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Hey there!
I am looking for character concepts that are competetiv in optimized game but use unusual ways to deal with their problems.
You know - other than beatung things up with falcata or falchion, other than pit spells and shocking grasp spellstrike action... just things that do not come up often as main schtick of a character.
Just for example: I had that sorcerer who used some pimped up enervation action to defeat his enemies or another one who used fear effects and phantasmal killer.
Maybe a character who effectivly uses poison to kill his enemies? Or a hydraulicnpush sorcerer with bullrush feats and high CL?
I somehow feel like I kinda fail at explaining what exactly I am looking for, but maybe you have an idea and can provide some ideas:)
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Butterfly's Sting crit fishing while TWF with Kukris is pretty awesome if you have a Magus or someone two-handing a x3 or x4 crit weapon to pass the crits to. Does require a little coordination...but not a lot. Doable by 2nd level as either a Fighter or Human Ranger, though it gets much better with Improved Critical around about 8th or 9th.
Kitsune Fey Bloodline Sorcerer with Enchantment spells...because damn, DC 23 with 2nd level spells at 4th level? That's ridiculous.
Combat Bards (either melee or archers) who actually focus on the combat aspect of that (plus buff spells) always seem to surprise people, despite being a classic.
TWF Order of the Dragon Cavalier. Challenge makes TWF seriously badass by higher levels, and you're buffing your mount and the rest of the party, too.
Melee Druid with dumped Str and maxed Dex. Get (or make) an Agile AoMF. Turn into, oh, a House Cat and murder everything. Laugh.
Be a Sacred Servant Paladin. Get the Rage subdomain. Be a Paladin with Rage. Grab Lesser Celestial Totem when you can (so awesome on a Paladin). This one only really kicks in at high levels, but it's a standard Paladin until then, and amazingly fun afterwards.
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Clerics with lots of summoning spells. Summoning 1d3+1 aurochs a few times makes for an... inventive battlefield.
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Human Cavalier with a Camel Mount: Camel + potion of fly = Camel-Copter. Has Eye For Talent, granting his Camel +2 Strength. Is of the Order of the Tome, meaning he will eventually be able to supply his own scrolls of fly, use scrolls of shield on himself while he fights with a greatsword, and just plain surprise people with the occasional fireball.
Human Hungry Ghost Qigong Monk: Punishing Kick + 16 Strength + Combat Reflexes + Vicious Stomp + Belier's Bite = Pain as only an adherent of Zon-Kuthon can deliver it.
Dwarven Sanctified Swashbuckler: Balanced ability scores. Behaves as much like a Fighter as a Rogue. Dual-wields a heavy and light pick. Has the Killer trait for good measure.
Emberkin Aasimar Razmiran Priest Sorcerer: Martyred Bloodline. Pyromancer trait and preference for fire spells. Godless and proud of it, has the History of Heresy trait and the Godless Healing and Divine Defiance feats. Spent the full 100 gp on his False Focus, and can mock-up most alchemical power components at will.
Aasimar Theologian of Ymeri: Focused Domain (Ash). Starts with 17 Wisdom and 19 Charisma. Channels Negative Energy.
Wayang Shadowcaster Illusionist: Has the Wayang Spellhunter trait applied to color spray, and the Persistent Spell metamagic feat. Has a Headband of Vast Intelligence +2 that provides him with maximum ranks in Stealth. Has Greater Spell Focus (Illusion), Wayang Magic, and Shadow Stencils, meaning illusions with the [Shadow] descriptor get +4 to their DCs.
Elven Time Witch: Faerie Dragon Familiar + staff of minor arcana and assorted wands = Elven Time Witch with shoulder-mounted plasma cannon. Though he has yet to try this, he could cast silence on his Familiar, who could use his greater invisibility spell-like ability and then hover over the shoulder of a nasty enemy spellcaster. Also, he's got the Pnakotic Manuscripts, and a jar of eyeballs that protect him from flanking and gaze attacks.
