I'm liking this Skald I've been working on but almost none of the rage powers appeal to me. They all seem very limited and lacklustre except the anti-magic/magic-user ones like Superstitious, Witch Hunter, Spell Sunder etc. however I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out how it would make sense for a Skald, who is a magic-user in his own right, to have these powers.
The best I've come up with so far is the rather uninspired notion that my character is an exceptionalist of the worst sort. He is worthy of magic, no one else is; his magic is safe, helpful, useful whereas that other guy's magic is dangerous, mischievous, troublesome. Maybe it's a version of devouring your enemy's heart--my guy believes he grows stronger by destroying your magic, that sort of thing. This isn't exactly grabbing me though and I'm feeling pretty blocked for any other reasoning.
Does anyone have any interesting suggestions to build upon my idea or even any completely new ideas they'd be willing to share? I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter
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Well, in real superstitious cultures, it's common for them to have no problem with magic per se, their problem is with strangers (especially those from groups they dislike or distrust) using magic on them. And, really, the Rage Powers in question bear this out.
So a skald could see himself as a tribal shaman of sorts, protecting his friends from the (at least possibly) foul and corrupt magic of enemies and outsiders while giving them the beneficial magics he excels at.
As another alternative, the Beast Totem line of Rage Powers is excellent, providing a bonus to everyone's AC and pounce to everybody. Lesser Celestial Totem is also excellent, especially with dedicated healers in the group and if everyone takes Fey Foundling, and the invisibility purge provided by Celestial Totem itself is solid as well.
The Linnorm Curse powers are also excellent if combined with summoning magic. Your summons die and the fools who killed them get cursed. :)
Yeah, I concur: totems and curses are the best paths. If your GM allows Unchained rage powers, though, holy crap, Accurate or Powerful Stance with the upgrades are amazing--they make Inspired Rage almost flat out better than Inspire Courage.
I can also really vouch for our Lesser Celestial Totem + Path of Glory. My party's Barbarian is the main muscle and has totally given up AC in favor of accuracy, damage, and HP. At level 11, has 200 HP raging, but he gets hit by absolutely everything my Bard's Blur doesn't cancel. I finally got him to take Lesser Celestial Totem, and now, I can heal him for 132 HP with a second level spell.
If you have a good archer on the team, Scent is actually a good one since Pheremone Arrows will effectively put you at or sometimes above Inspire Courage levels for strength attackers. It also helps out the dex characters a little.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I had overlooked a lot of good stuff apparently. I won't be primary healer and intend to wade right into combat as much as I can so the Spirit Totem line looks like the best fit for that. The curses are nasty for sure but not really that suited for this character.
Here's what I've got. Without gear.
Half-orc skald 12 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 49)
CN Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 99 (12d8+36)
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +9; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge; DR 1/—
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee heavy flail +13/+8 (1d10+6/19-20)
Special Attacks rage powers (spirit totem, spirit totem, greater, spirit totem, lesser, strength surge +12), raging song 27 rounds/day (move action; dirge of doom, inspired rage, song of marching, song of strength), spell kenning 2/day
Skald Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +14)
4th (3/day)—cure critical wounds, dimension door, discordant blast[APG], freedom of movement
3rd (4/day)—beacon of luck, displacement, good hope, haste
2nd (6/day)—cure moderate wounds, gallant inspiration[APG] (DC 14), glitterdust (DC 14), heroism, mirror image
1st (6/day)—cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, grease, liberating command[UC], touch of gracelessness[APG] (DC 13), vanish[APG] (DC 13)
0 (at will)—detect magic, ghost sound (DC 12), mage hand, message, prestidigitation, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +9; CMB +13; CMD 25
Feats Arcane Strike, Endurance, Expanded Spell Kenning, Greater Skald's Vigor[ACG], Power Attack, Reckless Rage[ACG], Scribe Scroll, Skald's Vigor[ACG]
Traits reactionary, trunau native
Skills Acrobatics -2 (-6 to jump), Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +11, Knowledge (engineering) +6, Knowledge (geography) +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Knowledge (planes) +11, Knowledge (religion) +11, Perception +10, Perform (oratory) +15, Perform (percussion instruments) +9, Perform (sing) +15, Spellcraft +10; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Orc
SQ bardic knowledge +6, lore master 1/day, orc blood, rage powers, versatile performances (oratory, percussion, sing)
Other Gear breastplate, heavy flail, 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bardic Knowledge +6 (Ex) Add +6 to all knowledge skill checks.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Expanded Spell Kenning Select spell kenning spell from druid or witch spell list.
Greater Skald's Vigor Allies share fast healing from Skald's Vigor.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Lv >=16) (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 16+.
Lore Master (1/day) (Ex) Can take 10 on any trained knowledge checks. Activate to take 20 as a standard action.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage Powers (Ex) Skald rage powers affect self and allies under inspired rage.
Raging Song (move action, 27 rounds/day) (Su) Song can inspire allies in a variety of ways.
Skald's Vigor (Fast healing 4) While maintain raging song, gain Fast Healing 4.
Spell Kenning (2/day) (Su) Spend a skald spell to duplicate a bard, cleric, or sorcerer/wizard spell.
Spirit Totem (Su) While raging, 20% concealment from non-adjacent attacks.
Spirit Totem, Greater (Su) Adjacent creatures take 1d8 damage at the beginning of your action.
Spirit Totem, Lesser (+11, 1d8+2, 15' reach) (Su) Spirits attack 1/round at +11 to hit, dealing 1d8+2 negative energy damage with 15' reach.
Strength Surge +12 (1/rage) (Ex) As an imm action, gain a bonus to one STR check, CMB or CMD.
Versatile Performance (Oratory) +15 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Oratory skill for Diplomacy or Sense Motive checks
Versatile Performance (Percussion Instruments) +9 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Percussion Instruments skill for Handle Animal or Intimidate checks
Versatile Performance (Singing) +15 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks
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World Serpent is another great one, based around your job being to keep out all those annoying outsiders and aberrations.
the first two powers would give +2 AC, +2 save vs outsiders and aberations, and the whole party's weapons would count as all alignments for bypassing DR.
Eh, if they have cloaks of resistance the bonus to saves isn't gonna stack since it's the same type. Still all good to have if the campaign is outsider/aberration heavy.