So, we're starting a new campaign where we did straight down ability rolls. 1st level to start, 'regular' races, and no 3pp:
STR: 15
DEX: 9
CON: 7
INT: 18
WIS: 12
CHA: 8
First thought was Magus - but wondering if there might be any more interesting ideas floating around out there.
Honestly you're better off going Wizard or Arcane Sorceror. With your Dex and Con you want to be as far away from melee as possible.
With regard to race, I'd strongly consider gnome or halfing for the AC size bonus and the bonuses to Dex or Con.
If you go that route, you might look into the sniping rules and see if your GM will let you snipe with spells. There's a neat halfing racial trait swift as shadows that would make that entertaining.
If you go this route, I'd strongly recommend improved initiative as your 1st level feat.
That Constitution is going to be the death of you. I was going to say be some kind of ranged Magus, but that Dexterity is going to be the death of your party, unless you can find some kind of feat that lets you get Strength-to-Attack Roll for ranged (or at least hurled) weapons (I could have sworn to having seen something like that, but now I can't even remember what text to look for to find it again). If you manage to find such a thing but it doesn't work with bows, use Card Caster Magus instead of Eldritch Archer or Myrmidarch. Mad Bomber Alchemist is another possibility. Even if you do find something like that feat, it isnt going to apply to spell rays (which is potentially a point in favor of Alchemist -- such a feat just might apply to Bombs). You're going to have to take Toughness at 1st level (and it still won't make up for that Constitution) as well as whatever that feat is for Strength-to-Attack Roll for ranged (or at least hurled) weapons to be effective, and then archery feats (to be able to hit opponents in melee without hitting your friends) and Great Fortitude as soon as possible afterwards, so you are going to be super feat-starved even as Human (which will pretty much be a requirement, to get the bonus feat). Forget about class-specific Favored Class Bonus -- all Favored Class Bonus has to go to hit points. If you CAN'T find a Strength-to-Attack-Roll feat, you'll have to bite the bullet and be Intelligence-based melee (even though it isn't very smart), probably as Magus (and when the Armor Master's Handbook comes out soon, check for an archetype that gets you better armor proficiency faster, even though I've heard it isn't that great in general) -- apply your racial bonus +2 to Constitution, and then apply your 4th level ability score increase to Constitution as well (assuming you manage to survive that long), and your 8th level ability score increase to Dexterity.
Edit: Re-read your rolled stats and Intelligence is 18, not 16, thereby making Wizard or Arcanist or Sage (not Arcane) Sorcerer or Witch, more attractive, almost as posted by Petros222. Although d6 instead of d8 Hit Dice cuts into your scarce hit points even more . . . .
Mad Bomber Alchemist is another possibility.
I like that. Wear armor, use the mutagen to up dex and then attack touch AC from range (and preferably from hiding.)
Dwarven Battle Host Occultist, start with mw stoneplate and Toughness.
Of course I know it's not ideal - that's the fun of doing straight down rolls, is the challenge. This isn't about optimization, it's about rolling with the randomness.
Additional info, we just picked the random AP, and it's Giantslayer (which I've never even glanced at, so that's good).
Mad Bomber Alchemist is another possibility.I like that. Wear armor, use the mutagen to up dex and then attack touch AC from range (and preferably from hiding.)
After a few passes on some magus builds, I was just looking at maybe an alchemist. I'd never played one before, and it does sound like it'd be fun for this guy. The mutagens helping out with the weird physical stats when needed, and I've always liked the idea of Throw Anything anyway.
unless you can find some kind of feat that lets you get Strength-to-Attack Roll for ranged (or at least hurled) weapons
No feat that I'm aware of, just the Belt of Mighty Hurling. (which at least sounds quite themey for giantslayer, though likely would have to wait quite a while before picking one up).
Or double down on a bad deal, go elven dreamspeaker slumber witch. Take up the challenge of having 4hp, -2 Fort, and a 30' range on your best trick. Take a figment familiar, have it make enough noise that you can hope it distracts an enemy into one-shotting it instead of you, then get it back in the morning if you somehow survive the day.
