RCNovak's page

Some really great suggestions here so far; thanks to everyone who has contributed.

I think I have a better idea of it now, and all it is from here is planning. I switched a few things around in the concept of the build, but I think it all works for the better.

Half-Orc Paladin of Abadar
Traits: Blade of Mercy, Brute, [Third Trait Undecided]
Drawback: Headstrong

Archetype: *Redeemer, Oath Against Chaos
Weapon: Holy Keen Greatsword of Impact

1. Fey Foundling
3. Power Attack
5. Enforcer
7. Ferocious Resolve
9. Critical Focus
11. Extra Lay On Hands
13. Intimidating Prowess
15. Weapon Focus
17. Dazzling Display
19. Shattered Defense

The build requires just a bit of home-brew fiat by the GM for the Archetypes, but he said he's fine with me having *"Merciful Smite Chaos" and still subbing in the Worthy Enemy feature from Sword of Valor into level 14. He also didn't mind the Blade of Mercy trait, seeing as it worked for the character. This allows me to use a slashing weapon with nonlethal damage so I can drop Improved Critical for Keen and free up a Feat for Ferocious Resolve.

I ended up really liking the Fey Foundling feat, especially since his backstory involves him being found in the wilds as a baby and being brought to the Church. I think the progression I have here is the best possible one for my concept in mind... it gives him all the cool stuff he needs up front to Level 11-ish and then finishes off with fun/utilitarian stuff.

Any other suggestions before I cement him in? I think this is strong but last-minute ideas are always welcome.

Not many feats are worth it.

But are they worth more than the Capstone, is the question (which many people lead me to believe its not).

And who cares about the capstone? Will you hit level 20? Really?

Optimize for more fun NOW.

Well, the reason I asked about the capstone wasn't so much so that I was worried about hitting 20. It was more that I could maybe work in a level or two of Fighter during my progression to squeeze in an extra feat or two. Getting two feats on the way to 20 could help him gain a few more martial abilities along the way.

For a half orc paladin seriously consider picking up ferocious resolve. It gives you the full or ferocity which combined with swift lay on hands is huge. If you go for the typical fey foundling greater mercy your character is going to be extremely hard to put down.

I like the idea of being able to fight on and self-heal past being incapacitated... but can't enemies easily insta-kill me after I hit negatives? I mean, most monsters at a high enough level are certainly going to hit for harder than my Constitution Score worth of damage. Or is the idea more that you get KO'd, then choose to fight, and maybe pull off one attack before immediately swift-action healing yourself back into the green ASAP?

I'm already familiar with the Abadaran Paladin Code; This excerpt is from Faiths of Balance.

"Of all the gods of balance, only one supports and promotes a holy order of paladins: Abadar. As the god of civilization and order, Abadar recognizes the value of holy warriors in advancing society’s aims. His paladins follow the standard paladin code of protecting the innocent, acting with honor and honesty, and respecting lawful authority. In addition, an Abadaran paladin upholds the following creed."
• I am a protector of the roadways and keep travelers from harm. No matter their destinations or goals, if they are peaceable and legitimate travelers who harm no others on the road, I will ensure that they pass safely.
• Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice. If they will not come willingly before the law, where they can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under the power of my sword.
• Corruption in the courts is the greatest corruption of civilization. Without confidence in justice, citizens cannot believe in their countries, and civilization begins to disappear. I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it.
• I am an aid to the markets. I ensure equitable trade between merchants and citizens. Theft on either side is intolerable.
• I make opportunities, and teach others to recognize them. When I aid others, I open the way for them, but will not carry them—they must take responsibility.

Abadar is Lawful Neutral, so is far more patient and level-minded than a lot of the other more righteous deities. He is more about upholding institutions and maintaining control than he is bringing divine wrath upon anything that smells wicked. Thats why I was going for the whole "reform the villainous" angle... his code even dictates you can bring bandits and other no-goodnicks to justice formally before a court.

Hey guys, It's been awhile since I've actually had the chance to play as a character in a tabletop game (as I'm usually DMing D&D for my friends). That being said, my buddy wanted to GM a Pathfinder game and asked if I'd like to join. I said yes, and now I'm planning my character.

In the past, I've usually gravitated toward the dedicated spell caster (Wizard, Sorcerer, etc.) but since our other player wanted to run Wizard, I thought I'd go against my usual instincts and shoot for a Paladin. Problem is, I'm having a hard time planning out his progression... even after reading some of the better-known guides.

Optimization isn't a HUGE factor for me (as you'll soon see), but I would like him to be fairly effective on the table. My concept is for a Half-Orc Paladin of Abadar who was taken in by the church as an infant and raised within it. As such, he feels like he has championed over his inner savage nature through faith and believes he can "save" similar creatures from their own beastly stupidity. To that end, I'm using the Redeemer Archetype, and my GM is allowing me to mix it with the Sword of Valor archetype, replacing Aura of Mercy with Worthy Enemy.

