In fact, the boots of haste were what gave him the idea :P
In any case, with their current gold, he will only be able to afford the one per day use version, and for 16,200 that is reasonable for me. Thanks for the clarification Kalindlara ;)
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Hi, one of my players asked me to create a custom item. The problem is that he is being a little unreasonable about the price and capabilities.
Already, that is too powerful for my liking, and I did not find a way to calculate a price for that with the rules of item creation. The solution I came up to was to calculate the cost as if the spell was casted with the quickening metamagic setting the level to 5 instead of 1 and make it a switf action and using the command word column in the table to work the numbers. That gave me the following price: 9th casterl level x 5th spell level x 1800 = 81,000 gp.
In any case, I'm not sure about letting him create this item or looking for another alternative. Is there an item out there that works in a similar fashion?
I have this build I call the "Lost Heir": Race: Human Character Traits: Defender of the Society, Carefully Hidden Abilities (20p/buy)
Class: Fighter (VMC Bard) 12
1 - Bonus Combat Feat (Power Attack), Human Feat (Shield Focus), Combat Reflexes
This character is conceibed as a support and tank warrior. The high Charisma is basically a tax for the flagbearer feat, but once you hit 7th level and grab Inspire Courage and a Banner of the Ancient Kings, you start to give big bonuses to your party members, in addition to the ones provided by Inspiring Bravery. With Shield brace, Armor specialization, Armor training, Shield focus, Defender of the Society, Armored Juggernaut and Cut/Slash from the Air, you get top notch defenses. Having a Two-handed weapon with power attack, plus your Weapon Training and the magical aid you can pick up with Warrior Spirit, the character is still a force to be reckon in melee. Finally, Abundant Tactics and Barroon Brawler let you be versatile on the fly, and exploit the combo of picking an Item mastery feat via Advanced Weapon Training, and getting support magic whenever you need it (Teleportation mastery and Fly mastery will be the usual choices). Skill wise, he is not the brightest, but with a decent charisma and his lost heir background, he can fit the party face role if needed (specially later, with versatile performance) Notable Gear to grab:
Mind Chemist and Grenadier are both great for a bomber type alchemist. I usually favor the Mind Chemist for its insane bonus to knowledge checks. Abd with the cognatagen and high Int, you impose very high DC on your bombs, making debufing a very atractive route.
This comparison is old, and it always come to this: if you want to focus on a crossbow go Bolt ace, if not, pick up a bow if you can. In fact, I do think the Bolt ace if superior to the regular archer. Five levels and you have all the essential feats (Point-blank shot, Precise shot, Rapid shot, Deadly Aim, Rapid reload) you add Dex to dmg and get a Crit increment to your crossbow. Later, with Improv. Crit you end up with a Crit range of 17-20 x3, which is amazing. The archer on the other hand still need to focus on Str to get extra dmg, but needs one feat less to work.
Some general tips: Keep your players on the edge. From time to time, make some dice rolls behind the screen and even take some notes. This is particullary effective when there is a bunch of npc in the area, any rare feature on the scenery or in cities. You don't need to do write anything, just make some scribbles. This method can be fantastic if they take notice of some npc or event that you can use to sheper the pc in the direction you want. Another useful method is a crude and old one, but to this day I still believe is the most effective: just steal from them. If there are not on their guard, they do something stupid or reckless, its quite easy to accomplish. Make sure they find some clues, and again, you just led them to the plot hook. But be careful, don't abuse this trick, because in time they will either ignore it or go to recover or find whatever picked up their interest and then turn their backs.
You want to sneak attack pretty much always? Look no more and check Canny Tumble. To my understanding, is the best way to secure SA whenever you want, specially when you don't have a flanking buddy or the enemy is trying to be smart and repositions constantly to avoid that. Onto the build, Arcane Trickster is not that bad, mainly because you still progress sneak attack (one thing that you wanted to keep) and nets you spell progession as well.
This guy is kewl^^ not the best will saves/ranged options but you don't want him to be too perfect. That's is exactly the case ;) I don't intend him to be perfect, and the concept of the character is an arrogant but lovable badass halfling. I already mentioned before that his Will ST was his kriptonite, but I think that flaws like this are what makes a character more appealing, and not just a bunch of numbers.
The point of this topic isn't covering the basics. It's getting inspired to try out new things like the Swashbuckler. :) Then, may I present you to Clovis Lanfor? The Halfling I mentioned earlier :) Race: Halfling Alternative Racial Traits: Fleet of Foot, Skulker Abilities (20p/buy) 1st S12-2 D16+2 C13 I12 W10 C12+2 12th S10 D24 C14 I14 W12 C16 (+1 Con +2 Dex / Lv, +4 Dex belt, +2 Mental headband) Unchained Rogue 4 (Thug), Swashbuckler (Mouser) 3, Brawler 1, Fighter (Weapon master) 4
1 - R1 - Finesse training, Sneak Attack +1d6, Frightening, Dodge
Like I said, He is heavily multiclassed, but is a Halfling swordman badass, with many tricks to his sleeve. His to go strategy is to Canny tumble into a foe and do an unarmed strike. That grants a sneak attack that let us active the Enforcer feat (non-letal damage), sacrifice one die on SA to activate the Brutal Beating (Sickened) and the Debilitating injury (Disoriented recommended), and you denny his AoO (Slow Reactions). If we have time, we can use a Reduce person wand before and since he is tiny now, he can get into the square of the enemy without being attacked first (activating the Underfoot Assault deed). If done correctly, the enemy will have -10 attacking our allies and -8 attacking us, and as soon as another of our friends gets to him (most probably the magus) he is flanked too. One fun thing you can do is try to steal things from your opponents with the Quick Steal feature. Sure, you don't get any bonuses, but is a free shot if you hit them, so, why not? Spell component pouches, unattended wands, weapons and potions should be easy targets. Fighting defensively with Crane Style + Cautious Fighter + Dodge and size bonuses and the gear you can carry, the AC go easily to 40. You will be almost always untouchable. And best of all, you will be doing all this with style.
