Yay. Also, if we talked about how to do HP, I missed it...
average? roll? better of either? roll half + half?
Otherwise:
+ Spells
+ 2 Reflex
+ Weapon Finesse(yay)
+ Trapfinding
+ 1 on all skills already having ranks, except:
Profession(Waitress) instead of Linguistics
Knowledge(Local) instead of Stealth
Yay. Also, if we talked about how to do HP, I missed it...
average? roll? better of either? roll half + half?
I hadn't even thought about it honestly. Let's go with the better of a roll or 1/2+1.
heh. Of course.
I got an Orison and the ability to cast Disguise Self twice a day!
Everyone's very impressed, I can tell
Cleric 2
:-)
+1 BAB.
+1 Fort & Will.
1 0th
1 1st
3 Skill Points
-_-
yay. so, 5 it is.
Now, it's probably true this thing is here longer than Yuki is old...but do I know anything?
I mean, it's got my family name on there. Did Father ever mention anything? Yuki was interested in her ancestors and family heritage, so...just wondering - I'm fine if it's all news to her, just making sure so I can react accordingly-
It's certainly older than Yuki, or for that matter Ameiko. The trees growing around it are older than either of you. Since the ship could not be positioned where it is without being airlifted into place (otherwise the trees would have been destroyed) the ship has been there minimally longer than the trees' ages.
The Glassworks has (and still does although Yuki's family no longer owns it) shipped glasswares extensively. But this has always been as cargo on the ships that travel the Steaming Sea's trade routes. Yuki has never heard anything that would suggest the Kaijitsu family ever owned any ships themselves.
Understood!
One more question: Would our new abilities from levelling be "ready" or will we have to rest to make use of them? Specifically wondering about spellcasting abilities...
Also, Yuki would 'magically' get her spellbook with the initial spells and stuff...I think it would be more flavorful to find it in the wreck :)
No idea if the ship is in some way related to her family or if it's really just a coincidence, but considering it's a RPG adventure I'm going on a limb here and say there's likely some kind of connection. ;)
We can split the difference. The new level is effective immediately. Since we're not using XP I can always position advancement to take place at a sensible time. But Yuki can find her spellbook, which is an idea I also like. I have just the place for it too. It's not in this wreck, but you won't have to wait long.
*pokes*
You lazy bunch.
Talene and me posted.
I know Puca is active in Ironfang Invasion.
I know alternate Inari is active in Reign of Winter.
Last discussion here October 6th, last gameplay post 11th, of December.
We can do better :P
I'm still here. Thank you for the bump. Somehow I wasn't getting notifications in the gameplay thread.
I am here, just hanging on these days.
Well, GM is, technically, also active. Guess we can just wait and see...
My posting rates have been up the last week or so. Still not feeling the best mentally but I have been pushing myself to get on and post almost every day once more.
Well, nothing to do here but wait on word from GM. I know he had to drop a few games as a player due to real-life changes.
So chances are that he also has too little time to GM...i looked forward to Yuki's journey but right now, I would be content to know if this is a temporary break and we will be able to continue in the near future, on hiatus/on-hold(for indeterminate time) or going to be closed down. It's been close to 2 month since we had gameplay updates/word from GM so it feels like the latter.
I understand changing life situations but would prefer a clear statement... Feeling ghosted is no fun :(
Hi everyone,
First of all I apologize for being absent for so long. I reached a point where I knew something would have to happen with the campaign, but couldn't decide what to do. So I starting procrastinating about it. Dec. and Jan. were very hectic anyway, and time just passed. I also never got any notifications showing the new posts in January, so I didn't realize there was anything new since way back. The notifications app has been acting weird for a while now.
Anyway, it's time to come to some resolution about what to do with this campaign. I'm going to lay out some options, and when you get a chance let me know what you want to do.
1. Close down the campaign. If things have changed in your circumstances, or your enthusiasm has fizzled, or Jade Regent is turning out not to be your thing, just let me know. No hard feelings or anything. It started a long time ago now, and maybe it's time to move on to other things.
