Help with a BLOWGUN specialist - the Colonel.

[RebBrown]

Hi! I need a back-up character for a high level game (lvl15+!) with a lot of inter planetary travel and the idea is simple: a man who learned how to survival and gets through life with the help of his trusty blowgun.

25 point buy (can't go minus for bonus points), 2 traits and basic starting gold are the rules of the game.

So where to start? A blowgun does 1D2 damage, x2 on a 20 and has 20ft range. It works great in conjunction with poison, but only the alchemist and certain rogue archetypes get the poisoner abity. It requires tons of bonus damage to have an impact. Sneak Attack dice, static bonusses from fighter feats/abilities and buffs, that kind of stuff. This where I get lost.

Classes that might work: Fighter, rogue, alchemist and maybe druid.
-The fighter lets me stack flat bonus damage to the weapon, but I don't know what else it has to offer to me. Poor saves, tons of hitpoints, but I refuse to wear anything heavier than leather/hide armor.
-The rogue gives me poison, sneak attack, tons of skills but also is the weakest class in all of PF. Still, it seems like a better fit than the fighter.
-The alchemist .. I got no clue how this might work, but I suppose that the alchemist has mutagens, buffs and class abilities that let me use poison more frequently. Also, I'd be able to craft more expensive poisons in less time, but whether that makes up for the drawbacks (lack of +dmg) is something else.
-The druid. Poison immune, so using/making poison requires no skills. A companion who can protect me, fly me around and or supply me with poison. Spells that let me buff, debuff and control the battlefield. It seems like a great fit, but the blowgun would become nothing more than an accessory or a cool descriptor in the way I cast spells.

I understand that from a min-max point of view, the blowgun blows, but the basic crunch can still be applied to it. 1D2 or 1D8, if you have +30 damage per shot, the dice doesn't matter that much.

Help, feedback and or the bouncing back and forth of ideas is greatly appreciated!

[RebBrown]

The rogue seems to be in the lead. The 'Poison Master' alternate option from the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting gives you the poisoner ability and a +1 to the DC of your poison at lvl6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 if applied through a Sneak Attack.

This would mean that with the Master Alchemist and Skill Focus Alchemy feats I should be able to create relatively cheap poisons that hit DC25+.

[TGMaxMaxer]

Rogue/Vivesectionist Alchemist. (fluff it so it's not the creepy graverobbing kind, more the kind that is a true survivalist, parts is parts, and nothing goes to waste)

Some poisons, have supremely benificial effects in the right dosage.

He's just working on those rare cosmic ingredients.

[VDZ]

i would look at some magical blowguns, here are a few that i saw that might be helpful

Conductive: Allows you to cast touch spells with them, would be helpful if you were a touch spell sorcerer or druid.

Conserving: If you miss a shot the ammunition comes back to you. this would save you money on poisons

flaming/frost/Corrosive: Extra 1d6, thats 3.5 average damage for a +1. Not a bad upgrade

Huntsman: Flavor, gives you bonus to survival and if you tracked your enemies an additional 1d6, not as good as flaming IMO but its flavor

im skimming through builds that might help but honestly you don't have a lot to go with. Blow guns just don't hit hard.

[LoneKnave]

There's a Poisoner PRC(http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/e-h/dagger mark-poisoner PS. how do you link on this forum?) I actually really like that gives you some neat tricks to work with. Also gives you some incentive for going Trapper Ranger, which for a guy stuck in wilderness isn't a bad idea.

Also don't forget the Ninja as the Rogue alternative, as it gives you Vanish which lets you sneak in range of people and get cheap SAs with your blowgun.

[Kazaan]

There are some spells available that can quicken the onset of poison so the effect will tick faster. You might look into that, poison them with the blowgun and then magically accelerate and strengthen the poison effect.

[RebBrown]

So far the strongest option seems to go full rogue, take the poisoner ability from Pathfinder Chronicles and take the Master Alchemist feat. Slap on the standard ranged combat feats and tada, a blowgun specialist who can dish out damage.

Use Magic Device opens up invisibility, greater invis and a whole bunch of other wands and scrolls.

[TGMaxMaxer]

The Vivesectionist gets the rogue talents you mentioned as class abilities(even better), the full sneak attack, a "spell list", and Mutagens to boot.

Also, are you starting out high level or need the build from level 1?

Some combinations are hard for the first couple levels, but pay off big at 10+ that would be good at that point.

Pick a Dex/Int Race (Tiefling is first choice), Str 12 Dex 18 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 12 Cha 9(race).

Viv Alchemist x, (at 14 you get 1hr/level mutagens) / rogue 2 just to get access to rogue talents, there's a couple you will like with the feat.

Pick up Greater Sniper goggles, and have a base sneak attack of 1d2+8d6+16+poison at level 15, not including all the magic static damage mods.

Take the self buff type discoveries:
Preserve organs(x3), mummification (10+), poison conversion(6+), Concentrate poison, Sticky Poison(6+), possibly feral mutagen (just to be combat effective, you can't study all those weird creatures without thinking it would be nice to -be- one once in a while)

Rogue Talents:
Snap Shot, Snipers Eye, Offensive Defense, Fast Getaway, Wpn Finesse.

Feats: Arcane strike (provided you have a race that gives SLA), Kirin Style/Kirin Strike (double Int to damage as a swift after a successful attack roll) Point Blank/Precise/Rapid/Imp Precise

[RebBrown]

I start at 15-16.

[strayshift]

Ratfolk get a racial bonus of Craft Alchemy as well as potentially good stat bonuses and small size.

[Suthainn]

Give Ninja a look if its allowed, reskin it like you would the rogue as a lightly armoured survivalist. He learned a minor amount of magic allowing him to hide when need be (vanish), how to strike lethal blows (sneak attack), etc. It's essentially a much more combat capable rogue and you can still take rogue tricks if there are some you like.