
Rycaut |
in PFS I have a 2nd level Aasimar Urban Barbarian who has just leveled to 3rd level and I'm not sure where to take him. His stats are STR 8, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 17. Feat is Weapon Finesse, traits are adrift (Aasimar race trait - +1 saves vs charms and compulsions) and Barbarian of the Society (+3 rounds of rage)
His first rage power is Lesser Spirit Totem.
He is a scion of humanity and truespeaker (alt aasimar racial traits) and is an agathion blooded aasimar variant - so spell like ability is summon nature's ally level 2 once per day).
Originally I had considered building a Rage Prophet - but going Urban Barbarian makes that a bit less useful (since lesser spirit totem doesn't scale with additional barbarian levels and I would need to take moment of clarity as a rage power though it doesn't really apply to Urban Barbarians - in a home non-PFS game I would rule that Urban Barbarians qualify for Rage Prophet via Controlled Rage but that's not true for PFS play and would have other side effects).
Options I have considered are: Shaman (for the spirits), Hunter (possibly Divine Hunter as it fits with aasimar though they have a feat for a similar effect or Feral Hunter for the flexibility but it is pretty costly), Inquisitor (perhaps archetype that gets a hunter's animal companion), Oracle (original plan) perhaps Spirit Guide?, Inquisitor and perhaps Druid (Urban?)
But not sure what other options to consider - I would like a caster class of some sort - either arcane or divine so sorcerer is another option.
Ideally something that continues his theme of having lots of tricks and a lot of ties to spirits and otherworldly powers.

![]() |

I mixed my urban barbarian with alchemist. Granted mine is a strength build, with feral mutagen and lesser fiend totem I get lots of natural attacks.
If you went that route, the mutagen could increase your versatility. You have a good charisma though, so bard might work, and even going into dragon disciple.

Chess Pwn |

Those stats kinda scream to me swashbuckler to me, perhaps paladin too.
For a caster with your stats Oracle, Bard/Skald, Sorcerer or Summoner are the casters of choice. Your other mental stats aren't really high enough to support a caster, but you're already a few levels behind as a caster so you're casting will be pretty weak regardless.

Rycaut |
To explain - an urban barbarian gets controlled rage - so he can choose to boost str, Dex or con depending on the situation. His rage power is an attack which is based on CHA (and is negative energy). He also gets a bonus when adjacent to multiple enemies - and his second attack is particularly valuable at lower levels (he gets that attack even if he doesn't attack but is raging so it works well when he has more to do than just attack.
His stats are unusual - partially because I wanted a bit of a challenge but also because I like playing unusual builds and multi class characters. Swashbuckler is interesting because it is a full BAB class. Rogue is considerably less interesting to me both because I have played one before and because I'm not only interested in traps and sneak attack (though the skill ranks are nice and I should re look at archetypes)
Mostly I'm looking for a character who will contribute to any party but may not be maximally optimized (but with a high con, good Dex, energy resistances and hopefully lots of tricks he can probably survive quite well)

chbgraphicarts |

in PFS I have a 2nd level Aasimar Urban Barbarian who has just leveled to 3rd level and I'm not sure where to take him. His stats are STR 8, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 17. Feat is Weapon Finesse, traits are adrift (Aasimar race trait - +1 saves vs charms and compulsions) and Barbarian of the Society (+3 rounds of rage)
His first rage power is Lesser Spirit Totem.
He is a scion of humanity and truespeaker (alt aasimar racial traits) and is an agathion blooded aasimar variant - so spell like ability is summon nature's ally level 2 once per day).
Originally I had considered building a Rage Prophet - but going Urban Barbarian makes that a bit less useful (since lesser spirit totem doesn't scale with additional barbarian levels and I would need to take moment of clarity as a rage power though it doesn't really apply to Urban Barbarians - in a home non-PFS game I would rule that Urban Barbarians qualify for Rage Prophet via Controlled Rage but that's not true for PFS play and would have other side effects).
Options I have considered are: Shaman (for the spirits), Hunter (possibly Divine Hunter as it fits with aasimar though they have a feat for a similar effect or Feral Hunter for the flexibility but it is pretty costly), Inquisitor (perhaps archetype that gets a hunter's animal companion), Oracle (original plan) perhaps Spirit Guide?, Inquisitor and perhaps Druid (Urban?)
But not sure what other options to consider - I would like a caster class of some sort - either arcane or divine so sorcerer is another option.
Ideally something that continues his theme of having lots of tricks and a lot of ties to spirits and otherworldly powers.
Take a single-level dip out of Barbarian and hit Swashbuckler. Retrain an earlier feat to Weapon Focus. Take Slashing Grace for your 3rd level Feat.
Result:
Retain Full BAB, your Rage gives you +4 Dex, you swing with Dex to Attack and Damage, and your hilariously-high Charisma gives you lots of Panache to use for things like Opportune Parry & Riposte.
Alternative:
Take a single-level dip into Daring Champion Cavalier. Retrain to Weapon Focus & take Slashing Grace as your 3rd level Feat.
Result:
Retain full BAB, your Rage gives you +4 to Dex which you now use for Attack and Damage, and your hilariously-high Charisma now counts for Feats instead of Intelligence (which your barbarian is lacking in). You also gain Challenge 1/day, which further ups your to-hit and damage output (assuming you take Order of the Dragon, which you absolutely should), and you gain Tactician 1/day as a Move Action, plus a bonus Teamwork Feat (consider one of the Charge-based Teamwork Feats like Distracting Charge).