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@Deadmanwalking: DC23 only for [Compulsion] spell... Enchantement's DC is 21
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i like the Wis based melee cleric...
gorum is great for that- channel negative energy, destruction[rage] and strength[ferocity] domains
channel smite and guided hand feats (then power attack and other classics)
can do well with 13-14 Str... attack rolls are Wis based, bonus damage comes largely from destruction and ferocity smites (which are stackable) and channel smite (which can also be combined with them).
IMO its competitive with any Str based melee cleric (except in games with a very high number of encounters per/day, or many unusually long encounters), but its surprisingly in that you still have a good DC so you can bust out occasional save or sucks (unlike any other melee cleric). plus its just got a cool factor ;)
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Rogue with Major Magic talent, select the Unseen Servant.
Have the servant carry a cloak around that always blocks where you are sneaking.
RAW for stealth, you get full cover, and you're undetectable.
Gnome/Halfling barbarians.
Getting one level of Divinist Wizard (Scryer) and one level of fighter. You can prestige into arcane knight by third level.
Fighter who specializes in using a whip. There are LOADS of cool feats for it.
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I like the polearm builds based around Pushing Assault, keep enemies out of melee indefinitely and ignore their CMD, yes please.
Enchanters who just charm everything and fight nothing.
Lockdown maneuver builds like Tetori and Dirty Fighter.
Horizon Walker/ Rogues with insane favored terrain bonuses and Terrain Dominance.
Mist assassin types who focus on blocking everyone else's vision and then seeing through the obstruction.
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you're right... but just to make it clear ;)
Haha, some great ideas there - I love the halfling batman!
bump!
Dot dot dot
I've posted this build before but I've designed a fighter that doesn't like making full attacks.
Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Improved Feint
Furious Focus
Weapon Focus
Combat Reflexes
Improved Trip
Felling Smash
Greater Trip
Greater Feint
(Monk MOMS) Viscous Stomp, Dragon Style
(Monk MOMS) Monkey Style or Dragon Ferocity
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You can find over 100 such concepts in Ravingdork's Crazy Character Emporium. Please be sure to hit hit the favorite button and to leave a comment.
Dot.
I cant remember the exact build but something to do with a Barbarian with a weasel familiar.
Now you can run up to your opponent and use a Wand of True Strike on yourself on round 1. Then on round 2, initiate a grapple as a standard action with an extra+20 for True Strike, give yourself True Strike again as a swift action, then grapple and tie him up with another +20. Hogtied and spit-roasted Tyrannosaurus, anyone?
I liked many of your ideas, and this one is still pretty strong, but I think you overlooked something here. The qinggong monk's ability to use truestrike is a Spell-Like ability which is a standard action unless otherwise mentioned. I am not sure how you were getting your second true strike as a swift.
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Heh heh...
My PFS wizard build comes to mind, or an experimental Magician Bard/Tattoed Sorc that operates on the same lines.
NOTE: Although taking an item bond is a nice method for lower levels, I would reccomend getting a thrush familiar instead so that at third level, you'll be able to hit more consistently.
To create an overpowered blasting wizard in PFS, follow these steps:
1. Be a human.
2. Take Gifted Adept (Shocking Grasp).
3. Take Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp).
4. Take Admixture as your specialty school.
5. Use your Spell Focus for Evocation.
6. Take Spell Specialization (Shocking Grasp).
7. Take Reach Spell.
8. Now, you have a short-range attack that deals 4d6+1 points of any elemental damage. If you take 20 Intelligence and use your Arcane Bond for a ring, you can cast that 4 times per day, or three if you use a spell slot for Mage Armor like any smart caster should.
9. At third level, take Intensified Spell for a
1. Be a halfling.
2-3. As last build.
4. Take your first level in Magician Bard. Have your Charisma at 20 for 9 rounds of Dweomercraft, granting you + your allies + 1 CL and other cool effects.
5. Take Reach Spell.
6. Take your second level for Wildblooded Tattooed Sorc (Primal Elemental (Air)).
7. Now, you have a 4d6+4 lightning-only attack. I prefer my Wizard build more, to be honest.
Feedback is appreciated!!!
