Ok, I'm in uncharted waters here. I'm jumping into a game for one or two sessions with a level one character while the other PCs are around level five. My immediate thought is bard, but I've never built one and wouldn't mind some advice.
15 pt. buy, average starting cash, core races only, no traits, and pretty much anything I can find in the SRD. I'm thinking of going whole hog on knowledge skills or something else completely non combat related...
Bard seems like a good choice to me i'd go human and take extra performance and lingering performance as feats.
Play him as some kind of clerk or librabrian from the pathfinders and use oratory as in... Oh those look like bugbears Meric's Tome of Goblinoids suggests the best way to deal with them is...
Mechanics wise you'll get (assuming a 14 cha) 12 rounds of use but as it continues for 2 round after the first you can for a standard action every 3 rounds get 36 rounds of use.
Or any high (15+) charisma and the Flagbearer feat is also a good combo.
Alternatively if you want to have a fun combat idea this could work
Dawnflower Dervish
Human Bard (Dawnflower Dervish) 1
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Init: +6; Perception: +4
Hp: 13 (+1 con, +1 favored)
AC: 17, touch: 14, flat: 13 (+3 armor, +4 dex)
Fort: +1, Ref: +6, Wil: +2,
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Speed: 30 ft.
Melee Scimitar +5 (1d6+5/18-20x2)
Special Attack: Performance Battle dance (Gain +2 to hit and damage), Countersong (+2) Distraction (+6) Fascinate(dc 12), 9 rounds/day
Spells Caster Level 1st Concentration +3
Lvl 0 (-) Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Read Magic
Lvl 1 (2) Cure Light Wounds, Feather Step
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Str 08, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 08, Wis 10, Cha 15
BAB +0, CMB +0, CMD 13
Feats: Flag Bearer, Toughness
Skills: (6) Perform (Dance), 1 Perform (Oratory), Perception 1, Acrobatics 1, Spellcraft 1, Linguistics 1,
Gear: Studded Leather Armor, Scimitar, 65 gold for other items
I've been rocking a lot of combat monsters lately, and I'm really liking the idea of a glib know it all. Keeping in mind that I'm only playing him for two levels or so what are some peoples thoughts on archivist? Also what's the best way to improve my knowledge checks besides raising int? It's probably too much to hope for to get a cha boost to those...
Archivist would be interesting. If you also took flagbearer you could be granting +1 to hit, damage, AC, and saves to everyone in every combat.
There is a feat called Breadth of Experiance that if you are old enough gives you +2 to all knowledge and profession checks.
You could also make him older for an into boost.
My advice is like this:
Bard1 PBS, Precise shot
Bard2
Bard3 Rapid Shot
Bard4
Bard5 Deadly Aim or Arcane Strike
Bard6
Bard7 Harmonic Spell
Bard8
Bard9 Lingering Performance
Bard10
Bard11 Discordant Voice
and it's awesome.
Except he's not going to 11th level. He might be better off taking Toughness since otherwise he'll get dropped like a bad habit the first time he's scratched by the sort of monsters that a 5th level party will be facing.
Bard is good because in a party 4 levels above you, you'll be able to contribute something (if modestly) with your buffs and your attitude.
Make him venerable age for a total of +3 int/wis/cha. Since he's gonna die anyhow, it may as well be of old age.
Use stuff that allows you to stand in the back of the party so you won't get one-shotted.
Oh, wait: not the very back of the party, or you'll get one-shotted by the things that creep up on you from behind. Stay in the 2nd rank of a 3-rank party so the only things that will get you are ones that drop from the ceiling (or sky) and snatch your screaming body away (ceiling cat is very pro at this).
Flagbearer is good for a mostly-perma-buff.
I guess my real question is: since you're only going to be there for a couple sessions, why won't they let you create a 5th level character for it?
Except he's not going to 11th level. He might be better off taking Toughness since otherwise he'll get dropped like a bad habit the first time he's scratched by the sort of monsters that a 5th level party will be facing.
+1.
Level 1 charactare in level 5 party, right?
Race: Human, 2 feast and 1 extra skills per level
Feats: Toughness + lingering performance (lingering performance is far better than extra performance, trust me)
You won't need extra performance with lingering performance and you need Toughness to stay alive.
Stats:
Str 10
Dex 14 (for ac and saves)
Con 14 (hit points and saves)
int 12 (skills)
8 wis (low but fine)
14 char
Favored class bonus to hit points.
