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So my regular PFS group has had some fun by making Marvel's Avenger's "Like" characters. There is A captain America (Brawler Shield Champion/Mutagenic Mauler archetype), a Hawkeye (Arcane Archer to deal with 'trick arrows') and the has been talk of a 'Hulk' or 'Iron Man' I was trying to figure a way to make Thor. I don't really plan on playing him, just knocking around with theories of PFS legal Avenger-ish characters.
Alignment: Depending on his depiction, Thor can be either Chaotic Good, or Neutral Good. He is brash and hot-headed, but also understands that everything in the cosmos has it's place and that there is a greater order to the world.
Race: Since Thor is Asguardian and 'beyond the kin of mortal men,' it makes sense that he would be an outsider. This would grant him immensities to certain magics (like charm person) as well as an unnaturally long life. Unfortunately, Aasamar are not really an option. You can get a boon, I've heard, for Suli, which would fit, but the Suli's hit to int really seems to be a major stumbling block. Humans are a good standby, and are always available.
Class: The eternal question, which class should you be. I propose that the Class for Thor is Warpriest. Specifically a Warpriest of Hei Feng While I would have liked a priest of some northern area type god, Hei Feng is CN (allowing our Thor to be CG), and has the Air and Weather domains. This lets Thor have the ability to fly at 10th level (or let other people fly), and lets him charge his hammer with electricity.
Skills: Thor is actually fairly smart, and has a detailed intricate knowledge of how the planes are set up. I would recommend a trait to give him Knowledge: Planes. Intimidate, Diplomacy, or Sense Motive are all other good skills, or Fly for when he starts flying.
Sacred Weapon. Here we run into a bit of a snag. Mjolnir is a hammer, to be sure, but is it a warhammer or a throwing hammer? A warhammer would net him the ability to two hand it (as Thor doesn't ever seem to use a shield), but would require a +3 weapon to get the full effect (a +1 throwing returning hammer). A throwing hammer cannot be two-handed but can be thrown as early as level 1, and only needs a +2 for full effect . . .
I would suggest grabbing the warhammer (for 2-handing it), and making it a +1 throwing warhammer as soon as possible. Then grab the blinkback belt. This would basically require Thor to pick up quick-draw, and doesn't involve the cool visual of the hammer returning to Thor's hand, but it works. For extra fun, you can make Mjolnir adamantine, to make it all but unbreakable!
Feats: If you pick up the blinkback belt, Thor is going to need Quickdraw. Some might argue for power attack, but power attack doesn't work for Chucking the hammer, which is half of where Thor comes from. Still, I can't think of any better feats ATM.
Spells: I would argue for spells that mostly are self-buffs, as Thor is not really a spellcaster, so he could Fervor to just self-buff. spells like Bull's Strength, protection from evil, or lesser restoration.
Thoughts??
Elemental (electric) bloodrager wasn't a consideration?
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Here is what I did. With 1 more Fame, I'm going to buy a Racing Broom of Flying to go inside my hollowed pommel to simulate throwing his hammer and holding onto the cord to fly.
My original build had a Shoanti Shaman Cleric, which allowed more lightning abilities, but as I wasn't sure if it's actually legal or not for PFS, I went this route.
I've played with some Thor builds, and it depends on what you want to focus on.
For the hammer throwing and returning, I looked at the "hand of the apprentice" Universal wizard ability or Magic domain ability. (If you want a strict martial version, there's the Bounding Hammer feat that lets you bounce a hammer off of a target within 20 it and catch it.)
I have this vision of using Bounding Hammer and Opening Volley: You move up and throw your hammer. Next round you catch the hammer and continue the move, put both hands on the weapon and smack the crap out the target with +4 to hit. It takes three feats and a specific set up, but it would look awesome.
For the lightning abilities, I mainly looked at the Air domain or Thundercaller bard.
You can do one level of Air and Magic domain cleric and then go into barbarian for the flavor and damage (pick up the hurling powers) or fighter to pick up the various feats you need for ranged combat. (Precise Shot is a good idea if you're planning to do more than just throw in someone's general direction. Close Quarters Thrower would be nice so you don't provoke every time you throw the hammer.)
Newer stuff I haven't had a chance to dig into but might work:
The throwing Magus arcana from the Ranged Tactics toolbox that lets you add throwing and returning to your weapon. Add shock to that at later levels and you can have a nice version of Thor.
Far Strike Monk has some interesting potential if you want to focus on the ranged side of it.
The school savant Arcanist power might let you pick up the Hand of the Apprentice and keep the lightning abilities, but that seems less martial than I'd want.
The Dwarfbond Hammer, while rather expensive and requiring UMD to activate, would be thematically appropriate.
The Blinkback Belt, along with the Hurling Charge rage power and the Quickdraw and Opening Volley feats, accomplishes a similar trick to Gwen's above: throw the hammer while charging, it blinks back to the belt, then Quickdraw it again to deliver the charge attack with the bonus from Opening Volley.
