Merellin's page

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Many good options for fun characters! :D

So, This is a random question, I had a discussion with a few people of my group yesterday and, I want to play one of the flying races sometime (Probably Gathlain or Strix or Syrinx), No worries there, All GMs in my group allow them and we never had any trouble with them. But here is the problem, I dont know what class to make them... (Also dont have any game for it yet so this is currently just speculation)

So I decided to ask the mighty veterans and holders of knowledge here on the official forums, What classes do you think take good advantage of bieng able to fly? (Without being too troublesome for the GM) Or is just fun for these flying races? I was thinking potentially some kind of archer maybe with a flying animal companion. But mayhaps something else would be more interesting? A swashbuckler or maybe a magic user?

Sorry for this rambling aimless question, I just want to hear peoples opinions on classes for these three flying races! Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask...

Liliyashanina wrote:

I mean, AC42 is not that odd for a Level 15 PC, and since he is a BBEG he probably has a template.

10 base

+ 4 mage armor
+ 4 shield spell

+ 4 from crane style
+ 3 from combat exerptize
=25 without knowing any stats
+ wis mod if Monk dip
+ Dex Mod
+ Int mod
If all of these are between +5 to +8 (not unreasonable for a BBEG), you would already be at the 42ish.

Funnily enough this is prior to things such as deflection (be that form template acquired smite good or some other source) or natural armor (of which a templated half fiend, which seems to be what you are possibly describing, could have a fair bit)

I would recommend targetting him with dispells, as both the shield and the mage armor should be fairly easy to get rid off.
Getting rid of either already means that you quadruple to quintouple your chances of hitting.

It's already been mentioned that this was an Adventure Path, and a 42 AC in an Adventure Path is extremely out of the ordinary. (almost no NPCs have stats over 20, and even fewer have 2 over 20). In fact most Adventure Path NPCs are subpar builds, as they are meant to be only a slight challenge for 20 point builds, with a un-optimized party of 4.

the GM is obviously pumping this NPC ever the top to make it more survivable etc.

I will reiterate my point of having a discussion with your GM.

BTW: congratulations on playing with the same group for 10 years, IMO it makes the game much more enjoyable with good friends that have been around for a while. In my group the newest player has been around for about 5 years, one at 15, one at 30 and one at 38.

My group is amazing, We have multiple GM's in the group and the GM of this campaign runs a game every sunday, And we also play every saturday with rotating GM's (We got 3 Pathfinder campaiugns and 1 Lancer campaign we rotate between every saturday) Two sessions a week for 10 years, Amazing group, Amazing people, Amazing GMs. :D

And yeah, The sunday GM does customise bosses and boost up encounters to be more interesting for our larger then average group, I just think he might have over tuned this final BBEG of this campaign a bit much...

I'l have to talk to the party, Mayhaps the Wizard or Magus players can try and dispell a few buffs or see if he has any, My Unchained Summoner did not pick up Dispell Magic and focused a bit too hard on pit spells so I forgot to pick up many buff spells... (I'm not the brightest knife in the crayon box... xD)

Edit: Maybe I should mention the party. I'm an Unchained Summoner, But we also have a Wizard, a Magus, an Investigator, a Fighter and we hade a Kinetic Knight who was our biggest hitter, But her player had to leave the campaign just before last session due to getting a new job meaning they work every single sunday... (They are still in our saturday campaigns run by other GM's in the group though) OH! And we have a Cleric, Technically... The cleric's player has constant internet problems so he can join us like.. Once every few months.. So we dont count on him since he's never really around...

@Liliyashanina The +22 to hit is with what buffs I had to cast on my eidolon (Haste, Bull's Strength, Enlarge Person)

The BBEG is not parrying or riposting and I'm not using Power Attack and the boss did not have blurr or anything such.

