Folks, I've got an existing character that I might want to revamp, depending on your input. Not only the build, but tactics and other ideas will all be considered!
We're starting off at level 3 (straight classed) or 2//2 (split). Starting money is 3,000, no items over 1500 gp, and no dipping is allowed - the gestalt paths have to be 1 class. We can have more than 2 classes eventually, but that's a long way off, if ever. We roll for attributes and I got lucky, thus the high stats. I sunk my 2 points into wisdom as both classes draw off that stat, and I can buff my attack bonus more easily than my wisdom with Divine Favor + the Fate's Favored trait, and various Judgements. Lastly, all spontaneous casters get extra spells known based on their intelligence in this campaign world.
Here's what I'm after:
Crowd control and debuffing focused - DPR bores the heck out of me. Pulling people's jerkins up over their head, pushing them off of cliffs, or setting off a dose of smoke bomb in a room full of baddies to let me use my blindfighting feat while they flounder makes me giggle. I'm also a decade-long student of various martial arts, so I like trying to fit what I know can work into the game. The party I'm trying to slot into seems to need some control and buffing (buffing via debuffing, in this case) but I'm trying to avoid the God Wizard role as that's what I usually play and its already covered by another player.
Versatility - we're in a low level, lowish magic game, so skill points and class skills really matter, and we spend time doing intrigue/social stuff at least as often as combat. There's at least 1 rogue that I'll probably be pairing up with along with an Arcanist//Investigator, so I'll probably be their "heavy"/bodyguard on various missions.
I need a character that works now, not 3 levels from now - Waiting for feat chains or items that never arrive only leads to frustration on my part, and we're topping out around 6th level anyway.
We'll be in the city at least part of the time, and the majority of opponents will be humanoid. I'm sadly addicted to feats, mostly because I want to be able to take people's weapons away from them, poke them in the eyes, trip them, grapple them, or toss them into other people like bowling balls. If I could fit in Equipment Trick: Rope, I'd be even more ecstatic. Hogties, whips, and ranged entangles? That sounds like one hell of a Friday night to me! That means I probably have to stay Human, even though the Half Orc probably works better in terms of darkvision, some weapon proficiencies, and saving throws (esp. via the trait I'm already taking).
Here's what I came up with. Domains are open. I had the Conversion inquisition in the old campaign but no longer have to cover the face role - I can be bad cop/enforcer to someone else's good cop instead. I picked the Night subdomain as I liked the free blind fight feat and can envision using it along with a smoke pellet or darkflare, but Tactics, Torture, or Repose caught my eye as well.
I took the Command spell due to high wisdom and will be picking up Blistering Invective at 4th level. Command is largely "ranged combat maneuvers", Litany of Sloth lets me flank or attempt maneuvers without fear of reprisal, and Blistering Invective will let me intimidate similar to the Dazzling Display feat.
This guy was put together before the ACG came out, so there might be a better mousetrap that can be built. Help me make this guy every foe's worst nightmare and every party's dream debuffer/troubleshooter!
Kane
Human inquisitor of Nunya Bidness 2/monk (maneuver master, qinggong monk) 2/gestalt 2 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 58, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 51)
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 untyped bonus)
hp 22 (2d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +7
Defensive Abilities evasion
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +4 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks judgment 1/day, stunning fist (2/day, DC 15)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +6)
At will—detect alignment
Inquisitor Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +6)
1st (3/day)—command (DC 15), divine favor, expeditious retreat, protection from evil
0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light, sift[APG]
Domain Darkness (Night subdomain)
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 19, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +6 (+8 dirty trick, +8 grapple, +8 trip); CMD 21 (23 vs. dirty trick, 23 vs. grapple, 23 vs. trip)
Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Traits bred for war (shoanti), fate's favored
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +5, Climb +7, Escape Artist +7, Heal +8, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +8, Ride +7, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +7, Survival +8, Swim +7
Languages Common, Custom Language, Giant
SQ flurry of maneuvers, monster lore +4, night hunter, stern gaze +1, track +1
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Blind-Fight Re-roll misses because of concealment, other benefits.
Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Fate's Favored Increase luck bonuses by 1.
Flurry of Maneuvers (1 maneuver, -2) (Ex) At 1st level, as part of a full-attack action, a maneuver master can make one additional combat maneuver, regardless of whether the maneuver normally replaces a melee attack or requires a standard action. The maneuver master uses his monk level in pl
Improved Dirty Trick You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when performing a dirty trick.
Improved Grapple You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when grappling a foe.
Improved Trip You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Inquisitor Domain (Night)
Judgment (1/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Monster Lore +4 (Ex) +4 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Night Hunter (1 rounds, 7/day) (Su) Become invisible to all but darkvision in dim light or darkness.
Stunning Fist (DC 15) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
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Figured I'd offer a little more information about the party to see if that helps any.
There's a 2 Synthesist//2 (Primal) Hunter who's built around being a frontliner and cheesing as many evolution points as possible. His synth form is monstrous and not city friendly, so he's probably going to be a summoner when he's in plain clothes.
Another guy's a 2 Arcanist//2 Steelhound Investigator. He's probably playing the controller role.
There's a 3rd Level Rogue (charlatan). Yeah, I know...
There's a 3rd level Healbot cleric.
Lastly, there's a 3rd level Swashbuckler (Musketeer).
Thanks in advance for any advice or insight.
