So my group will be starting a Skull and Shackles game soon. I asked before for ideas and I did some extra research. I want to make a Storm born druid. I wanted to hear some good build advice from you guys who know pathfinder so much better than I. My race thought is Undine although probably keep up human appearances. For the domain to start I believe I want weather as keeping fools at range will be necessary. I love the idea of causing chaos at sea and aerial bombardment of spells. We will be doing 20 point buy. I have never played a druid as most of my repertoire is melee characters and I want to expand my abilities. So my question. How would you guys build this? I would like to be very pirate themed. The party I believe will be monk, gunslinger, and other guy said pirate. We have access to pathfinder only. I look forward to suggestions and progression advice.
I'll be playing a Samsaran Storm Druid in Skulls & Shackles soon. I'm going for the Storm subdomain of Weather, but that's more personal choice than anything. When building a druid, you have to decide if you're going to play a primarily wild shape melee druid or a primarily caster druid and allocate your stats appropriately. For the Storm Druid, you're going caster obviously, so stats should probably be Wis > Dex = Con > Int = Str = Cha. From what I understand about Skulls & Shackles, skills are very important, so in this case, I would put your intelligence as your 4th score, maybe even your 3rd if you want to be brave and lower your Con or Dex a bit.
We don't normally play point buy, but I would probably put your stats as follows...(before racial modifiers)
Str 8
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 17
Cha 10
Beyond that, your class & archetype will fit the setting extremely well. Race is not so important - I chose Samsaran because of Shards of Part ability allowing me to grab a few extra class skills - Bluff and Intimidate, specifically... I mean, it's a pirate campaign, after all!
Start thinking Piratey and have fun!
Cool do you have any feat/spell recommendations? I know that natural spell will be a must.
Peterrco has a very good guide to druids that I would recommend. Treantmonk of course has written the definitive guide but it doesn't address some of the more recent material. But I think his "Wild Mystic" would be a great starting point for you.
Feat Selection Suggestions:
1) Toughness (helps make up for a poor Con score and allows you to put favored class bonuses into skill ranks for the first few levels - a good call for this AP, I believe) or Combat Casting
3) Combat Casting or Improved Initiative
5) Natural Spell, duh.
7) Improved Initiative or Craft Wondrous Item (if you're allowed crafting) or Leadership (if your DM likes the feat - check with him first.)
9) Any previously missed feat or Heavy Armor Proficiency (while technically not needed to wear an Wild Ironwood Full Plate mail, you may be caught out of wild shape at some point. Also, my group requires it - much too cheesy otherwise.) or Metamagic Feats
I'm not sure what to get beyond this really - probably more metamagic feats as you're primarily a caster and these things are good, especially when you can add them to spontaneously cast spells, though this ends up taking a full round to cast - not 1 round, it still goes off when you cast it, you just can't move more than 5 feet in the round you cast it. This is acceptable for being able to metamagic on the fly.
General Spell Suggestions
Spell recommendations are going to change every few levels and depending on how you plan to play out the character, as well as your party composition. Druids aren't as good at healing as Clerics, but in a pinch, they can help keep a crucial ally fighting his adversary, which means that adversary isn't closing on you! In general though, buffing and battlefield control should be your focus. Also, even though you can't spontaneously channel summon nature's ally spells, it MAY be worth keeping one of these prepared at your highest level (after level 3 or 4) every day if your party is light on melee classes to take up the front lines. Just remember that it's a "1 Round" casting time to cast the SNA spell, so the summons won't actually appear until next round AND if you get attacked in the entire round, you'll have to make concentration checks or lose the spell, so position yourself carefully before casting. Also, since we didn't grab Augment Summoning (requires Spell Focus - Conjuration in addition and it's really worth it for our build), they'll be less powerful, but still useful for holding enemies at bay. Look at them as another way to control positioning on the battlefield as well as preventative healing (every few points of damage they take is a few less your party takes.)
•Levels 1 and 2 Domain Spell: Obscuring Mist - Shillelagh will probably be your best friend in combat - though we did dump Str, so even then, it'll be a bit rough. Side note: It's probably best to stay at a range and use our domain power as much as possible early levels. Faerie Fire is an amazing first level spell - you may not prepare it much at these levels, but remember it for later. Hydraulic Push could be situationally great - push that enemy off the edge of the ship and it's one less person to deal with in the short term.Obscuring Mist is good for avoiding attacks, especially at 4th level when you can see through a bit of it. For now, it's good for avoiding attacks, until the wind blows it away... There's never wind on the high seas, is there... Crap.
•Level 3 and 4 Domain Spell: Fog Cloud - Flame Blade or better yet, Gozreh's Trident if you're a worshiper of Gozreh and your DM allows the spell (it's from Pathfinder's Gods and Magic - circa 2008.) will become your new go to for damage as they target touch AC and don't rely on your strength for damage. Another decent option would be to prepare Produce Flame in your first level spell slots to use them as ranged touch attacks, staying out of combat. This is better at 4th level than 3rd by a decent amount. Also don't overlook Cat's Grace, Bull Strength, Bear's Endurance, if you go the Produce Flame route as your party will love you for it! Stone Call is also decent, though less for the damage and more for making difficult terrain - as it can slow your enemies approach by making the area difficult terrain, allowing you and your allies to make a few extra ranged attacks before they close, if that benefits your side. Fog cloud has the same problems as Obscuring Mist - Wind. When it isn't dissipated quickly, this can be great for throwing up between allies and enemy archers to provide cover while your allies either take out their melee forces, or close on the archers without taking fire. Also, remember at 4th level, you can use your fog clouds much more effectively.