2. Put the campaign on hiatus. If you would like to keep the campaign running, but now isn't the time for what ever reason, we could pause it until all boats are righted. We've informally been on hiatus for a while now, so we could make it official and restart after all of you let me know you're ready. For the sake of avoiding repetition, I'll only mention the caveats once, and in the third option below.
3. Restart the campaign now. I'd be very happy to get the campaign going again. But there are a couple of issues that need to be dealt with I think in order to make things go better. We will need to recruit at least one more player. After the swamp portion is concluded, the ranger and cavalier I've been botting will be retired. I think you will need at least one full BAB character in the group, the difficulty curve will rise appreciably going forward.
This is one of the things that I got hung up on a while back though. It will be difficult to keep any new player if posting and update speeds continue to drag as they have. So if we want to restart, can we commit to posting frequently enough to complete a minimum of two updates per week? That would be about quadruple our previous pace.
The same would apply for starting after delaying for a while. What I'll suggest is this. If we go with option 2 or 3, there will be some time between restarting and needing to recruit, which will happen once you're back in Sandpoint. There's no need to go back before you're finished in the marsh. If we can keep the pace up until you need the fourth player, I'll find someone. If we haven't managed to, we'll call it concluded at that point.
So let me know what you guys think. Also, please give any suggestions you have for getting things going and keeping them that way. There are probably plenty of things I haven't thought of.
I'm up for whatever works best for you. You are the GM, so you're doing the lion's share of the work. Whatever you are most excited to do is what we should do.
The big issue with this game so far is that the party has very few applicable "exploration" skills. It essentially falls on the same character or two to be making all the checks and the rest of us waiting around. That slowed the game down a lot. I don't think we knew that's the way things were going to go when we made characters. Some re-building might allow us to tailor ourselves to the story better.
Given the choice, I'd prefer to continue the game. Doing a travel montage of "we go back to sandpoint and report, then pick up another player" seems like it would be the quickest way to do things.
PBPs bog down some times, and some of the nuts and bolts can get pretty boring to run. I've found the best way of dealing with those things is to "fast forward" through anything you aren't personally excited about, moving us from scene to scene without all the back-and-forth of exploring every path and making every perception check.
Rebuilding would be fine with me. JR isn't exactly Kingmaker so far as wilderness exploration goes, but it is a travel AP and you do spend more time outdoors than inside. It probably comes up the most right off the bat, in the marsh, but outdoor skills won't be going out of style.
Heck, for that matter I'd be willing to just give everyone Survival as a class skill if you think that would solve the problem. I don't want people to have to rebuild if they're otherwise currently happy just for that.
It would be difficult to montage much of the remaining marsh section because the party is only now reaching the point of a big payoff. The goblins were just a MacGuffin to get you to the things that set up the real beginning of the rest.
Reading through book 1 it's all very seamless really, but it doesn't translate well into PbP because of how time telescopes at the slower pace. I can do some expediting, but I can't put you back in Sandpoint right away.
Well, I did reach out to you via PM...so yeah, obviously I care.
I am not keen on option 1 to be honest. I kind of expected it when we did not hear from you, but as I told you back then, Jade Regent was one of the more intriguing AP's for me.
Same with option 2...we just HAD a hiatus. Certainly we can artificially prolong that, but honestly, the longer the break, the more out-of-touch one gets with the character made, their persona, their intentions, their goals and dreams. I have a lot of games on the board as well, and I do try and give each character something that is...them. Makes them special. So long breaks? They erode that a bit.
3 is definitely an option I would hope for...IF your own time allows.
One thing that, indeed, comes to mind: the theoretical inclusion of Gestalt INSTEAD of recruitment.
We currently have one cleric, one oracle, and a rogue(eldritch scoundrel)(with a level of monk). Not only do we double up on full divine casting, we have no full BAB.
Sensible Gestalt could help(e.g. with Talene going Mystic Theurge-route of Cleric/Empyreal Sorcerer; Yuki continuing her Monk Training as Unchained Monk/Scoundrel Rogue; and Inari going for some Full-BaB variant that complements his Oracle side)
I am simply bringing that up because I think we may struggle even if we get another full BaB-Character that sticks around-
(and the balancing works surprisingly well, because the added power of the characters gets offset by action economy - sure you have more options, but 3 players get to do less than 4)
Then again, that's obviously not for everybody, and not sure if other players or GM share my views. (and e.g. Yuki was definitely not conceptualized as a Gestalt Character so yeah, maybe some rebuilding would be in order).
