Big Stupid Fighter's page

I'm looking forward to trying out a two handed falchion/sword and board fighter. Vestigial arm on the fighter chassis with mutagens and flight for gravy, has single handedly reinvigorated my interest in the class.

Hard as nails, hits like a two handed specialist, but with shield AC and 3 no AB penalty shield hits+ rend + bashing finish attacks. With feats left over for saves.

I'm not sure whether to use Martial Master, giving up weapon training seems like too much. Can anyone think of some good synergy?

Who else is glad to see the fighter getting love?

Looking over the new rules, I decided to have a go at building a Theurge because they look like fun now. I'm stuck between the old Wizard/Cleric variant, or the new possibility of Oracle/Sorceror, focussing on just Charisma.

Here are the two builds, which would you pick?

So far as I can see the comparison is this.

Wizard/Cleric Advantage:
gets access to higher level spells 1 level earlier, gets level 6 arcane spells at 12.
Extra feat, and 3 'open' feats for customisation.
4+ more skills per level, better knowledges
+4 Will Saves
Better at summoning
Much more versatile with two prepared casters

Sorc/Oracle advantage
One casting stat to focus on, will have much higher spell DC’s
5+ Higher AC/Reflex/Initiative
Has Misfortune to save allies/disable close foes.
Higher number of spells per day due to casting stat and spontaneous caster advantage

Also if you could pick apart any problems ( or improvements!) pre-emptively that would be great too :P.

Focuses on big damage and battlefield control using tripping and it’s 16(!) feats.
Lore Warden to get great trip CMB’s, Combat Expertise bonus feat, Know Thy Enemy and skills. Master of Many Styles for bonus feats, saves and to waive qualification for style feats.

Just to be sure, does Kirin Style combine with Know Thy Enemy to mean both are activated on a swift action knowledge check?

He is limited to Light armour, and with Tiger Pounce, his AC will probably be garbage. Will tripping, reach and the mobility of Kirin Path and Tiger pounce be enough to negate this? Any suggestions for the build, concerns?

So Pathfinder Society has finally managed to come to my little home town in Australia, and I have volunteered to help out the Venture Captain here with DMing the first event, the Beginner Bash. Since this is the first event and I have never run a game outside my home before, nor any Pathfinder Society scenarios, I was wondering if anyone had any advice? Mainly best way to prepare for it, and any tips to maximise fun,? Especially with the absolute new comers who are bound to be attending. Thanks.

So I am making a Barbarian for an up and coming module, and found a particular combo of two things already good for Barbarians, and am wondering if this is as good as it seems. I want to take human for superstition bonuses as well as Heart of the Fields. However, with Allnight it seems to get very strong. With Allnight I am immune to fatigue for 8 hours, more than enough for a day, meaning I can Rage cycle all I want, without investing in Oracle levels, or waiting until level 17. At the end of this I am exhausted, but using my alternate ratial trait from being human Heart of the Fields, I can ignore this completely. Allowing me to do it for another 8 hours if I like, or sleep unimpeded. Seems like a fantastic option, is there anything I am missing?

I've been thinking through various mounted builds recently, and would like some insight about this one.

Spirited Charge doesn't limit itself it seems to a single attack, so could a Mounted Fury Barbarian with Greater Beast Totem full attack on the charge, dealing 3x his damage on each strike?

It seems like world shattering damage, but is it legal?

The new inquisitor class is great, I can't wait to play one, I only have two questions on some of its abilities however.

The first concerns judgments. Does a judgment have to be given at the start of the combat, or can it be done prematurely? An example to illustrate.

Some orcs walk into a room, in which the Inquisitor is waiting invisibly in an ambush position. Unbeknown to the hapless orcs, when they enter the room the Inquisitor uses a swift action to pronounce judgement on them. May he then wait 12 seconds before initiating his surprise round, so that he can enter combat with full judgement in effect?

The second question concerns exploit weakness.

Exploit Weakness:

At 14th level, the inquisitor learns to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. Whenever the inquisitor scores a critical hit, she ignores any damage reduction the target might have. In addition, if the target has regeneration, the creature loses regeneration on the round following the critical hit and can die normally during that round (if the creature’s regeneration can be bypassed). Finally, if the inquisitor deals energy damage to a creature with vulnerability to that energy type, she deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.

What creatures regeneration could not be bypassed? Could this ability kill a Tarrasque? Perhaps everything, except a Tarrasque? I'm hoping for a clearer idea of the limits of this ability.

Going beyond individual character builds people like, what about constructions of adventuring parties?
I play with groups of six, and if I created the PC's Baldurs Gate style it would look like this.

Inquisitor- Specialised in archery.
Bard- Specialised in archery.
Paladin- Greatsword wielder with a horse.
Diviner Wizard- battlefield control and item crafting.
Oracle- Battle focus and Falchion user.
Rogue- Duel wielding whirlwind of damage.