In a party like that, why don't stick to the basics then.
Get the usual Steel Soul feat, additional traits to grab Defender of the society and Glory of old, and the go for the advanced armor and weapon options if you are allowed. With Shield Brace you can keep your shield and go Two-Handed, and with all the heavy armor goodies there are now, you can easily go to the 30's on AC, be still pretty good dealing damage and have a toon of HP and great saves thanks to being a dwarf.
His touch AC can rise to 31, so he's more and less safe there, not untouchable but good enough to be missed on a general basis. Onto the flight problem, yes, the build I have is not final, and I am considering not getting an advanced weapon training with the Fighter Weapon Master to change it on the fly with the Martial Versatily of the Brawler and get the Item Mastery feat you need according to the situation (Fly Mastery on this regard). Another option is using a Celestial Armor, which comes with a once per day Fly spell. The ranged problem can be workable, but yes, that would involve modifing the build a bit.
I have a build for a heavily multiclassed halfling, so I don't know if you could still like him or not. It goes Unchained Rogue (Thug), Brawler, Swashbuckler (Mouser) and Fighter (Weapon master) It's actually a 12th level build, and with the right equipement goes up to 46 AC, +26 to hit, +31 to dmg and can impose heavy debuffs on opponents (Shaken, Sickened, debilitating injurty and the Underfoot deed) all in one round. He can easly lock one foe no matter how tough it is. His only kriptonite is being grappled, and maybe a better will save. So he is actually a great tank and dps, but also can work as a face and scout for the party.
I also encourage going fighter but vote for Weapon Master archetype. Don't waste a feat on Crossbow mastery, as they already told you, you are expending a feat to gain 1 point of extra damage on average. Totally not worth it. About the archetype, stick with a light crossbow and make it your weapon of choice for the class. When you reach 8th level (3rd in wpn master fighter) you get weapon training and can choose the advanced weapon training option every time you gain one of the fighter's bonus feats. Some good recomendations for this are versatile training, warrior spirit, abundant tactics (explained later) or trained initiative. The archetype also grants some bonuses to criticals, so going that route on later levels is a good idea. About abundant tactics, the barroom brawler or item mastery feats are excellent choices for the expanded uses it grants. You can get BB and use it to grant the Advanced weapon training option: item mastery, which essentially gives you an item mastery feat of your choice, and allows for a wide range of magic utility options.
If you want to go Fighter you will how enough feats to cover your needs, but you will lack the expertise of any especialist in any of the three fighting styles you are listing. However, you can still be quite competent. I would recommend picking up Barroom Brawler which allows the martial flexibility feature once a day. Then, at level five, expend your feat in advanced weapon training and grab Abundant tactics. Now you can use the feat extra times a day (escaling with weapon training and stacking with gloves of dueling). This method isn't a perfect solution but helps you to be adaptable on lower levels. For a feat selection to keep the versatile theme active, I would pick the bare essentials: Power attack, Two-weapon fighting, Improved Shield Bash and Quick draw. The last one allows you to switch swiftly between your weapons. From there, some recomendations:
Get Lingering performance, Flagbearer and Improved Initiative. Use a Longspear for your banner and you can function as a second line of attack from the rear while you give your buffs.
Another option is to pick up the animal domain and the boon companion feat. You will have an extra frontliner with the animal companion provided which can benefit greatly from your buffs with the share spell feature, let you focus on the spellcasting and buffs.
Just go Ragebreed unchained barbarian, preferably with the invulnerable rager archetype. For the build, pick up the Beast totem line, aAnimal fury, Accurate stance and whatever else you may want. Get Extra feature as your first feat and then power attack. The ragebreeds are a variant of the skinwalkers race, and are essentially distant cousins of the were-boars. You can shapeshift several times a day getting extra +2Con and an animal feature. With the extra feature feat you get two, which will be a gore attack and 2 hoof attacks.
So, by level 3 you are doing a full-round of 6 attacks. Fast-foward to 10th level when you get Pounce via the Greater totem, and you just got the I win botton. Procure a Furious Amulet of Mighty Fist as fast as you can, and now all your attacks are magical. Past that, is just icing the cake. Sample build: Race: Skinwalker Boarkin (Ragebreed) Character Traits: Indomitable, Reactionary Abilities (20p/buy) S16+2 D14 c15 I10 W10+2 C8-2 Class: Unchained Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 12
1 - Fast movement, Rage, Extra Feature
I always recommend Weapon Master Fighter, specially since the advanced weapong training options came in. This is even better when you get your hands in some Gloves of dueling.
you will need Skill focus: Knowledge arcana to qualify for eldritch heritage, which also has a lv3 requirement. So you will probably have to wait to get. When you roll, prioritize Cha and Dex. Looks like you are going to focus on your magical aspects, so better max your innate talents for that. And of course, Dex is a must for initiave and AC in low levels. Being human, I would not focus on Int (you will have 7sp/lv with 10 Int) Instead, Con will allow you to be alive longer and even Str can be a primordial choice to help your party in combat.
