Consider a lore warden, pole arm, or whip archtype of fighter specializing in trip and disarm rather than damage. Can make a huge amount of difference and setup others for the kill shot.
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Step 1: Stop taking advice from the forums.
Step 2: Disregard Step 1 for Step 3.
Step 3: Play a Bard.
Recently i got the advice to not play such incredible and rediculous stong characters. This was solid advice and i take it to heart. My recent characters can be played so stong that others will be snowed over. As such i am looking for advice to create a character that is not incredibly powerfull and can solo an adventure, but a character that other people enjoy having at their table.
First of all I want to say congrats on hearing constructive advice from your DM/Group and taking it to heart. Too often we see post of just the opposite. A DM or Group that is frustrated with a player and how they should deal with them. Your post is a breath of fresh air.
Now on to builds. It sounds like you are looking for a support character. There are several support classes you can look at.
Bards are supurb buffers. They will make everyone else at the table shine.
Witch - Debuffer. Again they make it easier on your party and harder on your enemy.
Alchemist - Can outshine the group if your not careful but if build to support can help buff as the bard does.
Rogue - If your party doesnt have a face this can be a great option for traps, and social situations.
These are just a few options. Let us know what you want to do.
Play a non combat cleric. Specialize in channeling. Forget to channel.
Sorry, couldn't resist that. Guy locally thinks clerics are healbots, plays pretty much as above. Also refuses to heal outside of combat unless he uses your wands. Which would be fine if he actually expended critical resources to heal, but he just hordes his channels all session and uses them after the last combat of the day (in PFS play at that...).
Seriously, play a buffing character. Bard, witch, cleric, druid, wizard/sorcerer, and cavalier can be built with strong but not "me first" concepts. Avoid being the main damage dealer, and don't go heavy on the save or lose spells unless the party really needs it.
What level are you starting at? As party needs effect viable characters (some builds are just bad at certain points, or are good low level and don't get better much).
Also,is there an acuall "personality" builder or something?
Yeah, there is a few random personality generators out there. A quick google search can point you to the right places.
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Watch Thor in action. He doesn't always just full attack, full attack.
I would love to see a character that had Thor's arrogance, and maybe the dazzling display feat.
"Flee, men of Midgard, for now you face the God of Thunder!"
Or get something like a shofar, and announce your presence before charging.
Likewise, you could easily play a character that was super interested in his own honor, and refused to take advantage of an opponent who had their back turned, etc.
You may find it easier to answer the "Who is this character, and how do they act" first, and then build the character.
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Making a not super-powered character is one of my favorite optimization challenges.
It's fun and easy.
Step 1) Make a horrible optimization choice.
Step 2) Optimize it.
e.g. characters I have made...
Halfling switch hitting ranger w/staff sling
Dwarven Sorcerer
Rogue
Any ideas?
Inspire me, i need it. Im at a writers block.
A buddy of mine, who is quite a good power gamer and has played many powerful PCs in his life, ran a character once named "Wonk Bonk, Hole-In-Sock, RATSLAYER." He was a gully dwarf, in the Dragonlance setting, with no skills of measurable worth and terrible stats. He was the town's rat killer, and as such carried the status of "knight" for his gully dwarf village.
He was a hilarious reminder that PCs don't necessarily have to be of the same power level in a party to still have fun playing a game.
And im looking for a statwise character design that does a lot of good outside combat and as combat support.
Improvised Thrown Weapon Paladin, with Craft Wand. Fun trick, you get to make wands for things like Break Enchantment that are prohibited from other classes, because of the level variation in your list.
I know how hard can it be!!
I'd say focus on support.
With the same idea in mind, I kind of thought about my next character: no everything is decided, but he will probably be a sorcerer focused mostly on buffs, enchantment and debuffs. I'll have him be a alcoholic coward, struggling with remorse for having lost his wife, whose personality is now kind of fused with his familiar (a silvanshee who blame the PC for her death and while attached to him will not let go the chance to make his life miserable). He will be on a quest for something yet undecided but since he consider himself a failure he will be mostly reliant to his companions (it would be cool to play something like father and son with another player, with the son being the decisive one and the father being the failure).
I'm playing an archaeologist bard with a bow, and as far as combat is concerns, he doesn't really contribute much. The character is, first and foremost, a skill-monkey. Need a door unlocked? He's got that. Need stealth? Got that, too. When he's not being rude, he can make a great face, since social skills are maxed out. In combat, his greatest contribution is usually to tell you what the group is facing, and what its strengths/weaknesses are (especially now that we're at a level where putting things to sleep is no longer effective).
