Dwarf Magus

[Garfrum Helhammer]

HI everyone. I'm still somewhat new to Pathfinder and I've just now started building characters from the APG and the Magus. I'm going to be joining a PFS campaign and playing a Dwarf Magus. The concept seems very fun even though it might not be optimal.

I want him to be a Striker with some utility spells. I'm going with a warhammer. I know the crit range is horrible but it's the fluff I'm going with on this.

Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 7
Skills: Climb, Knowledge (Arcana and Planes), Spellcraft, and Swim

Traits: Anatomist (+1 to confirm crits)
Expert Duelist (Taldor Trait: +1 vs 1 adjacent opponent)

I took Iron Hide (+1 to Nat Armor) as my first feat. I'm not sure where to go from here though. Should I concentrate on combat feats to improve atk/dmg or are my feats better off elsewhere?

Thanks for any advice you post!

[GeneticDrift]

Should it be chr 5 for the -2 chr dwarves get? Maybe I added wrong or you are not using 20 pt buy. Edit yes I added wrong!

At lvl I would suggest toughness or steel soul. Iron hide isn't too bad though.

[Garfrum Helhammer]

I think you've added wrong. I was using a point buy calculator. I dropped my Wis to 8 which brings it to a 10.

[thoynan]

Power attack? Snapping turtle style? A level of unbreakable fighter to get that dwarf/orc feat that needs die hard and endurance? Maybe even stalwart.

[Kydeem de'Morcaine]

Well...

You'll probably get alot of people telling you that dwarves are the wrong race for magus, but I like them for lots of things that others don't. Darkvision, +2 con, + vs. spells... What's not to like.

Magus don't get lots of utility spells, so you may want the trait and skills into UMD even with the low charisma. But that can be argued either way.

Attack feats are never bad, but don't neglect defense too much. If you fail too many saves or get hit too often, great attacks might not matter.

But that's true for any striker build.

[Malag]

I would take whatever gives you more attack bonus to deliver those attacks and touches.
Char concept seems fun.

[Garfrum Helhammer]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Kydeem - Yeah, I alternate between optimal race/class combos and fluff combos. I brought my level 1 AC up to 16 with a chain shirt but yeah I will not forget the importance of defense.

[Black Powder Chocobo]

Personally, I'd suggest dropping the Cha to 6 and bump the Con to 14 to get the extra HP. 6-7 is still the same Cha modifier range so you don't lose out on anything by moving the point over. If you really want to be gruff and optomize your stats better, you can lower your Cha to 5 and make your Wis 12 (boost to your Will saves and all of the useful Wis skills).

You'll want to look into some metamagic feats; Intensify spell will be useful at higher levels, but isn't required immediately (probably level 7). Otherwise, pick feats

For a Trait, look into Magical Lineage. Pick your favorite first level spell (Shocking Grasp is probably the best choice) and you can apply any Level 1 metamagic feats without any increase on spell level.

For melee focus, pick a weapon with a solid crit range (rapier & scimitar are the most popular), eventually get Weapon Focus for it so you can choose Weapon Specialization at level 10 to enhance your damage.

Sincerely,
BPC

[Malag]

You should care about your Cha imo. A simple Mummy Rot can knock you down in 1 round otherwise. I wouldn't go bellow 6.

[Garfrum Helhammer]

Dropping the Cha below 7 breaks the rules of PFS. Thanks for point me towards the magical lineage. I think I'll scoop that up.

[Black Powder Chocobo]

Malag wrote:

You should care about your Cha imo. A simple Mummy Rot can knock you down in 1 round otherwise. I wouldn't go bellow 6.

Another reason to boost the Con up for a stronger Fort save to resist the disease in the first place. Good thing dwarves are hardy!

and

Jalent wrote:

Dropping the Cha below 7 breaks the rules of PFS. I think I'll scoop that up.

You can have it lower; you just can't reduce it below 7 while applying the Point Buys. Racial modifiers can then reduce the stat below 7 to a minimum of 5 in the end (see page 5 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play).

BPC

[Garfrum Helhammer]

Awesome! Thanks BPC!

[thoynan]

Or EWP dorn duerger; d10, reach, and I'd say spell combat counts as TWF for using the DD 1 handed, if you get DD mastery feat.

If you do multi class, i'd say go spire defender magus for the dodge and combat expertise for free, since a martial dip will get you martial and armor pros.

[Some Random Dood]

Garfrum Helhammer wrote:

Dropping the Cha below 7 breaks the rules of PFS. Thanks for point me towards the magical lineage. I think I'll scoop that up.

You can't drop a stat below 7 before any racial modifiers. So a dwarf could have a cha of 5 if they wanted. But if you get hit with anything that would lower your cha, it wouldn't be long before you're in a coma.

[Black Powder Chocobo]

thoynan wrote:

Or EWP dorn duerger; d10, reach, and I'd say spell combat counts as TWF for using the DD 1 handed, if you get DD mastery feat.

If you do multi class, i'd say go spire defender magus for the dodge and combat expertise for free, since a martial dip will get you martial and armor pros.

Spell combat does not count as having Two-Weapon fighting for qualifing for Dorn Dergar Mastery; same reason why Monks with Flurry of Blows can't qualify for associated TWF feats by virtue of Flurry of Blows alone. Even then, 20 only crit range hurts, although the noted reach is an interesting bonus for a dwarven flair.

As a magus, he already gets access to all martial weapons and eventually gains higher level armor proficiencies as he levels up. Finally, I'd require one helluva backstory to explain a dwarven spire defender!