Rycaut |
Paladin is out - did I mention he's a barbarian (i.e. non-lawful). Swashbuckler is interesting - though I did kinda see this character as eventually having magic in his bag of tricks (though the Inspired Blade archetype is interesting and he might be able to retrain Weapon Finesse into something useful?

chbgraphicarts |

Unlike other swashbucklers, an inspired blade gains no panache from a killing blow.
Inspired Blade is garbage - you're a Barbarian; you kill things. In fact, you are FANTASTIC at killing things.
You have a good Dex and can up it with Urban Barbarian's Rage, so keep it as just a basic Swashbuckler.
And you have an even BETTER Charisma.
I'd suggest making the BEST use of your 17 Charisma by going Bloodrager, but as you're now three levels in, I don't know if it's possible to retrain that much, ESPECIALLY if you've got a noticeably higher Dex than Str.
Beyond that, look into Oracle.
Actually, no, there really isn't much of a debate there - GO. ORACLE.
Go Warsighted Oracle, take Lame.
You cast based on Charisma. You do EVERYTHING based on Charisma.
You basically lose your speed boost from Barbarian, but by lv10 you can Rage Cycle, and have Martial Flexibility.

BadBird |

Dawnflower Dervish.
You get Devish Dance for free so you can retrain Weapon Finesse. Battle Dance will work with Controlled Rage, and it's a huge bonus as you level it up. Bard spells like Allegro and Heroism are great for melee. Oh, and you can use the Amateur Swashbuckler feat with your scimitar and stacked charisma. Extra Rage and Extra Performance can fill in more rounds-per-day of your battle abilities if you need them.
Thematically, you're creating a sort of holy mystic type with arcane casting and the ability to fly into a scimitar-flailing dex-rage with spirit allies. Personally I wouldn't take any more Barbarian levels, but it works either way.

chbgraphicarts |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Here's what you want your guy to look like if you want to make the best use of the Dex-Rage-OMGCharisma!!! nonsense you have going on:
Aasimar - Favored Class: Oracle
CL1 Invulnerable Rager Urban Barbarian 1 Weapon Focus (Longsword, retrained at lv4)
CL2 Invulnerable Rager Urban Barbarian 2 Moment of Clarity
CL3 Swashbuckler 1 Slashing Grace
CL4 Oracle 1 Lame Curse, Metal Mystery
CL5 Oracle 2 Extra Rage
CL6 Oracle 3 Iron Skin Revelation OR Dance of Blades Revelation
CL7 Rage Prophet 1 Heavenly Radiance
CL8 Rage Prophet 2 Rage Prophet Mystery - Spectral Weapon
CL9 Rage Prophet 3 Divine Protection
CL10 Rage Prophet 4 Speak with Dead
CL11 Rage Prophet 5 ???
CL12 Rage Prophet 6 Helping Hand
---
Retraining to Invulnerable Rager will get you DR1/- at level 2, which is kinda totally worth it.
---
Iron Skin uses your Oracle Caster Level being the basis for Iron Skin's effects (meaning you have a LOT OF DR that last a LOOONG time), and because of your Aasimar FCA is considered one HIGHER than it normally is (SWEET MAMA-JAMA!!!)
On the other hand, Dance of Blades ups your Base Speed by 10ft, meaning your Lame Curse's detriments are effectively negated, which is huge since your Urban Barbarian Archetype is already eating away at your speed (you'll have a base speed of 20ft if you don't take Dance of Blades, but then again, if you have DR that gods would envy, then maybe being a Mighty Glacier is okay).
Either way, you get Lead Blades, which gives you all the upped-size-damage benefits of Enlarge Person without the loss of Dex (yay!!!)
---
Seriously, this is just insane - you get Dex to Attack and Damage, you pump your Dex, you get Rage Cycling at level 10, you can get absolutely HI-LARIOUS levels of Damage Reduction, you get lots of spellcasting nonsense (up to 3rd level spells at 10th level) based on Charisma, and you have Charisma added to your Saves.
Oh, and your Aasimar race lets you use things like Sunbeam and Searing Light as a Spell-Like Ability with just a Feat.

