and no feats selected past level 7.
1 Combat Expertise
2 Mammoth's Hide
3 Blind Fight
4 Spirit Shield
5 Extra Revelation: Ancestral Weapon
6 Time Flicker
7 Moonlight Stalker
12 Spirit of the Warrior
14 Temporal Celerity
Every time I think about creating an intimidate-focused character, I consider trying to build a fell rider. Between the impracticality of taking horses indoors and underground, and the problems of having a hobgoblin running around in most campaigns, I've never bothered. I suspect giantslayer may actually have more outdoor encounters than a typical AP, and Trunau seems to be pretty accepting of anyone who isn't a full-blooded orc, so I figured why not dust off the idea?
Draug
Male hobgoblin cavalier (fell rider) 1
LN Medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
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Defence
--------------------
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+5 armour, +3 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +0
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armour)
Melee lance +3 (1d8+3/×3) or
. . light flail +3 (1d8+2)
Special Attacks challenge 1/day (+1 damage, +1 dam while only you threaten), tactician 1/day (Escape Route, 3 rds)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
BAB +1; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Escape Route, Power Attack
Traits giantslayer scion, seeker
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Handle Animal +6, Intimidate +10, Perception +5, Ride +1; Racial Modifiers +4 Intimidate
Languages Common, Goblin
SQ cockatrice's skills, mount (horse (charger) named Horse), order of the cockatrice
Other Gear scale mail, heavy steel shield, lance, light flail, backpack, belt pouch, canteen, flint and steel, grappling hook, hemp rope (50 ft.), mess kit, soap, trail rations (2), 46 gp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
--------------------
Cockatrice's Challenge +1 (1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
Tactician (Escape Route, 3 rds, 1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Cockatrice's Challenge +1 (1/day) (Ex) +1 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, +1 damage when you are the only one threatening the target.
Cockatrice's Skills +2 (Ex) +2 to DC vs. demoralization.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Escape Route You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when moving through spaces adjacent to allies
Giantslayer Scion No penalty to Intimidate vs. giants and +1 trait bonus to DC of fear-based effects vs. giants.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Tactician (Escape Route, 3 rds, 1/day) (Ex) Grant the use of your teamwork feats to all allies in 30 ft.
--------------------
Draug was born & raised in Molthune, to the youngest son of Kelak, the local general, an elderly hobgoblin somewhat famous for both resisting Molthune's efforts to integrate the local hobgoblins into the nation's armies, and for his regular raids on the ogres and hill giants of the surrounding area.
Where many of the other hobgoblins in Molthune were forced to either join the humans' army or to be defeated by the humans' superior numbers, Kelak's decision to attack the more dangerous giants meant that the Molthuni were willing to leave his people alone, at least for a time.
However, while Kelak was an excellent leader for his people, he was a less impressive father; his sons had no great love for him. The younger son Arak - Draug's father - grew to be a weak-willed man of no great military skill and was relegated to being a field medic after failing to distinguish himself during his year of hell. His first born son, Kevtar had the opposite problem - he was every bit as skilled a warrior as his father, but had little chance of advancing to the level his strength warranted while his father ruled, and so left his father's army to join the Molthuni ranks, bringing several other hobgoblins with him.
Having little respect for his lowly father, Draug ran off to find his uncle as soon as he completed his own year of hell. He managed to find and join the Molthuni regiment that Kevtar commanded. It took several months for Draug to realize that his uncle was not the hero he remembered from his childhood, but was instead both exceptionally ambitious and increasingly frustrated at the difficulty a hobgoblin faced in trying to earn recognition and promotion in the humans' army. He was a reckless commander, who spent the lives of his men freely, eagerly using costly tactics for minimal gain.
A few months after he joined, Draug and his squad were ordered to defend an undefendable position - they had poor supplies, no viable cover or strategically valuable terrain, and despite what they were told, no exit plan. Draug survived the battle only because his dead horse fell on top of him and the enemy never noticed that he was still alive.
Being trapped under his fallen mount did more than just save Draug's life though - it gave him the opportunity to hear the enemy's officers talking. He learned that not only was this battle little more than a minor skirmish between political factions in Molthune, but it was almost certainly an intentionally unwinnable battle that Kevtar sent them into for no other reason that to cause the deaths of some lesser officers that may have supported his political rivals.
Once he was able to escape the battlefield, Draug kept going, and left Molthune entirely. He's been looking for a new life since that day. He still has a deep need for loyal companions an organization to belong to, and a cause worth fighting for, but hasn't been able to find any of that yet. The crusaders around the worldwound were even worse for political machinations and infighting than the Molthuni and the defenders of Lastwall were clearly never going to accept a hobgoblin into their ranks. Draug's recently travelled into Trunau in hopes that the town will be a better fit for him.
