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#6: Friday night Harrow-draft has been canceled until further notice.
The proprietary iWand charger costs five times as much.
Wand Charger, 1000gp. This gnomish invention is a cylindrical metal tube a little longer than the length of two wands, with a "+" symbol at one end and a "–" at the other. A wand to be charged is inserted into one end, and another wand to donate charge in the other end. The operator twists a dial to indicate how many charges he wishes to transfer, and activates the device by pressing a button. It will then run unattended, humming softly for one or more minutes until it is finished. Aside from charging wands, a wand charger will accurately reveal the number of remaining charges of any wand placed within it. A wand to be rejuvenated receives four spells for every five spells expended by the other, at a rate of one spell received per minute, with a minimum charge-loss of one spell from the donor wand. The device does not distinguish between arcane or divine wands, but only charges when two wands of identical spell-level and caster-level are placed within it. (Rumors of more complex chargers exist, but none are for sale in this shop.) Wand chargers are more or less idiot-proof, and do not require a Use Magic Device check to operate, although inscriptions warn against tampering or other inappropriate usage.
Quick initial impressions: * Being a middle-aged guy with 12s in most of your stats and a Str under 18, you're not particularly thuggy. (Not that this couldn't be a lot of fun to RP as a boozing, over-the-hill, once-upon-a-time-I-was-a-weekend-warrior type of overconfident trash-talker. Kind of like the Kurt Russell character in "Big Trouble in Little China".) * Your will save will be atrocious as a low-wisdom human multiclass martial without fast-will track from either class. A few extra points from Aristocratic Discipline won't cut it. (If you're giving up the human's free feet for an exotic prof, then consider a half-elf taking Ancestral Heritage for the Seax.) * As a pure martial melee multiclass who doesn't appear to need to concentrate much, a bit of rage wouldn't hurt, either for power or will saves. * Your armor-class is garbage with 12 dex, unless you intend to wear plate. (You can do that as a swashbuckler, at the cost of mobility and some deeds not working.) I know the choice of weapon is suboptimal, but... * Broken Back Seax? Uhh... What da heck? A d10 *light* weapon with a decent threat-range? Where has this thing been all my life? Ah: a 2018 book. Well, then; waveblades have strong competition for the best up-close wetwork weapon in the game. ...as a light weapon, you could totally minmax your dex Build (lotsa dex)
Upon leveling to 8th, the second-act of the film depicts our protagonist at the low-point of his "Hero's journey" saga, when all hope is lost. Until he meets the Wise Elder, who takes his bleeding body back to his Awesome Lair Slash Batcave, where he is healed with mystic Class A herbs, and there begins a cool 80's training-montage sequence in which the character transforms and upgrades into the kick-ass who will take the fight back to the bad guys in the final reel. (Retraining rules used to rebuild into....) 01 Barbarian1 [fat load of hitpoints], Extra Rage, Ancestral Heritage(prof:BBS)
....you now have a guy who's making up to five 4+1 flurry/ki attacks per round with a single light +1/Agile/Furious d10 weapon while wearing light armor, and Gloves of Dueling / Piranha Striking the crap out of things. And has much better saves.
Honestly it's just Bane being too good. <eyebrow lift> Sacred Geometry came out of an Occult book. _____________Ping Pong: The Early Years (5th-level Emperor Cobra Challenge) STR: 16 (human: 17,16,13,12,7,7 20pt array)
traits: Accelerated Drinker, Bestial Wrath
Animal Companion (4th level): Axe Beak
Rider gear: Scabbard of Vigor (1800gp), MW fauchard(164gp), Opalescent White Pyramid (1500gp; cracked:fauchard), scroll Greensight (x2, 400gp), wand Lead Blades (caster level 2, 1500gp), potion Enlarge Person (50gp), whetstone (2cp) Animal gear: Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2(4000gp), Dire Collar(1000gp), MW Tooth Caps* (200gp) *What are “tooth caps”? Glad you asked. Because my GM is awesome, he agreed with me that it was ultra-lame that boars and rhinos can use tusk blades, but there’s nothing for other animal attack forms. So he said, “Sure! Make something sensible that works exactly the same for your critter at the same cost!” See? Martials can have nice things if they ask nicely. Aren’t home-games great? Gold spent: 10464.02 ~ ~ ~ Preliminary calculations.... Rider attack:
Mount attack:
Pre-combat: sharpen tooth-caps with whetstone
With Greensight up, the large opponent 30’ away is seen in our sleep, and the readied action goes off. The PC is now an enlarged rider atop a huge mount. As a “long” huge creature, the bird has 20’ reach matching the reach of its large rider’s polearm. Sucks that we’re both losing one AoO/round gettin’ big, but whatevah. <Roll INIT; GM tells us we go first. Sweet.> ~ ~ ~ Round 1:
Enemy turn:
Damage, rider: enlarged lead blades fauchard 3d8+18 (22str,2hPA,+3 enh) = 31.5
Damage, mount: bite 3d6+14 = 24.5 + 19-20/x2 tooth-cap crit = 26.95 total base
Readied attack rider: [.9][31.5] + 4.48875 = 32.83875
AoO chains will unspool in any of several ways; below is one example: Raoo1 Rider’s enemy-movement AoO: [.95][31.5]+4.48875 = 34.41375
(In nominal reality, this cobra would be obliterated pulp before getting close enough to attack and trigger Broken Wing Gambit, but DPR contests such as these operate inside a Schrödinger's box.) 32.83875 + 20.2125 + 172.06875 + 102.41 + 1(whetstone) Round 1 Total: 328.53 Like Pearl the Fat Vampire, that snake shouldn’t have moved. ~ ~ ~ Round 2
Rider: attacks snake in upper-left; paints BWG buddy.
