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Thank you again! We play again tomorrow. We left off in the middle of exploring some caves. When I get a chance to rest, I will try out some of these spells. I have used control water (when we were stuck on a reef by wreckers). It's one of my "go tos" when we are on the ship along with quench and control winds. But I've not really used most of the others suggested.
Thanks again for the tip. I have a while before I level, so it will be a while before I pick up spell penetration. I've been all over the place with spells as I try to figure out my niche, but I would say some of my go to spells in combat are liberating command (we get grappled a lot), barkskin, call lightening, mad monkeys, flamestrike, firesnake, baleful polymorph. I get to use more of my weather spells when we are on the ship. I actually do pretty well there. If I may be so bold, I think I was the most helpful PC when it came to winning the regatta but for a pirate campaign, being on the high seas seems to be the exception rather than the rule. But that's probably due to the party wanting to do quests more so than hunt for and loot ships.
Thank you Khan. I've also been working with my GM too (he's really smart and has great ideas). He's telling me to focus on battlefield control vs damage. He also mentioned our party doesn't make a lot of knowledge checks (which would help us). Here is the build, if more info is needed, please let me know. I should note we are playing with bonus progression. S: 10
Feats:
Skills
As far as magic items go, they seem hard to buy. Not that I have a lot of gold at 793gp. I use a gold crafting scrolls. I've literally found nothing I want to buy at any port and I've found little druid stuff adventuring. All of this (except the ring of swimming and the wands) were gear I started with). I have a slew of scrolls I made (and I can make more)
My starter character for this campaign, a seasinger bard, died two levels ago. I built her to be mainly a buffer and she was really helpful to the party. But she was really soft in combat and when she was surrounded by enemies she died quickly (it was a fight the party started at a party... they attacked the host. So I was caught off guard, my character was in a bad place, and was cut down and dead in less than two rounds. I didn't even get to swing a single punch). Anyway, I rolled up an 8th level storm druid to replace her with the idea of being better able to protect myself. She recently reached level 10. The druid has been great defensively. I am good at keeping her alive no matter what. But I don't think I am contributing much to the fights. My spells and abilities don't seem to do anywhere near as much damage as melee. I tend to fail my caster rolls or our enemies have spell resistance or make their saves. When I do damage, it's peanuts compared to melee. I can be helpful, but it seems very situational. To top it off, I am really not a good player when it comes to druid mechanics. I am slow playing because I have to look up wildshape forms and I am still learning the spells. I use other players turns to come up with what I think are good ideas and look things up and make a plan, only to find out when I announce my actions that its not allowed or I misread how something works. Sometimes the situation changes and what I planned to do is not longer needed (the enemy I was going to attack is now dead). So then I scramble and rush to come up with an alternative idea for my turn and it's a crummy one. I tend to just quickly use Lightening Arc and Storm Burst so as not to hold up the game too long. So I am thinking I am just not contributing to the fight right and could use some advice. I never played a druid before this and it didn't help that I jumped in at level 8 so I didn't learn along the way. Any tips on what I should be doing? Focus on buffing, debuffing, am I supposed to deal damage but am not doing it right? What should be my go to actions in combat to be useful? For what it's worth, I am pretty good a RP I think. I have an interesting backstory and even after playing her for several sessions and two levels, the party still hasn't figured it all out and they are confused by her a little. Her mood changes, literally, with the weather. And she keeps a cursed doll because she's in love with it and thinks someday it can become a real person. She's also a bigamist and has several husbands scattered around the Shackles. But somehow, she manages to get into the good graces of important NPCs (I play her mood to the weather and it just kind of works out--I think the GM is helping with that, haha). But I really want to have just as much fun in combat as I do when we are in town and I get to role play her. We seem to do a lot more combat/adventuring than RP, so most times I literally am not having fun. I need help. Thanks!
Ryze, yeah, I know Q is impossible. But it was the first thing that came to mind. haha. I like the idea you came up with for a character, it's funny because my bard (that died in this campaign and who was replaced by the druid) was built fairly similar as far as feats go. I really liked that character and still am a bit sad that she died. It was hopeless though. We were at a party and the rest of the PCs started a fight by attacking the host of the party... the problem was I was surrounded by the host's friends and wasn't ready to fight since we were in the middle of a party. They cut my character to ribbons in two rounds. She tried to escape in the first round while trying to talk her way into not being killed (pleading she didn't start the fight), but she was dead by the second round.
Thanks again! I did base this new character off a combination of two historical pirates (I got the idea from watching a documentary series on pirates). I like the character concept, I just find the druid a bit cumbersome with all the spells and spell rules. I might try to give this character more of a chance and, like another poster suggested, treat her more like a spontaneous caster by focusing on just a few spells. That might help. As far as who I would want to play... Q from Star Trek, haha. I guess that means I want to be a GM. but for a more reasonable character to play, I kind of like Lagertha from the TV series Vikings. She's more fantastical than I am, but I see some of my life in her fictional one and I empathize with her a lot. I also really like Bella Lind from the novel, Pushing Ice. Although if I think about it, my character from my last campaign was a lot like Bella... in fact, at the very end of the campaign, she voluntarily sacrificed herself for the good of the party and an entire kingdom that she was ruler of (it was a good way for the character to die).
Thanks for the suggestions. There are some great ideas in here. I will think about all of them and see if I can adjust things in a way that works for me. I will leave creating a new character as one of the last options. I have some fun ideas for my druid, but the RP just isn't there yet. I will keep re-reading the comments here and think about things. You are all very helpful, thank you so much!
