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So I am participating in a homebrew and I have very bad luck when it comes to dice rolls and staying alive in combat. My first character was a Tiefling rogue and was killed when a trap went off and did like 40d6 damage and threw me through a portal to be eaten by a dragon god (I rolled a 1 for the trap, 1 to save, and 1 to escape artist from the grapple). So I replaced this character with a Rogue/Inquisitor with the hopes that this character would be better in combat(which is the focus of this homebrew).
So far my new character has been dropped in 1 round in almost every combat. She has also never been able to hit anything due to either being grappled(She uses a Greatsword), unconscious, can't get to enemy, or just flat out misses when she is finally in range. The character is a Rogue(2) for trapfinding, evasion, and trap spotter. Inquisitor(8) spellbreaker of the spellkiller inquisition who worships Gorum. Finally 1 level of modified Arcane trickster that works with divine which was granted by the GM (every player got one free level in a class the GM chose). So the original intent with this character was to be able to see all the traps and disable them as well as be effective in combat.
Sadly I feel that I have specialized to much on the Arcane hate stuff from the Inquisitor and feel that this character might die and I want to be prepared with a backup. The homebrew uses 1's as failures for ALL d20 rolls. So skills will fail on a 1, but will succeed on a 20(within reason). The GM also hates to trap rules from the books and thinks that for a ~11th level party DCs to spot and disable in the 40s-50s is appropriate.
To give you an idea of the combat we participate in, in the last session we faced a fog which drained magic items and had tentacles that would kill us/drain magic items. Then we faced 2 Elder Earth Elementals(1 round I got red misted by 1 full attack, and had to use 2 Hero Points to Live). After that we were to try and thwart to uprising of an Antipaladin God. In his chamber we were met by a Shinigami. When we faced it we only had 4 party members and we were all level 9-11. Due to some awful rolls of the dice from the GM, the Antipaladin ended up being the target of Destruction and failed all of his saves and SR checks and got destroyed. Through some in game stuff the Antipaldin came back and joined our side against the Shinigami. However this did not stop him from rolling 1's and backstabbing my character.
To compensate for the power curve, the GM has been giving us some pretty powerful items (Paladin got a necklace of reluctant wishes) but pretty much everything we go against can kill me or the paladin with a full attack. When I leveled I took toughness to try and beef up my HP. It helped in the last game, but the cleric had to use breadth of life on me after 2 rounds of combat with a constricting ooze creature thing. So next session we are supposed to take on a Colossal Red Dragon God (Who ate my rogue), the NPCs have let on that most likely one of us will have to sacrifice ourselves to kill it.
My party consists of a 12Cleric/1Loremaster(Healing/Sun), 12Wizard/1Magus(Universalist), 12Paladin/1Magus(sword and board ATM), 9Ranger(Ranged), and 2Rogue/8Inq/1ArcTrickster(Me). We are not optimized, and all the players are good at what they do. As you can see I am the one filling the trapfinding role and need some ideas on characters to replace the one I am currently playing which would be able to deal with the traps we come up against as well as be effective/fun in combat. So far I have a couple ideas for characters but I want to see if anyone else can come up with something better.
