|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So my group has hit Racing to Ruin just recently, and they are having a hell of a time. They also made friends with all 5 of the NPCs, and managed to broker a deal that has everyone working together on a joint Pathfinder Society/Sargavan Government venture.
The 5 NPCs are going to be following behind the main party, helping to defend the main expedition. However, odds are good that the PCs will want to travel with the NPCs as well from time to time, so I decided to brush up on their builds a little bit.
Ishirou is gonna take the Thug archetype, and I've been kicking around the idea of him also mixing in some Fighter (Cad).
Gelik is going to take the Street Performer archetype.
Jask is going to be a Cloistered Cleric now.
Sasha is going to end up with the Beast Master (she got 4 dimorphodon "babies" on Smuggler's Shiv) and Skirmisher archetypes.
Aerys is going to take the Brawler archetype, possibly mixing in 3 levels of Martial Artist monk (I've been seriously considering allowing her to take the Monastic Legacy feat so her unarmed can keep improving after those three levels, even though Martial Artist doesn't allow Still Mind so it should be impossible RAW. Am I missing some huge unbalancing factor that would make that a bad idea?).
I also think I'll be improving their stats a little bit - the dice seem to have slapped them across the face pretty hard.
What have you guys done with the other Castaways? Got builds you'd like to share? Chime in!
|
Interesting. Honestly I hadn't thought of giving the castaways any archetypes.
I used them far more as a RP/Plot device. They had pretty much whatever I needed them to have for a character approx 1-2 levels behind the PCs. I kept them basically leveled as described at the beginning of book 3, but with base classes only.
But your archetype idea is very cool! Gives them a bit more flavor and memorable characteristics.
Your ideas sound really interesting but I'd be carefully not to make the NPCs shine too much. Maybe your group is very well versed in the game mechanics and have powerful character builds themselves but if not they might feel cast aside by your well-made NPCs.
Also you should keep in mind that the following adventures are designed for 4 characters. That means if you send more than 1 fully equipped and participating NPC with PC class levels with them you will have to adjust every encounter in order to keep things interesting.
So if you're not already too invested in your plans I'd say play them down rather than up. The castaways in my game (at least the ones that survived the Shiv) are all scattered among the various factions and that proves to be a really good hook for pretty much anything the plot needs. Nkechi joined the group for a while (because they had no healer) but I haven't even levelled him up and now that he sees the PCs getting ahead of him he will gradually fade into the background again. It works really well for us and the players still have the feeling to be the kings of the jungle without sacrificing meaningful ties to the NPCs.
Of course YMMV and if you still want to go through with your plans have fun and let us know how it played out!
|
|
Your ideas sound really interesting but...
Oh indeed. I'm firmly of the opinion that the PCs are the stars of the show (especially after playing in a few games where the GM didn't have that idea). We have a group of only three players and one DMPC (elf sorc/fighter), so I like to keep the other castaways viable in case the party feels like they could do with, say, a Bard for a particular task.
Just because I wanna tighten their builds a little bit doesn't mean they'll be stealing the spotlight. It's just that my players seem to really like them, and this would add just a little more depth whenever mechanics become an issue.
But anyway, does anybody have an opinion on Monastic Legacy + Martial Artist?
I tinkered with the 5 NPCs
All five are with the PCs, following in the combined Pathfinder/Red Mantis allied expedition (don't ask :)).
Jask and Sasha are still straight class.
Ishirou has the scout and thug archtypes -started with thug, aquired scout on the Shiv.
Aerys has the tactician archtype, as it seemed to be the best fit for a leader/captain of a ship.
Gelik was heavily tinkered with, getting pyromaniac, academician and master tinker gnome racial modifications, and then I put the archeologist archtype on him. Gelik also put all his gold towards comfort and/or useful magic items (Expedition Pavilion, Autonomous Cartographer, Field Scrivener’s Desk).
My players treated the NPCs as PCs for everything, including loot. When a PC was sick, the player used an NPC for that day's exploration, so all the castaways were involved in the exploration, fighting, etc...
The players went out of their way to make sure that all of the NPCs had solid ties to their expedition, to make sure that what was being offered by the original faction was at least matched (Aerys was offered extra help/gold if her share was not enought to buy a ship and the PCs arranged for the Pathfinders to provide her with a large selection of charts).
I believe that the fact that the NPCs are treated like PCs is one of the reasons that the players aren't worried about the NPCs being equal or near equal to them. The PCs are the main drivers of the story, but they have strong support from the NPCs if it is needed.
Gelik I left alone
Jask I left alone
Ishirou I made a Ninja (seriously no one suggested this?)
Sasha I made a falconer and let he use the dimorphodon
Aerys I made an unarmed fighter archtype, dragon style
The PCs had a lot of fun trying to guess Aerys class. Straight unarmed fighter does well enough to keep up damage that you dont need monastic legacy to answer the OP
The only one I've updated for 9th level (book 4) is Sasha because she's rumbling with the party now. Ranger 6 Rogue 3.
Gelik and Ishirou I didn't change (because my party wasn't fond of them so they didn't continue on with the party).
Sasha was given the beastmaster and infiltrator archetypes.
Aerys was made an unarmed fighter archtype, tiger style.
Jask was left straight cleric, but on the request of one PC he was bumped to mentor status. Also made him a bit older and that he had travelled before settling down as a scribe, he actually channeled negative energy and had the versatile channeler feat.
I was thinking along those lines, but faced a big problem: How does Aerys improve on her unarmed attacks? AFAIK, she'll be dealing 1d3 + Str for the rest of her life unless she multiclasses monk.
I'll probably make her an unarmed fighter and get a good style feat (probably Snake for defense) but continue using a blade for regular attacks; using Two-Weapon Fighting to make off-hand attack maneuvers.
With weapon training and weapon specialization +power attack, you'd be surprised how much damage an unarmed fighter can do. I remember back in 3.5 one of the big complaints was that an unarmed fighter could do more damage than a monk.
|
|
I was thinking along those lines, but faced a big problem: How does Aerys improve on her unarmed attacks? AFAIK, she'll be dealing 1d3 + Str for the rest of her life unless she multiclasses monk.
I'll probably make her an unarmed fighter and get a good style feat (probably Snake for defense) but continue using a blade for regular attacks; using Two-Weapon Fighting to make off-hand attack maneuvers.
I kept Aerys a straight fighter (now level 7). She took the Tiger Claw style feats. Here is her melee stats:
Melee unarmed strike +13/+8 (1d3+7) or power attack +13/+4 (1d3+11)
Special Attacks Tiger claws - Make attack +13 (2d3+23) and free bull rush +17 CMB, weapon train (close +1), unarmed strike deals slashing and 1d4 bleed on crit
Feats Endurance, Furious Focus, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Craft [poetry]), Tiger Claws, Tiger Style, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike), Weapon Specialization (unarmed strike)
Not too shabby.
|
|
The castaways in my game (at least the ones that survived the Shiv) are all scattered among the various factions and that proves to be a really good hook for pretty much anything the plot needs.
Mine are the same. Jask and Ishirou are the only ones still with the PCs and Jask is more a stay a camp follower. Ishirou follows the group, mostly because they do not have a rogue/trap finder.
The only one I changed was Ishirou. He is a Rogue 3/Fighter (free-hand) 4. I also changed Athyra to a barbarian (savage) 6/oracle of nature 1