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I'll be ready to board after I finish discussing our plans with Serra. Serra, are you sure you need to have all of your feats sorted out before you start roleplaying?
If there was an equivalent item that gave you 25/50/75% immunity to enemy spells, it still wouldn't be as crippling because now they just use spells that affect allies, create allies, or change reality around you without directly affecting you. For the same price as the 75% immunity to rogues, you can get SR 19 on your armor, giving you 75% immunity to 4th level casters.
That being said, I do think there's something to this concept of yours. However, I'm not entirely sure how it fits with Good/Evil. So if I'm EC, it's okay to do good things as long as I have an evil agenda? And if I'm EA, doing evil things is more important than the end result? That's pretty much how I envision it working.
I was never able to really grok the law/chaos alignment axis. Like why would someone be for or against rules for the sake of being for or against them? That's why I came up with my own philosophical axis: Absolutist - You believe that an action can be judged as right or wrong based upon the action. An absolutist might believe that killing is wrong or that disobedience is wrong. Undecided - You have not given much thought to the philosophy of right and wrong, but instead go with what your gut tells you is good or bad. An undecided might believe that killing is usually wrong except if the person deserved it. Consequentialist - You believe that an action should be judged based upon the outcomes it produces or was intended to produce. A consequentialist might believe that killing is morally wrong unless it saves more lives in the end.
If I were only playing with the core book, I'd still rather be a bard who happened to put max ranks into Disable Device than a Rogue. I would be able to deal with mechanical traps via DD and magical ones via Dispel Magic. Meanwhile, I'd be a better party face (via versatile performance), a better knowledge monkey, and have something to do in combat.
If you don't like Min-Maxing, don't allow it. Being a passive-aggressive jerk about a choice you allowed in your game is not fun for anybody. Instead, simply set your own cap and floor for ability scores that you think better fits your game. I suggest something like all scores between 10 and 16 before racial modifiers.
Please post what kind of region you would like to play in, Tundra, Wasteland, Forest, Plains, Desert, Mountains, etc. Feel free to be as vague or specific with your two choices. Very specific would have: warm/temperate/cold, general terrain, humid/temperate/dry, secondary terrain within. Flame is a native to warm, dry, deserts, but he and I are willing to go wherever the light of Sarenrae shines. It is too bad there has been very little connection between the applicants. I was thinking of trying to work in some loose connection between Flame and Donnovan. Perhaps after Donnovan's village in Andoran was uprooted by ogres, Flame was sent in as part of a group to deal with the ogres. Anyone want to have been on A Swift family Sky-Ship and have meet Keeya? I am still working on my backstory after Flame leaves Osirion. He could have taken a skyship to Absalom, but that would have been well over 25 years ago because of how long-lived Tieflings are. However, Sylphs are similarly long-lived, so you might consider raising your character's age.
Sorry about not formatting it in my earlier post.
I'm not sure I'm done, particularly with his story. I would like to know a little bit more about the order of the Crimson Knights of the Black Blade so that I can possibly work in his meeting them, his initiation, and his early missions into the backstory. I'm also not yet sure what to do about Flame's ascention to Mythic. As far as mechanics, I know I don't yet have the elemental stuff ready. I was thinking of giving him the ability to cast a number of holy fire spells each day that deal fire damage to evil creatures, deal nonleathal damage to neutral creatures, and heal good creatures. I was thinking 1 burning hands, 1 scorching ray, and 1 fireball, but if that's too powerful, I'm willing to tone that down a bit. I'm also not sure what to do for the Astral Form thing either. Feat Listing:
Level 1: Fiendish Heritage
You possess a strong tie to your fiendish ancestors, granting you favorable abilities. Prerequisites: Tiefling, must be taken at 1st level. Benefit: Your fiendish bloodline proves particularly strong, being tied to a specific race of fiends. Rather than taking a tiefling’s usual racial ability modifiers, choose one of the tiefling heritages presented on Table: Variant Tiefling Heritages. (Chose Demon Spawn) In addition, you may roll on Table: Variant Tiefling Abilities three times and choose the most favorable ability.
