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After deciding on Cleric over the Oracle, I need help with the build as I've never made a Cleric before. This is a replacement for my current character, a Cavalier.

I have never played this type of character before so I'd appreciate spell suggestions. I'm going to be going with the Evangelist archetype and will probably take the Heroism domain. Will most likely be either Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral, depending on what works best. Also thinking about taking the Variant Channeling for Valor/Glory (seems like they should be the same as for Heroism) to give the AC buff from my Channels.

I'd also seen the stuff about the Reach Cleric. I would like to try to build that into the character as well but I want to primarily be Support/Buff/Caster-focused.

Any help would be appreciated!

Important Things:

We're 12th Level.

I don't remember what the point buy was. I can include my Cavalier's current stats to give you an idea of what we're working with as far as power levels are concerned. I think we may have used a 25 point buy? But I'm not sure. I have equipment bonuses within the parentheses.

Cavalier's stats: STR 24 (20+4), DEX 18 (14+4), CON 20 (16+4), INT 16 (14+2), WIS 14 (12+2), CHA 7

As for books, we're allowed to use all official material on the PFSRD. There are certain 3pp things we can use but we have to run it by him first. Mostly, though, we just use official stuff.

House Rules:
- Always get full HP on level up (i.e. d10 HD always equals 10+Con HP)
- Cure spells work as Close range instead of Touch
- Cure spells always heal the maximum amount

I'm thinking about building an Oracle for our Dragon Age themed campaign.

Right now, the party consists of:

1) A Witch (primarily uses Slumber Hex, Misfortune, and CC spells)
2) A Zen Archer
3) A Barbarian (Mabari War Hound, huge CC power with Trip, huge HP and AC)
4) A Fire-specialized Sorcerer
5) And my current character, a Cavalier

Not huge on my current character. The rest of the party is incredibly mobile, while I'm busy trying to play catch up. Challenge is very limited and even with the Inspiring Commander archetype, tossing out Inspire Courage and using Aid Another and Teamwork feats, I still feel pretty useless.

One thing we don't have, though, is a good buffer/healer type character. So I was thinking about making an Oracle along those lines.

Important notes: In our campaign, Cure spells have a Short range and all healing heals for its maximum possible amount which makes Cure way, way more useful.

I was thinking Life or Nature Mystery, but I'm open to other ideas. As far as curses, I was thinking Dual-Cursed with Blackened as the non-progressing curse since I don't plan to be attacking with weapons that much. For the progressing curse, I am not sure, maybe Deaf or Haunted.

Thoughts?

I have an 11th Level Inspiring Commander Cavalier (Order of the Staff) in a campaign I'm playing in.

Our DM is really keen on giving the party gear and items that are very relevant to their class and their abilities. However, he's kind of stumped as to what to give me. In sifting through the pages of Magic Items/Weapons/Armor, it's very evident that the Cavalier doesn't get much love. I'm trying to think of ideas for what would be useful or interesting to discuss with him.

I'm playing a Sword-and-Shield Cavalier with the focus on being a tank and aiding my allies. The feats that I have thus far are:

Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Furious Focus, Intimidating Prowess, Cornugon Smash, Swift Aid, and Dreadful Carnage

(Teamwork feats are Escape Route and Outflank)

There were a few ideas I had, like some kind of Heraldry as a Shield Enhancement or a shield add-on that functions as the Flagbearer feat or some such but I could use some more input!

I know Aid Another can be used to help on spell saves but is there a time limit on this Aid Another bonus? Like, if I aid an ally one round and then two rounds later, a caster fires off a Fireball, will they still have that bonus?

Part two of this question is, if so, can Aid Another bonuses of different types be in effect at the same time? Like if I aid an ally one round for his Attack but he doesn't attack and then I aid the same ally for his AC, will he retain the bonus for Attack and AC? Or does the second aid overwrite the first?

EDIT: Found the answer to the second question but the first still stands.

But it prompts another question. The rules say multiple people can aid an ally and that similar bonuses to stack, but if I can aid someone twice in one round, do they get both of those bonuses? With Swift Aid and a Standard Action to Aid Another, I could give a bonus to AC and Attack. Is this legal?

I am playing an Inspiring Commander Cavalier and I had a question on interactions between Bodyguard and one of its abilities.

The class ability Inspiring Voice allows me to use Aid Another on assist an ally within 30 feet and when using aid another on a non-adjacent ally, I have to make a Perform check. My question is, tould I use Bodyguard from 30ft as well, using an AOO to aid them?

