I have some time before our next session for the main home-brew that our group has been playing for about a year, while we play a side thing for a couple sessions. As far as in-game time goes, we decided on 3 months. Now I'm playing a crafting focused wizard, who builds constructs as his main combat role, so this extra time is a godsend. I play a utility focused role, and try to keep my buddies alive by being a problem solver/strategist, rather then a dpr or anvil/de-buffer. My PC himself really doesn't do a whole lot, and positions himself to react to threats that are directed towards our back-line Shaman PC. I use my construct as my "stinger" so to speak.
Up to this point I've only managed to build 1 construct. Simple soul-bound mannequin, with poisoned claws, flying, and 2 reactionary SLA's(mud-ball + stone-shield). In combat, I'm pretty versatile because 1. I'm a wizard, and 2. i have more rounds in combat than anyone else because of the extra bodies i command. This makes combat more varied, and fun. As such, i decided to do some combat analysis to help me decide how i want to spend these 3 months of free crafting time. My goal behind these constructs is to let my party members do what they do best. Each has there own strengths, and i want to find ways of letting them turn on the gas in combat, while i work in the background subtly making sure everything runs smoothly.
3 parts, run-down of PC choices and observations, combat description/example, then some construct ideas. The group as a whole deals with combat effectively, and dealing damage isn't an issue. Therefore i want to make sure they live during combat, rather than focus on dealing damage/help them deal damage. To note, this doesnt mean im making a specific construct for each party member to help them. I dont know how many im going to make, but im thinking about what they should do, then ill mix and match abilites to make full constructs.
-legal custom construct rules using average CR of level to determine balance-
5 players - dpr Bloodrager - CM Monk - Base Alchemist - Blaster Shaman - Construct Wizard
I'll start with this guy because he is always on the frontline and demands respect in combat. Basic buff, run up, and full-round till there dead type play style. Chose draconic bloodline for some extra resists + a nifty breath weapon if needed. Positioning wise, he finds either the closest one, or the meanest one and gets close to start slugging it out. Being a bloodrager, he obviously has one of the highest, if not the highest dpr in the group, and as such is his only goal in combat, which is to be expected(good thing). Though this leads to one-dimensional play that can, and has been, easily exploited by the GM. Regardless, because of how the PC was built, and the environment in which we play, he rarely is on the losing side of a brawl, and more often than not will be a key factor in how long combat encounters last.
Martial blood-rager runs into a group of mobs and starts cleaving, doing serious damage but taking serious damage in return. Within 3 rounds he's on his last leg, and surrounded on all but 1 space. He will die this round. I send my construct charging to bull-rush one side, hitting 3 out of the way. The construct has no feats, but gets the move off for 5ft and clears a small space for me to swoop in behind him, grab all 3 of us, and dimension door to safety.
The obvious choice for helping him out, would be a flanking partner. But with how combat has been going, the PC is really strong, and increasing his dpr isn't going to be my main goal. I'd say the weakness of this PC is his survivability, and ability to escape sticky situations like the example above. There was nothing he could do to get out of that, except not be poorly positioned in the first place. With that said, there's honestly too many answers to that problem for me to start listing them out, and those options are all secondary monster abilities(meaning few of them should be a constructs primary goal in combat). I did the only thing i could do in that situation to make sure the PC didn't die, but it wasn't my first choice. I would much rather keep this beast of a PC on the front-line as long as i can. I'm just going to make sure i have a construct that has the ability to do what the 1st one did if things get really messy, but better as well as having some additional methods of helping the PC. All this will be secondary though, but it should fit in with what the constructs positioning will look like. It will be a mid-ranger, 1-2 move actions away from the PC, doing a primary action, but being in the position to help if needed.
That being said, taking into account how the group usually positions as a whole, this PC is unpredictable when it comes to how he decides to approach combat. Not in terms of actions, or strategy(those are telegraphed every time, buff/kill), but actual attitude and approach. Making a construct who will base it's actions/positioning on this PCs unpredictable positioning sounds like a bad idea, considering the amount of money i have access to has a limit obviously, and can be spent elsewhere just as easily.
