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Hey. I am just getting into playing new campaign that is steampunkish in theme. I chose to go with a half-orc Oracle of Metal. I am wanting her to be a reach build warrior, secondary healer type, that likes to craft. I chose some things just for flavor since I am not aiming at optimizing to hard. I will probably be the parties main crafter and I also plan on building golems at later levels to accompany me as bodyguards.
Shae'ura-Drae Tezerakht
Half Orc Female
Alignmnent: Chaotic Neutral
Class/Level: Oracle of Metal-3
Her stats as she sits are
Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 13
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Cha: 16
I chose the Oracles Curse as Tongues (Celestial)
This is my feat progression I have planned and I already have up to level 3 chosen.
Shae'ura-Drae's Feat / Mystery Progression by level:
1st: Feat- Extra Revelation (Iron Weapon) / Revelation- Skill at Arms
3rd: Feat- Power Attack / Revelation- Steel Scarf
5th: Feat- Pushing Assault
7th: Feat- Craft Wondrous Item / Revelation- Rusting Grasp
9th: Feat- Craft Magic Arms and Armor
11th: Feat- Divine Protection (Pre-req Kn. Religion 5 ranks) / Revelation- Iron Skin
13th: Feat- Craft Construct
15th: Feat- Furious Focus / Revelation- Iron Constitution
17th: Feat- Lunge
19th: Feat- Combat Reflexes / Revelation- Vision in Iron or Armor Mastery
Extra Revalation (Iron Weapon) was mainly a choice of flavor and versatility. Skill at Arms was mainly for the use of Heavy Armor Prof. Power Attack was a must. Steel Scarf I chose just because since I have poop Dex I figured a 30 ft melee attack wasn't a bad choice.
One question I did have was...Does the Steel Scarf revelation add Str to damage since it is a melee attack?
Also I would love any tips and pointers for my feat progression and good spells of choice. My DM has given everyone the option of changing anything about our characters before next session. I definitely want to stay with Oracle of Metal because it matches the Steampunk-ish Theme of the campaign. Any help would be nice. TY!
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A big weakness of reach builds is their blind spot at 5 feet. As a half-orc you have a racial trait that can negate that weakness: Toothy. If a caster 5-foot steps past your reach weapon and starts casting, you can bite them, likely interrupting the attack. The damage and to-hit will taper off as you level up, but at low levels it can really screw with GM tactics to try and counter reach.
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@ Just: Yes I had debated that but I really don't want to give up my Str since I really want to be a strongarm. Also I don't want to get rid of Cha because the steampunk style of the campaign limits alot of the magical item accessibility that I would really need to get my str and cha back up to par. I also plan on going pure Oracle so I would be afraid to dump charisma to low.
@ Ms.: I had debated the toothy racial trait but chose not to go with it. I was aiming to have her more "human" than orc in terms of physical characteristics. I Counteracted the weakness of reach by purchasing Masterwork Spiked Banded Mail and she also has gauntlets for attacking at close range.
I am sure I will have to find a way to pump dex and possibly take Combat Reflexes earlier than I had planned. Pushing Assault with my gauntlets and armor spikes will be nice for getting foes out of my adjacent squares and back into reach range.
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Well after looking over Fate's Favored as good as it is I decided against it. I would have to give up one of my other two traits which are essential to the flavor of Shae'ura-Drae. If my gm allowed a drawback it would definitely be one on the list of choices I would go for but he doesn't allow the drawback traits.
This is probably the best I will be able to accomplish with her and keep from completely optimizing/min-maxing.
I am still open for suggestions though and if anyone can answer my orignal question about the Steel Scarf revelation that would be great!
Keep in mind Fate's Favored would also improve a Jingasa of the Fotunate Soldier (great for anyone in melee) and the Divine Favor Spell. I understand though, I find it hard to take that trait over others often.
I also have a metal oracle, and noticed that there aren't a lot of great revelations (though I'm in PFS, so it's a different perspective). You could probably do with just one of Iron Weapon/Skill at Arms. I do like the flavor of Iron Weapon, and chose that for myself. Take a look at Dance of Blades. The speed boost would be useful even if you stayed in heavy armor, and the blur-shield seems fun, even if only when you have a spare move action.
I've recently been looking into a reach build for my oracle (still level 1), and if you're going for AoOs you should get combat reflexes early (probably switch out a revelation at level 1 or 3), especially with that low initiative score. If you want to keep your Str and Cha, you could switch your Dex and Con, and boost Dex to 14 at level 4. That avoids a negative Int/Wis. A Con of 12 is survivable if you have extra defenses (like Ironskin) or buffs like Bear's Endurance or a +Con belt. You could also consider switching out heavy armor for a breastplate with that Dex.
I'm unsure about Steel Scarf. I never considered adding Str to the damage, but I had a similar thought of using it for ranged maneuvers when needed.
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Alright ladies and gents. I have gone through and reworked some things. I talked to my gm and he apparently never said we could not take "drawbacks" but he did limit it to one drawback for one trait (which I think is standard but not sure really). After reworking Shae'ura-Drae I ended up with the following.
Name: Shae'ura-Drae Tezerakht
Class/Level: Oracle of Metal-3
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Race: Half-Orc
Sex: Female
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 16
Alt. Racial Traits:
Sacred Tattoo
City-Raised (To stick with the Steampunk aspect)
Traits:
Battlefield Surgeon (Religion)
Finding Your Kin (Legacy of Fire/Campaign)
Fate's Favored (Faith)
Drawback:
Warded Against Nature
Shae'ura-Drae's Feat / Mystery Progression / Attribute Increase by Level:
1st: Feat- Combat Reflexes / Revelation- Skill at Arms
3rd: Feat- Power Attack / Revelation- Steel Scarf
4th: +1 Dexterity
5th: Feat- Pushing Assault
7th: Feat- Craft Wondrous Item / Revelation- Rusting Grasp
8th: +1 Strength
9th: Feat- Craft Magic Arms and Armor
11th: Feat- Extra Revelation (Iron Weapon) / Revelation- Iron Skin
12th: +1 Strength
13th: Feat- Craft Construct
15th: Feat- Divine Protection (Pre-req Kn. Religion 5 ranks)/ Revelation- Iron Constitution
16th: +1 Charisma
17th: Feat- Lunge
19th: Feat- Furious Focus / Revelation- Vision in Iron, Armor Mastery, or One of the Two not chosen at 3rd.
20th: +1 Charisma
Armor: Masterwork Banded Mail w/ Armor Spikes
(Working towards Masterwork O-yoroi w/ Mwk Armor Spikes)
Weapons:
Tri-Point Double Edged Sword (Because it just sounded awesome)
^^^Working on crafting a Masterwork TPDES^^^
Spiked Gauntlets (Backup/Non-Reach)
Nine-Ringed Broadsword (Backup/Non-Reach)
I know the Tri-Point Double Edged Sword is not an optimal choice but its nice none-the-less AND my GM has a house rule that allows a Nat 20 to negate confirmation rolls (AKA: Autoconfirm). I am debating taking Naginata in the long run just to take advantage of this! :D
Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I believe though "sub-optimal" Shae'ura-Drae will be a blast to play and efficient among the sub-optimal party I am running with.