I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here. I posted an invite to the players in an existing game that I'm currently playing in. I hope that's ok with everyone. I tossed it out there seeing we had a recruitment option a bit ago and got a limited response. I figured we could still use a few more consistent people. Anyway, the existing players in my other game have been great with both roleplay as well as posting regularity. I have enjoyed playing with them and thought you guys might as well. I'm not sure if any of them have the bandwidth for another game, but I put it out there just in case.
Fine by me. It would be good to have a new player to the group.
So fare it sounds like two of the players are interested. I will link the other games play link here so GM can review the players play style. That brings me to a question for the GM. How many characters are you comfortable with? +2 will bring us to 5 and I wouldn't be surprised if we get to +3. Are you comfortable with a party of 6?
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Hi everyone! I'm one of the players who will be coming into the game. I'm figuring out a character right now, and looking mostly at either a Cleric or an Oracle.
I have a couple of questions if I may:
1. What will starting gold be for level 2?
2. I interpret this from the character build rules: with +1 hp, + 1 skill point and favored class bonus to mean we receive an extra hit point and skill point at first level. Is that correct?
Hey all, I’m another one of the players in Zuriel’s other game. I don’t know how many players you want to add, if it’s just 1 then by all means give the spot to rdknight but if you’re interested in possibly taking on two I’d be interested in joining as well. I have an idea for a woodsy type (with an animal friend or two); my first thought was a druid, but if rdknight is looking at a divine caster I could do it as maybe a mad dog barbarian instead? That would potentially bulk up the front line some.
I’ll hold off on actually building/pitching anything until I hear whether you’re interested in a second new addition and what rdknight is making.
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Heya GH! If you're looking at something melee oriented, it could work out well for me (Assuming there will be 2 new players). I've just about decided to go in the direction of cleric but covering some melee/support/healing is stretching me thin.
If you want a Druid, we could split healing needs between us and I could go with an off-healer like Alchemist, Bard/Skald, or Witch. On the other hand, if you want to go with something very martial, I could rework my Cleric stats to focus more on support casting, buffing, and healing. I'd drop my physical stats to merely competent for combat and raise Wisdom, maybe even enough to cast a successful offensive spell on occasion.
OK, thats two more players with a third standing by if the GM is open to a party of (6). If GM is ok with a group of six, let me know and I will invite the 3rd player.
If I went with a druid, I'd bring some melee in the form of my animal companion but focus the actual character more on casting (some healing and most likely some of the weather/control spells, depending on what the sorceress is focused on), and one of your off-healer ideas could be great. If I went with a mad dog barbarian, I'd be adding melee from the character and melee from an animal companion, so you'd really be free to focus on casting. Of course, all that depends on the rest of the party even wanting 2 new players, so we'll have to wait and see what their thoughts are.
Hi guys, glad to have you aboard! @Giant Halfling, we could really use a party face if you're at all interested in that sort of play. A character with ranks in Survival would be great too. It's looking to me like we'll be adventuring in the wilderness at some point in this game.
Jenise is primarily an offensive caster. Right now she's got mage armor and color spray for 1st level spells, with Minute Meteors (5-ft square fire damage) as her bloodline power. I'm planning to lean heavily into conjuration and evocation spells. Sometimes you just want to make things go boom.
EDIT: Oh, now I remember where I've seen that username before! I play with Giant Halfling in a Wrath of the Righteous game. They're an excellent roleplayer and reliable poster.
As for new player yes do please feel free to reach out. I’ll wait to hear back from you guys.
It might take a moment for the GM to mall over the new players before responding. I'm sure I caught him a little off guard. I decided to take the initiative in response to the above statement, thinking we could use a couple more players. As far as what we could use on the battlefield, I'm ok with whatever you guys feel like you would enjoy playing. Healing is always welcome, and another front liner would also be helpful. Jenise's suggestion of face and survival are both valid points.
It's worth noting that our current GM is in service which causes short delays from time to time. That said, posting rate has been acceptable so fare. I'm ok with a mild pace.
So, it looks like we have a total of (2) interested. That would make a group of (5). Bad news is, he will probably start you naked in a cage somewhere.
Oh, hey Merixia/Jenise, I didn’t even think to check if I know any of the other players, lol. And, thanks for the vote of confidence!
