Our table recently agreed to do a campaign reset, bringing in a new party in a different part of our homebrew world, starting at 10th level characters with full wealth by level for pur characters. Currently we have in the new party an Ifrit Sorceror(Elemental: Fire) who's very much the epitome of pyro, an archer Inquisitor who will focus on also being an off-healer and overall a support character, and my character's brother, a human UnchRogue(Scout/Spy) who's a dodgy little guy who's ace with a rapier.
I'm looking to build a dual shield user who can wreck face with his twin shields but also act as a shield wall for his brother. We have a long back story and my character is his bastard older brother, a half-orc shunned by their father, a now-deceased King. Our starting attributes are 18, 16, 14, 14, 12, 12 before racial adjustment and placed as I see fit.
For class(because unfortunately hybrids are NOT allowed)... I was thinking 6th level Ranger(Witchguard/Infiltrator archetypes) and then going Magus(Skirnir/Hexcrafter) but I am unsure of how effective this character would be. He was the protector of his orcish tribe's shaman and taught to use magic himself, and how puts that skill to use protecting his brother in combat. Any suggestions on how best to go about doing this character?
Those back to back feats are very nice, I'll definitely mention them to my buddy and see what he thinks. Right now he's going with Spring Attack + Vital Strike for a bunch of damage on those one-shot rapier attacks.
I'm looking at possibly getting a familiar through Arcana and having it carry wands to buff myself with things like Lead Blades and Bull's Strength.
That has been argued to death, our DM leans in favor of it being allowed unless there is a FAQ that specifically says otherwise.
There is a FAQ that specifically says otherwise. But I can understand why you could have missed it, as it's only 3 years old.
Now if your GM is cool with it he's good to houserule that it works.
Somewhere there was a build (It might've been for 3.5 or earlier) that could in one round: Start the round holding two shields
Put away the shields
Draw a weapon
Make attacks
Put away the weapon
Redraw shields for AC bonus
No need to de-shield and use weapons, Improved Shield Bash allows me to retain the bonus to AC and still attack. Shield Master removes the penalities combined with Two Weapon Fighting.
Thank you for that FAQ, I had missed that and will inform my DM. The player still wants to spring attack around me and shank people with his rapier. Is there any feats/teamwork feats that allow you to "flank" when adjacent to one another instead of having to be on either side of the opponent?
yes there are feats for that, or kinda like that. give me some time and I'll find some if someone doesn't do it faster.
Also, which class is this friend? this matters if he wants to really get good damage from these spring attacks.
He's playing a Rogue(Scout/Spy), 10th level.
Our table recently agreed to do a campaign reset, bringing in a new party in a different part of our homebrew world, starting at 10th level characters with full wealth by level for pur characters. Currently we have in the new party an Ifrit Sorceror(Elemental: Fire) who's very much the epitome of pyro, an archer Inquisitor who will focus on also being an off-healer and overall a support character, and my character's brother, a human UnchRogue(Scout/Spy) who's a dodgy little guy who's ace with a rapier.
I'm looking to build a dual shield user who can wreck face with his twin shields but also act as a shield wall for his brother. We have a long back story and my character is his bastard older brother, a half-orc shunned by their father, a now-deceased King. Our starting attributes are 18, 16, 14, 14, 12, 12 before racial adjustment and placed as I see fit.
For class(because unfortunately hybrids are NOT allowed)... I was thinking 6th level Ranger(Witchguard/Infiltrator archetypes) and then going Magus(Skirnir/Hexcrafter) but I am unsure of how effective this character would be. He was the protector of his orcish tribe's shaman and taught to use magic himself, and how puts that skill to use protecting his brother in combat. Any suggestions on how best to go about doing this character?
It's not a bad party, but a little heavy on the damage part. You have a Fire blaster (the worst kind of blaster, but can be remedied with Elemental Metamagic Rods for those fights he wants to contribute), a Ranged Inquisitor (some utility, but a lot of Bane), a Skill-Monkey Rogue, and you, whom I will presume will take the Tanking role, as running around with two shields will improve your AC tremendously.
