When you say Loremaster are you referring to the Loremaster Prestige class or someone who is a master of lore?
I'd say go with a Bard
Hey all. I'm new to the RPG world, but I have been following the Order of the Stick webcomic for a while and eventually decided to look at the game it was based on. It didn't take long to figure out that there are actually several sets of D&D style rules and I was drawn to Pathfinder mostly because it has an interesting world and maps I could explore. I'm always a sucker for maps and histories real or fictional.
Anyway, I've come up with an idea for a character, but I'm not sure how best to practically show it. Typing up the whole thing is a little much data entry at the moment, but basically I am going for a bookworm/loremaster type focusing on buffing and/or healing devoted to the idea of Law. A wizard looked like the obvious choice for that except they don't really seem to be able to be devoted to an ideal like Paladins or clerics and I wanted that to be a little more central to the character than a mostly-ignored line on the character sheet. A cleric could work but they seem to make weak loremasters and are fairly focused on melee. And Oracle might work but I am a little lost in all the options there, haha.
So to finally get to the question, what is the best way to make this idea of a law-oriented healer/buffing type work? I've never played the game before I am not sure how useful a cleric with little melee would be, and Oracles have so many options that without experience I have a hard time knowing what makes sense.
Wizards are great book worms and so are bards. However if you wanted to be a healer/buffer I suggest cleric. Both bards and wizards can buff well though.
An important thing to note is that in Pathfinder the character is focused the way you want it to be focused. You can take that cleric, for example, and put a focus on the Int and Wis of the character and less of a focus on the combat side of things (Str, Dex, Con, and Combat feats.) Go with the flavor and RP style that you want.
In terms of levels you might consider a splash of wizard levels (3, 5, or 7 being my favorite stopping points) and maybe the same with cleric (lets say 5, 7, or 9 <for Raise Dead>). The rest of the levels you can take Lore Master with, spreading any remaining levels out as you see fit (based on how you break up the classes).
Of course, if that seems to complex for a first time character then you may be best sticking with just a Cleric / Loremaster or Wizard / Loremaster and going from there.
Sorry, I meant somebody good at the knowledge skills. I didn't even know there is such a thing as the Loremaster prestige class. :P Bard and Wizard could work mechanically, but I was really trying to get a bit more of a Law theme for the character, who is basically going adventuring due to a devotion to ideals. Paladin and cleric seem best for that, but being physically strong doesn't fit the background either so I am trying to avoid melee. Maybe I am trying to make something that doesn't exist...
You can do that with any character class.
A Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good Bard is perfectly doable.If you need something more mechanical rules wise, use one of the many archetypes like demagogue
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-a rchetypes/demagogue
or Detective
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-a rchetypes/detective
Do you need the "devotion to ideals" to actually be something written into the mechanics of the class?
A wizard can easily be lawful and devoted to an ideal, it's all in how you roleplay him. He has no mechanical consequences for not living up to his ideal like a paladin does, but is that what's important to you?
A wizard fits everything, IMO, except for healing. They don't heal. A bard can do a bit of healing, but not like a cleric can. Paladins too, can do some healing.
A bard would work nice and I think it could be your best choice. Flavour him as a zealot, for whatever ideal / code / religion you'd like, and have his performance be that he starts preaching his beliefs to his enemies :)
Sorry, I meant somebody good at the knowledge skills. I didn't even know there is such a thing as the Loremaster prestige class. :P Bard and Wizard could work mechanically, but I was really trying to get a bit more of a Law theme for the character, who is basically going adventuring due to a devotion to ideals.
That isn't really a problem for most classes. A class defines your adventuring "profession," so to speak, not your personality. A bard can be lawful, and it's certainly an okay motivation to go out into the world to defend or spread what you believe in. Most Pathfinder deities are actually quite bard-friendly, apparently everyone likes to have a few good musicians during ceremonies :) .
As for avoiding melee, I think it's quite doable for a bard to go ranged and pepper enemies with arrows from the rear, while wizards naturally gravitate towards distances where they can work their mojo with lower chance of getting disemboweled in the meantime. Still, it will be handy to have some melee options, for when things don't go as planned.
Hm. I guess I was thinking that a person devoted to a particular deity would naturally try to be a cleric or paladin, but maybe I'm being too focused. Ok, I'll look over the bard and wizard classes and see what appeals most. Thanks guys. :)
What I think is happening is that you are combining Role Play with Roll Play, in a sense. You are looking at the classes and hoping that one fits the ideal you have for the character, but what you want is something you have to instil through Role Play. That can be done with any class in the game.
Some examples:
Take a bard who has spent his/her youth developing an unwavering loyalty to a god. Through the years that bard has studied religion and its impact on the world and now he/she roams the land singing hymns and telling tales about the god that they love so much. The character is not strong, but is fast of mind and nimble of body and has taken a liking to the other adventurers. As a result, the bard has decided to join them on their quest into the world.
Another way to go about this would be the wizard. Again we start with a person devoted to their god and who had spent many hours praying at the alters to that god in their youth. As they grew older their interests became more diverse and they discovered an affinity for the arcane arts. This did not dull their devotion to their god, but simply changed the ways the character showed their devotion. Now the character travels the world seeking lost knowledge of the religious path he follows in hopes to build up the library of his church.
As you can see in each example, the concept of a knowledgeable and religious person is achieved without ever actually worrying about class levels, stats, or any rules that govern them. Each character can be molded statistically once you have the core concept down and you can advance them in whatever direction helps you tell their story.
I hope this was of some help.