I was looking at maybe the Half-Elf Bramble Brewer alchemist. Normally, I don't like half-elves, but the boosted Natural Armor might be nice. Could actually have short duration 21 AC with studded leather, Dendrite mutagen, and Shield extract. The Fast Healing might be helpful with the low con as well (for when conditions are right, at least).
of course, seeing as this is giantslayer, maybe a Mountain Witch might be more appropriate.
I hate to be "that guy," but with a 7 Con at 1st level, you will probably die the first time you get hit. Especially if you only have 4 hit points (8 with Toughness and Favored Class Bonus).
Maybe go alchemist or barbarian 1/wizard X/Eldritch Knight 10. Preferably with a race with a Constitution bonus, like dwarf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, or human.
Maybe barbarian 1/alchemist X/master chymist 10
EDIT:
Maybe a ranger or gunslinger to shore up those poor Fortitude and Reflex saves those low Dexterity and Constitution scores.
A +2 Dex race will give you +1 ranged touch attacks (+2 if Small-sized) if you go gunslinger.
OH!
Maybe an investigator!!! Int-based, more hit points than a witch or wizard, not (quite) as melee as a magus or alchemist.
SmiloDan's thought of a level of Barbarian gave me an idea. Here's a possible path to survival (maybe); also, I realized that your bad Dexterity hamstrings you for archery feats, so you want a Mad Bomber Alchemist (you don't have to hit exactly) rather than a Card Caster Magus:
Human, stats almost as in original post, but put racial floating +2 on Constitution.
Str 15; Dex 9; Con (7 + 2 =) 9; Int 18; Wis 12; Cha 8
Traits: Campaign Trait (try to get one that gives a bonus to Saves), Resilient (Combat, gives +1 to your Fortitude Save; if your Campaign Trait already gives you this, get Deft Dodger instead for +1 to Reflex Save)
1. Barbarian 1 (this will get retrained later): Human Bonus Feat = Toughness; level 1 character feat = Point-Blank Shot
2. Alchemist 1
3. Alchemist 2: level 3 character feat = Precise Shot
4. Retrain Barbarian level to Alchemist level, total 4: level 4 ability score increase goes to Constitution (gets you to 10, which gives you exactly as many hit points as you lose by retraining the Barbarian level to Alchemist)
5 - 7. Alchemist 5 - 7: use character feats to improve your Mad Bombing
8. Alchemist 8: level 8 ability score increase goes to Dexterity (gets you to 10)
9 - 11. Alchemist 9 - 11: as above
12. Alchemist 12: level 12 ability score increase goes to Strength (gets you to 16); after this, the rest go to Intelligence
I didn't list specific Alchemist Discoveries or later feats, but put these towards being a battlefield controller by way of modified Bombs. As soon as you can, get a Belt of Mighty Hurling or the Lesser version (the Greater version provides extra benefits that are actually really useful, but is SUPER EXPENSIVE). When you aren't throwing Bombs, throw spears at range (with your Strength, you can actually carry some of these). (I would have also said use a Longspear at melee reach, but you don't have the Dexterity to make it good.)
Check out both N. Jolly's and Broken Zenith's Alchemist guides on the Zenith Games Guide to the Guides.
Go with psychic and you could act sorta like proffesor X
With a Dex like that you could even sit in a wheel chair without if slowing you down.
But instead of being unable to walk you could just be sickly.
Would a barbarian 1/alchemist X throwing chakrams work? Maybe barbarian 2 for the rage power or archetype that lets you use Strength to throw weapons? I'm also a fan of shield & javelin, possibly with Quick Draw thrown in if possible.
A Strength-based ranged character would help mitigate your low Dex and Con. Especially since using a shield can also help mitigate your low AC. And you can shield-bash in a pinch if you run out of javelins or chakrams.
Am I spelling that right?
^Yes on the chakrams (they are Martial, bbut Greenadier Alchemist can get you this even after you trade in the Barbarian level), and cheaper and lighter than spears, although you'll still want a spear or morningstar for melee if worst comes to worst (and after getting your Constitution and Dexterity each up to 10 with ability score increases, you'll even be not totally hosed in melee as long as it doesn't last very long).
Unfortunately, the Hurling Rage Powers and Barbarian archetype don't give you Strength-to-Attack for ranged weapons, so no point in taking more levels of Barbarian -- you still need the Belt of Mighty Hurling (or at least the Lesser version).
