Best Knowledge based class


Advice

Shadow Lodge

I'm thinking of a character for pfs with a based on a sexy librarian trope but am having some problems deciding which class to go with. Choices are (so far) some sort of witch, archeologist bard, arcanist, lore mystery oracle. Don't think I want to go wizard.

Any other suggestions?


Baaaaaard.

But seriously, Bard.

Lore Warden Fighter is maybe-ish, but probably not. Sage Wildblooded Sorcerer, maybe. There's also Cloistered Cleric, but trust me, you don't want to do that to your team.

Most of the trope is a matter of roleplaying.


Investigator. Gets all the knowledge skills, gets inspiration, and as a 6+int skill class that's also Int based, you'll have tons of skill ranks. If you want to be a "sexy" librarian, you could use the Psychic investigator archetype in Occult adventures, and pick up some charm spells.


Oracle of Lore gives you both the Knowledges and the Sexy

Grand Lodge

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I'm a sexy librarian in real life, and I'm pretty sure that my real life Pathfinder class is bard. (I use "Perform Oratory" for storytime, and bardic knowledge for reference questions, and I can inspire people to reach for their dreams and learn new skills.)

Just about any bard archetype that keeps bardic knowledge intact would make a good sexy librarian. I'm quite fond of the new Flamedancer Bard archetype for PFS -- combine that third level bardic performance with a wand of obscuring mist. Awesome! It also keeps inspire courage so that you can inspire the whole table instead of just yourself.

I would also agree with the Lore Oracle recommendation -- they have some wonderful revelations for skill junkies. You can do Lore Oracle with Psychic Searcher Archetype to get inspiration dice on top of Lore Oracle goodies. I'm running a psychic searcher archetype on my lunar oracle, Bobbi, and she's awesome at delivering skills. Having inspiration dice to both sense motive and diplomacy is lovely, and she gets it to most of the important knowledges too.

Hmm

Silver Crusade

Mindchemist archetype Alchemists get double their int bonus to knowledge checks. Its kinda obscene; even if Alchemists don't get the greatest class skill list.


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The bard archetype Archivist.


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I recommend the shaman of the heavens. While not as bookish or lore fancy you can add your wisdom to charisma skills at night letting you leverage the sexy brains when you let your hair down after hours.

Heavens also gives you a pet that can fly and looks like space. I'm not sure how that fits into the sexy librarian theme, but it's pretty much the silliest thing ever.

You can also grab lore as your wandering spirit and grab the wisdom to intelligence checks thingy, or swap to the wandering hex that lets you grab some wizard spells.

Also, see if your DM is cool with a halfling based Aasimar so you can be small wise and appealing.

Also there's this:"A shaman who selects the heavens spirit has eyes that sparkle like starlight, exuding an aura of otherworldliness to those she is around."

So you end up being a very wise and mysterious person who shushes people to sleep by day and gets super sexy at night. All the while riding around on your space-colored, flying, mauler-archetype fox.

and if you don't do it, I will.


Arcanist and Wizard can cover them all very well. Class skills and Int as main stat puts them easily at a 9 modifier (5 Int mod + class skills +1 rank)in all knowledge skills without much effort.
But if you want to push it further, Investigator is your way to go. I don't find Bards being exceptionally good at it, as they need to wait for high levels to compensate for their lowered Int.


Sage Sorcerer does it as well, basically any primary Int based class will do it well.

If you don't care about monster knowledge then Lore Oracle is the best, just grab Focused Trance for a +20 bonus to one roll Charisma mod times per day. Note it doesn't work if you switch the skill to Charisma based as Focused Trance only works on Int skills.


Hmm wrote:

I'm a sexy librarian in real life, and I'm pretty sure that my real life Pathfinder class is bard. (I use "Perform Oratory" for storytime, and bardic knowledge for reference questions, and I can inspire people to reach for their dreams and learn new skills.)

Just about any bard archetype that keeps bardic knowledge intact would make a good sexy librarian. I'm quite fond of the new Flamedancer Bard archetype for PFS -- combine that third level bardic performance with a wand of obscuring mist. Awesome! It also keeps inspire courage so that you can inspire the whole table instead of just yourself.

I would also agree with the Lore Oracle recommendation -- they have some wonderful revelations for skill junkies. You can do Lore Oracle with Psychic Searcher Archetype to get inspiration dice on top of Lore Oracle goodies. I'm running a psychic searcher archetype on my lunar oracle, Bobbi, and she's awesome at delivering skills. Having inspiration dice to both sense motive and diplomacy is lovely, and she gets it to most of the important knowledges too.