Rider’s .9>.95 difference is 1.575; + 327.53 (Round 1 sans whetstone) Round 2 Total: 329.105 ~ ~ ~ Round 3
Swift action: Primal Transformation evolution: Swim (2 of 2)
Mount: moves up to 20' from the snake, straddling the floundering ally in the water and providing them with AoO-denying soft-cover (they're basically under the belly of a huge wading creature). Rider yells at them to withdraw between its tree-trunk legs back to shore. The fight now play out similar to Round 1: the cobra is attacked twice, then eats a pile of fissioning AoOs when moves across threatened squares to its only reachable targets. Round 3 Total: 329.105 Grand Total: 986.74 ~ ~ ~ Ping: ”Dang it! Almost a thou. And no Savage Technologists were roided in the making of.” Ally: ”I’m really feeling overshadowed here. I mean, over and beyond your giant monster side-kick shading out the sun.” Ping: "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Rufus? I did more than the bird." Rufus: "Oh is that was that thing the size of a house is? Its top half is above the clouds; I can't really tell." Ping: "So anyway, what's a tasty halfling morsel like you doing in the water with a 200 lbs snake? You're essentially an hors d'oeuvre." Rufus: "I'm going to retrain into a sorcerer." Ping: "That's the spirit. Will you learn Haste?"
We were in a dungeon large enough for 1 person and I was leading the group. A demon saw me and charged, I had my aoo bu then he closed me in a corner where I couldn't 5 feet step away and attack again and I had to switchc weapons to fight. That's OK; because you did your job correctly. The job of the high-AC/high-HP dwarf is to be a blockage in the choke-point, preventing the bad guys from swamping the party and splicking a squishy in one hit. If you do any damage while choke-pointing, that's just gravy. If you whiff for five straight rounds on choke while your archery allies rain fire over your head into the enemy, and nobody else gets hurt -- you are the star MVP. Fervor away your owies, and on to the next encounter. If you're crowded while Enlarged, take out your dwarven waraxe and chop away. (I like Quick Draw.) Remember that you can Fervor-heal as a swift-action (your warpriest is one of the few classes in the game, aside from paladin, who can do that). If you're running low, drop the Enlarge and switch to defensive-fighting for an instant +3 to +4 to AC (depending upon your dexterity/armor coefficient). Lastly, since you are the point-man, your AC is more important than your weapon, because you're going to eat a lot more in-bound than you'll get to dish out. (And your kinfolk won't think much of you unless you return from your surface adventuring having Craft Magic Arms and Armor, with all of your gear self-made. They catch you wearing elf-made mithral, you'll be shunned.)
We cannot change the results around so we are stuck with what we got Sometimes you just have to get up in your GM's grill and announce, "Die-roll generation is no good, and this is a perfect example of why. Let's go to point-buy like the rest of the civilized world so we all start on a level playing-field instead of some PCs having better stats at 1st-level than others will at 20th. Or are at least able to start with enough health to be properly heroic instead of being permanently bed-ridden with the flu. That way, if my strongest glass-cannon in the party croaks with a Con of 8, it's purely my fault rather than the fate of these six generation rolls being absolutely more important than any die roll that my PC will ever make, before the game has even started." If he balks, walk. Don't complain further, just do it. --My experience is anecdotal, but I've never been in a campaign where such stuff was enforced in which the GM wasn't a complete goober in several ways, and his game didn't abruptly abort later, with my investment all rendered into a colossal waste of time. For me to even consider doing it again, the GM would have to have a personal IRL charisma score of at least 16, and a positive wisdom score that I could work with. If there's even the slightest whiff of anal-OCD -- run, don't walk.
Sounds like a fun party member, dang. What did? (You quoted the whole post, and I don't know which part you're referring to.)
The opened can of worms wriggles in all directions; RPG publishers pondering multi-language imprints scurry to record the latest changes, fretting that product-releases might be too quickly obsolesced and someone become offended in a game which lovingly details every possible way to bury an axe in your face.
There is the antagonize feat, though I know that feat is not often well liked for some strange interactions. The main problem with Antagonize is that the thing is written with enough arbitrary opt-out clauses that any GM who doesn't want it to work at that moment will have it not work at that moment.
"I have amnesia, and am trying to rediscover my past." (The GM doesn't have to treat this as a player's rebuff, because the player is offering the GM the chance to make the PC's back-story anything the GM wants.)
I will whistle past this graveyard.
Our council of GMs voted it a banned build not so much for monsters but he could and would bully other characters for best loot and no one was on his level damage wise. In character bullying only though. That's not a problem with the build, but with the player. (See this thread for resolution ideas concerning overly aggressive loot-hog roleplaying.) Otherwise, a magus is not better than many other possible builds, even purely martial ones. (The "overshadowing" problem is chiefly a function of new players who are only familiar with the CRB bringing in severely-underpowered martials who are not up-to-snuff when without access to the wealth of later-printed material. Alternatively, they're enticed by "trap" archetypes whose hidden nerfage their inexperience doesn't spot. New players in general are over-fixated on melee damage to the detriment of saves, skills, and AC, and their builds begin faring more poorly when encountering things that don't die in one hit at 3rd+.) A GM doesn't have to make encouraging suggestions as to how a Str20/Wis10 human fighter in leather armor with Power Attack, Toughness, and Weapon Focus could be better at 1st level, but perhaps he might consider it. E.g., "Power Attack and Weapon Focus basically off-set each other, meaning you're spending two feats to acquire a small bit of damage. The over-investment in strength in point-buy is robbing you of a better Con score avoiding the need for Toughness. And fighters are proficient in heavy armor; I know it reduces your speed, but slow-and-alive is faster-moving than stationary-while-dead. And, about saving throws...." ==//== I would reserve my ban-list for those classes or archetypes that are explicitly designed to instigate PVP. (Wildrager barbarian comes to mind.)
I’ve seen flat out Druid bans too but not specific builds like the OP. More situationally, GMs could ban broad categories to promote verisimilitude during their home games. For example, a LotR-style campaign might not allow full casters, eastern-themed characters, sidekicks, and non-CRB races.