I am not sure what it is, I suspect it's because we started playing Pathfinder remotely (on a website now) with the pandemic, but anymore I find playing the game a chore. I am contemplating quitting. And please understand this is something to do with me... the GM is doing a great job and the other players seem to be having fun. So it's not them. I think the reason for this is even though I've never been a good player, at least in between turns I could socialize a little or pick the brains of my fellow players about my next move (they are very helpful). Now, I have a turn and it's 20 minutes of silence before my next turn. I get bored--what made the game fun for me is gone (interacting with the people in the group). But maybe if I could be a better and more valuable part of the party, I would enjoy things more. It's worth a shot. Like I said, part of the problem is I am just not a good player and I no longer can lean over and ask someone who knows the rules better if my idea will work the way I think. I wish I had more free time to dedicate to learning all the rules better, but it's just not a luxury I have (busy job with long hours, single parent, dealing with a mother with health issues, etc). And to top it off, I am playing a spell caster. Which is even more complicated because of all the spells and the rules around those. But the group needed one, so I made storm druid. I really wish I was playing something simpler... I was for a while, but my bard died a fee months ago. Things really went downhill for me since then when I think about it. So any advice and tips on shortcuts I can use to better my play would be helpful. I've made index cards of some of my spells, but there are just so many that it's more impractical to use the cards than to just use the web to look up the spells. I end up trying to flip though pages and look up spells and skills for things I want to do, think I got it, only to find out I am wrong. Or worse, the battlefield changed and now I need a new plan. The spells usually don't do what I think they will do (usually I over estimate how good they will be) and I feel like it frustrates the GM and the other players. I know I feel frustrated myself because I feel like I am bogging things down for everyone. I enjoy role playing. In the past, what I lacked in game mechanics knowledge, I could usually make up for with RP and being clever about things. I tried to make my character more interesting by making her mood tied to the weather (she calm and happy in clam, sunny weather and chaotic and almost mad in stormy weather). And I thought it would be funny if I have a lover in every port--usually caused by being there during a stormy day and acting irresponsibly. I even had the character "fall in love" with a doll during a bad storm and the doll ended up being cursed. But I think the online way we play doesn't lend itself well to RP because it just seems so inconsequential. And I seem to have lost my way of being clever with NPCs to change the outcome of things. I think the GM tries, but it falls flat with the other players and they don't pick up on it like they would when we played in person. Maybe if I can think of a better way to RP online, that would being some spice back in to the game for me. Please, help me think of ways to hang in there. Hopefully this online playing will only be a short time more (a lot of the people in my group are high risk, so playing in person isn't really an option just yet). But I am at my breaking point. For months, the game has felt more like a chore than something fun to do. I've been pushing myself because I know it means a lot to my friends and I have hopes of playing in person again soon. Thanks! Edit to add, we are playing Skull and Shackles (if that helps with ideas).
I might be using the wrong term then. I am still pretty green at a lot of Pathfinder. I started playing five years ago, but this druid I am building is only my fourth character that I am building. The guys I play with have been playing these kinds of games for 20-30 years. All I know is they build characters that are outstanding in battle (seem to dish out a lot of damage and never get hit or if they do get hit, can absorb it all somehow), but usually not so great out of battle/in RP situations. They don't seem to have many out of combat skills either. This is how I seem to end up always being the party face for RP situations and often, the only one role playing. In turn, what we fight seems to dish out a lot of damage. I routinely see enemies doing damage in excess of how many HP I have in a round. And this was the same in our last campaign too. At that time I blamed picking a poor class, a rouge. I really thought I built my bard well, but I was wrong. I just don't know how people do that which is why I am asking for help with this character. It's obviously a knowledge thing about this game I don't have if I am the only one who is always weak. I think it's party of how I approach making a character too. Thanks for the feat tips. I will rethink things again. Maybe I should get craft feats? Maybe that and some things to help keep out of harms way like Dodge and such. I need to look at the spells more closely. Maybe that's my next step, actually read all the spells on the list and figure out what they do. I only skimmed them at this point. What about the items I've picked? I only get once chance at that and, like I said, it's rare to find magic items in our campaign. So if there are any should haves, I need to pick them now. It's funny, I picked storm druid on a whim. I just like the idea of having a character on the ship that could control the weather and have a personality tied to the weather. Now I am starting to think I picked a class too complicated for me. But at least I have a couple of weeks to figure this all out.
I am going to have to shelve the idea of the super hidden druid. After talking to the GM and reviewing the traits and feats, it's just not going to fly, sorry. It's also too much of a change. My old character died 10 minutes into our last gaming session, so the GM let me quickly build a a druid so I could play. But he did give me permission to do minor tweaks later. So I went back to the beginning and tried to think things over again. My goals: - Fun character to play RP-wise, but more viable in battle than my last character who was all buffing and social skills and went down like a sack of potatoes when she got into melee. - A spell casting, storm druid who stays away from battle to stay alive. Things to consider: - We are out to sea, but not all the time. It's a pirate campaign. Still, lots of open water and open skies. - Magic items seem really, really rare. So I am inclined to have "must haves" now. I doubt I will ever be able to buy them. - The other players tend to min/max. That's not my style, I am more of a build an interesting character type, but the GM has to compensate with min/maxed enemies so I have to consider it or else this character will die too. Things I am questioning: - How good is summoning Nature's ally for a storm druid anyway? Is it worth maybe taking the feats Spell Focus: Conjuration and Augment Summoning? Especially considering min/maxed enemies? - Should I pick up an item creation feat considering how hard it is to find items? We have an alchemist who crafts potions. Maybe I should pick up wands or scrolls? Can't do this if I go with the summoning feats above. - Maybe for my missing feat I should consider dodge for more bonuses to my AC. Going back and tweaking things to be a bit harder to hit and to make the most out of my spell casting, I came up with this (let me know what you think or if you have suggestions): Level 8 Human (Mwangi) druid, Storm Druid archtype. Str: 10
HP: 67
Feats:
Traits:
Items (we only get 16,500 starting gold at level 8 because we use Automatic Bonus Progression): Magic: Ring of eloquence
Non-magic:
With the armor and in diminutive form with barkskin, I am fairly hard to hit. I think my AC is a 26 or 28. I can also maybe use an air elemental form too. I can stay medium size and have a 28 AC.
I am considering, instead of the stealthy feats, getting spell focus so I can get augment summoning.
Ok, what books are you allowed / disallowed? The GM wasn't 100% clear, way back, but he helped me set up Hero Lab on my computer and showed me which books to load/which books he uses. If I don't see it in Hero Lab, it's pretty much off the list since he doesn't have it. Some of the feats you listed weren't in Hero Lab although I found them online. In the email when he gave us info to build characters, he told us this: Most basic Paizo. Mythic Adventures, Occult, and Horror are strictly forbidden. Pirates handbook, Weapon Master's Handbook, and Armor Master's Handbook encouraged. If I have any questions, ask him. I am now focusing on being very hard to hit and casting from afar (summon nature's allies, using other spells, and staying way up in the air as bird, only to come into battle when needed). The player who plays the party alchemist said he could make me as many invisibility potions as I want (I actually think he feels bad about how the party left my old character hanging out to dry).
