Iamrubocop's page

just stumbled across this. Looks very interesting. I admit though I haven't played pbf on the paizo forums only on rpggeek. Not sure how things will differ. I'm also not as familiar with these forums in general. Is there any room left even. I suppose that should have been my first question.
But also curious if there is any special rules? Is it a scenario for credit? What else would I need to know?

yep. You use the skill progression of whatever class your taking that level :)

Thank you for clarifying and confirming!

I'm currently working on a build for a Urban Bloodrager/uRogue. I think I get most of the concepts of what happens when changing levels and multiclassing. HOwever, one part I'm not clear on is how many skill ranks you get when you level. Maybe I've just missed it.

If I have INT 8 (-1) as an Urban Bloodrager that's 3 skill ranks to start. (4-1) When I level up and I plan on moving to uRogue which has 8 skill ranks. I would assume I would then have 7 (8-1) ranks at my disposal for that new level. Is this correct?

soo much good stuff here and lots to think about, thanks all!

So here's a start idea on a build...

PFS (20pt buy)
Human

Str: 18
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 14
Cha: 08

Traits:

Level 1 - Cleric - Crusader
Deity: Shizuru - Repose Domain
Favoured weapon: Katana
Favoured Class Bonus:
HP: 9
BAB: 0
AC: 12

Class features: 2 skill points, Aura, Channel Energy 1d6, Domain (Repose), Osirons, Spontaneous casting, Diminished spellcasting, Bonus feat - weapon focus Katana,

Racial features: +1 skill point, +1 feat,
Feats: WF Katana (bonus from class), level 1:_______ ?, Human:______ ?

Level 2: uMonk
Class features: bonus feat (dodge), flurry of blows, stunning fist, unarmed strike (imp unarmed strike 1d6)
skills: 4+1
HP: 16
AC: 14
BAB: +1

at this point you could either wait till 3rd level for crusader's flurry or spend 5pp (should have 6 if none spent previous) and some money in PFS to retrain a level 1 feat.

I welcome input!

For some reason I was convinced the original intent was to flurry with the specified weapon, not necessarily to play an Unchained Monk. Not sure where I got that impression.

The title I made definitely implies that. And I'm not tied to the uMonk, it was to my knowledge at that time, the way I could see that possibly happening. Though that path seems not likely with the falchion. Some other great ideas have been mentioned though.

I did some digging into sacred fist and flurrying a falchion.
The prereqs for Crusader's Flurry are: Channel energy, flurry, and weapon focus in deity's weapon.
The sacred fist get's flurry at level 1, so check. Could take one of the feats at creation to be weapon focus in deity's weapon, falchion presumably here, so another check. But channel energy doesn't come along for a sacred fist (warpriest) until 4th level. Unless I would start cleric/crusader cleric and then move to sacred fist at level 2 and that should meet all the check boxes then if I'm correct.

You know... there's always going the other way with criticals and worshipping Magdh to flurry a scythe. Sure, "frequent lesser crits are statistically better because etc, etc"... but flurrying a x4 weapon is pretty awesome fun.

I'd also pay attention to the potential Domain powers of the deities involved; Shizuru's Gentle Rest ability is very good, and it works just fine with only one level of Cleric. On a Monk, it's very easy to set-up Domain Strike with Cleric Powers...

The high crit modifier and Magdh had definitly crossed my mind. I wrestle between the more often crits for less damage and the far less often but vastly impressive crit. I always picture a scythe as the grim reapers type scythe or the harvesting scythe, but apparently it's constructed differently for war purposes, which does take some of the flavor out of it. I'm all about that salt and pepper! Which is another reason I'm hesitant to go scimitar, as the crit builds I have seen, albeit not many, are mostly based or suggested to be scimitar.

I took a look at Shizuru's Gentle Rest and that looks pretty fantastic. It didnt' cross my mind to pay attention to that, but you also bring up another good point that I failed to touch on. That being if I'm going to cleric 1 level and then monk or something else the rest, how can I make the most use of the rest of the things one level in cleric offers besides just meeting prereqs for a feat (crusader's flurry)? Gentle Rest is a good idea for this.

