Fitting in to the party

[kputnam]

So my character recently died and became a wraith. Presumably he will now go on a killing spree and attempt to turn all of the citizens of Katapesh into wraith spawn and from there expand his grasp to the rest of the world. That aside, I now need a new character.

Game is at 6th level. Here is the party:

Undead Lord Cleric
Oracle/Cleric of Sarenrae (yeah, there's some tension there)
Magus/Fighter (might be another multiclass, but I'm not sure)
Me.

I like the Hungry Ghost Monk archetype, and was considering that, but I also feel that the party could use a dedicated battlefield controller. The only problem with that is that the best controller classes (seem) to be the d6 hit die classes. And I really don't like playing d6 hit die classes, because I always feel weak and vulnerable. So, if there's any way to make a beefier witch/sorcerer/wizard, let me know, and if there's any other good controller classes, I would love to know what they are. I have the monk built pretty well, so that's my default.

[I Hate Nickelback]

Summoner is a d8, and you won't be vulnerable at all with a good eidolon.

[kputnam]

I Hate Nickelback wrote:

Summoner is a d8, and you won't be vulnerable at all with a good eidolon.

Didn't actually see the summoner. They don't get web, but they do still get black tentacles and the pit creation spells. They can also cast summon monster (as regular spells) and still have they're eidolon going. Thank you very much, sir.

[Dorian 'Grey']

You could make a trip/disarm fighter build with a good DEX and Combat Reflexes to help control the battlefield. At 6th level your BAB will grant you access to Greater Trip, allowing for AOO against tripped foes for you and anyone else. I went Fighter 4/ Inquisitor 3 (now) with the Weapons Champion Archetype (Inquisitor) and that grants extra bonuses to CMB and Shield AC plus other choices too. I use a Heavy Flail, but you could go reach weapon ( choose one with bonus to trip/disarm). Weapon focus/Specialization are nice too, along with Dodge and Mobility for moving into position. Inquisitor receive Solo Tactics too and that has helped too ( Coordinated maneuvers). We got ambushed last night outside a barn by 12 badies and in 3 rounds myself and the other Fighter put them down--one was a Vamp and another a wereboar! At 7th level my trip/disarm=+18 (+20 w/ sol tatics). I was tripping gorgons. We faved a small herd--5!--at once and I kept tripping the poor...well u know!

[Blueluck]

Don't forget that a d6, d8, or d10 hit dice are responsible for 1 hit point per level. A slightly higher CON score will make up for that difference easily.

A character that might appeal to you is a Half Orc Witch Scarred Witch Doctor. It's a full arcane caster with hexes and spells based on CON!

[TarkXT]

Druids get plenty of battlefield control all by themselves and it's exceedingly difficult to call them fragile. Between Entangle, Spontaneous summons, spels like stone shape and warp wood, it's pretty easy to shape the terrain however you like.

[YogoZuno]

I hate to ask a possibly painful question, but...

Is it possible (or desirable?) for the Undead Lord cleric to take control of your new wraith, and forcibly turn him into a new PC, despite his desires?? Cause that is a somewhat cool idea to me...Potentially, you could rebuild your character to continue in some semblance of his old class on top of being a wraith...

[kputnam]

YogoZuno wrote:

I hate to ask a possibly painful question, but...

Is it possible (or desirable?) for the Undead Lord cleric to take control of your new wraith, and forcibly turn him into a new PC, despite his desires?? Cause that is a somewhat cool idea to me...Potentially, you could rebuild your character to continue in some semblance of his old class on top of being a wraith...

I would love to keep playing as a wraith. The Undead Lord's player would love for me to hang around as a wraith. The Undead Lord as character would love it. The Magus/Fighter would love it.

And then we come to the cleric of Saranrae...she's stressed enough by the Undead Lord, so I can't blame her for not wanting an undead PC. The Wraith and the Undead Lord did agree, though, that if the Undead Lord were to ever complete the Test of the Starstone and become a god, the wraith could be his emissary.

Right now, leaning towards a Fetchling summoner, shadow caller archetype. I'll give my eidolon fire resistance (so it can safely fight alongside the Undead Lord's flaming skeletons), and trip (all thos AoOs...).

Druid I did look at, but I've never really liked the flavor of the druid. All that nature stuff has never really spoken to me. And beyond entangle, Druids don't get a lot of the great control spells (grease, web, the create pit spells, black tentacles, etc). That said, some of the archetype abilities can be neat (the Saurian Shaman, at high levels, can summon 2-5 gargantuan creatures as a standard action).

[Imbicatus]

If you like the monk, you could make a monk into a decent battlefield controller with manuevers, especially if you use one of the monk weapons with reach. Hungry Ghost doesn't specify you have to use an unarmed strike to steal ki, so you can still do that at reach if you want.

[kputnam]

Imbicatus wrote:

If you like the monk, you could make a monk into a decent battlefield controller with manuevers, especially if you use one of the monk weapons with reach. Hungry Ghost doesn't specify you have to use an unarmed strike to steal ki, so you can still do that at reach if you want.

Other problem I realized with hungry ghost--the Undead Lord's flaming skeletons are our front line. So he's go up like a torch if he was in the thick of the battle. I can give my eidolon fire resistance, and summoned monsters are disposable.

[Lincoln Hills]

So you want a 'controller' type, but you don't want to be all spindly, sickly, pale and wormy?

I'd probably opt for a wizard, plump your favored class bonus into HP, take Toughness, and select a rugged, terrain-transforming speciality such as Transmuter (ditching Necromancy and Enchantment) or Earth Elementalist. Playing with a high-Int character reduces the costs of not putting those favored class points into skills. Congrats, your HP are now equivalent to at least a d8-HD character - even a d10 if that character's not particularly optimizing for hit points.

[Imbicatus]

kputnam wrote:

Imbicatus wrote:

If you like the monk, you could make a monk into a decent battlefield controller with manuevers, especially if you use one of the monk weapons with reach. Hungry Ghost doesn't specify you have to use an unarmed strike to steal ki, so you can still do that at reach if you want.

Other problem I realized with hungry ghost--the Undead Lord's flaming skeletons are our front line. So he's go up like a torch if he was in the thick of the battle. I can give my eidolon fire resistance, and summoned monsters are disposable.

Well, you could combine Master of Many Styles with Hungry Ghost and get Fire Resistance from Efreeti Style, but you loose flurry.

[_Cobalt_]

TarkXT wrote:

Druids get plenty of battlefield control all by themselves and it's exceedingly difficult to call them fragile. Between Entangle, Spontaneous summons, spels like stone shape and warp wood, it's pretty easy to shape the terrain however you like.

If you want battlefield control, +1 to druid. They are basically the CC class.

[SiuoL]

If you make your moves right and your team does likewise, a control shouldn't have to worry about AC.

In my group, everyone worry about AC except one who only cares about grapple. But none of them is brute type. They don't realize that thief doesn't need high AC, but high touch AC with good saves. Caster doesn't need AC, they need moves that stop them from getting hurt, or even stop enemies from attacking. Cleric doesn't need all heal spells, they need spell to buff others so they can take the attack without being hit.

Team work is very important. Find the role you want to fill, and just go for it. Let your team worry about the rest, unless they don't care, they just do whatever the feel like.