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Okay, here's the story. I'm a longtime DM who finally has a chance to play. I've statted up a rather unconventional human barbarian for backstory / flavor / enjoyment reasons, and he functions well. He is a tad under-optimized, however, and I have no idea where to go with his feats, from here.
Here's the build, for starters. For the record, the campaign is set in Golarion, and this character was raised by an Irisian witch (who is also a fellow PC). Because of how and where he was raised, he has some kind of connection with the spirits, and views ravens as omens of good luck... hence the totem and feat selections.
Gandir Witch-Son
CG adult human barbarian (armored hulk) 3
Favored Class
+3 hp
Str 16
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 10
Cha 16
Rage Powers
Lesser Spirit Totem
Feats
Alertness
Skill Focus (Knowledge [nature])
Eldritch Heritage (arcane [arcane bond: raven familiar])
Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills
Intimidate 3 ranks
Knowledge (nature) 3 ranks
Perception 3 ranks
Magic Items
+1 full plate
+1 heavy wooden shield
everburning torch
Traits
Birthmark (+2 vs. charm and compulsion)
Courageous (+2 vs. fear)
So... I've had one session with him. He does okay. This character has an AC of 24, (or 22 when raging). He hits for a very modest 1d8+3 (or 1d8+5 when raging). Whenever I rage, negative-energy spirits surround me and make slam attacks for 1d4+3 damage against each enemy in melee with me (that's my Lesser Spirit Totem). My damage ends up pretty decent (especially against groups of enemies), and my defenses are quite excellent.
The raven familiar that I put two feats into has come in handly already, though the choice is clearly a sub-optimal one, mechanically. The Alertness feat and scouting and speaking capacities of the raven have been useful, though.
What I'd like to do is find a way to use the raven for something. He's got a +7 to hit because familiar BAB is equal to the master's BAB, and he comes with Weapon Finesse. Is there any way I can add anything useful to the raven's attack? Also, do familiars gain feats as their "effective Hit Die" incfrease, or does a familiar's "effective Hit Die" not include the benefit of additional feats?
At level 15 or so, I'll be able to cast scrying on my raven as a spell-like ability; so that's neat.
As for my feats, I figure I can take Eldritch Heritage (stormborn) to get the shocking weapon ability, since Skill Focus (Knowledge [nature]) already qualifies me. There's nothing useful in the arcane bloodline, so I'm locked out of the rest of that tree. I could optimize my "tanking" abilities. Shield Focus? Saving Shield? Something else?
If it helps, the rest of my party consists of:
A human necromancy-focused witch with the plague patron;
A human master summoner, specializing in summoning hordes of augmented summoned monsters; and
A melee-oriented catfolk rogue speciaizing in dominating the surprise round.
My team is a bit "squishy" and lacks a healer, hence my concern. For now, I'm surviving okay. My sixth-level Spirit Totem rage power will help a bit, and my tenth-level Greater Spirit Totem rage power borders on the insanely broken (it's a great ability, if you have the hard-to-come-by Charisma to back it up). As far as using the raven and selecting my feats, I'm kind of at a loss.
Oh, and there's no way I could pick up any healing abilities is there? Mind you, I don't want to level-dip in any other class. At least not until after level 10. I want to keep my BAB and rage rounds up, and I want to grab Greater Spirit Totem as early as humanly possible.
Thoughts and advice, O' wise and powerful forum optimizers?
Looks to me like Lesser Spirit Totem makes one slam attack per round, not one per enemy adjacent to you.
And unless your DM is houseruling it, you can't take Eldritch Heritage multiple times. Like any feat, it can be taken only once unless it specifically says it can be taken multiple times.
Nothing particularly useful with the familiar comes to mind; you could try to enhance its AC and use it as a flanking buddy, with with hordes of summons that niche seems covered.
It looks like you are missing your human bonus skill ranks.
Your familiar has half your (BARBARIAN!!!) hit points, which is nice.
That is probably close to the full hit points of a typical sorcerer, witch or wizard.
Maybe take Improved Familiar and get a Celestial or Entropic Raven? Or something that looks like a raven?
