Not very familiar with witches, so I guess I'll need to do some reading over the weekend. Thought I read here somewhere that witches were all female - but I don't see it in the books anywhere...?? Reference above post about the npc being male is why I bring it up.
Not very familiar with witches, so I guess I'll need to do some reading over the weekend. Thought I read here somewhere that witches were all female - but I don't see it in the books anywhere...?? Reference above post about the npc being male is why I bring it up.
you can technically have a male witch
a common misconception is that the term is warlock. the truth is, Warlock is an insult meaning "promise breaker", "oath betrayer" or "one who isn't trust worthy." you can call them a witch, or you can make up some fancy term like
hedge apothethecary
shaman
woodland healer
and
devotee of the green faith
My gamers always hire someone who is good at riddles/puzzles because they really HATE that kind of stuff...
Current hire is an elven girl they rescued from a tapestry of life trapping [I used a tapestry cause they are mirror shy currently...]she started out as a chronicler/illustrater [vanity your name is my gamers!],but her skill at riddles developed and was expanded.
It just seems to be something they always have on their to do list now.
A great supporting GMPC is a mystic theurge - the healing will be sufficient but not incredible, the arcane spells only reaching save or die stuff at the very highest levels. Lots of slots for buff spells or keeping slots empty for situational use. With a high Wisdom and Intelligence the NPC will help spot vital clues that the missing of might derail the game, and have enough Knowledges to cover topics the PCs don't.
Now that I've re-read the witch (it's been a while), I remember that I shied away because it's INT based. I'd prefer to stay with something divine/WIS based for the variety & so as not to step on the magus' or bard's toes - so I will take a closer look @ soupturtle's & Thanis's suggestions when I get the time (I work most of this weekend - yay me).
Any other suggestions that aren't healbot-based are totally appreciated, so keep 'em coming!
I'm thinking I want to stay Wisdom/divine magic based. Charisma based steps on the bard's toes, & Intelligence based steps on both the bard's & the wizard's toes.
Well, Cleric and Inquisitor are both grand additions to a party.
Inquisitor is basically the Bard if the Bard liked to interrogate people.
In our game, we've house-ruled that gnome's get a +1 INT instead of CHA. We just feel it makes more sense for the race - if you read the racial description, it consistently says about the gnomes are considered odd by the other races (who consider them odd in return) & have a hard time finding common ground with the other races. If that's the case, then why do they get a CHA bonus? Consider...
Relations: Gnomes have difficulty interacting with the other races, on both emotional and physical levels. In many ways the very fact other races see gnomes as odd is itself the thing gnomes find most odd about other races, and this leads to a strong lack of common ground upon which understanding and relationships can be built. When two gnomes encounter one another, they generally assume some mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached, no matter how different their beliefs and traditions may be. Even if this turns out not to be the case, the gnomes continue to look for commonalities in their dealings with each other. The inability or unwillingness of members of other races to make the same effort when dealing with gnomes is both frustrating and confusing to most gnomes.
In many ways, it is gnomes' strong connection to a wide range of apparently unconnected ideas that makes it difficult for other races to build relationships with them. Gnome humor, for example, is often focused on physical pranks, nonsensical rhyming nicknames, and efforts to convince others of outrageous lies that strain all credibility. Gnomes find such efforts hysterically funny, but their pranks often come across as malicious or senseless to other races, while gnomes in turn tend to think of the taller races as dull and lumbering giants.
INT makes more sense, since they are supposed to always be tinkering with & creating things. Additionaly, if you go through the gnome's alternative racial abilities, there are far more related to INT than CHA.
So, in our campaign, the gnome would be stepping more on the magus' toes.
My oldest son is going to have the human inquisitor (party face), while my younger son is playing the dwarf fighter & my wife is the elf magus (dervish dance focus), leaving me to determine the npc.
I'd prefer he'd be a halfling, but am open to gnome or half-orc. I'm looking mostly at bard & oracle at the moment, although I'd consider other WIS or CHA based ideas. Suggestions on builds for the two classes I mentioned would also be helpful (keeping in mind I don't particularly want a healbot).
If I go with an oracle, I'm leaning towards the Tongues or Wasting curse, to help explain why he doesn't function as a party face - although personality can be a sufficient reason for an oracle (a good CHA just means you are likeable, not that you enjoy all the personal interaction skills).
If the bard is used, a halfling with the slavery background (mentioned in an earlier post above) would be a likely scenario. Build would be more on control & buffing, with ranged combat (slingstaff) for backup.
I'll probably get dogpiled for this - but it sounds like you are thinking too hard.
You are playing a supporting role - not a star - that's your PCs' roles.
You are building out an NPC to buff up a few shortcomings of the party - you don't need to cover every single base - so no Druid-Bulettewhisperer-Weedwhacker archetype. Keep it simple -
I'm doing the same thing - I have a fairly basic dwarf cleric to reinforce my wife and daughter's PCs - he mostly helps with some ranged firepower and healing, lets the rogue do the face/sneaky stuff, the berserker go toe-to-toe, grumps about the 'tall women' and provides minor info or suggestions to help the PCs do the heavy lifting.
To go back into the deep dark past - that's why the prerolled NPCs of the good old days were just a list of stats, a basic gear/spell list and a two-word personality description.
I've been known to over-think things before (just ask my wife!)... sometimes it feels like I'm going in circles/spinning my wheels - you can pick the cliche, but I can have a hard time deciding what to do since there are so many options. I keep analyzing and re-analyzing & .... well, let's just add a few more "re-analyzing"s in their and you'll get the idea.
I think I've gotten some good input from the folks here, now it's just time for me to decide what I want to do with it. We're taking the kids to DisneyWorld this week for vacation, so I'm thinking it can be a chance to leave it alone for a few days, and come back fresh. And maybe I can not think so hard, and reach a decision.