@James Gibbons: I thought about Psychic, but you need to have a decent Wisdom (could maybe make a go of it if you were a Dwarf instead of a Human, but then you're missing an early feat) or Charisma (no way), depending upon your choice of Psychic Discipline.
Just had another thought: Since your low Dexterity hurts your armor class (until you manage to undup it at level 8), but your high Strength helps your melee attacks, it might be worth getting Combat Expertise if you have to worry about getting forced into melee a lot, and then once you have that, you might as well get Improved Trip, even though you don't have the Dexterity to do a true Reach/AoO build.
Why is it so hard to get Strength on ranged attack rolls and Dexterity on melee damage rolls??????????
Anyways, yes, definitely keep a backup melee weapon or two, like a longspear for melee reach or morningstar for melee & shield or two-handed whacking.
Or if you go half-orc, greataxe. :-)
Strange how Dexterity-to-Attack on melee is just a feat (or sometimes a class feature) and Dexterity-to-Damage on melee is just another couple of feats (or occasionally a couple of skill ranks and a feat, or occasionally even a class feature), but Strength-to-Attack on ranged attacks is just short of impossible (and seems to be absolutely item-dependent, unless some weird archetype that I forgot about has it).
Strange how Dexterity-to-Attack on melee is just a feat (or sometimes a class feature) and Dexterity-to-Damage on melee is just another couple of feats (or occasionally a couple of skill ranks and a feat, or occasionally even a class feature), but Strength-to-Attack on ranged attacks is just short of impossible (and seems to be absolutely item-dependent, unless some weird archetype that I forgot about has it).
My group switched over to 5th Edition, where it is super easy to do both, and are weapon-based qualities, not character-based abilities (like feats, skills, etc.).
Inefficient wizard is the way to go. You'll be super vulnerable and your saves will be crap. But as early as level 3 you'll have access mirror image and other spells that give miss chances. You'll need to up your dex and con, in addition to INT. But the upside of this you might be able to use transmutation.
In fact wizard transmuter may be the best way to go. You'll have many useful spells and be able to get mirror image and blur, for instance, to keep yourself surviving. Fly and other evasive spells are good.
Surviving to level 3 will be key. Take toughness, hide, have a color spray available if something closes on you. But if your team will protect you, you can make it to build a survivable decide wizard,
Actually not a bad idea. Do what I said above with the ability score increases and the temporary Barbarian level, but the Transmutation Arcane School gives you extra physical ability score increases at 1st level, 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, enabling you to speed up the process. If you also chose the Enhancement sub-school, you can grant Enhancement Bonuses or Natural Armor Bonuses to ability scores (instead of the lousy Telekinetic Fist that is always going to miss anyway with your Dexterity and 1/2 BAB).
Another possibility (although it will take longer to get online) is to do what I said with Alchemist above, but go VMC Wizard (Transmutation:Enhancement). While you are waiting for the Arcane School class features to come online, you can still use your Mutagen to enhance your Constitution or Dexterity (these don't penalize your Intelligence, so keep Bombing away). The one thing that hurts about this is delaying Precise Shot to 5th level.
Problem is that with 12 Wisdom (or 14 Wisdom if you are a +Con +Wis or +Dex +Wis race) isn't going to be great for your Wisdom-to-AC/CMD or Ki Pool. Flurry of Blows from pre-Unchained Monk is at full BAB - 2, not quite full BAB; Flurry of Blows from Unchained Monk is at full BAB no excuses, but Unchained Monk loses the good Will Save, which your only slightly-better-than-average Wisdom won't be great for. In addition, either way, your shuriken (or other ranged) attacks will be lousy with your low Dexterity until you get a Belt of Mighty Hurling. If you are throwing splash weapons that are modified for battlefield control (Alchemist), this isn't quite as bad, but shurikens aren't splash weapons, and even if you could somehow get the ability to Flurry with splash weapons, that would get expensive VERY FAST.
2 problems with that: If you aren't able to be effective at range, the enemies can (and probably will, unless they have archers) simply ignore you until they get done neutralizing the rest of your party, and then nail you. Furthermore, if they DO have archers, or one of them is a jerk and comes after you anyway, you will have lousy AC, with bad Dexterity and inability to use armor without hosing class features (unless you go Sohei Monk, but that isn't vanilla of either pre-Unchained or Unchained). In contrast, if you are an Alchemist but with a temporary 1st level as Barbarian, you can wear rather decent armor (Medium in fact), and you will have more hit points (before considering Con penalty or Toughness, starting with 12 instead of 8 for pre-Unchained Monk or 10 for Unchained Monk -- 9 Constitution(*) + Toughness gets you 14 instead of 10 or 12).
