Barachûrg |
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Hi, All!
I've got this new PFS skald character, see? Put him through one whole PFS module successfully so far. Kind of new to trying out skald characters myself, although I have played bards in the past, which are cool.
Anyway, I built this fellow, Barachûrg, on the advice of several others on Paizo to a lot more combative than bards could ever be.
Has anyone had cool experiences, or less than cool 'oopsies' to learn from, playing Skalds like that? I like how the Skald can really do a number on foes due to his or her own rage song abilities.
Anyway, if anyone can give me some food for thought on good or bad ideas for combative Skald characters, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
heyyon |
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Half-Orc, Barb 1 / Cavalier 1 / Skald X. Get a Valet Familiar and the Amplified Rage teamwork feat. Enjoy +8 Str and Con and Fast Healing 8 at level 3. Add in Courageous and Furious Weapon. Enjoy +10 Str and Con at level 12; grant the entire party Fast Healing 10. If you're struggling to be awesome with a Str score in the high 20s and a Con score in the low 20s, you're doing something very, very wrong.
SillyGuy |
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There are several ways to get a familiar:
1)Play a class with a bloodline, such as Bloodrager/Sorcerer/Magus with the Eldritch Scion archetype, and choose a Bloodline Familiar instead of the 1st-lvl Bloodline power.
2)Play a Bloodrager with the Aberrant Bloodline, and use the Aberrant Tumor feat to get a Tumor familiar(as the alchemist discovery)
3)Use Skill Focus(Knowledge: Any) and Eldritch Heritage(Arcane) to get the Arcane Bond(Familiar) class feature at your Character level -2(minimum 1)
4)Use Iron Will + Familiar Bond + Improved Familiar Bond to get a Familiar(Familiar Bond/Improved Familiar Bond are feats from the Familiar folio)
5)Play a class that naturally gets a familiar: Witch or Wizard.
In your case, I recommend Bloodrager1/Cavalier1/Skald X and the Bloodline familiar option.
Markov Spiked Chain |
You can skip the Cavalier level too, or replace it with Paladin (Holy Tactician) 3. You miss out on using yet another standard action, 1/day, to up your Rage buff. You might also take the Cavalier level and retrain it later on when Skald casting is more relevant.
I'm building a PFS character along these lines, but don't have much experience to report (just one Emerald Spire level.) Weapon+Bite for a full attack is nice at first level?
I'm looking at something like:
Bloodrager 1 (Blood Conduit for Improved Trip, Celestial Bloodline, Bloodline familiar: Goat)
Skald X(Maybe Fated Champion, maybe not)
Feat order:
Amplified Rage
Skald's Vigor
Improved Familiar (Earth Elemental)
With lesser beast totem, your 4th level Goat familiar has an 18 Str, with a Claw/Claw/Gore +7/1d4+4
At 5th, your Earth Elemental has a 22 Str, with a +8/1d6+15 slam. The elemental gets less from Beast Totem, though (slams and claws probably can't use the same limb, and power attack is lowered when they've got more than one natural attack.) So if you're looking this route you might want a different rage power.
Markov Spiked Chain |
Yeah, the Paladin code is a little rough. If you're not going Paladin, it also opens up Warleader's Rage. This only helps you and your familiar, but could provide a lot of extra freedom.
I should also mention that I was considering Totemic Skald. Bull gives everyone raging with you another +2 Str (enhancement, but meh.)
Markov Spiked Chain |
It also gives you a bonus teamwork feat to take Amplified Rage with, since the build is feat starved at early levels. If you go Cavalier, make sure to take Standard bearer, which swaps out the mount (which you can't use in PFS anyway with the familiar) for a morale bonus on charge attacks.
And, while I'm thinking about it, you also want a Courageous Amulet of Mighty fists, to bump your rage bonus (and thus Fast Healing and odd stats) by 1, and your standard bonus if you go Cav.
Deadkitten |
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What feats are the master performer feats? Ice never heard of those nor do I know what they do.
They are faction feats from the faction guide.
My favorite use of those feats is with the spell warrior archetype for Skald. By level 9 you can make everyone in the party have +4 weapons.
And since you add your rage powers to your raging song, they should count as bonuses for those feats as well. Hello superstition.
Barachûrg |
@Markov: Oh well, you can't have everything!
For my Half-Orc Skald, I have a Cunning Plan. Based not multi-classing, for the first few levels, should he survive that long:
Level 1: Combat Reflexes feat
Level 3: Skald's Vigour feat & Reckless Abandon rage power
Level 5: Power Attack
Level 6: Lesser Spirit Totem or Lesser Beast Totem
Level 7: Cleave feat
Level 9: Surprise Follow-Throw (Half-Orc) feat & Spirit Totem or Beast Totem rage power
Kind of hard to choose rage powers. There are so many to choose from, but you only get them every third level. Still, it can make things interesting.
Deadkitten |
One of the issues that I have found with Skalds is the fact that they are EXtremely feat starved.
You probably want to take extra rage power at least once, mayby twice.
You might even want to take advantage of Skalds vigor and Amplified rage.
It is really hard to pass up Power Attack with the bonuses that you can grant to Strength.
Battle Cry almost seems like a 5th level feat tax.
Honestly there are so many feats a Skald can use for support that they don't really have the room for many feats that affect combat directly. They are fantastic party support and I would almost argue that they surpass the Bard in that regard.
Deadkitten |
There is a 3rd level Skald spell that let's you switch a rage power for another one.
