How do I make Lars in Pathfinder?


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Video

How would I mimic this real person's abilities with PF mechanics?


No idea...but DARN! That is one awesome archer!


Zen archer monk? Or an archery-focused fighter?

That guy is freakin' awesome (!!!!1!!1!eleven!!!) but a lot of his cool stuff wouldn't be mechanical. There's no accounting for the different position of his arrows in the bow or whether he's using the left or the right hand to shoot in PF. You could RP the heck out of that stuff though.


I didn't watch the video--is this the Danish guy that shoots lots of arrows super fast by holding multiple arrows in his hand at a time? He's pretty awesome.

If that's the case, you'd make him by...being a normal Pathfinder archer.

At level 6, a full BAB character with Manyshot and Rapid Shot can fire four arrows in 6 seconds. That's pretty ridiculous.

A level 16 character with full BAB, Manyshot, Rapid Shot, Snap Shot, Combat Reflexes, and a +8 Dex (not unreasonable) can theoretically shoot 15 arrows in 6 seconds.

If you're looking to duplicate that one trick he does where he shoots incoming arrows out of the air, though, you'd need to be a Toxophilite Ranger.


The only reason why his cool stuff wouldn't be mechanical is because it would already take a powerful fighting method and drive it over the top.

Otherwise, it's something that could be translated into mechanics.

The Exchange

You can't is the proper answer....even fantasy RPGs see archery as a stand still and shoot with a quiver of arrows type of combat style. I think 5E has a better chance of getting close though with movement being something that can be broken up any way you want with attacks spaced within the movement wherever you wish.

Silver Crusade

Yeah wow, this guy is sex.

And yeah, basically straight Zen/Fighter/Etc here, but the flavor for it would be heavily changed. You couldn't make someone who fired arrows that efficiently until high levels, which this guy certainly qualifies for.

Grand Lodge

N. Jolly wrote:
Yeah wow, this guy is sex.

Lock up yo' daughters, lock up yo' wives! Cuz' here comes Larz!

To the OP: Zen Archer Monk with Snatch Arrows, Shot On The Run, and Spider Step


Can you make an Archer as good as Lars who would also not be able to survive falling out of a plane while drinking gallons of cyanide?


Lars is basically displaying the Mounted Archery feat, Shot on the Run, Rapid Shot, Snatch Arrows...

He's basically an Archer Fighter with a bunch of levels:

Race Point-Blank Shot
CL1 Rapid Shot
Ftr1 Precise Shot
Ftr2 Mounted Combat
CL3 Mounted Archery
Ftr4 Dodge
CL5 Mobility
Ftr6 Deadly Aim OR Manyshot
CL7 Shot on the Run
Ftr8 Improved Unarmed Strike
CL9 Deflect Arrows
Ftr10 Snatch Arrow

He performs a Ranged Sunder against another arrow as a Held Action in the video as well, which is the Archer's level 3 ability, Trick Shot.

In order to perform Lars's stunts with any level of assurance that he does, you basically have to be a lv10 or lv11 character.

His HP is probably, like most people, not actual HP, but Wounds & Vigor, so he only has a gauge of "life" equal to his Con, which is realistically only 8-14.

---

Alternatively, he could actually be one of the strangest Brawler builds I've ever seen:

Race Point-Blank Shot
CL1 Rapid Shot
Brwl1 Improved Unarmed Strike
Brwl2 Dodge
CL3 Mobility
CL5 Mounted Combat
Brwl5 Deflect Arrows
CL7 Mounted Archery
Brwl8 Snatch Arrows

At only lv8, he would be able to gain 2 Combat Feats with Martial Flexibility, thus allowing him to do several tricks at levels lower than CL10 or 11.

He gains combinations of Deadly Aim, Manyshot, Precise Shot, Improved Precise Shot, Shot on the Run, etc. while using Flexibility.

---

Then AGAIN, he COULD be a hybrid Archer/Brawler:

Race Point-Blank Shot
CL1 Rapid Shot
Ftr1 Precise Shot
Ftr2 Mounted Combat
CL3 Mounted Archery
Brwl1 Improved Unarmed Strike
CL5 Deflect Arrows
Brwl2 Dodge
CL7 Mobility
Brwl5 Snatch Arrows
CL9 Deadly Aim

This would give him access to Martial Flexibility with 2 Combat Feats at CL9, thus allowing him to do some random tricks here and there (Manyshot, Shot on the Run, Far Shot, etc.) without having to permanently sink a Feat into them, while also keeping the ability to perform a Ranged Sunder which he is shown to have done.


Never take mounted combat feats for archery, they're terrible and don't justify the loss of the feat.