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We've yet to find an adequate Hulk
Mutagenic Mauler 1/Goliath Druid 6 with the Growth subdomain.
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Magus is a good option for Thor, but another one would be a Dwarf/Half-Elf/Human Storm/Tempest/Nature Fang druid who worships Torag and has the blessed hammer feat for a Divine Spellstrike.
Druid has good electrical options, and great touch spells to deliver via hammer. If really wanted, you could take a level of sorcerer to change frostbite and produce flame to electrical, but I don't think it's needed.
I thought blood rager could be a decent option.
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The Dwarfbond Hammer, while rather expensive and requiring UMD to activate, would be thematically appropriate.
The Blinkback Belt, along with the Hurling Charge rage power and the Quickdraw and Opening Volley feats, accomplishes a similar trick to Gwen's above: throw the hammer while charging, it blinks back to the belt, then Quickdraw it again to deliver the charge attack with the bonus from Opening Volley.
I dunno if you can even get that in PFS, it's so damn expensive. I agree it's thematically appropriate, but not really that great for PFS.
Hmmm, Trying to figure out how to work this, I have an idea. Tell me what you think.
Thor Odinson (Human CG Warpriest of Hei Feng)
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 13
Chr: 12
Triats: Knowledge of the Great Beyond
Courageous
Feats: Power Attack, Throw anything
Skills: Knowledge (Planes)+5, Diplomacy, +5, Sense Motive: +5
Class features: Weapon Focus: Warhammer, Air Blessing, Weather Blessing
Level 3: Opening Volley
Level 4: Weapon Specialization-Warhammer
Level 5: Point Blank Shot
Gear:
Thor starts with a Warhammer. He should, as soon as he can, buy an adamantine warhammer, and enchant it to a +1 called warhammer. Once it is a called warhammer, he can start chucking his warhammer as an improvised weapon with no range penalties (thanks to his Air blessing) and no other penalties (thanks to throw anything.) When he gets a +1 throwing called warhammer, he can retrain Throw anything for something more useful (Vital Strike?). Good ol' Mithral Breastplate would allow him to run around at full speed.
Some spells to consider: Bull's Strength, Sacred Shield, Bless, just a bunch of self-buffs to increase his to-hit, damage, and AC as he'll be running without a shield. Pick up air step at level 4 and start throwing ranks into fly, as he'll need that for later.
Another option is to use the Hollowed pommel trick that someone mentioned above for a racing broom, or other flying magic items. I haven't looked at them too hard.
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Can he be a Warpriest? In mythology he's a deity, and in the movie I saw it's questionable whether he thinks of himself as a deity but he certainly doesn't worship someone else as one.
With his anger and apparent rage powers, Bloodrager perhaps? Maybe Elemental (Air) Bloodline?
Depends on what you want to do. If you want a character that duplicates what Thor can do, or duplicates how he would act. Nobody is saying you can for sure build Thor as he actually is in the movies (or comics), just trying to get a close approximation.
After thinking about it: I think it might be better to use a light hammer (throwing hammer), enchant it to +1 returning, and go from there. The damage would take a minor hit, but Thor deals a D6 with it (instead of a d4) for it being his sacred weapon at first level. The big problem is that he can't two-hand power attack with it, and since he's got a free hand that he won't be using a shield with, there is an issue there.
The Eldrich scion Magus makes a surprising amount of sense now that I look at it. I don't know if it's PFS legal, but it allows for spells, he's casting them off of charisma (not int, which is more Thor-like) and he gets a bloodrager's bloodline power. Downside is that his hammer will be dealing a piddly d4 damage. Plus it solves the question about what to do with his off hand.
The abilities for Thor seem to be as follows. Who can get this to work?
1) Throwing returning hammer; Either a +1 returning light hammer, a +1 called warhammer (and throw anything), or the massive feat chain of bounding hammer+unarmed strike+Deflect arrows+snatch arrows. To do this with a pure melee character, fighter/brawler/ is the easiest and fastest way to do this.
2)Lighning damage, pretty easy. War priest air domain, shocking grasp. Tie between Warpriest with Air blessing (swift action for ten rounds of d4 lightning, plus a few lightning spells. Magus can shocking grasp, which is more damage but one-shot, but can eventually get things like lightning bolt.
3)Good at fighting with a 1-handed hammer. The obvious choice is brawler here. Flurry with a light hammer is pretty awesome, plus if Thor ever gets disarmed of Mjolnier, he still has his fists. A warpriest and Magus are close seconds, as they both have spells to bring their attacks up to par.
4) Strong, Charismatic: depending on your depiction, Thor is always strong and charismatic, but not always wise, and not particularly dexterous. Again, the Magus works, but the Warpriest can also work, if you ware aiming for a wise-type Thor. Tough call.
The abilities for Thor seem to be as follows. Who can get this to work?1) Throwing returning hammer; Either a +1 returning light hammer, a +1 called warhammer (and throw anything), or the massive feat chain of bounding hammer+unarmed strike+Deflect arrows+snatch arrows. To do this with a pure melee character, fighter/brawler/ is the easiest and fastest way to do this.
