Trei Shouri's page

I was originally thinking rogue, but another player is going that route and I try to avoid stepping on toes.

Thanks for the build input, though. I can definitely see how stacking Rogue would make for some nasty bonus damage.

Alright, thanks for the answer there. Helps me to figure out how many levels it will take me to hit my stride. :)

And I was for a while, MPL, but we've got an arcane blaster, and some good physical spike damage, so I'm trying not to step on their toes. And I honestly think that the concept will be fun to play, so I'm willing to be a bit behind in damage in favor of doing some fun hits down the line.

Hm. Maybe, though reading your post in a rules thread seems to say the opposite.

With the vital strike build, I only need one strike to hit (or miss, to be fair), and I can stack Devastating Strike in there to try and hit that Debilitating Blow. And a major goal with this character is to build a ranged character who doesn't stack iterative attacks, but fulfills the traditional sniper role. And if I can use move action feats / Deeds to pump my called shots, I am in good shape.

As a follow up- reading Improved / Greater Called Shot, do I need Greater in order to stack VS? Improved just says I can use it on one attack out of a multi attack, where greater says "any attack."

@Mystically Inclined: Fair point. I just like sitting down and theory crafting sometimes, and the one shot build caught my attention.

Thanks both of you for your input.

Hello all.

For an upcoming game, I was talking with my GM and got his ruling that I could stack use Improved Called Shot and Vital Strikes together, with the intent on building a musket wielding debuffer and damage dealer for my party. Now, I know that this is hardly optimized; but it will be very fun to play a conniving, cold elf who likes to shoot people's legs out from under them and leave them crawling away from our fighter.

However, I am kind of stuck at the moment of how to proceed. I know the Vs tree is a go to, and I have to take Combat Expertise for Improved Called Shot, but what other feats would fit with the flavor of a callous crack shot?

So far, I have: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim, Bullseye Shot, Improved Call Shot, andthe VS tree.

Thanks in advance for your input.

A fun trick might be too have the rogue use a scroll of Touch Injection before falling in with the party, granting a third use of poison before needing to reapply.

Also, wands of Vampiric Touch, Touch of Slime, or Touch of Idiocy make for nasty sneak attacks.

He has good saves, and can deal nasty damage against Evil, but what happens if he takes his Great sword to a neutral construct? Losing smite against the construct's hardness should give someone else in the party a chance to shine.

Same thing in social challenges. Villains who are True Neutral are immune to his smiting and detection, and evil characters that he can't kill for plot reasons also neutralize his crazy damage somewhat.

I just brought River of Wind into my Magus' spellbook in one of my group's games recently, and it took a little bit to figure out. The general image I got with it is that it's kind of like a riot hose of air: it batters anything in its path until it finally starts moving, whether that's a gnome or a giant.

I would imagine that the limiting factor would be the fortitude saves that many larger creatures are going to have, which would allow them to shrug off the majority of the damage and the movement effects. Where smaller, Ref or Will heavy creatures would be flung about a lot easier.

Yea. With the bomber alchemist dead, the party has a Ranger and a Fighter for frontline, and an Arcane Duelist bard and Court Jester bard as the back line. They have control of the items that provide the party with healing.

1st: Advice =/= griefing the hell out of my Gm.

2nd: The rationale is that this is a Legend of Zelda campaign. You don't meet many full-on casters in LoZ, aside from maybe the Wizrobes. So access to a full spell caster is withheld for the first two levels, and at third I'd be able to take the Witch class.

So, I'm picking up my copy of Ultimate Magic today, and it turns out to be fortuitously timed. My Alchemist in a tabletop Legend of Zelda campaign kind of got eaten... So, I'm looking to put together a Witch.

The rules of the campaign stipulate that I can't go into a full caster class until 3rd level, so I'm thinking to go Alchemist 2, Witch 3 to start. My logic is, this gives me Brew Potion for free, and with the Infusion discovery I can start handing out potions of True Strike to my allies. Add Scribe Scroll as my first level feat, and I can start tossing out some nice support for my allies.

However, here's where it gets tricky. Since a lot of the stuff we've fought so far has been Constructs / Undead, it's unlikely that mental magic effects are going to be very reliable. So, I'm looking at Augmented summoning, but figured I would come here and see what advice people had for me.

