PFS legal Indiana Jones build. How would you make him?

[blackdragon8577]

I am thinking a Rakshasa-Spawn Tiefling Archaeologist (of course) Bard. Taking the prehensile tail racial trait. He would be a NG follower of Sinashakti.

Languages:
Polyglot
Infernal

The stat spread would be:

Strength 14
Dexterity 17
Constitution 10
Intelligence 13
Wisdom 8
Charisma 16

Skills ranks 8 - Level 1 ranks:

Acrobatics
Bluff
Climb
Diplomacy
Knowledges - Dungeoneering and Local (spreading ranks in everything but engineering and nobility eventually)
Sense Motive
Stealth

And then, of course, he would start to pick up other relevant skills as the levels progress.

Weapons would be scorpion whip, whip, shortbow (no guns), rapier (or longsword, not sure yet)

Armor would be Lamellar Armor (+4 AC, +3 dex mod, -2 armor check), and a heavy wooden shield (+2 AC, -2 Armor Check)

Traits:

Explorer - +1 to survival and class skill
Maestro of the Society - +3 rounds of Bardic performance

Feat: Lingering Performance

I am not really sure where to go after level one though. Is there anything else I can do to make this better and/or more in line with Indy?

How would you build him?

[Mergy]

You've got one option with the archaeologist bard. Another option would be the cryptbreaker alchemist from Inner Sea Magic.

It's an intelligence-based class (so a lot of skills - check!), it has Disable Device, Perception, and Trapfinding (so trap removal - check!), and it can be a great buffer or bomber depending on how you build it.

I'm not sure the advantage of tiefling for your bard build, but I think the most typical Pathfinder Society Indy would be human.

[RainyDayNinja]

Honestly, I wouldn't go with the Archaeologist archetype if you want to focus on the whip. You really need full BAB and lots of feats to make it work. Besides, I don't think of Indy as an especially Charismatic character.

I'd go with the Lore Warden archetype of the Fighter. You get 4 skill points per level (2 have to go into Int-based skills), plenty of bonus feats, and all Int-based skills as class skills. If you still want to disable traps, you could take a dip into another class that gets Trapfinding.

Skills would focus on Knowledge, especially History, Religion, Local, Dungeoneering, and Linguistics. Here's my rough suggestion:

Indiana Jones
Human Fighter (Lore Warden)
12/17/14/14/12/9

1: EWP (Whip), Weapon Finesse, Power Attack
2: Whip Mastery, Combat Expertise
3: Power Attack
4: Improved Trip
5: Improved Whip Mastery
6: Improved Disarm
7: Weapon Specialization
8: Greater Whip Mastery
etc.

Skills (7/level): Acrobatics, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history, local, religion), Linguistics, Misc.

@Mergy: The Trapbreaker archetype from the Dungeoneer's Handbook is way better than the Crypt Breaker, if you want to go that route.

[MatthewN]

I don't know about that. Indy is pretty charismatic. He bluffs, he disguises, he seduces.

[El Baron de los Banditos]

You also don't need a grotesque Charisma to make the archeologist archetype function or any of the above listed activities; just enough to cast spells. And note that Humans can get two +2's instead of one if they drop their bonus feat and skilled. You could buff up both Cha and Str to decent amounts without sacrificing any of your other stats or being an odd race (since you wanted the Indy Jones flavor.)

[Mergy]

Indy is charismatic because movie characters get a 50-point buy. For a game like this, you need to pick an aspect of the character and trend towards that, because if you try to do everything Indy does, you'll be average or worse at everything.

[Misroi]

I think the best way to build him is Unarmed Fighter. We see him using guns and whips, but honestly, the weapons he uses most often are his fists. His stats would be pretty good all around - Str 14, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 13. He's a Professor, so he should be pretty smart, and he'll need the Intelligence for more skills. Starting feats would probably be EWP (Whip) and Skill Focus (Knowledge (History)). Traits would be Prehensile Whip (naturally!) and something that gives Knowledge (History) as a class skill. Artifact Hunter comes to mind.

[blackdragon8577]

Misroi wrote:

I think the best way to build him is Unarmed Fighter. We see him using guns and whips, but honestly, the weapons he uses most often are his fists. His stats would be pretty good all around - Str 14, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 13. He's a Professor, so he should be pretty smart, and he'll need the Intelligence for more skills. Starting feats would probably be EWP (Whip) and Skill Focus (Knowledge (History)). Traits would be Prehensile Whip (naturally!) and something that gives Knowledge (History) as a class skill. Artifact Hunter comes to mind.

Do you think that Lore Warden would be a better fit than Unarmed Fighter?

The more I think about it, the less Bard Archaeologist feels right.

Maybe building him into more of a maneuver type guy would be more fitting. When he does fight he uses his environment to trip up his enemies as he is running away.

He mainly uses the whip as a utility tool and not as a weapon. And the pistol is there simply because of the era. Guns were common. If he did not have access to firearms I would not really think that would matter for Indy.

A Lore Warden would be the mix between that I think may be the sweet spot for Indy. It looks like a class archetype that is brainy and brawny enough to fit the bill.

Another option I was thinking of would be ranger, but I am not sure if that would really fit. Maybe a level or two as a dip, but the smart fighter seems to be the way to go.