Majestic8705's page

Hi all,

Quick question: what kind of poison do Ettercaps bite with? Better yet, what kind of damage does it target? All entries just seem to say poison and frequency and saves.

Hey folks,

So my partner and I have finally gotten around to making a Pathfinder group and I have more or less decided on rolling up a Fighter who uses a Fauchard as their primary weapon. I will not be taking Polearm Master, because it has become apparent to me, that wearing a spiked gauntlet more or less has the same effect as the Steadfast Pike ability (i.e. the ability to threaten adjacent).

Anywho, the archetype I'm likely going for is the Lore Warden (I apologize the link is to the d20SRD, but I couldn't find the bloody thing on the PRD) because free Combat Expertise at level 2, plus the bonus skills, their bonuses to combat maneuvers, plus a bunch of nifty other stuff. All for just giving up medium/heavy armor.

Now, as we all know, reach fighters have to do the '5 foot' dance to keep enemies in range of the reach weapon, meaning at the least the feat Nimble Moves is essential.

So I looked for something that somehow grants Nimble Moves and stumbled upon the Flowing Monk archetype, which gets it as a bonus feat in lieu of some of the other monk feats. But they also get that kinda cool reposition ability, and at second level they also get that unbalancing counter.

So here's my dilemma...is it worth dipping two levels into monk to grab that stuff? If so, when would I do it? My main concern is that the 'bonus' abilities I'd get from the monk would lose their usefulness rather quickly as their DC is dependent on my monk level. So far, my tentative build looks something like this:

1st Level Fighter WF Fauchard, Power Attack
2nd Level Monk Nimble Moves
3rd Level Monk Dodge
4th Level Fighter Combat Expertise, Improved Trip

blah blah blah...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

Hey all,

So I'm getting back into Pathfinder hopefully this Sunday and I'm strongly considering rolling up a reach weapon fighter (fauchard, stats are still tbd). While skimming through the various archetypes, I stumbled upon the Dervish of Dawn fighter archetype.

Obviously, as a reach weapon fighter I am going to be doing the '5 ft step' dance, so I'm looking for some ways to minimize the problems posed by difficult terrain. This of course leads to Nimble Moves as a feat, acquiring all these extra feats which meh. Can do because lotta feats to burn, but would rather save 'em if I can. Enter the Dervish of Dawn.

Specifically, I have two questions about this archetype, and I do apologize if they've been answered already. First, the srd entry begins with this:

No enemy is as feared as the dervishes of dawn. While dervishes can be clerics, paladins, or rangers, zealous fighters join their ranks as well. These spinning warriors prefer light or no armor and wield scimitars with devastating consequences, moving swiftly over the treacherous desert sands to attack with lightning-fast strikes.

They maneuver quickly among their enemies, relying on their speed and their skill to see them through the battle.

Which implies the Dervish of Dawn must use light armor, and a scimitar. However, nothing about the actual archetype mechanics prohibit using other armors or weaponry -- they still get fighter weapon and armor proficiencies, and none of their abilities say 'while wearing/wielding' on them.

Basically, the point I'm getting to is this: must a Dervish of Dawn wield only a scimitar? Or can they wield any weapon they choose?

As a follow-up, I'm also curious about the ability below:

Desert Stride (Ex)

At 7th level, a dervish can move through 10 feet of difficult terrain each round as if it were normal terrain. This benefit stacks with the benefits provided by the Acrobatic Steps and Nimble Moves feats.

This ability replaces Armor Training 2.

As I read it, if a character can move through 10 feet of difficult terrain each round as if it were normal terrain, it follows that the character could treat 5 feet's worth of difficult terrain as normal terrain and then 5 foot step into it, right?

Hey all,

I was just wondering...is there like a trait or something I could grab to make my Oracle's will save based on charisma instead of wisdom? Other than taking the Ancestor mystery, of course. Something like a trait; or feat or something.

I have a question about how metamagic feats work with regarding spontaneous domain casting spells.

Specifically, I'm looking at the Storm Druid archetype. As I'm sure we all know, the Druid is normally a prepared casting class. However, the Storm Druid gives up the animal companion for the ability to spontaneously cast spells from their domain (as well as some other tricks).