Two archers to mow people down, tonnes of skills, big melee presence, lots of magic despite only two dedicated casters, and a wizard and crafter to glue the entire party together.

What about everyone else, how do you picture your perfect party?

Hi Pathfinder! First a little background. My group and I have switched to pathfinder from 3.5 and are loving it. I am currently DMing the Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. After I'm done another DM will take his turn and run a different adventure path, and I want to plan a character for it.
I'm usually the party wizard, but intrigued by the new archery options I thought I would have a crack at being an archer. Seeing the new Arcane Archer changes it seemed like a perfect fit, so I made a plan up to level 15 for him, named him Llareth.

Llareth (25 Point buy)
Male Elven Wizard 1 Fighter 6 Arcane Archer 8
Alignment: N
Str: 20 (+5) [5 points, +6 enhance.]
Dex: 21 (+5) [10 points, +2 race, +5 levels, +4 enhance.]
Con: 12 (+1) [5 points, -2 race]
Int: 20 (+5) [5 points, +2 Race, +4 Enhance ]
Wis: 10 (+0) [0 points,]
Cha: 10 (+0) [0 points]

Class and Racial abilities:
Elven Racial traits
Divination School
Forewarned
Arcane Bond (Composite Longbow)
Bravery +2
Armor Training 2
Weapon Training (bows +1)
Enhance Arrows (Magic, Elemental, Distance, Elemental Burst)
Imbue Arrow
Seeker Arrow
Phase Arrow
Hail of Arrows
7th Level Arcane Casting (9th for Caster Level)

Hit Dice: 14d10+1d6 +15
Hit Points: 95
AC: 31 (+9 Armor, +5 Dexterity, +1 haste, +3 Ring of Protection, +3 Amulet of Natural Armour) [Touch 22, Flat-footed 26]
Init: +13 (+5 Dex, +1 Competence, +2 trait, +4 feat, +1 Diviner)
Speed: 60ft
Saves:
Fortitude +14 [+9 base, +5 Resist.]
Reflex +16 [+6 base, +5 Dex, +5 Resist, +1 Haste.]
Will +12 [+7 base,+5 Resist.] +2 vs fear
BAB: +14
Ranged Atk: +22/+22/+22/+17/+12/+7 (1d8+2d6+26 19/20x3)
(Attack Breakdown: 14 BAB, +5 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, +5 Enhancement, +2 Competence, +1 haste, -2 Rapid Fire, -4 Deadly Aim)
(Damage Breakdown: 4.5 average of 1d8, +1d6 Elemental Burst +1d6 Flame arrow +5 Strength, +5 Enhancement, +2 Weapon Specialization, +5 Arcane Strike, +8 Deadly Aim, +1 Competence, First attack deals double damage.)

CMB: +19
CMD: +34

Skills:
Stealth + 23 (15 Ranks, + 5 Dex, +3 class skill)
Acrobatics +20 (15 ranks, +5 Dex,)
Perception +20 (15 ranks, +2 Elf, +3 class skill)
Knowledge Arcana (15 ranks,+5 Int, +3 class skill)
Spellcraft +23 (15 ranks, +5 Int, +3 class skill) +2 elf for identifying magic items

Traits: Reactionary, Magical Knack

Feats:
1- Wizard: Precise Shot
Scribe Scroll (Wizard bonus)
2- Fighter: Point Blank Shot (Fighter bonus)
3- Fighter: Weapon Focus: Longbow, Rapid Shot (Fighter bonus)
4- Fighter:
5- Fighter: Deadly Aim, Weapon Specialisation (Fighter bonus)
6- Fighter:
7- Fighter: Arcane Strike, Manyshot (Fighter bonus)
8- Arcane Archer:
9- Arcane Archer: Arcane Armour Training
10- Arcane Archer:
11- Arcane Archer: Improved Initiative
12- Arcane Archer:
13- Arcane Archer: Improved Precise Shot
14- Arcane Archer:
15- Arcane Archer: Improved Critical: Longbow

Spells
0-Detect Magic, Prestigitation, Read Magic, Message
1-Mage Armour, Feather Fallx2, Expeditious Retreat, Unseen Servant, True Strike, Grease
2-Invisibility, Mirror Imagex2, Spider Climb, Resist Energy, See Invis
3-Fly, Tongues, Flame Arrowx2, Haste
4-Dimension Doorx2, Arcane Eye, Greater Invisibility

Equipment:
+5 mithral Chain Shirt
+5 composite longbow (mighty +7)
Amulet of Natural Armour +3
Ring of Protection +3
belt of physical might +4 (strength and dexterity)
Headbant of Vast Intellect +6
boots of speed
greater bracers of archery
cloak of resistance +5
Pale blue Rhomboid ioun stone
Handy Haversack
40 arrows
20 Adamantine Arrrows