Die rolls, they werent my friend. I can shift them around but im stuck with the values for this character. (...) (Note: the Varisian Tattoo trait is not to be confused with the identically-named feat.) I think i will switch from the bard/pc class to swashbuckler possibly with picano archetype i need to check if its in my books to show the dm. I'll post a possible build after work when i have time/access to books. Thanks for the advice on this bard idea even if I got convinced to go with a different class. The primary problem, as I see it, with your desire to tussle in melee with those poor attributes (in particular, Con10) is that you're just going to get killed, and quickly. To avoid that, you're going to need good armor immediately at low-level, and a means to shore up those wretched, bonusless human saving throws. (Having class-granted awesome-sauce come on-line at ~10th is pointless if you're dead long before then.) So, with those stats, and human racial and charismatic preferences being insisted upon, let's attempt such a build who's able to take a thorough beating, both physically and mentally. Given the seeming disinterest in bardic spellcasting, I think this is the way to go: STR: 10
Traits: Dangerously Curious, Varisian Tattoo
The problem with star knife is that it only does 1 d4, str based attack/damage till second level. Even afterwards its only 1d4 + cha which is pretty low. Well, we're gonna fix that, and how.... 01 Paladin1 [Divine Hunter archetype][Precise Shot], Armor Proficiency(Heavy), DFT:Desna's Shooting Star* (*Unlike clerics, there is no rule requirement for paladins to be within one alignment step of a deity. Desna is otherwise a good-aligned deity.) -- If you're a martial with only one good stat out of six, and it's charisma, you do not screw around: Go straight to the Paladin dealership, and drive away in a shiny new model.
Armor (and we're taking this at 1st-level out of our "average 175gp"): Four Mirror + Armored Kilt (cost 135gp) for +7 armor bonus, +1 dex, and another +1 from a buckler (AC 19 total, equals not bad). Move drops from 30 to 20, but who cares? We're throwing with Precise Shot, juicing the best stat for attack and damage. And staying alive. Queue the BeeGees. 02 Paladin2 [Divine Grace][Lay on Hands]
03 Swashbuckler1 [Flying Blade archetype][Panache][Subtle Throw], Point Blank Shot
The usual perception of a Swashbuckler is of a very lightly-armored fighter, but the class actually only has two widgets restricted to light armor: the dodging panache deed (which is exchanged for the Subtle Throw deed in Flying Blade), and Nimble (which we will not need as a more heavily-armored character). 04 Flying Blade2 [Charmed Life], CON>14
05 Flying Blade3 [Swashbuckler Initiative][Disrupting Counter][Precise Throw], Quick Draw
Gear bucket-list: Blinkback Belt, +1 starknife, a masterwork backup, and several mundanes, Headband of Alluring Charisma +2, +1 buckler, and some cheap wands to UMD. * At this stage, we could jump-ship to bard or another class, but why? Flying Blade is good to us, and Precise Throw damage is going up +1 per level (i.e., it's like the Cavalier's Challenge class feature, but it's not severely limited in times per day). 06 Flying Blade4 [Combat Feat: Rapid Shot]
07 Flying Blade5 [Flying Blade Training +1], Clustered Shots
08 Flying Blade6, INT>12 (put the influx of skill points into Fly)
09 Flying Blade7 [4 more deeds], Additional Traits (Natural Flyer, The Pessimist)
Gear bucket-list: Seeking starknife, upgraded headband, Blinkback Belt upgraded for Dex and Con (per Belt of Physical Might), Mithral Full Plate of Speed, upgraded buckler, other body slot items....
My next character-intro: <Monty Pythonesque old-codger accent> "I was ranting up on the box in the town-square, and next thing I know I was gettin' arrested. I'm bein' oppressed! ...So, you in here for political crimes too?"
•We can NEVER gain any levels that we did for our first "base" class. There's one way around that, indeed one approved of by your perhaps-unaware GM (no need to tell him), the Evangelist prestige class: Concept: goody two-shoe aasimar who fell quickly to the dark side (but that's what happens when you have a fallen angel in your ancestry).STR: 7
Appearance: saucy femme fatale with a fiery temper
01 Arcanist1 [Exploit:Dimensional Slide], (FEATg retrained to Favored Prestige Class:Evangelist at 6th)
This is one way to build a full-level arcane caster with up to 5+9=14 levels advancement in base class features (e.g., Arcanist Exploits including Advanced Exploits, familiar advancement if you took one, etc), keep your free extra leveling hit point or skill point, and give you plenty of time to line up the second PrC at higher level. I should also mention that I am not great at making characters, and my last one died because of how weak they were. Also, there is a large focus on combat. So how do I wreck these encounters, or, at the very least, survive them? Simple: be the caster this time, and let the other players gork their melee-enthusiast characters over and over again. (If you're not interested in Arcane Tricker as the second PrC, and being a crazy redhead who delights in torture isn't your style, then the entire pantheon of deities is open, and perusing their obediences and Evangelist boons will keep you enjoyably entertained for quite some time. Trickster does offer an immediate +4 to probably every non-Int rogue skill you've thrown points at, e.g., Perception, etc., so it's a hard-sell in the end-loaded game where blowing a skill check is often as bad as failing a save if it means combat breaks out on the enemy's terms rather than yours.) Arcanist is considered one of the most powerful classes in the game (and, depending upon whom is pontificating, the most powerful), so you'll quickly escalate in abilities. But you need to survive the baby levels under your dungeon-crawler GM: * Buy a yak (24gp, 42hp) at 1st-level, and use it as a meatwall. Buy a guard-dog and have two meatwalls.