Regarding the pacing: I think I can do 2 updates a week. But I do have a newborn at home and things are erratic. I have no problem with being botted, so keep the pace going and I'm game. But I would not want to see the game "concluded" because I prioritized my family once too often.
Also, some rebuilding could be relevant simply for the fact that we may have, for flavor, excluded some skills other characters had.
I invested 2 ranks each in Perform(Wind) and Perform(Dance) - for flavor. If I knew we would lose access to someone with Survival? I might have invested differently for now. *shrug*
Either way, I would be interested in keeping going.
That's actually a really neat idea. A three person gestalt team should be roughly the same power-wise as a 4 or 5 person party.
We have three reliable posters and a good group dynamic. We could recruit, but I don't think it's necessary.
Since we lost our primary scout, I can rebuild for that (especially if we gestalt). I can keep up a high posting rate most of the time. Having a scout with a high post rate is a must for exploration-based PbPs.
For right now, how about we send the NPCs back to report, and the three of us finish out the big payoff scene? I think we can probably handle it with the three of us as we are right now. We'll just need to be careful.
Oh! Congratulations Mordred!
I think the idea of gestalt might have come up way back when we started and I said no. But it's around a year and a half later now, and I don't have the same reservations about it now that I did then.
If I do remember correctly about that, there were two reasons I didn't want to do it. First was simply this is my first time out as a GM and I wanted to keep things simple. I had barely even heard of gestalt, didn't really know how it worked, and wasn't sure what changes it might require to the AP. I'm more familiar with it now, and less concerned.
Second was I'm neither a hotshot rules person, nor someone who spends much time under the hood with character mechanics. I don't theorycraft or read very deeply on how to make highly synergistic builds. Just not my thing. When it comes to reviewing characters then, it's hard for me to predict their power level, etc. and make accommodations to encounters. For example, Inari you're familair with my character in LoF, very meat and potatoes. Mordred, you're familiar with my character in RotRL, less basic but actually you pretty much built it.
Point is, it would be pretty easy to build total brutes without me being any the wiser. Please don't do that. It isn't necessary at all either, JR isn't a harsh AP, probably one of the easiest in fact.
I've also come to appreciate the advantages of small groups in PbP since back when this started. Not adding another player will take some pressure off the worry of losing a new player due to slow pace. Three posts between updates could be quicker than four as well. I'd still like to manage a couple of updates per week on average.
So yeah, I'm good with the idea of converting the characters to gestalt and keeping the number to three. I'll give another day for Storyteller Shadow to answer, then I'll PM him in case he hasn't noticed the new posts here.
I'm good with that. I prefer my gestalt characters built for versatility rather than some kind of munchkiny power-synergy.
I'm thinking I'll go with Swashbuckler for my second class.
Sorry, saw this and then got sidetracked.
I love Tal and certainly want to keep playing!
Normally I could do posts a week standing on my head, lately I've been bogged down RL but I'll do my best.
If we're doing Gestalt I'll certainly do Sorcerer. Not familiar with Empyreal Sorcerer but I'll check it out Mordred, thanks for the suggestion. Initially I was thinking Monk but with Yuki as a Monk already Sorcerer makes the most sense.
@Storyteller: No need to disregard Monk just yet :)
I will need a little time to consider options. I MAY outsource the magic stuff from Rogue(Eldritch Scoundrel gives up a LOT of rogue stuff for rather weak(wizard spell list, magus slots) casting) and go with one of the arcane caster classes or something, which would free up the Monk for Talene :)
(e.g. if I took Arcanist - Magus is tempting too, but I try to avoid having 2 classes with 3/4th BAB progression(which in pathfinder is also locked into 8 HP hit dice))
Empyreal Sorcerer is the wildblood variant of celestian and uses Wisdom as Casting Stat, which would probably be the main draw for a Cleric ;)
Monk makes sense too, I guess I simply saw Talene as somewhat of a Mystic ^_^
@Puca: Nope, not building brutes. The main appeal of Gestalt is flexibility. You do NOT want someone stacking up two classes to do ONE thing really good(say, a Fighter/Barbarian). Mainly, it's about utility and always having a good tool for the job. Really, that's my main appeal for pbp. Dedicated roles can be unable to contribute(say, melee vs. air creatures) and that can be lenghty affairs in board play. Proper gestalt will allow that melee guy to do something else. More fun for everybody :)
@Shadow: If you have a preference between Monk or Sorcerer, do let me know!