Hmm

^ Shes right you know

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Hmm wrote:

I would also agree with the Lore Oracle recommendation -- they have some wonderful revelations for skill junkies. You can do Lore Oracle with Psychic Searcher Archetype to get inspiration dice on top of Lore Oracle goodies. I'm running a psychic searcher archetype on my lunar oracle, Bobbi, and she's awesome at delivering skills. Having inspiration dice to both sense motive and diplomacy is lovely, and she gets it to most of the important knowledges too.

Hmm

Also be aware that the ACG errata changed the Inspiration pool from Wisdom to Charisma-based, so it's less MAD. However you still have only a moderate amount of skill points, so you'll wand a pretty decent Int.

What do you want to do in combat besides identify the monsters?


Not sure what races are legal for PFS, but Catfolk get a favored class bonus of +1/2 bardic knowledge. They also have alternative racial trait curiosity that gives bonus to some knowledge’s.

Also half orcs with improved monster lore end up with a +1 per level to Identify monsters if they use their half orc favored class bonus. This is in addition to getting both CHA and INT to the skill.

Grand Lodge

Catfolk are fun, but they were an auction race boon, so I think there are only 2 catfolk in all of PFS. They're rarer than goblins...

Hmm


Psychic Searcher Lore Oracle with VMC Bard ?


Whatever build you go with, consider a worshiper of Irori. The Deific Obedience boon for Irori is +4 on all Knowledge Checks.

And the Breadth of Experience feat (for gnomes, elves, and dwarves over 100 years old) gives you +2 on all Knowledge, Craft, and Profession checks, and it lets you make them untrained.

By third level you could be adding +6 to whatever else your build gives you.

Grand Lodge

Gwen, I forgot about that Irori deific obedience! I should totally take that on Bobbi. And Irori's focus on balance and self-improvement might appeal to Bobbi, who is totally seeking some form of balance to her chaotic life... Oh, I like it!

Irori Deific Obedience wrote:
Over the course of 1 hour, spend an equal amount of time practicing with a weapon or your unarmed strikes, reading any text that you have never read before, and braiding a length of hair while contemplating the mysteries of the multiverse. Hang the length of hair around your neck when your obedience is complete and wear it for the rest of the day. Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on all Knowledge checks. The type of bonus depends on your alignment—if you’re neither good nor evil, you must choose either sacred or profane the first time you perform your obedience, and this choice can’t be changed.

Besides, getting an extra +4 for braiding my hair, practicing with my weapon and reading new books? Awesome.

Sexy librarians look great with french braids.

And back to the original poster: I sincerely hoping that your Sexy Librarian will be in Dark Archives. Para Countess Zarta will tell you that all the most scrumptious librarians are in her faction.

Hmm

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Is variant multiclassing legal in PFS?

If so, a mindchemist with the amateur investigator feat and VMC bard... you get Int x2 to all knowledges (augmented by cognatogen when needed), plus 1/2 your level as a bonus on all of them, and you can add 1d6 inspiration to them Int times/day. there's also several extracts that boost knowledge checks.

Take the Student of Philosophy trait to make diplomacy and bluff Int based and not only are you a sexy librarian but you accomplish that not through force of personality but by being smart enough to know exactly what to say/do to manipulate others.

Grand Lodge

Variant multi-classing is not legal in PFS.

Hmm


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variant multiclassing is not legal in PFS

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

drat.

in that case, just add amateur investigator to any of the other ideas.

Shadow Lodge

ErichAD wrote:

and if you don't do it, I will.

One of my favorite characters came from just such a recommendation in which I just ran with it. By all means build it.

Race wise, I'm thinking half elf/orc, who grew up in an academic environment, but who was sometimes seen as much as a curiosity as a person and as a result took refuge in the stacks.

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nate lange wrote:

drat.

in that case, just add amateur investigator to any of the other ideas.

But Amateur Investigator doesn't give free inspiration rolls on anything. So unless you have a high-Int class like a Wizard, it doesn't go far.

Grand Lodge

I went Psychic Searcher Archetype back when it was wisdom-based, figuring that it would be only useful for the free inspiration dice. But the free inspiration to skills is very, very powerful. I made a diplomacy roll yesterday on a nat 2 roll, because I had a high diplomacy skill and inspiration dice. Being able to add inspiration dice freely to skills is far more powerful than amateur investigator feat with its limited uses.

When Psychic Searcher changed to being charisma-based with the ACG errata, I was THRILLED. Now I have some extra inspiration that I can use for saves. Awesome!

Hmm

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

RainyDayNinja wrote:
But Amateur Investigator doesn't give free inspiration rolls on anything. So unless you have a high-Int class like a Wizard, it doesn't go far.

fair enough- add it to any of the Int based other ideas. I had a mindchemist with it (before VMC was a thing) and his knowledges were pretty out of control.

Shadow Lodge

Hmm wrote:


And back to the original poster: I sincerely hoping that your Sexy Librarian will be in Dark Archives. Para Countess Zarta will tell you that all the most scrumptious librarians are in her faction.