If you want to focus on buffs, check out the Flagbearer feat. You will be providing a morale bonus as well as your Inspire courage (which is a competence bonus so it stacks). Later, get your hands on a Banner of the Ancient Kings. If you go this route, equip yourself with a longspear, so you can hold the banner and attack at the same time. If you want to focus a little more in combat, Arcane Duelist is not a bad choice. Some extra feats, free Arcane strike and a kinda special weapon that works as an arcane bond too.
Since you are going to be the magical talent of the group, I wouln't recommend any dips to avoid hindering your casting prowess. You will have enough charisma and skill points to easily cover the face role, so don't worry about that.
Here is my 2cp Race: Half Orc Alternate racial traits: Fey Thoughts (Perception, Use Magic Device), Shaman's Apprentice, Sacred Tattoo Character traits: Defender of the society, Fate's favored Base Abilities 25p/buy
Class: Fighter 20
1 - Endurance, Diehard, Weapon Focus (Falchion)
GEAR: Eyes of the Dragon 110,000
868,250 spent (11,750 gp left) STATS Initiative +12; Perception +30; See Invisibility, Darkvision 120 ft., Blindsense 60 ft. S34 D18 C22 I20 W16 C7 Movement Land 30 Fly 60 (Good) HP 254 (20d10 + 140) AC 43 (10 + 20 Armor +2 Dex + 1 Insight + 5 Natural + 5 Deflection) Resist: Fire 30, Ice 30, Acid 30, Lighting 30; Inmune: Grapple SQ: Evasion, Constant Freedom of Movement, Constant See Invisibility, +10 DC vs Intimidate FOR 29 REF 28 WIL 25 (+2 Luck +1 Competence +3 Morale +5 Resistance +5 WIL when armed +7 Wpn Training to REF) Melee +37 +37 +32 +27 +22 (+20 Base Attack +12 STR +1 Wpn Focus +7 Wnp Trainig +5 Magic Wnp +1 Haste +1 Competence +3 Morale -1 Size -6 Power Attack -6 Combat Expertise) DMG 3d8 + 48 (15-20/x3) DR 21/- Spell Like Abilities:
SKILLS:
This is just a plain good old fighter with some of the new goodies of the lastest manuals. The armor juggernaut combined with adamantite armor plus the stalwart feats and armor mastery, results in an impressive 21 DR by 20th level. Considering that attack escales way better than AC, reducing tons of damage per hit is the best defensive option IMO. With the Teleportation mastery and the dimensional feat chain, you can jump through the battlefield unopposed, and you can also Fly 20 minutes per activation thanks to Flight mastery. Of course, by this level a Fighter is gear dependent, and the items I listed prioritize protection against a lot of nasty things. Finally, he doesn't slack off on the offense either, with an average 60hp per hit. The melee routine I wrote uses power attack and combat expertise for the extra damage and DR, if you need better attack precision it would be like this without PA and CE:
This numbers imply that you activate Warrior Spirit previously to improve the magic bonus of the weapon to +5, and having an extra +3 to spent in weapon magical abilities. My advice would be Bane and Holy (or whatever opposite alignement serves best), resulting in a +7 Weapon that adds +4d6 to dmg (and the weapon base abilities as well) This is why the character has high knowledge skills, to identify what's he is going to fight, and get the correct buff.
Incidentally, I happen to have a build around most of this ideas. Everyone here kinda inspired me for this. So... Half Elf Alternate Racial Traits: Fey Thoughts (Use Magic Device, Appraise) Unchained Monk (Sensei, Scaled Fist), Oracle (Seeker), Cavalier (Daring Champion), Battle Herald Progression: Monk 1, Oracle 1, Cavalier 4, Battle Herald 6 Abilities (20p/buy) S10 D10 C14 I14 W10 C16+2 1- Advice, Draconic Might, Stunning fist, Unarmed strike, Dragon Style, Noble Scion of War, Skill Focus (Perception)
Thinks to note:
Havind said that, this is a martial build and more or less thematic. His role should be buff, dps, party-face. You can also play Rogue sustitute as a Trap defuser thanks to Tinkering.
His first order of business would be to grab wands of mage armor and shield as soon as possible. Later, a Returning Star Knife and Deadly Aim should open range options (not great, but still competent) With the Herald features and the boost to Inspire Courage you will start to pack some nice bonuses to your allies. All in all, it may lack magic, but has great AC, great attack, nice buffs and saves, and lots of skills.
I'm loving this thread ^^ Didn't know about the slayer archetype and certainly he can be an interesting base for a debuff build. So here is what I brew: Race: Human Traits: Bred for War, Clever Wordplay (Intimidate) Str 13 Dex 16+2 Con 14 Int 13 Wis 13 Cha 7 Slayer (Bounty Hunter) 2 Unchained Rogue (Thug) 4 Fighter (Lore Warden) 5 1- Studied target, Track, Dodge, Power Attack
So I throw in a bit of everything in the mix (I was even wondering to add another class, maybe urban barbarian), but the main thing is that I wanted to include the first levels of the Unchained Rogue to grab the extra debuff of his Debilitating injury and the Thug's Brutal Beating. This opens up extra options, especially at low levels when you cannot pull off the dirty trick maneuver that easily. Once we are on 7th level, the Lore Warden and the extra feats helps us build the dirty trick and two-weapon fighting lines. At 11th level and without gear he has a +24 on Dirty Trick attemps (BA 10 + DEX 5 + Bred 1 + Sneak 2 + 4 feats + ManMaster 2) The great problem this build has is his efing Will Save. I originally made him a Half Elf with Dual Minded, but was one feat short in the build (mainly to grab Cornugon Smash and Canny Tumble quickly) If drawbacks are allowed, that opens up Carefully Hidden (or any other Will boost) Of course, part of the problem is making him as a Dex Build, but having access to only Light Armor makes him an easy target without it.
