Join my caravan! Put why would you?


Advice


Hi all. I need help figuring out possible motivations for my players to play non mundane classes. The campaign story at low to mid levels is the PCs being major investors/employees of a relatively small caravan in a region that is ripe with chaos and conflict. There are no wars but the land is raided by men, globins, beasts on top political struggles and so on (High risk high reward zone). But I need to get ideas for why some classes like paladins or clerics would be involved.

I just need a breakdown by whatever class your willing to submit an idea for to get the juices going for my players. Thx in advance


Religious types like to spread the word.
Martial types like the challenge of combat.
Rogue types like to see new marks people, and often must flee tire of old places.
Casters know that magical knowledge is out there is the wild, and one must seek it out.

That said, a caravan is not a viable long term gimmick. Good for a few levels, but soon the PCs outstrip any likely opposition to the caravan. Either you go Kingmaker and establish trade routes into new areas, or you leave it behind as the PCs find new stuff to do.

/cevah


rangers, as guides. Very, very useful for that campaign, it sounds. Druids for the same reason. Guide(archetype) I can totally see being an "employee" while druids, not so much.

Magus is excellent, can do the casting/ fighting thing. But maybe an alchemist is a good option; as an investor, he has a number of ways to make alchemical goods, or witha crafting feat like brew potions, he could be interested in making some serious money selling goods to other adventurers in the region - an easy sell, them healing potions, in a region so rife with banditry and monsters.

Investigators are an excellent choice too: some of the goodies of a rogue, but many of the same qualities of the alchemist. Another hybrid class that allows for casting and fighting, which may be a good sell for people who just *have* to have a sword or a bow.

Inquisitor for the same reason.

As far as motivating players to not play mundane classes -- Versatility, for one. Magus can do the same damage that a pure fighter can do, if not more so in short bursts - but they also have the flexibility to temporarily enchant their own weapons with whatever is needed for a situation. Up against a fire elemental? Enchant your sword with frost damage. Lots of enemies? Bounce around the field of combat with blade rush, while using full attack actions all the while. Need to escape? Jump spell/expeditous retreat/blade rush/obscuring mist/the list goes on.
Investigators are the ultimate skill monkey, right beside bards who can inspire competence on skill checks - but if they're just leery about taking some guy who breaks into song every time you need to sell a block of cheese, I can understand: the investigator is still a good option, because they can use their inpiration ability without singing (lol), basically adding a d6 to any knowledge, linguistics/spellcraft check, or for other skills as well depending on their build. High intelligence, +6 skills per level = more skills than your average rogue.
Again, they get the /level bonus to craft:alchemy, so they could be investors or employees. Poison use. Studied target (very good when put together). Very versatile build options (play ranged, dual wield, single weapon, or none of the above, but overall a good toolkit/support character). And alchemist is brutal in both combat and in his non-combat/support buffing abilities; both thte investigator and alchemist can take "infusion" as a discovery, and hand their extracts to other characters to use at the liesure. Alchmists also get bombs, and if they take precise throwing, they can be doing some pretty nasty AOE damage to enemies without having to worry about hitting allies in a combat. Their bomb damage is pretty nasty, and furthermore, certain archetypes/discoveries allow them to apply bomb damage to ranged weapons, if you prefer a more "alchemist archer" build. Alchemist gunslinger is pretty brutal: touch attacks, plus bullet damage? ouch. One of the highest ranged damage dealers in the game. (for one-shots, at least).

Ranger guide is a new favorite of mine: like other rangers/paldins it's low on casting (levl 4 to start using magic, then up to level 4 spells at endgame), but the ability to designate enemies as a marked target - gaining +2 to attack and damage on them per 4 levels - is really brutal, whether dual wielding or swinging a big blade. Add in their ability to "guide a party" -- essentially making them untrackable in your favored terrains, giving them initiative, stealth, and perception bonuses - and then you add in the ranger spells, like lead blades/gravity bow, and that should be satisfying for anyone sheerly interested in melee/ranged fighting. Sure, you lost the fuzzy critter for taking the archetype, but if your players prefer less fantastical elements in their characters, guide is a solid pick, while still not being purely "mundane".

otherwise, my gods, if they have to be convinced to try out an inquisitor, wizard, sorcerer, or oracle or whatever, and they still don't want to - let em pick their silly mundanes, then throw those hybris/caster classes at them as npcs. Let them see how badly that kensai magus crushes their little fighters and rogues. Or how easily they're outfoxed by a Mastermind Investigator, who not only gathers information/misleads them with diplomacy/bluffs at max, using INT instead of CHa as a bonus... and who knows their every move, but who can deliberately spill misinformation onto the streets - sending them on wild goosechases. And when they're fed up with him, good luck on finding him, his huge diplomacy skill/ +inspiration to diplomacy means they will never know which way he left the city (level 8 investigator, int 18: rolling d20+17+d6 on his checks: they think he's headed to chelliax, while he sits comfortably in his hideout, getting laid/paid).

Or worse, they can see what it's like getting sniped to 25% life in one shot by your NPC Alchemist using the "explosive missile" discovery, deadly aim, the targeted admixture extract (double INT bonus in damage on bomb, to one target) whilst buffed by a +4 to +8 to dexterity from a mutagen and a +4 dex from a Cat's grace elixir. Said level 8 alchemists' targeted admixture/explosive missle: d10(xbow) + 4d6bomb + 8 intelligence (18 int) + 4 deadly aim + whatever ammunition was being used. That's around 30 damage in one hit, so assuming you don't critically hit, it should be enough to concern them, but not enough to balefully kill off one of your players.

Anyway, hope i've helped.

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