I Throw a Rock at it!

[Cao Phen]

We have all seen builds of Rangers, Zen Archers, Paladin Archers. But have we often seen a character that focuses on an item that is in limitless supply?

I give you Rocky McChucksalot:

Human 9 Weapon Master Fighter/1 Stone Oracle/1 Hurler Barbarian

STR - 18+2
DEX - 15
CON - 12
INT - 8
WIS - 10
CHA - 7

Fighter 1 - Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Quick Draw
Fighter 2 - Precise Shot
Fighter 3 - Weapon Focus (Rock), Weapon Training (Rock)
Fighter 4 - Weapon Specialization (Rock)
Oracle 1 - Rock Throwing, Deadly Aim
Barbarian 1 - Hurler
Fighter 5 - Disposable Weapon
Fighter 6 - Splintering Weapon
Fighter 7 - Improved Critical (Rock)
Fighter 8 - Distance Thrower
Fighter 9 - Far Shot

Traits - Prismati Player/Strong Arm, Supple Wrist

At Level 1, you start out with decent weaponry, like a Scimitar or Chakrams, since your Strength is pretty high. Enough to make you a frontline Fighter. Ranged attacks help you become a switch hitter, doing 2x 1d8+5 for your Rapid Shot throws. Second level adds more precision to the mix.

At third and fourth level, these become preparation to when you start chucking stones at people. at 4th level, you are doing 1d3+8 per rock. Range will be relly bad, though.

Fifth level is when it gets really interesting:

Rock Throwing (Ex):

You are an accomplished rock thrower and have a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown rocks. You can hurl rocks up to two categories smaller than your own size. The range increment for a rock is 20 feet, and you can hurl it up to 5 range increments. Damage for a hurled rock is 2d4 for a Medium creature or 2d3 for a Small creature, plus 1-1/2 your Strength bonus.

Add in Deadly Aim into the mix, and this level will make the damage jump from 1d3+8, to a whopping 2d4+14 per shot.

At sixth level, you might be wondering how to expand the range and efficiency of the rock. This is where the Hurling Barbarian comes into play. The archetype increases the range of the increments by 10 feet, including rage. Nice, but once you add in the Belt of Mighty Hurling with it, you are seeing 40 foot range increments, with your Strength modifierbeing used to your ATTACK ROLLS. So instead of that lowly Dexterity Modifier, you are looking at +12 (7 STR, 5 BAB, 1 Weapon Focus, 1 Weapon Training, 1 Point Blank, 1 Primati Player - 4 Deadly Aim/Rapid Shot) with 2d4+20. +12(2d4+20), twice. From a rock.

Seventh and Eighth levels introduce some combat tricks to your barrage of rocks. Disposable Weapon let you give a fragile weapon the broken condition to Auto-Crit. Splintering Weapon gives fragile weapons the broken condition to do bleed damage. Rocks are made out of stone, Stone are fragile weapons. So when you hit that Natural 20 at level 8 (both 4th and 8th Ability Scores goes to STR), you are automatically doing 4d4+42. That or +15/+15/+10 (2d4+21 + 1d4 Bleed)

Ninth level adds in ability to see more critical potential, by increasing the threat range. This level also includes a BAB+8, which means more damage from Deadly Aim, as well as Weapon Training (Rock). At this level, you are seeing +16/+16/+11 (2d4+24 + 1d4 Bleed/19-20) To think that a simple rock can do so much damage.

The tenth and eleventh levels seek to increase the potental range of what you can throw without penalty. Far Shot and Distance Shooter reduce the penalties to -1 per increment/-2 penalty overall, respectively. What this means is that you can throw that stone up to 120 feet and have no penalties to that throw. Add in the upgrade of the Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling. The end result?:

+19/+19/+14 (2d4+26 + 1d4 Bleed/19-20), No penalties until the fourth increment (120ft+).