The text of Bodyguard states it's an adjacent ally, but that could be per the rules of Aid Another and those rules change once I gain Inspiring Voice.

I wanted some advice on how to play this character.

He's got 21 STR, 16 INT, and 7 CHA.
He's got Intimidating Prowess and the Bruising Intellect trait.

He's built to Intimidate, but through his Intelligence and Strength, not through his Charisma.

So how does this character play out? I had the idea that he was so smart that he would cut people down with his words, exposing and digging into their weaknesses. But that seems more the realm of high WIS, not high INT.

Mainly, I need help figuring out how this kind of character would intimidate people besides simply using his muscle. Any ideas?

Hey all. I built this Inspiring Commander Cavalier after finding it and realizing this was everything I ever wanted: a competent martial party leader and tank that has a support focus to it. I'd like some input on how I've got it built out so far.

Human Order of the Dragon Cavalier 9 (Inspiring Commander)

STR 18(16+2)
DEX 14
CON 16 (14+1+1)
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 10

(1) Bonus Teamwork Feat: Duck and Cover
(1) Feat: Power Attack
(1) Human Bonus Feat: Combat Expertise
(3) Feat: Combat Reflexes
(5) Feat: Intimidating Prowess
(7) Feat: Cornugon Smash
(9) Feat: Swift Aid
(9) Bonus Teamwork Feat: Escape Route

Carefully Hidden Trait (+1 to Will, +2 vs Divination)
Savant Trait (+2 to Perform: Oratory and Perform is a Class Skill)

The next feats I'm going to pick up are Discordant Voice and then work my way to Great Cleave. The rest of the party are ranged fighters and spellcasters, so I want to use Cornugon Smash to Demoralize as many enemies as I can with my +18 bonus to Intimidate to soften them up so the casters and ranged fighters can tear them apart.

Meanwhile, I'm also using my Challenge to lower its AC even further and my Inspiring Command/Inspire Courage to increase their attack rolls. With Shaken, Challenge, and Inspire Courage, they're at a +7 to hit. I'd use Challenge to more or less 'call targets' for focus fire efforts. If I need to close a gap between myself/the party and the enemy of my Challenge, I use Strategy and grant us all an Immediate action movement.

If I see anyone getting into trouble, I can Aid from 30ft away on one of the squishier party members to give them a +6 to their next save or to their AC against the next attack. Or if we're in trouble, I can use Rapid Tactician to give us all Escape Route, Strategy to give us an Immediate Action movement, and Swift Aid to Aid anyone who is dangerously low.

I like this build. I like it a lot. The only thing I'm not sure of is if Combat Reflexes will really be of any use. Might swap it out for Cleave or Step Up, don't know what would be more useful. What do y'all think?

EDIT: Would also like comments on attribute importance. I feel like I have to spread things a little thin so I'm skimping on DEX since I'll have good armor and a shield to beef that up. CON I need to take hits, INT for the Initiative bonus and for my other abilities, STR is obvious, and I don't want to drop WIS or CHA too low because I need WIS for Perception and CHA for extra Intimidate.

I've never played a Ranger or Druid or anything of the sort before but now I'm playing a Spell-less Ranger and I just hit level 4 and got my Animal Companion. Thing is, I don't understand how its attacks work.

I took a small Cat and I see it has listed for its attacks [Bite, 2 Claws]

Does this mean that, at level 4, it already has three attacks that it can make as a full-round action (with each of these attacks at its full BAB)?

What about as a standard action? Could it use either one Bite or two Claw attacks?

What are good feats for it to take? I'm playing a Dual Style switch hitter with Archery and 2-Handed Weapon combat styles.

After our game tonight in which my Monk died, my DM rolled me some stats. Originally, I was going to use the same stats I had for my Monk as I had planned for my Monk to die and had made the Bard as a replacement. But he rolled anyway and gave me the option of the two. Which is better?

17 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 11 (Old stats)

OR

17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 8 (New stats)

I'm making a support/melee Bard. Or I had been.
Previously, I had assigned my stats thusly: 18 (16+2 (Human)) 14 13 13 12 18 (17+1)

I want a high strength and high saves for my spells, as I plan to be in the mix a lot but also using quite a bit of spells for team support/debuffing. I think the new stats are pretty solid but the one thing I'm loathe to give up, small as it is, is that +1 to skill ranks per level. My skill choices are pretty tight as is.

