My group is playing some unique characters, an oddball group to say the least:
An Assimar Ranger with a celestial wolf
A human Magus
A human Paladin/Monk of I think Irori
and myself...
A duergar cleric of Shelyn.
Yeah you read that right. She's all about redemption.
Now we're playing the Mythic AP and we just hit our first Mythic tier and I'm lost.
So I'm looking for a bit of advice.
My goal for the character is that of a redeemer, trying to protect her friends and allies, working towards freeing the enslaved and trying to bring those lost into the light.
I'm not sure if I should go down the Heirophant path, the Guardian path or a split of the two....
She tends to hold her own in combat, using a glaive. She heals decently. She can take a hit...
I'm currently playing a 10th, soon to be 11th, level Ratfolk Alchemist/Gunslinger and I'm at a bit of a loss. I love the character itself and the idea of playing the gunslinger/alchemist combo, but I'm not sure where to put my focus.
I was originally toying with going Gunslinger to 5th or 6th and then the remainder of the levels in alchemist, but I'm starting to have second thoughts.
The basic character idea is that he's a former Shackles Pirate, played the role of ships "doctor", dabbled in firearms, and struck out on his own to be a hero.
Stats and Stuff:
Keep in mind that our group tends to a more higher powered character, hence the higher than normal stats and what have you.
Any thoughts or advice would be graciously welcomed. We just hit 11th level, so I've yet to figure out what I want to do from here, so in any suggestions keep in mind that I need to apply 11th.
I'm going to be running a 1920's occult themed d20 campaign where people will be playing unique and somewhat supernatural creatures or beings.
It's going to be kind of a Hellboy/Cthulhu like campaign.
I'm devising a PC that will be played by myself, who is the GM.
This is actually common amongst our group, most of us who do run also play along side the players, though rarely in any spoiler type frame of mind.
I digress.
My goal is to create a character that would have a set of either magical or mechanical arms. The arms I'd like to have advance in power as the character advances in level.
I'd like them to be able to function as both a melee weapon and as a ranged attack and I'd like them to boost the characters strength (which, without them, would be considered virtually nonexistent since the character has no arms themselves).
I don't know why some of you guys even play... Disliking experience and hit points?
Likes:
1.Artwork. Hands down some of the best out there. The amount of detail added into the artwork by Wayne Reynolds boggles my mind.
2. The iconics are flat out nifty. They look cool and they would be killer to read about more than just the chapter blurbs. I do admit the reuse of an iconic(*cough* magus *cough*) cheesed me out a but.
3. The fact that the core and additional classes make playing a 20 level class viable is so welcome over WoTC's vomitting PrCs all over the place.
4. I may be the only one, but I love the additional classes. I think the Witch and Magus are my favorite Pathfinder classes. Heck I even dig the idea behind the Gunslinger, maybe not completely sold on the ruleset.
5. Goblins. I LOVE Paizo's take on them. Ogres too.
6. Adventure Paths are keen. The layouts, the artwork, the additional info like the little stories are just so welcome. I love how they try to incorporate something new into each path.
7. The human sub divisions. I love how they're so different in outlook and appearance.
8. The play test phases. I feel like Paizo really goes out of their way to make sure they take their clientele and fan bases opinions to heart.
9. Drow aren't the only bad boys on the block. I love that each AP addresses something different in terms of BBEG.
10. I've yet to find a Paizo product I felt was worthless. That means a lot to me. They don't just put out product; they think it through and it shows.
Dislikes:
1. Magus iconic. See #2 above.
2. Lack of iconic based novels.
3. Lack of a Pathfinder video game a la Baldurs Gate. I know it's early yet, but I'd love this. ;)
4. I feel the Pathfinder Scenarios a bit unbalanced. One first level we played through had exploding flaming skeletons. That didn't end well ;)
5. Druid Wild Shaping could be more thorough in description, or rather Beast Shape 1 could be.
6. Magus iconic (sorry I really was ticked we didn't get something new lol. Mostly because it would have meant new Wayne Reynolds art.
I really don't think I have more griefs than this. I think D&D 3.5 was good. Pathfinder is just plain wonderful.
But it started earlier: the group figured out something was amiss in Walthus' place. Intimidated the false Walthus and had ihim lead them to the goblins by saying they'd release him afterwards. Which they did.
Of course it might bite them in the butt someday, but then, it might not.
Then they bargained withe the goblins. Granted one party member searched fir any bodies while the others parlayed and removed ome ears...
The goblins, reluctant at first, agreed. The party would eliminate the skeletons if the goblins behaved. Of course the goblins had crossed fingers but no one really caught that ;)
Personally, as the gm, I appreciated the fact that things were done differently than just wholesale slaughter.