I dont think that is a legal build. To get Weapon Specialization you have to have 4 Fighter levels, and you cannot have Advanced Weapon Training until 9 Fighter levels. Gunslinger levels dont stack for that. You are correct on the weapon specialization, was doing this on memory, my bad. However, you do get the Advanced Weapon Training on lv8, as the Weapon Master archetype gets it by 3rd level and improves it every four. To correct the ilegality, 7th level could go like this: 7 - F2 - Weapon Guard, Overwatch Style, Overwatch Tactician This style may come in handy to counter casters with two ready shots as a standar action while you keep on the move avoiding being locked in melee.
Bolt Ace Gunslinger + Weapon master Fighter works great and it is pretty straigth foward. Race: Human Str 10 Dex 17+2 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7 Class: Gunslinger (Bolt Ace) 5 / Fighter (Weapon Master) 15 1 - G1 - Crossbow Maven, Deeds (Sharp Shoot, Gunslinger Dodge, Vigilant Loading), Grit, Point-blank shot, Precise Shot
By 5th level you are a perfectly operational ranged combatant who also gets Dex to damage and a crit increment. By 7th, you can shot in melee no problem. By 9th, you have a 17-20 x3 critical and once per round your shot imposes a -2 to attack, skills and saves.
Past that, I just put the rest of the levels as an example with a critical build to take advantage of your nice crit range. But realisticaly, you don't really need it as you pack tremendous damage and can end a lot of opponents with a critical shot.
There's a FAQ that says so. Vestigial arms don't give extra attacks. I stand corrected then. Thanks for the info.
the extra arms from discoveries CAN'T be used to get extra attacks via multiweapon fighting. Extra arm discovery CAN'T make more attacks then it could without the extra arms. I disagree. Vestigial Arm:
Multiweapon Fighting:
And since Multiweapon Fighting replaces two-weapon fighting, is perfectly legal as raw, unless there is a faq out there that says so.
I have a build I made a while a go, and gets online pretty fast: Race: Human Traits: Reactionary, Carefully Hidden Class: Fighter (Mutation Warrior) Attributes (20p/buy) Str 14 Dex 16+2 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 7 1 - Point-blank shot, Deadly Aim, Quick draw
The build takes advantage of the extra arms through the mutagen discoveries to get multiweapon fighting which combined with rapid shot, gives up to 4 extra throws. This build comes fully online by 11th level,but it is perfectly operational by levels 5 to 7. You pack damage by number of throws, and thanks to the extra arms, rapid shot and ricochet toss you can rain starknifed death very quickly. From there, Trained throw, Deadly Aim and much later weapon specialization help pile up the damage. Some of the Advanced Weapon Training options can be choosed in diferent order, especially if you want faster access to Armed Bravery or Focused Weapon. At its full potencial, this build has all good saves, great initiative, 9 attacks per turn (if hasted), and gets enough skills to be capable in more than knife throwing.
Hi, sorry for the double post and the necropost, but I just wanted to share the final character I made for the concept. In the end, I decided on pure bonuses going with the Negotiator Bard. While there where another amazing ideas in the thread, I opted for something I am familiar with. The Secret Broker Occultist looked great, but I don't have any npc or pc using an occult class in the campaign, and will result in having to introduce new mechanics and classes, and half of my players are newbies to whom I don't what to overwhelm with more features. The Phantom Thief almost convinced me, specially with the access to the social talents, but having to invest in magical tail and magic talents to suply spell casting put the result against it. On the other hand, the choice between the negotiator and the mastermind was hard. But in the end, I was only interested in the Impregnable Mind ability, which can be almost replaced with some items and spells. What I liked about the negotiator is that he is in part skill monkey, in part spell caster and in part talented rogue. And the fcb is also very thematic. The Fast talk/Spellsong combo is brutal, specially with charm and suggestion spells. The Binding Contract makes sure that anyone that makes a pact with her is compelled to fulfil it or suffer the consequences. And it also has access to all the rogue talents I was interested with. So, here is my Information Broker build: CR 11 Race: Kitsune Alternate Racial Traits: Gregarious Abilities (20p/buy) STR 10-2 DEX 10+2 CON 13 INT 16 WIS 12 CHA 14+2+2+2 Class: Bard (Negotiator) 10 FCB: 1/2 Lv to Lie and Gather information checks 1- Hard Bargainer, bardic performance (Counterargument, Fast Talk, Distraction, Fascinate), Realistic Likeness
Base Attack +7 HP 55 (10d8 + 10) For +7 Ref +11 Wil +11 Skills: Diplomacy +26 (+31 to gather info), Bluff +26 (+31 to lie), Intimidate +16, Sense Motive +19, Knowledge: Local +25, Knowledge: Nobility +10, Perform: Oratory +21, Perception +20, Lingüistics +10, Stealth +10, Sleight of Hand +10, Disguise +15, Appraise +20 Languages: Common, Sylvan, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc, Dwarven, Draconic, Goblin Spell-like ability: 3/day—dancing lights Spells know: 0th: Light, Prestidigitation, Message, Mage Hand, Read Magic, Detect Magic
Notable Gear: Ring of Mind Shielding 8,000
56,000 spent As I said in her introduction, I tried to be faithful to her concept, and choose all feats, talents, skills and geart that should feat her role as a schemer and info broker. If combat breaks up, she will always try to escape if her bodyguards are not present or looks like they will lose. Secret passages, invisibility or dimension door should always be her first choice. About her capabilities, numbers speak for itself. With her bonuses she can convice and influence almost anyone with ease, or lie her way out if the sitiation demands it. With her puntuation in Knowledge: Local, she should be able to know most of the things that occur in the city, even obscure ones, and if not, she has the abilities to procure those secrets herself. I will also provide her with some allies who work for her spy network, to be used as plot convinience once in a while. So, what do you think?