Thee is also a magic item that comes built in with one rage power of your choice as well.
Those might help.
Another option that might help the party out is boosting your DR/-
When you use Raging song, you also grant your allies your DR so you can use stuff like Shoanti War Paint for +1 DR.
There is also a chain shirt in ACG that increases your DR by one as well.
DR 3-5 isn't really much, but when you grant it to your ENTIRE party its not too shabby.
Barachûrg |
I think the Battle Cry feat is kind of redundant for a Skald. Skalds seem pretty cool as party support. And they are much sturdier in battle than normal bards besides. Less of a skill monkey, though.
I was thinking of the DR rage power too. But there aren't that many skald rage power slots. Decisions, decisions!
Barachûrg |
Hadn't thought about masterpieces. I just looked in the latest Additional PFS Resources guide. Of course Pageant of the Peacock is not PFS-legal. Oh well. I'll have a look-see at the other masterpieces and see if there's anything suitable for PFS skalds.
Would be cool to use in non-PFS games, though.
Jodokai |
Half-Orc, Barb 1 / Cavalier 1 / Skald X. Get a Valet Familiar and the Amplified Rage teamwork feat. Enjoy +8 Str and Con and Fast Healing 8 at level 3. Add in Courageous and Furious Weapon. Enjoy +10 Str and Con at level 12; grant the entire party Fast Healing 10. If you're struggling to be awesome with a Str score in the high 20s and a Con score in the low 20s, you're doing something very, very wrong.
Are we sure Fast Healing will be 8? Reading Skald's Vigor, Fast Healing equal to the STR bonus your song provides. The other bonuses aren't technically ones from your song.
heyyon |
Amplified Rage increases the morale bonuses by +4. Courageous increases the morale bonus by 1/2 the weapon bonus. Yes, your raging song gives you a +8-11 bonus to STR. There's not really wiggle room or interpretation, but rules as written it the morale bonus is increased. It's not additional bonuses, but increases to the bonus.
On the negative side, Lesser Celestial Totem specifically calls out fast healing and regeneration and things it does not stack with. That won't work.
Barachûrg |
heyyon wrote:Half-Orc, Barb 1 / Cavalier 1 / Skald X. Get a Valet Familiar and the Amplified Rage teamwork feat. Enjoy +8 Str and Con and Fast Healing 8 at level 3. Add in Courageous and Furious Weapon. Enjoy +10 Str and Con at level 12; grant the entire party Fast Healing 10. If you're struggling to be awesome with a Str score in the high 20s and a Con score in the low 20s, you're doing something very, very wrong.Are we sure Fast Healing will be 8? Reading Skald's Vigor, Fast Healing equal to the STR bonus your song provides. The other bonuses aren't technically ones from your song.
I was looking through rage powers and I couldn't find anything that increases the Strength bonus of a song. But the fast healing the rage song would provide is no small thing, even if it maxes out at +6 at higher levels.
Barachûrg |
Amplified Rage increases the morale bonuses by +4. Courageous increases the morale bonus by 1/2 the weapon bonus. Yes, your raging song gives you a +8-11 bonus to STR. There's not really wiggle room or interpretation, but rules as written it the morale bonus is increased. It's not additional bonuses, but increases to the bonus.
On the negative side, Lesser Celestial Totem specifically calls out fast healing and regeneration and things it does not stack with. That won't work.
But wouldn't the Amplified Rage feat only work if you had another Half-Orc nearby using the same teamwork feat at the same time as you? It is a cool feet, of course, but pretty situational, I would've thought...
Barachûrg |
Lesser Spirit Totem is pretty fun. The hit and damage aren't great, but you get an attack for every raging ally adjacent to an enemy. My spirits landed the killing blow on several enemies.
That's kind of what I was thinking. Each spirit slam doesn't do much damage. But they can sure add up! Just like the bonuses from bards or skalds: it's amazing how often just that extra +1 just barely gets you an extra hit. I had one bard at third level who caused an extra 60 points damage in one prolonged combat from his allies just on account of that.
Of course the Rage Song of the skald does add a lot of cool combat abilities for the Skald and his allies. They sure look cool.
Lastoth |
Another thing that's kind of tempting me here is to access shield other and use share spell to have my familiar cast it on me, so he is the one taking half the damage, this could essentially double the effect of our fast healing.
Is it possible to share spell with the Tales of Twisting Steel masterpiece?
Jodokai |
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But wouldn't the Amplified Rage feat only work if you had another Half-Orc nearby using the same teamwork feat at the same time as you? It is a cool feet, of course, but pretty situational, I would've thought...
If you get a familiar with the Valet archetype, your familiar gets all of your teamwork feats even if they don't qualify for them. Amplified rage simply says "Whenever you are raging and adjacent to a raging [b]ally[/] who also has this feat..." so the two of you would be raging and both would have this feat. The Valet archetype is in the Familiar Folio which isn't PFS legal yet, but probably will be soon... so there is that.
Markov Spiked Chain |
Valet Archetype is in Animal Archive and is PFS legal. It's the Bloodline familiar that's waiting on Additional Resources. So you could do Bloodrager 1/Skald 2 with Tumor Familiar(Valet) and Amplified Rage as your level 1 and 3 feats. But some people interpret the Tumor Familiar's "tiny animal" clause as trumping the Animal Archive "Small familiar" rules, so the familiar won't be that effective.
You can't use Shared Spells to get the familiar to count as the caster of Shield Other. :( I use Imbue with Spell Ability to get that effect, but it doesn't work for Skalds.