Eternal E's page

Example 1.)

I take one lvl of sorcerer and get all prereqs for Dragon Disciple. Then the next 10 lvls I put into dragon disciple prestige class. So I am basically lvl 11 now.

My questions now are..When I cast a spell am I considered being a lvl 11 sorcerer then?

You need at least 5 ranks in knowledge (arcana), so you can't take this class before level 6. Also note that there are three levels of the dragon disciple class where you won't get spells. So at lvl 11 you would cast like a level 9 Sorcerer and you could cast: 6/6/6/4 Spells and the bonus Spells from a high Cha-Score.

Do I also gain the spells known as a 11 sorcerer?

Basically I am considered being a 11 sorcerer with all that's included (bloodline powers, bloodline spells), just that I get some flaws (less spells per day) but also some goodies ie natural armor increase, ability boosts etc?

Yes but losing levels as a caster is a big thing for a character which is mainly supposed to cast. Mostly it's not worth it.

Does this mean that I can cast spells as if I was a lvl 12 cleric and a lvl 12 sorcerer?

Then what about Channel Energy..is that counted as if I was a lvl 12 cleric? To me it appears that I would only do the channel energies as if I was a lvl 2 cleric since this

Both assumptions are correct.

Now let's make this a tad harder. Now the next 6 lvls I decide that lvl up 6 lvls in Dragon Disciple (now I am a lvl 20 character). Now let's see if I understand this correctly

Mainly it is correct, but you yould cast as lvl 16 sorcerer and as a Mystic Theurge you won't gain bloodline powers. So you would have access to Bloodline powers of a lvl 8 Sorcerer.

Just one thing: Setting up a character is really difficult and will most likely result in a very inefficient character. But if you really want such a character, rather take levels in the oracle class than in the cleric class.

Being able to fuse styles, would mean to drop the ability to flurry. And this would be a bad tradeoff, since - at least in my understanding - the flurry of blows also enables the monk to benefit from the boni of the TWF-Feat tree for free! Dropping it would mean to use only one claw attack as an umarmed strike. At least I would decide to rule it this way as a GM. I would then favor dragon style over boar style (since I think boar style is getting weak as the levels progress) If you insist on on using two styles then consider taking a genie-themed style. +1d6 and a possible nasty effect is more effective on higher Levels then the fixed 2d6 bleed damage.

The Idea of the martial artist/Barbarian mix always seemed very impressive to me, especially when incorporating the claw attacks/pounce and the dragon style-feat branch in Ultimate combat. The point of the dragon is to add 1.5 times the strength damage to unarmed strikes. Taking feral combat training should synergize extremely well. In fact almost to well...

It is just an assumption that character stats have to be scattered in a bell curve like fashion. I have to think about an argument between social and biological approaches: Do you obtain your abilities depending solely on your genes or do social influences matter? I think that if you had a real low Cha, society (parents, friends) would train you to get a Cha to get along with, which would distort the bell curve.

If a character would have overall average stats (no stat higher than ~12) than he/she wouldn't become an adventurer, because people tend to work in field in which they are good at.

Most character classes do what they were designed for (Fighters fight, wizards cast spells and so on). So perhaps you could play a more versatile class like a bard, who can somehow do more or less everything, but not as good as specialist characters. Ok a bard is nothing new and special, but if you are able to think laterally on how to use his abilities, you may be able to have a lot of fun. Here is just a thought: If you can use a bard to control your enemies, you can also use it to control the other characters. Ok! This style of playing is difficult, needs a lot of good ideas and you your fellow players won't be always about your character's leadership, but it could turn out to be something new. I personally find that bards are quite challenging to play, but maybe this is a plus for a player in a rut.

My Choice qould be a beast rider rider archetype cavalier: The offensive boost for the whole party, using the teamwork feats and banner might be slightly more useful than the healing abilities of the paladin. The cavalier is not as feat starved as the paladin and it gets more skill ranks per lvl. A good animal companio would be a tiger or maybe a bear for a medium sized beast rider. (Although the Tiger would be more powerful, I think the bear fits better into the setting)

The decision, if you rather want a THW-Fighter or a WM is more or less linked to what you want to do with this character. If you want high HP-damage output and maybe sometimes do some Combat Maneuvers of the Power attack chain, then you simply want a THW-Fighter. The Weapon Master is much more relying on his defense and on doing crits.

Your build looks to me like you primarily want to deal HP-Damage as you use a greatsword. I think the Weapon Master in combination with the critical feats and a Falchion would be an excellent choice.

About the vital strike chain. I have to admit that I don't know if vital strike can be applied to a whirlwind attack. If you can apply it, then improved vital strike could be useful. Another thing is, that you take the combat expertise feat but nothing from that tree. why don't you drop it, since you play a human, you don't need a high int and a boost of Wis or Str (int 10, wis 12 -> str 20) wouldn't hurt.
As an alternative to the whirwind attack tree you could consider taking cleaving finish and imroved cleaving finish from UC. This basically is the old 3.5 cleave.