...So I went through all that math to prove that the greatsword usually does a very small amount of damage more. However a high-crit range weapon is much more exciting!...

So either is a good damage weapon, the Katana would just prove more crit fun! I tend not lean toward the eastern themes (perhaps its my d&d roots) but the close damage, higher crit rate, and neat domain powers are sure making a case for it. Plus the character could be like Rutger Hauer in Blind Fury! (anyone??)

The feedback and conversation has been awesome so far, thanks!

edit - can you use Gentle Rest as part of a flurry?

Iamrubocop wrote:

I know it can be done with a greatsword (Deity - smiad LG, weapon - greatsword). How big is the difference between the falchion and greatsword in this case when it comes to wanting to increase crits.

It's significant, especially once you get Improved Critical. How significant depends on how much static damage (strength bonus, enhancement bonus, etc.) you do. Usually by the time you get Improved those are high enough that the falchion will do more average damage.

There are several one-handed weapons with an 18-20 crit range (that you CAN use in two hands for increased damage) which are the favored weapon of at least one lawful or neutral deity. Scimitar (1d6), Katana (1d8), and Urumi (1d8) come to mind. The falchion is mathematically a TINY bit better than the 1d8 weapons when it comes to damage, but it's so small (barely half a point of damage on average) I wouldn't worry about it.

Do you have any idea what it looks like to compare the d8 weapons you mentioned vs the katana or greatsword when working at crit build?

I suppose you could go crusader cleric level 1. Unchained Monk level 2 and retrain at level 2 one of your level 1 feats for 5pp to take Crusader flurry a level early and start kicking butt then already.

Is having it a level earlier wise or not so much?

can't multiclass with monk and Umonk.

Thanks!

And I might as well mention that a core monk with the sohei archetype can flurry with a different high crit weapon- the nodachi (about the same as a falchion; 1d10 vs 2d4; it is basically really big katana).

Sohei is worth mentioning since it is the monk archetype that gets weapon training, which can make it competitive with the unchained monk.

It also has the ability to flurry in light armor, which is nice for surviving early levels without turtling up on a dex/wis build. Nope, it is fine with just a str focus.

My only issue with regular monk is it's not as good as the unchained version from what I've read. The d8 hit die is also deterring compared to the d10 of unchained.

The katana is an interesting choice though.

I know you can get falchion with a regular monk via the martial arts archetype.

Would it work to go
Lv1 Crusader cleric
Lv2 Regular monk - martial artist
Lv3 Unchained monk

I've done some searching and haven't found a solution to the question yet. But is there any way to get an Unchained Monk to be able to flurry a falchion? The biggest thing I'm finding is the alignment reqirement.

I know it can be done with a greatsword (Deity - smiad LG, weapon - greatsword). How big is the difference between the falchion and greatsword in this case when it comes to wanting to increase crits?

Also this is within the realms of PFS rules.

1) Minimum one skill point per level. Favored class bonus and a human's skilled ability come after.

2) No, but there are optional rules to retrain your level one feat by spending time and money. You would qualify for prerequisites as level 2.

Thanks for both of your responses!

In regards to point 2. I've done a little digging on that specific topic.

If I wanted to makd a cleric/monk character to make sue of crusader's flurry (prereq: channel energy class feature, flurry of blows class feature, wf w/dieties favored weapon) normally I would take:

1-Crusader Cleric
-channel energy class feature
-bonus feat - wf and choose diety's favored weapon
-feat chosen normally at first level
2-Second level you could stay cleric or jump to monk/uMonk
3-if you're not a monk switch to monk
-flurry of blows class feature
-take the earned feat and choose crusader's flurry

If you retrain:
1-Crusader Cleric
-channel energy class feature
-bonus feat - wf and choose diety's favored weapon
-feat chosen normally at first level
2-switch to monk
-flurry of blows class feature
-retrain the feat you chose normally at first level by spending time and money (and PP in PFS) to Crusader's flurry and you're good to go, correct?

Now the PP cost in PFS is 5 for this if i've understood this correctly. If our are getting 2pp/scenario, it takes 3 scenarios to level up, that gives you 6pp which is enough to retrain.

