| epilepticemu |
Hi all,
Just starting pathfinder for the first time (played a lot of D&D 3.0,3.5, 4.0) and am looking to play a Bones Oracle, starting at level 8. This guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WdtrZCESRmVfljXY196wMrMLTnS8Uzk4DEk3oQd VZok/edit#bookmark=id.z8my0sgkbwe8 says the combo in the subject line works if your DM allows your mystery armor to be enchanted with magic vestments. But how does this work? It doesn't make sense to waste a spell slot on magic vestments, so the next best option would be a wand.
If I get a level 8 wand of MV, that means I get my +8 armor for 8 hrs/day. But it takes a charge of the wand and 2 standard actions to use. Thematically this is cool, but practically? Basically if I'm caught not expecting a fight I'm toast. Which is probably semi-frequent.
Am I missing something? Thanks!
OH 1 other question.
Death's Touch. Is this worth it? d6+4 damage as a touch attack. Can I use that when I do attacks of opportunities? Even if so, isn't my mace going to do equal or more damage? I guess the ONLY benefit is that it's more accurate as a touch attack.
Ferious Thune
|
I'm playing an Oracle of Bones in PFS now. To me, Death's Touch probably isn't worth it, unless you also plan to take Resist Life, which would mean negative energy would heal you, and positive energy would harm you. In my case, it's also a Black-blooded Oracle, which also heals from negative energy. Death's Touch is very useful in that case, to give several free healing spells per day. I think I've only used it to attack once in 4 levels.
If you plan to take Raise the Dead, the. Death's Touch is also useful for healing your minion.
I've been trying to run with Bones armor as well, but yeah, the Leather I wear as a backup just isn't cutting it when we get surprised.
| Dragonchess Player |
What am I missing?
Duration. You don't use two actions at the start of combat, you use two actions at the start of the adventuring day.
Both the armor revelations that conjure physical armor (Armor of Bones, Ice Armor, and Wood Armor) and magic vestment (which targets an object RAW; Air Barrier, Cloak of Darkness, Coat of Many Stars, and Spirit Shield are not physical objects) are 1 hr/level. Basically, you don't have to use your wealth on acquiring/upgrading armor past 5th-7th level: you get a "free" suit of armor that increases in protection as you level, plus the increasing enhancement bonus of magic vestment.
Ferious Thune
|
Yeah, the savings on wealth is the main benefit. And no armor check penalty or weight. Remember, too, prior to getting magic vestment, the armor works in one hour increments. This is different than Mage Armor, for example, because if you have 2 hours duration at 2nd level, you can use it in two 1 hour blocks. So right before entering the building where you expect trouble. Then again several hours later before heading into a dungeon. By the time you're high enough level to cast Magic Vestment, your duration will be long enough to last most adventuring days.
Thematically I'd suggest also picking up Defending Bone as a 2nd level spell (I forget if you have to worship Pharasma to take it or not). 5DR/bludgeoning for an hour a level to go on top of the armor and magic vestment. It's out of Gods and Magic, I think.
| epilepticemu |
"Remember, too, prior to getting magic vestment, the armor works in one hour increments."
What? Even after getting magic vestments it still works in 1 hour intervals, right? Except that if you stop the armor early, you'll have to recast magic vestment.
Yeah, "defending bone" is cool thematically. And the bone mystery "armor of bone" gets the the exact same bonus built in at level 13.
Ferious Thune
|
"Remember, too, prior to getting magic vestment, the armor works in one hour increments."
What? Even after getting magic vestments it still works in 1 hour intervals, right? Except that if you stop the armor early, you'll have to recast magic vestment.
Yeah, "defending bone" is cool thematically. And the bone mystery "armor of bone" gets the the exact same bonus built in at level 13.
Yeah, I phrased that weird. What I meant is basically what you said, once you get Magic Vestments, you'll have an incentive to just keep your armor up constantly, since if you dismiss it, you'd have to cast magic vestments on it again if you summon it again. But by the time you can cast Magic Vestments, you'll have enough duration that you can just keep the armor up. Prior to that, though, when your daily duration is more limited, it's a benefit that you can dismiss it and call it back a few times a day. Especially in an adventuring day with a lot of travel. Which makes it better than Mage Armor in that respect.
Defending Bone... You are correct, once you hit level 13, you can save the spell slot since you'll have the effect tied to the armor.
What mystery were you planning to go with?
| epilepticemu |
Cool, thanks for the help!
I'm planning on playing bones mystery, and the character is starting at level 8.
I realize that the character is going to be pretty gimped because of my RP choices (get to that in a minute), but I'm still trying to make the best of it.
Here's the concept. A NG oracle of bones. Most bones oracles are NOT neutral good, but this one (let's call her Susan for now) is. Like most oracles, Susan had no control over being blessed with her power. Not many people who want to do good are clad in bone armor and use spells like Fear and Murderous Command as their signatures, but well, Susan is going to do the most with what she's been given.
