With feats like Flexible and Extra Shadow Jump and the Slayer class I feel like Shadowdancer should be in a good place. What does everyone think? What are the best entry classes and builds? How many levels are worth taking?
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PbP is the perfect (and probably the only reasonable) situation to have a player play as more than one character. This seems especially useful to me when a GM already has a few players in mind that they know they work well with. That way they don't have to add extra players to pad out there party that might not even work out. It could be especially useful when a game loses a player or two and needs more characters to fill out the party and the GM is already happy with the remaining players. So why don't we see it happen? Is it the worry of placing too much import on single players?
One of my favourite classes in the history of Dungeons and Dragons is the Warlock. I love the idea of a character making a (often Faustian) pact to gain the power to protect those they love, pursue knowledge, accomplish their goals, or for the sake of the power itself. In Pathfinder which character options allow for such a character? The Witch is the obvious choice, but in some ways feels locked into specific tropes.
So, Bard's can replace two of their versatile performances with the two parts of Divine Fighting Technique: Desna's Shooting Star. This lets them use CHA for hit and damage rolls at 2nd level and potentially get the other benefit at 10th level. I love the idea of this build, but have a lot of questions of how to use it: 1. Is it better to take the second half of Desna's Shooting Star, or to take the Startoss Fighting Style? 2. What feats do you want to make this build work best? What about equipment? 3. Which Bard archetypes are worth considering? A lot of them seem to replace versatile performance which is a no go.
In nearly 20 years of D&D and similar RPGs I have not played a Barbarian since my very first character made as a wee lad. It's a class I love conceptually and I always consider playing one whenever I join a new campaign, but I never do. Wizard is in a similar position, but more because if I want to be a 9th level arcane caster then Arcanist or Witch or the like just seem more rife with character ideas.
Okay, so perhaps the title sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but I have the imagine in my mind of a well educated person who goes into a rage when their life or the lives of those they care about are threatened. Something like Prince Jalan from the Red Queen's War series by Mark Lawrence, who is a complete coward and as well educated as a Prince who only cares about money and women can be, but blacks out and goes full Barbarian rage when his life is threatened.
I'll start this off with the Invested Regent archetype for the Monk. You now need Charisma in addition to the usual Monk MADness of STR, DEX, CON and WIS. Obviously you can cut that down a bit by going with a DEX build and possibly taking the Scaled Fist archetype (if your GM allows it considering it technically alters bonus feats).
It's been a few months since I've been on the message boards and I have really missed this place. I have felt awful these past months knowing I left behind several games. I am sure based on my last post in those games that the people playing them knew I had a mess of things going on in my life, but I still apologize to everyone for disappearing like I did. Things have very much mellowed out and my life is on a better track. I hope to get back into the rhythm of playing PbP and maybe even try my hand at GMing a game on these boards for the first time. Has anyone else ever taken an extended leave of absence from the forums? How did you handle your own return?
I have never played a character that focused on bringing their enemies down to the level where a Wizard could beat them in an arm wrestle, but I'd love to give it a shot. The first two classes that come to mind when I think debuffing are the Witch for casting and the Unchained Rogue for martial. What are some good classes and builds for getting your debuff on?
As the title says, I often come up with a concept for a character before the rules that will represent them on the table top, but I notice that my concepts often have little to tie them to a class, or a set of skills, or even a race. Does anyone else have this difficulty? How do you decide what rules to weave into your background concept?
How would you deal with the issue of an animal companion aging in a campaign that takes place over a long period of time or has time skips? Many of these animals naturally die in less than 15 years.
The first thing I can think of is creating a Barbarian or Bloodrager and reflavouring rage or bloodrage as another personality taking control, but what other options are available? (Inspired by Fei Fong Wong from Xenogears)
I plan on creating a master swordsman style character for a new campaign a friend of mine is running online. It's an exploration heavy campaign with a strong naval component (basically we're exploring beyond the known world on a ship with an engine that runs off of a fire elemental). Turns out I am the captain of the ship too! So I would like to make a man who is travelling the world partially for the thrills and the rewards and partially to become the greatest swordsman to ever live. We're starting at 5th level, so far what seems to fit the mould best is either a Inspired Blade Swashbuckler or an Unchained Monk with Ascetic Style. I was really not expecting the amount of attacks and damage a 5th level Monk can already put out! I would love suggestions on things like feats, traits, classes, prestige classes, etc. to help this idea reach it's highest potential!