I have attempted to make a character like this before, and since you stated you wanted to have Spellcasting, the Witchguard/Infiltrator combo is really powerful, though I'd personally go Slayer, but it ultimately depends on what you wish to be your primary statistic: Strength, or Dexterity? The one that you don't pick will be a secondary statistic, but each choice has its consequences.
Strength allows you to carry more stuff and have better damage scaling with two-handing, while relying on Heavy Armor to keep you alive, versus Dexterity which allows you to have more Touch AC, a higher Reflex save, and can help you surpass TWF Dexterity requirements.
I would personally recommend that you don't go with Magus. Although I understand being able to power through with spells is cool and flavorful, it's not worth losing the BAB progression. What I would recommend instead is to focus on his more orcish instinct. This would translate into taking 10 levels of Ranger, and 10 levels of Invulnerable Rager Barbarian (coupled with Urban Barbarian if going Dexterity-based). This gets you the following benefits:
-3 sets of Favored Enemy
-3 Bonus Feats (probably Shield Focus, Shield Master, and either Bashing Finish or Greater Shield Focus)
-The ability to cast 3rd level spells; the proper choice with your Witchguard Patron (the Time patron, I believe) provides you with a free Haste spell to your friends by 10th level, and is something to consider.
-Evasion (Big help, especially if Dexterity-based)
-Extra Bonuses from Infiltrator archetype
Post level 11, you get the following benefits:
-Rage (either regular or Controlled, depending on build type)
-Rage Powers (resulting in getting Natural Armor, some Natural Weapons, improving Ranged and Melee AC as Swift/Move Actions, and Pounce as a level 20 Capstone)
-Scaling Damage Reduction, up to 5.
-Benefits from Furious property, providing an extra +2 Enhancement Bonus while Raging.
The best part is that you're maintaining full BAB progression, and your saving throws will be extremely powerful in the Fortitude and Reflex department, and your Will save is easily competent thanks to Rage.
So, for fun, let's presume a Strength-based character. This means that he will be using Strength for Attack Rolls and Damage Rolls with his shield attacks. Using Half-Orc isn't bad. Human would be better, but this is still workable.
Being 10th level leaves you with 64,000 Gold to spend. It's low, but I think I can make it work, and proceeding from there should be simple enough to do, as long as you're able to find somebody to reliably craft your Shields into truly powerful weapons.
You mentioned that the character is the bastard son of a King. This means that he won't be perceived well by others, and that he will have a stronger than usual amount of Orc blood in his veins. To that end, referring to the D20 site, I would recommend the Pariah, Shaman's Apprentice, and Sacred Tattoo traits. Normally I'd recommend the Orc Atavism trait, but it's kind of weak since all it offers is essentially a pseudo-Diehard ability at the exchange of an extra -2 to a mental score.
This means that you'll be getting a +1 Luck Bonus to Saves, Endurance as a bonus feat, and a +2 Racial Bonus on Saves V.S. Fear and Emotion effects in exchange for +2 to Intimidate checks, a crappy Ferocity ability, and the ability to use Orc weapons (which won't matter because you'll be using dual shields). Sounds like a sweet deal to me!
As for traits, I'd recommend Magical Knack (Ranger) to shore up your Caster Level, and Shield-Bearer, providing an extra +1 Trait Bonus to all damage rolls with Shield attacks.
Now, let's get to items. 64,000 gold isn't a terrible lot to spend with, especially considering Shields, if used right, are extremely powerful (but also extremely expensive). Let's get our Big 6 out of the way: Belt of Physical Perfection (16,000), Headband of Wisdom +2 (4,000), Cloak of Protection +2 (4,000), Ring of Protection +1 (2,000), Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000). That's 28,000 gold, leaving us with 36,000 gold left to spend. (Yikes.) We can get a +2 Comfort Mithril Breastplate, resulting in a +8 AC armor item that has 0 ACP, leaving us with 23,000 gold to spend on our Shields (11,500 each). So, 2 +3 (AC) Mithril Quickdraw Shields (One Heavy, One Light) puts you at 3,000 gold left to spend on whatever else you want. Some basic stuff would be things like a Handy Haversack (2,000 gold), some consumables (Potions of Fly, Scroll of Haste, what have you), and other assorted doodads. Or to hold on to for when you get more gold to upgrade your Shields into feasible weapons.
