I'm trying to come up with a character with as high as possible passive AC at level one without being useless at doing damage..
I don't want to include the possibility of using the Rich Parents trait.
Right now I am looking at a Grippli Zen Archer, but I am trying to see if there are better options.
Any thoughts?
Well off the top of my head:
Dex-based Magus (sans Dervish Dance)
22=4 Dex (18 AC)+4 AC (Armor or Mage Armor)+4 Shield (Shield spell)+10
If by passive you mean no spells, then the zen archer monk isn't a bad choice as long as you keep both your Dex and Wis high. Unfortunately, you'll also want a relatively high Str (for composite bows), so you start having to sacrifice somewhere. If you go with 16 in both Wis and Dex, or 18 in Dex and 14 in Wis, you have an AC of 16. You may be able to pull off a 17, but at the cost of a lower Str and fewer skill points.
Another good option would be a Dex based fighter or paladin. With a Dex of 18, you can still wear hide and get another +4 to your AC, for a total of 18 AC. You'll have a good amount of starting money (average 175 gold for both of those). If you roll high enough (or your DM allows max gold at start) you may even be able to afford the Chain Shirt, which will give you +4 AC with a lower armor check penalty and no penalty to speed.
If you go with fighter, think about using a scimitar so that you can use Dervish Dance. It's a feat that allows you to use your Dex for damage with the scimitar.
hmm cool idea, I have always loved Dex-based Paladins..
Maybe a halfling..
Dex 18, small, hide armor, that's 19 right there...
Or if I went fighter I could afford the Dodge feat to and get to 20...
The Zen Archer idea I had was low Str, but took 16's in both Dex and Wis (which both become 18 with racial boni) plus small and Dodge as his Monk bonus feat put him at Ac 20 (and touch AC 20 no less) But then he wouldn't do a heck of a lot of damage.
And yes, by passive I mean no spells/temporary bonuses.
A Halfling ranged Paladin could be a really fun concept! The Grippli idea is neat too, I didn't realize it received a Dex and Wis bonus. Seems perfect for a Zen Archer, but the damage would be low as you said.
The Halfling Sacred Shield has a very high AC at the cost of losing out on damage output. You could use a weapon that benefits from Weapon Finesse to boost attack, but I'm not sure how you'd boost damage. You can't use a ranged weapon with the shield and Dervish Dance would be out as well. If you dropped the Dex back down to 10, you could raise Str and still have a 20 in AC (24 with Bastion of Goodness). Actually, looking at the tower shield closer now, it has a max Dex of +2 anyway, so you wouldn't get the full +3.
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Halfling Sacred Shield
Stats
Str 10
Dex 16
Con 12
int 10
wis 10
Cha 18Tower shield Proficiency
Highest armor you can get with tower shield (150 gold base here)
Scale mail27 =10 + 5 (scale mail) + 1 Size + 4 shield + 3 Dex + 4 Deflection (Bastion of Goodness)
Please note that bastion of goodness is a smite evil replacement and lasts only against that single enemy until they die
1 less. Tower shield chunks the max dex down to +2. Changing the armor to chainmail, which has the same max dex as tower shield would put it back to 23 without the conditional deflection. That seems like the best you can get as a non-conditional AC is 23. Dodge feat would bring that to 24. 180 gold for the armor and shield, so possible in a normal campaign, but not PFS.
This type of setup leads to a great sacrifice of offense to gain defense. It would also take a decent amount of point buy dedication. The armor and shield weight 42.5 pounds for small versions. Small race with max points in strength would have 16, which allows 76 pounds before you take penalties with medium encumbrance, namely the speed reduction
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Halfling fighter 1
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 9
-Hide armour and a heavy wooden shield
-Dodge and Defender of the Society
AC 23, touch 17, flat-footed 18 (armour +4, Dex +4, Dodge +1, shield +2, size +1, trait +1)
AC 23, and he can pick up a breastplate at level 3 for 25 before enhancements. But wow, low damage. :)
I've managed to get 26 AC.
Halfling Fighter (base of 10 AC)
Size +1
Defender of Society Trait +1
Dexterity +2
Dodge +1
Four Mirror Armour +6
Tower Shield +4
Armoured Kilt +1
20pt buy
OniSpawn Tiefling
Str 18
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 5
Chain Mail +6, Armored Kilt +1, Tower Shield +4, Dex +2, Trait +1, Feat armor of the pit +2, Feat Shield Focus +1
AC 27, only goes to 25FF, Touch is bad but oh well. Go weapon master fighter to improve on damage. Other trait Sword Scion use long sword to make up for the -2 for tower shield.
Damage at level 1 will be +4 to hit for 1d8+4, so average 8, you should be able to outlast and kill things. You could also just go heavy shield and you know only have a 25 AC but be at +6 to hit.
Kobold Fighter (1)
AC = 10 + 9 (armor) +5 (tower shield w/focus) +1 (dex) +1 (size) +1 (dodge)+1 (natural)
Feats: Dodge, Shield Focus
28 AC
WITH traits, Defender of society.
29AC.
An added rule was: you have to use the money a level 1 char starts with...
Also wondering how you guys get 2 feats at level 1?
An added rule was: you have to use the money a level 1 char starts with...
Also wondering how you guys get 2 feats at level 1?
Fighters get bonus feats.
