...that's a long character description.
Ok, guys, so I'm planning my new character for our "new" campaign. It's actually a sequel to a campaign I DMed and now one of the guys wanted to DM a sequel to that, which is pretty neat - I get to play in the world I created!
Ok, so this character is coming from one of the events that happened in the last campaign. The PCs inadvertently released an archdemon in the world and tried to trap him back again... and failed. The demon teleported away and they never saw him again. But, the next time said demon was mentioned was when he appeared in the middle of a battle between a viking-inspired nation and a imperialistic german/roman-inspired nation. He was drawn to that battlefield to feed on the pain, suffering and chaos that ruled over both armies. He released a legion of demons on both armies and chaos ensued. Eventually, both armies had to join forces in order to fight against the abyssal horde, and due to the efforts of the (near epic level) generals, they managed to defeat the archdemon.
So, my character for the sequel will be a veteran from the viking army. He fought on that battle and actually faced the archdemon himself. He was quickly dismissed, however, when the fiend touched him and tainted his soul. He was known as Gunnar Redhand, one of the greatest warriors of the Jarl, but after the touch of the demon, he was never the same. His body became frail, his personality was scarred and his soul was defiled.
Due to this, he vowed to take revenge. He would dedicate his life to purge the world from these demon monstrosities even if he would die trying.
So that's the catch. I wanted to make a "true" viking character. Historically, vikings fought mostly with wooden round shield and swords or axes. And watching some videos on Youtube on the techniques they used with said weapons, I really liked the idea of using the shield as a weapon as well.
As such, the Viking Fighter archetype was the first thing that came to mind, but then again, I realized the weapon and shield ranger would probably be a better choice because I could take Shield Slam and Shield Mastery or Two-Weapon Fighting without needing to meet the pre-reqs.
The array we are going with is 18, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10, and I believe we're going to start at level 3. So, this is what I came up with so far:
Gunnar Redhand, Human Ranger [Demonslayer] 3
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 10
- Trait 1: Veteran of Battle
- Trait 2: Deathtouched (Mind-Affecting)
- Trait 3: Natural Born Sailor
- Drawback: Tainted Spirit
- Feat (Level 1): Shield Focus
- Feat (Human): Improved Shield Bash
- Feat (Ranger 2): Two-Weapon Fighting
- Feat (Level 3): Weapon Focus [Battleaxe]
- Favored Enemy: Outsider (Evil)
- Combat Style: Weapon and Shield
- Favored Terrain: Cold
- Equipment: Battleaxe, Heavy Shield, Composite shortbow, dagger, lamellar steel armor
So, what do you guys think? What advices can you give in order to better build this character? I don't want him to be extremely optimized, but I want him to be useful, of course. I'm dying to hear your opinions. Thanks in advance!
But dipping into abyssal bloodline bloodrager would only give me claws, which is not the fighting style I'm going for. Infernal isn't thematically appropriate, since the creature was a demon, not devil.
Aside from Ranger and viking fighter, I'm also starting to consider slayer, since I can take the Ranger combat style feats at the same rate. What do you guys think?
He was frail at the time, and he pushed himself for years in order to move, walk and then fight again. But I like your suggestion, I'll definitely consider it.
Although, wouldn't using weapon and shield be a problem with somatic components?
Since you are using both a Battleaxe and a Shortbow, I'll mention that Inner Sea Races has an Ulfen (read Viking) Ethnicity Trait called Weapon Training. It gets you +1 damage with axes (Battleaxe, Throwing Axe, Handaxe, and Greataxe), bows (long and short), swords (Bastard Sword, Greatsword, Longsword, and Short Sword), and hammers (Light Hammer and Warhammer).
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@gisher: Loved Weapon Training! Thanks!
@pendothrax: I'm steering away from black blade magus because there's already one of those in the party.
So, this is the character after your advices:
Gunnar Redhand
Human Fighter (Viking) 2/Shaman 1
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 12
- Trait 1: Veteran of Battle
- Trait 2: Demon Slayer
- Trait 3: Weapon Training
- Drawback: Tainted Spirit
- Feat (Level 1): Shield Focus
- Feat (Human): Improved Shield Bash
- Feat (Fighter 1): Two-Weapon Fighting
- Feat (Fighter 2): Double Slice
- Feat (Level 3): Shielded Mage
- Shaman Spirit: Battle Spirit
- Familiar: Crow (because Odin!)