Hmm

And I am sure she has a recommended reading list.

I was planning on it. Since I've talked about it I'm going away from bard (I have a 2nd level bard in PFS whose a cheerleader) and will probably be an Investigator or Oracle.


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Kerney wrote:
Hmm wrote:


And back to the original poster: I sincerely hoping that your Sexy Librarian will be in Dark Archives. Para Countess Zarta will tell you that all the most scrumptious librarians are in her faction.

Hmm

And I am sure she has a recommended reading list.

I was planning on it. Since I've talked about it I'm going away from bard (I have a 2nd level bard in PFS whose a cheerleader) and will probably be an Investigator or Oracle.

Like with most librarians, just start with the banned reading list.

Grand Lodge

Is this really a debate?

Wizards and Investigator have best Knowledge's.

I would say bard but they are a CHA class and typically don't get higher than a 12 Int. Pageant of the peacock is not legal in PFS so Bards will not beat out the Int classes on knowledge checks. Sure you can make them untrained as a bard but doing so you will have a hard time matching the Int caster with actual ranks in the skill.


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Fruian Thistlefoot wrote:

Is this really a debate?

Wizards and Investigator have best Knowledge's.

I would say bard but they are a CHA class and typically don't get higher than a 12 Int. Pageant of the peacock is not legal in PFS so Bards will not beat out the Int classes on knowledge checks. Sure you can make them untrained as a bard but doing so you will have a hard time matching the Int caster with actual ranks in the skill.

Investigator, maybe.

Wizards get 2 + int mod, while Bards get 6 + Int mod. Generally start about the same value, with Wizards gradually gaining as they invest more in Int.

The bard's bonus from level will mostly make up for the difference in attribute by about 8th to 12th level, depending on how focused the Wizard is on Int.

In my experience, Wizards tend to have one or two knowledge skills maxed and a single point in others just so they can roll on them. Bards will generally have them more spread out, but don't need any points in order to roll on them.

Wizard wins on his one or two knowledges, while the Bard wins on the rest.

Investigator is going to have a lot more skill points, being Int based and having a base of 6. They are frequently going to put at least one rank in each knowledge just to be able to roll and use their inspiration die. I expect that in those skills they concentrate effort they will totally dominate the skill rolls. It now is a question of how many of the knowledge skills they will put lots of ranks in.

I haven't seen enough different people build investigators to have a good feel for how most do it. My guess is that they would be slightly ahead on monster indentification skill rolls and behind on the others.

Grand Lodge

Part of the debate is how to get the sexy in with the knowledges. Although smarts are always sexy, most wizards tank the social skills.

Hmm


A Catfolk Archeologist bard with a single level dip into oracle of lore is going to have the absolute highest knowledge skills in the game. You could even dump INT and still have a better roll than a wizard. Assuming both characters take both Scholar and Skill Focus and focus all their points on knowledge skills the Catfolk Archeologist Bard still beats out the Wizard.

With no magic items and only using class abilities and the spell heroism the 10th level archeologist bard maxes out at +44 in knowledge history, where the elven wizard is limited to +31. The bard lowest knowledge skill is at +23 assuming they put at least one point into it. The wizard can max out all skill so has a +21 in all knowledge skills that are not covered by the feats. The bards skills do drop down to +20 if he is not using Archeologist luck.

The bard can also take 10 on any knowledge skill and once a day take 20.


Hmm wrote:

Part of the debate is how to get the sexy in with the knowledges. Although smarts are always sexy, most wizards tank the social skills.

Hmm

Wizards have no need of mere [waves hand dismissively] charisma.

Shadow Lodge

Tell me what you think.

Half Orc Arcanist

Str 7
Dex 12
Con 12
Int 18 or 19 (4th level to 20)
Wis 10
Cha 16 or 15 (8th level to 16)

or

Str 8
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 18
Wis 10
Cha 14

Alternate racial traits
Fey Magic?: Select 3 0 level and 1 first level druid spells as special abilities in chosen terrain.

Fey Thoughts (1 RP): Select two of the following skills: Diplomacy, Perception in my case.

Skilled: Half-orcs with this trait gain 1 additional skill rank per level. This racial trait replaces darkvision.

Burning Assurance: Half-orcs with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks. This racial trait replaces the intimidating racial trait. Source BOG

Feat: Toughness


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Kerney,

You had said this was for PFS.

Additional Resources, Heroes of the Wild wrote:
Traits: all traits on pages 3-7 are legal for play, except fey thoughts.

As for attribute array, I would go with the second one.

Shadow Lodge

BretI wrote:

Kerney,

You had said this was for PFS.

Additional Resources, Heroes of the Wild wrote:
Traits: all traits on pages 3-7 are legal for play, except fey thoughts.
As for attribute array, I would go with the second one.

And I just looked that up.

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