Kadath's page

Hey all, first time poster. (please excuse the tl;dr) As the title suggests I'm looking for suggestion building/optimizing a lvl 15+ character around the concept of a slayer/shadowdancer/maybe fighter build I'm thinking of.

As little insight into my thinking, I'm playing with a new group of people who tend to be pretty strong power builders and the DM has had to up his EL by a lot to compensate. As someone who has less skill doing so I've found myself taking a back seat in almost every encounter. My DM has allowed me a rebuild to try and strengthen my character and help would be appreciated.

Here's what I have down right now:
Slayer(Vanguard) 9/Shadowdancer 3/Fighter 3

Stats: (with items already factored in. These cannot be changed currently)
Str: 19
Dex: 16
Con: 16
Int: 18
Wis: 16
Cha: 15

Feats:
Combat exp.
Improv. Feint
Skill focus: bluff
Dodge
Mobility
Great. Feint
Pwr attack
Furious focus
Combat reflex
Vital strike

3 levels of shadow dancer grants the summon shadow ability and 3 of fighter gives bonus feats and armor training. Slap on mithril full plate and now have full movement.

The strategy behind this build, as it stands, is a sort of group tactician, who uses his skills to assist others in combat while doing fair damage himself.

Shared studied target(+1 ab and dmg), vanguard tactician ability to share outflank (+4 ab while flanking), feint to remove a targets dex to AC, and my shadow is an auto flanking, str draining partner who uses my full bab and half my d10 health pool. All of these bonuses are designed to boost my ab up as high as possible.

My strategy in combat is to flank with my shadow, grant it and my allies +5 ab and +1 dmg, bluff as move then Pwr attack/vital strike with 3d6 sneak at full and padded ab.

I'm very interested in slayer build ideas. I don't understand the need for a 3 level dip in fighter when slayer gives full BAB other than additional feats when 3 additional levels of slayer would grant full BAB and an additional sneak attack die.

Using summon shadow to achieve flanking for sneak attack is solid.

I've been considering a slayer critical bleeding build however the shadowdancer dip seems very strong mechanically and really fun.

See, for me, this is the kind of thing that would make me stop reading. I agree with what's been said about Azra--I'd love to read her book, and it probably wouldn't make sense for her to appear in Tian Xia.

What about Pavanna?

***SPOILERS***

1. I couldn't nail it down to a single chapter I liked the entire work. If I had to pick a favorite sequence it would be the inclusion of Jaggare approaching the mystery of the riffle scrolls and lost time. It stepped out of the adventure mold, intrigued me and made me think. You have reach a notable level of craftsmanship in your storytelling.

2. Jaggare - I feel more connected to him and his dense prosaic style is more familiar to me and adds a level of validity to the character and the writing. Though perhaps from a more voyeuristic stance I more of a 'fan' of Radovan and as an anti-hero invites more widespread appeal. I want more of both!

3. I would like to see more dynamic change in both of the main characters and their growth as people and their bond of friendship - I liked that at the end they were "partners" and that Radovan have inadvertently been field commisioned into the pathfinder society or so it seemed.

Also I agree that Radovan's love interests need more attention, though I don't think that Radovan should have a dedicated love interest unless she pursues him after he leaves. I think he should have a new 'bond girl' in every book.

Also I'd like to see what happened to Gruck.

I suppose he doesnt count as an iconic since he's not published anywhere as far as i know but I consider him the most iconic after reading prince of wolves and the stories in the AP.

Radovan - hands down or rather MORE Radovan from dave gross And I want to see stats for him and jaggare.

Seoni + Seltyiel would be my next choices. Seoni is the sorcerer right?

Psionics are Pro. Not OP.

Psionics have been well integrated into DD and many other rpgs since rpgs were created back in the 70's. I don't even understand how people could have a problem with it. The ability itself is much more plausible and believable than magic.

Never met anyone except for whiny people on messageboards who thought otherwise.