Heck, I'll bump this and see if the weekend crew has something to say.
The domain's definitely up for grabs. Night seemed cool, but regular Darkness, Torture, Repose, or Tactics seems better.
Cheesing my way into grabbing the normally out-of-bounds Wolf Domain would let me pick up Improved Trip, which would net me Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip and Improved Bull Rush along with Ki Throw by level 2. That lets me do almost everything I want with this dude in terms of maneuvers. I can even grab Improved Ki Throw by level 3 if I go that route!
Now that's what I'm talking about, ChainsawSam!
I, too, like the whole Batman thing, and that's why I don't often play martials. Spending a bunch of feats and gold to say, "I power attack" over and over...<shudder>. Being an all-around badass who can pick up feats on the fly? Now that's money.
I checked up on the Lore Warden +2 skills/level thing, and that is going to stack with the other skill points. Its class feature gained through trading out weapon and armor proficiencies. Nice hook!
The Anger inquisition is looking better than Rage to me, since we're probably capping things around 6th level. To tell you the truth, if I can make the Brawler work I might go that route, just so I can start Martially Flexing that much sooner.
I think there's room for a monk archetype or ki pool feature that allows the use of Martial Flexibility as well. I might suggest that as a houserule. We were toying with the idea of letting fighters and rogues get access to Solo Tactics as well...I think Lemmy might even have a homebrew fighter upgrade that does that.
Again, thanks!
Here's a Gestalt build I had a while back focusing on CMB.
Lore Warden Martial Master Fighter 20 || Kensai Magus 1 / Maneuver Master Monk 6 / Invulnerable Rager Barabarian 12 / ___ 1
Kensai Magus was to get free Whip Proficiency and Weapon Focus, as well as access to Spell Combat + True Strike, for when you really want those maneuvers to work. He also gives you a free Enlarge person, which is definitely going to help you as time goes on. Plus, as a Lore Warden, it doesn't hurt to have decent INT.
Maneuver Master Monk is a must, he allows you to add on extra Combat Maneuvers to your attack action, even if they normally require standard actions, making him incredibly useful. Furthermore, he gets you great saves and the ability to add his WIS to any maneuver you call in advance, and doesn't even require ki points, allowing you to do so all the time. Plus you get more free feats, and anybody who attempts a Combat Maneuver you know will provoke even if they normally wouldn't.
Next is the Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager isn't necessary, it's just nice to have the extra DR. If you want to build towards DEX, which I suggest against for the purpose of Combat Maneuvers when combined with Enlarge Person, you can choose Urban instead). He's mainly here for Strength Surge, which is amazing for Combat Maneuvers. You'll need a way to rage cycle, and may run into the problem of Belt of Strength vs Cord of Stubborn Resolve (I'd go with the Cord, IMO). At this level, you can also grab quite a few other useful rage powers, including Superstitous, Spell Sunder, Reckless Abandon, Come and Get Me, and, with enough Extra Rage Power feats, Ultimate Clarity (arguably my new favorite rage power). When it comes down to it, nobody is better than a Barbarian at wrecking things.
With a Fighter as the other side of the Gestalt, you'll never lose BAB. Lore Warden + Martial Mastery Archetypes is arguably superior to Brawler, primarily because you get access to the Lore Warden's CMB boosts as well as "Know Thy Enemy" for another useful boost. The two of them together can add up to a +10 on CMB (+8 if you fail the knowledge check; on all the time). Martial Mastery allows you to take feats you qualify for, allowing you to specialize in any particular Combat Maneuver before you have need of it. Plus, as a Fighter you will be swimming in Combat Feats, allowing you to spend your general feats on more rage powers!
The last non-fighter level can basically be anything, but I am partial to the Lame Oracle, who will allow you to instantly rage cycle without having to use the Cords of Stubborn Resolve.
Altogether, a properly tweaked out build with the relevant items and traits (you want Bred for War and Fate's Favored, basically) should get you a standing CMB of roughly +60 (dear god that special Dueling enchant. Luck bonus = 2x your weapon enhancement on combat maneuvers? Yes please). With Rage, Strength Surge, and a decent WIS bonus, you can get that up to +80 CMB. And thanks to True Strike, you'll be able to automatically trip up even CR 30 nightmares like freaking Cthulu.
You'll even have great saves with this method, netting a +15 Fort, +9 Ref, and +13 Will base save before stats and items. To say nothing of Superstitious or other class methods of increasing your saves (I made this as a dwarf and got the Steel Soul feat, which more than made up for the lack of human FCB on Superstitious).
Literally the only problem with this build is...
You.
Are.
MAD.
As.
F#$%.
STR is most useful for a CMB build, WIS can be added as a bonus on their rolls as well as on AC, DEX helps AC and Initaitve as well as your weak Reflex save. INT helps you with the Lore Warden and gives you more Enlarge Person and True Strike spells to use in Spell Combat. You'll even want some CHA to get an Eldritch Heritage for the Orc/Abyssal Bloodline, and to cast a few Oracle Spells (Divine Favor, anyone?). Do I even need to mention the importance of CON?
But despite all these problems, you'll pretty much be able to do every Combat Maneuver you need to with your whip and defeat the defenses of anyone. Dirty Trick, Trip, Grapple, Disarm, Sunder, all the great Combat Maneuvers are available to you with some decent enough Whip Mastery. Lucifer himself wishes he had your mad skillz.
Thanks for the additional tips, guys!