HobgoblinLiker13's page

I just really love oddball magic items, especially oddball magic items that are used for wacky shenanigans, so I figured I'd create a thread devoted to oddball magic items we've used for wacky shenanigans.

I'll start with one I haven't used yet - a frying pan with the Authorized and Flaming runes that I want my Changeling Bard Character (whose two major themes are cooking and the Cthulhu Mythos) wants to get. However, while this may not seem wacky on its own, the "wacky" part is that she doesn't even like using it for combat, instead she uses it almost exclusively to cook and has the Authorized rune on it because it's hers and she doesn't want anyone touching it.

I know it's not as out there as a lot of other people's ideas but I like it a lot.

Okay, so for those of you who don't remember my original post - which will be most of you by now - I made a few months ago talking about my plans to convert from Pathfinder 1E over to 2E and asking for advice on a character concept I was working on.

This character was at the time a Human Sorcerer with the Changeling Versatile Heritage, Aberrant Bloodline, and Cook Background, along with the Veil May Ancestry feat. I originally intended to use my skill increases to boost Deception up to Expert, Occultism to Master, and Cooking Lore and Society to legendary.

I won't go out and list all the feats I originally intended to pick up because, aside from Sorcerer class feats, they're mostly but not entirely the same and thus the list I'll provide later on will be just as good.

Now, I got a lot of feedback. The primary recommendation was to pick a new background and pick up Cooking Lore at a later date with the Additional Lore feat, which was a really good suggestion. Other suggestions included changing class from Sorcerer to Witch because Witches use Intelligence as their primary spellcasting attribute whereas Sorcerers use Charisma, and most of my character's skills would be Intelligence-based, and picking up several other lores related to cooking rather than directly buffing Cooking Lore.

Now, of course, I got distracted because I taking two classes at Community College over the summer, however I recently returned to the character concept, and while I'll only really be implementing the first suggestion, I've had a lot of time to think about the character concept and make a few changes of my own.

Now, the realization that prompted this change was that while I did have an overtly Lovecraftian character concept, that didn't necessarily necessitate going only for overtly Lovecraftian character options...

So now, my new build for this character concept, while still a Human Veil May Changeling, is now a Bard with the Teacher background instead of a Sorcerer with the Cook background. She starts off with the Enigma Muse and I intend to use the Multufarious Muse Feat to pick up the Polymath Muse as well, because her muse is the Great Race of Yith.

The skills I intend to get up to Legendary are Cooking Lore, Elder Mythos Lore, Occultism, Performance, and Society. Some people may be confused as to the shift from Sorcerer to Bard and Deception to Performance, however I realized that literally the only way I intended to use Deception was for disguises, and the Polymath Muse allows me to use Perfomance for that instead, so since Performance was a heartbreaking last cut from the original Sorcerer build, I might as well use it instead for the Bard build.

I intend to grab the Seasoned feat at 2nd Level and use Additional Lore to grab Cooking Lore at 3rd Level, and pull something similar with Elder Mythos Lore at 6th Level and Disturbing Knowledge at 7th Level. I also intend to pick up Fascinating Performance, Aura Sight, Unmistakable Lore, Quick Disguise, Doublespeak, Legendary Linguist, and Legendary Professional.

I will end by stating that, since Legendary Professional makes you known throughout the land for your Legendary Lore Skills and my character's Legendary Lore Skills are Cooking Lore and Elder Mythos Lore, my character would either be known throughout the land for both her cooking skills and vast array of terrible forbidden knowledge or be sought out by Cthulhu Mythos cults and entities for her cooking skills and I'm not sure which option is funnier. I like this character a lot.

Yes, but I'm not sure where it says so in the rulebook.

Thank you

Okay, so I missed this last time I took a look at the Additional Lore feat, but in the text it plainly says "3rd, 7th, and 15th levels, you gain an additional skill increase you can apply only to the chosen Lore subcategory"

This very neatly solves the difficulties I was having with a recent build I was talking about in another post, where I wanted to make my Aberrant Bloodline Changeling Sorcerer a master chef, but difficulties arose because I also needed her to be very proficient in Deception, Occultism, and Society.

However, I do have a less important rules question:

Let's say I'm 10th Level and I want to take Additional Lore. Do I get retroactive skill increases for 3rd and 7th Level, or only the 15th Level skill increase?

From a rules standpoint (yes this is the advice forum, but still relevant to mention), I don't think you can get both of those 10th level spells. Greater Crossblooded Evolution still has the restriction that each of the spells that you get are spells of a different level from each other.

Aberrant Bloodline is an Occult caster

So I've been very slowly but surely adapting to second edition, and since sorcerer is my favorite class, I figured my first character would be a Sorcerer.

You can see me discussing her in other threads, but these are mostly irrelevant to this highly specific thing that I won't get access to til like 19th Level.

Basically, one idea I had, is to use one of the spells I get from the Crossblooded Evolution/Greater Crossblooded Evolution Feats on my 10th Level spell list in order to take both Alter Reality and Primal Phenomenon.

I do understand that these are the Occult and Primal equivalents to Wish, respectively, and they're redundant for spells below 7th Level, however I only get one 10th Level spell per day, so it doesn't feel like too much of a sacrifice compared to the increased flexibility and roleplay opportunities it offers.

What do y'all think?

Edit: Initially I chose Alter Reality and Miracle but after revisiting the spell list there was an incredible amount of overlap in Occult and Divine spells at 8th and 9th Level.

Can I suggest the horn of fog?

Yes! Thank you!

