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How's this? The Dazzling Inquisitor It seems about perfect.
Thanks, BZ! That'll help get me started for sure.
I much prefer Cornugon Smash over Dazzling Display. It's more action efficient, and though it only targets one (maybe 2) enemies, it's affecting the enemy that really matters (the one you want dead). Add on top Intimidating Prowess for maximum terror, you won't even need a positive CHA score.
@jerrys and joanna swiftblade: i love you guys. Finally more folks are seeing the light--that dazzling display is naught but a fairly crappy prereq for much better feat (shatter defenses) for the REAL intimidate feats to use.
The ominous and cruel weapon enchants are pretty nifty as well.
If you are a half-orc you get the +2 to Intimidate.
Eat nothing but Orc Rations and get another +2.
Take Plant Domain (Growth Subdomain) and, as a Swift Action, Enlarge and increase your Intimidate by +4.
At 3rd level get Skill Focus (Intimidate) for another +3.
There is also a Trait where you can use your Intelligence modifier for Intimidate. You can lower your Charisma at 8 and boost your Int for Intimidate (as well as Spellcraft and all Knowledge checks).
Good luck!
You might want to go with the rage domain. This will boost the intimidate, give you levels of rage, and allow you to wear the fearsome mask (or what ever it's called).
You will probably want to be an Orc.
I had a half orc inquisitor with an intimidate score that was absurd. I used it mainly in roll-play but every once in a while I would use it in combat and my DM would go nuts. A +32 is just hard to over come.
I've got an aasimar cleric (of Ragathiel) with the rage domain, that I've tried to optimize for Intimidation. Perhaps you could use some of this. At 4th level she has +19 to Intimidate (+21 vs. evil creatures):
+5 = CHA 20
+4 = 4 ranks in Intimidate
+4 = racial bonus to Intimidate (alertnate aasimar racial trait)
+3 = class skill bonus (Regional Trait: Soldier of the Faith)
+1 = trait bonus (Regional Trait: Soldier of the Faith)
+2 = Feat: Persuasive
+2 = circumstance bonus vs. evil (aasimar racial trait: Halo)
I don't know of any way that the Rage domain can add a numeric bonus to the Intimidate check (unless she takes the Roaring Drunk rage power, which really doesn't make sense for the character), but she'll eventually get Intimidating Glare so she can Intimidate as a move action.
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I don't think you need to invest too much to succeed at the intimidate check until ou get into multiple larger size categories. Keep max ranks and toss a little bit in. My barbarian for PFS was max ranks and by 7th level as a half Orc who had 12 cha a trait for +2 and less than 1000 gp invested he could auto succeed his intimidates against most enemies. Getting the additional 5s to make it last longer does require a lot of investment, but I don't think those are necessary since they'll be taking up feat slots for a -2 to d20 rolls.
What I suggest is a 1 level dip in the thug archetype. "But Kiinyan! Didn't you just say that getting a shaken duration of that long wasn't worth it?" yes, but that's because I haven't mentioned a 1-2 feats/traits that will take in combat intimidation to the next level.
The enforcer feat says whenever you deal nonlethal damage you get a free intimidate check and if you succeed the duration is equal to the amount of damage you do. So you can spend a bunch of feats like intimidating prowess, skill focus, and so on and so forth, but with inquisitor bonus, a +2 trait(there's one for half orcs in the Taylor book, probably a few others) just hitting it shouldn't be hard. "But Kiinyan! I'm a 3/4 BaB class and you're suggesting a BaB loss with the rogue dip!" take the bludgeoner feat or the blade of mercy feat. Be a scary dude we a scythe who captures his enemies.
Oh, and make your weapon a cruel weapon. Now they are frightened and sickened. I would also suggest looking into the Dazzling Display route not for DD, but rather for Shatter Defenses.
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The enforcer feat says whenever you deal nonlethal damage you get a free intimidate check and if you succeed the duration is equal to the amount of damage you do.
Holy $#!@!. Game-changer. Because you see there's this trait I've been wanting to build a character on for a while ...
You know that within the heart of even the most hateful and cruel living creature exists a sliver of shame and hope for redemption. You have trained long on martial techniques to use bladed weapons not to kill, but to subdue. When striking to inflict nonlethal damage with any slashing weapon, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on your attack roll, and gain a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict with a slashing weapon.