Alright then! We'll get restarted here!
Tentatively we have Inari adding Swashbuckler, Yuki adding Monk, and Talene adding Sorcerer?
@Talene: Empyreal is wildblooded Celestial and casts using WIS. I'm guessing Mordred isn't aware of or forgot Talene's unusually high CHA for a cleric. You might find it a little redundant with cleric.
Would you rather rebuild now or wait until back in Sandpoint? If you do it now, I'll go ahead and send Mari and Daufni back to Sandpoint. If you want to wait, I'll send Mari back but strongly advice keeping Daufni with you until you return.
Since we're going with a 3 player campaign without any new recruiting, the issue of updating to keep a new player in the game is relaxed considerably. We'll shoot for an average of 2 per week, and I'll be more active in botting PCs to keep things moving along if I need to.
And yes, you can rebuild as needed. You don't have to remain wedded to your original class and find something to add to it unless that's your preference.
@Puca/Talene: Aye...I forgot Talene's high Cha - I defaulted on the assumption that her highest stat would be Wis, but did not check, since I only meant to make a theoretic suggestion.
You are right of course in that any other Bloodline would be more powerful(well, except Sage(which uses Int)).
Psychic Bloodline would allow Tal to cast sorcerer spells while wearing armor.
@Inari: nope...
Ecclesitheurge's Vow
At 1st level, an ecclesitheurge makes a vow to his deity to be protected solely by his faith, not by armor or shields. An ecclesitheurge who wears armor or uses a shield is unable to use his blessing of the faithful ability, use cleric domain powers, or cast cleric spells.
Not a good idea :)
That, and psychic casting can be a bit broken(in those AP's that don't knew it existed, at least), lets try and avoid heading there ^_^
Oh, didn't realize Tal was a non-armored cleric.
Well, lets hear back from Storyteller :)
I THINK that doubling up on Unchained Monk/Unchained Rogue, even with an archetype diminishing the Rogue's specialties somewhat, could be problematic.
Yuki was supposed to be Feint-based...which means she could add (the diminished but still existant) Sneak Attack to the flurry, together with full bab progression and debilitating injury making iteratives more likely to hit.
There's a lot of synergy there, and I feel it may stack up too much.
Not that full casting Arcane Trickster-Stuff would be more docile (but at least I could focus on the utility-stuff there).
So, Talene gets first pick on Monk or Arcane Caster, I'll go with whatever she does not pick.
Oh man first pick.
Alright, I'll do Monk with the Far Strike Archtype.
Although...
That might still present a front liner problem.
If ya'll feel we still need a front liner, maybe Yuki should keep Monk and I'll Gestalt Sorcerer.
My concern with Tal as a face to face Monk is that she only has a 10 Con.
@Storyteller Shadow: You can rejigger ability scores as part of the rebuild if you want. I'm not going to force you to work around that 10 CON if you don't want to.
@Storyteller Shadow: You can rejigger ability scores as part of the rebuild if you want. I'm not going to force you to work around that 10 CON if you don't want to.
Well the other issue is the 10 Strength. Yes, I could reallocate ability score points but as currently built, she would make a terrific Sorcerer/Cleric and a passable Monk/Cleric.
Hehe, well, you can still swap to that terrific Sorc/Cleric if you want :)
I've been considering a lot of options but as of now, still undecided.
Sorcerer(Imperious or crossblooded with draconic) would be flavorful but not offer a lot of versatility (which was what I wanted in casting).
Arcanist: Maybe, but very much MAD as a result.
Mirror Witch could work, too, but not that fond of the Patron flavor of some otherworldly sponsor - I did consider Ancestors (- which is a thing in Minkai...)
