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Or you can get a Nacreous Gray Sphere Ioun stone for 10k... doesn't get rid of penalties you already have, but prevents you from acquiring any as you age.

The closest race I can think of would be a skinwalker, likely the ragebred, which is boars technically, but could easily be skinned as a bull. And with +str and con the racials are right where you want them. Getting something like powerful charge would suit the theme as well, maybe the DM would allow it as a feat, if so impaling charge could be good as well.

Feather step slippers used to do what you want, now they're only 10 minutes, but at 2k that's not the worst item to get you started. Minotaur belt seems like the most obvious item, but comes in at 11k, so might be a bit delayed.

Since people are suggesting other classes, might as well throw in Druid with the rage domain through the (blight?) archetype. Or do VMC to get rage with what ever class you want.

If you're planning on tripping you might want stuff like vicious stomp, which I think was mentioned above.

The glaive thing isn't the dm's rule, it's right in the ability.

"For example, a Medium transformative longsword can take the shape of any other Medium one-handed melee weapon, such as a scimitar, flail, or trident, but not a Medium light or two-handed melee weapon (such as a Medium short sword or a Medium greatsword). " So a 2h glaive can't change to a 1h rapier.

I plan on getting it added to a weapon we found, since 10k for transformative is cheaper than getting an entirely new +3 weapon.

Should note too that you can cross size classes - for example, transformative greatsword can become a large sized one-handed weapon.

A big thing you've probably thought of is the 6 str... I don't know if you track weight in your campaign, but that's a light load of 20 pounds, which isn't all that much when you start having to bring loot back from your travels. I know you'll get a handy heaversac first chance you get, but those first few levels without one might be rough. Especially if you come across any climb/swim checks that need to be made. There's a good chance you'll be med load for a lot of your campaign.

Also, might want to grab a circlet of persuasion, I see no reason it wouldn't boost your checks when dealing with summons.

I've only used the diabolist once, and only for a one level dip to get the imp companion, but since we had a lot of downtime in our campaign it worked out nicely that he took item creation feats and became to party's Cespenar since we weren't allowed to buy many magic items. What ever you choose to do with it, the imp is pretty powerful, that said, do you need the second familiar?

As for the Maleficium feat, how are you getting the later versions of what it does, is there a class feature or something that I missed in your build? AFAIK you need to take multiple damnation feats to get the benefits?

For your conj. side have you considered getting the abyssal bloodline for the added summons? either through EH or the arcanist discovery?

And another this seems to come up a lot. :)

old thread Thirty seconds of google-fu

Thanks for the tip on dedicated adversary, that's a sweet feat, especially for the flexibility of being able to pick which ever enemy each time you use it. I still have awhile until I need to decide since I'm pretty fixed on the power attack +cornugon smash, this gives me some nice options to weigh out.

The it's looking more and more like straight inquis is the way to go, other than maybe a 1-2 dip.

I get that they're dead and evil, but doesn't stripping willful creatures of their capacity to make choices, then forcing them against their will to do something they didn't want to do seem... well evil? Even if it's for a good cause it seems like a misguided evil guy thing to do. Ultron actually comes to mind, save the planet by killing mankind - redeem their souls by dominating and controlling them.

If you're pumping Cha and letting wis slide on a cleric, have you considered going oracle instead so you're at least boosting your casting stat? Something like Juju mystery? It seems like your non-channeling options will be a bit limited.

Holy vindicator is a neat dip, provides some front line/defensive features, but if you have a collection of undead to protect you, are you going to need what it provides? Plus with 8 str, not sure how much combat you'll want to get into. I suppose you could go after a guided weapon.

I always war with things like quick channel vs imp. channel. Is it better to boost the DC by 2, or to make them roll twice, and hope for the dice to fail. Ideally you'll have both eventually, though quick channel is also nice to drop some heals with versatile in a desperate situation. I might suggest it over bestow hope.

Again, it seems like if you aren't channeling, will you have a lot to do? What's your plan for combat if there isn't an undead around?

The stat array was just given to us - DM rolled it or made it and gave it to all players to eliminate the chance of one person rolling really poorly/extremely well.