Half-Giant CM focused monk. Typical strategy is to pick the meanest looking guy, and put him in a headlock. The monk utilizes multiple CM per round, and so he has a lot of freedom on how he wants to handle a particular mob. His strength is that he has a to-be-expected level of CMB, and has a respectable success rate on these moves against mobs. Plus he tanks with the best of them, rarely gets to worry-some level health. Down sides are single target, absolutely no range, and trouble against high CR mobs. Meaning his PC has high success against an enemy, if said enemy has a few friends(lowering the average CR of each mob), but low success if we are fighting BBEG. What this means is as a player he is finding little impact on the overall battle on either extreme, whether it be a big battle, or one scary enemy. It's worth noting that as a player, even though he is fairly new and has less game knowledge in terms of actual mechanics, he is very creative when it comes to positioning, and utilizes it thoroughly to make up for the fact that he literally has no impact on anything farther than 5ft.
1st: The group gets ready as an enemy pack approaches while in a forest. He puts his PC in a tree, far in-front of the rest of us, and waits for them to pass and engage with the bloodrager, then drops on the "alpha," and gets to work.
2nd: When fighting a dragon, it finally lands conveniently close to both our melee monsters in the group. Bloodrager is swinging away, but this PC has trouble landing any maneuver on it, which is to be expected. Yet he doesn't have any backup actions or options to turn to. On the plus, he rarely gets hit, and when he does the PC has quite the HP reservoir, so is fine.
This PC is having drastically different issues than the Bloodrager above, pretty much opposite problems. PC never gets close to dieing, and positioning is easily his strong suite(which i love), but he's having issues on impacting extreme instances of CR distribution. So i think a way we can help our friend here is to give him both buffs, and options. Constructs can use SLA's, but they aren't effective offensive tools because of the low DC's. This isn't an issue if we use buffing spells. Enlarge person + bull str are the obvious choices. That will improve the maneuver issue a bit. As far as many little mobs, we can take advantage of his positioning in combat as a way for a smaller, splash damage oriented construct to go(its worth noting that my PC is a Spellslinger, so i have access to firearms at a cheap price). Picture an enlarged half giant with a homunculus on his shoulder that can heal/buff him or use a short-range breath weapon, or an animated double shotgun that can hit a cone.
That being said, i don't think damage is a goal that's inline with what this PC is trying to accomplish, so maybe just the buffing + maybe i can make him fly so he do some aerial combat maneuvers.
Human Base alchemist with some unorthodox discovery and feat choices. This PC is going many different directions. For discoveries he's picked extra arm twice, combine poison, and acid bomb. For feats he has martial/exotic wep prof plus some other basics. As far as positioning goes, he's very aware, and honestly really vocal in an encounter about what he wants to see happen, and doesn't do anything recklessly. The PC stays mid-range, about 20-40ft away from the frontliners. He used to mutagen out more, and use his bastard sword that he sunk 2 feats for, but as of late he's been utilizing vanilla bombs a bunch.
For this PC I'm not giving a specific combat scenario or an example that's happened. I'll generalize what he does each encounter/mindset that he keeps while playing the PC that I've noticed.
All of us know how to play our PC's, so the setup always falls into 3 sections. Frontliners - Midrange - Casters. First two PCs upfront, this PC midranging usually with my current construct in the area, then me and Shaman way far back. He is pretty situational y vocal, meaning we all obviously see whats going on and have an idea what we'll do, but he actually says it out and tells us what we should do. All metagameing aside, atleast this just shows that he's thinking of it like a chessboard or something and he wants to make logical choices. Cool. So whether it be muting out to help relieve pressure up front, or using move's and bombs to get "free" damage on enemies, he pretty much always makes the "right" choice. Meaning little to no risk, for reward.
