mode of attack, what is the best way /class to build him? I thought maybe summoner and have a centipede at my side. or a witch just cause they are buggy or maybe a wizard...help, thoughts?
mode of attack, what is the best way /class to build him? I thought maybe summoner and have a centipede at my side. or a witch just cause they are buggy or maybe a wizard...help, thoughts?
Only Pathfinder? Because 3.0 Book of Vile Darkness has a bug/swarm Prc class.
A wizard, sorcerer, bard, or witch seems your best bet; they all get Summon Swarm as a 2nd-level spell. They all can cast Summon Monster, with the type being vermin or monstrous vermin.
You missed the druid class, that can cast Summon Swarm, Insect Plague, Creeping Doom and Giant Vermin, not to mention that there are a few improved verminous choices on the Summon Nature's Ally list, and there's also a druid variant (Blight Druid) that allows wild empathy with vermin.
A wizard, sorcerer, bard, or witch seems your best bet; they all get Summon Swarm as a 2nd-level spell. They all can cast Summon Monster, with the type being vermin or monstrous vermin.You missed the druid class, that can cast Summon Swarm, Insect Plague, Creeping Doom and Giant Vermin, not to mention that there are a few improved verminous choices on the Summon Nature's Ally list, and there's also a druid variant (Blight Druid) that allows wild empathy with vermin.
This is good, but I want to have arcane spells.
Other things to consider:
-Race: mite (they get a special Vermin Empathy ability)
-If you go druid, pick up the Verminheart feat (from the Advanced Player's Guide)- it allows your effects that influence animals to also influence vermin.
Has anyone ever built one of these, kind of casters? Are they effective or too gimmicky?
Has anyone ever built one of these, kind of casters? Are they effective or too gimmicky?
I haven't but I think it could work. I again recommend the stingchuck as a weapon -- it is a simple weapon too but goes right where you want it to.
The biggest problem you are going to run into is getting all the spells you need from various lists to really make it happen.
Druid (as much as you want divine) might be worth it to take specific domains to get the insect spells you need.
Has anyone ever built one of these, kind of casters? Are they effective or too gimmicky?
Gimmicky? Sure. Effective? Very. We're supposed to be gaming because it's fun, but anything based around summoning and control can be incredibly effective.
Don't forget to take Web, Spiderclimb, Ant Haul, and any other spell that seems bug-like. Also Poison if a Druid or Witch. And I would make sure to use a poison weapon as much as possible (regardless of how effective it would be).
To keep with the theme, you could rework the flavor of some spells to be bug based. Create Spiked Pit could work exactly the same except that instead of spikes it's filled with biting insects. Fly creates giant bug-like wings and creates an audible buzzing sound. Rename Barkskin to be Beetle's Carapace or something to that effect. Say that Dancing Lights are actually summoned fireflies. Vampiric Touch becomes Mosquito Bite. You get the idea.
Has anyone ever built one of these, kind of casters? Are they effective or too gimmicky?Gimmicky? Sure. Effective? Very. We're supposed to be gaming because it's fun, but anything based around summoning and control can be incredibly effective.
Don't forget to take Web, Spiderclimb, Ant Haul, and any other spell that seems bug-like. Also Poison if a Druid or Witch. And I would make sure to use a poison weapon as much as possible (regardless of how effective it would be).
To keep with the theme, you could rework the flavor of some spells to be bug based. Create Spiked Pit could work exactly the same except that instead of spikes it's filled with biting insects. Fly creates giant bug-like wings and creates an audible buzzing sound. Rename Barkskin to be Beetle's Carapace or something to that effect. Say that Dancing Lights are actually summoned fireflies. Vampiric Touch becomes Mosquito Bite. You get the idea.
I think u r right.it is hard to do for the last few years I have played with real serious survivalist types you has to make pcs their way or it just did not work well. On top of it I need to make this guy 8th lvl. Any suggestions where to start?
Ant Haul
Spider Climb
Giant Vermin
Creeping Doom
Insect Plague
Any more ideas for this Hive or insect patron?
How about the Summoner?
Making the Eliodon look like a giant insect would be simple enough, and there are several insect-based evolutions. You also get the summon swarm spells in your spell list.
How about the Summoner?
Making the Eliodon look like a giant insect would be simple enough, and there are several insect-based evolutions. You also get the summon swarm spells in your spell list.
but is it really buggy enough?
I'd definitely go with the druid. You get summon swarm, insect plague, and so forth. There's also a web enhancement on the WotC Archives (found here) that you may be interested in.
It has a solid amount of useful stuff, including a druid variant that allows for vermin (giant bugs) and swarms as animal companions. Converting it to Pathfinder would be very easy, I think. The variant can be found here.
As for their effectiveness, it depends. Against parties, they're tragically effective. Swarms, especially fine and diminutive swarms, are immune to all weapon damage (slashing, bludgeoning, piercing, natural attacks, etc), and ignore armor, concealment, miss chances, mirror images, and similar defenses for their attacks. While their attacks are generally pretty mild (1d6, 2d6, 3d6), the unavoidable nature combined with the ability to "stack" swarms in a single area can make them terrifying (because swarms are treated as the size of the individual for the purposes of determining what they can fit in, you can pile a lot of swarms into a relatively small area to make a dense deathtrap.
Furthermore, many of my favorite swarms carry secondary effects like poison. Multiple swarms hitting each round will eventually poison anything not immune to it, and due to poison stacking rules can get pretty high save DCs and durations pretty quick.
What's exceptionally nasty about such a character is virtually all the swarms are summoning spells, so you can cast them will under the effects of invisibility without breaking the spell, which can allow you to easily stalk your opponents while overrunning your enemies with insects.
To make matters worse, there's a number of giant insects on the Summon Nature's Ally list, and all the giant spiders have the ability to shoot webs. Webs function as ranged touch attacks with a 50ft reach, and they entangle targets that get in them. This combined with swarms can be devastating, and is also pretty sweet as a general de-buff, and combines viciously well with spells like entangle, web, and grease, which have no real negative effects on swarms.
Swarms of vermin are also immune to mind affecting effects, fear, combat maneuvers, and so forth. Most of them have climb or fly speeds, and that makes them difficult to evade. With a wand of animate dead, you can animate undead swarms which could function underwater as well as on land (and the kicker is they would still just look like bugs due to exoskeletons).
Such a character, especially from an NPC villain perspective, is best scouting and then tormenting enemies with swarms and insects - most notably at night (filling a camp with insects and summoned critters is pretty mean, and kind of scary to be told you've woken up to a sleeping bag full of spiders).
The main thing that shuts down swarms is Damage Reduction. You pretty much cannot bypass it with most swarms, but you're also a spellcaster with other options (which include liberal amounts of poison, summoned creatures, blasting opportunities, and so forth) while also sporting a good amount of evasive ability (you can fly away, or even tree-stride away).
And if you really, really, really wanna be mean...you can wear a ring of invisibility, pickup the natural spell feat, turn into a bird, then fly around invisible while summoning swarms and such down on your enemies. Or do so from a nearby tree where you have cover from the branches. If you're flying, you can begin casting as a standard action and complete casting as a standard action, to cast a full-round spell (like most spells) over 2 rounds while flying.