2)Lighning damage, pretty easy. War priest air domain, shocking grasp. Tie between Warpriest with Air blessing (swift action for ten rounds of d4 lightning, plus a few lightning spells. Magus can shocking grasp, which is more damage but one-shot, but can eventually get things like lightning bolt.
3)Good at fighting with a 1-handed hammer. The obvious choice is brawler here. Flurry with a light hammer is pretty awesome, plus if Thor ever gets disarmed of Mjolnier, he still has his fists. A warpriest and Magus are close seconds, as they both have spells to bring their attacks up to par.
4) Strong, Charismatic: depending on your depiction, Thor is always strong and charismatic, but not always wise, and not particularly dexterous. Again, the Magus works, but the Warpriest can also work, if you ware aiming for a wise-type Thor. Tough call.
Why not try it with a Skald?
Str 16 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 14 (alternately, can drop Wis to 7 and bump Str and Cha by one point each).
1: Throw Anything (retrain to Power Attack once you can add Throwing to the hammer), Quickdraw
3: Deadly Aim, Rage Power: Hurling
5: Extra Rage Power (Lesser Elemental Rage)
6: Rage Power: Hurling Charge
7: Opening Volley
9: Battle Cry, Rage Power (Elemental Rage)
11: Discordant Voice
Battle Cry and Discordant Voice can be swapped for ranged feats of your choice (likely Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot, though Close Quaters Thrower and Two-Handed Thrower are also neat). Going with the Spell Warrior archetype will eliminate the need for Extra Rage Power and Elemental Rage, allowing for things like Reckless Abandon.
While I hate to point this out, your Warpriest build can't take Power attack at level 1.
I also like the idea of an Eldritch Scion Magus with the Throwing Magus arcana--though this may be a bit starved for Arcane Pool between powering up your weapon every fight and activating your bloodline every 2 rounds. It also requires 2 swift actions to get everything up and running.
Here is an alternate Warpriest feat progression, built around a light hammer and a Blinkback Belt
1: Point Blank Shot, Quickdraw, Weapon Focus: Light Hammer
3: Dodge, Close Quarters Thrower
5: Rapid Shot
6: Snap Shot
7: Deadly Aim
9: Open Feat, Improved Snap Shot
11: Divine Interference
The light hammer could also be swapped for a warhammer with the Throwing property, in which case the open feat could be used for Two-Handed thrower.
If you are ok with utilizing something from 3.5, the Hammer of Moradin prestige class, maybe slightly refluffed, might be something that interests you.
For Iron Man, without a doubt, go with an Aegis
For Aasimar you could always go with the Angel Blooded variant.
Edit: Crap, just relooked and saw the letters "PFS", my bad.
Class: The eternal question, which class should you be. I propose that the Class for Thor is Warpriest. Specifically a Warpriest of Hei Feng While I would have liked a priest of some northern area type god, Hei Feng is CN (allowing our Thor to be CG), and has the Air and Weather domains. This lets Thor have the ability to fly at 10th level (or let other people fly), and lets him charge his hammer with electricity.
Why would he be a follower of another deity?
Thor would be a Warpriest of Thor.As for not normally being able to throw a hammer it doesn't matter.
Mjolnir would be a major artifact and have it's own rules set for throwing.
I thought the Hammer of Thunderbolts was suppose to be a mock up of Mjolnir, especially the 3.5 version but PF version is quite good too.
But it is a minor artifact
In PFS I guess the closest thing to Iron Man one could get would be a Syththecist Summoner.
For Thor, class wise I guess I could either see Bloodrager or Warpriest working. I would actually think about going Dwarf and trying to get my hands on a Dwarven Thrower as soon as possible.
I don't think Hulk would be possible using PFS rules. If someone wanted to play him in my campaign I would basically have him use two separate character sheets, in normal human form, he would have levels in Alchemist, and in Hulk form he would be a Barbarian and I would port over the 3.5 Frenzied Berserker prestige class for him.
In PFS I guess the closest thing to Iron Man one could get would be a Syththecist Summoner.
Synthesist hasn't been PFS legal for years...
Synthesist hasn't been PFS legal for years...In PFS I guess the closest thing to Iron Man one could get would be a Syththecist Summoner.
Ah, wouldn't know, I only play home games. I just figured because it was official Paizo material.
What about the Sun Seeker prestige class?
Dwarven Ranger 1/Cleric 9/Sun Seeker 10
BaB +17, 8th-level spells
Against giants you could be swinging 1d8 +str bonus +favored enemy bonus +4d6 ancestral weapon bonus, on top of all the buffs provided by 8th-level & lower Cleric spells.
You also gain a deflection bonus to touch AC equal to your armor bonus against spells and spell-like abilities, spell resistance 30 (for 10 rounds/day) and the Stalwart ability.
I'd recommend the Forgemaster archetype for Dwarven Clerics, as it enables you to literally bestow a curse on anyone who handles your warhammer, but it blocks you from any weather/storm domains, so....
Thoughts?