@Melkiador It is only this final boss of the adventure that has been this hard to hit but it made me panic... The boss is a Kensai Magus and he is a pain in the butt... My GM is generally amazing, But this one boss fight is the one bad bit in almost 10 years of gaming with this GM (Next year will be the 10 year anniversary for me gaming with this GM)

I'm guessing he might have just overtuned it a bit, He is a great GM and while he mostly runs Adventure Paths these days he heavily modifies them to make them more interesting and challenging, Especially since our gorup normally has 6-7 players.

@Everyone Thank you all for your amazing posts!

@MrCharisma Awesome post, Thank you! Investigator is a class I really want to try again, I played one for a short bit years ago but that campaign died off... I really want to tyr them again, Seems like a great class.

I play Alchemists a bunch and am currently trying to force myself to not play alchemist for a bit just so I can try other classes. Warpriest and Unchained Monk are on my list of tihngs to try too, As is the Magus...

I really love the 6th level casters in Pathfinder, They are all amazing with loads of stuff they can do, Decent combat ability and decent amounts of magic, With more class features and often a decent amount of skills. They are amazing. :D

@Sysryke Inquisitor looks quite interesting too! I only ever saw one in play but it is on the list of things I really want to try...

The BBEG of the campaign is a Tiefling Kensai Magus (Well, He was a tielfing, Then his human grandfather stole his body, Then Mammon stole the body and now sometihng else is in the body), With some Devil minions we are deailing with easily. We are level 13, My Eidolon currently has +22 to hit with three of her attacksa and +21 with the other two (Weapon Focus on the ones that hit a bit better) and I managed to hit the boss on a nat 19 with the +22 attack only because I had flanking...

Unfortunately my summoner dove a bit too deep into pit spells, Which dont work on the Magus cus he is flying, And I have already used my two real buffs of Enlarge Person and Bull's Strengh on my eidolon... (My eidolon has a +3 Amulet of Mighty Fists as her main equipment item)

So, A few days ago we started the final battle of our sunday campaign and I realised, My unchained summoner can only really deal with the minions as my eidolon can only hit the boss on nat 20's (Nat 19's with flanking) and the boss has fly on him so my over focus on pit spells wont effect him...

Okay, No worries, I'm sure the rest of the party has stuff to deal with the boss, But I'm wanting to try a more martial character soon and I want to make sure I dont end up in a sitation like this again...

I want to try an archer some time soon but also a few melee types and was wondering, How does one increase their accuracy outside just magical weapons and main stat boosts? Especially for a martial, Is there any martials that are extra accurate? I'd rather have more skill points then less (2+int is painful....) But I'm open for suggestions!

Please, Reccommend some accurate martials, And some tips on how to hit better!

I'm guessing Fighter will be up there, But anything that can fight well with weapons, unarmed strikes or natural attacks, while being accurate is very welcome, Magic is welcome too as are skill points, But primary focus is on hitting things rather then flinging spells.

Thank you all for the suggestions! I did not think of an Aid build, My group never really uses Aid outside the occasional aiding on skill checks outside of combat, I did not even know you could aid in combat!

A bow for archery bard sounds like a interesting idea too... Then I could stay a bit behind the frontlines and shoot after buffing...

So, I'm having a ponder.... I want to try playing a bard some time, High charisma, Buffing and supporting, Probably a small character like halfling, Probably low strength.... This leads to one issue, I dont know how to make it good in combat... So first round start a bardic performance to set up Inspire Courage, Then second round cast a buff spell and keep performance going...

But... Bards are 6th level casters so probably dont have the spells to keep up with being only casters, So after setting up the buffs, What would the low strength bard do in combat to keep being useful?

I have never played a bard and never really seen one played in Pathfinder 1e before either...

That question is difficult to answer because it will depend on what you consider fun. Asking which races are more powerful it a lot easier to answer. I know you do not care abut power but looking at how a race improves the class can be useful.

