charaters for Society

[Ruiner]

i am going to joining pathfinder society and am looking to make several character for society. Each one for a different purpose or role. this is my first time playing in society so builds would be appreciated. here are some of the ideas.

Tank: sword and board Paladin
Striker: Inquisitor, warpriest or Brawler
Utility: bard or rouge
Spellslinger: Mage (illusion or buff/debuff based)

[RumpinRufus]

Word of advice: you may find it more rewarding to develop fully-fleshed out characters, ones that you really care about, with their own personalities, goals, and mannerisms, rather than creating a bunch of relatively-faceless "fill in the gaps" characters. But, that depends on your playstyle.

[Harley Quinn X]

Seconded, what RumpinRufus said.

Also, you may want to try to be well rounded. Inquisitors have been some of the most well-rounded characters I've seen in Society Play. They've got knowledges to help figure things out, the ability to do damage through things like their Bane and Judgements, and can carry some social interaction encounters should they so choose. I recommend you try to diversify.

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

sword and board paladin build:

Half-elf w/ ancestral arms- bastard sword

Traits: Dangerously Curious (UMD)
open trait- Birthmark for a Divine focus on the back of the hand.

Str: 17, dex:13, con:14, Int: 10, wis: 8, cha:15
( +1 str @ 4 and cha @ 8)

Feats:
1- fey fondling (survival feat)
3- power attack (damage feat)
5- quickdraw
7-Extra Lay on hand or lunge
9- Improved critical- bastard sword
11- Extra lay on hands or lunge

Skills:
UMD- max this and get layered defenses like mirror image, blur, defending bone, false life
diplomacy- this is the best social skill in the game. You could go intimadate to try to demoralize but no one like to be threatened and diplomacy can gather information.

Items:
+1 Champion Mithral full plate
+1 Quickdraw heavy mithral shield
adamantine Bastard sword w/ weapon cord (disarm defense)
belt of stats str> con> dex (get str belt and decide if you want just str or multi stat)
headband of cha +2
Ring of protection +1
Jingasa of the fortunate soldier
swarm bane clasp and amulet of natural armor +1 (switch to swarm bane vs swarms)
dusty rose prism ioun stone + wayfinder (+1 insight ac and +2 cmb and CMD)
cracked dusty rose prism (+1 initative)
+1-2 cloak of resistance or cloak of the hedge wizard transmutation
Cracked pale green prism (+1 insight to saves)
Ranged weapon. Composite bow
handy haversack
holy symbol
lesser rod of extend

[StrangePackage]

Easy there Fruian- fondling fey is a crime in certain places

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

Because its the optimal feat lol. Some people hate when you bring a good character to the table.

[Melkiador]

Ok. What even is Fey Fondling. I'm afraid to google it.

[David Neilson]

They mean fey foundling. You gain an extra +2 hit points per die of healing rolled, but you take a minor negative when attacked by cold iron.

Though your instincts are good on not looking up fey fondling, not that I checked, but I feel pretty confident on that one.

[Imbicatus]

Whatever you do, don't get more specific and look up fey fondling feet.

[Rodinia]

@OP: Consider that one effective way to be a 'tank' in Pathfinder is to wield a big reach weapon in two hands. While your armor class is worse (no shield), you greatly increase your ability to control the battlefield and protect your allies. Also, you will inflict about twice as much damage as compared to sword and board style. Foes must move past you, and thus take your AoOs, before they can get at the squishies behind you. Also this always leaves you a free hand to cast a spell or lay on hands. Something to think about.

I second what people said about having fully-fleshed, well rounded characters for PFS. You will face all sorts of challenges, many of which can not be handled with sword or spell.

[Charon's Little Helper]

I'd say that even moreso than a standard two-handed fighter - one with a reach weapon has more battlefield control with which to protect his allies.

[Scott Wilhelm]

RumpinRufus wrote:

Word of advice: you may find it more rewarding to develop fully-fleshed out characters, ones that you really care about, with their own personalities, goals, and mannerisms, rather than creating a bunch of relatively-faceless "fill in the gaps" characters. But, that depends on your playstyle.

A fully fleshed out character is the highest objective in playing an RPG, but there are many routes to that peak.

One character build began with wanting to tie together the 3.5 feats Elusive Target and Improved Trip. When I looked at Trip Weapons, I settled on halberd. The feat combination did not lend itself to formation fighting, so I knew he wasn't going to be a Swiss halberdier who fought in tight squares supported by pikemen and musketeers.

I decided he was more like a Highland Scot with a Lochaber Axe. Fed up with endless clan wars, one day he punched his superior in the nose and walked off the battlefield, turning his back on his people forever.