I know there isn't a simple way around it, but I dislike the fact that constitution is an important score for everyone and so is dex to a lesser extent. I would love to make a character that is all about the power of the mind but is unhealthy, clumsy and weak. I'm thinking something like STR, DEX and CON 8 or 10 maybe 12 max, INT, WIS and CHA 16-18. Roleplay-wise someone who has always been sickly, perhaps has severe asthma or an awful immune system or even a curse that has prevented them from training physically. Is there a way to make such a character viable and interesting? What uses could a character have for all three mental stats? How can you survive having low intiative, Fort and dex saves, AC and HP?
Looking it over it has very few archetypes and not that many choices when building one. I have also seen very few threads on Swashbuckler builds compared to many other classes. It almost seems to me if you want to build a 'swashbuckler' that is more customizable you go Daring Champion or Unchained Rogue.
I know the Bard as a class is the Jack of all trades (and even gets ex ability titled as such), but with the amount of options in Pathfinder the obvious isn't always the best. I think of a Jack of all trades character as one who has the following traits: 1. Can fight in martial combat reasonably well.
The character does not need to be the best at any of these, the key is that they can take the place of a specialized character in a pinch. Picture a Final Fantasy Red Mage (which I know was based on the D&D Bard, now we're just going in circles!)
I hadn't really realized it before, but the Bloodrager class with its bloodlines and archetypes covers a lot of design space that was missing or weak before it. Yes many of these come online a bit late, but it's impressive all the same: Draconic Bloodline gives a Dragon Disciple-esque character that works. Arcane Bloodline gives something of an Arcane Paladin feel. Shadow Bloodline gives you something like the Shadowdancer. Celestial Bloodline lets you make something of a non-lawful Paladin. Id Rager gives the closest thing we have to a Psychic Warrior outside of 3rd party. etc.
I love the idea of the Bloody-Knuckled Rowdy, I can think of a lot of cool characters throughout games and books that would fit into the archetype well. Unfortunately the archetype seems to give up way too much for way too little. I mean what style feats can it even qualify for at 2nd level? The last time I thought an archetype that looked cool was bad you guys set me straight, so here's hoping that works again!
It stands to reason that many of the humanoid races can be attracted to each other. After all, how much difference is there really between a short Human male with a big beard and a Dwarf? But how commonly do such attractions lead to relationships? I imagine not being able to procreate does put a bit of a damper on things for some people, but not all.
These two races are incredibly flexible and can really do well with any class. Because of this I rarely play any of the other (more interesting) races. What are some interesting/fun builds that are only viable (or just made much better) by choosing a race other than them?
So I absolutely love the fluff of this archetype, I think it has a lot of RP potential in Urban campaigns (though I wish it stacked with URBAN HUNTER). However, the loss of both medium armour and shields on a class that greatly benefits from going strength based melee is a bit of a hit. How would you go about mitigating this? Keep a strength build and take a hit to AC? Go finesse and slashing grace or dervish dancer and pay a heavy feat tax to one hand weapons without a shield? Spend a feat on medium armor proficiency or shield proficiency? Just go ranged despite not playing to the Hunter's strengths?
For the purposes of this thread I am separating the nature classes from the divine classes as I feel despite sharing the same 'type' of casting, they are very much focused on their own tropes and traits. Non-Magic: Cavalier
Arcane: Bard/Skald
Divine: Oracle
Nature: GAH!
I know the default Magus assumes an open hand for its main class features, but is there a way to play a Magus or similarily combat heavy caster as a dual wielder? Through feats/traits/race/archetypes? Maybe another class can just accomplish this feel somehow?
