Pulling together ideas for my boyfriend's friends campaign, which is most likely going gestalt. Aiming for a themeatic resemblence to Final Fantasy's MBBEG Golbez. Eidolon will represent Shadow, his single summoned "friend" from the last half of the game.
I'm torn between Master summoner or to not Master summoner, as I can't get Shadow anywhere near where he needs to be at half progression, but I like the idea of the antipaladin suddenly having as many minions as he needs...
0 ideas on gear and whatnot so far. Overall, the design wants to be anvil and arm more than hammer. Suggestions, comments, and HELPFUL critiques welcome!
Gol-Beez, Dark Warlord (based off golbez – kinkkayjay.deviantart.com & Shadow – finalfantasykingdom.net)
CE Human Dread Vanguard Antipaladin/Master Summoner (Gestalt)
Stats (assumes 25 point buy system):
STR: 18/+4 (+2 human racial)
DEX: 15/+2
CON: 12/+1
INT: 8/-1
WIS: 8/-1
CHA: 16/+2
Initiative: 4 (DEX bonus + trait bonus)
Saves/Attack/Defense:
Fort: 3 (+2 antipaladin +1 CON bonus)
Ref: 2 (+0 antipaladin +2 DEX bonus)
Will: 1 (+2 antipaladin -1 WIS penalty)
BAB: +1 (+1 antipaladin)
AC: (most likely will stick with light armor to reduce ASF)
Traits: Twinned Presence (+1 trait bonus to Intimidate, if eidolon is summoned and within 30 feet and bigger than you, use its size bonus for Intimidate checks), Reactionary (+2 on Initiative checks).
Feats:
1st level: Two-Weapon Fighting, Combat Reflexes
Abilities:
Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Smite Good 1/day (Antipaladin), halved Eidolon progression, Summoning Mastery (5+CHA bonus times per day use Summon Monster 1 as an SLA/standard action, lasts 1 minute per level, can have 1 SLA active if eidolon is present, or any number of SLAs active if it is not, and grows more powerful as the character levels), cantrips, life link (Master Summoner).
Eidolon:
Shadow
Serpentine base form: Medium size, speed: 20 ft, climb 20 ft. AC: +2 natural armor. Saves: Fort bad, Ref good, Will good. Attack: bite (1d6), tail slap (1d6). Stats: STR 12, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 7, WIS 10, CHA 11. Free evolutions: bite, climb, reach (bite), tail, tail slap. Evolution points @ lv 1 = 3
Planned feat progression:
2nd level: Augment Summoning (bonus feat from Master Summoner)
3rd level: Superior Summoning
5th level: Improved Shield Bash
7th level: Double Slice
9th level: Shield Slam
11th level: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
13th level: Shield Master
15th level: Bashing Finish
17th level: Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
19th level: Two-Weapon Rend
Assuming I stick with Master Summoner, Shadow will take the huge evolution and the wingless, perfect version of flight (14 points total).
I'm of two minds here.
First, it's a great concept for a villainous character, though I'm not as convinced by the feat sink involved for an antipally shield-bash build. Consider going fighter here so that you at least get gobs of bonus feats for the martial build and can use general feats to improve your magic and suchlike.
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However... it's not Golbez, since Golbez is a Black Mage who has other powers (such as summoning) due to the influence of Zemus. If you want to focus on Shadow Dragon, then I'd go Master Summoner / Starsoul sorcerer, and make him lawful evil.
While he's not a martial in FF4, magus / starsoul and fighter / starsoul both work nicely for his After Years appearance; but his alignment there is definitely good.
Starsoul is chosen for the sorcerer bloodline here purely for flavour, due to the Lunarian heritage.
Sandslice wrote: I'm of two minds here.
First, it's a great concept for a villainous character, though I'm not as convinced by the feat sink involved for an antipally shield-bash build. Consider going fighter here so that you at least get gobs of bonus feats for the martial build and can use general feats to improve your magic and suchlike.
