Hi there, new to the system.
In my first pf2 game I am playing a monk character and want to make sure that I am not messing it up from the start.
I intend to play a sylph fetchling monk with the tinker background, utilising lesser smoke balls in conjunction with the smokesoul and cloudgazer feats to be able to separate single enemies and fight them under the protection of concealment.
Obviously the smoke area from the lesser smoke balls is rather small, so unless some measures are being taken - the enemy can simply step up and away from the concealment zone.
Grapple comes to mind, so this is the plan:
My combat feats (lvl 8 character) are Reigns of Embers Stance, Wrestler Dedication, Stand Still, Blazing Talon Surge, Whirling Throw.
Wrestler dedication is mostly there to pick Strangle with my next feat, because spellcasters seems to be the perfect enemies to this playstyle (lower Fort, acrobatics and athletics supposedly).
Ideally the combat routine should go like this:
Round 1: Enter stance and Blazing Talon Surge (hopefully establishing a grapple)
Round 2: Sustain grapple, Flurry of Blows attacks, drop a smoke ball
Round 3: Sustain grapple, Flurry of Blows attacks, raise a buckler.
Round 4: Repeat
If a target manages to get outside of the concealment area (or the initial target dies) they it goes to:
Round X: Blazing Talon Surge (and establish a grapple), raise a buckler
Round X+1: Whirling throw into the concealment area, Blazing Talon Surge to establish a grapple.
Well.. advices to be more precise. Hello, everyone. Haven't really touched Pathfinder for the good part of the last 10 years, but got a very tempting opportunity to join what is hopefully a long campaign... so here it goes.
I'm playing a sylph rogue (unchained) with the eldritch scoundrel and hidden blade (Path of War) archetypes.
Few questions for those familiar with the adventure path (no specific spoilers please):
- Should I be worried for too many enemies being immune to sneak attack (as my main form of offense) during the adventure?
- Are there some incorporeal enemies so I don't regret picking the ghost hunting bow maneuver (basically gives your weapon the ghost touch proterty)? It makes sense for the character based on his backstory, but my maneuvers are a bit limited and I would hate to have it all campaign and never use it (or even worse - retrain it right before there is some use for it).
- Would I be overwhelmingly screwed as a melee rogue with low Fort and Will saving throws (12 Con and 12 Wis)? I would eventually pick the Obsidian Sidestep maneuver that allows me to use my maxed craft check instead of a saving throw once every 2 or 3 rounds, but that's it.
- Would I be overwhelmingly screwed as a melee rogue without armor proficiency (because my eldritch scoundrel spellcasting is affected by ASF)? I would eventually be able to get the Altered Penumbra maneuver that allows me to potentially negate one attack and teleport 10 feet as a reaction usable once every 2 or 3 rounds, but other than that it's me and my mage armor-ed (and if time allows - shield-ed) self against the world.
- Is it worth blowing 2 feats to get the Wings of Air racial feat that allows for flight as supernatural ability? I would already have access to the flight spell by then so the question is are encounters and require access to flight for melee character often enough that spending 2 feats will be worth it compared to spending a 3rd level slot and 1 round to cast it?
- Considering I already have access to the wizard spell list will the Use Magic Device skill be of any noticeable use for my character?
Well.. advices to be more precise. Hello, everyone. Haven't really touched Pathfinder for the good part of the last 10 years, but got a very tempting opportunity to join what is hopefully a long session... so here it goes.
I'm playing a sylph rogue (unchained) with the eldritch scoundrel and hidden blade (Path of War) archetypes.
Few questions for those familiar with the adventure (no specific spoilers please):
- Should I be worried for too many enemies being immune to sneak attack (as my main form of offense) during the adventure?
- Are there some incorporeal enemies so I don't regret picking the ghost hunting bow maneuver (basically gives your weapon the ghost touch proterty)? It makes sense for the character based on his backstory, but my maneuvers are a bit limited and I would hate to have it all campaign and never use it (or even worse - retrain it right before there is some use for it).
- Would I be overwhelmingly screwed as a melee rogue with low Fort and Will saving throws (12 Con and 12 Wis)? I would eventually pick the Obsidian Sidestep maneuver that allows me to use my maxed craft check instead of a saving throw once every 2 or 3 rounds, but that's it.
- Would I be overwhelmingly screwed as a melee rogue without armor proficiency (because my eldritch scoundrel spellcasting is affected by ASF)? I would eventually be able to get the Altered Penumbra maneuver that allows me to potentially negate one attack and teleport 10 feet as a reaction usable once every 2 or 3 rounds, but other than that it's me and my mage armor-ed (and if time allows - shield-ed) self against the world.
- Is it worth blowing 2 feats to get the Wings of Air racial feat that allows for flight as supernatural ability? I would already have access to the flight spell by then so the question is are encounters and require access to flight for melee character often enough that spending 2 feats will be worth it compared to spending a 3rd level slot and 1 round to cast it?
- Considering I already have access to the wizard spell list will the Use Magic Device skill be of any noticeable use for my character?
Hello there. More of an old time 3.5 player, than Pathfinder enthusiast, but when actual game opportunities are rare - beggars can't be choosers (not to mention that the system actually seems to fix many of the 3.5 problems, while creating relatively few new ones).
Anyway, I have the opportunity to take part in a Pathfinder game set in my favorite setting of Eberron (Sorry Golarion) and I have always wanted to play a mark of passage character. I assume most of you are familiar with the lore of the dragonmarked houses, so I wont bore you with explanations - knowledge of Eberron lore is not really relevant to the question anyway.
So. We are using this https://sites.google.com/site/eberronpathfinder/ Pathfinder conversion for Eberron in addition to every Paizo product my group has access to (which is most of them really). No Dreamscared press psionics of Path of War. The game starts at lvl 14 and The Bonus Skills and Feat Tax Rules are in effect. I want to build a viable Blade of Orien PrC (https://sites.google.com/site/eberronpathfinder/conversion-info/classes/pr estige-classes/blade-of-orien) character. My problem is that most of the Pathfinder martial classes seem one or two ideas more powerful than their 3.5 counterparts and the at least of first look the PrC from the conversion (or most Pathfinder PrC in general) don't seem to follow suit.
The PrC in question is Human only and has few things going for it.
- Full BAB
- One additional use per level for your dimensional slide power (short range dimension door basically, usually usable 1/day from the Least True Mark feat)
- Free feat from the Dimensional Agility chain each two levels.
- Some other stuff that has low Cha-based DCs so it is mostly unusable in a reliable manner for the character I have in mind.
This is the build that I currently have in mind:
[1] Fighter (Weapon Master) 1: [Least True Dragonmark (Mark of Passage, Dimension Leap)], [Combat Reflexes], [Iron Will]
[2] Fighter 2: [Deft Maneuvers], Weapon Guard +1
[3] Fighter 3: [Furious Focus], Weapon Training I: Heavy Blades
[4] Slayer 1 (Bounty Hunter) 1: Studied Target, Track
[5] Slayer 2 (Bounty Hunter) 2: Dirty Trick, [Lesser True Dragonmark (Mark of Passage, Dimension Door)]
[6] Blade of Orien 1: [Dimensional Agility]
[7] Blade of Orien 2: [Greater Trip]
[8] Blade of Orien 3: [Dimensional Assault]
[9] Blade of Orien 4: [Tripping Strike]
[10]Blade of Orien 5: [Dimensional Dervish]
[11]Blade of Orien 6: [Critical Focus]
[12]Blade of Orien 7: [Dimensional Maneuvers]
[13]Blade of Orien 8: [Outflank]
[14]Blade of Orien 9: [Dimensional Savant]
[15]Fighter 4: [Critical Versatility][Advanced Weapon Training (Warrior Spirit)]
This would give me a 120 feet dimensional leap 11 times per day and a single 1000 feet dimension door per day. I would be also flank with myself and each critical hit will give me a chance to apply some status effect (usually stager) give me a trip attempt while each trip will give me an AoO. Warrior's spirit in combination with Gloves of Dueling will give me some sweet weapon buffs 3/day (But of course, I would love to make my +3 keen falchion into a +5 keen "bane: the thing in front of me" falchion, tvm!)
