I'm brainstorming for a new PFS character and I'm looking for some inspiration.
I'm looking to find the most Support oriented build/class that also has a pet. My motivation for this is to have a character who doesn't hog the spotlight individually, but does have a pet to give me both something to do and something to buff in-class.
Ideally I'm looking for something with Inspire Courage, spellcasting, and a full Animal Companion from level 1.
So far the only option I've found is the Evangelist Cleric with the Animal/Feather subdomain, but that doesn't come online until level 4-5 when you get your pet and boon companion.
Hunter, Druid, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Brawler, Barbarian, and Sorcerer all have options for a full animal companion, but tend to be either focused on martial power themselves, or are lacking in the party support role. Sorcerers are close, but I don't have any actual buffs for the party until much higher level when I have access to haste and some other arcane spells.
Animal Ally is another option for a Bard or Skald, but again only comes online until level 5+, which is a little too late for my tastes.
Any suggestions? Things I've missed?
I completely blanked on Lunar Oracle. That's probably a better fit than a cleric or sorcerer for what I want to do.
If only Evangelist was an Oracle archetype. Oh well, can't have it all.
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Here's one way to make that animal companion extremely effective. This approach suits an oracle. Not available until AC becomes Large at 4th level.
Unfortunately, the Lunar Oracle doesn't give you access to any of the Large w/ Reach AnCs.
Though I do like the idea of a battlefield controller type pet. Again, I want to try and avoid hogging too much of the fights with my pet, it's more just something for me to roll dice with so just buffing the party doesn't become boring.
Summoner- just make you eidolon look like an animal. The Eidolon is just as powerful if not more so than a AC and has all the good buff spells.
Hunter- Has the pet and TW feats, sneak in a level of cavalier to add tactician ability, take either battle herald to get a banner or let your AC levels stack.
I like the idea of a cavalier dip to get a different sort of group buff.
I could even just stay full class Cavalier and use my mount as my pet. Are there any ways of getting more uses of Tactician per day besides leveling? Or ways of sharing Challenge? I'm not too familiar with the Cavalier class.
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Damanta put together a list of PFS Legal Ways to get a companion.
Have you thought about Inquisitors? The Sacred Huntsman gets to choose from the full druid list of animal companions. They're skill monkeys, and they could be used in a party support role, even if they tend to be melee monsters. You would just have to build that way.
I really wish that there was a bard that got an animal companion, but my guess is that if they made such an archetype, they'd trade out Inspire Courage for it (like they did with the other bardic archetypes.)
A bard with an AC would be my ideal PC.
Hmm
There's an archetype that adds another ability that takes the tactician ability out to minutes. Banner gives a bonus to the group and some of the various Order abilities can be very useful. They are a full BAB class made primarily for mounted combat and good teamwork abilities. I like using them in conjunction with a gnome.
A bard with an AC would be my ideal PC.
Hmm
At my homebrew table that's simply a matter of taking the sylvan bloodline through Eldritch Heritage.
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Bard. Just take this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/animal-ally
and this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion
It's feat extensive, but you get a full AC at level 3 if you are a human. And your still a bard.
nice grab
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Bard 1, Cavalier 4, Battle Herald.
At level 7 take Horse Master as your feat.
The rest is customizable.
EDIT: Missed the ranks of Ride requirement.
Damanta put together a list of PFS Legal Ways to get a companion.
Have you thought about Inquisitors? The Sacred Huntsman gets to choose from the full druid list of animal companions. They're skill monkeys, and they could be used in a party support role, even if they tend to be melee monsters. You would just have to build that way.
I really wish that there was a bard that got an animal companion, but my guess is that if they made such an archetype, they'd trade out Inspire Courage for it (like they did with the other bardic archetypes.)
A bard with an AC would be my ideal PC.
Hmm
A bard with an AnC would also be my ideal PC. And yeah, I saw that list from the Druid Log's Animal Companion guide.
I was just hoping there was something new that hadn't been added to it yet, or something bizarre that that guide missed.
So far my options are as follows:
Cleric evangelist
Lunar Oracle
Sylvan Sorcerer
Cavalier with support stuff
Inquisitor with support stuff
I could also start as like a Brawler Wild Child 1/Bard or Skald X, take Boon Companion at 1st or 3rd, and then retrain into full Bard/Skald X at level 7 when I can take Animal Ally and Boon Companion.
The more I think about it, the more I like the multiclass. I was thinking Brawler just becase it gives me full BAB where all the other pet dips don't, and the first level abilities of other pet classes don't scale well for multiclassing.