The raven has your ranks in intimidate, but with its charisma, that's not much help.
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@ PhelanArcetus: Ah, you're right. No multiple Eldritch Heritage selections and I misread the Lesser Spirit Totem. Well, that's that, then. As for the raven as a flanking buddy... he's Tiny-sized, so he doesn't threaten.
Fortunately, the Spirit Totem tree is still quite good, but now I'm aware that I'm even less optimized than I thought! Still no idea about what feat to take at 5th, either. Especially with Eldritch Heritage forever out of the question. Is there any way I can put my uncommonly-high Charisma to work for me? Any good stand-alone feats with Charisma prerequsites that I can take?
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@ SmiloDan: I traded my Skilled racial trait for the Heart of the Fields racial variant that allows me to ignore fatigue once per day. That way I can sleep in my armor without waking up tired.
Also, yeah... my raven has great hp for a familiar, and a huge BAB. He's pretty much the king of all ravens. And still useless, except as a scout and messenger (which is use enough, I suppose).
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Question: Is there an easy way to ignore the -4 penalty for dealing nonlethal damage with a longsword? If so, I could take Enforcer, later. That's a pretty good feat, sets up the witch to stack on increased fear effects, penalizes saves, and hurts enemy saves and DPR which contributes to my "tank / utility" role.
Also, am I missing any really good rage powers? Most of them look rather medicore to me right now, but I could always take Extra Rage Power.
Ravens can speak a language and carry at least 3lbs without being encumbered. I've always enjoyed using them to drop alchemists fire/acid/etc. on my enemies, but that's me.
The witch should be able to heal.
Too bad you spent a feat on Weapon Focus already. Otherwise I would suggest the combo of Bludgeoner (cause non-lethal damage with bludgeoning weapons with no penalty) and Enforcer. My paladin has this, and it works pretty well.
I guess you can spend 8000 gold pieces on a merciful longsword +1.
Too bad you can't take the Evolved Familiar feat...then you could add reach or something to your familiar.
Greetings, fellow travellers.
Interesting concept. I like it.
Some crunch:
I fail to see the ravens +7 Atk bonus. +3 from your BAB, +2 from his Dex.
Familiars do not gain feats, even though their effective HD equal their master's - that's more for e. g. saving throws or the question if they are/how are they affected by certain spells (color spray, sleep etc.)
For healing I would take the rage power Renewed Vigor. It gives you 1d8 per 4 HD barbarian + CON-bonus hp once per day/rage? Something like that.
Further rage powers I like: Superstition and Witch Hunter - but that might contradict your theme (or does it fit, since you know so much about witches/spellcasters - think FE from the ranger class).
For dipping: how much rounds of rage per day do you need? AKA: do you play with a 15 mins. work day or do you have multiple encounters/ long dungeon crawls without rest?) Otherwise 15 to 20 should be plenty. Might even dip into Witch (Can you use the raven as familiar for the witch? Hm, might be house rule territory) and get the Healing Hex.
Ruyan.
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I could dip magus, maybe, and use that one hex-y archetype to grab a hex that way. That'd be after level 10, though, and I've got an 8 Intelligence. EDIT: Our witch player = my girlfriend, so I bet I can convince her to take the healing hex next level.
Oh, the other +2 on the raven's attack bonus comes from his Tiny size.
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Power Attack is still viable. Use a quick-draw shield, and when raging, use the longsword two-handed for 1.5x strength and -1/+3 Power Attack. Yes you'll have to lose the heavy shield, but if you like, say that having your arm weighed down makes it hard for the spirits to talk to you. :D
You definitely want Improved Familiar later on. Your options seem to be:
Celestial/Entropic Raven: Pretty meh, although it can smite evil/law; no attack boost because of low charisma, but a hefty damage boost for a specific fight.
Cassisian Angel: Wearing a helmet that can fly around, gives you a protective aura, detects evil, has truespeech, and can polymorph? Ask your GM if instead of a dove it can turn into a raven, and it's just like your raven got a serious upgrade, or maybe was an angel all along.