I'm wondering how metamagic feats work in relation to this ability to spontaneously cast a select number of spells. As I understand it, if one were a spontaneous caster and wanted to cast a metamagiced spell, they would have to sacrifice a casting of an appropriately higher level spell.

However, a prepared caster has to prepare their spells ahead of time and instead of preparing a spell of the appropriate level, they prepare a lower level spell that has been metamagiced.

So as I see it, there are three possible answers...spontaneous domain casters cannot metamagic their spontaneous spells (because the rules don't seem to outright say they can); they can prepare a metamagiced spell of appropriate level and 'lose' that casting to cast their domain spell spontaneously; or they can just prepare their spells as normal and spontaneously decree they are casting a lower level spell metamagiced by sacrificing an appropriately higher level spell they prepared as usual.

I'm inclined to think the third one makes the most sense...but I'm hardly an expert on these things (I've never really had a caster reach a point where metamagic becomes relevant...my current PFS Druid might reach that point though...eventually XP).

Hey all,

So I have a question about the wording of the of the Light Shield weapon description. It reads as follows:

You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A light shield's weight lets you carry other items in that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it.

Now the wording definitely allows one to hold an item in the off-hand with the shield. But what can one do with the item?

Basically, what I'm wondering is whether my character can use a wand in the same hand they hold a shield. I don't think a wand qualifies as a weapon...but then, what do I know?

If offensive wands qualify as weapons, it should be noted that I'm planning on using a buff wand in that hand (a wand of Vanish)...so I dunno if different rules would apply or if it is just a flat out 'nope' all around.

Hey all,

So I'm trying to get a feel for the viability of this build. I have really been wanting to play an Arcane Trickster for a while now and I always thought the Magus would work brilliantly as an entry to the class since it is a lot more of a martial character than the other arcane classes. And I really think I wanna give it a go at one of the local PFS groups. However, I'm rather torn about how to build it.

I've got it down to basically two possibilities: either a finesse wakizashi wielding Magus/Ninja/AT, or the strength based Katana wielding Magus/Ninja/AT.

But before we talk about those builds, let's talk about the fact that ATs suck at low levels. Which is something I'm not going to try and dispute. That said, I think that suckiness can be mitigated nicely in the case of the Magus/Ninja by getting all the non-AT levels done first, and then starting the AT at level 11. Way I figure it, the smart move is to level by going Magus 2, Ninja 1, Magus 5, Ninja 2.

Here's my reasoning: the main 'damage spell' of the Magus for the majority of the low levels is Shocking Grasp, a first level spell. With Magical knack, my caster level progression increases even when I take the Ninja levels so no loss in damage output there. Plus I gain 2d6s of sneak when I'm in flank/they are denied their Dex (and the proficiency in whatever main weapon I end up using). The only thing this costs me is access to the number of spells and when I gain access to higher level spells. Which isn't necessarily crippling, if one plays smart (which I intend to do).

What's more, and this is why I'm really leaning towards the strength build, at Magus 7 I can cast in Medium Armor without penalty. That means, mithral breastplate which is pretty sick. What's more, I can two-hand that Katana when the situation calls for it, or I can keep the off-hand free and deal spell damage with spell-combat.

The finesse build, by contrast, is going to have a higher AC at lower levels which is pretty big. However, they don't really get anything from the medium armor proficiency and they can't two-hand a wakizashi. What I do like is that it opens up the Spire Defender option so I can take proficiency with the whip and deliver touch spells with 15' reach. Not as a 'main attack' feature, but as a tactically useful ability. However, I'd give up spell recall which would definitely be a huge help to my gimped spellcasting though the ability to +5 a few choice skills that would be useful to a build like this is also pretty nice.

Anyways, opinions? Are either of these actually viable? If so, which one is the more viable? Or should I just give up and roll my pure martial Ranger Zen Archer?

Hey all,

So I'm sitting here thinking about versatile martial builds and I recall reading Treantmonk's switch hitter ranger build back in the day. However, I am rather more fond of the two-bladed sword then I am of two handed weapons and so I came up with this little concept which I'd love some critique on.