The benefits to Lunar Oracle are also tempting, what with the Elven/Half Elven FCB. Having a better than average pet seems sweet.
Thanks for the ideas guys.
Bard. Just take this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/animal-allyand this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion
It's feat extensive, but you get a full AC at level 3 if you are a human. And your still a bard.
Problem with this is that Animal Ally requires 4th level, which means taking it at level 5, and then boon companion at level 7. Unless there's someway of gaining a regular bonus feat at fourth level. Most bonus feats are list specific or jut combat feats.
Here's a good trick with Hunter... RAW your hunter AC stacks with any other source of AC. So started hunter then dipped cavalier, the went nuts with a Sylvan sorcerer than you would see your original hunter AC stack.
Problem with this is that Animal Ally requires 4th level, which means taking it at level 5, and then boon companion at level 7. Unless there's someway of gaining a regular bonus feat at fourth level. Most bonus feats are list specific or jut combat feats.Bard. Just take this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/animal-allyand this feat
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion
It's feat extensive, but you get a full AC at level 3 if you are a human. And your still a bard.
I missed that. Well, you could always retrain your first level feat for Boon companion at level 5 to get a full AC at 5 (a little later but well).
Does PFS use the Ultimate Campaign rules for retraining where you can retrain into a feat you wouldn't have been able to qualify for at that level? I always found that part of retraining to be a little much since it lets you create builds that wouldn't work normally. I'm surprised if PFS uses those same rules, but I could certainly be wrong.
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Does PFS use the Ultimate Campaign rules for retraining where you can retrain into a feat you wouldn't have been able to qualify for at that level? I always found that part of retraining to be a little much since it lets you create builds that wouldn't work normally. I'm surprised if PFS uses those same rules, but I could certainly be wrong.
Yes, they do. However, retraining can be really pricy in PP!
Hmm
sure, it would cost 250 gp, or you can wait 2 level and take it naturally (boon companion is not that important IMO)
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sorry if a bit off topic but can a oracle get a dinosaur companion?
No. Oracles so far draw from limited companion lists. Check out the PFS Legal AC list -- The top section are those classes / archetypes that get the full druid list.
Sorcerers are close, but I don't have any actual buffs for the party until much higher level when I have access to haste and some other arcane spells.
Actually, sorcerers aren't bad at this. Pick up flagbearer feat, and do battlefield control rather than blasting. You can really tilt things to help your party.
That is what my sorcerer does. There's also buffs like "Enlarge Person" at first level, but I find it slows down gameplay in PFS as fighters suddenly have to do math...
Hmm
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sorry if a bit off topic but can a oracle get a dinosaur companion?No. Oracles so far draw from limited companion lists. Check out the PFS Legal AC list -- The top section are those classes / archetypes that get the full druid list.
Hmm
thank you for finding that your search fu is much greater than mine
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Countchocula --
I'm a librarian in real life. Search fu is my class super power!
Stoolpigeon --
I had an idea. Why don't you go Inquisitor (Sacred Huntsman) 1 / Cleric (Evangelist) X? The cleric evangelist can eventually get the animal companion, and you can boost your AC with boon companion later to get it up to level.
There's a nice synergy to what the classes require for stats, too.
Hmm
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Actually, the more I'm looking at the Sacred Huntsman / Evangelist crossing, the more I like it. Feather domain grants the animal companion, a plus to perception and some awesome fly spells. There's a lot of PFS legal animal domain deities, so you could probably find one that matches your character concept and gives you the weapon proficiency you want.
Between the two, you get just about every important knowledge skill except knowledge local. Handle animal is also missing from the combined skill list, so you may have to pick that up in a trait if you go with that concept.
Hmm
Countchocula --
I'm a librarian in real life. Search fu is my class super power!
Stoolpigeon --
I had an idea. Why don't you go Inquisitor (Sacred Huntsman) 1 / Cleric (Evangelist) X? The cleric evangelist can eventually get the animal companion, and you can boost your AC with boon companion later to get it up to level.
There's a nice synergy to what the classes require for stats, too.
Hmm
If you are open to multi-classing a pet class 1 / Cleric (Evangelist) X, I recommend considering Hunter instead of Inquisitor (Sacred Huntmaster). Hunter gives you access to an alternate spell list with some nice spells on it whereas the Inquisitor shares the perfectly serviceable but boring old Cleric spell list. I guess it depends on how valuable you feel a domain is in comparison to being able cast spells like Lead Blades or Gravity Bow, Barkskin and some really sweet buffs for your AC from wands and scrolls. There's not much difference between the two classes otherwise.