Lyrakien Azata: My personal favourite. Detects evil and magic at will, can cure light wounds 1/day (to stabilize your unconscious body), and has an amazing charisma score, meaning you can put some points into UMD and it can actually make use of them; its best feature, however, is removing fatigue or exhaustion once per day. Stop wasting heart of the fields on sleeping in armour, and save it for rage cycling instead. :)
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I am very sure my GM would go for the "raven instead of dove" Cassisian Angel, and I actually have a birthmark (via the Birthmark trait) in the form of Desna's holy symbol. That particular celestial is the wrong alignment, though. Although... can't angels have any good alignment?
I need to read up on angels.
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And I just read that angels come in all three good alignments. Their alignment just dictates what plane they call home. So I can even have a CG one! Now, the next question...
What level do I have to be to take a Cassian angel for a familiar? The SRD entry for that creature says: "A spellcaster must meet the proper prerequisites and have the Improved Familiar feat to gain a cassisian familiar."
Do I have to be a spellcaster? What are "the proper prerequisites?" Every eligible creature on the Improved Familiar list specifies a required arcane caster level. Am I barred from qualifying because I'm not an arcane caster? I have a faux "sorcerer level" from the Eldritch Heritage feat, but that's not an arcane caster level.
We play a pretty RAW game, so I don't know if this is possible. The wording on this feat is... inconsistent, though. The "Prerequisite" line on the table just says "ability to acquire a familiar, see text," and the prerequisite line in the feat itself says "ability to acquire a new familiar, compatible alignment, sufficiently high level (see below)." The table itself says "arcane spellcaster level," which I suppose I do have. I don't have a caster level, but I have a spellcaster level... right? Because I have an "effective sorcerer level" for this familiar, and a sorcerer is a spellcaster.
All very confusing. I think I qualify... but I still don't know at what level!
Cassisian angel requires 7th level caster.
Eldritch says your caster level is your character level -2.
So you will qualify at level 9 to gain the improved familiar feat.
The improved familiar feat says familiar can be one step away from character alighment, so NG to CG should be fine.
edit: It might work better story-wise if the witch upgrades her familiar as well.
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Eldritch Heritage would qualify you for the CL 3 familiars at 5, CL 5 familiars at 7, and CL 7 familiars at 9. You definitely qualify.
Rage prophet is not really something I would use for your character. The problem is the 3/4 BAB, which means you're making yourself a poorer warrior for some low-level cleric spells.
With the way you've gone so far, here is where I would take your character:
1 Skill Focus: Knowledge (Nature), Weapon Focus (Longsword)
2 Lesser Spirit Totem
3 Eldritch Heritage (Arcane)
4 Strength Surge (con +1)
5 Power Attack
6 Spirit Totem
7 Raging Vitality
8 Clear Mind (str +1)
9 Improved Familiar
10 Greater Spirit Totem
11 Furious Focus (By this point you should have either lost the shield entirely, or gone with a dancing variety)
12 Come and Get Me (str +1)
Go for Lore Oracle (lame) - nice boosts to AC/REF and ragecycling.
within 4 levels you lose 1 BAB and get some nice stuff - definitifly an option. Maybe even 5 levels dualcursed ti fit the theme (fortune, misfortune)
edit: I'd get Furious Focus earlier.
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Okay, so I can take Improved Familiar at 9th.
So my feat and rage power progresion through 10th level right now looks something like:
1st - Skill Focus (Knowledge [nature])
1st - Weapon Focus (longsword)
2nd - Lesser Spirit Totem
3rd - Eldritch Heritage (arcane [arcane bond: familiar])
4th - Guarded Life
5th - ???
6th - Spirit Totem
7th - ???
8th - Greater Guarded Life
9th - Improved Familiar (Cassian angel)
10th - Greater Spirit Totem
After all that, I may consider going for rage prophet (which means taking Moment of Clarity somewhere in there, or at 12th). A little light on the offense, but it's a start.
Question: An Cassian angel would keep it's supernatural and spell-like abilities in "raven form," would it not? The aura, spell-likes, and such don't depend on physical form, as far as I can tell. What about DR and resistances? Would it keep those?
