Do not enter melee with 1/2 BAB characters. The buff spells don't help them that much unless your GM is going to go out of his way to make sure you succeed.
You might want to try a magus instead.
Well, you could reach something similar with a bard.
it would be IMMENSELY difficult, though not impossible to do. Orc bloodline is your friend, and I have done "OK" with an orc Scarred Witch doctor in combat(and trust me the rolls were not my friend that game), free falchion proficiency for the win. if you do try it, you better be ok with a low casting stat, and relying on buff spells for a while. I have read a thread that talked about an all wizard party whose combat member was a elven generalist wizard who used hand of the apprentice with a ECB for an "OK" frontliner. I think it was a dex build.
They're really not broken, I don't know where this notion comes from.
They can be quite powerful, yes, but no more powerful than a full caster. They have decent combat based casting, and decent combat ability, which adds up t "pretty good".
If you can play a Sorcerer a Magus won't be OP to you.
Sohei 1/Empyreal Sorcerer X/Eldritch Knight 10. Enjoy!
You can still be a viable buffer and battlefield controller, if you specialize in being a shapechanger. Summoning can also help without having that much in your casting stat.
You also have to consider, that you need to put lots of points in your physical scores just to keep up in melee. You will become quite MAD this way. Therefore with a high point buy or rolled stats your character will be less problematic than with a low point buy.
I think it could work, but you'd have to consider not being able to get different forms pre lvl 5.
You also will lack the druids "Natural spell" feat and his ability to stay in Animal Shape for hours, his 3/4 BaB and his ability to wear armor and therefore always be weaker than such a guy.
Maybe the Scarred Witch Doctor, a Witch archetype, who uses Con for casting would be helpful. The witch spell list allows Vermin Shape to become some kind of spider and has some touch spells to get by before. You'd at least be less squishy and MAD. Maybe some MonkFigthing Styles might help you too.
You shure won't be as good as tough as a full martial, but I think you might survivie.
Sohei 1/Empyreal Sorcerer X/Eldritch Knight 10. Enjoy!
That sounds nice!
Alchemist can make a good beatstick if you spec it right. Something like Beastmorph/Vivisectionist into Master Chymist can be pretty darn scary.
Draconic-blooded sorcerer -> Draconic Disciple. You can make a very combat effective caster this way, though expect to dip fighter/martial levels.
In 3.5 (Age of Worms) I helped one of my players make a melee Wizard. She was a full orc, which certainly helped, and
Polymorph do not bypass MAD anymore. They give bonuses, not replace.
it would be IMMENSELY difficult, though not impossible to do. Orc bloodline is your friend, and I have done "OK" with an orc Scarred Witch doctor in combat(and trust me the rolls were not my friend that game), free falchion proficiency for the win. if you do try it, you better be ok with a low casting stat, and relying on buff spells for a while. I have read a thread that talked about an all wizard party whose combat member was a elven generalist wizard who used hand of the apprentice with a ECB for an "OK" frontliner. I think it was a dex build.
well if no orc how about abyssal? I am trying to stay with your off the walls desire so maybe an Elven Abyssal/Sage crossblooded Sorcerer? (permitting your Gm allows wildblooded bloodlines with the crossblooded Archetype)
That might go over. I really appreciate everyone being so helpful, by the way, especially since I know how ridiculous I'm being.
The original concept, to be specific, was a guy who sort of had an old school pugilist feel, but with a magical feel. So arcane boxer, rather than monk or Bladesinger or even use of claws. Though the idea of him using his buffs to put himself into a claw frenzy mode could be cool, like going from Gentleman Boxer to Humanoid Blender.
monk1 empyrial sorcerer then, great synergy. and again if you're gm allows it crossblood that with abyssal and go garuda blooded aasimar.
I'm actually trying to build one of these (Empyreal/Draconic cross blood Monk/Sor/Dragon Disciple) with the idea towards using shocking grasp as much as possible (with Wayang Spellhunter and Magical Lineage to reduce metamagic costs).
Its actually not bad, especially if you go dragon style and straight strength/wis.
I'll post what I discover in the build process.
prototype00
Depending on your gm, you could just reflavour the monk?
In my campaign of RotR, despite my reluctance to have oriental themed monks, one of the players desperately wanted to try one.
What we did was retheme the monks ability to a priest of a shapeshifter god. the flurry and extra damage became claws, the stunning fist became a bite, etc.
Maybe you could do the same but with a magical theme.....stunning fist could be some sort of magical aura strike, flurry and movement bonuses could be a form of narrow focus haste spell, etc....
Its a very low maintenence approach for both the player and the Gm, and gives you both scope to work all kind of cool fluff into your campaign instead of struggling with some unusual combination of classes from assorted books and trying to keep up with crunch rules from different publications.
That might go over. I really appreciate everyone being so helpful, by the way, especially since I know how ridiculous I'm being.