In essence, the character will be a high STR martial character taking TWF as his Ranger combat style. I'm thinking a stat block like this to start:

20 points, Half-Elf, Ranger

STR 17
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 08

The non-combat style feats will likely be stuff like rend, double slice, combat reflexes, weapon focus, improved crit...the normal stuff one would expect a melee character to take to increase damage potential with the two-bladed sword.

Now, to get the 'switch hitter' part of things, I am considering grabbing up to 10 levels of Zen Archer Monk for the free archery feats that bypass the DEX pre-reqs (notably, improved precise shot and many shot). Again, the focus of the build is to do the whole melee thing but be at least semi-competent with the bow.

I'd likely put the hunter's bond to my companions since I'd really gimp the leveling of an animal companion if I didn't go full ranger; and I'd likely grab the Skirmisher archetype again, because there's no point in having gimped spellcasting. Also, the Skirmisher abilities seem like they might work nicely with some of the monk ki abilities.

Does this seem like it'd work? I still end up with a pretty respectable 17 BAB; I get plenty of feats and a boatload of versatility.

Also, random follow up about taking multiple archetypes: if one takes an archetype that changes a class ability, could one also take an archetype that replaces that class ability?

For example, if I wanted to take Zen Archer Monk but also wanted to be a Sensei...could that be done? Zen Archer changes the rules of FoB so that it works only with the bow; but the Sensei gives up FoB entirely for their bard-like ability. Would such a build be permissible? Or because both are dealing with FoB at all, they can't stack?

Incidentally, I'm aware that it would defeat the point of my build if I did that...it just occurred to me randomly as I was thinking about stuff.

Hi all,

So I'm in a PFS group that's meeting on Sunday and I've been wanting to play a whip character for a while. I'm torn between two builds and I was hoping to get some opinions about which would be better suited towards PFS play.

The first is a finesse whip Bard taking two levels of Fighter (lore warden) for feats and HP and stuff. I'd start Lore Warden for extra health and feat. Level two would be Bard, and level three will be Fighter so I can get Combat Expertise. Race would be Musetouched Aasimar for the bonuses to CHA and DEX.

I really like the versatility of the bard class and the bardic performances are almost always useful. I also love the versatile performance ability of the Bards...basically, I like the bard because I can always do something even if it is merely maintaining a performance and giving everyone else bonuses to hits and damage. However, the build ends up being less than optimal for combat as it takes a lot of feats to really do everything the whip can do.

The second build is an Elf Spire Defender Magus because the ability to deliver touch spells at 15' reach through spellstrike is just too tempting to pass up. Like the bard, I get Combat Expertise free and I also get dodge, though I lose the ability to wear armor. However, I'm thinking of taking a level of Fighter (Cad or Lore Warden) for the armor proficiency.

Obviously, this build would end up being a lot more combat effective. Again, spellstrike + 15' reach weapon = win. I'd end up with more feats, and a much more offensive spell list. However, to make the stats do what I want, I have to really dump CHA and I really dislike doing stuff like that. I also lose the great versatility of the bard -- I'd be useless in any actual 'diplomacy' situation; and there's always the possibility of running into guys that are basically immune to whip style combat (though, I'd also have an Elven Curve blade as a backup weapon if I ever do have to hack and slash my way through the world).

So that's the question: Bard or Magus? My current leaning is towards Bard...but I know there'll be moments in my campaigns where that spellstrike and Magus spell list would be invaluable.

Follow ups: in either case, what should be the priority of a whip build in terms of feats (i.e. the whip mastery line, improved trip line, serpent's lash, etc)?

And: If you think Magus would be more useful, would it be better to go pure Magus or splash a level or two of fighter or something?

Alright. I know there have been several threads about this but most of the ones that are actually relevant seem to be over a year old. What's more, they never come to any kind of final ruling on the issue. So I'm hoping that in that year there has been some kind of definite answer given to my question.

What do I need to do to use a scorpion whip to trip opponents without taking any penalties?

Here's the the SRD about the scorpion whip:

It deals lethal damage, even to creatures with armor bonuses. If you are proficient with whips, you can use a scorpion whip as a whip.