Amazing ideas guys, thank you so much! I'm still undecided, but so far I like Mastermind Investigator, plain Unchained rogue and Negotiator Bard. The Rogue could go for the cheese through the magical tail tree and still get some goodies. I think it can be the more generalistic of the choices as she gains combat utility and the skill unlocks. On the other side, the Mastermind gets the superberb nope to any kind of divinition and the option to make paws use her diplomacy and intimidate checks, which qualifies with her modus operandi. The Negotiator is pure and brutal bonuses, as the bard fcb gets an +1/2 per lv to roll to lie and gather information, plus, half her level as well to all the social skills. It is a tough choice. What about feats or specific items? Is there a must have out there for this kind of char?
Hello fellow players, I am about to introduce an important npc on my campaign, She is a crafty Kitsune that thrives as an information broker in a big city.
The characters are about to meet through her own request, after making them come to one of her many meeting places. Her intention is to persuade or trick the pc's into telling her some relevant info about the plot. I have her concept very defined, but what I don't know is what kind of build could suit her best. I would like that she had some king of magical ability or spellcasting (mostly divination and enchantment) but also lots of skill monkery to be able to excell specially on the social aspect. Of course, this requeriments scream the bard class, but I don't know if there is some archetype, class combination or cheese factor that would suit her better. Don't worry about stats, I would like a build of 10th level and what feats/talents/powers/etc could work best for this concept. She is not a combatant, prefering to use companions and minions to do her wetwork.
The real edge you can get in this fight is based in how good the PC's teamwork actually is. Not all groups coordinate well or even back up each other to maximize their strengths. Your advantage here is that you have total control over your npc meaning you can set up different tactics that you know they will do when you need them to do so. To that end, you should try to create a group that compliment each other or capable to pull off several combined actions. Another thing you should consider is the terrain itself. Unless this is an impromptu encounter, should you include a scout type character into your npc group, you could get insight about the battlefield and even set up an ambush for the PC's. Try several strategies like hit and run tactics, lure monsters to them to debilitate the party and deplate their resources, focus all attacks on one character, etc. In the end, it will be like a chess battle against your PC's but with worse pieces.
I have a build here for a pure tank/caster bane Figther Race: Dwarf Character traits: Defender of the society, Glory of old Abilities (20p/buy) Str 17 Dex 12 Con 15+2 Int 12 Wis 10+2 Cha 5 Class: Fighter (Mutation warrior) 12 1 - Steel soul, Power attack
Starting with the "never-gets-older" Dwarf combo of Steel Soul+Glory of Old, you get some serius boost to your saves against spells (the bane of all fighters)
So in short, great melee offense, utility tactics, great movility, great saves and anti-caster tricks.
There's not no tactical complexity to ranged combat. You might occasionally move to get into position, or range of your Point Blank Shot feat, but mostly you just stand still and get lots and lots of full attacks. Which doesn't suck. I politely disagree. Sure, if you only want to dps that's one aproach you can take, but ranged combat is overall the best for more than that. For instance, you don't need to be static. Pick up a mount (horse, summon, animal companion) and enjoy moving while you fullround your enemies at a constant moving safe distance. As long as you don't double move, you don't get penalties to your shots (Bonus points for equiping your mount with horseshoes of speed so you can double your movement) Second, one interesting option is the overwatch style. Once you get Overwatch Tactician, you can set up to two readies with a standard action. This is a solid tactic to hunt enemy caster, who will find themselves with an arrow to the face the moment they start casting. If you go Lorewarden you can opt for a trip build. Take Ranged trip and combine it with Relentless Shot, you can now effectively pin your foes to the ground with your shots and once they try to get up, the provoke AoO and you can trip them again. Don't want to trip? Go with disarm then, and combine it with Ricochet toss and a Throw weapon and now you can mug your enemies from a safe position. If you decide to go Bolt Ace though, don't go further than 5th level, there is no more ice past there. And finally, as SmiloDan mentions, a bomber Alchemist can be quite fun to play and offers a ton of posibilities with his discoveries and extracts. So yeah, Ranged characters can be very fun to play. You just need to be creative.
I forgot about the variant multiclassing, if my understanding is right, by being free you mean you don't have to pay feats for it? If that's so, my recomendation with the build I post above would be Rogue. If you can pull a surprise round or get invisible the amount of extra damage you can pile with your throws is insane. Also, it works well as a concept of a ninja like warrior, and if you use the FBC to get skills, you get 6/level, plus the versatile training, plus the extra class skill you also get with the rules you listed, so the character can also make an excellent scout.