---
Again, I didn't bother stating out a feat progression, because it's hardly necessary for a mounted cavalier. Take mounted combat feats, and take Cornugon Smash and Hurtful as soon as possible. Possibly Shatter Defences at some point if there's a space for it and accuracy's been a problem.
One last post for today. This character is of no use to anyone else, as it's a brawler with a house ruled archetype on it. My GM decided that since all I wanted from my underfoot adept / manoeuvre master monk / lore warden / brawler was someone who is really good at tripping giants, he'd just apply the underfoot adept material as a brawler archetype instead.
The brawler doesn't have as strong of manoeuvre bonuses as a lore warden would, but by having the full scaling pseudo-size bonus to trip of the underfoot adept, this build will actually have a trip CMB one or two points higher than the Monk 8 (to get two pseudo size increases) / Brawler 1 (to get rid of the Int requirement of Tripping Strike) / Lore Warden 11 (to actually get a decent bonus to trip) build that it replaced. I stated out the bonuses all the way to 20, and, assuming no magical bonuses, she should always have a 50%-60% chance to trip a level-appropriate giant on the first attack of a flurry.
Pasala
Female human (Taldan) brawler (underfoot adept) 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +4
--------------------
Defence
--------------------
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+4 armour, +3 Dex)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
--------------------
Offence
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee hanbo +4 (1d6+3) or
. . hope knife +5 (1d4+3/19-20) or
. . unarmed strike +4 (1d6+3) or
. . wushu dart +4 (1d3+3)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
BAB +1; CMB +4 (+6 trip); CMD 17 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Racial Heritage, Skill Focus (Acrobatics)
Traits highlander (hills or mountains), trunau native
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +5, Escape Artist +5, Perception +4, Stealth +6 (+7 in hilly or rocky areas); Racial Modifiers highlander (hills or mountains)
Languages Common
SQ brawler's cunning, martial training
Other Gear lamellar (leather) armour, hanbo, hope knife, wushu dart (20), belt pouch, blanket, flint and steel, grappling hook, hemp rope (50 ft.), masterwork backpack, soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 17 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Highlander (hills or mountains) +1 to Stealth checks, Stealth is always a class skill for you. Double this in hilly or rocky areas.
Improved Trip You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Racial Heritage (Halfling) You count as another race for the purpose of prerequisites.
--------------------
The eldest of nearly a dozen children, Pasala has been working and helping to support and raise her younger siblings ever since she was old enough to walk. In years past, that mostly meant doing as much of the farm work as she could, or riding herd over the youngest kids to let her parents do the work that she couldn't. Once her oldest brothers started outgrowing her, they were able to take over most of the heavy farm work and she started spending her days in Trunau, doing whatever odd jobs the villagers would pay for. And while she's always been eager to take her turn on watch duty, many of the villagers doubt that such a tiny girl can really contribute anything to fight, and so she spends at least as much time learning to fight enemies larger than herself from residents of the Ramblehouse as practising on the Commons.
Neither Pasala nor her parents realize is that there is reason (beyond childhood malnutrition) for her stature - there is halfling blood in her ancestry, several generations back, on her mother's side. It doesn't show up much anymore, but that ancestry means that Pasala is always going to be shorter than any other human she meets, yet still far taller than any actual halfling. Her stature has long made her an easy target for bullying and ridicule, Pasala has had to find a way to stand up for herself. While some people might have turned to wit or charm, Pasala instead tended to let her temper make her decisions for her, and thanks to the advice of some of the less scrupulous halflings she met in the Ramblehouse, she's figured out that once you get even the tallest bully on the ground, it's much easier to beat them with a stick.
