|
So I'm playing a tiefling transmuter (going into Eldritch Knight) in a Council of Thieves game that just started. The best part is that I'm with a group of total noobs, so I can hide it from all of them. XD
My DM and I are kind of bastards like that. Anyway, so I've told the rest of the party that I'm a minor human noble, and though no one has seen me in combat yet, I brandish my longsword threateningly and people seem to think that I'm a fighter. (Again, lack of understanding of classes/class features by every other member of the party is really going to help me here).
My character is even wearing armor because transmutation magic is super-slow in PF, and I can't really transform to fight until level 5 when I get beast shape I.
So my question to everyone is, when I do get my awesome transformer spells, which forms are the best for which spells?
Please reply with as much information as possible to the following questions:
Which form is the best for grappling at level 5 (spell level 3)? Include an answer for both monstrous physique I and beast shape I, please.
Which form is the best for raw damage at level 5 (spell level 3)? Please include an answer for both monstrous physique I and beast shape I.
Which form is the best for undead anatomy, in terms of whatever cool special attacks you can get?
Which form is the strongest poisoner (Any spell)?
Which form gives you the best AC (Any spell)?
Which form gives you the best defensive special abilities (Any spell)?
In case anyone's curious, I'm level 1 right now, and my stats look like this:
Str 17 (16 +1 Transmuter ability)
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 8
Feats: Toughness, Scribe Scroll, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Longsword)<- Given for free due to my awesome backstory
Arcane Bond: Ring (Family Heirloom of House Grulios)
Arcane School: Transmutation (Restricted Necromancy and Evocation)
Planned Build: Transmuter 5/Fighter 1/EK 7 (Council of Thieves ends at level 13)
Kind of weird for someone to blast their players saying they are all noobs when you then ask for advice on how to best use your character you are creating. Hypocrite much?
Anyways Good luck surviving to get to level 5... Your party members will learn quick you are no fighter. While I applaud your enthusiasm and panache for outlining your character's TOTAL Life (Life goals are important) blatantly not telling your party what class you are not only hurts them, but could backfire and hurt you... especially when a group of Kobolds ambushes your party and they (party) look to their "Warrior" to take the FRONT LINES. Hope you have a backup character handy.
Its good to have some mystery to a character, but not sharing your class, or even your role in the party is not a good way to play the game.
Anyways as to not try to be a Troll here I will try to help you. I've played Druids so I'm very understanding of Beastshape and Elemental Body spells, however I've never played a Transmuter (in Pathfinder). With that in mind..
A Gargoyle can fly.. and thats the biggest advantage you can have at level 5. Note you will NEVER get any of the Gargoyle's damage Reduction 10/Magic. Not even MONSTROUS PHYSIQUE IV provides that.
GARGOYLE MONSTROUS PHYSIQUE I
Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average) Darkvision 60 Feet,
+2 size bonus to your Strength and a +2 natural armor bonus.
Melee 2 claws(Your base attack bonus)(1d6+STR),(Your base attack bonus) bite (1d4+STR), gore (Your base attack bonus) (1d4+STR)
FYI.. Material component is a piece of the creature you plan on becoming.. Some DM's I know would force you to "find" that and not buy it at a magic shop
EDIT... Wouldn't a Magus work also for your character? Seems like you would do alot more damage.
Goodluck
|
|
*shrugs* I have 17 Strength, 15 AC, and 12 hit points. That's about as good as a mediocre fighter at level 1, minus the two bonus feats.
As for the hypocrite part, not really. I just don't have any of the Bestiaries in print, and it's much more difficult to go through an online database looking for creatures with various sizes and types than it is to simply flip through a table of contents (at least, for me it is).
We have a paladin in the group, so I'm not too worried about the frontline fighting, I will simply play carefully. (Until level 5, when I will start legitimately fighting on the frontlines).
Also, I can understand why you were cautioning me about not telling the others my class, but my "role in the party"? Exactly what role do you believe a transmuter plays in the party? Because in my case, it's definitely "primary melee".