Some races have FCB that add abilities to a class. For example, adding to your list of spells know is very useful for a Oracle. Being able to contribute more to the game can make playing the character more enjoyable3. Having a very limited number of spells available can be frustrating.

If you are looking something that plays against stereotypes you might want to consider player a dwarf cleric of a deity that seems to contradict their usual image. A dwarf cleric of Sheyln seems to be strange, but she is the goddess of art. Change out greed for craftsman and focus on love and beauty. Instead of the usual dour, but wise figure your character focuses on happiness and joy.

Well, I'm specifically asking what YOU the person reading the post think is fun races for the classes. Not what ti the best or what is strong, But what you the reader find the most fun!

Because I like reading what people like...

So, I like the divine full casters (I have only played Cleric so far but I want to play the others too ats ome point) and I had a ponder, What do YOU think are some fun races for the various divine full casters?

Not asking what is the best or strongest, Just wondering what races you think would be fun and/or interesting for the 4 full divine casters.

I think Tieflings are interesting for good aligned Clerics because Tieflings are fiend blooded and might be seen as evil by the people of the world, So haivng one be a good aligned cleric is just fun!

I have not thought of anything for Druid, Shaman or Oracle yet... How about you all, What do you think is fun for the four divines?

@Andostre
The Sleeves of Many Garments are very good for this idea, A very fun item. :)

@Mysterious Stranger & I grok do u
Brazen Deciever I had not heard of before, It looks interesting. And I hadn't even thought of the Inquisitor... I wonder what deity might fit the idea...

So, This is an old idea I'v had floating about my head for a long time and it came up again today after session, I do not have any game for this idea yet but I want to try it some time. I always had a ton of fun with Disguise Self...

I want to make a Master of Disguise type with Mundane and possibly magic disguises (Skill, Potentially with Disguise Self spell) and was wondering, Does anyone have any tips for how to make this work, And still have a fully useable character?

I'm considering a Vigilante, Investigator or Bard for the class, And for race I'm thinking Kitsune (With Realistic Likeness) Or something more mundane like Human or Halfling...

Any tips and suggestions are welcome!

So, A random question mayhaps. Imagine if your character was captured and stripped of their gear, Which classes could fight their way out without having to worry about gear? Might not be at full capacity, But can fight their way out.

Monk and Brawler are obvious with their strong unarmed strikes. Kineticist got their infinite blasts, Gloomblade Fighters can summon weapons to fight their way out... Sorcerer dont need to worry about spellbooks or costless material components... I think in 3PP the Soulknife and Aegis from the Psionic stuff can manage well...

Anyone got any other ideas for classes/archetypes that could fight their way to freedom if fully stripped of gear?

Bjørn Røyrvik wrote:

...

Before you get lots of spells and items to you have to learn how to husband your resources ...

let me help Bjørn.

At initiation get one of; cold iron morningstar, heavy crossbow, longbow, deity's weapon, or club/quarterstaff. 2 obsidian daggers. Low initial cost is the priority.
After a few encounters you can upgrade one of the first 4 (masterwork transformation) or buy a compound bow, mwk cold iron cestus, mwk cold iron dagger, mwk tonfa, mwk cold iron gladius.
If you can wangle a racial weapon, greatsword, bastard sword, sansetkuton & proficiency then that's your upgrade purchase.
You are pretty much set for weapons, bows will need upgrades with +1.

Slings are cheap but magic stone, coinshot, produce flame are better. So I'm kinda thumbs down unless you are desperate.

I don't expect people to hit with a tonfa, but fighting defensively/full defense with +1 AC is quite nice.

Having a melee weapon on a wizard or other full arcane caster seems.. Unwise... No armor, Worst BAB, Low HP, Get into melee and you get killed quickly... And wouldn't a Light Crossbow be better then a Heavy Crossbow due to reloading far faster so you can shoot every round instead of every other round? Or am I just dumb...? I'm probably dumb.. Sorry...

