So, I recently found a good image that I think would fit for the "harrower" PrC. So I decided to try to build one. It only needs 3 things:
1) level 3 spells (I'd rather keep it legit rather that cheese with aasimar)
2) The harrowed feat
3) K (arcana)+Perform (x5)
So, I'm wondering what would make the best harrower, both mechanically and thematically. There are 3 classes I'm considering:
1) Sorcerer: they could actually use the perform skills nede, but it would take away from other things. However, the loss of bonus spells/various arcana when you take the PRC is costly.
2) Oracle: Thematically, an oracle could be appropriate. But it has the same problems as the sorcerer.
3) Wizard: a divination-focused wizard could be thematically appropriate. On top of that, since they can learn spells through scrolls, less problems with spell loss. They can afford to be less dependant on their special abilities.
So I'm wondering, which would be the best. Is the harrower just too random to be effective?
Might I suggest looking into bard? Certainly adds even more versatility to the class.
This feels like thread necromancy, but anyway...
The problem I see with taking bard is mainly a BAB issue. THe harrower only has 1/2 BAB. In the end, we'd have (at level 20) a character that casts level 6 spells (from a limited list), has fairly limited bardic performance, and has lost much of the bards usefullness (unless there are feats that allow a continuation of bard powers I dont know). With a smooth party maybe, but in the long run you would loose too much.
Evocation spells gain the most from the Harrow Casting ability. I prefer sorcerers for my evocation builds.
The Tattooed Sorcerer in particular to plays up the whole Varisian stereotype.
I was actually looking into making a Harrower as well. I have narrowed it down to 3 classes (one different from yours): Sorcerer, Witch, and Wizard.
I think Thematically it fits the Bard perfect, but you would have to wait to extra levels to enter it (matters in APs) and Bards are more support casters where it seems Harrower abilities buff damage and debuff spells (like Gjorbjond said).
I think it also fits the Witch thematically, playing it out as a eccentric gypsy. But the Witch's Hexes will fall behind with the PrC taking over. The spell list is nice though, and the Time/Moon/Stars/Spirits/Ancestry Patrons all play in nice. My GM even toyed with the idea of letting me use the harrow deck as a familiar, similar to the Fetish Mask for the Scarred Witch Archtype.
With regards to race, I couldn't get away from Human because of the trait Harrow Chosen.
The feat Deadly Dealer seems kind of interesting when mixed with a bards higher BAB.
Sorry for the ramble, that is all I got so far. Hope it helps.
Thanks zen, your advice is quite useful. I though about deadly dealer myself, but the low bab of the harrower makes this hard to use.
The Harrower is flavorful but slightly underpowered. If you're playing with a group of minimaxers, or a DM who likes pushing things right to the limit, you'll feel some pain. If it's a more relaxed campaign you should be fine. (Slightly underpowered, not extremely. It's playable, unlike some PrCs I can think of.)
A couple of the special abilities are pretty feeble. The Spirit Deck is basically a short-range magic missile. It's not completely worthless -- it does ignore SR, which is nice -- but its short range (30') and very low damage (average about 2.2 hp per *Harrower* level) make it very weak. You'd likely be 10th level when you get this ability, and it would do an average of about 11 points damage per use. That's pretty lame. Also, "1 + Cha modifier times/day is kind of hard on Harrowers who don't start as sorcerors or oracles.
Then at 6th level, you get the ability to use Divination as a SLA once/day. Divination is a 4th level spell. Giving an 11th level character access to this once/day is not exactly a powerful incentive to take this class.
Okay, on to the positive aspects. You get full spells/level casting, which is sweet. Your Blessing of the Harrow and Harrowed feats are actually pretty nice random buffs. Harrow is a random +2 points on a single roll, while the Blessing is a day-long random mass buff that will quickly make you popular with your fellow party members. You cast these every morning before you brush your teeth.
The Tower of Strength ability (3rd level Harrower) gives you +1 damage per die for each card you draw from the suit of Strength. The Tower of Charisma (4th level) gives you +1 on the save DC for each card you draw from Charisma. So, a midlevel Harrower build would reasonably concentrate on damage-dealing save-or-suck spells -- your classic Fireball and Lightning Bolt, and the like -- because these leverage your abilities. After all, you have about a 40% chance of getting an extra point on each die every time you cast. That works out to, on average, about 10% more damage from blasty spells with d6es. Not huge, but nothing to sneeze at either.
You'd be less interested in abjurations, buffs, summons, and such. Not uninterested, you'll want a few, but /relatively/ less interested, because these can't take advantage of your Harrow Casting abilities.
Doug M.
With regard to wizard / sorceror / oracle, I'd say avoid the oracle, because too much of the goodness in that class comes from the revelations, bonus mystery spells, and improvements to revelations and curses at the higher oracle levels. (This is why I think oracles generally aren't a great choice for PrCs.)
Sorceror could work, but as you correctly note, the skill tax to join this PrC will hurt a sorceror more than a wizard -- if you start as a non-human sorceror, then *all* your skill points for the first five levels will go to feed the PrC requirement! It's not a huge deal (traits can help, sorcerors aren't generally skill monkeys anyway) but it is a thing.
So that leaves wizard. Personally I'd go with a diviner or evoker wizard with a bonded item. The diviner is more thematic (and makes the spell requirement a nonissue); the evoker is probably a better choice power-wise. The bonded object lets you get around the opposition school issue (since casting from a BO doesn't use a slot, you can cast opposition spells from it freely).
A wizard does suffer from getting fewer uses of the Spirit Deck special power (1+Cha bonus/day). However, as noted above, the Spirit Deck is pretty weak; you'll only use it very rarely, when facing a foe who is otherwise untouchable, usually because of high SR. And in any event it's not an issue until 10th level. Don't drop your Cha below 10 and you'll still get it twice/day, which should be as much as you'll ever need.
cheers,
Doug M.
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