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Currently I'm in a campaign where I am about to almost certainly die, heroically. We're not in "resurrection" territory yet, and I need advice on a replacement PC.
What I need is a brain/lore-keeper/smarty-pants kind of character, but I have the following limitations:
-No wizards,no magi: wizardry is illegal in the GM's world, and it would be a hassle. The same is true of Alchemists.
-Needs a high survivability index. I don't mind doing the least damage in the party, but I would like to survive a bit longer this time.
-"Tool-box" elements would be a plus.
Any advice received, I am genuinely grateful for.
What else has the party got? Being the intelligent fighter can be fun so long as you don't go into things with the expectation that "fighter" means "dps" machine.
Lore Oracle is another option. Not Int-based, true, but has all Knowledges as class skills and can use Cha for Knowledge checks, along with other nice Revelations that support the lore-keeper setup. Between healing spells, good armor, and the ability to use Cha in place of Dex for AC, you should be survivable.
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We currently have a fighter, a cleric (who is essentially a fighter), a dwarf rogue (so all tech, no face), and a halfling ranger.
Looking through everything available and the comments so far, I am leaning towards a kitsune bard. I am looking over archetypes now: I like the Archaeologist, but I am concerned about stepping on the dwarf's toes (not that he'd feel it through the boots, but...).
For a ranged/face bard with a lot of knowledge requirements, ny archetype suggestions?
Sound Striker can be really fun, especially once you hit 8th level.
Street Performer is awesome once you get the Madcap Prank ability at 9th level.
Archaeologist is kind of like a rogue-ish bard. Kind of. I like to think of them as selfish bards since they can only give their bonuses to themselves. That said, their bonuses are arguably a lot better for themselves than the ones normal bards offer to their entire teams (Luck bonuses seem to be a bit rarer than morale bonuses, they have no daily limit on their luck, and they start with a swift action to activate rather than staring with a standard and having to work their way up to a swift action).
If you want a survivable lore-keeper sort of character, a finesse based Lore Warden is also a decent option (either an Agile weapon or Dervish Dance is your friend here). You could even lead into Duelist off of it.
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Giving up medium and heavy armor and shields for expanded skills seems kind-of steep to me, re: the Lore Warden.
Looking things over, it looks like an Archivist Bard might be the best way to go. She'll be coming in at level 3, btw.
Has anyone played a kitsune here? How do they play, generally? I'm thinking that she'll be in human form 90% of the time, since passing unnoticed (or less noticed) will be more to her advantage then bite attack. Any other ideas/suggestions?
I've played alongside a kitsune rogue before. The one I played with, for the most part, played pretty much the same as a human rogue would, aside from use of her Fox Shape feat, which gave her an extra edge in stealth and infiltration over normal humans.
The ability to essentially be able to pretend to be two different people can also get you out of some tight spots. (i.e. "Thief? No, of course not! The thief was some fox lady and I'm clearly a human.")
Another great option could be a synthesist.
With the built-in stats you get you can easily afford to give yourself a high Int for skills, and the Skilled= Kn: (whatever) evolution can give you a +8 racial bonus on a knowledge type each time you take it.
Plus the class is of course super tough.
The vanilla bard is quite strong, and should be considered IMO. It does the face thing well, as well as knowledges, and doesn't step on the toes of any of your party members.
Just because he or she doesn't have an archetype doesn't mean you have to give them a boring back story. To the contrary you are freer to come up with almost anything.
Absolutely! My vanilla Bard is a bastard from a family of conniving Machiavellians, trained in every art of politics and persuasion. Words are his weapon. Vanilla Bard fits that perfectly: he'll inspire others to fight harder, and through Versatile Performance, he'll have insane social skills. He wants power and influence, but his lack of legitimacy means he'll have to carve out a name for himself. You don't have to sing and dance to be a vanilla Bard. Oratory is where it's at.
And the strength of the bard depends a lot on the size of the group: he's a force multiplier. The bigger the group, the more he adds. He also does better in urban and wilderness campaigns than in big dungeons, I think.