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Hi there, I'm not new to Pathfinder or its system, but I've never played a society game before. I want to play something easy, so an agent for Taldor based on James Bond seems like an seem less fit. Anyone help with a build? I'd lie to try this character out at Gamestorm happening in Portland next weekend.
Thanks in advance Pathfinders :)
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Human rogue/monk/gunslinger
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 13
1. Rog 1 : Improved Unarmed Strike (rebuild to Improved Initiative at level 2), Skill Focus (Sense Motive)
2. Mnk 1 : Improved Unarmed Strike, Catch Off Guard, Stunning Fist
3. Gun 1 : Point-Blank Shot
4. Mnk 2 : Improved Grapple
5. Rog 2 : Skill Focus (Bluff)
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You could by looking at the Lion Blade prestige class. Since those guys are Taldor's spies, any build that aims you there should fit your concept pretty well.
Inquisitor maybe? I haven't looked to closely at the archetypes for them.
Master Spy (APG) is a PRC class that kind of ends up here. It might not be Bond enough. It relies mostly on deception.
The Lion Blades (Taldor, Echoes of Glory) fill the role a little better I think and they have a lot more tie-ins to PFS (faction missions, vanity, and at least one scenario). As PRC classes they point to an end game, but you can look at their prerequisites to get a starting point.
Most of the social skills and a high stam... performance skill. The closest I have come to making a spy includes a rogue multi-classing with illusionist or bard. I thought about Lion Blade for this one as well. Arguable a sharp-shooter with gambling skills works.
EDIT: ninja'd on Lion Blade
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This is a little tough. James bond is the best at everything, which works well in a single person story but is very hard in a party based game that rewards a certain degree of specialization.
HOW do you picture your character being bond?
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I'd go with a Bard with the Archaeologist archetype.
You'll have a decent Charisma and the social skills as class skills--James Bond is first and foremost charming. Your high number of skill points make it possible to to pick up James' diverse skillset.
You get Lore Master and Jack of All Trades--People don't necessarily think about it, but this is classic James Bond stuff. Frex, M mentions the name Scaramanga, and off the top of his head James knows the guys occupation (assassin), price, modus operandi, and the fact that he's got a third nipple. The movies are full of this kind of thing.
You get Trap Sense, Uncanny Dodge, and Evasion--James is always making it out of dangerous situations by the skin of his teeth, and he deals with a lot of death traps.
With a good Str score and archaeologists luck, you can be alright in melee. Rogue talents give you access to firearms, if you really want them.
Magic can take the place of James' gadgets.
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If you want a luck-based archetype, try Sleuth (Investigator archetype), which replaces alchemy with sleuth's luck, an ability that works a bit like grit/panache.
The inspiration and large amount of class skills & skill ranks/level also go in favor of James Bond's diverse skillset.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I'd go with a Bard with the Archaeologist archetype.Doesn't that fit Indiana Jones better?
This archetype also fits roguelike characters that focus more on learning than on stabbing foes in the back.
Also worth noting is that Speilberg made Indiana Jones after failing to get the chance to make a James Bond movie. Indy became his version of James Bond, and the Indy films are full of Bond Easter eggs:
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Two things:
1) As has been pointed out, "army of one" characters like Batman, James Bond, etc. aren't terribly feasible. Ultimately, you will have to pick which aspects of Bond you wish to focus on being good at. Bond is strong, dexterous, tough as nails, highly intelligent, and incredibly charismatic. Wisdom isn't necessarily his strong suit, but it probably wouldn't be dumped either. He's also highly skilled at everything, while not sacrificing combat prowess or social aptitude. Trying to be good at all of those things will make you awful. Jack-of-all-trades in PFS simply doesn't work.
2) To that end, which Bond are we talking about? Connery and Brosnan Bonds focus much more on the social aspects of espionage, and more on gunplay and evasive tactics than martial arts prowess. Craig plays the bruiser, but still has a pretty wide skill-set.
Personally, I think an Exemplar Brawler/Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger is a perfect fit for Craig's interpretation of Bond.
Human
Str 14 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 16
You'll be hitting pretty well, getting 7 skills/level, and can martial flexibility into whatever combat strategy the situation requires.
Level 1 Gunslinger, Level 2 Brawler, Levels 3-6 Gunslinger, 7-11 Brawler.
I'm pretty sure there are feats that focus on a shoot-then-melee whomp style.
I'd recommend the Toughness feat at level 1.
Suggested skills: Disable Device, Acrobatics, Climb, Swim, Linguistics, Bluff, Diplomacy
Traits: Charming (+1 on Bluff and Diplomacy on anyone who could be attracted to you), Orphan (+1 Fort saves)
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It's fun to make characters based on other fictional characters! Petite Mort hit everything right on the nose!
My only suggestion to add to Petite's idea is consider maybe taking the 14 STR, and turning that into either 12 STR and 13 CON, or 13 STR and 12 CON. Mind you, this is only personal preference as I've always seen that extra Hit Point per Hit Die save my butt from time to time.
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False Manacles and bluff are your friend.
"Oh no! You've caught me! Don't cuff me and take me straight to your leader or anything, that'd be terrible."
I would not adventure with a 10 con. Its very easy to die that way
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I would not adventure with a 10 con. Its very easy to die that wayI guess it must be style of play.
I've over 20 PCs in PFS and most of them have a 10 CON. In fact, the only one to die (only once so far) is about the only one of my PCs with over a 12 (and he died in the adventure he started by buying a +2 Belt of CON - playing Siege of the Diamond City at Level 13....).
But each to his own I guess...
