Rise of the Runelords in particular seems to be a recruitment magnet - I've lost count how many times applied for one.
Is that 36 people applying? Dang!
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Just re-stating Calendir's presence and interest in this one. Good luck all.
Just dotting to let you know I am still here and still interested.
I would like to submit ranger Calendir Eltoreth - this is a character I have put a lot of thought into, so I apologize for not being able to compact his background any further (full version so far is in the link - it's a work in progress). As created he is at level 5 because of another campaign but this is an issue quickly sorted if needed. Background:
Born from a complicated affair between a young adventurous elven noble and a love-struck human girl, the bumps in the road for him started even before his birth.
His mother, born into a very humble family forced into a simple life of toils and hard work that did not stop her however from peering through the windows of the town tavern and, as she grew into a young woman, actually start frequenting its interior - it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with a charming elf, himself well-spoken and full of amazing, romantic tales about far away realms and a reputation to be built for oneself. Blinded by an overwhelming need to leave that place, she could not see the difference between a one night stand with a travelling adventurer and what she believed to be the wonderful young and beautiful creature that would forever scoop her away to an amazing and full life... After waking up the next morning, all of it had lost its sheen, and the mix between a scold and a lust filled grin from the tavern owner hit her as hard as slap in the face - Dalia felt shame, for the illusions, for the lost love, for her misplaced expectations, and something broke inside her... Calendir was born into this - not a wanted child, never cherished or loved, he would be handled as simply a mouth to feed - he did not miss the basics, but that was it. He grew up on a basic existence - had to discover his own friends in rats, stray dogs and birds - these did not pass judgment, they were as warm to him as he was to them, and this was something he could understand, contrary to the coldness from his family and the cruel taunting from the other children in town. At the age of 8, he was either out working in the fields, helping out in whatever way possible, or he would be in the surrounding woods - he would grimly accept his grandfather beating for not showing up at supper time, seeing it as an acceptable tradeoff for the opportunity to spend time with his "friends" running past creeks, up slopes or up the trees. This routine escape was what saved his life - he was out running amok with "Toothie", a squirrel with particularly large incisive teeth, when he heard the screams coming from town. Looking south, he could see the reflection of fires burning in the evening clouds as he ran back to his family farmhouse. He could not ever be prepared for what he saw when he arrived there - huge rampaging creatures (he would later come to know they were giants) where truly raging through the village - his house was already burning in full and he could not discern if anyone of his family was still alive. "They are dead" - the melodic voice sounded behind him - a deathly calm reality check. This was the first time he saw his father, in the middle of chaos and death, he showed up confirming the crumbling of what had been, though wretched, Calendir's life up until that moment. His father - Telissar - did take him away to a better place by most standards - he explained that when by chance he had returned once again, on another adventurous trip, to the village he first met his mother; he discovered she had given birth to a child. He did not have the courage to face her, or to assume Calendir as his soon, so he just kept tabs from a distance, visiting every so often to check up on them and had spied him many times while he ran through the woods with his animal "friends". To be honest, even though his life improved dramatically from this point on, things did not really change that much - his father still could not bring himself to take Calendir in as son, so he placed him in another village, under the care of trusted friends - he would visit him often, and took upon him the role of teaching him much of what he knows today: how to fight, how to survive, how to hunt and upon his request, also much about giants, theirs strengths and their weaknesses. Through the next years, Telissar tried continuously to explain the harsh reality of what had happened between him and Dalia but to no avail - the truth is Calendir never did and still does not recognize him as a father, not out of a sense of rage or anger but instead simple indifference. At 18, on one of the occasions his father was away, Calendir simply took up his gear and left without ever looking back, he did not say goodbye to the ones that had taken him in and, in fact, he did not even think about his father - he wanted simply to be off on his own, fending for himself, away from things that never meant anything to him and still don't." Appearance::
Calendir's elf heritage is unmistakable - his white hair, pointed ears, almond shaped eyes and aquiline features are a dead giveaway. He has that whole rugged look about him, his earth toned attire is usually dusty and worn from constant wilderness travel, but yet carefully arrayed for efficiency - all pouches, tools, utensils and weapons seem to have their correct place on the outfit - easy and quickly accessible, mainly his weapons - a huge guisarme across his back, a quiver of neatly packed javelins slung over his shoulder, and two daggers - one hanging from his belt and placed behind his back, and another strapped on a leg scabbard. Concept: Calendir is a loner and survivor by nature, he never had the opportunity to sharpen his "people skills" and by now he does not feel the need to - he is quite at ease by himself, having learned what he needs to remain alive - he knows he can depend on himself, and up to this point he has not yet looked for or found anyone else he feels he can depend on.