Rycaut |
actually since Swashbucklers are a full BAB class I would be a full BAB class.
slashing grace is a good feat - though I was tempted by the Inspired Blade archetype (which wouldn't work as well with slashing blade as it is rapier focused). I would lose a little bit of Rage etc from not going full Barbarian (but that wasn't my plan either)
Retraining the Weapon Finesse feat is a possibility - but in PFS it would cost 5 prestige and 150 gp currently (5 days at 1 prestige per day) - I would have to be sure it was worth doing - would require switching to a slashing weapon as well which isn't what I had envisioned for my character but not impossible either - what weapon would you recommend he switch to from his masterwork rapier?

chbgraphicarts |

actually since Swashbucklers are a full BAB class I would be a full BAB class.
slashing grace is a good feat - though I was tempted by the Inspired Blade archetype (which wouldn't work as well with slashing blade as it is rapier focused). I would lose a little bit of Rage etc from not going full Barbarian (but that wasn't my plan either)
Retraining the Weapon Finesse feat is a possibility - but in PFS it would cost 5 prestige and 150 gp currently (5 days at 1 prestige per day) - I would have to be sure it was worth doing - would require switching to a slashing weapon as well which isn't what I had envisioned for my character but not impossible either - what weapon would you recommend he switch to from his masterwork rapier?
Longsword immediately, and then later if you WANT to you can trade up by taking Exotic Weapon Proficiency and grab either Katana or Falcata (both do the same damage mathematically - Katana is 18-20/x2, Falcata is 19-20/x3)
Swashbucklers get Weapon Finesse with One-Handed Slashing Weapons FOR FREE.
Oh, and by the way, Swashbucklers TURN Slashing Weapons into Piercing Weapons, so your concept is ENTIRELY preserved.
Swashbuckler's Finesse + Slaching Grace = You thrust with Longswords and Katanas and Salcatas and Sawtooth Sabres and Bastard Swords, dealing both P & S with them, you Attack based on Dex, and you do Damage based on Dex. You are Errol !@#$ing Flynn.
Retraining Weapon Finesse is 100% worth it to gain Weapon Focus which adds +1 to your to-hit and gives you access to Dex-to-Damage.
You're actually SAVING 4000gp by retraining to Weapon Focus simply because you don't have to spend the money on a +1 Agile Rapier in order to do Dex to Damage
You can literally pick up any One-Handed Slashing Weapon - an Aldori Dueling Sword, Longsword, Rapier, etc - and immediately do Dex to Attack and Damage.

Rycaut |
a few other notes - the Urban Barbarian doesn't get fast movement (he gets Crowd Control instead - which is a +1 to attacks and +1 dodge to AC if he is adjacent to two or more enemies - it also provides a bonus to intimidate groups and no penalties for moving through crowds)
Also the type of Aasimar my character is won't be able to get Sunbeam or Searing Light as he doesn't have the Daylight spell like ability that is a pre-requisite for that feat.
He also would need to either retrain his rage power or take extra rage power to get Moment of Clarity if he chooses to go Rage Prophet
also I know it is good but I'm not a huge fan of the whole dervish dance set of feats/flavor and archetypes - plus I really don't see this character worshiping Sarenrae - and it is very out of character for him to focus on an ability which wouldn't let him help his friends (a more traditional bard is a possibility however though I'm leaning towards other options as I already play a bard dragon disciple in PFS.
(but as a CHA based 3/4 BAB class Bard is definitely one I should look at - and bardic knowledge is very in keeping with this character - though Investigators may actually do that better with inspiration)

chbgraphicarts |

a few other notes - the Urban Barbarian doesn't get fast movement (he gets Crowd Control instead - which is a +1 to attacks and +1 dodge to AC if he is adjacent to two or more enemies - it also provides a bonus to intimidate groups and no penalties for moving through crowds)
Also the type of Aasimar my character is won't be able to get Sunbeam or Searing Light as he doesn't have the Daylight spell like ability that is a pre-requisite for that feat.
He also would need to either retrain his rage power or take extra rage power to get Moment of Clarity if he chooses to go Rage Prophet
You'll need Moment of Clarity anyway if you want to go spellcasting, so it's a moot point.
And you're a SCION OF HUMANITY!!!???
I'd say Retrain the Truespeaker (believe it or not, you can totally retrain this) and get back Daylight, but you're a freakin' SCION OF HUMANITY!!!???
Sweet freakin' monkey-nuts that's insane. Seriously, maybe you should have gone Warpriest because holy freakin' GOD do you have the holy grail of races for that class...
Okay, so, funny story, you're both a Human AND an Aasimar as far as the game cares. Meaning you can take Human-Only feats, take the Human Racial Favored Class Abilities of things, etc. Just keep that in mind.