Money:
240,000g WBL
-
26,100
26,100
18,000
18,000
40,000
36000
12,000
25,000
25,000
8,000
2000
1200
_______
237,400

(Credit to Zurai for the character template)

So, this was my first attempt. Llareth has casting abilities to provide some tactical options, and can cast spells in his armour without spell failure if he sacrifices his swift action for that round (losing Arcane Strike). He can act in surprise rounds thanks to forewarned, and is pretty well guaranteed to act first too. His progression I feel may be awkward the first few levels, but he should be competent at level 3, and hitting his stride with his feats at levels 5 and 7. He is also pretty skilled. Weaknesses to me seem to be a perhaps lackluster attack rating when factoring in Deadly Aim, and a low hp value.

However, coming here and seeing Zurai's Archerman, I thought I would take the model and tinker with it, and compare the result to Llareth. To me its a photo finish, here's Kharne. (Full credit to Zurai, for his initial build)

Kharne (25 Point buy)
Male Human Fighter 15
Alignment: N
Str: 20 (+5) [5 points, +6 enhance.]
Dex: 21 (+5) [10 points, +2 race, +5 levels, +4 enhance.]
Con: 14 (+2) [5 points,]
Int: 10 (+0) [0 points]
Wis: 14 (+2) [5 points,]
Cha: 10 (0) [0 points]
Class and Racial abilities:
Bravery +4
Armor Training 4
Weapon Training (bows +3, light blades +2, heavy blades +1,)

Hit Dice: 15d10+45
Hit Points: 127
AC: 30 (+14 Armor, +5 Dexterity, +1 haste) [Touch 16, Flat-footed 25]
Init: +8 (+5 Dex, +1 Competence, +2 Trait)
Speed: 60ft
Saves:
Fortitude +16 [+9 base, +2 Con, +5 Resist.]
Reflex +16 [+5 base, +5 Dex, +5 Resist, +1 Haste.]
Will +14 [+5 base, +2 Wis, +2 Feat, +5 Resist.], +4 vs fear, 1/day re-roll failed save
BAB: +15
Ranged Atk: +26/+26/+26/+21/+16/+11 (1d8+26 19/20x3)
(Attack Breakdown: 15 BAB, +5 Dex, +2 Greater Weapon Focus, +3 Weapon Training, +5 Enhancement, +2 Competence, +1 haste, -2 Rapid Fire, -4 Deadly Aim)
(Damage Breakdown: 4.5 average of 1d8, +5 Strength, +5 Enhancement, +4 Greater Weapon Specialization, +3 Weapon Training, +8 Deadly Aim, +1 Competence, First attack deals double damage.)

CMB: +20
CMD: +35 (Cannot be Grappled.)
Skills:
Stealth + 20 (15 Ranks, + 5 Dex)
Acrobatics +20 (15 ranks, +5 Dex,)
Perception +17 (15 ranks, +2 Wis)

Traits: Reactionary, Rich Parents

Feats:
1- Point Blank Shot (Fighter bonus)
Rapid Shot
Precise Shot (Human bonus)
2- Deadly Aim (Fighter bonus)
3- Weapon Focus: Longbow
4- Weapon Specialization: Longbow (Fighter bonus)
5- Iron Will
6- Manyshot (Fighter bonus)
7- Improved Iron Will
8- Far Shot (Fighter bonus)
9- Critical Focus
10- Greater Weapon Focus: Longbow (Fighter bonus)
11- Improved Precise Shot
12- Improved Critical (Fighter bonus)
13- Staggering Critical: Longbow
14- Greater Weapon Specialization: Longbow (Fighter bonus)
15- Blinding Critical

Equipment:
+5 mithral full plate
+5 composite longbow (mighty +7)
ring of freedom of movement
belt of physical might +4 (strength and dexterity)
boots of speed
greater bracers of archery
cloak of resistance +5
Pale blue Rhomboid ioun stone
Handy Haversack
40 arrows
20 Adamantine Arrrows

Money:
240000g WBL
-
35,500
51,100
40,000
40,000
12,000
25,000
25,000
8,000
2000
1200
_______
235800

Kharne has the advantage of being pure class, which is nice and consistant from a roleplay perspective. He has better saves, attack bonuses, consistant damage, and due to being both human and a fighter, gets all the goodies at level 1, which, combined with the trait Rich Parents, makes for a flying start. He is super dangerous by level 6, while only getting better from there with critical feats. I'm liking the linear progression. As an archer, Kharne is superb, but Llareth has the versatility to keep things interesting.

What's your opinion on each, any advice you have, or mistakes you notice?
Thanks for your time, and thanks to the Pathfinder team for swooping in so gallantly on 3.5's behalf.