1st Brawler's cunning, underfoot trip, martial training, unarmed strike
2nd Underfoot Grace, brawler's flurry (Two-Weapon Fighting)
3rd Maneuver training 1 (trip), Fury's Fall
4th AC bonus +1, knockout 1/day
5th brawler's strike (magic), Improved Underfoot Grace, Bonus combat feat:Vicious Stomp, Combat Reflexes
6th Martial flexibility
7th Maneuver training 2 (grapple), Combat Expertise
8th brawler's flurry (Improved Two-Weapon Fighting), Bonus combat feat: Greater Trip
9th AC bonus +2, brawler's strike (cold iron and silver), Tripping Strike
10th Martial flexibility (swift action), knockout 2/day
11th maneuver training 3 (disarm), Bonus combat feat: Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus
12th Brawler's strike (alignment), martial flexibility (free action)
13th AC bonus +3, knockout 2/day, Risky Striker
14th Bonus combat feat: Dodge
15th Brawler's flurry (Greater Two-Weapon Fighting), maneuver training 4 (bull rush), Mobility
16th Awesome blow, knockout 3/day
17th brawler's strike (adamantine), Bonus combat feat: Canny Tumble, Just out of Reach
18th AC bonus +4
19th Maneuver training 5 (awesome blow), Snapping Turtle Style
20th improved awesome blow, martial flexibility (immediate action), Bonus combat feat: Reach Defence
We finally started our Giantslayer campaign a couple weeks ago, and, of course, I've wound up playing something other than any of the half-dozen or so character ideas I'd proposed during the lead-up.
Instead, I finally thought of a way to really put the Giantblooded campaign trait to good use. A dwarven goliath druid with an oversized dwarven waraxe. Of course, for him to actually know how to use it, he needs to have martial weapon proficiency, which means spending level one in a martial class.
Ranger is the obvious choice, given that Shapeshifting Hunter means that he'll be able to gain new favoured enemies every five levels.
So, here's first level:
Geldur Redbeard
Male dwarf ranger (toxophilite) 1 (wild empathy's not really important to Geldur, since he considers animals to be food, not friends, and toxophilite seemed like as good a way as any to trade it off)
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +2; Senses Perception +7
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +3 (+2 bonus vs. spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) school, +2 bonus vs. spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (compulsion) school)
Defensive Abilities defensive training; Resist stubborn
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee dagger +3 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . (L) dwarven waraxe +3 (2d8+3/×3)
Ranged longbow +3 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (orcs +2), hatred
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15 (17 vs. awesome blow, 19 vs. bull rush, 19 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Focus (dwarven waraxe)
Traits giant-blooded, insular
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-5 to jump), Appraise +1 (+3 to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones), Climb +3, Diplomacy -1 (-2 with non-dwarves), Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +7, Sense Motive +9, Survival +7, Swim +3; Racial Modifiers +2 Appraise to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones
Languages Common, Dwarven, Giant
SQ arrow-splitter, rock stepper, surface survivalist (cold), track +1
Other Gear hide armor, arrows (40), dagger, dwarven waraxe, longbow, backpack, bedroll, cooking kit (worth 3 gp, 16 lb), fishing kit (worth 0.5 gp, 3 lb), flint and steel (2), gear maintenance kit (worth 5 gp, 2 lb), mess kit, silk rope (50 ft.), soap (2), tent, small, twine (50'), waterskin (2), 61 gp, 1 sp, 7 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arrow-Splitter (Ex) +1 bonus on ranged attack rolls vs creatures or objects 2 or more size cat smaller than you.
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Favored Enemy (Orcs +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Orcs) foes.
Greed +2 to Appraise to determine price of nonmagic goods with precious metals or gemstones.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs Goblinoids/Orcs.
Insular -1 penalty on Diplomacy checks with non-dwarves.
Rock Stepper Ignore rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when taking 5 ft step.
Stubborn +2 Gain bonus to save vs. Charm/Compulsion spells, resave next rd if you fail.
Surface Survivalist (Cold) Treat wind and cold climates as one step less severe.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
--------------------
Not every dwarf grows up mining gold, forging metal, cutting gems, or swindling customers. Not every dwarf grows up to worship Torag and his family either. Some dwarves, in fact, grow up above ground, far from their own people, and are raised to believe in gods other than those of the dwarven pantheon.
Dwarves like Geldur "Redbeard", for example. Geldur has lived in the hills south of Trunau for as long as he can remember, living off the land, and worshipping the elder deitites, especially Fandarra and Estig the Hunter.
He was taught the worship of the elder gods by his adopted father Emmen, the ancient druid who took a young Geldur in when his parents were killed while Geldur was just a toddler. All Geldur has to remember them by is the enormous axe that Emmen told him was his father's, and his father's father's before that.
Geldur never managed to get an answer as to exactly why his ancestral weapon is comically oversized, or to how his parents died from Emmen, or to many other questions he has about his past before the old dwarf passed away half a year ago. Since then, Geldur has gone on living his life as he had been before, hunting and trapping to support himself, and generally living quietly in the wilderness that's been the only home he's ever known.
