I am currently playing in the Carrion Crown adventure path, we have just gained enough EXP to take our 5th level and I find myself determined to multiclass ... soon.
Slayer - minus the trapfinding, dwarven axe thrower with bow as backup. Good melee presence too.
Swashbuckler - no real explanation here
Bard - Myself. Disable device specialist, wand user, mini-swashbuckler, melee support (trips, disarms, etc w/ luck, luck and more luck, and a whip). My character focuses a lot on luck stuff for roleplaying reasons. As far as personality, think of a combination of Indiana Jones and a male version of Lara Croft.
Class: Bard
Archetype: Archaeologist
Alignment: True Neutral
Str 14
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 16
Skills: Mostly focusing in Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Perception, Disable Device, Perform, UMD and a sprinkle of points in a few knowledge skills/spellcraft.
Traits: Rich Parents/Fate's Favored/Vagabond Child
Drawback: Vain
Feats:
1st) Weapon Finesse
3rd) Lingering Performance
Bonus) Bonded Item (Armor) *Combat Trick Rogue Talent*
5th) Amateur Swashbuckler
Equipment:
Mithril Chainmail +1
Buckler +1
Aldori Dueling Sword (prof granted for roleplay reasons, traded off other weapon prof for it)
I find myself looking to add a bit more BANG to my attacks (in the form of additional damage dice, like sneak attack) and I'm juggling two different ideas. My character already has a bit of the Rogue flavoring to it (without any actual rogue levels) so I though about dipping into Alchemist (Vivisectionist) to get more flexibility with my healing schtick (renewable potions per day) and stacking Inspiring Chemist on top of it. Apparently, Chirurgeon stackes with both of them and will save a discovery.
Then I though about the Investigator, which is the combo of Rogue + Alchemist. Not much additional damage dice as I was hoping for (I'm thinking of only taking 4 levels away from Bard), but ... that Slueth archetype has me thinking it would be a decent tradeoff. Luck pool combined with Amateur Swashbuckler gives me a renewable pool to fuel the Opportune Parry and Riposte (I am a very hard person to hit ...) and it plays very well into the 'luck' schtick I am trying to play towards.
So ... what are your opinions? Go for the sneak attack and alchemy, with boosted healing capability? Ham it up with the luck pool, increased panache and eventual studied strike?
Bard 6 / Alchemist 4 OR Bard 6 / Investigator 4
Or does anyone else have other suggestions? I have not yet finalized my 5th level so there is still time to change that one around.
I say go inspired blade swashbuckler and the feat to get dex to damage. (an extra d6 sometimes isn't going to be adding much damage.) THen you could go vivisectionist afterwards for the dex mutagen for an even bigger boost.
Or forget Mutagen and after swashbuckler go Urban Barbarian for the Rage to Dex bonus (plus full BAB and other awesomeness.)
It does have better will saves. The problem with dex alchemist is that is tanks a score you actually care about. +Str/-Int mostly just affects knowledge checks and bomb attacks (since the penalty is temporary, you keep skill points) , and +Con/-Cha is not that big an issue. But -Wis? Yeah, that actually lowers a save.
Urban barbarian doesn't take a real action to get up, and you do not get any penalties. Sure, no casting while raging, but buffs and some charm spells are usually taken care of before it comes to that.
Not sure why we are focusing so much on swashbuckler though. That is usually only important for slashing grace because it gets the dex to attack as well...but he is using a dueling sword, which is naturally finesseable. I can vaguely see why inspired blade was suggested (since it give weapon focus with rapiers for fencing grace), but still....
Heck, he could just grab an agile sword. It would involve less multiclassing, and it is not that painful for a 1 weapon build.
Hmm, inspired blade is a good suggestion. It'll save me from using a feat to get the Riposte ability (which I really like) and I get a few more panache thanks to a good INT. Though ... I don't like the idea of using a rapier. Slashing Strike is a good idea, as is the Mutagen (though I could pick that up with Investigator or Alchemist). No inspiration points or luck pool.
My character's main reason for getting Amateur Swashbuckler is to mimic an ability from our resident swashbuckler (the two are good-natured rivals that enjoy sparring with each other). I really don't want to step on his toes as a character role and would rather stay out of the thick of it if able. I mean, I have a plethora of spells to buff myself in combat as needed but I'd rather save them to pull the party's arse out of the fire if it comes down to it (which I have done at least three times now).
