Martial classes for a ghost, is it possible?

[Chyrone]

Hello everyone,

I have some 3PP material with undead.
One of which is a ghost.

Cha based caster classes are obvious pickings.

I was wondering, rather, are any martial classes half-decently compatible with the creature being a ghost, in some way?

[Mysterious Stranger]

While CHA based casters do make for powerful ghosts that is not the only build that works well. Pretty much any class can be made into a ghost. Martial classes relying on STR are at a disadvantage, but DEX based martials make decent ghosts. A swashbuckler ghost would actually work quite well. Give him a ghost touch rapier and he will be fine.

[Dragonchess Player]

Ghost antipaladin. You might as well go whole hog.

[Chyrone]

Antipaladin, with ghost touch weapon i presume, following up on Mysterious Stranger's post?

Or did you have another means for one to be effective?

[Avoron]

Ghost of an oath against undeath paladin.

No, seriously, listen. Ghosts can be of any alignment, but they don't have any control over their own continued existence. An oath against undeath paladin that stayed behind as a ghost would be desperate to release themselves from their suffering and fulfill the terms of their oath, but the only way to do that would be to set right whatever's holding them to this world, achieving some grand paladiny goal in the campaign. It would be a fantastic roleplaying opportunity, with loads of options for backstory and character growth, not to mention a beautiful subversion of the "undead are evil" stereotype.

Then take a look at the mechanics. It has all the same amazing Charisma synergy as a ghost antipaladin, and probably some added versatility in the abilities its class provides. Give it a ghost touch weapon and it can be a beast at melee or ranged combat. It has spectacular defensive statistics with Charisma-based hp, Charisma-based saves, and immunity to half the effects in the rulebooks. But the real advantage of its oath comes from its ghost touch aura ability: free ghost touch armor as early as level three. With excellent armor on top of its constant Charisma bonus to AC, this ghost paladin would be practically unhittable.

[Azten]

If you can swing it, just be a Ghost with Grave Trappings, found HERE by scrolling down.

[Lady-J]

mysterious stranger gunslinger with ghost touch pistol

[Magus Black]

Since you have no issues with 3rd Party material using the link of Azten's and scroll a bit lower than the Grave Trappings down to Eternal Warrior; which overall better for your martial character.

[Dragonchess Player]

Chyrone wrote:

Antipaladin, with ghost touch weapon i presume, following up on Mysterious Stranger's post?

Or did you have another means for one to be effective?

Aura of Cowardice to impose a -4 on saves vs. fear effects and suppress fear immunity. Channel Energy, possibly with Command Undead. Cruelties for imposing status effects with Touch of Corruption. Fiendish Boon. Smite Good ("Regardless of the target, smite good attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess;" even against neutral and evil opponents, this is useful). Touch of Corruption for damaging living creatures (possibly with a conductive ghost touch weapon) and self healing (undead). Unholy Resilience to add Cha bonus to all saves.

[Firewarrior44]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Chyrone wrote:

Antipaladin, with ghost touch weapon i presume, following up on Mysterious Stranger's post?

Or did you have another means for one to be effective?

Aura of Cowardice to impose a -4 on saves vs. fear effects and suppress fear immunity. Channel Energy, possibly with Command Undead. Cruelties for imposing status effects with Touch of Corruption. Fiendish Boon. Smite Good ("Regardless of the target, smite good attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess;" even against neutral and evil opponents, this is useful). Touch of Corruption for damaging living creatures (possibly with a conductive ghost touch weapon) and self healing (undead). Unholy Resilience to add Cha bonus to all saves.

Smite Good Wrote wrote:

If the antipaladin targets a creature that is not good, the smite is wasted with no effect.

I don't think smite good works on no good creatures

[Mysterious Stranger]

An antipaladin ghost can work ok but keep in mind it should be a DEX based antipladin or it is getting no bonus to hit and its AC is going to be pretty low. The typical STR based heavily armored antipaladin is going to be at a real disadvantage.

Since touch of corruption requires physical contact it may not function. Unless there is some FAQ I am not aware of it looks like an antipaladin ghost would not be able to use his touch of corruption so any cruelties he may have are also rendered useless. Smite good will still function, but since ghosts already get CHA to AC as a DEX bonus that part no longer functions. Touch of corruption is not the same as the ghosts corrupting touch.