I think they do. I'm as pro combat as anyone but I not big into playing with toys on a gameboard kind of defeats the whole purpose of gaming in the first place. I think it really detracts from immersion. That being said if the campaign was a giant dungeon delve like 'World's largest...' or something I wouldnt have a problem with it. And some players are just into wargaming with mini's like warhammer. I'm just not into that; its not something I enjoy but i don't look down on those people in anyway.

At one point I had a large 4'x12' that I made and covered with 2 large battlemats for the purpose of gaming. But after years of gaming I see miniatures as the mark of amatuers and inexperienced gm's and players.

This is one of the reasons that brought me to pathfinder instead of 4th ed - because 4th ed isnt mini intensive its mini mandatory.

"I think the only time minis and a mat detract is when the GM allows it to. Instead of saying, "The barbarian roars menacingly and brings everything he has to bear as he swings his great axe at you," the GM will point at a mini and say, "This guy power attacks you." The players will merely fall in line with this method of playing, and the game simply becomes a minis game"

I think this is a big part of it. And I think this is inevitable.

lol 4th edition

lol 4th edition

Is their a published source for this information? I think it might be important to know how long they live.

Where are there general rules for bonus/modifiers (for ability scores, dmg, ac etc) overlapping and stacking.

I know that bonuses from different sources stack but not sure when bonuses overlap and therefore only the highest bonus is counted. Where in the rules is this discussed?

Pathfinder Pun Pun or king of smack next?

That is so awesome. Sounds like fun. :)

So I've been a long time fan of KoDT and I couldnt help but notice the sideways reference to the classic bag world strips in 'Classic Treasures Revisited' under the bag of holding section on the last page (pg9) of that section it talks about the legendary bag of wonders...

Pure awesome.

One of the design/writer credits I saw on opening page mention Doug Seacat.

Doug Seacat is one of the writers/developers for Iron Kingdoms.

Can this loose affiliation lead me to believe that possibly Iron Kingdoms might get revitalized someday as a Pathfinder Compatible product?

Are there legit sources from any pathfinder books on:

-- Tieflings as characters (besides bestiary; looking for stats/build options or at least a write up)

-- Guns (APG has bayonets that can be attached to guns or crossbows but no guns)

EDIT:

Also: IF a fighter/wizard takes is trained as an eldritch knight and takes levels in that prestige class do EK levels stack with Wiz levels for familiar advancement?

IF you run this your players will hate you forever.

I ordered some Pathfinder books from amazon and the next day I ordered the Advanced player's guide off the paizo website. I think it was 1 or 2 days later I recieved my order from paizo. I checked my order status on amazon for the books I ordered there Before that and they are still listed as "shipping soon' about a week after I placed the order.

So I just wanted to say thank you and I'll be ordering all my books from you directly in the future. I'm willing to pay cover price for quality products and prompt service.

Psionics is an integral part of any campaign I've ran for over 15 years. I can't imagine gaming without it. I find that its more realistic and important than magic in most systems. D20 has consistently been one of the only systems that didn't include psionics in their core books but rather featured in optional core books that come out years later. Which has always frustrated me and was a contributing factor in me choosing and sticking with different game systems over the years other than anything that said tsr/wotc/d20 etc. Pathfinder however mentions psionics in their campaign books at least which gives me some hope that I might stick with this game for a few years. Until That book(s) comes out though my campaigns are strictly going to be in the planning stages unless I like what dreamscarred does with their pathfinder psionics which I believe is almost ready for release or at least ready for playtesting. Though I dislike 3rd party material inherently from what Ive looked over it looks like they are headed in the right direction.

I think some people complain that its OP in D20 or in 2nd edition. I've always considered it to be integral. But obviously not anyone who has ever contributed or at least browsed the WotC boards on Character optimization.

Hey; new to pathfinder. Quick Question.

I keep seeing vague references and small mentions of the Old Ones cult, Great Old Ones, Azathoth and other lovecraftian bits in the pathfinder material. I think this is wonderful.

Is there anywhere an any of the books/modules/chronicles etc with any solid material on the old ones cult; their worshippers; where in golarion they might gather or anything at all more than a few references? I
ve went through the factions book; the great beyond, gods and magic and still not much info there.

Thanks