So here is my first Ideal replacement character, the GM says that if we bring in a new character roll it one level below your current character level. We also use the 4d6 drop lowest method, I rolled well. Also WBL is 7k*lvl(70k):
Race:Dwarf(also considered half elf, I like the stoneworking stuff of the Dwarf as well as the save buff and darkvision)
HP:101
Class: Ranger1 (Trapfinder/Trophy Hunter)/9Monk(Zen Archer/ Qinggong)
STR: 14
DEX: 13
CON: 19(17 base, +2 racial)
INT: 13
WIS: 26(18 base, +2 racial, +2 level, +4 Headband)
CHA: 9(11 base, -2 racial)
AC(reg/Touch/Flat-foot): 21/21/20
Have barkskin for an added +4 and the dodge ki power for another +4 if necessary as well as potions of mage armor which can total for 33/25/28
INIT:+3
FORT: 15 (8 Base, 4 Ability, 3 Cloak) +2 vs Poison, Spells, SLA
REF: 12 (8 Base, 1 Ability, 3 Cloak) +2 vs Poison, Spells, SLA
WILL: 17 (6 Base, 8 ability, 3 Cloak) +2 vs Poison, Spells, SLA
Traits: Tunnel Fighter(racial), Wisdom in the Flesh(Disable Device, Religion Irori)
Feats:
Monk1: Perfect Strike, IUS, Precise Shot
Feat1: Skill Focus: Perception
Monk2: Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus LB
Monk3: Zen Archery, Point Blank Master
Feat3: Deadly Aim
Feat5: Alertness
Monk6: WEapon Specialization LB, Improved Precise Shot
Feat7: Skill Focus: Disable Device
Feat9: Clustered Shots
Abilities:
Monk: Flurry of blows (8/8/3/3), AC Bonus +2, 1d10 Unarmed Dmg., +30 Fast Movement, High Jump, Reflexive Shot
(ki powers)Barkskin, Augury(The cleric never prepares divination spells so this is a flavor thing for my style of play)
Ranger: Fav. Enemy (Evil Outsider), Trapfinding, Track/Imp. Trap]
Skills (Important ones listed):
Acrobatics:14
Disable Device: 32 (10 ranks, 3 Class Skill, 8 ability, 6 Skill Focus, 1 Ranger, 4 Vest of Escape)
Escape Artist: 20
Perception: 36 (10 ranks, 3 Class Skill, 8 ability, 6 Skill Focus, 4 Alertness, 5 Lenses of Detection)+1 vs traps, +3 vs traps in stone as well as free check within 10 ft.
Sense motive: 14 (1 rank, 3 class skill, 8 ability, 2 alertness)
Survival: 21 (10 ranks, 3 Class Skill, 8 ability)+8 when tracking
Weapons:
+2 Adaptive Darkwood Composite Longbow Bane(Outsider Evil) 17/12 1d8+4 19/x3
When Flurrying, with deadly Aim: 17/17/12/12 1d8+12 19/x3
Gear:
Bracers of Falcon Aim
Cloak of Resistance +3
Vest of Escape
Headband of inspired wisdom +4
Efficient Quiver
Lenses of Detection
Spider Climb Boots of the Cat (Custom following the combination rules)
Ring of sustenance
Bag of holding I
Misc other gear including 1k arrows both blunt and piercing, and backup bow.
So here is my challenge to you. I don't want to make a character that steals the spotlight, I want a character that can contend with my GM and make up for my consistently crap dice rolls. Because of the home rules my gm has, Skill checks become a harrowing affair for someone who rolls 1's alot.
Feel free to add advice for this character or provide one of your own. Please try and stick to Paizo Books which are available on the SRD/PRD These are the credentials I would use to consider your character ideas:
Starting Stat Array: 18, 17, 15, 13, 13, 11
Level: 10
Wealth: 70k
Must have Trapfinding
Only skills Which are important: Disable Device, Acrobatics, Escape Artist, and Perception
Must able to be used effectively in combat
Must have decent saves
If melee, must be able to either dodge hits or take them
If ranged, must be able to overcome DR to some extent as there is alot of it
Due to the area we are in, Teleportation and Summoning has a 40% chance of screwing up so those types of characters are inadvisable.
Is the campaign you're playing through called "Tomb of Horrors" by any chance?
Yikes. Anyway.
Do you want trapfinding for the bonus to Perception/Disable Device or to be able to disarm magical traps with Disable Device?
For the former, it's nice. But the latter can be replaced by other abilities (detect magic and dispel magic for starters). But anyway.
Honestly, since you have had bad luck with rogues, and this is a game where clearly asstons of damage are being tossed around, this would be my advice...
Barbarian 1/Urban Ranger 9. (Urban Ranger is from the Advanced Player's Guide.)
Alternately, Barbarian 1/Trapper Ranger 9. (Trapper Ranger is from Ultimate Magic.)
The purpose of the Barbarian level is to get Acrobatics as a class skill, some extra hit points, and fast movement is nice. Rage you can use as an occasional combat buff--especially if you need some extra Strength and hit points.