My problem is... at 15th level at least in 3.5 - primary caster are already shaping their own universes and a martial character is pretty much useless unless he can deal triple digits in damage each time he is allowed to lay his hands on an enemy for a second. It seems Pathfinder is trying to keep them in check, but... is it enough for the abovementioned character to be viable at that level?
We are starting a new campaign that our DM wants to keep in the heroic fantasy tier without the rocket tag arm race of the last few levels, so we will be capped to lvl 13 and then just improve our characters in narrative ways (influence, contacts and access to infrastructure).
Since the DM seems to have a problem with the toolbox multiple high level spell casters bring to the table - wanted to try something martial this time. The group has a hunter, a sorcerer and a cleric... so plenty spells already anyway.
I am aiming for character good at defending himself, one ally and hindering enemies. I think it looks good on paper, but wanted to hear a second/third opinion if someone feels like checking the build.
What the build does:
Can give +8 bonus to the AC of an attacked adjacent ally as an AoO and lasting until the beginning of my next turn (+3 benevolent armor, helpful train, harrying partners and Intercept + Bodyguard)
Can allow an adjacent ally (if he is his ward) to reroll a Fort or Will save or to automatically stabilize his ward and allow him to remain conscious if reduced below 0 hp.
Can frighten enemies in 30 feat for a round and sicken the target of his attacks for 2 rounds
Can reduce the attacks or AC of his sneak attack targets by 2 and with each attack reduce their attack stat by 1.
Has OK-ish defenses himself (I think).
Race: Human (Focused Study, Heart of the Fey)
Classes: Weapon Master Fighter 3/ Unchained Rogue Thug 4/ Yojimbo Samurai (Order of the Cockatrice) 4
PRC: Aldori Swordlord 2
VMC: Inquisitor
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +25 (low-light vision)
DEFENSE
AC 31, touch 20, flat-footed 22 (+9 armor, +7 Dex, +1 trait, +2 deflection, +2 shield)
hp 100 (13 HD; 4d8+9d10+26)
Fort +15, Ref +19, Will +13 (+2 Will when adjacent to an ally, -2 to saves vs. poison, disease, illusions and the spell like and supernatural abilities of fey)
Defensive Abilities: weapon guard +1, evasion, uncanny dodge, resolve 3/day
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 keen aldori dueling sword +24/+19/+14 (1d8+11/17–20)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, weapon training (aldori dueling sword +1), debilitating injury, pressure points, frightening, brutal beating, challenge (+4, 2/day)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 24, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 17
Base Atk +12; CMB +12; CMD 31
Combat Gear
[hands] Gloves of Dueling
[weapon] + 1 Keen Aldori Dueling Sword
[armor] +3 benevolent mithral breastplate
[belt] Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2
[headband] Headband of Mental Prowess +2
[head] Crown of Conquest
[shoulders] Cloak of Resistance +4
[ring] Ring of Freedom of Movement
[ring] Ring of Protection +2
[boots] Boots of Speed
[wayfinder] resonating Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid
Hi there. I am jointing a relatively high optimization game and wanted to make sure my character will be up for the challenge.
The campaign is with very pronounced focus on demonic forces, so they usual "shocking grasp them into oblivion" strategy is a no-go and a bit overdone anyway. Also, in the setting holy and axiomatic weapons are artefact levels (in case you are wandering for the lack of Devoted Blade Arcana).
We are using the feat tax and background skill rules, so free Power Attack and Deadly Aim pretty much. Skill Focus + Orator gives me pretty good social competence for a magus and I'd like to keep that if possible.
My goal is to be able with a bit of luck on my side - to be able to solo a demon of CR equal to my character level in two rounds.
Character:
Half-orc (alternative traits: fey thoughts, shaman apprentice, sacred tattoo)
Mindblade Magus 12 VMC Fighter (traits: fate’s favored, weathered emissary, reactionary)
LE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +10; Senses Perception +19, dark vision 30 ft.
DEFENSE
AC 24 <33 buffed>, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+9 armor, +4 Dex, +1 deflection)
hp 93 (12d8+36)
Fort +16, Ref +14, Will +14
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +5 keen elven curved sword +25/+20 (1d10+20, 15-20x2)
Special Attacks spell combat, spellstrike
Combat Gear +3 mithral breastplate., gloves of dueling, +1 crystal hilt, crown of conquest, headband of vast intelligence +4 [fly, arcana], belt of physical might +4 [Str, Dex], cloak of resistance +4, wayfinder with opalescent white pyramid, ring of protection +1, spellguard bracers, fortunate charm, wand of bladed dash, runestone of power I & II
I'm quite happy with the character at least on paper and I absolutely love the infinite blade works aesthetics of storm of blades, but while the damage is ok - it is utterly unpractical against anything possessing damage reduction (like demons) to the point it's not even funny. Can someone suggest how with the minimum amounts of changes or resources over the next few levels I can fix that? A solution that works only against demons will be perfectly fine... as long as it does not include making the attacks holly by some means (making them good is ok).
Hello there. I have started playing Pathfinder again after long hiatus and finally I have a DM who does not hate Path of War with burning passion, because "it's stupid, because fighters can teleport all day" or something.
I'm joining an ongoing aquatic campaign @lvl8 and was thinking about playing a sea elf Aquatic Beastmaster (hunter) 4/Ambush Hunter (ranger) 4 with Giant Moray Eel animal companion. The party has a channeling focused aasimar cleric (going for Envoy of Balance), a harbinger, and an archer paladin for all it's worth.
My Pathfinder skills are a bit rusty and I have never played past lvl 5, so I wanted to make sure my character won't be too much of a liability.
Ability Scores: Str 10, Dex 22, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 10
HP 50, Init: +6, AC: 21 (touch 16, flat-footed 15), CMD 23, CMB 13
Fort +11, Reflex +16, Will +8
My standard tactic should be with me and/or the paladin shooting an enemy with a pheromone arrow in the surprise round for +2 bonus to attack and damage to me and my AC and sending it charging into the fray with momentum crush for +16 attack and 3d6+32 damage plus CMB +22 grapple.
Next round I should be able to power attack the hopefully grappled opponent with steel flurry strike for 3 attacks each at +17 attack and 1d10+3d6+18 damage, landing critical hit on attack roll of 15+ and giving an AoO to my Animal Companion who gives me AoO in return. It should finish off a CR 8 opponent most of the time or put a dent in something stronger.
Does that sound like a viable plan or I am missing some obvious flaws (besides my terrible will save, but I don't see much I can do about that (maybe Iron Will next level).
I am preparing a two-shot adventure for the RPG weekend at the local hobby shop and wanted to introduce players to some of the 3P pathfinder products. Originally it was going to be focused on Path of War, but now I am considering Spheres of Power for the last premade character.
Since my actual player or DM experience with Spheres of Power is nonexistent - I would appreciate some input from someone familiar with both this product and Path of War - I want to avoid considerable power level gap between the characters.
The campaign is based on monsters-as-PCs theme, since most of the players that will attend are somewhat bored by standard cookie cutter characters they haven't made themselves. It will take place in the Heroes III universe with the players being monsters in the employ of the Dungeon Overlord Mutare after her ascension to dragon-hood.
The party so far consists of:
Dace, a lvl 6 Minotaur Zweihander Sentinel (Warder)
A trip focused defender that can also bring the hurt with raging hunter pounce or cornered frenzy strike that have sweet synergy with his powerful charging gore attack. Usually in Primal Warrior or Iron Tortoise Stance.
Lorelei, a lvl 6 Harpy Steelfist Commando (Warlord)
Damage focused melee warlord, using her flyby attack to safely deliver devastating broken blade strikes, assisted by his lvl 5 Harpy Unchained Rogue (Leadership) Cohort.
Euryale, a lvl 5 lesser* Medusa Soul Hunter (Stalker)
Gradually weakening them with poisoned arrows, before finishing them off with Aura of Misfurtune powered Petrifying Gaze.
* only 6 monstrous HD, -2 Con and Cha and Petrifying Gaze is single target full-round action.
I want the last member to be a lvl 8 Enlightened Troglodyte Beastmaster (Hunter) with a monitor lizard animal companion and the
Bee Keeper and Bolster Beast talents allowing him to throw swarms of bats or insects towards his enemies. Ideally I want the character to be using a spear.