Over those same months though, he's found that he's begun to miss having someone to talk to, and has started trading with the people in Trunau. He doesn't really trust the people there to any great degree, and doesn't really care for the name "Redbeard" that they've stuck him with, but he's glad to have someone to talk to on ocassion, and has come to the grudging conclusion that they seem to be decent enough folk, at least for people who don't worship the right gods.
Starting at second level, Geldur will be a Goliath Druid, eventually choosing the Rage domain rather than an animal companion. He won't be summoning either, barring a serious emergency (it's out of character, and our party is too big to begin with). And while he'll know how to use some animal forms, he's going to be wildshaping almost exclusively into giant forms.
Future Feats:
Heavy Armour Proficiency (at whatever level he gains access to some dwarves who can supply him with stoneplate)
Shapeshifting Hunter (@ level 5)
Giant-Bane Caster
Power Attack
raging vitality
improved bull rush
raging throw
bull rush strike
greater bull rush
I've made a few new characters for Giantslayer as backups since I posted Geldur, and now that I've got him killed, I'll have to chose one of them to play.
Marja
Female half-orc rogue (unchained, thug) 3
CN Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 23 (3d8+6)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +2
Defensive Abilities evasion
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk elven branched spear +8 (1d8+6/×3)
Ranged darkwood composite shortbow +7 (1d6/×3)
Special Attacks sneak attack (unchained) +2d6
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (elven branched spear), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (elven branched spear)
Traits finish the fight, giantslayer scion
Skills Acrobatics +10, Appraise +6, Bluff +5, Climb +4, Diplomacy +3, Disable Device +12, Escape Artist +10, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (geography) +3, Knowledge (local) +6, Perception +7, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +10, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate, frightening
Languages Common, Draconic, Giant, Orc
SQ brutal beating, cliffside charger, orc blood, rogue talent (combat trick)
Combat Gear antiplague, antitoxin, bloodblock, flash powder, smelling salts (2); Other Gear darkleaf cloth lamellar (leather) armor, arrows (20), darkwood composite shortbow, mwk elven branched spear, belt pouch, canteen, masterwork backpack, masterwork thieves' tools, tindertwig (5), trail rations (2), 4 pp, 50 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Brutal Beating (1 rds) (Ex) Forgo 1d6 sneak attack damage to sicken the target for 1 rds.
Cliffside Charger When in mountain terrain, mountain half-orcs with this racial trait can move through natural difficult terrain at their normal speed.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Finish the Fight +1 trait bonus on atk vs. opponents you already injured in the past 24 hours.
Frightening (Ex) Demoralize duration increases by 1 rd, if 4+ rds can frighten 1 rd instead.
Giantslayer Scion No penalty to Intimdate vs. giants and +1 trait bonus to DC of fear-based effects vs. giants.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
--------------------
Marja's been skulking around Trunau for the last few days, trying to decide if it's safe for her to approach the human's town. Soon enough, she'll decide that she doesn't have much choice, because there's nowhere in the rest of Belkzen that's any safer for her.
Marja's been running for the last several months, trying to avoid being found by Grikur's men. She doesn't actually know if there's even anyone still after her, but she doesn't want to take any chances. Not to mention that even if no one tries to take her back to Wyvernsting, Marja assumes that joining any other orc community will mean having to find a new Grikur. And after finally getting away from the first one, she never wants to be in that situation again.
(The details of Marja's background are intentionally left vague; it's easy enough to fill in the blanks.)
Advancement plan:
URogue 3
Slayer 12 (Slayer levels sacrifice two sneak attack dice and some skill points to gain some free feats that ignore prerequisites and a few points of BAB)
URogue +5
1 Combat Reflexes, Rogue: Finesse
2 Rogue Combat Trick: EWP
3 Weapon Focus, Rogue: Finesse Training
5 Dazzling Display, Slayer: PA
7 Shatter Defenses, Slayer: Combat Trick: Cornugon Smash
9 FEAT Slayer: Furious Focus
11 FEAT
13 FEAT Slayer: Dreadful Carnage
15 FEAT
17 FEAT
19 FEAT
After our group met a supposed priest of Iomedae trying to incite a race riot in the middle of an orc invasion, I started trying to think of a Iomedaen character as a backup. I bounced around between a bunch of Inquisitor ideas for a while (A bolt ace / inquisitor seemed fun, but not until at least sixth level) before deciding to mess around with the Relic Hunter. In the end, Cambaro Xambala's got the flavour I wanted - a skill focused diplomatic warrior of Iomedae, and while she's not a great caster or a superb warrior, I think the focus powers will be useful, especially given a low-wealth game.