I'm kind of surprised no one thinks double bane is worth it- on the surface TWF seems so good with the inquisitor, seeing as she gets such high static bonus with fate's favored and everything stacking so nicely. Though the point about the action economy is a valid one, I'm not sure how a typical round would go needing that many buffs.

Renegadeshepherd - war/tactics domain? Is that for the x/d bonus feat?
And do you think you could give an example of a double weapon build, with weapon training I treat orc double axe as a martial weapon... Or is it just the ability to wield it two handed when not twf that makes it good?

That being said I might just suck up the feat progression and look into barbarian for the rage and armor bonus.

Hey all,

I'm playing an inquisitor for the first time in a friends campaign, we just hit level three, and I'm enjoying the class a lot so far, but I'm not sure where I want to go with it.

Currently just a sword (Falcata) and board, breast plate wearing front liner, but a friend mentioned armor spikes and I liked the idea of going to twf with double bane to dish some damage. Looking at the feats that I want it seems like I might have to dip to make it work, but I'm not sure what dip works best, and am kind of stuck on a couple of options, and wanted a second opinion. Also open to the twf shield bash build, but it seems even more feat intensive and I don't see it working.

So far, level 3 half-orc inquisitor, with the heresy inquisition and heretic archetype. stats are 17 str, 15 dex , 14 con, 12 int, 14(+2 racial = 16)wis, and 10 cha.

I plan on going to level 5 to get bane before considering any dips.

So, the dips I'm considering-

Combat optimization isn't really necessary, but it's something I still kind of enjoy. We're a 5 man party (UC monk, Siege gunner blunderbuss gunslinger, Bomb focus alchemist, and a samurai two handed fighter. While I'm not a face, The spread of skills is pretty handy, giving me some nice out of combat options, so I'm not too worried about that, even though the campaign seems like it will be very social based.

Any other thoughts on potential dips or builds would be appreciated, thanks for reading.

+1 to what Moonrunner outlined.

I've always been fond of the ranger switch hitter build as well, since melee with a bow can be challenging. Zen monk covers those short comings easily, and I believe there are new options in the weapon master handbook, come to think of it, that may help.

I just ran this module with my group and we wrapped it up before Christmas with a bard (archer), alchemist (Bomber), sorcerer(blaster) and Bloodrager. The rager did great 1v1 damage and soaked some nice damage, we're continue with the party and he's going into dragon disciple now. I like your two builds above, I don't have any experience with warpriests, but swift action economy is a neat thing to try and work on (the above rager had arcane strike, suli elemental damage, a bite attack x/d and something else swift activated to choose between).

If you're trying to get the bear druid to work, my suggestion would be to make it feel less like a druid and more like a fighter with divine spell casting, you could go strength domain and get some decent damage options using the natural weapons.

Alternatively, I've always been partial to monk dips for druids. Go something like goliath druid (don't need plant or elemental forms since it ends so early, and dino are the best with pounce options at med, large and huge, flying and aquatic options).

Sorry about the length, got carried away...

TLDR: Just some thoughts on a spell (Frostbite), archetype (hexcrafter) and possible class that you might want to look at.

I'm currently running a half-elf magus in S&S that took 1st level inspired blade. While it is nice to get the free feats right away, take it with a grain of salt, for most of the entire first adventure path my DM kept removing my weapon, so I'd have to rely on unarmed strikes or what ever I could find around. Since I was basically only capable with a rapier it made it incredibly difficult. I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware of how dependent you are on the rapier, since you can't use wep finesse with a dagger you hid in your boot or something if you go inspired blade. The panache was helpful multiple times though.

I don't see any mention of it, but if you're considering different archetypes as well, I highly recommend hexcrafter - you get brand as a cantrip which is a damaging spell, removing any issue your gm might have with arcane mark. I always found my theory crafted magi(?) had very little staying power compared to the archer or fighter that can go for days, but the hexcrafter helps a lot with that, granting hexes that can be used when a spell might not be worth it, and if you're taking the extra arcana favored class bonus, at 12 you can get two major hexes which is nice, some save or sucks that scale with level are always fun.

