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I'm thinking about picking up some of the Reaper Miniatures iconic metal minis for use at our local lodge for when players need or would like to play a pregenerated character.
If time and money were limitless, I would like to have a mini for each of the pregens, for the sake of completion if nothing else. However I'll most likely be choosing the 6 pregens that are likely to see the most use & who contribute the most during PFS scenarios.
So I thought the best thing to do would be try and create a team of 6 pregens that a effective at each level of play, so that there is always a pregen best able to fill any given role. My party of pregens so far is:
Enora - Arcanist: Well built arcane caster, with access to all knowledge skills at 4th+.
Crowe - Bloodrager: Hits hard, tough, and fun to play.
Adowyn - Hunter: While not an optimal ranged character, she's certainly good enough at it. Oh yeah, there's also Leryn & she's a spellcaster.
Zadim - Slayer: While I personally wouldn't build a slayer this way, the dual-wielding rogue is a popular character type, and Zadim certainly does a good enough job of this.
Oloch - Warpriest: Hard hitting prepared caster that can also heal in a pinch.
Lem - Bard: My default GMPC :D
I'm very curious to hear what others favourite pregens are, and why, and what your party of pregens would look like?
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Depends a lot on who I'd have playing them. I wouldn't give Enora to a newbie, for instance, since she's quite complicated.
However, if I somehow had a table of experienced players who all wanted to play with pregens, my preferred team would be Kyra, Crowe, Jirelle (the swashbuckler), Adowyn, Enora, and Lirianne (gunslinger). This is not a team I spent a lot of time thinking about and would probably come up with a better one given time to really read the statblocks, but this is what I came up with on the spot.
It depends on yhe tone of the game. Using the old warrior, cleric, thief, magic-user, I would like:
Alain - Cavalier
Alahazra - Oracle
Quinn - Investigator
Rivani - Psychic
I think it would be a balanced party with everyone able to contribute to many aspects of the game.
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Depends on level and if the GM allows prepared casters to change spells.
Level 1 - I'll take most of the martials.
Valeros isn't bad if you ignore the TWF
Kyra's channeling is at it's best here,
Quinn for knowledges and trapfinding,
Hakon for support. Actually most of them are fine.
Level 4 - Pretty much any that I list in the level 1 or 7 are hitting their stride here.
Level 7 - Seelah good damage, self-healing, and a wand of Cure Moderate Enora more versatile than Ezren or Seoni with some really cool tricks Shardra has some hidden gems like a scroll of Breathe of Life (complex class though)
Kyra (only if you can change her spells)
Oloch again good damage output with some support ability (much better if you trade spells around)
Hakon actually really good support with decent damage if needed
Quinn is probably better than Merisiel if you need a trap spotter/knowledge monkey, but otherwise I wouldn't take either.
Kess - really very good single unit shutdown abilities built in with added versatility from Martial Flexibility (better for an experienced player)
Most of them are actually pretty decent in the right situation, but can be utterly useless in the wrong one, selections are highly dependent on party, player, and scenario IMO.
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Amiri - Barbarian: Hits hard and gets the job done
Quinn - Investigator: All the skills
Kyra - Cleric: Divine caster
Anora - Arcanist: Arcane caster
Adowyn - Hunter: Archer, plus companion to help out Amiri in the front line
Lem - Bard: Helps buff up everyone else
As well, it's a pretty well-rounded party stat-wise.
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Currently I am in a game of "The Haunting of Hinojai" that we're all playing the occult pregens. I have Rivani (and she's mostly useless in this situation).
What would my ideal set be? I dunno... but, I could see using the following... at any level.
Kyra (even if you can't change spells)
Seelah (as your hitter)
Hakon or Lem (buff support)
Arcane support is hard -- the builds are all so... situational.
No really good ranged support (would have to look at Adowyn or Zadim, I guess)
And I think generally I'd agree with Quinn over Merisiel. Too bad Zadim didn't get trapfinding and the like.
I dunno... generally, I'd just go with whatever folks wanted to play... even Harsk.
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Merisel: She is surprisingly well built for a core rogue. She can be effective and fun.
Oloch: He hits hard, can cure, and has some utility. I played through all of quest for perfection with someone playing a 4th level Oloch, and he was able to keep up with all PCs.
Kyra: She is the most common pregen for a reason.
Yoon: She is just so much fun to play. As long as you aren't going against devils.
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In most cases I would only recommend the core characters. The reason for the core are:
- CORE play mode
- Less complexity
- Keeps barrier of entry for new players lower(Removes the oh you just played this character now go buy a new book situation)
- As the older pregens are less useful it will encourage people to build their own characters
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At the very least they could sing Disney's Hi Ho! song i perfect six part harmony.... with feeling.Level 4:
Harsk
Harsk
Harsk
Harsk
Harsk
HarskJust for 6 burrowing badgers. They hold the frontline while Harsk(s) reload(s).