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Your familiar using UMD wouldn't help you with casting lead blades because it's a personal spell. You can cast personal spells on your familiar, but the connection doesn't go both ways AFAIK.
If you do want to take any oracle levels, being an oracle of metal would give you access to lead blades and you'd be able to move faster in heavy armour.
It's up to you, however, to figure out why a wild-raised barbarian is an oracle of metal. Something to do with the armoured hulkness? Maybe his armour has started fusing to his skin?
If you acquire a magic helmet you are required to use a spear as your primary weapon (and take ranks in perform (opera))
Instead of Intimidating Glare I'd go for Dazzling Display which let's you demoralize all opponents in 30 feet (full-round action vs. move action; Rage Power vs. Feat, needs Weapon Focus as prereq).
Also, are you still set on healing - as limited as it is, I'd still consider taking Renewed Vigor for 1d8/4 HD + CON-Bonus (1/day while raging).
Ruyan.
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Instead of Intimidating Glare I'd go for Dazzling Display which let's you demoralize all opponents in 30 feet (full-round action vs. move action; Rage Power vs. Feat, needs Weapon Focus as prereq).
Also, are you still set on healing - as limited as it is, I'd still consider taking Renewed Vigor for 1d8/4 HD + CON-Bonus (1/day while raging).
Ruyan.
Dazzling Display is not very good. I would rather he spend his full round attacking the enemy than intimidating them; at least with Intimidating Glare he still has a standard action to use.
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Yyyyyyeeeeeesssss... magic HELMET.
Anyway, we picked up a healer! So that's good news. I'm tighter on feats than on rage powers, but Dazzling Display + Terrifying Howl would be pretty excellent crowd control, although I'd have to waste a rage power on Intimidating Glare. No biggie, though.
Against non-living targets, I'm hosed (no fear, no spirit slams), but hey... at least I've got, um, a... raven...
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Against non-living targets, rage and make them sit down. I would very much suggest pushing towards Raging Vitality so that you don't instantly die when dropped below 0. I would also suggest Strength Surge as a rage power so that you have a toolbox of combat manoeuvres; you don't need to be trained with any of them if you can add your barbarian level as a bonus to them.
Charisma is an odd stat for a barbarian. It tends to be used for supernatural effects, spontaneous casters, and Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Perform, and Use Magic Device.
Can you re-build your PC a bit? Maybe change a trait to Dangerously Curious, forget about that alternate race ability and use the extra skill point for Use Magic Device? Then pick up some wands for versatility.
Or maybe try Rage Prophet?
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With the way oracle curses work (thanks Mergy), I am definately considering an oracle dip at some point, and probably rage prophet soon after. Given that I'm the party "tank", being able to free-action rage, then free-action drop rage after my turn is pretty much a dream come true.
Raging Vitality and/or Guarded Life are on my wish list. My Con is only 14 (I'm going to work on putting up Strength), and cure spells heal an equal amount of lethal and nonlethal damage, if you have both, so I think Guarded Life will end up being what I take. That'll make life easier on our new healer. I'll probably take it via Extra Rage Power at 5th.
Here's my progression at the moment (11 barbarian levels):
1 Rage, Skill Focus (Knowledge [nature]), Weapon Focus (longsword)
2 Lesser Spirit Totem
3 Eldritch Heritage (arcane [arcane bond: familiar])
4 Intimidating Glare
5 Extra Rage Power (guarded life)
6 Spirit Totem
7 Dazzling Display
8 Terrifying Howl
9 Improved Familiar (cassian angel)
10 Greater Spirit Totem
11 Shield Focus , Greater Rage
Then maybe dip oracle for immunity to fatigue. Actually, that's such a good ability, I might even consider dipping after 8th, then going back to barbarian. It delays Greater Spirit Totem and Greater Rage, though. Not sure that's worth it for what amounts to a +2 AC. Being able to drop and pick up rage on a whim is very significant, though. Still deciding.
I'd prefer Lore over Metal.
I would go Flame and take Cinder Dance. An additional +10 to speed. Also, you can eventually get wings of fire, which also help your mobility.