So.. Full Arcane casters, Mighty gods of the battlefield! At higher levels... At lower levels you dont have many spell slots per day, Especially if your group dont follow the 5 minute adventuring days. Dungeons? Multiple combats per day? Many encounters outside just combat? Your spells run dry quickly and then what?

So I wanted to ask here, What do you do as a full arcane caster, When you run out of your daily spell slots, But still have combats and other encounters left to handle that day before you can take a rest?

I really want to like the full arcane casters (And the psychic), And I keep looking at them and thinking about them, But my group generally runs multiple encounters per day, Many dungeon crawls and other things where we cant stop to rest every 5 minutes and have to keep trucking, Many adventure paths too.

So I wanted to ask here, What do you do as a full arcane caster when you are out of spell slots? What tools do you keep in your tool belt for instances when you are either out of spells, Or out of useful spells?

So... I'm interested in trying a full caster that leans into the blasting aspect... I know it is not optimal, But is it worth trying it at all...?

I want to have enough spells to be a decent blaster, But also have a small bit of utility options too so I'm curious what full caster options there is for this? Sorcerer is the main classic, But are there any others? Psychic? Wizard? Arcanist? Oracle?

Or should I just make another Kineticist? (I love kineticist for blasting, But I wanted some more castery option with a bit of utility from spells)

I'v only played 3 full casters so far, 2 clerics and 1 Arcanist (One cleric and the arcanist enver made it past level 6, And the other cleric is still going and almost at level 7) So I dont have much experience with full casters, So I came here to ask the mighty experts!

As the title says, There are 4 full arcane casters and 1 full psychic caster, The Wizard, Sorcerer, Arcanist, Witch and Psychic. Out of these five potential reality warping classes, Which ones are your favorites?

This thread came from my wanting to finally give non divine full casters another try, I tried a Arcanist up to level 6 once but thats my only full caster who was not a cleric, So I'm looking for opinions on the 4 full arcane casters and the Psychic to see what people like best of them, To try and help me decide on what to try!

In addition to the many choices available if you are OK with light armor (at lower levels), there is also the sacred fist warpriest if you want a character that doesn't use any armor. A synthesist summoner (if allowed) can also pretty much skip wearing actual armor in favor of "wearing" their eidolon.

Sacred Fist Warpriest? That could work too... They are the monk like Warpriest I belive, Would give nice buffing spells too.

If you are ok with light armor the swashbuckler is the obvious solution. Pick up Fencing Grace ASAP and you don’t need more than a 13 STR for power attack. There are several archetypes for martial classes that basically give other classes swashbuckler like abilities. Virtuous Bravo for paladin, Daring Champion for cavalier, Arcane Duelist and Dervish Dancer for bard, Dandy for Ranger.

Another alternative would be a DEX based brawler. A DEX based slayer would be a good alternative to rouge. An alchemist focusing on his mutagen instead of bombs could also work.

If you want to use an unchained rogue consider focusing on Dirty Trick. It can impose the blinded condition. The feat quick dirty trick will allow you to use a dirty trick in place of one of your attacks. This does not help at low levels, but can make higher levels playable. Taking greater dirty trick will extend the time the target remains blinded. It is pretty feat intensive but can be done.

I do like my brawlers... And Slayer would have a BAB advantage over Rogue, Not as much damage though with dex weapons and less sneak attack, But manages more then rogue if they dont get sneak attack... Hmmm...

I did not know of the Dirty Trick line of feats, Could work too! Rogues gert few attacks, But if Two Weapon Fighting works for a Unchained Rogue that would give more attacks for replacing one with a Dirty trick...

I quite often run dex based melee types with little or no armor. Once you get the dex high enough, you actually start not wanting the negatives associated with armor. Rogues, Magus, Ninja, etc.

I do wanna try a unchained rogue sometime... I just worry a lot about finding myself unable to get a flank and thus not doing anything in the combat due to lack of sneak attack... And I dont know if the two weapon fighting to Two Weapon Feint feat line will be good with their lower BAB....

