I am remaking my very first Pathfinder character. My party members helped me with her, but we weren't really thinking past level 3 at the time. Now I think I can do a bit better with her build. The character is a gnome archaeologist, which is a bard archetype with no performance abilities, but does get some rogue abilities - such as a rogue talent at level 4. I would like some feedback on her.
Stats:
12 Ste, 15 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 12 Wis, 14 Cha.
Racial Traits:
Keen Senses: +2 Perception
Low Light Vision
Academician: +2 on single chosen Knowledge skill. Alternate trait.
Magical Linguist: +1 to the DC of spells they cast with the language-dependent descriptor or those that create glyphs, symbols, or other magical writings. +2 on saving throws against such spells. Spell-like abilities: 1/day—arcane mark, comprehend languages, message, read magic. Alternate trait.
Master Tinker: +1 Disable Device and Knowledge Engineering. Treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted. Alternate trait.
Class Skills:
Level 1) Bardic Knowledge: Add half bard level to all Knowledge Skills, which can be made untrained.
Archaeologist’s Luck: +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls.
Cantrips
Level 2) Clever Explorer: Add half bard level to Disable Device and Perception. (Odd how the archetype gives you a bonus to Disable Device and yet not make it a class skill.)
Uncanny Dodge
Level 3) Trap Sense
Level 4) One Rogue Talent every 4 levels.
Level 5) Lore Master
Character traits yet to be selected. Faith trait Fate's Favored heavily considered.
Feats:
Level 1) Weapon Finesse
Level 3) Weapon Focus Whip
Level 4) Rogue Talent - Combat Trick - Whip Mastery
Level 5) Slashing Grace
Feats if Weapon Finesse is built into campaign. (My current game did this.)
Level 1) Weapon Focus Whip
Level 3) Whip Mastery
Level 4) Rogue Talent - Combat Trick - Slashing Grace
Level 5) TBD
An archaeologist gets a huge benefit from the fate's favored trait.
If your GM likes to surprise you with traps, the trap spotter talent early is a must. I'd probably put slashing grace ahead of whip mastery though - whip mastery removes restrictions but slashing grace makes hitting worthwhile. Hitting with 1d2+1 damage is a lot like not hitting at all. On that point I'd probably make dex higher - 16 would be a noticeable improvement on 15.
I forgot to put the class abilities in. I fixed that.
Hopefully Weapon Finesse will be a built in feat so I can get the feats quicker.
With a 20 point buy, if I move Dex up to 16, I'd have to drop something else. I don't want to drop Strength because then I wouldn't be able to carry anything. The light load for a gnome with 12 Strength is only 32.25 pounds. I need Wisdom for my Will saves, and Charisma for my spells. Even if I drop Int to 10, that would still be 21 points with a Dex of 16. And even dropping Con to 12 would only let me get Int to 11. And I am NOT dropping Con further than that!
I do like the Fate's Favored trait though.
Gnomes don't need that much carry weight, they are small so they get small versions of items, which means they weigh less.
I've had a Mesmerist sulphur with 10 STR who was fine as far as carry weight was concerned so a gnome definitely doesn't need 12.
Small weapons weigh half, small armor and many other items weigh only 1/4 as much as listed weight. 11 Str and 10 Int are very possible IMO. Even 9 Str and 12 Int.
Small armor weighs half, not 1/4. In my current game, my character is a halfling Hunter with 10 Strength, and she was encumbered by weight from her armor, weapons, and other items. Her light load was only 24 pounds. You'd be surprised how much the little things add up to. Her armor by itself is 12.5 pounds. Add in weapons, food, adventure gear... She is currently carrying 48 pounds of equipment. I was just lucky that one of the loot drops was a +1 Cloak that I could enchant with Muleback Cords.
I don't know what a sulphur is, but did you remember to add in the weight of your gold?
Tell us how you are going to be using the whip. Is it for Aid Another or are you attempting to Disarm with it?
Since you haven't picked your other trait, might want to check if your GM will allow Muscle of Society to help with the carrying capacity. You will want a Handy Haversack when you can afford it.
As for weight of coins, do what is historically accurate and trade them for gems and other very light trade goods. Much lighter and easier to carry than coins. Should be able to sell them at full value.
Honestly, most GMs eventually realize that tracking coin weight adds nothing fun to the game. It just becomes a hassle and a bookkeeping nightmare.
Small armor weighs half, not 1/4. In my current game, my character is a halfling Hunter with 10 Strength, and she was encumbered by weight from her armor, weapons, and other items. Her light load was only 24 pounds. You'd be surprised how much the little things add up to. Her armor by itself is 12.5 pounds. Add in weapons, food, adventure gear... She is currently carrying 48 pounds of equipment. I was just lucky that one of the loot drops was a +1 Cloak that I could enchant with Muleback Cords.
I don't know what a sulphur is, but did you remember to add in the weight of your gold?
Ask the barbarian/fighter to carry food and adventuring gear for you.
A donkey or mule costs 8 gp and could carry your mundane equipment as well. So could a riding dog, pony etc. A specifically trained pack animal would be 24 gp.In a homgame, you could also just buy a small handcart or a wheelbarrow.
The Muscle of Society sounds good. I can drop my Strength and put it into other abilities while still keeping my carrying capacity.
I guess I'll be aiding/fighting with it. Though I'll be using a shortbow for most fighting and a shortsword for melee until I get the feats.
Maybe I missed it but you have not listed Whip proficiency any where. Whip is an Exotic weapon.
Or are you getting the proficiency because you made your own whip?
A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, shortsword, shortbow, and whip. Sadly, bards are not proficient with martial weapons like scimitars. Which is a shame as the Dervish Dance feat is great for Dex heavy characters.
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I got attached to this character while playing her. The image of her I got in my head is sort of like a short female Indiana Jones with pink hair.
I have another possible build. By taking the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat at level one, I can take Dervish Dance at level 3 and then go into the whip focus. This is assuming Weapon Finesse is a built in feature.
Sulphur is sylph with auto correct XD
And no we didn't track the weight of our gold because working out the weight of gold and keeping it in mind constantly in not fun at all.
I see. Auto-correct just loves to change things to sheer nonsense, doesn't it?
Well, the GM of the game I'm currently in wants us to keep track. It's not that hard. Divide the number of coins by 50 and you have the weight. And since we really only buy or sell items during downtime, we just have to mark it down then.
Archaeologist bards get next to no performance rounds on their bardic luck ability, so consider getting Lingering Performance to instantly triple your pool (albeit in three round increments, round one to activate, round two you drop it and it's lingering 1, and round 3 it's lingering 2.)
Would Lingering Performance even work on Archaeologist’s Luck?
Technically, yes. 'Archaeologist’s luck is treated as bardic performance for the purposes of feats, abilities, effects, and the like that affect bardic performance.'
So using one round's worth of Archaeologist's Luck would give me 3 rounds of bonuses. That would be useful.
It's great on any bard, but in particular on Archaeologists since they only ever get 4+cha mod rounds of luck per day.
I guess they figured it being a luck bonus meant it was worth so much they couldn't give it the +2 rounds every other level.
I see.
A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, shortsword, shortbow, and whip.
Wow did I miss that one. :-)
One person suggested using a Scorpion Whip, but I would need to take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency to use it.
Looks interesting. Too bad the archetypes both affect Bardic Performance and can't be taken together.
I can do that with the Scimitar, if the Dervish Dance pre-reqs are waived. But it would not allow me to treat a Scorpion Whip as a regular Whip for feats.