And they could have one person give running commentary of all of Biter's actions.
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota
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Amiri - Barbarian: Hits hard and gets the job done
Quinn - Investigator: All the skills
Kyra - Cleric: Divine caster
Enora - Arcanist: Arcane caster
Adowyn - Hunter: Archer, plus companion to help out Amiri in the front line
Lem - Bard: Helps buff up everyone elseAs well, it's a pretty well-rounded party stat-wise.
Andrew's list is excellent. My all time favorite pregen is Quinn -- skills and trapfinding!
I also love the Hayato the Samurai if you're doing an outdoors adventure. He's well rounded and fun, even without the horse.
If you want melee, Oloch and Crowe are also excellent choices, and I've had a lot of fun with Seelah the Paladin. Lem could be better built as a bard, but I simply adore him anyway because he's just so gosh darned helpful!
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Paizo staff:
Can I take a moment to give you all some pre-gen love? I've played or played alongside a ton of pregens, and have found most of them to be a lot of fun. Thank you for making an interesting set of serviceable characters.
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The Samurai's horse is useless. It is an untrained horse, and Hayato has no ranks in Handle Animal. It was a class feature that was basically ignored for the Samurai pregen. It is, basically, his animal companion, but was ignored for the most part. It should have 7 tricks, and Hayato should have Handle Animal over one of his other skills. His horse is neither skilled, nor loyal while in combat.
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Amiri - Barbarian: Hits hard and gets the job done
Quinn - Investigator: All the skills
Kyra - Cleric: Divine caster
Enora - Arcanist: Arcane caster
Adowyn - Hunter: Archer, plus companion to help out Amiri in the front line
Lem - Bard: Helps buff up everyone else
As well, it's a pretty well-rounded party stat-wise.Andrew's list is excellent. My all time favorite pregen is Quinn -- skills and trapfinding!
I also love the Hayato the Samurai if you're doing an outdoors adventure. He's well rounded and fun, even without the horse.
If you want melee, Oloch and Crowe are also excellent choices, and I've had a lot of fun with Seelah the Paladin. Lem could be better built as a bard, but I simply adore him anyway because he's just so gosh darned helpful!
I am very tempted to use Andrew's list, as it has a stronger focus on narrative play unlike mine.
I desperately want to include Quinn on my list. I have played him once during Murder's Mark, and he was naturally quite excellent for most of it. However, in my experience (and someone please correct me here), he contributes very little in combat.
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I desperately want to include Quinn on my list. I have played him once during Murder's Mark, and he was naturally quite excellent for most of it. However, in my experience (and someone please correct me here), he contributes very little in combat.
It depends on the level. At first, he is quite useless (as are almost all investigators). At 4th or 7th, once he has Studied Combat and mutagen, it's much better.
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota—Minneapolis
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I desperately want to include Quinn on my list. I have played him once during Murder's Mark, and he was naturally quite excellent for most of it. However, in my experience (and someone please correct me here), he contributes very little in combat.
Do you include the value of making those hard knowledge checks for monster ID when looking at his combat capabilities? Knowing a vulnerability or special attack of a monster can make a huge difference in a battle.
An investigator that takes Infusion as one of his Investigator talents now can provide buffs to the party. Some of the alchemist infusions (such as Shield) have strong combat potential.
If all you want to do is hit things with their weapons, they are probably slightly worse than an unchained rogue. This is probably what many see when playing the PreGen.
I would say any of the pregens from Advanced Class Guide. Those pregens are reasonably well built. Others pregens....not as much.
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The Samurai's horse is useless. It is an untrained horse, and Hayato has no ranks in Handle Animal. It was a class feature that was basically ignored for the Samurai pregen. It is, basically, his animal companion, but was ignored for the most part. It should have 7 tricks, and Hayato should have Handle Animal over one of his other skills. His horse is neither skilled, nor loyal while in combat.
Keep in mind that Cavalier mounts (including Samurai) come combat trained as part of the Mount Class feature. So even without specified tricks you can easily use the combat training general purpose list.
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Considering Pregen use is typically done by new players, I'd avoid the Adv Class Guide classes:
Valeros (Fighter)- Frontline Damage
Kyra (Cleric)- Divine Magic
Seoni (Sorcerer)- Arcane Magic
Merisiel (Rogue)- Skills
To round out the 6, 2 of the 3:
Seelah (Paladin)- Frontline Damage\Divine Magic
Harsk (Ranger)- Backline\Divine Magic
Lem (Bard)- Generalist
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I prefer to introduce people to arcane casters using a sorc, as they have to track how many as opposed to what they cast.
I get a lot of requests for a "basic sword and board", which Val doesn't quite match. People do typically pick him over Seelah when I point them out though. Emphasis on divine magic users, because wand users are always welcome.