Weapon Feature(s): performance (plus disarm, reach, and trip if you are proficient with whip.)

The bolded part is the bit that confuses me because I see two ways of reading that sentence.

On the one hand, that implies that if I'm proficient with just whips (and not scorpion whips), I can use a scorpion whip as a whip. Put another way, I am proficient at using the scorpion whip to do whippy things like tripping, disarming, and reaching. I could not use it to do a normal attack, or performance without taking penalties because I do not have the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Scorpion Whip).

On the other hand, the other way to read that would be to say with only the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Scorpion Whip), I can only use the scorpion whip as a 1d4 slashing performance weapon. Put another way, I am proficient with using the scorpion whip as a weapon but not as a whip. I can only do the disarming, tripping, and reaching if I have the additional proficiency in the normal whip.

Both of these seem equally plausible to me because in either case having the whip proficiency seems to entail some special talents which can work as stand alone talents (like in the first interpretation) or 'bonus' talents (like in the second).

I'm leaning slightly towards the second interpretation because when in doubt I always assume against the player; but the first does makes perfect sense to me.

So I ask you lot: if I want to use the scorpion whip to do whippy things (disarming, tripping, reaching) without penalties, what proficiency/proficiencies do I have to take?

Hey all,

So I've joined a PFS group that meets up on Sundays at a local game shop in Toronto and I'm thinking of rolling up an Archer Inquisitor with the Feather subdomain. At this time, I am also planning on splashing two levels of monk (either Sohei or Zen Archer) for feats, evasion, and the wisdom mod counting as armor and other stuff depending on which of the two monks I end up splashing with.

The question I'm fretting about is which race should I choose? I've narrowed it down to either the Garuda-blooded Aasimar or the Tengu.

In the case of the Tengu...I really like that swordtrained ability considering the Inquisitor is sorely lacking in the decent melee weapons department. Meaning right off the bat I can wield either a greatsword or Elven curve blade should I ever find myself in melee combat. However, I end up with weaker stats thanks to their -2 racial to CON.

In the case of the Aasimar...well, stats are better and darkvision is always a plus. However, I don't get my greatsword or curve blade (at least not right away). This is partially resolved if I take Sohei monk levels and get the greatsword proficiency that way. However, my build is going to be DEX focused so a weapon I can use with finesse would be better (like the curve blade). Yeah, I'd have to blow a feat on finesse, but it seems like it would be worth it.

I dunno...I guess my first question is how much, if at all, should I care about a melee weapon?

My current line of thinking is to go the Aasimar route and Sohei for proficiency at level 2.

I feel I should point out that Sohei isn't on the list simply for the martial proficiency...I like that I get Handle Animal as a class skill (since I'm getting a companion from my domain); I really like the Devoted Guardian ability; and I like that I get Mounted Combat feats for free (since I get a companion at -3, I figure best bet was a mount of some kind...Roc or Direbat or something).

Zen Archer is on the list because its feats are directly related to my Inquisitor's play style allow me more feats to spend on other things as I get the basic archery feats for free. That said, there is little else of interest in only going two levels of Zen Archer.

Anyways...suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Subject pretty much says it...I'm rolling up a character who is basically going to be a raging Storm Druid who flies around dropping lightning bolts on the heads of people. The character is an Aasimar and I have taken the alternate racial trait to have a fly speed with poor maneuverability.

Here's my question: is there anything that can be done to increase that maneuverability and/or fly speed that isn't Wild Shape dependent? The only thing I've stumbled upon is the Angelic Wings feat line for the Aasimar. However, I believe that would only increase the maneuverability to average where I was hoping for something even better (at least good).

Hello all,

I'm posting this here on behalf of our GM. We're looking to start up a weekly Pathfinder game on Wednesdays (either late afternoon, early evening). We have a GM, and three confirmed players and we're looking for one or two more to balance out the party. We will be running the Carrion Crown AP.

The sessions will take place at Jon's (one of the players) apartment which is about five minutes walk from the Bramalea bus terminal (Bramalea is basically Brampton). What else...