The anger bottled up (maybe he does not even realize it is there) sometimes flares up, usually during a fight and he welcomes the opportunities of combat - on par with running through the wild, this is something that makes him feel alive. He is intrinsically good, and even though it is extremely hard to have him warm up to anyone, he does know the difference between right and wrong and he can be moved by the right cause, though he will never admit it.
Submitting ranger Calendir Eltoreth > He had been buffed from level 1 to level 5 for participation on another campaign. For that reason, the backstory on how he found his animal companion was already written down also. He just needs to be toned down a few levels (4), one trait to be replaced, and minor adjustments - he should then be good to go. Let me know if this is an acceptable character - for the time being, fluff has been written as I go.
GM-JCServant be honest, is this a VERY intensive city sprawl AP? I am thinking Urban Ranger Archetype to be honest :D
Another 2 important changes: Race changed to human.
:D
I am absolutely sure that it is possible to roleplay a Neutral character - I just usually like to hear something from the person playing it so that I can get an idea of the logic behind it :D By the way, small change on my ranger concept - I am going to drop the Intimidation and focus on Knowledge (Local). GM-JCS We have 2 traits (one from the campaign) - is this correct?
You might look into the Spell-less Ranger book. It had some very fun variants including switchhitter options Is that 3rd party or?
I’m fine as a 14DX archer even with Rapid Shot, but I focus on melee. +4ST +2DX bonus…not a huge difference at low levels. You can get bracers of archery or Point Blank Shot, wpn focus etc. Get out a planner and build your character to 20, and do that ten ways to Tuesday….imagining how you want to play it. There’s more than one way to build it. Try and do what you think is fun…not the “best” because in the long run the most fun probably is the best. I went with the Beast master Archetype with Boon Companion by the way. Now, that’s fun...Druid pets. I agree 100% with you regarding fun - and the idea of the switch hitter strikes me as loads of fun, and that's why i liked instantly when I read it the first time, but I'm getting second thoughts regarding if it actually works, or if it will simply turn me into a melee fighter 80% of the time and that's it.
@Eben: Actually, I am now tending in the "oh crap" direction BUT what I have been looking for is a 50/50 balance. With the "classical" switch hitter set up I get the feeling that it is not that straightforward to give up Precise Shot (and consequently PBS). Additionally, it would also seem that the switch hitter, at early levels works basically as a melee fighter (wither 1h+sh or 2h) most of the time, and only by stacking those 2 feats above you can actually have any hope of actually being useful with your ranged weapon. It just feels it is not a 50/50 trade, but more of a 70/30 melee/archer set up - and it seems to stay like that for quite a few levels simply because the -4 from being in combat + the cover modifiers indeed are steep, even for a... level 6 ranger( I would say maybe even until level 10), as stated by ruemere.