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However... it's not Golbez, since Golbez is a Black Mage who has other powers (such as summoning) due to the influence of Zemus. If you want to focus on Shadow Dragon, then I'd go Master Summoner / Starsoul sorcerer, and make him lawful evil.
While he's not a martial in FF4, magus / starsoul and fighter / starsoul both work nicely for his After Years appearance; but his alignment there is definitely good.
Starsoul is chosen for the sorcerer bloodline here purely for flavour, due to the Lunarian heritage.
Like I stated, it's akin/inspired by an FF character. I think we can all agree most FF characters don't fit neatly into 1 or 2 or sometimes even more 3.5/Pathfinder classes. I just wanted to rool something themeatical.
That being said, I dunno if fighter/sorc is any better a fit; the eidolon from Summoner can easily be made to be a Shadow like creature, and it can mimic the swarms of monsters Golbez unleashed on the world. Sorc might be able to mimic the flashy magic, as well as some of the "yar here be monsters" bit, but I'm not worried about being a raw dpser. I'd much rather be an anvil/arm, which the proposed combo could pull off quite well (espically if I could find some heavy armor with really low spell failure, or light armor with really good stats).
I like the idea of running sword and board, as its a mirror to how Cecil tends to gear in the game. But again, these are all opinions and proposals.
Assuming you stuck with antipaladin/summoner, what would you try to pull off instead of sword and board? About the only feat I dont want to change is superior summoning.
Sticking with antipally / summoner, I'd pro'ly get frustrated that I couldn't break the build's equilibrium and improve anything. That's the problem: while it's feat-starved, it seems to be completely optimised for your build requirements.
Also, you can use mithril medium armour, and you'll only get ASF from your shield in that case (since summoners can cast in light, and mithril medium counts as light for this.)
If I'd make one change, it'd be to drop one dual-wielding feat (maybe G.TWF) for one of these:
-Sacred Summons (lets you cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action if using [Evil] subtype creatures - but you lose access to it if you somehow lose antipally abilities.)
-Summon Evil Creature (lets you cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action if using the feat's special list, and adds the special list to your summoning options generally);
-Quicken Spell-Like Ability (your Summon Monster class feature qualifies for this starting at CL10; and at 1-round casting time, it works on them!)
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The main reason I'd go fighter is because of the feat starvation; the extra feats can free up all your generals and then some, opening your options. Unbreakable archetype would be good for a lot of extra resilience, plus the L13 ability to "evasion" Fort and Will save effects.
Sandslice wrote: Sticking with antipally / summoner, I'd pro'ly get frustrated that I couldn't break the build's equilibrium and improve anything. That's the problem: while it's feat-starved, it seems to be completely optimised for your build requirements.
Also, you can use mithril medium armour, and you'll only get ASF from your shield in that case (since summoners can cast in light, and mithril medium counts as light for this.)
If I'd make one change, it'd be to drop one dual-wielding feat (maybe G.TWF) for one of these:
-Sacred Summons (lets you cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action if using [Evil] subtype creatures - but you lose access to it if you somehow lose antipally abilities.)
-Summon Evil Creature (lets you cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action if using the feat's special list, and adds the special list to your summoning options generally);
-Quicken Spell-Like Ability (your Summon Monster class feature qualifies for this starting at CL10; and at 1-round casting time, it works on them!)
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The main reason I'd go fighter is because of the feat starvation; the extra feats can free up all your generals and then some, opening your options. Unbreakable archetype would be good for a lot of extra resilience, plus the L13 ability to "evasion" Fort and Will save effects.
I don't mind not shinying too much in any one area, so as to make other comfortable with not getting outclassed by Summoner (whether it be regular or Master).
I wonder if there are any shields with low to no ASF...
Hmm....Quicken Spell-Like Ability is very tempting. Is that from Beastairy/is that a feat players can take?