If I do use the new stats, how should I assign them? I was thinking: 19 (17+2 (Human)) 16 15 10 8 18 (17+1 (4th))

Another party member died which means the Pink and Green Ioun Stone he had may be up for grabs, so the CHA is good where it is, I think, to get me 20 CHA. But I'm wondering if I should go for 20 Strength to complement Power Attack and my Fauchard instead.

I assume this is the case, but I wanted to double check.

I have to assign ranks to each sub-skill of Perform individually, right? That is to say, I have to put ranks into Perform: Comedy and ranks into Perform: Oratory separately and not just Perform, correct?

I can't just have six ranks in Perform that apply to Comedy and Oratory, but twelve ranks in Perform that apply to Comedy (6) and Oratory (6).

For some reason, I played with the former rules before, which was awesome, and I'd love to do that again but upon reading the rules, it doesn't seem like that's the case.

Level 6 Half-Orc Bard

STR: 18 (16+2)
CHA: 18 (17+1 at 4th)
DEX: 14
INT/CON:13
WIS: 11

INITIATIVE: 8
HIT POINTS: 42
AC: 16
F/R/W: 5/8/6
DAMAGE:: 2d4+6 (Unbuffed, no Power Attack) | 2d4+12 (Unbuffed, Power Attack)

FEATS: Arcane Strike, Improved Initiative, Power Attack
TRAITS: Reactionary, Into Enemy Territory (We're playing Second Darkness, have to take one)
ALT RACIALS: Sacred Tattoo for Orc Ferocity

SPELLS:
1st: Grease, Saving Finale, Vanish, Hideous Laughter (or Silent Image or Lock Gaze)
2nd: Blistering Invective, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Hold Person (or Allegro)

Gonna be using a Falchion. I want to be a support/buffing/debuffing Bard (in that order of importance) with some melee to back things up, as that's what my team is missing. I don't need so much crowd control, as we have a Wizard who is good for that. My spells are not set in stone and I'd be open to more buffing suggestions, since right now what I have are a lot of utility/control spells. I'm going to grab wands of CLW, CMW, and Mage Armor to supplement. Also thinking about switching ability scores around to give me a 16 DEX and 16 CHA. I want DCs to be fairly high, but I don't know if I need them to be that high.

I think this is solid for right now. I don't know what to add in later. I'm thinking, as far as future feats:
- Discordant Voice
- Improved Critical
- Spellsong (Maybe?)
- Harmonic Spell (Maybe?)

I could definitely use more suggestions. What do you guys think about all of this right now?

Given these stats, how would you build an MM/WA/Q Monk? I'd prefer to not multiclass. I don't know what feats to pick to make it most effective or where to put the ability scores.

Level 6
17, 16, 14, 13, 13, 11

I'm having problems in the campaign I'm playing. Party consists of me (the Qinggong Flowing Monk), a ranged Inquisitor, a Pharasma Cleric, a Gunslinger, a Wizard, a drunken Barbarian, and a Rogue.

We're level 6, and I've built this Monk to be good at tripping and avoiding being hit with a crazy-high AC (it's around 26 with barely any buffs and the benefits of Crane Style/Defensive Fighting). This is my role--to tank. I don't do much damage at all, even with an 18 STR and a Monk's Robe and an Amulet of Mighty Fists +1. I'm sitting at 1d10+5, and that's if I even land a hit, which I don't do that often. I have more luck with my trips due to Improved Trip (and soon, Greater Trip).

I've got it built up with Vicious Stomp and Greater Trip (next level), which would potentially give me 5 attacks in a round on an enemy with a Flurry of Blows from my two attacks and two AoOs. The idea sounds good, in theory, but in practice I've found that trips are unreliable already and will only get more unreliable, it would seem, and I'm already kind of bored by it.

But I feel bored and useless with this. Because I don't do much damage, I feel like I don't contribute much. Because I lost Fast Movement, I'm not able to really lock down casters or ranged attackers the way I'd like. Tripping is fun, but it's all I do now.

I want to play a more active, complicated role. This is the first time in many years that I've played a melee class, which I'd avoided for this very reason; I get bored when I'm not playing a caster or a hybrid caster. Bard is my favorite class, which I would have played except there was already a Bard in the group (but he's quitting, apparently, so I shoulda just made one).

I'm frustrated. So I'm trying to figure out a way to make my Monk enjoyable. My DM might allow me to make a Bard just so that I'm having fun, but if there's a way to make Monk work better, that'd be best.