I know my groups end up fighting a lot of Kobolds and Gnolls at early levels, and then get slightly more varied from there.

It might be overly similar to the skirmisher, but I've been trying to stat up a character concept inspired by Infite Sword Mifune from Soul Eater. (Amv, but it at least gives a concept of the character)

I'm thinking polearm-wielding Mobile fighter, but would be curious to see how someone else put him together.

Yea, one of the other DMs in my group has also input that he would say "no" since it seems to be built more for defense. In all honesty, it's probably for the better. At least this way I don't have to give up stat bonuses to get my fighter to 17 dex, ya? Now I just have to decide whether or not to keep Wind Stance into the projected Feat progression.

Thanks everyone for your input!

Yea, it was an idea I was wondering about while working on a Mobile variant Fighter.

Hey,

I apologize if this is a repeated or newbish question, but I didn't see it when I used the Search function. Does Lightning Stance take effect when a character charges? By my reading,the fact that a charge is a full round action could go either way in terms of the "multiple moves," so I wanted to double-check.

Thanks,
Trei

Those weren't in an order of str/dex/con/wis/int/cha, just in a lineup from highest to lowest. If they had been for stats, I would have labeled them like in each other post. :P

Thanks for the suggestion, Thengel, but my group pretty much sticks to the books we have hard-copy of, which is pretty much the Paizo stuff.

I did take the comments about the utility of the Sandman variant to heart, and after speaking to my GM I did opt to change the variant. However, instead of the Arcane Duelist, I'm thinking that I will try the "Street Performer" variant. Seeing as I wanted to make a character who was a grifter and street magician anyway, this variant is perfect. Plus, the ability to make my allies "disappear" mid combat could be fun.

As to the stats, I did debate changing it up a bit:
17 (after racial stats)
15
13
13
10
10

This should still fit with a 20 point buy, and I think will give the character better bonuses over time.

The Sandman variant came into play mostly from the flavor of the character. As I started working on it, I thought I would enjoy having a grifter / street magician / hypnotist style to his spells, so that the whole purpose of the character out of combat is to pull the wool over people's eyes. The sneak attack stuff I hadn't even taken into consideration yet, but the fascination / sleep combos and the ability to deny casters their spells seemed really appealing, and it all fit the flavor of "hypnotist" particularly well.

And I am focused in part on combat, but it's less of wanting to be in the melee and more thinking of a defensive style, with lots of denial and disruption. I will take a look at the Arcane Duelist build, though, to see if maybe that still fits the original flavor.

I apologize, I did not clarify. The Dex score is meant to represent a 14+2 (16), not a 12 bumped to 14. That way the character gets two 16s out of the build.

As to Agile Maneuvers, it does make sense that I should focus on that at first level, since beginning by tripping someone will give me almost as good of a bonus as attacking them directly, as well as helping my teammates there.

I will definitely keep grease in mind, though. That sounds very helpful.

I apologize if this doesn't strike you as viable, but perhaps take the Mounted Combat Tree and armor up your mount really well? I don't know how this would affect full attack actions, but I just have a mental image of a literal tank of a fighter, using a Powered up Ride-by attack, and turning it into a bull-rush or Drag attempt to bully opponents into position for his allies.

In my friend's upcoming game, I'm thinking to run a disruption-focused 1/2 Orc Bard with the Sandman Archetype. As the game is a 20 point buy, I'm looking at the following build:

Level 1:
Str:10
Dex:14 (+2 Racial)
Con:10
Int:13
Wis:12
Cha:16

Weapon: Whip (to be upgraded into an enhanced Scorpion Whip during the Adventure)

Feats:
-Weapon Finesse

Alternate Racial Traits:
-Sacred Tattoo (replaces Orc Ferocity)- +1 to all saves

The character concept is a 2nd Generation 1/2 Orc, who appears fairly human and is based on the cocky "casanova" style character. The overall goal is that he won't focus so much on dealing damage, but on constantly tripping / disarming and generally making a nuisance of himself on the battlefield.

However, I'm unsure of how this character will progress from here. Obviously, I want to have access to Combat Expertise and improved Trip / Disarm as soon as possible. But does this strategy remain viable over the course of a longer adventure? Or will he quickly become "useless" compared to a bard with Inspire Courage / greatness / etc.?