I’m surprised to hear that with a sorceress and a paladin already you don’t have the face skills covered, but I’m sure we can figure something out. If the GM is open to adding 2 (or 3) players, maybe I can handle the outdoorsy skills like survival and whatnot and rdknight (or someone else) could do the face stuff (especially if they end up going bard/skald); but if that doesn’t work I could maybe do something like a sacred huntsmaster inquisitor and take the inquisition that makes diplomacy Wis based so that I could cover survival and face? (Although, 15 point buy is going to be tight for a MAD class like inquisitor.)
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I thought the same thing about Inquisitor GH. I played around with some ability score point distributions and I couldn't make anything that was really workable on a 15 point buy. Inquisitors tend to be more dependent on damage output in combat. They don't buff as well as a Bard or Skald I think.
Getting the Wisdom score up enough to to make the Conversion Inquisition useful doesn't leave much of anything for Strength or Dexterity. A buffing Bard can plink with a bow and do negligent damage because the real work is the buffing. Inquisitors need to be combat effective.
I don't mind taking on the party face role, it's what I typically do in parties. However, I took a look and August is at +8 for Diplomacy while Zuriel is at +7. I don't think I can build a 2nd level character who can do significantly better without it being a SAD charisma based full caster like a Seducer Witch or a caster Oracle.
I mean I don't mind making a Life Oracle and hanging out in the back pumping HP at everyone else, except when I'm sweet talking people, but it wouldn't produce much better social skills than the party currently has.
EDIT: Actually a super nerdy Investigator who avoids all danger might work. Traits for INT to social skills and fantastic knowledge skills, all jacked up on Inspiration. The librarian who can reason with anyone.
Oops, I forgot that August had ranks in Diplomacy. Sorry folks! No need for a face then.
Stats on the paladin and my rogue are defiantly within the realm of a good diplomacy. I think the problem is more about personality than stats. August is extremely naive, whereas Zuriel is heavily pessimistic. Greedy, pessimistic, realist, in that order. They both are capable to make a diplomacy role but, it would be better to have someone with a proper disposition make it.
Lol. If rdknight doesn’t make someone with face skills I’ll see if I can maybe cover sense motive and serve as advisor to the face.
edit: assuming, of course, that the GM is up for adding 2
Whoever though personality would make a difference in a roll/role playing game?
Please, please, please, will at least one of you make a level-headed character with some common sense? Poor Jenise is currently stuck playing Only Sane One, wrangling "Sweet but Not Too Bright" August and "OMG We're All Gonna Die, Let Me Loot The Corpse of An Ally Right Next To Another Ally" Zuriel.
I would never do that while you were looking.
Edit: Advisor to the face would be an interesting dynamic.
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How's this for a rough character concept?
Gavia is an itinerant cleric of Kurgess. She travels the region, going from market days to festivals to holidays. On these occasions she serves as a referee for competitions of skill and athletic prowess. She also uses the small portable stage she carries to put on shadow puppet plays that tout the virtues of fair competition and sportsmanship.
Her father, a retired non-commissioned officer from the Taldan Horse, trained her in the use of his falcata and buckler. Given Gavia's bent for physical activity, he thought she might follow in his footsteps. She chose the church instead, but still carries his weapons and armor.
She's a chipper sort, optimistic and encouraging of others when she sees them giving their best effort. She can be impatient with the lazy or careless, or especially cheaters and grifters.
Human or Half Elf Varisian Pilgrim Cleric, Luck and Travel Domains. Wisdom of 14, so utility, buffs, and healing for spells.
EDIT: Or literally, I could make a PC who is the town librarian (Investigator) drafted to tag along and talk sense to the 'heroes'.
Both options sound good. Especially the optimistic part. well get along great!
If I make a druid (or inquisitor) they’d be pretty levelheaded with some common sense. If I end up with a barbarian I can’t make any promises, lol.
@rdknight- in general I agree with that assessment (of inquisitors in a low point buy game), but I think the sacred huntsman is a bit of an exception: they get enough of their damage from their animal companion that they can (imo) get away with focusing on skills and some casting and not being very good in combat themselves.
edit: the cleric seems like a good fit (and I’d probably do a friendly barbarian to go with it), but the idea of a town librarian being conscripted to babysit some local heroes is absolutely genius! If you don’t use that here you should find somewhere else to use it, lol.
Sorry the last few days have been busy, to answer a couple of questions:
Absolutely consider the wand on August.