Wizard is powerful, but would require a high dedication to the class to shine(e.g. Int-Focus) and few interesting gimmicks aside from raw spell power to be had.
Not completely happy with the full casters, I also considered the partials-
Bard has too much overlap with Unchained Rogue for me.
Magus could work, especially Kensai Magus if I keep the Unchained Monk Dip...or Myrmidarch if I drop it. Both have diminished casting, though.
Bloodrager is right out for flavor, same as Skald(why did both of those need to include Rage Mechanics :P )
Investigator has, again, too much overlap with Rogue.
Alchemist - not really looking for bombs+alchemy flavor, I'd prefer real magic...this feels too steam-punky for me.
Summoner also not exactly the kind of thing I am looking for, and a good but very limited spell list, so once again the versatility thing-
Mind you, just putting my thoughts into writing, not really looking for advice or input, just saying I'm currently working through all the options with no clear winner yet :)
(Tending towards Sorcerer(Eldritch Scrapper or Crossblooded) with INT=>CHA(+Human) Shift, Magus(various) or Witch(Mirror) with CON=>INT(+Human) Shift), or Arcanist(School Savant)) with CON=>INT(+Human) Shift)
Just saying I am not married to an idea yet, if you want to reconsider ^_^
I know you're not looking for suggestions, and this isn't one, but the ancestor witch patron would be very fitting.
I'd say that one of us should at least be a pseudo front liner, the question is, which one of us is better suited to it?
I think from a defensive standpoint (AC), Tal is OK, especially as a Gestalt Monk. Yuki has a better Con, 2 more HP per level can make a difference to durability. Tal's Con is low because Charisma is quite relevant in the Cleric class (consider Channels).
However, from an offensive standpoint, her damage output would be weak at best (especially with a 10 strength). Hmmmm. Yuki also has a 10 strength. It seems neither of us would be an optimal front liner from a damage output.
We could also just roll a D20 and whoever gets the higher result just builds with the lower number building to complement the group! :-)
Oh, there is more than meets the eye... Yuki uses crane style, for superior AC(+trait / blocking weapon). Plus on her last iterative she would try to lower enemy attack (debilitating injury).
With feinting flurry, she will also get to apply sneak attack damage often, and per finesse training uses dex anyway, rather than strength... It is only in the early levels that Yuki will lack a bit.
That said, that's the build she is on now, which will make her a decent tank/Frontline dps. Hence why I was reluctant to pile on unchained monk.
I will take a closer look at the witch option courtesy of GM input.
(plus only finding the mirror in the treasure gives a reason why the casting was dormant so far...)
I'll mention three things in very general terms that might be helpful in making decisions.
1. Although "eastern" options aren't allowed at this time, they will become available when appropriate. Given the time that's passed since they were introduced though, ninja and samurai are probably not nearly so appealing as they were a few years ago. An unchained version of the ninja could probably be figured out though.
2. Combat will very much be a thing. It will be variable, bosses, numerically superior foes, etc. So don't expect encounters to adhere to only a type or three. This is probably extremely obvious, but there you go.
3. You will have NPCs who are available as "loaner" party members on a very limited basis. Although Ameiko, Sandru, Shalelu, and Koya will lag behind the party (especially since the party is gestalt) they will participate and gain levels as time goes on.
While I'm at it, I might as well give you the info on them. They will have character sheets when they enter the game anyway so you'll be able to just look them up.
Ameiko: Aristocrat 1 / Arcane Duelist Bard 4
Koya: Varisian Pilgrim Cleric 4
Sandru: Swashbuckler 4
Shalelu: Fighter 2 / Ranger 4
As I said, their availability to accompany the party will be very limited, but they will sometimes. Who might be available and when will depend on the specifics of the AP at the time.
Don't worry about the frontliner thing too much. Yuki and I will both be pretty good in melee.
I'll start with High AC, decent HP, attack deflection, and modular combat feats. Later I'll have Reach, Pounce, and shapeshifting that will let me add to my physical stats and adjust myself to terrain.
