This will be similar to other build advice I have requested. But the campaign is getting closer, the rest of the party is closing in on final builds, AP was chosen, and my role has changed from an Anvil (interfering with the enemy) to more of an Arm (support for allies).
Abilities: 84 points, 1-to-1 buy, nothing above 18 before racial mod, nothing below 10 even with racial mod
Alignment: no evil
Sources: anything Paizo published is fine, 3pp might be approved (however, I personally would prefer to stick with things I can build in Hero Labs)
Races: monsterous allowed if no more than a 1 HD starting adjustment
Traits: 2 with it being strongly suggested that 1 be from the campaign guide
Starting Cash: 2000 gp
Hero Points: the system is in use for our group (a few key BBEG’s may also have hero points)
PC’s
- Wyveran (sp?) draconic race from Bestiary 4, psionic marksman, level 1 (due to race) – primary combat role is Hammer (damage dealer), secondary combat role is Anvil (feats to trip at range), out of combat roles scout, tracker, and sense motive
- Halfling, paladin mounted riding gecko lizard, level 2 – primary combat role is Hammer (damage dealer), secondary combat role is Anvil (feats to knock people back or down with charge attack), out of combat role is party face (high cha and skill pts into diplomacy and intimidate)
- Wxxxxx construct race from Bestiary 4, maneuver monk, level 1 (due to race) – primary combat role is Anvil (controlling and interfering with the enemy), secondary combat role is Hammer (beating on things), out of combat roles scout and sense motive
- ME – Human, witch, level 2 - primary combat role is Arm (allied support), secondary combat role is Anvil (interfering with enemy activities), out of combat knowledge and other int skills
Personally imposed restrictions.
I will not play CN jack-hole (at least not in this campaign).
Somewhere in the early to mid levels I will be taking all 3 hero point feats. Blood of Heroes, Hero’s Fortune, and Luck of Heroes.
I will take the human alternate racial trait Heroic, which replaces the human bonus feat.
(I know this puts a real crimp in the available feats for the build, but I really want them.)
Since we have a paladin in the group, I will not give him conniption fits by becoming an undead creating grave walker.
I am not going to be taking the healing hex or the hedge witch archtype. (I just got done playing a life oracle heal bot. I want different.)
I was considering the Winter Witch archtype, but that might be too cheesy. What do you think?
I was also considering the Beast Bonded archtype, but that gives up a lot.
So, here’s what I am looking at so far.
Race: Human, Heroic alternate racial trait.
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Witch (should I take a level of Lore Warden for the class skills and proficiencies?)
Archtype: uncertain, maybe none
Patron: Vengence
Familiar: Unknown but somethinng that can survive in the north.
Group might agree that everyone take a teamwork feat (lookout, stealth synergy, and shake it off are currently being discussed)
Str 10
Dex 16
Con 16
Int 18
Wis 14
Cha 10
Traits: Dangerously Curious, (one from Reign of Winter Players Guide, but I haven't downloaded it yet)
Feats
1 Hero's Fortune
3 teamwork feat
5 Blood of Heroes
7 Luck of Heroes
9 Improved Initiative
11 Accursed Hex
13 Split Hex
15 Extra Hex or Persistent Spell
Hexes
1 Misfortune
2 Cackle
4 Fortune
6 Evil Eye
8 Ward
10 Agony
12 Animal Skin
14 Weather Control
Mostly utility and buff spells
Use Patron spells and hexes for offense
What do you think? How could it be improved?
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No on Dangerously curious. UMD is a class skill for a witch.
If your meant to Buff up the party I can think of no other Hex besides Cauldron Hex. Brew potions is a great way to keep the party up on consumables and since you can make them at half cost you hand them out like candy.
Slumber hex, Slumber hex, slumber hex, slumber hex, always take slumber hex.
I believe luck of the heroes should be before Blood of the heroes. The chance of not spending a hero point will be a bigger power increase and possibly net you more Hero points than Blood of the Heroes would.
Improved Initiative early to drop the slumber hex.
So, here’s what I am looking at so far.
Race: Human, Heroic alternate racial trait.
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Witch (should I take a level of Lore Warden for the class skills and proficiencies?)
Archtype: uncertain, maybe none
Patron: Vengence
Familiar: Unknown but somethinng that can survive in the north.
Group might agree that everyone take a teamwork feat (lookout, stealth synergy, and shake it off are currently being discussed)
Str 10
Dex 16
Con 16
Int 18
Wis 14
Cha 10
Traits: (one from Reign of Winter Players Guide, but I haven't downloaded it yet), Reactionary (boring, but solid - might change it)
Feats
1 Hero's Fortune
3 teamwork feat
5 Blood of Heroes
7 Luck of Heroes
9 Improved Initiative
11 Accursed Hex
13 Split Hex
15 Extra Hex or Persistent Spell
Hexes
1 Misfortune
2 Cackle
4 Fortune
6 Cauldron
8 Ward
10 Agony
12 Animal Skin
14 Weather Control
Mostly intend to prepare utility and buff spells.
