What are the other people playing? How many are you ect.
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A classic barbarian is always good and doesn't need the fancy stuff.
So I'd go half-orc barbarian with power-attack as his first level feat.
Start with a geataxe (it's cheap) but try to get a falchion or greatsword as soon as possible. Wear a scale mail and you are almost ready.
Str:18
Dex:13
Con:14
Int:12
Wis:10
Cha:10
Or, if you want to dump cha.
Str:18
Dex:12
Con:16
Int:12
Wis:10
Cha:7
If you are playing with them, add traits to taste.
Do not be affraid to lag behind. I play a paladin in a Kingmaker campaign who's main strength is perception and diplomacy. His combat strengths are not exceptional but he has no weak points (and as a result no exceptional scores either). But whenever a parlay is being executed, the entire group will look at me expectingly. I prefer to play characters who do not excel at combat only, as such characters will most likely have some inherent flaw, like lack of charisma, intelligence and/or wisdom.
I also think that a GM should not allow such a character to execute a brilliant tactic or strategy as the character would be unable to concieve that (an often overlooked aspect of the game).
Having said that I do enjoy playing in a seperate campaign alongside a barbarian who does insane amounts of damage as some half-orc barbarian whith two handed weapons and virtually no armor. He makes up for the lack of armor with insane strength (20) and a high constitution (I believe 16), but lacks any intelligence or charisma. As a half orc Barbarian he also sports a Bite-attack that comes in handy when he is surprised without a weapon. If he rages the damage starts flying to insane amounts as he will also use Power Attack -1 to hit +2 to damage(and +3 when wielding a two handed weapon).
This totals to an insane amount of +5 to damage (+7 if raging) times 1.5 comes to +7 (twohanded) and +10 (Twohanded + raging) Plus +2 (power attack)/+3 (power attack + two handed) and a +1 from a magical weapon for a whopping total of:
One handed, non raging, powerattack +8 to damage
One handed, raging, powerattack +10 to damage
two handed, non raging, powerattack +11 to damage
two handed, raging, powerattack +14 to damage
and off course the damage die of the weapon used.
Any cleric with a hold spell will most likely stop him dead in his tracks, but toe to toe he's pretty awesome in a combat.
I play a Ranger in that campaign and we all would have died of malnutricion If I hadn't because we started on an island without food and even though the ranger does not do insane amounts of damage, having no food or water would have made that campaign a short one indeed if two characters (without prior knowledge) hadn't invested in Surviving so a party of 10 (PC's and NPC's) had no problem eating.
What I am trying to say is not to stare blindly at someone else's strong points but concentrate on your own and use those to your own and the party's advantage. And strong points are not combat capabilities alone. Skills like knowledge, diplomacy and perception can provide a party with Non-Combat options as well as prevent surprise against the party. Proffesions and crafts can get you or your party access to items a lot cheaper then a store. And do not forget that items enhancing your skills are a lot cheaper then other magical items.
So try to find the role you want to play for a party and make a character accordingly.
Damage: think of a barbarian or a fighter
Armored front line: think of a fighter or a paladin
Second line: think of a Ranger, cleric, thief or mage
Support or Skill monkey: Think of a ranger, bard or a thief
And as the example shows you can fill more thenm one roll in most classes. Checkout what your class skills and your prime stats are and use traits to adjust a character to your liking. I used a trait to make Perception a class skill for my Paladin. And I used a trait to make Diplomacy a class skill for my Ranger.
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A simple fighter build:
With 20 point buy you can get Str 17 easily. Then get a race with a str bonus. Con is score nr2.
Armor of choice is breastplate. Full plate at 7th level.
Weapons:
Falchion.
Composite bow.
Feats:
Power attack.
Weapon focus.
(Iron will if human)
Use class feats to build weapon spec. Imp foc. Grt spec. Decide if you want cleave.
Make sure you get improved crit.
Use level based feats to build initiative, saves.
Once you've got the bare nessessities consider trip or archery. Even if your dex is low your bab will make up for it.
If you can get the GM to allow feats from APG you might want furious focus.
That's pretty much it. Get items that help your movement, saves and your damage/strength.
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If you have a group of people that as you said are tactical, then you could go support. A bard makes a great addition to any party especially if your friends are likely to optimise.
Grab some sosial skill and some trap and other supportive skills and you will help out your party a lot. You will not be the one doing the huge numbers, but you will make your tactical friends shine even more and they will love you for it!
Instead of trying to predict what your players may make, just learn the weakness of their characters i.e. their classes
Class - Weakness
Fighter - attack their will and reflex saves, use area of effect spells
Fighter - attack their will save and avoid their favored enemy/terrain
Rogue - use enemies that are immune to critical hits and sneak attack
Monk - use enemies with large grapple checks and/or damage reduction
Arcane Caster - Get in close and do physical damage
Divine Caster - attack their reflex and/or use story and intrigue to tempt them to act out of alignment and poof goes all their spells
If the party is Tanking (melee heavy) do some ranged ambushes with traps and difficult terrain
If the party is Blasting (caster heavy) use enemies with spell immunity like constructs, or use anti-magic fields
Hope this helps remember to just adjust what the players have made and watch what those tendencies are you can even write down notes from one session to help you design enemies and encounters that will be challenging and therefore hopefully more rewarding.
