Hi!
I’ve been invited to an Extinction Curse game that is going to start the next weekend, and the GM is actually a player of mine that decided to take a shot at GMing. Knowing of my interest over some of the evil deities of Golarion, he actually trusted me to play as a follower of one, as long as my character concept doesn’t clash with the adventure’s premise.
I’ve always liked Norgorber, and I remember trying to build a cleric of his over the first edition of Pathfinder and not being able to work it out. I decided to give it a shot again, and I guess that I’m invested already in the idea, but uhm...I feel like I’m not being able to make it come together.
I haven’t decided on a lot of specifics about my character herself, for now, but I would like for her to:
— Wield a short sword as her main weapon: I’m unfortunately the kind of person that really likes to use their deity’s favored weapon, no matter how not ideal they are. Shout out to my champion of Shelyn.
— Have a strong, mysterious presence: That’s mostly roleplay, but it would be nice to have some mechanical aspect backing this up in some form. I’d say that having a good deception and intimidation does the trick, right?
— Be able to be sneaky, and have some religious knowledge.
Follow the Reaper of Reputations: Yeah yeah, I know, the most morally gray.
Lean into his edicts and anathema.
So, after a loooot of reading,I’ve come up with two main options, that kinda break down in more, different options: I can either play as an actual Cleric, or pretend to be one.
As for being a Cleric:
— Cloist. Cleric feels like a good option, even if the most that I’m going to do with the short sword is look threateningly from a very safe distance. I’ve entertained the idea of MCing into an evil champion but hmmm, I don’t know. I don’t feel like followers of Norgorber would run around in anything more than light armor. Though really, a cleric of Norgorber would probably not want to look like a cleric of Norgorber.
— Warpriest. This would help me staying on the front but uhmmm… Idk. People say that the warpriest tends to fall behind later on.
— Rogue(Eldritch Trickster: Cleric). I wouldn’t have a lot of spells, though I could probably pull off being in the front. Also tons of skills, which seems in line with a Norgorberite. Also if I pick Wis as my class’s main ability I’d have like a huge perception, and be the bestest of doctors: and I guess that having that kind of anatomic knowledge can be thematic for a follower of Norgorber.
The biggest problem with any of these choices is that the build is so MAD. If we go with something like 12 str, 14 dex, 10 con, 10 int, 18 wis and 14 cha, then we’d be great at spell stuff and some very useful skills, but considering that the divine list is not the best for offense and that Norgorber’s domains also lean into the sneaky stuff instead of damage, I am low key fearing if going 18 wis is even that smart. Going Eldritch Trickster would help offset the 14 cha for example for some of the skills thanks to the obscene amount of skills that rogues get, so that’s cool!
Now, if I don’t go Cleric and just play pretend at being a Cleric…
— Scoundrel Rogue: It would make a nice debuffer, leaning into the presence thing too.
— Divine Sorcerer: Having CHA as a main attribute is nice for this, though she would be squishy I guess.
— Thief Rogue: Having a -1 in social skills vs being able to perform super well in melee combat is not something that should be ignored.
A-NY-WAYS.
Since I spent way too much time in this and also because I also think that I’m bad at character creation, I’ve come to the forum with a plight for help. Do you guys have any suggestions, preferences? I, like, don’t. Like, I really don’t, and that’s probably why I’m having such a hard time deciding this lol. Feel free to recommend anything that I haven’t considered before, including thematic feats, archetypes that fit, etc. I just want her to feel both thematic and like, useful.
Thanks in beforehand!
Would you be adverse to playing a Champion again? Champions get Legendary in all armor types, not just heavy, so you can freely start with dex 18 and wear light armor. If you hadn't mentioned that you've already played the class that would be my easy recommendation.
If that's off the table... Probably the best thing would be to play a full caster cleric and just treat the shortsword as an accessory. You're gonna have to give up something somewhere if you're not playing a Champion.
Cloister with Posioner Dedication seems like the obvious choice here. I'd go Dex/Wis
Scoundred Rogue / Posioner (Norgorber would probably approve of Feints) also works fine.
No reason a champion couldn't be unarmored, just pump Dex. Desecrator as your are not going to shout at people to kneel. And again, Posioner.
Lore Oracle is another angle.
So, if you want to lean into a character who's mysterious and deceptive while magically supporting their party, huh? I think a bard might be a good fit for what you have in mind. Their focus on Charisma will be a boon with your deception rolls, they start proficient with short swords, and Norgorber sounds like the kind of deity that might inspire a darker-leaning bard with the Enigma muse.
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I'm a little unsure of the mechanical strength of it, but I was fiddling with a similar concept. I have been drawn to a NE champion of Norgorber. With the ability of a champion to get blade ally and apply the effects of shifting, my mind was amused by shifting a dagger of venom into a shortsword of venom. That plus the increased die size would put it at a d8. I thought it would be fun.
It would be fun to be a cloistered cleric of Norgrupper with the dandy archetype. Be a support character. Prioritize wisdom, charisma, intelligence and dexterity. Make sure to be trained in society, stealth, deception, and diplomacy. Pretend to be a cleric of Calistra. Carry a whip, but do only 'threaten' people with it in a playful, perhaps enticing way. Use Dr. Frank-N-Furter, for 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' as an inspiration for the cover persona. It would work both as a cleric of Norgruber (the reaper of reputations), and as a circus character.
I really like the idea of a Thief Rogue multiclassing into Cleric.
You get to use a shortsword. MC plus one more feat gets you Sudden Shift which is great. You can always go further into Cleric should you choose.
You’ll have enough Wisdom to help out Treating Wounds which always makes you a party favorite.
High DEX goes well with the circus theme.
Thief Rogue is an excellent striker so you have a solid role in the party. Thief Rogue also has quality AC, you aren’t a tank by any stretch but you’re no slouch.