Making a true neutral warpriest that uses a kukri and slashing grace, what deities can people suggest? Are there any aligned spells, blessings, favored weapons, feats or traits which I should be considering when deciding what alignment & deity I pick?
PS: This isnt PFS, so anything paizo is fine
I'd suggest taking molthuni aresenal chaplian. It stops sacred weapon at 1d6, but weapon training and advanced weapon training is worth it.
Well, ok...
I'm aware that's a very nice archetype, but this thread was meant to be about what deity to pick... as per the thread title and the question... Got any suggestions, and reasoning behind said suggestions? :)
Well, if you pick an Arsenal Chaplain you don't have a choice in blessings, so the deity really doesn't matter that much except for RP reasons and deity-specific feats.
Well, if you pick an Arsenal Chaplain you don't have a choice in blessings, so the deity really doesn't matter that much except for RP reasons and deity-specific feats.
Yeah, but I was really hoping when I made the thread that people would entertain the possibility of not taking any one specific archetype, and also consider things like nifty bonuses from obediences, deity feats, traits, blessings, backup weapons, alignment restricted spells and RP difficulty. Preferably bringing up things I was previously unaware of, had overlooked, or hadn't considered. I hope this doesn't become a generic "wot archetype is best" thread and instead helps with advice regarding deity options, or even anecdotes about certain deity specific things that they'd found useful in previous games... I'm not looking for total optimisation, just peoples suggestions for cool perks and interesting feats/abilities/blessings from specific deities that they've played with / been considering, the build is pretty flexible at the moment (except as stated in the first post: Neutral, kukri & slashing grace) so I'd like to hear any "deity specific things" being discussed.
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Well, if you don't give any insight onto what your planning for your character it's hard to give any advice.
The general answer for your WP is no, deity doesn't matter for this build. The only thing that can matter is blessings. But since we have not insight into your build you get the generic advice that arsenal chaplain is better at fighting the the original. So unless you provide a reasoning for a blessing you want, or insight into your plan that would show us why a different blessing might be worth having there's no reason to not take the war blessing with arsenal chaplain.
Now as a WP you do get access to spells via your Deity, but again, without any idea onto your character there's nothing generically good, (maybe getting heroism via your god, maybe) to be worth mentioning.
And again for traits, nothing in your current build as we know it has any need of specific traits, let alone specific deity traits.
obediences aren't worth anything to a WP. The best is getting +4 to all knowledges via Irori, but you probably don't have the int or skill points to leverage that. The other is pharasma for +2 with daggers, but you aren't using daggers.
Backup weapons don't really matter, if you don't have your main weapon that your money and perhaps feats have gone into you're going to be bad at combat. The only possible advice is irori for the IUS since you'll have something if you are stripped of all gear for some reason, but that seems like hardly enough of a reason to justify the choice as it "shouldn't" happen.
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If you're aiming at Piranha Strike, you might need to have a regional connection to Sargava. That could mean a jungle flavor (kukri would fit really well as a machete) or pirate/privateer flavor, the latter of which would suggest Besmara. If you're not into piracy, you could still follow her as the embodiment of personal emancipation and independence.
Are there any jungle deities? Gozreh maybe?
Well, if you don't give any insight onto what your planning for your character it's hard to give any advice.
Perhaps this thread should be in the general discussion section then.
I know there are a handful of build defining feats/traits/abilities that are specific to deities an was expecting the thread to be buzzing with people's opinions regarding things that would be worth considering.
Going from the base of being a dex build kukri using warpriest, do any deity's feats/traits/blessings/etc etc etc in particular spark into your mind as potentially being slightly useful and usable by a true neutral warpriest?
I know there are obedience options that increase AC when flat footed / denied dex (or help to prevent that from happening int he first place), potentially covering a gap in a dex-based build's defenses, are they worth consideration?
Are there any spells with good/evil descriptors that are considered to be "good for their spell level" that might influence the decision to select a neutral aligned deity?
Do any of the blessing particularly aid in melee combat for a melee build not using a reach weapon? (travel blessing teleporting for battlefield positioning maybe, or is that not worth it because a dex-based WP can simply acrobatics everywhere?)
Is free IUS useful for meeting any prereqs of feats the WP could potentially make good use of, and does that bring to mind synergy with any other feats / builds?
Do you think that the militant overtones of a warpriest combined with worshipping a more aggressive deity would naturally lean the character towards being more direct and potentially less diplomatic, causing friction with other party members?
Do you think that worshipping a more peaceful non-violent deity makes little sense for a warpriest and could cause RP issues for yourself?
Are there any deities that people have chosen in the past and found worked pretty well in terms of flavor, synergy or utility?