I choose #25, acid resistance 5. Level 3: Power Attack (everybody knows Power Attack) Level 5: Selective Channeling (exclude up to your CHA mod from channel energy) Trait Listing: Blade of Mercy (Religion trait, Sarenrae): You know that within the heart of even the most hateful and cruel living creature exists a sliver of shame and hope for redemption. You have trained long on martial techniques to use bladed weapons not to kill, but to subdue. When striking to inflict nonlethal damage with any slashing weapon, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on your attack roll, and gain a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict
with a slashing weapon. Source: Legacy of Fire Player's Guide, Page 9 Unscathed (Magic trait): You are amazingly resistant to energy attacks because of either your upbringing or magical experimentation.
Holy Conduit (Campaign trait, created by L33Fish): You have a particularly strong connection to the gods which has influenced your life in a profound way. You sometimes receive subtle messages from the gods in the form of dreams or feelings (subject to GM discretion). Whenever you receive magical healing, you receive a +1 trait bonus to the healing per die rolled.
Probably going to go for Hierophant mythic path for the epic heals, maybe go dual path, although probably not. My character's languages:
Wow that's a lot of HP to be donating to my allies.
@L33fish - that is a good start please read the post I just made it should answer some of your questions. Well hopefully you can broaden the background story some and get some more personality into that tiefling cleric. A more detailed background and a more fleshed-out personality? You got it. (BTW, he's a paladin, not a cleric.) Background:
Flame Demonspawn knew that he was different from the other children at the temple from a young age. It may have been the looks that the priests gave him every day, ranging from evaluating to venomous. It may have been the strange names he was called, or the fact that he was always confined to the temple grounds. Then again, it might have been the forked tail and the fact that he was both unusually hot to the touch and had no reflection. As you might have guessed, Flame Demonspawn was a Tiefling.
Flame was raised in the temple of Sarenrae in the Osirioni capital of Sothis. There he was taught from a young age the tenets of his religion and trained in the use of the scimitar. As he matured, Flame became one of the most promising young swordsmen at the temple. Soon it was time for Flame's swordsmanship to be put to the test. The knights at the temple had captured some cultists of Rovagug. The cultists were all offered the chance to repent for their crimes of human sacrifice and other evils. Most chose to repent and be sent to the local prison. However, a few were defiant. Flame was called upon to grant the swift execution of one such criminal. Flame beheaded the evil man in one stroke with his scimitar and was officially a knight of the church. With his knighthood came a disturbing revelation. Flame had been born to human worshipers of Rovagug who had somehow promised his soul to the lower planes before his birth. The day he was born, the knights of the temple had raided the cultists' secret shrine and killed Flame's parents. Flame had been taken in by the temple, but watched closely and with much distrust because of his origins. Even more disturbing, the man who Flame had just executed had been his older brother. Flame prayed to Sarenrae for the chance to return his soul from the clutches of the Abyss. The next night he dreamed that he was watching himself in battle against a hoard of demons with an insignia on his shield which he had never seen before. He dreamed of building a great city in the middle of the demon hoards and of raising a huge temple of Sarenrae in the middle of the city. The next day, he told the head priest of his dreams. The head priest told him to go out into the world and search for the insignia from his dream. Personality:
Perfectionist: Flame does not accept failures on his part and strives to be the best he can be. He also looks down on those who do not set as high standards for themselves.
Quick to Anger: Flame's demonic blood makes him get angry easily, but he tries to channel that anger against injustices he sees in the world around him. Quiet and Cautious: Being raised in a temple surrounded by people who expected him to turn evil at the drop of a hat, Flame has learned to keep most things to himself and to carefully think before he says anything. Mild Introvert: Being different from everybody else at a young age taught Flame to find comfort in alone time. Campaign Trait:
Holy Conduit: Whenever you receive magical healing, you receive a +1 trait bonus to the healing per die rolled. How do you plan on handling outsider languages such as Abyssal and Celestial? I'll have the character sheet mostly complete later today.
