PFS- What to do with a Wayang Magus?


Advice

Owner - October Country Comics, LLC.

As the title says. I'm making a Wayang Magus and i'm kinda stumped on where to go and what to do with him.

I want him to be a shadowy and stealthy sort. Capable in melee for when i want to get my stab on but still useful in other ways, like adding some form of battlefield/melee control.

I'm torn between Kensai and Hexcrafter but leaning towards Hexcrafter. I don't plan to do any hair tricks though. Kensai would be better with the stats matching up and i could MC into Swashy for the Fencing/Slashing grace but i'm up in the air on this.

Any feedback would be helpful and appreciated. The only thing i won't change is the race. Kinda digging on these creepy little buggers.

Grand Lodge

Well, if you want battle field control, I would actually suggest arcanist. More/better spells for that kinda role.

On to Magus, which wayang is an awesome race for, I would go with a Rapier, fencing grace at 3rd (kensai) and learning reduce person/drinking potions of it, +2 to hit and same damage. Could also do Blackblade, they are fun, but I do not know if it is something you enjoy.

Picking up the flamboyant arcana can really offset the size issue in the weapon.

Owner - October Country Comics, LLC.

This is what i've done so far but it's mutable.

Spoiler:

Wendel Drayang
Male wayang magus (bladebound, hexcrafter) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 210, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 9, 47, 48)
CN Small humanoid (wayang)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2; +2 vs. shadow spells
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee cestus +4 (1d3+3/19-20) or
. . gladius +4 (1d4+3/19-20) or
. . scimitar +4 (1d4+3/18-20) or
. . unarmed strike +4 (1d2+3 nonlethal)
Special Attacks arcane pool (+1, 3 points), spell combat
Magus (Bladebound, Hexcrafter) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1st—color spray (DC 13), ray of enfeeblement (DC 13)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, disrupt undead
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Combat Casting
Traits seeker, wayang spell hunter
Skills Acrobatics +1 (-3 to jump), Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Perception +7, Profession (scribe) +4, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Stealth
Languages Aklo, Common, Shadowtongue, Wayang
SQ dissolution’s child, hex arcana, light and dark
Combat Gear scroll of comprehend languages, scroll of shield, scroll of shield; Other Gear studded leather, cestus, gladius, scimitar, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, blotter (0.2 lb), flint and steel, inkpen, knife for cutting quills into pens (0.5 lb), pen nibs, pigment for making ink (0.2 lb), ruler, small (0.1 lb), scroll case, spell component pouch, spellbook, trail rations (4), vial, waterskin, 4 gp, 9 sp
--------------------
Tracked Resources
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Arcane Pool +1 (3/day) (Su) - 0/3
Dissolution’s Child (1 round, 1/day) (Su) - 0/1
Light and Dark (1/day) (Su) - 0/1
Trail rations - 0/4
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Pool +1 (3/day) (Su) Infuse own power into a held weapon, granting enhancement bonus or selected item powers.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Dissolution’s Child (1 round, 1/day) (Su) Assume the appearance of a shadow, as invisibilty.
Hex Arcana You can substitute Hexes for Magus Arcana.
Light and Dark (1/day) (Su) As an imm action, treat positive/negative energy as if undead for 1 min.
Shadow Resistance +2 on saves vs shadow spells.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Wayang Spell Hunter (Shocking Grasp) Reduce spell level increase from metamagic for chosen spell by 1.

Grand Lodge

I'm thinking about one flying around on a Mauler Hawk familiar.

That's about as far as I've gotten. ;)

I'm flipflopping between Beastblade (level 4 familiar holding a charge while you're casting), Kensai (fencing grace, maybe whip?), Hexcrafter (Str build?,) or Inspired Blade Swashbuckler 1/any of the above, You can't fly around until 3, though. :(

Maybe Wild Child Brawler at 1st for an Eagle, then retrain at Magus 3?

In principle, flying 10-15' up with Long Arm, Improved Whip Mastery, and Comabt Reflexes is a lot of battlefield control and Spell Combat range.

Grand Lodge

I would avoid the whip, and combat manuevers in general on a Wayang. The damage is abyssmal and the penalty to your CMB does not help either.

It could work, but I do suggest switching to Tiefling or Elf for whip build.

That said, a flying mauler familiar is a good choice for some fun.

Also, on a side note, flying up and using the whip *should* reduce your battle field control, not increase it. If you are 15ft up, there is only 1 square you can hit, 10ft (with IWM) means only 1 square you threaten. If you are going whip, stay on the ground.

*Pathfinder does not do 3d combat very well

Grand Lodge

Not sure what you mean Dafydd. Do you know of some rule that diagonals are counted differently in 3D?

If you're 10' up (two squares between you and the ground) you should threaten the 9 squares on the ground below you with a 10' reach weapon, and be able to attack the 16 squares around that with the 15' from whip, right? You're still out of reach of medium creatures with normal weapons.

With Long Arm, you can be 15' up threatening the same area, or at the same height locking down a 25' wide area (with no dead zone.)

Grand Lodge

Well, here is where that asterisk comes in. The third dimension is not well represented in the game.

However, applying real world logic to suplement the lack of written rules on this topic, you get the following.

If you can hit any square in a 15ft radius of a circle, you can also hit any cube in a 15ft radius sphere. As such, if you are 15ft up, there is only 1 cube you can hit.

Now, long arm changes the size a bit. However, you will wanna do the math yourself. I have not myself, so maybe your numbers are right. Still, if you are threateneing an area that large, with the ability to trip (as well as entangle and fatigue, yes Rime Frostbite is my magus go to) you do not need to spend additional resources on flight, imo.

Liberty's Edge

Dafydd wrote:
On to Magus, which wayang is an awesome race for, I would go with a Rapier, fencing grace at 3rd (kensai) and learning reduce person/drinking potions of it, +2 to hit and same damage.

Reduce person also makes you tiny, which means having to enter a creatures square to attack, and drawing an AO in the process, or using lunge or a reach weapon to attack from a square away. Alter Self is a much better spell for this, you get to remain small with a +2 dex bonus and can probably pick up a natural attack, or swim speed or such in the process. Of course what you really want is elemental body to turn into a small air elemental, but that won't happen til about level 10 or so.

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