Advice with a Skald

[Traveller Nerd]

Hello guys! I was planning in creating a Skald, as a Spear user and focus in Initiative (Fated Champion Archetype and Improved Initiative Feats).

The question is... which race would you chose for the build? Also, some ideas of interesting feats that will keep improving the PC in speed and initiative?

[Drogos]

Ifrit can get a racial boost to initiative and their penalty to WIS is negated by the boost to saves from Raging Song.

[Markov Spiked Chain]

The "standard" Skald build is Half-Orc, with a 1 level dip into Bloodrager with a Bloodline Valet familiar, and Amplified Rage. A compsognathus will give you +4 Initiative if you want it, although a Goat will be an effective melee combatant because it's Small and thus has 5' reach and can flank. Bloodrager also gives you more Str/Con bonus for yourself, some rounds of regular rage, and 10' extra movement.

Ifrit for iniative could be cool too, I would still consider the Bloodrager+Bloodline Familiar dip though for another +4 initiative and 10' movement, and you can make the familiar a Mauler or Protector.

Triple Time is a bardic Masterpiece that will give you (and your allies) another 10' of movement for 1 hour per round of bardic music used.

[Traveller Nerd]

I did not even considered an Ifrit, and it does sounds very useful. I will probably go with it.

About getting levels in Bloodrager, I am not entirely sure. I am not that happy with multiclassing, but if the second level of Skald is not that meaningful, then I may go for it (The character would be a PFS, so it will take me a while to level it)

[Chess Pwn]

a half-orc bloodrager skald makes it so your inspire rage gives you a +8 to str and con with the amplified rage feat. You can't beat that. If you're not going that then the bloodrager dip does loose out on some appeal, but it still gets you a +4 str and con at lv2 instead of lv8.

[Markov Spiked Chain]

Unfortunately, you need a boon to play an Ifrit in PFS. :(

Skalds levels are definitely handy, there's just rarely a huge swing in the early levels, and that first level of Bloodrager gives you:
-a full BaB
-a few rounds of free action Rage/day if you don't have time for Inspire Rage
- +2 extra Str/Con for yourself while Inspire Rage is going
- +10' movement
- (bloodline familiar) +4 Initiative

And the Familiar opens up Amplified Rage, bumping your Inspire Rage Str/Con bonus to +8/+8 at 2nd level (26 Str without a belt/buff/size spell.)

It's also relatively easy (5PP and a handful of gp) to retrain the Bloodrager level if you get to a point where you really want something on the Skald side (7th level for Move Action bardic music and 3rd level spells, probably.) But I suspect you won't ever want to re-train it.