(*)Assuming you put your Human +2 to any ability score into Constitution, or decided to be a Dwarf or something like that. If you DIDN'T do this, then with Toughness you would be starting with 13 instead of 9 or 11 -- just 1 hit point less, but the worse Fortitude Save will hurt as well, and it will be a lot harder to get yourself out of the penalty zone, and the reduced hit points from your later rolled or averaged hit dice will hurt more.
Go human, choose Occultist (battle host). Put the +2 into Constitution. For your initial feats, take Toughness and something else, possibly great fortitude or improved initiative. Fast Learner isn't bad if you also have toughness, but the human occultist FCB (1/6 of a focus power) is pretty awesome. See if your GM will let you use Fast Learner to take HP and the alternate FCB; if so, definitely get it. Have your first school of magic be Transmutation, and use it to give yourself a boost to constitution. That way you're at least not getting a penalty to constitution, and you've got yourself a free masterwork suit of full plate. Use a reach weapon to keep foes a little further away from you when possible.
Alternatively, you could use the Dual talent human option to get a boost to Con and Strength, and be a little better at combat.
Another option is to do this same build but with a dwarf instead of human. You get the +2 to Con, a +2 to Wisdom, and a -2 to Cha which occultists don't care about. You also get +2 against spells and poison, which is the primary things you need to worry about with fortitude saves, with the option to boost them further by taking Steel Soul. You'll have fewer skill points, but more wisdom and better saves.
Well, I created a gnome mountain witch, and am hoping to stay mostly hidden/scared for the first few levels, while dishing out slumber and evil eye as much as I can. Gnome seems like it will work out okay. Still get the +2 to con i would have take with human, and the boost to cha is much more helpful than the hit to str is detrimental, so we'll see where this leads me. Trying to decide if I want to go with a Sage familiar (for long term benefit from knowledge skills), or protector, for short term protection. Problem I see with the familiar as a protector is I'm starting out with 6hp, meaning the familiar has 3hp... might as well be an origami crane.
IN any case, hexes seemed better than dishing out spells, as there's less ranged touch attacks required.
How are you not effective at ranged? Yeah you are taking a reduction in damage but you have potentially more chances to hit and unless you compare to a true full BAB your more accurate as a baseline, again with no feats being used at all. And you WANT archers shooting at you because one shot doesn't work automatically.
As for comparing a barb dip, a monk using melee could kill that 14 HP barb fairly consistently so you as a monk can go between ranged safety or glass jaw slugger. Barb has one trick with limited rounds.
If anything it's the late levels of being a monk I would be worried about not the early.
Actually, it is your to-hit chance that will suffer as a ranged Monk. Even Unchained, you will have a Flurry of Misses with that bad Dexterity. And your AC will be terrible. At least with a temporary 1st level of Barbarian, you can wear some decent armor, and then when you become an Alchemist, you don't have to hit right on, although it's better when you do.
Witch works too (maybe even better), although I would still be inclined to go with a temporary 1st level of Barbarian for survival purposes, and it could be even easier to get it to fit thematically.
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I got a fun build for you. be a non-combatant face that can standard action diplomacy people.
get a muelback core or just cast ant haul
we are going to be a wizrad for this build
take the trait that lets you use int for diplomacy,
be wizard of the necromancy school so you can channel energy.
there's a channel focus chest piece, (sorry i forgot its name, look it up) that lest you channel into it and make a diplomacy check to change attitude as a swift action. since channeling is standard this takes your standard and swift.
take honeyed tongue so you can change them from hostile to freindly
ah, lets use your high strength score to carry all your ally on your back. and on the second turn make a reasonable request to your newly met friend that your friends are hurt and that's why you are carrying them and you just want to pass by :)
don't forget to take feral speech as your 5th level discovery,
Have you considered to make your character middle aged?
A -1 to all your physical ability scores wouldn't decrease their modifiers any further yet a +1 to all your mental scores could help you a great deal.