BrazenRogue's page

Almost finished reading Skinwalkers. Good book on the whole, but one of the really interesting elements is that the main character is a former worshipper of Besmara, the goddess of piracy.

I've read up on most things about her I think, and I've gone from thinking she was sorta a banal kitchen sink-type goddess to being one of the more interesting ones. Her Antipaladin code is easily one of the better ones, actually managing to make them work (ymmv) in a non-evil party.

But while she's usually associated with Shackles-style pirates... damn, she *really* works with Ulfen raiders of a traditional mindset. There's some mention of Ulfen worshippers here and there in info about her, but never very much about her in info about the Ulfen - which seems a shame to me.

Has anyone ever used her in a way that ups her relevance in Ulfen culture? I think she practical fits in as-is, but I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has done something similar.

...you are very bad for my desire to Build All The Characters, you know that?

That's... really interesting, actually. I hadn't even considered a Barb/Sorc/Disciple, I mostly just tend to think of the Bloodrager as that these days.

I think there are sorta two choices, really - and they both seem like fun, so I might well do both eventually. I think some kind of switch hitter ranger might be a better choice than the mad dog, and would really scream Ulfen.

Barbarian 1/ Sorcerer 4/ Disciple is the more interesting choice - there's potential for all sorts of fluff there, given the linnorms and all. I haven't got a damned clue how I'd build it, never mind play it, but it's really setting off the ideas...

The guy in my head definitely isn't a dragon disciple, but... dammit, I've always wanted to play one of them. I think some sort of Kellid barbarian one, too.

Had no idea you could do that build as a barbarian though. What would that look like?

Man, I'm jealous that you're playing Skulls and Shackles. Really wanna play that one!

Ulfen Cavalier was my first thought, and it's still tempting. Their steed options are lacklustre though, and I'm not sure they get anything drake-shaped even on the Beast Rider archetype...

Current frontrunner is a Mad Dog barbarian, I think.

I was under the impression that improved familiars couldn't be maulers? Or at least that it's controversial. To be honest, I can't see my lot caring too much, given the investment.

I wasn't aware of those extra ways to get a familiar though - that opens up an awful lot of potential concepts. There's probably more interesting things to do with it than thug on a drake though, that familiar list is way interesting...

Tend to avoid 3rd party, mostly on an opening-the-floodgates basis. But it's not a hard rule, and that does sound interesting.

Small characters are great for certain concepts, but less so for others. Depends on the character I have in mind generally - this one's pretty solidly an Ulfen warrior, and while a halfling/gnome who grew up in that society could make for a really cool concept, it's not this one.

Though one day I will absolutely rip off a Talenta dinosaur riding halfling. Those guys were fantastic.

Apologies for dredging up a dead post, but I think I may have a sort-of solution.

Provided you don't mind mentally re-skinning things, I think the best work around is probably taking any class with an animal companion and going with the Roc - it's about the right shape and has the right attacks. If losing the drake special abilities hurt, you can always sub them in with Evolved Companion - there's your tail, and a ray of frost or something could be the breath weapon.

Warpriest. Fighter with Focused Weapon. Strength-based TWF Ranger. Three options right there. :)

How have I never seen focused weapon before? Might be better if you could take it twice, as the awkward sod uses two different weapons...

I always figured him as an Antipaladin of Besmara, actually. Fighter is interesting though - Eldritch Guardian would net him his familiar, too...

Monstrous mount is pretty much the answer here. You can play about with the evolved companion feat for modifying animal companions too, but flight is off the table unfortunately.

BrazenRogue wrote:

Azten wrote:

Claw Blades!

See, now those fit the bill more. But they want me to be a cat, which sorta runs counter to recreating this guy!.

Racial Heritage(Catfolk) and Catfolk Exemplar.

That...actually works! Dammit, one throwaway comment and now I actually want to try and figure a build for this guy.

Claw Blades!

See, now those fit the bill more. But they want me to be a cat, which sorta runs counter to recreating this guy!.

Presenting the tekko-kagi!

Nah. Needs to be more claws-on-fingers than claws-on-wrist.

Or I'm being pointlessly specific, and I should just imagine that's the case :D

Not gonna lie, it's tempting to re-flavour the spiked gauntlet as a sorta clawed glove, pair it with a boarding axe and make a sorta fantasy version of Huron Blackheart...

