So, I'd really love to build a Catfolk that works around Claw Pounce and the Scout archetype, but with at least one style involved. My current thought is to start with Master of Many Styles or Unarmed Fighter for the ability to bypass feat requirements and gain IUS, then start leveling rogue (or ninja, depending on whether or not the DM says ninjas can take rogue archetypes).
So something like this:
STR 16 DEX 16 CON 10 INT 14 CHA 14 WIS 6
Feats:
Monk (MoMS/MoSM) 1st - Improved Unarmed Strike (Monk)
1st - Panther Style (Monk)
1st - Dodge
1st - Stunning Fist (Monk)
2nd - Panther Claw (Monk)
Rogue/Ninja 3rd - Mobility
4th - Weapon Training - Claws (Rogue Talent/Ninja Trick)
5th - Feral Combat Training
6th - Vicious Claws (Rogue Talent/Ninja Trick)
7th - Catfolk Exemplar - Sprinter
8th - Vanishing Trick (If Ninja, if Rogue then Offensive Defense)
9th - Dragon Style (mostly for the ability to charge over difficult terrain)
10th - Invisible Blade (If Ninja, if Rogue then Deadly Scratch)
11th - Nimble Striker
12th - Forgotten Trick (If Ninja, if Rogue then Feat for something else)
13th - Improved Natural Attacks - Claws
14th - Combat Trick - Claw Pounce
This is the first time I've ever tried to build any kind of Natural Weapon Character ever. It's based off of a similar build, the addition of Panther Style was my idea. At level 6, he should be able to charge at an opponent, purposefully passing other opponents along the way and (if he's moved at least 10 feet before the first opponent) gaining sneak attack claw damage against all of them, then hitting his actual target. Repeat back and forth across the battlefield. At level 9 he'll ignore difficult terrain for those charges, at level 11 he'll ignore the AC penalty for charging, and at level 14 he'll be able to do all the stuff from before with an additional charging claw attack at the end of his movement.
I'm absolutely certain that there are either blatantly obvious feat/talent choices that I'm missing that would improve the build, as well as better feat placement over the level progression. I'm also aware that DR becomes an issue for this character, who will either needs a set of +3 Claw Blades for one paw (making his attack progression at level 14 +17/+12/+12, with two of those being the Claw Blades and one being the natural claws) or an Amulet of Mighty Fists, which is painfully expensive for two natural attacks. Or I could go Claw Blades on both paws, but that changes the whole build to TWF and I think it might obviate Vicious Claws and Feral Combat Training and make him unable to use Panther Style. I'd like to keep the basic concept, including using a Catfolk. What I really wish was that Unarmed Fighters could take Style feats as bonus feats without meeting prerequisites after level 1, in that case I'd dump monk and take Unarmed Fighter for Panther Style.
Anyway, thoughts?
Muchly appreciated.
Dunno about anything else, but if your GM allows stuff from D&D 3.5, there are a pair of magic items in the Savage Species book. Listed on this webpage are the Beast Claws and the Necklace of Natural Attacks (almost at the bottom of the page) as printed in the Savage Species book. Both would be huge boons to natural weapon brawlers.
Those are awesome! Unfortunately this is for a play-by-post and the DM seems like a stickler for official Pathfinder only stuff. I'll run it past him, though!
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I would go for a level of Unarmed Fighter to pick up IUS and Dragon Style, skip the Monk splash, and ignore Panther. It might be different if you were a Barbarian or Paladin, but a Ninja does NOT have the HP to go around provoking extra attacks of opportunity. Also, Dragon Style's charging ability over difficult terrain and through allies is very, very handy; much more so than what Panther Style can offer you.
Also, I had to retire my rogue halfway through our campaign because I made the same mistake you're about to: 10 CON IS NOT ENOUGH! I had 10 con/14 int/14 cha, and the 2 skills/level is not worth the extra HP and Fort save. A 10 con, d8 hit die, light armored character simply cannot stand on the front lines - you'll go down or have to retreat after one or two full attacks. Vanishing Trick helps, but you'll be burning through Ki like no other just to stay out of the way of enemies. Keep in mind that your 3/4 BAB and lack of significant to-hit bonus (favored enemy, smite, rage, mutagen, etc.) mean that you will be hitting less often than your comrades.