Obscuring Mist isn't on the occult list, so the earliest you can take it is through Crossblooded Evolution at L8.

Since it's important to be a sorcerer, I'd put skill ranks into some CHA based skills to use your high CHA, but it's not necessary.

Dammit you're right

Im gonna have to figure something else out

TLDR; a functional build, but short on key details.

What spells are you interested in taking? That's the most important choice for a caster. Why do you want the occult list?

You chose Mist Child at L5 to complement Spell Shroud at L14. How will you get concealment before L14, or will you not use Mist Child until then?

You're a CHA caster, but you go up to expert in only one single CHA skill, Deception. OTOH, you really seem to like Society, Occultism, and Lore, which are INT-based. Would you be happier with an INT-based occult caster, like psychic or witch?

Also, what are your ability scores? Any CHA caster with solid INT may be MAD.

Invoke the Elements also grants concealment and I'm thinking of grabbing Obscuring Mist at an early level then swapping it out later

Also I wouldn't be happier with a psychic or a witch because her class is kind of important for the broader theme I'm sort of going for.

Don't use skill increases for cooking lore. Instead, use the Additional Lore feat. Technically it can't level your background lore to legendary, but most GMs will let it. And if not you can pick something more specific based on your vision of the character, like Gourmet Lore or Cannibalism Lore.

Okay so I really appreciate the recommendations, especially since I'd already flagged Additional Lore as a feat I was interested in, but Cannibalism Lore?

I guess it's my fault for describing the mechanics of the character instead of what she's like as an individual, but I just find this incredibly funny.

She's an avid seeker of forbidden knowledge, but she's also Lawful Good and I think she'll pass on learning to serve other sentient beings as dishes.

Okay, so I've been sticking with 1E for awhile now, but recently I decided to dip my toes into 2E.

I have not bought any books yet but I used aonprd as a resource.

Anyways, this is the outline for a PC I came up with, please let me know what you think.

Class: Aberrant Sorcerer
Ancestry: Human (Changeling Versatile Heritage)
Background: Cook
Starting Feats: Seasoned (Background Feat)Veil May (Ancestry Feat), Lie to Me (from Veil May)

I intend to use the skill increases to get Cooking Lore and Society up to Legendary, Occultism up to Master, and Deception up to Expert, and to pick up the Disturbing Knowledge, Legendary Linguist, and Legendary Professional feats among numerous others associated with these skills.

For Ancestry feats, I plan on going with Mist Child and Invoke the Elements, then using the 13th Level and 17th Level Ancestry feats to grab Advanced General Training for skillmonkeying.

For sorcerer feats, I'm definitely planning on picking out the Ancestral Blood Magic, Crossblooded Evolution, Ancestral Mage, Spell Shroud for the combo with Mist Child, and the Greater Crossblooded Evolution feats.

Am I doing it right or did I really mess up somehow?

P.S. I know the Hag Bloodline is a thing. Not going with it was deliberate.

HobgoblinLiker13 wrote:

...however I do think the attitudes you hold towards people who play good characters from "evil" races might be a bit toxic.

Obviously I'm not who you're replying to, but I think you're probably right. However, I do hold the same opinion myself - there's just something that aggravates a nerve when you see your Nth tiefling paladin or similar. I'm not sure where that comes from (if not just Mr. Do'Urden), but it seems widespread enough that it's worth recognizing and planning for if you want to play this archetype.

"Planning for" just means avoiding the stereotypes, and maybe sounding folks out a bit and reassuring them. It may not be necessary if everyone was starting 'fresh', but you can be 'in the right' and still benefit from respecting how the presentation may impact others.

This is completely fair

HobgoblinLiker13 wrote:

I just like playing good characters and also traditionally evil races. Don't be a jerk.

What you quoted and responded to was not addressed at you, nor was it about you. I responded to Melkiador with why in my believe the concept isn't used more.

HobgoblinLiker13 wrote:

Dude what is it with you and Drizzt clones? I just like monstrous races and also being a nice person?

What is it with you and taking everything as a personal insult? I was answering your question, drawing parallels to a similar case. At no point did I tell you what to do or not to do.

And I think you mean that you like playing a nice person, because you certainly aren't showcasing being a nice person.

I simply feel like a lot of the attitudes you put on display here prevented me from playing characters I would have very much enjoyed in the past.

I do have a tendency to get defensive, this is a problem, however I do think the attitudes you hold towards people who play good characters from "evil" races might be a bit toxic.

Maybe because the basic concept is too overdone already? Plus, when you go for the "only good member of the evil race" cliche, you should really go all the way and play a drow dual wielding scimitars...

"Only good member of an evil race"?

Bro...

No...

I just like playing good characters and also traditionally evil races. Don't be a jerk.

And that is the issue with this concept. Every PC you see of a "traditionally evil race" is non-evil, because you virtually never have evil PCs. And you can't interact much with evil NPCs beyond fighting them, especially not with ones not being able to blend in, so all the named NPCs you see are non-evil, too.

Literally half the people I've played with regularly played evil characters. One of them literally derailed the campaign and killed two of my characters by becoming an overpowered lich.

Of course, whith every PC or NPC you see being non-evil, the 'gap moe' of your character 'breaking the mold' simply doesn't exist. Like the joke that the entire Drow race "consists of nothing but Chaotic Good revels, yearning to throw off the reputation of their evil kin", because everyone and the kitchen sink plays a Drizzt clone.

Dude what is it with you and Drizzt clones? I just like monstrous races and also being a nice person?