From Monster Feats in Bestiary, yes. Note:
Quote: Most of the following feats apply specifically to monsters, although some player characters might qualify for them (particularly Craft Construct). Once you have caster level 10, the fact that you have spell-like abilities (your summon monster feature) means that you qualify for the feat. Check with your GM just in case, but the rules favour yes here. :)
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As for shields: bucklers and Light shields are 5%, heavy shields are 15%, and tower shields are 50%. Light and heavy shields, and tower shields, can be made from wood or steel... therefore a mithril light shield has no ASF, while a mithril heavy shield has 5%.
Sandslice wrote: From Monster Feats in Bestiary, yes. Note:
Quote: Most of the following feats apply specifically to monsters, although some player characters might qualify for them (particularly Craft Construct). Once you have caster level 10, the fact that you have spell-like abilities (your summon monster feature) means that you qualify for the feat. Check with your GM just in case, but the rules favour yes here. :)
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As for shields: bucklers and Light shields are 5%, heavy shields are 15%, and tower shields are 50%. Light and heavy shields, and tower shields, can be made from wood or steel... therefore a mithril light shield has no ASF, while a mithril heavy shield has 5%.
Hmm...on second thought, wouldn't QSA only be able to affect only 1 set mode of the SLA?
Quicken Spell-Like Ability wrote:
Quicken Spell-Like Ability Source Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 1 (Amazon)
This creature can use one of its spell-like abilities with next to no effort.
Prerequisites: Spell-like ability at CL 10th or higher.
Benefit: Choose one of the creature’s spell-like abilities, subject to the restrictions described in this feat. The creature can use the chosen spell-like ability as a quickened spell-like ability three times per day (or less, if the ability is normally usable only once or twice per day).
Using a quickened spell-like ability is a swift action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The creature can perform another action—including the use of another spell-like ability (but not another swift action)—in the same round that it uses a quickened spell-like ability. The creature may use only one quickened spell-like ability per round.
The creature can only select a spell-like ability duplicating a spell with a level less than or equal to 1/2 its caster level (round down) – 4. For a summary, see the table below.
A spell-like ability that duplicates a spell with a casting time greater than 1 full round cannot be quickened.
Spell Level Caster Level to Empower Caster Level to Quicken
0 4th 8th
1st 6th 10th
2nd 8th 12th
3rd 10th 14th
4th 12th 16th
5th 14th 18th
6th 16th 20th
7th 18th —
8th 20th —
9th — —
Normal: The use of a spell-like ability normally requires a standard action (at the very least) and provokes an attack of opportunity.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, the creature can apply it to a different one of its spell-like abilities. Or would it grow over time, and still wind up capping at SM6?
From the Summon Monster ability: Quote: At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the power of this ability increases by one spell level, allowing him to summon more powerful creatures (to a maximum of summon monster IX at 17th level). At 19th level, this ability can be used as gate or summon monster IX. Summon Monster grows with your level, and Q.SLA will operate as the spell Summon Monster is copying.
...come to think of it, there's actually a different problem that might come up. If you can't "downrank" the SLA, then it'd be possible for the ability to "outgrow" the feat completely. Maybe it'd be better to just avoid it for simplicity's sake.
Sandslice wrote: From the Summon Monster ability: Quote: At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the power of this ability increases by one spell level, allowing him to summon more powerful creatures (to a maximum of summon monster IX at 17th level). At 19th level, this ability can be used as gate or summon monster IX. Summon Monster grows with your level, and Q.SLA will operate as the spell Summon Monster is copying.
...come to think of it, there's actually a different problem that might come up. If you can't "downrank" the SLA, then it'd be possible for the ability to "outgrow" the feat completely. Maybe it'd be better to just avoid it for simplicity's sake. That's what I was thinking; my gut instinct is since the feat basically caps at lv 6 spells, it would cap the ability at Summon Monster 6 as far as being able to quicken it. That of course assumes the feat doesn't snapshot the SLA when you take the feat. >.<
It would be broken if it didn't care what the SLA was actually trying to cast though...quickened SM9's and gates would be horrible.
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