The only thing this guy is doing is putting a lot of arrows in the air. A Sohei archer can technically stack flurry with rapid shot and multishot to get the greatest number arrows out. I don't even think the sohei mounted combat feats replace the monk feat list, just augment them.

The only other thing you can do to fire more arrows is take the improved snapshot like with combat reflexes, but it's hard to afford on the monk feat budget.

The monk has a jump off at 8th when he gets his second flurry attack, waiting out the third at 15th is probably not worth it. I would say you stack any full BAB type after that (fighter being obvious to make up for a lack of feats). Optionally take a level of empyrial sorcerer and go eldritch knight (assuming you build in an early entry for it) for the buffs and a couple extra feats.

Sample:

Monk1 PBS, Combat Reflexes, Precise Shot
Monk2 Deflect Arrows
Monk3 Rapid Shot
Monk4
Monk5 Deadly Aim
Monk6 Any Monk Feat (probably deflect arrows here)
Monk7 Weapon Focus
Monk8
Fighter1 Manyshot, Weapon Focus
Fighter2 Snapshot
Fighter3 Improved Snapshot
Fighter4 Weapon Specilization
Fighter5 Improved Precise Shot
Fighter6 Point Blank Master


The problem with that idea is that he's taking big penalties to attack with that method. Lars hits with serious accuracy.

A lv6 Fighter or Brawler gets +4/+4/-1 to attack with 3 arrows

A lv6 Sohei gets +2/+2/+2/-3, which is pretty unremarkable.

Add to it that he has Snatch Arrows, Shot on the Run, as well as the fact that you're missing that Lars hits an arrow with another arrow in mid-air (that's Ranged Sunder that only an Archer Fighter can pull off), and it's pretty obvious that a Sohei or even Zen Archer isn't what Lars would qualify as.

Archer Fighter gives him all the bonuses that would allow someone to fire as many arrows as Lars does with the level of extreme accuracy he does, along with the shear number of feats he has access to.

A Sohei would put a lot of arrows in the air, but not many would stick.


Your example is a flat 10% lower chance to hit, shooting 25% more often. Thank you for agreeing with me and illustrating my point :-)

Also, obviously my fighter levels can be archer fighter levels as well. No loss of functionality there. The archer fighter can't use gloves of dueling, but the sohei can, this makes up for much of the lost attack progression. I can't see the drawback to diversifying.

Silver Crusade

Just being an ordinary ranger means you're way better than him.


That guy is phenomenal.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

Lars hits AC 10 with serious accuracy, and gets as many takes as he needs to shoot arrows out of the air.

He's basically shooting things at short range that have no armor class. He's not high level. He's basically using a better version of rapid fire with a short bow while giving up his Str bonus to damage.

==Aelryinth


^
Do you mean AC 10 for a medium target? If so, that would be an AC of 5 for being immobile (dex score of 0)

I agree that he is not high level or even close to it.

He doesn't have deflect/snatch arrows because that means he can deflect/ catch bullets.

The game doesn't account for realism in the fire rate of anything, which is why you can only fire a semiautomatic firearm 3 times max in 1 round at low levels.

He doesn't need shot on the run. It's just a 5 ft. step or using a move action and then attacking.

If he were high level, then he can easily out damage someone that is skilled in using a rocket launcher.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Marroar Gellantara wrote:

Video

How would I mimic this real person's abilities with PF mechanics?

What you need to do is define those abilities in PF terms. The only relevant translations are his rate of fire and the fact that he moves as he shots. Also keep in mind that his stunts aren't involving real combat.

If I'm not mistaken there is a feat callled Shot On the Run?

As for his rate of fire... you'e already got the tools in game.


Wow, so many experts showing up to explain why this guy is terrible. Too bad they're not contributing to the conversation.

After some consideration if you want to replicate the movement and firing you'd need to go mobile fighter. You can get a full move off and take a full attack action for the cost of your first shot after 11th. Mobility isn't typically needed as much for archers, but if you're trying to replicate the mobility this might be best.

If you were okay with a mount then there are a ton of ways to get that done, and you don't need to invest any feats into mounted archery. Mounted archery in PF is pretty OP.

I still think the sohei/fighter I posted above is best for rate of fire though, and if you were getting to level 19 you could have both the sohei rate of fire coupled with the mobile fighters mobility. Technically stacking weapon training on top of the mobile fighters weapon training replacement ability is possible too.


Lastoth wrote:

Wow, so many experts showing up to explain why this guy is terrible. Too bad they're not contributing to the conversation.

After some consideration if you want to replicate the movement and firing you'd need to go mobile fighter. You can get a full move off and take a full attack action for the cost of your first shot after 11th. Mobility isn't typically needed as much for archers, but if you're trying to replicate the mobility this might be best.

If you were okay with a mount then there are a ton of ways to get that done, and you don't need to invest any feats into mounted archery. Mounted archery in PF is pretty OP.