For good reason. First, it's really boring - a character that's evil because their race is always evil basically has no motivation. And second, a true "always evil" race cannot have free will, and that means it's literally impossible to play oen as a PC. So the best you can do is an evil society, but for the...

I will agree with this

How about a Demonspawn or Pitborn Tiefling Paladin? Str and Cha +2, Int -2; +2 on Intimidate, Knowledge (Religion); Shatter 1/day as an SLA?

Are Tieflings actually "traditionally evil"?

Like sure the blurb says so but I have yet to see an evil Tiefling in any game I've played - PC or NPC

Now that you mention it, I really am surprised I don't see that more. It may simply be from the rarity of +Charisma in "evil" pc races.

Drow Paladin could be fun

Okay so Paladin is actually a class I really like.

I know a lot of people don't and that's fine, but I think Paladins can be a lot of fun if you play them right.

And I think the dynamic of a Paladin from a traditionally evil race such as Goblins, Drow, or Deep One Hybrids could produce some very very interesting roleplay.

So, with that being said, tell me about your monstrous-race Paladins.

I for one a Hobgoblin Holy Guide Paladin of Sarenrae. I haven't figured out much about her yet, but mechanics-wise she's mostly focused on Dex and Cha, with the Authoritative alternate race trait and Dervish Dance feat at 3rd level. I intend to play her as a very kind, yet firm maternal sort of character who obviously loves and cares for those around her but doesn't take any s~@~.

Okay so I know I'm usually asking for advice in posts like this, but I'm doing something a little different today.

See, I'm a transgender woman, and I kinda wanted to create a little thread where we can talk about trans stuff in our Pathfinder games.

I don't keep up with much of the lore for the iconics, but I know Paizo are super queer-positive and at least one iconic is trans.

I regularly incorporate trans themes into my games and characters not only cos I'm trans but also cos all of my friends are trans and it's fun for them too.

There are several canonical ways of transitioning in my campaign setting, including a feat that basically makes you able to gender swap at will. In addition, several major NPCs are trans women.

A lot of the characters I make with the intention of playing one day are also trans. My personal favorite is a Tiefling Alchemist who uses her alchemy knowledge to make her own HRT.

What about y'all?

Okay, so basically I had this idea for this good-leaning neutral aligned campaign where the PCs are a group of hobgoblin deserters on the run from their former comrades.

However, I don't want the entire adventure to just be them going to a place, encountering a band of people sent to capture or kill them, fighting them, leaving, and then rinse and repeat.

While this may get easier when my players introduce their characters, I would still prefer to have some other story hooks ready just in case.

Does anyone have any ideas? I would really really appreciate some!

I'm currently working on a crossblooded sorcerer character concept that's a hybrid of the Aberrant and Draconic Bloodlines.

At first level, this character is a human with the Mixed Heritage, Heart of the Fields, and Heart of the Streets alternate racial traits, the Affable and Courageous traits, the Rugged Northerner feat, and the Claws bloodline power.

I am unsure whether to go with the Gold or Red Dragon Bloodline, however they're mechanically identical so it doesn't really matter.

However, I'm not sure which Bloodline Powers to pick up after first level. I am definitely going to be picking up Alien Resistance, however I am unsure to go with Dragon Scales at 3rd Level, Breath Weapon at 9th Level, and Aberrant Form at 20th Level or Long Limbs at 3rd Level, Unusual Anatomy at 9th Level, and Power of Wyrms at 20th Level.

I kinda was wondering if I could get some input on which one of these two pathways would be better, as well as some feat suggestions for the character?

Even a level 20 commoner is super human. You shouldn’t have that much trouble generating wealth. 20 ranks in any profession, perform, or craft would make you the best in the world at that specialization.

What would 20 ranks in Perform (Oratory) and Perform (Sing) plus the Prodigy and Skill Focus feats in both of those skills do?

Okay,so I apologize if this isn't as cohesive or specific as my builds usually are, but this idea has been bouncing around in my head all day.

The race isn't actually important so long as you get a bonus to Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma and don't get a penalty to any of them, I just chose Hobgoblin cos they're my favorite race.

For traits, I went with Savage and Talented and I replaced Sneaky with an alternate racial trait - either Authoritative, Battle-Hardened, Engineer, or Fearsome, though this is the least important part of the build.

For stats, the first priority is Intelligence, followed by Charisma, then Dexterity, then Constitution, then Strength, with Wisdom as the dump stat.

For feats, six of them (well, technically seven cos I'm taking one of them twice) are essential to the build. These are Weapon Finesse, Dervish Dance, Skill Focus (Knowledge [Nature]), Eldritch Heritage (Stormborn Bloodline), Improved Eldritch Heritage (Stormborn Bloodline), and Greater Eldritch Heritage (Stormborn Bloodline).

It's worth noting that, while Dervish Dance applies your Dex modifier to damage rolls as well as attack rolls, Weapon Finesse does not, so your damage output will be impacted by your low strength until you pick up Dervish Dance. In addition, I am aware that at 5th level, the magus can use their arcane pool to mimic the effects of shocking and shocking burst, and it last longer usong this method than the bloodline power, thus rendering Stormborn bloodline's Thunderstaff ability may seem redundant to some people. I personally see this more as giving them a little bit of extra juice as a baseline they can always squeeze out of their sword even when completely out of arcane points.

For feats that aren't essential but which I might take, I'm considering Cosmopolitan for Knowledge (Engineering) and Survival, Deepsight for the boost to Darkvision, Elemental Spell (Electricity) for flavor, Persuasive if I decide to go with the Authoritative alternate racial trait, and Weapon Focus (Scimitar) for obvious reasons.