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If you are open to multi-classing a pet class 1 / Cleric (Evangelist) X, I recommend considering Hunter instead of Inquisitor (Sacred Huntmaster). Hunter gives you access to an alternate spell list with some nice spells on it whereas the Inquisitor shares the perfectly serviceable but boring old Cleric spell list. I guess it depends on how valuable you feel a domain is in comparison to being able cast spells like Lead Blades or Gravity Bow, Barkskin and some really sweet buffs for your AC from wands and scrolls. There's not much difference between the two classes otherwise.
Actually, that's not a bad idea. You lose bluff and intimidate off your skill list, but you gain Handle Animal, and better spell diversity for wands. The ability to cast magic fang and other druid animal buffs is nice.
It would mean losing one level off of feather domain as far as your domain powers go, but still... not bad!
Hmm
EDITED TO ADD:
The inquisitor list is not just the cleric list... It is its own weird beast, with some truly interesting spell choices. But I agree that the druid / ranger list is great for animal companions.
So, while I like the idea of a multi class, I'd rather have it all work from level 1.
So I'm going with a Lunar oracle Spirit Guide archetype. This archetype is great, since I can get Sorc/Wiz spells from the Lore Spirit Hex. I can also take Eldritch Heritage at level 3/5 to get a Familiar if I really want, and I can take Battlecry at 5th to give me more group support tools. Also, my AnC will be the strongest out of all the non teamwork feat options.
It basically gives me everything I want except for straight up Inspire Courage, since Battlecry/Flagbearer don't scale. But I do get full spellcasting, and the Lunar Oracle ability to use Cha instead of Dex for AC means I can afford the Int for the Sorc/Wiz spells from Spirit Guide.
I don't know what to pick for traits, probably one that gives me Handle Animal, and then without another option leaping out at me, I'll just take a +2 initiative trait. I'm not going to be particularly combat focused, so Fate's Favored has less appeal than usual, and nothing else is jumping out at me.
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This archetype is great, since I can get Sorc/Wiz spells from the Lore Spirit Hex.
I agree that the archetype is awesome, however expect table variation on the Lore Spirit Hex. It's wording says that it adds spells to those prepared. Oracles don't prepare spells, so some GMs might disallow it. If they do though, just choose another wandering spirit that day. Heavens has a teleport option. Both flame and waves allow you to see through mist, which could make Obscuring Mist really viable as a battlefield control option.
Also, my AnC will be the strongest out of all the non teamwork feat options.
It will, but keep in mind you can only boost it so that it has no more than one HD above your hit dice level. So some levels you may be taking other favored class bonuses, like spells known. :)
It basically gives me everything I want except for straight up Inspire Courage, since Battlecry/Flagbearer don't scale.
Another issue is that Battlecry / Flagbearer run off morale bonuses, and don't stack with bless the way that Inspire Courage does -- IC is a competence bonus for bards and evangelist clerics. If you're planning to cast bless, you likely don't want Battlecry / Flagbearer.
If you change your mind and ever do decide to multi-class with bard, there is a feat that would help your Inspire Courage to scale with further Oracle Levels: Divine Expression. You'd have to be a worshipper of Shelyn, but this is another nice option for you.
Hmm
I missed the wording on Lore Spirit barring non prepared spellcasters. That sucks.
And yeah, I saw the AnC HD limit. It's not that big a deal, it's only a few levels it affects.
And that feat, while sweet, doesn't increase the bonus given, which is a shame.
What other options are there for Eldritch Heritage that would work with a support focused Lunar Oracle?
And I'm assuming that the Lore Spirit doesn't work at all RAW so I won't use it in PFS. Which is a real bummer.
Lunar gets a lot of Natural attack options, I like feats that flow along that.
I'm still going to take the archetype, mostly because there are only 2 absolutely incredible Lunar mysteries, and the rest are sort of ho hum. So I can get those 2 at level 1, and then use the flexibility of Spirit Guide.
Though now that I have more strength to work with I'm now leaning more towards a typical melee oracle, suddenly that natural attack mystery is looking more enticing. And Fate's Favored is probably now the trait of choice.
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Instead of going eldritch heritage with this one I'd go with Extra Revelation feat, because a) I like most of the lunar revelations and b) the spirit guide takes away two of your free revelation options.
Next, I'd explore some of the other things I'd want to do with the wandering Spirit Guide hexes and spells, and see if there are any other feats that might back up some of those abilities.
And hey... It doesn't hurt to pick up stuff like "Improved Iniative" at later levels, especially if you are dumping dex.
Hmm