To start, a bit of information about our group, we tend to play a higher powered campaign (we use a 4d6 take the highest 3 for stats, so 18's aren't a complete rarity).
With that in mind, I'm building a halfling druid.
What I'm currently stuck with is feats.
I'm planning on the druid specializing in wild shaping.
The character needs to be 3rd level, so I need 2 feats. I was thinking Dodge and Combat Reflexes or Improved Initiative, but I'm not 100% sold on it.
I also need two feats for his companion (a rhinoceros).
Mdt -- Actually CunningMongoose beat you to the punch line!
Yep, I too grewed up in the 80s.
This will sound bizarre but that's ok since you are talking about a Candyland game...
A modron who has been trapped in the realm for so long that his once lawful nature has been completely corrupted and now is 100% chaotic. Have him have a different amount of dots painted on each of his sides. He shouldn't be a ruler or main bbeg, but more of an unknown variable.
Have him have 6 different emotions that you can randomly roll every time he interacts with the party.
Or better yet, give him a teleport spell that he can use at will to teleport players to various rooms in the "dungeon". You can separate the party with each getting sent to a different random room....
Party members cemented their roles a bit more, the ranged monk realizes she needs to stay out of combat, sword and board dwarf ranger is tanking like all out, all in all everyone's really playing their roles up.
The party actually managed to get to the Thrunefang camp with little problem, making a b-line to it as soon as they first found the camp Ieana and the Captain left.
Next session will start with them entering the temple, which I'm really excited about. The shame is it's over a month away and I just want to run lol!
I completely ditched the idea of the gunslinger and ninja bad guys. It's just not worth it.
I'm debating on letting the bbeg manage to escape instead of being defeated.
The addition of a ranger, a druid and the bard really made something's a bit linear but I think they panned out.
The group figured out rather quickly that, after exploring the Jeniviere wreck, that the captain and Ieana were missing. Reading his log confirmed the suspicions.
The group including fellow castaways made their way down the coast a bit because they were paranoid of monsters approaching the wreck, established a camp, and set out to explorer a bit, especially in hopes of finding the duo.
They found Pezocks crab house, the bard talked to him, gleaned some info (including that the two passed through). I tried to play him off a bit paranoid, which worked out. I also had him a bit jumpy.
They found the initial landing of the Captain and Ieana and the Druid and ranger immediately found tracks and started following them. They pretty much followed their trail past the hut of the ghost pirate (I forget the name at the moment, long night), found his journal and decided they needed to stamp out these cannibals and find the captain and ieana to get answers.
All in all it went well. The Gunslinger and Ninja are merely roleplaying add ons, as they will not be really enteri f combat with the pcs. Later, down the line, they will shownup again.
First off good luck with thew campaign. Hopefully it will be a successful one that plays all the AP volumes.
Some general AP tips:
1. Make sure you have read through the ENTIRE AP if you plan to DM the entire AP. I like to read the first volume then immediately read the last volume. Once I have done that I read through all the rest. Always make sure you are 2 steps ahead of the party by being thoroughly familiar with the current adventure and the next one.
2. Maybe I'm wrong, but with your addition of the Ninja and Gunslinger, it sounds like you have introduced some GMPCs. If this is the case I would recommended you not do it. As DM of an AP you will have plenty of other work to keep you busy without having to run GMPCs. I'm sure you players will appreciate not having them as well.
3. The first volume of an AP tends to be a very strong one. Well thought out, organized, focused, and exciting. The subsequent volumes may not have all of these qualities in equal measure. Make sure you are mentally prepared to handle this as DM and can adjust your own and your players expectations and experiences accordingly.
Thanks for the input!
The two NPC's are actually villains, going to be working with the main villainess from the first book of the AP.
I've been reading it almost neurotically the last few weeks =) I hope I'm ready!
Tonight I'm starting a new campaign. This is actually the first time I'm running I think in about a year. So I'm kind of looking forward to it.
I have a slightly larger party than I think is the norm, which is cool, and I'm adding a few things to make it my own.
I thought I'd chronicle some of the changes and the campaign itself.
The party will be consisting of the following:
Morgrym Stouthammer - Dwarven Ranger (using the Sword and Board AGP Style)
Shay - Gnomish Oracle of the Heavens
Summer - Human Monk Ranged Specialist
Nino - Human Druid Mystic Variant
Vartram Darkstone - Dwarven Bard (Detective Variant from AGP)
So far, out of 5 characters, 4 came from Magnimar, which just means they've all had more of a chance to meet the other castaways.
I tried to handle all of the boating stuff before the first session via emails. When we start up tonight we'll be on the island, just waking up.