Oh, it'll be a 20 point buy, 2 traits, one of which has to be a campaign trait. All Paizo material is permissible. Non-Paizo is case-by-case and up to the GM's discretion.

The party make up so far:

Me -- a 'switch hitter' Ranger.
Jon -- a Harrower (will go Oracle or Sorcerer for entry depending on what is lacking)
Peter -- a combat Rogue.
and then our GM.

If you're keen, please feel free to PM me or reply to this thread. I promise to check it at least once a day until we find our player or we abandon the game.

Cheers,

Matt

Hey,

So I'm considering rolling up a Spellblade Magus/Knife Master Rogue/Arcane Trickster for a Way of the Wicked Campaign.

The idea behind this build is to have a spell-slinging melee striker that can get +2 keen weapons and dual-wield 'em for combat while still being able to pew spells at things that need pewing. The big question mark I have concerns the Knife Master and, specifically, the sneak stab supplement. The description reads:

A knife master focuses her ability to deal sneak attack damage with daggers and similar weapons to such a degree that she can deal more sneak attack damage with those weapons at the expense of sneak attacks with other weapons. When she makes a sneak attack with a dagger, kerambit, kukri, punching daggers, starknife, or swordbreaker dagger, she uses d8s to roll sneak attack damage instead of d6s. For sneak attacks with all other weapons, she uses d4s instead of d6s.

I added the bold here because this is what I hope to get clarified: do spells like magic missle or fireball that do not require an attack roll count as weapons in this case? If not, then wouldn't the Arcane Trickster's Surprise Spells ability apply the regular d6s of damage to flat-footed opponents?

I mean I know a ray counts as a weapon (if I can take weapon focus: ray, it is a self-evident proposition that a ray is a weapon XP) and a touch attack seems to treat one's hands as a weapon, so that also makes sense. But a spell is a spell, and not strictly speaking a weapon, it seems to me. And the descriptor of the archetype points to 'weapon' explicitly and not 'source of damage' or something similar to include non-weapon based damage sources.

Mind out the gutter, boys XP

Basically, do you guys remember that scene in The Mummy with Brandon Frasier when they enter the tomb full of the mirrors and the woman turns one of the mirrors to reflect the sunlight throughout the chamber?

Do mirrors positioned that way have a name?

So, I've been toying with the concept of an Outer Rifts Oracle who splashes into Diabolist. Essentially, I thought it'd be kinda neat to sorta tie the whole demon/agent of Hell thing together. I figure this Oracle would be a devotee of Asmodeus because he's one of the higher ups in Hell. In fact, with the Haunted Curse, I figure it could even be Asmodeus himself sorta behind it....

But anyways, my question arises from a line in the Oracle character description. It says:

Each oracle draws upon a divine mystery to grant her spells and powers. This mystery also grants additional class skills and other special abilities. This mystery can represent a devotion to one ideal, prayers to deities that support the concept, or a natural calling to champion a cause. For example, an oracle with the waves mystery might have been born at sea and found a natural calling to worship the gods of the oceans, rivers, and lakes, be they benign or malevolent. Regardless of its source, the mystery manifests in a number of ways as the oracle gains levels. An oracle must pick one mystery upon taking her first level of oracle.

So basically, I can choose anything to be the source of the Oracle's powers. However, the Mystery I'm interested in, Outer Rifts, lists the deities Iomedae, Groetus, Lamashtu, demon lords...Asmodeus is not one of the deities explicitly associated with this Mystery.

So my question then is this: are those deities listed in the various mysteries only there for as 'suggestions' or is it 'if you worship a God and want this mystery it *must* be one of these Gods who oversee that domain'?

So I'm rolling up an Arcane Trickster with Magus Spire Defender giving me the caster side of entry. Its a 20 point buy and my stats look something like this:

STR 14
DEX 16
CON 10
INT 18
WIS 08
CHA 10

The concept, like most tricksters, will be ambush with spells and bow (you have free improved invisbleness, why not use it?) However, I am picking up the Spire Defender because of the added combat versatility. Basically, they get free proficiency with the whip which adds some...interesting possibilities.

