Kurt-O-Matic's page

Heyas, I am creating a character for a new Skull & Shackles-based campaign. I've previously played an archer-bard, and I'd like to play a bard again in this campaign to cover some of the essential skill needs for the AP. However, I don't want to do the vanilla bard thing *again*; I'm looking for a change-up for flavor while maintaining a reasonable amount of mechanical pull.

So I'm looking at Arcane Duelist for ranged dpr, or Sea Singer as a backup if decide to focus more on magic. I'm also looking at a single-level(?) splash into gunslinger for firearms flavor. I have access to Core + APG + Ultimates, with a 20-point build. I'd like to go Human, and at this point I'm considering Arcane Duelist/Mysterious Stranger.

I'm aware this isn't the bestest combo ever; as long he pulls his weight and isn't boring in combat, then the spells and skills will cover a lot of narrative power. This is a small group, but so far there will be (at least) a barbarian/fighter combat monster, a witch for spellcasting, and a cast of 'adopted' NPCs in the party to fill out any missing roles. Playing a Big Mouth with a Gun in a pirate campaign sounded like a good fit. :-)

Any advice for building a pistol wielding Arcane Duelist, or a similar alternative?

Howdy,

Since my previous Jade Regent character died last Friday inside the.., um.., er, crossing the Crown of World (no spoilers, please), I need a replacement ready in a couple of days. This time I am going with a samsaran wizard from Zi Ha, who was traveling on a pilgrimage to the shrines of Tsukiyo in the Forest of Spirits. There he experiences a sign/epiphany/dream sent by Tsukiyo that something hinky is going on to North, and sets out to investigate (thus finding the party).

I have the wizard under construction already, and so far, so good. The wizard will be starting at 8th level, and it is my intention that he have the Leadership feat with enough juice to support a 6th-level cohort. I am looking for a monk valet/bodyguard/craftsman sidekick. You get a virtual cookie for guessing my inspiration here, along with extra chocolate chips for sussing out the name Mr. Fong. ;)

I've never even looked at building a monk in PF before and I'm on a deadline. So any comments, links, or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Here's the spec...

Scope

Pretty much any Paizo published, PF-native content works. The DM has already signed-off on the samsaran-wizard-with-cohort concept described above.

Ability Scores

22 point-buy. I know this is a non-standard (High Fantasy) number; I am not the DM. I'll make use of the extra 2 points if I can.

Gear

Assume the standard 6th-level 16k gp for the moment. I may kick in funds from the wizard as well, if needed.

Combat

Primary: Run melee interference for the wizard. Grappling or whatever works efficiently, doesn't really matter.

Secondary: Mobility and extra actions. The wizard (conjurer) will be 'porting around a bit, and our cohort will need to keep up. In a pinch, he can smooth out kinks in the action economy, caddying, etc.

He's not expected to get much involved with the front line. This party is way overloaded on melee already. If he stands next to me and does nothing the whole fight but hold a readied action to shut down melee threats, that will work just fine. The wizard will be summoning anyway, and I don't want to hold the whole table up while I'm flogging actions.

Downtime

I already have a lot of RP ideas to mine in social encounters, which don't require build optimizing. However, our friend here will be also be very busy in downtime. I'm looking to offload some crafting skills here, which is at least as important (if not more so) than combat. I'm open to suggestions here, including multi-classing. My current thoughts are...

Craft (alchemy) + Master Craftsman + Craft Wondrous Item

Wondrous items are the main target here, but weapons and armor are also fair game if there is room. Alternatively, if class levels are used to access item creation feats, then wands and staffs are also in play. I'm currently thinking of having the wizard do rods himself, but that's fungible as well. I also like the idea of...

Craft (calligraphy) + Inscribe Magical Tattoo

..which fits the theme very well, but requires 5 caster levels. This is probably too much for our friend here. Maybe something to build towards, or perhaps stick on the wizard.

That's pretty much it. I will update further if there is interest. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Mercy Buckets, Y'all!