Your GM will get used to you hanging in the back, being difficult to target, and largely without much offensive ability to speak of at low level, and he'll tend to leave you alone as a non-factor while he directs his monsters to chew on the fighters. You lose a yak and a dog here and there. Once you hit 7th, your power ramps up drastically as a full-level arcanist with a full-level familiar and the benefits of the Evangelist PrC layered over it. Early party roles: knowledge skills with an emphasis on identifying objects and opponents, and being low-level "face" w/Diplomacy (it's not class yet, but you'll be better at it than your Cha7 teammates, especially versus some male NPCs captivated by your charm -- and buy decent clothing for the bonuses they grant).
Anyway, on to DPR maximization at the cost of bugger all else....
No, we are blind with rage.... STR++ 22
Traits: Accelerated Drinker, Bestial Wrath
relevant gear: 2x MW bardiche, MW butchering axe (in Scabbard of Vigor), wetstone, potions of Enlarge Person & CLW On-going buffs of 10+ minute duration: Heroism (+2 to attack),
Hitpoints are mediocre, and AC is utter trash, but that ape has an over 90% chance of dropping from full-up in any single round of combat with us, let alone three -- and not to mention we have the Orc Ferocity racial trait. We have seven rounds of rage (bringing our low saves up to +2 or more) per day, just enough for two 3-round combats. Round 1:
(We could, alternatively, step forward 5' after having grown 5' closer as well, and just smack the ape, then take the AoO when it charges, but this results in slightly lower damage versus the 2x brace attack because there are two .95 die rolls involved rather than only one.) Round 2: full-attack +12/+12/+6(bite) vs AC15
Round 3:
Total: 163.92125 Not counted: DPR from slaughtering our ally should we go berserk after failing a will save and splick them too. (Like we care about that wanker...unless he's the cleric. Oh fudge, why did we kill the cleric? Our rage is almost up....)
Shield Focus and Unhindering Shield will allow you to just keep your hands on your weapon, not worry about any of that one million free action shenanigans. Not to mention that Quick Draw permits you to fight with a wide assortment of weapons without wasting time putting the right one in your hands. I.e., the axe-fighter dwarf marches with equipped LQD shield (want that flatfooted AC!) and a throwing and/or returning weapon with a ready-action declared to zing it at any appearing enemy. Then, if not able to reach the enemy in the first round, he'll chuck it again, then free-action quickdraw and equip his bardiche for some off-turn AoOs. Next round, the enemy has closed to melee, quickdraw short weapons and go to town, cycling LQD shield off and on. Quick Draw is a fantastic, flexible feat that takes you out of the one-trick-pony box.
Be a dwarf for all twenty levels.
Imagine there's this game where you're an outlaw driving exotic cars, but every so often you are yanked out of the escapism to instead blow a whole day watching your mechanic slowly put new vehicles together from piles of parts strewn around his shop in which you're stuck patiently cooling your heels -- but there's so much customization that needs to be accounted for, and he needs to consult fifteen different manuals, and my god it's going to take *forever* to cram in everything everybody wants on the budget available. The job keeps expanding to fill every second of time allotted, and then some. And you're not the first customer in line.... ~ ~ ~ I viscerally loathe in-game crafting of anything save cheap personal gear that can be made on-the-spot.
Brief preface: Hunter is a great class for building an uber rider/mount tag-team, but there is a non-negligible cost: You lose BAB, and it's a rare caster class with a garbage will-save. Also, spells per day are junk -- with an 18 wisdom, you'll only be getting thirteen spells at 10th level. You wanna buy a bucket of Pearls of Power? Go ahead. Or, you can play a straight druid and be a *real* caster.Or you can raid Hunter for its groovy, front-loaded martial-inclined goodies, then jump ship after 3rd, and do most of your casting off wands -- because guess what: you'd be doing that most of the time as a Hunter anyway. So I chose the Gnome race and the Hunter class. Took Velociraptor as my AC, he will become mountable at level 7. I plan to give him Int 3, so we wouldn't have to worry about tricks and training much. The plan is to use Dex-based build, utilizing Weapon Finesse, to avoid Str penalty of the small race. We play with 15-point buy, so Here's a finesse build closer to the OP concept: STR- 6
traits: Adopted(human:Tempestuous Combatant), Magical Knack (Hunter) 01 Fighter1 [Drill Sergeant][Weapon Finesse], Piranha Strike
02 Hunter1 [Primal Companion]
03 Hunter2 [Outflank], Mounted Combat
Mount's feat selected at 5th: Broken Wing Gambit. (The dino teases easier attacks from the opponent, that when taken triggers your Mounted Combat defense and triggers your attack of opportunity, which then triggers your mount's Paired Opportunists that it has because you're sharing the feat with it, which then triggers your Paired Opportunists.) 06 (whatever you want) Gear: +1/Agile kukri, Scabbard of Vigor, critter-buffing wands
Problem #1: This is a "gimp" build that dumps the gnome race's preferential stats (Con and Cha) and spends points on its tanked one (Str). Never do this is point-buy (or ever, really), as it just butchers your precious starting points like crazy. You don't need a wisdom of 16 for a Hunter (you're not casting saving-throw magic); they don't even need higher than a 12 in that stat prior to 7th level (when a mere +2 wisdom headband will do the job all the way until 13th-level. Yes: you'll lose on a few bonus spells -- but what's more important, having that single extra spell, or having an extra 5 or 7 build-points at character-creation? ...If you're getting only fifteen, every one is very precious. By layering racial bonuses over the stats we actually want rather than wearing our pants bassackwards, we can achieve builds like this.... STR- 8
STR: 15
STR: 7
STR+ 16