There's two things that come to mind that will help this PC be better at what he does. First one, is since he uses bombs quite a bit, he usually has to gets within a couple increments to "guarantee" a hit. He's usually about 30-40 ft out, which if you think about it is pretty close considering the fact that if he's throwing bombs, this means he wants to avoid a melee fight. That's maybe 1 move action for a standard bad guy, and the melee monsters in the bestiary can move faster than that usually. To alleviate this, i can animate a launching crossbow to let him deal damage much farther away. Not only that, but the construct would be better at hitting with the wep due to its BAB alone + everything else. Only problem, when considering price:payout, this is a pretty crap option. Its expensive, situational, and wouldn't be good at anything other than chucking bombs.
2nd idea is construct armor. This PC doesn't use arcane magic obviously, so spell failure isn't an issue. The only reason he doesn't wear some heavier armor is the lack of proficiency. Therefore, i can make a beefy, DR/SR/resist HP stacking construct whose sole purpose is to soak damage, and it can throw itself on the PC, and basically be a big sponge. Not only that, but my PC can heal a construct way better, and at a range, then healing a living creature. So i can keep him healthier. Same thing though, price:payout. It'll be expensive but worth it in terms of what it'll prevent. But this player is very mindful of his positioning and is rarely in any danger, so something that will easily triple his survivability wouldn't have as much impact as some might think at first glance. That being said, its more flexible than the first option because of the fact that it can protect anyone. The only other PC that wouldnt get hindered by something like this is the monk, but just cause it gives you spell failure doesnt mean you arnt proficient in wearing a construct. Meaning, i can let the bloodrager PC buff himself, then put it on him, then go to work. Its more a flex option, but again, expensive.
Full scaling Grippli shaman spell caster who focuses on dishing out damage at an extreme range. In terms of range increments in 40ft chunks, melee: 0, mid: 1, casters: 3-5. This PC i think has gotten hit maybe 1-2 times every 5 sessions with multiple combat encounters per session. Literally. He never takes damage due to our party comp, the way he built the PC, and his superb positioning. Also in terms of spell selection, its all varied and thought out, but still follows the same vein of what he wants this PC to accomplish. He's a blaster, and has a multitude of spells to choose from, plus a spell rod that increases that number by id say 25%. Even though the PC rarely gets hit, he still has respectable survivability, and ways of staying out of reach. The only weakness i can really think of among the multitude of strengths this PC has, is if it ever finds itself in melee with a high CR mob(which has yet to happen in the actual campaign) it has no way of bailing itself out. He plays the PC superbly though, so we have yet to see him get caught out by something that's not easily dispatched with. On top of that, if he ever does get caught, its my job to bail him out quickly. Which is how i play my PC anyways.
Its also worth noting that even with 5 people in our group, the only dedicated dpr PC's are the Bloodrager and this Shaman(when i say "only," we still have an, in my opinion, almost ridiculous amount of damage we are capable of doing as a group). The way combat usually works is keeping those 2 up and well positioned to do the most damage(rager in melee with multiple mobs, shaman hitting clumps of evils at a safe distance).
I think it's pretty self explanatory. Easy positioning, very mindful of when to use splash spells vs single target vs line spells. Being forced to stay grounded has sometimes popped up as an issue(wood spirit allows air walk occasionally but other than that he stays grounded) due to the fact that friendly fire can become a problem when you have 3 PC's in front of you at all times. He's very mindful though, and pretty much always has other options if there's no direct LOS.
Now I'm going to go more flavor on this one to prevent me from falling into the trap of "min-maxing" to hard. It would be to simple to make this PC an unstoppable flying-full-round action blaster by having a construct dedicated to making him untouchable and spending all its actions keeping him moving as well as having deflection/reactionary abilities and feats to keep ranged attacks and spells from hitting this PC. As i said though, he doesn't really need it because of how smart/efficient the player himself is in combat scenarios. So instead, let's paint a picture. Imagine this.
