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I had a quick question about the Earth Child wild talent/earth attunement. When it states that you gain the Outside[Native] type, does that replace your original type, or add to it? I plan on taking it on my half-orc Geokineticist and need to know if I will be a Humanoid [Human/Orc], and Outsider[Native] or if I will just be classified as an Outsider[Native] afterwards. Thanks Earth Child: Source Occult Realms pg. 8 Element earth; Type utility (Su); Level 3; Burn — Blending your form with crystal, you have transmuted yourself into something akin to an oread. You keep your original racial abilities (including your ability score adjustments, but not your movement speed) and also gain all oread racial abilities (including an oread’s movement speed and the outsider [native] type) except for ability score adjustments. You have the crystalline form alternate racial trait (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 144) instead of earth affinity, but cannot otherwise choose alternate racial traits.
Sounds pretty uncommonly situational...I'll probably go with either bullseye shot (hit better, but not as hard), or deadly aim (hit harder, but not as well). Kind of leaning more towards Bullseye right now, I have a feeling I will need it, since I won't get a magic weapon bonus to hit, and I am not targeting touch AC.
I was wondering how the Kineticist wild talent 'Elemental Whispers' would work if you took the 'Improved Familiar' feat instead of upgrading it with the 'Greater Elemental Whispers' talent. Would you maintain the ability to manifest your familiar like the base elemental whispers talent, but get to choose something from the improved familiars list to be able to manifest it as? Elemental Whispers:
You form a friendship with a fragment of your element. The element speaks back to you empathically, like a familiar. Pick a type of creature usually allowed as a familiar when you gain this wild talent. You gain the Alertness feat and the special abilities granted by a familiar of that type. As a standard action, you can give the voice of the element the body of such a creature, using elemental matter of the appropriate element within 30 feet. As long as you concentrate, the familiar can take actions as a normal animal of its type, and it can move any distance away from you, though if it takes any damage or you cease concentrating, it returns to your mind. You lose Alertness while the familiar is manifested in this way. The familiar gains abilities as usual for a familiar of its type, though it never gains the ability to speak with animals of its kind. Greater Elemental Whispers:
Your friendship with the elements has grown. You gain your choice of a wysp or Small elemental of your primary element as an improved familiar, without needing to meet any of the usual prerequisites for gaining such a familiar. Unlike with elemental whispers, this improved familiar acts in all ways like a familiar: it’s always manifested, it has hit points equal to 1/2 your own, and so on. You no longer receive the familiar benefits from the original creature you selected. If your improved familiar dies, you can still contact its voice in your mind and gain the Alertness feat, but you can’t cause it to manifest. If you pay the usual costs for replacing a familiar, you manifest a new form for your elemental friend. Improved Familiar: When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed here are also available to you. You may choose a familiar with an alignment up to one step away on each alignment axis (lawful through chaotic, good through evil).
Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature’s type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).
I never have understood why you would ever want to actually use Delay Blast...if you need to attack something, why wait 1+ turns to do it? I think I'll just plop Improved Initiative in there...maybe I'll take an initiative boosting familiar and pretty much always go first in combat. Unless I can figure out a good accuracy boosting feat to do in its place.
Greater Elemental whispers looks like it locks you in to either choosing a small elemental or a wysp, unless I am reading it wrong. "Your friendship with the elements has grown. You gain your choice of a wysp or Small elemental of your primary element as an improved familiar, without needing to meet any of the usual prerequisites for gaining such a familiar."
Ok...I have a small confession to make...in all my years of playing D&D (and other RPGS)...I have never played a character who had a familiar. I am looking to use the Elemental Whispers talents on this build, but I am not sure what exactly to do with a familiar beyond use the passive bonuses and occasionally use them as a scout. Should I be looking at any specific animal types for the basic familiar? Then, when I get the improved familiar, should I take the 'Small Earth Elemental' or the 'Earth Wysp'? Going for the improved familiar almost feels like a downgrade, since you seem to lose the passive bonuses (unless I am just missing something)
If I go with +3 darkleaf studded leather, I get 3 higher AC than I would from +3 bracers for only 775 gold more. Anything above +3 gets too expensive for PFS play (unless you sacrifice on the rest of your gear). I should have an 18 base dex, with +2 from my belt, and either +2 or +4 from overflow depending on which way I split it. Which would land me at either +6 or +7 total dex bonus. Cat's Grace is about the only dex buff spell I can think of, so I probably won't go past the +7 dex max on darkleaf studded leather very often.
