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Alchemist could be interesting if you want to make something that can do a lot of damage and still have a lot of other utility. Advantages to being a halfling alchemist is bomb damage is the same as it would be for any other Alchemist, plus getting the +1 to hit and to AC from small size makes you even more slippery. Bomb damage early on is very competitive and you wouldn't be stepping on anyone else's toes (especially if no one else is particularly ranged). If you build toward fast bombs later on you can really nova hard when it's needed, and all of the utility that comes from alchemy really cannot be understated.
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One thing your party lacks is a rogue. The problem is that the rogue class is very weak. The unchained rogue is a big improvement, but still pretty weak. That being said there are some good rogue alternatives. One of the best is the archeologist bard. Halflings get a bonus to both DEX and CHA both of which would be very useful. Go for a finesse build maybe even going as far as taking fencing grace to get DEX to damage. Pretend to be a child and totally fool everyone. With bardic knowledge you can be the know it all snot nosed brat, except you will actually know it all.
A gnome would also make a good archeologist bard if you want to focus more on the magic. Bards get a lot of illusion spells so the gnome bonus would work extremely well for this. They also get extra rounds of performance which an archeologist can always use.
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Not knowing what sorts of builds the others have (although apparently the monk at least hurts things), my first instinct is to go shooty. Rain arrows on everyone. Fighter, paladin, ranger, and monk (zen archer) are some good choices to blot out the sky with arrows. And you'll still have some backup skill with a blade, just in case you want to stab a little closer.
Other than that? Ninjae and rogues are ... well, stereotypical?
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halfling witch with the malicious eye feat? Take bolster jinx and just tank enemies saving throws into the dirt before yourself or the wizard just decimates with spells. Sluggish jinx also helps your allies against enemy martials and with various spells and summons etc you can just debuff your enemies until they are dead.
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I agree with the Alchemist idea, they are fun and dangerous. If you wanted a martial build of alchemist look into the Beastmorph or Ragechemist archetypes.
More sticks and stones style... Barbarian.
Seriously, if you want to murder in melee, these are your guys. Being a berserking Halfling is also comical... until youre soaked in the blood of your enemies! Look into Brutal Pugilist and be a grappler. Pin your opponents and throttle the life outta them. Build up to the Neckbreaker feat and you're causing serious damage!
A Dex based Fighter would mess people up. Use a rapier and crank out critical hits and use Critcal feats. Weapon Finesse, Slashing Grace, Impaling Critcal. Use feints to keep them off balance and easier to hit... Deadly Stroke.
Final thought, Druid. You will have access to some powerful nature spells and Wildshape will allow you to charge into combat as a Tiger, Elephant, Dinosaur... you name it! Get armor with the Wild magic enchantment to add your armors armor bonus to your wildshape form instead of trading it for the natural armor. Animal companions are no joke either, they wreck better than most melee classes at their level. I had a Large T-Rex when my Druid hit lvl 7 that had a bite that was 4d6+14, +1d6 Bleed, plus Grab! He nommed everything! Meanwhile, I cast Bulls Strength on myself and Wildshaped into an Allosaurus(Huge)
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Ninjas use Dex & Cha, so do swashbucklers, bloodragers, bards, ranged paladins, ranged oracles, sorcerers (wannabe dragon disciple?), cavaliers, eldritch scion magus.
Oracles with different curses and mysteries are very different from each other. Especially if they also choose different spells.
My biggest issue is halflings is their slow speed. This makes them hard to get into melee. Not as big of an issue if you are going the archery route and/or are staying in the back casting or buffing.
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I say bloodrager is better than barbarian for halflings since they're good with charisma. And there's not that much magic in them. Go arcane for a ton of buffs upon raging, celestial for a minor smite, a reroll, and flight, or aberrant for GLORIOUS REACH TACT...wait, you're small. er...well it's not bad for you but you won't get the full benefit out of that one.
Also Smilo what the heck are you talking about? What Halfling doesn't take Fleet of Foot for 30 foot movement speed...aside from a mounted one or a bard.
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Hey, sojoocy, I know you didn't mean anything by it, but you probably shouldn't be using the word "midget" here. Paizo generally tries to foster an inclusive and friendly community, and slurs really don't foster much of anything of value, even if they're just said casually.
HyperMissingno: I totally forgot about that racial option!!!!! Hopefully sojoocy doesn't!
(My "iconic" Small combatant was a chaos gnome dragon shaman (converted from 3.5 to PF), so it didn't have that option, so I always forget about it.)
