I'm going to be building a half Orc barbarian, hope to get s build up tommorow sometime. Backstory is going to be that he is believed to be the reincarnation of a great Orc King and the character is going to be played like he has Borderline Personality Disorder. So he's questionably sane Orc Jesus that murders people. I'm not sure how high-functioning to make him though, because bpd can be disconnect from reality bad or somewhat manageable depending on a bunch of different factors.
I would be quite interested in playing an illusionist gnome based around bluff and disguise, either as CG fearless zealot who provides the distraction for the rest of the party to get their job done or as a CE Moriarty type villain, but either way it's going to be a lot of "Is it a bluff, double bluff, triple bluff?" sort of character. Something about the mischievous gnome that is just really fun to play.
Pegasus knights are really squishy to physical and strong vs magic and spell casters. Make sure to build in canto (Move hit move) and bow weakness. Give them monk saves, and design them around mobility and skirmishing, so 3/4 BAB with scaling accuracy bonus might be for the best. Maybe something like 1/round 2times level dmg to an unarmored opponent on hit or something like that. Idk I don't home brew much but basically Pegasus knight is really mobile and slips around everyone to murder the squishes, and can't tank physical damage.
If alignment isn't a restriction, then selling your soul for power is in play (literally). Contract devils give three wishes for absurdly cheap (basically the cost of casting sending to get in contact) (and your soul), so if you were not planning on bringing your character back from the dead a million times you don't really lose too much. This is the choice for if the GM is wants to see high power levels, but not complete cheese. For complete cheese sell everyone's soul (including your own). And then you have the soul trade to break the WBL system a little bit, (livestock sell for less than their souls are worth in crafting, for example). You are still limited by how fast you can convert these resources, so investments in immortality not tied to bringing you back from the dead (as they would fail) are prudent (so that you have time to convert them slowly). Recommendations include graveknight and lich. Graveknight is somewhat sub-optimal however as you are forced to fight for eternity, and you sacrifice your happiness along with your soul. Like seriously, you become an emo undead general that can never feel pleasure. But you did say broken... I digress, from immortality and infinite money you then use scrolls of gate to let insane HD outsiders do your bidding. Do not forget the scrolls of things like heightened (for the higher cl mostly) magic circle, dimensional anchor, and the like. Because binding is your easy out of doing work in this campaign, you are going to want an intimidate build for bargaining with outsiders because it can be used in place of diplomacy to influence people (don't forget to also max diplomacy for the bargaining, as it is still needed). Use intimidate first because its much much easier to get massive bonuses on, especially as a half-orc. You should easily be looking at +30-40 at this level on intimidate. From there, read scroll of gate, threaten the balor, then when its your friend, ask it to do whatever it is your party is going to do in the next half hour (intimidate as diplomacy wears off then). Then you kinda just win, although by this point if your GM isn't slapping you with a herring then he is probably doing something wrong.
To summarize:
Be evil.
Harvest the souls of water fowl.
Use the money to become immortal.
Use more money to hire people (specifically CR20 demons and devils) to do the adventuring thing for you. (or if you want just by the cosmic supply of scrolls of wish.)
Sit back in the comfiest chair money can buy while you drink eggnog and discuss the failings of representative democracy with your manservent, the reanimated corpse of Aristotle.
Why? Because power at all costs, especially the souls of water fowl.
Ok, aid another is +2. The text says you add the enhancement bonus to the aid another bonus which to me suggests that its an enhancement bonus to the +2, not to your AC. Furthermore, its an untyped bonus in the first place, so the fact that its an enhancement bonus is not really important. Your barkskin +2 enhancement bouns to nat armor doesnt prevent your +5 armor from working. So to summarize, aid another gives an untyped bonus to their ac, and you apply the enhancement bonus to that, not to their armor bonus like their +3 blessed greased grey dragon scale mail (if you dont get the reference im sad but its ok).
If you have read Foundation and Empire, use Mule as inspiration for the big bad. Beyond that, I would say to remember that evil means differnet things to different people, and make thier actions reflect that. Only fanatics fight to the death. Sometimes evil thinks that its purpose is to turn heroes to their cause or prove he's the same as them, ala Joker and his pals from the arkham knight videogame (really good villian writing in that one). Remember with smart creatures to play them as smart, let them pick thier fights, and for the love of all things holy do not give the pc's plot armor. If they are crushing everything within CR+4, but piss of some insane CE diety? Good party optimization does not make your people gods, and sometimes the actual gods want to make sure you know that, especially at this level. Also pull out classic villian stratagies, especially making the party choose between two really bad outcomes. I remember someone saying in a thread somewhere that the best way to protect the phylactery of a lich is to make it from the soul gem of the terrasque, then tell everyone exactly where to find it and what it is. Kill me, you now have to deal with a pimped out terrasque, that the people you protect know that the lich could take care of. So hold hostages, cheat, lie, and spike the wine with lsd. Most bad guys are immune (i think).
I'm also gonna tap out here. The amount of work I would have to do with custom magic items in order to make the build viable is insane. Just don't have the time to put all the pieces together.
