Hi everyone! I have finally built my character for a campaign that will start next week. It's a halfling archaeologist archer with the additional archetype "bardic weapon" (non-paizo, but my DM approved it). "Bardic weapon" archetype loses bardic knowledge and lore master in exchange for one martial weapon proficiency and feats related to that weapon at levels 5, 11 and 16. The rest of my group already covers all important knowledge skills, and there is a Lore Master who will almost never miss on really important knowledge checks, so considering how feat-intensive archery is I thought this would be a good idea. I'll be the party face, though, hence the high CHA. Meet Addinai Senjo:
Starting Attributes (using 20-point buy):
Str 11 (13-2), Dex 18 (16+2), Con 12, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 16 (14+2).
Increments at levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20: STR, DEX, DEX, DEX, DEX.
Race: Halfling ("fleet of foot" alternate racial trait)
Favoured Class: Bard, which will go from level 1 to 20 (I'll probably alternate between +1 skill point/level and +1 hp/level)
Trait: Fate's Favored (only 1 trait)
Extra feat at level 1: Big Game Hunter (my DM lets us take one campaign feat from Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide for free, in exchange for the second trait)
Feats by level:
- 1: Lingering Performance, Longbow proficiency (bardic weapon)
- 3: Point Blank Shot
- 4: Precise Shot (combat trick from archaeologist's rogue talent)
- 5: Extra performances, Rapid Shot (bardic weapon)
- 7: Arcane Strike
- 8: Haven't decided yet (archaeologist's rogue talent)
- 9: Manyshot
- 11: Deadly aim, Clustered Shots (bardic weapon)
- 12: Improved evasion (archaeologist's rogue advanced talent)
- 13: Haven't decided yet
- 15: Improved Precise Shot
- 16: Weapon Focus (bardic weapon)
- 17: Haven't decided yet
- 19: Haven't decided yet
My goal is to be a good archer and use my spells as additional combat support and as out of combat utilities. My initial STR is kind of low, but with longbow + archaeologist's luck + fate's favored I think I will be ok. Am I making any mistakes? Is there a way to make my character better without altering the concept too much? Any ideas for the feats I haven't decided on yet?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this!
Is there anything you are set on? Is there anything you are worried about?
If your DM likes long adventuring days, you might want to be a Half Elf instead, for the extra rounds of luck from their favored class bonus. Also, if you find yourself wanting more spells, this faq says you can take the human favored class bonus for more spells known.
If you switch to half elf, you can get rid of extra performances, and move deadly aim up to level 5, which will be a good boost in damage much earlier on. You can also use your free skill focus to qualify for Eldritch heritage, and boost your low str score with Orc or Abyssal heritage (get an adaptive bow).
For your second rogue talent, consider either trap spotter or finesse rogue, depending on your DM. It's never fun to be blindsided by a trap, but some DM's don't really use them. On the other hand, there will be times that you will be forced into melee, and you want to be able to hit if need be.
Thanks for your advice, revaar! My DM will run the Rise of the Runelords Campaign, presumably without any modifications, so trap presence will depend on the campaign. But trap spotter seems nice enough anyway, since it can keep me from explicitly saying "I look for traps" every minute or so.
I'm not set on anything except focusing my combat skills in archery. I guess I will suffer if somehow melee is the only option, but in my group of 5 there already are 4 melee guys so I think I should be ok. I don't know the spells I will choose down the road, but sometimes I wonder if investing so much in archery is going to make me miss some spellcasting related feats which may be important for a bard.
My DM is not a fan of the Eldritch heritage line of feats, so I may have problems going that way, but half-elf is an interesting option nevertheless. I like what halfling gives me, but maybe it's worth some thought.
I agree. I like your build as well. Neat concept going there. Of course, there are other options too, as previously mentioned.
What are you looking for "improvement-wise"? Better stats, better skill selection, better feat selection, a rocking backstory, better race, better offensive options?
Where do you see your build to be deficient in any way?
These answers would help us to help you.
Thanks a lot for your input!
I see in the comments that halfling is not the most optimized race. I really like the concept, though, so I'll have to think about it.
What bothers me the most is the relative lack of team support this build offers. That's what bards are about, but with an archaeologist it's all about self-buffing. I considered building a regular bard (still bardic weapon archetype, but not archaeologist), and considering my party includes a ninja, a barbarian and a magus, losing inspire courage was a hard decision.
On the other hand, with my concept of a halfling stand-up comedian I would lose the extra feats offered by Rogue talents and my archery would suffer, so I guess you just can't have it all.
Is a regular bard viable without lingering performance/extra performance? Because that could save me some feats. Also, is there any way to have two bardic performances active at the same time?
. . . I see in the comments that halfling is not the most optimized race. I really like the concept, though, so I'll have to think about it.
What bothers me the most is the relative lack of team support this build offers. That's what bards are about, but with an archaeologist it's all about self-buffing. . .
Don't worry too much. I played a bard in a module a while back, and the +1 I granted my party members for the first few levels didn't seem like a lot, and half the time they forgot it when they had it. I would have much rather had a +2 to myself and attempted to accomplish something. Later on, when more funds are available, use a wand or two and you should be set... And make them invest in/trade for/make the wands if you are going to be buff them. :)
I don't know where you'd plug it in, but the feat that grants two traits could be useful for helpful is you stay with halfling. The +2 initiative from the reactionary trait looks good on any build as well.
Good luck.
Thanks again for everyone's imput! Game starts this weekend, and now I only have to decide if I wanna play an archaeologist or a core bard (who would probably have the non-paizo "bardic weapon" archetype, too). To compare, I made a core bard build, and I think archery is quite doable indeed, although archaeologist's luck + fate's favored is always better for self-buffing. Here is the alternative build:
Starting Attributes (using 20-point buy):
Str 11 (13-2), Dex 18 (16+2), Con 12, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 16 (14+2).
Increments at levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20: STR, DEX, DEX, DEX, DEX.
Race: Halfling ("fleet of foot" alternate racial trait)
Favoured Class: Bard, which will go from level 1 to 20 (I'll probably mostly choose +1 hp/level)
Trait: Undecided, help? (only 1 trait)
Extra feat at level 1: Big Game Hunter (my DM lets us take one campaign feat from Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide for free, in exchange for the second trait)
Feats by level:
- 1: Point Blank Shot, Longbow proficiency (bardic weapon)
- 3: Precise Shot
- 5: Arcane Strike, Rapid Shot (bardic weapon)
- 7: Lingering Performance
- 9: Manyshot
- 11: Discordant Voice, Deadly aim (bardic weapon)
- 13: Clustered Shots
- 15: Improved Precise Shot
- 16: Weapon Focus (bardic weapon)
- 17: Haven't decided yet
- 19: Haven't decided yet
I loose rogue talent's and archaeologist's luck, but I win bardic performance, which is great for the whole party. Also, I think a bigmouth halfling comedian bard (comedy works great with versatile performance considering I want to be the party face) would be even funnier to play. I considered Arcane Duelist instead of Bardic Weapon, taking the trait that grants longbow weapon proficiency, but apart from arcane strike none of the feats seemed too useful for a ranged bard. Am I mistaken?