Also, bloodrager gives +10 ft. of speed, which is nice. I had dwarf magus that took barbarian at 1st level just for the speed boost--this was before the bloodrager was invented.
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Starting at level 1 or higher?
With at least 3 combat guys and possible physical support from summoned creatures, I'd say bard. I'd lean towards a suppord buff/caster bard (Dirge Bard + Soundstriker is a very nice combination) bur since you want to deal damage yourself, just go regular bard and be an archer. With (greater) heroism, inspire courage, arcane strike and deadly aim your damage will be good enough and you'll buf the rest of the party to new heights.
Alternatively, an even Rogue/Fighter multiclass could be fun (and unusual). Start with 13 strength for Power Attack, go unchained rogue for dex to damage with an elven curve blade. As it's a two-handed weapon, you get 1.5 times your dex and power attack bonus to damage (in addition to any sneak attack you manage to get in). Get shield as an SLA via Major Magic rogue talent to improve your AC.
Be either a normal fighter for armor training (More dex to AC!) or a weapon master for early weapon training. Keep your mobility up with the feats Mobility and Underfood (for a total +6 AC against attacks of opportunity).
This build can also work as a pure rogue but the fighter bonus feats are a big help and weapon specialization is a nice damage buff.
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Well, looks like your party is short on cunning, handy folk, so I would try to fit this role first.
I would actually consider the following:
- Ranger - overall useful folk with decent presence in a fight. The charisma is not needed, but hey, you can tank it and get the points for that. The favored class bonus is great imo - especially when you get the spell that instantly makes someone your favored enemy. A halfling archer can work great. Melee is a bit trickier, but still doable.
- Slayer - it is a more martial rogue with a bit of ranger. If you do not care for spells or pet, it is great, both for archery and for melee.
- Cavalier/daring champion - essentially a different sort of swashbuckler.Your speed is a bit of an issue unless you take the racial trait, but you can get good use of your dexterity (dex to damage at level 3 via dervish dance, fencing grace or slashing grace). Your charisma can be handy, and in a party with so many warriors, sharing your teamwork feat can be nice.
- Vigilante (avenger or otherwise, I prefer avenger) - appearing harmless and having an alternative identity works great for halfings imo. Vigilanes get a lot of skills and tricks and, depending on the speialization, possibly some magic.
- Barbarian/Bloodrager - look at the urban archetype for both so you can boost your dexterity. Doable, but not really my first choice.
Paladin is a powerful class, and fighters can be decent as well, but I would want something with at least 4+int skill points from the get-go. Ideally 6, if the party does not use the extra background skills optional rule.
If you are melee, try to get either piranha strike or power attack (the latter is better, but the strength requirement can be a problem) and risky striker. The latter feat is a way for halflings to get surprising amount of damage on their attacks, and between the good dexterity and the size bonus halfling warriors are usually not lacking in AC. To be honest, though, you already have 2/3 combat classes (3 if we count the warpriest), and I expect at least two are going melee. It may get cluttered out on the frontline.
If you do not mind something a bit less combat-oriented, bard would be great. A lot of archetypes can work, overall I would look for something that keeps versatile performance and the standard inspire courage (a lot of your team will love the bonuses). For more sneaky types,the detective, archeologist and the sandman are all great. I actually think the unchained rogue is decent, even if it isn't the greatest.
To really rain down on them, AND bring the pain, there is only one role for halflings:
Catapult ammunition.
Wear armor spikes for added fun. ;p
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I say bloodrager is better than barbarian for halflings since they're good with charisma. And there's not that much magic in them. Go arcane for a ton of buffs upon raging, celestial for a minor smite, a reroll, and flight, or aberrant for GLORIOUS REACH TACT...wait, you're small. er...well it's not bad for you but you won't get the full benefit out of that one.
Wait, small races have the same reach as medium ones, or are you already calculating the enlarge person for large size reach?
Edit - could not edit my previous post to put it there.
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I'll put another vote towards bard. If you want to still be kinda martial, halflings can make rather solid Fencing Grace bards, though it doesn't full kick in until level 5. (not sure what level you're currently at) Though a 1 level dip into Swashbuckler is a solid choice and would let you grab Fencing Grace at 3.
Use a rapier and a small shield. Your personal damage won't be amazing though respectable, and your buffing will benefit everyone, especially the monk. (Monks can be respectable with a couple of archetypes, but they always have accuracy issues with their 'Flurry of Misses', so they LOVE bards.)