As for extra players I whole heartedly will take on some new faces. I would prefer 5 as 6 is on the cusp of just a little much especially for play by post.
Starting gold is standard for level so 1000.
I like the character ideas and am willing to work with them. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll slot either of you guys in but I can manage. For reference Belhaim, the town at the center of the adventure is in Taldor. They’re currently in kobold den trying to get to the bottom of why they caused an old structure in the town to fall, and to try to get the kobolds to relocate.
If you guys have any questions feel free to ask!
That works well then. We are currently sitting at 5. Apologies for running with the invite before getting a full approval. The opportunity presented itself and I felt strongly that you would be ok with a few more players seeing you had opened it up earlier. Thus fare its sounding like an interesting dynamic.
August, GM has approved you to be holding the groups CLW wand, so you are welcome to use it as you see fit. I scrolled back to Apr 20th, which is beyond the point that we bought it and I didn't see any uses. Unless i'm missing something, it should have (50) charges.
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Advisor to the face would be an interesting dynamic.
The idea of a town librarian being conscripted to babysit some local heroes is absolutely genius! If you don’t use that here you should find somewhere else to use it, lol.
I guess I took that as a dare GH, and don't think for a minute I won't do it!
I did some poking around looking at Investigator and it turns out with the right archetypes all this is completely doable by taking the Cryptid Scholar and Mastermind archetypes, which are stackable.
Pretty face Paladin's no good with words? Ten minutes of coaching and the Mastermind will make him smooth as silk.
The Cryptid Scholar hangs out in the rear, identifies enemies weaknesses and coaches (screams at) the rest of the party telling them how to protect themselves and where best to strike. It's like having Daria Morgendorffer as a cheerleader, who is also your boss.
I'm building this sweet, sweet, awful librarian right now. :)
Let me guess, she sees the glass as half full!
Lol, amazing!
In that case, I’ll most likely go with a druid to offer a little extra healing and some control spells (with an animal companion to help in melee). He (or she) will be friendly, levelheaded, and fairly optimistic, but probably still require a bit of babysitting when it comes to the norms of polite society.
I can't wait to see this intimidating librarian.
Whoa, over 20 messages overnight... Haven't seen that in a while.
And just what Zuriel said - August does have decent ranks in diplomacy, but he is not the most cunning negotiator (in my head August speaks with Forrest Gump voice :P). And definitely no bluffing here :) It would be interesting to see how the RP works with a mastermind. Should I start looking for fallen paladin archetypes...
Original plan for August was to dip Oracle for life link, so the healing should be handled if you want to focus on other things. Of course, a backup healer is good since August is also the main tank.
Anyway, welcome new players!
@Zuriel: Nah, Gavia isn't intimidating. Her vibe is more exasperated tour guide who has just been informed at the last minute she'll be pulling a double shift. She's there to show you around, inform you about the stuff you come across, limit the collateral damage you goons do, and keep you on track doing useful things.
@August: No need to worry about your Paladinhood! It is safe in Gavia's care! Gavia is an LG Irori worshipper. She very much into self-improvement, good diet, and light exercise for improved health.
Alright, so most of the character is done and available for viewing in the profile. I still have to finish gear and formulae. Anyone interested in being Enlarged? I'll take it if somebody will use it, won't do Gavia much good really since she can barely use weapons.
I've gone with the Precise Treatment trait and Healing Hands feat to get INT to the Healing skill. She be capable of some decent non-magical healing. She won't be able to share her extracts until she picks up Infusion as a Talent at level 3 though.
As I was putting it all together, I realized her archetypes won't really come online until 4th level. This gave me some pause, if I'm correct this module only goes to 7th level, so that's not many levels to be fully up and running. Almost changed to use Empiricist instead since it works from the start. But I stayed the course.
I have two ideas and I thought I’d share them both and look for feedback (or objections) to figure out which one to build.
The first one is a friendly but odd girl who’s rather grubby. After losing her mentor (out in the wilderness) she lived for a while in a (literal) den with her friends, Fox and Bear (a literal fox and bear who are sort of like an adopted family for her). Recently, they decided to go explore the human lands where she came from. Mechanically, she’d be a Str based wild child brawler (because it seems like you can’t take archetypes with unchained barbarian, so mad dog isn’t an option) with a bear animal companion, and her first few feats going to get a fox familiar (with the mauler archetype). She wouldn’t have any magic but her damage output would be really solid (especially after 3rd level, when the fox would gain the ability to grow bigger and get into melee sometimes too). Oh, and enlarge person would be good for her.