The original concept, to be specific, was a guy who sort of had an old school pugilist feel, but with a magical feel. So arcane boxer, rather than monk or Bladesinger or even use of claws. Though the idea of him using his buffs to put himself into a claw frenzy mode could be cool, like going from Gentleman Boxer to Humanoid Blender.
Consider the Arcane Duelist Bard with Improved Unarmed strike. I'm not shure if the Arcane Strike Feat works with Unarmed Attacks though.
You might also dip monk here too.
My DM has said that Arcane Strike can work with Unarmed Attacks.
what are his thoughts on cross blooded plus wildblooded?
True strike with quicken spell feats will solve the low BAB problem. Then get lots of touch range spells, now your punches are magical! Best part for wizard is they can change it the next day if they don't like it. Sorcerer, less so.
You're welcome!
|
I play a Sorcerer, a Kobold. His AC is the highest in the party. Basically, I went Sorc5/DragonDisciple 5.
AC = 30 atm, (with magic gear) and can shield and then mage armor for 38.
With combat casting, gloves of elvenkind, and a solid CHA for casting, I can usually cast most basic touch attack spells routinely without provoking the AoO.
I'm very blasty.
Consider using Inquisitor. They get lots of normally arcane utility spells on their list, and you can avoid cure spells.
If not playing in Canon Golarion, you are free to not derive your powers from a Deity.
I don't think they get much Polymorph or Glitterdust itself, but they don't need to to have combat effectiveness.
Synthesist Summoner is probably the way to go though for arcane/polymorph combatant.
Just tell your GM that it is banned in PFS, and be conscious of NOT doing all the easy optimization it enables, and it should be fine.
Outside of that Dragon Disciple is your best bet. I would ask your GM about re-fluffing it and adjusting the abilities to work with other non-Draconic BL's. If you want to focus on melee, you don't need to start with more than a 13 CHA, and you don't need more than 1 Sorceror level going in, the rest can be martial with class abilties (Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, even Monk, Barb is nice but be careful because you can't Cast while Raging). You can go Bard (in which case it makes sense to take more levels in Bard), but you will miss out Polymorph and other spells.
I don't think a kobold will solve the to hit problems of a sorcerer. Guns could bypass armor, if they're legal in your campaign.
Kobolds don't have a to-hit problem, they get a BONUS to-hit for melee attacks (but a penalty to CMB).
They have a direct damage problem, from STR and size-scaled damage dice, but Weapon Finesse negates any to-hit issue.
I bolded it for you.
It's a plus one bonus for size, minus two for the STR penalty. Get over it.
he bolded weapon finesse...which changes the to hit to dex...
|
|
Further, I use Shocking Grasp, Intensified which targets TOUCH AC.
To hit? Frankly, the higher level we go, the bigger and more likely to have a 15ish touch AC most things are.
Intensified Shocking Graps, 10d6 + Draconic boni, no save really. Resistances, yes, save? not so much.
Granted, its not uber melee damage, but the results are pretty spectacular.
BTW, Somebody asked about how to do an archetype of Magus that was spontaneous casting,
so I wrote one up that is fully using Sorc bloodlines and all: link
I think it was pretty balanced, and i pointed out the variable options in terms of balancing it, if you want to tone it down more.
true. take the domain option and some normally 'arcane' spells are opened up, as well.
It can work, OP. I build something similar to Morrigan from Dragon Age as a sorcerer to see what I could make of it (as wiz/sorc were the only ones to nab vermin shape) and was pretty happy with the results. Prioritise your STR, then your CON, THEN your Charisma, without taking too many spells that rely on saving throws. I would use a cestus or gauntlets rather than burning the improved unarmed strike feat.
I'm having a lot of luck with a 14 str wizard with a quarterstaff. The old goat can really lay down the hurt. The two-handedness is a big help but I can't see why it wouldnt be similar with unarmed strikes at early levels when STR outscales BAB in importance.
Later, essentially you want a moderate strength to buff up to ridiculous levels, trying to outscale most other classes BAB. You'll never hit like a fighter, but perhaps like an unarmored cleric. It isn't that bad. Try it out, stat 'er up and let's see what we're looking at. What level and point buy are we talking?
Hit up d20pfsrd.com and browse the 3pp archetypes, especially the "Martial Archetypes". Might find something useful there to scratch that particular itch.
Draconic-blooded sorcerer -> Draconic Disciple. You can make a very combat effective caster this way, though expect to dip fighter/martial levels.
Paladin is a good dip considering it's CHA based.
Why not just an Unarmed Magus? Dragon Style would let you get more out of your Strength, and you could just enhance your fists/brass knuckles/cestus with Arcane Pool.
Just make sure to get the Force Punch spell so you can Falcon Punch people.
What level are you starting out at? I saw EK and using Quickened True Strike as potential ideas, but neither of those will really come to fruition for a long time if you're starting low level.