Are there any editable character sheets where you can also upload a portrait?
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DalmarWolf has a good point.
If you are sticking to CRB (though people's interpretation of 'core' differs) you will be loved and cherished as a standard bard. Very hard to do too wrong.
Importantly, not too complicated either.
For 20 points Human, this will do:
STR: 13 DEX: 14 CON: 12 INT: 10 WIS: 10 CHA: 16
For feats, get Arcane Strike, Precise Shot and some of the other archery ones.
For combat, stand at the back, start singing your song, cast a buff spell then start pinging guys with your bow. It is very simple and you will be adored for it, trust me.
Out of combat, you are a Bard. It is a fantastic job. You know stuff and you get girls unlike the wizard.
It is not mega mega power. But it is not hard to play well. And they have so many cool toys.
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The CRB iconics party:
1) Dwarf fighter with waraxe, tower shield and Improved Bull Rush
-- role: battering ram
2) Elven wizard with hawk familiar and Eyes and Ears of the City trait and Improved Initiative
-- role: red-alert klaxon
3) Half-orc barbarian with a bardiche and Raging Vitality
-- role: 2nd through the door after the dwarf
4) Half-elf rangerX/bardY
-- role: archery & survival + grab-bag
5) Halfling warslinger rogue with Sap Master and Underhanded
-- role: scouting and acquisitions
6) Human cleric in mithral breastplate with Travel domain and Scribe Scroll
-- role: Breath of Life ass-saver
Monk is a very decent character as long as you have a sorc/wiz to cast armor for it and a ranger for magic fang ;)
The saves of the monk are good and for close combat a monk is lethal. Try putting it vs. a boa constrictor and see who wins. Try that with a fighter.
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Monk is a very decent character as long as you have a sorc/wiz to cast armor for it and a ranger for magic fang ;)
The saves of the monk are good and for close combat a monk is lethal. Try putting it vs. a boa constrictor and see who wins. Try that with a fighter.
I agree with you, Snowleapard, that Monks can be awesome. That said, it takes considerable system mastery and build skill to make an effective Monk. Monk is probably not the place for the OP to look ...
The CRB iconics party:
1) Dwarf fighter with waraxe, tower shield and Improved Bull Rush
-- role: battering ram2) Elven wizard with hawk familiar and Eyes and Ears of the City trait and Improved Initiative
-- role: red-alert klaxon3) Half-orc barbarian with a bardiche and Raging Vitality
-- role: 2nd through the door after the dwarf4) Half-elf rangerX/bardY
-- role: archery & survival + grab-bag5) Halfling warslinger rogue with Sap Master and Underhanded
-- role: scouting and acquisitions6) Human cleric in mithral breastplate with Travel domain and Scribe Scroll
-- role: Breath of Life ass-saver
You realize that 1/2 of your "CRB Iconics" aren't core only right. no traits, no bardiche, no archtypes, and Raging Vitality doesn't appear to exist - where's it from?
The CRB iconics party:
1) Dwarf fighter with waraxe, tower shield and Improved Bull Rush
-- role: battering ram2) Elven wizard with hawk familiar and Eyes and Ears of the City trait and Improved Initiative
-- role: red-alert klaxon
APG
3) Half-orc barbarian with a bardiche and Raging Vitality
-- role: 2nd through the door after the dwarf
APG+APG
4) Half-elf rangerX/bardY
-- role: archery & survival + grab-bag5) Halfling warslinger rogue with Sap Master and Underhanded
-- role: scouting and acquisitions
APG, UC, UC
6) Human cleric in mithral breastplate with Travel domain and Scribe Scroll
-- role: Breath of Life ass-saver
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Human Paladin
Stats: str14 dex16+racial con12 int7 wis12 cha14
Feats:
Point Blank Shot (HD1)
Rapid Shot (HD1-Human)
Precise Shot (3)
Deadly Aim (5)
You'll be the best tank of the team (swift heal), you got decent AC (medium armor) and you got good saves (+Cha as bonus on all saves)
You will deal high damage with a +2Str composite longbow. You'll add your Cha and Paladin level on damage and aim versus one powerful evil enemy 1/day.
And obviously - you're ranged - so you don't need to charge or similar to reach your enemies.
Tip: get a heavy mount-combat trained, and acquire a lance as backup weapon when you need to charge. Also get a 1handed strong weapon, in case they grapple you.
Buy:
Composite bow (+2Str or more) - "seeking" feature
Medium armor
Belt of Str, Dex & con
headband of charisma
Heavy Combat Trained horse (or use your mount feature at lvl 5)