Blatent theft of formatting...
WHO ARE YOU?
Hello, I'm Sammy T Redward!
I'm hoping to sneak in some testing of at least one of the new classes before the PFS playtest window closes at the end of the month.
HOW ARE YOU PLAYTESTING?
I exclusively play PFS, so my playtests will be in sanctioned modules or official PFS scenarios. These are almost all tables with open sign ups. This means party sizes will vary, player system mastery may be lacking and the ideal balanced party you theorycraft may not be the one you actually play with. But it also means that table variation on rules should be minimized and the encounters I experience can almost be directly compared to other people's run-throughs.
Same here.
WHAT SCENARIOS ARE YOU PLAYING
The menu currently looks something like this:
-Emerald Spire (level 2)
-The Horn of Aroden
-Black Waters
WHAT ARE YOU PLAYTESTING?
I was all set to play an Occultist in Emerald Spire tonight when I had a last minute change of heart and hastily assembled a Spiritualist. I find the Occultist appealing on many levels, but the Spiritualist looks like a fun, flavorful way to play my favorite type of character--support--on a companion class chassis.
WHY JEALOUSY?
For combat, the two most obvious choices for Phantoms are Anger and Hatred. Without them, you're immediately paying a Feat tax in Weapon Finesse if you want to have a prayer at hitting something.
Then I realized that I was trying to play the Spiritualist like it was a Summoner. The Phantom is just not going to be anything like the combat monster that is the Eidolon.
I probably still would have gone with one of the above, but when I read Jealousy the flavor clicked so perfectly with my concept--GOB Bluth as a spirit haunting his brother Michael--I couldn't pick anything else.
WHAT'S YOUR CURRENT BUILD AND WHY?
NICHAEL (Spiritualist)
RACE: Human. Feats and Skill points. No matter the class, I can't get enough.
STATS: STR 10, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 10
The goal here is survivability. The Phantom exists to Antagonize-tank enemies. The Spiritualist exists to keep the Phantom alive and buff the party. Doing damage is going to be a distant second.
I could have further dumped STR and CHA, but I didn't want to. STR for safety reasons and CHA because when GOB isn't manifested I want to make use of his Skill Focus: Bluff.
TRAITS: Reactionary to get the buffs out early. Desperate Focus because Psychic casting is going to make Concentration checks very nasty. Tomb Raider to get Perception as a class skill (I have a boon).
FEATS: (L1) Weapon Finesse & (Human) Toughness. Need HP to keep GOB kicking.
SPELLS: Mage Armor and CLW. Can't afford wands yet. Will swap out prior to rebuild at L2.
ARMOR CLASS: 18. Chain Shirt + Dex.
GOB (Phantom)
I chose Jealousy for RP reasons, but decided to make the Favored Enemy: Self aspect my overarching goal.
FEAT: Weapon Finesse. Jealous Combatant only works if I connect.
Class Skills: Disguise (to make the Deceitful bonus feat...worth it? Eh...) and Sleight of Hand, because it's Gob Bluth. And not Escape Artist, because it's Gob Bluth.
I also figure Disguise may come in handy if I actually want to try to pass my ectoplasmic brother off as something living in front of company.
Emerald Spire
I'd do a write-up, but SammyT's is far more detailed than mine would be. And I really only need two words:
Phase. Lurch.
I was playing a L2 module with a brand new level 1, so my expectations were very low in terms of being able to accomplish much. I still managed to disappoint.
I landed one alkali flask with the Spiritualist and one hit with the Phantom, on a Zombie that died before it could try to hit me. Which is actually really good, because GOB had 6 hp at full.
Phase Lurch, on the other hand, was indeed game-changing. I wouldn't say game-breaking. It mostly eliminated a bunch of surprise rounds. We were far too low-level to really be able to prep before entering a room (I had two spells, and the first, Mage Armor, was burned the second we started).
Even when I start making GOB invisible to scout, he'll still leave a trail of slime on the wall, alerting anyone in the room that something is happening.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have even bothered with Phase Lurch. I wasn't hitting anything and I was in constant danger of death. The Phantom should have been incorporeal from the beginning.
I'm very much looking forward to trying this character in a more traditional scenario with investigative and social elements. I think it's where the more utilitarian aspects of the class will have a chance to shine.
L2 build and continuing plans to follow in the coming days...
Ran my Spiritualist for the second time tonight. Thanks to Emerald Spire, he's already level 2--a mixed blessing as I get to playtest a new level but don't benefit from a couple more tries to get my build right before it's locked in.
I did some tinkering with my build based on my experience and theorycrafting (posted in the feedback forum).
RACE: Human.
STATS: STR 10, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 10
TRAITS: Seeker, World Traveler (Diplomacy), Devil's Mark
FEATS: (L1) Fast Learner & (Human) Toughness.
SKILLS: Bluff +5, Diplomacy +6, Intimidate +5, Know (Arcana) +6, Know (Planes) +6, Know (Religion) + 6, Perception +9, Profession (Barrister--Maritime Law) +7, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +6, UMD +4
SPELLS: Expeditious Retreat, Obscuring Mist, Shield
GOB (Phantom)
I chose Jealousy for RP reasons, but decided to make the Favored Enemy: Self aspect my overarching goal.
FEAT: Weapon Focus (Slam).
