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Hey folks! My group is just starting up a Strange Aeons game. I have a vanara that I'll be playing, and I've already decided on her roleplay fluff. She's a redneck woodsy tracker, and kind of a simpleton, but has some odd levels of knowledge about aberrations that one wouldn't expect from such a person. As a result, this question is (mostly) purely a mechanical, crunch one.
Which is the more crunch-optimal choice for an archer in Strange Aeons - ranger or fighter?
-I can't just assume that every single enemy will be an aberration. That's just silly. Obviously I'd go with favored enemy (aberrations), but I like weapon specialization more as a player because it applies against every enemy.
-Half of the party chose knowledgeable classes that deal more with the actual psychic and research elements of the game. That's not what I'm going for, that's their job.
-There are two very powerful melee tanks in the group, so I don't really expect to go into melee a lot. However, I'll be taking Point Blank Master when I can just in case.
-I go into this knowing I have a low will save. That does bug me. I'm debating taking the feat Iron Will.
-I chose Vanara because I like to play furries, and because I haven't played one before. I'm debating going ratfolk for darkvision.
-Her stats as of right now are 14/16/14/10/16/8 (+2dex, +2wis, -2cha)
-I haven't really decided on an actual backstory for the character, because I'm hung up on the fugue state concept. I'm also not used to playing good-aligned characters and that's throwing me off.
-I'm totally right there with you on the play what's fun, but I'm playing the character the same way regardless, and right now I'm just held up on projections of what will be most useful in the AP.
-This campaign is already one I'm going to have trouble really "getting into." I like horror, but I like it because I want to be the one causing the horror. As you can probably surmise from the Lamashtu icon, it makes me feel derpy being on the side that would be scared of eldritch horrors and fighting against insanity. My normal characters freely ally themselves with the strange, mutated and otherworldly, rather than fight back against it. As a result, I need an enjoyable character concept to see this through, otherwise I run the risk of getting very bored, very quickly.
-3rd party materials are unlikely to be allowed by the GM, and for the most part, if it's not PFS-legal, it probably won't be allowed in the game.
My current plan is to go Ranger 1/Fighter the rest of the way. I'm just asking if, from a crunch perspective, is that the most optimal choice for the Strange Aeons AP? If not, what is?
Remember that Favored Enemy is more than just damage. You get Knowledge (dungeoneering) as a class skill and would get a bonus from Favored Enemy (aberrations) when/where it applied. Also, Favored Terrain might also help in various areas of the campaign with things like Perception and Stealth. You could also go Freebooter and get a generic bonus that also helps your group if you are really hung up on the combat bonuses, and it is untyped so it would stack with anything else the group is doing.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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Have you checked the Players Guide for Strange Aeons? While it doesn't address your specific questions, it will give you a place to start.
That being said, rangers are designed to hunt, and help others hunt, specific types and that's good. And while you pointed this out, you wont be fighting just aberrations. So you excel at the favored enemies and quite as good against the other favored enemy types.
Fighters, on the other hand, fight. they are the ones who are the most flexible in combat. While a barbarian may cause more damage as a general rule, fighters are the flexible and still deadly one. Taking the right feats are what make a fighter unique. Pick up improved steal and take away the bad guys holy symbols, spell component pouches, foci, and what have you. Focus on trip or overrun. use your feats to be able to blow past the front line to either flank the bad guys' meat shields or threaten the BBG.
Of course since they are both full BAB classes, you might alternate classes. You may not have as many feats as a full fighter or be as effective as a straight ranger, but you gain bonus against FE and more feats respectively.
It comes down to what you want to do. The simple answer may be "be effective," but give some thought into what you enjoy to do in combat. That might point you in the right direction.
Lastly, you may enjoy being the scary one, but remember it is a law of nature (and Pathfinder) that there is always someone bigger, stronger, scarier, and meaner, no matter how big, strong, scary, or mean you are.
Try to adjust the mindset of the character (and you as a player). Treat you character not as an idealized version or yourself, but more of what it would be like for *you* to be caught up in events that are totally beyond your control. The fun here is trying to make sense of the insensible and keep your head above water.
And in full disclosure, I'm the GM for this AP for Gnash. But i am not saying anything that i wouldn't say to any other player in my campaign or anyone else's campaign.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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oh i forgot, from the Player's Guide....
Solid favored enemy choices in Strange Aeons include aberration and humanoid (human). Good secondary choices are outsider (evil) and undead, and useful tertiary choices include magical beast and ooze. These don’t cover all the monsters and challenges your character will face, but they appear frequently as opponents in the campaign.
A fair portion of this adventure path does take place in urban environments, so an urban favored terrain will prove useful. However, the PCs also experience a lot of boat travel, and later desert climes, making aquatic and desert favored terrains useful secondary choices.
If it helps at all, in my own game, we're partway through book 2, and the Ranger with Favored Enemy aberrations has seen a grand total of, I think, 2 aberration creatures. From what I've seen, that will change a bit later on. Right now at least, he is wishing he'd gone with Undead.
The Player's Guide mentions both, and given what I know from running this AP, I would (and did) recommend one of the other suggestions before aberration. A lot of players really like making these choices organically, but I am quick to offer up more pointed advice when the player is inexperienced or overly affected by bad choices.