As always, feel free to alter and use this build however you so please if you think it's cool and want to use it in your campaign.

If anyone likes, dislikes, has commentary about, or especially has feat recommendations for this build I am eager to hear them.

HobgoblinLiker13 wrote:

Meanwhile I just pull girls by being severely autistic and a vessel for a hostile, invasive extradimensional resonance

We are amused.

I think I have found a like minded individual. That is to say one who has to keep their sense of humour in check on a site like this where young impressionable people may be reading.

It is okay

We wait in the stains.

It resonates in your house.

A druid with wild shape and polymorph self. Just think, you could have sex with absol... uh, sorry, I mean a paladin . Strong, powerful, noble and you have to be good looking and charming to a high degree. And because of your mandatory alignment you would be universally trusted and liked and you have to rescue damsels in distress. You would get so much puss .. sorry, sorry. Somebody else has been messing with my post honest. What I mean is you would be universally well liked and admired and have the opportunity to do so many good deeds.

Meanwhile I just pull girls by being severely autistic and a vessel for a hostile, invasive extradimensional resonance

I know I'm a Hobgoblin appreciator, however honestly I'd want to be a Human Crossblooded Aberrant/Maestro Bloodline Sorcerer. Pick up a few Impossible Bloodline powers with the Eldritch Heritage feat chain as well. The specific powers I'd get are Beguiling Voice, Fascinate, and Perfect Voice from the Maestro Bloodline, Alien Resistance and Aberrant Form from the Aberrant Bloodline, and Disorienting Touch, Distracting Pattern, and Relativity from the Impossible Bloodline.

I'd also want the Affable trait because Diplomacy is a good skill and I enjoy talking to people even though I am now a vessel for a hostile, invasive resonance based lifeform from another dimension.

Okay, so this game is fundamentally a fantasy game about escapism, however this particular post is literally nothing but pure escapism.

For context, this post is coming from a place of me having an incredibly intense depressive episode because of the real life real world news, and wishing I were this larger-than life fantasy character in a magical world where I could actually do something about all the horrible s*~@ going on in the world. It is coming from a place of intense frustration and mental anguish and is pure, distilled, undiluted escapism.

With that being said - if you could be a level 20 Pathfinder 1E Character, what race and class would you want to be - in addition (optionally), what traits/feats would you like to have?

Gloomfather, the Wise, He Who Waits, the One Who Bears the Burden of Infinite Knowledge, the Sure-footed Traveler, He Who Hails From the Gloomdawn (or Gloomdusk) (LG)

Domains: Darkness, Good, Knowledge, Law, and Travel
Favored Weapon: Rapier
Gender: M
Status: Intermediate
Symbol : An onyx-black leather explorer's boot that has 19 lidless eyeballs affixed to it, with a gloomy cloud of darkness lingering ominously in the background
Sayings:
“Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.”
"True Law is Natural Law, and Natural Law was born from Darkness, which is dispassionate, equitable, fair, and open-minded."
“The only True Law is that which leads to freedom, and the only freedom lies in being far from the garish light of day which illuminates thine transgressions and allows judgment from the wicked."

The Gloomfather is unknown to everyone in the world except for HobgoblinLiker13, and hails from a demiplane known only to a very few called the Gloomdawn (or Gloomdusk). Each day, all of the knowledge gained from the Gloomfather's followers travels through the Gloomdawn to be analyzed and consumed by the Gloomfather.

That sounds badass, thank you!

Also, what favored weapon were you thinking of?

Rapier, maybe Machete or Iron Brush

Okay, so here's a bit of a weird one

Basically, the idea is a NG cleric with the Darkness and Knowledge domains.

HOWEVER, I am not aware of any gods which grant that alignment/domain combination.

So basically my idea is this - my character worships a being known as the Gloomfather, a LG god with the domains of Darkness, Good, Knowledge, Law, and Travel - but the catch is that nobody has heard of the Gloomfather other than my Cleric.

My cleric still gets her spells when she prays to the Gloomfather every morning, but nobody really knows what's going on there - I figure that'd be a good plot hook for the GM if I ever get to play this character.

Feats I'm considering taking for this build include:
Martial Weapon Proficiency for the Gloomfather's "favored weapon", since he may not be real
Eldritch Heritage - either Umbral or Vestige
Disconcerting Knowledge

What do y'all think of this ide? Is it any good? Do you have any suggestions?

Abyssal: the flavor comes from the Arcana as much from the powers. You get Knowledge: Planes and creatures you summon through the Summoning subschool automatically get DR/Good = to 1/2 your Sorcerer level (min 1). In essence you're summoning creatures infused with the pure hatred and evil of the abyss protecting them from harm.

Think about that for a minute; when you cast a summoning spell, the Arcana doesn't mechanically change anything about the spell itself or the process in which you cast it. If you were any other arcane spellcaster your spell is no different, save for the fact that you Eschew Materials per the class ability.

No, your very nature funnels Abyssal energy INTO the creature summoned such that it requires an overwhelming aura of Good to fully ignore all of their defenses. That comes from you, meaning on some level it's inside of you, infecting you.

Claws? Lots of creatures and beings in this fantasy world have claws. Energy Resistances or a Strength increase? Even "Demonic Might" could be handwaved by a PC with a high Cha and lots of ranks in Bluff. Summoning creatures imbued with so much darkness that it physically protects them though, and KNOWING that it comes from you... that's flavor.