The other one is a quieter, more contemplative man who worships nature and has spent most of his life wandering the Verdurun Forest. Through his devotion, he has gained some influence over the world around him and the service of two attendants: a guard named Gerrik (a wolf animal companion), and a herald named Teek (a raven familiar). Mechanically, he’d be a druid, built mostly as a caster except that he’d have a animal companion instead of a domain (and bonus spells) for his nature bond; and, like the first option, his feats would go towards the familiar. He’d be sort of a Swiss Army knife- some control and a little backup healing with his spells, some melee support from the wolf, and some scouting from the raven (who can’t grow and wouldn’t really do much in combat at all except occasionally deliver touch spells from 3rd level on).
Thoughts?
@ Gavis: Character looks interesting. GM squeezing a local tour guide into a kobold infested dungeon is going to take some creativity. Personality sounds like she will get along well with Jenis, but time will tell. She is going to have her hands full if she intends to keep Zuriel moving in a positive direction. It is possible, but his personality has undeniably takin a pessimistic point of view. I didn't originally intend for it to be as strong as it turned out. During game play it developed so I ran with it. So far, he has been an interesting character with a moderate amount of spice. I suspect with you and GH jumping in, flavor is about to get turned up a bit. I look forward to seeing her in action.
@ GH: Both character concepts sound good in their own way. Pocket knife guy will fill a lot of holes, but the young wild girl will likely present more opportunities for role play. That and she sounds like she has a stronger front line with the bear and wolf. OOC I would vote for the girl. In character, depending on her age, Zuriel will not like babysitting during a dangerous adventuring. (Sounds like yummy role-play). With Gavis sounding more in line with a support character, having a little more muscle on the front-line sounds encouraging.
@Gavia: I like her so far! She sounds like she'll be both excellent support and fun to roleplay with.
@GH: Go with whatever sounds like more fun! That said, we do have August for the front line already. I'm biased toward utility characters though.
I like both of them, lol, that’s why I need feedback!
The girl would be an adult, albeit a young one (probably 18-19), and she’d also give me a chance to be a little bit silly some of the time which none of my current characters really offer. She wouldn’t be acclimated to human society very well though, so there would (I suspect) be some times where she sort of needed some babysitting.
The guy is a little bit more mysterious (as quiet thinkers with magic powers often are), which is also something I don’t really have in a character right now. He would also be another reasonable and levelheaded character (maybe even a calming presence at times) which seemed like possibly something that the party could maybe use.
I agree that August is a solid front liner, but a one-man front line doesn't seem like enough. If he goes down with a line of squishes behind him, well, that seems like a lot of eggs in one basket to me. Having one or two more people/critters that can tank, in my opinion, is more prudent.
Cool. I’ll try to get a build put together tomorrow morning/early afternoon for the brawler (if nobody objects before then.
@GH: both characters sound cool! Lots of animals coming in for sure. I'm not sure if the whole campaign is going to happen in dungeons, but I'm wondering if it's going to get crowded if a paladin, a giant fox, a bear, and a kid all try to get into melee. Oh, and Zuriel is melee also, isn't he? Still, a secondary front liner doesn't hurt.
Also, you can take most archetypes with unchained barbarian. I think only limitation was that archetypes that modify how rage works wasn't allowed. Mad dog only gets delayed rage so I think it's fine(?)
So... Now that the joke isn't new anymore, I've been looking for way that I might make Gavia a little more useful outside the walking encyclopedia and combat/social buffing stuff. The least invasive way to do this would be by adding in some aid another capabilities. They come pretty naturally to an Investigator. Here is a weaker and a stronger version of this idea, outlining the changes, along with their pros and cons.
Weaker: Dump CHA to 8 and Bring STR up to 12. Take Effortless Aid as 3rd level talent. The pros here are that Gavia gets a little bit better at making the vs. AC 10 attack for aid another. She using a long spear so she'll be back behind the front-liners helping out as she finds opportunities. Effortless Aid will let her make aid attempts as a move or standard action, if she doesn't have to move, she can make the aid attempt and still do something else. She doesn't use CHA for anything really so the dump doesn't matter except here or there occasionally. She won't be able to share her alchemical extract until level 5 with the change, but she doesn't have much to share daily before that anyway.