Well, it looks like all the stealthy stuff isn't going to work. We aren't using the books most of those feats and traits are in. And there is no one in the party that can use the wand of greater invisibly. But I can still try to make myself as stealthy as possible. I will keep working on the build. We don't play again for a couple of weeks. I am going to focus on casting and staying far out of battle. And, I am playing this character with a personality that she will leave a fight if the party hangs her out to dry... no more party face that gets the stuffing beat out of her since she negotiated safe passage into a party only to have her comrades break their word. This new character is going to be standoffish in social situations (introverted) and a little more selfish when it comes to self preservation. that should keep this new character alive. The funny part is going to be they all use charisma as a dump score when min/maxing. Should be entertaining. In fact, to add insult to injury, not only is my old character dead, but my new character is just a ship's rigger. They didn't give me an officer position (I used magic to help rescue them from the angry town mob with my new character and asked to be the Ship's Wizard or Boatswain). But they made me a rigger... basically an NPC class. Their logic is the party doesn't know the new character that well, that didn't stop them from making another player's new character an officer right away, soon after one of his characters died and he rolled a new one. I hope they understand that's also going to mean in naval combat, I am in the sails like an NPC, not casting my druid spells. And if the captain orders me to use spells, I will say, "Sounds like you need a Ship's Wizard... too bad you turned me down unless you want to promote me now." It will make for an awkward RP situation, but they deserve it. I may still be a little miffed that the party let me die. haha
I really like this idea... a lot.
I've played with these same guys for years now and I think it's just this pirate campaign or something. They are taking an every man for himself kind of attitude (being cut throat pirates and all). Although I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit miffed that I pointed out I was almost dead and needed help (meta gaming) and still no one tried to help me. I built a team player kind of character and it's just not working with a bunch of pirates. They will miss her bonuses from inspire, haste, and spells like good hope. I think, with a magical horn I had, I was up to buffing the party +6 to attacks, +5 to damage, +1 to AC, +2 to fort and will saves, +3 to reflex saves, and one extra attack plus improved movement speed. I don't think they realized how much of the damage they were doing and saves they were making was really my character. Back to the druid,I did think about blasting, but maybe I will put that idea aside and focus more on the stealth, battlefield control, and not getting hit. And I like your RP idea with the weather better than mine. It will be fun to play (especially in stormy weather).
Thanks for the tips. I will ask my GM about the elemental forms. My guess is he will say no, but it never hurts to ask. The tip on taking stealth is a good one too. We really don't have a stealthy character in our party, I bet I will fill that role. We do have a lot of sea battles which is part of the reason I thought a storm druid would be really useful.
I have elemental spell (which makes a spell one level higher) but I can see I am not using it correctly. I should make elemental spell acid, or cold, or something if I am going to use it with call lighting. I am going to look into your suggestion for feats as well. Yeah, I really don't want to get into melee if I don't have to. Like I said, the other characters are so min/maxed that the GM has to do the same to enemies to make things a challenge for our monk and brawler. My poor bard was turned into mince meat in just three rounds. I literally had time to first round try to make a diplomacy roll to diffuse things, round after that cast haste and inspire, and I was dead before my next action which was going to be take a step back and vanish (spell). I went from 51 to -11 hp in that time. I liked the idea of being able to fly in the air and cast in diminutive bird form (I know people will shoot at me) but I thought I might like to also be able to do things in melee too just in case there is a repeat of what happened to my bard. I will look into your suggestions on that too. Funny thing, my bard was super social (which is why she was in the middle of the party, surrounded by people in the first place). My druid isn't fond of people or settlements. She avoids crowds and probably won't go to any pirate parties. Maybe I've been scarred by my bard's death. haha
Thanks for the tips. Is there a reason to have a metamagic feat with magical lineage? I just don't see the connection (but then again I tend to be short sighted about these things which is why I am asking for a little guidance). I see what you mean about stats if I was going to fight in wildshape as melee. I was thinking more of staying out of the way, dodging any shots fired towards me in the sky. But maybe that's too unbalanced. If there is a good way to not be melee, I am fine with that. Like I said, I would prefer to fly in the air, out of melee range and cast spells (or possibly pull people out of harms way like I did when my new character mt the party).
My character in Skull and Shackles died. Mainly due to the party doing something reckless (in my opinion). They started a fight and killed the local lord at a party we were invited to. They started this fight with my character standing right by fighter types on the lord's side. So, in the combat, my squishy character was attacked and also not helped by the party (across the room killing the lord) and died quickly (in three rounds). She was a seasinger bard and really did a lot to buff the party, spread our infamy, and acted as the party face. The other players just seem to be more interested in chaos and combat rather than role play or social interactions. Our party consists of a Brawler, Monk, Inquisitor (who doesn't really heal although I think he can), and an Alchemist. The other players are really, really good at min/maxing while I am more of an RP, build character story kind of player. I spent days building a backstory, motivations, and goals for my, now dead, character. The GM has to adjust our encounters for these min/maxed characters too. That stinks for me since I am not a min/maxer. I think that's part of the reason my character died in just three rounds of combat. I need to make something that can survive better. I am building a storm druid, level 8. I don't really want to min/max too much because I want a character that is interesting. But I really need to have a character that can dish out damage, not rely on the party for help, and the party needs someone who can heal and such. My character concept is a somewhat carefree druid who is moody like the weather. I even considered tying her personality to the weather (in good weather she's happy go lucky and pleasant but during storms she's angry and mean). She has no real aspirations or goals (that backfired on me with my other character, the party is too chaotic). She just likes to travel around like the wind. She also likes to spend time in wild shape, not human shape--especially birds (so she can cast spells and attacks from above). But what I really need help with are the raw numbers, feats, stats, that sort of thing. I could use some guidance to make sure I am not making any fatal errors. Here is what I have so far (we use a 20 point buy and skill progression): Str: 10
HP: 67 Feats:
Traits:
I am not going to go into skills but I have a lot of points on knowledge nature, survival, perception, and diplomacy (someone has to do it and most of my friends use charisma as a dump stat). I am not sure what gear to get at this point. I am thinking about some kind of wildshape armor. While I like the idea of casting spells from above, maybe I can do something to make myself a good melee fighter in wild shape? I can tweak this character a little but not too much. The GM let me bring her in mid adventure (since my other one died within the first 30 minutes of our latest game). But he's okay with me tweaking things afterwards since it was a rush job to get me back in the game. I just have to be careful that the changes aren't too major. I didn't even have any gear when I played. I am stuck with druid and probably the feat powerful shape too because I specifically used it to save some of the party from an angry mob and guards. But I think I can change other things like stats, skills, and other feats (and like I said, I need to add gear). Thanks for any help!