But now, what do you do with that? Well, classic bloodline, your character was born of a line tainted by demonic power, yadda yadda... but dive deeper.

This power could be in you for a number of reasons. Maybe you made a deal with a demon and the power is a gift or a curse. Perhaps you died, went to the Abyss, and then were brought back to the Prime but kept a sliver of that darkness with you. You could've been part of a demon cult, or infected by a ritual of Lamashtu or Nocticula. There are many ways to explain this vile power besides "maybe she was born with it."

Still, and here's what gets me about all the more "negative" bloodlines sorcerers have... how do you ROLEPLAY it? Like, really imagine you're this character; every time you summon a creature or use a bloodline power, you FEEL the...

I have a similar character concept I'll never get to play, only not with the Abyss - the character is a Crossblooded Aberrant/Maestro Sorcerer, and the reason I chose that build is because the character gets their power from the Hiss from the video game Control.

If you don't know what it is, it isn't pure evil like the Abyss is, but it's a hostile, invasive extradimensional resonance-based lifeform with an incredible amount of power. It's unknown how intelligent it is, and its seeming sole objective is to spread, often corrupting and overriding everything that stands in its way in service of that goal.

While my character, unlike almost all Hiss drones, retains an incredible degree of autonomy, it's still warped their psyche alot and in-universe they have to worry a lot about their powers permanently corrupting someone/releasing the Hiss even though as a player I have the meta knowledge that all their spells are temporary.

I generally for blasting Sorcerers Like Elemental and Draconic or using the Cross-blooded archetype for the combination of the two.

The abyssal bloodline Summoner build is quite fun when you're playing a Neutral Character and the enemy needs Holy Weapons to hurt your summons.

I've also done more Social Games using Fey & Infernal as the cross-blooded Archetype for Mind Manipulator. Low levels are pretty meh, but once you start getting access to more charm and/or compulsion spells make for a pretty good "maker of friends"
(Although that was a very SLOOOOOOW little combat adventure so it likely wouldn't survive a non-social game)

I actually had an idea for a build based on this:

Crossblooded White Dragon/Water Elemental Bloodline Sorcerer With the 1st and 9th Level powers of the Elemental Bloodline, the 3rd, 15th, and 20th Level powers of the Draconic Bloodline, and Eldritch Heritage for the 1st, 9th, and 15th level powers of the Boreal Bloodline. Pure ice blaster. Everything ice all ice all the time.

Replace critical focus with advanced weapon training (focused weapon) to get better damage on the attacks.

unfortunately, this character does NPC damage at best. there are a lot better ways to do a natural attack build

Well the character is intended to be an NPC so that shouldn't be a problem

Okay, so yesterday I had an idea for a fighter build centered around Draconic Eldritch Heritage. The character concept was originally a character that's the emissary/indirect "hand" of a good-aligned blue dragon (in fact, the same one I talked about in a separate post), however I not only endorse but encourage you to create your own version of this build with any alterations to the mechanics or flavor of this character that you want.

Race: Hobgoblin (Engineer Alternate Racial Trait)
1st Level:
Feats - Catch Off-Guard, Skill Focus (Perception)
2nd Level:
Class Features - Bravery +1
Feats - Throw Anything
3rd Level
Class Features - Armor Training 1
Feats - Eldritch Heritage (Draconic Bloodline [Blue] - Claws)
4th Level
Feats - Weapon Focus (Claw)
5th Level
Class Features - Weapon Training (Natural +1)
Feats - Weapon Specialization (Claw)
6th Level
Class Features - Bravery +2
Feats - Rending Claws
7th Level
Class Features - Armor Training 2
Feats - Vital Strike
8th Level
Feats - Improvised Weapon Mastery
9th Level
Class Features - Weapon Training (Natural +2, Hammers +1)
Feats - Greater Weapon Focus
10th Level
Class Features - Bravery +3
Feats - Critical Focus
11th Level
Class Features - Armor Training 3
Feats - Improved Eldritch Heritage (Draconic Bloodline [Blue] - Draconic Resistances)
12th Level
Feats - Greater Weapon Specialization
13th Level
Class Features - Weapon Training (Natural +3, Hammers +2, Thrown +1)
Feats - Penetrating Strike
14th Level
Class Features - Bravery +4
Feats - Improved Vital Strike
15th Level
Class Features - Armor Training 4
Feats - Staggering Critical
16th Level
Feats - Greater Penetrating Strike
17th Level
Class Features - Weapon Training (Natural +4, Hammer +3, Thrown +2, Light Blades +1)
Feats - Bleeding Critical
18th Level
Class Features - Bravery +5
Feats - Greater Vital Strike
19th Level
Class Features - Armor Mastery
Feats - Deepsight
20th Level
Class Features - Weapon Mastery (Claw)
Feats - Critical Mastery

Now, at the core of this build are the surprisingly impressive claw attacks granted by the Draconic Bloodline. However, there are two major issues.

Firstly, there's the limitation to the number of time the ability can be used; secondly, there's the fact that natural weapons cannot be enchanted. I came up with a workaround for both.

The solution for the first problem is honestly a stroke of genius - Catch Off-Guard, Throw Anything, and Improvised Weapon Mastery are incredibly fun feats, but they don't see nearly as much use at higher levels - but when we combine it with our Draconic heritage, we create a fighting style where we use our limited-use claw attacks as our primary weapon, then grap whatever's nearby and use it to completely wallop any remaining enemies.