~ ~ ~ Problem #2: Dirty Fighting doesn't work for waiving Pack Flanking's Combat Expertise requirement, because Pack Flanking isn't a Style maneuver-chain feat. (Sad faces all around.) Problem #3: You're small and weak. You ain't gonna trip *crap*. Look at that Mammoth Rider Prestige Class. I really like the Megafauna Arsinotherium as a Mount. I also really like Deinonychous, Mega Raptor, and Allosaurus. This, exactly. Scott is not steering you wrong here, because Hunters, despite their first-glance appearance, do not shine brightest as a straight-class caster/critter combo, but rather, are best envisioned as a beast-buffing martial. (Scott and I had a lot of fun seeing how much absurd, insane, over-the-top, table-shattering damage we could rack up in the PFS DPR Olympics thread. Search the PF1 forum for "Slim Jim Ping Pong" to see the build. (It was a nitrous-fueled funnycar on racing-slicks with a teeny-tiny will-save completely unsuitable for actual play, and considerable detuning would be necessary to play it viably. But you pull all sorts of ideas out of it.) Velociraptors get a ridiculous number of attacks, but they're weak, and have to waste a feat on Weapon Finesse. Since they have multiple attack forms, they cannot apply 1.5x damage to their primary attack, even if they're only making one attack in a round. On the bright side, their Con score is nice, and their medium barding will be cheaper than a large mount's. Saddles are more expensive, however, because they're an exotic mount rather than a typical quadruped herbivore. ~ ~ ~ Let's contemplate a half-orc for our Hunter using the 15pt "barbarian" chassis listed above: STR+ 14 (raise 12th + Manual)
Yes: It is possible to enjoy *four* stats of 14 or higher with a measly 15pt-buy. You don't need to slam all the points into one stat at creation, when the vast majority of your bonuses will be generated from class features, levels, and gear. So spread those initial points around and show your important ability scores the love they deserve. Racial traits (none)
01 Barbarian1 [Dreadnought archetype], Extra Rage (15 rounds/day)
02 Hunter1 [Primal Companion archetype]
At 3rd-level, we face a choice: Do we go straight Hunter from here, or do we build a Panzer tank multiclass? Being straight Hunter is easy (and you don't need the barbarian level either, although it doesn't hurt as much as you would think compared to, say, a wizard dropping a casting level), and this post would end here if that is the choice -- so let's explore the other way: 03 Fighter1 [Drill Sergeant][Mounted Combat], Boon Companion
04 Drill Sergeant2 [Combat Reflexes][Tactician:Amplified Rage], CON>16
--We are now done with the Panzer tank martial chassis consisting of four levels granting a host of desired abilities (rage sharing, heavy armor proficiency, tucking away beefy hitpoints and combat feats early, etc). We will not take more than four dip-levels out due to the limitations of Boon Companion. 06 Hunter2 [Outflank]
The horse is now put out to pasture, to be replaced with a snarling, two-horned, prehistoric rhino (the Arsinoitherium) of incredibly foul disposition, and we're going to share Str+6 and Con+6 rages with it (and it will also take Raging Vitality for stupid hitpoints). We do not want this feisty animal to fail will saves, so we tuck another general feat into a general feat slot -- and substitute our Ride score for its will-save once per round. The feat Blades Above and Below is basically identical to Pack Flanking, but with a BAB requirement and size requirements in lieu of PF's loathed tax-feat. At 10th, it'll deploy against any opponent that is medium, large (if we a drink a potion), or huge (because that'll be the size of our mount). 08 Hunter4 [empathic link]
10 Mammoth Rider [Gigantic Steed]
Feats deliberately not chosen: Power Attack (maybe we'll grab it at 13th), Improved Trip (this build has a sickening attack-bonus; we don't need things on the ground), Greater [Maneuver XYZ] (because we already have several ways to generate AoOs such as Outflank, Paired Opportunists, Combat Reflexes, Fortuitous weaponry, and our critter can take things like Greater Bull Rush, etc) Spellcasting: by 12th, you should be becoming affluent enough to just buy a pile of wands of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-level Hunter spells of interest (e.g., Blood Rage, etc). Gear (at 12th): +1/Furious/Fortuitous fauchard, opalescent white pyramid ioun (cracked:fauchard), Celestial Plate (with Hosteling), +1/Keen/Fortuitous tuskblades (for mount), Furious Amulet of Might Fists (for mount), wand of Reduce Animal (we will often need to make our Huge animal small enough to fit in our Hosteling armor to smuggle it past chokepoints), haversack full of potions of Enlarge Person
01 Barbarian or Bloodrager [Urban][Controlled Rage], Extra Rage
Same thing works strength-based, or as.... half-orc
"Carry"? No. Use (as an equipped shield, unlocking item functionality)? Yes. (See below.)Does a Familiar need a specific Feat/Archetype to be able to carry a tower shield? Some creature body types are able to grasp and carry one object at a time in their paws, claws, or hands, including weapons, rods, wands, and staves, though they may not be able to use such items effectively (GM’s discretion) and take penalties for nonproficiency as usual. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ GM: "Does your familiar have fighter levels?"Player: "No..." GM: "Does it have Tower Shield Proficiency?" Player: "Uh..." GM: "Does it even have *Shield* Proficiency?" Player: "I may have to dismiss this familiar and pick up a different one that has learned those feats..." GM: "How big is your familiar? Tiny?" Player: "It's a monkey. With opposable thumbs!" GM: "Can you cast 'Speak With Animals'?" Player: "Why would I need that? It's a familiar." GM: "Unless you're casting 'Speak With Animals', or are 5th level in the class that gave you the familiar, or some such, then you cannot effectively relay complicated verbal commands like 'Hey monkey! Move to my left, then rotate the shield to the left, and keep an eye on that dude over there, and adjust the shield as needed so he can't shoot me!' --But let's suppose you have all of that squared away, and your monkey attempts to wield a tower shield, a five-foot tall object with a carrying-handle three feet from the bottom. He jumps up and grabs the handle...and your tower shield is now "carrying" a monkey. He struggles and yanks, his feet paddling furiously a foot off the floor, and manages to tip it over. *Splat!* Your familiar is now enjoying full cover while being squashed under an object weighing 45lbs, which is three times the tiny creature's STR:3 heavy-load maximum carrying capacity of 15lbs, and he can't even lift it off the ground to squirm out from under it. You should probably go help him before he suffocates." Player: "Monkey? You're *fired*! I'm getting an imp when I hit 7th. They're only small-sized, and have a strength of 10. And they fly, so short legs aren't a problem." GM: "You're going to throw three feats at this gimmick for a Tower Shield Proficient Advanced Familiar, on top of a multiclass dip to qualify for having a familiar in the first place?" Player2 "An imp? My paladin will Smite that booger straight back to Hell the moment he sees it." Player1 "You can't do that!" Player2 "Watch me. This isn't PFS." GM: "You know, I think I'm going to allow it. Eagerly support it, in fact. I can have a lot of fun with an imp in the party. What's your human archer's will-save, BTW?" <gm makes evil mwahaha face> Player2 (to monkey) "You poor, abandoned thing! Let me help you breathe..." <removes tower shield><Lay on Hands>