I quite like the idea of the archetype, but with the restrictions on spell selection that it creates, it creates some probably unintended restraints on the order that the first few relics are chosen. An Inquisitor will only ever know six orisons, so if you chose schools with crap orisons (transmutation, for example) for your first level implements, you'll never have any orisons that you actually want to cast. Divination presents a problem as well; take it at first level and you wind up knowing a bunch of orisons that you'll never use, but if you hold off on it, you won't be able to identify the cool magic items that you want to use as implements. Some of the implement powers are completely useless to the inquisitor - Conjuration for example, but you have to take them anyhow to get access to their spells. In the end, I wound up taking Abjuration and Conjuration at the start so that I'd have the only level one focus power that I actually want and access to cure light wounds while not filling up all my orison selections with crap (I've only taken four orisons known because that's all that exist for those two schools). Divination (and thus, detect magic) has to wait for 4th level, which pushes Transmutation (which has the best resonant power) all the way back to 7th. And I'll still wind up using the Inquisitor spell retraining on switching out orisons.
Cambaro Xabala
Female human (Mwangi) inquisitor (relic hunter) of Iomedae 3
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +8
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 23 (3d8+6)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +6
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee dagger +5 (1d4+3/19-20) or
. . longsword +6 (1d8+3/19-20)
Ranged darkwood composite longbow +4 (1d8+3/×3)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . At will—detect alignment
Implement Schools
. . Abjuration (Holy Symbol, 5 points) Resonant—warding talisman; Focus—mind barrier
. . Conjuration (Compass, 2 points) Resonant—casting focus; Focus—servitor
Inquisitor (Relic Hunter) Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . 1st (4/day)—cure light wounds, protection from evil, remove fear, shield of faith
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, resistance, stabilize
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Extra Mental Focus, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Shake It Off, Weapon Focus (longsword)
Traits armor expert, artifact hunter
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Bluff +4, Climb +3, Diplomacy +6, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5 (+7 to navigate underground), Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +8, Ride +1, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +7 (+8 to identify the properties of magic items), Stealth +1, Survival +6 (+8 to avoid becoming lost when using this), Swim +3, Use Magic Device +7
Languages Celestial, Common, Polyglot
SQ focus power (aegis +1), mental focus (7/day), monster lore +2, relics (abjuration, conjuration), solo tactics, stern gaze +1, track +1
Combat Gear scroll of bless, scroll of comprehend languages, scroll of know the enemy, scroll of protection from chaos, scroll of protection from evil, scroll of remove fear, acid, acid, alchemist's fire, alchemist's fire, alkali flask, antiplague, antitoxin, bladeguard, holy water, holy water, smelling salts; Other Gear mwk banded mail, mwk light steel shield, arrows (60), dagger, darkwood composite longbow (+3 Str), longsword, bandolier, bedroll, belt pouch, canteen, canteen, compass, grappling hook, grooming kit (worth 1 gp, 2 lb), holy text, ink, inkpen (2), iron spike (4), masterwork backpack, measuring cord (10 ft.), mirror, paper (4), piton (4), sack, scroll box[UE], silk rope (50 ft.), silver holy symbol of Iomedae, stationery (4), sunrod (4), trail rations (5), twine (50'), wrist sheath, spring loaded, 77 gp, 3 sp, 9 cp
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Special Abilities
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Abjuration (Holy Symbol) Abjuration implements are objects associated with protection and wards.
Aegis +1 (Su) 1 focus: Grant armor or shield enh. bonus and special ability.
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Artifact Hunter (Use Magic Device) +1 bonus to Spellcraft to ID magic item properties. % chance to ID artifact.
Compass +2 circumstance for Survival or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) to avoid becoming lost.
Conjuration (Compass) Implements used in conjuration allow the occultist to perform magic that transports or calls creatures.
Deific Focus (7/day) (Su) You have a pool of points that activate your focus powers.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Monster Lore +2 (Ex) +2 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Shake It Off Gain +1 to all saving throws per adjacent ally
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
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Cambaro Xabala is the orphaned daughter of two Mwangi crusaders, who were recruited under false pretenses by Chelish settlers in Sargava that were under instructions to obtain cannon fodder for the defense of the Worldwound. Her parents were not particularly devout followers of any god, but did legitimately want to help defend the world from the demonic incursion, and became valued warriors in the struggle.
Cambaro doesn't really remember much about them though; she was only a toddler when her mother was killed, and not much older when her father died as well. Since then she was raised in an Iomedaen orphanage.
Not surprisingly, she's grown up with a deep commitment to Iomedae, although her attachment to her deity's church is not nearly so strong.
