So this is an odd tale. About my two favorite characters. They aren't good characters persay. On the contrary, they're very bad by most standards. They have been the most fun for me to play though, and they highlight I think the major problem between Casters and Martial characters.
First, the martial character. Rovagurl is a Drow, Arachnid Wildsoul Avenger Vigilante. Her build is built around Nightmare Fist, Boar Style, and Unarmed Strikes. High Dex/Cha for Weapon Finesse and intimidate. She's cool to play, and has a lot of different ways to accomplish intimidates in combat, while still at max level dealing 1d3+(17-21) per strike, with two weapon fighting, and the ability to rend with Boar Style.
Second, the caster. The Blind Prophet is a Tiefling, Divination Wizard. Her forbidden schools are Conjuration and Transmutation, and her spells preference is Divination>Necromancy>Evocation/Illusion. With just that she can do a lot of really cool stuff like True Strike + Goblin Skull Bomb, and Spectral Hand + touch range spells.
I love both these characters, but they made me realize something... The disparity between playing them, and the limits of what they can do. The culprit? Feats, and Full-Attack Actions.
I first noticed it in how I plan their level ups.
Rovagurl was a putz at level 1 and 2, because of my starting choices. I didn't start with Weapon Finesse, and was looking into getting Lethal Grace as a Vigilante talent so was putting it off. I had to go through every book and read through the hundreds of feats in the core rulebooks to figure out what she could take to fix the problem as soon as possible. I then had to find everything I was going to need to have the character the way I wanted at the end. A tonne of planning and an excel sheet later and I've put together a level up plan for her.
The Blind Prophet on the other hand. I have never planned for her. I have no idea what feats to take on her, because I've no need for any. When she levels I pick a random-ish feat based on what I've been encountering in the campaign (I took Spell Penetration because we fought a creature with decent early SR), and it's pretty much the same with her spells. I give it a browse, pick out a few that sound interesting or that I can combo with nicely, or hell, just that I can buff my teammates with that aren't in my forbidden schools.
Martial needs a strict plan, and caster I can fly by the seat of my pants and I'm still one of the best in the party at level 4.
It then dawned on me as I was looking through two-weapon fighting. Rovagurl practically needs it for the Boar Style rend and intimidate. Even with only one of those feats now she's locked down to use just those 2 unarmed attacks. The Blind Prophet on the other hand, can standard action cast Shocking Grasp, a level 1 spell that at level 4 deals 4d6 damage. Then she can run, move, whatever she needs.
Even as a Vigilante, with more bonus feats than I can shake a stick at (some talents give 2-3 feats, or feats and give them additional uses), I cannot fit all three two-weapon fightings into her character. I can hardly fit one, but even using that one is a full round action (which I disagree with, I think considering there are already hefty penalties and restrictions to two-weapon fighting, at least the first one shoukd be just part of a standard attack action, and the subsequent improved and greater should apply to full attacks, though that's not the point I'm going for).
So to get the absolute most out of Rovagurl, I need to have it pre-destined how I'm going to build her, and there are still a dozen hurdles she's gonna need to get over at some point. She's gonna eventually need some way to make her attacks magic, or silver or whatever else to bypass the DRs of high level things. To get the most of The Blind Prophet I coukd do the same, but I benefit more from her not doing that. We're fighting things vulnerable to x? Next level take spells that deal x. Fighting things with x? Take feat to deal with x. You get to play a caster more flexible because there's never anything you need.
Then there's the big one for everyone, damage. And I honestly don't think the damage persay is the martial\caster issue. Rovagurl deals 1d3+17 per hit, and with one two weapon fighting feat that's like, 5×(1d3+17), plus a potential +4 on each of those, and the +2d6 of boar rend. It's nice damage all things considered. Without feats though, The Blind Prophet with a level 1 spell can deal 5d6 at 5th level. Rovagurl same time will have Two-Weapon Fighting, no Boar, and deal 1d3+2/1d3+2 as a full round action. And The Prophet will only escalate. Most spells are a standard action for the bulk of their damage, regardless of level, so she can cast and run, or fish out an item, or anything really. Rovagurl can't even rush in first round and get her damage off. Nor can she retreat a bad situation if she throws more than 1 punch.
I've seen other games and systems deal with the issue. 5e D&D for example, removed extra attacks based on BAB and simply made it based on class, and instead made them that characters with the abiliy simply anytime they attack get X attacks. This makes their standard action into their bulk damage, like a caster without locking them down. They also changed movement so it was no longer a Move Action, and simply on your turn you could freely at any point, divided however move up to your total speed. It means you don't need a variety of feats to move and attack simultaneously, which gives all players more options for what they can do.
I've likely been ranting. Just a realization about my two favorite to play characters and how even as the same player, I have to play them incredibly differently. And my take on why there's a disparity between playing a casting versus a martial class. Needing to construct a character entirely with feats to accomplish anything, and seemingly punishing martial characters by making their major outputs limiting. This is all also only discussing combat for the most part, Rovagurl has a lot of cool social aspects as well that add to things.
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Oh, I know what it's like. I too wanted a dex based TWF unarmed vigilante. Quite similar to yours. The results were... not what I had hoped for.
Thankfully I was able to fix it with a Barbarian dip.
Also, for what it's worth, the Vigilante weapon finesse talent gives you a free retrain if you had Weapon Finesse when you learned the talent, so it's not a waste of space to start the game with it. Heck, my Vigilante started the game finessing a kukri before she learned her punchy talent.
But yeah. Being able to make mistakes or have fun little quirks in the build without the whole thing falling apart is one of the reasons I lean towards casters. Wizards really embody that, with the ability to change out what they've got prepped for the day.
Meanwhile, my Paladin has her feats planned through level 5, my Swashbuckler/Barbarian is locked into spending his feats on the must-haves like Fencing Grace and Iron Will and Extra Panache, and my Magus has her feats written in stone all the way through level 9.
Then again, the Frostbite build is a bit more feat intense and I also want her to fly so she's a special case.
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Thankfully I was able to fix it with a Barbarian dip.
BARBARIAN FIND THAT BARBARIAN AM FIXING MOST THINGS.
AM WELCOME.
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Thankfully I was able to fix it with a Barbarian dip.
I was looking into a Brawler dip for her at one point. Increased Unarmed Strike damage, and the Brawler's Flurry would contribute a bit.
Downside, DM wants no multicasting for the campaign (which is fine), and even so, I'd lose out on some of the cooler Vigilante features. Were I not a Wildsoul, the four extra Vigilante talents could be spent on the Combat Feat talent, which could get me those TWF feats. But then, I'm not playing the bad Drow Spiderman concept I wanted to play. And it still plays into needing to micromanage every aspect of a martial character.
If she were to go above level 20 and needed a second class, I think Brawler would still be a good option, however at that point, for the remaining Vigilante things she needs (the TWF for example), the normal feat progression in post-20 levels could get it. And the Brawler's Flurry would be nearly useless.