Here is my proposal: Race: Human Traits: Reactionary, Carefully Hidden Class: Fighter (Mutation Warrior) Str 14 Dex 16+2 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 10 1 - Point-blank shot, Deadly Aim, Quick draw
The build takes advantage of the extra arms gained through the mutagen discoveries to get multiweapon fighting which combined with rapid shot, gives up to 4 extra throws. This build comes fully online by 11th level,but it is perfectly operational by levels 5 to 7. You pack damage by number of throws, and thanks to the extra arms, rapid shot and ricochet toss you can rain starknifed death very quickly. From there, Trained throw, Deadly Aim and much later weapon specialization help pile up the damage. Some of the Advanced Weapon Training options can be choosed in diferent order, especially if you want faster access to Armed Bravery or Focused Weapon. At its full potencial, this build has all good saves, great initiative, 9 attacks per turn (if hasted), and get enough skills to be capable in more than knife throwing. Alternatively, if you don't want to be a full thrower, you can ditch Close-Quarters Thrower and Dodge, and get Weapon Finesse, Power attack and switch one of the Advanced Weapon Training options for Trained Grace. Now you are equally competent both in melee and in ranged combat. The quicker way to do this is skip versatile training and far shor on early levels.
IMO, the most important thing for a tank type character is to prevent the enemies from attacking your party or just lock them, denying their actions or find ways to buff/protect your allies. Sure, a good ofense is great, but it should not be your priority with this kind of char. Good old Fighter makes an excellent tank: Using a trip reach weapon to cut their movement out of turn via AoO, and combine that with a cestus or gaunlet to threaten your adjent squares as well to use feats like stand still/pin down. Lore warden archetype is fantastic for this. Bodyguard and Cut from the Air are another good set of backup, specially if you are covering your casters. With Fighter tactics you can get access you Intercept charge, a reactive way to stop an ubercharger from taking out one of your budies. Finally, both you sample builds get Fey Founding, and I think only Paladins take full advantage from it, on your characters, its a feat wasted. Here is a sample buid with some of the ideas I mention: Race: Dwarf
20p/buy 1st Str 16 Dex 13 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 8 12th Str 20 Dex 16 Con 18 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 8 (with +2 PhisPerf belt and Wis Headband) Class: Fighter (Mutation warrior) 12 1 - Steel soul, Power attack
This character has a good chunk of HP, excelent AC and Saves, can intercept charges and nullify ranged attacks. He can also break spells with shatter spell and get feats on the fly, and thanks to the Abundant tactics, can do so up to 5 times/day (having dueling gloves equipped). Finally, can use his weapon two handed and keep a shield thanks to the extra arm, and can fly on his own, and he also has the mutagen to get an extra buff when needed. Is not the most original concept (dwarf fighter is a clasic), but has enough variety of features to make him very capable and interesting to play. Above 12th level, Spellcut and Teleport Tactician are solid choices, Armed bravery and Figher reflexes if you want to improve your saves, and initiave is a priority on higher levels so Improved Initiative and Trained Initiative should be on the list at some point.
In the end it is just about concept. You can decide that in your world/plane/whatever, resurrection spells are the stuff of legends, only capable to the greater divine powers or through powerful artifacts. You could even write whole adventures around acquiring this kind of power to get back a chesired character or important npc. This way, the pc's will try to play more safe and calculate their movements more carefully, and when death unfortunetly gets them, it will definitely have more impact.
I am going to DM a new campaign for my friends after years without being behind the shield. I am writting a homebrew setting and most probably a great deal of the campaign will happen in a small region, so no long jorneys would be required and encouraging fast travel between locations.
I think of the Hyena as a funny foe that appears from time to time to meddle with the players, assaulting them, robbing them, or as a plot convinience to puss the story foward. Think of him as a mix between The Zorro, Jack Sparrow and Iñigo Montoya. He is a thrill seeker, a presumptuous and adorable bastard, silver-tongued and cunning, and whose life priorities are his confort, his security and his profits. So, to summarize, I want him to be like a Bandit King without a Kingdom, because he will backstab anyone and anything to be safe, but because he is charismatic to a fault and crafty as a devil he always ends up on top and getting himself new allies and opportunities. What do I need? Well, some help creating the stats for this kind of character. I would want him to stick to as a non-magic user but do not discard completely that he can do some tricks, but his main focus should be more like a skill-monkey/face type. However, He needs to be able to hold his own on a fight. He fancies himself as the best swordsman ever as well (yeah, he is kinda arrogant too) and this fits pretty well with the inspiration samples I mentioned earlier. He does not need to have one class only, as he is multitalented. Of course, Swashbuckler, Rogue and even Bard comes to mind, but I want to read your advise and would even ask for some sample builds. Don't go above 10th level and don't worry about ability stats, but for balance shake use 20point buy. So, anyone up to the challenge?