Both ranger archetypes have the Trapfinding class feature and Disable Device, all classes involved have Perception as a class skill. The classes involved are full BAB so you don't need to worry about Escape Artist, your CMB should be good enough to handle grappling that way. Just make sure you have a decent Str.
Urban Ranger has some neat abilities but they depend upon "favored community." If it suits your campaign, it may be the way to go.
Trapper swaps ranger spellcasting for the ability to make some rather interesting traps. It otherwise, apart from the traps, trapfinding, and Disable Device, is a straight up ranger which also means you're getting a lot of class abilities that sound to me like they'd be useful in your campaign. And it might be interesting to use some of your traps on the enemies that have been setting such nasty traps for you, could be rewarding. :) With either ranger class you're also getting evasion and some other good stuff. Trapper ranger also doesn't lose Endurance which can lead you to Die Hard. While many see that as a waste of a feat, sounds like in your campaign it might actually be worth it.
You will also have full BAB (+10) and high hit dice and some good combat abilities so you can hold your own in combat. You will be able to wear medium armor to help your AC (I'd suggest mithral breastplate so as not to sacrifice movement). You will have good Fortitude and Reflex saves. You will need in your build to find ways to shore up your Will save--I wouldn't dump Wisdom.
If I decide to build a full character as an example --- for your Starting Stat array, does this include level-up bonuses or do you get your additional +1 at 4th and 8th level?
Frankly, I'd also tell the GM to take a massive chill pill and relax the kill-PC mentality, but that's just me. I'm a firm believer in the adage that "the GM's job is to let the PCs win while making them think you're trying to make them lose." Sounds like this guy's skipping over the first part. There's challenging and then there's just painful.
ETA: Also of course your ranger/monk looks interesting. Didn't click on the spoiler on first read.
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Do you want trapfinding for the bonus to Perception/Disable Device or to be able to disarm magical traps with Disable Device?
For the former, it's nice. But the latter can be replaced by other abilities (detect magic and dispel magic for starters).
Trapfinding is mainly for the disable magic traps portion. I can say that so far 95% of traps have been magical in nature. The stat array is base and does not include level up/racial bonuses. Just like DD checks are high, the caster levels on the traps would most likely be 20th or so for dispelling purposes, Although I had thought of using a Sorcerer with the Seeker archetype.
In this campaign, we have spent 100% of our time below ground in this one dungeon. The GM has stated that the reason things are so difficult is because of the nature of what we are fighting. This is a custom written campaign designed to go till level 13 and it is about thwarting the creation of Evil Gods. As I said, in the next session we will be going after a Red Dragon God. Not to sure how that fight is going to go, but we have not had a straight combat in a couple sessions and most of our time has been spent trying to figure out what to do and running away. I can see at least one of us dieing, unless the GM plays the Divine intervention card.
Sadly the Urban ranger was something I looked at, but the Communities thing does not seem to be beneficial since we do not spend very much time (none since I started) in an actual city. Once we finish in the dungeon this may change. With the hooks that we have gotten, it looks like we will be going to kill stuff in all kinds of environments except urban.
I like the Trapper Archetype, I think the loss of spells is not that big a deal. I have never been a fan of Ranger/Paladin Spell Lists although they can be occasionally useful. I did not think of combining it with a barbarian, that is an interesting combo. The only thing I would be concerned about is replacing the other ranger in our party, or making his character seem inferior. I'd like to bring in a unique character that can fill the roll of trapfinder.
As far as another melee character, what would be the best combination? TWF on a barbarian with power attack? Dropping WIS would not be possible due to the need to have it for Perception, and a bonus for will saves. My original rogue dropped WIS and had a +4 WILL Save, pretty awful when most of the saves are 20+.
If all you care about is the magic traps thing -- as an FYI there are a number of bard archetypes that do this or something similar, they just don't get the bonuses (archivist, detective, archeologist, sandman, off the top of my head). The trick is bards don't actually get Disable Device as a class skill, so you either need to multi or boost Disable Device another way (such as via Skill Focus). Bards are also generally more of a support character--they can be good in combat depending on how you design them, but if I were to play one in your campaign I might be more inclined to use bard abilities to buff the rest of the party and make them more effective, and that is not a role that is universally appealing to play.