This sounds very interesting. I've never done PbP or Mythic, but you can count on me to be active and to learn quickly. I have experience with the kingdom building rules if you plan on using them (btw. magic item shops are overpowered). As far as character, I'm thinking of doing a Tiefling Oradin, a Paladin of Sarenrae with a dip into Oracle of Life so he can actively take on the wounds of his companions while healing himself back up with Lay on Hands. He would be a demon-spawn tiefling because his parents attempted to sell his soul to Rovagug and he's a Sarenite paladin because he believes strongly in the power of redemption as it is his only hope of getting his soul back. His oracle powers come from Sarenrae starting to take notice of his good deeds and impowering him while also testing his willingness to sacrifice for the good of others.
Well, he would have gone through initiation rites of some kind in order to become a Paladin. Otherwise, I could pick up Extra Revelation for the Energy Body revelation, although that is more of a positive energy body than an astral one. •Connection to some form of Power. I assume that having the favor of his goddess can work for this. •Ready to make a kingdom for a good reason. If it allows him to redeem evil creatures and kill ones that refuse to be redeemed, then he would gladly aid in building a kingdom. •Think of avatar air bender, fire bender, water bender (pick an element that you have some abilities tied to) Positive Energy would be cool. If that doesn't count, fire is a good fit thematically because of his connections to both Rovagug and Sarenrae. •Mythic Path I plan to look a bit more into this, but I'll tentatively put him down as a guardian. = 12
{18, 16, 14, 18, 13, 14}
This seems like a good fit for a character I've been itching to play. I particularly like the idea of having low, medium, and high goals for the character. Name: Beringer Paradox
EDIT: Basic Purpose of Character
Cool! I already drew up a character on Myth-Weavers along with a backstory. Sadly, that site is down at the moment, so I cannot show him to you at the moment. Abridged Backstory:
Beringer started losing his vision at a young age. When the local priest was unable to restore it, it was assumed that his poor vision was a divine punishment. Beringer was shunned from his community and blamed for every disease or poor harvest. Eventually some villagers decided to attempt to burn him alive as a sacrifice to the gods. Beringer was able to escape just in time. Scarred by his past, he turned his back on the gods and decided to attempt to prove through example that he could be a better person than any of their followers. After orcs raided a village he was staying in, he discovered his spellcasting powers and decided to travel to Allence and attempt to join the local military to help fight against the orcs. EDIT: Mythweavers is back up. Here is my character:
If you play a bard, you can get an additional +1/2 level on all knowledge checks. Add on the Dilettante feat for an extra +2 on all the ones you have 1-5 ranks in. Sure, by level 20, some knowledges will be out of your normal reach, but that is where your ability to take 20 comes in handy. I made a bard like this who just took 10 on every knowledge check and knew more than the sorcerer who put full ranks into knowledge (arcana). Of course that sorcerer deserved what he got for being a better party face than my previous rogue.
There's always swarms. They deal damage automatically, so his AC is a non-factor. There is even a CR 13 swarm on the PFSRD that looks pretty nasty. However, I consider swarms to be broken because either you have a blaster mage (or a player with a swarmbane clasp) who reduces them to a fine paste or your entire party gets eaten to death with no way to fight back. If you are feeling a little less evil, you can use touch attacks. A ninja with invisibility trick and minor magic can disappear, shoot an acid splash against flat-footed touch for sneak attack damage, and disappear again up to 3 times per day. With Major Magic thrown in, he can do it two more times with Snowball, and by level 13, he should have enough UMD and cash to afford a wand of Fiery Shuriken or Admonishing Ray if you need even more uses of the ability. Give him the Invisible Blade master trick and the Powerful and Deadly Sneak talents, and he will run around dealing tons of damage to your AC tank. Plan an escape for him when he inevitably gets glitterdusted or invisibility purged and he could make a great recurring villain.