Then, because I wanted to be a Fighter, but the party needed a rogue, I took the Feat Nymph's Kiss. Then I decided that he was the cause (or maybe just the excuse) for the round of Clan Wars that disgusted him so. He was still a boy, grazing his flock of sheep on a little grassy hill that turned out to be a fairy mound. A nymph seduced him, and while he was with her, a rival clan rustled his whole flock. When he got home, he didn't admit that he abandoned the flock to have a tryst, but made up a story of being chased away by a War Party, and because of his newfound powers of persuasion, they started a war to avenge him. When the nymph found out that he lied from the shame of being with her, she refused to be with him anymore. And one-by-one, his parents, brothers, sisters and childhood chums were either killed or kidnapped in raids, the ranks in his clan's army filled back in by others, by strangers.

So I ended up with a character that everyone who played at the same table as me knew very well. If they'd met him at the Prancing Pony and bought him a drink, they'd know what to order for him. They'd know what kinds of jokes he'd found funny, and when he fell silent, drinking deeper and deeper until he passed out, they would also know the memories he was trying to forget. One thing they would never know is when he'd suddenly decide to sober up and take command of the situation: kill all the orcs, save the ship, free all the prisoners, and find the room full of gold, cause, you know, Chaotic Good.

But he didn't start out fleshed out. I had to get to know the character as I played him over several adventures. If I'd made his whole backstory from the start, I might not have come up with something that worked so well.

Of course, sometimes I'd do the opposite, starting with the concept and finding the levels in classes, feat, ability and spell combinations to make it work. Sometimes it's somewhere in between.

[Melkiador]

Doesn't Society play make a alting a bit difficult. I don't think two of your characters can get credit for the same scenario. Not unless you DM it.

[Nohwear]

Melkiador wrote:

Doesn't Society play make a alting a bit difficult. I don't think two of your characters can get credit for the same scenario. Not unless you DM it.

It works well if you play online. Otherwise I would minimize your number of characters.

[Argus The Slayer]

With 6 years of PFS scenarios available to a new player (assuming there are good PFS options for playing in your area), it is pretty unlikely that you will feel limited by the number of scenarios available for you to play. True, replaying is strongly discouraged by the rules, but there are literally hundreds of PFS scenarios that are available for play.

I agree with the advice to go two-handed for your paladin: doing good damage is a great incentive for getting those bad guys to hit you. Fey Foundling is awesome for paladins.

Bards make great utility/buffers. Some cleric and oracle builds fill that role well, too. Rogues are fairly versatile for skills in Pathfinder, but they are renowned for being weak in combat. Take a look at the Slayer class for a strong build with rogue-like capabilities.

Have fun out there!

[Ruiner]

i plan on fleshing out the character once created, that's usually not the problem. (i have been playing a gnome Archivist bard in rise of the runlords he's a professor wears a suit over his leather armor w/leather elbows of course. a pipe, and needs coffee to function in the morning. he gives lectures about the creatures we'r fighting that makes some of the group want to knock him out.) but iv never played in society only with friends.

[Hmm]

Society play has been great for me. I both game with friends in home games and game in society play.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SOCIETY PLAY

1) More opportunities to game, and games that fit my schedule.
2) Getting to know new players I never would have otherwise gamed with.
3) Less drama. The people who come to PFS games generally want to be there.
4) Different challenges each time.
5) Often I'm playing with a more skilled class of player than in my home games.
6) No issues regarding who gets what treasure, no back-stabbing, no bickering.
7) A wide variety of settings and short-satisfying scenarios.
8) Rules consistency

WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT SOCIETY PLAY

1) Randomness of story line. Occasionally, you get to do a three-part adventure, but that's rare.
2) Railroad adventures -- no, not trains. I'm talking about scenarios that are written in such a way as to remove most player options.
3) Less GM flexibility when scenarios have troublesome tactics.
4) Rules as written -- the downside of consistent rules, where you often have to enforce rules that don't make sense.

Overall, I've found the positives to far outweigh the negatives. Yes, you get oddly balanced parties, and sometimes you have to wonder: "What was the society thinking when they sent our batch of misfits to solve this problem?" However, that is part of the challenge and the fun.

I hope you have as good an experience as I have with it!

Hmm

[Saiman]

Ruiner wrote:

i am going to joining pathfinder society and am looking to make several character for society. Each one for a different purpose or role. this is my first time playing in society so builds would be appreciated. here are some of the ideas.

Tank: sword and board Paladin
Striker: Inquisitor, warpriest or Brawler
Utility: bard or rouge
Spellslinger: Mage (illusion or buff/debuff based)

I have this link bookmarked:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2m612?Guide-to-the-Class-Guides#1

Very helpful with class characters.