Equipment: Handaxe (MW), Heavy wooden shield+1, Lamellar steel armor+1, Composite shortbow (Str+2, MW), Dagger
Shaman Spells
- Level 0: Guidance, Light, Resistance
- Level 1: Protection from Evil, Cure Light Wounds
So, what do you think?
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Rather than Shielded Mage, you can also just use a light shield and any weapon; casting a spell just means shifting the weapon into your light shield hand as a free action for a moment. If you do want to go Shielded Mage and a heavy shield, the Shield Trained trait lets you offhand a heavy shield as if it was a light weapon.
A Shaman with the Battle Spirit becomes an extremely strong combatant by the time they get the Enemies' Bane ability at Shaman level 8 - this allows them to put a Bane property of their choice (+2 enhancement and +2d6 damage vs. one type of creature) onto a weapon for 1 minute as a swift action.
Note that a Shaman should be picking up the spell Divine Favor with his favored class bonus, and then using it with the Fate's Favored trait. The bonus to combat ability is huge, especially with two weapon fighting.
As a Battle Shaman I would probably avoid dropping more than one level into something else. My first choice for a mystic viking axe/shield Battle Shaman would probably be Bloodrager 1/ Shaman X, since Rage is A) extremely good for any melee, and B) very viking. Overall, it would probably be a Speaker For the Past Shaman with Battle Spirit, combined with a level of Blood Conduit Bloodrager. Why would take some time to explain overall (I can explain it if you like), but it becomes a complete raging magical beast in combat.
So I just had an idea and would appreciate some feedback, guys.
It's mostly for storytelling reasons, but it also has its gaming motives as well.
What if I went summoner instead of shaman? The abilities of the class would be geared not towards demon slaying, but actually demon summoning. Why? Because it'd be unintentional. He would become a conduit for demons due to his tainted soul and in battle, would inadvertently summon them whilst screaming in pain. His rage would then take over and when the fight's over and everyone is taking their breath for a moment, he'd go on and fight the demon(s) he summoned (I'd ignore the dismiss part of the spell).
His eidolon would be a biped featureless creature that he'd call his fylgja. Fylgjas are spiritual manifestations of the soul of a person. While most Fylgjas have animal form, they can come in any shape. His is kinda unsettling, being completely expressionless. It'd be very inhuman-like. As he'd level up, the eidolon would evolve more and more to become a carbon copy of the molydeus demon that had struck him in the past. All this time, the demon's influence was growing inside him and managed to be so strong, it actually had taken a physical form. Then, he'd have to confront himself and that part of his own soul.
Being a summoner gives me the advantage of not being too MAD, as I can use both Charisma for spellcasting and intimidation. Also, flanking with the eidolon would be good, since I'm going two-weapon fighting.
What do you guys think? And what are the best options for a viking/summoner with that motif?
Overall, it would probably be a Speaker For the Past Shaman with Battle Spirit, combined with a level of Blood Conduit Bloodrager. Why would take some time to explain overall (I can explain it if you like), but it becomes a complete raging magical beast in combat.
It would be great to read a few details...
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With one level of Blood Conduit Bloodrager you get Bloodrage and free Improved Unarmed Strike. You fight with a Furious weapon in your mainhand, and use offhand unarmed strikes with a Furious Bodywrap of Mighty Strikes - unarmed strike doesn't care if you're holding a shield, and you can call it a 'shield punch'. You take Extra Rage and maybe Berserker of the Society for more rage/day, and you take Raging Vitality. With False Life cast and Raging Vitality, you've got almost Barbarian levels of HP.
On the Shaman side, you take the Evil Eye Hex and Hex Strike. This lets you Evil Eye a target with an attack, and Evil Eye always lasts at least one round. The Soothsayer Hex can help Evil Eye last a bit longer.
You take the Battle Spirit, which grants Enemies' Bane and things like free Weapon Specialization. You use Divine Favor and then later Divine Power with the Fate's Favored Trait for a huge combat buff.
The Speaker for the Past Archetype grants Revelations like Temporal Celerity and Time Hop, and it grants Heroism as a bonus spell for even more buffing.