Here is Build I've been working on. I call it: The Dastardly Lore Warden. Basically, it's a maneuver specialist that abuses dirty trick and also, has a wide skill set and can pack quite the punch in a fist fight. With the Lore Warden Archetype, 14 Intelligence and Human, we are sitting on 7 skill points per level, plus the extra that Versatile Training net us. With the following layout, you can max as class skills: Perception, Acrobatics, Sense Motive and Stealth, and with the SF:Linguistics+Orator combo you can max Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate too with only one skill that also grant us new languages. If drawbacks are allowed, a personal recommendation would be to pick up pragmatic activator as the Lore Warden also convert it to a class skill when switched as Int based skill. The skill focus in acrobatics its to exploit the Hair's feature, maxing out our chances of evading a critical per turn. So basically, he is a Half-Skill Monkey, can act as party face, Scout, do some good tanking with dirty trick locks, and while not focused in dps, still can pack good damage on a fight. The build progression looks as follow: Race: Human Alternate Racial Traits: Focused study Traits: Reckless, Seeker Str 17 (15+2) Dex 15 Con 13 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 7 1 - Skill focus: Linguistics, Orator, Power attack
The essential is getting close and personal with an enemy, dirty fight it, and them, they can either remove the two conditions you impose and having to expend a standard action to do so or trying to get away provoking an AoO and triggering another dirty trick maneuver thanks to Pin down and Kitsune vengeance. If they decide to stay and do not shake off the conditions, you literally can disable them on your next turn with Dirty Trick Master. The nice thing about this PC is that he gets the hell away of the big stupid fighter picture. He has a terrible flaw though, his will save. The problem with the Lore Warden is that it loses bravery and the armed bravery posibility. I want to fit Iron Will somewhere, and even additional traits to pick up a will booster, but don't know what to cut away yet. So, what do you think?
Since the Bolt Ace was nerfed impeding the Signature Deed feat to work with Sharp Shoot, it is no longer optimal to full Gunslinger anymore. For what you want, to be able to work in melee with your crossbow, the best choice is to pick up 5 levels of Bolt Ace to get crossbow training, and then switch to Figher-Weapon master. You can get weapon focus and weapon specialization to get Point-blank master, allowing you to shot in melee with your crossbow. Having weapon training also nets you the option of improving your bonus with the gloves of dueling, and also, allows you to select the weapon mastery feats, and for instance, Burrowing Shot is an excelent choice.
Here is another build I've been working on: Race: Half Orc Alternate racial traits: Fey Thoughts (Perception, Sense motive), Shaman's Apprentice, Sacred Tattoo Character traits: Defender of the society, Fate's favored Abilities (20 point buy) 18 14 15 12 10 7 - 1st Level (+2 Str) 22 16 18 12 12 7 - 12th Level (+2 Str, +1 Con [Lv Incrs], +2 Str, Dex, Con [Belt], +2 Wis [Headband]) Class: Fighter (Mutation warrior) 12 1 - Dodge, Endurance, Shield focus
This one is a Tank type. You can easily cover your pals with bodyguard/In harm's way, cancel ranged attacks againts you or them, Intercept enemy charges gainining movement out of your turn and breaking their momentum, and can effectively lock a foe with stand still and pin down. Plus, it has a ton of AC even witout buff (37 with 12lv equipment) and can also fly on his own.
Hello and welcome to another build brainstorming. Although there is already a lot written about it, this is my personal take and first build with some of the new additions to the fighter. So I thought, lots of people try or want to build a fighter as a tank or at least as a flesh shield whose whole objetive is protect the party so they can win the encounter safely. The general problem is that without an agro mecanic there is no way to get the enemy attention away from the casters or the dps players, or when taken by surprise or in a bad position, they generally lack the capabilities to quickly recolocate and pick up the pace. Anyways, with some of the weapon mastery feats and advanced weapon training, I built a fighter with the capabilities that allow him to be able to tank moderately well. To keep a classic feel, I made a Dwarf Fighter, and toss in the mutation warrior, because he will not enjoy the full benefit of the armor training, since he is not Dex focused. Here goes: Race: Dwarf Alternate racial traits: Craftsman Character traits: Defender of the society, Glory of old 25p/buy 1st Str 16 Dex 14 Con 17 Int 13 Wis 12 Cha 8 12th Str 20 Dex 16 Con 20 Int 13 Wis 14 Cha 8 (with a belt of phys perf and a wis item) If using point buy, the need of combat expertise and its 13 Int requirement make us MAD. The solution could be Dirty fighting but for what I understanding, it does not work for Swift aid. I could scratch points from Wis and Cha, but I think he can work well as it is. Class: Fighter (Mutation warrior) 12 1 - Steel soul, Dodge 2 - Power attack, Bravery +1 3 - Combat reflexes, Mutagen 4 - Combat expertise, +1 Str 5 - Weapon training, Cut from the air 6 - Bravery +2, Swift aid 7 - Mutagen Discovery (Wings), Bodyguard 8 - In harm's way, +1 Str 9 - Advanced Weapon training (Fighter's tactics), Intercept Charge 10 - Bravery +3, Smash from the air 11 - Mutagen Discovery (Spontaneous Healing), Swap places 12 - Teleportation Mastery, +1 Con For a tanky build, Dwarf works wonders with the Con and Wis bonuses, as well as hardy combined with steel soul and glory of old, which are really not that needed in the begining and will pay off later, but you can only get those on first level. The first feats are the standard pick ups for any martial with the exception of combat expertise which as usual, is a tax feat for later. Level 5 nets us the fantastic Cut from the air, excelent defense against ranged attacks and also, let us protect one of our allies. Switf aid, bodyguard and harm's way transforms us into a meat shield once per turn, and Switf aid is there to not cripple our action economy doing it. At 9 We get the amazing Fighter's tactics that let us enjoy the benefits of the teamwork feats without the feat requirements for our allies, and there are very good options here. With intercept charge We can interrupt enemy charges as an inmediate action which is huge because we get free movement out of our turn while we protect a companion. At 10, Smash from the air is the perfect counter against ranged touch attacks. Swap places is another battlefield reposition option, especially when we are fighting in tight spaces like corridors. Teleportation mastery sounds amazing in paper, but it will need a conjuration item that also works for our build. Any ideas? So, to summarize, he has a good chunk of HP, excellent saves, excellent AC (with the appropriate equipment) and has movement options to cover his allies without having to expend his actions in his own turn (appart from a swift action for the aid), can fly on his own thanks to the wings discovery, can take hits for them and parry ranged attacks targeted at him or this watch. He essentially is a bodyguard. So, what do you think? Sounds viable?