Basically, my question is this: with stats like these, is it worth grabbing Weapon Finesse for a +1 bonus to attack? At first blush, I'm inclined to say its not worth it considering most of my attacks will be from range anyway and the melee stuff will be situational at best but maybe I'm overlooking something? Anyways, two cents'd be appreciated.

Right, so my university's roleplaying group has decided to start a bi-weekly PF campaign which begins in basically two weeks. The group is rather obscenely large, consisting of 7 PCs and then one GM.

At last count, our party consists of 2 fighters (one dwarf, one as yet undetermined), 1 paladin, 1 ranged ranger, 1 rogue, and 1 cleric. Obviously, what is lacking in terms of balance is an arcane caster of some kind.

So I rolled a wizard...but then I realized I hate wizards -.-*

And now I'm rolling a sorc...but I'm also realizing that the bloodlines are painfully lame (we're playing with just the core rulebook). The only two that seem even remotely useful are the Fey, Elemental, or Infernal bloodlines but even that is really pushing it as, at best, I'm only likely to use two of the free feats either bloodline offers and the spells of each are...meh. The DC bonuses of either the Fey or Infernal are pretty nice...the Fey's moreso then the Infernal because of their being only 4 subschool charm spells in the core. The elemental ability to switch the damage of any spell to my bloodline type is also pretty cool...but which to take? Inevitably, I know I'll pick the wrong one and end up utterly useless for most of the campaign. The abilities that any of them get are kind of a wash as well because odds are this game will, at best, make it to level 8 before we all disappear back to the ethers from whence we came as that's when school let's out and we take like 3 months off so deciding based on the capstone is rather moot.

I'm just...not excited. I feel like I'm basically...forced into this kind of role that I really don't wanna have. I've played casters before (albeit mostly in PC games as opposed to tabletops) and I'm less than keen about 'em. TBH, I really wanted to roll an Arcane Trickster focused on maximizing ranged sneak attack damage but given we've already got a ranger and a rogue...the only real use my character would be is in terms of casting in which case, may as well go full wizard which really isn't interesting to me at all.

In the very back of my head, I'm thinking that a bard would be a fantastic addition - we're such a physical attack/damage oriented party that the benefits of the inspire courage and those types of spells just grow exponentially. But then we'd be really f%~!ed any time we come across something that requires...you know...actual magical talent. I mean, bard tricks about CC and stuff are neat, but can they make up the difference of a dedicated nuke?

Also considering a Druid...but again, we've just got got such an obscenely huge party as it is that their summoning/animal companion is rather moot - one only has so many squares around a monster one can fill up. As far as going basically straight Druid Caster...I don't think they'd be strong enough to make a significant difference. But I could be wrong as Druids are basically one of those classes that I never really consider.

Anywho...suggestions about stuff would be appreciated. And bonus points if you can inspire me to give a s!%@ again ^^

So, we recently started playing a campaign and I rolled an Inquisitor. We are only level 3 currently and so far one of my more potent skills at the moment is Intimidate thanks to the Conversion Inquisition (which basically switches the CHA mod to INT to a WIS mod to INT). With a 16 WIS, that's a +3 bonus...throw in the class skill and the Inquisitor Stern Gaze ability...that's a +7 on Intimidate checks that gets higher and higher as I level.

Anyways, my question surrounds the last part of the Intimidate description which reads as follows:

After the intimidate expires, the target treats you as unfriendly and may report you to local authorities.

Now, I asked my GM about it and my GM is currently planning to roll a d100 where basically every time I make an Intimidate check in a town, village, city, etc there will be a 50% chance that the intimidated NPC will report me to the authorities.

To which I responded, 'That's absurd. There are different ways of intimidating someone. Suppose I just shoot them an angry look...that's just as likely to get me reported as threatening to smash their head in?'

My GM replied stating something akin to 'if you use the dice on an Intimidate check, its up to the dice to decide what happens.'

As indicated above, I think that's completely ridiculous. Half the reason I'm taking the Intimidate skill is because its both a social skill AND a combat skill (I plan to take Dazzling Display [Intimidate check to all creatures in a 30 foot area]) with the other half of the reason being that my class gives it a pretty major boost (1/2 Inquisitor level). If its only useful in combat - for fear of failing my 'deal with the guards roll' -...I'm infinitely less keen on taking it.