I'm planning on using a Merciful Holy Impact Earth-Shaker to deal massive amounts of nonlethal damage to subdue foes, and then use Pact of Peace to turn them. Worthy Enemy allows me to force a creature to surrender on a crit, taking them out of the fight earlier and also opening them up to Pact of Peace. I also planned on using the Eldritch Heritage feat tree to grant access to the Orc Bloodline to pump his strength and give him some extra combat 'oomph'.

Beyond that, I'm not sure where I want to go with it. Paladins seem like they are pretty feat-starved, and the Heritage feats already gobbles up 4 right off the bat. I was thinking maybe Improved Critical and Critical Focus to increase my chances of landing Worthy Enemy, and also grabbing Quicken Spell-Like Ability on Touch of Rage. Maybe Extra Lay on Hands because from what I hear it's worth it.

1. Power Attack
3. Skill Focus [Survival]
5. ?? (Maybe Extra Lay on Hands)
7. ??
9. Improved Critical
11. Improved Eldritch Heritage: Orc [Strength of the Beast]
13. Critical Focus
15. Quicken Spell-Like Ability [Touch of Rage]
17. ??
19. Greater Eldritch Heritage: Orc [Power of Giants]

My other thought was instead forsake Power of Giants and the Critical Feats to spec into Intimidating Prowess/Cornugon Smash/"Shattered Defense" tree to create a demoralizing debuffer. I could also throw in Bludgeoner/Enforcer to get a similar effect off my nonlethal damage... though it's very feat-intensive and I'm not sure if it really pays off on the Paladin. I was also considering going Paladin 19/Fighter 1 or even Paladin 18/Fighter 2 because from what I understand the capstone 'Holy Champion' ability is pretty bad.

Any thoughts of feedback is greatly appreciated! I really want this guy to rock.

Thanks, Dasrak. I appreciate the insight! There's a few more different things I'm stuck between... for example, how does it this Discovery sound?

Spellbane
You know how magic spells work... and how to disrupt them.
Benefit: When you deal hit point damage to a target with a spell or spell-like ability, as a swift action you may choose to use the damage to disrupt that target. The damage dealt by the spell counts as “continuous damage” for that target’s spellcasting and concentration checks. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Int modifier.

Hey guys! So, this is my first post on the site, and this game my friend has invited me to will be my first real go at playing Pathfinder. I have some history in D&D 3.5 and 4e however, so I'm no real stranger to complex character building and optimizing. I always tend to lean more toward character development rather than optimization, though at heart I still want to retain very mechanically effective.

Here's the breakdown; my party needed a caster, so I decided to be a pretty generic Elf Wizard. I wanted so very badly to be a Universalist, but as you guys are probably already aware, the Universalist isn't the most useful option when it comes to Wizardry. Because my GM doesn't mind if we branch out into 3rd Party sources to create characters, I started looking through some PDF's to flesh out my concept.

In "Class Expansions: Love for the Universalist", there's an alternate class feature known as "Arcane Researcher", which improves your ability to study and create your own unique spells...

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Focused Research (Su): As an arcane researcher, your specializing in being a generalist grants you the mindset needed to perform research quickly and efficiently. At 1st level, researching new spells requires 10% less time and materials. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 5%. This ability replaces hand of the apprentice.

Inventor's Recall (Su): At 8th level as an arcane researcher, your delving into arcane research has given you a rather photographic memory. You may prepare spells you personally researched into existence without the need of a spellbook. This ability replaces metamagic mastery.

Optimization through Familiarity (Su): At 13th level as an arcane researcher, you learn to tweak your personally researched spells in such a way that would be incomprehensible to anyone other than the creator himself. Your personally researched spells get +1 to their DCs when you cast them. This ability replaces the fact that specialist wizards get bonus spell slots.
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I became really enamored with this idea, seeing as Elves tend to be excellent craftsmen... so it's almost like he's adopting the idea of elven craftsmanship to his spellcasting. He's also using the "The Way Things Work" Background from Ultimate Campaign, so part of his story is tied to the creation of his own spells. I also decided to make him a Spellbinder, as I'm not a huge fan of having familiar 'Helpers' or the item dependency of Bonded Item. The goal of the character is to understand magic so completely that he essentially masters himself, and reality (Nethys: "Magic is all things and in all things"), so the Spellbinder's features seem to coincide with that.

From there, I got really into the concept of Arcane Discoveries. As this character is aimed at mastering and manipulating magic, it would only make sense that he would awaken some ancient secrets along the way. Unfortunately, the original list of Arcane Discoveries was rather short, and leaved much to be desired. Instead, I did some more digging and found "Class Acts: Wizards" and "Ultimate Options: New Arcane Discoveries". Between these two books, I had a lot of new options and is basically where I'm stuck now.

The feat situation is tough. I have limited room, and want to accomplish a lot. I would love for most of them to be Metamagic and Arcane Discoveries (because that fits in with the theme of the character), but also realize that certain staple combat feats such as Improved Initiative and Spell Penetration are a necessity that need to be fit in. Also, I really love the flavor of the 'Breadth of Experience' Feat, but might have to come to terms with loosing it if it weakens the character too much statistically. Basically, I'll post a small preview of my build so far, and then some of the feats/metamagic/discoveries I'd like to incorporate... and hopefully you guys can help me sort it out.

