Kitsune Pirate idea

[Fromper]

So I have a boon that lets me make a kitsune PC in Pathfinder Society. I have so many PFS characters already, because I keep coming up with ideas and making new ones, that I'd kinda backed off making more for a bit. But yesterday, I GMed a First Steps adventure which is level 1 only, and all of my previous PCs are already level 2+, so I need a new level 1 character to apply the GM credit to. So this prompted me to start thinking about what to do with that kitsune boon.

I like the flavor of kitsune as an unusual shapeshifting race. But mechanically, they're very similar to halflings. Since I already have a couple of halfling characters, I want to try and avoid redundancy, which is why I didn't already have an idea in mind for what to do with the kitsune boon.

So looking at what I could do with a kitsune, the most obvious choice seems to be ninja. I already have a dex based halfling rogue, but ninjas are a little different. The cha bonus would be good for the ki pool and ninja stuff based on it. So that's an idea.

Another idea which kind of appeals to me is to do a cleric of Besmara, the CN pirate goddess. I noticed I could get the Trickery and War (Tactics) domains with that one, which is a great combination. But again, I already have a couple of clerics, so what would make this one unique?

Then it occurred to me - negative channel! Use the high kitsune dex with weapon finesse and Besmara's favored weapon (rapier), and the high kitsune charisma to get lots of channels for channel smite. That's only two feats, so I could get there by level 3. There's no way this can keep up with dedicated melee builds, but at least it's creative and not completely ineffective. As a backup weapon when I run out of channels or want to save them for large bursts, I'd be spontaneously casting inflicts against touch AC. The down side is that putting points in dex and cha won't leave me enough points for a really good wisdom, so the spell casting could suffer.

Then the really, really weird idea occurred to me. What if I multi-class to be both a ninja and a cleric of Besmara? Would it be a ninja with a one level dip in cleric for those awesome first level domain powers and a couple of spells? A cleric with a two level dip in ninja for some sneak attack damage, extra skill ranks, ki pool, and vanishing trick? I don't think going half and half would work out that great, because the spellcasting would be lacking on the cleric side and the sneak attacks would be lacking on the ninja side.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Fromper]

So no responses here? The more I think about it, the less I think the cleric/ninja multi-class would be worthwhile.

I was thinking of maybe straight cleric of Besmara, with or without the kitsune boon (maybe human for the extra starting feat and skill rank per level). I have this idea of a swashbuckling pirate with a rapier in my head, but I can't think of how to get an effective cleric who fits that image.

A melee cleric just can't produce a decent damage output without a two handed weapon, strength bonus, and power attack. I thought about maybe negative channeling, channel smite, and guided hand, but I'd only be channel smiting 4-5 times per day, maybe as many as 7 after taking the extra channel feat, and the damage would just be 1d6 from the rapier at other times, likely with no strength bonus due to the MAD nature of clerics.

Or then there's the idea of making a straight ninja, which would probably be the kitsune, since the race works well with that class.

I guess the ninja with just one level cleric dip could work, to get the good domain powers and a tiny bit of spellcasting. I might even consider another two levels of cleric at higher levels, to get 2nd level spells and invisibility as a domain spell. But this being for PFS, I'm not that likely to ever reach a high enough level to bother.

[MrSin]

I've got some commentary. Just a lot to respond to.

Kitsune do best when you go for something charisma based such as oracle or sorcerer. Have you considered either of those? Sadly they don't do so well with anything that needs strength so dervish dance is always nice, but I'm not sure if that's piratey enough, especially with PFS's no reskinning.

I would suggest against ninja/cleric. Clerics 2+ skillpoints won't go far, even with all those class skills. At best you'll do a lot mediocrely, and you would be sacrificing casting for it. That hit to BAB, which is unavoidable because PFS doesn't use fractional BAB to my knowledge, may take away more than the highly situational sneak attack will give.

[ZanThrax]

Is necromancy allowed in Society Play? Do the cleric of Besmara and keep your crew in line by making in clear that those who don't follow orders get to follow orders forever as zombie or skeleton crew.

[MrSin]

ZanThrax wrote:

Is necromancy allowed in Society Play? Do the cleric of Besmara and keep your crew in line by making in clear that those who don't follow orders get to follow orders forever as zombie or skeleton crew.

Its legal, but you PUG a lot. That said, you don't make a lot of friends by telling every group you run into(ones that include LG divine casters...) that you fully intend to force them into the afterlife and be your slave...

[Hendelbolaf]

I have kitsune sorcerer with the fey bloodline in Skull and Shackles. He is the flashy pirate type. The DC's for his enchantments are out of this world and he is really fun to play. He talks himself out of punishments and extra hard duties and such. He is probably a shoe-in to be "captain" soon if all works out okay for the PC's.

[blackbloodtroll]

Freebooter/Trapper Ranger is much more viable as a Pirate Swashbuckler.

You could even go Dervish Dance, then choose the two-handed weapon style to get Power Attack, without the 13 strength.

Hell, I like this idea so much, I might use it myself.

Different race though.

[strayshift]

Playing a kitsune enchantment sorcerer but won't dwell on that - try the Oracle if you want some flavour - the favoured class ability would let you develop a weapon proficiency to add a bit of flavour. Of there is the Rogue with added tails and talents! Also the ability to develop your shape-shifting and Vulpine Pounce are excellent for a Pirate potentially too.

[Fromper]

I don't want to do another sorcerer. Been there, done that. And for the pirate, I want to do melee, anyway. The question is how to do an effective rapier wielding pirate.

Like I said, I just really like the idea of a cleric of Besmara, but I'm running into problems on how to be effective in melee. I guess I could go human for the extra feat and skill ranks, don't multi-class, and focus more on the spontaneous inflict spells than the rapier. I could still use channel smite with the rapier for big hits with flavor a few times per day. Actually, I could focus on strength that way instead of dex, and just forget the weapon finesse idea I originally had.

Or the other option is back to the ninja/cleric multi-class, with mostly ninja and just a single level of cleric for the Besmaran flavor, domain abilities, and little bit of spellcasting. That would work well with the kitsune, since the dex and cha bonuses both work well for a ninja. I keep coming back to this, and it may be a decent option.

[blackbloodtroll]

Well, a Battle Oracle could work well.

I think the Dervish Dance route would be better, but Rapier could work too, once you can afford an Agile Rapier.

[Ar'ruum]

I'm not playing PFS, but I've got a Kitsune rogue (3) with Realistic Likeness and Fast Shifter feats, and a hat of disguise. With 2-3 ranks in diplomacy, bluff, and disguise yeilding solid skill modifiers, he's a terrific 'doppleganger' of sorts. I've only just gotten into playing him much (2-3 sessions) in the Skull and Shackles AP, but I've got some tom-foolery in mind hehe! Granted my GM allowed us to forgo using hero points for an extra feat, which helped with the rest of the build.