Suggest me a frontliner I would enjoy to play

[Dave Justus]

The OP seems determined to define 'frontliner' as only the type of things he doesn't want to play. Accepting this definition, his request is impossible.

[Zhayne]

Gnoll Ranger, Two-Handed Weapon Style. Grab an Earthbreaker.

[SmiloDan]

A fun frontliner I made was a dragon-scourged dwarf barbarian 1/magus X wielding a dwarven waraxe with the Berserker of the Society trait. This gave him 9 rounds of rage per day.

He could rage and two-hand Power Attack with his war axe.
He could buff himself with enlarge person or blur or resist energy, and then fight (and rage, if needed).
He could wield his waraxe one-handed and use spell combat and/or spellstrike. I preferred shocking grasp, color spray, burning hands.
He could throw javelins.

So every combat was different, because he had several fighting styles to choose from. He had Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Dodge (a mistake, since he couldn't use when enlarged since he only had Dex 14 normally), Arcane Strike, and Intensify Spell (and Magical Lineage shocking grasp, of course!).

Outside of combat, he was skilled in Acrobatics, Climb, Knowledge arcana, Perception, Spellcraft, Survival, and Swim. So he was really good at exploration and mobility tasks. Combining a barbarian's 4 skill points per level with a wannabe/gonnabe Int-based caster is fun!

Also, he had a 6 Charisma, so he used failed Diplomacy checks as agro.

[Slim Jim]

If you're a martial, multiclass.

1 barbarian [savage technologist], Extra Rage
2 cleric [travel/community domains]

-- You are strong, you are fast, your AC is good, your saves are good, you ignore difficult terrain, and you can use any divine trigger item.

At 3rd, you can begin any other martial class, or something with an animal sidekick (taking Boon Companion in the 3rd-level general feat slot).

[Diachronos]

Kineticist would be my recommendation. Even without an archetype they can easily be built for melee combat.
* Their kinetic blast gives them a potent ranged option if they aren't able to get into melee for some reason, and it's just as effective when used with kinetic blade/whip.
* Four out of their 7 element choices give them some way to quickly get into range (Air gets a passive fly spell, Fire/Void/Aether all get a pseudo-fly).
* The defensive talents are all exceptionally good. Water, Wood, and Air all make it harder for enemies to hit you. Earth and Aether give you a buffer against damage. Void protects you from evil clerics and sudden damage spikes from critical hits. Fire doesn't boost your defense, but it punishes enemies for attacking you and helps end fights a little faster.
* Plus there's the massive amount of utility that their wild talents offer. Aether, Water, and Wood can serve as backup healers, several elements can manipulate the terrain to hinder your opponents' movements, Air can buff your allies with haste, etc.

Another good option would be Warpriest. They can self-buff quickly and have strong melee attacks, as well as access to a lot of the same magic that clerics would use in combat at lower levels.

[Scott Wilhelm]

Moonheart wrote:

That's perhaps a biais from my part, but I don't see many exemples given here as being "acceptable frontliners".

For me, the main point of frontliners is not just to DPR at close range. Doing DPR at close range just make you a melee character, nothing more.

A frontliner is much more than a melee character: he also serve as a cleaner and meatshield for the party:
- as a cleaner, he kills the weakest monsters or last members of an encounter without needing to spend any of the "time per day" resources of the party, which allows it to be more endurant on the long term
- as a meatshield, he can run to close range from the very round 1, and block the enemy path without taking a lot of damage, which brings security to the casters

Thus, if you need to buff yourself to do reach the same amount of damage/defense than an unbuffed fighter or barbarian has, then you are going to be a poor cleaner, and lose a lot of value as a meatshield during ambushes (where you're caught without your buffs on you)... and thus, for me, a poor frontliner (but perhaps a good melee character)

The good thing with the Battle Host, suggested by Lausth, is than even before he cast his buffs, he already has a decent offense (masterwork plate) and offense (medium BAB, yes, but with a permanently enhanced strength score)
So it looks like he can be a good frontliner... on the paper.

So, you want high AC?

I worry a lot about Sleeping in Armor. I like the idea of taking the Endurance Feat so I can sleep in Medium Armor. I like the idea of dipping a level or 2 in Paladin or something so I can cast or gain a Wand of Swift Girding and dress in any suit of armor in a Standard Action. Which I like better depends on my character's Dex, which I often make high for my frontliners since I really like Attacks of Opportunity.