"The Grippli King, Itzel, stands in the middle of the battlefield, as chaos swirls around him. Calmly and swiftly, not moving at all, he blasts out fire, and electricity from his hands and rod, melting any and every enemy that stands in his sights. Man and beast alike try and sprint at him, desperate to get close just trying to lay a hand on him to stop his onslaught of destruction. They get blasted back, shot apart, disintegrated and charred in packs at a time. None can get close, and he knows this. The little Grippli shaman holds so much power in his little body that nothing scares or intimidates his royal highness. Behind him, to his right, stands Jack just watching the battle unfold before him with his Puppet construct standing mirrored on the other side of his majesty."
That's a big open area battle that happened recently, and it was awesome. My PC and his construct really didn't do anything and i loved it. I literally just stood behind this PC and watched him blast destruction everywhere. Out of the 10+ rounds that happened, i did maybe 1-2 actions to try to help out a few other members, but i was just in awe of this shaman. The battle itself was a little long because of the scale of it, but nothing could get close to this guy at all, and not for lack of trying either. Knowing that this was his time to shine on a whole other level than us, i positioned myself to be a protective trump card to make sure he could keep blasting.
Anyways (all this is flavor, so obviously i know there's better options on paper to compliment this shaman, but he clearly doesn't need any help)
Onto what I'm thinking what my PC can make that could further improve/protect this shaman while still being fun and adding fresh mechanics that our campaign hasn't really used. I wanna make a burrowing, trap laying, sensory/stealth construct. Once he got underground, he would be really hard to detect. Give him some sensory abilities + scrying so i can see what he's up to. And just for flavor, when the battle commences and Itzel the Grippli King plants his little feet ready to blast away, this construct tunnels and gets to work setting up a perimeter of traps and such that's hard to detect, as well as being a nice sentry to make sure nothing slips through undetected to try and stealth up to our King, ya know? Nothing can get close to him if we see it, that's obvious. Only other option is to try and ambush/surprise him, or stealth up. So this is a way to counter that a bit.
When i started making this PC, constructs is all i had in my mind. To make this work well, i decided on Wizard, so my strategy and mindset are reflected on that. I've only recently hit the PC level that lets me really make some cool constructs, and so my combat strategy has changed from basic wizard anvil for 7 levels, to god wizard with these humanoid objects he makes and controls. I play a more hands-off role, meaning i don't initiate, or set the pace of a fight at all. More like, i conform to however the fight is being played out, and i steer it into the right direction.
Being a crafter, the PC has the ability to make wonder items cheap(used on flying boots). So my main positioning choice has been flying as a way to avoid damage all together as best as i can + ring of evasion. My AC is the lowest in the group by a ton, but i decrease the sting of this by stacking health as best as wizard can. favored-class bonus/feats/decent con score/etc. This PC's strength lies in extending fights by avoiding damage, and dealing constant safe damage with the current construct who utilizes poison as a way to power down enemies while putting a timer on them. This clearly leads to a big weakness that this PC has(currently). He heavily relies on his teammates in combat to do all the "leg-work", which is reflected on how i position this PC in a fight, as well as the mindset.
Flying, full-scaling spellcaster, who is very slippery not only cause of the flying, but with the current construct's ability to help me if things get close. Being a full spellcaster and a crafter, the PC has a wide array of answers in combat to help de-buff enemies, or help friend's through spells and wands. As far as tendencies, I'm very liberal with the use of dimension door as a way to physically reposition party members.
As far as construct's that will help this PC personally, the only one i can think of is the Shield Guardian golem template. We aren't at the level in which i can make one yet, but i don't know if i will considering the only real reason i would get it is shield other. I can just put a SLA of that spell on a casting construct and call it a day. It would also extend to other players if i so desired, so being more flexible is always a plus.