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Here would be my build for a Dimensional Warrior
7 levels of wizard
1 level of swashbuckler (Inspired Blade Archetype)
5 levels of EK
Levels 1-6 you play as a dexterous wizard.
Wizard 7 - Dimensional Agility
Swash 8 - Weapon focus (Rapier), Swashbuckler's Finesse
EK 9 - Dimensional Assault, Fencing Grace
EK 10
EK 11 - Dimensional Dervish
EK 12
EK 13 - Dimensional Savant, Outflank
Hawktitan - what is the advantage of your build compared to wiz 1 EK X or even some horizon walker build?
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How about I share a few of my tricks?
How about being able to control hundreds of hit dice worth of undead? [link 1] [link 2]
How about the ability to destroy your enemies with mere rocks picked up off the ground? [link]
How about bending your enemies to your will utilizing the class abilities of arcanists, sorcerers, AND wizards? [link]
How about being able to put Robin Hood's archery to shame? [link]
How about being able to put Green Arrows/Hawkeye's trick archery to shame? [link]
How about being a freaking time lord? [link]
How about being a mad monkey known for stomping enemies into the earth? [link]
How about weighing over 400 pounds, and yet being able to move faster than any horse, and more nimbly than any hummingbird? [link]
How about being able to attack someone with 30-foot reach? [link]
How about being the fastest damn thing alive? [link]
How about being a fully functional adventurer, while also being a quadriplegic? [link]
How about being a transmuter, with higher than full base attack bonus? [link]
How about oppressing the world with your troll armies from your flying ice crystal palace? [link 1] [link 2]
How about being able to take out 90% of the Bestiary monsters, in a single bite? [link]
How about invading the Material Plane from the Plane of Shadow to assert your rightful dominance in your original homeland? [link 1] [link 2]
How about being a master of fire and flame, able to incinerate armies of enemies in the blink of an eye? [link 1] [link 2]
How about spreading terror across the countryside, while dressed as Santa Claus? [link]
How about being the ultimate scourge against demon kind? [link]
How about being the world's foremost "master dispeller" capable of utterly crippling any and all fools who would dare to utilize magic against you? [link 1] [link 2]
How about taking on the Tarrasque single-handedly, in melee, and winning? [link 1] [link 2]
How about having saves and backup defenses so high and multi-layered, that you will never come to harm save on multiple consecutive natural ones? [link]
How about being able to knock someone out with tons of sneak attack damage? [link]
How about flying about on your own tumor? [link]
How about being able to hear a mouse breath, from 100 feet away, through a thick stone wall, while sleeping? [link]
How about bringing about the downfall of multiple world through the manipulation of their people? [link]
How about being the undisputed master of the forest? [link]
How about possessing absolute mastery of earth and stone? [link]
How about...all this and more in Ravingdork's Crazy Character Emporium?
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I support this thread.
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You wanted underused or unconventional ways to be effective and not as much of the 'norm'. So here you go:
Barbarian who tanks with HP and Dr and doesn't care about ac- at all.
To compensate for the brutal beatings, he is hyper efficient at being healed.
Human or half-orc Invulnerable Rager.
Diehard and stalwart line of feats.
Fast healer feat and lesser celestial totem rage power.
Start with a 19 or 20 con and get a +4 con belt eventually. If you start with 20 con push it to 22 through advancement. Take raging vitality for +2 con when raging.
You now have 1d12 HD + 8 HP per level and when raging gain +3 HP per level. A wand of cure light wounds heals you for 8-15 while raging, becoming a viable in-combat healing tool. A legitimate cure light wounds spell from a fifth level caster would heal for 16-23. Once you get into other, stronger healing magics and higher level casters, you begin healing close to some mid-level characters max hit points off a single casting. For instance, Cure Serious Wounds cast by a 10th level cleric heals you for 28-49. If you wanted to push this further you could take Fey Foundling at first level for an additional 2 hp healed her dice rolled. With healing this efficient combined with Dr 5+ and an average of 15 hp/level without toughness, you should be very capable of tanking almost anything very well without ever being concerned about armor class.