Does anyone have any advice for other talents I should consider for a build like that to make its power level match that of the other 3 characters above.
1. Can you use the martial training feat chain to qualify the requirements for a PoW prestige class?
E.g: If I use Martial Training I, II & III to qualify for Dragon Fury.
2. If I can, are the initiator levels from the PrC added to the initiator level granted by the feat (up to my total character level).
Back in the old days when I was first introduced to roleplaying games my first character was an AD&D swashbuckler shortly before the 3rd edition release. The DM wanted to wrap up the campaign so we can try the next edition so he planed a dragon encounter as a culmination to our ongoing defense of a village from a gnoll/kobold horde.
In the end of the previous session my character had a short romantic encounter with the innkeeper's daughter and got separated from the rest of the party for the night, so when I was late for the last session - the DM was eager to finish the encounter so we can start making our 3E characters and ruled that my character was still sleeping in the barn, oblivious to the dragon attack.
By the time I got there, the cavalier and the cleric have already dealt with most of the dragon minions, but the dragon was still healthy as ever, skirmishing outside of the fighter's range and bouncing the wizard's spell on his hide and running the cleric dry on healing with his strafing breath attacks. Our cavalier was quire a powerhouse back then, so the dragon was doing the smart thing, refusing to commit in a melee fight with him. As this was going on, my character (who was plagued by atrocious die roll luck in all the sessions so far) awoke in a burning barn and leapt outside with a sheathed rapier in hand and a shirt tied around his private parts. Seeing a soft target, the dragon proceeded to dive him, nail all but one of his attacks and leaving him to 4 hp from death. With the cavalier yelling at me to hold him for a round so he can get there and considering the whole plethora of options for my character in his extremely advantageous position between a raging dragon and a burning barn, I simply had him draw his sword and poke at the dragon with a glorious triplet of natural 20s instant killing the lizard according to the crit./fumble table we were using.
Anyway, a few days ago we decided to restart that campaign again with our characters already grizzled veterans for a few nostalgia sessions, but this time in Pathfinder since its the 21st century and all...
Male human swashbuckler 1/warlord 5/landsknetch 10
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +10; Senses Perception +26, Darkvision 60 ft.
Traits: Ancestral Weapon (Silver), Practiced Initiator
Martial Tradition: Lens Maker Society
DEFENSE
AC 30, touch 17, flat-footed 25 (+8 armor, +4 shield, +1 deflection, +1 natural, +1 insight, +5 Dex)
hp 161 (favored class bonus +5 hp)
Fort +16 Ref +16 Will +13, +4 vs. fear, death, compulsion
Defensive Abilities: Improved Uncanny Dodge (lvl 10)
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +3 Fortuitous Silver Rapier +31/+16/+11/+6(1d6+17/15-20)
Special Attacks: Surprising Strike 3/day, Strength of Arms, Superior Reach, Mobile Attacker, Bait the Dragon, Tactical Flanker.
Gambits: Rascal's Gambit, Brave Gambit, Flanker's Gambit
STATISTICS (17, 14, 13, 12, 12, 10 stats rolled)
Str 28, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 18
Base Atk +16; CMB +25; CMD 43
Feats Combat Reflexes, Discipline Focus, Improved Initiative, Mithral Current Style, Mithral Current Flow, Mithral Current Slice, Quick Draw, Improved Quick Draw, Seize the Moment, Skill Focus: Sense Motive, Skill Focus: Perform (Dance), Skill Focus: Iaijutsu Focus, Tap Animus, Weapon Focus (Rapier)
Skills Diplomacy +26, Iaijutsu Focus* +32, Perception +26, Perform (Dance) +32, Sense Motive +30, Stealth +23
Languages Common, Draconic
SQ Inspired Panache, Strength of Arms, Threatening Demeanor, Warleader, Tactical Presence: Rallying Presence, Force of Personality.
WEAPON: +3 Fortuitous Silver Rapier
ARMOR: +2 Mithral Breastplace of Light Fortification
SHIELD: +3 Darkwood Buckler
BELT: Belt of Physical Perfection +6
HEADBAND: Headband of Mental Prowess +4
RING: Ring of Protection +1
WRISTS: Sleeves of Many Garments
NECK: Amulet of Natural Armor +1
HEAD: Crown of Crimson Glory**
SHOULDERS: Cloak of Resistance +3
FEET: Boots of Speed
CHEST: Quick Runner’s Shirt
EYES: Eyes of the Eagle/Googles of Night
HANDS: Gloves of Reconnaissance
OTHER: Swordmaster's Flair: Blue Scarf, Cracked Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone, Wayfinder with Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone
Strikes Readied: Whirlpool Strike, Final Blow, Descending Sunset Strike, Silver Crown Strike;
Counters Readied: Ride the Wake, Flowing Creek, Flowing River;
Boosts Readied: Red Zephyr’s Fleetness, Noble Blade.
Stances: Stance of Assured Victory, Deadly Thunder Lancer’s Stance, Scarlet Duelist Attitude, Stance of the Thunderbrand, Flowing Water Stance, Running Hunter’s Stance, Reaching Blade Stance
The GM is allowing me to use the Iaijutsu Focus from oriental adventures since it fits the character and the Crown of Crimson Glory is a legacy item crafted from the dead dragon's teeth that is basically a Crown of Conquest, but it gives +3 competence bonus to Sense Motive and charisma checks instead of +5 bonus to intimidate.
What the character is aiming to achieve is to be able to pull a 200+ damage in a single strike allowing him to one shot a CR16 enemy in one hit.
Iaijutsu focus should give me +6d6 damage against flatfooted enemy on the draw. +10 initiative bonus hopefully will allow me to act while an opponent is still flatfooted. If not - rascal's gambit can make him flatfooted at the cost of a swift action.
Noble Blade (in case we act first) should give me +2d8 for one strike (or if I had to waste a round to prepare - 2 point of animus will give me +8 damage instead), Iaijutsu Focus will give +6d6 in addition to that and my base damage is 1d6+17. That leaves it at about 50 damage. Descending Sunset Strike will multiply that x4 making it 200 and since the enemy will be vulnerable to silver against my first attack (thanks to Mithral Current Slice) for the round - the damage should reach 300 dispatching any 200ish hp enemy. Are my calculations correct?
We had a lengthy argument in our group with a player who argued on and on with the GM that he can use accelerated drinker with alchemist extracts and the FAQ should be ignored because it obviously contradicts the RAW. In the end the GM gave up since it wasn't worth the effort for the three shot adventure we are going to play with the characters we are about to create. Anyway, the whole hour and a half long argument made me want to play some RAW abusing character as well, just to prove a point. Wanted to check if the following build is in line with literal reading of the rules:
Equipment: Deliquescent Gloves of Dueling, +4 Blinkback Belt of Physical Perfection, +5 mithral light throwing shield (also enchanted as +1 huntsman heartseeker impervious weapon), other items...
So, we effectively have a +5 corrosive shock wounding throwing shield, buffed with +3 damage from arcane strike, +8 damage from deadly aim and +3 damage from weapon training. If we can prepare in advance we can use warrior's spirit to add bane and holy to our shield (to one of the two shield we have, but returning weapon transfers that to the other one as well.
We can throw the shield as a free action (since it is a thrown shield) (assuming the DM will restrict me to a single free action for doing that each turn) and then make a full hasted, rapid shooting, greater two-weapon fighting attack with no penalties for two-weapon fighting, using deadly aim or combat expertise. With our 24 Dex and 16 Str it will amount vs. a bane-ed evil target to:
+33/+33/+33/+33/+33*/+28/+28*/+23/+23* attacks for 1d3+25+5d6 plus 1d6 electricity plus 1d6 acid.
(* 2 damage less since it's an offhand attack)
I guess it can be optimized further, but not really interested in totally breaking the game, just in tossing almost a dozen shields in single round due to dubious rules interpretation.
It's quite obvious to me that Shield master does not affect penalties outside those from TWF, but literal reading of the feat allows it I think. Combining TWF with rapid shot is also technically possible and the way I see it thanks to blinkback belt I can free action toss a throwing shield and then still use it for a full attack.
Am I missing something?