There are more options if you allow light armors too. Warrior Poet Samurai looks interesting to me.

Yeah, I suppose light armor could work too. It can be quite light and manageable.

So, This is probably a dumb question... I was just having a random idea earlier... A melee combatant fighting on the frontlines, Wearing no armor, Just their clothes...

And I started wondering what options there are for such a character. There is the obvious Monk/Unchained Monk, And the Kensai Magus... But are there any other classes or archetypes that can work well for a melee combatant that does not wear armor?

As the title asks, I'm curious what your favorite ranged damage dealers are?

I love alchemists but they dont have very long range on their bombs, And I also quite enjoyed the one Kineticist I played. I could do a big amount of damage in my singular hit at a decently long range!

But my group rarely actually have long ranged combatants, So when we encounter enemies who fight at range, And we dont have any easy way to get to them we struggle a lot... So I decided to see here what peoples favorite ranged damage dealers are!

Merellin wrote:

With these three options I think I'm pretty set

Best wishes!

Thanks!

Thanks everyone! Plenty of good ideas here, Been scribbling and test building a few characters.

For Trapsmith if the undecided player goes Crypt Breaker Alchemist that is covered, And for healing, While we dont have any dedicated healer (And rarely do) Druid, Alchemist and Spiritualist all get cure spells so they is partly covered (And we can eventually get a wand of cure light wounds to help once we have money)

As for what the Druid plans for a playstyle, I have no idea and I dont know if he does either, He's a new player comming over from 5e, And this will be his second Pathfinder campaign ever. Apparently he and the GM are discussing something fungus related? But thats all they have said.

I have built 3 characters that all three look and feel good, A Half Orc Warpriest of Desna, A Monkey Goblin Barbarian with a twohanded sword (Not optimal, But my group aren't power gamers and it will work fine in our group.) And, A Monkey Goblin Archer Ranger (I just really like goblins okay? xD)

With these three options I think I'm pretty set, I'l pick one based on what it looks like the party needs when the campaign starts just in case anyone changes anything.

Thanks everyone! :D

I haven't played that one before, but with a name like Carrion Crown, we expect a lot of undead stuff. Your necromancer may be meant to handle part of that, but I think you would still benefit from a positive energy channeler, and selective channel will be maybe more useful than usual.

Would need a lot of charisma to not hit my necromancer friend's undead with channel energy... And dont paladins already get channel energy too...?

That's a big and varied party. You could probably play anything and the party would do fine.

1) Are any of the other players less likely to make a session? What gaps are most likely to result from this?
2) Do you have enough front liners? It's really hard to judge by class alone, especially with pets in play.
3) I assume you don't have a dedicated traps person, unless the other undecided player goes crypt breaker. So, that could be an important niche to fill. The AP is even named Council of Thieves and you don't seem to have a dedicated thief.

The group is pretty good at making it ever week, There might be the occasional rare time when somoene cant make it, And if so it is likelt to be the Druid...

The Paladin is the main frontliner, The druid might have a animal companion and might not, The wizard will have disguised undead minions and summons...

And if the one guy goes for the Crypt Breaker Alchemist he will be able to deal with traps and locks and such... But Council of Thieves is the current campaign we are about to finish, The one I need the character for and this party is for is Carrion Crown.

I would personally add a dex based rogue type. maybe a Swashbuckler, or ninja. Your Archer Ranger is a good idea. Someone that's good at either being sneaky, or good at ranged combat.

It looks to me like you have someone who can heal, someone who can cast divine spells, someone who can cast arcane spell, someone who can be a frontline fighter, what's missing to me is the sneak/lockpick, and/or the ranged fighter.

We might have someone that can deal with locks and traps if the one guy goes for the Crypt Breaker Alchemist, IUf he goes for the Spiritualists though we do not...

