| Sir Clericalot |
Howdy, Pathfinders! I been lurking/reading for a few months and I love it when people share their character builds, so I thought I would send along one of my own. We’re winding down a 2+ year slog through Rise of the Runelords (6 people party, with 4 PhD instructors and an Associate Provost, so time is limited). I’ve been playing clerics for this party for about four and a half years and though I dearly love the class, I need something new. So, I went searching for a martial class, but one out-of-the-ordinary (I think I’m genetically predisposed to oddball characters/classes). I read a recent thread on here about optimizing, min-maxing, and munchkining and it made me step back and think about how I build my characters. Generally, I go for roleplay flavor, spellcasting, and the ability to add to party success in combat, rather than being the tank, or the blaster, or the party face. But, I think it will be a case of musical chairs with the folks in my party and we’ll all try on new, different roles.
As such, I knew this new character would need a frontline combat ability, but a sword-and-board (bored) fighter wouldn’t cut it. I rolled up a Martial Master archetype and it came close to giving me the versatility I wanted, but he seemed limited out of combat. We’ve got folks at the table who don’t care much for the roleplay aspect (focusing on doing massive damage in combat), but I think it’s something important and fun! I also rolled up a Warpriest, but that’s another Divine Class offshoot and it just felt stale to me (plus the current barbarian is going Oracle with his next character). I poured over the books (beyond the core classes) and finally found it- the Stygian Slayer! Right out of the box, it’s a fun, challenging class, but I decided to up the ante by making him a gnome- Arglebargle Goblinhobbler!
What I like about the class is the ability to: be sneaky, to use spell-completion & spell completion items, to do sneak attack damage, cast illusion spells, and with a full BAB + d10 hit dice. So, why go gnome? I dunno, I’ve never played one and I like going against type. He hails from Umok- a besieged gnome enclave. He has taken up the task of gaining in skill, wisdom, and wealth so as to finally free the gnomes of Umok from the constant threat of goblins. He is willing to risk The Bleaching so that future generations will live free from fear. I see him as a mercurial, pugnacious type- willing to go up against foes much larger than he and fearing nothing. Gnomes get racial bonuses in things that are very beneficial for Slayers, and Stygian Slayers in particular (illusion magic, stealth bonuses, low light vision, etc.). He’s chaotic neutral, worships Cayden Cailean, but there’s a bit of an edge to him- a desire to prove himself in combat and to dispatch enemies by whatever means necessary (assassination, if need be). I really like all of the cool class benefits that come online as he levels up- sneak attack damage, spell use, shadowy mist form, etc. The class also allows me to build him as a 2WF, using the gnome hooked hammer; drawing on the Slayer talents to utilize Ranger fighting styles.
So, down to the nitty-gritty, the stats/stuff. Our DM believes in epic-level characters and gave us a 35 point buy for our ability scores (I know, it’s high). He ramps up his monsters accordingly and there are challenges aplenty. I knew I’d take the racial -2 hit to Strength, which most people would avoid if they wanted a martial class character. But, I think that’s offset as the sneak attack damage comes online and with the Ranger fighting style feats/bonuses. Plus, it’s about the character, not the numbers, IMO. Speaking of which, here’s his ability scores:
Str: 16, Dex: 16, Con: 16, Int: 13, Wis: 12, Ch: 10
As stated previously, I’m arming him with the hooked hammer, and javelins for ranged attacks. At first level, I’m putting one rank each in Craft, Alchemy (tanglefoot bags, smoke sticks, maybe poison later on), Perception, Stealth, Survival, Sense Motive, Disguise, and Acrobatics. My first level feat is Gnome Weapon Focus. That was a hard choice, but it gives him atk bonuses right away and the ability to switch to another gnome weapon if I feel so inclined. I try to map out where I think feats might go and went back and forth over what I could take. It’s almost too much- to sort through all the options and find the right combination for the character. I wanted to draw on both the Ranger and Rogue parent classes and keep the roleplaying aspect intact. I came up with this possible progression: 2nd level- 2 Weapon Fighting (Ranger fighting style), 3rd- Improved Initiative, 5th- Quick Draw, 6th- Trapfinding (Rogue Talent) & Improved 2 Weapon Fighting (from the gnome favored class trait, 1/6 Slayer Talent), 7th- Iron Will, 8th- Trapspotter (Rogue Talent), 9th- Accomplished Sneak Attacker, 10th- 2 Weapon Rend (Ranger fighting style), 11th- Improved Critical, and 12th- Assassination. I didn’t go higher than 12th level, as experience as taught me that most of the time, these choices will change as I progress. At 4th level, I’m going to add 1 to my Dex score, at 8th, Strength will get a bump, and at 12th, Dex gets another bump. At some point, I will have to put a point into Int, so I can cast 4th level illusionist spells. I went with the 2 Weapon Fighting style since sneak attack damage applies to every hit- the more attacks, the more likely he’ll hit, the more damage he can dish out. I might have to take improved crit twice, for each end of the hooked hammer, but at x4 and x3, it’ll be worth it, I think. Ideally, he’s going to use all the Stygian Slayer abilities to get into sneak attack position, then turn into a Tasmanian Devil of attacks.
That’s what I’ve come up with, but I’m open to suggestions, comments, and questions! Thanks, Chris
| Smallfoot |
You're welcome. Based on what I've read here on the boards, you may want to look closely at the 2-Weapon Rend feat. The generally commentary is that it's not worth a feat, although I don't recall what alternatives are suggested. Assassinate is also a difficult talent. Since "This attempt automatically fails if the target recognizes the slayer as an enemy," I'm not sure if it's possible to use it in combat.
| Sir Clericalot |
I've gone back and forth on 2-weapon fighting, but ultimately went with it for a few reasons, not all of them damage related. First, the hooked hammer a cool gnome weapon and I had decided on gnome already. The Slayer class gives access to the Ranger (parent class) fighting styles. I went up and down that list and still came back to 2WF, since the hooked can be used with 2WF. Also, with more feats along the 2WF style track, I can gain more iterative attacks- which is important when adding in the sneak attack bonus damage (which can active if I'm flanking an enemy). As for Assassinate, the Stygian Slayer's ability to turn invisible at 4th level (once per day, more as he levels up), and the Shadowy Mist form, and various illusionist spells he has access to starting at 7th level all could make it easier to get into position for the assassination attempt. I could see it used in and out of combat, using those abilities and/or spells. That the Stygian Slayer (with a full BAB) can be an effective frontline fighter is icing on the cake! Thanks for the input; I often bug my local group of players with these character options and I think they're tired of me at this point! Ha!