Just need to add a flamethrower :D

That's interesting. A glaive swashbuckler could be all sorts of fun.

Yeah, I'm not gonna play something that irritates everyone else. To be honest, I'm probably just going to scrap the idea completely - I mean, I'm inexperienced enough at PF to not really spot the great and awful rules generally. And even I think they look a bit rubbish.

I was hoping maybe someone had found a way to make them work, and preferably before most games are ending. Doesn't look like that's the case!

Perhaps a Shaman would be the best route, then - I quite like the idea of a more savage character anyway.

It's a shame that you can't even ride the thing until 13th level, though. Even 9th level is a drag, and then you have to be small. Seems weird that the whole point of an archetype doesn't actually kick in until the close to the end of most campaigns.

So I recently picked up Legacy of Dragons. I've always wanted to do some variation on the classic dragonrider, so this seemed perfect.

But the archetypes - and the drake itself - kinda seem a bit... well, useless. Scanning the forums gives me the same impression, lots of people (with a much better grasp of things than me) seem to think the same.

Is there any way to build a character like this that isn't a total drag on the party, particularly at early levels? I was mostly looking at the Cavalier and the Ranger, but I'm open to suggestions.

I've got so many concepts planned already - fingers crossed I can find a game or two to play!

My current plan - and I'm thinking of converting a miniature, which is probably daft at this stage - is a Kasatha space pirate. Like Yondu from GotG, someone who really bucks the racial stereotype. Foul-mouthed and chaotic, but with a decent streak if you know how to bring it out of him.

Plus the image of a four-armed armour space pirate with energy scimitars is just brilliant.

Everything I've read about the setting reminds me of some of my favourite settings; FFVI, Fallout, 40k.

Need to bat my eyelashes at some of the GMs 'round here...

You know, the only reason I haven't picked up that AP is because I really, really want to play it instead. The whole Numeria setting is great.

Main problem I'd have (outside of finding someone to run it) would be picking one of the umpteen character concepts I have...

That's disapointing. I'll have a look out for some alternative rules - I'll definitely be picking up Starfinder anyway (though ironically I was thinking of this to tide us over until then!)

So with everyone talking about the new Final Fantasy, I've gotten to thinking about an old idea of mine - a Golarion chronicle set a good way into the future, with a hefty dose of Final Fantasy inspiration thrown in. there'd obviously be a whole bunch of mechanical changes to the setting (and fun changes to what Golarion looks like now), but the big one is the introduction of modern firearms:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons/firearms/modern-firearms

'Course, I've never played a campaign with the regular variety, never mind full-auto variants. Anybody got any experience here? Gut instinct tells me they're probably go to do wacky things to how the entire game plays...

Not sure I could bring myself to dump Charisma - half the appeal for me is the idea of a fighter who can pull off some Face tricks.

But you definitely could!

Just noticed that (aside from generally favouring Dex builds), the only Swashbuckler class ability dictating armour is Nimble.

That's gotta have some potential. Everyone loves plate...

Suppose it depends on the game and the players. I'm all about the mental image when it comes to characters - if I thought they'd be cooler in full plate I'd dip fighter in a heartbeat :)

Spiked shield and axe is rapidly leaping towards my favourite combo here...

Throw in some barbarian levels for additional anti-Errol fun.

Shortspear's certainly Viking-y. Got a definite Oberyn Martel vibe too.

From memory the Cestus isn't the only gladiator weapon that works either. Keep forgetting about slashing grace too!

So I was having a discussion the other day about how I like the Swashbuckler as a base for all sorts of lightly armoured melee types, and we spitballed a few concepts - mostly gladiator types.

Then we watched an episode of vikings, and it struck me that Swashbuckler might be a good base for ol' Ragnar - lightly armoured, charismatic, hard as nails. Trouble was the weapon requirements - until I realised that a boarding axe was P/S with a x3 critical. Not optimal, maybe, but it works.

Anybody have any other interesting swashbuckler weapons that aren't straight-up Errol Flynn?

In fact, such a product is free.

Thanks! That looks really useful, just a shame it doesn't come with a transition adventure. Still, I reckon a good read of that is definitely my first stop!