Looks like you're going the intensified shocking grasp route, which is great for damage and quintessential really... Personally I went with frost bite as my first 1st level spell and would recommend picking it up as a secondary. I wanted to more status effects rater than straight damage (because why not) you get less attacks technically, as you aren't spell striking every round, but you can still channel the touch through your weapon as far as I know... I went with the rime meta magic feat and the -1 level meta magic trait, so I can hit someone with it to entangle, fatigue and deal 1d6+cl nonleathal damage. Nets them a -2str, -6dex, half speed and -2 to attack rolls, and you get 1 touch /level, enhancing your staying power even more if you're up against a lot of little guys rather than a single target you need to nuke, letting you save your SG.

Oh, and if you're just looking for "free" finesse, UC rogue might not be a bad option, get some trapfinding and sneak attack, at the cost of a BAB versus swash...

If you want the straight in game method of doing it, you need detect magic and spellcraft, DC= 15+CL of the item. So with Spell storing, I think the CL is 12, so a DC 27 spellcraft check as far as I know. I would suggest rolling the check knowing their modifiers so you can determine whether they're right or not about what they identify. (Oh yessss, I found a +3 Giant bane dagger! newp, just +1 merciful).

Without casting detect magic they might know it's magic since it will be well crafted (all magic weapons are masterwork to start, giving them a tip it's magic), or it could glow... sometimes magic daggers glow.

Otherwise, I don't know of any way to identify a magic item and its properties other than possible use magic device to activate blindly? Not sure how that would work with a weapon though.
As an after thought, special effects occurring at random or when conditions are met are also good ways... for example, when fighting giants if it suddenly flairs to life and deals extra damage, or having a spell suddenly discharge from the weapon would probably tip them off that it's spell storing.

Anyways, a bit long winded, but here's Spellcraft.

Well if you just want a strong race stat wise as a starting point, the occult bestiary has the Munavri .

ok, so how does it apply to the domain powers?

What does it do when you cast it on an item? Just fizzle?
That seems almost arbitrary - if I had arrows in hand when casting the spell like This guy I'd be fine to use them?

Hello,

Hope this in the right section, though not sure where else it would go other then advice?

So I'm playing a monk/cleric and was wondering how holding the charge of touch spells interacts with domain powers and his day to day life. Mostly it comes down to the order of activation of abilities though, with the other things being secondary.

Basic concept is an archer with buff/debuff spells that likes helping allied spell casters get through saves and the like. This is largely going to be done through the Chaos and Madness domain touch abilities and bestow curse.

Since you can hold a charge indefinitely, lets say I wake up and cast a persistent bestow curse (5th level spell, forces reroll on successful save). I can then hold that spell until I touch someone?- in the text it says if you touch any creature or object the spell will be discharged... Does this mean:
- that scratching my nose results in me casting it on myself?
- can I hold a charge and still use a bow, or will I cast bestow curse on an arrow when I grab it?
- As a monk I could make a melee IUAS and discharge it, since I can do that with any part of my body, is there a set limb I have to hold the charge with? (main/offhand, foot leg elbow etc..) or is my entire body charged?
- If holding on say my elbow does end up being valid, back to using a bow?

And the next thing I was trying to figure out was how does this interact with my domain powers? They're a standard action to activate, but I could deliver them through a punch rather than a touch couldn't I? difference of touch ac vs normal ac.
-Could I use Vision of madness as an attack and trigger bestow curse at the same time?
-What order would they occur?
-Just to complicate it further, with the domain strike feat, could I also trigger touch of Chaos?

Just trying to figure out how to make saves suck and what order things happen in...

Thanks for any input!

Thanks for all your input guys!

I realize that there are ways to optimize it better, but mostly I was looking strictly at the mechanics of it to see if it were possible. Even a fighter that takes nature soul, animal ally and boon companion would likely prove a good choice, able to do it with a dip in sohei as mentioned. (there's even some good AC cheese with draconic defender that could get you and your mount +7 AC, not bad, but that's for another thread).

