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So here's the thing. A long time ago I made an Aasimar character that has enough credit to be played at level 2, but I haven't yet. Then I sat on it a while I played my Barbarian. So now I remade it as having one level of Swashbuckler and one level of Paladin. The plan is to just go vanilla paladin after that, with ultimately ten levels of paladin and one level of Swashbuckler.

So here's the other thing, it doesn't have a ton of skill points (which always bugged me about the Paladin), and these two are the odd ones out. I'll have three skill points per level, and I was going to level Diplomacy every level, Perception OR escape artist every level, then use the third one to gradually level up climb, swim, and acrobatics.

So my two fears are thus: I'll be grappled easily, or I'll be sneak attacked easily. It's dex based, so I'll have a less then stellar flat footed (while doomed to lack uncanny dodge), and a less then stellar CMB. My buddy told me that most things grappling you are nigh unescapable anyway, but I figure the Daring Do panache ability (add a d6 + another D6 every time you roll a 6) might make up the difference. I also know that Perception is one of the most useful things in the game, but I have no wisdom mod, so it won't be amazing. Because of that, neither skill seems worth taking if I don't put a point in every level.

I'm really paranoid, because if anything happens to this character, I can't make another Aasimar. Thoughts?

Ok, so my secondary role-play group of friends (the ones who meet much less frequently, but who are much better at it) are starting their first Pathfinder game. They're converting their characters from this barebones, simple game called Gates and Gorgons. And in that game, there's a were-wolf thing called a Gylf, and the DM made this for them (copy/pasted from facebook):

The Gylf-Wolf: Racial Traits 1 through 7 (edit: except 5) applies when in human form or wolf form. 5, 8, 9, and 10 apply when in wolf form only.
1. +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom. NO PENALTIES TO ABIITIES. Gylf-Wolves are quick, durable, and perceptive.
2. As a Medium creature, Gylf-Wolves get no bonuses or penalties due to size.
3. Movement 30 feet.
4. Gylf-Wolves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of shadowy illumination. It retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
5. +2 racial bonuses on Listen, Spot, and Survival checks: Borrowing from their wolf bond, Gylf-Wolves have an acute perception of their surroundings and double their Wisdom bonus when tracking.
6. Languages: Common and Wolf.
7. Bonus Languages based upon Intelligence: Dwarven, Elf, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Sylvan.
8. Movement 40 feet.
9. When in wolf form their attack routine is either 2 claw attacks per round (1d6 + Strength mod) OR 1 bite attack (1d8 + Strength mod).
10. Trip tactic: a hit with a bite attack (no damage) can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the Gylf-Wolf.
LIMITATIONS: Gylf-Wolves can only choose the Fighter, Barbarian, or Ranger classes. Whenever the character wants to shape change, they have to get nude or they will rip their clothing apart. Gylf-Wolves cannot use any weapons when in wolf form. If armored, the character must take it off because they are changing into human sized four legged wolves. When in wolf form the character can only speak wolf. However, he or she can understand other languages.

I thought maybe I could still be a decent half-orc, since I could technically crank up the strength higher then this thing, but... we're rolling for stats and I have no idea what I'm going to get. And since this thing gets +2 to 3 stats (save stats no less), I feel like it would be foolish to do anything else.

On the one hand, unless I don't care about my armor and weapons, I'd never really use the wolf thing. So effectively, it gets no race features besides really good stats. But... that's a net +6 over a normal races +2. Gawd.

Should I recommend a tone down? The only person running one will be a ranger, the one thing that a power gamer would make after looking at these stats, so my gut reaction is that this is cheese. I'm just worried about it, since most people in this group are very casual and RP focused, and it would super unbalance things if that one ranger is way more amazing.

Hello, all.

My friends are going to be starting a lvl 1 pathfinder campaign pretty soon. I've been beating my head against the wall trying to make something for a while now, since I wanted to make something interesting, but still good. I came up with a few things, but this one sticks out as the one I'm most confused about. I can't decide if it's bad or good.

I came up with a 20 point buy Elf fighter with these stats:

Str:14, Con: 11, Dex: 18, Int: 14, Wis: 12, Cha: 8

I'd take Weapon Finesse and Two Weapon Fighting at level 1, and I'd dual wield Kukris. The idea is that I'd have decently high AC to offset the low health somewhat, I'd have all the skill points I want (for Acrobatics, Climb, Swim, and Perception), I could take combat expertise for combat maneuvers later, and I could switch to a bow if the situation called for it.

But it just seems like everything about it is delayed gratification. I went with two kukris because they're light and if I use the same weapon in each hand, the weapon expertise and focus feats apply to both hands. And I could do neat stuff later with the crit feats. But the damage is so piddly, what with the D4's and +2 strength mod.

And 19 AC isn't bad, but I don't trust it to keep me safe with 11 starting hit points. But then again, at high levels I could fill out the dex allowance on full plate with fighter armor mastery, and do backflips in it.

And all of those skills would start out pathetic, with a breastplates check penalty, and with only two of them being class skills. But I figured they'd catch up if I spent a point at level two to make them class skills (not sure if that's a real rule or a house rule), and keep putting points into just them after that.

Lastly, I was worried about saves. I'd start out with low fort, low will, and kind of good reflex. But the reflex wouldn't scale very well, what with me being a fighter and all. I guessed I might have room for the feats that increase them, but I've also heard that two weapon builds are feat starved.

Anyway, I just was hoping to see some opinions from some people with a little more experience making Pathfinder characters. I probably won't be using it this time around, because our party is kind of wonky. Me and a cleric with a rapier will be the front line, with a weird experimental whip magus behind us, and a bard and an archer monk behind that. So I'm probably going to do something with more reliable damage, like a barbarian with a greatsword. But I do like the idea of this fighter, so I still figured I'd ask.