As the title says, I am in the process of brainstorming for a gaslamp fantasy setting for tabletop RPGs. Inspirations include classic stories such as Dracula and Frankenstein, Lovecrafts works, Stardust by Neil Gaiman and video games like the Shadow Hearts series and Dishonoured. I know there are settings that have some or all of these themes in some respect, but I have my own ideas I want to explore. Current status of brainstorming: -Cobblestone streets lit by gaslamp are sandwiched between overhanging Victorian style buildings. The lamps keep shadowy creatures at bay that prey on those who wander into the dark alleyways at night. -A gravekeeper union run by Dwarves that is rumoured to support the practice of necromancy and robbing of graves. Waste not, want not. -Dirty civilization encroaches on the Elven way of living. They get back at the other races through Elven run opium dens and the magical engineering of opiates and other drugs. Addiction is their curse on the mortal races. -Many Elves have fallen into their own trap, addiction begets addiction. -Mad science runs rampant. -Creatures such as vampires, werewolves and the undead included in some respect. Demons willing to make deals around every corner. Feel free to toss ideas my way, I will be adding to this post as I brainstorm more.
Just something I've been wondering. What are some of the best ways to build a character who wears no armour, yet fights up close and personal?
Azlant is one of my favourite parts of the Golarion setting and so I absolutely love the idea of the Caligni. What classes/builds would you make with this race? They have odd attribute bonuses but I could see See in Darkness being quite powerful with the right build perhaps.
So say for some reason I wanted to make a character that used double weapons *cough*final fantasy 9*cough*chrono cross*cough*, how would I go about optimizing that which people consider awful?
Looking at this archetype you really seem to lose a lot to exchange your charisma for wisdom to cast spells. I don't really get why you would want to do that. I suppose it is mostly for the flavour? It is a flavourful archetype which is why I wanted to check it out in the first place.
Hi guys, I just moved to Ottawa a couple days ago, I'll be going to Carleton U in the Fall, and for now am just getting used to the city. I'd love to find an RPG group to play with around these parts, whether for Pathfinder or D&D or something else entirely. As a side note, does anyone do Society play in Ottawa?
As the title says, how do you usually go about designing your characters? Do you come up with a spiffy name and build from there? Come up with a cool mechanical/story concept you want to play then build the story/mechanics? Do you look through every class and race every time you want to make a new character? What's your whole process? Personally I usually have a story concept or just a cool name I want to use and then I start thumbing through archetypes and feats trying to find a build to match.
I was thinking about this. Nowadays you're probably best off being a Magus if you want to be an Eldritch Knight, ortaking the Eldritch Archer archetype of the Magus if you want to be an Arcane Archer or being a dragon blooded Blood Rager if you want to be a Dragon Disciple. Is there something similar out there to replace the Shadowdancer? Or just a more modern way of going about the Shadowdancer concept?
Was this stated by a developer somewhere or something to that effect? 15 seems awfully low for some of the (MAD) classes in the game while being just fine for others (the SAD classes).
So Paizo has given us two real options for making a Skald who is a member of a less 'hit things with a big stick' party. The Urban Skald and the Spell Warrior. If you were to make a Skald who belonged to a party with a ranged character or two and a caster or two alongside your traditional close range fighters which of these archetypes would you see yourself leaning towards? Why? Or perhaps you would take the route of neither archetype, how would you handle the fact that most of your party wouldn't accept your raging song?
Like many of the other core classes the druid suffers from not having up to date guides. In my entire career as a tabletop RPG gamer I have never played a druid. Their complexities have always scared me off: are they a pet class? a caster? a wild shaping front liner? I've decided to build myself a druid for the first time and I think I would like to build him as a caster. I am not terribly familiar with the druid spell list or archetype choices, so I am wondering how viable it is to go full caster on a druid? Is there room to take a secondary role, or if I want to be a caster will I have to focus on it?