Well, the problem solved itself. My character died. We finished up the battle this week and had to escape the city since all the guards and citizens turned on us. My character didn't make it. The problem she had was she was very squishy. I built her as a party buffer, so she didn't do a lot of offensive damage. No one had her back during the fight and she was taken out by someone with an ax that did about 25 points of damage each round. I only had 51 HP. I have a new character now. A druid. I need to polish her up before the next game.
Thanks again! I sent my group an email about all this. No one replied yet (but that's not unusual). Our GM often tells us to discuss things between sessions so we know what we want to do when we play and they often wait until a few days before the next game.
Thanks for the ideas. You last sentence is a good concept! Thank you! It was really weird why my party went nuts. Only the alchemist was as shocked as I was and kept trying to end things (he tried to heal Raffles but couldn't get near him). I am not sure if the other players were getting bored with the social interaction and RP or what (I tend to be the only person who seems to put much stock in things like charisma and associated skills and this whole gaming session was RP, not fighting). I've never written down my character's code, I just knew of a concept I had and how she would act. But having to write things down, her code is something like this: Keep her word.
I am trying to figure out what to do. If I RP my character correctly, she would leave the party. But I don't want to roll another character. So I am trying to figure out how to make this work. I have a LN (lawful in that she follows her own, personal code) seasinger bard whose long-term goal is to be an information broker in the shackles. To that end, she's been trying to make friends and contacts throughout the Shackles. Being trust worthy is her brand. She's started a small secret society of bards that she calls, "The Deep Water Society" it's a fraternity for pirate bards to share information and look out for each other. It's very, very small... I've only recruited a few. But she hopes one day to grow it and be a power in the Shackles in her own right. Anyway, the rest of the party isn't acting in a way that's good for making allies and being trustworthy. We were sent by The House of Stolen Kisses to investigate what's going on with Jolis Raffles. We were supposed to get him to go back to what he does (which we interpreted as being getting him back to freeing slaves) or replace him. My character made friends with Raffles underlings and, in exchange for an audience with Raffles, promised no harm would come to him. We were invited to a party. It was fun, we were mingling, I ran into some old friends and then, a fight broke out at the party. It was between an NPC friend and an NPC who killed a friend of ours, Rosie Cusswell (who happened to also be a friend of Jolis' first mate). Jolis' first mate joined the fray, and I, who wanted to help my friend and Jolis' first mate, started inspire courage. My GM said that he wouldn't consider it me getting directly involved in the fight, but kind of like I was egging on "my side." Then Jolis attacked our NPC friend by firing a crossbow at him. Jolis had a wager on the fight and with his first mate and me joining the side he was betting against, he figured he'd even things out so he didn't lose the wager. Then, for reasons I don't fully understand, our monk did a sneak attack on Jolis and basically killed him with a flurry of blows and a ki point. Our captain laid in the killing blow. Then all hell broke lose and to make a long story short we ended up killing just about everyone in the room... or should I say my party did. I kept inspiring and added haste, but also tried my best to diplomatically end things, especially with the first mate who my character felt was a friend and who was now really angry at the whole party for killing her Captain. I just didn't roll high enough to stop things. My character has been taking hits from the first mate, but won't hit back, she just keeps trying to talk. I am almost dead, but can get out of things if I want. I have an escape plan. We ended up having to leave the game in the middle of the melee and will pick things up next game. But I am the only character highly damaged and my guess is we will get though this and win the fight. Of course, we would have killed Jolis Raffles and all his guests except the handful of NPC friends we had there who joined our side. But here is the thing, there is no way my character would stick with her crew after this. It goes against everything she believes, everything she is, and everything she is working for. Of course, I can just ignore it and keep playing, but I really am more of an RPer and story person than stats and such. What can I do RP-wise to justify staying with the crew? I am thinking about insisting that the party get Jolis rezzed or she walks. He might be mad at us afterwards, and he was still harmed, but it's the only thing I can think of that my character would accept to make things right. There is one other hook. My character is searching for her lost uncle and the party has some leads. It would help her to find him by sticking with the party... but I don't know with the way I play her that she would compromise her personal code, even to find her uncle faster. Also, this is the second time the crew has betrayed someone. I (and my character) wasn't around the first time it happened. My character didn't like it, but since she didn't give "her" word and wasn't there, she overlooked it. But what if we can't do that? If no one can rez in the town (or if all of Bag Island turns on us for killing their leader and we just have to run)? How can I justify staying with the party/crew? I need some ideas to salvage my character. Thanks!
In Herolab, it says I can't add any more feats, "no more feats can be added". Our DM required that we take a story feat and I think it's counting that. But I checked and he intended it as a free feat to add some character, not to replace a feat. So I get to add a feat. Yeah! As you can probably tell, I love playing these kinds of games but am horrible at keeping track of the rules. I am using Herolab as a crutch to help me. But I missed that. I make up for my lack of remembering the rules by being very innovative in the game. I often throw the GM for a loop by doing things he didn't expect. In our last campaign, I literally won "fights" by diplomacy (I am the only one in my group who seems to care about charisma). And the end of that campaign, I made peace by allowing myself to be permanently imprisoned in another realm. Again, something he wasn't expecting, but it worked thematically. As for pyrotechnics. I always have a fire source. I light an arrow and launch it. Then I can cast the spell on the lit arrow. I aim for the sails (big, easy target that can burn some more). But like I said, I took that with the idea of taking other ships (blinding the crew to give us the upper hand) which is something we've only done twice now. We run away a lot because our ship isn't strong so the idea was get money (dungeon crawls), then build up the ship, then we can pirate. I think. And someone did try to burn our ship once already. But none of our main characters were there, we played the NPCs. But it would have been useful to put out the fire with a smoke cloud.