A few things I'm adding are 2 helpers for Ieana (they arrived after the fact via boat, one a ninja the other a gunslinger). The boat they came on will serve, hopefully, for the pc's getaway from the island.
Other than that, there's not much in the way of altering the first part. I'm hoping to get through Part 2 tonight.
I'd switch out Str and Con, giving him 18 Str and 19 Con. You can up Con at level 4 (as I'm assuming you would Strength), and +1 to hit and damage is better at levels 1-3 than +1 Fort save and +1-3 HP.
Aside from that...TWF with a sword and shield is actually really pretty good all by itself. As is an Animal Companion (though you should definitely grab Boon Companion if it's gonna be your only melee support).
Feats should be something like this:
1. TWF
2. Shield Slam (Because you ignore the prerequisites)
3. Improved Shield Bash
5. Boon Companion
6. Shield Mastery (Again, because you ignore the prerequisites)
7. Improved Two Weapon Fighting
9. Double Slice
10. Bashing Finish
And basically whatever you want from there. This is somewhat offensively focused, but you don't really need Shield Focus or Greater Shield Focus to be pretty good defensively.
Solid advice with regards to the Str/Con. I tend to try to get the most HP when dealing with being the primary "tank" but I completely see what you mean, especially when using a TWF.
Is there any reason to not take Boon Companion earlier? Like at third?
Would you bother with a PrC or just stick to full on ranger? I was tempted to get to a point and move into Barbarian for the HP and move and rage, but I hate the idea of losing in spell casting and my companion's abilities.
With stats like those, he can do whatever he wants!
Two-Weapon Fighting, Shield Focus, Shield Slam, Shield Mastery (by 6th level) and you still have room for Weapon Focus: Primary Weapon and Favored Defense.
With those numbers, you can put all your favored class bonuses into HP and not hurt for skill points, and you can go Hunter's Bond: Party Boost (whatever it's called) instead of animal companion and it'll last long enough to be useful (if you stat bump wis to 16 someday).
I had initially considered Nature's Warden, but everything I see and everything I've heard makes it seem to be a subpar PRC. I may just stick with straight ranger. My thoughts on the "bond" was to initially go with an animal and use it as an auxiliary melee to keep folks flanked and all. As it is, with the rest of the party, I don't think there's much more in melee support (there's a bard, an oracle (heaven mystery), monk zen archer and a mystic druid).
Thanks for the input! I'll definitely go down the feat path you recommended =)
Starting this adventure path next Friday, trying to do some of the boat RP stuff via emails (our group uses a "10 Things Other Party Members Would Know About Your Character" questionnaire to speed things up a bit too.
At any rate, our current party members are:
Summer - Human Female Zen Archer Monk, she hails from Windsong Abbey.
Nino - Human Male Druid Mystic (based off Treatmonks Druid Handbook, he has no animal companion and focuses on spell-casting.
Unnamed Gnome Oracle of the Heavens with the Warden of Nature alternate Trait and haunted (by fey spirits trying to get her to return to the first world).
Unnamed Dwarven Bard (outcast who can't grow a beard (or shaves it each day, the player hasn't decided), shunned for his lack of facial hair, he spends more time affiliating with non-dwarves.
I'll be starting a new campaign (Serpents Skull AP), and I'm anticipating creating a dwarven ranger taking the sword and board combat style from the AGP.
We tend to play a slighlty more powerful gaming style (we do 4d6 take the highest 3 dice for stats, so most of our abilities are much higher than point buy).
Str: 17
Dex: 15
Con: 20
Int: 14
Wis: 15
Cha: 12
He's going to be more or less a main melee type.
What would you all recommend in terms of feats, any PRC's or sticking to pure ranger? etc.
I'm in the market for playing our primary tank/melee character but am looking for some more unique ideas other than the standard fighter, barbarian or paladin.
I had been playing a half-orc inquisitor, which was fun, but he got pasted.
I dig the feel of a lot of the newer classes and half been considering the Magus or even Summoner (niether are token tanks but both can be worked into the roll (and role) if built right.
Druid came to mind as well with shapechanging and what not.
I'm nor a huge fan of dipping into tons of classes for one character, usually preferring to progress in a base class, but I'm open to ideas.
Unique is key. For instance my Magus idea is a halfling with a falcutta. I've considered a eleven alchemist / master chymist.
Looking at the spells on his list I'm a bit curious why he didn't use more AoE spells during his two round prepping time. A well placed fireball or lightning bolt could gave really increased his odds.
I am looking for a half-orc alchemist mini and a cleric who looks arabian style - I like the Kyra mini from the pathfinder series, along this line for a male cleric would be great!
I always dug the Valenar Commander from WoTC's prepainted line.
