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So, here's a Primal Druid build. What do you think?
Everybody wants to be a troll. And this build aims to do just that! But not only is this build about being a troll, but it's about being a surprising troll! A troll that does some not-very-troll-like things, and which takes interesting advantage of it's troll-like abilities, and is PFS legal!
This build includes some multi-classing, which does mean that BaB is going to ntake some serious hits – but being a troll makes up for that. And the build includes a lot of source-books – sorry.
The first thing to understand, is that to be a troll you're really going to want to be a Goliath Druid from the Giant-Hunter's Handbook, and you're not actually going to get to be a full troll until level twelve. So let's go through the build, level-by-level!
Kaikura is human. He starts with the Versatile Human racial trait from the Advanced Race Guide – which takes away the bonus feat and the bonus skill point, but gives him two ability scores at +2. You could make this build dumping intelligence to 7 in order to get Charisma to 14 (Charisma being the spellcasting stat for two of the one-level dips), but this is presented with intelligence at a minimal 10, and keeping Charisma to 11 (barely enough). Those two +2 attributes are going to be Strength and Wisdom!
Strength 14/16, Dexterity: 15, Constitution 12, Intelligence: 10, Wisdom: 14/16, Charisma: 11
Strength is medium-high because you really do want that strength way up there when you are playing a low-BaB troll. Wisdom is high because it is your primary spell-casting stat, but also because (as with the high Dexterity) it will help boost your armor class (that one-level dip into monk comes early). And Dexterity is also high because who doesn't want to be a stealthy high-initiative troll?
Starting traits are both from the Advanced Player's Guide: Reactionary (because you want to be a high-initiative troll), and Magical Knack Druid (because you need to make up for all those one-level dips).
Druid is your favored class, and you're going to take that +1 hit point every time (after all, you dumped intelligence but kept constitution high for a reason – your priorities are already set).
Level 1: Druid (Goliath Druid) 1
Feat: Toughness (You don't have any big hit-die classes, and while you may get regereation, you'll be pretty embarrassed if you keep falling down flat in the middle of combat)
Nature Bond: Rage from the Advanced Player's Guide (a reasonably decent spell list, but largely about the level 8 ability to rage – it'll be awesome to be a ranging troll monk at level 11! And the level 1 ability, destructive smite, isn't bad, and scales up.)
Skills: Make sure you're on your way to having a +5 Knowledge Nature by level 5
At this level: You're a pretty good level 1 melee druid! +0 BaB, but +3 to hit from strength! +4 damage if using a two-handed weapon. 13 hit points. 12 AC without wearing any armor. And a couple spells! And your domain spell is “True Strike” which pairs pretty well with Destructive Smite! And look at that – Goliath Druid has given you “Enlarge Person (self only)” on your list of spells – and you can turn any level 1 spell into “enlarge person” spontaneously!
Level 2: Monk (Flowing Monk) 1 from Ultimate Combat.(This is all about armor class. Your main spell-casting attribute as a druid is Wisdom, and the monk dip lets you add that attribute to armor class. But it's also neat on it's own.)
Monk Bonus Feat: Improved Reposition Advanced Player's Guide (There are a couple reasonable choices here; but Improved Reposition will help you with your “redirection” ability – and at higher levels when everyone is flying, reposition can be more generally useful than trip.
Skills: Make sure you're on your way to having a +5 Knowledge Nature by level 5
At this level: You're still a combat druid, but a little boosted with a few tricks. Your un-armored armor class went up by three points, your hit points went up by six, you've got unarmed strike, you've got flurry of blows, and you have the “redirection” ability which lets you try to trip or reposition an attacker once per day, before s/he swings. That magical knack trait you took means that your effective caster level is 2 (even if you don't have as many spells as a 2nd level caster)!
Level 3: Druid (Goliath Druid) 2
Feat: Combat Reflexes (Your BaB is only +1, no power attack for you yet! Instead, we're going to give you more chances to hit with that high dexterity. You'll really love this feat when you have troll-length arms.)
Skills: Make sure you're on your way to having a +5 Knowledge Nature by level 5
At this level: Hey, look, more spells! And combat reflexes! And you actually have a BaB of +1! You're not particularly hit stuff, but at least you're getting 2nd level spells next level.
Level 4: Druid (Goliath Druid) 3
Attribute bonus: +1 Dexterity
Skills: Make sure you're on your way to having a +5 Knowledge Nature by level 5
At this level: Hey, level 2 spells! And your domain spell is “Bull's Strength” which will help make up for your BaB problems. And your armor class is one point higher because of the dexterity raise – but your unarmored armor class still isn't great.