I do have a parrot as a familiar. But he is a little more foul mouthed and salty than just calling someone a scurvy dog.
I can't thank you all enough. I decided to keep my bard and incorporate some of your suggestions. By the way, that biting words spell looks like fun (I could even role play that). I don't see it on my spell list in Pathfinder, but I am going to ask my GM about it. And I did tell him I am going to pursue getting a bowstring.
Thanks again. I actually have the Three Reasons To Live. I've only had all three parts for the last playing session. I forgot I had it. I really need to make and highlight a note on my character sheet. We've only had a few battles since I got it though, so I haven't wasted it too long. I can't take Master Performer or Grand Master Performer. I already have a really elaborate backstory and none of it includes going to a bardic college. It wouldn't fit logically and I know, because of that, the GM would not approve. I would have had to indicate I went to that college early on. I have the background "Barroom Talespinner" which is almost the opposite of going to a college (self taught). I am going to add a level to my character in Herolab and add Deadly aim and haste to just "see" what she looks like after that. Maybe I will bring her up to level 8 as well, adding some of the suggestions. Thanks for your help!
Thanks for the tips so far. It almost sounds like I am just at a "bad level" for my character at the same time I am in a less than idea combat situation for her. So maybe there is some hope for saving her? That would be good. I made an elaborate backstory and motivations for my character that the GM (I think) is incorporating into the game. I hate to undo all that work he (and I) did. Plus I hate giving up. I don't think I was considering Deadly Aim (I was thinking Far Shot to I could better fire on closing ships) but I will definitely consider it. I rarely get to shoot at ships anyway (there is a whole lot less naval combat in this game than I though, which is part of the problem. I built a character for the water, not dungeon crawls/island exploration which seem to make up the bulk of our adventures). I had actually planned on haste as my first 3rd level spell. Last game I played we had a mage that cast that on us a lot. Loved it. I can unlearn spells every few levels if something on my list is less than stellar. I use grease a lot as well as vanish (mainly on the NPC healer). Pyrotechnics might seem odd, but it is how we take other ships (get close, I shoot a lit arrow, our crew hides their eyes, Boom). But we rarely get to take ships and I think the GM is going to start countering that somehow because I can see it annoys him when I blind most of the other crew before the battle starts. I have a wand of summon monster 1. I need to figure out how to better use it. I thought about glitter dust, but only because I've read it is so good. But I don't know that we've ever fought anything it would really help with. I am not even sure how you use it. How can you toss it at an invisible creature if you can't see where it is to aim the spell? This game involves a lot more dungeon crawling than I expected and that's where I seem weak and ineffective. By the way, trust me, our combats last much longer than 3 rounds. I would say 6 rounds on average (judging by the hash marks I use to keep track of bard song). We've also lost a lot of the characters on the way. There seem to be a lot of deaths (both NPC crew and PCs). I am surprised my character hasn't died yet, as I am sure you can tell by my questions, I am not really the most experienced or rules familiar player.
I posted a few days ago about rerolling a character for Skull and Shackles. I've just been really frustrated with my character not seeming to be useful to the party. I posted some of this before, but I will repost so people who didn't see my other post might know what I am talking about. I am playing a sea singer bard, but the character is not working like I thought. We are up to level 6 so I've been playing her for a while, but the more I play, the less useful my charter seems. I think she's not an asset to the party at all. Here are the issues I seem to have: I am too specialized. I barely get to use any of my sea singer skills. The only one I've ever had the chance to use was sea shanty at the beginning of the campaign since then, there has not been any opportunity to use them where it would help anything. The bard abilities I gave up for Sea Singer would have been useful quite a few times. Another issue, the other players are very experienced and very good at building strong characters where I am not. I suspect they may min/max which is fine, they seem to like it. We have creatures coming at us that hit with a roll of 30 and such, and do 20+ points of damage when they hit. I have to stay away from combat. My spells fizzle, a lot, as saves are made. I need to be able to be useful. I don't have to be fighting, but I need to contribute something. Not just sitting back, inspiring courage and watching arrows bounce off things (if I even hit). The thing that really disappointed me was the last playing session where the party took two NPCs along so they could have some healing, buffing, and magic (those should be my niche). The only niche I fill is party face because all of them used charisma as a dump stat. I've used that for some roll playing stuff, but I don't know if any of that is going anywhere (I am trying to build a secret society of bards... an information sharing network). We have a brawler, monk, inquisitor, and alchemist in the party. We used to have three melee characters when we started, so I went ranged. Here is my bard: Race: human
Str: 14
Feats: Point blank shot, Precise shot, rapid shot Spells: 0 Dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, mending, prestidigitation, read magic
Is there anything I can do going forward to make her stronger?
I want to personally thank everyone for the tips, but that would be a bit cumbersome with quotes. So than you all, especially Chillel. I've been running this by my GM too and he's actually suggesting a different class that I didn't think of (Oracle). I think I will build this witch first though, then look at the other.
I plugged it in to Herolab, but I will double check. I may have made a mistake. Although I think it might be because we are doing Automatic Bonus Progression which gives me another +2 to intelligence.
If, instead of moving this thread, would the moderators please delete it. I reposted in the right forum. Thank you!