The solution to the second problem is a lot more inelegant and brute force. Basically, if the claws can't be enchanted, then we must simply find a nonmagical means of making them do as much damage as possible. This is the point of the Weapon Focus/Specialization feat chain, the Vital Strike feat chain, the Penetrating Strike feat chain, Rending Claws, and the four Critical feats. A neat side benefit to this is that Vital Strike and the Critical Feats can continue to be used even after we run out of uses for our claw attacks.

Lastly, the reason I chose Deepsight was because I wanted to create a character that was a bit more well-rounded instead of just having one gimmick (the unique fighting style). It's honestly pretty meaningless and replaceable but I like it.

Mark Hoover 330 wrote:

My favorite thing to do with Bloodlines is not make them Bloodlines. Instead, look at them like comic book super hero origin stories. Maybe your Aberrant blooded PC bore witness to some alien arrival from the Far Realms and was warped by Void energy or something. Maybe your Draconic sorcerer underwent an elaborate rite and had their heart replaced with a dragon's and now they have these powers. There's mad alchemists with super sorcerer serums, vermin (spiders) that could bite the PC and pass along powers, vats of alchemical waste a PC could fall into and so on.

I'm saying I like the flavor of bloodlines as much as I like the powers themselves.

My original response was all about how I couldn't care less about the "power" of each of the Bloodlines, and how I use them solely for flavor... not having a favorite Bloodline in general, but having a favorite for a particular build/character. However, that reply was lost to the whims of technology I will never understand.

I do use Bloodlines as kind of background/origin stories, too. Very, very seldom do I ever pick a Bloodline for mechanical reasons.

Same, I don't really care about how powerful a Bloodline is, I always pick Bloodlines for flavor.

Kobold bloodline. Start as Human, 18 Cha, and start with spell focus/greater spell focus in some school you'll want to use a lot. Finally use a trait to pick up Stealth as a Class skill. Now any time from L1 on that you cast spells from that school from Stealth, under Invisibility or Improved Invisibility, if you beat your enemy's Initiative or any other time they're denied Dex bonus, the DC of your spell is DC 18 and up.

Another fun thing about the kobold bloodline; you can have multiple spell traps active at one time. With an 18 Cha at L1, if you have enough time to set them up ahead of time, you can open up a fight with 7 traps littering the battlefield, each dealing 1d8+1 points of energy damage and that energy type is determined when creating the trap.

By 9th level you have 4th level spells. The Arcane Ambush gives you a Swift action to hand out anywhere from +1 to +4 to all attack and damage to yourself and up to two allies, and those numbers will go up from there. Granted the bonuses only last 1 round but if you have to nova this is a decent boost. Downsides are that your foe or foes need to either be flanked by your allies or denied their Dex bonuses and you have to expend a spell slot to use the ability. I still think this has merit.

Of course, I've only ever built NPCs with this bloodline. Still, they ended up being very effective at their jobs; remain invisible as long as possible, using buff spells on a big boss, then melt out of the invisibility to be blaster casters, preferably staggering their attacks so that after the first one attacks the next round a second NPC appears, gaining the bloodline arcana while the first one finds some Cover and spends a round entering Stealth, only to reappear in round 3 and so on.

I should add that you'd need Racial Heritage in order to take the Kobold Bloodline as a human tho

HobgoblinLiker13 wrote:

I think I watched a YouTube video that talked about the Crossblooded archetype using those two Bloodlines as an example - did you by chance make that video or is it just a common combination?

No. I haven't made any videos. I am curious as to how old that video is, though. I have no idea of how common the combination is. I've made a few posts about a build that uses Arcanist, Wizard, and Sorcerer (all at once) with those bloodlines on these forums but it never seemed to garner much attention. After seeing it in play, it is by far my favorite 'pure caster type' build I've ever used.

Here's the link. The video was created 2 years ago.

Phoenix and Unicorn, preferably together with the Crossblooded archetype. This is how I go about making a Sorcerer that passively heals the party as they sling spells. Mix it up with a bit of Words of Power and I call that a win (helps offset the spells known issue with Crossblooded).

I think I watched a YouTube video that talked about the Crossblooded archetype using those two Bloodlines as an example - did you by chance make that video or is it just a common combination?

Sorcerer is my favorite class, and I gotta say a huge part of the reason why is the bloodlines.

The sheer variety of different abilities and options, all with their own mostly-unique heritages and mechanics to go with them leave me starstruck in a way few other classes can match.

That being said, while I find myself charmed and drawn in by the flavor of most bloodlines, some do stand head and shoulders above others in my assessment.

My top 5 Bloodlines would have to be

1) Aberrant - One of the three big authors who primarily shaped the way I interact with fantasy, science fiction, and horror literature is Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Since I was young, I have held an intense fascination with misshapen otherness and things that should not be. The Aberrant Bloodline embodies these ideas perfectly so there's no way it's not going to the top of the list.

2) Vestige - Since I was an incredibly small child, I have always been obsessed with the distant past. Hidden away in the Blood of the Ancients Player Companion lies the perfect bloodline to bring that past to life. Also, even if one ignores the ancient past thing, having your own mindscape is just badass.

3) Draconic - Okay, I promise not all of these Bloodlines will just be "oh I really liked this thing since I was a kid so that's why this is one of my favorites" but out of the three that are, this one is actually the most so. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dragons. I had dragon books, dragon paintings, dragon shirts, dragon stuffed animals - everything and I do mean everything was about dragons. Now, I've cooled it with the dragons by a lot but I still love them and they hold a special place in my heart.