No need for a money sink to weapon enchants, though special materials like Cold Iron might perk an interest. What is double the cost of something that is free to begin with?

So what do you all think of this alternative to the Composite Bow "I shoot it" builds?

[Borthos Brewhammer]

Maybe see if you can work with your GM to get a pair of gloves that enchant your thrown rocks, but only work with rocks.

[Aleron]

We shall name him...Ein

Also have to dot this to try sometime. Hilarious!

[Tarkeighas]

I love this!

It is, as far as I'm concerned, a total exploit of rules in a way that was never intended, but is so cool and inventive I'm willing to look past it.

Conjures to mind the scene in brave heart where Mel downs his buddy with a small stone.

Awesome trumps cheese

[Cao Phen]

Add in Boots of Speed:

+20/+20/+20/+15 (2d4+26 + 1d4 Bleed/19-20)

[Whisperknives]

I like it, I like it a lot.

a few comments/questions.

1. might want to find a way to get arcane strike. Those +s will be VERY hard to come by otherwise.

2. What is Prismati Player?

3. A rock would be considered an Improvised Weapon right? So throw anything and Improvised Weapon Mastery would be a nice bonus.

[Talgeron]

That's pretty hilarious. I dig it.

[Some Random Dood]

That is awesome.

[Zotpox]

I dont think it's chese.

Think of it like this [ Rock = Baseball ].

[Imbicatus]

I was thinking of fezzik in princess bride myself.

[Cao Phen]

Prismati Player:

Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on attack rolls with fist sized rocks or similarly shaped objects, and a +1 trait bonus on concentration checks.

I did some extra calculations and here it is:

With the Boots of Speed (No Rage):

+20/+20/+20/+15 (2d4+23 + 1d4 Bleed/19-20)

With the Boots of Speed (With Rage):

+22/+22/+22/+17 (2d4+26 + 1d4 Bleed/19-20)

[Stockvillain]

Oh my, yes. And I thought my axe handle specialist was a fun twist. I will try to use this in some way - you can count on that.

[blackbloodtroll]

Endless Bag of Rocks?

[Wiggz]

Nice concept.

Very unfortunately, most seem to play as if arrows are in limitless supply already, even at level one.

And why in Gods name is Abundant Ammunition such a low level spell/inexpensive item? Last I checked, limitless creation from nothing was a pretty big deal.

[blackbloodtroll]

You are not proficient with rocks.

You need to acquire Weapon Focus, without meeting the prerequisites, such as through the Ranger's combat style feat.

[Hawktitan]

The Oracle ability is generally interpted as making one proficient, though you are correct and the order of levels might need to be changed.

[boldstar]

Dot

[Cao Phen]

So even with the Oracle's Stone Throwing, you will still have a -3 to attack rolls because of improficiency?

[blackbloodtroll]

Human with the Adoptive Parentage alternate racial trait, could choose Stone Giant, and likely get away with Weapon Focus(Rock).

DM fiat there.

Ranger, with the Natural Weapon Combat Style, seems to be the only other option.

[blackbloodtroll]

Cao Phen wrote:

So even with the Oracle's Stone Throwing, you will still have a -3 to attack rolls because of nonproficiency?

Rocks are improvised weapons, so the Throw Anything feat would remove any penalties.

[Zotpox]

How big a rock we talkin here?
golf ball size
baseball size
basketball size

[AndIMustMask]

throw anything and a few traits (seriously, the improvised weapon traits are deceptively good)

if you wanna take a different route with it there's the (lesser, normal, greater) hurling rage powers (increase rock size or range increment), combined with the greater belt of mighty hurling (+4 str, +10 range to thrown weapons) and some muleback cords (doubles lifting capacity)

you can throw some big honkin' rocks at people (really only limited by your size category +1, which enlarge person makes even better). big rocks deal falling object damage

you could find a rock you really like (say, a big chunk of adamantine ore) and enchant it with distance, returning, and seeking for more hilarity.

optionally, grab the body bludgeon rage power and throw PEOPLE at each other (they're treated as a two-handed improvised weapon, which throw anything lets you then toss at folks).