Cambaro's seen first hand that the church allows those who are neither honourable nor just to join their ranks if they are useful to the immediate cause. And while she sees the value in working with such people, it angers her to see them debasing the reputation of the church, and by extension, of Iomedae.
Cambaro's education, like all those who grew up in the church's care, focused on the gods, no matter the subject, including history and magic. Usually a mediocre student, any mention of artifacts, magic items, or Iomedaen relics always held her attention. Once she was old enough to join the fight herself, Cam's made a point of trying to recover and protect such items during patrols and battles.
Over the last few months though, Cambaro's vocal displeasure with the presence of "unworthy criminal scum" being allowed to claim to be crusaders of Iomedae while abusing and stealing from the people they're supposed to be protecting has led to increasing pressure for her to find somewhere else to serve Iomedae. It was strongly suggested that she ought to consider wandering Avistan for a while, looking for people who need her help.
Recalling that there was a small contingent of Iomedaens who stayed in Trunau to help defend it when the defenders of Lastwall were forced to fall back from their line, Cambaro decided that it seemed like as good a place as any to start. Besides, there were rumours that important relics of the church had been lost in the area during that withdrawal; maybe she'll be able to recover some of them.
1st Heavy Armor Proficiency, Extra Mental Focus, Deific Focus, Aegis, Relics (Abjuration, Conjuration), monster lore, orisons, stern gaze
2nd Cunning initiative, detect alignment, track
3rd Weapon Focus, Solo tactics, teamwork feat
4th Relics (Divination), Flesh Mend
5th Disciple of the Sword, discern lies
6th Teamwork feat
7th Power Attack, Relics (Transmutation)
8th Mind over Gravity
9th Greater Weapon Focus, Teamwork feat
10th Relics (Evocation)
11th Furious Focus, Stalwart
12th teamwork feat, Energy Blast
13th Greater Weapon Spec, Relics (Enchantment)
14th Exploit weakness
15th FEAT, Teamwork feat
16th Relics (Illusion), Side Step
17th FEAT, Slayer
18th Teamwork feat
19th FEAT, Relics (Necromancy)
20th True judgment (The capstone doesn't actually work for a Relic Hunter - making the archetype work properly pretty much means doubling up on archetypes), Energy Shield
I've been working on a set of Shackled Skull characters, and was getting stuck on the last one. I'd spent some time trying to make a crusader's flurrying sacred fist work, but the nerfs from the errata have made it impossible to get online until mid levels, and given that the sacred fist's flurry is crap now, it wasn't worth getting there anyhow.
But I wanted my greatsword flurry damn it. So, I thought up Vidun here, who isn't much of a caster, but should be a reasonably good martial character and a pain in the ass to fight against.
Vidun the Mad
Male human (Kellid) cleric (crusader) of Gorum 1/monk (unchained) 2
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 Wis)
hp 27 (3 HD; 1d8+2d10+6)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +4
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee greatsword +6/+6 (2d6+4/19-20) or
. . unarmed strike +5/+5 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 3/day (DC 10, 1d6), flurry of blows (unchained), stunning fist (2/day, DC 13)
Cleric (Crusader) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1st—bless, magic weapon[D]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic
. . D Domain spell; Domain Tactics
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 20
Feats Combat Reflexes, Crusader's Flurry, Dodge, Furious Focus, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Stunning Fist, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
Traits adopted, crowd dodger, enlightened warrior
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+10 to avoid attacks of opportunity for leaving a threatened square or to move through a creature's space), Escape Artist +6, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +8, Swim +7
Languages Common, Hallit
SQ seize the initiative
Other Gear haramaki, greatsword
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Special Abilities
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Cleric (Crusader) Domain (Tactics)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (3/day, DC 10) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Combat Reflexes (3 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Crowd Dodger +2 Acrobatics to avoid AoO for leaving a square or move through a creature's space.
Crusader's Flurry May use flurry of blows with deity's favored melee weapon
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Flurry of Blows (Unchained) (Ex) As full-rd action, gain extra attacks with unarmed strike/monk weapons.
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Seize the Initiative (5/day) (Su) An ally within 30' may take the better of 2d20 for initiative
Stunning Fist (2/day, DC 13) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
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Vidun is the son of retired adventurers. His parents decided to stop adventuring when they discovered that a human woman and an aasimar man can, in fact, have children. The only noticeable thing about Vidun's appearance that suggests that his parentage isn't entirely human is his wild hair, which constantly waves around as though in a breeze, even in the stillest room.
Being raised by a Gorumite cleric and a former monk who was kicked out of his monastery for treating the rules more as guidelines than absolute requirements on the path of enlightenment has left Vidun with a fairly loose definition of what constitutes properly monastic behaviour and divine obesciences.