4) Boreal - I know this is gonna be a controversial pick, cos from my admittedly limited understanding, common consensus is the Boreal Bloodline is hot garbage, and while I agree it isn't the most powerful, it is the most cohesive cold/winter-themed Bloodline in Pathfinder, and it's also got some genuinely really cool abilities (pun intended). There are a lot of things that feel magical about winter and about the extreme north and south of our world, and it seems downright tragic to me that I was born just in time to watch this magic fade.

5) Impossible - This one is a bit harder to pin down on why exactly I like it and what's so cool about it. I was immediately grabbed by the Relativity bloodline power, but even outside of that, the Impossible Bloodline is just full of weird and quirky s@$+ that does fit together in a cohesive manner but at the same time is strangely hard to describe. The name, I suppose, is fitting.

Now that I've explained what my favorite Bloodlines are and why, what are your favorite Bloodlines? Why do you like them so much?

Evil is too easy. A true master of the art of plans and schemes obtains success laboring under the more demanding strictures of Good.

Also it is so exhilarating to best the most devious and conniving BBEGs for the cause of Good. To pull the smallest wooden pin and see their whole castle coming down. To witness their carefully guided hubris causing their downfall.

All the PCs were carefully chosen and cultivated by the dragon to become the exact persons they needed to foil the plans of Evil. A small act of kindness here, the proper encouraging words at the proper time there. All subtle moves to ensure the gathering of the heroes and the final victory of Good.

I love all of these replies but this one is my favorite

I don't know what it is, but there's something about me that really, really genuinely loves creating good aligned characters from traditionally evil races.

I don't know whether it's my political leanings (which I will not talk about cos I don't want to start an argument), my naive desire to see good in everyone, or my general love of subversion, inversion, and deconstruction of widely held societal ideas, but I just love taking a traditionally evil creature and making a good version of it.

Now, this brings me to the actual point of this post. Blue dragons are my favorite Chromatic dragon, and I wanted to share this love with my players by having them potentially run into a Benevolent blue dragon who could potentially be an invaluable ally (I'm more of an open world sandbox DM).

Now, I've got her character mostly figured out, however I still think it'd be good to ask the internet for tips on how to portray a blue dragon who is also a genuinely good person. Like what are some ways we could recontextualize her blue dragon nature with a Lawful Good alignment or have her blue dragon-ness slip through? What kind of events would even lead to a blue dragon reconsidering her life choices and deciding to become good?

I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Ancestries are the new name for races, yes.

And even being a Human there are options. Versatile Heritages can open up a lot of things. Sylph heritage can give a fly speed for example.

Im NGL it's always frustrating converting stuff to a new system but that's actually really cool.

I really really really like 1E's racial heritage feat but I remember being disappointed that you couldn't transfer racial traits and stuff.

Thanks a lot. Still not sure if I'm gonna convert this character to 2E but you've given me a lot of help and a lot to consider.

Probably Aberrant Bloodline Sorcerer. You can get most of the Maestro powers that you want from skill feats, and several of the Impossible powers don't really work.

Beguiling Voice: Daze is a cantrip. It doesn't work quite the same - it does damage instead of preventing actions. Though there is a rare chance that it will prevent an action too.

Fascinate: There is a skill feat Fascinating Performance

Perfect Voice: The skill feats Multilingual and Legendary Linguist. There is also the Linguist archetype that can get that effect earlier, but it costs class feats instead of skill feats.

Alien Resistance: Spell resistance doesn't really exist in PF2.

Aberrant Form: Aberrant Bloodline will give you Aberrant Form as a focus spell, so you can cast it all day.

Disorienting Touch: I don't know of any player character options that give Sickened on a regular basis. That doesn't mean that there isn't something.

Distracting Pattern: I think the closest parallel for this is the Witch Hex Shroud of Night, but you can't get that unless you start as a Witch. Can't get that through Witch Archetype. You might look into Shadowcaster archetype - it has some things in there that are similar. As well as a bunch of other things that are rather cool on their own.

Relativity: Basically this gives Spider Climb. There are a couple of ancestries that give a climb speed. There are also some Athletics skill feats that can make you better at climbing and jumping.

Ancestries are races, right? Cos my character is literally just a human and I do not intend to change that.

Okay, so Pathfinder 1E was my first TTRPG ever. I love it so much and know most of the base game books like the back of my hand.

However, even a person as stubborn as me can see when the times are changing, and while I don't like the artstyle for Pathfinder 2E, a lot of the races and feats and stuff seem legitimately really cool.

In addition, it looks like 2E will get a surge in players due to WotC's OGL shenanigans meaning I have a chance to actually play in a game instead of DMing like I literally always have to for my friends even though I know I suck at it (for some reason they disagree but I can't even do voices ffs)

However, there is still an issue - I have a character idea that I really really want to play, but this character is very heavily rooted in the rules of 1E.

This character is a Crossblooded Sorcerer with the Maestro and Aberrant Bloodlines, plus a dip into Eldritch Heritage for some Impossible Bloodline powers.

The character is heavily inspired by the video game Control, and in 1E, I intend on taking the 1st, 3rd, and 9th Level powers of the Maestro Bloodline, the 15th and 20th level powers of the Aberrant Bloodline, and using Eldritch Heritage to scoop up the 1st, 9th, and 15th level powers of the Impossible Bloodline.

Is there any way to convert this character to 2E while still retaining most of their abilities?

More Hobgoblin feats other than the Demoralizing Lash feat chain

Celestial could be interesting for the holier-than-thou Hobgoblin. Most angelic goblin, ever. Lol.