There is also the ultimate bad touch monk.
Pick monk and cleric.
This now provides you two domain powers and stunning fist.
Select any two domains with powers that apply horrible effects on a hit. Apply stunning fist to given hit.
Take crushing blow, scorpion style, and the enforcer feat and invest in intimidate. Purchase a conductive amulet of mighty fists, dilequescent gloves and if you have room grab the domain strike feat.
Now, you can add 2 domain powers, stunning fist, the shaken condition and either destroy enemy ac or destroy their mobility. It is advised to have a high wisdom modifier. I play an optimized version of this character who also uses spell storing bodywraps and stores scorching rays to unleash as needed for epicness. He also has martial flexibility for even more effects to add on a single attack. His saves are obnoxiously high making him very durable against magic and he supports the party and himself by giving advise (inspire courage). He is very different from the typical 'bad touch' build.
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One of my favourite characters to play is the "I'm too smart for you" character. Investigator covers it pretty well now, basically you defeat enemies by leading them into traps(whether they are social traps, or actual physical traps is up to you/what your DM allows). You just have very high mobility, bluff, diplomacy, and trap creation mechanisms to cause your enemies to become disheartened and/or crushed underneath a boulder.
Reach alchemist that grabs the tentacle discovery. If it is his only natural attack, it will always be primary, and deals 1.5x str and power attack, making it rather effective for threatening adjacent squares.
Also, it has the grab property, which gives a +4 to grapple and free grapple on a hit. Combined with decent BAB, mutagens, and buffs (enlarge person is common), you can be a fairly decent grappler (it is possible to get both reach and the needed grapple feats by level 9; you can still do your shtick at level 2 though). At the very least, you are a character with tentacles that is highly effective at taking down magical girls (or guys- not judgin')
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Honestly, since I mostly play low-powered games, investing in horses.
Yes.
An armoured Combat Trained Heavy Horse costs 250gp + armor and is a CR2+ creature. Three attacks, at +7(!) to hit, and if all of them hit, an average of 25 damage per round. Before Fury Drops. Before Buffs. A heavy warhorse walks over animal companions until level 4.
Also, I was thinking about a character for the E8 game I was running. He was level 8, using 5 levels in Exemplar Brawler, 2 levels in Vanguard Slayer and 1 level in Daring Cavalier. Half-elf for either +2 to Will(preferably, since you only have +1 base at level 8 this way) or Ancestral Arms, and for the additional 2 favoured class bonuses. And all other goodies.
What this build gives you is the ability to take about 20-30 commoners and turn them into a thing that Tucker's Kobolds(Yes, them) fear. He's able to sustain either Enfilading Fire for 19 rounds, which allows for 2 attacks per round for even your first level commoners, which either have javelins or are proficient with bows, or, with some preparation, the Escape Route/Outflank/Precise Strike combo, which allows for the BBEG's army to quickly be surrounded by angry villagers. Inside it.
He's also not a slouch in one-to-one combat, because he has 1 floating feat he can use at any time for anything, has full BAB, and only needs Dex and either Con or Str depending on whether he's a frontliner or not. While being free to use Dex for Damage and a heavy shield. Or Strength and a Bow. Or a Spear. Or, well, anything.
Int is flavourful, but unnecessary, due to Brawler levels. Charisma opens up a path into more Daring Cavalier levels and more of a morale-boosting leadership, while Wis shores up the Will Save penalty and lets you be more of a shrewd tactician going more on feel than example.
I am yet to stat him up, but a level 8 character built in such a manner would have 10 feats, three of which need to be teamwork, one is the Daring Cavalier's Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus and Slashing Grace, which leaves 5 of them to play away with.
In addition, he has an average of 4.5+int skill points per level, almost all non-magical class skills, a small studied target, a challenge, an order, bardic performance, a knockout ability, better Fort save than a barbarian and a comparable one to a Swashbuckler, unmatched flexibility and is pretty much damn bloody awesome.
