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Hello Paizo Advice forums!! Nice to meet you~ I'd like your help, if you're willing.
So, my DM made my life just a little more difficult today~ He ruled that Enforcer would not work as-is with a lethal weapon (the spell is dealing the damage, not the weapon), which outlaws my BlackBlade unless I take the standard -4 penalty.
My question is thus: What seems the best course of action to achieve non-lethal damage on a lethal weapon in order to use the Rime+Frostbite+Enforcer combo to its full potential?
I'm limited to PG I/II, Advanced Series, and Ultimate Series sourcebooks, sadly. That 3rd party feat accomplished my goals perfectly... I am allowed to attempt to make a case for 1st-party feats outside the above scope.
Character: Ayame
Race: Human
Class: Bladebound Hexcrafter Magus Lvl 5
Stat Spread: 18 STR, 16 DEX, 14 CON, 20(+1) INT, 12 WIS, 14 CHA
We went heroic on stat rolls and I got lucky. Racial bonus given to INT because of Hex's DC formula. Considering I'm looking to eventually run Heavy Armor and a Transmog. Build, I may see if my GM won't let me move 2 points from Dex into Con.
Traits: Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp), Reactionary, Student of Philosophy
Drawback: Cruel
Drawback for extra trait plus flavor since there's a fair bit of RPing done, ML on SG instead of FB for versatility. I also don't see where I could gain much from multiple Metamagics that I couldn't use a rod for.
Feats:
1 - Enforcer, Rime Spell
3 - EWP: Katana
4 - Hex Arcana: Slumber
5 - Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Hex: Flight
Skills: Fly, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Intimidate (+4 roll bonus via crafted item for +14 total to roll; looking to get that roll bonus even higher when I have more gold)
Weapons
Black Blade Katana, Katana, Sap, Comp. Shortbow +3 (Wondering if it's necessary with Fly but sometimes it's good to keep your distance, yeah?)
She was originally a ninja/magus multi-class char. (hence the name and katana) but I was forced to single-class due to over-complicating things and slowing the game down due to my inexperience. I still liked the ninja feel, and wanted to retain it. I'm considering a dip into CB Sorc later for the Moonlight Stalker tree..
Loot is random to a degree (no paladin loot for instance, since we have none) but it's given to another if it's more useful to someone else. This has left me with a pretty low WBL atm and I've been a little unlucky on loot drops (Nothing overly amazing for any of us, honestly.), so I picked up Craft Wondrous Item to alleviate that. Also, with such a high Spellcraft and a Ring of Sustenance (2/7 days so far..) and eventually a Wand of Rope Trick (or if I can get my Sorcerer to always prepare it..) it will allow me access to useful and appropriate gear with minimal downtime sacrificed.
Proposed Solutions
Weapon Focus and Stage Combatant allow me to get around the aforementioned -4 penalty and use my BlackBlade to deliver Frostbite Intimidates. I'd have to wait a couple more levels (Thanks for the +0 BAB at lvl 1. :< ) or just keep it a "katana" for flavor but effectively a scimitar.. The katana just seems better for a STR build, however.
Not fully obtainable 'til Level 7, when I get the +5 BAB. This also assumes I drop a current feat for Weapon Focus. I'd have to use the Sap til then.
A Merciful weapon, say her back-up Katana, would also allow me to bypass it. However, I don't like the action economy loss of switching/dropping and switching weapons. Teleport Blade doesn't seem worth losing the AP point either - I'd rather use it for Arcane Accuracy (I'll get that at 6) or a similar Arcana.
My intentions were to make the back-up an Adamantite weapon, and add Spell-Storing to it later, but Merciful could work too/in addition. For now, I'd most likely have to use the Sap for my N/L attacks unless I dropped the early extra Hex in favor of the two feats. I've thought about picking up Craft Magic Arms and Armor but that seems like too many craft feats on a non-crafter-themed character. (Arguably, one is too many.)