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I have to second the bard idea. It looks like you have at least 3 melee guys, so that is a pretty big force multiplier. It also means, that if you make another front line striker, you guys are probably going to be really pushed to all be able to get into the action in any sort of cramped environment.
Archery is arguably the strongest combat style in Pathfinder, and while a Bard isn't going to make the best Archer possible, even a not-best Archer puts out very respectable DPR.
Your first round would generally be starting inspire courage and casting a group buff spell (once you hit 7th level anyway) and then in general you will just fire away with your arrows, doing pretty good damage and increasing everyone else damage. I would also make sure to take at least cure light wounds so you could stabilize someone if needed and some general utility spells.
Being a halfling will of course mean you would do a little bit less damage than otherwise, but we can use that to our advantage too. If you go with the duettist archetype, you get a familiar, and if your familiar has the mauler archetype it can grow large enough to serve as a mount, which with archery means you can both move and full attack every round. This also gives you the mobility to be the 'safety' getting to someone who is in trouble and helping them out.
The would work pretty well with any familiar, but it is even cooler if we go with a flying familiar, you can now be airborne at level 3, which is a huge advantage for an archer. Personally I prefer the Rhamphorhynchuses familiar.
Yes, a halfling flying on a dinosaur. Is that kick ass enough for you?
Unchained Rogue / Unchained Barbarian. You get sneak attack, dex-to-damage, rage that improves your to-hit and damage. It's a ton of fun to play for small characters (I've got a goblin that does it).
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@ DJ, now I kind of want a halfling paladin with a musket flying around on one of those. Bard would no doubt be an excellent choice, but I'm still kind of ehhh on the idea of playing a chiefly support role.
No easy way to get a mauler familiar on a Paladin, you would have to spend multiple feats for the familiar, and you probably won't have them to spare.
I really think you are overestimating the amount of effort you would be spending in support. For almost all combats, it is just a single round of actions, a round when other builds would probably be just getting into position and making a single attack (even a gun paladin is often going to need to move to get into that first range increment.) Other than that, you would be just shooting unless their was an emergency that one of the other spell casters couldn't handle. If the Oracle is a primary support (a pretty good choice for the class) and the Wizard is on battlefield control with the others being strikers you will also be able to mostly focus on striking, after getting that first round of buffs going (inspire courage and haste is a pretty good choice for round 1 almost all of the time.)
By 8th level you should be able to easily be putting 4 or 5 arrows downrange. The won't do the worlds greatest damage, probably 1d6 +2 or 3 (str) +2 (inspire courage) + 2 magic or so. Perhaps another point or two from buffs from the oracle, so each arrow might do 10 points or so, 40-50 damage at that level isn't steller, but it is easy to bypass DR, and you can often target for increased effect, for example if your other strikers have gotten a couple foes down to almost being dead, a few well placed shots can take them from almost dead to actually dead, which stops all of their attacks for the next round. You will have pretty solid initiative, so you are likely to be going near the top of the order, so your second round is a lot like being last in the 1st round, where you want to be to bat cleanup anyway.
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I say bloodrager is better than barbarian for halflings since they're good with charisma. And there's not that much magic in them. Go arcane for a ton of buffs upon raging, celestial for a minor smite, a reroll, and flight, or aberrant for GLORIOUS REACH TACT...wait, you're small. er...well it's not bad for you but you won't get the full benefit out of that one.Wait, small races have the same reach as medium ones, or are you already calculating the enlarge person for large size reach?
Edit - could not edit my previous post to put it there.
Not so much that as they have less targets for pushing assault, which is really important to reach fighting.
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I really think you are overestimating the amount of effort you would be spending in support. For almost all combats, it is just a single round of actions, a round when other builds would probably be just getting into position and making a single attack (even a gun paladin is often going to need to move to get into that first range increment.)
I think that even that might be overestimating the time involved for a combat bard. My melee bard only spends a full round on support in the toughest fights where he casts Haste (level 8 - so only 2/day). Usually it's just a move action (it was a standard before 7th) and either moving or attacking. Other than Haste I spend most of my spells on OOC utility and Heroism with the occasional Blistering Invective mixed in.
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A swashigator would be a good fit, but I still think ranged bard is probably the best fit. Only problem is that bards don't always feel like they're doing amazing, even if they are. When you're only doing 4 attacks for 1d6+8, and the Barbarian is doing 3 attacks for 2d6+26 it doesn't feel like a powerful class. But I did a couple calculations with my 9th level ranger, and figured out that our bard was responsible for 40% of his average DPR. And that's not including buff spells like haste. Also, that's just one character, if we had one more dedicated damage dealer (3, as opposed to the 2 we have now) the bard would likely cause the most damage in the party, if he doesn't already.