Class Skills: Diplomacy and Intimidate
SKILLS: Appraise +3, Bluff +9, Intimidate +7, Stealth +7
I finally realized that I won't be able to keep both the Spiritualist and Phantom competitive in combat. I dropped Nichael's Dex and gave up Weapon Finesse in favor of a bump to Wis and Int. If nothing else, I'll be able to contribute some skills to the party when I'm not throwing up buffs.
For Gob, I went with Diplomacy and Intimidate as his Class Skills with the idea of picking up the Antagonize feat. His whole purpose is to tank, so it's an option I want to keep open. I swapped out Weapon Finesse for Weapon Focus (Slam) in case I decide to pick up Dazzling Display as my next feat (again, more debuffs).
With that all sorted out, I set out for my second adventure...
---
Horn of Aroden
Party:
L4 Barbarian
L4 Warpriest
L5 Kineticist
L2 Spiritualist (me!)
I'd partially prepped this scenario once with the intent of running, so I informed the party I'd be unable to contribute to any decisions along the way.
We're playing up, which means Gob is hitting at +4/4 (1d6+1) in a 4-5. I make peace with the idea that I will once again be doing very little in combat.
We got our briefing--recover a wayward young nobleman who had disappeared gallivanting off on adventures--and set off. Now that we're out of town, Michael manifests Gob in ectoplasmic form.
The Barbarian looks for the nobles tracks, leading us to a boggy riverbank. There's a man next to the river. Most of the party made perception checks to realize it was an ambush, with more combatants hiding in the reeds.
Surprise Round: Nichael springs his wand of Mage Armor and taps Gob. Gob didn't make the Perception check (Wisdom 10, no ranks), so no action.
First Round: Nichael casts Shield on Gob (AC 24 now) and falls prone. Gob double-moves along with the Barbarian to get next to the bandit by the river. The Warpriest buffs up. The Kineticist fires a hunk of earth at a bandit downriver, dropping him in one shot.
Second Round: The party drops the bandit next to Gob before he can attack. The Barbarian moves on to the next one, misses with a Nat 1. The Kineticist rolls a nat 1 with Reckless Aim and hits the Barbarian. Gob moves and attacks the remaining bandit, hoping to divert his attacks. He connects for 2 damage and applies the Jealous Combatant penalty.
The bandit understandably continues attacking the low AC Barbarian and hits easily, even with the penalty.
Third Round: Gob full attacks, connecting one hit for 3 damage. The Bandit ignores the penalty again and continues attacking the Barbarian. We finally manage to drop him and heal up.
We loot the bodies and continue tracking, finding our way to a small camp. We decide to let Gob scout ahead since he's the stealthiest among us. He manages to sidle up to the camp undetected and identifies two humans and a large wolf. He returns to the party with the information (could have shared senses with Nichael, but didn't seem necessary to use the rounds).
One of the bandits hears us coming and alerts the rest. Only the Kineticist and Gob are on the map; Nichael is 50ft away and the others 100ft north.
The wolf gets close. Gob moves in to intercept. The Kineticist fires--and rolls a Nat 1. 27 damage on Gob. 5 goes to DR/Slashing (he fires bludgeoning). Nichael eats 12. Gob takes the remaining 10. Leaving him at 3hp.
The wolf and two bandits swarm Gob. He goes total defense--AC 28 now. He takes one hit, which Nichael eats, dropping him to 1hp. Nichael spends his round hitting himself with a CLW wand while Gob tanks. The woman goes after the kineticist, eventually dropping him.
Gob switches to attacking defensively to give the bandits a reason to stay on him. He's now hitting at +0.
The cavalry finally arrives, but crummy rolls keep the combat going. Gob takes another hit from the wolf which Nichael again eats to keep him alive.
We heal up, search the bodies and the camp and find the young noble locked in a trunk.
Astonishingly, Gob managed to serve his intended purpose--an obnoxious, high-AC tank. I didn't really get to make much use of Jealous Combatant. On the few times Gob managed to connect, he was the only available target anyway.
Much RP happens next.
Gob keeps pace with him. Nichael manages to get Mage armor on Gob, but not Shield. The Axebeaks move into position next to us but are unable to attack this round.
The first Axebeak is then dropped by the Kineticist, who managed to not hit an ally for the first time of the night.
Gob full attacks the Axebeak. He crits. With both slams. For 18 damage all day. Predictably, the Axebeak full attacks Gob. He's hit for 14 points--enough to drop him, but Nichael takes it instead. The party decides to let the noble get the final shot and all assist his attack. He lands it, killing the final axebeak.
The rest of the scenario plays out with a string of Diplomacy checks. Nichael contributes with assists, but his +6 isn't enough to do much beyond that.
---
Final Thoughts:
Combat: Once again, I was playing up with a combatant who can barely keep up at his own level. Gob clearly won't be able to do much of anything in the way of damage until I can get an Agile AoMF and Belt of Dex on him. Even then, it won't be much--hopefully enough to keep targets attacking him.
Nichael never even took a swing at anything. I think I made the right choice giving up on combat with him. Better to keep him in the back where he can function as a HP battery for Gob.
Out of Combat: Neither Gob's nor Nichael's skills were of much use. I'm focused in Intimidate and Bluff and we needed Diplomacy. I have 8 skill points/lvl, though, so I should eventually start coming into my own in that department.
Nerf Phase Lurch? Didn't use it once the entire scenario.