Archer Ranger could be fun... I'v been wanting to do a archer type (Our party almost never has ranged combatants and if we do it is either me playing an alchemist or my one kineticist, Or someone else playing a gunslinger...) And Ranger has enough skills to potentially be a sneaky scout and can pick up Disable DEvice to dealw ith locks and non magical traps...

So, I'm here again. I know i'v posted a lot lately asking about various character ideas and stuff but... I'm struggling to decide what to play for the next campaign my party is gonna play (Still a little bit aways, We are part way through book 6 of Council of Thieves so we are close to finishing it, Then we will play the next campaign which is Carrion Crown, No spoilers please)

So far we have a Paladin, A Necromancer Wizard, A Druid, A Sorcerer, And either a Crypt Breaker Alchemist or a Spiritualist.

I'm considering a Warpriest, Invulnerable Rager Barbarian, Or some kind of unarmed combatant, Possibly a halfling cavalier...? Or maybe an Archer Ranger... Or one of my many other ideas...

Basically, I have too many ideas and am struggling a lot with deciding on what class to play... So I wanted to ask what you would all add to this party?

Sorry for posting so much lately...

It might not be optimal, But I love unarmed combatants (And they work well in my group, Most of us aren't optimal and it works for us.) and being able to throw in some grappling just seems fun, I never actually tried much combat manuevers before so I thought, Why not grapple?

Freedom of Movement is not a worry for me, My GM is not gonna throw it on every single enemy just to screw me or any other grappler over, Heck we never encountered freedom of movement so it is not a worry at all.

Hi all, It's me again. I want to thank everyone who helped me in my previous thread about getting over my mindset about support characters, You are all awesome!

This is a random unrelated ponder I had today, A grappler type character. I know Tetori Monk is considered the best grappler because it can deal with freedom of movement, But my group has never really come across freedom of movement so that is not a real worry for me.

So I'm wondering, What would be some fun classes for a grappler? I'm looking a bit at the Brawler, Possibly with the Constructed Pugilist archetype since it can fire out a grappling hook to yoink enemies in (If I understand this right), But what other fun grapplers are there?

Joynt Jezebel wrote:

Mark Hoover 330 wrote:

You talk about worrying a lot, even when your fellow players tell you not to.

Your fellow players are right and you should not worry.

It's funny, because you are 100% right, and yet my experiences with people having anxiety tell me that they are very unlikely to believe it.

Is quite true.. I have very high anxiety and worry about everything all the time constantly non stop... My friends try to help and convince me that I dont need to worry and that as long as I'm having fun it is alright, But I still owrry that I'l do somehing to annoy them..

Thanks everyone, You have been a great help. :)

There really isn't a default right or wrong amount of min-maxing in my opinion, which is why I asked about your specific preference. If the rest of your party is bringing enough damage and you just want to match them in addition to support, then I'm not sure there is a good way to help you, without getting quite min-maxy.

In my experience, most tables are very happy to have a person who likes to play "healer", as many people prefer the class fantasy of standing out by dealing damage or strong controls. And people don't expect their healer to be bringing the damage, except for maybe when undead are involved.

Have you tried playing a witch? They are very support focused, while having a more active than reactive playstyle. It may be the reactive nature of support that you are not enjoying. And while they can do some damage, that's not what they are good at, so it's not expected of them.

I don't think I want to match them in damage ontop of support, I think it is more, I want to get my brain to stop worrying so much.... I enjoy the support, My brain just tells me I'm being a burden and not doing enough since I'm not doing a decent amount of damage too.... I think it is more that support is less directly notisable in how much it helps, So my broken constantly worrying brain yells at me that I'm not doing enough....

I guess this entire thread is mostly about how to get my stupid brain to stop worrying so much and just enjoy what I enjoy... Sorry...

As for playing a Witch, I have not. I have only ever played 3 full casters, 2 clerics and 1 arcanist. I'l look into a witch some more, Thank you!