For stepping on the other ranger's toes, I'd chat with him about it. I'd say rangers are versatile enough that you could have two in the party that have very different feels and roles. And actually since he's a ranged ranger, I'd worry more about stepping on his toes with your zen archer than with a melee ranger (but that doesn't mean the zen archer is a bad idea either).
For melee weapon focus, I'd go two-handed myself. (Ranger has a two-handed combat style option in the APG).
ETA: If you go back to rogue builds, I'd suggest the burglar archetype for the careful disarm ability.
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ETA: If you go back to rogue builds, I'd suggest the burglar archetype for the careful disarm ability.
LOL my first rogue was a Burgular, sadly he was a super intelligent skill monkey. The game itself is 90% combat with some roleplaying thrown into the mix, when I was playing the rogue there was no opportunity for roleplaying the 3 sessions he was alive. After we told the GM we would like more, there has been a great amount of it and I am thankful.
If all you care about is the magic traps thing -- as an FYI there are a number of bard archetypes that do this or something similar, they just don't get the bonuses (archivist, detective, archeologist, sandman, off the top of my head). The trick is bards don't actually get Disable Device as a class skill, so you either need to multi or boost Disable Device another way (such as via Skill Focus). Bards are also generally more of a support character--they can be good in combat depending on how you design them, but if I were to play one in your campaign I might be more inclined to use bard abilities to buff the rest of the party and make them more effective, and that is not a role that is universally appealing to play.
Bard is one of the ideas I was playing around with. I like the bardic performances and was wanting to play one who when not buffing shoots 1 bolt a round from a crossbow or something. I would have to give the bard a wand of Call lightning or something to give him a standard action in combat, but outside of combat he would be awesome. The downside to the Bard is the archetypes with trapfinding get rid of the best performances IMO. Competence and courage are great for the party as a whole, especially for the skill bonus while disabling traps. I also am a fan of Versatile Performance after I made a bard in Hero-Lab.
My Bard Idea was to play one like Blackadder and take leadership to have a rogue companion named Baldric. I have not run the idea by my GM, but it is mostly just theorycrafting ATM. This would allow me to have the Bard with all the nice bonuses they get (versatile performance, and the lore bonuses), and have the Full rogue(albeit -2 levels) that is Specifically focused on trapfinding. In combat the rogue would just fire a crossbow, not really there to take up the combat, not a social NPC just there to fill the role. I like the idea of the bard, I have never played one and was always curious to give it a shot. Our wiz never has Haste and that would be a boon to our team. Sadly I couldn't get Paragon Surge as a bard, but oh well.
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I was trying to brainstorm some more and was thinking about maybe a Ranger(Trapper)/Gunslinger(Musketeer or Gun Tank) Build. The ranger would get me the disable device, trapfinding, and Medium Armor. Gunslinger would have enough skill points to cover the skills I need, has acrobatics as a class skill, has a d10 Hit Die, and is full BAB. Plus I would be very well off in combat with a musket or something attacking touch AC most of the time.
With the stat strengths of the gunslinger I could go DEX > WIS > INT/CON>CHA/STR. Beefing up my Dex would be priority which would increase my DD as well as AC, Att., and DMG. High WIS would give me more Grit and increase my WIL and perception Checks. I will also have enough skill points for the skills I wanted, and most likely some extra for some face skills as well.
I am not sure if my GM would go for the gunslinger. Not sure if firearms are prevalent or not in his world. When I was thinking of playing a druid, I was reading guides about turning into dinosaurs, I don't know if those even exist in his world. So far we have not seen many animals. Regardless, if he goes for this I think it would be a cool character to play.
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Reincarnated Druid.
You will basically come in, and for all intents and purposes, being immortal.
I suggest Human with the +2 put towards Wisdom.
