Friend considering playing if he can adjust his work schedule.
After discussion, he is looking for a melee grappler. Not too bright, but pretends to be even dumber than he is (so probably a few ranks in bluff). I don't think he could play LG so not paladin. Sounds like mostly a fighter or barbarian to me.
Since I haven't done this in PF (though I made a very effective one for 3.x), I am looking for some help on a build and path for him.
Please remember: this is a beginner. So no 14 class, esoteric, bizzaro interpretation, fine print, rules lawyer builds please.
We will be in a new campaign. I think we are getting:
PF only. No 3P sources. We can use the APG and might get to use UC.
Not evil.
20 point buy.
1 feat.
Only core rules races.
Starting a level 1 (though that might be increased to 3).
Max starting wealth.
And no, I got no idea what anyone else in the group would play (not even myself). From the talk we could be fairly magic heavy for once, but that could easily change.
Can't really go wrong with a barb or monk here.
The APG has a nice Brutal Pugilist barbarian archetype that may be useful. And the UC has two monk archetypes you should look into: the Maneuver Master or the Tetori.
Ultimate Combat also released some really nice feats that may work well, depending on what your friend wants to do with a grapple. Choke Hold as well as the Jawbreaker series are pretty neat thematically.
Friend considering playing if he can adjust his work schedule.
After discussion, he is looking for a melee grappler. Not too bright, but pretends to be even dumber than he is (so probably a few ranks in bluff). I don't think he could play LG so not paladin. Sounds like mostly a fighter or barbarian to me.
Since I haven't done this in PF (though I made a very effective one for 3.x), I am looking for some help on a build and path for him.
Please remember: this is a beginner. So no 14 class, esoteric, bizzaro interpretation, fine print, rules lawyer builds please.We will be in a new campaign. I think we are getting:
PF only. No 3P sources. We can use the APG and might get to use UC.
Not evil.
20 point buy.
1 feat.
Only core rules races.
Starting a level 1 (though that might be increased to 3).
Max starting wealth.And no, I got no idea what anyone else in the group would play (not even myself). From the talk we could be fairly magic heavy for once, but that could easily change.
Monk, fighter and barb are all perfectly reasonable answers to your grappling dilema, with Monk being the best and Barb being second.
Races you would want either Human, Half elf, Half orc, or Dwarf, depending on your build. Small races take a -4 to grapple checks, so that kind of tosses them out the window. Half orcs can take the Toothy Trait from the APG that will give them a 1d4 bite attack they can use while grappling. Humans get extra skills and a feat. Half elves get Skill focus (bluff?), and perception bonuses.
Stat wise you would (if going for a min max build) want something like:
S 16(10) D 14(5) C 14(5) I 10(0) W 12(2) C 8(-2), or something similar. Use http://tools.digitalightbulb.com/pbcalc.html to help you figure it out. You'll want a high STR for grappling, a good Dex and Con in a melee position and the other stats are kind of a wash. Though if you're going Monk you'll want a lot more into Wis as well.
EDIT: Also keep in mind that you won't be doing very good grappling stuff until level 3 or later.