I still think the sohei/fighter I posted above is best for rate of fire though, and if you were getting to level 19 you could have both the sohei rate of fire coupled with the mobile fighters mobility. Technically stacking weapon training on top of the mobile fighters weapon training replacement ability is possible too.

Who is saying he's terrible? I haven't seen any posts saying he's terrible. All people are saying is that high level characters are supposed to go above and beyond what is normal humans can get, so people are trying to build his character with as low a leve as possible in order to keep that perception.

They're also saying that he wouldn't have certain feats due to the things a feat can do. He may be able to snatch an arrow, but the Catch Arrow feat also allows you to catch bullets. Since he can't do that, he doesn't have the feat.

The main issue I see with qualifying him as a 19th level character is the lack of hit points. Any 19th level character can take a gunshot to the chest, shrug it off and keep going at 100% capacity. I highly doubt that Lars or any other human here on Earth can. This is part of the inherent problem with translating real people into pathfinder characters


bookrat wrote:
The main issue I see with qualifying him as a 19th level character is the lack of hit points. Any 19th level character can take a gunshot to the chest, shrug it off and keep going at 100% capacity. I highly doubt that Lars or any other human here on Earth can. This is part of the inherent problem with translating real people into pathfinder characters

I keep saying this, and yet people keep ignoring it:

Even Paizo says that HP =/= real health, and is not the preferred system for "realistic" health; it's just the simplest system.

Wounds & Vigor are much closer to actual "health" - Wounds being your "real" HP, and Vigor being an abstract of your stamina & ability to dodge attacks before actually getting hit, and Crits still get through in part.

So realistically, Lars only has 8-16 Wounds, which is just about in-line with most humans, and helps to explain the discrepancy.

I'm still putting him at anywhere from lv8 to lv11, which is a lot higher than a lot of players will say normal humans go (which I completely disagree with for a number of reasons).


chbgraphicarts wrote:
bookrat wrote:
The main issue I see with qualifying him as a 19th level character is the lack of hit points. Any 19th level character can take a gunshot to the chest, shrug it off and keep going at 100% capacity. I highly doubt that Lars or any other human here on Earth can. This is part of the inherent problem with translating real people into pathfinder characters

I keep saying this, and yet people keep ignoring it:

Even Paizo says that HP =/= real health, and is not the preferred system for "realistic" health; it's just the simplest system.

Wounds & Vigor are much closer to actual "health" - Wounds being your "real" HP, and Vigor being an abstract of your stamina & ability to dodge attacks before actually getting hit, and Crits still get through in part.

So realistically, Lars only has 8-16 Wounds, which is just about in-line with most humans, and helps to explain the discrepancy.

I'm still putting him at anywhere from lv8 to lv11, which is a lot higher than a lot of players will say normal humans go (which I completely disagree with for a number of reasons).

Even if you use this system, this doesn't stop a 19th level PC class (which someone else put him at above) from being superhuman. Wound points are a bit difficult to damage directly and still have to deal with a ton of vitality points at that level.

The wound point system still has to deal with PCs being bitten, chewed, and swallowed by giant creatures, for example. Which, at that level, he would easily be able to survive and cut his way out to continue the battle.

I wouldn't put him in the 8 - 11 level range (CR 7-10) because it means he's about as threatening as a 30+ ft. tall elemental or be able to take on multiple creatures like pards and quicklings (creatures fast enough to become a blur or even phase through things and set them on fire).

Sorry, I just don't see him being higher than 3rd level.


chbgraphicarts wrote:
bookrat wrote:
The main issue I see with qualifying him as a 19th level character is the lack of hit points. Any 19th level character can take a gunshot to the chest, shrug it off and keep going at 100% capacity. I highly doubt that Lars or any other human here on Earth can. This is part of the inherent problem with translating real people into pathfinder characters

I keep saying this, and yet people keep ignoring it:

Even Paizo says that HP =/= real health, and is not the preferred system for "realistic" health; it's just the simplest system.

Wounds & Vigor are much closer to actual "health" - Wounds being your "real" HP, and Vigor being an abstract of your stamina & ability to dodge attacks before actually getting hit, and Crits still get through in part.

So realistically, Lars only has 8-16 Wounds, which is just about in-line with most humans, and helps to explain the discrepancy.

I'm still putting him at anywhere from lv8 to lv11, which is a lot higher than a lot of players will say normal humans go (which I completely disagree with for a number of reasons).

I'm curious as to why you don't agree with the level 6-8 max for people on earth. However, since I realize that such a conversation will take us far off topic, can you instead link to a thread where you (or someone else with whom you feel accuratey represents your objections) have argued against it?


I suggest an illusionist to mimic the power of video editing.

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