Druid Brawler

[Widjit]

I'm fleshing out my backup for a new campaign that my friend will be starting in a few weeks. The group sounds like they need a front line fighter so I'm checking the viability of a druid hand to hand brawler.

25 pt buy in I was thinking...

Level 1 Druid

Str:18 (+2 for Human)
Dex:14
Con:14
Int:10
Wis:14
Cha:10

Starting feat:
Combat Reflex (or possible Improved Unarmed Strike)
Toughness

I was thinking of leaving out improved unarmed strike and dipping 1 level into monk or possible warrior. The point of this character will be a front line hand to hand brawler until animal forms are available at which point... still front line brawler. Possibly imagine Udyr from League of Legends if you are familiar with the game.

Is this viable for a meat shield / front line brawler?

[lemeres]

Well, a single level of monk would give you unarmed strike and flurry of blows (incompatible with natural attacks...but doesn't everything get an unarmed strike? Just throw your large sized wildshapes around with large unarmed damage dice...which could grow another two sizes since you can use strong jaw on yourself). Wisdom to your AC just about justifies the lack of heavier armor. The natural armor from spells and wildshape will also help to make you even more powerful defensively than a normal monk.

Three levels of fighter (Brawler) might also work out well for you. This is archetype that gives you a weapon training early and with an extra bit of damage (+3 to each hit). That would make your giant flurry of blows even more deadly. Together with the monk dip, you will be down 4 levels of druid...but that is perfect for taking advantage of boon companion, so your animal companion will not suffer at least.

Your wildshaping will though...but you could still do great. I might consider taking one of the animal shamans (since they can get +2 levels to their animal's wildshapes), but some interpretations of the rules might mean that you could not use wildshape until level 10 (level 6 druid +4 levels in other classes). Just a level of monk could be enough (with normal druids, you could wildshape at level 5 with a single dip...which is about when wildshape could be made more viable with the natural spell feat)

[Kayakers6]

Take combat reflexes at level 3 and go straight druid possibly pack lord archetype from ultimate magic, to get multiple minions. I would personally move the +2 str (human) to con, you will need the hp for tanking.

[Widjit]

The best animal companion to assist in tanking? I was thinking a bear until level 7, the possible a tiger?

[Widjit]

So far, for the animal companion I'm thinking;

Ankylosaurus

Starting Statistics

Size Medium; Speed 30 ft.; AC +9 natural armor; Attack tail (1d6); Ability Scores Str 10, Dex 14, Con 9, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 8; Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.

7th-Level Advancement

Size Large; AC +2 natural armor; Attack tail (2d6); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4; Special Qualities stun.

Stun (Ex)

The ankylosaurus's tail can deliver a powerful, stunning blow. A creature struck by this attack must make a DC (10 + 1/2 HD + Str modifier) Fortitude save or be dazed for 1 round. If the strike is a critical hit and the target fails its save, it is instead stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Possibly adding the bodyguard template to it. If I go with this, would it be wroth it taking the saurian archtype? The GM OK'd any templates we want to use from Paizo.

[Widjit]

Someone suggested changing the stats from;
Str: 18
Dex: 14
Con: 14

to a
Con:16

I can see the logic of this, however, would it be better to even go to;

Str: 14
Dex: 14
Con: 18

?

Sorry for such an odd format, I wasn't sure how to go with that. lol

[Reynard_the_fox]

Keep strength! Strength 14 means you won't be able to hit much and you won't deal much damage when you do. It doesn't matter if you have hit points if the enemies can just ignore you while they pound on your squishies. Your first set of stats was fine, especially with Toughness.

For the same reason, I would advocate a Rhinoceros over an Ankylosaur as your companion. The stun is quite awesome, but the save is strength based, and the ankylosaur has far too little strength (even after getting big, since things are tougher by level 7) to be effective.

Pick up some light armor barding for your companion (masterwork studded leather has no armor check penalty, so proficiency doesn't matter) and some wood or hide armor for yourself. (Also check out the spell Ice Armor.) Get some barding made for your favorite combat form, and get Wild Dragonhide Breastplate first chance you get.

If you want to be a brawler, I would suggest getting Improved Unarmed Strike (either through a monk dip or just taking the feat), then Feral Combat Training and Dragon Style (or another style feat of your choice).

Careful with Combat Reflexes - it might not be as good as you think it is. Druids don't get proficiency with any reach weapons, and the dex penalties from Beast Shape get worse as you get bigger; unless you pick up a Dex belt, your Huge form will only have 10 Dex, making the feat worthless.

Saurian shaman trades in versatility for power. I don't think having to wait til Druid 6 for wildshape is worth it, but to each their own. It's also good if you plan on doing a lot of summoning.

[Atarlost]

Combat Reflexes is only really bad if you're going with animal forms. Plant Shape doesn't get worse than a -2 dex penalty and the Quickwood has ridiculous reach. Elemental Body doesn't go below -2 dex either and Air actually boosts your dexterity.

I'd wait for level 9 at least for combat reflexes, though. That way you'll have it when you get large elemental forms.

And I just had a nasty idea. Get weapon finesse and dervish dance and build for dex because elementals can take any form, including forms with hands, and can therefore use weapons. They can also communicate and therefore don't need Wild Speech, and since they have hands and voices they should be able to cast spells as long as you ensure you don't meld your only spell component pouch when you shift. When you get Elemental Body I at level 6 start using air or fire elemental form, then keep upgrading. At level 12 with Elemental Body IV Air outstrips Fire for a dervish dancer, but until that point they're fairly even.

[Widjit]

This is what I'm looking at so far.

"Male Druid 1
Init +4; Senses Perception +6
==DEFENSE==
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 dex)
hp 14 (1d8+2)
SR 0
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +4
Armor Hide, Medium
==OFFENSE==
Spd 4 sqr/x4
Melee Unarmed Strike +5 (1d3+5) 20/x2 CM +1
==STATISTICS==
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
BAB +0, CMB +4, CMD +16
Feats Armor Proficiency (LIGHT / MEDIUM) (PFCR 118), Improved Unarmed Strike (PFCR 128), Shield Proficiency (PFCR 133), Toughness (PFCR 135)
Skills Climb +5, Handle Animal +4, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +6, Survival +8
SQ Nature Bond (Animal Companion - Rhinoceros) (Animal Companion - Rhinoceros) (PFCR 50)
MC Druid Bonus Languages (PFCR 50), Druid Spells (PFCR 49), Druid Spontaneous Casting (PFCR 49), Forbidden Spell Alignment (PFCR 41, 49), Nature Sense (PFCR 50)
Traits Beast of the Society (Magic: Druid) (PFCh: FcGd 63), Reactionary (Combat) (PFAPG 328)
Languages Common, Druidic

"

[Widjit]

Clarity from the DM. We can only have Races, Classes, and Feats from the core book. We can use traits and other small things from outside (Paizo only) sources.