I've always preferred the role of being in control of combat, using buffs and debuffs and support abilities to enhance my allies and weaken my enemies. That's my favorite role in tabletop, in MMOs, in everything. The character that has a very dynamic role that responds to the enemy environment.

So when I first made him, I was focused on maneuvers, on grappling, disarming, tripping, the whole kit and kaboodle. But it seemed like I'd have to spread myself real thin and I wasn't sure how effective they would be. Manuever Master seems like it could introduce the variability that I'd like, but it's also crazy intensive, feats-wise, and that's its own headache.

It boils down to this: Find a way to resculpt my Monk and focus on maneuvers, which I really do enjoy using a LOT but the effectiveness of which is questionable and which still would keep me fairly weak damage-wise and in the same tank role; or hurt the story of the game and switch to Bard which is far and away my favorite class and which I already have an interesting build and character for but would leave the party without a tank-type character and with a bunch of squishies.

Some folks and I just started up a Second Darkness campaign that I guess goes to 16 or something like that. I haven't played a Pathfinder Monk so I decided to give it a whirl. I don't know the intricacies of the class, though, so I could use some help with weak spots or things that don't make sense. I took some suggestions from a previous topic and came up with this:

Things to note:
- Party is composed of Ranged Inquisitor, Gunslinger, Barbarian (whatever archetype is the drunken one), Rogue, Bard (Street Performer), Oracle/Cleric
- My DM will probably allow the enchanted Brass Knuckles bit

Rolled Stats: 17 16 14 13 13 12

Attributes: STR 18 (14 + 2 (Half-Elf) + 2 (via leveling) | DEX 16 | | CON 13 | INT 13 | WIS 18 (17 + 1 (via leveling) | CHA 12

Bonus Flowing Monk Feats: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Ki Throw

Feats: Combat Expertise, Crane Style/Wing/Riposte, Deflect Arrows, Improved Dirty Trick, Greater Trip, Vicious Stomp

Qinggong Powers: Barksin, Ki Leech, Ki Shout (replacing High Jump, Slow Fall, and Wholeness of Body)

The idea is to be: a kind of 'tank*' using defensive fighting, Crane Wings, Deflect Arrows, the bonuses from Flowing Monk, and Barkskin; a disabler through Trips and Disarms and Dirty Tricks; and a (reactive) damage dealer using Ki Shout, Flurries, and AoOs generated by Disarms and Trips (that I either initiate with a FoB or, better yet, with Redirection) in conjunction with Vicious Stomp.

Dirty Trick is mostly for creatures I can't Trip or Disarm but honestly, I dunno about Dirty Trick, it seems unwieldy. I might swap that and Combat Expertise out (and Ki Throw, which I don't really see the value of) for Boar Style/Ferocity/Shred, as the Bleed damage would work really, really well with my Trip/Stomp combos or my Flurries. Though I might also need Combat Style Master for that.

*I'll easily have the highest AC of the group and by being in the front lines with the Barbarian, but being the one Tripping and Disarming, I know the enemies will come for me.

What do you guys think?

I have never played a Pathfinder Monk and so I'm sort of at a loss for how to construct him.

Flavor-wise, I am playing a Half-Elf Monk who is hunting down the vampire that raped his wife, turning her insane in the process. I came to the monastery late after wandering the world for many years, stayed until my wife was attacked, and then began to wander again, filled with rage. I've recently returned, having received some direction as to this vampire's whereabouts.

Stats-wise: Level 3 | STR 17 | DEX 16 | CON 13 | INT 13 | WIS 16 | CHA 12

I want to keep him unarmed. I have a Temple Sword that I'm using until I get a d8 for my Unarmed Strike damage. I'm not sure what to pick for feats, if I want to go with one of the archetypes, or what.

As far as archetypes go, I really like the Maneuver Master and the Master of Many Styles. It would help the party to have someone doing crowd control via maneuvers, and I enjoy the grappling/disarm/trip maneuvers and shutting down enemies that way, but it also severely limits my damage potential (or so it would seem) and that can get kinda dull. I'm also only one of two melee combatants in the party.

What are y'alls thoughts?

I've been given carte blanche to rework my Bard. Feats, spells, the whole nine yards. I had built him very, very poorly initially and now, with the first act of our campaign done, our DM is okay with me heavily tweaking things.

Originally, I had created a Bard oriented towards casting with some back-up archery. However, this didn't work out that well in practice. I had chosen the wrong spells and feats. After casting Good Hope and playing Inspire Courage, I pretty much had nothing to do except very weak arrow damage. I had Confusion, but we fought a lot of undead. I had Slow, which I casted a lot, but the enemies had pretty high saves.

