Are there any great martial classes for the Jade Regent AP?
I was thinking either a halfling Order of the Flame Daring Champion cavalier or a human inspired blade/bolt ace/chevalier.
Would either of these be of particular use?
Any other classes/races that are particular standouts?
Samurai?
Cavalier (daring champion) and samurai fit the party role I think. Martial + Party Face
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Going to be honest. First book you are going to be in Sandpoint and will travel most the game. The closer you get in your travels the more exotic items come about.
Some good martial classes that fit the flavor are:
Samurai or cavalier, brawler, monk, ninja, ranger/slayer, Kensai magus, summoner
As for more magical:
witch, bard, oracle, shaman, summoner
A few things that might help is someone in the group taking craft wonderous item. There will be some shopping but having someone craft your core items will be a big bonus with how much traveling there will be.
Might be smart to take traveling north into mind by getting things to help travel through cold regions.
Brawler/monk just screams at me for jade regent.
I was also thinking brawler could be fun. The great quest to show how my kungfu is better than that rumored in the east.
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I like that idea very much myself. Also lends itself with caravan guard. Many routes you could go as well.
I got a chance to play a brawler 5/master of many style monk 2 last night for a 1 shot game of a level of emerald spire. I was very pleased with my results. I wad playing a trip specialist in a melee heavy group. Usually a greater trip was an instant kill from AoO triggers. Made me an MVP when I tripped a large construct the grou had surrounded and watch 5 AoO go off.
I did build him with pummeling style/charge but didnt use it as I had too many people in melee always stopping in my charge lane in front of the creatures. I still think it a smart feat tho.
Brawler is just freaking fun....alot of options with martial flexibility.
Honestly I see this come up a lot, but the AP is supposed to be about a band of adventurers from Varisia (the West) traveling over the top of the world and visiting the exotic far east. How is it going to feel exotic, if PCs are samurai and other Asian based classes (ninja, kensai, etc.) already - it doesn't really fit to play PCs from Tianxia. They are NOT from Tianxia, they are going to Tianxia for the first time. It doesn't make sense to play Tianxia race/classes - its supposed to be someplace new for the party.
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Honestly I see this come up a lot, but the AP is supposed to be about a band of adventurers from Varisia (the West) traveling over the top of the world and visiting the exotic far east. How is it going to feel exotic, if PCs are samurai and other Asian based classes (ninja, kensai, etc.) already - it doesn't really fit to play PCs from Tianxia. They are NOT from Tianxia, they are going to Tianxia for the first time. It doesn't make sense to play Tianxia race/classes - its supposed to be someplace new for the party.
Not so, but to be fair as blackbloodtroll said, "Still, with the right flavoring, any class works." I'm playing a Kensai/Bladebound Magus. He is the orphaned son of an Ulfen Bloodrager and a Tian-Min Samurai who was a former retainer to the Kaijitsu's family. His skills were nurtured by a Tengu friend of the family who raised him as his own. He has never been to Tainxia, knows nothing, like Ameiko, about his heritage or ancestral culture from EITHER of his lineages. The journey for him is literally figuring out who he is from a genealogical standpoint.
So almost anything can make sense if the players are creative enough. Lastly, I want to point out one small thing. The four iconics for this AP are a monk, a witch, a druid, and a samurai.
I agree that a creative player can come up with reasons to be an exception, having Tianxia blood ties in the past. But it doesn't feel like an "exception" when everybody wants to play an Asian based character. While I'm sure Paizo won't release another Tianxia AP for a while, exploring other places in Golarian, I would love to see an AP that starts and ends in Tianxia, where the PCs are expected to be from there - then it makes sense to play kitsune, tengu, samurai, etc.
The Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy of modules for the Rite Publishing Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG) has the same motif as Jade Regent as outsiders visiting the exotic far east. None of the included pre-gens are Asian based characters for the same reasons explained in my previous post (this short AP was released almost a year before Jade Regent.)
Incidentally, I designed the map for the City of Kasai for The Empty Throne module of this AP, as well as writing some of the City of Kasai gazetteer (my name is in the credits as contributing author; Michael Tumey and the Kaidan setting is my IP).
Also if your game isn't for PFS play, and you are allowed by your GM to use 3PP material, for those wanting options for their Asian based character (if they still have to play one), there are some samurai archetypes, a wizard archetype, a paladin archetype, and a ranger archetype all fitting the Minkai motif, you should check out Way of the Samurai (PFRPG). Read the reviews on that product.
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I agree that a creative player can come up with reasons to be an exception, having Tianxia blood ties in the past. But it doesn't feel like an "exception" when everybody wants to play an Asian based character.
But in the end exception or not it simply does not matter. Tian Xia is a big place and there is no reason that a character from anywhere else in the Dragon Empires can't find Minkai "exotic." It's like saying I can't find Mexico exotic because I'm from Canada. "Wha?"
Now I get'cha and I follow the idea of it's "post to be about..." but in the end it's not our story. My point is, I rally against this idea of "it doesn't make sense if..." in regards to the fact it's their game. If they want to all play the ninja turtles to Ameiko's "O'neil" who knew she was the princess all along and came to bring her home, more power to them. It's their job alone to figure out what makes sense and what doesn't for them in the kitchen sink D&D setting that is Golarion.
All is fair in what a player wants to play, and I'm certainly not the "enforcer" on how anyone should play their game. When I run games, I tend to want things to make sense and my players agree, so I'm just giving reasons why I have this opinion (and it is opinion only.) So no need to rally against the idea. I just wish there was a PF AP that focused only on the Dragon Empires, rather than mostly being a travelogue on getting there. I personally would much more enjoy playing an Asian PC at a much lower level while being in Asian lands, instead not seeing the Dragon Empires until I'm 10th level.
In the Kaidan trilogy mentioned in my previous post, the trip to getting their by ship (since Kaidan is an archipelago rather than landlocked as Minkai is) is mostly hand-waved. The adventures are about exploring the far east, not spending most of the time just getting there.