the8headed's page

i guess part of being effective in melee usually comes down to investing in physical ability scores. That comes at a price in point buy; if you want to also be a blaster as a Storm Druid, then that’s an issue because you would also want to max wisdom for DC. If you don’t care about blasting, then that frees up some point buy.

Exactly, I think I'd just want to have a melee character that could be augmented by Storm powers (nothing overpowered, I'm no MIN-MAXer... although I must admit that, thinking about it, this concept of "Storm-augmented melee combatant" makes me think about Marvel's Thor and THAT is OP indeed... LOL).

Also, thanks a LOT, everyone, you're all giving me great insight about it! Mysterious Stranger, you just NAILED it when you said that:

To be effective you just need to be good enough to get the job done.

And that's exactly what I want!

And, Mark, I still couldn't find my jaw, which dropped so hard to the floor! Your reply is AMAZING, and the type of stuff I have no ability whatsoever to come up with! LOL!

All of this tells me that, regardless of Race, Class and Archetype choices, if you build a Medium sized, level 4 PC, all you need to do is make sure you take a 3/4 BAB or better and build a 16 Str and you ARE an "effective" melee character.

Really, thank you all a lot, you're being of great help! :D

So, what are your tips for an effective melee-oriented druid, independent of archetype, folks? :)

Answer is probably yes,

But why do you want to be a druid, particularly a Storm Druid, if your goal is melee tanking?

Mostly flavour, actually... as I said, I go with how I perceive a character... and besides the ongoing backstory I'm getting fond of, I imagine how welcome in a ship a druid, capable of commanding the winds and the seas, should be.

And, thinking about it, the tanking part is the least important here... If it could be effective in melee, it would be already good... but, indeed, it seems I'm going TOO crazy with the concept, LOL...

(And if the thing really wasn't worth the effort, I'd think about something else. I just wanted to know if it was a possible combination. :) )

I've seen a similar thread in here, but since it doesn't address my own questions, I decided to open my own.

Well, my beloved Swashbuckler died in a Blaze of Glory (a.k.a.: humongous Critical from a giant eel's bite) and the party simply is too low level (4th) to have the resources to ressurrect him, in a Skulls & Shackles-based Pirate Campaign. He was the tanky character in the group, which had an only other melee-combatant (rogue), who relied a lot on our flanking strategies for his own fun in combat.

Now I must move on, and after a LOT of deliberating, I came up with an idea for a character which I've longed to play for a lot of time, but that could also be useful for the group: a druid. And I'm heavily story-oriented (I'm already hyped up about the background story I've created so far), but, of course, I also want to be effective! I loved the idea of the Storm Druid, in regards of how it seems to fit the ship environment, but I really am horrible at interpreting rules...

So, I already have this idea for the character, which would be a half-orc (Storm?) Druid. Thing is: everything I found about the archetype, are people saying it's amazing for a blaster-type character. My question is: can it also be a good melee/tank combatant? I'm really into the idea of the melee Druid, so, can I make it work, or should I give up the archetype and go with a Vanilla druid?

Also, I'd be appreciative for ANY suggestions on scores, builds, feats, companions/Domains, everything!

Thanks in advance!