Beyond that, also available here on Paizo.com, are the following PDFs for free:

Free is always good! Some of those look great, I'll have to have a browse and see if I can find out the beginner friendly stuff.

I would also recommend potentially sticking to the core rulebook and trying Crypt of the Everflame. It's one of the first modules and you will probably see the least variation from the core rules there. Its also part of a trilogy (easily played separately) if you want to continue with those characters.

That sounds potentially perfect, actually!

My group is looking to transition from Beginner Box pathfinder (with me GM-ing) to the regular game. We're all pretty new to the game, but we've got the beginner rules down more or less. There's a bit of apprehension about the full game, though - I'm not even sure how many extra rules there are, for one!

I was wondering, is there an adventure module that'll take us through the transition comfortably? I'm not going to have time to write adventures in the near future, and the full adventure paths are probably a bit much until we've grasped the game itself. Something which covers the additional rules in an easy-to-grasp way (like the adventure included with the beginner box does) would be fantastic.

Wow, that's really helpful. Thankyou! Only other thing I'd ask on that front is spell schools - if memory serves, spellslinger requires you burn two of them. Any suggestions on which ones?

As to the orc/draconic sorcerer dip, it's possible I could suggest dropping the gun to him - it loses a bit of theme, but could still be cool. Might have to re-flavour the bloodlines, though.

That's fair actually, and I'm not usually adverse to re-flavouring a class. Feats to help are a fantastic choice, actually. Eldritch Knight would give the extra muscle for a chunky were-shark too.

Thanks, I'll definitely look into that more. Any feat suggestions other than Inscribe Tattoo?

I should probably point out that this isn't for Pathfinder Society, so using pre-nerf versions isn't a problem. If it's gonna break my game I'll avoid it, but I'm not too worried about that one. Thanks for pointing it out though, I had no idea that had been changed.

Wizard isn't exactly evocative of a tribal shaman figure, unfortunately. But I've been under the impression that the conventional wisdom is that spellslinger is a really good dip, followed by another spellcasting class?

Me and my group are looking to start a full Adventure Path in the near future, and the current likely outcome is that I'll be DMing Skull & Shackles.

One of my players has a great idea in mind - a Seascarred island native, casting spells through a stolen gun and taking up piracy to revenge himself on the Chelaxian navy. Plan is to take Spellslinger as a 1-level dip, then focus on a more suitable class for the theme.

At first we figured either Magus (the seascarred fluff seems to like them) or Bloodrager, but the Scarred Witch Doctor archetype also has bags of flavour (and Con as a primary stat just seems like fun for a huge musket-wielding manshark).

None of us are particularly adept at character building however, so we're unsure which would be the best choice. Personally I think I'd lean towards Magus (with Eldritch Archer), but does anybody have any advice?

Is the Swashbuckler not the obvious choice it seems? I can't say I've had a proper look, but it's the class I'd start looking at for a swordlord.

We were spitballing ideas last night, with an intent to come up with heavily themed characters. One idea that cropped up was the idea of a dhampir bloatmage with the cruoromancer archetype, and maybe even the gluttony specialisation.

As a character concept I think it's pretty cool, but how viable is it? If it is viable, how far can we take the blood theme?

Yeah, golem armour and synthesist summoners are things on my list of things to play with :)

Neither's quite what I had in mind for this particular theme though - I was thinking along the lines of a spellcast trying to escape mortality by transferring their conciousness. The pyschic's the only one which seems to support that so far (and does it with style at that)

Yeah, that's more or less what I was thinking. It's easy enough to houserule, but it's nice when there's something official in place - it gives you an excuse to problem solve the drawbacks and quest to get everything in place.

As cool as the Living Monolith is, it's not really the kind of flavour that I'm after here. I'm thinking more along a mad science route, whereas the monolith is hard baked for stone and Egyptian themes.

Really need to try one at some point, though. Who doesn't want to be an Ushabti?

Binding the character's spirit will probably work quite well assuming certain flanges, I was just hoping there'd be something definitively within the ruleset.

Surely a Dhamphir? Possibly even a skinchanger, I think I remember reading that some of the emo subculture went that way after Twilight.

Custom engineered for loving precision.

That looks like a really interesting thread, thanks man - swamped at the moment, but I'll be giving it a proper nose shortly.