I have been considering Dwarven hatred style, for the +2 attack rolls and dmg vs goblins then getting goblin cleaver or is goblin cleaver better?If you pursue the getting-big tactic I described above (which is always great for polearm guys), Goblin Cleaver is way, way better because your opponents don't actually have to be goblins. Anything smaller than your now-large butt will do. I know nothing about upgrading armor or shields, my armor is a +6 ac right now with a +1 for dex. I did not think I could use a shield if im using two handed fighter archtype. Skip the shield for now; get that full-plate. (Even better would be that 3rd-edition super-heavy stuff that was AC10/Dex0; I forget what it was called (fortress plate??) , but it was awesome for dwarves who didn't care about being flat-footed.) BTW, one reason to keep Armor Training (as a core fighter) is access to the Master Armorer advanced AT option. Basically, you get to start making your own stuff half-priced, which is not a bad deal at all (unless you've a party wizard who intends to do it). Will it be manageable to do AoO, Cleave, and power swings and be able to do all 3?Absolutely. (And this is another reason to get big: +2 strength from size-bonus offsets some of the sting of losing attack-bonus by Power Attacking.) I was looking into things like vital strike, but if cleave will be better for goblins than that could work too. You can't get Vital Strike until 6th-level anyway.
A watched a paladin eat pineapple on a pizza once, and he did not fall. Or so he said, anyway. (He's very persuasive, and I don't have Detect Evil.)
Me and some friend are running War for the Crowns. They have all chosen casters (Storm Druid, Sorcerer, Cleric) which leaves me to be in the frontlines alone. Please no spoilers! My character just died and was a cavalier.Was the body unrecoverable? (Most PCs at 9th or so level should be able to bounce back otherwise. E.g., Breath of Life scroll, plenty of money for Raise Dead, etc.) Want to play something else that can survive away from the rest of my party. Currently looking at Dandy Ranger as it seems made for this campaign.Be aware that a Dandy ranger's Favored Enemy bonuses only apply to "courtiers, officials, nobles, and gentry" of a nation. (So, you're not going to be +6 versus everything in Taldor -- just the powdered wig set.) What would you do? (P.s. have tried asking the cleric if they'd move closer to the action but they seem very passionate about being in the middle with a crossbow. Clearly the other players are quite satisfied with hanging back and letting you be the guy who gets killed over and over. Me? I'd make a caster who hangs even father back and is even more invisibly than the others -- let them get chewed on for awhile and see how they like it. (I see no point to being the sole martial in a party where the cleric doesn't tank, the sorc doesn't control the battlefield, and GM's big grapple monsters all go after the guy with the sword.)
I'm new to pathfinder and made a Dwarf Two-Handed fighter. I'm looking for a guide on what feats to take to maximize damage and...Maximizing damage comes at the expense of other things which are often just as important. (I.e., THF forfeits all Armor Training and Bravery; so no Sash of the War Champion or Advanced Armor Training goodies for you.) My DM stated that we will mostly be fighting goblins. I am using a Dwarven long hammer as my weapon. I already have the toughness feat from Unstoppable as a trait.Unstoppable dwarves are pretty easy to stop when they fail a save because they forfeited Hardy (and thus also gave up access to the Glory of Old trait and the Steel Soul feat, all of which would have had them rocking +5 to all saves). With a 17 Con and fighter AC, you should be plenty good for hitpoints unless the GM is stingy with treasure and you're having trouble upgrading armor and shield. the character he uses brute force as much as possible, so single target damage is ideal. Currently I am level 3 and have Power Attack, Cleave, and Weapon Focus. As a dwarf fighter, you're short a feat (unless you just leveled, and that's why you're here). Per your GM's not-so-subtle hinting, the feat Goblin Cleaver should be your pick. (Now if he doesn't throw goblins at you "mostly", you give him the big ol' stink-eye.) In terms of point-buy, that's 21pt-buy, or a point better than you'd get in PFS. ...of course I wouldn't go with five odd stats, but that can't be helped. (Raise Str at 4th, Con at 8th, and whatever at 12th.) Also I just leveled up to level 3 and my DM is allowing us to switch up anything we want till level 4 since we are all new. Your GM is a sweetheart (although I'm assuming "anything" doesn't include those three 13s and a 4). How is your GM doing hitpoints? (Full 1st, then half & round-up other levels -- or do you have to rolls those, too?) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ dwarf, no racial archetype (*keep* Hardy)
(*I prefer core archetype to keep AT and Bravery, etc, as it's the best in the long-run, but the choice is yours.) If your GM never asks you to make saving-throws, then you're perfectly good not giving a crap about them, and mostly keep what you have. I usually don't take Weapon Focus because I use multiple weapons. For ranged weaponry, I'd grab three or four javelins. Let the casters deal with artillery duels at longer ranges. With a Dex of 13, you're not much of an archer, so don't blow any feats toward archery, or spend unseemly amounts of gold on only-occasionally-used bows. Maybe buy a bunch of Tanglefoot bags if the GM is making it rain money. Tactics: drink a 50gp potion of Enlarge Person as a move-action at the beginning of Combat, "grow" 5' in a desired direction, 5' another step, then standard-action hack, and then Cleave. Wreck stuff in your huge threatened zone, especially creatures that are smaller (and by becoming big, you made them smaller!). First belt upgrade: no, not strength, no, not constitution, --dexterity, because it fuels your AoOs that you'll be making with a 20' reach polearm.