Going off the ride them down ability that Secret mentioned - Is it unreasonable to assume that mounted skirmisher would function similar? barring early entry, you get it at a similar level as you would ride them down. I agree that it doesn't say you can, but it also doesn't say you can't.

Makes sense on the swift dismount front, I just wanted to see if it was possible depending on situations that might arise.

I was going against taking charge feats in favor of a flying mount that would awesome blow as its standard action, but wondered about combining it with the mounted skirmisher feat. My reading was as MachOneGames listed, with the full attack taken half way through the movement so long as you don't exceed the total movement.

For 4 though it says the mount can make one standard, as it would be the mount with fly-by attack, as long as it doesn't exceed its total movement why wouldn't mounted skirmisher trigger?

Thanks in advance!

I just wanted to check if these would work or if I misread the mounted skirmisher feat.

1 - In the most basic, my mount can move up to its speed, then I get a full attack, all well and good.

2 - Can I split my full attack? If I can five foot step normally between attacks and split targets, when my mount is moving can I make attacks against foes I pass? (allowing for their AoO)

3 - Can I combine this with a swift dismount? assuming I need to for whatever reason, attempt a swift dismount (if successful, free action DC 20 ride) then full attack. (If I fail it's a move action, so I'd still get a single attack?)

4 - How would this feat combine with fly-by attack? Lets say a lvl 15 summoner with a mount Eidolon with flight, fly-by attack. Would he be able to have his mount fly toward someone (traveling half it's full movement) full attack while the mount makes a standard attack, then fly back to its original space.

As far as I understand from my reading of mounted combat section, the details on the feats, it seems like these are all completely feasible and rule legal. Can anyone confirm? Or cite where I went wrong?

*True Resurrection*

I stumbled across this feat and had them same question, my interpretation was also option 3, but this opens up a few possibilities, What happens if I cast a second silent image? can I just keep maintaining multiple spells with a duration of concentration as long as I can pump spells out? Combining this with harmonic spell seems to have great potential, same with lingering performance. Though, I'm not too sure how good the bard spells of "concentration" duration are, other than the images...

Fair, but the extra action gained from remaining conscious could be used to withdraw. I guess it depends on when you use it.

There's always the option of targeting something else than AC on the monk. I know it's hard to do because it's a monk, but target saves, use enemies in environments that are very beneficial to them, etc...
I would also like to see how he has 60 AC, there might be something wonky going on there, I've made monks before with high AC like this, but it was usually at a cost (fighting defensively, only vs single targets, loss of actions etc...) make sure that the trade offs are being followed (like -a whole bunch to hit for fighting defensively with combat expertise)

To the OP, if you have dervish dance form the bard archetype I don;t think you need weapon finesse, Similarly, if you're using the scimitar for the combat maneuvers you don't need agile maneuvers. Not sure which maneuvers you're using though. If you want more rounds of battle dance there's the society trait that gives you 3 extra rounds of bardic performance too.

Hero's defiance can kill you. I have twice seen it heal for about 10-15 HP, then leave the paladin in melee with something that is about to do 30+ damage. Two paladins died this way

Wouldn't they have died either way?

There are also other races that grant SLA that might be more useful to you, unless you wanted specific ones from that list? in a no magic world, detect magic and dispel magic aren't that handy, deeper darkness will hinder your allies as well as your enemies.

Though the charm and suggestion are nice.

Maybe duergar for enlarge and invisibility, but that would be more a strength or CMB build fighter than the ranged dex fighter you're going for.

I probably should have looked at the other feats before writing that, but it's still a thought.

just going to try a bump, still want to know if the hit to spell progression is too much...

You should also look into the sheer amount of time it takes to train animals. You might not have enough time to go through all that, unless the rest of your party wants a lot of down time too.

Cool, I'll be interested to know how the build works out, GLHF!

Fair enough, though a 20ft threat is pretty sweet still, as it forces any casters to cast defensively, and since you're threatening any ranged opponents, they take a -4 and provoke as well.

