Hey guys,
It's quite likely that Carrion Crown is the next AP my GM will be running and as such, I've already made my character.
However, I'm unsure on what I should pick for my Favoured Enemy number 2. So far I have the following:
FE1: Undead
FE2:
FE3: Human
In the Player's Guide it says Aberrations would be a good choice, but my character is a Lone Wolf Fighter/Ranger (ha, the lone ranger...) who supports two deities (Pharasma and Iomedae) and actively hunts down the Undead and all that's evil. Aberrations however, don't seem like something this guy would actively pursue.
So, I was thinking; Is there a big enough presence of Demons or Devils in this AP to make it worth selecting my 2nd FE as either a Demon or Devil?
My character's a pretty dark soul.
He's a Noble with black, curly and wavey hair, an extremely pale face and crimson, blood red eyes. He's human, but has Demonic/Vampiric Heritage (Abyssal Bloodline from Eldritch Heritage) and is Neutral Good.
Anyway, due to his nature, he doesn't care to talk to or fight alongside anyone, so the campaign traits would make little sense to him, as would a Ranger's Animal Companion, but at the same time the Boon Companion is equally as useless to him, because he only has a +1 Wisdom (doesn't need many spells).
He does however go out of his way to protect the weak and innocent.
So, I was thinking of seeing whether or not instead of an Animal Companion, he could have the equivalent of a Wizard's Familiar, because I feel a Bird Companion/Familiar would be acceptable as it wouldn't be with him at all times and he could use it as a messenger bird.
The Bird I want in particular is a Raven.
Anyway, I just wanted to see some opinions on this and see how well the concept fits into this AP.
My character is called Lord Valdecree Strogart and he fights primarily with a Bastard Sword and Heavy Steel Shield, but has been seen carrying a huge Sword on his back (though nobody has ever seen him wield it).
His Shield bares the symbol of Pharasma and his jet black Armour bares the symbol of Iomedae.
He believes in Valor, Honour and Justice, but sees the Undead as abominations that should have never existed and despises them as much as he dislikes everything impure (not in the way you're thinking - a tainted heart/heart filled with evil) and has made it his personal goal to purge the lands of all Evil.
Haha, swarms no doubt.
We had a problem with those in Kingmaker, so I got my Cleric to cast create water above them. They took falling damage from 6 gallons of water. Though later, the GM banned the ability to kill tiny swarms with water. :(
I figured Undead would be a big one, but only really realised that once I read a little more and had already decided on this guys concept. Nice to know his dark theme fits so well though.
|
If it were me, I'd go either aberration or construct. But I'd also go human 2nd, so the bonuses will end up being higher.
The only thing the order you take them in affects is which ones you have first. Unlike fighter weapon training, the first ones don't automatically scale up faster, you choose which ones to improve. Still, taking human second isn't bad advice.
|
If it were me, I'd go either aberration or construct. But I'd also go human 2nd, so the bonuses will end up being higher.The only thing the order you take them in affects is which ones you have first. Unlike fighter weapon training, the first ones don't automatically scale up faster, you choose which ones to improve. Still, taking human second isn't bad advice.
Ah. Can you tell it's been a while since I've played a ranger? :)
In that case, maybe construct second.
|
|
If it were me, I'd go either aberration or construct. But I'd also go human 2nd, so the bonuses will end up being higher.The only thing the order you take them in affects is which ones you have first. Unlike fighter weapon training, the first ones don't automatically scale up faster, you choose which ones to improve. Still, taking human second isn't bad advice.Ah. Can you tell it's been a while since I've played a ranger? :)
In that case, maybe construct second.
I don't think I've ever played a ranger. The only reason I know is that my GF plays rangers over 50% of the time >.<
If it were me, I'd go either aberration or construct. But I'd also go human 2nd, so the bonuses will end up being higher.The only thing the order you take them in affects is which ones you have first. Unlike fighter weapon training, the first ones don't automatically scale up faster, you choose which ones to improve. Still, taking human second isn't bad advice.Ah. Can you tell it's been a while since I've played a ranger? :)
In that case, maybe construct second.
I don't think I've ever played a ranger. The only reason I know is that my GF plays rangers over 50% of the time >.<
** spoiler omitted **
Being a ranger with an arcane familiar is something you'll need to talk to your DM about.
Favored enemy undead and favored enemy humanoid(human) are the two that will come up most often. Though the Instant Enemy spell is your friend if you can get that...
Construct and aberration can be helpful, but they're pretty limited to one book each.
There are a few evil outsiders in this adventure path, but they are not a recurring theme and I think you can count the number of battles involving them on one hand.
Ah, it's a level 3 spell, but the problem is I'm only going to reach level 10 and won't have a high enough stat to grant myself one level 3 Spell then.
My stats are as follows:
Str: 16
Dex: 16 (bump up at level 4 to 17)
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Cha: 13
However, maybe I don't need such a high Dex? Combat Style feats allow you to have feats without the pre-req's, so I won't need 17 or 19 Dex for Improved and Greater Two-Weapon fighting, so perhaps I can get away with dropping my Dex to a 15 instead of a 16, giving myself 3 points to spend, so I could then make my stats as followed:
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 15 (bump up at level 8)
Cha: 13 (bump up at level 4, 12 and 16)
I forgot the Ranger allows you to ignore pre-requisites for Two-Weapon Fighting and I guess going from a +3 Dex to a +2 still isn't really that bad.