As far as I have seen from the recruitment posts, here are my thoughts: - As far as the insiders go, we seem to be having still a few doubts regarding what will be played, you think we can have an update on who will be participating, adn the expected classes? (Count me in as Ranger/Fighter) - So far we have a healer, a rogue and a ranger
- All in all, we seem to have skills (BudFox and me), social (Sharan and Kyle), and damage dealers (me, Budfox, Sharan?) - I would say that the roles we are clearly missing, would be Arcane Casters (both for damage and utility), front line combatants (I can step up if needed), and maybe some additional form of damage. From the applicants, I would say: - DM Jelani: LN rakshasa-spawn tiefling master summoner going to Diabolist - seems to fit in as controller or damage dealer. I am not sure how he plans to play it
Personal note: I have a thing with Neutral alignments, which is to understand what are the reasons for them to cooperate with the group :D And those were my two cents so far. EDIT: Ok, so Thornborn is Sohei/MoMS Monk - meaning combat but not frontliner (correct me if I am wrong Thorn), which convers for some of our missing damage but not for front line. Bud, how social is your rogue? (Thinking if between your Bluff/Diplomacy and Kyle's Knowledge(local) and Sense Motive, we have the social aspect covered). Wow..... long post :D
@Eben: You may actually have a very good point with Improved Precise Shot. Regarding the focus shift, it seems that he won't lose that much but again as I said in the first post, I do not fully master the Pathfinder mechanics, and that is why i am looking for advice :D So, in the first 10 levels he would lose: - Power Attack
I have to admit that as far as melee combat, it is obviously diminished, but is it THAT diminished? :D
Hehe, I have read it multiple times, actually that is the reason why I decided to go Switch Hitter in the first place :D Now follow me on this reasoning: - Say I keep the logic of the Switch Hitter, but not the name, neither the archer ranger name - just Ranger - and then: - I build him "mainly" as an Archer (let's say human because for Archer Ranger is almost essential) Lvl1: Point blank + Precise
So I am not taking power attack early on, and instead of doing 2d6+8 at level on, I am doing... 2d6+6. Let's even say I do not take Power Attack AT ALL - wouldn't that still make for a decent enough melee character if it comes down to it? Thank you for the brainstorming so far :D
I also had that idea - it seems that there is a lot of stuff packed against ranged attacks, because of many possible negative modifiers (melee, cover, etc.). What I seem to notice from your impressions is that you are mostly functioning as a melee combatant most of the time, not only by option but also because, as you said, you are kinda being forced into that position as soon as melee breaks out because you cannot hit the enemy from range. Then again, that is how switch hitters are supposed to work right? Is there any chance we can take a look at your character, or how you would build it? I would like to see how best to fit all the feats you suggested. Two last things, you placed Rapid Shot way over in third place, meaning you would stick to your iterative attacks? And, when you say "Get all +attack for your ranged weapon you can.", what would you mean by this exactly, swap some STR for DEX or are we talking magic weapons? Thank you for all the feedback by the way :D
@Havoq: Would you say you play more like a ranged class that uses melee when necessary or the other way around? I am also a fan of the STR based damage, and it assists also in ranged damage (which seems to be one of the major problems for archer types), once you have a composite bow. However, isn't your Dex taking a big hit? Are you an effective archer? @wraithstrike: Exactly my point regarding Precise and PBS... I tend to find Precise shot more important since PBS is..welll.. one more damage. However I can't seem to fit Precise Shot in my switch hitter, even though I would like to, and here is why: - I am currently taking power attack feat at level 1, I could just ignore it and go PBS (because it is a prerequisite for Precise), but; - At level 2 it seems to make logic to select Rapid Shot, I mean its 2 attacks, period. - So I would be getting Precise Shot only at level 3, instead of Quickdraw My list would then be PBS, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot vs. Power Attack, Rapid Shot, Quick Draw. I really don't know... This is in part the point of my post, to see how exactly essential Precise Shot is. @thejeff: Hmmmm, actually the sword and board makes a lot of sense, at least I should have more than enough strength to carry all that around. In any case, I would be able to draw my weapon while I advance on them, but not the shield, which would be available on round 2 - not to shabby actually. I do have, flavor wise, a strange feeling regarding carrying around sword and shield most of the time during the early levels, kinda seems to take away some of the "rangerish" flavour. To be honest, I was taking a further look at the Sword and Shield combat style for the ranger, and even though admittedly I am not a genious regarding Pathfinder mechanics but, as an exercise, what would you think about going a similar path as above, but instead using Sword/Shield combination? So, the logic would be, archery from combat style, but the switch instead of being to a 2handed weapon, would be to sword and shield. Would be a loss in damage vs. a win in AC, but is the loss in damage that big?