Having always disliked wearing anything restrictive, Vidun spends as much time unarmoured and shirtless as he can. He owns a metal-plated belly warmer exclusively for the purposes of properly fulfilling his morning oath-swearing and then immediately takes it back off. Since Gorum still sees fit to grant him power every day, Vidun figures that it's close enough to the way his mother taught him.
In much the same vein, he doesn't see any point in a lifetime of study to turn his hands and feet into weapons when he's already got a perfectly good greatsword that gets the job done pretty well.
UnMonk 1 / Crusader 1 / UnMonk +11 / Sentinel 7
1 IUS, Combat Reflexes, Furious Focus, Power Attack
2 Weapon Focus, Weapon Prof
3 Dodge, Crusader's Flurry
5 Step Up
7 Mobility, Combat Patrol
9 Following Step
11 Improved Critical, Step up and Strike
13 Deific Obedience
15 FEAT, FEAT
17 Weapon Spec
19 FEAT
20 FEAT
I haven't posted anything in here for a long time; but I figured that between my current character and the three backups I have ready to go, I might as well add some new posts.
So, here's my current character, Vennoc Noth, Mafioso serial killer cum special forces agent. (There's some custom magic items on Vennoc, and all of these characters will have a bonus non-combat feat from a select list that we were allowed to pick from at level 4.)
Vennoc Noth
Male human (Keleshite) vigilante (serial killer) 5
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 38 (5d8+10)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5; +2 trait bonus vs. divination effects
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee stealth dagger +4 (1d4+3/19-20), tien horde short sword +4 (1d6+3/19-20) or
. . stealth dagger +6 (1d4+3/19-20)
Special Attacks hidden strike +3d8/+3d4
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Catch Off-guard, Persuasive, Skill Focus (Intimidate), Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (improvised weapon)
Traits bloody-minded, carefully hidden
Skills Acrobatics +8, Appraise +7, Bluff +13, Climb +5, Diplomacy +15, Disable Device +12, Disguise +5 (+25 to appear as part of polite society while in your social identity), Escape Artist +6, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (engineering) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nobility) +7, Linguistics +4, Perception +8, Ride +6, Sense Motive +8, Sleight of Hand +10 (+12 to oppose the Perception check of someone observing or frisking you regarding items in the sheath), Stealth +12, Survival +4, Swim +5
Languages Azlanti, Common, Kelish, Osiriani, Skald, Tien
SQ charming, dual identity, social grace, social talents (many guises, obscurity, social grace), thwart pursuit, vigilante specialization (stalker), vigilante talent (lethal grace)
Combat Gear maiden's helm, potion of cure light wounds (3), potion of resistance (2); Other Gear +1 mithral shirt, tien horde buckler (+1 buckler), tien horde short sword (+1 short sword), arrows (41), improvised weapon, shortbow, stealth dagger (mwk dagger, +2 to stealth while held), ring of protection +1, sleeves of many garments, belt pouch, canteen, masterwork backpack, masterwork thieves' tools, noth book (Family heirloom that gives bonuses when smuggling), wrist sheathe, 4 pp, 33 gp, 7 sp, 1 cp
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Special Abilities
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Catch Off-Guard Proficient with improvised melee weapons. Unarmed foe is flat-footed against your improvised weapons.
Charming +1 (1 round, DC 13) (Ex) Improve attitude of humanoid in 30 ft. by 1 step(s).
Dual Identity (Ex) Each identity maintains own alignment, can switch over 1 min. Magical means treat an ID as non existant while not adopted.
Hidden Strike +3d8/+3d4 Extra damage vs. unaware/startled foes, less vs. flat-footed/flanked foes.
Many Guises (Ex) +20 circ bon to Disguise to appear as an ordinary member of your race.
Obscurity (Demgazi) (Ex) Your social identity is not famous, but obscure.
Social Grace (Bluff) +4 circumstance bonus to selected skill while in your social identity.
Social Grace (Diplomacy) +4 circumstance bonus to selected skill while in your social identity.
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Thwart Pursuit (Ex) +2 to all checks in a chase, to the DC to gather information about you, or track you
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Vennoc is a quiet, unassuming man. No one who has met him can recall ever seeing him anything other than completely calm and composed - even when he's engaged in the sort of violence that gave them nightmares. This is because Vennoc Noth is the Noth family fixer - when someone becomes a threat, or an obstacle, or even a minor annoyance, Vennoc's the one who deals with them. When the Prefect suggests that his life would be easier if someone to disappear, that someone tends to disappear shortly thereafter.
