ZorValachan's page

Thanks for all the replies. It gives me a lot to think about. And I apologize if I wasn't clear. I was typing at wok on my phone. Now I can use my computer and take time.

Fuller explanation:
I did the entire Iron God AP. I chose mysterious stranger (gunslinger) because I liked the idea of a Charisma based Face/cowgirl type character. I was a Tiefling. I went 1 or 2 levels into picaroon because they had a shoot a gun up close and ignore AoA. I went skald frankly because character advancement was a pain and i bought Hero Lab and just the gunslinger pack. I went by "theme" and not by book and it had barbarian, skald, gunslinger and swashbuckler.

The Grit/Panache mechanics were not difficult. google searches and forums helped me a lot. But i did not understand iterative attacks and didn't realize I was not getting my full number of attacks until i should have been having 3 attacks a round. Things like that. The limited scope of shooting made feats more easy. I hesitate making a fighter just because of all the feat "chains" or "trees" or whatever they are called. Choose something that seems cool, but it messes you up later and all feats franking IMO are not viable options. there are a lot to wade through... This is where my eyes glaze over and I just want to close my eyes and randomly choose. Spells for some reason in pathfinder do this a lot to me. It might just be that the writing is very different from what puts me at ease. The Skald part was the hardest part of that character, but I liked the giving weapons magical properties (if that was a sub-class or archetype That is the one I picked, where rage gave rounds of making weapons magical). Spells were basically worthless as 2nd level spells just get resisted when you are doing 18th level. things.

Now we are doing Strange Aeons. I might have to have spoilers to explain the situation: SPOILER WARNING FOR STRANGE AEONS

The first book was locked in an asylum. No "real" NPCs other than the cleric I mentioned with an obvious class. The party (including my character the most) really liked her and formed a "bond". The shifter ironically does not come in any of the hero lab packs. So I spent a literal month pre-game studying shifters, reading guides, etc. The plan I had wasn't really in a guide, but I think I learned enough from them to have something I liked. We got to 4th level. This town we are in. Apparently we killed the druid of the town and anyone of any type of importance besides a detective lady left or is missing. No clerics, no nothing to resurrect me (even if we did have the money). After my death the group became level 5. Literally the only person in this town that would be willing to join the party (apparently we are known in that town to be thugs who bullied everyone (we were in the asylum with amnesia) is that cleric. We have dealt with her enough to know she is a cleric, so switching to paladin would seem strange. before my death we even planned to meet up the next morning, so she is available. So for now I am fine playing a 5th level cleric although the last day has caused my head to hurt when trying to chose domains and feats... Like how situational is combat casting. what about the warpriest feat (not the class)... if in doubt choose toughness?

But after this stint, I am not sure I want to play the cleric any longer. I got a bit of her back story and after this mystery is solved, she wants to head back and that is fine with me. if I could get the Shifter rezzed, I would and I am normally one not to bring back a dead character. normally I play to survive, but have 2-5 back up ideas in my head. And that is what hit me today. I don't enjoy Pathfinder as a system, so there is nothing saying "I'd like to try X or Y or Z".

as my problem, I think it is more the "front load" aspect and character advancement that sets my paralysis. What to choose before the game starts and when leveling. it's like when you have 2 choices it's easy to choose, but when you have 50 feats from dozens (hundreds?) of books, what to choose? So limiting that choice is needed. When combat happens I am fine with situational modifiers (if I am aware of them). It's the making sure my sheet is correct and I understand it that is the glitch.

We play on Roll20, because even though we are real life friends, people moved to different states. Everyone else has an understanding of Pathfinder and a couple are encyclopedias on the game, but it's much harder to get in depth when it's online in a 3 hour session.

Like I said, The GM made all of our characters (which is one thing that interested me). at 2nd level we got to choose our own path. Some of us are more secretive than others (its a Call of Cthulhu type game and we have some very out there classes.

I was a shifter (half-elf). I was one of 2 front line melee and probably the least "strange"
We have a human Bard-subclass, whatever the phrenologist is (head bumps) he is one of the 2 healers.
a sorcerer (who seems necromanty and I thought was a changeling, but its a male (shrug).
Human Eldritch Fighter who I think is wanting to go cleric or paladin.
Gnome shadow summoner
human alchemist(?) makes bombs and potions
human cleric (pretty sure it's a Cthulhu-thing god he worships)

The phrenologist hates his character... i might try to see if we can get a life swap thing.

Again, I thank everyone for your suggestions and patience. even if i can get rezzed, it's good to have an idea of another class.

The Zen archer looks interesting, even if the strix would not be allowed (not sure on the GM's view for this AP)

Clarification: the warpriest would be a slight change to that NPC, not me wanting to play one after it. But if warpriest is more complex, i might stay as a cleric. We have a cleric already, so i was looking to be something different, but not too far off as the npc was introduced to the group already. She's Neutral, so couldn't be a paladin.

After this character, in the future, would you have any suggestions? In a different Adventure Path, I might try the Shifter again. But for this Path anything not heavy on feats and/or spells? I really do like the claw progression. Every few levels an improvement to damage without having to look over a magic weapin list was nice. That was the main reason i looked at the warpriest.

I'm not exactly new to Pathfinder. I've been playing for at least 3 years. I really dislike the system. But I love the adventure paths and the other players (real life friends) all enjoy the system. I'm there for the plot and having fun with friends.
My previous Adventure Path (Iron Gods) i had a gunslinger-mysterious stranger/swashbuckler-picaroon/skald. And she made it through the entire path. I was often misreading rules, not understanding things. It seemed i was 2-3 levels late in realizing i could do something.

But I don't want to bash a system many people Love. It just doesn't fit me well. I just need help/advice.

We began Strange Aeons and the GM assigned us starting characters. I was a shifter. I know the majority think it's a bad class, but for me the limits made it easier to play. After i finally figured out how Wild Shape works, i was enjoying things. Then last night my character died. I'm taking the NPC cleric as my next character, but again my brain hurts with all the spells, channelings and other minutae... I really don't know what it is, I played Ars Magica with no problems, I love casters in most games, but even fighters seem like if you choose a wrong feat, you'll pay for it later. Is there another class like Shifter, limited in scope that has enough "automatic" level advancements (like those claws) that might fit my play style?

I was thinking about asking to be a warpriest instead of cleric. But I'm not sure if I'll keep this npc turned PC. I'd make another shifter, but I want to accept that character's death and at level 5 ressurection is pretty much out.