Cool, thanks!

Sorry for double-posting (edit locked), but a follow-up question. Is there any way to make the touch attacks for steal-spell use an attack attribute other than STR? I'm hoping to focus on Weapon Finesse / Agile Maneuvers for my feats, and wanted to know if I would still need a high strength after taking the Dex feats.

H-uh. Well, it was worth a shot.

Hey,

I apologize if this has already been answered or explained, I couldn't really find anything by searching.

I'm currently plotting out a Sandman bard for an upcoming campaign,and was unsure of how the Stealspell / Inpsire Courage system would work out. Obviously, at 1st level you trade Inspire Courage for Stealspell... but what about at levels 5 and 11? Would you, at that point, get access to Inspire Courage +1 and +2 respectively? Or does it get entirely removed from the performance list?

Thanks in advance for your help!
-Trei

Hm. Maybe. I would bet that the direct approach will not work, given that we are three levels in to the game, but it can't hurt to check. I might shift towards the intimidation skills and overpower-style skills, and just leave the charisma for bonuses to my spirits. And as to the Oracle / rage prophet, I will look into it. Thanks for the input!

Yea, that is what I was afraid of. I still plan on taking Reckless Abandon, but I'll have to figure out a different thing to synergize off of.

Well, then, I might ask for viable replacements, given the current rage power build:

2: Superstition
4: Lesser Spirit Totem
6: Reckless Abandon
8: Disruptive
10: Spirit Totem
12: ?
16: Spellbreaker
18: Greater Spirit Totem
20: Witch Hunter

I am not 100% on this particular progression, but I know I wanted to emphasize the battle lust and dislike for magic aspects of the character. If there is anything that seems glaringly off, I would welcome input.

As the title says, I am looking for a way to make the rage power "come and get me" viable on my 15 point buy Spirit Totem barbarian. It fits the flavor of the character perfectly, but unfortunately I started rolling the character before the APG came out, and was not able to plan for any such power. So, I was wondering if there was any way to make an awesome rage power viable for a character with the following set up:

Class: Barbarian Lv. 3

Str: 16
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 7
Wis: 7
Cha: 16

Feats:
Skill Focus: Perception
Weapon Focus: Scythe
Extra Rage

Her stats were distributed this way because I was originally looking to multiclass into Undead bloodline sorcerer, but when the APG came out I was able to shift into Superstitious / Spirit Totem and get the ghost flavor I wanted without shifting into Sorc. However, now I also have more rage powers to choose from, and would love to find some way to get access to "Come and Get Me" and maintain a natural character progression.

Thanks,
Trei

My group has breezed through the glassworks (time restraints didn't let them explore thoroughly), chased a few goblin commandos down to Tsuto where they won a pretty close fight. As of the end of the session, they had just knocked Tsuto unconscious via a sap from the 9 strength bard and an unarmed critical from the sorcerer before he could bail out.

Next stop: Catacombs, and some opportunity to play up Tsuto for the future.

While the title might give it away, this is the situation as it occurred in my last session:

My party of 6 PCs was fighting against an Acrobat 1 / Hungry Ghost Monk 2 multiclassed boss and his three goblin minions. After making short work of the goblins, they turned their attention to the boss, and concentrated their attacks on him. However, unfortunately for the ranger, no one else used any sort of ranged weapon, so the boss pretty much had a free Deflect Arrows every round. The Ranger rolled, and the die came up a natural 20.

At the time, I ruled that the whole purpose of Deflect Arrows was to make the boss tougher, and it would make the fight that much more intimidating to see him knock a perfect shot out of the air. However, the guy playing the ranger and another friend of mine were skeptical. So, I figure I'll get rulings from the community here, so I can avoid this same problem in the future.

Golem,

I actually really dig that idea. Maybe not the same variant, but I could definitely run something along those lines. Thanks! Plus, Improved dirty trick could be very useful.

Carpy,

That's fair, I will take that in to account.

I am also looking at the same issue, with a 10 in dex on a barbarian in studded leather. But, between the loads of HP you'll get later on, and the rage powers/feats that allow you basically to be in an "endless assault" mode (I really like "Come and Get Me" for this kind of situation), you can basically set yourself up to go for the kill before the damage dealt to you gets too high. It's a tightrope walk, but that's part of the fun of the class, in my personal opinion.