Summoning can be a very engaging form of support, while offering some damage(relatively more damage at low level and less at high level). And you can combine this support with your support spells.

We may also want to know how "munchkin" you'd like to try this. For example, a charisma focused skald can share Lesser Spirit Totem with their party, giving you an ok extra attack for every eligible ally you have on the field. Combine that with some summoning for more extra attacks. Or combine it with something like the spell warrior archetype, so all of your allies can easily qualify. Being charisma focused, you could take Desna's divine fighting technique and have charisma to attack and damage at level 1 with a starknife.

My group tends to not be very munchkiny, We dont have anyone really minmaxing or anything such, Most people just play what they enjoy and what they feel like when making their character. I know some people would accuse us of "Playing Pathfinder wrong" because we dont minmax and optimsie to the highest level, But we still have fun and fight challenging battles (A few sessions ago we fought the most epic multi phase vampire battle)

I wouldn’t worry too much about dealing damage to the enemy directly. If your allies are hitting because you buffed them or debuffed the enemy then effectively their damage is your damage. The party can’t deal damage if they can’t land a hit effectively. And if you’re healing your allies as well then again their damage is effectively your damage. Your party members can’t deal any damage if they are dead, unconscious, or forced to flee to avoid going down. Awesome effective support characters are what keeps the party going when the going gets rough. If your gaming group members are telling you that you are doing good then take them at their word. Having good support characters also allows the people in your group to play more thematic characters rather than optimized damage dealers as well. I’m sure your group appreciates you giving them the flexibility to play characters that they enjoy as well. Support characters are great. Don’t sell yourself short. Play characters you enjoy. That’s the point. If your friends aren’t complaining then you don’t have anything to feel useless for.

My group is full of amazing people. I always worry about everything all the time, I worry that I'm a burden to the party, I worry I'm annoying, I worry about everything all the time...

It's time for you to play a barbarian and kill everything in sight.

Generally speaking, if your party can beat every encounter the GM gives, then you shouldn’t be a burden. If you really think you're not being effective enough in combat, you can always ask your party (or GM) for suggestions on your tactics. Communication is always good (unless your party is going to bite you).

Though I prefer to be a barbarian and kill everything in sight.

I mean, "Be barbarian and kill everything in sight" is always a good option!

I wanna become a better roleplayer and not end up stuck in the "Hit things till dead" only section, Even if it is a good and fun section. I just feel like it will eventually start getting old if thats the only types I play, You know?

So, This is probably a super dumb question and maybe even unique to me but....

Conceptually I love support characters. I'm always drawn to characters that can heal as I love healing and keeping my party alive, I love buffing allies and myself, And I have loads of fun when I manage to cause trouble for enemies with crowd control spells like grease and the Create Pit spells...

But... I always end up feeling like I'm not doing enough to help the party, I always end up in a situation where if I don't do decent amounts of damage ontop of all that, I feel like I'm letting the party down and being useless and not providing enough help...

Does anyone have any ideas of how to snap me out of this dumb mindset and allow me to finally enjoy the support types I love so much conceptually? Like, I have lots of fun when I trap a few enemies in a pit so they aren't a problem for a bit, And I love healing and buffing my allies... I just feel like I don't do enough...

I'd love to see Syrinx return (Owl people from Pathfinder 1e with a connection to Strix, But not much is known of them) As well as Wyvarans (Medium sized winged dragon people thats a hybrid race cretaed from kobolds and wyverns) As well as something new, In some kind of giant-kin!

I GMed Carrion Crown for our group a few years ago. While overall this concept wouldn't have any problems, there are a few places you go, that will be difficult to bring a long a mount, and a few places that will not have room for any kind of charges to be made.

so I think you should be fine overall, just understand there's a few places where mounted combat won't be an option.

Thank you! For this reason I will also build for being capable on foot combat. Small characters can ride in more places then medium, But will build for some foot combat too.

