Find_a_Hones's page

@Matthew Downie:

That... is actually a really good idea!
A miniature library sounds like just the thing we would need, thinking that 3 of our 6 people are prepared arcane casters in some way! And our druid is looking for books on healing everywhere we go, so that makes 4/6 people. Great idea, thanks!
The inn I thought about already as well, but I figured there were some other buildings we'd need more than that.

We are now at two small wooden buildings inside the fort, an armory/storehouse and a small infirmary (Druid: "No, I can NOT properly treat people in a dirty tent!"... well, he's got a point). On top of those are small watchtowers, accessible from inside those buildings as well as outside via a ladder.

And the escape tunnel sounds neat!

We will most likely be staying in the River Kingdoms for a long while and I really enjoy the thought of building our own "stronghold". I really loved that concept in Baldurs Gate 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 (among others) and I always wanted to have an aspect like that in an actual roleplaying group. :)

@roguerogue:
The port is not an option, as the river is not exactly a river, but more like a small stream, maybe 2 or 3 meters wide (tops). But the garden is a lovely idea as well, our druid is going to love this! And some of our mercenaries too; it was our (the players') job to create the mercenaries beforehand without knowing what we'd need them for and I made two with a background as farmer. :)

Thanks again everybody for the nice input! That is exactly the reason, why I decided to join this forum... so many helpful people and nice ideas I simply wouldn't have thought of. :)

--Malthus

Hello everyone!

In our current home campaign we took over the base camp of a small mercenary company - no, not by force, their commander died and one of us became the new one - and now we are thinking about stuff we definitely need to fortify it and give us other benefits.

Our main job by leading that mercenary group is to keep the roads and trading routes in a small part of the River Kingdoms safe.

It is a rather small camp with a palisade wall around it. There is a small river next to it and it is in close distance to a rather large city (Daggermark). We already built a watchtower and dug up a small trench around the palisade wall.

We have 2000 Gold to spend for stuff we need in there. We already have some basics like tents, a forge, one or two wagons, some horses and such stuff. I am looking for interesting and useful stuff/tools/whatever that could help a small, just starting-out mercenary company.

We already thought about buying a ballista and mounting it on top of the watchtower. The mercenaries themselves are geared out and we already "acquired" some "voluntary donations" of further gear (armor, weapons) through the generosity of some bandits that troubled the region.
Other stuff I thought about getting were:

- an alchemists laboratory (for one of our PCs and for general use)
- a stash of alchemists fire and similar stuff (flexibility against certain enemies)
- some sets of manacles and chains (hey, we ARE responsible for the security of the region)
- first aid kits
- some emergency healing potions (small ones)
- camouflage nets (for smaller outposts at certain points of interest along the roads)

I am eager to hear other suggestions, maybe by some people who were in a similar situation.

What stuff did you need? What did you realize was invaluable or extremely useful?
What was in hindsight a bad investment?

Plus:
What kind of spells are useful in a situation like that? (useful for fortifications, for sustaining a group of mercenaries, for keeping an eye on the region, etc)

Thanks in advance for your help!

--Malthus

Wow, didn't expect such a heated discussion; I couldn't come online to check back with your answers the last two days, sorry for that.

@Slim Jim:
I am not going to argue, that your build is better, because it simply IS better mechanically. But it would be a completely different character than I have in mind. That would be like "I want to play a rogue" - "Play unchained monk/ninja/fighter/whatever because it's just SO much better."
I want to play that character, because I want to play that character. Not because I want to play some mechanically superior tank-death-machine. As I said, I'm definitely saving your build and heed some of your advice, because that tank-death-machine looks quite appealing to me. But that would be a hole 'nother character. :)

@SmiloDan:
Pushing Assault looks very interesting, thanks! And Stand Still looks like a solid choice either. I must have overlooked those two before. Stuff like that is exactly what I was hoping to get as advice here. :)

@Selvaxri:
Thanks for the advice with the martial master. I will definitely take a second look at that one, because it definitely looks interesting and versatile. But to use it in PFS I'd need to buy yet another book and I already have several on my list.

@Sir Belmont the Valiant:
Thanks for the example build. I am sure to stea... erm "borrow" some of those feat choices. Especially the Step up - chain looks like it would fit into my fighting style idea.

Looks like it will come down to a combination of the "Step Up"-feats, Pushing Assault, Stand Still, Combat Reflexes and some others like Iron Will to bolster my defences. Never thought I'd say that, but as a fighter I have still too few feats to get all the nice feats I would like to take. x)

Thanks everyone for the help! I'm sure to put that advice to good use.

@Flutter:
Thanks, I already came across that guide and read it.
Your advice is most appreciated. I'll keep that lemming-mentality in mind when I get to the table. I was planning for a longbow as a ranged option; for the first level - due to limited wealth - i was going to buy a few javelins. Okay-range and strength to damage seems alright for the little gold they cost.
I was already planning on becoming as self-sufficient as possible. And the fighter, who dismisses his saves is very quickly a dead fighter... or the reason for a party kill.

@Jason Wedel:
Yeah, those two books just bubbled higher on my to-buy-list. Looks like I'm going to have a Pathfinder library sooner or later. :)

Build

STR 16
DEX 14
CON 16
INT 13
WIS 11
CHA 7

Traits: Observant (Grand Lodge Trait); +1 Perception, Perception as class skill (always worth it and fits the observant fighter I have in mind)
(Rich Parents? can anybody tell if it is worthwile? 900 gold on LVL 1 seems pretty neat) / Indomitable Faith / Reactionary <<< one of those as second

1: Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Toughness/(Additional Traits? there are some nice ones, though the crème dé la crème is pretty scattered over several books I don't have yet)
2: Improved Trip
3: Iron Will
4: Improved Disarm
5: Dodge
6: Lunge
7: Mobility
8: Combat Patrol
9: Vital Strike
10: ?
11: ?

Well, that's what I came up with. With vanilla fighter I have the chance to pick up some nice training options as soon as I buy the Weapon Master & Armor Master Handbooks. The feat choices are from Core and Advanced Players Guide, both of which I have available.
Or are the Power Attack/Cleave/Focus/Spec. feats really important and I shouldn't forego them?
Also: Combat Patrol seems really useful for the kind of controller I have in mind, but Dodge and Mobility is a pretty steep investment. Or are those two more worthwile than they were in 3.5?