[Umbranus]

Zotpox wrote:

How big a rock we talkin here?

golf ball size
baseball size
basketball size

With the rock throwing ability you can throw stones two size categories smaller than you are. For medium that means tiny if I don't mix stuff up and that's the size of a house-cat.

Prismati player should not work with that any more.

[Zwordsman]

I built something similar (but not as powerful!) before. It was soo much fun.. since "rock" was pretty vague I tossed a brick, a stone, polished marbal ball, etc depending on what I had on hand. All sorts of fun

[Name Violation]

you need proficiency to take weapon focus

could you be a professional rock breaker and get prof via traits?

[Whisperknives]

Just take Throw anything at low levels and replace Improved Critical with Improvised Weapon Mastery, problem solved and actually net better results.

[Imbicatus]

It might be worth it to take a level of monk of the empty hand. You can then flurry with the rocks, and the damage die on them changes to d6 for a 1 hand weapon.

[Axolotl]

I noticed that intriguing Rock Throwing skill when looking through an Oracle guide--I think it was mentioned in a DPR thread. The question remains: where is one going to get all those rocks? They are the size of a housecat, as mentioned, and they aren't necessarily laying around in every area. I'm not sure one could flurry with them (one in each hand, ready to go?). Rock with Returning Quality? There are still some...er...rough edges to this plan.

[RainyDayNinja]

I second the suggestion that you get Arcane Strike (you could just switch to a race with an arcane SLA to qualify). You're going to need magic weapons before too long, and it would be a shame to have to switch to a back-up for those situations.

[Imbicatus]

Axolotl wrote:

I noticed that intriguing Rock Throwing skill when looking through an Oracle guide--I think it was mentioned in a DPR thread. The question remains: where is one going to get all those rocks? They are the size of a housecat, as mentioned, and they aren't necessarily laying around in every area. I'm not sure one could flurry with them (one in each hand, ready to go?). Rock with Returning Quality? There are still some...er...rough edges to this plan.

you would need the quickdraw feat and a bag of holding of you were going to use rocks. My thrown weapon monk was a monk of the empty hand who threw sling stones. They were a damage upgrade from shuriken due to class features but were still ammunition negating the need for quick draw.

[Cao Phen]

Axolotl wrote:

They are the size of a housecat, as mentioned, and they aren't necessarily laying around in every area. I'm not sure one could flurry with them (one in each hand, ready to go?). Rock with Returning Quality? There are still some...er...rough edges to this plan.

Are you sure? When a villager panics and picks up a stone that the can normally wield, it is something that the normally fit in one hand. I believe that you are comparing the rock's size from the size of a creature, rather than the size of a weapon.

Chakrams and daggers can be used one handed for throwing. When throwing a rock via sling, though it states that damage is one size smaller, its size is still the size of a medium ammunition piece. You are not considering the rock bullet as diminuative (size smaller than 'cat').

This in turn, would instead, convert the size of a stone to a size of a skipping stone. Prismati Player would then not work. Not because the rock is too big, but the stone is too small.

I can readjust this build to conform to all advice on rulings, just give me some time to set it up.

[Terronus]

Oracle will let you use the Magic Stone spell. It decreases the 2d4 damage to d6, but could help out if you encounter Dr/magic. Great build you've come up with!

[ohako]

I like this. Please make sure that these aren't two-handed rocks, because you need a feat to throw them more often than a full-round action.

Oh. uh, I was going to say Heirloom Weapon trait to be proficient without Throw Anything...but that only works for one rock.

[Axolotl]

Cao Phen, good points. The wording on Rock Throwing is that one can throw a rock UP TO two sizes smaller than one's size, so I see the point on the rocks being smaller.

[Eltacolibre]

That would be a fun build for a Hill Giant or Stone Giant.