So, Would a small cavalier work in Carrion Crown? Thinking an Aasimar from a Halfling family (To make them small but have a strength bonus), Attempted to build for mounted combat but also build so they can fight on foot when mounted combat is not gonna work very well.

Also planning to pick up Wheeling Charge so I can charge through allies spaces, And then the usual mounted feats. Just curious if this would work well in Carrion Crown? Small cavalier on medium mount so I can ride in more places.

That aside, what specifically do you like about the magic users in video games and films?

Well, I always enjoyed having the utility of a magic user in video games, I can blast enemies, Light up the area, Summon allies, Make enemies fight each others, Buff allies, debuff enemies and more! And in movies and books and such, I just love the magic users who always have something they can do in every situation, Even if it is just illusions and tricks to trick their enemies!

It doesn't have to be a Wizard specifically, But it was easier to just put Wizard because they are the classic main full arcane caster. I just really want to be the mighty magic user.

I dont want to do everything, I just dont want to end up being totally useless and being a burden to my allies...

The attack cantrips don't scale well, but they are a decent something to do when you are very low level.

If you are worried about trying it for the first time, I'd recommend the Arcanist class instead. It has mostly the same flavor and is more forgiving about its daily spell selection, so much less spell selection anxiety. It also has an archetype called occultist that can allow you to summon lots of helpful monsters at low level, if you are worried about low level contributions.

The Arcanist does seem quite nice, I like the flexible casting it has.

Wands. Wands are one of the main keys to a successful Wizard, IMHO. Admittedly, this requires either a GM willing to put Wands out there, or the Feat and game-time to create your own.

They other key is to not build a 'blaster' wizard. If you're thinking video-game with fireballs and lightning storms, you won't do well. Your job is battlefield control, and buff/debuffs. This can be done via summons, walls and globes, or visibility (clouds and the like).

The key to debuff is to take at least 1 debuff spell per save type, and use Knowledges to know what which to use... You find which 'save' that monster is worse at and have a vs Reflex, vs Will and vs Fort for dealing with them.

That's a simple answer, the true answer is so much more complicated that it really takes years of practice to get it right... and even then, it's not always for just anybody. :)

Thanks, I worry a lot about everything, And I worry that I dont have the mindset to play a wizard or full caster. I like being useful to the party and worry I'l end up picking the wrong spells and then just end up being a burden to the party...

So, This is probably a dumb question and I am very sorry for comming here and asking something this dumb...

But I always loved the idea of the mighty spellcasters, I love magic users in stories and when I play video games I always pickmagic users. I know Pathfinder wizards are nothing like video games, But I still want to give it a try.

Though I realise, I am very dumb and probably dont have the right mindset for wizards, And I was wondering how do you play one well? You dont have enough spells per day to fling a spell for every turn of every combat, So what do you do when not flinging spells? What do you do at low levels? How do you avoid feeling like a useless burden to the party when you are hiding under the table cus you used your 2 spells per day? How do you know what spells to prepare?

Edit: I thought I should add, This is not for any currently planned character or campaign, This is just for some future ponderings. I love the idea of the powerful caster, But I dont know how to but want to try it in the future...

Merellin, So 2016 was the first year you played Pathfinder as well?

Yep, That was the year I joined my group of friends in Pathifnder for the first time, They had been playing for some time already but back in 2016 I managed to join them, Been loving Pathifnder 1e ever since. We played other games too, But PF1e is my favorite game of all the ones we tried.

I first started coming here in 2016, When I first played Pathfinder. Been lurking and occasionally posting ever since....

Thanks everyone! I was considering possibly going with a spear (And once I get the feat for it, Add a shield) So I'd have reach. Transmutation I have picked up, But I cant decide if I should pick up Conjuration, Illusion or Abjuration for my second implement... I'm considering Conjuration to have some backup healing just in case it is needed...