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Mysterious Stranger wrote:

Hero System is my preferred system, but I like Pathfinder 1E. I friend got me into Pathfinder, and I started running it after a while. I have a substantial amount invested not only in books but also in Hero Labs. When Pathfinder 2E came out I took a look and found that Hero Labs for 2E is only available online, so that killed any interest in using that and put me off from upgrading. Pathfinder 1E is a mature system that has enough options to make it interesting. The system works very well for a simple game that does not take a much effort to create a character but offers enough variation that I can create pretty close to the character I want. If I want a more complex system that allows me to do anything I will use Hero System. I see no reason to invest more money in a third system.

Off topic sidebar: In your opinion, which is better Fantasy Hero or Pathfinder?

Fantasy Hero is the better system, but Pathfinder has more resources available. Setting up a FH campaign is a lot more work, but worth the time if done properly. The combat system is far superior and allows a lot more tactical options.

The big difference is that Pathfinder is a complete game. Fantasy Hero is more of a structure that allows the GM to create the game they want.

Hero System is my preferred system, but I like Pathfinder 1E. I friend got me into Pathfinder, and I started running it after a while. I have a substantial amount invested not only in books but also in Hero Labs. When Pathfinder 2E came out I took a look and found that Hero Labs for 2E is only available online, so that killed any interest in using that and put me off from upgrading. Pathfinder 1E is a mature system that has enough options to make it interesting. The system works very well for a simple game that does not take a much effort to create a character but offers enough variation that I can create pretty close to the character I want. If I want a more complex system that allows me to do anything I will use Hero System. I see no reason to invest more money in a third system.

The feat Feral Combat Training allows you to use the chosen natural weapon with flurry of blows. So, if the GM wants the dragon to be able to use bite with flurry of blows this feat would allow it.

By 7th level of warpriest I can have the following feats, Channel Smite, Cleave, Great Cleave, Guided Hand, Heightened spell, Power Attack, Preferred Spell, Weapon Focus, and Weapon Specialization. This allows me to cast Divine Favor as a swift action and still attack. When I attack with a bastard sword, I will have a +14 to hit and be doing 1d10+15 damage. I also did not have to spend a feat to get proficiency in heavy armor.

The 7th level cleric takes the following feats, Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Channel Smite, Combat Casting, Guided Hand, and power attack. That gives him a +9 to hit and doing 1d10+9 for damage. He cannot spontaneously cast Divine Favor so has to memorize it using 1 spell slot for each use he plans on using. That means he will probably not have it available for every combat.

On round 1 the warpriest uses fervor to cast divine favor as a swift action and uses great cleave. When attacking a creature with an AC of 22 (15 + his level) he has a DPR of 12.3 without factoring in cleave. The cleric attacking the same target has a DPR of 5.075. If the cleric casts Divine Favor or any other spell for that matter they do not get to attack on the first round and his DPR goes to 10.175 on the second round but does not have the ability to attack more than a single target.

This also means the cleric is not using his feats to boost his spell casting. A spell focused cleric should be using his feats for things like spell focus, spell penetration, and maybe some metamagic feats instead of combat feats.

As the warpriest levels up there are still a lot more feats he can take to improve his combat ability. By 12th level the warpriest will have picked up greater weapon focus, greater weapon specialization, Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike and Weapon Trick (two handed). This would allow him to be doing 3d10+20 when using cleave and greater cleave. This is without figuring in sacred weapon or other magic items.

That would be 12 HP OR 12 skill ranks for 2 feats. To get both requires a feat which would put the warpriest up by 3 feats. If I really want those skill points and HP I can simply take toughness and cunning. So, trading 12 HP or 12 skill ranks for 2 feats basically breaks even. If the character manages to get to 18th level he will get a 3rd feat.

As a human cleric the character gets 9 feats, as a warpriest he gets 15. Don’t forget that a warpriest gets proficiency in heavy armor and martial weapons. The human FCB as a cleric is a bonus to overcome spell resistance of an outsider, as a warpriest it is 1/6 of a combat feat. As a cleric he gets 2 channel energy per day, as a warpriest he gets 4. By 12th level the cleric will have 11 feats, the warpriest will have 20 feats. The cleric will still have 2 channel energies, compared to the 6 of the warpriest. The warpriest will also have sacred armor and sacred weapon so can add enchantments to his armor and weapons. The warpriest also gets access to fighter only feats.

With the build I am suggesting the character can get divine favor up as a swift action in every combat and that gives him a +4 to hit and damage. While this does not increase his BAB it does put his attack bonus on par with a full BAB class and gives him and extra +4 to damage.

The player is also a new player so probably does not have a lot of system mastery and is probably unfamiliar with a lot of the more obscure cleric spells. Playing a full caster-based cleric takes a lot of knowledge and I do not recommend that for a new player. So, in this instance the cleric may have on paper a higher potential, but in play is probably not going to be realized.