I am currently a player in a Skull and Shackles campaign. I am playing a sea singer bard, but the character is not working like I thought. We are up to level 6 so I've been playing her for a while, but the more I play, the less useful my charter seems. I think she's not an asset to the party at all. I talked to the GM and he said I could make a replacement character this one time. Because I don't want to repeat the same mistakes, I thought I would seek extra help building a new character. Here are the issues I want to avoid again: I am too specialized. I barely get to use any of my sea singer skills. The only one I've ever had the chance to use was sea shanty at the beginning of the campaign since then, there has not been any opportunity to use them where it would help anything. But there have been times the bard skills replaced would have been helpful. So I want to avoid over specializing/making a character that relies on situations to be an asset. Other other issue, the other players are very experienced and very good at building strong characters where I am not. I want to have a strong character too. I suspect they may min/max which is fine, they seem to like it. I don't like doing that, I prefer balanced, but I need to do so while still being at their "level" so to speak. We have creatures coming at us that hit with a roll of 30 and such, and do 20+ points of damage when they hit. I need to be able to be useful when fighting that sort of thing. I don't have to be fighting, but I need to contribute something. Not just sitting back, inspiring courage and watching arrows bounce off the thing. I think the thing that sealed it for me was the last campaign where the party took two NPCs along so they could have some healing, buffing, and magic (that should be my niche). The only niche I fill is party face because all of them used charisma as a dump stat. So I am trying to build something fun to play, something the party actually needs. I've played a witch before, briefly, and I really had a lot of fun so I think I want to go that direction. The other characters in the party are a brawler (our Captain), a monk, an inquisitor, and an alchemist. So a nice full caster witch would fill a nice niche. I thought about a sea witch, but nixed the idea because I thought I was over specializing like I did with the sea singer. I could use any advice. This is a rough draft of sorts, but I want to make sure I am going in the right direction. We have a 20 point buy. Here's what so far: Race: Elf
Str: 10
Feats: Extra Hex, Extra Hex, Accursed Hex Hexes: Flight, Cackle, Evil Eye, Slumber, Water Lung, Prehensile Hair (love that the hair gives me 10 foot reach for touch attacks) Patron: Deception Skills: I don't know if breaking down all of them is that useful, but I put points in:
Background skills:
I haven't decided on weapons and I am still going though spells. I think I like some of the touch attack spells to use with my hair like chill touch or touch of idiocy. I will take healing spells, but may mainly use wands. Not sure about the heal hex as an option too (not just to heal, we run into a lot of undead). As for the character, I envision her as being a lot like a burnt out hippy with a quirky personality. But when battle starts (or someone makes her angry), she will turn into the opposite she will be focused and no-nonsense and be a real, well, witch. Should be an interesting contrast. She's going to be very chaotic, so her motivation is she's just bored with what she's doing now and piracy sounds like fun. Thanks for any help with this.
Hello everyone! I am excited, next week we start a new campaign, Skull and Shackles! I am playing a sea singer bard who mainly fights using a bow. I have two bards built. One human and one aasimar (one of the other races our DM is allowing). I really can't decide between the two. I have two different backstories for each that should be fun. I think I like the aasimar's story a little better than the human's story. Both are equally good at being bards (performance, charisma, spells, etc). Both have the exact same stats except strength. Both have all the same skills, spells, and equipment. I used Treantmonk's guide to archer bards to help me (with a little bit of tweaking since I am playing a sea singer). I just need some help deciding which to play. I tend to be short sighted when it comes to planning characters for later on. I ended up not liking my early choices with my last character so I want to avoid doing that again. Which would be better/more fun? Which would be better to keep playing (at higher levels)? Or maybe I am just over thinking things and should roll percentile dice. Aasimar advantages: I like my backstory idea for her a little better. She is slightly better than the human with slightly higher stats and a few higher skills. This gives her a 14 strength which will be helpful with future bows and if she gets into melee. She gets skill progression just like the human. So her skills will always be better. Dark vision is a plus. Aasimar disadvantages: It seems like all of our party is playing exotic races, it might be nice to have a human. She is also lacking that extra feat and always will. So she starts off not as good at fighting and I've lost characters in early levels before due to that. If she dies, the character is gone. Also, our GM RPs things well when "weird" races come to town. Right now the party is made of all kinds of weird races (goblins, half orc, a half elemental, and one PC hasn't said what he's playing yet, and then there is me). I most likely will be the party face and if that's the case, another "weird race" might be a big handicap for us. Human advantages: Humans are cool (they are my favorite race aside from halflings). They are the best race for making everyone work together and interacting with NPCs in towns and such. Plus I get two feats which gives me point blank shot and precise shot together. She doesn't get darkvision, but with a spell like dancing lights, who cares. Human disadvantages: She starts off with a lower strength which affects bow use later on and swimming (could be important). It's only one point, but it's a +1 difference for skills and leveling up I am not adding to strength. I am adding to Dex and Charisma. While they are my favorite race to play, I played a human in our last campaign (lasted three years). It might be nice to play something different. By the way, I considered halfling too. I ended up just not liking it for the seasinger after I built one and tried to come up with a backstory. Thanks!
Yeah, mythic adds a level of complexity to my current character, then there are two templates on top of that. But the new characters in Skull and Shackles aren't going to be mythic. So that should help. I just don't want to go down the same path I did with my rogue in this new campaign. I had to add the swashbucker template and then we were mythic, and then I added the Chevalier template just to be on par with the rest of the party to hit and damage-wise (I didn't seem to level well... I am still the weakest link in the party). But what really bugs me is trying to remember all the powers and abilities I have. I figured something easy, simple, and something I could flesh out more with RP and interesting skills.
Thanks again. There are already two melee characters in our small party. I might go with a fighter who fights at range (but can also do melee in a pinch). I may look into the martial cleric too. I just don't want things to get out of hand like they are with my very complicated mythic class swashbuckling rogue.
I've gotten some great advice here, I hope you can help again. I am currently playing Pathfinder Kingmaker with my group. We are almost to the end of it all and the GM is going to be starting a Skull and Shackles campaign when it's over (maybe in a few months). I decided I was going to play an Inquisitor and was pretty set on that. I even rolled up the character. But now I am having second thoughts. You see, my current character is a rogue and I like her, but I am at level 15 now and, to be frank, the character is complicated and I often forget what I can do with her. She's a rogue with the swashbuckler template and we are mythic on top of that. The complexity make it more of a chore anymore to play her than fun. I hardly role play in battle because I am constantly reviewing her abilities and such so I can figure out what to do. I have this fear that the Inquisitor might end up getting that way too. I started to think that maybe I would have fun playing a warrior instead and going for depth when it comes to the character more so than the mechanics. I think something where the special abilities are more "built in" as opposed to remember I can do X or Y or Z, might be more fun for me and allow me to focus more on role playing. So any advice? Is the inquisitor going to get mechanically complicated? Would a fighter accomplish what I am thinking of? Or is there something else. On an aside, there was a point where our GM had me help him by RPing an NPC. I was told to give him a "french accent." I had a lot of fun with that using an accent and sometimes saying whole sentences in French. It added a lot of flavor and the rest of the gang told me I "HAD" to play a french pirate. That was a simple character and easy to play mechanically. So that's where this idea is coming from. The rest of the group is going to be the following: Daring Champion
Thanks!