I like it. One of my other character concepts was a druid/monk. I was going to go caster druid and just shift into Bat form and cling to the ceiling with my godly AC throwing spells at things. I was thinking storm druid, but reincarnated druid did cross my mind. I am not sure how my GM would handle the reincarnation if I did manage to get killed, but it would be pretty cool/cheesy nonetheless.
I really would not call it cheesy. Its cool flavor wise but honestly crunch its a downgrade from straight druid. Get out of death sorta-kinda free is fine but really that should very rarely if ever come up. So 99% of the time is just a downgrade.
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I really would not call it cheesy. Its cool flavor wise but honestly crunch its a downgrade from straight druid. Get out of death sorta-kinda free is fine but really that should very rarely if ever come up. So 99% of the time is just a downgrade.
Sorry, Cheesy was in reference to the combination of Monk and Druid caster in bat form making it almost impossible to hit me.
In our campaign, death has come up every session. At least one person becomes MOSTLY dead in every encounter(usually me or the Wizard). We usually have a breath of life, hero points, or a GM instituted way to bring our characters back from the brink of death. Our GM is throwing extremely challenging fights at us, but he is at least giving us ways to prevent our characters from dying. I am hoping once we complete this dungeon, the following quests scale back in difficulty. I do believe we are at the end of the adventure he wrote, all that is left is for us to kill the BBEG:Red Dragon God.
FWIW here's my trapper build. It is just a starting point and can definitely be tweaked for better performance.
Gear are all mere suggestions -- and in fact I know I already screwed up because he doesn't need a mithral breastplate for max movement since he's a dwarf. You could "normalize" the breastplate and spend the saved money elsewhere. Buckler was to add AC but it does incur a -1 penalty if you attack with 2hander weapon, and SHield of Swings bonus surpasses it/doesn't stack (but only happens when you full attack). So that can be traded for something else as well.
I suggested the unfettered shirt since you seem to be worried about getting trapped/grappled/immobilized.
Feats are also suggestions and geared toward some versatility rather than extreme focus; chose the two hander style for combat. Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple are also to help with the grapple issues--plus being able to grapple well is always a bonus--and if something should happen that you temporarily lose your weapon, quite a possibility in a campaign like this, you always have your fists at least. This campaign is fairly deadly so I thought Diehard might be worth it, although many feel "it's a trap" so you could always trade it for Toughness or another feat if you didn't want it.
Rebuilding to sword and board build (with a proper shield) could also work well. Depends on what melee styles are covered by your allies.
Barbarian 1/ Ranger (Trapper) 9
Init +4; Senses Perception +16, Darkvision 60 ft
==DEFENSE==
AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 23 (+9 armor, +3 shield, +4 dex, +1 deflection)
hp 100 (9d10+1d12+30 – includes +9 from favored class)
Fort +15, Ref +14, Will +10
Armor Mithral Breastplate (Agile) +3, Light
Shield Darkwood Buckler +2
Defensive Abilities
HARDY: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells,
and spell-like abilities.
STABILITY: Dwarves receive a +4 bonus to their combat maneuver defense
when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
DEEP WARRIOR: Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 dodge bonus to AC
against monsters of the aberration type and a +2 racial bonus to their CMB on attempts
made to grapple such creatures (or to continue a grapple).
EVASION: You can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. A
successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a
successful save, you instead takes no damage. Must be in light armor or no armor and
not helpless.
==OFFENSE==
Spd 30 ft/x4
Melee Two-handed Adamantine Dwarven Waraxe +2 +15/+10 (1d10+8) 20/x3
Melee One-handed Adamantine Dwarven Waraxe +2 +16/+11 (1d10+6) 20/x3
Melee Unarmed Strike +14/+9 (1d3+4) 20/x2
Ranged Composite Longbow +1 +15/+10 (1d8+5) 20/x3 CM +1; SB [+4]
Special Attacks
HATRED: Dwarves receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the orc and goblin subtypes due to special training against these hated foes.
FAVORED ENEMY: You have bonuses to Bluff, Perception, Sense Motive, and
Survival checks as well as weapon attack and damage rolls used against the following creature types: Aberration (+2), Dragon (+4).