Hmmm...a gargoyle works pretty well for the urban setting, thanks for the suggestion.
And magus doesn't increase your damage output unless you actually cast blasting spells through your attacks, which is not what I want to do. The magus's ridiculously delayed spell level access is not appealing to me in the slightest, and more importantly, the magus does not gain access to form of the dragon until 16th level (after the game would end). Though I appreciate your attempt to help.
The flight was my first thought too, but I discovered that a phoenix was a Gargantuan creature and I couldn't think of any other magical beasts with a fly speed...completely slipped my mind about monstrous humanoids though. Besides the gargoyle, there's also the harpy as an option.
*shrugs* I have 17 Strength, 15 AC, and 12 hit points. That's about as good as a mediocre fighter at level 1, minus the two bonus feats.
As for the hypocrite part, not really. I just don't have any of the Bestiaries in print, and it's much more difficult to go through an online database looking for creatures with various sizes and types than it is to simply flip through a table of contents (at least, for me it is).
We have a paladin in the group, so I'm not too worried about the frontline fighting, I will simply play carefully. (Until level 5, when I will start legitimately fighting on the frontlines).
Also, I can understand why you were cautioning me about not telling the others my class, but my "role in the party"? Exactly what role do you believe a transmuter plays in the party? Because in my case, it's definitely "primary melee".
Hmmm...a gargoyle works pretty well for the urban setting, thanks for the suggestion.
And magus doesn't increase your damage output unless you actually cast blasting spells through your attacks, which is not what I want to do. The magus's ridiculously delayed spell level access is not appealing to me in the slightest, and more importantly, the magus does not gain access to form of the dragon until 16th level (after the game would end). Though I appreciate your attempt to help.
The flight was my first thought too, but I discovered that a phoenix was a Gargantuan creature and I couldn't think of any other magical beasts with a fly speed...completely slipped my mind about monstrous humanoids though. Besides the gargoyle, there's also the harpy as an option.
I did not mean to come off as a meanie.. its just that I've played with people that do not like to discuss class discriptions (which is fine) but then their party role is misunderstood... thats why I put that part in there.
Go ahead and tell the party your "Role"... I guess a Transmuter can sort of be whatever he wants (Tank, Archer, damage dealer, maybe even healer? idk)
I onced played an Abjurer with no combat spells but had a wand of Magic Missiles cast at 2nd level at a Dundracon... and that wand killed the Vampire BBEG... When I introduced my character I told the party that I was a buffer first... debuffer and controller... no damage... the entire room gringed (lol). So even a "Party Role" can change in combat.
|
|
I did not mean to come off as a meanie.. its just that I've played with people that do not like to discuss class discriptions (which is fine) but then their party role is misunderstood... thats why I put that part in there.Go ahead and tell the party your "Role"... I guess a Transmuter can sort of be whatever he wants (Tank, Archer, damage dealer, maybe even healer?...
Once I am forced to reveal (in-character) that I am a wizard, I will tell the party everything. For now, though, it's very in-character for me to keep everything secret, and hiding it from the players themselves will enhance that effect and help them not mix IC/OOC knowledge when they play with me.
At the moment, my character's secrets are kind of a side game between myself and the DM (I'm using the word "game" here to mean "competition"). We're seeing how long I can abstain from revealing myself while simultaneously playing my character effectively. For instance, in the first session, we got cornered by some Hellknights and I spoke to them in Infernal and told them that I was on their side and if they let the party go, I would capture Janiven (the NPC they were trying to arrest) and bring her to them, which they agreed to because Janiven escaped before they arrived. So now, the party knows that I speak some kind of secret language shared by the bad guys that they know nothing about, so they're already suspicious of me out-of-character.
But that's just more fun for me. :D
Anyway, I picked Transmuter specifically because it's so flexible. I can switch between a bunch of different combat styles without needing to take any feats. I plan to grapple (bear), trip (dire wolf), pounce (dire tiger), poison (giant spider), and do a whole bunch of cool special attacks (no idea yet, the real reason I made the thread so I could get some suggestions).