Beacon "Below expectations" - PFS Telekineticist build...


Rules Discussion

Silver Crusade

So, I went through the PFS Scenario "The Beacon Below" (Tier 7-11) tonight with my playtest character... my d20s betrayed me at every turn, and even with +14 to hit sometimes (due to bonuses from blessing of fervor and prayer and point blank shot and feel the burn), I only landed 3 telekinetic blasts the entire game.

Telekinetic haul looked like it would have been useful at one point near the end of the scenario, but other PCs in the party got a rather high diplomacy check to convince a NPC to help us "do the thing" a different way instead. I kinda felt useless.

Also of note, I only took 1 point of burn during the whole scenario - that was when I first put up Force Ward at the start of the dungeon crawl part of the scenario. Every time I needed to use things that needed burn, the combination of Form Infusion specialization and making a move action to reduce Burn by 1 reduced it to 0.

The original idea was to make him useful in combat while also having some utility to help a party outside of fighting... even if more of my attack rolls had hit, though, the spear-chucker barbarian in the party was landing ~70 damage a round, and the bloodrager was doing ~25 a hit (and with blessing of fervor being up during the longer/harder battles, they got to swing a lot while my character didn't have much usefulness...)

(items in italics are things that I did not use even once during his playtest, that I might consider swapping out or, if need be, paying pfs prestige for "retraining").

His Stats:

(no I don't use HeroLab, so apologies if the formatting feels "off" to you...)

Jah-ah-Koh
Level 7 Male Human Kineticist
Str 8 Dex 16 Con 21 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 10
(Human: +2 Con, Level 4: +1 Con)

Favored Class: Kineticist
HP: 87
Fort: 10
Ref: 8
Will: 3

BAB: +5
CMB: +4
CMD: +17

AC: 19
Touch: 13
Flat: 16

Skills:
Acrobatics, 1 rank (5)
Disable Device, 1 rank (5)
Heal, 1 rank (5)
Intimidate, 1 rank (4)
Knowledge Engineering, 1 rank (6)
Linguistics, 1 rank (6)
Perception, 7 ranks (11)
Sleight of Hand, 3 ranks (9)
Stealth, 5 ranks (11)
Use Magic Device, 7 ranks (10)

Feats:
Human - Hermean Blood (Acrobatics, Disable Device)
1st - Point Blank Shot
3rd - Precise Shot
? 5th - Deadly Aim ?
7th - Toughness

Trait - Reactionary (+2 initiative)
Trait - Ancient Historian (Scarab Seekers Faction, Linguistics becomes class skill, gain one ancient language)

Human alternative racial trait: Heart of the Slums (+2 Stealth and Sleight of Hand checks, +4 Survival checks in urban and underground environments, roll twice for saves vs disease).

Gear of note:
Elven Chainmail Armor +1 (6,150gp)
Silver Cestus (25gp)
Cold Iron Dagger (4gp)
Snapleaf (2 prestige)
Potion of Gaseous Form (2 prestige)
Handy Haversack (2,000gp)
Wayfinder (250gp)
Clear Spindle (Normal) Ioun Stone (slotted) (4,000gp)
Ioun Torch (75gp)
Deep Red Sphere (Normal) Ioun Stone (+2 Dex) (8,000gp)
Belt of Mighty Constitution +2 (+2 Con) (4,000gp)

Elemental Focus: Aether
Telekinetic Blast: 4d6+8 (P or S or B)
Force Ward: 7 temporary hp, 1 Burn for +3
Burn: Max 2 Burn per round, max Burn 7/day
Feel the Burn: Max +2 Attack/Damage to Blast
Infusion Specialization: Form -1, Substance -0
Metakinesis (Empower - 1 Burn)

Wild Talents:
1 - Extended Range
? 1 - Kinetic Healer ?
1 - Light Touch
6 - Foe Throw
6 - Telekinetic Haul

Backstory overview:
Orphaned child of a Hermean "ambassador" and a potential Hermean recruit, he started to manifest strange powers - violent outbursts of energy...but, being alone, and not understanding what a medallion in the shape of a gold dragon's head he was found with means, he lived most of his young life in the slums, taking whatever he can to survive, relying on his "gift" to create distractions and cause damage to give him enough of a window to take what he needs for food and clothing.

Then, one day, he was found by Kreighton Shaine of the Pathfinder Society, who wanted to learn from Jah just as much as he wanted to teach the boy control, and patience. Five years later, Jah-ah-Koh is now a Pathfinder Field Agent going on missions for the Society and the Scarab Sages, with whom he hopes to unlock more of the mysteries behind his occult powers.
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So, yea, there he is. I have another chance to play him on Monday evening in another 7-11, but I'm starting to have second thoughts since he felt so useless earlier...any advice would be welcome. Thanks!

Silver Crusade

...and, purely for my own benefit/reminder, questions I've asked on the official playtest thread that haven't been answered:

1 - Can Metamagic feats affect blasts/talents? (Force Blast + Toppling Spell would be a nice combo)

2 - Can Telekinetic Haul be used on a willing creature (other than self) as well as an object? If not, can it be used on an object that a creature is standing on top of?

3 - Would racial alternative traits that affect elemental/ish bloodline powers/spells also apply to Wild Talents and Blasts? For example:

Advanced Race Guide wrote:
Some dwarves’ affinity for the earth grants them greater powers. Dwarves with this racial trait are treated as one level higher when casting spells with the earth descriptor or using granted powers of the Earth domain, the bloodline powers of the earth elemental bloodline, and revelations of the oracle’s stone mystery. This ability does not give them early access to level-based powers; it only affects the powers they could use without this ability. This racial trait replaces stonecunning.

(emphasis mine)

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