I am attempting to make a 15 point buy mesermist and I find I'd greatly prefer his stats if I just went heavy on the charisma and made him a caster. Is it a viable choice? Looking at the spell list and the gaze it feels like I could still contribute well but I am not certain.
I just finished a little gem of a game called Undertale (I highly recommend it) where you can get one of the games three endings by never killing anyone. It has me contemplating whether such a character has a place in Pathfinder, and what kind of build can support them. My first though is to gain access to non-lethal damage with no negative to your hit bonus, but I would be interested in your thoughts on building a pacifist? And once you do build them, how would you go about playing/roleplaying them without conflicting with your group?
Part of the elven schtick is being in tune with nature, yet as far as stats and abilities go the nature based classes aren't exactly their strong suit. The best is probably an archer Ranger since the low con and no wisdom bonus don't matter too terribly, but classes like Druid, Hunter, and Shaman just don't really jive with being elves. I've definitely played such characters anyway, but it feels like the race should lend some more support to such builds.
I love the concept of arcane archers. I always hoped that the Magus would be able to make a proper one with an archetype, but the Myrmidarch has quite a few flaws. What do you guys think is the best way to make an arcane archer in Pathfinder? Make the best of Myrmidarch or perhaps the Arcane Archer prestige class? Maybe something entirely different?
The Archaeologist Bard archetype simply states that it can take rogue talents. The Unchained Rogue has talents. Can an Archaeologist Bard choose from these?
So, I love the idea of the Skald, it's awesome to see a more martial take on the Bard which is probably my favorite class. The only problem is the standard raging song is worthless for so many characters. In comes the Spell Warrior, a character whose song is closer to inspire courage, though not quite as good, but perhaps more versatile. Unfortunately you lose the Skald's best ability (IMO) Spell Kenning. Still your left with a character that can buff himself and his allies, give rage powers, is about as good as you can be at countering spells, is good at knowledge and skill rolls and gets both DR/- and Unchanny Dodge. I am thinking making the Spell Warrior a switch hitter might be the way to go, but you lack the feats to make such a build great at either style of combat. What are your thoughts on Spell Warrior builds?
There are a couple of builds I am really partial to. One is the Archer Paladin, something about smiting things at a distance with a bow just seems so right. It's not a difficult build either, just take all the archery feats you can and shoot the enemy. Another is the generalist Alchemist introduced in N. Jolly's Alchemist guide. That was quite possibly the funnest character I have ever played, though he ended up dying to an exploding chandalier. What about you?
I want to make a character who is more of the supporting commander type who sits back and inspires his allies and buffs them with spells, but I don't want him to be defenseless if he gets into the thick of things. Meanwhile out of combat he'll be a real skill monkey and knowledge junkie. I am having trouble with my point buy, I want a high CHA and INT for the buffing and skills, but I want the physical stats to be somewhere reasonable that he may get in a few hits or take a few hits if need be. 20 point buy. Right now I am thinking MAYBE: STR 10
As an Elf. Hopefully getting weapon finesse and some ranged feats at some point to make him not completely worthless. However, a buffer character could greatly benefit from Banner of the Ancient Kings which mounted on a longspear seems to lean towards having strength. But losing out on the bit of AC boost and being able to do a bit of ranged and melee combat seems harsh.