Although Lunge + Whirlwind Attack is a very effective combination you need 5 feats to achieve it, which is quite a lot in my opinion. But since you decided on that it still is a viable option. I also think, improved vital strike is not worth taking.
I would strongly consider critical focus and the feats of this chain, although these are much more effective for falchion users. The feats of these chains will benefit the defense of you and your party.

As far as I can see the fighting styles are mostly for monks and they only boost unarmed strikes. Of course you could play an unarmed fighter, and then it would be a very strong choice to take a fighting style but not as a greatsword user.

The strength modifier of a two handed fighter is 2x - if you use a greatsword and you have str of 20 you will deal 2d6 + 10. This is a very solid archetype and it is one of the most effective meleers in the game.

A sword and board Paladin should work (I think Human would be the best race) but these builds have two restrictions:

1. Feats: You will need a lot of feats, both for Two weapon fighting and for the shield bashing. So expect to have no feats left for anything else.

2. Stats: For TWF you will need high Dex, which normally is not the most important stat. The Dex-requirements will increase with each level which lets you kind of dump your Str. Your Paladin will depend on four stats, which might be viable with 25-pt buy but not in less empowered campaigns.

Beginning with 11th level, the damage output of this build should be on par with Two handed fighter, provided the the oponent is evil. The effects, of higher strength and Power attack VS double slice, additional attacks and additional smites should be more or less equal at this point. So the higher AC will give the sword board build slight advantages.

On a side note: I am a great fan of sword & board cavalier, especially im combination with the beast master archetype.

'm toying with the idea of purposely using an oversized (Large size) musket with my human Gunslinger. Medium muskets deal 1d12 damage per shot. Larhe muskets deal 3d6. That's an average increase of 4 damage a shot in return for a -2 to hit, and Gunslingers tend to hit touch AC instead of regular AC.

It also means, that even at 8th level, with a dex of 20, she can do 9d6+5 as a Full Round Action with Dead Shot, and if she crits, that suddenly becomes 36d6+20.

Is this a good idea? No shenangians of carrying around one-shot weapons that I'll drop after 1st round of combat. Probably more likely to be approved by the GM.

Is the gun training bonus multiplied with the crit? This kind of damage doesn't seem to be excepted from the normal rules.

I also think, that the part about the inappropriately sized firearms will be errated, so that the same rules as with other weapons will apply. That means, that you can use an oversized one-handed firearm with two hands and a penalty of -2. A Musket could not be wielded as far as I understand this text:

The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons

Eternal E wrote:

As for the dead shot deed: What about taking the vital strike feat? Dead shot is a single attack, but I don't know if the vital strike feat can be applied to double the damage. I think the ruling is a little unclear about this.

Vital Strike only applies to an 'attack action' attack, which is a specific standard action attack. It can't be applied to anything else.

Ah right ... pity though.

About the secret stash deed: I would rate higher depending on the campaign. Just think about running out of munition in some jungle.

I personally would say that dwarves profit from their high wisdom, maybe the Wis-Bonus is on par with a Dex-Bonus as you gain precious grit and as you do ranged touch attacks, you don't need an overly high Attack bonus.

The Halfling is probably the best mysterious stranger race there is. The dead shot deed and it's Stealth bonus may turn it into an excellent sniper-like character.

As for the dead shot deed: What about taking the vital strike feat? Dead shot is a single attack, but I don't know if the vital strike feat can be applied to double the damage. I think the ruling is a little unclear about this.

Level dips as Ranger lets you loose on Sneak Attack Dice ... and the Sneak dices are the only reason to take TWF, so this is not a good idea imho.

The main calculation is: Does the additional sneak attack + maybe two weapon rend damage by more attack generate more dpr than damage from Power Attack and / or the higher probability (furious focus feat) to hit. I think they schould be at least on par.

I tend to the THW-build for three reasons:

1. DR becomes common on higher levels, so you want higher damage/hit
2. The Ninja's ki-Pool ability to gain an additional attack much more supplements the THW-Ninja, because if you have let's say two regular attacks (at level 10 or something) and get a third attack you gain 50% max damage. The TWF already has 4 attacks and gains a fifth attack, raising his max. damage by 25%.
3. 1 weapon is cheaper than 2 weapons.

If you take a Kusarigama and a Katana, you could use the folwoing tactic (qith quick draw feat):
Trip the opponent with the kusarigama and drop the weapon as a free action. Then quick draw katana and take a 5 ft-step. If the opponent tries to stand up, he loses a move action and you get an AoO. If he decides to stay down, he will be penalized. In the next round you can use a use a Full round Attack with an additional attack using your ki-pool.

You forget that as a THW.-Ninja you gain like 3 feats compared to the TWF-Ninja. Take Power Attack, Furious Focus and sth. else and damgaewise you will be on par with TWF-Ninja. The Use of the ki-pool favours the THW-Ninja much more than TWF-Ninja.
Also note that you only need to pay for one weapon and you have higher propability to hit. So especially on lower level, the THW-Ninja should be the better alternative.