Oh, there is more than meets the eye... Yuki uses crane style, for superior AC(+trait / blocking weapon). Plus on her last iterative she would try to lower enemy attack (debilitating injury).
With feinting flurry, she will also get to apply sneak attack damage often, and per finesse training uses dex anyway, rather than strength... It is only in the early levels that Yuki will lack a bit.
That said, that's the build she is on now, which will make her a decent tank/Frontline dps. Hence why I was reluctant to pile on unchained monk.
I will take a closer look at the witch option courtesy of GM input.
(plus only finding the mirror in the treasure gives a reason why the casting was dormant so far...)
Nice, I trust you in PC building for sure!
That's it for me. 2 extra HP, a slightly higher hit bonus, and a bunch of fun combat tricks for keeping myself alive. I'm ready.
I'm going to have to find a new weapon though. Spears don't work for fencing.
Well, and 4 less HP for me from Con-Shifting.
And less Perception from Wis-Shifting.
Otherwise, I should be done as well. *smiles*
The arcane stuff was supposed to be about utility, self-buffing etc...I maintain that approach, in picking up almost exclusively utility hexes rather than ones with combat application - and having the invoker archetype on top of mirror witch.
I feel the ancestor Patron is an especially good fit for that, channeling the virtues of long-passed family members through Yuki to empower her(I will eventually reflavor the abstractly named concepts of the Invoker type to comply to that).
The Unchained Monk gets Scaled Fist Archetype(which originated in Tian Xia) - at the one level-dip that only swaps the Monk stuff to Cha-Basis...allowing me to focus on 3 attributes(Dex, Int, Cha) rather than 4.
On the Rogue Side, Scout(to get Sneak Attack when Feinting is not an option) and Rake(better bluffing and another debuff option) complement the package(and fit the flavor given by the Scaled Fist descriptive text which I suppose is what Yuki will base her combat style on).
Standard AC remains at 16 - +5 if I can fight defensively in Crane Style - what's new is +4 if Mage Armor is active(after I gain spellcasting) - that's a potential 25 AC to start with(and more AC in the pipeline for later levels, with Just out of Reach, Crane Wing, Major Magic(Stone Shield), Osyluth Guile...) - that SHOULD offset the loss of HP from lowered CON.
On the offense side, things remain as they were, except Sneak attack is already online, and Feinting Flurry will be starting next Level...with full Sneak Progression, that will scale nicely(with debilitating injury, iterative, and double debilitation)...
on the downside, her damage output will be very dependent on said Sneak Attack, with the main focus being to allow her few attacks to connect(while making sure the enemy attacks won't) - against creatures not sneakable, she will need to pick up some arcane options(plus the single offensive Hex Ice Tomb she fetches @ L12).
All in all, I'll need to check for errors again and do a once-over at some time to flavor things...(plus add the mirror stuff when I find it), but in general, should be good to go.
Hmmm. Maybe I can do a mix of Monk and Sorcerer so I have some Melee capability but will hold in the back line and utilize spells to aid and buff Yuki and Inari. Though a Monk dip would probably be the only thing that works as splitting the Sorcerer class really reduces it's effectiveness.
---
New thought, what if I go Paladin as the second class? Gives me more HP, better saves, Mercies and Lay on Hands, plus a better BaB for when I would need to enter combat.
---
Thoughts?
Hm. Thoughts...
Sorcerer already has delayed spell progression, multiclassing with it is very situational...so as you say, that would be another Monk Dip, which is kinda what Yuki already did(but before Gestalt).
Paladin seems to stack up on Cleric a bit much...plus unless you go enlightened Paladin(which COULD work), you would have abysmal AC from the Cleric restriction - and if you are not tempered champion, then damage output will be bad against anything you cannot smite...(which, incidentally, sometimes stacks up with stuff not sneakable - neutral elementals, neutral mindless oozes...etc) - enlightened paladins personal trial has less target restrictions, but less impact, as well.