The extra feats take less system mastery because you only need to understand how the feats you have work. With spells you have to understand how all of them work and have enough information to choose appropriate spells. The spells the warpriest will be using will for the most part be self-buff spells, that makes it easier to focus on a smaller portion of the spell list. But since he still has access to the full list it gives him the opportunity to learn them for the next character he plays.

My advice is based on what the OP said he wanted. He expressed interest in playing a melee focused character and a warpriest can do that better than a cleric.

Normally I would agree with Azothath about STR, but in this case the character has already invested heavily in WIS, so it is a little late now. As far as the guided property I doubt the character can replace his equipment right away. Relying solely on an enchantment for a combat focused characters combat ability can be dangerous. If he loses the weapon or it is otherwise rendered non-magical it makes the character worthless. Using feats may seem wasteful, but the character has lots of feats. If he is human, he gets a bonus feat at 1st level and can use his favored class bonus to gain an extra feat every 6 levels. This is in addition to the bonus feats of the warpriest. At 7th level the character has 7 feats.

What the character should do is to continue to advance WIS but also advance STR with magic items. Focus more on WIS to increase his chance to hit and gain more uses of fervor as well as some extra spells.

If the character could be completely rewritten, I would be giving different advice, but given the constraints of what can be done I think the advice I am giving is the best way to rebuild the character.

The most important thing is to be familiar with your spells and abilities. Assuming your GM is allowing all the material from the various expansion books you have a huge spell list. There are around 150 1st level cleric spells (warpreists use the cleric spell list). Warpriest also allows you to add enchantments to your weapons and armor. Become familiar with those as well.

If possible, I would switch to using the bastard sword two handed. I am not sure why your character cannot do so.

Fervor is your most important ability. Not only does it let you heal yourself in combat as a swift action, it also allows you to cast buff spells on yourself as a swift action. It also allows you to ignore somatic components, does not require a free hand and does not provoke AoO. But those spells only affect your character even if they would normally affect others. This means you may not be able to buff the whole party quickly but can boost your own abilities and still get be able to attack in the same round. If you know you are about to encounter something, consider casting some of the party wide buffs before combat starts and use fervor for personal buffs.

One spell I would really recommend for buffing the whole party is Blessing of Fervor. It has a list of benefits that each target can choose from, and the benefit can be changed from round to round.

As I mentioned take greater weapon focus and greater weapon specialization as you level up. Boosting your bonus to hit and damage keeps you closer to a full martial character.

Warpriest would work even with the WIS focus. Normally I would not recommend guided hand, but it can work on this build. Your high WIS gives you enough bonus to hit you can afford the penalty for power attack even if you are using it one handed it still boost your damage. That and the extra feats warpriest gets make for a better melee focused character. Make sure to pick up weapon specialization and latter get greater weapon focus and weapon specialization. If you are human, the FCB of warpriest will give you and extra feat ever 6 levels.

WIS also gives you more uses of Fervor and that allows more uses of channel energy More Fervor also allows you to cast self-buffs on yourself as a swift action. This reduces the need for combat casting.

Take Fates Favored and load up on divine favor. Being able to get a +4 to hit and damage as a swift action is really good. This might even be worth taking heightened spell and preferred spell for.

If your GM will let you take Fey Foundling as one of your 1st level feats. It works really well with Fervor when healing yourself. Your GM might not go for it, but it does not hurt to ask. The fact you are not starting at 1st level means you can don’t have to sit through waiting for your build to become functional.

DO NOT MULTICLASS.

Ouch this is going to be fairly difficult to pull off. Clerics are an incredibly versatile class and can be built to do almost anything, but they cannot do everything. That is one reason that makes the class difficult for a beginner. In all honesty I normally recommend beginners avoid clerics. As a divine prepared caster they have access to every spell on their list they are high enough level to cast. Their spell list also has a lot of very situational spells. Those spells tend to be either incredibly useful or completely worthless depending on the situation. That means the player has to be familiar with all his spells which most beginners are not. But you are playing a cleric so the only thing to do is to make the best of it. I would recommend spending a lot of time going over all your spells especially the more obscure ones.

The most important thing when building a cleric is to figure out what you want the character to do and focus on that. If you try to do everything you end up doing nothing well. The role of a melee cleric can be done, but honestly a warpriest is much better at this than the cleric. You also focused mostly on WIS so that is going to make it even more difficult. With the constraints of your stats, I am not sure that is a wise choice. Guided Hand requires two feats and will boost your chance to hit but does nothing for your damage.

If you are going to go with a melee cleric you need to be able to do damage when you hit. Since your stats are already fixed, we need to look at other ways to get your damage up. Ditch Heightened Spell and Preferred spell and take power attack. Ditch the shield and use the sword two handed for the extra damage.