Click on mah face, if ye dare! ARRRRRRRrrr! :) Thanks! Fun update, the one bard is changing to a monk (I think because of the skald) and another player suggested I look at Shaman. I never even knew about the class. I really like Shaman from what I see. It's very flexible after level 4, seems forgiving, and fits the theme of the adventure (off the top of my head a wind or wave shaman would fit in perfectly). Plus you get access to divine, druid, and arcane spells as well as cool hexes. It sounds like a lot of fun without boxing you in. Plus it fills the sorely needed (in our party) full caster. So I think I made up my mind to build an Inquisitor of Besmara and a Shaman. Then I will compare and pick. They both look like fun, so it will be a tough pick. If I get my builds made this weekend, I'll post them. You folks are the best! Thank you again!
Thanks for all the advice! It really helps. I think what I will do is build both an inquisitor of Besmara and a cleric (of either Besmara or maybe even Gozreh or Cayden). I looked into the oracle and I'm convinced I'll end up getting too narrowly focused which is part of the problem with my Kingmaker character (one trick pony). I don't think I'm a good enough player to effectively plan an oracle. I need a more "forgiving" character class. After I create the two, create backstories for them, then I will pick one and leave the other for a backup character. Quick question, I read it's better to play a druid than a cleric of Gozreh. I'm not interested in a druid, but is that essentially true? Is it a waste? Or is it normally true, but with S&S a good build for the high seas.
It sounds like we have a party makeup now : Daring ChampionSlayer Bard Skald Me playing a cleric or inquisitor We are short any full casters. We may not need them, but it could come in handy. Of course, my GM threw a curve ball at me and told me to look at Oracle too. I know little about them, but what I read so far makes it sound like it's a character that can be cool, but unforgiving if you make mistakes building it early on. I'm good at making mistakes building Pathfinder characters (hence this post--I don't want to mess up again like I did with my rogue). So if anything, I suppose I'm inclined to evangelical cleric based on the party make-up. Between the bard and the skald, Inquisitor skills might be redundant. It would be nice to have some powerful spells too.
I use a book of Celtic baby names. Some of them are pretty ancient sounding. Although my current character is named after a child I used to babysit plus the name of a historical figure I admire.
Well, I was wrong. The guy playing a bard is playing a straight up bard. I must have misunderstood (maybe he said bard or sorcerer). So we have: Daring Champion
The GM gave me the go-ahead for evangelical cleric of Besmara or an inquisitor of Besmara. I know about the spoiler (someone else mentioned it earlier). My GM is the type that might just change out that NPC for some other class to make things more interesting if I play a cleric. He's done that kind of thing before with out Kingmaker campaign. I can't remember what the NPC was supposed to be (some kind of spell caster), but he told us he changed the Old Belle Dame to the witch class because he thought it would be more interesting for us than whatever it was she was supposed to be. I think I will role up both as characters, build back stories and motivations, and after they are done, figure out which one will be more fun to play. I can save the other as a backup, just in case.
So I have more feedback from my fellow players. What we have now is: -Warlord or Cavalier (Daring Champion)
At least that gives me some focus. I don't need to worry about being a front line, damage dealer. I can buff and cast and will be useful and strong (and I'm going to think of a fun way to role play her... all I know is I don't want to be a goody two shoes like my current Kingmaker character. I'm thinking she may be slightly mentally unbalanced too in some fashion. Nothing crippling, but RP fun). Now to research! Thanks Green Bard, I will take a look at your type of build too. Although I think I want to channel positive energy and heals (if I go cleric). I should also note that I do not want to be the party face again. I do that now and it's someone else's turn. Maybe that bard/sorcerer combo character can do it. The guy playing it is fast on his feet when it comes to banter. They player is a natural, I'm not.
Thanks for the advice. I should stress that I don't care that I hit hard in combat, I just want my character to be useful in different situations. My current character seems to only be useful in social situations, but most of our time is combat, research (knowledge skill checks), using magic, etc. I don't want another one-trick-pony character. I like doing buffs. I very briefly played a witch for a while and loved that character. Mainly I was buffing up the party and debuffing the enemy... with a bit of crowd control. She was also fun to role play with her low charisma with was very sour and bossy. I think the bard will cover that bit though, so I thought heals, cures, crowd control, etc would be nice. I like the idea of my character already having sailing experience too. I really like the last idea, the half-orc inquisitor of Besmara with sailing skills. I might try building one. It sounds like it would be useful as a party member and fun to roleplay! A big change from my current, Neutral Good, Benevolent, honey tongued queen. I may also roll a half-elf or elf cleric of Calistra too for comparison.
I've posted before (when I was thinking of running a bard in Skull and Shackles) but I've since found out another player wants to run a bard and, I'll be honest, in Kingmaker I'm currently the party face and I've had enough of it after a few years. I want someone else to do it. I seek help because I am terrible with creating characters for Pathfinder it seems. My first character was a Paladin (who died) and my main character now started off as a gambler/swashbuckling rouge (great for cities, I didn't know what Kingmaker was). Anyway, my character's only good asset in Kingmaker is her Charisma and I'm the party face. Everything else, the other characters have left me in the dust (damage, to hit, ect). Wish I made something else. If we weren't so close to the end of the game and if she wasn't the "queen" now, I might try to kill her off. I realy don't enjoy playing her anymore (although I still love the game). So with my bard concept for S&S gone, I thought Occultist. Well, the group decided no on Occult Adventures (which is fine, I started to find it a bit overwhelming). Now I'm thinking it might be fun to be a cleric or inquisitor of Besmara. The GM told us we start out press ganged, I figure that could be my right of initiation into my holy order. A wiser higher level cleric (or whatever) taught me the ropes and then sold me into slavery as part of the start of my clerical or inquisitor career...good luck! My ultimate goal could be revenge too (GM wants us to have long term goals we are working towards) even though this would have been expected by my character. So my question and advice I'm seek is, are these decent concepts for the adventure (no spoilers please)? I just don't want to get stuck with another city rouge in the wilderness. And, of the two, what would really be more useful and level well. Again, I hate that my current character seems so weak compared to the others. Especially considering that I think, to make things a challenge for the rest of the party, the GM has to make things nearly impossible for me to fight (more than one encounter, my only hope to hit has been a 20 while the barbarian need only roll a 4 to hit the same target). Any tips for building the character too? I'm thinking water and storm domains. Or maybe trickery instead of storm. Also, as a backup idea, in case the GM says no to Besmara, I'm thinking cleric of Calistria. It seems to fit the theme, including my revenge plan. Plus, it could be a fun character to play. I'm thinking knowledge and luck domains. Maybe trickery instead of knowledge. It looks like I would be the only one playing a divine character: others are the bard, gun slinger, archer or ranger, and one unknown. We aren't even going to have a druid. So I think the party could use a cleric or inquisitor.