If you're looking for defense capability there is always the master of many styles monk archetype and either get the snake style as a monk bonus feat or go human monk and get dodge and crane style for the bonus human feat and a feat for being first level and then take crane wing as your bonus monk feat and you can start deflecting one melee attack per round while fighting defensively. Your AC would be vary depending on the point buy you used as you also add your wisdom bonus to your AC. You could potentially have 22 AC when fighting defensively if you had 18 dex and wis + 1 for dodge, and +3 for fighting defensively with crane style along with throwing in the fact that you can deflect one melee attack per turn which can save you from getting nat 20'd. Be warned, you DM might cry OP as the only way he could touch you would be ranged attacks (you could always pick up deflect arrow to counter this at another level), multiple melee attacks (but seeing how you have a high ac to begin with he would need two attacks to land which wouldn't be likely even if you were being flanked), or magic (and you already have high saves being a monk so that helps you there). The only thing that can really screw you over is being caught flat-footed.
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Hmm...
Oni-Spawn Tiefling Fighter 1; Feats: Armor of the Pit, Dodge
Traits: Defender of the Society, [One Other]
STR+ 17
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14 (or 12)
WIS+ 14 (or 16)
CHA: 5
Equipment (Assuming 150 gp starting buy; PFS Legal):
Four-Mirror Armor: 45 gp
Tower Shield: 30 gp
AC: 10 + 6 (Armor) + 4 (Shield) + 2 (DEX) + 2 (Natural) + 1 (Dodge) + 1 (Trait) = 26
If we don't have to worry about it being PFS legal, can combine Armored Kilt with Four-Mirror Armor to make it AC 27.
Can always fight defensively for another +2 AC.
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PFS-based AC
Defense:
AC: 25+1* (10 + 2 DEX Mod (Max DEX 2) + 6 Armor (Four-Mirror Armor) + 4 Shield (Tower Shield) + 1 Size (Halfling) + 1 AC (Defender of the Society Combat Trait) + 1 Dodge (Dodge))
Fighting Defensively: 29+1* ((10 + 2 DEX Mod (Max DEX 2) + 6 Armor (Four-Mirror Armor) + 4 Shield (Tower Shield) + 1 Size (Halfling) + 1 AC (Defender of the Society Combat Trait)) + 2 Dodge (Fighting Defensively) + 2 Dodge (Cautious Fighter) + 1 Dodge (Dodge))
*If enemy is larger than you, +1 AC (Dodge) to total (Underfoot Racial Trait)
Dip into 2 levels of Master of Many Styles afterwards to obtain Crane Style/Wing so when you are Fighting Defensivly, you gain a +5 AC(Dodge) to your total (+6 if you have 3 ranks in Acrobatics). Third level Base feat can be Shield Focus to gain +1 AC (Shield). And if a melee attack does hit a base 31(32) AC, the first attack will be negated by Crane Wing.
I got a Seeker who sort of does that. However, you are aiming towards something that has a bit more offense. My character usually goes towards Total Defense to maximize his support buffs.
Hmm...
Oni-Spawn Tiefling Fighter 1; Feats: Armor of the Pit, Dodge
Traits: Defender of the Society, [One Other]
STR+ 17
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14 (or 12)
WIS+ 14 (or 16)
CHA: 5Equipment (Assuming 150 gp starting buy; PFS Legal):
Four-Mirror Armor: 45 gp
Tower Shield: 30 gpAC: 10 + 6 (Armor) + 4 (Shield) + 2 (DEX) + 2 (Natural) + 1 (Dodge) + 1 (Trait) = 26
If we don't have to worry about it being PFS legal, can combine Armored Kilt with Four-Mirror Armor to make it AC 27.
Can always fight defensively for another +2 AC.
Merfolk. They get a Natural AC bonus of +2
Swap Armor of the Pit with Improved Natural Armor for +1.The rest is the same.
That's 27AC. Definately NOT PFS legal.
I don't think Armored Kilt stacks with other armors, and if it did you can have 28AC, but you'd be out of cash. In that case your second trait would probably be heirloom weapon.
From memory kilt stats with everything except heavy armour.
I can't believe nobody mentioned kobolds yet. A fighter with kikko armor, tower shield and armored kilt has 20 + 1 natural + 1 size + 1 improved natural armor + 1 dodge + however much you spend on Dex+1 (because racial bonus to dex)
So let's say we put dex to a 16 base, kobold bonus turning it to 18, we have AC 28
@Threeshades, nope wrong, tower shield has a max dex of +2 so going above 14 is pointless unless going towershield specialist
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I've managed to get 26 AC.
Halfling Fighter (base of 10 AC)
Size +1
Defender of Society Trait +1
Dexterity +2
Dodge +1
Four Mirror Armour +6
Tower Shield +4
Armoured Kilt +1
Just means you'll be the last person to drop, as your enemies focus on everyone else in your party. Why should I bother with the tiny midget I can't hit whose only pricking me for damage when I've got this much easier to hit barbarian with that big sword who will chop me in half?
When they finally do get to you, they'll settling for a grapple and pin before they finally CDG you.
In a more practical sense, aside from just wanting a high AC to reduce the chances of being hit by melee or ranged attacks that target AC....
THIS.(above quoted)
I recommend rounding out your defenses. That's one of the reasons I love Monks.
At first level, with a Vanaras Qinggong Monk having a +4 mod in Dex and Wis, I believe AC, Touch AC, and CMD were all 20+. The wonderful thing is that many spells and bonuses stack wonderfully on them. His CMD vs Trip and Bull Rush were at 25. This is flat, before spells or enhancements. His saves are good, of course.
I just wish their damage wasn't so piddley. That's why we have druids to mix them with for colossal fist damage ;D
@Threeshades, nope wrong, tower shield has a max dex of +2 so going above 14 is pointless unless going towershield specialist
i was so taken up by checking the armors' max dexs that i didn't think of that. Then four mirror armor and with that a 27 AC it is, I guess. At least that saves some Ability buy points for Str and Con.