Veldt is a prosperous nation. Its expansive grasslands has led to a large and strong farming trade. The central city of Yeldem and the powerful Adventurer's Guild based there act as both a hub and a place where those in need may get help, for a price. It is a land that seems to have a simple kind of peace. But darkness is brewing right in the heart of the nation and a young group whom aspire to be Adventurers may be the key to thwarting nefarious plots. I am interested in running a game here on the forums. It is something of a test play of what I hope to become a complete adventure path one day. The game will be a dark one and not for the faint of heart. Inspirations include Berserk, The Southern Reach Trilogy, The Mother Trilogy, Dark Souls and the Iron Kingdoms. A friend will be helping me out, he will mostly be supplying art, but he might jump in once and a while if I am busy. We are still in the process of getting everything together, but I thought I would see if there was any interest. Some features/rules: 1. There may be somewhat drastic, but usually positive changes to your character that are not entirely of your own choosing. If this bothers you, this probably isn't the game for you. By the same token your characters may gain 'traits' through the story, but you may also lose them. Characters will never have less than two traits. I will also have campaign traits to choose from at level 1. 2. I won't be using third party material and in fact may restrict the first party material a bit, however I will be allowing the Deadly Agility feat from Path of War as I think it is much to difficult to play a dexterous warrior with a weapon that you want to use. 3. I like to make saves against all of your ability scores, I also like to give multiple options for saves if it makes sense to do so, so this doesn't really affect your characters ability to make saves often, it's just a fluff thing that I enjoy. Anything against one of your ability scores that does not have a related save will be scaled appropriately to makes things fair. 4. This is not a sandbox adventure, while I will attempt to give options where they make sense you will be on a quest with a singular purpose. 5. Wacky, crazy, surreal things will happen. Sometimes such things will supersede rules and be more narrative or may even be house ruled. 6. Dungeons will contain puzzles, the appropriate checks will give you hints, but will not solve them for you unless you roll very high. Otherwise after some hints you will have to solve them for yourselves. Of course if the game is dragging I may supply more hints. 7. Character creation may use a stat array, I like having a solid knowledge of what everyone will have for stats. Otherwise it will be standard 20 point buy. 8. There will be a strong narrative component to this campaign, therefore it may not always be required for everyone to make a post a day. However, once combat hits it would be preferable if everyone could post more often. For a hint at things to come, here are the planned names of the different parts of the adventure: Part I: The Evil that Slumbers
I know this is a very ambitious project and some of you may be wary of that, which I understand. I can't promise anything, but I do plan to see this through. We have a general outline of the entire adventure, quite a few of the encouters planned and most of the first part complete. If we were to open recruitment it will be a bit yet because I am going on vacation. Plus I still have to write the player's guide. I am happy to answer any questions. Oh! One more thing. Here is the first sketch for the game done by my friend.
I am building a character for Hell's Rebels. I don't even know if I will ever get to play it, but I just love the heck out of it after reading through the player's guide. It's one of the first times where I feel a Noble Scion is a perfect fit. What class would you say goes into Noble Scion most smoothly? I was thinking Bard or Rogue.
So yes Arcane Trickster is a prestige class that exists, but with the huge amount of options in Pathfinder I am wondering if there is a better way of making the concept of a magical rogue. Or do you think the prestige class is the best way to go?
So, it's not exactly easy to create a greek hero in Pathfinder. Martials usually don't have interesting enough tricks to feel like one and fighting styles you'd expect to see (Spear and shield, or just a shield in general really, nets, charitos etc.) are hard to optimize. If you were tasked with making a character that felt like a greek hero how would you go about it? Right now I am thinking Bloodrager might be the best bet, but most greek heroes didn't exactly have flat out magical powers. It also isn't easy to get enough feats or stats to play interesting combat styles.
I've noticed it in a lot of recruitment threads. I think gestalt needs the right (usually small) party and the right (usually homebrew for balance) campaign to work out, but I keep seeing 5-8 gestalt players for pre-written adventures. Now I don't mean to put anyone down who enjoys this kind of play, I am just wondering where the surge of popularity has come from?
So... Fighter, the class that fights and not much else. You hit things really hard and outside of combat you might knock down a door or something. But Fighter also has a HUGE amount of archetypes, so what combination of these would you say makes the most versatile and interesting Fighter? Hopefully one who can do things outside of combat, but also becomes more interesting then a regular Fighter in combat. Lore Warden and Eldritch Guardian are the first two archetypes that come to my mind, but they cannot be taken together.
So I really want to play a Dwarven Bard, I've always wanted to really. What are some good ideas for making it work? 20 point buy. I was thinking you would probably want to go with something like: Str 10
or Str 16
Depending on if you wanted to go ranged or melee, and then focus on the buffs. Which archetypes might be useful? Any dwarf feats I should look at?
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