Does this look PFS legit? And do I understand this correctly?

I've been searching for the answers to a few questions and not found them yet so thought I would post here.

1) What happens if you pick a class that has 2 skill points, but you have a -2 int modifier? Do you get no skill points to spend at creation and level up?

2) Is there anyway to pick up a feat of your choosing (not including bonus feats from classes) on level 2?

Thanks in advance!

Urban Bloodrager, Aberrant Bloodline

UnCh Rogue 2-4 for Dex to damage with one weapon, maybe Aldori Duealling Sword or any other Finesseable 2-hander
Urban Bloodrager all the way
Would also mean you could leave Str and 13 so you don't have to tank Wis and Int.
But you would be reliant on Power Attack and your damage dice until level 4.
But you do get Finesse for free, and the Aberrant increased Reach works great with high Dex build.

Thanks for this as well. I"m going to explore it further.

I also stumbled upon the idea of crusader's flurry - allowing a greatsword (or any diety weapon) to be come flurry-able. One level as crusader cleric (for channel ability and weapon focus) then move over to uMonk for levels 2 and 3. Picking up Crusader's flurry at level 3 with the feat slot. And then either staying uMonk or jumping over to barbarian from there.

As a small creature flurrying a greatsword with say 16 str would be two hits at 1d10+3 each time and a bonus to hit from the wf. Thats not too bad. Plus you could bust out monk weapons or unarmed as needed as well. Or as a grippli proficient in nets you could net the enemy and then greatsword flurry him.

Jumping into Urban bloodrager or barbarian would allow for an increase in stats yet too.

but does it keep up at all as it goes along?

Thanks for these insights guys!

I was also thinking and digging around about getting more use out of the higher Dex bonus when it came to combat.

I could always take a dip into Kensai Magus for first level. Doing so gives a free exotic weapon feat and weapon focus. Take the (aldori) Dueling sword with said feat and weapon focus on that.
And some minor magic abilities and variations. Spell combat as well.
Pick up weapon finesse as firs feat and you can now use dex to hit.

to attack:
18 dex = +4, weapon focus dueling sword +1, totaling +5to hit first level.

then jump over to barbarian for the rest.

then you could pick up slashing grace and power attack and be doing decent damage. +4 to hit and 1d6+6dmg outside of rage.

thought thats a few feats and until level 3 your doing 1d6+2 outside of rage.

Is that any more feat heavy than others?

So I've been working an idea of a Grippli barbarian build that is probably an unconventional use of the gippli, but hey it's all for fun right! I come seeking input. Because they are unconventional I know they aren't going to be the most efficient at what they do, but are they functional or viable or even following the rules properly.

Things of note - PFS legal, 20pt buy, grippli, barabrian (or a bloodrager)

Here we go:

Unchained Barbarian

Str: 14 (16-2)
Dex: 18 (16+2)
Con: 16
Int: 08
Wis: 09 (7+2)
Cha: 07

Thoughts on stats?

For weapon I thought of going greataxe or great sword for the 1d10 attack damage still. I'd also like to make use of the Net proficiency the grippli has. Capture them and crush them! or Net one and beat the others!
Though I'm open to thoughts on this especially with a higher Dex

--Lv1--
HP: 15
AC: 15 (10+size+Dex)

I'd definitely think about Agile Tongue just for the fun and flavor.

It's pretty basic, but is it functional? I've thought about going with the Invulnerable rager and Urban barbarian routes as well as I believe both of those archetypes work together.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions on this thanks! Especially on rage powers as I've never played barbarian before!

with the falcata swashbuckler archetype, the swashbuckler finesse applies to the falcata, allowing me to use dex to hit rather than str, correct? Then I could apply agile to the falcata and also apply the dex bonus to damage rolls as well? Is this correct?

What's the cost to get an agile falcata?

Rosc wrote:

As an alternative, if you'd be willing to make use of your Dex score, you could always take a one level dip in Swashbuckler to get Weapon Finesse. From there, head into Unchained Barbarian.

"Frog Prince" racial trait gives you proficiency with rapiers...