Trip can be pretty cool with a reach weapon (such as horsechopper) and Combat Reflexes, but a lot of monsters are immune or resistant to trip attempts, so it will depend a little on your GM and your campaign. I don't have much experience with Dirty Trick, but it seems pretty strong and versatile (anybody with Sneak Attack will thank you for blinding a foe for example), so RAW it's probably the better of the two. That said, your GM may balance this by making you RP exactly how your dirty trick works (so be sure to carry plenty of pocket sand), and using the same trick twice against the same opponent might be ruled to be difficult depending upon your GM.
But early entry into MT or EK for these types of classes includes a toll on your WBL of ~10% when you get 2-3 spells of your new level, correct? How does it work in PFS?Doesn't the '+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class' ability mean you don't get anymore free spells in your spellbook? You have to gain all spells in-game from then on, correct?That is true. You have to use scrolls or other spellbooks and spend money on adding the spells. It's not something I'd recommend for a low magic campaign. I don't know about that. I've never played a prestige class in PFS and I've never played a Wizard or Magus in PFS, so I don't know how that campaign handles adding spells to spellbooks. I know that the standard rules are that you need a scroll or spellbook with the relevant spell and you have to make a Spellcraft check and spend money on it to add the spell to your book.
Doesn't the '+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class' ability mean you don't get anymore free spells in your spellbook? You have to gain all spells in-game from then on, correct? That is true. You have to use scrolls or other spellbooks and spend money on adding the spells. It's not something I'd recommend for a low magic campaign.
Glad I could help. Even if you fall from grace, a single level dip in Paladin is better than one in Fighter for you by +2 will save (which I guess reflects poorly on the Fighter). I forgot to mention that a single level dip in Oracle can get you all martial weapons via the Battle or Metal mysteries, but I'm not really a fan of single level dips in Oracle because your curse never gets better. The Swashbuckler (Advanced Class Guide) is a martial option that might fit your campaign's flavor, scales a bit off of Cha, and gives you Weapon Finesse for free (so you could have more melee options). Cavalier also might be an option for you, although Ranger is probably better. As far as imbuing arrows with spells from wands, scrolls, or staves or using metamagic rods on imbued spells, I would personally rule against it because you need both hands to fire your bow when the spell is cast, so you don't have a spare one for magic items. However, I could see it argued both ways, so that question is best left up to your GM.
I just built a character going for Arcane Archer, although I have yet to play him, and he is only level 3. 1. You have the stats to make a very good Paladin (Divine Hunter lets you trade your heavy armor for precise shot). The downside is low skills from Paladin levels. Otherwise Ninja is a solid fit for what you want, although sneak attack is negated by many enemy types at higher levels. The other downside to the ninja is low BAB progression gets you into Arcane Archer later than you might like. Eldrich Knight is a solid way to raise your BAB while raising your casting so that you don't end up as far behind in caster levels (and is what I'm doing with my AA). However, Eldrich Knight will also put off the level at which you start AA unless you have some cheesy way to take it early like I did. Actually, come to think of it, you do have Shrink Item as a SLA which can qualify you for the class under official rules (talk to your GM about this though). 2. I would recommend Sorcerer over Bard because you will want as many levels of spells as you can get. I'm generally a fan of the Arcane bloodline, which gives you a knowledge of your choice as a class skill and a bonded object (or a familiar, but the bonded object is much better for multiclassing) that lets you cast an additional spell per day. 3. Possible Builds:
4. TRUE STRIKE - no somatic components means no spell failure
5. Here's my 20 lv Arcane Archer feat build tweaked a bit for you:
With your low strength, Vital Strike becomes dare I say more vital for raising your damage. Bullseye Shot can be used in conjunction with all of your AA class abilities and with Vital Strike. Arcane Armor Training + Mithril Kikko Armor allows you to spend a swift action to remove your spell failure chance. 6. Get damage/feel useful without sneak attack via imbue arrow or just straight casting spells like glitterdust or energy explosion.
