Heya,
as we can't get all players together, we're playing a 2-player campaign on the weekend.
We start at level 4, 8000gp.
Races allowed: only core rulebook
Classes etc: only Paizo stuff: CRB, APG, ARG, Ultimate series
The other guy will surely play a spellcaster, so I need a character that is:
- melee capable
- versatile
- healing would be nice
My 1st thought was paladin, but I'm playing that in another campaign, so I want to try something else.
Any ideas?
Summoner is a great class for small parties, since he can fulfill a variety of roles simultaneously and his eidolon allows him to stretch his action economy. He also will get along nicely with a primary spellcaster.
Having just read the "guide to the undead" in another thread, I'm also going to throw a negative-channeling cleric out there. Starting at 4th level you already have access to lesser animate dead and will soon have access to the full version.
Finally, a melee alchemist can be quite fun to play. With the right stats placement he can be a pretty good melee character. He's also pretty good with a 1-level barbarian dip if you're playing a low-level campaign.
Thanks for the advice!
I forgot to mention: alignment must be good, so no undead stuff.
The alchemist / barbarian combo sounds interesting, I'll have a look at that.
Inquisitor is another option. They can be decent in melee, with 3/4 BAB that can be made into a psuedo full BAB with their judgments, they are spontaneous divine casters so you could heal or just use a wand easily, and they have 6 skill points a level. They also have plenty of other abilities that are helpful in and out of combat such as the ability to detect alignments and add their casting stat to knowledge checks against monsters. Overall, rather good.
Another option might be a bard. I'd advise the an arcane duelist, which are far more combat oriented. They get better armor, arcane strike as a bonus feat at first level, they have a performance for giving weapons magical properties (great for quick ghost touch), and they get feats for messing up other casters through melee. This is of course along with the normal spell list, buffs, and 8 skill points.
Holy warrior :) full BAB full caster.. u lose domains, sure, but coupled with another full caster it could be interesting :)
Ranger -- Always versatile
Monk/Cleric -- Take a 1 level dip into cleric and you can use Wands of Cure Light Wounds and cleric scrolls.
Bard -- Just chock full of abilities and has access healing magic
Druid -- Concentrate on shapeshifting and get a tough animal companion
Oracle (of Battle) -- Nice abilities and spell list
Fighter -- Yes, fighter. I know you said you wanted healing, but let your companion handle that. Fighter is the best at dealing and taking damage reliably in all situations. You can always carry healing potions.
Thanks so far guys!
I usually don't like it, when other players summon like crazy or have a whole zoo with them - but mostly because it slows down the game for everybody else.
But in a 2-man party I might consider the summoning druid with his pet...
"The wolf pack": druid has wolf companion, wildshapes into wolf, summons some more wolves... surely not the optimum, but sounds somehow cool.
Still open to more ideas!
Oracle (of Battle) -- Nice abilities and spell list
I second Oracle of Battle. I haven't played mine yet, but they can fill front liner bruiser or tank and divine caster. Not too shabby if you ask me.
I'd lean towards the oracle of battle or metal. Both will let you be fairly combat capable, and you can cure (I'd get wands with some of that money).
Like 666bender said, druid would work well since you will have summons and cures, and if you make sure to leave a few slots unprepared, you can spend a few minutes in game to prep a much needed utility spell, use cure wands, and the amulet of mighty fists works on your companion (but is 5k). I would really save up for Wild armor (dragonhide plate) 19,300gp. Might be able to get it around level 8.
A last option that I would think about is ranger. I would aim for boosting AC and fighting defensively so that less cures are needed. You should be able to use a cure light wounds wand at 4th level. Both Urban Ranger and Trapper get trapfinding (though you lose spells with trapper). Depending on the setting, Urban ranger may actually see some usefulness out of the community abilities.
I'm sure there are lots of other good ideas out there. But, being in a small party, I would lean towards summons/pets.
Thanks so far guys!
I usually don't like it, when other players summon like crazy or have a whole zoo with them - but mostly because it slows down the game for everybody else.
But in a 2-man party I might consider the summoning druid with his pet...
"The wolf pack": druid has wolf companion, wildshapes into wolf, summons some more wolves... surely not the optimum, but sounds somehow cool.Still open to more ideas!
Well, if that seems favorable, then how about this: the summoner could be a master summoner. This boosts their ability to summon(number of times, augmented summoning as a bonus feat), but stunts their eidolon. So rather than making a tank with it, it is often better to turn it into a skill monkey. The skilled evolution (+8 to a skill) takes only 1 evolution point, so you could just put a few on a humanoid and call it a day. Let the summoned creatures take care of melee.
Well, since you can still have your eidolon out while summoning with this archetype, I guess you could give it a few alchemist fires or tanglefoot bags so it can still be useful.
Just talked to the other player, and when I told him that I'm thinking of playing a druid, he told me that a saurian druid is a must have... Well, this is something I don't like at all, maybe in a campaign where dinosaurs are typical animals, but we're playing in a world where even dragons are more common. So only for min-maxing, meh.
Thinking druid melee-shaper with ape companion now (tiger later), sounds okay, fits the campaign better. Any ideas for archetype?
The ranger animal companion is a little too squishy at level 4.
Is there any other class out there with a full animal companion?