Vennoc's mother was one of more than a dozen foreign-born household maids. Unlike the other children of the beardless serfs, Vennoc was raised and educated by the same highly-paid stewards, tutors, and instructors as the Prefect's legitimate children. By the time Vennoc was old enough to understand that he should stop asking who his father is, and why he looked so much like his best friend, the Prefect's son Marsinus, his training had begun in earnest. Every day of his life since he was old enough to hold a practice sword has been dedicated to training himself to be the embodiment of loyal service. He has been taught to be bodyguard, advisor, and ambassador for the House. Whatever the family requires of him, he does, without question, and without regard for his own needs or desires.
Shortly after the boys' thirteenth birthdays, the Prefect's wife finally put her foot down with regards to Vennoc being raised alongside her son, and Vennoc was sent to a boarding school, ostensibly to broaden his education and teach him to interact with a wider class of people.
The school taught Vennoc many things - not to trust what people say to his face, that the world is full of violent and cruel people, that revenge taken in the dark, where no one can see it is every bit as satisfying, and much easier to get away with.
He also learned to make friends where he could, and eventually began to spend most of his days with Luque Pacia, a local boy who didn't actually live at the school and was able to return home each day. Vennoc shielded Luque from the worst of the bullies at the school, who had learned better than to bother the bastard, and tried to teach Luque how to handle himself in a fight. Luque in turn tried to teach Venno to appreciate music, theatre, and dance. Vennoc mostly learned that dancing and dodging have a lot in common. He did start to enjoy the theatre shows, even if he didn't really understand every little detail of them like Luque did.
After the Prefect died several years ago, his son inherited all the lands and titles. Within days of Marsinus taking control of the family, he summoned Vennoc home from the school, over his mother's objections. He'd missed his friend for years, and now that he was in charge, he was going to have him back home.
Marsinus' mother declared that if her advice was not wanted, then she'd be returning to the family's home in Sophra, and took her daughter with her, leaving her sons in Oppara. The new Prefect has never once returned to his lands in southern Taldor since taking control, instead spending all his time in the family estate in Oppara, where he focuses his attention on strengthening his position within the criminal underworld while largely ignoring the political machinations of the various houses and leaving the management of his holdings to the bureaucrats and junior officials.
Vennoc's been instrumental in Marsinus' criminal scheming, because the one thing that really helps grow a fledgling criminal empire is a completely loyal killer who will deal with any enemy, real or perceived, as soon as they pop up. The criminal underworld has no idea who Marsinus' pet killer might be, but they have no doubt that anyone who angers or threatens him ends up dead within days.
Currently, Vennoc is away from the capital, having travelled to a small town in Sophra Prefecture, not far from the family's holdings, in a tiny town called Demgazi, where he's supposed to meet with a new potential supplier for one of the many illegal goods that Marsinus has been smuggling into Oppara under the cover of his legitimate shipping businesses.
20 levels of Stalker Vigilante (Serial Killer)
1: Focused Study (SF: Intim), Catch Off Guard, ST: Social Grace (Diplo)
2: VT: Lethal Grace
3: Weapon Focus (Improvised), ST: Obscurity
4: Studied Target
5: TWF, ST: Many Guises, Social Grace (Bluff), Charm Hex
6: Death Attack
7: Dazzling Display, Calling Card
8: Focused Study (SF: Bluff), VT: Twisting Fear
9: Shatter Defenses, Social Grace (Disguise)
10: VT: Mighty Ambush
11: Violent Display, ST: Everyman, Grisly Murder
12:
13: ITWF, ST: Feign Innocence, Social Grace (Sense Motive)
14:
15: Seething Hatred (Human), ST: Subjective Truth
16: Focused Study (SF: Diplo), VT: Fantastic Stride
17: Extreme Prejudice, ST: Any Guise, Social Grace (Survivial)
18: VT: Shadow's Speed
19: GTWF
20: VT: Sure Footed
Our campaign is about a massive invasion of Avistan by a Tien horde. At this point, so far as we know, Taldor has been completely overrun, with only Oppara and possibly some smaller cities still holding out. Vennoc's commitment to his family has largely transitioned to Taldor at this point, to the degree that his Vigilante identity largely consists of putting on a mask that Luque made for him that is essentially just a modified Taldan flag. He knows that he can't stop the horde from destroying what's left of Taldor, but intends to gain enough power to enable him to drive them out and help rebuild his nation. If that means someday using Any Guise to secretly place himself on the throne, then so be it.