So I've been invited to a game next week for a Pathfinder one-shot.
But I have a small problem. While I do have quite a bit of RPG experience, I've only played around 6 sessions of Pathfinder. All at low level.
Now I did play 3.5 as a cleric up to level 8 or 9, but that was over half a decade ago.
So I'm wondering what i can do for a 10th level pathfinder character, 25 point buy, human (or half-human) 62000 gp character that will be powerful but not overly fiddly.
Any more I play lighter systems like Apocalypse World or Cortex+ games, so I don't want to have to remember a pile of different things that will be +1 here and +2 there, but at the same time I don't want a boring one note character.
Just from skimming the books, I'd like to try maybe an inquisitor or gunslinger. Would those work? What classes/archetypes would best suit what I'm looking for? What woulld you play given the above guidelines?
Really simple?
Two-Handed Fighter, with Vital Strike.
I agree with blackbloodtroll. If you wanted a few more options for your character, you could also choose to play a barbarian or a paladin.
Heck, you can even get it so simple, that you don't even need to roll damage.
One d20 roll. That's it.
Something I would like to play sometime is a tactician fighter with high stats int and dex, no low scores (try to get at least 12 in all of them). get toughness, dodge, improved initiative, lightning reflexes/gret fortitude/iron will, combat expertise and some of the improved manouvers (like trip).
is he optimized: nope, not at all - he might actually be quite sucky according to others benchmarks.
he's just a potato: has some skills and hp, has good saves, can melee or go ranged. give him plate and a shield - he's a tank. give him breastplate or chain shirt and he's a scout.
No spells, few special moves (just read up on combat manouvers) but he can do a little of everything.
Mainly he's an unfocused fighter who's main sctick is that he can help out in most situations.
-LO
Is the two-handed fighter with vital strike actually still interesting in play? I don't want a character that can only do one thing either.
Paladin might work. Gunslinger or Magus is a no go then?
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
JMCampbell wrote: Is the two-handed fighter with vital strike actually still interesting in play? I don't want a character that can only do one thing either.
Paladin might work. Gunslinger or Magus is a no go then?
I would say no. If you just want to jump into a 10th lvl char. Stick to Ftr, Barb, Pally. Monk might also work here as well.
JMCampbell wrote: Paladin might work. Gunslinger or Magus is a no go then? If you can play LG, then Paladin is good. If not, stay away. Gunslinger may not be allowed, check with your DM. Magus is a bit complicated, spells and an arcane pool to maintain.
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Inquisitor isn't that complicated. You get a couple of fairly straightforward combat abilities (bane and judgement - just pick to hit and damage for your judgements), some nice skill bonuses, and a manageable selection of spells. Just get a lot of strength, a two-handed weapon, and decent constitution and wisdom. Pick up heavy armor proficiency, and you're basically playing a cross between a combat cleric and a straight forward fighter, but with a lot more skills. The spells may take a while to pick, but if you've played a 3.5 cleric you'll recognize a fair few of them. Just pick some good buffs (divine favor, heroism), some combat utility (see invisibility, freedom of movement) and anything that sound like fun to you. Give the litany spells a second look, as they're swift actions.
I wouldn't recommend it to a total newbie, but you have played RPGs before, and even 3.5, so it's not as if you will continually be confused about what die to roll, what numbers to add, and how power attack works (by the way: you want power attack). As a combat inquisitor you can play a straightforward game in that the only thing you really have to do is cast a buff spell before the fight or on the first round, fight and choose when to activate your combat abilities, but the spells and skills mean you can do a lot more once you get into it.
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I would suggest ranger. Lots of skills, and just a few spells. Instead of the animal companion, choose the option that lets you share your favored class bonus.
Ranged combat is actually easier for newbies. Just stand in the back, make sure you have a clear line to your target, and shoot.
Barbarian can also be pretty simple. If you go with the Invulnverable Rager archetype you lose some of the fiddly bits but at level ten you'll have DR 5/-. You can also take a whole bunch of rage powers that are essentially 1/encounter abilities or you can take the ones that are static bonuses. A lot of builds also go with the Beast Totem RAGEPOUNCE character and natural weapons, which I believe comes online at level 10. This build takes three rage powers but gives you a pounce ability; full-attack with natural weapons!
Like posted above, inquisitor can be pretty simple. An archery inquisitor isn't bad, and can actually put out pretty good numbers with bane and judgments, so if you like ranged combat it's pretty easy to build a character this way. They're pretty limited in their spells and spells/day, so outside of their inquisition abilities there isn't a terrible amount to keep track of. Go with Precise Shot and fire away!
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Spend a few skill points here, and there, for things like Knowledge and Social skills, and your Two-Handed Fighter will do fine.
JMCampbell wrote: So I've been invited to a game next week for a Pathfinder one-shot.
But I have a small problem. While I do have quite a bit of RPG experience, I've only played around 6 sessions of Pathfinder. All at low level.
Now I did play 3.5 as a cleric up to level 8 or 9, but that was over half a decade ago.
So I'm wondering what i can do for a 10th level pathfinder character, 25 point buy, human (or half-human) 62000 gp character that will be powerful but not overly fiddly.
Any more I play lighter systems like Apocalypse World or Cortex+ games, so I don't want to have to remember a pile of different things that will be +1 here and +2 there, but at the same time I don't want a boring one note character.
Just from skimming the books, I'd like to try maybe an inquisitor or gunslinger. Would those work? What classes/archetypes would best suit what I'm looking for? What woulld you play given the above guidelines?
I recommend looking over a few of the class guides (from the Guide to the Class Guides at the top of the Advice forum) and look for one that looks relatively easy and fun to play at 10th level. Any martial should work, including Gunslinger- less involved than a 3.5 8th level Cleric. Sorcerer and Oracle should also be relatively easy, a limited number of spells to keep track of. A summoning and buff-focused caster might be easy to play, if the GM or another player is willing to help with keeping track of stats for summoned monsters. Magus has a fair number of options but works well spamming your favorite damage spell with a melee attack. The ACG classes mostly look like they require less system familiarity than some core classes and could be fun (I've only seen the playtest versions so far though).
Another option is to think of a character concept you'd like to play and we can help you try to make the concept work.
[Edit] Taking a prestige class is another option. You could do Archon-blooded Aasimar Paladin 2/Sorcerer 3/Dragon Disciple 5, for example. Dragon Disciple adds a few levels of spellcasting but mostly gives BAB and attribute bonuses. You'd have paladin divine grace, solid BAB, a little bit of spellcasting, and high stats.
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