Hello everyone, once again (for the umpteenth time) I have come to the forums to ask for some advice on what must be my twentieth character in two months. Unlike my other characters, however, this guy might be joining a campaign in the next month or so. You see I've become sort of the backup guy for a Skulls and Shackles AP in case any of his players drop out (so if someone leaves I'll be their replacement most likely) and so I'm trying to make a character whose suitable for a Skull and Shackles campaign. Now after some thinking I'm rather tempted to go Grippli purely because it amuses me (although I've also thought of going as a Shigenjo Tengu Oracle). Problem is I'm not all that familiar with the Gripplis and what kind of class a wandering Grippli would be.
As it stand they have just started and have a Half-Elf Swashbuckler Inspired Blade/ Corsair, one Human Gunslingers (a Bolt Ace), a Sorcerer of some sort, a Barbarian, and a Slayer.
So with that in mind, what would be a good class for a wandering Grippli whose found himself in the company of pirates (if they end up never needing me this guy will be used for when I find a Skulls and Shackles AP)?
I have always liked the bogborn alchemist. With that you could go the poison route and you get a swim speed wich could be very useful in Skull and Shackles.
Grippli make for good kineticists. I am currently playing a grapple bloodbender that has been loads of fun.
Hm, how far of a stretch would it be to make him want to become a Storm Kindler? I've been looking at that prestige class for a while now and it looks like it could be quite nice for the AP (and full of flavor considering how close you get the Eye on occasion). Of course I would need to find a good caster class that fit the Grippli and would be ideal for becoming Storm Kindler material.
Hm, perhaps I'll make him a Bogborn Alchemist/ Vivisectionist/ Beastmorph that follows good ol' Blackfingers. Not sure what his motivation would be. Maybe he wants power, maybe he's racially motivated and wants to show Boggards who's the better race of frog people?
I'd actually just skip beast morph and go rapier based with poison.
There's some pretty awesome rapiers you'll find throughout the game, and with swift poison and sticky poison you'll make use of the plethora of bad stuff you'll find among pirates, not to mention the stuff you'll make. It'll play up to your Dex based race too.
Not really any spoilers to find out you'll meet pirates that like rapiers and poison.
Hm, browsing through the Archives of Nethys as well as the PFSRD, I've found the Toxicant archtype which is incompatible with Beastmorph. Toxicant replaces your mutagen with a poison that scales with your Int and half your class level. Combine that with the Grippli's own racial poison you could have quite a bit of toxins at your disposal quite quickly.
I'm uncertain if Grippli actually exist in 'canon' Golarion - they don't have an entry in Inner Sea Races, as an example. Despite that, if you and your group decide to include them, the Sodden Lands, which is just north of the Shackles, would be a perfect fit for their kind of home. From there, it wouldn't be crazy to make something like a Grippli Tempest Druid or Cleric of Gozreh in order to qualify into the Storm Kindler prestige class.
EDIT: Took a closer look in Inner Sea Races. Grippli mainly exist in the Mwangi expanse and the Sodden Lands, so what I said above applies. Happy PC building :)