I am in the process of creating a character for a home game we will be running soon, but I am having a horrible time making a decision on what to play. I have a couple concepts in my head but they both seem solid (they will need fleshing out a bit as I go) and I like them both. I am looking for advice on which would be more effective.
Campaign-It will be a home game with an evil-ish theme. We will start at level 1, but the intial 4-5 levels will go fairly quickly. Most likely a level per 5 hour gaming session. We have access to all the information in the PRD. The party will run with 6-7 players and they will be facing combat that may be a bit challenging for them so tactics will be essential. In the PFS games we run this group simply steamrolls the scenarios because of action economy. I want that to be flipped a bit, and have the enemy with advantages in certain battles.
Concepts-
#1-Zen Archer (either a Merfolk or Strix) I like the stat bonuses of the Merfolk, and with the Strong Tail trait he will move a little faster on land, and then as he levels in Monk he will pick up additional movement speed. The Strix satisfies my fascination with being to simply Fly around, however the stat allocation is considerably worse. Our starting stats are solid however,: 16, 16, 14, 14, 12, 12 arranged in any order.
#2-A Class with an Animal Companion where I can play a Mounted Archer (either on ground or on a Roc/Griffon...maybe a Chimaera if I wanted to bend the rules a bit.) My race for this option is still a bit up in the air; Strix would be nice for flight (KoS in any town is problematic), Hobgoblin might be interesting. Perhaps a Dhampir for flavor and give my AC the undead template.
Additionally, I am considering the Leadership feat so I can have a group of followers protect (at some level) my home while I am away. I read somewhere that there is an option to have a Creature/Monster as a follower while taking the Leadership feat? How is this done and where can I locate information on it?
We will not be multi-classing because with the stat allocations and possible bonuses we may receive along the way (an extra feat, maybe a magic item) we should be powerful enough as is, and will not need to focus on min/maxing.
Any thoughts?
Goblin Winged Marauder alchemist.
A mounted ranger focused around archery remains a solid build even with all the additional material. Being able to full attack from range and move in the same round is very powerful.