I am making a solo campaign for a friend of mine set in a arabian/egyptian like setting i decided to make him a gestalt character , introduce hero points and use a 20 point buy .
He said he wants to be a Rogue/Magus , i want to give him challenges on par with that of a group of 3-4 (stuff that you would see sinbad fighting , cyclops, Roks , mummies , avatars of gods etc things that are heavily rooted in arabic/ Egyptian culture).
He is new to the 3.5/pathfinder experience but is a capable gamer .
That being said he wants me to make the character for him , how should i make his character so he is on par with a group of 3 without resorting to gimicky tricks and is capable of surviving lofty challenges like that of the movies of old.
Im Basically asking for you nice optimizers out there to do your worst.
I dont want to hold back or cheapen his first experience by heavily fudging every npc stat block .
What level will this be at?
Mark Sweetman wrote: What level will this be at? Lvl 1 - unknown
Try and get him to move on to at least one arm of the gestalt pairing as a divine caster / witch. Healing spells will help alot.
Statement of fact: there are times that you will have to pull punches, avoid spells like color spray, hold person, sleep.
Alternately, if there is only going to be one character in the campaign, you may want to consider adding healing/recover spells to his spell list.
You don't need to be as concerned with balance issues in a party of one.
Agreed about the save or die/save or suck spells. Don't force him to pull punches, but you may need to. Feel free to use them on cohorts, followers, allies, etc.
Actually, what he needs is a sidekick! An NPC to be his companion - to save and to be saved by.
I suggest a bard - they can do some rogue stuff, have access to healing magic, can do decent in a fight and do overall buffs.
Don't multiclass the magus - Disable device is available as a class skill simply by selecting the right trait. You can be a 'thief' without taking a single level of rogue.
For that matter have the Bard also do likewise.
If Harpies and singing mermaids are the sort of thing you plan on throwing at them then standard bard will do, otherwise an Arcane Duelist makes a great right hand man for a Magus, and even provide some comic relief/friendly competition on who is the better blade.
Just a suggestion, but if you are going into a long-term solo campaign you might want to consider dropping the 20 point purchase (even the high fantasy point purchase assumes a complementary set of characters in a party) and going with heroic dice rolls: 2d6+6 roll three (or more) sets, pick the best set, assign as needed. You also might want to consider: maxing out hit points on each level up, doubling the number of feats on advancement, giving additional ability score adjustments on advancement, and almost definitely should go with the high-fantasy scale of wealth by level explained here. If you don't want the character to dip into one of the healing classes, then make sure you drop lots of healing potions into your treasure drops, basically just make it a world where everybody and their mother is carrying around at least a couple cure ... potions. Also might want to max out his UMD and drop a few cure wands here and there.
Giving the additional feats can help with those save or die type spells because you can make sure the character has feats like Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and Great Fortitude. However, you will more than likely still have to either pull some punches or adjust actual mechanics in spots, because one bad roll could mean the end of your hero.
Have fun!
Which trait allows access to Disable Device?
you may want to use the "gestalt" rules from the 3.5 Unearthed arcana book.
the player picks two classes. He gets the best of BAB of the two classes. He gets the Best HD of the two classes, He gets the Best RF, FT, WL, save of the two classes. he gets the best Number of Skill points of the two classes. He gets the skill list of both classes. He gets the class features of both classes.
Im starting a Kingmaker campaign, and my party will range from 4 to two players. So I am giving the players Gestalt characters, and the skills of their two classes, Ie Fighter rogue (2+int mod)+(8+intmod)= 14 skill points per level. I also gave them 4 traits to begin with.
Volaron's suggestion of adding healing recover spells to his list sounds like a good idea.
If there is only one character you might want to considering him covering all the bases
BAB +! good, HD D8 (Medium) or better, skills 8 a level.
Give him acesss to the perception skill as a class skill, and Disable device
Give him acess to Healing/ restorative spells as part of class list
Perhaps if he takes the Magus class with those modifications, he might be able to operate independently.
I hope this helps
ElyasRavenwood wrote: Which trait allows access to Disable Device?
Vagabond Child (urban): You grew up among the outcasts and outlaws of your society, learning to forage and survive in an urban environment. Select one of the following skills: Disable Device, Escape Artist, or Sleight of Hand.
You gain a +1 trait bonus on that skill, and it is always a class skill for you.
APG pg 332 (Human Race Trait)
I'd suggest having him gestalt with a summoner of either the Master Summoner or Broodmaster archetype.
Both will essentially give him a party worth of characters (or more) to play around with, in addition to whatever other gestalt abilities he possesses.
Thanks for all the responses as i said in my original post im allowing him to be a gestalt character and he chose rogue/magus his reasoning was that since its a arabian /egyptian setting he would like to play a swashbuckling arcane trickster "basically a magical alladin"
MendedWall12 wrote: Just a suggestion, but if you are going into a long-term solo campaign you might want to consider dropping the 20 point purchase (even the high fantasy point purchase assumes a complementary set of characters in a party) and going with heroic dice rolls: 2d6+6 roll three (or more) sets, pick the best set, assign as needed. You also might want to consider: maxing out hit points on each level up, doubling the number of feats on advancement, giving additional ability score adjustments on advancement, and almost definitely should go with the high-fantasy scale of wealth by level explained here. If you don't want the character to dip into one of the healing classes, then make sure you drop lots of healing potions into your treasure drops, basically just make it a world where everybody and their mother is carrying around at least a couple cure ... potions. Also might want to max out his UMD and drop a few cure wands here and there.
Giving the additional feats can help with those save or die type spells because you can make sure the character has feats like Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and Great Fortitude. However, you will more than likely still have to either pull some punches or adjust actual mechanics in spots, because one bad roll could mean the end of your hero.
Have fun!
Looking at it since im making his character ill most likely just assign stats as i see fit that being said your idea of max hit points every level is great i cant believe i didnt think of it thank you.
I may add feats to him comparable to a fighter , My goal is to make the character akin to the heroes of arabian mythology but keep things structered and ordered in the appearance of the character " i dont want to put a bunch of abilities into a blender and make a superman rather id like to have a character who has a general theme behind his ability set " .
The idea of red shirt syndrome " a jason and the argonauts type schtick" Isnt that bad actually so long as hes the star.
Rogue and Magus have a lot of overlap, so might pay to spread it out.
A Fighter / Magus would have bunches of feats and full BAB.
You can always fill out the divine healing requirements through a trusty sidekick. He can come along and hold the camel's reins while your solo player kicks butt and takes names.
Mark Sweetman wrote: Rogue and Magus have a lot of overlap, so might pay to spread it out.
A Fighter / Magus would have bunches of feats and full BAB.
You can always fill out the divine healing requirements through a trusty sidekick. He can come along and hold the camel's reins while your solo player kicks butt and takes names.
Solo heroing is overrated, not a great deal of fun and can be deadly... a single failed saving throw at the wrong time can put your character in a situation where death is very likely and the GM would need to make silly moves to save the character... a NPC is always there to save (or be saved)
Helaman wrote: ElyasRavenwood wrote: Which trait allows access to Disable Device?
Vagabond Child (urban): You grew up among the outcasts and outlaws of your society, learning to forage and survive in an urban environment. Select one of the following skills: Disable Device, Escape Artist, or Sleight of Hand.
You gain a +1 trait bonus on that skill, and it is always a class skill for you.
APG pg 332 (Human Race Trait) Thanks thats very helpful
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