Swashbucklers of at least 3rd level get precise strike which gives them level to damage on all attacks with a swashbuckler weapon. They also get access to fighter bonus feats which allows things like weapon specialization. . The swashbuckler also gets weapon training with swashbuckler weapons. Combine these with fencing grace to get DEX to damage and they will be doing a lot more damage than the antipaladin, even when the antipaladin is using smite good. The swashbuckler is going to be more accurate and do more damage than the antipaladin. A antipaladin can get some of this but it costs him more feats than the swashbuckler and he gets less feats to begin with.

Another surprisingly good ghost could be a rogue. I don’t see anything to indicate that sneak attack does not work with corrupting touch. A rogue ghost could pop out of the walls and floors to get the jump on the party. If they used hit and run tactics instead of stand and deliver they will be a significant threat to the party.

[Mr. Bonkers]

Ghost that worships Desna, and takes the Divine Fighting Technique for Desna's Shooting Star. Gain Cha to hit and damage for Starknifes, and use a Ghost Touch Starknife with Returning property or the Richocet Shot feat.

[Lady-J]

anti paladin 2 with mysterious stranger gunslinger x would be pretty powerful i think

[ForestDew]

Avoron wrote:

Ghost of an oath against undeath paladin.

No, seriously, listen. Ghosts can be of any alignment, but they don't have any control over their own continued existence. An oath against undeath paladin that stayed behind as a ghost would be desperate to release themselves from their suffering and fulfill the terms of their oath, but the only way to do that would be to set right whatever's holding them to this world, achieving some grand paladiny goal in the campaign. It would be a fantastic roleplaying opportunity, with loads of options for backstory and character growth, not to mention a beautiful subversion of the "undead are evil" stereotype.

I'm loving everything on it. If I ever GM again, I'm stealing this.

I'd see him/her being in a place reputed for being infested with undead, and as the PCs come to clean the area, they find it surprisingly empty, save for a poor ghost suffering.

[Avoron]

ForestDew wrote:

I'm loving everything on it. If I ever GM again, I'm stealing this.

Please do! I've never gotten a chance to try out that particular concept, but I've always wanted to.

That Divine Fighting Technique idea is genius, the Charisma synergy is just too good to pass up. I think it could work best with a flying blade swashbuckler - precise throw lets them pile on the damage at both melee and range, and disrupting counter and opportune parry and riposte give a nasty surprise to anyone trying to get past their ghostly defenses. I'm also loving the mysterious stranger option, maybe with a few levels of trench fighter for faster Dex-to-damage.

With grave trappings and an agile weapon, you could also go with a traditional melee fighter like an urban bloodrager or scaled fist monk. The moral bonus from controlled bloodrage would still work based on the undead ragers rule from the Monster Codex, and it could be used to enhance either Dexterity or Charisma as the situation requires. What's more, the ghost's natural immunity to fatigue would allow for free rage cycling shenanigans. Both bloodrager and scaled fist monk would provide convenient Charisma synergy, especially with the scaled fist's ability to add twice its Charisma bonus to AC in addition to its normal Dexterity modifier.

Any of these builds would benefit greatly from a conductive weapon, since it can channel its corruptive touch or draining touch every single round. They could also make good use of Flyby Attack, which would allow them to dart in and out of walls to attack while remaining safe from retaliation.

[ForestDew]

I'm sorry of lightly hijacking the thread, but it made me think. If the PC calls a Shoki Psychopomp to bring the ghost with it, should the PC pay it? It's its job to find lost souls and bring them with him... (fortunately, it doesn't happens before the 11th level...)

[Belltrap]

If at least one Paizo-published AP, a ghost uses Vital Strike in conjunction with Corrupting Touch, so you can actually deal staggering single-target damage that way, especially if your BAB is high enough to support Improved or Greater Vital Strike.

[My Self]

If you can get DEX or CHA to damage, Scaled Fist (Monk/UMonk) is a very nifty dip choice. You can stack 2x CHA to AC (Deflection, via Ghost, and Untyped, via Monk) for a lot of defense. If you did the Vital Strike thing, Scaled Fist + Monk go The Four Winds (Monk) might be an interesting choice, since it can multi-standard action attack by spending ki. Or stacking it with Monk Vows instead of Scaled Fist, since a lot of the vows assume you are living and penalize you accordingly.