The only other thing about the druid mount is that it will do things for you other mounts wont. You have to make handle animal checks to get them into certain situations, whereas your companion will have increased ability to do so (especially if you increase his int to 3 so he understands a language credit for that to Treantmonk). You seem to have a pretty accommodating gm for the whole mounted aspect though, so it might not be an issue, though, if he's really accommodating, you mkight want to consider leadership or a modified version of the feat (i never cared for the army you get, just the cohort) to bind an intelligent mount to you in a more meaningful way, also allowing it class levels and increased survivabillity.

The push for dex was more for a combat patrol build for the extra AoO i suppose, in the end the AC is the same though, and a ring of ki mastery could make up for the loss of some ki from lower wis. But if you aren't pushing high AoO then it's not too big an issue (though if you are going imp snap shot you still threaten 15ft which can be useful, esp. since AoO's aren't on your turn. full action attack on your turn and punish anyone who wants to scratch their nose within 15ft is still pretty effective)

I always liked the idea of snap shot, imp. snap shot and combat patrol to have an effective threat range of 20feet +5 ft per 5 BAB. Combine that with high dex you can take a number of AoO's, for movement, casting or what have you. so eventually you get to harry spell casters quite well. granted combat patrol is a full round action, but you can use your mounts movement to position yourself were you can take advantage of the AoO's.

Another thought I had, if you're going to be using a mount a lot, you might want a more survivable mount, like a druid animal companion? Animal ally has nature soul as a pre-req, but grants an animal companion at ECL -3 for your druid level. Boon companion raises druid level by 4. it's three feats, but you get a very survivable mount and combat viable one. Just a thought.

Also, like was mentioned previously, rapid shot can't be used with flurry of bows, and quick draw isn't too vital to your build.

Trick riding is a cool feat flavor wise, but your ride skill by the point you get it should be at least +14, +16 with your skill focus, even higher depending on traits and such, so you probably wont be failing dc 15 skill checks since you need a 1 (which as far as I know isn't an auto fail on a skill check). So the feat basically allows 2 ride checks instead of one to negate a hit on mount. If that's why you took it cool though.

Have you considered using dex instead of wis for your archery? improves your init as well as your ride skill. I know you're probably thinking wis for your sorc abilities, but you won't reach more than level 6 spells, meaning max you'll need is a 16 on wis. Dc's won't be quite as high, but that 1 won't make too much of a difference...

or rather rime spell

Just realized it has to be a one handed martial or exotic weapon for defender of the spire, so I'd have to take EWP at first level instead of intensify, which isn't really needed until magus 4.

Hey all,

I liked the idea of a whip magus but couldn't make it work because of the lack of threat, but noticed the Fauchard and thought I'd try again...

So I want to say this is a magus build, but at level 5 (where this is coming in) there's only one level of magus, so not sure if that counts? the rest of the levels will likely be magus, though I've only hashed it out beyond fifth in a rough way.

20 point buy, Aasimar with the spark of immortality, and plumkith type (+2dex, +2 wis).
Str 17 (17) +lvl 4
dex 14 (16)
con 13 (13) +lvl 8
int 15 (16)
wis 7 (10)
cha 7 (8)

So level one is defender of the spire magus, with fauchard proficiency, then is three levels of phalanx fighter, a level of master of many styles monk, then the rest likely magus.

Traits:
1st- Magical lineage (chill touch)
2nd- magical knack
3rd- magical lineage (shocking grasp?)
4th- defender of the society(?)

1st - EWP (fauchard), combat expertise, dodge, rime spell
2nd - imp trip (from monk) imp unarmed strike, stunning fist
3rd - extra traits (?), weapon focus (first level of fighter)
4th - Fury's fall (fighter 2)
5th - intensify spell
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9th - lunge (magus bonus feat), greater trip
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13th tripping strike

so, spell progression suffers... a lot. your effective caster level is only 2 behind, but gaining spells is 4 levels behind. having never played a magus makes it hard for me to decide if this is still viable? that's the main concern I have, but since it's more melee centric, I was thinking it wouldn't be too bad.

I just like that at 5th level, he'll be able to attack, cast, and trip, with 10ft reach (enlarge, 20ft reach). unfortunately spell strike doesn't kick in until 6th level.