Thanks! I may also see what other people play before I decide what kind of Occultist to build. If a couple of other people end up being full casters, I might back away from the Silksworn. I am mostly concerned about not having a healer for the group, so I might end up taking up that role.
Thanks for the answers so far. I am thinking about putting points mainly in Intelligence and then Charisma and Dexterity. There are two guys in my group who love front line melee characters and I thought maybe I would be more of a full caster who uses a bow. I also want to put points in Charisma because I find it a very useful stat for the way I play (and for some reason my group tends to use Charisma as a dump stat. The time I made a witch and her Charisma was 8, the group had a really rough time with things like diplomacy, bluff, etc. Plus, the players themselves aren't as diplomatic as I am (metagaming I suppose, but I have a way of coming up with interesting compromises and we can pull them off if my character can make the rolls). I don't know what our point buy will be at all. My guess is 20 or 15 since that's what we used to build our other two parties (20 for the main party and 15 for our secondary party). The DM tends to throw a lot of stuff at us (but he's fair), so my guess would be 20 again. I am not good with point buys since I never seem to come up with the same ideas as others. But with 20 points, I was thinking: STR: 7 DEX: 13 CON: 10 INT: 19 WIS: 10 CHA: 16 (that's including the racial bonuses) I am going to look into Silksworn. As a Kinsune with a bonus to charisma, that would seem like a natural connection since charisma is tied into focus. I might even change my points too based on that. With 15 point
Hello. I haven't posted in a long time. I can't say I am new to Pathfinder anymore I suppose. I've been playing a Kingmaker campaign for almost three years now! I have a human rogue there and she's been a lot of fun (although I never intended for her to end up being a queen). We also have a side plot going (characters that work for our main Kingmaker ruling characters to do all the extra side quests). I have a witch there who is a lot more fun than the rogue. Anyway, our GM is wrapping up our Kingmaker campaign and is going to be starting a new campaign called Skull and Shackles. I am pretty excited about a fresh start because when we started Pathfinder I was new and made a lot of mistakes building my rogue character. For Skull and Shackles, originally we were going to only be allowed half casters and I was going to play a bard. But things have changed (we tested the campaign with NPCs) and the GM decided to allow full casters. I was still thinking about playing a bard and asked the GM is he would allow me to play a kinsune because I had a fun character concept. I told him about it and he is okay with me playing a kinsune but suggested I might want to look into Occultist as well as bard. Occultist seems to fit well with what I want to do! I am so glad he suggested it (he always gives awesome suggestions when you ask for his help). He was the one who suggested a witch for me and that character was a lot of fun, more so than my main Kingmaker rogue who is now queen! But I have to make a couple of confessions: 1) Occultist is a little confusing to me. Luckily we are starting out at level 1, so I can learn as a I play 2) I poorly planned my Kingmaker rogue. I think this is because in the past, I played many DnD games and rarely did we ever get above 7th or 8th level. So I tended to focus on what was good at early levels without planning ahead. My Kingmaker rogue is 14th level now and I have a lot of regrets (I've made up for a few things, but I wish I planned better in the beginning). Hence this thread! I really want to make this Kinsune Occultist with a flare for collecting fine art. It's her drive in life, collect as much artwork as she can. It's going to be a near obsession. But I need suggestions to plan her. I like Kinsune because I personally like shape shifters and my rogue and my witch were both human. I want something different. When looking at races, Kinsune is a race that just greatly appeals to me. Plus, their love of wandering can fit well in the campaign. Occultist fits in with my play style (at least the spells do and how spells are not selected ahead of time works). I like flexibility. My implements can be small, fine art objects too. So collecting art can not just be an obsession, but an obsession with a purpose as she searches for art to use as a means of becoming more powerful. Does anyone have any advice on builds, where to start, online guides (I found a few, not sure which ones are "good"). Or is this character concept going to be a dud and will I have regrets again? Thanks!
Thanks again. That's good to know. Currently my character is not only the party face, but also the duchess of our little kingdom. It's a job I don't care for anymore after doing it for the past two years in our current campaign, but with my skills and charisma score, it's the one place where my character can shine. I'll see what others are building before I make a final decision. There is one guy in our group who loves spell casters and is pretty witty himself, he'd play a great bard. The problem with my group is no one wants to be the party face! When I rolled my witch that I liked, her charisma was 8 and they still expected me to be the party face (I purposely made her charisma the lowest score so I didn't have to be the face again). It took them a while to realize that having the witch talk for them wasn't working out (I even RPed her as brash and arrogant). I suppose an option completely different from the bard idea that I would like to play would be to play some kind of fighter or better yet, barbarian of some sort. It might be interesting playing the "meat shield" for a change.
Thanks! (And thanks to everyone else too). I am going to go with the bard. I'll be honest, I really like playing "support" type characters and buffing (the spells and hexes I picked for my witch were ones that helped the group for the most part). Plus, I hate optimizing. Mostly because I am not good at it. I tend to like to build characters that are interesting to me. So not having to worry so much about optimizing is a plus. While I am favoring the Sea Singer, I will look into other archetypes too. One of the guys wants to play a Viking stye, barbarian raider. So I wonder if a Viking style skald would work too. Buccaneer might work too. Songhealer might be useful too since, with the GM's rules, there aren't many healer types possible. |
