So, in the PFS forum, I first asked whether a character build was legal. After several replies/tweaks/iterations, questions about viability came up, but the thread lost steam. At this point, it seems the char is legal--now I'd like to make sure it can survive and contribute L1-12 (meaning everybody is happy: I'm having fun, party is having fun, glad to have PC around, etc.).
The build in bullets:
Unarmed Fighter and MoMS are used to bypass pre-reqs for Snake Style/Fang and Dragon Ferocity (grabbed early on).
With Sense Motive at 24 (pre-gear), Snake Style gives at least 25 AC or Touch, once per round.
Blur + Mage Armor + Wand of Shield + point above help increase enemies' miss chance, triggering several Snake Fangs (up to 3/turn, once I have Combat Reflexes).
Paragon Surge can be used to grab Displacement (via Expanded Arcana), to further increase miss chance.
Dragon Style/Ferocity/Hammer the Gap + TWF/Haste provide fair amount of static damage. If I did the math right, 4d6 + 48 (adding 1 Snake Fang), at +13/+8/+13. This is without +4 Str gear, Magic Weapon, or Haste.
Magic Weapon, to enhance unarmed attacks (not too familiar with monk options in this respect. Might be better choice?)
Usual benefits of Enlarge Person (Reach), Fly (mobility/attack flying creatures), Create Pit (some battlefield control, no save). However, looking for good replacement for Create Pit, one with more synergy, in case I missed anything (ideally, not Mirror Image, since that wouldn't trigger Snake Fang. That was covered in another thread, hope it won't derail this one into discussing that issue).
Khashir El'eth
Male Half-Elf Fighter 1 (Unarmed)/Monk 2 (Master of Many Styles)/Sorcerer 2 (Copper Draconic)/Dragon Disciple 7
Init +6 Senses Low-Light Vision
STATISTICS
STR 22 DEX 15 CON 16 INT 12 WIS 10 CHA 13
Base Atk 8
TRAITS
Watchdog (The Shadow Lodge): +1 Sense Motive, also class skill
Deft Dodger: +1 Reflex
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
HP 113
Fort 12, Ref 10, Will 10
OFFENSE
Special Attacks Stunning Fist, Dragon Bite, Dragon Form
Given that I grabbed Glitterdust (and have Blind-sense), I'm wondering whether I should replace Blind-fight with Toughness or Great Fortitude. Thoughts?
Thoughts -
I'm thinking (I could be wrong, have not tried or seen this played) you might be a bit underpowered in the lower levels and won't really start coming into your power till around level 8. Which is 3/4th of your PFS characters life.
Another issue I'm seeing is that it looks like you want to buff and do combat. PFS mods rarely give you the time to buff before combat. Most mods that I've seen is you go from point A to point B. At point B you do stuff, which can be anything from talking, searching, or fighting. You just never know what you'll be doing and buffs that only last minutes run out fast if you pre-buff for a possible combat.
So you need to decide what your character will be doing and should focus on that.
Feats: You should take a serious look at the Will +2 Feat. Failing Will saves usually puts you out of combat completely, and might even add you to the bad guys side. There's nothing worse then failing a Will Save and then have you use your buff spells to help out your new found "friend".
I'm thinking (I could be wrong, have not tried or seen this played) you might be a bit underpowered in the lower levels and won't really start coming into your power till around level 8. Which is 3/4th of your PFS characters life.
You're right in that he might be underpowered at L1, for example, w/o equipment. However, the character starts out with a scimitar (since Unarmed Fighter is proficient with Martial Weapons), due to the low unarmed strike damage (1d3). By L3, he has picked up Dragon Ferocity (so he can ditch the Scimitar), and by L5, TWF. Defensively, he's fully trained in Sense Motive, which should help avoid damage early on. I might be missing something (or a lot!), since it'll be my first combat class (have always played caster until now).
Matt2VK wrote:
Another issue I'm seeing is that it looks like you want to buff and do combat. PFS mods rarely give you the time to buff before combat. Most mods that I've seen is you go from point A to point B. At point B you do stuff, which can be anything from talking, searching, or fighting. You just never know what you'll be doing and buffs that only last minutes run out fast if you pre-buff for a possible combat.
Well, in case there's a fight, would taking 1 Standard Action to buff be so terrible? Casting either Haste or Displacement does wonders for the build, I don't plan to spend the entire fight buffing: rather, cast one buff at the beginning, and hopefully it'll last, if not for the whole encounter (since Haste/Displacement have 1/rd), enough to make a noticeable difference.
Matt2VK wrote:
Feats: You should take a serious look at the Will +2 Feat. Failing Will saves usually puts you out of combat completely, and might even add you to the bad guys side. There's nothing worse then failing a Will Save and then have you use your buff spells to help out your new found "friend".
I love Iron Will, but I don't know what to switch out for it. However, as a Half-Elf, the char is immune to sleep, has +2 vs enchantment; and with Dragon Style, +2 vs. paralysis and stun (so, +4 vs. Hold Person, for example).