Since you are focusing on melee combat that means you will often be on the front line when casting spells. Casting spells provokes AoO unless you cast defensively which requires a concentration check. As it stands your chance of casting defensively will very low. You have a 15% chance to fail casting defensively when you cast a 1st level spell that goes up to a 45% chance for your 4th level spells. Take Combat Casting to reduce this so your character can actually cast spells on the front line. With Combat Casting you have no chance of failing on a 1st level spell, and only a 25% chance of failing on a 4th level spell. If you are using traits and they can be changed you can take a trait like focused mind to give you an additional +2 on your concentration to reduce those numbers by 10%. At that point you no chance of failure on a 1st or 2nd level spells, a 5% on a 3rd level spell and a 15% on a 4th level spell.

With your stats and the constraints on what you can change you might want to focus less on melee and more on casting. Even with this build you are probably going to fall behind the inquisitor and swashbuckler. That would require completely different feats, and your combat ability would be much less.

If your GM would allow you to swap to a warpriest we could do a lot better.

One of the most important parts of being a GM is being able to keep the game in balance. Often a player may want to do something that runs counter to keeping the game in balance and the GM needs to reign in the player. It is one thing when a player wants to build his character to do certain things. When the character is taking feats or archetypes, he should be able to do something most if not all other characters cannot. But when he wants a vanilla character to be able to do the same thing that is something that the GM needs to address.

I’m trying to hav other things attack w the poison instead of myself so I can focus on other things

Use a quickened telekinetic volley then. What you are trying to do is to circumvent the action economy. This is purposely made difficult for game balance. Any way to do that is going to be difficult and probably require a high-level character.

No, because running into a target would require an attack roll, and unseen servants cannot make attack rolls of any kind.

Unseen servants are also shapeless which would make it impossible to apply poison to.

The skills used in combat will be the same skills used out of combat. If the character is climbing the skill used is climbing, if they are jumping the skill used is acrobatics. That being said not everything the player wants to try should be allowed. If what the character is attempting to do is covered by a class feature or feat, they do not have the character should not be able to do it.

Trying to jump on the wyvern and climb it is a class ability of the vexing dodger so unless the rogue has that archetype, they should not be allowed to do it. If this is something you want a character to be able to do the GM could make a custom feat or rogue talent that would grant the ability.

Another thing to make sure is that you are applying all the negative aspects of what the character is trying to do. Moving through a threatened square usually provokes an AoO. He could use acrobatics to avoid that but that would require a separate acrobatics check. By climbing on the wyvern, he was considered moving through his opponent's square, which increases the DC of the acrobatics check. Looking up the Wyvern the DC for the acrobatics check would be 28 (5+ CMD of 23), or the rogue provokes an AoO. The wyvern is in combat so probably counts as a severely unstable surface, that raises the DC of the acrobatics check to 38. When climbing the character moves at ¼ speed and loses DEX to AC, considering this is rouge that probably means he is losing a lot of AC when he gets hit with the AoO. If the character has the vexing dodger archetype, they do not have to worry about the AoO he does lose AC, but that will probably be offset by penalty to attack the wyvern suffers because of limb climber.

Cure spells may not be worth memorizing but using them when you know you are going to need the spell slots is a different thing. Casting cure spells when in downtime or in a safe location saves the cost of the wand and stretches it out further. Those charges on the wand of cure light wounds can add up.

It's all about utilizing your resources wisely.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is spell books from defeated wizards. If you kill or otherwise defeat to the point you are taking all his equipment taking his spell book can give the wizard in the party a lot of extra spells. This is better than finding scrolls, because most wizards will have more spells in their books than they do in scrolls.

Druids and clerics both have the ability to convert their prepared spells to other spells. This means that even if they prepare the wrong spells, they can still often use these slots productively. The druid's ability to spontaneously cast summoning spells means they can still use their spell slots in combat even if all their spell choices are wrong.

The Herald Caller archetype gives the cleric the ability to spontaneously cast summon monster spells in addition to healing spells. That means the Herald Caller always has 3 choices of what to use his spell slots for. He can cast the prepared spell, a summon monster or a cure spell. The archetype also gets augmented summoning and superior summoning without having to actually spend the feats. About the only summoning feat they need to actually take would be sacred summons. With this archetype you might not even need to actually cast most of the spells you actually memorized.

Rangers and Paladins actually have it easier than full casters for this. Their spell casting is very limited and is gained late. Because they are so far behind other casters most of their offensive spells are not that powerful. Between their lower level and lower casting stat the DC of their offensive spells are often so low that most level appropriate monsters can easily make the save. But their spell list also has a lot of combat buffs that can boost their already good combat even higher. Most of those spells tend to focus on the caster so knowing what you are facing is less important. An archer focused ranger casting gravity bow will get the benefit no matter what they are facing. Likewise, a paladin will be able to use heroic defiance in any combat he takes damage in.

