| Katdabra |
Hello everyone! I have been a longtime lurker and have found a lot of great advice when it comes to these individual mysteries. However, I am having trouble deciding on which one I ultimately want to go with. I personally am not obsessed with being super optimized in battle if it means I lose out on flavor. With that said, Ancestor DOES provide a lot of flavor, however I worry that it sacrifices too much for flavor as opposed to battle which is all mostly combat/battle oriented and a little dull in flavor.
I am playing in a campaign that utilizes Iron Heroes traits. If you're not familiar with them, there's a great PDF of the book floating around on the internet for more info. I chose to pick up a particular trait that not only helps mechanically (hopefully) but also fits RP-wise with her backstory.
The playstyle I am aiming for is a buffer/debuffer, with a minor focus on healing (me and another character are the only ones out of 10 members that are allowed healing per a specific story element), the occasional destructive spell, and being mostly in melee with decent AC/tankiness and damage in order to keep up with some of the more feat-heavy martial classes.
Here are her stats:
ABILITY SCORES:
STR: 8
DEX: 14
CON: 16
INT: 12
WIS: 12 (10 +2 from aasimar)
CHA: 20 (18 +2 from aasimar)
TRAITS:
Faithful Friend (I gain +2 on attks/saves when a friend is in danger)
Weapon Bond Charisma (this trait allows me to use any ability score I choose in place of strength when it comes to my chosen weapon. So I use my CHA modifier for attacks and damage with my chosen weapon. I am thinking of possibly going Longsword or Bastard Sword)
Also, a lot of people outside of my group (on forums like these mostly) rage at me that this is OP. I assure you, my group and I have been playing like this for 10+ years and when everyone is OP, then no one is OP. These traits allow for more fluidity in RP and versatility with mechanics while still keeping everyone on par with each other for the most part. I'd rather not get yelled at by strangers on the internet that I am seeking advice from just because I am being judged about a decision my DM made almost 10+ years ago for our group. This is just how we've played for so long and no one in our group has had issues with it :D
CURSE:
Tongues
Possibly going dual-cursed with adding Branded (from 3rd party, DM is allowing it for backstory reasons if I choose to go with this)
FEAT:
Was thinking of choosing Angelic Flesh (for RP flavor and the +1 to AC from Steel flesh) but I'm open to other suggestions
My main concern here is although Battle on paper is amazing for combat, I feel like it leaves little to play around with as far as RP and just overall thematic flavor goes. Whereas Ancestor is still melee-centric, provides a LOT more flavor to work with, but seems so lackluster when it comes to actually utilizing it in battle. I am also concerned about how I will work in melee as far as armor goes. Since Ancestor has the Spirit Shield ability, can I make due with not wearing heavy armor at any point? Is it possible to just focus on buffing myself with spells and using my Spirit Shield revelation in place of crazy armor? Is my Dex decent enough as is or should I make that higher to help me out with AC if I'm lacking armor? What about Battle? It says I can gain proficiency with Heavy Armor. Does that mean I also can cast just fine in heavy armor? I'm a little confused on the wording there and if it means what I think it means.
Also, since my strength is so low (backstory/RP reason), I am not eligible for Power Attack. I won't be severely gimping myself by trying to be a melee fighting type without power attack, correct? I mean, my CHA bonus should be just fine for the most part I think.
I guess I'm just not really sure if Ancestor is enough to be viable while also giving me the RP flavor I desire. Battle is the next best thing that fits my character's theme and backstory but provides little as far as something to work with flavor-wise. Any help is appreciated!