If I apply an effortless lace to my rapier, would that allow me to chose that weapon for the benefits of the cloak and dagger style feat? My GM raised the concern that when picking the weapon for the Cloak and Dagger Style feat - I have to pick a weapon that is naturally light and the rapier is still a non-light weapon by itself. If that is true - what feats would you recommend for my build in order to replace the Cloak and Dagger feats and their prerequisites (Vital Strike, Dirty Fighting, Improved Dirty Trick, Cloak and Dagger Style, Cloak and Dagger Subterfuge).
Hi there. One of the new players joining our weekend sessions has been over-fascinated by one of the new villains from the first episode of the samurai jack series and wants to play an exact carbon copy of the character if possible. He is relatively new to pathfinder and we are already lvl 12, so he feels a bit overwhelmed with options at the moment. He is a old school DnD player so it's not so much problems with the mechanics (although CMB took some explaining), but with all the mechanics available.
Was wondering if someone can throw some ideas for recreating the character. Our game is at mid optimization level so being able to deal relatively successful with CR appropriate for their level is more than enough.
Anyway. For those of you unfamiliar with the character, here are the main points.
- He is a robot, so probably the android race will have to do.
- He calls himself an assassin, though besides demonstrating some mad acrobatics (mostly jumping) he doesn't seem to have any assassin traits.
- He sings all the time during combat, but it does not really induce any magical effect, so he is not necessarily a bard.
- He uses a magical flute to animate a bunch of stones into forming a stone golem or to just telekinetically pummel the main hero with them.
- He uses a dancing falchion (telekinetically wielded I guess) to attack with.
- He seems to be relatively competent in melee, but mostly in using his two-bladed kamertonish knife to sunder/shatter the daggers wielded by the main hero.
A simple Dervish of Dawn bard with dancing falchion, animate objects and the sunder feat chain should probably work decent enough, but bards can get their hands on Animate Objects at 16th level, which is a bit too far into the future having our leveling speed in mind also even with double inspire competence bonuses he might have problems sundering with the best of them due to his medium BAB.
Is there something better that can be done with the skald or occultist classes for example?
I was wondering if making a Dread with the Paired Opportunist, Seize the Moment and Coordinated Charge would allow me to use those feats with my shadow twin e.g: When the shadow twin crits - I get an AoO and give him AoO and when he charges I get a charge as well (with those AoO attacks coming from the same Combat Reflexes pool).
I am trying to build a dragoon fighter who two-weapon fights with a lance using it's lvl 7 feature with Trained Grace for a solid bonus to damage rolls. The problem is that in order to pick Trained Grace I have to get Fighter's Finesse first and that delays Warrior's Spirit and Armed Bravery to lvls 15 and 20 respectively which is 5 lvls later than I would like for both of them.
The other problem is that I am not even sure if Spinning Lance allows me to two-weapon fight with it or it just gives a way to attack adjacent targets.
Is there some other way that does not include multiclass for a dragoon fighter to wiled a lance with Weapon Finesse and can he even use spinning lance for two-weapon fighting?
We are playing a high level game where everyone has receives a random race with one random alternative racial feature. I was rolled the draconic heritage feature which is cool and all... and that's my attempt to build around it.
Human (set in stone): Draconic Heritage (set in stone), Focused Study
Alchemist Beastmorph Vivisectionist VMC Fighter
1. Feat: Eldritch Heritage, Skill Focus: Intimidate
2. Discovery: Feral Mutagen
3. Bravery
4. Discovery: Vestigial Arm I
5. Feat: Power Attack
6. Discovery: Vestigial Arm II
7. Armor Training I
8. Discovery: Wings, Skill Focus: Stealth
9. Feat: Cornugon Smash
10. Discovery: Tentacle
11. Weapon Training I
12. Discovery: Bleeding Attack Rogue Talent
13. Feat: Flensing Strike
14. Discovery: Greater Mutagen
15. Armor Training II
Traits: Carefully Hidden, Omen
Str 25+6, Dex 17+4, Con 17, Int 16-2, Wis 14-2, Cha 14
AC: 23+6, Touch: 18+2
Fort +17, Ref +17+2, Will +13-1
Gloves of Dueling, Helm of the Mammoth Lord, +3 Amulet of Mighty Fists, +3 Mithral Shirt, Belt of Physical Perfection +4, Headband of Mental Superiority +2, Cloak of Resistance +5, Boots of Speed, Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Freedom of Movement, Wayfinder with Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone.
Beast Shape III abilities chosen (usually): Pounce, Blindsense, Scent and Burrow.
Pounce attack with haste: +34/+34/+34/+34/+34/+34/+34/+29
2 bites x 1d8+24 plus 8d6 sneak attack
2 claws and gore x 1d6+24 plus 8d6 sneak attack
2 claws x 1d6+24 plus 1d6 acid and 8d6 sneak attack (5 rounds/day)
1 tentacle x 1d4+16 plus 1d6 and grab
It has a devastating pounce for 5 rounds per day being able to tear to shreds just about anything especially if it relies on natural armor and is vulnerable to sneak attacks. The tentacle is reflavored as a tail slap and the character is mostly modeled after a black dragon (the burrow is more of a blue's thing, but oh well... I like blacks more *tongue in check*). In the few upcoming levels before the campaign's end (around lvl 17 since our GM starts feeling uncomfortable once lvl 9 spells hit the field) I will mostly be going after the eternal potion discovery. I realize the build is very vulnerable to a fight where it does not have a mutagen ready, but I actually enjoy that weakness since it leads to interesting encounters (or TPK... but you can't win them all).
Anyway, I need help with few issues in rounding up the build.
* The second armor training does not seem all that useful - is there some nice advanced weapon training option for this build that does not depend on fighter levels (since VMC gives me none).
* I like the poison option from Beast Shape III since it is black dragonish (well, not really, but close enough) and it is a nice synergy with the -4 saves penalty from the shaken and sickened condition that I apply with my attacks. How does it work though? Do I pick a poison from one of the creatures available for Beast Form III? Is the DC based on my levels and Con modifier or on the creature's?
* My Will save is lacking and I can't find a way to fix that before lvl 19 (probably too late) when I can pick armed bravery... getting dominated can be very bad for one of my allies within charge range. Are there any item based ways to fix that beyond cloak of resistance?
* Is the fighter VMC really worth it for the weapon training (+ gloves of dueling) and the bravery or I should go single class and pick Weapon Focus/Dazzling Display/Shatter Defenses and Iron Will with the VMC feat cost instead?
Our DM intends to run a relatively short high level campaign focused on plotting against and eventually taking down Razmir the god-king (and 19th level wizard) of Razmiran. Our party consist of a Spell Warrior Scald|Vigilante, a Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple|Paladin and a Mesmerist|Sorcerer (Fey).
We will start the campaign at 12th level and gain 2-3 more levels before confronting Razmir himself.
I want to play a mindblade magus/mutation warrior and the build I have so far is as follows below. We play with the feat tax rules and free combat stamina feat for fighters houserules in place (which amounts to free power attack, combat stamina and greater two-weapon fighting feats for me).
Human Mindblade Magus 12/Mutation Warrior Fighter 12
Traits: Carefully Hidden, Highlander, Defender of the Society, Fate's Favored
Alternative Racial Traits: Focused Study (Stealth, Spellcraft)
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item, Smash from the Air, Weapon Focus, Improved Initiative, Improved Critical, Blind Fight, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Double Slice, Hammer the Gap, Hand’s Autonomy, Arcane Strike, Additional Traits, Combat Reflexes, Combat Stamina plus prerequisite feats.
Magus Arcanas: Prescient Attack, Accurate Strike, Arcane Scent, Lingering Pain
Discoveries: Wings, Grand Mutagen
Advanced Weapon Training: Fighter Reflexes, Armed Bravery
Items: +1 Mithral Breastplate of Light Fortification and Comfort, Belt of Physical Perfection +4, Boots of Speed, Gloves of Dueling|Elvenkind, Crown of Conquest, Headband of Vast Intelligence +4, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Resistance +5, Wayfinder with Resonating Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid, Memento Magica I
I think I have decent saves, very good protection from rays and in addition to unspellable flight, blind-fight and good damage that it should cause any mid level caster a lot of trouble. The problem is I have very little experience with high level casters and have no idea what to expect and how can a magus prepare for it. Can anyone throw a suggestion or two? Is there any significant changes I can make to my build (other than playing a full caster myself of course) more suited for dealing with a higher level wizard?