As for swashbuckler+alchemist or swashbuckler+barbarian, I'm only planning on a small deviation from the Bard class, at most 4 levels. There are several reasons:
1) I am literally, the main spellcaster. This won't change unless someone dies and I'm not about to let that happen.
2) I'd rather have all those levels in a single class that best suits the flavor of the character thus far and further increases his versatility without sacrificing too much focus.
3) Using my skills in combat is very important, especially without worrying about fatigue.
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If you are the main spellcaster, I'd advise against dipping. The loss of Caster Level and more importantly, spell levels will hurt a ton. Why are you looking to multi-class so bad? Are you just suffering from damage envy?
Honestly, I'd change your 5th level feat to Arcane Strike. Sure, you can't use it every round, but 2/3 rounds you'll be getting +2 to your damage, which stacks with everything. That will increase to every 3/4 rounds once you pick up a Headband of Fortune's Favor. Later, pick up Power Attack, since you have the Str for it.
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Let's look at this team using the metaphor of The Forge of Combat, since it was written to answer just this sort of question. Using that metaphor these are the three Pathfinder combat roles:
Arm = Support & Healing
Hammer = Inflict HP damage
Anvil = Battlefield control
A balanced group wants to cover all three roles, with the balance playing Hammers.
This group has:
Paladin - Hammer & secondary Arm
Slayer - Hammer
Swashbucker - Hammer
Bard - Hammer & Secondary role as ?
This group has the Arm role half covered, between both a Paladin and a selfish Bard. This group totally lacks an anvil, unless the Bard rises to the occasion. It's difficult for a non-spell caster to be an effective anvil. This group already has lots of Hammers, has a weak Arm, and completely lacks an Anvil
Groups without Anvils: Groups without anvils typically end up having an overabundance of hammers with one or two members playing the part of arms. These groups typically have fast, furious fights where the group takes a lot of damage. In these situations the arms often take on a reactive role providing healing and buffs as able while the hammers frantically try to end the encounter quickly. Depending on the nature of the hammers this often drains the arms very quickly of resources or forces the hammers into more and more defensive roles draining overall resources more as the group is not ending encounters efficiently enough.
Groups without Arms: Perhaps the most forgiving of the three major imbalances. These groups usually spend more resources than necessary to finish an encounter. When they don’t they exist on a razor’s edge where an enemies passed save or a characters failed save can mean the difference between failure and victory. This is much worse in groups that lack the means to magically heal themselves and are thus forced into shorter adventuring days or burning wealth on tons of cure light wound wands.
Recommendation: Your group is already short-handed in the spell-caster area, and you are your group's primary spell caster! At 5th level your spells are just starting to get good. Your group has no divine caster (paladin doesn't count), and only you as an arcane caster! With that group situation the last thing you want to do is is give up caster levels. While you'd like to be either a buffing bard (that's what this group of martials needs most!) or a full caster, you are what you are and should make the most of it.
So far, in low level play, the primary martials have been getting the glory. After 5th level the table shifts more and more in favor of spell casters. You are one. You may as well remain one.
Forge of Combat-style response
Thanks for the detailed response! I took an opportunity to read through your provided link. I agree with the roles presented and the goal to fill them. However, how you go about doing that is where there is room for creativity of the player and party come into play.
You nailed the role of the Swashbuckler and Slayer. They are completely geared towards damage. The Paladin and Bard are built to fulfill multiple roles.
The Paladin is primarily a Hammer AND an Arm. The secondary role is Anvil (spiked chain wielder with reach via enlarge person). She will gain abilities later on to blind her enemies. Right now, she fills the gap left by the bardic music with a nimbus of light and shared defense abilities. Variant channelling on one of her channel pools adds increased ability to fulfill that Arm role.
The Bard is a sort of tricky. Since I play the character, I'd call him an Anvil/Arm with the ability to go Hammer (but he doesn't do enough damage to truly fill that role, yet). Between his spells, wands, scrolls, potions and alchemical items, he has an option for just about any encounter.
I understand the perceived importance on maintaining the highest caster level and Spellcasting ability. In a game of pure numbers, it is the obvious choice. However, Pathfinder is more than just a pure number gain simply because of the inclusion of the human element. That's not saying stacking the deck with flat bonus is a bad idea. I think that in some instances, pure versatility will out perform pure power. (Insert batman vs superman reference). Some will disagree, naturally. That is not how they play.
Tl;dr- I'm planning on multiclassing. Risk of lost caster levels, accepted. No more than 4 levels. What's the best bang for my buck?