I'll be the first to admit I have a problem with indecision when building a character but I just can't seem to break out of this little design loop.
It goes a little something like this, Reign of Winter Campaign
16,16,15,13,11,10 rolled stats
Nice stat array of course options up some options you wouldn't normally consider.
So I see Hex Strike and say that's be nice to do
I see Shaman and that can make use of Hex strike with decent BAB
I see a monk dip to ease the feat burden
The I see with the large number of monk attacks you could in theory land some solid hexes with multiple feat worth of Hex strike , hell the Lore Shaman can get a confusion for cha rounds with no save on a hit which would be likely with so many monk attacks.
then I see the more monk levels I take the longer before evil eye doubles to -4 and delays spell casting
Spell casting delays are bad because Lore shaman can pickup wiz spells.
Then I start seeing access to fun spell like create pit, acid pit, hungry pit
Then I'm looking at ways to push people into pits
Then I'm back to monk for CMB to do that
Then away again using spells to do the same job
Then I start looking at other ways to access pit spells with a 3/4BAB
I'm led to druid and cleric
Cleric Theologian gets me all the pits I want but no more Hex Strike
Druid gets me 1/day pits but wildshape and Huge to easy push things in
Then I'm really missing Hex Strike and we're back to the top again.
GAAAAAAGGGHHHH
So as it seems I'm doomed to not find a solution by myself I turn to you lovely folks not so much to solve this problem (although amazing if you could) but to perhaps suggest something else completely different and fun that I can pull off with that stat array of 16,16,15,13,11,10 in Reign of Winter .
Thanks in Advance
|
There are other ways to push people into pits... Hydraulic push, for one.
Look, if you go Shaman with Lore Spirit as your main spirit (so you can cast arcane spells) you can then take the wandering spirit, Waves, get your hydraulic push spell and push people into those pits without dipping monk or loremaster.
Of course... that opens up the issue of not having that many spells per day. The other possibility is that you work as a team with the rest of your party. You create the pit, and others push the bad guys into the pit.
I will note that there are several wandering spirits that might help with this. Mammoth allows you to take the Phantom Stampede hex, lower the target's CMD, and then have your buddies bullrush the target into the pit.
What sort of classes are the rest of your party playing? If you have some strategic players, you can work out some great tactics here without having to dip.
Hmm
To cut your conundrum off at the head, you can't use Hex Strike more than once per round. So, taking more than 1 level of Monk or Brawler to pay the Improved Unarmed Strike feat tax is a waste. You don't even need to do that as a human can use his feat at first level to pick up Improved Unarmed Strike then use his human bonus feat to pick up Hex Strike also at first level.
The Shaman fairs a bit better than the witch here, which is good seeing as you're focusing on the shaman more. The higher BAB means you'll have more attacks and chances to hit with hex strike and you'll hit more often so you'll land hex strike more. If you do take a level dip in brawler you'll get you an extra attack or two while flurrying, also good for the hex strike feat. I say brawler and not monk because a brawler can wear light armor unlike the monk. Again, a one level dip would only put you back to sorcerer casting so you can still get all those pits spells. Pick up Bull Rush feats at some point, maybe a polymorph spell to get the size bonuses. Depending on how many hexes you want to Hex strike with, this build may get feat intensive, but it's certainly workable.
Some things to remember:
Hex Strike takes up your swift action, which is why it can only work once per round. Try to limit other feats or abilities that will eat up that swift action.
Only take hex strike for one or two hexes depending on what you'll be using them for since you can only use one of them a turn.
You'll only have light armor, but no shield so a high dex would be useful and look into ways to raise your AC a bit since you'll be in melee combat a lot.
make a list, roll a die
Hexcrafter magus. Just "to help" with indecision...
Hex Magus (Su)
At 4th level, the hexcrafter magus gains access to a small number of witch’s hexes. The hexcrafter magus picks one hex from the witch’s hex class feature. He gains the benefit of or uses that hex as if he were a witch of a level equal to his magus level.
This feature replaces spell recall.
Roll a background build from there , don't plan ahead too much
I have similar problems to you actually, I want it all and end up too thing. I solve this by making 3 versions of the same character, or break it down to 2-3 very different builds.
So as it seems I'm doomed to not find a solution by myself I turn to you lovely folks not so much to solve this problem (although amazing if you could) but to perhaps suggest something else completely different and fun that I can pull off with that stat array of 16,16,15,13,11,10 in Reign of Winter .
Thanks in Advance
Human Warpriest Double Chained Kama User
18:str 16:con 15:Dex 10:int 13:wis 11:charisma level ups in Wis or dex.Feats: EWP: Double Chained Kama, WF:DCK, TWF
At level 4 retrain your level 3 bonus feat to WS:DCK
At level 6 take the human feat Martial Versatility Weapon Focus for all monk weapons. Now you have a ton of interesting weapons you can use Sacred Weapon damage with. Point of order, does exotic weapon prof count as a combat feat for Martial Versatility?
Unarmed Hexcrafter Magus with Hex Strike
This is the way to go if you must have everything in one build.
Perhaps the best choice is to focus on one thing and make sure the other players are set up to work with you. If you like the pit spells, make sure there is a big brawny guy with bull rush and re-position.
It is a team game after all.
Appreciate all the suggestions :)
as for party composition
battle cleric
sorcerer
summoner synth
slayer
ran across a spirit summoner archetype that gets both hexes and pit spells which could have legs.
though I may end up settling on a Shaman 2/Brawler X build and prolific use of hex strike and extra hex with pummeling strike. I may just grab a wand for pit spells and find a way to pump my UMD the low DC wont matter with high brawler CMB bypassing it. martial versatility to cover a ranged option when needed
If "create pits, push bad guys in" is your main strat for CC in this AP, you're going to have a bad time.
I won't give out any more spoilers than that, but sheesh, get some ranged attacks. Your partys suvival will depend on it.