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I'd like to create a char that let's the other party members shine.
I'd like to buff melees, or to give them AoOs, give them fast healing,or stuff like that.
If possible due to a combination of active and passive skills.
The char has to be PFS legal,but aim willing to invest in pretty much every source book.
What are my options?
I tried a fey sorcerer with an animal companion that provided trip (which didn't work out well. But was a fun char to play) and a debuffing witch - but debuffing doesn't seem as fun as buffing chars...
I think the classic support/buffing character is a bard. Inspire Courage is a good buff for just about everyone in the party, charm and compulsion spells can make opponents do silly things that can open them up to your melees, and with 3/4 BAB and a d8 hit die, you're sturdy enough to wade in yourself and do stuff like provide flanking, which is another big help. (Plus, the ability to cast cure spells can come in handy even if you're not the primary healer.)
Skald is better at Bard at buffing melee's. Skald's Vigor (feat) allows to give them fast healing on top of rage!
The Flagbearer feat is a great choice. Go Bard, for sure. For spells - Daze, Flare, and Resistance are very useful at first level when your 1st level spells are limited.
Guys i know you like bards but Skald has:
- Great melee buffing.
- Fast Healing for everyone in the performance.
- Can grant party AoO through Rage Power sharing.
It's literally everything he asked for.
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How low is low levels? What secondary role do you want? The best buff build I saw was a Freebooter (ranger archetype) 1 / Bard X net specialist with the flagbearer trait. First round, move action to use Freebooter's Bane, standard action to use Inspire Courage, and everyone is getting +3/+3 against a particular target, +2/+2 against everyone else. Then, use some debuffs or nets in subsequent rounds wgile maneuvering to provide flanking bonuses with his spiked gauntlet. Always fight defensively. Huge buffer from level 1 on through him leaving at level 5.
Skalds Vigour feat grants fast healing from level 1 onwards.
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Skald vs Bard depends upon the group.
Bard works in any group.
Skald is weak in a group with dex-to-damage characters. They're also weak in a group (oddly enough) with barbarians and/or bloodragers.
Skalds are okay with archers, but bards are better as the bards increase accuracy as well as damage.
So - Bards are awesome in every group.
Skalds are slightly more awesome for groups in which they mesh properly. (though I'm iffy on the AC penalty)
The thing about Skalds is that they also share Rage Powers. Exploiting that leads to awesome stuff.
Warpriest does have some nice buffs, but they tend to be better at buffing themselves than the party, especially since most of their blessings are single target, where the concepts mentioned above can bolster everyone or nearly everyone in the group simultaneously.
In general, multiclassing isn't a great idea unless there's something specific you're looking to get from it (or if you have a specific character in mind that multiclassing helps you fit better). Especially with a caster, you tend to lose a lot and gain only a little, although it can be worth it depending on what you're looking to do. Just be sure to analyze it carefully and make sure you're doing accurate math on what you're giving up and getting.
One of my favorite Bard tricks is the spell Saving Finale. As an immediate action you get to end your performance to grant an ally a reroll on a failed save. For a level 1 spell, this is pretty great and is an underappreciated aspect of a support character. If you have lingering performance you make the downside much more tolerable too.
If it's an option, the original summoner is pretty great at this.
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Does Skald's vigor grant fast healing to the skald only, or to all party members? From the feat I'd say only to the Skald...
Your song and your enthusiasm combine to invigorate you in battle.Prerequisite(s): Raging song class feature.
Benefit: While maintaining a raging song, you gain fast healing equal to the Strength bonus your song provides, starting in the round after you begin the song. If you stop maintaining your song, the fast healing ends, even if the effects of your song persist.
Oh just to the Skald? I guess you can only grant fast healing with the higher level song.
Skald vs Bard depends upon the group.
Bard works in any group.
Skald is weak in a group with dex-to-damage characters. They're also weak in a group (oddly enough) with barbarians and/or bloodragers.
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That last part I disagree about:
{. . .}
Inspired Rage (Su) At 1st level, affected allies gain a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, but also take a –1 penalty to AC. While under the effects of inspired rage, allies other than the skald cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration. At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the song's bonuses on Will saves increase by 1; the penalty to AC doesn't change. At 8th and 16th levels, the song's bonuses to Strength and Constitution increase by 2. (Unlike the barbarian's rage ability, those affected are not fatigued after the song ends.) If an ally has her own rage class ability (such as barbarian's rage, bloodrager's bloodrage, or skald's inspired rage), she may use the Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throw bonuses, as well as AC penalties, based on her own ability and level instead of those from the skald (still suffering no fatigue afterward). However, inspired rage does not allow the ally to activate abilities dependent on other rage class abilities, such as rage powers, blood casting, or bloodrager bloodlines; the ally must activate her own rage class ability in order to use these features. {. . .}
From my reading of this, the Skald can act as a Rage battery for the Barbarians and Bloodragers (and 2 Skalds could even take turns doing this for each other), allowing them to Rage without consuming their own rounds of Rage as long as they stay within hearing range, and they don't even take Fatigue when it ends, even though they get to use their own Rage modifiers and Rage Powers, and yet the Skald can grant to them Rage Powers that they don't have. Even at random this should be pretty good on average, and if the group coordinates their builds (say the PCs are all from 1 family or at least from 1 closely-knit tribe), it gets even better. (Might even be worthwhile for the Skald to take Extra Bardic Performance to soup up endurance even more at low levels).
Just buffing isn't really a full character build. You can generally buff AND do one other thing, because buffing is only so strong.
1.) Skald if you want to hit stuff.
2.) Hangover/Evangelist Cleric if you want to debuff/daze lock combats.
3.) Bard if you want to range shoot or wow the masses.
4.) Cleric or Oracle if you want to healbot.
There are indirect buff plays as well:
1.) Summoners can summon flankers for melees all day and cast several great buffs.
2.) Reach melees with a lot of trip can trigger AoO's all day long for their pals.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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From my reading of this, the Skald can act as a Rage battery for the Barbarians and Bloodragers (and 2 Skalds could even take turns doing this for each other), allowing them to Rage without consuming their own rounds of Rage as long as they stay within hearing range, and they don't even...
Sure, but it's not like a low-to-mid level barbarian is going to run out of rage rounds any time soon.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Not so much a buff as a debuff, things like tanglefoot bags/stunstones other alchemical toys give you something to do *and* 'buff' party members by making the bad guys easier to hit.
Just make sure you know the conditions you're inflicting to avoid slowing the game. Likewise, if you are playing a bard and have a whip, steal/disarm/strip is a 'debuff' and if nothing else, you can 'aid another' from the second line. :-)
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Uhm... what? Below level 4-5ish I see Barbarians run out of rage all the time.
Yes, that's my point. Starting from level 4-5ish you won't run out (and at lower levels, you can always spend a feat on more rage and retrain it later; or take berserker of society trait).
So if your goal as a Skald is to support barbarians, well, in a couple of levels they won't be needing it. Whereas the fighter or ranger will still enjoy raging songs.
Skalds are much more party-dependent than bards. That was the point.
^A 1 level dip in Barbarian or Bloodrager isn't necessarily a bad thing . . . Which reminds me, one of the BIG problems with Rage Prophet is that Rage Prophet levels DON'T give more rounds of Rage. Get a Skald in the party = problem much less serious.
Cleric spell list is better than bards for buffing and party support in general. Really, I'd recommend that you double-dip, and go Evangelist Cleric. It trades Channel Energy for Inspire Courage, but still gets cleric spells.
At first level, take Lingering Performance, and when fights start, Inspire Courage and then Bless. Get the Glory Domain if you can, so you can give out Heriosm later on.