Hello all.

I recently added a sixth player to my gaming group, and have taken the opportunity to begin modifying the A.P. to be more of a challenge and more entertaining for my group. And, since I recently got my copy of the A.P.G., I decided to apply some of the more "advanced" templates to the characters inside. Here are some of the things I was debating:

*Note: I do not have my copy of the A.P. with me at the moment, so I can't fully flesh out all the changes. I am currently using two existing threads in this subforum as a basis for most of this, which will be cited at the end of this post.

Anyways, as I am still a fairly new DM, I would love to see what other people think of these changes, and if anyone has any recommendations that will make these encounters that much more interesting for my players. Thanks in advance for constructive comments/criticism!

References:

I also apologize. I was trying to be as vague and non-referential as possible, but I should have remembered to put in a spoiler tag. Sorry about that.

Awesome. Thanks for all the advice, y'all. I really appreciate the input, and will look into building a town skeleton when I get off work, methinks.

Hello again, all.

In addition to rolling the barbarian/sorcerer my previous thread was asking about, I am also currently running the original Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords adventure paths (starting with Burnt Offerings). However, even after a short time running the campaign, I find myself faltering and drawing blanks with NPCs, personalities, and set-up in general. So, I have a few questions.

Thanks in advance for help and constructive comments,
Trei

@rkraus:
When I spoke to my GM yesterday, he did allow me to incorporate scythe swings for somatic components of spells, given that the character is a "barbarian" more than a traditional arcane caster. And I do believe that he would be cool with me using the undead imagery for the spells, so long as I am clear that it does not alter the actual game mechanics. I still prefer the Undead bloodline flavor over the Draconic, but I understand what you mean when you talk about reshaping fluff text.

@Profpotts:
That is a very valid point, because my character already suffers from nightmares and is probably going to need more rest than other party members. It seems that fatigue is going to be a constant threat this game.

Edit:
However, I'm not entirely sure what the "other methods" of removing fatigue are, aside from perhaps loading the character up with coffee.

Wow. Major bump of useful information. Thanks again!

And @Dragonchess Player, I am not aiming to get the bonus spell "Animate Dead." I was originally aiming for the flavor of the sorcerer's ninth level bloodline ability (skeletal arms bursting from the ground and ripping at targets in an AoE) to go along with the character's scythe weapon (which she has because she starts out as a field slave dropped into a gladiatorial pit straight from work, even though it is probably not the most optimal weapon).

After that, I ended up liking the flavor of the necromancy buffs and spells, and figured I would see if I could run with it.

Edit:

Also, I guess I should note that the DM told me it is a "standard" buy, so I am looking at the following stat block at level 1 Barbarian:

16 STR // 10 DEX // 14 CON // 7 INT // 7 WIS // 16 CHA

Thanks, rkraus. I'll pass on the bard for this campaign, but everything else makes sense (and doesn't insist that I should switch to Draconic bloodline xP).

As I'd already posted, I have primarily been looking at utility spells, so stopping at Sorc 4 might be better than going for the big fancy "Grasp of the Dead" ability. Though I might just bump it up to sorc 5 so I can free up a spell slot with the False Life bonus spell.

At this point, I'm not really all that interested in taking a prestige class. I was more interested in a functional split between a pure barbarian and sorcerer.

Flavor, mostly. With an elemental bloodline, I would plan to gear myself with elemental-based spells. With an Undead bloodline, I plan to use more necromancy and utility spells, rather than big flashes of fire and lightning.

Actually, I was looking at the undead bloodline. Access to False Life, Mage Armor, and Rage seem like they should synergize quite nicely.

Hullo all. As the topic says, I am rolling a barb//sorc split for a friend's campaign, and was wondering how to split the levels and get the best flavor for the character and still be viable.

Currently, I am debating either an 11 Barb / 9 Undead bloodline Sorc split (so that I get the 9th level bloodline spell for flavor), but I was wondering if this is overextending my character too much.

I realize that no matter what, this won't be the strongest character out there. However, the group I play with is very roleplay oriented, and there are multiple multi-classed characters in play, so the character will probably have a better chance of remaining useful.

As a novice player, all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Trei