In some battles in the past(rarely, but happens) my flying proves to be not enough to avoid direct confrontation, either because i get caught out away from friendlies, or I'm baiting an enemy close to our party as a trap(got in a flying race with a dragon for about 1000ft before DD away leading it towards the party). Regardless, my only real options to getting out of melee range with something while being round efficient has been Mud-ball SLA from the construct, or he bull-rushes it away from me. In terms of positioning, this means it needs to be anywhere from next to me(0ft) ---> one or two move actions away(10-80ft), while positioned defensively. Both need LOS as well. Which kinda sucks because of how i built him in the first place. It's a flying poison construct. Essentially, it's my stinger. It needs to have the freedom to fly around poisoning things, and staying mobile, not stationed as a sentry. I'm thinking i can make a ranged grappling hook construct that can physically pull something off me and drag it towards Mr Bloodrager and The Kraken up front. This way, it can be positioned in a more offensive and therefore more threatening position towards the front, allowing it to fill the roles for the first 2 PC's i've been thinking. Alternatively it can be a ranged damage oriented construct positioned farther back, but still closer than me or the Shaman, and uses that as a backup way to keep them away from the casters.
For fear of being long winded, i tried to keep the descriptions/combat short. The construct thoughts are more of ramblings, but putting them down is helping me think logically about what i can really contribute with this PCs skill-set i gave him. But I'm seeing how actually flawed most of my construct idea's are. I had them in my mind they might be cool, or fun, or downright functional. Nothing these constructs would be contributing would be game-changing. More quality of life sorts. My group plays smart in combat, so i don't need to make constructs specifically for bailing them out. Ill go at it from a different angle. Instead of dissecting my party members, lets pick at my PC a bit.
How i've been playing this PC ever since i started, way before i had even the smallest little homunculus, was a hands off, calmer role. Honestly, i just played that way because when combat is happening, i like to think of it as a scene, because it is. If the door gets kicked in while your eating dinner at an inn or something, would your first reaction be to throw a fireball the second it happens at the perp? I don't know, i wouldn't personally. I like to show restraint in combat, as in if we are clearly not in any danger, my first instinct would be to subdue one of the enemies because he's clearly not scary enough to warrant lethal action outright.
This mentality has lead me a little off-course i think in comparison to my comrades. I'm passive in combat. In almost all of combat scenarios i play basically at 5%, in a fight that warrants maybe 15%. I only turn on the gas if we need it, or someones in danger. But since my party members lowest speed is 30%+ in even a basic bar brawl, my passivity is becoming more blatant or noticeable. So let's get stylistic with him. Instead of making constructs as a separate and direct response to something we've noticed in an ally party member that we want to fix, let's give this PC more variation in combat.
What are constructs strengths and weaknesses generally?
-Actions - biggest one in my opinion. Its a whole other set of actions, per round, we have because its a separate creature. This will let us execute combos/combat-strategies much quicker.
-Shared Senses - Not a ton of them have this, but the important one does. The homunculus. At first glance its whatever, but in game it's invaluable, especially if it has senses your PC doesnt have.
-Monster Abilities - We are building constructs, not PCs. They are creatures, not players. I've fallen into this trap alot, because when making a construct it's simple to envision a class in combat and try to emulate it. Fact is, constructs are more animal, than playable classes. I love these abilities.
-Stats - raw health and BAB + base stats like str/dex and AC
-Unintelligent - for the most part
-bad saves - like really bad, but on the plus they are immune to mind affects
-low spell DCs - this is a big one. due to the fact that most constructs are unintelligent, it means they cant cast spells. A couple are intelligent and can cast a select few(but that doesn't mean high int. usually 10-11). This leads to really low spell DCs, so many spells they cast are easily avoided, negated, or deal drastically reduced damage.
Obviously the list can get more in-depth than that, but these are basic easy rules to live by when building constructs. Now this PC has all the crafting feats needed for constructs(wonder/arms-armor + gunsmithing), as well as 5 crafting skills capped out(sculpt/alchemy/armor/traps/leather). He's also a Wizard, and has access to more money than a PC at this level should really have. SO let's have fun with it.
I bought 2 scrolls of create demiplane, greater, so that i can have my own private area to work, as well as warping the passage of time so i can craft more with what i have, and i'll make a portal between both planes. Permanent. Now, this is very expensive obviously, but i have quite a bit of money, and i think it'll be worth it, for my PC specifically, in the long run.