These are just a few things I could think of as to why deity might matter. As I said before the character's build has not yet been totally planned, and given that it's a divine spellcaster i'd quite like it to be tied to a deity, either thematically or (preferably) through both flavor and synergistic feats/abilities that are unique/favored by the deity of choice. I'm not looking for the most optimised option with the most optimised archetype, this isnt a powergaming theory build, I'm simply looking for opinions on deities and the neat little bonuses their unique feats/traits/obediences/blessings can give, and advice as to what others think would work well for rounding out a character & concept.
Going from the base of being a dex build kukri using warpriest, do any deity's feats/traits/blessings/etc etc etc in particular spark into your mind as potentially being slightly useful and usable by a true neutral warpriest?
Torag's defensive stratagist is the only thing I know, stops you from being flat-footed before combat. But he's LG so N can't have him.
I know there are obedience options that increase AC when flat footed / denied dex (or help to prevent that from happening int he first place), potentially covering a gap in a dex-based build's defenses, are they worth consideration?
I don't know of any that boost AC or help against flat-footed. I gave you the only 2 that I know that are better than other feats.
Are there any spells with good/evil descriptors that are considered to be "good for their spell level" that might influence the decision to select a neutral aligned deity?
Nope
Do any of the blessing particularly aid in melee combat for a melee build not using a reach weapon? (travel blessing teleporting for battlefield positioning maybe, or is that not worth it because a dex-based WP can simply acrobatics everywhere?)
I've not found any blessing to be worth not going arsenal chaplain. And war is one of the better blessings anyways.
Is free IUS useful for meeting any prereqs of feats the WP could potentially make good use of, and does that bring to mind synergy with any other feats / builds?
no. For a dex slashing grace build no. None I'm aware of.
Do you think that the militant overtones of a warpriest combined with worshipping a more aggressive deity would naturally lean the character towards being more direct and potentially less diplomatic, causing friction with other party members? (& if so, how would you work around it?)
No, not any more than any other character. And you deal with it the same you'd deal with any personality. Personally I've never really seen character personalities really matter.
Do you think that worshipping a more peaceful non-violent deity makes little sense for a warpriest and could cause RP issues for yourself? (& if so, how would you work around it?)
No. Peaceful deities know that there is evil that wont stop without violence. Just don't be looking to start fights with random peeps.
Are there any deities that people have chosen in the past and found worked pretty well in terms of flavor, synergy or utility?
Sure, all of them can have great flavor. Synergy or utility, NO.
These are just a few things I could think of as to why deity might matter. As I said before the character's build has not yet been totally planned, and given that it's a divine spellcaster i'd quite like it to be tied to a deity, either thematically or (preferably) through both flavor and synergistic feats/abilities that are unique/favored by the deity of choice. I'm not looking for the most optimised option with the most optimised archetype, this isnt a powergaming theory build, I'm simply looking for opinions on deities and the neat little bonuses their unique feats/traits/obediences/blessings can give, and advice as to what others think would work well for rounding out a character & concept.(PS: It will hopefully be a character going from 1 to 20, and im not concerned about getting all of the benefit of the deity up-front, as I know some of the later boons and other things can be quite potent for niche situations.)
Going from the base of being a dex build kukri using warpriest, do any deity's feats/traits/blessings/etc etc etc in particular spark into your mind as potentially being slightly useful and usable by a true neutral warpriest?Torag's defensive stratagist is the only thing I know, stops you from being flat-footed before combat. But he's LG so N can't have him.
I know there are obedience options that increase AC when flat footed / denied dex (or help to prevent that from happening int he first place), potentially covering a gap in a dex-based build's defenses, are they worth consideration?I don't know of any that boost AC or help against flat-footed. I gave you the only 2 that I know that are better than other feats.
There's the fey obediences for Ranalc (+4 ac when denied dex) and Magdh's boon (Never surprised/flat-footed and gain +2 AC). There might be others, not sure.
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In regard to the fixation on the arsenal chaplain, seeing as that doesnt seem to be going away, does it outshine every other archetype in every situation - to such a degree that its the only archetype worth discussing or considering? For the time being I'd like to entertain the idea of other available archetypes being viable, even if only situationally...
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The problem is that blessings in general are weak and not worth the standard action to activate them. Blessings are also usually very narrow in benefit, so one that has four options built in like war is usually better than one of the more specialized options.
Some of them take off with quicken blessing, but that's a Long time to wait.
Chaplain is better always, regardless of weapon, that's why it is the WP and the vanilla is the more healy WP.
at lv5 normal warpriest had gone from 1d6 to 1d8, which is +1 damage average
A chaplain has WT for a +1 to attack and a +1 to damage
at lv9 normal is still at 1d8
chaplain is now at +2 to attack and +2 damage.
at lv10 normal is finally at 1d10 for another 1 average damage increase putting total at +2
chaplain is still at +2 to attack and damage
at lv13 normal is still at 1d10 for his +2 damage
chaplain goes to +3 to attack and damage
at lv15 normal is now at 2d6 for +1.5 damage total 3.5
chaplain is still at +3 to attack and damage
at 17 normal is still at 2d6 for damage total 3.5
chaplain is now at +4 to attack and damage
then 3 level later at lv20 normal goes to 2d8 for 5.5 damage total increase.