Use Patron spells and hexes for a little bit of offense.
No on Dangerously curious. UMD is a class skill for a witch.
If your meant to Buff up the party I can think of no other Hex besides Cauldron Hex. Brew potions is a great way to keep the party up on consumables and since you can make them at half cost you hand them out like candy.
Slumber hex, Slumber hex, slumber hex, slumber hex, always take slumber hex.
I believe luck of the heroes should be before Blood of the heroes. The chance of not spending a hero point will be a bigger power increase and possibly net you more Hero points than Blood of the Heroes would.
Improved Initiative early to drop the slumber hex.
Ha! I totally forgot that witches get UMD as class skill. Yes, I will get rid of dangerously curious.
I am not taking slumber hex for a couple of reasons. 1) That is much more of an Anvil activity. I would be tempted to do that all the time and completely skip my role as Arm. Anvil is definitely a secondary function for this character. 2) It seems to piss of GM's to no end. I do not want to start an antagonistic relationship with my GM.
The 'fortune' hex and the 'healing' hex (less so) are classic Arm abilities. (If you take fortune you will also want to take 'cackle,' of course). The 'prehensile hair' hex will allow you to deliver touch spells at reasonable range which will make your Hammer much happier.
IMHO, the Winter Witch archetype isn't very good, and is especially not good in the Reign of Winter, where everyone and his butler are cold-immune.
Improved Initiative isn't that useful for the Arm (arms need to be reactive, not proactive).
The build looks good, and the concept is certainly appropriate. It's also nice to see a character who isn't a witch-with-a-capital-B.....
Hmm... I didn't think of Prehensile Hair for delivering buffs. I only thought of it for delivering attacks. maybe I should switch it with Ward hex.
I was mostly think of the Winter Witch for the cold immunities not the cold attack.
I was looking at Improved Initiative because I thought Arm still wanted to go before the Hammer to get them buffed before they make their attack.
Hmm... I didn't think of Prehensile Hair for delivering buffs. I only thought of it for delivering attacks. maybe I should switch it with Ward hex.
I was mostly think of the Winter Witch for the cold immunities not the cold attack.
I was looking at Improved Initiative because I thought Arm still wanted to go before the Hammer to get them buffed before they make their attack.
The preferred order (according to Tark) is Anvil > Arm > Hammer. I prefer Anvil > Hammer > Arm because one of the roles that the Arm is likely to need to play is that of removing status effects. Remember that you're not going to be directly affecting the bad guys, so you don't really need to go before them, but the Hammers do.
The problem with winter witch is that "A winter witch cannot learn or cast spells with the fire descriptor at all." This means that most of the really effective attack spells in this AP are unavailable. Less of a problem if you're an Arm, but cold resistance/immunity is very easy to obtain through other means.
Any other suggestions or concerns?
Any other suggestions or concerns?
I think winter witch will be fine. It's great flavor and awesome defenses for Reign of winter campaign. Learn a handful of the better cold spells, but make sure you take plenty of debuff and utility spells. Most creatures are cold immune and you can't cast fire spells, but you're not trying to do damage anyway.
If you take the Winter Witch PrC, at higher level, you'll do half damage to cold immune creatures with cold spells which lets the cold debuffs from stuff like Ice tomb, Rime spell and Unshakable chill work on anything.
It's a fun build for making the enemies suck so your front-liners can roll over them, but certainly not the one to take if you want to blast things. At least not in this campaign.
Yes, I am ok with this not being a terribly destructive build.
Yes, If I pick the Winter Witch archtype I will have to pick a different patron. Any suggestions?
The rest of the party is listed in the original post.
I didn't even know there was a PrC for the Winter Witch. I will have to look into it.
I don't know that he is against the slumber hex. But I know many GM's are against its use. I don't want to start that battle with him. Plus it is a bit more offensive than the role I have generally picked for this character. But I may ask him if he has any opinions on it.
Yeah, Fortune isn't all powerful, but the melee folks really seem to love having it on them.
I hadn't really considered the Scar hex. I will give it a look-see this weekend.
Ok, I actually tried to stat this up at a few different levels over the weekend. Ran into a problem that was a bit unexpected (at least for me).
I've read several people talk about spending all their time using the witch buff spells. But when I really started looking at it, witches don't actually have very many buff spells. They have loads more debuff spells. A couple of the patrons have decent buff spells. But the default list, not so much.
So if I'm going to try to stick pretty close to my chosen role within the party, I think I will have to use mostly buff hexes and debuff spells. I will learn the few buff spells available and will reconsider my patron to chose one that has some decent buff spells.
What do you think about the Agility patron for this AP?
The preferred order (according to Tark) is Anvil > Arm > Hammer. I prefer Anvil > Hammer > Arm because one of the roles that the Arm is likely to need to play is that of removing status effects. Remember that you're not going to be directly affecting the bad guys, so you don't really need to go before them, but the Hammers do.