Though, there is the Falcata Swashbuckler archetype, if you rather do that than swing around a pokey stick.

You could go Warpriest and get the "sacred weapon" bonus.

Not sure I see how the 'sacred weapon' bonus applies. Wouldn't it make the weapon do 1d4 dmg for a small warpriest at levels 1-4 or have misread something? On that note and a bit of a tangent the table will shows small and large numbers - what about medium?

With dex based I would need a finesse weapon, correct in order to do some decent damage. I was thinking of going great axe or great sword still. However, an elven curved blade could work too but would require a feat.

I was also thinking of taking advantage of teh grippli's natural ability to use nets. Net the enemy and then beat the tar out of them.

I recently received a grippli boon (two actually) and tend to enjoy more the martial classes. I've never played a barbarian (core or unchained) in Pathfinder and I have played a bloodrager once before and enjoyed it.

I know a grippli is definitely not an optimal choice, but I think it would be a fun play. So I welcome some thoughts on how to set this up.

When it comes to stats and the 20pt buy of PFS it does make it a bit more difficult to be a huge damage dealer, especially with the grippli's penalty to strength.

Bloodrager's have some good versatility and with the str penalty I thought the ability to use magic my be a nice complement or boost for the race and still be able to be fairly martial. An arcane bloodline maybe too.

The barbarian route could be an invulnerable rager, urban barbarian. Having never played a barbarian not sure what I would do for rage powers.

I welcome your input in these areas as well as stat ideas.

The Tony Stark approach would be , "Hi everyone, you all know me as John the blacksmith, but I am Heavy Metal, defender of the weak!" And then just carrying on as you go?

This is a different class for sure. Curious if anyone sees it as viable in society play and would be willing to share some thoughts (not concepts necessarily) on how it may play out.

Have:
Alchemical Versatility (from this last Game Day)
Grippli (possibly will need to double check)

Want:
Tiefling
Ratfolk
Other race boons that aren't currently playable in the game.
Or minis

I have a level 1 wayang ninja that I've been playing and i'm not loving it. I thought about trying somethign that I hadn't before, which is the cavalier. I don't mind the wayang and their small size and smaller mounts gives advantage to the spelunking that often happens. Plus they don't take strength penalties as a race. So potentially a wolf riding wayang cavalier of maybe the sword. I guess if he's not on his mount he could still serve a stealthy roll for some recon and without the str penalty deal some damage in combat.
I'd have to look into it a bit more,but maybe work in some dervish dance so he can put that good dex score to use. I'm not sure yet as that could be waste on the class as it has the ability for heavier armor anyway which will negate the dex bonus to ac to some extent.

as long as your cavalier is a small creature riding a medium mount or a medium creature riding a medium mount with that one feat i cant remember the name for it atm. you should be ok

What about when the mount levels up to a large size - abandon it for a medium?

The cavalier class looks interesting, but I play mostly PFS when it comes to pathfinder. Much of my experiene with PFS has also led me to realize there are a lot of battles that take place in dungeons or tight places, thus rendering part of what a cavalier does useless.

So curious what the thought in general is around Cavaliers in PFS, viable or not?

Thanks in advance.

Anyone have a ratfolk or tiefling boon for trade?

Which talent is that?

I do like the extra skill ranks thats for sure. I'll have to have a look at this build.

Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

Iamrubocop wrote:

Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

Two weapon Rend > Greater TWF.

Shield slam, Shield Master, Bashing Finish

I'm more a fan of Slayer or Ranger for the Sword and Board builds.

Bashing finish is nice! But may be tough to get in a PFS game with the BAB of +11.

Well you get a Feat At level 11...so you qualify at 11. If you ever get to a special event there are some things that can take you over level 12.

These reasons are why I like the Slayer/Ranger Sword and Board...Bashing Finish at level 10. Shield master at Level 6, and Shield Slam Level 2. Levels earlier than the other classes. Only Issue is Medium armor. Which I do not find that big of a deal. I have reached some good AC in only Medium armor. Your going to need a Decent Dex to start with anyways so Medium armor allows you to use that Dex for AC as well where Heavy Armor will Cap your Dex at +1 to AC. Also the Ranger/Slayer has a lot more skills, and if your Ranger, Spells like Barkskin, instant Enemy...Ability to use 1st level wands of Cure Light Wounds, Longstrider, Feather Step.

color me intrigued...what's your initial stat build on a human for this (20 pt buy PFS)?

