Character concept advice required

[yazo]

I have an idea for a character, he is a witty, charismatic street magician and am wondering what class/ archetypes would be good.

REQUIREMENTS
Good skills
Some roguish talent
6 levels of arcane casting
Some combat utility
Not horrible AC and Saves

All advice appreciated, thanks.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Archeologist Bard is what you are looking for. They get everything you wanted including rogue talents.

[Master of the Dark Triad]

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/rogue/archetypes/drop-dead-stu dios---rogue-archetypes/street-magician

If you want to be literal about it.

If you don't, bard would fit this idea perfectly, AND you'd have an effective character.

[yazo]

So archeologist bard, is a short bow viable on a small character or should I play a medium character. Bards don't get disable device, is there a way too? Are gnomes as good a bard as I think they are or do they fall short. What stats should I prioritise?

[Theconiel]

The Investigator from the Advanced Class Guide might also be a possibility, although the Investigator uses alchemy rather than magic.

[yazo]

I looked at the investigator but its not really what I want, my character is a bit of a con artist and uses his innate magical talent to earn a quick buck.

[Balgin]

I think there's a street performer archetype for bard. Wish I could remember what it's called. It's certainly not the Celebrity bard (although they do have some interesting crossover).

Oh right, it is actually simply called Street Performer and can be found in the Advanced Player's Guide.

The Archaeologist Bard certainly is good for combat utility without losing too much Bardic ability. The Arcane Duelist is better at fighting but loses a lot more of the bardic versatility and support role stuff.

Unfortunately Archaeologist and Street Performer clash so they can't stack. I'd say those two come closest to what you describe.

[yazo]

I don't want bardic performance, even if I had it I wouldn't use it, it doesn't fit his personality. Archeologist sounds good, but again what stats should I prioritize and what size is better? Small or medium. Also is a short bow viable for small characters?

[Blakmane]

Here is an easy way to get disable device straight up, and it fits your character concept too.

You probably want stats somewhat like CHA > STR or DEX > CON > INT > WIS

Swapping DEX and STR round depending on your build. Short bow is viable for small characters, yes. You probably want high DEX and ~14 STR for the composite damage bonus. Go point blank shot, precise shot, rapid shot, manyshot. Gnomes make fine bards.

[yazo]

I'd swap con and Int, I want lots of skills. Any other advice.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Keep in mind an archeologist bard does not need a lot of CHA. As long as they have enough CHA to cast their spells they are usually fine. Starting with at least a 14 CHA is probably a good idea; you will want to get 16 CHA by 16th level. If you want to go for a ranged or finesse combat style DEX is more important than CHA. You will want enough STR to carry your gear and maybe a little more for some extra damage. INT will get you some extra skills and also boost knowledge’s so should be decent, usually at least 12.

An archeologist does not get extra rounds of performance so most of the time lingering performance is almost required. Taking a race that gets extra rounds of performance is also very helpful. One common build is a half elf with ancestral arms to get proficiency and go the dervish dance route. DEX to damage on a high DEX character is a huge advantage.

Archery is a pretty feat intense build and you will not have a lot of feats available. You can still use a bow as a ranged weapon without spending any feats on it. You just won’t be as effective as if you spent the feats. You will never be as effective as a full BAB class anyways so that is not a big deal.

[yazo]

Our stats are normally huge so I figured I'd start with 16. I'm not looking to be an archery focused build, I'm a skill character, but I want to be at least somewhat useful in combat but not having to spec for melee as then my build will be MAD, I can use a short bow and dump str.

[Blakmane]

You can't fully dump STR with a shortbow because your damage is still reliant on STR with a composite shortbow.

If you want to totally dump STR you are better off going dervish dancer.

[Mysterious Stranger]

If you have good stats don’t dump STR. You need enough STR to carry your gear. 10-13 is usually fine any lower you may be encumbered with normal gear. The feat Dervish Dance allows you to use DEX to hit and damage with the scimitar. As a bard you will need to be at least 3rd level to pick it up; but once you do you will do fine in melee. You need weapon finesse and 2 ranks in perform dance, and proficiency in scimitar.

Your spells should focus on utility and buffing spells. Heroism is a second level bard spell and is probably the single most useful spell for an archeologist. It stacks with archeologist luck so gives you a huge bonus on combat and skills that last a long time. Pick up fates favored to boost archeologist luck even higher and you will be fine in combat.

[Mysterious Stranger]

Here is a sample build. It has both heroism and archeologist luck activated.

Male half-elf bard (archaeologist) 7 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 32)
NG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +25
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Defense
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AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 45 (7d8+7)
Fort +9, Ref +16, Will +11; +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +2, uncanny dodge; Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 scimitar +15 (1d6+8/18-20)
Ranged mwk composite shortbow +15 (1d6+3/×3)
Special Attacks archaeologist's luck 13 rounds/day (+2)
Bard (Archaeologist) Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +9)
3rd (1/day)—clairaudience/clairvoyance, dispel magic
2nd (4/day)—heroism, invisibility, misdirection, pilfering hand{super}UC{/super}
1st (5/day)—comprehend languages, cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, feather fall, magic mouth (DC 13)
0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, message, read magic, sift{super}APG{/super}
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Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 21, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 22
Feats Dervish Dance[ISWG], Extra Rogue Talent[APG], Lingering Performance[APG], Weapon Finesse
Traits criminal, fate's favored
Skills Acrobatics +16, Appraise +11, Bluff +11, Climb +11, Diplomacy +11, Disable Device +26, Disguise +11, Escape Artist +14, Fly +10, Heal +5, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Knowledge (engineering) +14, Knowledge (geography) +14, Knowledge (history) +14, Knowledge (local) +14, Knowledge (nature) +14, Knowledge (nobility) +14, Knowledge (planes) +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Linguistics +11, Perception +25, Perform (dance) +12, Ride +10, Sense Motive +10, Sleight of Hand +16, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +20, Survival +5, Swim +6, Use Magic Device +15; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Kelish, Osiriani
SQ arcane training, bardic knowledge +3, clever explorer +3, elf blood, lore master 1/day, rogue talents (fast stealth, trap spotter)
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds; Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 scimitar, mwk composite shortbow (+1 Str), amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, eyes of the eagle, handy haversack, ring of protection +1, masterwork thieves' tools, 4,285 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Training +1 CL for spell trigger/completion items for favored class, or use them as if 1st level.
Archaeologist's Luck +2 (13 rounds/day) (Ex) Gain Luck bonus to attack, damage, saves, and all skills.
Bardic Knowledge +3 (Ex) Add +3 to all knowledge skill checks.
Clever Explorer +3 (take 10 & magic traps) (Ex) Half time to use disable device. Can always take 10 & disarm magic traps.
Dervish Dance Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier with scimitar
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.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Fast Stealth (Ex) You may move at full speed while using the Stealth skill without penalty.
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Lingering Performance Bardic Performances last 2 rds after you stop concentrating.
Lore Master (1/day) (Ex) Can take 10 on any trained knowledge checks. Activate to take 20 as a standard action.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Trap Sense +2 (Ex) +2 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trap Spotter (Ex) Whenever you come within 10' of a trap, the GM secretly rolls for you to find it.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.

[Balgin]

yazo wrote:

I don't want bardic performance, even if I had it I wouldn't use it, it doesn't fit his personality. Archeologist sounds good, but again what stats should I prioritize and what size is better? Small or medium. Also is a short bow viable for small characters?

Basically what archaeologist does is it turns the bardic performance into a self buff that doesn't affect allies and isn't a performance. It's greed and self motivation, very Indiana Jones.