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I would go archer for combat. Human with pbs and rapid shot at 1st so you can stay out of melee but help with multipul attackt per turn. Be a volcal performer so you can stand and sing or resite poetry as your move action and still get a shot off once your performance has started.
Take a healing spell at first level not for your party but to keep yourself breathing then somthing els helpfull. Deadly aim would be another good feat at 3rd level.
Just my 2 cents
I guess my real question is: since you're only going to be there for a couple sessions, why won't they let you create a 5th level character for it?
It's a dungeon delve, and the rules for new characters or creating a character if yours dies are pretty clear. It's all part of the fun. On the upside I may grow a few extra levels, as exp is calculated anytime we leave and reenter the dungeon.
Archivist would be interesting. If you also took flagbearer you could be granting +1 to hit, damage, AC, and saves to everyone in every combat.
There is a feat called Breadth of Experiance that if you are old enough gives you +2 to all knowledge and profession checks.
You could also make him older for an into boost.
This right here has given me a great idea. Thank you.
For anyone who's interested here is the build I came up with.
Zabble Dawdletossel
Gnome, Archivist Bard 1
Male, 3ft 5in, 38lbs, Slightly golden skin and eyes, a shock of green hair, 173 years old.
AC 13 (FF 13, T 9), 8 HP, Speed 20ft.
Stats: Str 7, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 18
Saves: Fort 0, Ref +1, Will +3
Feats: Breadth of experience
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana, Dung., Local, Nature, Planes, Religion) +10, Perception +5, Spellcraft +7, Perform (oratory) +8.
Equipment: Studded leather armor, Buckler, Spell component pouch, backpack, bedroll, blanket, chalk, paper, scroll cases (90.5 gp, 15.75 lbs.)
Spells: 0-Detect Magic, Flare, Light, Resistance; 1-Cure light wounds, Vanish; Once per Day- Dancing lights, Ghost sound, Prestidigitation, Speak with animals
Class Abilities: Bardic knowledge, Bardic performance (8/day; countersong, distraction, fascinate, naturalist)
Meet Zabble, an old studious gnome who tires of reading and writing about exotic things and sets out to see them. I see him babbling all the time about everything he sees, being amazed by creatures and talking incesently about them (giving his allies bonuses or hindering foes while doing so). He'll avoid fights and combat, hopefully bumbling himself to safety...
Any critiques, thoughts, or oversights on my part?
His AC is one higher. I forgot the bonus for being small...
Does you gm use difficult terrain much? if so featherstep would be a great spell to have on tap as it can enable a melee character free movement.
Otherwise my only concern would be if you do go one to gain a few levels is he still going to be fun to play with the bad physical stats?
Also you could give him a whip. He is proficient in it as a bard (i think) and if you have nothing better to do in a round you can use it to aid another who is in 15 feet of you giving them +2 to hit or ac (and the image of the little wizzened man flailing at foes berrating them and cajoking his companions to do better is ammusing).
For anyone who's interested here is the build I came up with.
** spoiler omitted **
Meet Zabble, an old studious gnome who tires of reading and writing about exotic things and sets out to see them. I see him babbling all the time about everything he sees, being amazed by creatures and talking incesently about them (giving his allies bonuses or hindering foes while doing so). He'll avoid fights and combat, hopefully bumbling himself to safety...
Any critiques, thoughts, or oversights on my part?
Char 18 and int 16 is overkill.
Char 16 and int 14 is enough. Especially int is far to high.Raise dex and con to at least 12.
edit:
You can't boost your party with Bardic performance if you use Vanish, unless you use volcal performance, but performance may make Vanish pointless. I would swap it for grease.
Did I miss grease on the Bard spell list? How did I do that? And the high int ended up working in my favor, but I could have survived with cha 14 and a higher dex or con.
He lived, he was a blast, aid another and flare and constant babbling to provide the naturalist bonus worked like a charm. For a one shot character he was great. Now I want to make a whip wielding archeologist for extended play...
Did I miss grease on the Bard spell list? How did I do that? And the high int ended up working in my favor, but I could have survived with cha 14 and a higher dex or con.
He lived, he was a blast, aid another and flare and constant babbling to provide the naturalist bonus worked like a charm. For a one shot character he was great. Now I want to make a whip wielding archeologist for extended play...
Nice it all worked out for you. :-)
Archeologist are fun but only get their Archaeologist’s Luck for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Charisma modifier. They don't get the +2 rounds of performance (Archaeologist’s Luck) each level they level up, but that isn't really a big problem. Just get lingering performance and you be alright.