Now onto the constructs. I have a lot of crafting time, which means many possibilities, as well as numerable constructs. So, i've been thinking of ways to make certain aspects viable.
I want my PC, Jack, to be able to carry around these constructs with him in one form or another. Whether it be concealed in his sleeves, carried in a container on his back, or stuffed in a bag attached to his waist. That way he doesn't have to bother with awkward social RP situations, plus, all meta gaming aside, enemies technically would be ignorant to my potential/options. Even if the GM does meta-game against my strategies, and all the enemies have a game-plan of what my PC is capable of, i still have many tricks up my sleeves when it comes to withholding information. Playing with perception is one of my habits. But let's get weird.
I made that Demi-plane, and i have the portal leading into it to deal with. So lets put it into a coffin or a chest that we'll keep with us as we travel, that only we know about. We could also just make it look like whatever we want, and create a construct to serve its purpose.
I picture a wooden coffin, but it looks like the ones you see in stone tombs in fantasies. Very uniform and slick. Wrapped around it is silk rope with a seal in the middle.
Actual mechanics - It's animated, so can act on its own. Its only purpose though is to protect itself, as such will have many defensive/movement oriented options we give it. It cant see, but ill give it tremor-sense/blind-sense. It can fly and burrow perfectly. Whenever threatened, not when combat starts, but actually threatened, it will get out of harms way. If combat erupts in close quarters in a forest, itll fly into the sky well out of harms way and wait. In a cave, itll go underground. I'll make it fast, and durable. Many resists/DR/hardness, plus scrying + alarm so i always know whats going on with it even if its not with me, which is never.
Defensive abilities - The seal on it will be a magical trap that when ripped will cast hold person on the thing that ripped it. High DC, expensive is not an issue, i just wanna make it really hard to avoid. Under the silk rope/bandages that cover the middle, will be explosive runes that will activate when read. If the creature manages to avoid the first seal, the second it looks at the words it'll get blasted for a lot of damage. No physical locks that i would need to spend time unlocking myself.
Whole point is to save actions. If i really really need it in combat, and need to open it for any reason, i want to have that option. Since the traps are mine, i can get past them no problem and will be able to swiftly open the container.
Snake-like constructs with the Construct Limb modification concealed within my sleeves. I have two separate constructs, one on each arm. Stack stats as high as i can to make up for the stats that this mod doesn't replace. Make them have exceptional reach, poison, multiple bites(more than one head on each), and I'm thinking either grapple/attach, or some other movement restricting option.
Regardless, I'm hoping to get the reach to the level of at least 10, hopefully even 15. With how i position Jack in a combat encounter, this will be a response option i have to stop either charging opponents, or just enemies that get to close. Because of the wording on this mod though, it uses my actions. So for the most part these snakes will be tucked away, and used defensively if needed. I just like the idea of having a physical response on my PC to melee threats heading towards me and our back-line.
Downside that's obvious but needs stating is the spell-failure. Which since I'm playing a wizard, it sounds like it'd be game breaking. but its not. I rarely cast spells in combat other than dimension door. I use spells out of combat a ton, but in combat it wont effect me negatively that much.
Homunculus constructs are one of the biggest reasons to use constructs in my opinion. Especially with how i play, they just make things so much easier and versatile. So, inline with how i envision my PC, lets make two hyper long-ranged/utility focused tiny homunculi that perch themselves on my shoulders. Use fire-ball/lighting-bolt/battering-blast or something, with feats to improve the DC, as well as quicken SLA monster feat to allow 3 burst rounds per day. As far as utility, I'll add senses to them. Blind sense or mist sight to use in conjunction with obscuring mist, whether they be cast by these, or other constructs.
These little Sages are going to be a fortune with how i have them in mind, but I'm going to do it. They seem worth it, and they fit my mind-set in combat. "Stay out of the way, and let them come to you."
A singular completely and always out of sight homunculus. I'm not using it as an extra set of senses, it serves a much different purpose, so protecting the little guy from harm is the only goal. Since it's tiny, i can really fit in anywhere, but i need it against my body and protected. Maybe i can swaddle it against my torso under my robes. Regardless here's what it does.