Level: 1
Race: High Elf
Race Variants: Arcane Focus
Class: Wizard, Universalist
Class Variants: Spellbinder, Arcane Researcher
Alignment: Neutral
Deity: Nethys
Background: The Way Things Work
Traits: Seeker of Brightness, Focused Mind, Tireless Logic
Drawbacks: Xenophobic
Feats:
1. Breadth of Experience (?)
1 (Bonus). Scribe Scroll
3. Improved Initiative (?)
5. Fast Study
5 (Bonus).
7.
9. Dual Slot
10 (Bonus).
11.
13.
15.
15 (Bonus).
17.
19.
20 (Bonus).

Notes of Traits: Seeker or Brightness and Focused Mind are staying in the build, as Seeker of Brightness is a big storyline hook for him, and Focused Mind is useful for Concentration. I love the flavor of Tireless Logic for him, but am not entirely sold on it. I refuse to use "Reactionary" or "Warrior of Old" however, simply because they do not fit his extremely scholarly nature.

I'm iffy on Breadth of Experience, and where exactly to place Improved Initiative. Fast Study sounds way too awesome to pass up at level 5, and Immortality is just plain win at 20. Dual Slot is one of the new discoveries implemented in Class Acts: Wizards. It basically allows you to prepare two Spells of the same School and Level in one spell slot, and when you use that spell slot, you choose which spell you wish to cast, which expended both spells stored in the spell slot. I like the flexibility of that option, and think it really fits for the theme and helps him be more of a toolbox. I also am really interested in Split Slot, as comboing that with Dual Slot would allow him to store a large amount of spells that could help him cover a wide variety of situations, but for the most part it seems like people aren't too keen on the Split Slot discovery.

For Metamagic, I definitely want Quicken, Daze, Reach, and Persistent. I'm not exactly sure where to fit them into the feats, but they will be there... no question. I also want Spell Penetration for sure, but do not know where to put it. I'm also not sure if Greater Spell Penetration is necessary for an Elf Caster, but if it is, I'd like that as well.

When it comes to the newer discoveries from the 3rd Party books, there's a lot of neat option. There's one called "Sovereign Arcana", which allows you to select a number of Spells you've chosen for the 'Spell Mastery' feat and convert them into Spontaneous Spells that can be cast using your Spell Slots a number of times equal to your Intelligence Modifier+3. Once again; I LOVE the utility and flavor here, and Spontaneous Casting on Wizards is sweet. Plus, since I get two Feats at 15, I could get both Spell Mastery and Sovereign Arcana in one Level and have immediate access to some Spontaneous Spells.

"Spellbane" is another cool option, which allows me to count HP Damage done to enemies as 'Continual Damage' until the beginning of my next turn to interfere with their casting and concentration checks (usable Int Mod+3 times a Day). I like the idea of him being so proficient with Magic that he can interfere with the enemy's spell power, but perhaps Dispel Magic already accomplishes this to a greater degree?

"Insightful Preparation" (Class Acts: Wizard) is a cool ability that allows me to give myself a buff depending on which spells I prepare for the day. It also coincides with the fact that the character can more or less manipulate the magic within himself, so it has RP value. Along with Fast Study, it also means I could very easily switch bonuses on the fly, and change what unique boons I get. The feat is as follows, so people can better understand it...

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INSIGHTFUL PREPARATION (SU): Whenever you prepare arcane spells, you may choose to gain one of the following benefits, as long as you have at least one spell of the highest spell level that you can cast prepared from the school of magic specified below. Each time that you prepare arcane spells, you may choose a different benefit.
Abjuration: You gain DR 1/magic.
Conjuration: You gain a +4 armor bonus.
Divination: You gain a +4 bonus on Perception skill checks. Enchantment: You gain a +2 resistance bonus on Will saving throws. Evocation: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
Illusion: You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff and Intimidate skill checks. Necromancy: You gain 2d4 temporary hit points.
Transmutation: Your natural armor bonus is increased by +2. Universal: You gain a +4 bonus on Spellcraft skill checks.
You must be at least an 11th-level wizard in order to select this discovery.
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There also minor discoveries, such as "Life Lessons" which allows me to gain 4 Spells per Level as opposed to 2, and "Read Magic", which enables me to use Read Magic as an at-will Supernatural Ability... but while helpful, I don't know if they deserve Feat Slots.

I appreciate everyone who stuck around this long to read this wall of text, and hope you can help me shed some light on this build. It's complicated, I know, but the character means a lot to me and making sure he is powerful on the field as well as having a strong roleplaying backbone means a lot to me. Thanks for all your help in advance! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. And I reccomend those 3Rrd Party PDF's to anyone who wants more wizard options. They are dirt cheap and offer really cool alternatives!