Playing a skill-optimized character can be a great way to have fun and contribute to the group without soloing encounters. I highly recommend bards for this (and I think they're better skill-monkeys than rogues; more class skills, and Bardic Knowledge and Versatile Performance give you better bonuses). Prioritize Charisma (for spells and social skills) and Int (for more skill points). Maybe make use of aging rules to further penalize your physical stats.
Recently i got the advice to not play such incredible and rediculous stong characters. This was solid advice and i take it to heart. My recent characters can be played so stong that others will be snowed over. As such i am looking for advice to create a character that is not incredibly powerfull and can solo an adventure, but a character that other people enjoy having at their table.
So, i need a characters personality concept.... a base to use with roleplaying. Plus i need to make a statwise character thats good in supporting others, rater then being a one man or girl army.
Im looking for humerous character designs, in which i mean personality and looks, but not a court idiot jester way.
And im looking for a statwise characterdesign that does a lot of good outside combat and as combat support.Any ideas?
Inspire me, i need it. Im at a writers block.
Thanks.
Something is always overpowered only if compared to something else which is seriously weaker.
You can play the most maxed character in a maxed group and he will not look OP.So first see what your DM wants of you. Then check the other groupmates with their characters. After all this you can say whether your char is OP or not.
Making a bad character is not really hard. Multiclass a lot. Gimp your stats. Don't take cool feats. Gimp your BAB. Gimp your Skillpoints. Be no spellcaster beyond your level/3.
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One of my favorite (Totally unoptimized) character concepts ever was Tongtokl Stirfry, the Gnome Chef.
Backstory: He was raised in Korvosa as a slave, where he developed a talent for cooking gourmet level cuisine with bare scraps. One day, after he was beaten by his owner, in a fit of rage he grabbed a nearby frying pan, hitting is owner so hard that it killed him.
Now, he lives his life on the run, scouring the world for new recipes and ingredients to make the perfect adventuring dish.
Mechanics: I originally built him as a Monk of the Empty Hand, an archetype that specializes in using improvised weapons. The frying pans would be treated as 1d6 weapons, and I could eventually make them flaming!
Alternatively, any character that can make use of kitchen utensils (I could see a cleaver working like a Falcata if you really wanted it to, for example) as deadly weapons would work, but the Monk concept was the closest I could get to actually using appliances as weapons.
Edit*: Also, you can have a very well optimized character and still have a great personality/backstory. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Edit**: Also also, if you want to use the above character concept, you could have fun specializing in Disarm and using it as part of your Flurry of Blows. Disarm, then use the disarmed weapon as an improvised weapon. Could be lots of fun :P
If that's the direction you want to go, then make a party face. An oracle buffs, talks and heals would probably be the best way to go. It even comes with built in role play opportunities.
So my recommendation is some sort of non combat focused oracle, choose your mystery and revelations based on what skills and fluff you like.
I agree with the Bard pick. You make everyone in the party shine and Bards can be tons of fun to play.
You don't have to have a special personality for the character to play a non-optimized character. An optimized ranger and a non-optimized ranger can both be gung-ho about what they're doing, their personality can be exactly the same. One just isn't as good at combat as the other.
From the way you describe your reason for wanting to change to a "non-overpowered" character, it sounds like the party has expressed concern that your character steals the show whenever combat comes up, and that doesn't have as much to do with the character personality as with the character build and the way it's played.
That's my advice anyway. If that fails, play a class that's not as familiar to you, so you don't auto-optimize by accident.
If that fails too? Play a bard that isn't strength-based. (I've seen a couple very impressive melee bards in d20 System games over the years.)
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Opinions may vary but don't play a bard. Play a real class like inquisitor and go into melee, set up flanks and take the AoO. Focus your first spells at each spell level on removing debuffs and heals then focus on buffing to get around dr and darkness. Feat and gear for good defences and saves (dwarf is a good pick).
Personality wise, have him be arrogant and willing to go anywhere first. Also kind and very helpful if asked, but won't jump in if not wanted because it's not his place to steal another's glory. Abadar or a diety of honor should be a good choice.
To add humor s/he could be willing to try anything from new dances to drinks and foods. Not a xenophobe or someone who thinks other cultures are bad.