I am aware that if I've done nothing wrong, guards may tell the NPC to bugger off and even if they get involved, it wouldn't affect the game in a significant way. However, I really don't want to slow down gameplay dealing with the 'gray' issues - like shooting a threatening look or saying something like 'it'd be a shame if someone were to set fire to your [insert valued noun here].' You know...indirect and vague enough that the NPC gets the idea, but not so direct and clear that they can prove it was a threat.

Anyways, I'm curious what the other interpretations of that part of the rule is and - more importantly - how you go about ruling whether or not the person is going to alert the authorities.

Okay, so I've never played any kind of tabletop game before and my roommates who are rather veteran players of Pathfinder (and, indeed, tabletops in general) have opted to start a campaign using the core rules, advanced players guide, and the Ultimate Magic book as well.

Initially, I wanted to build a Rogue/Wizard/Assassin/Arcane Trickster. The theory was that by taking particular levels and spells and so on, my PC could basically magically teleport himself to an opponent and, basically, instant kill them in virtue of the Assassin's abilities (the name escapes me atm and I'm far too lazy to go get the actual guidebook). Our GM deterred me from this build arguing, effectively, it would be far too powerful and would make the game less challenging/fun for the other players.

To that end, I decided to fill in another role the group was missing: a tank. Upon reading up on various races and classes and so on down the line, I stumbled across what I think is a rather brilliant idea for an inquisitor tank.

End of the day, the build is going to be FTR 1/MNK 2/INQ 17.

FTR 1 I took it for armor and shield proficiencies as well as the bonus feat.

MNK 2, I took because of the bonus feats which I otherwise would not have access to - namely, dodge. Additionally, I'm rolling a Monk of the Sacred Mountain which means that at second level in lieu of evasion I get Toughness and a Natural Armor bonus +1.

The remainder will go into Inquisitor, obviously. At 17, my character can use judgment 6 times a day, activates 3 judgments at a time can cast 6th level spells...additionally, my character can use the Slayer ability, as well as most of the free teamwork feats (save the one at level 18.

I do miss out on the capstone, I am aware...however, I was hoping to avoid insta kill abilities given my companions apparent dislike for them.

"Why not just roll a standard sword and board fighter and take him up to level 20?"

Frankly, because they're boring. No offense to any fans of the fighter out there, its just that...well, there's not really any substance to a fighter - in my opinion. At the end of the day, I'd be bored playing a straight fighter for several hours a week.

I also rather love the idea of being a battle cleric and the Inquisitor seems like its geared to be just that. Just enough casts to do some epic self/group buffs with the occasional heal or control spell in the background if you need it. Not to mention the absolute brilliance of those judgment abilities.

Anyways, back to it. My character at the moment is a human female name Serra. My starting stats as I conceive them look something rather like this:

STR 16
DEX 12
CON 18
INT 10
WIS 15
CHA -7

Our GM ruled that we've 25 points to buy our stats with. I put the Human +2 into CON. First level, I'm selecting Fighter for the bonus wealth, proficiencies, and feat.

My starting feats?

Exotic Weapon Proficiency - Bastard Sword
Power Attack
Cleave

At level two, I put the point into Inquisitor.

Levels three and four will be the monk, again for the bonus feats and natural armor bonus (I do plan on wearing heavy armor eventually...yes, that negates the monk's natural wisdom/dex armor...and were I more of a caster type, maybe that'd make sense. But end game, my wisdom could only be 20 which is a +5. With my dex, that's a +1 bringing total bonus AC to 6 with only two levels of Monk...just standard Full Plate armor is what...+9 AC with a +1 Dex bonus? Just makes more sense to do that, imo).

The remainder of points go Inquisitor where I'll pick up various feats that are combat oriented. I was considering taking Extend spell...extending the length of time my buffs last? That sounds like a brilliant idea to me...but I can't decide if its worth sacrificing a combat feat for it.

Anyways! Is this going to be feasible? Or am I just completely boned?