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While I'm still looking at bloodrager, every thread I've dug up claims that I am GOING to lag, end of story.
Someone casually mentioned a gunslinging paladin though, and now I like the idea as much or more as a bloodrager. Three feet of sparkling full plate, cape billowing in the wind while he punches holes in whatever is biggest and meanest with his adorable little musket...plus it'd fill that ranged support hole our party currently has, AND my stat bonuses work.
Thoughts? May start a new thread just for this.
Ranged paladin is great in combat... I am not so sure about firearms, but they should be okay too. However, the team is a bit short on skills with most characters having 2+int, a few having 4+. This is why I was loath to recommend paladin or fighter and thought that ranger, slayer or avenger vigilante may be a good fit for the niche.
An archer bard is a good support character, but also quite handy in terms of damage as well. I have been meaning to try an alchemist or a skald, they can be good,versatile characters as well.
Actually, with risky striker and big game hunter, halfling barbarians can end up being surprisingly effective. If only there was something like risky striker for gnomes...
Isn't there a "fireshield-like" rage power that damages opponents that hit you in melee? That might be worth looking into if you take Risky Striker.
You seem to be leaning towards the Barbarian or Bloodrager area and I have an idea for Barbarian...
Savage Technologist archetype... more firearm focused if those are allowed in your game but not mandatory. Its main bonus is the boost to STR and DEX while raging and Fast Movement to your base speed... up to 40' if you also have the alternate racial trait.
It would make you a pretty nasty slinger. Sling Flail and Juggle Load would be some good feats for a basic sling or utilize your enhanced strength in addition to your enhanced Dexterity by using a Halfling Sling Staff. Crack Shot at level 5 add DEX to damage rolls with a firearm. Not to mention Sword and Gun SUPER early! Multiclass into Gunslinger and double dip that high DEX with Gun Training! Muskets are only worth it if you get the lvl 7 Deed- Deadshot... otherwise you will never make a full attack action without magic that Im aware of. Double Pistols are quite handy when you can reload as a Free action, firing both barrels at once for every shot. Another delightful multiclass option, Trenchfighter for triple dip into DEX mod on damage rolls AND Alchemist with the Explosive Missile discovery... need many levels there to make it worth it though for big bomb damage. Don't forget their Mutagens which could boost your DEX even MORE!! (Im having a Kreiger moment lol)
Monk would also be an awesome option... boosts to speed, AC and CMD through leveling, high unarmed strike damage, Ki Pool, great saves, Flurry of Blows, Style Feats (I recommend Snake Style line), etc...
Martial Artist is an interesting archetype for Monk because it removes the Lawful prerequisite. Still looking at being ranged? Zen Archer.
A pretty nasty Bloodrager would be the Untouchable archetype with the Arcane Bloodline. Primalist gets Rage Powers and Greenrager has some POWERFUL summoning at level 9, stack that with Augmented Summoning you're bringing some pain to the party.
greenrager at lv9 is summoning in 1 buffed up small earth elemental.
HP 15 attack slam +8 1d6+7
a druid at lv9 is summoning in 1 large earth elemental.
HP 69 attack 2 slams +14 (2d6+7)
Or the druid could do 1d4+1 small earth elementals.
HP 13 attack slam +6 1d6+4
these are with no feats
yeah, the bloodrager isn't a good summoner, you just get your spells way to late.
greenrager at lv9 is summoning in 1 buffed up small earth elemental.
HP 15 attack slam +8 1d6+7
a druid at lv9 is summoning in 1 large earth elemental.
HP 69 attack 2 slams +14 (2d6+7)
Or the druid could do 1d4+1 small earth elementals.
HP 13 attack slam +6 1d6+4these are with no feats
yeah, the bloodrager isn't a good summoner, you just get your spells way to late.
Yeah, they have slow spell gain so an equal level druid will have higher level spells. At level 13 he would finally get Summon Natures Ally IV where the Druid would have it at level 7. Don't compare a higher level spell that the druid would be capable of casting either... its a Bloodrager he's not meant to cast spells higher than level 4. Compare the same spell level cast by each...