Interesting way to look at it. I prefer the other way around obviously. Mainly because the buffs in question can often prevent the necessity of acting to remove those effects. But, if it works it works. That's all the forge asks.
I think the witch debuffs are overall stronger than their buffs. But their are options out there for an arm role.
Remember that you are an arcane caster so a lot of the divine goodies (bless, prayer, blessing of fervor, etc.) are often not oging to be available to you.
But, you can get these spells too.
Ancestors is pretty solid.
Agility works well if you want haste nd shapechange.
So a couple of good ideas. You can still get a few buff hexes of course to supplement this.
Ok, here's what I came up with.
Selig VonFrostmeister
Male Human (Ulfen) Witch (Winter Witch) 2
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Hero Points 3
Init +7; Senses Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 15 (2d6+6)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee cold iron dagger +1 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged masterwork underwater light crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks hexes (cackle, fortune)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +2)
. . Constant—endure elements (cold only)
Witch (Winter Witch) Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +7):
1st—detect secret doors, hex ward (DC 16), mage armor, snowball (DC 17)
0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, light, stabilize
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Hero's Fortune
Traits pragmatic activator, restless wayfarer
Skills Craft (alchemy) +11, Heal +6, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6 (+8 to navigate underground), Knowledge (geography) +7, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +6, Linguistics +6, Perception +5, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +10, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Common, Hallit, Sasquatch, Skald, Sylvan, Terran
SQ cold flesh, hero points, heroic, patron spells (endurance)
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, acid, air crystal, alchemical grease, alchemist's fire (2), antiplague, antitoxin, frost ward gel, holy water, smokestick; Other Gear cold iron dagger, crossbow bolts (10), masterwork underwater light crossbow, backpack, masterwork, belt pouch, candle (3), candle lamp, compass, earplugs, familiar satchel, fishhook, flint and steel, ink, black, inkpen, masterwork tool, mirror, parchment (7), scroll case, sewing needle, signal whistle, snow goggles, spell component pouch (2), string or twine, sunrod, tindertwig (3), aurochs (combat-trained), bedroll, bit and bridle, blanket, winter, cold weather outfit, feed (per day), ice skates, military saddle, exotic, saddlebags, skis and poles, snowshoes, swarmsuit, trail rations, waterskin, 19 pp, 5 gp, 4.5 sp, 8 cp
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TRACKED RESOURCES
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Acid - 0/1
Alchemical grease - 0/1
Alchemist's fire - 0/2
Antiplague - 0/1
Antitoxin - 0/1
Cold Iron dagger - 0/1
Crossbow bolts - 0/10
Endure Elements (cold only) (Constant) - 0/0
Frost ward gel - 0/1
Holy water - 0/1
Potion of cure light wounds - 0/1
Smokestick - 0/1
Sunrod - 0/1
Tindertwig - 0/3
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Special Abilities
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Antitoxin This substance counteracts a specific toxin. If you drink a vial of antitoxin, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Alchemical Power Component
Like antiplague, this substance can augment certain healing spells.
Neutralize Poison (M): Add +2 on your caster level check to neutralize poison on a target creature. Antitoxin has no effect when you cast the spell on an object.
Cackle (Su) As a move action, extend the duration of other hexes by 1 rd.
Compass +2 circumstance for Survival or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) to avoid becoming lost.
Earplugs +2 save vs. hearing effects, -5 hearing-based Perception.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Endure Elements (Cold only) (Ex) Exist comfortably in cold regions.
Familiar Bonus: +4 to initiative checks You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Fortune (1 round(s)) (Su) Ally in 30 ft can roll 2d20 for an attack, save, ability, or skill check (and take higher) once/rd.
Hero Points (3) Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Heroic Gain an additional hero point at each level.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Snow goggles +8 save vs. visual effects, -4 sight-based Perception & all foes have 20% concealment.
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Feats
1 Hero's Fortune
3 teamwork feat
5 Blood of Heroes
7 Luck of Heroes
9 Improved Initiative
11 Accursed Hex
13 Split Hex
15 Extra Hex or Persistent Spell
Hexes
1 Fortuneortune
2 Cackle
4 Misfortune
6 Cauldron
8 Ward
10 Scar
12 Animal Skin
14 Weather Control
Since starting with so much cash, I got a combat trained aurochs to carry all my heavy crap. I also taught my arctic hare familiar most of the 1st level spells.
For a super rough fight, any reason I couldn't use...
Round 1: Fortune on ally 1 and cackle
Round 2: Fortune on ally 2 and cackle
Round 3: Fortune on ally 3 and cackle
Round 4: Guidance on ally (any one of them) and cackle
Repeat round 4 until end of combat?
Bear in mind that Fortune can only be used 1/day/person, so using the Fortune hex on your tank before the boss battle may not be as effective as you hoped.
Agreed, I might save it if I was expecting a severely rough boss fight.