i'm starting a campaign next week starting at 3rd level, 20 point buy. We already have an infernal halfling sorcerer and an archaeologist human bard.
I would like to play a man of faith who has devoted his life to hunting immortals on the behalf of his church. Basically a human marut. Those who would cheat death or extend their lives by unnatural means are his quarry. Lawful neutral and worships Abadar, since Abadar has the Inevitable domain. Problem is, he's getting on in years and the church is beginning to question whether he isn't getting too old to do his job. And he never did catch that lich who killed his parents, thus beginning his lifelong career. For the first time, this old hunter may be tempted to extend his own life by unnatural means. Will he succumb to hypocrisy for the thrill of the hunt, or stick to his beliefs and go gentle into that good night?
The question is, which class and build would best suit this concept? I know I will probably be expected to do some healing, and we don't have any any strong melee characters yet. Also, it would be great to represent his advanced age mechanically somehow. Any ideas?
I like the concept, it's defiantly interesting, there are ageing mechanics, Though they aren't pretty for anyone relying on physical stats. But hey maybe you like the challenge of playing an over the hill melee guy. At old age (50's) your looking at -3 str dex con and +2 int Wis Cha. It only gets worse as you get older.
I'd go Cleric, As it will allow you to supplement your weaking body with magic, and I'm sure with enough lies to yourself those Miracles count as a natural means of extending your life ^_^
The obvious choice is Inquisitor. There's no reason why you can't just fluff it that "enemies of your church" are those who have cheated death or do not age normally. You just tweak your religion (or interpretation of same) to include natural aging as a tenet of faith.
Inquisitors get spells, including cure spells.
Your concept, otherwise, sort of the twilight years of Solomon Kane, is very cool. As Talcrion mentioned, there are rules for aging. See page 579 of Core.
Thanks for the great advice, everyone. I would like it if his age impacted his performance (without making him useless, of course), and aging effects seem like the easiest way to represent this.
The problem I've come across is how to make him a viable melee combatant despite the aging effects. I imagine he's somewhere between his mid sixties and early seventies, so he's at least old if not venerable. That amounts to some pretty steep penalties.
If it isn't possible for such an old character to contribute meaningfully to melee, maybe I should Concentrate more on his spells or something else. It makes sense that, as his martial prowess wanes, he would shift focus to his other abilities to compensate.
Another idea I had was maybe he could win an "amulet of age resistance" or something like that. He would wear it in secret, of course, and maybe only use it under extreme circumstances. Such a magic item would be in direct conflict with his beliefs though, which could be interesting. Not sure.
I do agree that Inquisitor is the natural fit, but if there's a class whose abilities would better compensate for the age penalties (Cleric?), I guess I would go with that. I don't know. Still trying to figure it out.
I heard that you can make a melee character froma synthesist summoner. The benefit would be that you don't have to worry about your physical stats, you would use your eidolon's physical stats and your PC's mental stats. Here's a link for the synthesist summoner. By the way the summoner is in the Advanced Player's Guide. As another note this is banned from the Pathfinder Society play.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/summoner/archetypes/paizo---su mmoner-archetypes/synthesist
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Or, use his aging to make him even more combat-effective. Inquisitor syngerizes very well with the Monk, particularly the Zen Archer monk, which uses Wisdom as their attack stat with bows instead of Dexterity. As your character grows older, he'll grow even more steady and sure with his bow, even if he can't do quite as much damage. Inquisitor/monk is a very viable build, and very dangerous.
A summoner isn't quite the flavor I'm looking for, but it certainly is tempting. The synthesist looks like a great loophole of sorts.
I hadn't considered a monk, but am now seriously considering it. I can see him being an old, hobbling wanderer with a badass longbow/quarterstaff. But I do need to do some healing, so maybe monk's out. I'm wary of multi-classing, as I've never attempted it.
I'm pretty set on him being in his sixties or early seventies though. Picture Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins in "Witchfinder General".
Inquisitors have Cure spells. Monk/Inquisitor! Go for it!
It's tempting, but I don't want to multi class. I don't know the first thing about it and would like to keep things simple. I think either monk or inquisitor would fit the character concept, but since I'm gonna need to do some healing, inquisitor probably makes the most sense.
Question is, what kind of inquisitor build would best compensate for the aging penalties of being old (-3 str dex con, +2 int wis cha)?
I am still open to being a monk, though. A zen archer sounds awesome. It depends on if another player can do healing in my place.
I see that you’re interested in the inevitable subdomain, while that has anit-undead flair there are other domains and subdomains that are also anti undead themed that you could consider. One thing about the Inevitable sub is that the power it grants is a mind affecting supernatural ability doesn’t work on undead, since they’re immune to mind affecting effects. At 8th level axiomatic seems hit or miss as an anti undead power.
The Glory and Sun domains work great for clerics, not so great for inquisitors though.
The Soul subdomain (of the Repose Domain) could be really good for an inquisitor though, at first level it gives you an ability to imbue a weapon with something similar to ghost touch. At 8th level Ward Against Death shuts down a lot of undead’s most deadly features.
This is the fluff for the Repose domain: You see death not as something to be feared, but as a final rest and reward for a life well spent. The taint of undeath is a mockery of what you hold dear.
When fighting undead you could use cure spells to harm them, it takes a melee touch attack, but at least many creatures don't have a too high touch AC.
Dangerously Curious (trait): Benefits: You gain a +1 bonus on Use Magic Device checks, and Use Magic Device is always a class skill for you.
This could let you use UMD to use wands like magic missle and other spells to suplement your attacks. With a +2 age mod in cha skill ranks a +1 trait rank you could have a good chance at a DC 20 UMD wand check. 3 cha. bonus + 3 skill ranks + 3 training bonus + 1 trait = 10, +13 if you spend a feat for skill focus UMD.
A build using these stats is something to think on:
St. 5, Con 9, Dex 16 (17 start add racial +2)
Int. 10, Wis 16, Cha 16 (you could lower cha to increase St or con)
Ranged: Use a cross bow to avoid the str. penalty, feats Point Blank, Precise shot and weapon focus cross bow.
With a masterwork weapon you'll have an attak of +7(8 with PB) damage 1d8(+1).
Or Melee build
Inquisitor or Serenrea for scimitar prof
feats: Weapon finess, human bonus fee, dirvish dance
With a mssterwork scimitar its 6 (1d8+3), so not quite the to hit as ranged but more damage. I'd probably decrease ch to increase con with a melee build.
A cleric who focuses on spells and channel energy, picking up heavy armor prof could work as a front line type character. That way you just focus on wis, and cha.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks for the awesome advice, ChaiGuy!
I picked the Inevitable domain purely for flavor, seeing as the character is not unlike a marut. But the fluff for the Repose domain is excellent, too. I don't know how many undead we will encounter on our campaign. I do know we're about to explore a lost city where the denizens are immortal. How they have managed this is unknown. ABut it make sense that, in his hunt for those who cheat death, he would encounter his fair share of liches and vampires.
The crossbow build looks the closest to what I'm going for. I originally conceived him as a badass with a longbow, but given the age penalties to strength, a crossbow is an excellent alternative. Bard and socerer will have us covered in the charisma department, so I probably would lower it in favor of other stats. Is a repeating crossbow worth considering? Because that sounds pretty badass, too.
Thanks again for the advice!