Teamwork feats are pretty good sometimes, but each one only works in conjunction with other beings that have this feat. Meaning i cant interact with my construct using the teamwork feat even if it has it, unless i have said feat. Which would be fine, i can ignore that and make constructs use the teamwork feats among themselves. But for fear of flooding the battlefield, and the fact that i really want to use these feats for my PC specifically, ill make this homunculus to fix the issue for me. Level 3 bard/inquisitor spell, Coordinated Effort, grants a teamwork feat that the caster possesses to a creature(multiple if close enough). Combine that with a homunculus with enough HD to get the ones i want access to, then i get said feat 1m/CL, which will last more than one encounter.
That's its regular everyday purpose that i will use in combat in conjunction with other constructs often. But here's a trump card that i've been thinking of for a while. Lets say immortality has many meanings.
This homunculus can make a soul-gem, and will make a soul-gem at the time of my death with one purpose. Inside Sanctuary will be a Soul-bound Shell construct, and is completed save one thing. A soul-gem. I have crafting bots already there that help me make things as a way to increase crafting time. They can finish it for me, just a lot slower than me. Regardless, within a day I'll be implanted into the Shell, with perfect personality and memory still intact up to the moment of my death.
I have other plans, but i've been slowly writing this for days as a way for me to try and sort out what to do with the time/money i have access to before next session. Said session is in 3 days, so i'd like some opinions/advice on what i've said. Any cool ideas? Thanks for reading
thanks Shiroi! I originally started putting ideas down for combat encounters specifically due to how my party operates, and the GM that i've played with forever. Hack n slash is the name of the game, in fact its not uncommon for us to go multiple sessions in a row of pure combat. He likes grand scale. That being said my favorite thing to do is play the story side of things.
I love the RP aspect, and dialogue side of things. I put a lot of effort into doing things low-key, so to speak, rather than using lethal action as a response to everything.
If we are winning combat, which we pretty much always are because of my party, i do some talking trying to figure stuff out if someones not a threat. This usually yields little to no results though because of the GM. Because of how he knows my party as a whole goes about stories, he has a more streamline order of events making it seem like dungeon levels more than sandbox. He needs to do this to move forward though because of our history is entirely shoot first type. Im the minority. If im trying to talk to someone, but 4 people are in a killing mood, im usually ignored as a participant.
Sensory style play is my favorite though. With homunculus im able to keep an eye of many many different things, from many angles, and make decision based on that. My PC isnt designed for pure combat like my comrades. One thing i will say though, is my group meta-games entirely too much. What this means for me though, is any information i get through my many methods which i get based on how i built my PC on purpose, my team will use. Which often times will be something i would'nt do. A lot of times because of this, a common GM posed question after he tells me stuff that my PC see's himself would be, "do you say this to your party?" Im criticized for keeping information to myself in an attempt to steer us in a particular direction. And even if i do, its pretty easy for them to come up with excuses like, "well we were going there anyways" or if i learn some juicy gossip of a assasination target, all of a sudden they wont shoot first, but will start a convo with the info only i know.
If i isolate an enemy and spend my time subduing him and talking instead of slicing his throat, or using stealth/diplomacy focused methods, my team gets all this information, and will use it how they see fit(which is often different than how i would go about things).
Ok, ramble aside. I like stealth/sensory/skill focused constructs a lot.
A homunculus has bond senses with me. I can see/hear/feel anything he can. Since custom constructs are legal in this game i can get real creative with that fact alone quite easily. They also have a flight speed, but i can also give burrow and stealth skill focuses to make them infiltration specialists.
Believe me ive thought about it a lot, but im reluctant to spend too much on constructs that will see no use, or wield no results, due to the environment in which we play.
I'd suggest, on a different note, that you beg the dm to text you information where the party would misuse your senses.
something like that would be awesome! really anything we can possibly do to help decrease the severe meta-gaming that's happening in this group would be a blessing.
