Monk, weapon adept?
Fighter weapon Master?
Magus staff fighter?
Something I am not thinking of?
Say at around level 7 or so, that way the build has time to take a little shape.
boink
hm,,,completely unexpected answer.
do you do a roughly even split of levels? My initial thought of that is mostly monk
I would think that just enough monk to get any feats/ class abilitys you want then throw the rest into druid.
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I would go with a ranger with the nirmanthi irregular archetype. It lets him make use of a few druid spells, and the one I would pick (and get a few pearls of power for) is shillelagh.
A TWF ranger fighting with a 2d6 (3d6 with lead blades) double weapon is pretty neat, and he doesn't need high dexterity to qualify for it.
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Monk, weapon adept?
Fighter weapon Master?
Magus staff fighter?
Something I am not thinking of?Say at around level 7 or so, that way the build has time to take a little shape.
TWF Ranger would be an excellent choice. You can dump Dex, get high Strength (followed by a high Con) and two-handed Power Attack anytime you can get a full attack.
A Weapon Adept or Martial Artist Monk would be good choices, too.
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I would go with a ranger with the nirmanthi irregular archetype. It lets him make use of a few druid spells, and the one I would pick (and get a few pearls of power for) is shillelagh.
A TWF ranger fighting with a 2d6 (3d6 with lead blades) double weapon is pretty neat, and he doesn't need high dexterity to qualify for it.
The only issue with this build is that it gets weaker over time, to the point where it's better to just have a magic weapon with some enhancements on it. A +3 quarterstaff is better than a shillelagh (+3 [1d6+3] vs. +1 [2d6+1]: +2 to hit for only -1.5 to damage); at this point the nirmanthi irregular should grab himself an enhanced quarterstaff and prepare a higher level druid spell such as mad monkies.
I would go with a ranger with the nirmanthi irregular archetype. It lets him make use of a few druid spells, and the one I would pick (and get a few pearls of power for) is shillelagh.
The what archetype ??? Where does that come from ?
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The Druid/Monk build I like is Druid 1/Monk X. Take the growth subdomain with your druid level and you get 3+WISMOD uses of swift enlarge person per day. Combine that with shillelagh and you're flurrying a 3d6 +1 weapon with no need to enchant it. Great saves. The weakness of this build is AC, though wis to ac and monks robe helps. The benefit of not needing dex for the 2 weapon feats is offset by needing dex for AC.
The staff magus is gonna be cool but I'm not a huge fan. Not much different play-wise than straight magus, just a specific weapon.
For pure martial power, as always it's hard to go wrong with fighter. You mentioned weapon master but two-weapon warrior is certainly worth a look also. You're probably the least MAD since d10 hit dice means you can afford a lower con, and other bonuses to damage mean a lower str is ok, although of course you can't dump either. With all the bonuses to hit you'll see this is probably the best suited to taking Greater TWF, since you're the one most likely to actually hit with the -10 attack. Being able to take specialization without taking quarterstaff master is a nice perk too. Some people find fighter boring, but those people are bored by kicking ass. And you're going to have enough feats for every quarterstaff related feat you can think of.
Ranger is another nice possibility, free twf feats, again without the dex requirement, and of course ranger has some other cool stuff going for it. Flanker buddy helps. Would point out that though it's not RAW, some dm's may say a metal weapon is required for lead blades.
How about ninja? don't worry about str because you're sneak attacking for damage. Good amount of feats, good dex synergy, good cha to go the enforcer/bludgeoner route (or just get a merciful staff). Of course rogue has many of the same benefits but is usually strictly worse if you're looking for out and out melee prowess.
And finally, I'll throw an out of the box one at you. Wood Oracle. Wood bond is a really nice revelation that keeps you up with max bab, wood weapon lets you pull a keen staff out of your you-know-where (and it's the only way to get that). Admittedly it's still only 19-20. Obviously the draw of this one is that you're a full caster. With a high CHA, eldritch heritage unlocks a couple cool possiblities to raise str and natural armor. This applies to ninja as well.
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Why not just look it up on pfsrd? There is a typo admittedly...
Oops.
And finally, I'll throw an out of the box one at you. Wood Oracle. Wood bond is a really nice revelation that keeps you up with max bab, wood weapon lets you pull a keen staff out of your you-know-where (and it's the only way to get that). Admittedly it's still only 19-20. Obviously the draw of this one is that you're a full caster. With a high CHA, eldritch heritage unlocks a couple cool possiblities to raise str and natural armor. This applies to ninja as well.
This is a neat idea. You also get access to shillelagh with this one, and Wood Bond makes you nearly as good as a full BAB class when attacking with a quarterstaff. (nearly as good because you still don't qualify for feats like a fighter would)
With a 20 point-buy, you could do stats like
Str 16, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 14
and pick up Two-Weapon Fighting and Double Slice.
That will suit casting until level 10, at which point you will easily have a headband. Get a belt of giant's strength, and upgrade it to give +2 to dexterity by the time you reach level 9 for Improved TWF.
Wood weapon is actually kind of meh IMO, other than being able to make it keen it's actually worse than a shillelagh'd stick off the ground.
very cool. thanks all. just have to decide the fluff of the character which will determine the build.
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If playing in Golarion, a wood oracle with the Eldritch Heritage (abyssal) feats would really feel like home in the demon-infested forests of Tanglebriar, fighting Treerazer's horrors. Too bad elves make pretty mediocre oracles, otherwise both the flavor and the crunch would be spot on. Inner conflict, great mechanics, everything fitting well.
I second the wood oracle. I love the flavor and you can conjure your own staff if you lose your main one. Not a bad deal.
Rogue
Feats:
TWF
Bludgener
Sap Adept
Sap Master
Enforcer
Get a wand of Shillelagh or a magic item to cast it (maybe use-activated on the quarterstaff itself). As mentioned a +3 staff is usually better, so if you can get that instead thats also good.
2d6 +1 (enhancement) + 8 (sap adept) + 8d6 (sneak attack/sap master) + strength (half with offhand)
44 damage average (plus strength) with each hit.
Ok, it's nonlethal damage, but also gives you a free intimidate check to make them shaken as a bonus. And nonlethal knocks them out just as well.
At level 8 get Combat Trick for ITWF and then if you want Dazzling Display and Shatter Defenses (to take even more advantage of the shaken condition and make your own sneak attack openers)
Granted, not very viable in an undead heavy campaign.
ok ... looking at the wood oracle and wood armor revelation . that armor bonus will not stack with your armor (like say chainmail) right? Seems a little bit on the worthless side. At least until you get the dr 10/ slashing.
Wood oracle is good, but I would say staff magus is the best. Free quarterstaff master at level one means you start off strong and versatile with the staff. Plus the staff wielding mage is such a classic character in fantasy gaming. It's the closest thing to Gandalf you'll get in pathfinder.
Theoretically, could someone take 3 lvls of rogue for...weapon training, WF: Quarterstaff, the free weapon finesse and apply their dex bonus to double weapon quarterstaff damage, then take 1 lvl wood oracle for wood bond and some heals..and then staff magus the rest of the way?
It sounds like you want Str (one end of the quarterstaff isn't finessable), Dex and Int all high, while not dumping Con or Cha, and hard-dumping Wis is seldom useful. Also you'll get 2nd level spells at 8th level, 3rd at 11th. Whether it's possible or not do you really want to?
The Necromancy is strong with this one.