So what I'm trying to do now is create a stronger, more focused Bard, which is what I need help with. There are a few stipulations:

- The Bard must be a Gnome
- I want to focus more on Casting and Support (Buff/Debuff/Control)
- We are 11th Level
- Characters were built off of a 23 point buy starting at 5th Level

Any help would be really appreciated. I would like to feel much more effective in combat while staying true to a Support/Caster playstyle.

Hi all, I wanted to get some input on my Bard as I've built him thus far and see if y'all had any advice for how to make him more effective and fun in combat.

Lately, I've felt like I'm not as helpful as I could be and I think that's to do with my lack of familiarity with Pathfinder (not to mention, I'm rusty with D&D period), so I wanted some fresh eyes and fresh ideas on what I'm working with to see if there's more that I could do, things that I could tweak, etc.

Gnome Bard 9: STR 10 | DEX 16 | CON 12 (+2) | INT 14 | WIS 7 | CHA 20 (+4) || AC 20

Flaming Longbow +1 is my main weapon.

Feats: Arcane Strike, Lingering Performance, Point Blank Shot, Harmonic Spell

Spells
1st: Saving Finale, Grease, Unhand (Ranged disarm, d20+CLevel+Dex+Cha vs CMD), Timely Inspiration, Vanish
2nd: Gallant Inspiration, Mirror Image, Glitterdust, Silence
3rd: Confusion, Good Hope, Slow, Dispel Magic

The party's makeup is pretty well spread out. We have two Sorcerers (one of whom always casts Haste (which is why I didn't take it) and is some support but mostly focused on damage; the other is straight up damage), a Monk, a Ranger (Archery), a Fighter, a Cleric, and a Druid.

Usually, my first round is a given: Start Inspire Courage, cast Good Hope. But after the first round, I start having trouble figuring out what would be most effective.

Maybe it's just because of the monsters we're fighting, but I haven't had much luck with Glitterdust (enemies with blindsight or scent), Unhand (casters or enemies without weapons), or Confusion (a lot of undead). I'm planning on getting rid of Timely Inspiration when I can, though I don't know what for (perhaps [url= of Greatness[/url]). I just want to be a bit more proactive in the fights. I can do some okay damage with my bow with all the added damage, but I'd like to be able to have more influence on the battlefield, I guess.

One thing I haven't been trying is demoralizing enemies with my (very high) Intimidate skill, which could be something extra to try. Do y'all have any other ideas?

It's been years since I've played any D&D and I had never played Pathfinder, so now I'm trying to wrap my head around everything and I could use some tips. I'm shooting for a Pure Bard, no multiclassing or anything like that. What I have right now is:

Gnome Bard 8 | 59 HP | 20 AC | 10Str/16Dex/12Con/14Int/7Wis/24Cha (+4 from equipment)

Equipment: +1 Flaming Longbow, +1 Chain Shirt, Bracers of Armor +1 | Wands of Mage Armor/Magic Weapon/Magic Missile/Silent Image

Feats: Arcane Strike; Lingering Performance; Point Blank Shot (Still trying to decide on the last feat, torn between Harmonic Spell and Rapid Shot, since Harmonic Spell would allow me to do a lot more song juggling and debuff/buffing instead of more ranged damage but I dunno, might be more useful to contribute a bit more damage)

Spells:
1st–Saving Finale, Grease, Timely Inspiration, Vanish, Unhand*
2nd-Gallant Inspiration, Mirror Image, Glitterdust, Silence
3rd-Confusion, Good Hope, Slow

I skipped Haste because we have a Sorcerer who is pretty liberal with his Haste casting. Figured I'd handle the flip side of things.

Any suggestions for feats to take, spells to look into, items to check out, etc. How does this look so far?

*Unhand is one our GM created, I think, or introduced from elsewhere. It is as follows:
Unhand
Evocation [Force]
Level: Sor/Wiz 1, Brd 1, Pal 1, Mag 1
Components: S
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Medium (100 feet + 10 feet/level)
Targets: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows you to attempt to disarm a creature with a blast of force. You and the defender make opposed rolls. You make a caster level check plus both your Dexterity and your Intelligence modifiers (d20 + caster level + Dexterity modifier + Intelligence or Charisma modifier). The size of the weapon or object is irrelevant. If you beat the defender’s CMD, the defender is disarmed. The object falls to the ground at the defender’s feet.