•Level 5 and 6 Domain Spell: Call Lightning - Wild Shape + Natural Spell + Call Lightning will eliminate all other melee spells needed.Remember, Call Lightning is our domain spell, so don't bother preparing it beyond your domain spell slot. Instead, prepare things like Sleet Storm, Neutralize Poison, Aqueous Orb, or even Cup of Dust if you want to really Pirate it up. You know you want to! What better way to get back at that NPC that pissed you off than to make him thirsty (and hungry by combining this with Feast of Ashes) to the brink of death. You can then tell him that he's brought on the wrath of Gozreh by treating you poorly and only by begging Gozreh for forgiveness for your transgressions will your god allow you to spare him. You then dismiss the spell that you put on him, lol. If you do this right at 5th level, you can hit him in the middle of the night as a small sized bird - And if he awakens, he won't even suspect you. =). Hydraulic Torrent is a good replacement for Hydraulic Push now, as you can hit multiple people in a line with it. You'll also want to look into preparing things like Barkskin, Aunt Haul, or other 10 min/level + buffs in your low level slots since you'll often know before combat is going to break out. Again, Bear's Endurance, Bull Strength, and Cat's grace will keep your party loving you.
•Levels 7 and 8 Domain Spell: Sleet Storm - Control Water - OMG... You now begin to be the beast that you should be in this game. From the Skulls & Shackles Player's Guide: "A ship cannot leave the area affected by this spell and must take the “uncontrolled” action for the duration of the spell." So at 7th level, you can trap a ship of any size in a water pit for 70 minutes. Yeah, you start to become the god of seas here. Flame Strike is great for direct damage. Ice Storm is great for control. Dispel magic and Cure Serious Wounds could be great at the right time as could Freedom of Movement. Reincarnate is hilarious, but don't prepare it until the day after someone dies (keep 1,000 gp of embalming oils handy for this one.) Sleet Storm is a good control spell. Shame it's a 3rd level spell that you can cast, and you have to use your 4th level domain slot for it. Two things to remember here. One, Sleet Storm doesn't move with a ship. However, the deck is considered icy from being hit and you could also cast it in front of your own ship if it were on fire and sail through it to get an extra saving throw against the fire, though the deck will become icy. Two, you can use your 4th level domain slot for a lower level Domain Spell - you could even add a +1 metamagic to it (I'm looking at your heighten metamagic feat) to make it a bit stronger, but remember it's now a full round casting time - this is an acceptable trade. If you haven't been doing so already, REALLY start paying attention to what your party needs you to do, and the times when you say "I really wish I had ____ prepared" - this will help you to determine your role in the party and adjust your spells going forward. At higher levels of spell casting, preparation is half the battle!
•Levels 9 and up - Your spontaneous casting options double from gaining a second domain. I recommend Air - it gets you Chain Lightning at the same level (caster level 11) as a Wizard that you can spontaneously cast as many times per day as you have spell slots - this is awesome! Beyond here, your spells are almost 100% dependent on your party and your character's role in it, so I'm not even going to bother going any further. Only spell worth mentioning exclusively is Control Winds - it's good now, but wait until level 13...
Control Weather & Control Winds Combo
Control Weather (7th level spell) allows you to make a constant tailwind for your boat at a speed of 25 mph, which is helpful and cool. You can also make it cloudy and slightly rainy to up your Call Lightning Storm damage, provided your crew (you are the captain by now, obviously) doesn't mind being wet all the time. Combine this with Control Winds at 13th level to increase the wind rating by 4 steps up to Tornado level winds... Also, this is the level that you become immune to all wind effects. Now, it doesn't move with a ship... But imagine this...
First Mate: "We're gaining on them captain, just a few more minutes and we'll be within cannon range."
Captain: "Wait, what is that coming towards us, it looks like a huge man made of air...?"
Thundering Voice: (yes, this is you) CEASE AND DESIST YOUR PURSUIT OR I WILL BE FORCED TO SEND YOU TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!
First Mate: "Captain?"
Captain: "He's bluffing, archers fire!"
This triggers your readied action and you cast Control Winds, surrounding their boat with a Tornado - All ranged attacks fail 100% due to Tornado Force winds, while you are completely unaffected by the wind.
Thunder Voice: I WARNED YOU...
First Mate: "OH GOD!"
Captain: "He's bluffing!"
You alter your Control Winds pattern to dismiss the central calm eye, bring the Torando force winds crashing into them... All creatures of Large size or smaller are sucked into the tornado if they fail a save taking 6d6 damage per round. You're officially the guy who soloed an entire enemy pirate ship. This is, of course, if you choose not to just cast Control Water to put their ship into a water pit and move on. But let's face it, sometimes you've got to make a statement. (Also, this is fun as hell!)
Depending on your DM, the Tornado may actually sink the boat too, lol. Great for making yourself a legend, not so good for looting it's plunder, lol
Cheers!
EDIT: Formatting and Holy crap is that a lot of good advice. I'll have to remember this all when I start playing my own Druid, lol. Also, I accept PayPal. =P Also, I just added blurbs about Control Water, Control Winds, and Control Weather. Also, fun story.
Wow thanks for the very informative post. That is a lot. It was a good read and I think it will help point me in the right direction. I have always been a bit intimidated by playing full casters as its hard to know what I can and can't do especially with needing to prepare. I'm hoping this is a bit straight forward. Thanks again MechE good read.
A Druid is a good choice for a first time playing a full caster - You don't have to worry about what spells you know, since you're a divine caster and know them all, you just have to prepare it. Also, their list isn't too incredibly long, so you won't suffer from option paralysis. The setting you are playing in will lend you some help in the fact that certain types of spells will always be useful. And if worst comes to worst, you can spontaneously channel your spells to reasonably useful domain spells. Best of luck!
EDIT: Also, be sure you caught my edits in the above post.