Non-lethal Barbarian Thug build, perhaps? (I'm moving away from Inquisitor towards Barbarian mostly for the extra hp. I feel pretty squishy with that d8 and favored-class-to-intimidate and no Toughness...)
EDIT Probably wouldn't need Thug with the Enforcer path. Right?
EDIT Here is the Enforcer feat, for my own reference
Whenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, you can make an Intimidate check to demoralize your target as a free action. If you are successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If your attack was a critical hit, your target is frightened for 1 round with a successful Intimidate check, as well as being shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt.
Lots of ideas I stole from BZ, but here is another take on it.
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Ok ... So is there any consensus on the Order of the Cockatrice's "Braggart" ability? Here's how I read it. If I get much push-back I'll start a separate FAQ thread for the subject.
Braggart (Ex): At 2nd level, the cavalier can spend a standard action to extol his own accomplishments and battle prowess. He receives Dazzling Display as a bonus feat. He does not need a weapon in hand to use this ability. The cavalier receives a +2 morale bonus on melee attack rolls made against demoralized targets.
While wielding the weapon in which you have Weapon Focus, you can perform a bewildering show of prowess as a full-round action. Make an Intimidate check to demoralize all foes within 30 feet who can see your display.
My take: (1) You get Dazzling Display as a bonus feat; (2) You can use the feat as a standard action instead of as a full-round action; (3) You get a +2 morale bonus on melee attack rolls made against demoralized targets, however they became demoralized.
Sound good?
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Dazzling Display requires you to keep track of how long the targets are intimidated, Cornugon Smash re-applies the shaken condition every time you hit. Advantage Cornugon Smash.
Question: is Intimidate's "Try Again" penalty increased by every failed Intimidate attempt, every successful Intimidate attempt, or every Intimidate attempt whether failed or successful?
Demoralize: [...] Using demoralize on the same creature only extends the duration; it does not create a stronger fear condition.
Try Again: You can attempt to Intimidate an opponent again, but each additional check increases the DC by +5. This increase resets after 1 hour has passed.
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The enforcer feat says whenever you deal nonlethal damage you get a free intimidate check and if you succeed the duration is equal to the amount of damage you do.Holy $#!@!. Game-changer. Because you see there's this trait I've been wanting to build a character on for a while ...
You know that within the heart of even the most hateful and cruel living creature exists a sliver of shame and hope for redemption. You have trained long on martial techniques to use bladed weapons not to kill, but to subdue. When striking to inflict nonlethal damage with any slashing weapon, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on your attack roll, and gain a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict with a slashing weapon.Non-lethal Barbarian Thug build, perhaps? (I'm moving away from Inquisitor towards Barbarian mostly for the extra hp. I feel pretty squishy with that d8 and favored-class-to-intimidate and no Toughness...)
EDIT Probably wouldn't need Thug with the Enforcer path. Right?
EDIT Here is the Enforcer feat, for my own referenceWhenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, you can make an Intimidate check to demoralize your target as a free action. If you are successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If your attack was a critical hit, your target is frightened for 1 round with a successful Intimidate check, as well as being shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt.
Yes, blade of mercy and bludgeoner are the two that makes enforcer work well that I suggested. The reason you go thug is that if your shaken condition on an enemy lasts 4 rounds or lifer, you can instead make them frightened for 1 round.
@jerrys and joanna swiftblade: i love you guys. Finally more folks are seeing the light--that dazzling display is naught but a fairly crappy prereq for much better feat (shatter defenses) for the REAL intimidate feats to use.
The ominous and cruel weapon enchants are pretty nifty as well.
That depends on what you are using Dazzling Display for. My kitsune samurai doesn't use Dazzling Display to inflict huge amounts of damage to his opponents. He uses it for defense, and there have been many occasions where a well-timed Dazzling Display has spared my allies from multiple attacks. When you're fighting a group of opponents and need to preserve your hit points, Dazzling Display is awesome.
