New day new AP new character. HELP(choice anxiety)

[Woodoodoo]

So my group is starting Hell's Rebels(PS why does hell's have an apostrophe?) and I am in the process of deciding what to play. This is WAY in advance of the other players since I always take so long to make a character so I don't know what the other players will be playing (f~%! character creation nights amirite?). And as usual my choice anxiety creeps up on me and I just have to explore EVERY option and i have a million idea's for builds.
I do understand that this AP is a little more in the way of intrigue than others so this is definitely opening new doors since I am normally used to building kind of combat focused martials.

I do like the idea of playing a spy or a rogue type character like the infiltrator investigator. Or a "urban" archetype like the siegebreaker(a bull rush build would be hilarious) fighter or using the pretty crazy street style. Charisma is of course going to be needed on most characters or that makes oracles/sorcerers/skalds/bards pretty awesome, as well as most full casters(except maybe for the more "wild" ones).

Then there is going with something that you normally can't play since It's not PFS legal(where i play most of the time) like some of the new archetypes in paths of the righteous like the brewkeeper dawnflower anchorite or doing some crazy flame blade build with flame blade dervish. Even the amazing Fiend keeper medium sounds pretty damn fun to RP.

BWARGH choosing a character is going to take forever, any of you that have played this AP have any advice? It would be appreciated.

[Elegos]

Im running this Ap currently. my players are having a lot of fun with the urban ranger, alley witch and mysterious avenger archetypes.

[xrayregime]

Any of the urban archetypes are nice, but I think rogues and bards are definitely the classes that get great opportunities to shine. One of the rogues in my party went master spy, and one went arcane trickster. They're both having a great time. In a city of opera houses, political dissidents, and artists, bards should have a great time; though I still haven't been able to convince any of my group members to play one.

[Woodoodoo]

Nice to hear xray.

On another note I think this AP really does open up for some interesting archetypes like the hilarious Cleaner slayer.

Filcher/sharper rogue might be funny as well. Alchemical sapper, obviously the Vigilante will be awesome here as well. But what archetype/specialization.

[Elegos]

My players keep talking about training a stalker vigilante known as the Mint Avenger

[taks]

Woodoodoo wrote:

So my group is starting Hell's Rebels(PS why does hell's have an apostrophe?)

Because it's a possessive use of a noun, e.g. John's Rebels or Bill's Rebels. Interestingly, my retarded phone's autocorrect always puts in two.

My impression was that the mesmerist would be a really good fit for this AP. I think one of my (potential) players was going with a vigilante, also a good fit. I say potential because it's still up in the air what we end up playing (CoCT is a possibility). The investigator is a good choice as well, particularly given the skills usage that is prevalent in the AP.

[the David]

You might want to ask the other players what they're bringing to the table. That could help you decide on the role you want to play.

[Woodoodoo]

yeah I will ask eventually I think one of them was going with a lay on hands focused paladin with an archetype from the new healers handbook?(I haven't checked it out yet).
Normally I am most of the time the guy that takes so long to make a character that I'm always the last one so I pick something to fill the group. I just wanted to be ready in advance.

[Serisan]

The biggest question I would have for you is "how much is your group likely to expand the game beyond checking off the adventure tick boxes?" Additionally, how often do you get to play beyond 11 (I say this as someone with a lvl 20 PFS character)?

Investigator, rogue, and bard are all very strong options. Inquisitor, occultist, and other 6 skill + 6 level caster classes are all solid, as well. Skills are really important.

If you're looking for late-game craziness, prepared casters of all stripes are highly valuable. There are lots of situationals that come up in this AP.

What I would strongly recommend against would be one trick pony characters. Low skill rank counts with limited options for casting (i.e. evocation sorcerors, fighters, paladins, etc.) are not satisfying in this AP.

[Woodoodoo]

I played for the first time beyond lvl 11 in the last AP we played(up to 14). I normally play PFS and our countries PFS is not very big. Also holy crap even getting above lvl 12 in PFS seems like an almost unobtainable feat.
I have been playing around with making a lore shaman or oracle or some type of thief character. I Kind of like the concept of the filcher rogue archetype and I am imagining getting permission to use it with a gnome that uses gnome pinchers.
I also thought the medium might be okay here and especially fun if you would get to use a lot of different spirits.

[Woodoodoo]

So far the group has an Occultist and a Paladin. Shaman/Oracle might fit well in here.

[Woodoodoo]

Is the Phantom thief rogue someone that could thrive in hell's rebels? loses pretty much all in-combat stuff for a lot of out of combat things.

[The Mad Comrade]

Woodoodoo wrote:

Is the Phantom thief rogue someone that could thrive in hell's rebels? loses pretty much all in-combat stuff for a lot of out of combat things.

I wouldn't recommend an archetype of that bent for any class in any AP, let alone the Phantom Thief in particular. You'll be a nimble fighter with 3/4ths BAB, two bad base saves and a truckload of skills that won't keep you alive when the monsters start eating face. Might as well play a Swashbuckler ... although going into the Duelist PrC has potential. Hrm.