HUNTER'S BOND: As a move action, the ranger can give companions within 30 ft half the ranger's Favored Enemy bonus against a single target of the appropriate type for 3 rounds.
RAGE: Your barbarian can rage for 7 rounds. Rage rounds are renewed after 8 hours rest. While raging, gain +4 Str, +4 Con, and +2 on Will saves, –2 to AC. The increased Con grants you +20 temporary hit points. Can't use Cha-, Dex-, or Int-based skills (except Fly, Intimidate, Ride, and Acrobatics) or any ability that requires
patience or concentration. A barbarian can end her rage as a free action and is fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the number of rounds spent during the rage. A barbarian cannot enter a new rage while fatigued but can otherwise enter a rage multiple times during a single encounter or combat.
TRAP: Rangers are legendary for their ability to hunt down and capture their prey. Some rangers can create elaborate traps out of scraps, vines, and perhaps a little bit of specialized magic. Setting a trap is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. A trap fills a single 5 ft square. (DC 18). All ranger traps are Trigger: location, and Reset: none.
Ranger traps are either extraordinary traps (mechanical), or supernatural traps (magic). An extraordinary trap has a –2 penalty to its DC. An extraordinary trap lasts 9 days or until it is triggered, whichever comes first. A magical trap lasts only 9 hours or until triggered, whichever comes first. A trap’s DC decreases by 1 for each full day (or hour, for a magical trap) that passes after it is set.
You’ve learned to create the following ranger traps: Snare Trap, Poison Trap, Freezing Trap, Alarm Trap. You can use these traps 8 times per day.
- Snare Trap (Ex or Su): The trap constricts around a limb or other part of the triggering creature’s body (Reflex avoids). The creature cannot move from the location of the trap, unless the ranger included a “leash” when setting the trap, in which case the creature is limited to the length of the leash. The trapped creature can escape with an Escape Artist check (DC equal to the trap’s DC) as a full-round action. The trap or its leash has 5 hit points, or can be burst as a full-round action with a DC 25 Strength check. The trap can hold up to a Medium creature; each extra daily use of the ranger’s trap ability spent when the trap is set increases the maximum size of creature the trap can hold. At the ranger’s option, if there is a tall object or structure nearby, she can have the trap lift the creature.
- Poison Trap (Ex or Su): The trap poisons the creature that triggers it. If it is a supernatural trap, the poison deals 1d2 Con damage per round for 6 rounds. If it is an extraordinary trap, the ranger must provide 1 dose of contact, inhaled, or injury poison when setting the trap, and the trap uses that poison’s effects and DC.
- Freezing Trap (Su): The trap creates a burst of ice that damages and encases the triggering creature. The creature takes 1d3+2 points of cold damage and is entangled and stuck to the ground, similar to the effect of a tanglefoot bag. A successful Reflex save halves the damage and means the creature is not stuck to the floor by the ice. The ice is 5 inch thick, has hardness 0 and 15 hit points, and melts in 2d4 rounds.
RANGER COMBAT STYLE: As a Ranger you have selected Two-Handed Weapon combat style.
==STATISTICS==
Str 18, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 9
BAB +10, CMB +14, CMD +29
SLOW AND STEADY: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 ft, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
FAST MOVEMENT: Speed +10 ft in less than heavy armor or load.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Light and Medium Armor, Shields except tower, Simple and Martial weapons, weapons with “dwarven” in them are treated as martial weapons.
Feats Power Attack (1), Shield of Swings (Ranger 2), Improved Unarmed Strike (3), Endurance (Ranger 3), Improved Grapple (5), Furious Focus (Ranger 6), Diehard (7), Advanced Ranger Trap (9)
Skills Acrobatics +16, Climb +8, Craft (trapmaking) +14, Disable Device +21, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Perception +16 [Find Traps +21, Unusual stonework +18], Stealth +16, Swim +7 [Resist exhaustion damage +11]
GREED: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise skill checks made to determine the price of nonmagical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones.
STONECUNNING: Dwarves receive a +2 bonus on Perception skill checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 ft of them, regardless of whether or not they are actively looking.