One party I'm in right now is this:
Bard
Bard
Ranged Paladin
Improvised Weapon Paladin
Oracle
Witch
Gun Inquisitor
Let me tell you, we're not lacking for CHA or knowledge skills. But if the adventure turns into needing to do some damage, we're boned.
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one thing you need to watchout for playing a "low power character" is that you still need to have surviveability. you should still make your saves good, hp above average, and contigencies for combat accessable.
playing a character that hits for 10 damage instead of 25 damage is fine as long as you dont play a character that has 3 hit points per level and an ac of 13.
Like others say, if you find you are overshadowing the rest of the party, try to make a character that supports their allies instead of taking on your foes directly. You dont have to focus exclusively on buffs either, they are other ways to do it. Even treantmonk's 'god wizard' has some strong advice there on how to help your allies win, instead of just beating it yourself. You can do this with any class, not just the bard.
kobold oracle with seer ACF... You could easyly make something optimized from it - but try to optimize the seer part ONLY - you know stuff - and never admit if you were wrong...
Another option:
Make a truly optimised tank. Doesn't over shodow anyone because doesn't really do a whole lot to the other side. You optimise to survive everything soak up the damage, save vs all the spells, etc... Can really help in combats without stealing the show.
I'll second the Bard. You get to be awesome out of combat, and in combat your allies will love you. And, you have a lot of fun personality options, like a fun-loving ne'er-do-well, a war-chanting warrior poet, and more!
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Step 1: Stop taking advice from the forums.
Step 2: Disregard Step 1 for Step 3.
Step 3: Play a Bard.
Good advice! (Both Step 1 and Step 3!)
Any sort of support role allows you to optimize the heck out of a character, and not outshine anyone. Some classes are built around improving their own numbers, but one that focusses on improving his allies abilities instead never runs the risk of making others feel obsolete.
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Might check out the random generators over at 7th Sanctum:
Seventh Sanctum
They've got all sorts of random things to spark ideas. Some waaaay out there, some a bit more serious. All sorts of creativity-fodder there.
If you go bard play it like Valhallen from Dexter's lab.
my advice:
make him an average joe, a city guard, a barkeep, someone with a family at home, someone "real".
Buy a lot of intelligent items that communicate at a basic level with you so that your armor gives you a "gut feeling" and your shoes=feet "know" the way to the nearest town.
How about a monk who is in fact the butler of another player?
Or a goblin gunslinger with a double hackbutt falling on his buttox every time he shoots.
Or the kobold alchemist using the healing skill trying to implant a second heart "you never know when you need it, eh?".
If you want it more common, just go with the witch, she's got everything to help the party and can use cool magic in everyday encounters thanks to her hexes.
My next "regular powered" character is a Dwarven Cook who fights with his prized frying pan.
The improvised weapon feats are pretty cool for this, and eventually enchanting the pan with the Flaming enhancement just seems awesome. I'm still not sure EXACTLY what I would do build-wise, but it's similar to the idea mentioned earlier of taking an unoptimized idea and then optimizing it.
I'd consider going with a Dual Cursed Oracle/Barbarian and heading into Rage Prophet. I'd take Lame and Haunted curses, and constantly talk with the spirits around me, curse them for disrupting my cooking, etc. (and eventually get an actual Spirit Guide!)
And I wouldn't rage cycle. That's DEFINITELY power gaming to an extreme.
So then the next thing to do, after you decide to play a bard, is to dig up Treantmonk's lab and make your Bard totally overpowered, so you can live in infamy in your gaming group as the guy who could even twink a bard.
Recently i got the advice to not play such incredible and rediculous stong characters. This was solid advice and i take it to heart. My recent characters can be played so stong that others will be snowed over. As such i am looking for advice to create a character that is not incredibly powerfull and can solo an adventure, but a character that other people enjoy having at their table.
So, i need a characters personality concept.... a base to use with roleplaying. Plus i need to make a statwise character thats good in supporting others, rater then being a one man or girl army.
Im looking for humerous character designs, in which i mean personality and looks, but not a court idiot jester way.
And im looking for a statwise characterdesign that does a lot of good outside combat and as combat support.Any ideas?
Inspire me, i need it. Im at a writers block.
Thanks.
Absolutely sounds like you're looking for a Human Lore Warden or a Halfling Bard.
Don't Min-max.
Seriously, if it's point buy, have nothing less than a 12, and maybe a 16 in your best stat, which for either oracle, bard or pally would be CHA.
What's in the party now?
When you pick out which one, I'll give you a free character idea.