A friend is going to set a Kingmaker-style game in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. He calls it Jarlmaker. The other players have already elected me to be the future jarl (I'm afraid to ask them why...), so I want to build a leader character, and I want to ask for your help.
I want to build a character that can lead both on and off the field. Being that this is a very viking game and that none of the players are building tanks, I'm thinking about a smart fighter type. But not necessarily the class "fighter".
Things I've considered are a Cavalier (Order of the Dragon) or a fighter/bard (for the inspiration). Neither one is really feeling quite right to me. Can anyone suggest a good build for a smart melee character with a focus on leadership on and off the battlefield?
Edit: 20 point buy, start at 7th level.
Will your DM allow stuff outside of the Core books? Adamant Entertainment has a class called the Warlord (which seems to fit what your asking for) that is a capable combatant that benefits from high Charisma and can be easily made to be a good ruler.
Can be found in the d20pfsrd.... well here
Thanks, Magus Black. I'd never seen that before, but it looks very much like what I was looking for. The GM suggested I look at Super Genius Games's War Master (which I'm downloading as I type this), so he's open to 3PP.
Battle herald seems pretty cool. The obvious route is to go bard 1/cavalier 4. Seems to fit very nicely with the leader niche.
If you go Fighter, Tactician is pretty awesome. My Leader for a kingmaker game is a Wizard/Cleric Theurge, just don't dump charisma.
And there's always Ranger via the Bond with Companions options. You can go all Aragorn and bark orders at them that has a beneficial effect in combat. Battle Scout (APG) & Skirmisher (UC) archetypes both have leadership abilities. Heck! You could take both archetypes! They don't overlap!
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Being able to use your wisdom for diplomacy, bluff, and intimidate is awesome for an inquisitor, who by the way, uses the intimidate skill to the max. Also, you get to use wisdom for knowledge, making you a very learned leader. With the guided weapon property, you will be able to use wisdom for attack and damage, making you very combat viable. With the wisdom of the flesh trait, you can choose a dex or str skill and use your wisdom instead, which is awesome if used for things like acrobatics, or ride, depending on your build. Of course you will have awesome sense motive, making you an excellent judge of character as well.
Thank you for all the great ideas. I look forward to trying to compare them side by side.
Just downloaded it myself to see it in person. Its not bad but a fair number of its abilities are limited in use or are very short durations.
I did however stumble on a nifty combination of Warlord 5/War Master 2 for a very good war leader (considering you’re a Jarl it comes with the territory). Below is suggestion.
STR 14 (5)
DEX 8
CON 14 (5)
INT 12 (2)
WIS 14 (5)
CHA 13 (3) +2 Racial +1 Level= 16
BAB: +7/+2
Fort: 4+2=(+6)
Ref: 5-2=(+3)
Will: 7+2=(+8)
Melee: +9/+4
Ranged: +5/+0
ABILITES
Warlord: Combat Leader (+2), Commanding Presence, Inspiration 3d6, Hold the Line, Rallying Presence
War Master: Battle tactics: (Assail, Countering Tactics, Covering Tactics, Deployment), Consul, War Master Talent (Esprit de Corps)
Feats: Leadership +4 General feats +2 Bonus Feats (which can be Fighter Feats at that! Might wish to take Weapon Specialization)
Traits: Up to you, if any, but “Natural-Born Leader’ gives a bonus to Leadership and +1 Will to your minions.
Skills: 4 Base +1 Int Mod +1 Human=6x7=42. Which allows you to max-out 6 skills (Suggestions: Bluff, Perception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, Knowledge [nobility], Sense Motive)
Weapons: Up to you, though if you decide to continue with Warlord from then on (at least in my suggestion) you may wish to take note of the ability “Cry Havoc!” which until the end of your next turn, a single enemy you choose that is attacked by you/your comrades causes the Critical Threat range to jump to 18-20 and gets a +4 to Confirm Critical. This is important since high-Critical Multiplier weapons (like the Great Axe and Scythes) get a chance to inflict major damage…possible suggestion is the Lance which when combined the Mounted Combat Feat Tree can be brutally effective (and maybe Calvary charges are your thing).