Destined could be equally fitting. Combining Destined and Harrowed with the Crossblooded archetype could give your Hobgoblin a real "in accordance to the prophecy" vibe.

As I mentioned earlier, the Impossible Bloodline could be used to explain why you are more an Engineer than you are Sneaky. Crossblooded with the Nanite Bloodline can give you some fun options.

Oooh! I love all these ideas, tho I'm not really familiar with the Nanite Bloodline...

If I may make a suggestion on my own post asking for suggestions, I also quite like the Draconic Bloodline - though I'm not sure which kind of Dragon my sorcerer would be descended from...

Okay, so considering my username, it's honestly surprising how long it took me to make a post about my favorite race in the game...

However, the time has come. This will be the first of hopefully many Hobgoblinposts from me.

Anyways, for my next game I want to play a good-aligned Hobgoblin Sorcerer, but I'm kinda stumped on what Bloodline they should be.

I want one that would make sense, flavor-wise, for a Hobgoblin who was born and raised in a fairly typical Hobgoblin society.

I do not care about optimization, I care primarily about flavor. I want something that would make sense.

It's also worth noting that I plan on taking an alternate racial trait in place of Sneaky, so if you want to do something with that, I'm using the Engineer alternate racial trait in its place.

** spoiler omitted **

The basic premise is you are not the person you were before. In the story you were an archaeologist who found the bonded object on a dig, but you can insert whatever background fits your starting skills.

Essentially upon coming in contact with the alien device, it used some kind of a needle prick to inject you with the preserved DNA of some lost race, turning you into a hybrid. Your starting Race doesn't change for the purposes of character build, but the physical changes you're just starting to feel at L1 will come into play when the Aberrant bloodline powers fully manifest.

Your Sorcerer powers and spells, then, are inherent in that new DNA, as if you're part you, part something from the ancient past. This new self, growing inside of you, is bound to the primal forces of magic and time themselves, realizing this bond through spells and abilities. While you can control these to a point, their development and initial manifestation is beyond your reckoning.

This character is transforming, slowly, into something they don't yet understand. You can play this however you want, but for me I'd add a touch of fear to the PC. The Gruesome Shapechanger feat is another expression of this change and not at all something you were expecting.

Because of the conflicting nature of your changing body, your mind tapping into some ancient entity's subconsciousness from an age long past, this helps explain your lowered Will saves from Crossblooded. Your mind is at conflict with itself and constantly dreaming of some ancient city which, of course, will become your Greater Mindscape someday.

I love this, thank you

Reading this, I found myself wondering if switching up some of your Bloodline power choices might work better, thematically speaking, with Gruesome Shapechanger.

Well the only ones I could really see myself changing are the First Level and Third Level ones but I prefer to keep my powers balanced (3 of one Bloodline, 2 of the other Bloodline) so I'd have to pick either Acidic Ray or Long Limbed, not both - unless I also swap out Aberrant Form for Manifest Memory, which would leave me with no defensive abilities.

Edit: NVM I'm dumb I still have Unusual Anatomy

Okay, so recently I had an idea for a truly bizarre Pathfinder character.

They are a Kitsune Crossblooded Sorcerer with the Aberrant and Vestige Bloodlines and the Gruesome Shapechanger feat.

I intend their backstory dark but not particularly edgy, but I haven't figured out the details quite yet. I'm planning to take the First, Third, and Fifteenth level powers from the Vestige Bloodline and the Ninth and Twentieth level powers from the Aberrant Bloodline.

However, I don't really know how to flavor them. Does anyone have any advice?

Honestly I really like Cosmopolitan. It's an excellent way to make your characters a bit more flexible while also giving you two free bonus languages.

Empath is also fun if you're running an Occult game, and you can never go wrong with Skill Focus.

Splintering Weapon has limited utility at higher levels, but is really fun for lower level characters and can be a nasty surprise for the PCs when a Villainous NPC has it.

Noble Scion and Racial Heritage can be great for flavor, though I honestly dislike how the latter is limited to humans.

Gruesome Shapechanger is also really, really neat, though unfortunately it is incredibly situational and, being a horror adventures feat, is better for enemies than players. The same cannot be said for my second favorite Horror Adventures feat, Disconcerting Knowledge, which is much better for PCs than monsters in addition to having amazing flavor and can really feel like a "Oh how the tables have turned" moment if pulled off right.

When it comes to metamagic, I really like Elemental Spell. It has limited utility but a lot of flavor and can be amazing in some specific situations.

I also remember really liking a bunch of Story Feats from Ultimate Campaign but I forgot most of them.

Unfortunately, even though Hobgoblins are my favorite race, most of their feats are rather disappointing. The whip fighting feat chain (Demoralizing Lash, Taskmaster, and Terrorizing Dislpay) is decent mechanically, but incredibly narrow and only really fits with a specific build. In addition, flavor-wise it'd be a better fit for a BBEG than a PC, which kinda annoys me in this particular instance because the Advanced Race Guide felt more geared towards Players than Horror Adventures or even Ultimate Combat did.

Honestly my favorite Hobgoblin feat is the Teamwork Feat Spirit of the Corps, which was introduced in the Monster Codex but honestly feels better suited for PCs than the Hobgoblin feats introduced in the Advanced Race Guide AND doesn't require you to be a Hobgoblin to take it.

Also, a lot of this was copy-pasted from another post, but this thread reminded me of another feat I forgot before which I really, really like - Cunning