...this way I can have my pet penguin use telepathy to make chess puns...
i could not approve more haha :)
Now all we need is a name for this penguin. My initial instict would be Kowalski (of Madagascar fame), but Fischer is just too perfect on too many levels. "Castle, kingside." Fischer castles "I believe the term is zugzwang" rings a mocking voice in your head, "Mate in three."
It's perfectly legal. If you don't feel bad about doing it, I won't feel bad about finding a way to counter it. ;P
I mean, I narrowed it down to this, D-door, and dance of 100 cuts. So really, this one just seemed the most fun to play with. It also helps the party the most, so I think its about as good as its getting for the investment. Plus this way I can have my pet penguin use telepathy to make chess puns and have it make sense :D.
My intelligent item familiar (path dabbling) is going to have a 4th level spell usable at will for 56k, do you have any objections to the spell King's Castle? its a pali 4 spell that would let me switch places with an ally every round at a range of 65 feet. Coupled with high initiative, I could close the gap to the BBEG, steal his stuff, then Castle in the fighter so they can full attack on thier initiative. Nothing here illegal, just wondering if there is any objection to using intelligent magic items this way.
An Unchained Rogue can still use the Filcher archetype. You really are better off using it over the vanilla one.
Was not aware of the interaction of unchained and archetypes, as I seem to recall reading somewhere that unchained classes straight up cant take them, but apparently I stand corrected.
I think that the equvalent of about a +20 to my cmb to steal is worth more to me than the dex to dmg, the debuffs, and the skill unlocks, despire how fun those are. Also the free feats really open up options for additional utility. Rest assured, while he may not have the DPR, he will be hillariously effective at what he does best (stealing things).
I think the key here to keeping the good lean is going to come from more of deontological ethical perspective than a consequentialist one. In laymen's terms, what matters isnt what he does, its why he does it. Each action he takes is based off of principles that, if everyone followed, would make the world a better place. He simply uses fear in place of diplomacy because as a half-orc trying to get the streets under control, its the only language that gets the message across. Hmm... maybe LN is going to work best in that sort of mindset. Yeah, LN fanatic makes some sense. On the point of possibly being the De facto boss, I could see him doing that, but it would have to be determined by the roleplay. On the subject of PvP, I feel that if I'm consistent at setting up the respect he gives to the PC's as peers and contemporaries from the get-go, he should be able to keep the conflict in the realm of heated argument, not veiled threats and blackmail. I think that instead of thinking of the scenario where he goes to the rival gang boss and says "Yo! This be my town!" he instead divides up the territory, establishes rules of engagement, and then enforces it using his reputation and 'diplomatic skill'. Ultimately, the fanatical nature of the character requires him to grow into a protectorate/arbiter role in order to function in the party, and that transition should provide plenty of tie ins for the plot.
I like the potential for conflict between that idea and this one bobo.
Khalil is a half-orc on the straight and narrow seeking to protect the vulnerable while yours would be, well a mob boss.
Ooh, this might be really fun. I'm thinking Carl is going to be "I don't owe the world a damn thing" sort of guy, which combined with high charisma, will lead to some great chances for impassioned speeches on morality, and how he believes that he is the only one really helping people (I have some experience with slam poetry, which might come in handy). Also, I think that in order to make both characters work well in a party together, we need to find a good mix of common ground and conflict. For example, Carl wants to keep the other organized crime syndicates down in order to preserve his power, and assuming that his methods are less extreme than theirs, he could work in concert with Khalil. That would go along the lines of Carl agreeing to not go after the poorest demographics in exchange for your help with the rival gangs, or something like that. This would give good moral dilemmas for both characters, and could be a point that could really help the characters develop. This gonna be fun... back to scheming.
I'm thinking a half-orc dread. Mob boss, ala Carl Elias (see TV show Person of Interest). I just really like the idea of a true netural mob with a quiet, softspoken leader who absolutely terrifies everyone. Elias was one of the best written characters I have even seen, and I really want to try to make the concept work. I'll try to get a build in by the end of next week, complete with as much backstory as I can come up with. Really looking foreward to this.
Any objections to a monk with this template: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/ghost-prana-cr- 1
Would be pretty fun to be a hands off ghostly monk content to pull the strings until he is forced to bash faces in to achieve his goals.
Un-rouge* with a curve blade and a wand of holy sword. Problem solved.
Edit: I mistyped you cheeky scrub.
*Think green, not quite blue becuase rouge ain't that good
Just put on your +2 int headband of now im a lawyer (profession barrister, wear for a week or whatever) then call up a contract devil with planar binding and very very carefully word three wishes to gain immortality. If you die you are completey, irrevocably screwed. Dont mess up the wishes. Usually using the first wish so that the 2nd and 3rd can't be subverted is a good investment, but it really depends on how strong your lawyer-fu is (higher lawyer-fu means less value from safety wish). Just my two cents here.
Edit: its 24 hours to get the skillranks.
