If you're more concerned about sticking to theme than power level, you go swashbuckler 5 into shadowdancer.
Hi all hoping you can help me. I am long time player of 3.5 almost finished playing Rise of the Runelords, and but a relatively new GM. Most of my GM experience comes running the Fate Dresden Files RPG, with my alternate group.
Eventually I'd like to run Reign of Winter with my group, once my current campaign has wound it's way to a decent end. One of players, who's completely new to Pathfinder has had a lifelong RPG goal to play a Nightcrawler style teleporter. The player in question is a feet first, learn the mechanics as you play type with some 3.5 experience.Any good ways to make this work as far as classes, archetypes or feat trees? Less complicated is probably better since there will only be one veteran pathfinder player in the group.
Thanks in advance, the help is much appreciated.
The plan I had for doing a character along these lines was to make a Tiefling Sacred Fist Warpriest 1/Twilight Sage Arcanist 4/Evangelist X.
-- In this game, there's no way to teleport between each attack in a full-attack sequence.Dimensional Dervish says hi. While not mentioned explicitly by Bram, they did mention the dimensional feats in general.
<forehead smack> ...yeah, that was under my nose the whole time, wasn't it?
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Balls, they sure do tax-feat the crap out of Dimensional Dervish, and they're all General feats, too.
As far as Nightcrawler is concerned, it accounts for the full-attacks, but not the end of the round. Dimensional Dervish let's him move twice his speed and avoid AoOs in a flashy style, but it still leaves him fully-exposed and subject to being pumped full of holes on the enemy's turn, rather than safely tucked away in an alternate dimension.
-- And that's the real conundrum: how to avoid getting blown to bits by a dozen Secret Service guys in well-lit rooms and corridors without hiding places. He'd need a way to Vanish at the end of his turn...but Dimensional Dervish consumes his Swift action for the round.
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Eh. Evasion + sky high AC tend to cover the 'not getting hit' aspect of Nightcrawler. Heck, as a Magus you could even add in Displacement.
Also as a Magus, you don't need to use Dimensional Dervish to full attack and teleport, instead being able to use Dimensional Agility alone most turns to full attack and teleport.
The problem with this build, of course, is that it doesn't even start to kick in until 11th level (when he can grab Dimensional Agility) and only gets Dimensional Dervish at 15th unless you use the retraining rules. So that's a problem.
Which is really the problem with most of these builds. Anything that relies on teleportation and physical combat needs to be really high level to work.
Eh. Evasion + sky high AC tend to cover the 'not getting hit' aspect of Nightcrawler. Heck, as a Magus you could even add in Displacement.With the number of rounds the Secret Service dumps, he'd be Swiss cheese even with them being only 5% to hit. Ergo, he can't be hit while phasing.
The problem with this build, of course, is that it doesn't even start to kick in until 11th level (when he can grab Dimensional Agility) and only gets Dimensional Dervish at 15th unless you use the retraining rules. So that's a problem. Which is really the problem with most of these builds. Anything that relies on teleportation and physical combat needs to be really high level to work.
Another Nightcrawler feature: sort of a built-in Scry that let's him not only determine the layout of a sealed room he's never been in, but the position of targets he intends to teleport in to attack.
-- The guy's basically a capstone super who was *too* good, so the scripts reined him back and made him do dumb things and project vulnerabilities. (Nightcrawler is never again shown being so awesome in combat as he was during his first movie intro.)
So a hunter (or other caster but hunters do this at lvl 1) using the new ally across time / army across time spells would be a unique way to do low level nightcrawler. It's not true teleportation, but you magically appearing behind your foe to shove them off balance into your own trip or stab or whatever is about as nightcrawler as it gets. For anyone using casting as part of this concept this seems like an awesome choice. An eldritch scoundrel could do this concept as a single classed rogue starting at 4th, even if the actual dimensions doors don't come online until 11th level. Could be an interesting (if feat intensive) compromise for simplicity?
Telflammar Shadowlord (mentioned upthread) and Crinti Shadow Marauder from 3.5 (both Forgotten Realms) have a Shadow Pounce ability that lets them full-attack on a teleport. Combining this with multiple teleport actions (Blink Dog shirt from Totemist, Dimensional Hop Psionic ability, and Tome of Battle standard teleports) made a pretty crazy character.Oh yeah, I think I still hold the record for most attacks on a shadow pouncer back in the brilliant gameologists forums with my ruby knight vindicator telflamar shadowlord build :-)
For OP here is my take on a decent Gish pouncer build that uses reposition for fun grouping up if ennemies.
**Clipped**
One possible issue with this build is that a Blade Adept trades their first two exploits for Sword Bond and Sentient Sword. They don't technically have exploits until fifth level. That means they can't select the Extra Exploit feat until after 5th level.
Also, the School Understanding (Teleportation) exploit would be useful for this character. They get 3+CHR Dimension Doors for free, and can spend a reservoir point at 8th to teleport 30ft/level.