FAVORED TERRAIN: The ranger gets bonuses to Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, Survival and Initiative checks in these terrains: Underground (+4), Mountain (+2), Underground (+4).
WILD EMPATHY: Change animal attitudes in a way similar to Diplomacy. Check bonus equals 8. Animal must be within 30 ft.
SWIFT TRACKER: Move normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal -5 penalty. Take only a -10 penalty (instead of the normal -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking.
TRACK: Add +5 to Survival checks made to follow tracks.
TRAPFINDING: Add +5 to Perception checks to locate traps and Disable Device checks. Can disarm magic traps.
WOODLAND STRIDE: You may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect you.
Languages Common, Dwarven, Orc
Other Gear
Unfettered Shirt, Minor Burglar Boots, Cloak of Resistance +4, Ring of Protection +1, [i]Handy Haversack, Potion of Lesser Restoration (x2), Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
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I like the build DeathQuaker. I tried to create one last night in Hero Lab and it was somewhat similar. I also built a switch-hitter Ranger. I like the idea of being good at both melee and ranged so that I would be useful in both situations. If I start dying in melee I can withdraw and go back to ranged damage.
So far I have played 2 melee focused characters, and would like to switch it up for my next go. I would even like to roll a sorcerer with the seeker archetype. The issue I found when I created the Sorcerer is that the saves were appalling. Also, it is difficult to work in the skill focus feats.
Another character I built last night was a pistolero/ranger/monk. The monk was for WIS as AC, MoMS, +2 all Saves, and Imp. Unarmed Strike. Ranger for Trapfinding, and pistolero rest. This worked really well. The character had around 30 AC with no armor when fighting defensively(Crane/Snapping Turtle Style), 100ish HP, 30s in both DD and Perception, and was a human for the bonus skill focus feats/grit. Sadly I could not come up with a concept for why the Pistolero was a monk and a ranger. This just feels like a Metagaming character.
From where it stands right now, I am still leaning towards the Zen Archer because it covers almost all of the requirements. If my GM deems it to powerful, I will either try to get a Bard into the game or see what kind of Ranger I can put together. I like the idea of the Barbarian/Ranger. When in melee rage it up and at a range just pick off other targets.
Thanks for posting the build!
I don't have time to throw together a build at the moment, but you may want to consider a level in Pathfinder Delver if your main issue is die rolls. A 1-level investment gives you Bardic Knowledge and the ability to take 10 even when distracted or endangered on Disable Device & Stealth check and does let you use Disable Device on magical traps.
-TimD
If you want to build a sorcerer, my suggestion would be to skip the seeker archetype. You really don't need trapfinding. As a caster you have detect magic to find magic traps, and the loss of bloodline powers I am not sure is worth it, since in many cases you'd lose some decent abilities for some boosts to CL and such I'm not sure you'd need. If you are absolutely married to the idea of having trapfinding, I'd just do a 1-level dip into rogue or trapper for the trapfinding ability, which gives you a class skill and skill point boost too.
For the niches you want to fill, Bloodlines I'd go for would be draconic (Perception as class skill, resistances help make up for any lower saving throws, some good defensive abilities and flight--definitely don't want seeker for this as you don't want to give up draconic resistances IMO); deep earth (knowledge dungeoneering as class skill, cool sensory abilites like tremorsense), accursed (Perception as a class skill, saving throw bonuses and defensive feats, good spells).
If you went draconic, you could also go dragon disciple if you wished, which gives some nice stat bonuses.
Good luck! The zen archer is solid and if you feel like shooting then go for it. Just make sure your other ranged guy is cool with it.
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I don't have time to throw together a build at the moment, but you may want to consider a level in Pathfinder Delver if your main issue is die rolls. A 1-level investment gives you Bardic Knowledge and the ability to take 10 even when distracted or endangered on Disable Device & Stealth check and does let you use Disable Device on magical traps.
