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Got back from visiting a relative in the hospital a bit ago, and needed to distract myself. So I've been tinkering with a core campaign fighter build. Currently the character is level 1 with 2 chronicles (1 of which won't be applied till level 4). Anyway, first my current build.
Collin Overdale
Half-elf fighter 1
CG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +0; +2 vs. enchantments, +2 trait bonus vs. charm and compulsion
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee dagger +5 (1d4+4/19-20) or
. . scythe +5 (2d4+6/×4) or
. . warhammer +5 (1d8+4/×3)
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception)
Traits birthmark, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-5 to jump), Craft (traps) +1, Perception +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven
SQ elf blood
Combat Gear alchemist's fire (3); Other Gear scale mail, dagger, scythe, warhammer, backpack, torch (3), trail rations (7), 432 gp, 4 sp, 7 cp
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Special Abilities
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Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
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Now for my questions. Outside of the standard magic weapon, magic armor, ring of protection, amulet of natural armor, and str/dex/con belt, what sort of magic equipment should I be aiming for? Would certain properties on the weapon, armor, or amulet be better then others? What other items should I gun for in addition to the standards? Should I get a headband of intelligence, and if so what skill(s) should be on it? What about my backup weapons, what properties should I get on their replacements? And should I look for different backup weapons?
For the build it's self, what feats should I be aiming for? Is it better to go for maximizing damage in a single attack? Or would things like Cleave and Great Cleave be better? Or should I work to maximize my ability to trip things? This is, to be honest, the first time I've done a scythe fighter. I usually go sword and board.
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Yeah, if you really plan on using Trip tactics, and don't want to increase Int to 13, going for a Reach weapon, especially if it has the Trip keyword, might be the way to go.
Gives a bunch of benefits, in addition to not having to take an AoO against non-reach opponents when you trip. It also lets you preemptively trip many of those same opponents when they try to move up and attack you, or party members near you.
For tripping, Combat Reflexes, even without getting Greater Trip, is not a bad idea. Trip 'em at reach with an AoO, and bash 'em when they stand up again, or disarm 'em, then bash 'em or trip them when they try to pick up their fallen weapon.
Unfortunately, a lot of useful stuff for combat maneuvers is not Core. :(
One other thing to think about, if you think the penalty is not too bad, is go for an undersized reach weapon, and a normal sized one-handed weapon, and threaten both adjacent and at reach, sinc ethe reach weapon becomes one-handed for the size reduction, but -2 to hit.
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Ring of shielding? Oh, you mean a ring of force shield?
I'm familiar with how cleave and great cleave work in 3.5, but is it different in Pathfinder? If so, how?
Cleave requires the second target to not just be in your threatened area, but actually adjacent to your original target. Tough, even at low level, even harder later, since a lot of enemies, like PCs, prefer to go for flanking.
There really isn't a bad option with a core fighter. Just get whatever really. You already have Power Attack, which is the only thing obligatory.
Tripping is fun and useful, Particularly against a high AC enemy. You cannot trip without Combat Expertise, which requires 13 intelligence. If you need more, consider dropping dexterity to 14.
Craft (Traps) is an interesting choice.
What you could do is get Skill Focus Stealth and Stealthy as feats, and then capitalize on your armor training and high dex and become the World's Stealthiest fullplate wearing fighter, and blow people's minds. This does mean you might need the extra skill point. Can't stealth up without perception. Elixers of Hiding, Clock of Elven Kind. You will be a badass, so long as you are happy to scout ahead of the group. Won't work at level 1. At level 7 you could be at +17 or +22 stealth in ordinary full plate! And let's be honest, you picked scythes because you want to look cool.
What you should actually do to play it straight is get Step Up, which makes fighting casters a lot easier. They tend to 5-foot back so they can cast without provoking. Step Up prevents that.
Nimble Moves is also really cool, because it allows you charge through that one square of difficult terrain and 5-foot step up stairs. Its one of those feats where you don't realise how useful it is until you have it. There are Non-core spells and items that will replicate this. But Core, oh man, Nimble Moves is sweet.
Vital strike will get you +5 damage average on all those times you can't full attack. That is more often than theory crafters would like to admit. Lunge is also very useful at level 6.
At level 9 you take Improved Critical. Only exception is if you are using *keen* spells or enchantments.
Don't poohpooh weapon focus and weapon spec. You stretched for 18 Str over 16 Str because you wanted the +1 attack and +2 damage.
You are lacking a ranged weapon. Get some throwing weapons or a big composite bow. Get an antitoxin, a rope and a grapple, a potion of CLW. The clerics won't always be around.
Magic Splagic
Elixers of Vision are the best consumable item in a dungeon crawl, if you are the lookout. +10 bonus for an hour.
Spell storing weapons are the best weapons. Not because you will cast spells, but because you will have a wizard friend who will.
Also, no. A large scythe is unwieldable in CORE. You would need to take the Titan Fighter archetype to do that.
Becoming Enlarged, however, is always fun.
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There really isn't a bad option with a core fighter. Just get whatever really. You already have Power Attack, which is the only thing obligatory.
Tripping is fun and useful, Particularly against a high AC enemy. You cannot trip without Combat Expertise, which requires 13 intelligence. If you need more, consider dropping dexterity to 14.
Craft (Traps) is an interesting choice.