I just can't wait for thirteenth level, should be a riot. combat reflexes, 25ft reach, trip on crit, (15-20 crit range), and greater trip means lots of AoO, probably more than I'll be able to take honestly...

Anyways, any advice would be appreciated with whether this looks viable, and what else I should look into.

Hopefully this gets some more interest than my first post :)

If you want to not have to worry about them knowing the right trick at the right time, you can put the point into intelligence, at 3 intelligence they can understand your language (pretty sure treantmonk details that in one of his guides too?)

I'd say a trip build wouldn't be a bad idea, too bad vicious stomp is an unarmed attack, otherwise that could be fun, but greater trip could be good for AoO. I guess you could give them imp. UA strike to go with the vicious stomp theme, but that's a bit feat intensive, though monk wolves puts in mind an interesting image.

You can turn into a wolf, but there are better forms to take if you've already got 3 wolfs running loose tripping things. Also, you've got limited wildshapes per day, so turning into something just for the move speed rather then riding one of three available mounts seems silly.

Knowing about the druid might help, not sure exactly how gestlat works, but what kind of stuff are you doing, ranged combat, primarily caster, etc... with the 3 boon companions you're probably pretty low on feats, how many left, 1 plus the ranger bonus feat?

Hey all, reading threads for awhile, first time posting.

Recently been playing Reign of Winter as a 2 PC party with a witch and a wildshape druid, they were stomping everything (slumber hex was way too strong and made for repetitive combat). So, for the second chapter we decided to remake the party as a 4 man (two were advancing a bit too quickly, might have been the issue)

Anyway, one of the PCs I made for the second chapter was an unarmed fighter, and I was hoping for some critique on the build, trying to make him a switch hitter-y type so he isn't crippled at range, but I might be trying to diversify too much.

So, 20 point buy, Aasimar using the blood of angles player companion, Angle-blooded with the spark of immortality. Third row is with age and racial modifiers, and a +1 at level 4 in str.

Str 18 (17) 21
Dex 16 (10) 16
Con 14 (5) 14
Int 7 (-4) 8
Wis 7 (-4) 8
Cha 7 (-4) 10

First trait is Quain martial artist, +1 UA damage, second was going to be Defender of the Society, but he's in light armor so I need something else.
Using brawler archetype for fighter and Master of many styles monk.

Level 5,
1- Fighter - (1st) TWF and (Fighter Bonus Feat)Point blank shot
2- Fighter - (FBF) Rapid shot
3- Monk - (3rd) Dragon style (Monk bonus feat) Dragon Ferocity
4- Fighter - Nothing too exciting here
5- Monk - (5th) Boar style (Monk Bonus feat) Boar ferocity

So at this point, level five we have higher treasure as the wizard has Craft magical arms and armor, as well as wondrous, and can take ten crafting most items.

For switch hitting he doesn't need quickdraw since it's a free action to drop his bow and have his fists up.

Gear:
Belt str +2
Cloak resist +2
+1 Brawling elven chain
Quick runner's shirt
Battle mask
+1 adaptive composite longbow

So has a net +9 to intimidate now (3 ranks, +1 battle mask, +2 boar ferocity)

Starts combat with the bow, at +6/+6 (+7/+7 within 30ft), drops and switches to fists, when he gets scary...

+10/+10, 1d6+15 (+3 once per round on first hit) If both hit, it's 2d6 bleed damage and a free intimidate check to shaken, which has a good chance of hitting since CR 5 enemies usually have less than 20 armor.

So that's pretty cool, but I don't know where to go from there... Obviously there's the wep specialization line, and intimidating prowess, but increasing ranged capabilities with manyshot and deadshot might not be a bad idea. Buuuuut there's also the option of taking a 3rd level of monk and getting a monks robe to up my dice to d10's, effectively dual wielding bastard swords with 1.5str (hehehe)

So from all the posts that I've read I was hoping that the community might throw some suggestions on where to go and critiqueing the build I've got so far. (should be noted that the intimidate is to shaken for the -2 saves so charm heavy wizard can make us some friends)

Long winded first post, but I tend to get carried away.