Hi All
I'm soon to be playing in my first PFS game, which will also be my first Pathfinder game too. I've played a bit of 3.5 before and have been studying the core rulebook fairly closely so I hope I'll be up to speed enough. I've also had a good look at the build guides on this forum and elsewhere so hopefully I'm not asking too much that's obvious.
I've come up with two character concepts I'd like to play and can't quite choose between them. It might well depend on what PFS games are really like so I thought I'd ask for your thoughts.
My aim is to have a good fun time at an upcoming convention - I'll be playing in 3 PFS games and so am looking for something fun to play at level 1 (with some room for good expansion if / when I get to play again). I'd also like to be useful for my fellow pathfinders as best as a level 1 character can be.
One character concept is really quite focused - a big hitting barbarian with a bit of acrobatics to get into good flanking positions (or help others flank?) and lots of hit points. The second is a much more broadly built ranger - a good array of social and other skills - good at archery at the beginning of a fight then switching to melee (at least until Precise shot at level 2).
Here's a quick outline of my plans:
Option 1 - Human Barbarian
STR: 18 (including racial +2)
DEX: 14
CON:14
INT:10
WIS:12
CHA:8
Feats: Toughness, Power Attack (planning Iron Will at Lev 3)
Favoured Class towards hp
Skill points in Acrobatics, Climb, Perception, Survival & Swim
Faction: Silver Crusade
Traits: Unorthodox Strategy (to help with Acrobatics rolls) & Armor Expert
Kit: Great Sword, Studded Leather, Javelins
Summary: lots of damage in combat, limited skills, poor will save (am I likely to end up being controlled and hurting the party?!)
Option 2 - Human Ranger
STR: 14
DEX: 17 (including racial +2)
CON:12
INT:12
WIS:14
CHA:9
Feats: Dodge, Point Blank Shot
Favoured Class towards skill point
Skill points in Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Know Geog, Know Nat, Perception, Sense Motive (from trait), Stealth, Survival
Faction: Shadow Lodge
Traits: Watchdog (giving sense motive as class skill), reactionary (to help get at least one round of shooting in!)
Kit: Longbow, Leather Armor, Longsword, Arrows, daggers
Summary: good range of skills, could lend a hand in melee or pick off viable targets from afar, not yet a damage dealing machine till later levels (especially without a composite longbow yet!)
I'm wanting to keep things fairly simple and only really use content from the core book for the moment. Which build do you think would be more effective for a typical PFS game? Am I missing something vital? I'm not too fussed whether things are super optimised as long as the build is relatively effective!
Many thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.
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I'm not a fan of barbarians. The ranger looks good. A few suggestions for the ranger.
Human Ranger
Feats:
H: Point Blank Shot
1: Precise Shot
Favored class : Hit Point
Skills: Handle Animal, Heal, Diplomacy, Know Nat, perception, Stealth, Survival
Faction : Shadow Lodge This faction is going away in a few months. You will have to play a lot. To get up to level to play in there retirement scenario. Unless that is your plan I suggest. Picking a different faction.
Traits: Reactionary , Shadow Diplomat ( Diplomacy as a class skill.)
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tldr : They're both basically fine. Play whichever one seems likely to be more fun. While not uper optimized they'll be sufficiently effective
The barbarian is a pretty standard barbarian build. Like all barbarians he will be very, very effective in killing things. You haven't dumped mental stats very much so you'll be a tad more vulnerable than the guys with Wis, Int and Cha all at 7 (yes, they DO exist) but that should be fine,
I'd lose the armor training trait, though. You'll be fine with a masterwork chain shirt until you can afford your mithral breastplate (which will be quite high on your priority list for purchases).
Being superstitious is the usual way to avoid spells. A protection from evil item (you can get a shining wayfinder for only 2 Prestige since you're in the Silver Crusade) also can go a considerable way.
The ranger basically looks fine. Upgrade the armour to studded leather at the least. Rangers actually get a fair number of skill points, I'd be tempted to reduce the int to 10 amd Cha to 8 and put the points into con. I'd DEFINITELY be putting my favoured class bonus into hit points. Hit points are king, especially at low levels.
I'd definitely swap the dodge feat, probably for precise shot. Oh, and go with a greatsword. You're not going to be using a shield anyway.
Quickdraw can be quite valuable for a switch hitter. Combine that with a quickdraw shield and you can go from melee to ranged ery effectively.
As a ranger, you can use a whole slew of wands right from level 1. Cure light wounds, Lead blades, gravity bow, longstrider are all good options. You can buy the wands with prestige.
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It's good to plan out your first 5 or so levels for feats and skills. As you begin to acquire more gold at later levels (like 5+) it's a good idea to start saving for big purchases. My main character saved up for a Ring of Invisibility ($20k) over the course of two levels, but if I had just spent my money after each scenario I never would have gotten it.
You'll learn lots of ins and outs as you continue to play more scenarios and meet new people, so don't feel bad if after you've played a few levels you realize that you missed out on something. Each time your main character gains a couple levels plan on making a new character to take advantage of scenarios that your main might be too high to play in. I have a 9, 7, 6, 3, 3, and a couple 1s right now so I can play in practically whatever game happens to be going on.
In the Pathfinder Society General Discussion forum you can probably find lots of advice for new players, too.
Have fun!
Many thanks to you all for some extremely useful advice. I'm now all ready for the convention!
The barbarian looks good (of course it's hard to mess up a barbarian like that). You shouldn't worry about getting dominated and attacking your party for a while, and by then you can probably afford the ioun stone that protects against mental control from evil creatures.
On the ranger, for the love of God, take Precise Shot instead of Dodge! If you're going to do archery, you will only occasionally have chances to shoot at people who aren't in melee. That -4 penalty will eat you for breakfast. Other than that, he looks good.
Oh, and once you get some Prestige Points, the first thing you want to do is spend 2 PP on a wand of cure light wounds. Even if you play the barbarian, you can hand it to someone else to use on you, instead of demanding the other party members spend their money on healing you. If you play an archery character, consider spending the next 2 PP you get on a masterwork composite longbow, to get ahead of the game.
I don't now if you've been told yet, but you can rebuild a character as many times as you would like before you play it once at level 2. At early levels martials may not feel very different from each other because you haven't acquired many class features or options to differentiate them beyond skill points and BAB. If your playing level 1s you may want to try both out.
As for builds, I'd look for something better than dodge and toughness. Moving isn't always best, so I'm not sure if unorthodox strategy is the best. Later on your can build your barbarian to be a juggernaut with the superstitious related rage powers and beast totem. Rangers I'm not keen on, but animal companions, skills, and spells are always welcome. Archetypes are an option once you get passed core, and those can really help you create a cool character. Don't forget you can peak at the class guides and handbooks for advice.
PFS demands a variety of skills. So be prepared. A level one wand cost 2 PP, and even if you can't use it its nice to have it on hand.
Edited: To make more sense... Thanks Jiggy.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I don't now if you've been told yet, but you can rebuild a character as many times as you would like before you play it once at level 1.
You mean before you play it at level 2+, or to put it another way, while you're still level 1. I think you blended the two ways of saying it while you were typing. :)