No. No it is not a matter of "play style"
The vast majority of times I've been dead or near dead was from either losing initiative and getting whallopped in one shot (like my 12 con tengu that went from zero to extra crispy in one fireball), the rather ubiquitous "Surprise round! take damage! Lose initiative, take damage, or someone walking up to you and critting you. Outside of some very specific builds there's not much you can do to prevent those: especially if bond is doing things hand to hand. DMs and scenarios LOVE surprise rounds.
Wait, if it isn't play style what is it?
Since you can't explain what it is you do beyond vague reference "style", and most of the problems I've had have been out of turn when you can't act, I'm going to go with luck, less surprise round happy/Bloodthisrty DMs, and a higher willingness to walk from tables.
Most of the time James Bond is just a stealth and social guy. Under common firearm rules he's probably doable as a rogue. Under Golarion firearm rules I'd go Steel Hound investigator.
Bond solo's the adventure by being really good at a long of things and the dungeon having an exploitable weakness he can sneak past, talk through, or seduce to gain access. Very few pathfinder scenarios are set up that way and even if they are, it wouldn't be very fun for the other 6 people at the table.
They sorta have a point. Ultimately, take a few levels of gunslinger (pistoleer maybe?) and a bunch of rogue levels. But, to truly be james bond, you'd need minimum 16's in every stat, all social skills at 20+, Improved grappling /greater grappling, rapid grappler, improved unarmed strike, acrobatics 10+, jawbreaker, neckbreaker, weapon focus (everything) Weapon specialization (unarmed, pistols, sniper rifles, rpgs, improvised weapons) Greater weapon focus/specialization (the same weapons), skill focus (computers and also everything else), and clear it with your gm to take a bunch of the hero point feats so that you have 10 hero points minimum. Lol.
You could just play a suave spy-type of rogue, and throw in a level or two of gunsligner, or 3 or 4 levels of investigator with exotic proficiency (firearm), but don't expect results like Bond, because Bond takes 20 on all rolls and knows how to disassemble neutron bombs.
Jokes aside, if you're looking for something that's - personality-wise, like bond (early bond I assume, not the "drive your humvee out of a crashing plane and use the airbag as a parachute" Bond of later years)
You need INT and CHA more than just about anything. Hypothetical Sean Connery (assuming a more Pathfinder/fantasy flair too)
human, 20 pt buy
Str 13
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 14
Cha 14
-you need to be versatile, and have a degree of that british wit/stiff upper lip. If you'd rather a 15 or 16 int, or cha, and lose the wis 14 down to 12 or 10, you need to take Iron Will to make up for the will loss. Bond doesn't get scared often.
whichever build you go for (rogue/investigator/swashbuckler/gunslinger, mix and match as you like, or even a couple levels of Monk (martial artist - doesn't have the alignment restriction, but hey, he'd probably be either neutral or lawful neutral either way.)
Must have skills - Bluff, diplomacy, sense motive, stealth, acrobatics, linguistics, knowledge(whatever you can, after everything else), sleight of hand, perception. Maybe disable device/open lock. Sprinkle in others.
Feats - I picture him as good with a pistol (or a hand crossbow maybe?) knives, and hand to hand combat. Saps are another possibility, but not so much. You might consider the whole grapple chain. (sneak up, Knife for s.a, Grapple/knife in the back till dead -> stealth). James bond can kill half an army base with a knife and never be spotted or get blood on his clothes - even without the knife he's snapping necks left and right. It's a lot harder in pathfinder. All that stealth killing he does is hard to represent anyway, in feats.
You'd need the whole grapple chain, all the super lethal sneak attack talents, neckbreaker, and the crippling rogue advanced talent (the one that allows CON damage on sneak attacks, so that when you try that surprise round neck breaker, you'd stand a chance to actually succeed.)
But as the rules go, the most COn damage you can actually do to someone in 1 action with a grapple attack neck-breaker is 2d6 + the crippling strike of 2.
I.E. don't worry about trying to be as lethal as James bond, even Sean Connery made the neck-twisting thing look easy. Focus more on the whole - concealed knife and pistol, but always wearing sharp clothes and accompanied by a beautiful woman. Never falters in his words, always calm and collected. Witty one-liners from time to time, but not so much as to be blatant. When the lady starts fishing out her cigarette, have that lighter handy (improved initiative! - lol)
I don't really see him as some kind of ace gunslinger - more like he can just use one and he's got a really good BAB. Deadly aim, sure. Maaaybe precise shots. But don't dip crazily into gunslinger, he's not Clint eastwood, he's Connery-esque.
THAT ALL SAID (I know, I'm kinda verbose) James bond may not be the best fit for PFS style games, where there's a sort of meta-game already well established. Everyone plays a tactical role, everyone's got a job to do. Nice as it is to be a rogue/gunslinger in a suit (not armor, for example) when you're playin modules with other people that are going with more standardized roles (the dwarven front-line heavy armor fighter, the elven evocation mage, the healer spec'd cleric/off tank)
If you're that guy that doesn't really contribute in combats, you'll have to make up for it by being a really good skill monkey... but as most pre-made modules/adventures take place in or around dungeons of one kind or another, your party will probably be a little disappointed when you can't actually do anything about those traps (Really can't be good at anything, and rogues often get relegated as flanker/skirmishers, or the trapfinding skillmonkeys.)
If your only role is "I'm a witty talker, with a pistol. And I'm sexy." You may find that cleric isn't going to heal you when you're getting attacked by an otyugh (what is bond doing in a dungeon/sewer with these philistines anyway? They've never heard of a martini.) because you're not the guy that's going to keep everyone alive.
IF, on the other hand, you're playing in an open campaign setting, a really highly social build can be clutch. Politics and intrigue style game? You are the intrigue dragonslayer, the samurai of spy.
Good luck