No, you do not have the class feature if it has been replaced.

If it is for a PC, I go with the 1.5 cost to scribe it into the book. If it is for an NPC Hero Labs has some prewritten spell books that I often use for this especially if the NPC is not a significant character and I don’t want to spend a lot of time creating them.

The race builder rules are too easily broken, and most GM's do not allow a PC to use them. For the most part they are designed to be used by the GM not players.

Just out of curiosity why did you not go with tiefling for your race? Devil Spawn tiefling make excellent inquisitors. CHA does not do much for an inquisitor especially with the right inquisition. Their favored class bonus is similar but the tieflings is actually much better.

Honor divorced from morality would focus more on reputation and reliability. Keeping your word is important because it allows mutual beneficent deals. When both parties know that the deal will be honored cooperation become possible. In cases like this the letter of the law is usually more important than the spirit.

Even protecting other can be seen as beneficial to the person doing the protecting because it often leads to rewards latter. Which is better taking the peasant’s last gold and having them starve or collecting a lesser amount each year for decades? The trick is to leave them enough to thrive but still getting the most out of them. The lawful good character will take enough taxes to support the state but still leave the peasant enough to thrive. The lawful evil will take as much as they can but leave the peasant enough to survive. The lawful neutral will take somewhere in the middle. They want as much as they can get but also want the peasant to produce more so they get more over the long run.

What the real difference between lawful good and lawful neutral are often the reasons behind the actions instead of the actions themselves. The good character actually cares about others and wants everyone to prosper and be happy. The neutral character is more concerned with the results.

Another thing to consider is that even if the AP has enough treasure to satisfy the WBL guidelines that is no guarantee that the players will actually find or gain possession of all the treasure. A failed perception roll or a creature from an encounter getting away can mean the players do not gain the treasure even if it is in the AP. This is why the GM should still be keeping track of things and adjusting the loot as needed.

If you have no information on what you are facing and are trying to decide between two spells, look to the characteristics of the spells. Lightning Bolt has range of 120 ft., and an area of 120 ft. line. Fireball has a range of long (400 ft. + 40 ft. /level) and an area of 20 ft. radius spread. Looking at the area Fireball covers 1,256.64 square feet, compared to the 600 of Lightning Bolt. Both spells do the same amount of damage with the only difference being the type of energy. Looking at the description of Lightning Bolt you see that the bolt begins at your fingertips. So, even though the range is listed as 120 ft. it is really has no range.

When we look at the spells it is pretty obvious that Fireball is a lot more versatile. Assuming a 5th level caster I can place the fire ball in any square within 600 feet, and it has a better chance affect more targets. All other things being equal Fireball is usually going to be the best choice. If you were underground traveling through narrow tunnels a lot of the advantages of Fireball will be negated and Lightning bolt may be more a better choice. In a tunnel range is less important and the tunnels tend to force your targets to line up. If you were underground but in a vast cavern that stretches for miles the Fireball regains its advantages.

The argument that fire resistance is more common than electrical resistance ignores the fact that other than outsiders and spells or magic items energy resistance of any kind is not that common. Most natural creatures don’t have any type of energy resistance

The game mechanic that should help the prepared caster choose his spells efficiently is their high stats. Arcane casters tend to have extremely high INT and divine casters have equally high WIS. The problem is that the game has no mechanics for factoring this in on most things. Sure it helps with skills and a few other things, but for the most part having a high INT or WIS does not give the character any advantage on decisions. You would think that a character that is more intelligent than Albert Einstein would have a better chance to choose spells more efficiently than someone dumber than Al Bundy, but the game does not factor that in.

So basically compare the two spells and see which one can be useful in more circumstances. This means as a player you have to have complete understanding of all your spells down to the minute details. This is one thing that makes playing a prepared caster more difficult than a spontaneous caster. From the sound of it you are trying to find a way around this problem, but I don’t think there is one.

The caster might not know what he is going to encounter but should at least know what his initial goal of the day is. That goal may change as the day progresses, but he should at least know what he is starting out to do. If he is traveling to a distant city, he presumably knows something of the area he is traveling through. He does not need a spell or class feature to figure out he is in a forest or desert. If he intends to explore the mysterious ruins, he found yesterday he knows that without needing anything else.

Your most important goal is to ensure your character survives. The biggest threat to your survival will usually be combat. For that reason, you should always have some spells that allow you to deal with potential combats. After combat the next most important thing will be natural threats and obstacles. Those are usually fairly obvious so should not require much to determine.

So, while he is traveling the caster prepares general avoidance and protection spells along with some long-lasting combat spells. He also prepares any spells to deal with obvious obstacles. If the character cannot figure out that he needs protection vs the cold while traveling through snow he should not be traveling. If he encounters something he does not investigate it right away, he waits and prepares spells based on the information he has.