For the first build, I don't think you can count your Dex twice with the Fury's fall feat, since you are using weapon finesse to use your Dex as your base stat for the CMB, and also, the description of the Fury's fall says that you use both strenght and dexterity, and hence the extra bonus. Of course, it will depend on your DM reasoning.
For the second build, I will suggest going with Half Orc, as he possess two alternate racial traits that grant whip proficiency (beast master and city raised) and also gives you access to the Sacred Tattoo, which combs greatly with the fate's favored trait (I would ditch Whip Specialist for that) It also nets you darkvision, and other interesting options.
I think the best route for this kind of character is Gunslinger (bolt ace) 5 / Fighter (weapon master) 4 / whatever You can quickly get all the neccesary feats to be a ranged badass, and goodies like dex to dmg and weapon training, as well to access to weapon specialization and point blank master. After that, you should try to cover a secundary role appart from dpr or something that nets you extra tricks. Personally, I like the Horizon walker a lot. It will give you the spot as the party ranger if there is none, passive bonuses with the terrain masteries and more importantly, things like dimension door or fly as spell like abilities, which for are martial character are huge. If you just want to go full martial, keep going as a fighter then, you will get more feats which can be used to get the snap shot chain or critical feats chains.
Looks like you have a player with anime character desire syndrome, aka, cool melee beast with inner super strength when fighting for revenge/friends/cause/etc. This use to be one of the problems with new players, and generally, there is no way to fullfil his demands without going with a good optimized pc with some complex theorycrafting and play style, which demands a good knowledge of the rules. Since that is not your case, my recomendation ia try to keep it simple and encourage him to take a look at the rules and maybe some build guides, to help him understand the game for future characters once he has better mastery of said rules. Meanwhile, you could make him try a mutagenic mauler. It is a Brawler archetype that ditches the martial flexibility and ac bonus, and grants an alchemist supermutagen. So, you have a straigthfoward unarmed warrior, that can use the mutagen as this "fighting spirit" when things get tough, and you save him the trouble of having to take a look at lots of feats constantly.
If interested in the arcane archer take, this would be my suggested build: Elf
Str 14 Dex 17 Con 12 Int 17 Wis 10 Cha 7 Fighter (Weapon master) 4 Wizard (Admixture Evoker) 3 Arcane Archer 3 01 - F1 - Point-blank shot, Precise shot
Base Attack +8
You start as an archer, become a decent one quite quickly and you can shot in melee without provoking AoO.
Iron will is always worth it for a fighter. Improved initiative comes to mind as well. Depending on your Con you may pick up Toughness as well.
Toss in a gunslinger dual-wielding dual-barrelled pistols, shot everything to death in a round. Just max your initiative so you can go first, and pull the triggers. Of course, he will probably end you anyways after one encounter. But oh boy, the look in their faces would be glorious.
I would recommend that you won't go with the big stupid fighter idea they are suggesting you with these builds. Before you start to work with the numbers. Try to picture your character. Think of a name and a description, a brief background is also a good idea. Doing this will help you picture your character and what he can do and what aspirations he has. Don't ditch any atribute, especially the mental ones. Try to keep them as low as 10. Why? because not being a retarded, reckless or antisocial dude, will make it easier to play, considering you are new to the game. Onto the system, I do believe Fighters (even vanilla ones) can make great characters. They need a little optimization and smart play, but there are several builds proved to be effective. Pathfinder is a game that rewards specialization, and above all, good teamwork. The game is designed so you take on adventures with a varied party that covers all the challenges you will face. As a fighter (or martial character) you will probably be on the frontlines, so good resistance and defense should be the chasis of your pc. You said you want to be respectable on the damage bussiness, good news, it is the easiest thing to do in pathfinder and martials are usually the best at it. If you want to start with something simple, and you are beggining at a low level, Fighter is a great class to work as a tutorial and can easily grow into something complex depending on your feat selection. Finally, if you want some numbers, here are some basic builds: The heavy-hitter Str 18 Dex 13 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 12 Cha 10
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Pick up a two-handed weapon, get close to an enemy, crack his head.
The tank Str 18 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 10
A little more tricky. Get a reach weapon with the trip quality like a guisarme or a horsechopper, and when your foes try to get pass you and provoke attack of opportunity, you use the trip maneuver, ruining their action and letting them prone.
The archer Str 14 Dex 18 Con 13 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 10
Ranged attacks are the best fighting style in the game. In you want to go this route though, there are better classes at it, being the ranger one of them.
The plan for the future Finally, the fighter is one of the best classes to multiclass. You can begin as one, and then switch to another class that fits your style of play to complement you character once you have a better understanding of the game. As I said, the best way to do your character is to have a good picture of him before you start writing numbers. The rest comes easily.
There is an old trick that always works: make the villain steal something from the pcs. Pretty simple, but I can assure you that they will go to the end of the world to get back their thing (whatever it is) and hate the guy for taking it. Period. Bonus points if you taunt them any time they are about to catch him and he ends up scaping. |