Sawtoothed Saber requires exotic weapon proficiency to use as a light weapon and is considered as a longsword so 1d8dmg.

If you spend that feat you would have:
Heavy spiked shield 1d6, sawtoothed 1d8 +3 on each of those averaging around 14 dmg if both hit.

Heavy spiked shield 1d6+3, shortsword/gladius 1d6+3 = 13dmg

light spiked shield 1d4+3, longsword 1d8+3 = 13dmg

So if I have done my math right it's not really worth spending the extra feat and instead go with heavy shield and short sword/galius or something else 1d6.

Greater twf doesn't interest me. TW rend is intriguing.

Would you do str, Dex and then con in that order?

Two weapon Rend > Greater TWF.

Shield slam, Shield Master, Bashing Finish

I'm more a fan of Slayer or Ranger for the Sword and Board builds.

Bashing finish is nice! But may be tough to get in a PFS game with the BAB of +11.

You would eventually need 19 DEX for greater TWF. However I'm in the school of thought that greater TWF is pointless (one thing to get a -10 penalty for regular BAB progression, but another to spend a feat on it), when you should probably plan on getting Two Weapon Rend.

Considered Lore Warden with some sort of Barbarian dip? Who knows, could be handy and gives a nice bonus. Lack of Heavy armor isn't as big a deal with a good DEX.

I don't like Ranger too much as skipping prereqs means you may not be able to spend regular feats on TWF. Can be pulled off but definitely takes some planning. Here it could work if you still just leave the stats as is.

I recommend heavy shield with a good crit light weapon. It's also tempting to just grab a Sawtooth Sabre.

I'm not sure I would recommend disruptive. Pretty easy for a spellcaster to just run away.

A lot of people may say you should go Dex-based, but you're good as is with the stats.

Edit: Sawtooth Sabres are pretty much just long swords that count as light weapons for TWF. If you hold them downwards like a praying mantis you'll probably earn serious street cred with Red Mantis Assassins. If you hold them upwards, they'll hunt you down and kill you.

Greater twf would only be achievable at a higher level, correct? Which is pointless in PFS then. Also a -10 to hit is ridiculous.

I'll take a look at spiked heavy shield and then light crit weapon. Is it worth investing in improved crit then?

If I'm not going after Greater TWF then I can put one more point in dex and then the rest in str, correct? If I recall correctly some of the feats will need 17 dex

Greetings! I've been thinking about the classic sword and board fighter lately. Someone who chops with his sword (or other 1h weapon) and then smashes you with his shield. Or smashes you with his shield and then choppy with the sword!

I stumble across some ideas and other posts and started to work with the following:

STR 17
DEX 16
CON 15
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 7

The recommended Str was 17 and a Dex of 19 by endgame, however, looking at the feat selections - 17 is the highest Dex that would be needed for feat requirements. So not sure why that is.

The feat selections are as follows:

1st level - Improved Shield Bash
Two Weapon Fighting
Double Slice

At first level you can do a full attack with both weapons (Light shield is good, spiked light if you like piercing), full str on both attacks, and keep the defensive bonus from the shield.

levels 2-5

Shield Focus
Missile Shield
Weapon Focus Sword/axe/whatever
Weapon Specialization Sword/axe/whatever

Take the close weapons group from weapon training, where you find light shield, for extra bonuses.

6-10

Shield Slam
Disruptive
Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Weapon Focus Shield
Spellbreaker

11-13

Shield Master (11th)
Ray Shield
Two Weapon Rend

End game right here. Deflect ray attacks, use any magical enhancement on your shield, and if you hit with both weapons, you rend! Awesome!

As far as weapons go, anything that can be made keen (scimitar, Bastard sword if you wanna take exotic prof etc) are your friends.