So not only are you coming online faster, your damage bonus is the same, only losing out at lv20. BUT you are also getting an accuracy boost. Using a simple conversion of 2 damage per accuracy we get a total of +12 damage.
This is also before considering the Gloves of dueling for +2 to your weapon training affordable around lv10, access to weapon mastery feats and potentially access to AWT.
And most blessing aren't worth using in combat, it's often not the most effective use of your actions.
So yes, it outshines everything else. Now not to a degree that you're a fool to pick something else. But until you firmly declare that you're NOT taking it and WHY NOT you'll be getting people recommending it because it is the best generic WP and you should be needing to find a good reason to consider a different one.
traits that stood out.
Blade of Mercy trait, Sarenrae, no penalty for nonlethal, and a +1 trait bonus to any nonlethal damage you inflict with a slashing weapon.
Yuelral, Gemstone Collector, carry bejeweled objects worth a total combined value of 200 gp x your character level, you gain a +1 trait bonus on all Will saving throws and a +2 trait bonus on a single Charisma-based skill check of your choice.
Shield-Trained, Gorum, Heavy and light shields are considered simple weapons and Heavy shields are considered light weapons for you.
The Flexing Arm trait, Kurgess, use Strength instead of Dexterity as your base ability for Escape Artist skill checks to free yourself from bondage. Additionally, you gain a +1 trait bonus on such Escape Artist checks.
Wisdom in the Flesh, Irori, use Wisdom instead of Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity for skill and it's a class skill for you.
Corpse Hunter trait, Pharasma, a +1 trait bonus on attacks made against undead.
If you're willing to use a scimitar, Sarenrae has support - besides stuff mentioned, the ability to prepare flame blade & to get a feat which buffs it, Flame Blade Dervish.
If you might want to upgrade to a glaive, Bladed Brush makes it dex to damage for Shelynites.
Nethys has a feat which allows you to prepare a spell in an empty slot as a standard action. Also permanency becomes a 5th level spell for you which may be handy if your game actually does get to high level.
Kurgess lets you prepare expeditious retreat and jump.
Sivanah lets you prepare some illusions.
For flavor reasons, I think that Norgorber is pretty nifty. He has four aspects that you could choose between (my personal fav is the Reaper of Reputation), though the obedience is quite a bit on the "Evil" side.
Umm... a pretty cool Empyreal Lord in my opinion is Immonhiel, lord of healing herbs and toads.
Are you looking for general story aspects for your build, or actual utility? I think Warpreist is pretty solid on its own, so I'd suggest just trying to find a deity that you think would be fun to roleplay under.
Are you looking for general story aspects for your build, or actual utility? I think Warpreist is pretty solid on its own, so I'd suggest just trying to find a deity that you think would be fun to roleplay under.
Both, looking for interesting/useful things, but also very curious how people have played their warpriests, and the variations on the warpriest RP.
Enjoying all the opinions so far by the way, picked up on a couple of traits and things I hadn't noticed before.
If you're okay with being either Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Good, I'd suggest going with Desna as your deity and picking up Butterfly Sting asap. Because it requires combat expertise, you can later go for tripping them, and Kukri makes for a great Critical Fishing tool.
if your not admant about kukri i would say go with Pharasma and pick daggers. less crit chance but taking Deific Obedience at level 3 will give +2 to attack. and river rat trait add +1 damage. together with the weapon focus u get anyway its +3 to attack +1 to damage from 1 feat and 1 trait investment.
her blessings include healing which has great action aconomy for the lesser blessing (usaly blesings are standard action and empowering cure spells is always good) and she is the only one to give the repose blessing which is an aowsome no save debuff, one worth investing in conductive weapon for.
also pharasma's alingmnet would work with True N.
if your not admant about kukri i would say go with Pharasma and pick daggers. less crit chance but taking Deific Obedience at level 3 will give +2 to attack. and river rat trait add +1 damage. together with the weapon focus u get anyway its +3 to attack +1 to damage from 1 feat and 1 trait investment.
her blessings include healing which has great action aconomy for the lesser blessing (usaly blesings are standard action and empowering cure spells is always good) and she is the only one to give the repose blessing which is an aowsome no save debuff, one worth investing in conductive weapon for.
also pharasma's alingmnet would work with True N.
And you can take another trait to get a +1 hit vs undead. All those bonuses make it a lot easier to hit while using Piranha Strike, allowing you to get a higher non-crit damage than the kukri.
EDIT: and being able to use the same weapon in ranged isn't bad either.