I've had a couple days to come up with stuff, and i'm still stuck. I have some ideas, but nothing fits well with my PC. I don't have a main combat strategy anymore because to do a lot of the things i wanted, i had to liquidate my construct as well as the few wonder items i had.
That means no flying boots to constantly stay out of harms way, and no poison "stinger" to speak of. I'm meaning to replace them with a strategy that fits more into what i want to do, but can't settle on anything. This is what i got so far as a base for my thoughts:
Time passes differently in the demiplane than the real world. 1 day in the material plane, 10 days in the sanctuary. That gives me a lot of time to do whatever. I'm running with the Pains idea, because it fits my characters purpose. That means the transferring of my soul to a construct, with perfect memory and personality retention.
I can't decide if i want to have that as a backup strategy for if i die, or to do it willingly. The thing is, in the long time that we've played, the GM has killed a grand total of 1 PC in combat, and it was the players own fault. Sure people have been scrapped story line wise if they want to play another character or something, but in the almost year that they've played(i've played about 3-4 months) there's only been 1 legit death.
With a new body i can completely remake my whole combat strategy. It'd be way limited in the fact that it doesnt have any class levels, but id still be casting what a level 8 wizard would be, plus having all the raw base stats a good construct has. Meaning i can cast all these pre-determined spells, and i can do some martial stuff if i wanted. Also id have a bigger total HP pool than anyone in our group by a considerable amount, and all the construct immunity's would come into play(minus the mind effects). No fatigue, or disease. No need to breath, or sleep. Not that this would ever happen, but if it came down to it, with this shell alone, im pretty confident that i could win in a fight against any one of our groups PCs. Which makes me positive nothing the GM throws at us with the intention of a fight would be scary enough to worry about.
This of course comes with a monster list of draw backs that i wont go into, except the top 3. Main ones are cemented mind, saving throws, and cost. Cemented minds would take away all the bonuses of playing a wizard, with no benefits. I'd have to choose all my prepared spells at the time of creation, and there's no changing it. On top of that, i should mention, that i wont be leveling as a construct. I'd have to make a better body to keep scaling. But i can deal. Next is saving throws. With a big HP pool, if i get hit its no big deal, plus fort save doesn't really matter because for the most part ill be immune to most effects that use it. Will save is a big hindrance, because i will be becoming really really hard to kill now, and from a GM standpoint you start having to choose very specific answers to it(any mind effect, soul capturing spells, control constructs spells would work, etc). These all use Will save, which as a construct(even one with a soul) will be a crap save. Finally cost. Just the base cost of this thing is a crap ton, which is certainly to be expected. On top of that, the CR is on par with the CL of it, so i don't get to customize any abilities into it unless I'm willing to reduce my casting capabilities. Which I'm not. With the money spent on this thing, i can make a construct that would make my so called "stinger" bot look like a paper weight.
In pathfinder though there's no real way to transport constructs without them really just walking around with you, until much higher levels with call construct or the like. So i want to turn myself into a weapon. A Human Puppet so to speak
Construct recommendations:
dpr Bloodrager -- Bodyguard of large or huge size. Gives small AC bonus and denies enemy access to some fronts. Use adjacent to Bloodrager. Gives escape route since you can go through allies space.
CM Monk -- Small/Medium distracter. Gives Aid Another to Monk to assist in landing effects.
Base Alchemist -- Flying Mount. Maneuverability rules here. Make intelligent so Alchemist can give vocal commands. Flight lets the Alchemist close w/o being in melee.
Blaster Shaman -- Small strong flyer. If he needs to exit, flyer grabs him and carries him away.
Construct Wizard -- Homunculus w/See Invisible, Echolocation, Darkvision, and/or Greensight. Bump his HD to give him the feat Alertness, and/or Skill Focus(Perception). Give him an SLA of CLW 1/day to use on you if you go down. Maybe also a Dim Door.
In PF, the planar trait of altered time only goes to half/double, so you cannot get 10X without special GM version.
Have you checked the construct guide? [discussion]
/cevah