Wasn't actually planning that originally. But I do have the True Dragons of Absolom (would have to double check the name) chronicle waiting for the fighter to hit level 4. So I thought about it, and decided to go with the skill point FCB and have a day job check :)
What you could do is get Skill Focus Stealth and Stealthy as feats, and then capitalize on your armor training and high dex and become the World's Stealthiest fullplate wearing fighter, and blow people's minds. This does mean you might need the extra skill point. Can't stealth up without perception. Elixers of Hiding, Clock of Elven Kind. You will be a badass, so long as you are happy to scout ahead of the group. Won't work at level 1. At level 7 you could be at +17 or +22 stealth in ordinary full plate! And let's be honest, you picked scythes because you want to look cool.
So... headband of intellect with Stealth as the skill? :)
What you should actually do to play it straight is get Step Up, which makes fighting casters a lot easier. They tend to 5-foot back so they can cast without provoking. Step Up prevents that.
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Interesting ideas there. Wasn't actually sure what all is available for Core. Haven't looked through the feat listing in detail in a while.
You can absolutely trip without combat expertise - you just don't avoid the AO.
Headband of intellect with Stealth as the skill?
If you are actually intending to invest in it. Stealth is very much a matter of being either in or out. What it might be is a second thing you can do, that is, scouting and trapspotting (but not trap breaking). It is good to have a secondary thing you can do, stealth or diplomacy or intimidate or animal handling. Some players become annoyed that after making their fighter or barbarian that the only thing they actually do all game is hit things.
Feat listing
In core, the combat feat lists aren't so extensive, and "trap options" aren't really there. Mounted combat is probably out of the question with no handle animal. Shields, Improvised weaponry and unarmed strikes are not your focus. Other than that, any "combat" feat is an entirely reasonable option.
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@nemophles: You do not need to have a 13 Int to Trip, you need the 13 Int to take the feats in the chain so you don't provoke when tripping.
Anyone can trip. Even creatures with animal intelligence can trip, see the Wolf, it is one of the benefits of a Wolf Animal Companion.
The reach weapon option was to avoid being in range of the AoO provoked by the trip attempt, without having to raise Int to 13.
And, yes, scythe, as a two-handed weapon becomes too big too wield when Large for a Medium PC.
Relevant rules:
Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies.
The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all.
@nemophles: You do not need to have a 13 Int to Trip, you need the 13 Int to take the feats in the chain so you don't provoke when tripping.
Anyone can trip. Even creatures with animal intelligence can trip, see the Wolf, it is one of the benefits of a Wolf Animal Companion.
The reach weapon option was to avoid being in range of the AoO provoked by the trip attempt, without having to raise Int to 13.
Yes, I wasn't clear. Nonetheless, if you want tripping to be a useful combat trick, you should get 13 int and improved trip.
OP wanted to have a character who is carrying around a scythe in combat. Scythes are non-reach weapons. Answering the OPs question of "I want to use a scythe, how can I?" with "Use a guisarme" is silly. Answering "Should I maximise for tripping?" with "Here's how to do it in an ineffectual way" is just as silly.
An undersized reach polearm technically works for distanced tripping without dropping a scythe. It won't work reliably with a -2 penalty, lacking the feat and weapon training bonuses and has to constantly be drawn and dropped. At level 7, a scythe fighter can trip with the main attack, succeed, and strike with their extra attack with the target on the ground, and make their attack of opportunity with their main scythey weapon. That isn't feasible if you intend to use an undersized guisarme in one hand to do it. At best you will trip up an escaping mook, which is fun, but not crucial. If OP has time and desperate need to start pulling out little guisarmes and make feeble trip attempts, they'd be better off chucking a tanglefoot bag.
Wolves can trip without provoking because they have another special ability that allows them to. OP is not making a druid nor a ranger. If OP is going to make trip attacks, then OP will need to find a way for a fighter to do it.
Many enemies will have reach and will threaten 10ft away. A reach weapon will not help there. The feat chain has 2 +2 bonuses to make tripping much more reliable. Greater Trip will make enemies provoke AoOs, so that tripping becomes more powerful as an option. You can trip without having combat expertise and the feat tree. You can also do melee attacks with 10 Str and Dex, you can play a wizard with a starting intelligence of 12. you shouldn't plan your build around that. That's what you get down to when the plan has failed and the party is circling death. If want want to focus on getting feats, making it a main part of combat, and doing it competently, then you should make sure you get the feats required to do it well, and those require 13 int.
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I'd suggest switching from half-elf to human. An extra feat and skill point per level beats low-light vision, immunity to sleep and the save bonus, imo (especially since getting another feat makes taking Iron Will easier). If you swap to human, I'd also swap birthmark for the trait that adds +1 to will saves; +1 always beats +2 conditional most of the time. Here's my feat build for my reg mode lvl 9 standard human fighter:
L1: Improved Init, Weapon Focus, Toughness
2: Iron Will
3: Power Attack (you do 2d4+6; before lvl3 that should be plenty)
4: Weapon Spec
5: Blind-Fight (I put this on all of my melee characters, and have never regretted it)
6: Vital Strike
7: Dodge (don't forget that this applies to CMD as well, which your build excels at)
8: Greater Weapon Focus
9: Improved Crit (but since you wield a scythe, I'd take it before GWF)
I'd also recommend staying fighter until 9 for the additional plus 1 to hit/damage. If you want to leave at that point, it's up to you.
If you stay a half-elf, I'd drop Iron Will or Improved initiative.
Just gonna point out that Iron Will cannot be taken at level 2; it is not a combat feat.