Some spells are going to be almost always useful and will become the default spell load. Starting with cantrip you will almost always want Detect Magic, Mage Hand and Prestidigitation. For 1st level spells Ant Haul, Mage Armor, Unseen Servant, and Silent Image would be good. The idea is to choose spells that will usually have some value. Spontaneous casters go through this when choosing their spells known.

If you are alone many of your spells will be needed to ensure your safety. Without other party members you are a lot more vulnerable. Spells like Alarm and Rope Trick will be taking up your spell slots. You will also need to be able to cover tasks other teammates may have performed or abilities you lack. Spells like Darkvsion will be helpful if you lack the ability to see in the dark.

One spell that deserves a special mention would be Heroism. It is a long-lasting buff that provides a +2 bonus to all skill rolls. That might not seem like much, but the chances are there are a lot of important skills the caster will be lacking. Extending Heroism would be a good tactic.

After you have memorized some basic combat spells, spells for avoiding obvious obstacles, divination spells to be cast the next day and left a few slots open to be filled as needed you probably will not have many spell slots left.

That depends on if you want to be able to utilize combat reflexes while under the effect of an enlarge person. Combat Reflexes does not have a minimum number of extra attacks, so if your DEX goes down to the point you no longer have a DEX bonus you gain no extra AoO. Using Enlarge person on a character with a reach pole arm and combat reflexes is very effective.

For that reason, I would go for at least 14 DEX.

Zon Kuthon was not always evil. Before he was corrupted his personality was very different. What if his transformation is not complete and he is still transforming into what he is destined to be. Maybe his final form is something in between his original and what his is today.

Your character could be the prophet for his true form. This would allow you to take the teaching of both personalities and combine them into something different. His original form had similar views to his sister Shelyn. So, maybe take the idea that an artist has to suffer for their art and run with that.

Focus more on the masochistic aspect instead of the sadist ones. You could even take the idea that not everyone is worthy of experiencing the “Holy” ecstasies of pain that grant enlightenment. By healing and caring for people you give them strength to accept the glory of pain.

Turning into a harmless animal and escaping is avoidance. So, while you may have other options on how to avoid my point still stands. Now if you could cast spells in the animal shape that might allow for a different strategy.

As to hexes very few of them are really good in a solo situation. Something like sleep works, but you still have to get pretty close and it only affects one target at a time. Even the sleep hex is going to be more useful in allowing the witch to get away than it will be taking down the target.

If you are in a situation where you cannot access, use or otherwise rely on your allies you are alone. In that case your top priority is probably your own survival. Most prepared arcane caster are really vulnerable in a solo situation. The Magus is about the only one that has any real ability to handle a solo adventure. For a wizard or witch, you are going to want to focus on avoidance and protection. When selecting combat spells fire and forget spells like summoning will be your best bet. Spells that can be used multiple times will also be good choices vs single use spells.

The magus spell list is a lot more focused on combat and lacks the versatility of other arcane casters. Other than increasing the number of defensive spells, what they prep will not change that much.

For divine casters it will depend on their build a lot more. If the character is fairly decent in combat, then they will probably be looking to prepare spells that buff their characters combat ability. Clerics that are not combat focused will have a harder time. They will usually have better defense than arcane casters so do not need protections spells as much. Unfortunately, they don’t have as much in the way of avoidance spells as arcane casters. Their combat spells are usually more tightly focused and less effective than arcane caster putting them at a disadvantage. Summoning will be one of their better options in when they are uncertain what they are facing. If they know they are facing undead or evil outsiders, they are better off.

When it comes to dealing with the unknown situation have a big advantage. They have more class abilities than most other full casters. Once they gain wild shape they are pretty well set. If they take Natural Spell they can simply turn into a bird and still cast spells. their spell list is also fairly diverse and includes some decent combat spells. They may not be able to match the arcane caster in offense, but they are strong enough to get the job done. The fact that they can spontaneously cast summoning spells means that even if they prep the wrong spell, they can still cast useful spells.

As important as knowing what you are facing is for a prepared caster there is another thing that is nearly equally important for them to know. Knowing the abilities of your party is almost as important as knowing what you are going to be facing. That information is something the prepared caster should always have. With the right spells the wizard can usually cover most roles especially out of combat.

If you lack a stealthy character invisibility can often be used to get that done. In some cases, the wizard can even cast it on someone else instead of casting it on themselves. Casting invisibility on the halfling swashbuckler is going to be more effective than the wizard casting it on themselves.

Another thing the wizard can do is to use his spells to fix obvious weaknesses in other party members. Casting Heroism on a character with only one good save can really boost their survival rate, on a rogue it also boosts all their skill and chance to hit so is incredibly effective. Any monk is going to be grateful for the wizard casting mage armor to boost his AC.