Furthermore, Dazzling Display is much stronger when you combine it with your party wizard. Sure, I might only be able to hit one or two targets a turn, but if I can demoralize an entire group, I can ensure that virtually every opponent that my party magus wants to fireball is suffering a –2 penalty on its Reflex save.
I consider Dazzling Display to be of the same quality as Combat Expertise. Its not a feat that I want to use in every situation, but as a good player I try to have as many tricks in my tool belt as possible and Dazzling Display is an excellent tool to utilize. (Doubly so because I'm an Order of the Cockatrice Samurai.)
I second the Blistering Invective spell. I was torn on feats until I saw that. Though, I've still only used it a few times (hard to give up a chance to power attack, and I'm often casting Shield of Faith first if I can't attack and couldn't get it up ahead of time).
I'm debating cornugon smash for his next feat, because of the action economy.
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Yes, blade of mercy and bludgeoner are the two that makes enforcer work well that I suggested.
Yep. I saw those after I posted. (Too busy being excited about Enforcer.) Excellent suggestions. But it's worth pointing out that what makes Blade of Mercy so great for this build is that it's a trait, not a feat. And I'm finding that I'm pretty severely feat-starved when I'm drafting possibilities.
The reason you go thug is that if your shaken condition on an enemy lasts 4 rounds or lifer, you can instead make them frightened for 1 round.
That's nice but I don't consider it worth the trade off. Cost: (A) +1 BAB; (B) 1 level of Inquisitor powers. Benefit: (1) +1d6 sneak attack and (2) the Frightening ability to which you refer.
But (1) +1d6 situational damage isn't *that* great—I'd rather get my Inquisitor powers faster and hit better. And (2) the Enforcer feat already does the Frightening ability but does it *better*: instead of swapping out shaken for 1 round of frightened, I can (on a critical hit) get 1 round of frightened *and* the rounds-and-rounds of shaken.
Text:
Frightening (Ex): Whenever a thug successfully uses Intimidate to demoralize a creature, the duration of the shaken condition is increased by 1 round. In addition, if the target is shaken for 4 or more rounds, the thug can instead decide to make the target frightened for 1 round. This ability replaces trapfinding.
Whenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, you can make an Intimidate check to demoralize your target as a free action. If you are successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If your attack was a critical hit, your target is frightened for 1 round with a successful Intimidate check, as well as being shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt.
True, I won't be critting all the time. But it *will* be a Falchion-based crit build so it should happen pretty often. And given how great shaken is for debuffing their saves (As AA and Paulicus point out), I want to keep that on the enemy for as long as possible to set up my party casters.
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Current build:
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The Angelic Enforcer
Archon-blooded Inquisitor of Sarenrae
Str 17 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7
All stat boosts to Strength
Level 1 Cavalier (Gendarme; Order of the Cockatrice)
Level 2 Inquisitor (Conversion Inquisition)
Level 3 Cavalier
Level 4 ff. Inquisitor
Traits: Blade of Mercy, Focused Mind (?)
01 Power Attack [via Gendarme]
01 Enforcer
03 Dazzling Display [via Braggart]
03 Toughness
05 Combat Reflexes
05 Outflank [or Precise Strike; via Inquisitor]
07 Weapon Focus (Falchion)
08 Precise Strike [or Outflank; via Inquisitor]
09 Shatter Defenses
11 Improved Critical
11 Seize the Moment [via Inquisitor]
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What do you think?
The Conversion Inquisition is nice, but should I eat the -4 penalty to the social skills and switch to the Travel Domain instead? Mobility would be very helpful with this build, I think. It all depends on how high I need that Intimidate score. With Enforcer I don't need the crazy heights I'd need with a more Dazzling-Display-focused build, but I'd like to get toward auto-success if possible, since the "try again" penalty of +5 DC is pretty steep: if I miss the first one it gets a *lot* harder to land a demoralize. Is the benefit from Travel worth the risk I take on? I don't think so but it's possible.
Should I swap out Focused Mind for Deft Dodger or Anatomist? Having never played an Inquisitor I'm not sure how much I can expect to be casting on the defensive in melee. Haven't looked much at the spellcasting side of the class yet.