Using SNA4 with no feats at level 13 (minimum for Bloodrager)Bloodrager Tiger x1
63 HP, Bite +12 (2d6+9), 2 Claws +13 (1d8+9)
+18 Grapple CMB, CMD 26, Woodland Stride
Druid Tiger x1
45 HP, Bite +9 (2d6+6), 2 Claws +10 (1d8+6)
+15 Grapple CMB, CMD 23
Obviously a level 13 Druid could cast SNA7 and could summon a freakin T-Rex. Greenrager is still a Bloodrager with summoning capabilities equal to his casting power... which is low lol, BUT boosted through Furious Summoning. I recommend Augment Summoning to make this ability worth the hassle... besides... who else has the potential to summon a creature with +12 to STR and CON?
I'm saying it's not worth going greenrager because the summons are bad. THe druid isn't summoning 1 tiger, he's summoning 1d4+1 tigers. A bloodrager has no reason to spend 2 feats and an archetype to have summons he shouldn't cast.
This is one of the topics that I see the title, have a post in mind, then read the OP and cry. Your part needs a rogue/bard, and halflings make great of both. You on the other hand want to kick @@@. If a trap wipes out the party, you will know it's everyone's fault at least.
Since halflings are hard to hit and hide easily, why don't you play a summoner and have a combat monster eidolon? Basicly you roleplay the ogre with sword hands during all combats. Normal summon spells can produce trapspringers. Give the summoned dire rat a 30 foot leed.
I've seen some fun ideas floating around for sling-focused halflings, using some of the new stuff from the Weapon Master's Handbook (especially Slipslinger Style).
Seems like it could be both fun and thematic. No one expects to get pummelled to death by a little dude with a bag of stones and a piece of leather.
I'd probably go with a Fighter for all the extra feats you'll want (ranged builds tend to be feat-heavy, and there are some extra things you'd definitely want with this sort of build, namely Slipslinger Style). Warpriest could also be very good, but you've already got one of those, so perhaps you'd prefer not to overlap.
The nice thing about Slipslinger Style for a halfling is that it makes the Warslinger alternate racial trait applicable to the halfling sling staff, which could open up the potential for a switch-hitter build.
You can see some prior discussion of this topic in the following thread, if you are interested:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2t4vg?Now-that-the-weapon-masters-handbook-is-o ut#5
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If you're willing to lean a bit more to making the rest of your party a LOT better you could do this...
Unchained rogue with TWFing two 18-20 crit range weapons (kukri?)
Feat: Butterfly Sting
Traits (racial and standard): to reduce the snipe stealth penalty to 0 instead of -20.
When you go into melee, you crit and give the crit to the one-hit-wonder glass cannons, also providing flank, and still doing pretty good Sneak Attack damage. When you need to, you can also just hide and pop a sneak attacked shot at your opponent every round, hitting their flat footed AC. Use a bow for simplicity of actions so you can still hide yourself and scoot about when sniping.
When you melee you'll massively increase the output of your teammates, particularly against high HP targets (x3 and x4 crit weapons are terrifying to combo with this), and when you go ranged you'll drop some serious damage every round and could potentially harass targets from the shadows while your team sneaks around/gets into a better position. Bonus points if you go assassin later and use the death attack on that approach for super sneaky infiltration.
My 5th Edition group has a Halfling monk that kicks @$$, but it's a totally different rules set. :-P
I think bloodrager works well. Maybe a dip into a class with trapfinding.
Assuming you don't go bard.
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Whenever a 'what shall I play' thread comes up, I'm often sure the answer is to be a Bard before opening the thread.
And sure enough, be a Bard.
Large party, three melee guys, and only one with any Int points. No ranged, aside from the Wiz. There are no knowledge skills. OP wants to be a Halfling.
Please be an archer Bard. They are a superb class/race combo, great to play, extremely powerful when done right and your party will ADORE you.
Get all the Helpful Halfling stuff too.
I always suggest newbies play rangers. Combat and skills, intro to spells, pet or buffing, etc.
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Dude. Skald. You get Rage, Rage Powers, and you can share them with allies. You know who loves Pounce? EVERYONE IN YOUR PARTY! Pick up Arcane Strike and Two-Weapon Fighting and you'll get to be your own flavor of awesome. Or, just go two-hander and pick up all the damage you can.
Oh, and if your group isn't receptive to raging, pickup the Spell Warrior archetype and turn you AND your group into pouncing blenders with acidic lightning swords!
Aether Kineticist makes for a good not-Rogue, and your damage isn't affected by size. You only need two feats- point blank and precise shots.