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and if you've found another, maybe even better, way to solve my situation. Thanks for reading, and I hope for responses~
Hm. That would work - costs me a feat but what solution isn't? And I could grab another trait - maybe something to make Intimdate a class skill - along with it, as well as not having to wait until level 9 to be able to grab stage combatant.
Is there any benefit to actually keeping the Katana for a STR Magus? I came to that conclusion on my own and I've seen others do the same but is it really worth the feat - has anyone had extra damage worthy of the feat cost?
no it is not
scimitar is your best bet!
use your crafting feat to make pearls and youll see your damage is not your weapon but your spells and crit range
belt of giant str however is woth it! this is my lvl 7 magus:
Male Human Blade bound magus 7
NG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +9
Defense
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+1 Dex)
hp 56 (7d8+14+3)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +6
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Attacks: scimitar +13/ 1d6+9 (18-20 x2)
spell combat with spellstrike: Int. Shocking grasp +11/+1 7d6+1d6+9 (18-20/x2)/1d6+9(18-20/x2)
Arcane pool enhancement= add +1 attack +1 damage and (15-20x2) crit.
Arcane pool: 10
--------------------
Statistics (+2 to two ability scores Alt racial dual talented 20 point buy)
Str 20, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 21
----------------------------------
Feats
Weapon Focus Scimitar, extra arcane pool, combat casting, intensified spell, craft wondrous item
Traits Family Ties(campaign), Magical Lineage ”Shocking grasp”
Languages: Common Giant Orc Infernal Sylvan
Equipment:
• +1 chain shirt (1250g)
• +2 scimitar Black blade
• Belt of giant Str +2 (4000g)
• 3 pearls of power (3000g)
• 1 potions of cure light wounds
• 1 potions of cure moderate wounds
• Explorer gear worth (75g)
• Wand of shield (750g)
• Ring of deflection +1
• Headband of Vast Intelligence +2 (4000g)
• Cloak of Resisance +1
--------------------
spells known:
LVL1: Color Spray, Enlarge person, frostbite, grease, obscuring mist, reduce person, shield, Shocking grasp, true strike, unerring weapon, Vanish
LVL2: Acid arrow, Flaming sphere, Invisibility, Bear’s endurance, frigid touch, Mirror image, web, Pyrotechnics
LVL3
Displacement, Fly, Force Hook Charge, Stinking cloud, Vampiric Touch
Spells prepared:
lvl0: Detect magic, Light, Arcane mark , Read magic, Dancing Lights
lvl1: Shocking grasp x2, True strike, Vanish, Enlarge Person, Vanish
lvl2: Bear's endurance, Frigid touch, Mirror image, Invisibility
Lvl3: Fly, Force hook Charge
1. Extra arcane pool
2. .
3. Combat casting
4. .
5. Weapon focus Scimitar and intensified spell
6. arcane accuracy
7. craft “wondrous item”
8. .
9. .empower spell, accurate strike (spell blending heroism)
10. .
11. quicken spell, extra arcana ghost blade
12. .critical strike
13. .critical focus
14. .
15. .spell perfection: ”shocking grasp”, maximize magic
16. .
17. .Bleeding critical, Maximize (metamagic)
18. .arcana
19. .feat
20. .
Hm, alrighty. After talking things over with my DM, a lot of these options could work. Thank you for the replies, and I'll look into the Ghost Blade arcana, it sounds interesting. :D
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Hm. That would work - costs me a feat but what solution isn't? And I could grab another trait - maybe something to make Intimdate a class skill - along with it, as well as not having to wait until level 9 to be able to grab stage combatant.
Is there any benefit to actually keeping the Katana for a STR Magus? I came to that conclusion on my own and I've seen others do the same but is it really worth the feat - has anyone had extra damage worthy of the feat cost?
Consider Bruising Intellect to make Intimidate a class trait, as well as get your intelligence to it as well.
Well, it turns out I forgot for a moment that Intimidate IS a class skill, although I grabbed Student of Philosophy, which is my one racial trait. Thanks for mentioning it, though~ I'll keep it in mind for future character builds and any opportunities to shift traits around.