In this GM's campaign, you may not take 10 on any skill check. He still forces us to roll to succeed. Sadly a 10 roll is not enough when the DCs for DD are in the 40-50 range with a DD skill of 28 or so. Last session there was a magic trap in the hallway. I rolled mid 30s I think to Disable, and I failed by more than 5 so it went off. It was Nd6 of Sonic and I failed the fort save(rolled low with a +11) to negate permanent Deafness. My current character is built to find/disable, but the DCs are wicked high which is what I am trying to combat. Taking 20 is still an option, but that can't be used for DD since it assumes you failed at least once in your 20 tries.
I do have to say that I like the Prestige class though. I might consider using it if I want to make a true 100% trap build. A character that can find traps on the other side of a wall he is so good.
If you want to build a sorcerer, my suggestion would be to skip the seeker archetype. You really don't need trapfinding. As a caster you have detect magic to find magic traps, and the loss of bloodline powers I am not sure is worth it, since in many cases you'd lose some decent abilities for some boosts to CL and such I'm not sure you'd need. If you are absolutely married to the idea of having trapfinding, I'd just do a 1-level dip into rogue or trapper for the trapfinding ability, which gives you a class skill and skill point boost too.
For the niches you want to fill, Bloodlines I'd go for would be draconic (Perception as class skill, resistances help make up for any lower saving throws, some good defensive abilities and flight--definitely don't want seeker for this as you don't want to give up draconic resistances IMO); deep earth (knowledge dungeoneering as class skill, cool sensory abilites like tremorsense), accursed (Perception as a class skill, saving throw bonuses and defensive feats, good spells).
If you went draconic, you could also go dragon disciple if you wished, which gives some nice stat bonuses.
Good luck! The zen archer is solid and if you feel like shooting then go for it. Just make sure your other ranged guy is cool with it.
Thanks for those Bloodline suggestions. I like the Draconic bloodline and the Dragon disciple would be good from an HP standpoint. Plus wings are always cool. My current character has dispel magic, guess I could try and use it next session on one of those super powerful traps I keep seeing to see how it works out. That might help with my decision on playing the Sorc or not.
I would definitely run any of my final characters by the whole party and GM to see what they would like me to bring in. More than likely it would be the Bard.
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I think that the campaign you have been participating in is insane. The trap you cite as doing 40d6 damage (average damage= 140), plus transporting you alone to be eaten by a dragon seems to be a vivid indication of either a DM who loves to kill players, a DM and group enmeshed in an escalating min-maxing power struggle, or a DM who has no idea of game balance. My advice is to find a different group to adventure with. Or try Pathfinder Society Organized play. It's more balanced
Yeah it feels insane to me sometimes too.
So the GM was probably trying to kill my rogue for doing something stupid. He said he did not expect anyone to actually go for the Gem. My rogue's death was my fault, but I had already expressed disinterest with him. Plus he was going evil(assassin) and the campaign was supposed to be for all good characters(GM said good is best but he would accept Lawful Evil).
I am not sure if it is a power struggle thing. None of our characters are really min/maxxed that I can tell. I don't see any characters doing huge damage, or doing things that look like they are broken. The only thing I know that I've done that the GM wanted to change was in the first combat I got into with my rogue.
In the first round of combat, our Monk kept the Demon Busy and I snuck my rogue into position. In round 2 the Monk successfully stunned the Demon and I took a 5 foot step in, free action (glove of storing) popped out my rapier and Coup De Graced the Demon. The GM did not like that I was guaranteed a hit with the CDG so he ruled I would have to hit the demon in order to do so. I hit and did a lot of damage and dropped the Demon in 1 hit(failed the Fort Save). Pretty cool entrance for my character, and me as a whole I think.
I play PFS occasionally, but I like the people I game with. They are good people and we usually have a bunch of fun. I think the GM just likes to throw out a real challenge he feels is appropriate to the environment we are in. Most of the times we get into real trouble, he has to come up with ways to give us an out. In situations where people actually die, he has made some homebrew stuff that would ensure we could come back. So far I am the only one to have a character die permanently, but there have been many close calls. Couple this with the fact that I roll 1's frequently, and rarely roll high and it spells disaster for me. This is why I am creating backup characters.