As other have mentioned divination spells can give you a clue on what you might be facing. Clerics have some good divination spells for this. If there is a cleric in the party memorizing one of these can help the party wizard by alleviating the information vacuum. Cooperation between characters will make all characters stronger.

Why do you think a Kirin does not have use somatic components when casting their spells? They might not use the same gestures a humanoid would but that does not mean they ignore that requirement. They simply use other gestures like pawing the ground (or air) or movement of their horns.

The feats I am suggesting are 1st Fey Foundling, 3rd Power Attack, 5 Improved Sunder, 7th Smite Evil Magic, 9th Improved Critical, 11th Sundering Strike, 13 Critical Focus, 15 Staggering Strike.

The save on Staggering Strike reduces the duration to 1 round, so even if they save, they still gain the staggered condition for a round. Critical Focus might be a feat tax, but in this case it is worth it. While using the Katana the character has a 30% chance to threaten a critical hit. When he does confirm a critical hit, he gets a sunder on his opponent weapon and his opponent is staggered for a minimum of 1 round. With 3 attacks per round at this point that gives him about a 66% chance of threatening a critical. Critical Focus will actually be very useful because it will increase the chance of confirming the critical hit on second and third attacks.

This build focuses on the idea of denying the target the chance to attack. It does this by eliminating the weapon the target is using and denying the target the ability to get in a full attack. At 15th level it has a good chance of completely shutting down a target. If the targets weapon is destroyed and they are staggered they cannot attack in the round they draw a weapon. This also reduces the damage the character takes and the chance that he will take a critical hit at all. You cannot score a critical hit or do damage on an attack you do not make.

There are only a couple of prestige classes in pathfinder that do not give up more than they give.

The Winter Witch advances all the Witch’s class features and only gives up a single caster level.

The Dawnflower Anchorite can eventually advance a cleric’s domains and channel energy. The only things you give up are a single caster level. In addition to adding class feature it also adds 9 more class skills including perception and 4 skill ranks per level instead of 2 per level. In addition you also get 3 more Credences, Solar Invocations, and Sunbeam twice a day as a spell like ability.

Both those are straight up upgrades to the base class, but those are the exception and both of those have restrictions that limit them to a single deity or patron.

I would say the favored terrain would normally apply to the whole plane by default. Not all planes have multiple layers and, in all fairness, picking the Abyss as your favored terrain should give you as much benefit as picking Limbo.

The rules state if the terrain falls into more than one category you only get the largest bonus. Why should the fact the terrain is a plane make any difference. If the ranger has favored terrain mountain +2 and favored terrain forest +4 he gets +4 in a mountain forest. If the ranger has favored terrain Elysium +2, and favored terrain forest +4 he should get +4 while in a forest in Elysium.

Other knowledge skills still work on other planes when dealing with what the knowledge skill covers, so why should geography be any different. Can a character with knowledge Arcana not use it to identify a magic creature on another plane? Can someone with a knowledge engineering not gain information about fortification on other planes? Does Knowledge religion not work on extraplanar undead? Why should knowledge geography be different. But knowledge geography would not apply to any planar features, just normal geography.

If knowledge geography does not apply that also increases the value of knowledge planes. Now instead of needing knowledge of nature and geography all you need on another plane is knowledge planes.

Most cleric archetypes trade away at least one domain. Desna has some really good domains so I would avoid any archetypes. For domains Imagination (from champions of purity) and travel seem to be very good. Imagination gives you a bunch of illusion spells which clerics normally do not get. Travel gives you so many useful spells, and at 8th level dimensional hop.

Take the feat divine fighting style to use your CHA to hit and damage when using a starknife. Going Aasimar for race gets you a bonus to WIS and CHA with no penalties. You can easily start with a 18 WIS and 16 CHA. This will give you a decent number of channel energy and a +3 to hit and damage with the starknife for only one feat. If you go the weapon finesse route adding DEX to hit and damage requires 3 feats.

If you want something more combat focused a warpriest would be good. If you do that, I would go the weapon finesse route and take Starry Grace and Guided Star instead of the Divine Fighting Style. You could also take the Champion of the Faith Archetype. As you level up you can focus on throwing your starknife by picking up quick draw, point-blank shot and rapid shot. By 9th level you could be getting 3 attacks at +10/+10+5 doing 1d8+18 point of damage without a magical weapon. Doing so would require using smite evil on the first round and then using guided star on the second.

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Batman MOVIE !== reality.

Fantasy games != reality. And you got the symbol for "not equal to" wrong. Dumbass.

And you are responding to a post that is over 15 years old and are calling one of the original Pathfinder developers a dumbass.

It seems to me that choice #1 is the most reasonable answer. From what I understand he basically protects the status quo. He was created by deities as an agent of divine retribution to enforce divine justice.