Looking at the feats, it seems to accomplish what I was thinking of. I'm curious what others think. I have heard many times people say that Paizo seems to give martial characters the raw end of the deal as the levels progress.

Well thanks in advance for your input!

Ok, so no nonchalant thuggery for feinting. Any other suggestions on traits or other ideas to increase Bluff and have feint hit more often than not?

I know that the ideal or optimial ninja is a TWF sneak attacker. For whatever reason, the TWF style in pathfinder isn't my favorite. So I starated thinking about a 2H katana wielding ninja.

For stats I'm thinking I'll want to make sure I have STR, DEX, CHA/CON and not to dump WIS necessarily because a Ninja will save sucks.

Something like:
STR 16+2
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 8
WIS 10
CHA 14

Also thinking human because of the extra feat.

Now some questions regarding Katana. As I understand it, a Katana can be used by anyone with Martial weapons proficiency, but must be used two handed. Anyone proficient with one, such as a ninja or samurai, can wield it one handed.
With this in mind, would a Ninja or samurai benefit from the 1.5 STR bonus when two handed a one handed weapon while wielding a Katana? Does this make sense? They have the proficiency to treat it as a one handed weapon, so do they also gain the extra STR benefit when two handing?

I'm also thinking going the feinting route to take advantage of the sneak attacks so the level one feats would be:
Dirty fighting and Improved feint.

Then I was looking at a way to increase bluff so feinting works more often and ran across nonchalant thuggery:

"You gain a +4 trait bonus on Bluff checks to keep others from noticing your aggressive actions."

My question is does this apply when feinting or just in social situations where your trying to be subtle in your threats?

Looking forward to some answers and insights!

You use the claws alternate trait and get free unarmed strike and two claw natural attacks. Combined with the natural bite, that's 3 attacks at full BAB when you full attack.

I have a tengu barbarian that switch hits between polearms and natural attacks as necessary. He's only level 3, but he does rip things apart.

When you say he gets full bab on all the natural attacks, you mean no to hit penalties that a twf would experience.

I.e. a level1 fighter tengu would get 2 claws and a bite all at a to hit of its bab and str modifier combined?

While it's prolly not what you want a natural attack based Tengu Samurai is actually a very strong build which can do crazy amounts of damage when challenging.

interesting...care to elaborate? I"m all for learning!

Piranha Strike only works with light weapons. Not one handed slashing weapons that can be finessed.

I'm heading out at the moment, but either tonight or tomorrow I will post my Order of the Tome build.

I acquired the Axe Beak by completing all three parts of quest for perfection with my Tengu. Alternatively, I think I have a boon floating around here to grant Tengu's access to an Axe Beak that I would not mind sending to someone who would actually use it.

I would definitely like to see this build and would put that axe beak to use! haha, looking forward to your post!

Excellent point again, BadBird. Upon looking, it also appears that Pirhana strike could be a useful feat as well alongside slashing grace.

Slashing Grace! Besides granting DEX-to-damage, anything you need a one-handed piercing weapon for will work with katana. Including Panache abilities, and the Swordmaster's Flair: Blue Scarf.

The issue with Sword Saint is that you need a full-round action to use Iaijutsu Strike until level 10, and even then it's a standard action. You also can't attack an opponent before using Iaijutsu Strike. So you either wait until an enemy moves up and attacks you before using your whole turn to strike once, or you move up to an enemy, take their full attack without even having a weapon drawn, and then make one strike. Even after it becomes a standard action, it's *maybe* useful once per battle...

Ah, yes. I misread slashing grace. That does change that.

Looking at the feat requirements, I'd be one short at first level to take slashing grace as a tengu and would have to pick it up at third, as you would need to take weapon focus first. Not the end of the world, but also a step behind the human version.

Definitely appreciate your knowledge!

The other easy options would be Samurai with a single Swashbuckler level, which allows not only Slashing Grace but panache things, or perhaps most ideal - just go Daring Champion Cavalier with the Tengu's free katana proficiency and an Eastern theme. If you're wearing Eastern armor and wielding a katana, nobody is going to think you're some kind of musketeer.