Nobody in my gaming circle is going to shy away from house-ruling anything that seems reasonable, thankfully. Not sure about necromancy, as I'd always thought of it as dealing with flesh as much as spirit, but I could be off on that one. Honestly, I can't imagine many of my lot minding anyway if it doesn't completely break the game/overshadow the others.

Sounds terrifying, anyway. Plus you have lasers. Also, I just noticed that you can take transference as a feat, which means multiclassing isn't a pain. At a glance the spellslinger seems a bit redundant, but a psychic/technomancer seems really thematic.

Actually I take it back. The psi-tech Psychic stuff could be exactly what I had in mind - the original thought was a physically weak Kellid who'd been cast out, and sought to use Numerian tech to build himself a stronger form. That works great.

Aside from the whole utterly-impossible-to-raise thing, that's not conducive to the quest for immortality!

...actually, I take it back. The Psychic option could be exactly what I had in mind.

Being utterly destroyed if the robot gets broken is a little scary, though!

Not familiar with the Psychic stuff, I'll have to have a gander. Doesn't seem like what I had in mind, but could be pretty cool anyway.

But yeah, seems like transferring your conciousness isn't a thing. That's cool - I can make it a thing in my games, and figure something else out if I ever try to play it. Heck, there's always digging out a Pathfinder version of Warforged and assuming the transformation took place before the game - though it does take away the fun of spending a game tracking down component parts and doing all the research.

I have a weird thing for downtime, I think.

Having the PCs try to interrupt the ritual would be awesome, actually. Especially if I can figure a way of stopping them without it feeling like an obvious railroad...

Ah, I was afraid of that. Still a viable option for an NPC at least, but looks like it'll take some other path as a player. Or possibly an understanding GM.

C'est la vie - I'll find some other way to become a construct!

Yeah, sure thing! It's here:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2m880?Immortality#1

Essentially the idea seems to be build a golem, then imbue your sentience into it to create an intelligent "weapon".

And yeah, you're right on golems. It's more the visuals that I like - anything big and metal with some burning smokestacks is along the right lines. But I'm curious about the process period, to be honest. I imagine there's a lot of cool options out there that my players wouldn't expect (assuming the result is overpowered - if it's not I'd cheerfully use this trick as a player myself).

Assuming it's possible, that is.

So I was reading an old thread on how to become immortal, and one of the suggested routes was to craft an adamantine golem and transfer your consciousness into it, essentially becoming a sentient magical item. The post didn't go beyond that, though.

I was wondering, how exactly would that work? It seems like a cool life goal for a Numerian wizard, particularly a spellslinger or one with levels in Technomancer.

Character could either be a PC or an NPC big bad. It also wouldn't have to specifically be an Adamantine golem - I just like the image of a big robot mage. Who wouldn't?

Thanks man, that does look interesting. I'll have to weigh up the pros and cons of trying something a tad more complicated - I've yet to play Pathfinder beyond the Beginner Box, and I don't think I ever got past level three in 3.5!

There's a lot to be said for diving right in though, and having a build outline makes things way less intimidating :)

It occurs to me that the Renown Talents may or may not work in this particular game. Check with your GM whether you'll be sticking around in one place for long stretches. Not the whole campaign, but weeks at a time minimum

If not, those three Talents might get replaced (Many Guises and Everyman could replace two, if you wanted).

I think the campaign is fairly localised - it's the new Hell's Vengeance one. DM only has the first book so far, so it's anyone's guess what comes next.

Looking at the Renown requirements and the player's guide though, it does look fairly likely.

Sorry about the delay in replying! Work and timezone differences are a pain..,

Yeah, that could be cool thematically. I can post a quick progression for that one too (modified from the above), if you'd like.

That would be great :) At least I'd know where to start looking - I'm starting to realise that I'm really bad at spotting the good options!

I think it's more swapping tabards and helmets at that point. Or making use of Glamered armor. You don't actually get to swap into armor at super-speed, you just switch identities. Still super-handy for your nobleman in glistening plate to suddenly be in hulking grey Hellknight armor (via a bit of darkening and an added helmet), though.

Hmm. Gonna have to figure out a good answer for all that - Hellknight plate is too distinctive for its own good.

I guess it's human or aasimar based on whichever theme grabs me most then, I guess! I can always grab kinslayer as a human maybe - humanity is weak, that sorta thing.