[drbuzzard]

Clustered shot can be added to solve any DR issues.

[Ravingdork]

I'm so stealing this and putting it in my Crazy Character Gallery.

Also, kudos for the creative thread title.

[Makhno]

Ravingdork wrote:

I'm so stealing this and putting it in my Crazy Character Gallery.

Also, kudos for the creative thread title.

I came to this thread for exactly this. Good work, Ravingdork.

[Evilserran]

dotting this... i have for the longest time tried building one of these in 3.5, but never came this good, so next pathfinder game....

[Cao Phen]

Ok, Variant on the Rock Thrower which would hopefully fufill all proficiency requirements and such.

Tally-Ho, the Dwarven Rock-Heaver:

Dwarf Stone Oracle 4/Weapon Master 7

STR - 18
DEX - 13
CON - 10+2
INT - 7
WIS - 9+2
CHA - 14-2

Favored Class Bonus -

Oracle:

Reduce the non-proficient penalty for one weapon by 1. When the non-proficient penalty for a weapon becomes 0 because of this ability, the oracle is treated as having the appropriate Martial or Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat with that weapon.

Traits - Zest for Battle, Fate's Favored

1 - Rock Throwing, Point-Blank Shot
2 -
3 - Precise Shot
4 -
5 - Rapid Shot, Quick Draw
6 - Deadly Aim
7 - Weapon Focus (Rock), Weapon Training (Rock)
8 - Weapon Specialization (Rock)
9 - Improved Critical
10 - Clustered Shots
11 - Disposable Weapon, Weapon Training (Rock)

Bless, Divine Favor will both be casted beforehand. This will add +2/+3 to the calculations (already added in)

1 - +3(2d4+9)
2 - +4(2d4+9)
3 - +5(2d4+9)
4 - +9(2d4+9) - Non-proficiency is cleared, +1 STR
5 - +8(2d4+9) - Rapid Shot
6 - +11(2d4+14) - Rapid Shot/Deadly Aim, Belt of Migthy Hurling
7 - +14(2d4+15)
8 - +16(2d4+20) - +1 STR
9 - +16(2d4+22)
10 - +18(2d4+23) - Greater Belt of Mighty Hurling
11 - +20(2d4+24)

No Barbarian class this time. Strength is less, but the casting of Bless and Divine Favor covers it. Range is reduced by 10, resulting to a 30 range without penalty, maximum range of Point-Blank Shot.

[Sub_Zero]

dotting this. I can't describe how awesome I think this would be.

[krevon]

Why not do the barbarian hurler archetype then go Rage Prophet?

[Grizzly the Archer]

If you took two levels of barbarian to get the rage power Groundbreaker, you wouldn't need to carry your rocks, unless they are magical/special.

[Ravingdork]

Grizzly the Archer wrote:

If you took two levels of barbarian to get the rage power Groundbreaker, you wouldn't need to carry your rocks, unless they are magical/special.

I like.

[blackbloodtroll]

The catapult uses rocks as ammunition.

This means they can be enchanted as such, or the target of the Abundant Ammunition spell.

[Gishou]

If your GM lets you take it, you should take equipment trick (rock). It would let you treat rocks as normal weapons or improvised weapons, whichever is more beneficial for you.

[Count Coltello]

I like the idea of a returning rock, throw it at them it comes back hitting them again.
Think of barnabas boomerangs or boomerangs in the cartoons

[Whisperknives]

He he he, A Blinkback Belt with just a rock on it.

"Loaded and ready to rock"

[Captain K.]

I like this.

Is there a way to make him an Oread for Ultimate Granite Power?

They get a racial thing where they make the ground around them difficult terrain, like a tiny earthquake. Can't that be used to bring up rocks to the surface for then to grab?

If someone can find a way to put Living Monolith levels in too, they win.

[Imbicatus]

Dwarf Stonelord Paladin would work as a substitute for Living Monolith.