Daring Champion makes for an awesome katana-master, with features that arguably make it better than a Samurai for wielding a blade. At level 9, you can do some significantly powerful things with swift-action Tactician as well, like granting allies Paired Opportunists and then generating AoOs.

Sword Saint is... well, terrible by most people's reckoning, and I generally agree.

If you want to stick with Samurai, you could also consider going two-weapon with the Tengu DEX bonus. Challenge damage on two weapons is fierce.

Since I can seem to find a way to edit my previous posts, so I post again and apologize.

The other easy options would be Samurai with a single Swashbuckler level, which allows not only Slashing Grace but panache things, or perhaps most ideal - just go Daring Champion Cavalier with the Tengu's free katana proficiency and an Eastern theme. If you're wearing Eastern armor and wielding a katana, nobody is going to think you're some kind of musketeer.

Daring Champion makes for an awesome katana-master, with features that arguably make it better than a Samurai for wielding a blade. At level 9, you can do some significantly powerful things with swift-action Tactician as well, like granting allies Paired Opportunists and then generating AoOs.

Sword Saint is... well, terrible by most people's reckoning, and I generally agree.

If you want to stick with Samurai, you could also consider going two-weapon with the Tengu DEX bonus. Challenge damage on two weapons is fierce.

This also is worth the looking into.

Is sword saint really that terrible? I'll have to take another look at it myself. What's the general reasoning behind this?

You have all given me hope for this character idea, thanks!

I would not bother with trying to add dex to damage. Just settle on a 16 base STR. Samurai is a full BAB character and will be hitting things all the time anyway.

Also Sword Saint simply isn't very good. If you really want to you it that is your prerogative.

I personally would go

16
16
12
10
12
10

Make sure to put FCB into HP, pick up toughness if you are worried about it, and bump STR every 4 levels will be just fine.

My own Tengu Samurai in PFS is Order of the Tomb. He rides around on an Axe Beak which is a great combat animal for his Naginata, and lets him move pull out a scroll and deliver it in the same round if he has to. I have successfully pulled off at least two Breath of Life's doing this.

His starting stat line was

16
12
12
14
14
8

Well this sounds intriguing. I'd love to see this build in a little more depth - can you either post it here or private message it to me? How did you get your hands on an axe beak? Is naginata your main weapon or just mounted weapon?

I love the idea of a Tengu Samurai, but after looking at it from a few different angles, I'm starting to doubt it's viability. Hopefully all of your wisdoms and insights will either change that thought or confirm it.

I was thinking of a Sword Saint, order of the Cockatrice. 2H weapon with the katana and looking at the critical feat chain. However, the Tengu's -2 Con, +2 Dex/Wis don't really serve that too well.

Stats could look something like:

Str 15
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 10

For feats, weapons finesse would help to hit, but it's near impossible - at least to my knowledge at lower levels - to get Dex to add to damage as well.

If I don't go sword saint I suppose I could embrace the mounted archer aspect, but not sure if that intrigues me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

With animal companions that are medium and then grow to large, the feat Narrow frame would help them to be useful in dungeons correct?

Narrow frame:

Your excellent coordination allows you to maneuver better in close quarters.

Prerequisites: Escape Artist 1 rank, animal or magical beast.

Benefit: You do not take penalties on your attack rolls or to your AC for squeezing through a narrow space that is at least half as wide as your normal space, though each move into or through a narrow space still counts as if it were 2 squares.

Normal: You take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to AC while squeezing.

Would you only need to take it once they reached a large size? I'm hung up on three pets (roc, giant vulture, and rhinoceros - it's the animal of gorum and would be BA to ride around on it), all of which eventually grow to Large in size.

No. Only the Teamwork feat Precise Strike (if animal Int is 3 or higher or if you can share your feats via a class ability... I forget if Sacred Huntmaster can or not), and Shatter Defenses doesn't do anything for that.

Ah yes, shatter defense is only when hit by you.

Thinking on this a bit more. With shatter defenses, it works well with sneak attack builds.

Is there an animal companion that can get sneak attack and bring the heat when the sacred huntsman has him crapping in his pants?

Thanks again!