Hello guys. A few friends invited me to join there group for the start of the RotRL#4 adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants.
Since we will be only 3 players, the DM has given us +1 extra level and 22 point buy to play with. I have heard some rumors about RotRL not being very martial friendly so I was wandering how viable my character will be for the rest of the adventure path. Our remaining party members are an unchained rogue and a magus, so with the rogue having the dispelling attack and the magus having dispel magic I am somewhat safe from enemies using fly to make themselves immune to trip, but there are many ways to fly that are not dispellable (or many monsters that can't be tripped) so I was wondering how worried should I be in this regard and are there any major weaknesses that my character have overall. My CMB should be high enough that I can reliably trip large strong monsters like giants and such, though I am not really sure.
Human Lore Warden 5/Oath of Vengeance Paladin 6
Init +4; Perception +12
Aura courage (10 ft.)
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 19 (+5 armor, +3 shield, +4 Dex, +1 insight)
hp 82 (11d10+22)
Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +14;
Immune disease, fear
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
+1 cold iron nodachi +22/+17/+12 (1d10/18–20)
Special Attacks smite evil 2/day (+3 attack and AC, +6 damage), weapon training (polearms +3)
Hello there. I have been itching for a while to try a tiefling paladin with its lay on hands favored class bonus, but my current DM has decided for a single classed game (no multiclass, variant multiclass or even prestige classes are on the table) so the Oradin is not an option.
We have tanking focused Warder (3rd party), Cleric, Inspiring Commander (3rd party) Cavalier and Sylvan Sorcerer in the party. I have my feat progression pretty much planned.
1. Fay Foundling
3. Power Attack
5. Cornugon Smash
7. Extra Lay on Hands
9. Greater Mercy
11. Skill Focus: Knowledge the Planes
13. Eldritch Heritage(Abyssal): Claws
15. Improved Eldritch Heritage: Strength of the Abyss
What I can't decide on is my archetype and weapon of choice. I am wondering between two options.
Vanilla Paladin with Falchion. The bonus is that it is simple, cheap for itemization and fully utilizes my Divine Bond. I am also considering swapping the Eldritch Heritage for another Extra Lay on Hands (or Intimidating Prowess if I find my intimidation checks lacking) plus Critical Focus and Staggering Critical.
Enlightened Paladin with unarmed strikes and natural attacks (Claws from tiefling, Gore from Helm of the Mammoth Lord, Bite from the Mother's Teeth trait). The bonus is that I deal a lot of damage when I can get a full attack, but I don't have pounce so this wont happen very often. It is also considerably more expensive to itemize. I am also considering swapping Greater Mercy and Eldritch Heritage feats for the Archon Combat Style feat chain since It is nice synergy with the paired opportunist feat that our Inspiring Commander is tossing left and right in fights.
I would appreciate any suggestion regarding which option to choose.
Had anyone toyed with the idea of using 3 lvls of phalanx soldier to wield an elven branched spear as one handed weapon and then add the enlarge spell and a blue scarf swordmaster's flair in order to control everything within 20 feets of himself.
Something like Phalanx Fighter 4/Swashbuckler 9/Myrmidarch Magus 7 should work pretty well (with the core of the build being Fighter 3/Swashbuckler 1/Magus 1).
Your weapon threat range sucks, and you loose about 10 damage from precise strike, but you should get a handful of attacks of opportunity and the magus levels even turn your Will save from bad to average. If you get the chance to cast (or precast) frostbite - you can even make up for the damage lost from precise strike and stop all charges in their tracks.
A handful of pearls of power should make up for the diminished spell slots of the magus archetypes, since you are mostly after the lvl 1 spells.
I one of our less frequent weekend campaign I am playing a paladin 4/cavalier 3 in the company of druid and a summoner, and our DM loves tempting us to split the party.
Some pretty brutal boss fights aside, most of the challenges we meet are of our CR, but considering we often have to face them alone for the abovementioned reasons... my paladin is really loosing on the action economy game, so I have decided to step it up a notch.
I was planning to go for another cavalier level in order to pick Horse Master, but so the opportunities to use my mount for something more than transport have been far and between, so I am thinking about going in another direction and retrain into the Esquire archetype instead.
At lvl. 15 I intend to pick a Cavalier VMC Bard/Battle Herald as my Leadership Cohort, but I have no idea what to pick as my Aide-De-Camp Cohort. It has to be a single class that grants proficiency in all martial weapons and can't multiclass.
I want a simple cohort with high survivability that can spare 3 feats to get coordinated charge (unfortunately teamwork only gives the cohort my feats when we are adjacent, and I don't see how is it possible for both of us to charge while remaining adjacent all the time). Having one specialized trick under its sleeve is more than enough. It also has to be less gear dependent since cohorts don't have a PC wealth levels. Since the cohort is there mostly to charge and get me in a position for a full attack - some charge optimization is a given, but I wan't to stay away from pounce builds since... 3 character doing full attacks and more will hog too much of the game time.
The Sentinel's Symbolic Weapon ability says: When wielding his deity's favored weapon, the sentinel gains a +1 sacred or profane bonus on attack and damage rolls.
I can't help but notice that the wording is different than the Figher's Weapon Training feature: Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.
Does that mean a Sentinel of Iomedae that is two-weapon fighting with longsword and shield will get the bonus to both his sword attacks and shield bashes?
One of my players has expressed interest in the Theosophist cleric archetype by Kobold Press and while I'm generally pretty liberal about third party, this archetype worries me a bit.
It trades:
* 1 hp per level (d6 instead of d8)
* cleric BAB (1/2 instead of 3/4)
* shield and armor proficiencies
* proficiency in their deity favored weapon
for:
* 2 more skill points (4 + int per level)
* few more class skills (all knowledge skills as class skills)
* +2 bonus to linguistics, spell craft and kn (religion) checks
* free Versatile Channeler feat
* a third domain (not necessary on their deity list)
* ability to spontaneously cast spells from one of their 3 domains.
The remaining party members are playing mostly tier 3 classes (trapper ranger, shield champion brawler, and a dread).
The flavor of the theosophist is that uses formal study and learning to gain intellectual study of his religion so I was wandering if it will be too heavy handed houserule to make his cast the spells from his third domain as a wizard (Int-based, subject to arcane spell failure) and restrict its spontaneous casting only to its domain slots, but extend it to all of its domain (or in other words he can use his domain slot to spontaneously cast all of his domain spells).
What is the size of the weapons summoned by the storm of blades spell? Is it the same as the material component?
Can I use a large bastard sword as a component for the spell and summon large bastar sword with it (without penalties for proficiency or unusual size)?
Can I use as a component a weapon that is too big for me to wield (like a huge greatsword) to summon the same weapon?
I am playing a lore warden 6/standard bearer 1/battle herald VMC bard and I can't make up my mind on the fighting style that my character should dedicate himself to. I'm mostly pondering over few main questions.
Is it worth spending a feat (shield brace) to use a shield/two handed weapon combo provided I am not using the shield for anything but AC(no shield bashing/etc.)? In other words - is a feat and 17 000 gold a fair cost for +6 shield AC or I should just invest in a wand of shield and UMD?
Provided I am order of the seal cavalier (free trip or disarm when making a full attack against challenged target) is that good enough to warrant taking the extra challenge feat?
Should I go with reach weapon (naginata) or close range one (nodachi)? We have two other melees in the group (skald and malefactor) so the reach will help me both flank (can you attack from behind an ally?) and stay out of the range of the malefactor aura of misfortune (penalty to saves for both allies and enemies within 10 ft.).
Can I trip with a weapon that does not have the trip property (like the nodachi)? Most of the discussions that I found seem to imply that I can, but there were A LOT of discussions on this matter so I want to know if there is some definite conclusion or a FAQ/Errata.
I seem to remember that there was an item giving you the option to share a teamwork feat with allies, but can't remember its name or type.
Can someone help me with that?