Here's the catch. All of the gods (except Pharasma) that give the bones mystery are evil. So Susan has clutched onto Pharasma and tries not to think about the other ones. Because of the bones bonus spells, she has the ability to summon undead, but chooses not to. That's really only 1 bonus spell (create undead) that is totally wasted. The mysteries that still fit are Armor of Bones, Voice of the Grave, Spirit Walk, Undead Servitude, and Near Death. To make the character even more fun, she has the Wasting curse, so she basically LOOKS undead even though she's good.
Her rolled stats (not yet assigned are) 15, 11, 10, 11, 16, 18. I kind of wanted her to be capable in melee, but that would mean dex, int and wisdom are all dumped. But I guess that's still viable.
Any suggestions on feat paths/prestige classes that would work? Thanks for all your help!
| epilepticemu |
Sorry for a shameless bump, but can anyone give more advice on a build path? I'm thinking human, but only because I don't know of anything better. Also thinking enforcer/bludgeoner/antagonize as feats to maximize intimidate. Stats would be 15 strength, 11 dex, 16 con, 10 wisdom, 11 intelligence, 18 charisma.
| MyTThor |
If you're not going to use undead, probably the next best revelation is Near Death. Not the most exciting, but really a lot of good defensive bonuses there.
There aren't a lot more to write home about. You should consider going with an archetype that gets you access to some more cool revelations, like dual-cursed or seer, or one that replaces revelations with other abilities, like seeker.
Human is very hard to beat for oracle, and you should switch out your bonus feat for the 3 bonus skill focus feats. Use one to pick up the prerequisite for whichever Eldritch Heritage you are going to take, the other for intimidate, and the third for whatever you want. Perception of course is a solid choice.
Alternately, check out the Samsaran Reincarnated Oracle. You lose some point buy with Charisma, probably can't afford to start with more than a 17, but you get to cherry pick any 3 (or 4, if you can afford an 18 charisma) divine spells you want off any divine list. Look at some of the cool swift action antipaladin spells. Plus the flavor fits with the Pharasma worship. You get a couple very solid revelations to replace your rather lackluster list as a bones oracle not interested in creating or controlling undead.
Ferious Thune
|
I was again typed the wrong thing... I meant which curse were you looking at, but you answered that, too.
My Oracle of Bones is also a worshipper of Pharasma (though N, not NG), and also is avoiding summoning Undead (mainly went that direction to avoid conflict at PFS tables). I may eventually take the Undead Servitude revelation so that he can stop, and then "free" undead he encounters by destroying them once he's controlled them. The idea behind that character being that Pharasma made him the way he is so that he'd be closer to the undead, and therefore able to fight them in ways a Paladin or cleric couldn't. I went with the Black-Blooded curse, because why not pile on the creepy while I'm at it.
Anyway, feats, etc. all depend on what you want to do with the character. Enforcer and Bludgeoner are good. Antagonize... I suppose it will be good situationally for you, since used right, you can force opponents to provoke from your allies. As an oracle, though, you probably won't want the enemy attacking you all the time. If you do plan on using Antagonize a lot, Dodge isn't a bad idea, and I wouldn't dump Dex. If you plan on attacking in melee a lot, Weapon Focus. Neither of them are exciting, but they help. Keep in mind, also, that Intimidate has no effect on Undead, so it depends on how much fighting them is a focus for your character.
So far, I've ended up burning my feats on Extra Revelations, because between Bones and Black-Blooded, there are a lot of good ones (Black-Blooded gives you the option of Darkvision as a revelation, and Dark Resilience, which gives a re-roll against death effects and energy drains, as well as Black-Blood Spray, which causes your blood to deal negative energy to attackers when you're hit). Since I'm mainly melee, I did dip Fighter (Lore Warden) to pick up Power Attack, and extra BAB, Martial Weapons, and all the int-based skills as class skills. Since I'm using Armor of Bones, giving up Medium and Heavy armor proficiencies fore Lore Warden didn't hurt. My spell selection tends to be along the lines of self-buffs... Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, that kind of thing. Because of the dip, I don't have 2nd level spells yet, but as mentioned, Defending Bone will probably be my first pick.
I went elf for race, because of Ancient Lorekeeper, which solves the mystery spell issue, since it replaces the Bones spells with anything off the Wizard Sorcerer list (at a level higher). So at second level, you get a level 0 wizard spell as a level 1 spell. At 4th you get a level 1 spell as a level 2, and at 6th a level 2 as a level 3. To stay on theme, I'm thinking mostly spells from the Necromancy school... False Life and things like that. False Life will help a little with being in melee so much.
Add it all together, and you get an Elven Curved Blade wielding elf who was raised to be a keeper of lore, but had his life path changed when he was chosen by Pharasma (or whatever mysterious force) to instead be a weapon against Undead.