One thing to keep in mind is that by playing a support character you are allowing the direct damage characters to really shine. By boosting their abilities and controlling the battlefield you are enabling them to do what they do best instead of competing with them. You are also taking a necessary role than not everyone likes allowing them to focus on the things they like to do. If you played a direct damage dealer you would end up in direct competition to them and probably diminishing their enjoyment of the game.

In your first post you asked how for advice on snapping you out of the mindset. The most important thing for doing that is to realize it is a mindset you are having issues with. Look for the best ways to boost the party and let others worry about dealing damage. Don’t rely on just a few things to boost the party, instead look for new and creative way to become even better at it. Direct damage dealers can see the growth of their character by the HP they do in combat. Support characters have a harder time measuring character growth.

Not sure you really need the hermit archetype for anything. A standard oracle seem like it would work well enough. Most of what you want is more of a roleplaying thing than anything to do with game mechanics.

Since you want a fighter type taking the battle mystery seems like it would work. You already get all the cure spells so that will cover most of the healer aspect. You might want to take a few condition removal spells as well.

The shapechanger subtype in this case gives no benefits. The only it gives it proficiency with its natural weapons, simple weapons and those weapons and armor mentioned in the description. Since it grants no natural attacks and there is no description mentioning any weapons and armor it gains nothing. The Vigilante already has proficiency in simple weapons. But the vigilante is affected by effects that target shapechanger subtype. This makes having the subtype more of a disadvantage then an advantage. I suspect that this was deliberate as a way to balance the ability.

The first difference is that malleable Flesh does not totally alter your appearance. Some of the vigilante’s ascetics appear in all forms which cuts the bonus to disguise from +10 to +5. Malleable Flesh also reduces the vigilante’s seamless disguise bonus from +20 to +10. That means the vigilante with malleable flesh actually has less of a bonus than the standard vigilante to appear as his alternate identity. This gives the vigilante with malleable flesh ha a +5 bonus to appear as something different than one of their identities and a +15 to appear as their other identity. They give up some of the bonus to be able to appear in many different forms. Assumed form on the other hand grants the full benefit from disguise person. So, in reality it is actually better at disguising yourself the malleable flesh.

Another difference is that malleable flesh gives you the compression ability at 1st level and the ability to pass through narrow opening or small cracks at 12t level. These abilities are available to the character at any time and do not require that they be in a different form.

At 15th level Assumed form functions as alter self so it gives you the size bonus to your ability scores and the racial abilities of the form. At this level you do actually gain the natural attacks of the form you assume.

So, while these abilities seem similar, they are actually quite different. Malleable Flesh gives you more than just the ability to disguise yourself but has some drawbacks. Assumed form starts off weaker, but in a lot of ways is much stronger especially once you reach 15th level.

Does the character have to be a cleric? As Claxon mentioned an oracle may be a better fit for the concept. A cleric always serves the deity, but an oracle does not even have to worship or even support the deity granting them power.

You could have a cleric that serves his deity, but disdains all others. This is actually not that uncommon and nearly any deity could fit for that type of character.

Actually, Aura Alteration would not work. The options for the false aura are nonmagical, a magic item of a kind you specify or the subject of the spell you specify. Obviously detecting as a magic item is going to be useless. Detecting as a subject of a spell is going to be considered cheating. That means the only useful alteration would be being nonmagical. Aura Sight also detects the ability to cast spells and if they are divine or arcane. If you use Aura Alteration to appear as nonmagical it will not detect you are an arcane caster, which means you are not in fact a wizard or are cheating.

The reason I choose Arcane Sight is because it not only verifies you are not under any magical effect, but it also confirms you are in fact an arcane spell caster. Blocking the spell from working prevents that and is much of a red flag as revealing a magical effect on you.

The school could have restricted areas that only wizards are allowed to enter. That would allow mundane servants to take care of normal tasks but still have places that only a wizard can enter.

Geas will also act as verification the character completed the test. If they cheat on the test in any way, they have not completed the task of the geas and will take a -3 penalty to each stat per day up to a maximum of -12. If you really want to verify the test, put a requirement that the subject waits in the secure location for 5 days after completing the test. How many characters can function when all their stats are reduced by 12?

There is no reason they could not take levels in monk. The HD would stack, they could use either their natural attacks or the unarmed attacks including flurry. Feral Combat Training would allow you to use one of your natural attacks with your flurry of blows, but does require weapon focus for the natural attack. But keep in mind that the dragon’s natural attacks are actually better.

You would gain everything a monk of its level gains.

The life oracle with the pei zen practitioner archetype looks solid, but I would go for human or half elf for the extra spells from the favored class bonus. The extra healing is nice but I would rather have more spells known for a spontaneous caster. Take the Blackened Curse to get some fire based combat spells.

By 12th level you can take care of most healing just from your mystery and archetype. Your curse gives you some basic combat spells, so you can take whatever support spells you want.