Scores as follows (human):
Int 20 (17+2race+1level 4)
wis 12
cha 14
str 7
dex 16
con 11
Steel hound archetype (guns!) (kinda balanced guns!)
He is 5"8' maybe 5"9' but skinny as a rail. Dark brown hair frames a face not quite fair, but not ugly, with a far off look. His odd looking purple eyes, while bright and inquisitive arent quite there. Its like he's looking past you, and you sometimes catch him muttering under his breath or talking to someone who isn't there. If you catch him in a calm mood he is prone to drone on and on about the most inane subjects, sometimes lapsing into languages you don't quite recognize. But then there are those times when he is focused. You know those times, you know that look. Its impossible to forget how he looks when he's focused. How driven he seems, how his eyes first settle, then dart about as if he's manipulating numbers in his mind. How he starts asking questions making leaps that no one follows but himself. In those times he is searching. You don't know what for; not even he may know what he's looking for. But he's searching... always searching.
He has a voice in his head that is either divine in nature or just insanity. He gets along well enough in a group to not alienate himself too much, and finds that people end up valuing him for his insights and knowledge more than for his personality. He wields two beaten up pistols of uncertain origin, covered in glowing runes of some ancient cuneiform script.
Edit: i don't think he's gonna be the party face....
i think im going to try an investigator for the first time. Skill monkey/maybe party face incoming. using the point buy because i the rng gods dont like me.
keep in mind you CANT break the action economy like 3.5. Aside from pun-pun, a planar shepard 10 druid 10 can take 20 standard actions/round. Therefore use the really really broken intelligent magic item rules with an infinite money combo and get a huge number of wishes(/miracles)/round without using actions. Similar levels of simicalarium abuse as in 3.5, there is a pun-pun build in pf using awaken and lunar oracle 20 if you want to go that route. Find some way with mythic/templates to make yourself immortal, and you can also make NI HD constructs with feats and other awesome stuff. Basically play the "my age is 99999999999999999999999" card.
lol sorry about the oread messup. I just always think oread when there is a prison break involved (alternate trait to turn the hinges into a sword and so on). Well besides that i guess i could throw together a mantis-riding halfling pirate or murderer. will have build later then.
Interested: thinking NE oread druid convicted of attempted murder. backstory and build later tonight.
Edit: start of backstory is that he secretly thinks that the strict regimentation of the devils is the only thing that would prevent the mortals from destroying all he holds dear: he plays off of peoples perception of him as a simple thug, when really he is so much more.
My half elf bramble brewer/beastmorph will be ready by tomorrow:
also my votes are 1: song for dead immortals 2: spinning cat raging bull
Edit: either this build or mindchemist but I'm going to go crunch some more numbers first
Also who is to say that outsiders wont get involved? What if Hell outbids you on your plan to destroy this kingdom and gets a foothold in the material world? What if instead of following your plan exactly he lures the party into an ambush and sells their souls to Abaddon? Also the paladins and inquisitors coming could be the vampires master-plan and why he signed on. Getting access to the procedures and preparations of the vampire killing team that will eventually come after him is really important to him. Especially if its the party that gets in danger, not him. This also means he could make moves elsewhere at the same time after the forces are deployed, stretching the forces of good and eventually winning a war of attrition. Also good outsiders might be summoned/called/gated in to help fight this menace. A single planetar could probably screw over his army by itself, and with the threat of another hellish incursion they might bring in the big guns (High level paladins, clerics, maybe even a Solar). Just remember that with a country at stake a lot of people are interested.
Firstly this has gotten 100% off topic. What started as a discussion about infinite ki has turned into an argument about how to play the game, a question so subjective that trying to blindly argue your side is as disrespectful as it is pointless. People play the games for different reasons. If you cant respect that i hope you are lucky enough to find yourself in a group of like-minded individuals because if you dont there will be plenty of conflict. Yes, from an optimization standpoint drunken master is pretty good, now can we get back on topic?
Ok, lich with Cacaodaemon familiar via imp familiar. Abducts a commonor per day for a couple thousand years. Spends these soul gems on PoP 1's (CL17) that are intelligent and serve him and have animate dead 1/day. Fun times, fun times. That is how to build a horde my friends, easy as that. Also summon monster three is really strong because just randomly getting a couple hundred lantern archons whenever you want them is pretty nice. if party has bad touch AC thats an easy tpk
Im thinking more along the lines of someone who thinks the world must exist in balance. If all the most powerful are mages, who stands up to power? When all of the worlds greatest heroes belong to a select elite, where does that leave the layman? When everything from your economy to your weather could be turned on a dime at the merest whim of some random dude you dont even know, when is it time to fight back? When is it not only your right, but your duty to fight this force, to fight to the bitter end. Because this system might be ruled by someone good today, maybe also tomorrow, but it only takes one bad mage to bring the world to its knees, and so all magic must perish or all is lost.
now the better question is how this works when the shipbuilding industry and the ropemakers and the caulkers and the crewmen and the people on the docks, and the tavern owners on those docks, and the rest of the business in those coastal cities have a complete shortage revenue... economy crash time