Ok guys, let's talk some specifics? As a ranger I don't think I will be packing much "social" skills ;/ In fact, if you guys take a look at Calendir's background so far, you'll notice just that :D In any case I am planning to invest some into Intimidate, so at least we'll have some skill spread in social interaction, let's say if Diplomacy fails we scare them. It won't be an overwhelming bonus (as I had on the half-orc inquisitor I sketched) but it should provide us another option. Now, seeing we have a deadline for Wednesday (which I approve by the way), I look back as to when Telurion and Sharan first joined the group, and that a frontliner was needed at the time - I am more than willing to stick with my armor clad boy, as long as we talk it out beforehand, also to assist GM in selecting/recruiting as appropriate. Do let me know.
In any case, I will have to give this character a try, so I am sticking with the ranger (and also trying to secure the ranger as I already see others applying with the class also in the recruitment thread :D ). Let's GO!!
Hello all, I know this has been multiple times before but I would like to have some additional insight ragrding the switch hitter ranger, if possible. Let's take the below as an example: Ranger 1
==DEFENSE==
==OFFENSE==
==STATISTICS==
Now, here are my doubts and my request for help (please keep in mind I am going to play this guy since level 1): - The AC seems to be extremely gimped, to the point that I have the feeling that if I don't hit with the first blow, I'll get hammered through my AC15 - I saw in the forums a discussion regarding the Switch hitter entering in combat with enemies who have range - and how hard he would be hit bu their AoO... For that reason I took skill focus in Acrobatics - do you think it will be possible to maintain it at acceptable levels to be able to move through threatened squares? - As you can see I pushed INT to 12, since I am a sucker for skills, trying to add Intimidate as my only "social" skill (if one can even call it that)for playing Council of Thieves, and Acrobatics for the abovementioned reasons. Would it be better to keep it at 10, sacrificing a skill somewhere to boost Dex to 15, and eventually 16 at level 4, thus increasing the to hit with bows, AC and some skills at that point? - For those who have actually played a Switch Hitter Ranger before, how bad is it really NOT having Point Blank and Precise Shot? And how much is it offset by using melee combat?
- Attempting to improve on melee combat, has anyone attempted to bet on stuff like finesse/dervish dancer/etc, and then capitalizing on a dex increase to boost the melee side of combat? Or even finesse>piranha strike combinations? Thank you in advance for any possible input. Cheers
By the way, here is Calendir, or how he would look at level 5, since I had leveled him up some for a different campaign. His background is only half written but I am finishing as I go, and he would need some small tweaks to fit more nicely into this one, but this is the guy, demeanor, tone and all. On the plus side, I had already written down how I came across my animal companion
Vixen, you are absolutely correct - I have just added another section about my Animal Companion, and it turned out HUGE. Am formatting it for readability right now. EDIT: Done ;) Thanks for the tip Vixen, I just get carried away
Another chunk added - I call it "Rebuilding"
I have been building upon Calendir's background history - this always happens to me, I start writing and more and more stuff that would define his personality keeps coming up :D So, I am adding it in parts - I have added one chunk and more will soon follow.
Crunch on level 5 Ranger is up. Equipment and updated background will follow.
Hello, I am very interested in your idea. I would like to submit Calendir Eltoreth - I have created this ranger some time ago and took a liking to him after writing down his background. Recently I had been equating a slightly higher level campaign to give him a test drive mid levels, so this seems the perfect fit for what I was looking for. He needs some easy adaptations to fit the 25 pt buy, and on the traits, but I believe what I like the most (the background andf personality I have envisioned for him) can remain pretty much as they are. Do let me know, and I'll proceed with the modifications (well.. I guess I am going to modify his level anyway since I was already thinking about it :D )
Rubbing the dust from his eyes, Calendir had to blink multiple times to make sure his long trip was not playing tricks on him... A catfolk?! He had heard about these before... Himself never having a place to call "home", he had admired at this creature's reported combination of wanderlust, while yet never losing their sense of community and group effort - known for placing the needs of their tribe above their own pursuits. It is not in Calendir's nature to do such a thing, but if it was, he would cross the room simply to sit next to this admirable creature and exchange a conversation over a mug of ale.
Hi... a trapper...hm no, I am a hunter. The sword... It is just a memento.. Nevermind. Yes I am new around here - I heard about a festival and decided to drop by.
Actually, would you happen to know if there is someone I can talk to around here that knows his way around the region and the... hm... fauna?
Updated and finished corrected crunch - Alias created. |