With a Heavy Steel Shield, +2 Dex and Breastplate armour, I'd still have an AC of 20 at level 1. That's only one less than I was going to have and then I can grab the Instant Enemy Spell at level 13 (as soon as I'm capable of casting the spell!).
Fighter 3/Ranger 10/Fighter 4
Ranger: Vanilla
Fighter: Two-Handed
Until level 5, this guy will only attack with either his shield or sword, not both in one round.
Then, his level up points will allow for him to have a pretty decent Charisma, plus cast his Instant Enemy Level 3 Spell.
Fighter Feats:
1. Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bastard Sword, Improved Shield Bash, Power Attack
2. Weapon Focus: Bastard Sword
3. Skill Focus: Knowledge Planes
Ranger:
4
5. Double Slice
- Combat Style Feat: Two-Weapon Fighting
6
7. Eldritch Heritage: Abyssal
8
9. Shield Slam
- Combat Style Feat: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
10
11 Shield Master
12
13 Improved Eldritch Heritage: Abyssal
- Combat Style Feat: Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Fighter:
14. Shield Focus
15. Weapon Specialisation: Bastard Sword
16. Greater Shield Focus
17. Two-Weapon Rend
Traits:
1. Birthmark
2. Not sure, but it'll have to be a campaign trait, so either the class skill, extra money or extra initiative Lorrimor one.
Instant Enemy and Strong Jaw are two Spells I really like the look of, so picking one only will make me alternate, but that's part of the fun I guess, working out which one he'd want on a particular day. :p
Hmm, I'll just swap Bastard Sword Weapon Focus with Skill Focus then, so I get a +1 to Bastard Sword attacks at level 3. That way I still qualify for Eldritch Heritage.
Anyway, switch Con and Dex really?
I always have characters with +1 or 2 Con, but I wanted this guy to be hard to hit, so I figured higher AC and less life was good, but he'll drop to 18 AC instead of 20 if I do that.
Hmm.
|
|
The main point in favor of HP over AC is that very few things ignore HP (negative levels, stat damage, insta-wins) but alot ignore your dex bonus to AC (flat-footed, most spells, swarms). Besides, I'd rather be able to take 1 more hit than get an extra 10% chance of not taking an extra hit which would kill me. AC makes the healer happy though.
That +2 dex bonus to AC will never get better, +2 con to HP gets multiplied by your HD.
Of course if you want to play a high dex, average con character, there's nothing stopping you.
I guess so, but at the same time, I want this guy to be quick in combat, so being Dextrous means he can use Acrobatics and Stealth well.
Being a Ranger, he'd need to scout, so having a decent Dex with ranks in Stealth would be beneficial to him.
If I could do that and give him lots of life, it'd be good, but I can't unless I gave him +2 Dex and the Dual Talent Human Racial Trait, but that means sacrificing a Skill Rank per level, along with Heart of the Wilderness and an extra level 1 Feat.
Things that go against touch would really do him over, but Dex is used for not only armour and touch, but also skills which he'll be using frequently to gain combat advantages (using acrobatics to stand total defense for 6 extra AC when he has 3 ranks, or using Acrobatics to move through an enemies square etc).
HP is greatly beneficial, but I dunno, as much as I'd like more life, I think it's too much of a sacrifice.
Edit: Just realised - My feats are fine. I can take Skill Focus at level 3 because it's not a Fighter's Bonus Feat, so doesn't have to be a Combat feat and can in fact be any. Not really sure where you got that idea from, but I double checked and am fine anyway. :)
Hopefully this guy has a pretty decent chance of survival.
Ah, thanks. :)
I think it'll be interesting to see what happens when he decides dual wielding Shield and Sword isn't working for him, so instead stands out of the front line long enough to cast Lead Blades, then puts away his Sword and Shield to attack at a -2 penalty with a Large Bastard Sword that deals Huge damage (3d8 + his Strength + Abyssal Strength Mod + Power Attack + 2 Handed Fighter double Strength ability + Weapon Training with two-handed weapons, so Bastard Sword + Weapon Specialisation + Favoured Enemy + any weapon enhancements).
He should be just as good at two-weapon fighting, if not better with a two-handed weapon. However, he leaves himself open with less defense and less life, but that's where Heart of the Wilderness comes in. Means it's harder to kill him. :)
No Shield Spikes though.
I want to bludgeon the Undead with my Shield. :p
Reply to your edit: Ah yea. That's alright. It's easy to get confused. I mean I still do and am always asking about things in the Advice and Rules/Questions area when I've been playing for a couple of years now. :p
Hmm, just been playing about with my stats and I think the bottom one's best:
Option 1
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 15 (bump up at level 8)
Cha: 13 (bump up at level 4, 12 and 16)
Option 2
Str: 16
Dex: 13 (bump up at level 16)
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 15 (bump up at level 12)
Cha: 13 (bump up at level 4 and 8)
Option 3
Str: 16
Dex: 13 (bump up at level 4)
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 14 (bump up at level 8 and 16)
Cha: 14 (bump up at level 12)
Option 3 allows me to get my Dex up fairly quickly and allows me to grab Improved Eldritch Heritage at the level I need it, with Level 3 Ranger Spells only being accessible when I'm level 16 instead of level 13.
Still, the Armour is what's good here and these stats allow me to have a +2 in Charisma and Wisdom at level 1, along with a +1 to HP which could help with the Multi-Classing due to only having one favoured Class.
Opinions? :/