The whole point was an melee alchemist with bombs because that's what they asked for. <flourish doffed tricorne> "Another satisfied customer!"
Overcoming low stats with money is a lot easier than overcoming annoying tax-feats. So: take Weapon and Shield style for Shield Master, and just spend gold upgrading your Belt of Incredible Dexterity to meets the 'reqs of Improved TWF. (You should have plenty by the time 7th-level rolls around.) If you go with W&S style you'd get Shield Master at level 6 (that's 5 levels early). There are two advantages with this feat: One is that you get a +2 to all your shield bash attacks (as they don't take the TWF penalty), and the other advantage is that you count your defensive enhancement bonus as an offensive bonus (this is probably +1 to hit & damage when you take the feat at level 6, and it'll get better over time). More importantly, it comes at a low enough level that you can still be getting by at 5th with just a masterwork weapon as your main tool (i.e., you're not wasting money on expensive magical gear you'll later sell for half-price). Then, upon acquiring Shield Master, you up-end your piggy bank for a 9000gp +3 shield (that doubles as a weapon) and are immediately better than everyone else with an 8000gp +2 weapon and a 1000gp +1 shield, and have a considerable chunk of AC and weapon expenses compressed into a single item. (It's even better if you then jump ship into Brawler to flurry with your "close" weapon-group shield while needing only one of them and being eligible to Martial Flexibility in Improved Two Weapon Fighting for a second iterative -- meaning you don't to take either TWF or ITWF in your regular feat-slots.) 06 Slayer6 [talent:ranger style:sword and shield:Shield Master]
When the NFL players are in the huddle before going to the line-of-scrimmage, they're metagaming.
I have an issue with some players not liking the official rule set on exp. The solution here is to get rid of XP as a leveling mechanic, thereby avoiding all of the associated annoyances attendant with being chained to a four-decade-old D&D mechanic.
Even better, they could buy lassos for 1sp each. Thrown weapons have a maximum range of five increments, a lasso has no listed shorter restriction, which means that a lasso necessarily includes 50' of controlling rope in addition to that part comprising the loop, or noose. So, buy lassos for one-tenth the cost, get an extra few feet, and the first knot is free.
I blame 5:30 in the morning posting time. <Bronx cheer> (Still, somewhat less than a hundred is comparable to, say, a Sap Master build single-shot slam, and with better range due to using a bow.) Take #2 at the howitzer build: STR- 5
alignment: LG; worship Erastil
01 Slayer1 [ST+1], Bludgeoner (retrain to Quick Draw w/purchase of +1/Merciful/Training dagger)
(*Initially this will be dagger, but at leisure retrain to something else after upgrading the dagger to the Agile enhancement that it'll need to contribute dexterity damage to throws.) Relevant gear: Concealing Pocket, Stag's Helm, Lenses of the Predator’s Gaze, Slayer's Robe, Merciful/Agile/Training(Weapon Versatility) dueling dagger of doubling Exploits:
Character appearance: gregarious halfling wearing a comfortable sweater with "hand-warmer" style pockets in the front. The pockets are joined together inside, and represent the Concealing Pocket sewn into the garment; the Dagger of Doubling is stored in a sheath inside, and a split-off dagger can be drawn and thrown from either side. OCD behavior: we always have one hand on that thing. Action economy: Pre-combat will see us in various ongoing buffs such as Invisibility, etc. Ideally we're able to Study potential opponents before fighting breaks out. Combat: roll Init, and d20 result will be 20 for this phase regardless of the die roll
Ambush (surprise) round (our Init roll is still treated as a nat-20):
Since the "kept" portion of the Dagger of Doubling never leaves its place of concealment, no action-wasting checks need be made to keep it that way. (That thing is phenomenal value for the money given that it obviates the necessity of a Blinkback belt, thereby freeing that slot up for the dex belt we really want.) Round #1 (Same as Ambush round, but our Init count is now whatever we actually rolled.) Standard-action damage:
The Quick Shot doesn't qualify for Marksman's Shot, so only ten d8s are rolled for that, generating 10 from Sap Adept, and 80 from Underhanded. Combined, it'll be deep into mid-300s damage when all other numeric and additional dice are factored. Rounds after the surprise lose Underhanded, dropping the maximized d8s back to 4.5 average, so 70 less damage without it on a Sap Master Marksman’s Shot.
The halfling referred to above wouldn't lose a thing by being a Herald Caller. Mithral supplies his armor needs (which are light anyway due to excellent dexterity), and if pressed into close melee, he'll bad-touch with Weapon Finesse. A horde of summoned critters take care of ranged combat the rest of the encounter without further action-economy.Mithral medium counts as light, but the character still requires the proficiency with the base armor to not get the penalties due to being nonproficient. With the Armor Expert trait, the ACP of mithral breastplate is zero. Without it, it's only -1, and often not a factor due to the build's healing and summoning emphasis, neither of which require attack-rolls.
Everything Magda Luckbender said. You get to 9th level and suddenly realize that all you have are archery feats, except you don't use your bow much anymore.
See The Kidnap Job for ideas.
Levels 1-3 are dangerous. *Yes*. -- And starting at 1st is an excellent way to acclimate your players to the idea that combat ought not be the PCs' one and only solution to every problem.
Rope costs 1gp for 50'. Perhaps not a lot for us well-heeled adventurers, but imagine the peasant-commoner going to Home Depot and getting sticker-shocked for the modern equivalent of $1,500 for a measly dozen yards of the stuff (presumably spun from virgin's hair, not this "hemp" ditchweed that grows everywhere). Aforementioned peasants can save a reasonable amount of cash by buying hammocks for 1sp each (they come with ropes), then disassembling them (for even more rope).