Updated Build: Kineticist (Earth) Race: Half-Orc Alignment: Chaotic Good Faction: Liberty's Edge Str: 12 Dex: 17 Con: 17 (15+2 racial) Int: 10 Wis: 12 Cha: 7 (+Con then +Dex) Favored Class Bonus 1/6 wild talent every level Traits: Fate's Favored, Reactionary Racial Traits: Darkvision, Dusksight, Sacred Tattoo, Shaman's Apprentice Oread Traits (lvl6+): Crystalline Form, Energy Resist Acid/5, Magic Stone 1/day. 20' move speed. 1. Burn, Elemental Focus: Earth, Gather Power, Kinetic Blast: Earth Blast
2. Elemental Defense: Flesh of Stone
3. Elemental Overflow +1
4. Utility Wild Talent: Earth Climb 5. Infusion Specialization 1, Metakinesis (Empower)
6. Elemental Overflow +2, Internal Buffer 1
7. Expanded Element: Earth, Composite Blast: Metal Blast
8. Infusion Specialization 2
9. Elemental Overflow +3, Metakinesis (Maximize)
10. Utility Wild Talent: Earth Glide 11. Infusion Specialization 3, Internal Buffer 2, Supercharge
12. Elemental Overflow +4
Planned Items: Darkleaf Studded Leather Armor +3 9775
Switching out Armor Expert...I realized my dex bonus will end up too high for a mithral breastplate at higher levels, as I will be at a +6 or +7 from dex (or higher with certain buffs). So I will either go with the mithral chain shirt, or maybe even lighter armor. I think I'll go with reactionary...act early, act often. I will probably run the evergreens with pre-gens to basically bypass level 1 on this guy, then for level 2 I will just have to pick my targets carefully or deal with the penalty for firing into melee. Or, maybe I'll play the We Be Goblins adventures, then just start this guy at level 3. Either way, I enjoy the role play just as much as the roll play. So I am not super worried about having a character that starts off a little behind the curve, then levels into his abilities. :)
I am already bumping all my saves by +2 with Sacred Tattoo + Fate's Favored, so another saving throw trait felt a bit unnecessary. I thought about reactionary, it was a tough choice between it and Armor Expert...I opted for armor expert, since none of my abilities really need for me to go first, and the higher AC and lower check penalty to help keep me alive longer seemed more valuable. As for dumping Cha down to 7...I'll definitely consider it...with the character's backstory, having a Cha that low could make sense (no real social interaction, abused since birth, etc.) I could put the 2 extra points into either Str or Int...which would either give me more carry capacity, or 1 more skill point per level and another language to start with...tough call.
Starting up a new PFS character after a recent adventure module ended in a TPK. I decided I would like to play a ranged/blaster type character instead of my normal melee focused roster of characters. After a bit of discussion about various ranged options, I decided to give a new class a try. A few days worth of research and more discussion later, I have what I believe is my final build laid out and ready to go. A straight Earth focused Kineticist. I present to you, Thrag Stonebringer. Backstory & Appearance:
Background: Thrag Stonebringer was born small and weak, he was discarded by his parents and left to die. Ruala Bonescream, the tribe's shaman found him, and sensed a power within him, so she decided to take him and raise him to be the her eventual replacement. Ruala spent years trying to train him both physically and mentally, usually using the most brutal methods she could. Unfortunately Thrag had no talent for either arcane nor divine magic, and was too weak to be of help as a laborer. This led to years of abuse and neglect at Ruala's hand, leaving Thrag covered in scars and the sacred tattoos Ruala thought might awaken the power she had felt in him as a baby. Finally, when he was around 14 years old, he overheard Ruala talking to one of the other orcs in the tribe about how disappointed she was in him, how she must have been mistaken when she thought she sensed power within as a baby, and how she was just going to finish him off since he was too weak and worthless. Thrag felt scared, alone and ready to die...but he decided that if he was going to die, he would at least die fighting, like an orc should. He burst through the door and charged at Ruala and the orc tribesman she was talking with, and that is when it happened...the power Ruala had sensed all those years ago finally manifested itself. Thrag suddenly felt an immense connection to the earth around him, and was able to pull javelins of pure stone out of the ground with a mere thought, and send them hurtling towards Ruala. He caught them both by surprise and managed to get in a couple shots...unfortunately, both Ruala and her guest were more than a match for poor Thrag, and quickly subdued him. Ruala spent the next few years testing the limits of Thrag's newfound abilities, learning that he could manipulate the very earth around them by force of will alone. She enjoyed pushing him to his limits every chance she got, and never let him forget his failed attack on her, or the fact that she was still far more powerful than he was. Finally, when he was 18 years old, a Shoanti clan raided their village. Ruala and the others were all occupied defending the village, and Thrag saw an opportunity to be free. So he ran, leaving behind the life of pain and torture he had known since birth. He spent the next several weeks putting as much distance between him and his former home as he could, scarcely stopping for food or rest. He headed west into Varisian territory, being sure to avoid other orcs and any Shoanti he saw. Eventually he ran into a group of Sczarni who took him in briefly until they parted ways in Riddleport. While in Riddleport, Thrag learned of Liberty's Edge and the Pathfinder Society, and decided to devote himself to using his abilities to help others escape the bonds of slavery and lives of misery that he had endured for so many years. Appearance: Thrag is small for a Half-Orc, he stands about 5'7” tall and weighs about 150lbs. He has long black hair and green eyes. His green skin is covered in sacred tattoos and scars. He has a slender build, and is very agile (from the years of dodging Ruala's wrath). He is unaccustomed to wearing nicer clothing, and prefers simple garments. He is often covered in dirt and mud, which he feels is completely normal and natural, due to his connection with the earth.
Build:
Kineticist (Earth) Race: Half-Orc Alignment: Chaotic Good Faction: Liberty's Edge Str: 10
(+Con then +Dex) Favored Class Bonus 1/6 wild talent every level Traits: Fate's Favored
Racial Traits: Darkvision, Dusksight, Sacred Tattoo, Shaman's Apprentice Oread Traits (lvl6+): Crystalline Form, Energy Resist Acid/5, Magic Stone 1/day. 20' move speed. 1. Burn, Elemental Focus: Earth, Gather Power, Kinetic Blast: Earth Blast
2. Elemental Defense: Flesh of Stone
3. Elemental Overflow +1
4. Utility Wild Talent: Earth Climb 5. Infusion Specialization 1, Metakinesis (Empower)
6. Elemental Overflow +2, Internal Buffer 1
7. Expanded Element: Earth, Composite Blast: Metal Blast
8. Infusion Specialization 2
9. Elemental Overflow +3, Metakinesis (Maximize)
10. Utility Wild Talent: Earth Glide 11. Infusion Specialization 3, Internal Buffer 2, Supercharge
12. Elemental Overflow +4
Planned Items: Mithral Shirt +3 10100
Let me know if you spot any errors, or have any suggestions for ways to improve upon it. |