Wizard requires a lot of planning and knowledge of the rules. In Theory as a prepared caster they can prepare for any situation, in practice this does not always work out. If the wizard knows exactly, what is they are going to encounter and has a huge selection of spells preparing the right spells is not difficult. On the other hand, if the Wizard is misinformed or has a limited number of spells in their books, they are often at a severe disadvantage.

The real key to running a wizard is resource management. Other than caintrips all the wizard’s resources are extremely limited. This means that they need to be able to recognize when the best time is to use their resources. Sure, the fireball will destroy all the goblins in the first encounter, but then what happens when you encounter the hobgoblins latter that day? This can lead the wizard to never casting their more powerful spells, which can be just as bad. Knowing when to use the appropriate spell is what makes a successful wizard.

Wands have been mentioned as a way to boost your resources and this is good advice. But scrolls can be equally important to a good wizard. Wizards usually get scribe scroll at 1st level so they can create their own scrolls. The wizard spell list has a lot of useful utility spells. Many of these are highly situational and often use out of combat. Creating scrolls of these spells will allow the wizard to use them without having to memorize the spells. Making scrolls of long-lasting buffs is also a good use of your resources. Staves are another good way to increase the resources of a wizard. They are fairly expensive but the versatility they give makes them worth the price. Using wands, scrolls and staves allows the wizard to use most of his spell slots for combat focused spells.

Another option would be to play a sorcerer instead of a wizard. They have the same spell list but are spontaneous casters. Spontaneous casters have a very limited selection of spells but do not have to choose which spells to memorize. They still have limits on how many spells they can cast of each level but have access to all their spells as long as they have an appropriate spell slot. Many players that do not have less system knowledge find this easier to run. The big difference is that sorcerers have to be extremely careful on choosing their spells known. A wizard who memorizes the wrong spell can simply memorize a different spell tomorrow. A sorcerer that makes a bad choice of spells know can be affected by that choice forever.

A sorcerer with the solar bloodline would have all the spells on his spell list. They get searing light and daylight as bloodline spells. There are probably other characters with all 3 spells on their list. Look through the bloodlines, domains, patrons, mysteries and other things that expand your spell list.

You have no alignment. You can become a member of any class, even one with an alignment requirement, and can never lose your membership because of a change in alignment. If you violate the code of ethics of any of your classes, you might still lose access to certain features of such classes, subject to GM discretion. Attempts to detect your alignment don't return any results. If a class restricts you from casting spells with an alignment descriptor, you can cast such spells without restrictions or repercussions. If you're the target of a spell or effect that is based on alignment, you're treated as the most favorable alignment when determining the spell's effect on you. Any effects that alter alignment have no effect on you. If you lose this effect, you revert to your previous alignment.

The description specifies your alignment. The characters alignment does not matter for the class feature aura. You can actually radiate a different alignment than your characters alignment because of this. When you cast detect evil on the lawful neutral cleric of Asmodeus you are not detecting the clerics alignment, but he still detects as evil. If a GM wants to change that is fine, but that is a house rule, not RAW.

In Pathfinder androids are humanoid(android), not constructs. The constructed racial trait makes them count as both for effects targeting constructs. They do not gain any other construct abilities. The rules specify that humanoids breathe, eat and sleep. But the description of the race specifically states they are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, disease and sleep. The fact that the description specifies they are not affected by sleep reinforces that they are not in fact constructs.

Starfinder is not Pathfinder despite being from the same company. So, the fact that Starfinder says they do not breathe is not relevant. Your GM is of course free to house rule otherwise, but RAW androids need to eat and breathe.

The description of Plane Shift list the focus as a forked metal rod attuned to the plane of travel. It also does not list a cost so the cost of the fork is of negligible cost and is assumed to be in your spell component pouch. It does not specifically state it is a tuning fork. To me this indicates that they are not expensive or difficult to make. It seem to me that requiring a tuning fork set to a specific harmonic frequency would be more expensive than a small square of silk (the F for Magic Aura).

Attuning the fork could be a mental exercise where you focus on the nature of the plane instead of needing a separate fork for each plane. If you do want to use a tuning fork it should only be a knowledge planes roll to figure out the frequency. If it is more difficult the focus should have a listed cost.

AON is the Archive of Nethys . It is a website with all the official Pathfinder information. It can be found at https://www.aonprd.com/

AON has some links in the description that are helpful in determining how things work. The description of the blood arcainist has a link to the sorcerer bloodlines listing all the valid choices. This list has none of the mutated bloodlines. The list of mutated bloodlines is under wildblooded.

The term bloodline describes a specific class feature that operates in the manner described by the sorcerer description. Archetypes are something that only the class they are designed for can take even if another class shares the class feature the archetype modifies. Since Arcanists are not sorcerers they cannot take the crossblooded or wildblooded archetypes.

Since the Arcainist does not have a crossblooded or wildblooded archetype the options in those archetypes are not available to them.