I simply call this guy, The Commander.
How about
Shield Slam
Great Bull Rush
Paired Opportunist.
Combat Reflexes?A Klar or a Large Spiked Shield do 1d6 damage. With the Bashing Enchantment, it goes up to 2d6. I was thinking in terms of Thunder and Fang.
With Shield Slam, you get a free Bull Rush with every Shield Bash.
With Greater Bull Rush, all your allies get an attack of opportunity with every Bull Rush.
With Paired Opportunist, you get the AoO because your allies do.
That Attack of Opportunity can be another Shield Bash, followed by another round of AoO's, which can be another Shield Bash, and so on....
Paired Opportunist is a Teamwork Feat, which means that it normally only works if all your allies have the Feat, too. You can get around that by getting the Feat via 1 level in Cavalier or 3 levels in Inquisitor.
Is shield slam/greater bull rush/paired opportunists a legit way to get to blow all your AoOs on an enemy each round?
You won't get the +4 on the shield bash attack unfortunately. I could see an arguement saying you get to add it nto the attack roll when determining the combat maneuver check, but I'm not sure if thats RAW.
I agree that normally bull rush pushes someone away, and that's where the order of AoOs and whatnot makes me think this doesn't work.
We'll assume 4 AoOs from me and an ally who also has combat reflexes.
Fighting an orc, I shield bash, and connect, deal damage, get free bull rush.
Assuming bull rush is successful, by less than 5. The orc now moves back 5 feet.
But, because of greater bull rush, his leaving of the square provokes an AoO (which happens before he leaves the square).
Ally takes his AoO.
Because of paried opportunists, I also get to make an AoO because he got to.
I make another shield bash, it hits and makes another bull rush.
Assuming its succesful, orc is now pushed back 5 feet.
Because of greater bull rush, his leaving provokes, ally makes another AoO, so do I, for another 2 times.
End result? I shove him so hard he flies 20 feet back at the end having taken 8 AoOs from us?
Or he ends only 5 feet away, because the distances from the multiple bull rushes don't count?
Or this isn't valid because even though I was able to make multiple attacks, his repeatedly leaving the square can't provoke more than once (even through greater bull rush specifically makes it so he provokes on a successful bull rush)
How about a catfolk vivisectionist/beastmorph alchemist with some rogue levels?
Underhanded Rogue Talent + Sap Master Feat + Vicious Claws Rogue Talent + Eternal Potion Discovery (greater invisibility) + Pounce in a surprise round with lots of natural attacks = upwards of 1,700 damage if all attacks hit.
All it takes is something with a way to see invis (see invis/tremorsense/etc) or have any concealment for a lot of that damage to not apply.
Rulership variant negative channeling. Take Selective Channel and just daze everyone but the party. You have to follow Dispater to pull this of in PFS.
All it takes is something with a way to see invis (see invis/tremorsense/etc) or have any concealment for a lot of that damage to not apply.How about a catfolk vivisectionist/beastmorph alchemist with some rogue levels?
Underhanded Rogue Talent + Sap Master Feat + Vicious Claws Rogue Talent + Eternal Potion Discovery (greater invisibility) + Pounce in a surprise round with lots of natural attacks = upwards of 1,700 damage if all attacks hit.
Plus, I am pretty sure that build doesn't actually work due to this FAQ about vestigial arms.
Basically, 'no extra attacks' means 'no extra attacks'. I know the argument you made against that in that linked thread, but this FAQ does directly address that issue.....so yeah....vestigial arms are just curiosities used for things like shields and reloading guns it seems.
But beastmorph with bite/claw/claw/rake(2 claws) stills seems perfectly valid, and extremely powerful, particularly on a sneak attacking vivisectionist. Heck, that number of attacks would be strong by the standards of a full BAB character, let alone a 3/4 BAB one. Throw the rest of your build's tricks onto that, and you still have something fantastic.