I'm still worried I'm going to be squishy. It might be irrational, after I went down a couple times in my lvl-1 trial-run with the guy. But I feel vulnerable! Should I go Falchion or Scimitar? I know I'd be putting a lot more points on the board with the Falchion (because Power Attack), but that extra AC from the light shield looks pretty tempting ...
Should I try to get Dex up toward a 14? (Drop Str to 16 bump Dex to 14.) I want Combat Reflexes for Seize the Moment and to spread around the Enforcer love. It'd be nice to get +1 potential AOO from the feat.
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Looking over some material, it looks like the "Try Again" penalty *only* applies after the previous check failed. So Enforcer will be able to pile up demoralize's without triggering the DC increase.
Try Again: Any conditions that apply to successive attempts to use the skill successfully. If the skill doesn't allow you to attempt the same task more than once, or if failure carries an inherent penalty (such as with the Climb skill), you can't take 20. If this paragraph is omitted, the skill can be retried without any inherent penalty other than the additional time required.
It's not as clear as I'd like but skimming through the skill descriptions it seems that "try again" is only after failed checks, not after successful checks. I guess that makes sense. Not too many cases in which you want to go another round after a successful skill check.
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Darn it, it looks like it'll be a *demonic* enforcer, not an *angelic* enforcer. Oni-spawn tiefling here I come! At least the Oni heritage will give me an RP reason for the Order of the Cockatrice. Doesn't fit so well with Inquisitor of Sarenrae.
Here's a comparison (stats adjusted from previous build; thanks Akerlof, for pointing out the Dex prereq on Precise Strike).
Archon-Blooded Aasimar
Str 17 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 11 Wis 14 Cha 7
Skilled: +2 Intimidate, Sense Motive
SLA: corruption resistance 1/d [via Incorruptible ART]
Resist acid, cold, electricity 5
Halo: light at-will, +2 Intimidate v. evil when active
Oni-Spawn Tiefling
Str 17 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 12 Wis 15 Cha 5
Darkvision
Skilled: +2 Disguise, Intimidate
SLA: alter self 1/d
Scaled Skin: resist fire 5, natural armor +1
Prehensile Tail
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Oni-Spawn Inquisitor of Sarenrae
Str 17 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 12 Wis 15 Cha 5
Scaled skin (fire) alternate racial trait
Prehensile tail alternate racial trait
Favored class bonus to tiefling favored class bonus
Level 1 Inquisitor (Conversion Inquisition)
Level 2 Cavalier (Gendarme; Order of the Cockatrice)
Level 3 Cavalier
Level 4 ff. Inquisitor
Trait: Blade of Mercy
Trait: Magical Knack (Inquisitor)
Equipment: scimitar, light shield
01 Enforcer
02 Power Attack [Order of the Cockatrice]
03 Toughness
03 Dazzling Display [Order of the Cockatrice]
04 Str +1 [= 18]
05 Combat Reflexes
05 Outflank [Inquisitor]
07 Weapon Focus (scimitar)
08 Con +1 [= 16]
08 Precise Strike [Inquisitor]
09 Shatter Defenses
11 Improved Critical
11 Seize the Moment [Inquisitor]
12 Wis +1 [= 16]
Max: Intimidate, Knowledge (planes), Knowledge (religion), Perception; Half: Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Sense Motive, Spellcraft; Dip: Diplomacy, Heal, Survival, Swim, Climb, Bluff, Stealth, Disguise
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You may want to consider that Rogue dip! I know two dips are a little intense, but increasing shaken or changing it to frightened can be key. You can scare away half of the enemies to make things easier to deal with. Additionally, you get d6 sneak attack, active whenever you are flanking or attacking somebody whom you have "Shattered Defenses." The one level rogue dip also boosts your poor Reflex save by two.
But I'm biased towards Rogues anyway.
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First scenario with the new build yesterday. "Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment." Didn't get as much testing as I'd like with the ultra-combat-lite adventure and that stupid last encounter, but initial signs are positive.
Current dilemma: level 2 in Cavalier (for Power Attack) or Inquisitor (for +1 Intimidate via Tiefling favored class bonus)? If I go Inquisitor I'd probably do lvl 3 there too for the Teamwork feat. It'll probably he Cavalier though. I want to grab those levels quick and get back to Inquisiting in peace.