As Fomsie said, the Scryer subschool of Divination grants me a 3rd level SLA which meets the prerequisite for Eldrich Knight. I admit that it's a little bit cheesy, but my GM seems ok with it and I don't think it's particularly OP compared to going straight Wizard or straight Paladin. I really love the flavor of Arcane Archer, but it has always struck me as a little bit underpowered because many of its class features are available as weapon enchantments and some of its more flavorful ones limit you to one arrow in a round, making them pretty weak until you get Arrow of Death. The good thing is the almost full BAB and the 15 caster levels. The bad thing is armor is a hassle and you are strapped for feats. All in all, I'd recommend the build if your campaign isn't super intense on optimization and you want all of the fun flavor of being a sniper wizard.
I have a Battle Oracle build that you can feel free to play around with. The basic idea is to stack high str, medium dex and cha. Take Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes. Start each fight by casting Enlarge Person on yourself. When enemies try to move anywhere within 15' of you, trip them with a Horsechopper.
yes thats right L33Fish, a support character, keeping the team alive and giving them buffs hmm. I have generally found the cleric to be a bit more of a self buffer and enemy debuffer than an ally buffer type class, but maybe I don't really know how to play it that way. Although some Cleric domains will give you strong ally buff spells such as Enlarge Person, most good ally buff spells on the cleric list are level 2 and up. I have, however played a Bard as a pure support and had a blast with it. You would still get your healing spells, you would get a lot more skill points, and you would have an awesome party buff in the form of performance.
It depends on where you are playing. If you are playing Pathfinder Society, you have to use 20 point buy. Otherwise you should ask your GM.
Chronicle Sheets are used to track a character's progress in Pathfinder Society. They list experience, gold, and prestige gained in the course of an adventure. If you are going to be playing a lot more PFS, you'll collect them and be able to use them to level up and buy equipment for a character. You don't have to look at the Paladin if you don't want to. Clerics can make solid off-tanks and their spells can bring a lot more utility to the party than the Paladin's spell list. The Paladin can dish out a lot more damage than the Cleric and can take hits better too, but I think it is a very different play style than what you are going for. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me like you want to help your allies be more effective in combat and want the ability to heal as well.
The way point buy works is you get 20 'points' to spend on increasing your ability scores. It starts out cheap, but the higher you increase an ability score, the more it costs to increase it further. Here is a handy page on ability scores with a point buy calculator that I use: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/ability-scores
First of all, don't be sorry. We were all new once. Mystic Theurge is what is known as a prestige class. You gain access to it at later levels and qualify by fulfilling certain requirements. The Mystic Theurge combines arcane and divine spellcasting under one roof. You could qualify by having 3 levels in Cleric and 3 in Wizard for example, and it would allow you to simultaneously advance your Cleric and Wizard spellcasting. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/mystic-theur ge If you want to multiclass into Wizard (or Witch) and go down the Mystic Theurge route, your high Int will come in handy. Otherwise, you are probably better off putting the points into your other stats so that you can either fight better or channel more often. As far as being a pure healer, I know from experience that pure healing is generally weak. The healing spells (except for Heal) do not keep up with the damage you can prevent to the party by either attacking or casting other spells. Typically a Cleric is at least partly combat-focused with its 3/4 BAB and armor proficiencies allowing it to stand its ground in melee. That said, you are welcome to ignore that and focus on pure support (buffing allies and debuffing enemies) and it would not be terrible. Since you are a good-aligned cleric, you should never prepare cure spells. Why? Because you can turn any other spell you prepare into a cure spell on the fly. Instead consider preparing Comprehend Languages in case you need to decipher a mysterious note, Murderous Command for a really strong lv1 debuff, Protection From Evil for a strong buff for a friend, or Obscuring Mist for battlefield control. When you get a few caster levels, you may even want to summon monsters to soak damage and fight alongside you. And when you need a cure spell, you can sacrifice any one of these spells to cast Cure Light Wounds.