Disclaimer: The build bellow has a few rules assumptions that might not be 100% legal, but for the purposes of the discussion please accept that it is the DM opinion on the matter and we are working with it.
Assumptions:
1. Picking Animal Ally before receiving a Mount animal companion from another source allows you to stack your Animal (Ally) Companion levels from the feat with the Mount Animal Companion levels from the second source.
2. After the character has divided his total animal companion levels into two different animal companions as per the packmaster feature - one of them can be enhanced by boon companion provided none results in an animal companion with higher effective druid level than the character level.
In other words the assumption is that a Standard Bearer Cavalier 5/Packmaster Hunter 1 who picks his animal ally feat before receiving his mount or animal companion from class levels and picks the boon companion feat ends up with 2 full progression animal companions.
In need an advice regarding the following:
1. What cavalier order will be good for a mount focused character?
2. Is it good idea for the character himself to specialise in melee combat or it's better to focus on shooting for versatility?
3. What is the most optimal character progression from that point forwards? A) Sticking with packmaster for teamwork feats, animal focus progression and limited spellcasting, B) going into mamooth rider for the companion bonuses, C) picking a single level in mamooth rider for the initial bonuses and then going back to huntmaster or D) something else?
Hello there. I decided to bring an old character back to life in what seemed to be a relatively low-OP campaign with a few new friend, but suddenly ended in a party with human spellslinger VMC rogue arcane trickster with absurd spell save DCs, human battle shaman with mauler dweomer cat and a human cavalier/packmaster hunter/evangelist of Erastil VMC cleric that ends up with an adequate mount, two buffed fully scaled animal companions, and still manages to be a decent archer.
I am already quite invested in the story of my character, so I would rather keep the 3 levels of shadowdancer part, but would appreciate any feedback on changes that will help not feel like an obsolete part of the team without spells and/or insane action economy on my side.
My stats rolled quite high at Str 13 Dex 18 Con 14 Wis 12 Int 14 Cha 15 so that helps a bit.
Race Human, Alternative Traits: Dimdweler, Focused Study
Traits: Ancestral Weapon, Defender of the Society
I am mostly looking for a way to deal with the f...ing glitterdust that everyone and their mother seems to be tossing left and right (hiding in the cat's shadow and hoping for her to rend the eyes of the f...er who glitterdusted us is sweet tactic, but I'd rather not depend on it).
Increasing the survivability of my shadow (it's strength damage has nice sinergy with my pressure points trick, but I have horrendous base will save and a full attack can decimate her). Finding a way to give her spring attack will be at least some step in this regard, but even if I can retrain her skill focus to mobility (can I?), I am still one feat away from this.
Replacing the evasion I get from rogue with something else will also be nice, since I get it from Shadow Dancer as well and they don't stack.
A friend of mine is bringing an animal companionS focused build and I was wondering on the legality of all those effective druid level stacking.
Here is the deal:
1. Human Standard Bearer Cavalier 1 VMC Cleric, Eye for Talent Racial Trait, Nature Soul Feat.
2. Standard Bearer Cavalier 2
3. Standard Bearer Cavalier 3
4. Standard Bearer Cavalier 4: Eye for Talent retrained to Human Bonus Feat: Animal Ally
(Effective Druid Animal Companion Level: 1)
5. Packmaster Hunter 1, Huntmaster Feat
(EDACL: 3, can split to multiple companions)
6. Standard Bearer Cavalier 5: Mount
(EDACL: 9)
7-15. Evangelist of Erastil 1-9, VMC Domain - Chivalry Inquisition
Final EDACL: 15 (Inquisition) + 12 (Animal Ally) + 5 (Cavalier) + 10 (Packmaster 1-Evangelist 9) + 1 (Huntmaster)
Or in other words this gives him a 11 HD mount and 2x12 HD beatsticks with outflank, +4 enhancement to strength, teamwork feats, etc. and the ability to call a third one once per day with his divine boon.
Is this RAW legal (if a bit cheesy)? Animal Ally seems to explicitly imply that it stacks with animal companion or mount features taken AFTER the feat.
I am considering a Paladin/Rogue/Shadowdancer for a low-op game coming next weekend and will appreciate some help in picking a suitable deity for such a character. Our setting does not have a defined pantheon so deities from any setting are ok really.
Are there any non-evil and non-racial deities (the character is human) that are also dealing with trickery, vengeance and shadows as a somewhat important part of their portfolio? Bonus points if they have a domain with useful lvl 1 power since the DM is letting me combine Temple Champion with Oath of Vengeace provided I never take more than 10 lvls of Paladin (I intend to take only 4).
The idea is to precast a named bullet and intensified shocking grasp and then when the combat starts to vital strike both barrels of your musket, discharging the shocking grasp, scoring a critical thanks to named bullet and them spell critical casting a disintegrate as a swift action.
It should deal:
4d12+4xDex+20Enhancement first barrel crit + 15d6 empowered intensified Shocking Grasp crit + 24 Devastating Strike + 3d12 Greater Vital Strike + 1d12+Dex+5 second barrel hit + 216 maximised Distintegrate + 16 named bullet for a total of 420ish damage or just about enough to drop a CR20 red wyrm straight from the sky (well from 40ish feet in the sky, but still).
It would require the Greater Vital Strike chain, Devastating Strike, Intensify, Empower and Maximise Megamagic, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation), Spell Specialization (Disintegrate), Spell Perfection (Disintegrate), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Reach Spellstrike Arcana.
Does this work the way I think it does?
Is there some reliable way to ensure me rerolling 1s on the attack roll or enemies rerolling 20s on their save?
Would taking the Hexcrafter Magus archetype and Improved Natural Attack + Hex Strike + Conductive weapon work for delivering misfortune hex and if it works, how can I boost it's DC?
Hello there.
I have just picked the animal ally for my Sohei Monk, and was wondering how worthwhile it is for non-spellcasting animal handlers (mostly cavaliers I think) to invest in the offensive capabilities of their mount.
It's a bit late in my character's carrier - I'll be level 15 when I can pick boon companion so that might be important.
His base attacks are at +16 bonus, and we often fight enemies with an AC of 33-35, making it a better option for him just to stay in total defense (I have mounted skirmisher so it is still very useful to have him). Is it worth it to invest in the magic items required to upgrade his offensive capabilities from hopeless to very bad?
We don't have a druid in the party and the cleric and wizard have better things to do rather than buff my AC. I have invested in a cloak of resistance +4 for him to avoid having him dominated under my legs, and I am considering throwing the 40k for getting horseshoes of glory for the ability to make him fly one per day.
Turning him into a Dragon Horse will net him another +6 Strength, but he is still hitting only on 17+, is it worth investing in amulet of mighty fists and belt of giant strength (can a mount wear amulet and belt?) to get him in the hits on 14+ range where actually throwing the dice starts to make sense rather than pointlessly slow combat? I assume cavaliers have it a bit better with their teamwork feats, but I imagine they are in similar situation, but still.
Also, how does Multiattack work with a creature that only has 2 hoof attacks? Would it just turn it from:
2 hooves +16 (2d6+STR plus 1d6 electricity) into
hoof +16/+11 (2d6+1.5 STR plus 1d6 electricity)
making the second attack even more unlikely to connect?
Hi there. I'm playing an elf sohei monk with elven branched spear and I am at a loss what my lvl 1 feat should be.
I get combat reflexes as my monk bonus feat and with the sohei scaling initiative bonus - improved initiative is less attractive. Lunge, weapon focus and power attack are out due to BAB requirements. I can get Dodge and head for spring attack, but mobility is terrible and spring attack is very situational. Is there some neat feat for spear wielder that I am missing? We don't use the retraining rules, so I can't just pick whatever and retrain it latter.
Hello there. I am playing an E12 campaign that is soon to enter in it's 5th level. My character is an Unchained Rogue 4, power attacking with an elven branched spear and due to another rogue joining the party, I want to deviate a bit from the skill monkey role and focus on combat competence while aiding the other player on key skill roles.
I have considering the following options for my further development.
8 levels of Sohei Monk that will give me the ability to flurry with the spear and get trick riding for two-handed flurry attacks on mounted charge (getting a durable mount with animal ally or leadership).