chbgraphicarts |

(but as a CHA based 3/4 BAB class Bard is definitely one I should look at - and bardic knowledge is very in keeping with this character - though Investigators may actually do that better with inspiration)
NO. NO IT IS NOT.
And get Investigator out of your head; it's based on INTELLIGENCE and your character's is ABYSMAL for an Int-based caster, ESPECIALLY compared to that gigantic Charisma sitting 2 stat blocks away from it.
Oracles are 3/4 BAB and full spellcasters, meaning they are as accurate as a Bard and much more powerful.
Even if you don't go Rage Prophet you will get INSANE use out of this class: 4th level spells at 11th level, with is EXACTLY what a Bard would have given you if you had taken Bard from level one, meaning you get to have your Rage-Cake, eat it, kill the guy next to you, and eat HIS piece, TOO!
You know what casting Divine spells means?
No Arcane Spell Failure - something the Bard can't provide.
You know what the Oracle does that the Bard also does, but better because it's a 9th level spellcaster?
Cast with Charisma - it's a Spontaneous spellcaster just like the Bard, so it's casting is based on Cha. Except it's a 9th level Caster just like the Sorcerer.
You know what else the Oracle Gives you?
Immunity to Fatigue.
Oracle 3 means you only need 4(!!!) extra levels, because Curses care about Oracle levels + 1/2 your non-Oracle HD. Meaning THE VERY MOMENT you take your first level of Rage Prophet, you effectively have Tireless Rage, a 17th Level ability, and the Ability to cast spells and Rage FOREVER.
Rage Cycling is absolutely insane. You want to cast a spell? Moment of Clarity and cast your spell. You want to cast another? Drop out of Rage, you're not Fatiqued because HI, ORACLE!, you cast your spell and immediately re-enter your Rage. Rinse and freakin REPEAT all the live long ding dong day, and with other Rage Powers, too, if you take Extra Rage Power.
Basically, you have 3 options before you:
Go Barbarian/Swashbuckler/Oracle without taking Rage Prophet and go about your business with higher-level-spells and beating faces & taking names.
Go Barbarian/Swashbuckler/Oracle/Rage Prophet and get some NARSTY tricks, trading out a tiny bit of Spellcasting for abilities which mesh your Oracle and Barbarian abilities together.
Go with a significantly worse option than the previous two, because NOTHING is going to be better than an Oracle for a Barbarian with the Stats you have there, who casts spells, takes names, sees their enemies dragged before them, and hears the lamentations of their women.

chbgraphicarts |

unfortunately Rapier's are only Piercing weapons - but some otherwise good points re retraining if I go the Swashbuckler route (whether for one level or more than one level - charmed life seems pretty solid)
Yeah, it is a little odd.
But, honestly, you can take a Sawtooth Sabre or an Aldori Dueling Sword and just call it a day if you don't want a normal Longsword, for added extra flare.
Hell, you could actually CARRY a Longsword, a Dueling Sword, and a Sawtooth Sabre just for giggles so you can choose which one to use when fighting.
Both the Dueling Sword and Sabre can be used as a Longsword without having to take a Feat, and it actually COUNTS as a Longsword when used as such for the purposes of Feats (like Weapon Focus),
The fact that you're not losing ANYTHING by retraining to Weapon Focus (Longsword), while at the same time allowing you to apply Dex to Attack and Damage with three completely different weapons without having to give even ONE of them Agile is awesome.
Hell, go with this:
Get a +1 Keen Adamantine Longsword, a +1 Keen Mithral Sawtooth Sabre, and a +1 Keen Cold Iron Dueling Sword...
You'll have all three metals on-hand, and they ALL do 1d8+1+Dex Damage with a 17-20/x2 crit range!

Julix |

No mention of Fencing Grace? - Inspired Blade would be a one level dip to get Weapon Focus (rapier) and Weapon Finesse (Rapier) - and with the feat it gets full dex to hit and damage.
In another thread the Exotic weapon Elven Branched Spear (grants +2 on Attacks of Opportunity) - Not sure how to get it into the build, but with high dex like yours and attack of opportunity you could make sure people don't get close enough to bug you while you're casting. However, only 3 levels of Rogue can get you Dex to Damage here (though 1-1/2x) - still to-hit bonuses will be enough for tripping, since weapon finesse applies...
Just an idea.
Actually what chbgraphicarts said about oracles is very true.
Out of curiosity, what kind of Oracle would you build, @chbgraphicarts?
Curse: Lame, obviously. What mystery? What spells would benefit this build most, if it was to continue having a focus on melee?