It's also worth noting that the ability you're basing this build around, Claw Pounce, won't be available until very high levels with a 3/4 BAB class. By that point, your two natural attacks will pale in comparison to any standard Fighter or Barbarian's full iterative attack. You should strongly consider a full-BAB class if you want to build around Claw Pounce. Barbarian, Ranger, or Paladin would be my choice, perhaps with the Unarmed Fighter splash. Barbarian nets you a bite via Animal Fury and will get you crazy damage without having to set up a sneak attack; Ranger can take the Natural Attack fighting style for some nice bonus feats, get Favored Enemy to help boost damage, and get almost as many skills as ninjas; and Paladin's increased protection and healing will be good for such a reckless fighting style.
Sorry, I don't mean to completely derail your build... but as someone who has a bit of experience with squishy characters and complex builds, you just can't get away with something like this without full BAB and better defenses. A full BAB character with good Str can be pretty effective just be using his class features, wearing decent armor, and swinging a weapon around, but 3/4 BAB/d8 HD characters really need help in both offense and defense in order to keep up. Alchemists and Druids can massively boost Str; Bard, Inquisitor, Oracle, and Magus have access to buffs, spellcasting, and things like Judgment to help them; Monk gets to pretend he has full BAB with flurry. But Ninjas and Rogues have it tough - though they may be amazing skill monkeys, they really need to pull out all the stops and constantly strive for Sneak Attacks just to keep pace. When you start multiclassing with non-full-BAB classes and trying to soak up extra attacks, you'll find you're just not as effective as your teammates, I'm afraid. : /
That's a shame about Panther Style. I was really hoping that Mobility plus other stuff would keep my AC high enough to dance about smacking enemies at will. Dropping that would significantly free up my feats, though.
One of the things that was appealing to me about this build was that many parts of it work well together. Charging gives an attack bonus to help those hits land more often, Nimble Striker negates the AC penalty from charging, Offensive Defense (which I think I forgot to put in the built but is very helpful) helps to avoid retaliation, Mobility protects while moving out again (possibly charging towards a new opponent), and Vicious Claws makes for a solid damage boost. Even without Panther Style, he should be able to charge one enemy and smack him twice for 1d4+str plus xd8, avoid getting hit during the next round, then charge at a new enemy counting on Mobility to cover his exit. It really seems like a great way to get consistent Sneak Attack without a flanking buddy.
But maybe that's just wishful thinking. I'll probably build this and a variation based on a full BAB class in the next week or so and play them both and see how they feel. Thanks for the tip about Panther Style, any other must-have feats for natural weapon characters?
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Mobility and Nimble Striker certainly help. Offensive Defense doesn't help until you pick up the 3rd Panther Style feat; otherwise they get to hit you first. However, it's not just the AoOs you're worried about. To effectively use a Panther Style Pounce, you'd need to rush by one or more enemies to attack another. Before your next turn, there's a very good likelihood you're going to be facing a full attack from the target of your pounce and/or an attack from the foe(s) you passed; one or both of those enemies will have flanking. Even Vanishing Trick doesn't help a ton since they'll know what square you're in.
I tried quite hard to figure out a worthwhile Panther Style build, and I could not do it. The closest one was a Titan Mauler Barbarian that could move around, provoking attacks, then do a massive Vital Strike on someone... but even under ideal conditions, he'd be worse off than a Dragon Style/full attacking character.
I think a Dragon Style-using Scout is viable. But charging from one foe to another while using claws... You're just so, so pressed for feats - IUS, Dragon Style, Weapon Focus, Feral Combat Training, Dodge, Mobility, Nimble Striker, and Claw Pounce at a minimum. Granted, a level of unarmed fighter helps a lot, and some of them can be taken with Rogue Talents/Ninja Tricks; as long as you're OK with not getting Claw Pounce until later levels, and abstaining from Panther Style, this should work.
Let's see, what other feats are good...
-Toughness
-Catfolk Exemplar/Improved Natural Attack
-Lunge (as long as you've got Nimble Striker, this feat is "you have reach on your turn")
-Eldritch Claws
-Iron Will & Greater - Ninjas have poor will saves. You're dumping Wis. Failing Will saves is generally really, really bad. Get this feat early as you can, and the greater one at some point down the line.