Stronger: Dip one level of Fighter. Switch Dual-Minded racial trait for Ancestral Arms and long spear for eleven branched spear. Switch Resilient Trait for Helpful. Dump CHA to 8 and raise DEX to 14. Use Bonus Fighter feat for Weapon Finesse. She will still take effortless aid at 4th (now) level. No alchemy sharing until 6th level. Gavia gets a better FORT save, even without the Resilient trait. She loses 2 off her will save, but it's a good save for Investigators. She loses 4 skill points compared to current build. She gets martial weapon and medium armor proficiencies. Helpful raises the Aid bonus from +2 to +3. She goes from hopefully making her attack for an aid attempt to fairly reliably making her aid attempt (don't underestimate my ability to roll poorly a lot). She is no longer very squishy, with better DEX and better armor.
What do y'all think?
Here is a profile for Euda, the wild child brawler. I still need to copy in all her class abilities (which is mostly just martial training), and write up her background (and I'll add spoilers for the animals), but everyone should be able to see what her general deal is.
As for tight quarters... Bear is small and only grows to medium (at 4th level), so he shouldn't be in the way too much. Plus I have a longspear so I'll have the option of standing behind him and attacking over him when space is limited. Fox is tiny and she won't be engaging in melee yet. When she gains the ability to grow (at 3rd level) she'll only grow to medium size and if there's not enough room for her to fight she won't (she only has 1/2 my hp, so she'll always be more fragile than Bear and less likely to jump into melee).
Also, I didn't have time for a thorough search but I didn't see how to do hp for 2nd level? I just did max (like 1st level) for now, I'll change it when I find out the right way.
@Gavia: Be adopted by halflings for adopted->helpful trait, for event greater aid cheese (+4 bonus) :)
I think investigators start to be pretty good in combat anyway starting from level 4, unless your archetypes trade away studied combat. So dipping fighter would delay that.
@Eudamonia: I think we rolled for hp for level 2. Can't remember if we had the choice to take a fixed amount instead. Looks good otherwise
The Cryptid Scholar archetype does give Studied Combat and Studied Strike away, to the rest of the party (see below for details). It becomes sort of a variant of the Bard's Inspire Courage instead. This is why Gavia will be avoiding combat except for aid whenever possible. Yes, if she dipped it would delay this until 5th level.
Opportune Advice (Ex): At 4th level, when the cryptid scholar succeeds at a Knowledge check to identify a monster’s special powers or vulnerabilities, he can take a move action to share his insights with his allies. Allies within 30 feet who can hear the cryptid scholar gain a +1 insight bonus to their ACs and on saving throws against extraordinary, supernatural, and spell-like abilities used by creatures of the same type and all the same subtypes as the monster identified. This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to the cryptid scholar’s Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) or until he uses knowledgeable strike (see below), whichever comes first. This bonus increases by 1 at 8th level and every 4 investigator levels thereafter (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). A creature cannot benefit from opportune advice regarding more than one specific kind of monster at a time.
Once the cryptid scholar has used this ability to provide a bonus against a specific kind of monster, he can’t grant a bonus against that same kind of monster again for 24 hours, unless he expends one use of inspiration when taking a move action to use this ability.
This ability replaces studied combat, and the cryptid scholar cannot choose investigator talents that add effects to studied combat or studied strike.
Knowledgeable Strike (Ex): At 4th level, the cryptid scholar can direct allies to exploit a monster’s weaknesses. If the cryptid scholar ends his opportune advice early as a move action, each ally within 30 feet who can hear the cryptid scholar deals additional damage on its next successful unarmed, natural, or weapon attack against that specific kind of monster within 1 round. The additional damage is 1d6 at 4th level and increases by 1d6 for every 4 investigator levels thereafter (to a maximum of 5d6 at 20th level). The damage of knowledgeable strike is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit; creatures that are immune to sneak attacks are also immune to knowledgeable strike. Ranged attacks gain this additional damage only against a target within 30 feet. The ally must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. Knowledgeable strike cannot be used against a creature with concealment.
This ability replaces studied strike.