4 levels of Weapon Master Fighter followed by 4 levels of Spiritualist Investigator will give me a boost to saves and AC with whispering spirits, and big boost to my attack and damage with quick study and warrior's spirit for bane weapon with some extra weapon enhancement bonus. Unfortunately I will be one short from getting 11 BAB and third attack, but you can't have it all I guess and with only 2 attack pre haste - getting pounce is not so important.
If you were in my shoes what would you choose? Also, what is the action for activating whispering spirits and warrior's spirit, since I couldn't find a clear answer?
A friend of mine is dead set on playing a nature cleric with a skittergoat animal companion. The problem is - the skittergoat's stats leave a lot to be desired. It's small/medium in size and is at least -2 in all physical stats compared to the premium animal companion choises, it also has only one natural attack. The only redeeming feature is that it's gore attack is resolved against touch AC during a charge. Is there any way to build upon that in a useful manner?
I am starting a short swashbuckling campaign in the next week or so and while I want to include gunpowder weapons, I'm not really satisfied with how they work.
Now, I know very little about realism while a weapon is involved so I am more after their cinematographic representation.
I want to achieve the following:
1) Pistols and guns to be attractive for melee characters with little feat investment as a one-use weapon for the opening of the fight. Basically shooting a weapon even as a melee character should be very rewarding, but shooting it and reloading it in the middle of the fight should not be a good idea in most cases.
I assume this should happen with full round reloading and a gun stats that deliver more damage in one shot without much feat investment than a melee attack from melee focused character.
2) I want to avoid "a golf bag of guns" syndrome. I want them to carry 1 or 2 guns at best, rather than 10 so they can fire without reloading.
The cost of the guns can't be the way to achieve that since they will be able to pick more from the bodies of their enemies. I believe some sort of penalty for each gun you have readily accessible on your body should be the way to go. "Gun check penalty"? I would assume swashbuckling, tumbling, running, attacking and defending with 6 pistols on your belt won't be very comfortable. What penalty makes sense here? What I am aiming for is carrying one gun to be good idea most of the time, carrying two to be borderline bad idea unless you are preparing yourself for short ranged fire exchange.
3) I want to make opponents armed with guns scary enough that it is usually advisable to take cover and wait for an opening rather than charge them blindly (unless you can reach them in one turn of course). In the same line of thoughts I also want cover to be more viable even for a character without heavy investment into AC.
4) I want ranged character to be dangerous if left unchecked (without being terribly overpowered) and at the same time I want them relatively easy to shut down one engaged in melee (so that for them it is probably good idea to switch to a melee weapon even if not focused in its use).
Does anyone have an idea how to achieve this? I have some ideas, but I'd rather hear some untainted ideas first before sharing them for critique.
Hello everyone. I am playing a Human Unchained Rogue 4/Qinggong Sohei Monk 8 VMC into an Order of the Cockatrice Cavalier and as far as martial characters go it have been a blast. I can full attack K.O. enemies of my CR 15+ provided that our group's summoner strips them of their magical defenses first. Not having pounce hurts a bit, but the Quick Runner's Shirt and the Sandals of Quick Reaction help with that in more difficult encounters.
I'm in a party with a pretty vanilla summoner and a druid with vital striking tyrannosaurus.
My build is relatively simple with a two-handed Finesse Trained Power Attack with a +1 cruel keen elven curved blade and some demoralization with Dazzling Display or Cornugon Smash. Debilitating Injury and the Pressure Point ninja trick are just a gravy if I manage to get into a flank and in a few levels Shatter Defenses will help me ensure my own flanks so to speak.
What I am having trouble with is picking a teamwork feat for my Tactician ability and deciding where to go from here since neither the monk, nor the rogue offer me anything but more of the same.
Precise Strike seems decent, but provided that I can deal 100+ damage with full attack and that only me and the summoner's eidolon have multiple attacks per round - it will hardly be good use for my standard action. Scarred Legion is nice because its +2 intimidate bonus is permanent even without using my Tactician ability and +2 Will is good to have when needed. Broken Wing Gambit is good on first reading, but on second... it's too easy to be avoided by the enemy or even to be used purely against the player. Coordinated Charge is awesome, but I don't have the feats to spare. Any other good options that I am missing?
The second thing I need help with is deciding where to go from here with my last 8 levels.
Mutation Warrior seems attractive, since it will help me with the delayed feat progression of VMC and the mutagen is nice. It will even get me wings, but at lvl 19 it is a bit late for that. Then again my two-handed style is not that feat intensive so besides shatter defenses I have no idea what else do I need. Critical Focus and Staggering Critical or maybe the Cut from the - Smash from the Air feat pair together with some advanced weapon trainings.
A spiritualist investigator also seems tempting. Whispering Spirits will make my AC actually decent vs. normal attacks and my touch AC and Saves will be through the roof. (not sure actually... does Whispering Spirits stack with the Monk's Wis to AC?) Swift Studdy with Studied Combat will help me offset the BAB loss even with my meager 10 Int and the investigator skill points are nice to have. Underworld Inspiration and Amazing Inspiration will also be neat boost to my Intimidate and Diplomacy checks.
A friend of mine is interested in playing a Mountain Druid with VMC Barbarian who has a constrictor snake animal companion that he carries around his neck while wild shaped into giant as he runs around and grapples people.
Half-Orc with Sacred Tattoo, Optimistic Gambler and Fate's Favored Traits.
Wildshaped into Huge Mountain Troll with a Large Constrictor Snake around his neck/waist.
Let's say he grapples something and then pins it.
It's obviously a house rule, but are the DMs among you ok with him using the snake as a rope to Tie Up the target to himself with +2 bonus from the assisting snake? Can he then move the target with him without grapple checks? Can the snake continue to make bite into grab constricting checks with the target having to escape both the static DC and the snakes active checks in order to free itself?
Also - would optimistic gambler extend the duration of surprise accuracy to a few rounds (and all the attack rolls during those rounds)?
Title says it all. Is there a way for my Sohei/Unchained Rogue to trip with his elven branched spear that does not involve taking levels in other classes (basically with feats or gold)?
There was a long discussion if you can trip with a weapon that does not have the trip special ability, but I believe in the end it was decided that you can't.
Title says it all. Is there a way for my Sohei/Unchained Rogue to trip with his elven branched spear that does not involve taking levels in other classes (basically with feats or gold)?
There was a long discussion if you can trip with a weapon that does not have the trip special ability, but I believe in the end it was decided that you can't.
In an 18th level one shot we are doing soon I got inspired to make a winged hussar themed character. I know that the Luring Cavalier is pretty much made to emulate this, but my last character already was a cavalier, so I want to try magus this time, since I am a gish fanboy and find the purely martial melee combat a bit boring.
Although riding and lance fighting should be present in my build, I want to focus mostly on swordplay since I enjoy it the most. I am using rapier instead of a scimitar (although the later is probably closer to cavalry sabre) since fencing grace does not have the slashing grace limitation for spell combat.
25 point buy, Dual Talent Human Kensai Magus 13/Lore Warden 5;
Traits: Magical Knack, Bruising Intellect, Magical Lineage;
Drawback: Pride;
Str 8, Dex 26, Con 12, Int 28, Wis 12, Cha 15;
(haste and greater magic weapon included in the stats)
AC 52, Touch 34, Attack +34/34/29/24, Saves: 19/19/16;
Items: Manual of Quickness in Action +2, Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6, +1 Keen Cruel Dueling Spellstoring Merciful Rapier, Celestial Armor, Ring of Protection +5, Cloak of Resistance +5, 9 x Pearl of Power I (5000), 2 x Pearl of Power II, 4 x Pearl of Power III, Pearl of Power IV, Headband of Vast Intelligence +6, Wayfinder + Dusty Rose Prism, Circlet of Persuasion and Alluring Charisma +2, Stone of Good Luck, Elvenkind Boots of Speed, Dusty Rose Prism, Cracked Pale Green Prism, Amulet of Hidden Strength and Natural Armor +5, Gloves of Dueling, Obsidian Steed Figurine of Wondrous Power, Effortless laced +1 Spellstoring Agile Lance.
My main problem are:
The remaining 5% arcane spell failure (Arcane Armor Mastery will cost me 2 feats since I don't have medium armor proficiency). Is there something similar to the celestial armor that keeps its high Dex bonus, but has 10% ASF?