Better saves is a thing, but the other points only apply if you are married to the Far Strike Monk archetype(which is one of those not compatible with Unchained)...because Unchained has Full BaB and D10 HD as well, plus early-entry improved pounce(style strike flying kick), damage progression and the greater new flurry-style. (e.g. going for a target with a flying kick=>full attack=>stunning fist...picking up medusa's wrath as bonus feat sans prerequs, at Level 11 thats fullbab(normal)/fullbab(flurry 1)/fullbab(flurry 2)/fullbab(ki point)/fullbab(haste)/fullbab(medusa 1(if stunned))/fullbab(medusa 2(if stunned))/iterative -5/iterative -10 - add an amulet of mighty fists (and a monks robe) and that will be painful, regardless of Talene's strenght...(incidentally, that is also the reason I figured feinting flurry with full sneak attack could be a bit...too much) -
overall, the question is if we need more staying power(in the paladin) or more damage output(in the monk).
A pity VMC is not a thing in Gestalt, the Paladin one can be amazingly nice.
Overall, I think for a wilderness travel adventure in a wagon train, the ascetic travelling monk is more fitting than the conduct-bound paladin crusader.
Plus, and that may be a hold-over from the RotRL-campaign not applicable to others: Talene had that scholarly touch, the responsible senpai/mentor...and the monk fits that image better than the paladin(who in my minds eye is more inward/self-focused, on the service they perform for their deity - rather than being a teacher to others(i hope that makes sense the way I wrote it))
Think Yoda from Star Wars, just not THAT old or green :)
All that said, that's simply my thoughts(as you did ask), the decision, in it's entirety, is yours to make...(just as long as you consider the choice of deity and possibly impact of guided hand along the way - ;) )
Talene's current themes, concept and stats mesh well with a few other classes. Here's the ones that spring to mind-
1) Sacred Fist Warpriest. Monk stuff, plus being able to swift-action buff yourself is very powerful.
2) Mesmerist. Painful Stare is a great, free debuff. Stacks well with cleric debuffs.
3) Savage barbarian. Armor is for sissies. Stack with Urban Barbarian so you can still cast while raging.
4) Oracle. Both Lunar and Nature mysteries allow you to add your charisma to AC.
5) Sorcerer. We don't have any Arcane casting. Having some would be really nice. If you do this, don't multiclass. We'll eventually buy you a monk's belt.
@Mesmerist: Would have been great for Yuki, flavorwise, but as said, I think it's a good idea not to go to Psionics on Campaigns that pre-date them...YMMV.
@Oracle: A cleric/Oracle? -_- Sure you get tons of divine spells, but you don't REALLY expand your options, there...so no added flexibility from gestalt.
@Arcane Casting: Well, Witch spell list is actually arcane, but since I'll not go into blasting or (strongly) into control, it's actually a valid point.
@Barbarian: Great class(some archetypes) - just not sure if it's the right flavor for Talene - but nothing that could not be fixed - and still leaves her physical stats lacking for proper Barbarian Goodness.
@Warpriest: I did actually consider it for Talene as well...if she wants to stick with Desna, going for Guided Hand+Vital Strike+Startoss Style could complement the Sacred Weapon splendidly. Or Sacred Fist. But again, another divine casting class on top of cleric, just more martially capable.
Purely technical Talene could also go Summoner(Unchained), the spell list is actually decent, and getting the Eidolon to do frontlining for her would not depend on her stats(same is true for a Sylvan Sorcerer and it's animal companion(which also gets a lot of great buffs from the wizard spell list via share spells not available to druids)).
*smiles* as Inari says, lots of options.
If the idea is to give Talene some combat capability, and this is to work around her restriction of no armor, it seems ranged would be a good option.
What about a Bolt Ace Gunslinger? Her ability scores don't align badly with it.
Zen Archer is admittedly a little boring I hear, but it does what it does well.
If spells are really desirable in the other class, Arrowsong Minstrel Bard uses CHA, which is very much Talene's cup of tea. With the UMD she could have just use Mage Armor.
And then, of course, there's the option of swapping primary...without breaking theme - Oracle may be a far-fetched option, but most other divine casting classes could work(with archetypes in some cases).
So, something like Sacred Fist Warpriest/Arrowsong Minstrel Bard could be a decent switch hitter with many casting options. *shrug*
(that said, some day I will get to make that Magus/Inquisitor Gestalt...)
Excited to get this show back on the road ^_^