Gavia- infusions are arguably one of the best buffing opportunities in the whole game (because you can pass out infusions of spells that can't normally be cast on others, like the beast shape/elemental body/etc stuff, but also low level stuff like monkey fish or true strike), so fwiw I'd vote against anything that pushes that back. That would also mean you can't off heal either... maybe I'll try to stat up the druid too just to see how he works- he could offer back up healing (with the party's wand if nothing else) and it would just be his wolf getting into combat so there'd be less concerns about tight spaces...
@Gavia: The weaker option sounds a bit more interesting. Dipping into fighter tends to slow everything down a bit. That said, both options look viable.
@Eudamonia: Had to take a long difficult to spell name? Shesh, I have read it three times and I still can't pronounce it. Anyway, thinking back, I believe we had an option to roll for HP or do the half thing. I believe I rolled. GM will likely answer this a bit more precisely.
@Eudamonia: I agree about the advantages of alchemical buffing, but it cuts the other way too. All buffs become single person. No casting Haste on the party for example. If I take Infusion as my 3rd level talent I'll have 4 1st level extracts I can hand out per day. If I push it to 5th level instead, I'll have 5 1st level and 3 2nd level extracts per day. Infusion is earning its keep at that point.
By contrast, Effortless Aid at 3rd level allows Gavia to give others +2 on attacks as many times per day as she can make a successful attack against AC 10. This gets enemies killed faster, which means the party takes less damage. It's preventative, reducing the amount of healing needed in the first place.
For healing Gavia has the Healer's Hands feat. With she she can treat deadly wounds as a full round action a couple of times per day (equal to ranks in K Planes), and still treat deadly wounds the normal way with a current +10 in Heal. At 5th level she'll take the Healing Skill Unlock feat. That will add the amount recovered from a day's rest to the amount recovered from the full round action. And it continues to improve from there. It's competitive with CLW and also covers regaining ability score damage.
The party does also have a fully charged CLW wand at present.
None of this buffing and healing is a good as a cleric of equal level can do of course. But if that amount of healing and buffing is what the party wants, I should be playing that cleric rather than the investigator.
@Eudamonia: The party does also have a fully charged CLW wand at present.
Minus the two charges August just bogarted. (LoL)
Lol, her full name is pronounced “you-duh-MOE-nee-uh” but she goes by Euda (pronounced “YOU-duh”).
@Gavia- I’m not sure if you were making a case for why the investigator was better, or if you were saying that the cleric would be better… if it’s the latter, please don’t feel locked into the investigator just because I love the conscripted librarian babysitter angle! Honestly, if that feels gimmicky enough to call it joke maybe you should switch? Just a thought, do what you want with it, obviously.
OK, Euda is much easier for us wee folks. The long version is giving me elven heritage flashbacks.
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@Gavia- I’m not sure if you were making a case for why the investigator was better, or if you were saying that the cleric would be better… if it’s the latter, please don’t feel locked into the investigator just because I love the conscripted librarian babysitter angle! Honestly, if that feels gimmicky enough to call it joke maybe you should switch? Just a thought, do what you want with it, obviously.
Oh, I didn't mean a joke in that way. The Investigator did arise as kind of a 'what if' from the conversation here, and I ran with it hard in going for that 18 INT. But I like the character and she works!
I enjoy making characters about as much as I like playing them, so I don't consider it labor to produce a couple of them. I'm actually building the cleric now because this turn in the conversation has given me an excuse to. :)
I'm really agnostic on which of the two characters I play. I like them both and think both would be fun. What I know is the party currently has no divine magic and, after looking at the current characters, an honestly abysmal lack of knowledge skills (no offense meant).
What I don't know is much of anything at all about what the module is like, or what the current players' priorities are for filling needs.
On a 15 point buy I can build a character that can handle knowledge skills, do some buffing, and do some healing. I can also build a character that can buff better and heal better but will be about as ignorant as all the other characters. The cleric can melee some if wanted, or I can switch deities (probably Shelyn) and build a pure caster like an Ecclesitheurge. I can't build one that can do all the things. Neither character is better or worse, it all depends on what the needs and priorities are.
I'm more than pleased to play either one that the most people prefer, whether that be due to filling needs, party fit, or entertainment value. In terms of how I see their personalities, I think the Investigator would favor or bond with Jenise the most. The Cleric would favor or bond most with August since they could spot each other while weightlifting and such. Neither of them are going to like Zuriel as much. Sorry Zuriel. :p
So yeah, I like to build characters and the background/personality aspects come easiest to me. I'm happy to custom build, and will enjoy playing the resulting character, honest!