So I took leadership and the GM gave me a very... well, odd NPC of his as a cohort. It's have orc monk with Str 12, Dex 20, Con 13, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 26. I hashed out a character build in cooperation with him and we ended up with a wanderer monk archetype.
So now the NPC is under my control, and I'm fishing for suggestions on how to make it into something with a bit more bite.
Here are the statistics.
Takka the Learned
Female Half-Orc monk 5 Archetypes Wanderer
LG Medium humanoid (orc, human)
Init +5, Senses Perception +9
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DEFENSE
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AC 20, touch 19, flat-footed 14 (+1 armor, +5 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 38 ((5d8)+10)
Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +9
Defensive Abilities evasion, Immunities disease
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OFFENSE
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +8 (1d8+1)
Melee dagger +8 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged dagger (thrown) +8 (1d4/19-20)
Melee flurry of blows +8/+8 (1d8+1)
Special Attacks Flurry of Blows, Ki Pool, Stunning Fist
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STATISTICS
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Str 12, Dex 20, Con 13, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 26
Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 23
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance, Fast Learner, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +13, Climb +5, Diplomacy +15, Escape Artist +9, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (Geography) +8, Knowledge (History) +10, Knowledge (Local) +10, Knowledge (Nature) +10, Knowledge (Planes) +9, Knowledge (Religion) +9, Linguistics(Gnome) +7, Perception +9, Profession (Courtesan) +10, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +9, Swim +5
Traits Child of Nature (Gozreh) (Knowledge (Nature)), Scholar of the Great Beyond (Knowledge (Planes)),
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Gnome, Orc, Tien
SQ ac bonus, city-raised, class skills, far traveler, fast movement, inscrutable, intimidating, light step, long walk, maneuver training, orc blood, orc ferocity, purity of body, skilled, weapon and armor proficiency
Combat Gear
Other Gear bracers of armor +1, unarmed strike, outfit (traveler's), cloak of resistance +3, efficient quiver, pouch (belt), backpack, bedroll, flint and steel, pot (iron), mess kit, soap (per lb), waterskin, dagger (6), courtier's outfit, scholar's outfit, torch (10), rations (trail/per day) (5), 0.0 gp
Swashbuckler? Sorcerer? Oracle? (Summoner? (no mysterious stranger/gunslinger allowed, I'm guessing)
I assume thats dex 20. Second paladin/champion of Irori won't work because your DM has cleverly taken an acrhetype that kills Still Mind, invalidating it.
I'm curious, what do you believe your GM's intention is in giving you such an unusual cohort?
I assume thats dex 20. Second paladin/champion of Irori won't work because your DM has cleverly taken an acrhetype that kills Still Mind, invalidating it.
Sorry, dex 20. Edited. I actually chose the archetype, as it fitted the character well. She's not really the religious type....
I'm curious, what do you believe your GM's intention is in giving you such an unusual cohort?
He's just an odd GM. He loves his DMPCs. They always manage to outshine the players and have "narrative powers" that far exceed their actual stats. He also has a very poor understanding of the rules. I'm normally a bit of a rules lawyer/by the book sort of guy, so I'm kind of treating his eccentricities as a character building activity on my part. I guess.
This is also definitely an "anti-power gaming" group.Paladin has potential, certainly, but isn't what immediately springs to mind. Noted as a possibility.
He build the cohort for you? And gave you a Monk? A Monk with Wis 14 and Cha 26?
It seems your GM simply doesn't want you to actually benefit from your feat, so instead of being honest and saying "No Leadership" he decided to give you a crappy cohort.
I'd just tell ask him to either let me create a decent cohort or retrain the feat.
He's just an odd GM. He loves his DMPCs.
Also, all of the PCs have ridiculous amounts of wealth. My character has 358k worth of gear at level 7. It's a strange, strange game.
I don't think he's actively being malicious. I run a game he plays in on alternate weekends and he builds his characters terribly in that game as well.
NPCs that outshine PCs are a rookie mistake. I know I did it when I was young. Personally, I would decline the uber-cohort and ask for one that is appropriately powered, using whatever point buy or rolling-method the rest of the group has. I would prefer a well-rounded, reliable cohort to a powerful one. The reason for this is so the GM can focus on running the game, instead of playing his DMNPC.
Sadly, he's a grandfather not a teenager. I don't think he's run since he was a teenager though :)
.....my first question when seeing this is "Why isn't disguise one of her skills?" I mean, this is a high CHA character, and the focus on profession (courtesan) makes me think she is some kind of assassin or something.
Anyway, is ninja an option? I mean, with that CHA, a couple of levels in ninja would give you the option to change the score that goes to ki pool. Plus, you will need some way to make up for your damage. So, even if things like swashbuckler will serve as your main choice (I would like swashbuckler myself, since it is full BAB and adds well to all your attacks), grabbing 2 levels of ninja and the vanish ninja trick would be phenomenal (I mean, with that CHA going to your Ki, who cares if the pool has stopped scaling?)
I'd also consider looking for another weapon. I mean, she only has unarmed strikes and a dagger, so she has nothing of real worth to even use with her flurry. Keeping in line with the original character concept, I'd go for the Lungchuan Tamo from the Easter weapons section. It is basically a dagger that trades in its decent crit range for the monk property. Going about grabbing that martial weapon...is well troublesome (Swashbuckler?).
I mean....the GM is truly bad at optimization, huh? He took the wanderer archetype, which can give a free weapon proficiency in pretty much anything you want.....and he gave you the option for talking to gnomes instead... I can understand he prefers flavor over function...but I just find the idea of speaking to gnome (dem grubby little vermins) less intriguing than throwing an interesting weapon in there. I just simply makes a nicer picture in my head. I am not even asking for any of the good ones; he could of thrown in something like battle poi or whatever and it would have been more interesting..
Thanks guys. Input has been noted. Negotiations for character redesign are in progress.
And FWIW, I went with Imbicatus suggestion; I negotiated a redesign on the PC and will take her Champion of Irori (Or Champion of Florence in this case.)