Their racial bumps (Con and Wis) are where front-liners facing saves will need them, they have Hardy built-in, as well as Glory of Old and Steel Soul for trait and feat options.Because of that Saving Throw Bonus?I was suggesting Iron Will, too.I did make my submission a dwarf for a reason.... Also, because of "Slow and Steady?"Mobility shouldn't be a problem for a 16th-level character. What do you think of the Spell Resistance Alternate Racial Trait that Dwarves have? It depends on the your foreknowledge of the GM's typical monster deployment as to whether that or Hardy is better. If he starts bringing in things that top over your 16th-level character's 21SR, then you're better off with Hardy. (SR also doesn't work on poison, in case he's a big fan of things that go bite in the night.) On the previous page, I had the 45pt-buy allocated thus: STR: 18 (raise 16th + Manual of Gainful Exercise)
This 16th-level dwarven warpriest will have +15 Fortitude and +14 Will before factoring Hardy, Glory of Old, Steel Soul, or a Cloak of Resistance, ioun stones or any other gear, or any of his spells that he'll pop off as a Swift action. He has +4 Sacred Armor, +4 Sacred Weapon, and 2d6 base Sacred dice. Is his strength not 28? Who cares when you're Divine Power +6 in every combat, then adding Righteous Might next round?
Care to share the bits n' pieces? I'd love to see the whole thing.
I like Fighters because they're not as complex. The more complex they are, the harder time I have playing them.Give Warpriest a look-see. They're not that complicated, and you'll definitely have more to do out-of-combat (i.e., aside from pure roleplay). They're especially good for Vital Strike builds, because any weapon they take Weapon Focus in becomes a "sacred" weapon with automatically increasing damage dice as the character levels. E.g., Weapon Focus: Toothpick means toothpicks are 2d6 weapons at 16th, melee or thrown. Basically, anything you want will be at least as good as a greatsword. I doubt I'll ever get Enlarged Person cast on me. Our DM was adamant about not becoming too OP. Is this guy nuts? He's telling you to make a 16th-level character (and those should come with over 300,000gp to spend), but might consider you overpowered if a 1st-level wizard buffs you with a 1st-level spell? (Meanwhile, the 16th-level party wizard arrives at the table with a Haversack stuffed full of gear he crafted, having effectively doubled his starting money.) <shaking head><disaster looms>
One of our GMs asked us to make a level 16 character as we would be heroes coming out of retirement. Translation: he's going to throw everything including the kitchen sink at you, and is basically telling you so. Prepare accordingly. Dwarf: Oorah! STR: 18 (raise 16th + Manual of Gainful Exercise)
Traits: Fate's Favored, Glory of Old Build: 16th-level Warpriest (no archetype); worship: Torag Feats: 1. Steel Soul, 1(warp). Weapon Focus (Warhammer). 1(warp). (exchange a minor Blessing for Divine Fighting Technique: Torag's Patient Strikes) ...At 1st level, you're rocking paladin-like saves, and have picked up WF and a spiffy upgraded version of Combat Reflexes (DFT:WoPS) that works even while flat-footed (and counts for prereqs) in a race/class combo that otherwise looks like it should be getting only one feat on paper at 1st.
3 Additional Traits (Accelerated Drinker, Militant Merchant), 3(warp). Improved Initiative ...You can Enlarge yourself as a move-action, and Perception is now a class skill (nice, as you have the wisdom to use it). 5. Power Attack
Gear: (315,000 gp WBL) Belt of Physical Perfection +6, bling adamantine warhammer, dope heavy shield, metamagic rods and tons of cheap wands, Celestial Plate Armor, Dwarven Commander's Helm with Paired Opportunists as its Teamwork feat, Boots of Speed, anything that grants greater reach, Vestments of War, Vibrant Purple Prism ioun stone (resonating in a Wayfinder), Dark Blue Rhomboid ioun, various other iouns. Tactics: layeth the supreme beat-down on any poor flathead dumb enough to grant you an Attack of Opportunity (it'll be an 8d6 Greater Vital Strike warhammer smack, or 12d6 if you're Enlarged).
Paired Opportunists is the dopest feat in the game for critter-riders. Build to make it trigger early and often and on through next Tuesday.
Strength is the highest attribute with a reach-cleric, and advanced relentlessly. (Wisdom is typically just a 14 or 15 in point-buy, and raised via headband alone.)a reach cleric built for melee combat would output damage comparable to your brawler during the GM's turn and still cast a spell on their own turn.Not even close. The OP's brawler deals an average of 78.1 DPR on a pounce against an average CR 8 monster (with BoF, 60.6 without). How exactly does a cleric with 12 or 13 strength compete with that via AoOs? ...it sounds like neither the Wizard nor the Cleric are using Summon Monster spells. Those don't inflict a lot of damage until one gets to multiple enhanced pouncing dire tigers (at ~ 300 DPR), but Summoned Monsters can soak up damage so you (the Brawler) don't have to. .Suffice also to say that there's no need to heal your wounded monsters after the fight -- which is something you can appreciate not only as a divine caster, but also as one who is tasked with babysitting a Con 12 teammate who frequently finds himself in 5' adjacency to annoyed opponents who aren't dead yet on their turn.
The Wizard's main job is Battlefield Control. Good ol' Grease with a hefty DC will put most low-to-mediocre level opponents on their keister, and subject them to repeated saves even if they make the first one. Once down, they're -4 to hit you and you're +4 to hit them. I front-socketed it every time I play a starter wizard, and have never regretted it. "Ooh, baby! A fight in a doorway!" <rubbing hands>
Martials do a lot of hitpoint damage -- that's their job. Everything else that a caster can do, they'll generally do much worse, or not at all.
In my anecdotal experience, the higher the level the campaign started at, the less I enjoyed it. For lack of anything better to do, players actually have to roleplay their low-level characters more. |