Armor: Preferably Heavy Armor, a Heavy/Tower Shield if you aren’t using a two-handed weapon.
Skill Points or Hit Points: In my opinion the bonus HP is nothing compared to the skill point gain, if you consider Warlord your favorite class then you get an extra 5 skill points to align for a total of 49 skill points (if you take the mounted combat suggestion then Ride would be a good choice).
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Now even if you cant convince your DM to let “Esprit de Corps” apply to you friends (since they seem to of dumped you in the leadership position anyways you might as well demand fealty), it should be noted that you can build a ‘very’ badass bunch of bodyguards. Your “Royal Guard” gets the following bonuses as long as they are within 60ft of you (and aren’t somehow blind to your existence):
+2 Initiative*
+3 Attack Rolls
+3 Damage Rolls
+2 Skill Checks
+2 CMD
+2 All Saves (+3 Will if Natural-Born Leader is taken)
*This bonus applies to you too.
Those within 30ft of you also gets:
+1 Will Save vs Fear Effects
Now this will make a 1st Commoner into one Helleuva Badass alone added to the fact that at any point in time you can use Inspire 6 times a day within 30ft of you (60ft if this homebrew feat is allowed) to grant them an extra 3-18 hit points...and now for the ‘fun’ part your guards are going to be Warriors at the Least and possibly Fighters at Best now let me show you the horror of an well made personal force.
Including you there is enough space in a 60ft radius to affect over a 100 people (Crap, even I didn’t realize that!) and your Leadership ‘should’ net you between 5-25 1st level followers (and possibly two 2nd level and one 3rd); for the time being we’ll just assume the lowest number (don’t worry as you gain levels you’ll eventually fill the whole 60ft).
These 5 Bodyguards, for this example, are mostly typical archers with a the only real advantage over their peers is that we’re giving them masterwork equipment (they are your personal guards after all). Straight from the Core Rules with the bonuses for being around your awesomeness.
Human warrior 1
N Medium humanoid
Init +3; Senses Perception +0
Defense
AC 18 (+6 armor, +2 Dex), touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor)
hp 8 (1d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +2 (+3 vs Fear Effects)
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee: Masterwork Shortsword +6 (1d8+4/19-20) or dagger +5 (1d4+4/19–20)
Ranged: Masterwork Composite Longbow* +6 Atk (1d6+6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
*Deadly Aim is already factored in.
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 11, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 9
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats: Toughness, Deadly Aim
Skills Craft (weapons) +5, Profession (soldier) +6, Survival +3
Languages Common
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds; Other Gear Masterwork chainmail, Masterwork shortsword Masterwork composite longbow, 20 common arrows, 2 gp
Now what’s amazing about these guys is that despite being 6 levels below you (and being NPC classes at that) and having the standard array stats (12,13,11,8,10,9, +2Dexterity: Human) they aren’t too far behind in terms of accuracy and damage (they do lack staying power though…Inspiration does help that) making them lethal in large numbers.
Ahh I could go on but its late and I’m very tired so here are two homebrew feats that work with the Warlord’s abilities and so far have been dubbed as not-brokem by those I’ve asked. Ask you DM if these are okay and you will eventually become a “God of War”.
Vast Inspiration
Prerequisite: Charisma 16, Inspiration class ability, Diplomacy or Intimidation 5 ranks.
Benefits: You can effect all allies with your Inspiration class ability out to a range of a 60-feet.
Normal: You can effect all allies within 30ft of you with your Inspiration class ability
Grand Presence
Prerequisite: Charisma 16, Rallying Presence class ability, Diplomacy or Intimidation 7 ranks.
Benefit: You affect all allies within 10 ft per point of her Charisma bonus + half his class level with your Rallying Presence class ability.
Normal: A Warlord’s Rallying Presence affects all allies within 10 ft per point of her Charisma bonus (minimum 10ft).
Of course your mileage will vary…
An ulfen campaign screams Savage Skald - Bard for me. Someone HAS to do it;).
I vastly prefer SGG's War Master to the Warlord. The WL is extremely boring compared to the Warlord master. There's also my own Inspiring Commander from the secrets of tactical Archetypes, which is a single class entry into battle herald.
I do like the savage skald idea though.