Picking some better lvl 5 spells. Can any more experience magus offer me some assistance here.
Increasing my attack bonus for use with Opportune Parry and Riposte and hitting in general. The Fenser trait comes to mind, but I don't really have free trait or feat to pick it up. Is there some item that gives bonus to opportunity attack rolls?
How does it work? Upon casting the spell you can make one free melee attack with your weapon to deliver the spell. What about the remaining charges? Can you use your weapon to deliver them with your normal melee irrelative attacks over subsequent rounds?
Just a quick question, since I don't have much experience with monks. I am building an unarmed sacred fist warpriest/master of many styles monk and was wondering if staying unarmored is worth it. I can pick up Monk of the Iron Mountain to replace the evasion I get at monk lvl 2 with something I can actually use in combat and I can get a brawling armor which seems quite a steal for an unarmed fighter.
It comes down to:
+4 touch AC and CMD, 1 additional stunning attempt and evasion (staying unarmored, picking a monk's robe).
Potential: +3 more touch AC and CMD over the course of 10 levels and +4 AC with a simple potion of mage armor, stacks 100% with magic vestment.
+2 to attack and damage, +7 AC, +5 hp (picking a +2 brawling mithral shirt).
Potential: Some armor abilities like Expeditious are nice to have.
Which option would you suggest? I am strength focused so increasing my Dex past the Max bonus is unlikely.
Hi there. I am playing an archer character in a low-magic steampunk setting dominated by powerful wizards.
At the moment I am urban barbarian 6/archer fighter 3/horizon walker 3.
My stats are Str 14 Dex 20 Con 14 Int 11 Wis 12 Cha 8
My feats are: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim, Agile Maneuvers, Extra Rage Power, Weapon Focus (Bow), Snap Shot, Improved Snap Shot, Combat Reflexes, Manyshot, Endurance.
This includes the 3 bonus feat that we get to make up for the lack of too many magic items.
My skills are: Acrobatics, Stealth and Perception at maximum ranks as well as some leftover points in Climb, Diplomacy and Knowledge (Geography).
My rage powers are Superstition (with favored class bonuses), Witch Hunter, Spell Sunder, and Surprise Accuracy.
My favored terrains are urban and desert with terrain mastery and terrain dominance onto desert for the fatigue immunity.
My traits are Optimistic Gambler and Highlander.
My magical items are a +2 adaptable longbow, a wayfinder with dusty rose prism and a helm that gives me darkvision and waterbreathing.
Thanks to superstition my saves are somewhat ok despite having no protective items. My damage is somewhat decent, so no major problems here.
I need to find a way to increase my spell sunder check since strength surge is not helpful for me. My current CMB is +18 and considering that I am facing CMDs in the 25-30 range I find it close to impossible to actually end spell effects on enemies (I need a check of 40+ for that).
Improved and Greater Sunder don't seem to offer any help since even if I take the useless Power Attack prerequisite - they explicitly give bonuses only for sundering items. The only thing I can think of is getting into the Eldritch Archer Magus for ranged spell combat and adding a true strike to my spell sunder attempt. Is there some other option that I am missing.
Also, is the following action sequence rules legal:
Declare Spell combat. Cast True Strike, Enter Rage, Swift Action Surprise Accuracy, Use Many Shot and Rapid Shot.
Both the first and the second arrow benefit from True Strike (and Surprise Accuracy) since they share the attack roll.
Use the first to spell sunder and the second to score normal hit.
If I decide on the magus route I would probably have to take at least 4 levels for spell recall to ensure I have enough true strikes to take me through the day (since finding a dozen of pearls of power is quite unlikely and I don't have a free hand for the wand wielder arcana even if I have such wand eventually). I really don't like the magus route, since it comes awful on my superstitious barbarian, but it seems the only viable option.
On a side note - what is the interaction between the clustered shots feat and the lingering pain arcana?
Does Optimistic Gambler increase the duration of Surprise Accuracy for more than one attack?
Hello there. I would appreciate some advices for my build. I am level 15, playing a duelist character and at that level I am starting to feel a bit useless. I am in a party with a sorcerer, witch, and paladin, playing as one of the two tanks in the party. I can usually count on a greater magic weapon* and mage armor** from the sorcerer so I have included said spells in my calculations.
House rules: Weapon Finesse, Combat Expertise, Agile Maneuvers and Power Attack for free or bonus combat feat if you receive them from class progression;
Dodge and Mobility merged into a single feat;
Improved Trip, Improved Disarm, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Feint, Improved Reposition, and Improved Steal merged into Deft Maneuvers.
Ability Scores:
Str 8, Dex 28, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 22, Cha 10
Race: Human (Focused Study, Dimdweller)
Classes: Fighter 9/Magus 4/Monk 3
Archetypes: Swordlord/Spire Defender/Master of Many Styles, Monk of the Iron Mountain, Kata Master
Items: Wayfinder (Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid), Wayfinder (Augmented Dusty Rose Prism), Headband of Inspired Wisdom +6/Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6, Gloves of Dueling, Boots of Speed/Elvenkind, Cloak of Resistance +4/Lesser Wings of Flying, +1(4*) Keen Dueling^2 Sword, Ring of Protection +4, Amulet of Natural Armor +3, Bracers of Armor +2, Pearl of Power I x 3, Pearl of Power II x 2.
The problem is that while I hold my own very well against bruiser enemies - unless they use weapons - I can do very little to stop them going after the spellcasters or go after enemy spellcasters myself. My saves are also not the greatest by let's call them ok for now.
While sickening, shaking and depriving a spellcaster from his cloak of protection usually leaves him ripe for the picking from the spellcasters on my side - I would like to be able to deal with them myself provided that I am able to get the drop on them. What I need is a reliable way to deal 40+ damage in one hit in order to have my Lingering Pain arcana actually matter for the concentration check of a full spellcaster. At the moment a crit does it, but sadly this happens only about 20% of the time even if the enemy has no fortification.
At the moment in the surprise round I can dish 2d8+25 damage with power attacking vital strike. Holly/Flaming/Etc. on my weapon will hardly help, since not all of our enemies are evil and they usually have 10ish resistance in a few assorted elements. All that I can think at the moment is taking two more magus levels and picking the Flamboyant and Arcane Deed (with Extra Arcana) to get precise strike for 6 more damage and weapon specialization for 2 more, but 2 levels and 2 feats for 8 damage seems a bit sub par. Is there some other way that I am missing?
Hi there. I am trying to come up with a Dragon Disciple Build for an upcoming gestalt game starting at lvl 15. I was thinking about going with dragon disciple and optimizing around his form of the dragon ability (and the spell once I get it at lvl :
Stats: Prayer and Form of the Dragon II included
Str: 40, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 22
HP: 172, AC: 43, Touch: 25
Saves: Fort 29 Ref 21 Will 25
Skills: Intimidate +42
Items: Gloves of Dueling, Ioun Stone (Pale Green Prism), +1 Keen Spell Storing Amulet of Mighty Fists, Ring of Protection +4, Cloak of Resistance +5, Belt of Physical Perfection +2, Headband of Alluring Charisma +4, Lesser Metamagic Rod Quicken, 2 Pearls of Power III, Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier
First of all I am not sure what to expect as an opposition at gestalt 15, since I have never played a gestalt game before. Are my attack/defense and damage values viable?
Second, I have no idea what sorcerer spells to use. Besides the standard shield/mage armor/Blade Tutor's Spirit/haste/greater heroism/displacement... none of the others seems suitable for a melee gish. What are some other stable gish spells that will be useful for my character?
If I cast chill touch, can I apply it with each of my unarmed/natural attacks by making a normal attack rather than a touch one and combining my usual damage with the effect of the spell?
Can I use my monk unarmed strike as a natural attack rather than a weapon attack? What I mean by that is make a single attack at my highest BAB, but keep my primary natural attacks from being downgraded to secondary.
Will a spell storing amulet of mighty fists allow me to store one spell in each of my natural attacks? Can I have shocking grasp stored in my tail and a vampiric touch in my bite at the same time?
Is there a way to get a pounce ability or equivalent without class dips into other classes? I believe the quick runner shirt wont work in dragon form, will it?