I'm looking for good Wizard spells for an Arcane Archer build. I have 2 main categories I'm looking for: 1. Spells that are really good with Imbue Arrow.
At 2nd level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place an area spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell's area is centered where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow's range rather than the spell's range. A spell cast in this way uses its standard casting time and the arcane archer can fire the arrow as part of the casting. The arrow must be fired during the round that the casting is completed or the spell is wasted. If the arrow misses, the spell is wasted. 2. Spells that are generally useful for any archer. (Gravity Bow, Fly, Mirror Image, etc.) For those curious, the build is:
Spoiler: Level - Class
1 - Paladin (Divine Hunter) 2 - Wizard (Scryer Subschool of Divination) 3-7 - Eldrich Knight 8-17 - Arcane Archer 18-20 - Eldrich Knight
I've found Bracers of the Glib Entertainer to be absolutely bonkers when my bard started substituting perform checks for many other skills, but that's too expensive and not combat related. As far as spells go, I've combined Silence and Invisibility Sphere to make the entire party virtually undetectable a few times. Dispel Magic has made my DM curse the counterspell action. Getting Good Hope and Haste (alongside Inspire Courage) in the first two rounds of combat has made a friend go from thinking bards were the worst class to thinking they were absolutely broken, but that was with a fairly sizable party. Glitterdust has made my GM question the point of spell immunity when I blinded a powerful golem. You can also consider using suggestion to outright remove enemies from the fight (GMs will probably rule that a request not to attack the party is a reasonable request). I guess overall I prefer to play my bards as support characters than combat characters.
I have stacked stealth and perception, but so far the opportunity hasn't really come up where I can scout ahead that much. I'll keep trying and aiming for that though. Then I can cast Gravity Bow on ahead of time. I'll also have to look into buying it, but I don't think I'll be able to until we come across one in a scenario or module. I believe you said you were 1 session away from level 3. If you earned full prestige points each session, you should have 10 fame, allowing you to make purchases of up to 1500 gp from your faction without needing the item on a chronicle sheet.
Considering that it is PFS, you're not likely to make it to particularly high levels and if you've played at level 2, you cannot retrain your character. However, there are some things you can do: 2 PP or 750 gp can get you a wand of Gravity Bow or a wand of Cure Light Wounds. As a ranger, you can use either wand without any UMD check, allowing you to increase your damage for the first one and to provide utility to the party with the second. You might even consider a wand of Entangle so you can lock down melee foes while you fill them with arrows. Your Zen Archer will be thanking you then. If you stack/stacked stealth and perception, you can use those skills to scout ahead for your party, then sneak back and cast gravity bow before combat. If you have a buff mage of some kind in the party, they will thank you for the extra prep rounds as well. Of course, your ZAM can also do that, but has less need to. When you reach level 4, you can get an animal companion. There are a few strong choices here. A cat can deal a lot of damage very quickly. A wolf can provide melee utility by knocking enemies prone, although you should be warned that prone foes are harder to shoot with arrows. Finally, a horse can really increase your battlefield mobility, although it's not as good in PFS which tends to feature urban and underground settings heavily. Also at lv4, you can start casting off scrolls of Speak With Animals, a very potent utility spell for gathering information. If you encounter constructs (which you probably will at higher levels), you'll want Adamantine arrows to get through their DR. If you have just a few of them, a scroll of Abundant Ammunition (25gp) will allow you to replace each 60gp arrow you fire during the combat. All in all, the Zen Archer's strengths are more obvious than the Ranger's and require less work and less itemization. The Zen Archer is also fairly weak lv1-2 and gets really strong lv3 (if they favor Wis over Dex). On the other hand, the Ranger is decent lv1-3 and gets really strong lv4. I wouldn't multiclass out of Ranger because spells and animal companion are really good. |