For Weapons, I really like Thunder and Fang which is Earthbreaker and shield (Klar). I like taking the Shield Brace Feat or the Phalanx Soldier Fighter Archetype which will let you fight with Pole Arm and Shield. I like Lucerne Hammers: 1d12, Piercing or Blunt, and Reach. I like Horsechopper: 1d10, Slashing, Reach, and Tripping. I also like Halberds: 1d10, Slashing or Piercing, Brace and Tripping.

2 other solid choices to look at are Tengu and Dwarf. Tengu begin proficient with all Swords, so you can start off with Bastard Sword and Shield. Dwarves get that Dwarven War Axe, which is like a Bastard Sword, but it's an axe. Bastard Sword and Shield or Axe and Shield are great ways to go. Since Dwarf Movement is 20' regardless of encumberance or armor, a Dwarf is a good choice if you want to wear Full Plate.

It looks to me like you should look at the Feats Stand Still, Scorpion Style, and Bodyguard. These Feats seem to speak directly to the kind of fighter (not necessarily Fighter!) that you are asking for.

[Devilkiller]

I’d think that a properly focused Rogue could function as a frontliner, especially with a little multiclassing. Paladin is a great frontliner, especially if the DM won't decide that all the bad guys become Neutral just to thwart you.

Anyhow, what sort of “out of combat” things are you looking to accomplish?
-Find/Remove Traps - This is generally a Rogue ability, but anybody can put ranks into Perception and Disable Device. If you want to remove magical traps you’ll need to pick up the trapfinding trait (which various archetypes and a few classes offer)
-Diplomacy - Anybody can put ranks into Diplomacy. If your game uses traits you can probably get it as a class skill too. Even without many ranks you can participate in roleplaying.
-Travel - Even a Fighter can have a boat, wagon, etc
-Climb - class skill for most martials
-Knowledge checks - You’re probably not the party’s sage though you might know a little about certain things, maybe enough to aid another
- Other Skills - If you use Background Skills from Unchained I find that can really help flesh out the “personality” of low skill point classes.

Since it sounds like you’re willing to play casters so long as they can handle melee there are tons of options really. A Summoner or a Monster Tactician Inquisitor could work out pretty well. With minute per level durations your Summon Monster ability can be useful from 1st level, especially if you're a human who picks up Augment Summoning. With medium BAB the PC should do OK too, and the MT gets Bane at 5th level.

Still, my martial PCs have plenty of personality and do plenty of RP. Even if your skills don't cover all areas you can help plan and organize the group's efforts.

[ekibus]

I helped a cousin build something similar to this. His first character in a long time, wanted to be a front liner (aka sword and shield) while being able to do something out of combat. We went with the slayer, first level was kinda so-so but after level 2 he really doing pretty well, and it just kept improving. At level 5 currently he is having fun, he took trapfinding since he figured he is the one at the door who better? His perfered play is to be up in melee and after studying he prefers to flank and does typically a sword and shield hit. There is something i am probably missing but I believe when hitting with the sword and shield he does +8 1d6+6 and +7 1d4+4 when flanking he adds 1D6. Downside is he hates his speed but has so far wanted to avoid any dips.

[SmiloDan]

He can buy boots or get Rogue Talents for Major Magic to get expeditious retreat, but that also requires Minor Magic, so a bit of an investment.

[Grandlounge]

ekibus wrote:

I helped a cousin build something similar to this. His first character in a long time, wanted to be a front liner (aka sword and shield) while being able to do something out of combat. We went with the slayer, first level was kinda so-so but after level 2 he really doing pretty well, and it just kept improving. At level 5 currently he is having fun, he took trapfinding since he figured he is the one at the door who better? His perfered play is to be up in melee and after studying he prefers to flank and does typically a sword and shield hit. There is something i am probably missing but I believe when hitting with the sword and shield he does +8 1d6+6 and +7 1d4+4 when flanking he adds 1D6. Downside is he hates his speed but has so far wanted to avoid any dips.

He should be able to get a Mithril breastplate soon. And if he drops a few skill points in to umd he can have longstrider most of the time. I would not dip this build as you would likely want to get shield master, bashing finish and oppertunist asap.