Here's your Feat Progression (* = Bonus):
1. Endurance*, Improved Shield Bash
2. Shield Focus*
3. Two-Weapon Fighting, Bodyguard*
5. Power Attack
6. Shield Master*
7. Combat Reflexes, In Harm's Way*
9. Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
10. Greater Shield Focus*
11. Double Slice
13. Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
15. Bashing Finish
17. Weapon Focus (Heavy Shield)
19. Iron Will?
Your statistics will be as follows:
Strength - 22 (18 + 2 Belt + 2 Level-ups)
Dexterity - 18 (16 + 2 Belt)
Constitution - 16 (14 + 2 Belt)
Intelligence - 12
Wisdom - 16 (14 + 2 Headband)
Charisma - 12
Your AC should look like this to start out:
10 (Base) + 4 (Dexterity) + 8 (Mithril Breastplate) + 7 (Shield, includes Shield and Greater Shield Focus) + 1 (Deflection) + 1 (Natural Armor), resulting in 31 base AC. Not bad, especially since that's with you not really trying.
Your bonuses to hit should look at follows on a generic enemy:
10 (Base) + 6 (Strength) + 3 (Enhancement) - 3 (Power Attack) = 16/11/6, without any buffs. I feel like there's something missing here. Of course, Favored Enemy! Your Favored Enemy will add up to +3 to the attack roll, resulting in a final total of 19/14/9. This will be increased further at 11th level, when you get access to Rage, providing an extra +2 Strength bonus to your attack rolls and damage.
Your damage should be as follows:
2.5 (Average Damage Dice) + 6 (Strength) + 3 (Enhancement) + 6 (Power Attack) + 1 (Shield Bearer), resulting in 18.5 damage per main-hand attack.
2 (Average Damage Dice) + 3 (Strength) + 3 (Enhancement) + 3 (Power Attack) + 1 (Shield Bearer), resulting in 12 damage per off-hand attack.
Add up to 3 more damage if it's a Favored Enemy, making it 21.5 and 15, respectively. At 11th level, this damage will increase to 23.5, and 20, respectively.
Your saving throws should be as follows:
Fortitude - 7 (Base) + 3 (Constitution) + 2 (Cloak) + 1 (Sacred Tattoo) = 13 Fortitude. This will increase to 15 next level, and to 17 while Raging.
Reflex - 7 (Base) + 4 (Dexterity) + 2 (Cloak) + 1 (Sacred Tattoo) = 14 Reflex.
Will - 3 (Base) + 3 (Wisdom) + 2 (Cloak) + 1 (Sacred Tattoo) = 9 Will. This will increase to 11 when Raging.
As for skills, you can pick whatever you want, but I might recommend Acrobatics for improving your Fighting Defensively and Total Defense options, as well as having some mobility on the battlefield without being attacked for it. Knowledge (Nature) is definitely a Ranger-specific thing, as is Survival, and are probably things your party is in desperate need of. Oh, and Perception. You always put points into Perception, no matter what class you are.
Also note that when it comes to protecting your friend, you can move with him and provide Aid Another in the form of Bodyguard and In Harm's Way, should he still get hit. Investing in the Benevolent Armor property will exponentially increase those benefits.
When you get the money, the Shields you'll want are +5 (AC) and +5 (Weapon) Furious Defending/Guardian Shields. This will result in you maintaining a +5 Enhancement Bonus to AC via Shield Master, while providing a +7 Bonus to AC and Saving Throws when making attacks with those shields.
Outside that, I believe you should be golden. Good luck!