Level 5: Sorcerer (Eldritch Scrapper from the Advanced Class Guide) 1
Feat: Shaping Focus from Ultimate Magic (Here you are aiming to be able to turn into a troll, and you've been one-level dipping into other classes? This feat fixes that – upping your effective wild-shape druid level by +4, up to your total level.)
Bloodline: Find something that feels right to you. I took Div (from People of the Sands), but that was because of the character background. Since you're something of a self-buffer, Destined isn't bad.
Sorcerer Spells: 1st level Mage Armor, Shield (this is one of the reasons for the dip, and you will be buying wands), 0 level your favorites not on the druid list (Dancing Lights, Message, Open/Close, Prestidigitation)
Skills: At this level, you need+5 Knowledge Nature (to qualify for your feat).
At this level: Your BaB is +2 at 5th level – well, you're doing as well as a wizard. But you have some Strength to make up for it, and when enlarged you can get some nice weapon damage. This would be a weak level, except that you just learned to Wild Shape! You can't be a troll yet, but you can be Deinonychus, Dimporphodon, or Veolciraptor for up to 5 hours! All three have scent, and one of those forms has poison and can fly (the other two run much faster). You'd be tempted to learn Natural Spell soon, but don't – very soon you will be wild-shaping into giants and trolls – and they have natural speaking ability. And you also have sorcerer spells – which you are going to use to boost that sorry armor class! And here's the best part – eldritch scrapper gives you access to Martial Flexibility, so four times per day you can get Power Attack or Dedicated Adversary (from the Dirty Tactics Toolbox) or any other combat feat for one minute!
Level 6: Druid (Goliath Druid) 4
At this Level: Your Wild Shape just became more interesting! Two times, for six hours each. And you can take the form of a giant (meaning you can look like a troll, but you still can't regenerate). But this still beats your Enlarge Person spell! You'll get a nice bonus to strength, which you can really use with a BaB of +3. When wild shaped, you are likely not using your flurry of blows any more – you'll be using the natural weapons of your troll form.
Level 7: Druid (Goliath Druid) 5
Feat: Improved Initiative Fastest giant in the West!
At this Level: You just got level 3 spells!
Level 8: Druid (Goliath Druid) 6
Attribute Bonus: +1 Wisdom
At this level: Well, you are a giant with a +8 to initiative, a pretty good AC, and the ability to cast spells!
At this level: If you decide that you never need 9th level spells, you could swap one of these boring druid levels out for a second level of Monk. That'll get you evasion (very nice against fireball when you are a troll), and Unbalancing Counter (which can make the rogues happy – and you because of your lousy BaB).
Level 9: Druid (Goliath Druid) 7 (or 6)
Feat: Power Attack
At this level: You now have level 4 spells. Unless you don't, because you went with the extra monk level.
Level 10: Druid (Goliath Druid) 8 (or 7)
At this level: If you didn't take that level of monk, you now have the ability to rage (otherwise, it's waiting for next level)!
Level 11: Druid (Goliath Druid) 9 (or 8)
Feat: Divine Interference from Ultimate Magic
At this level: You now have level 5 spells (yay). Unless you don't, because you went with the extra monk level. And you certainly have the ability to rage!
Level 12: Oracle 1 from the Advanced Player's Guide
Attribute Bonus: +1 Wisdom
Oracle Mystery: Life, Oracle Revelation: Life Link (You knew this was coming – and at the same time as your ability to regenerate) Oracle Curse: Lame (losing 10 feet of movement is unpleasant for a monk. But you have reach and can deal. But gaining immunity to fatigue is awesome for your ability to rage. And you get that at this level.)
Oracle Spells: 1st level Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, 0 level your favorites that you don't memorize as a druid (Bleed, Guidance, Mending, Scrivener's Chant from Seekers of Secrets)
At this level: Oh, wow, this is what it was all about! You now get lots of those troll abilities to go with the troll form. Your wild shape now gives you +4 Strength and +4 con. You can rage, and your oracle curse lets you rage cycle. Life link lets you share your regeneration – everyone loves your troll hugs. You've got reasonably powerful Druid spells (several of which will be Protection from Energu and Resist Energy – so you can be a safety troll, who doesn't lose regeneration). You have both cleric and wizard spell-casting, as well as druid, so you can use all kinds of wands to buff yourself and others. Your BaB is still terrible, at +6 – but you have troll strength, rage, and martial flexibility to make up for it. And with 5 wild shapes a day for 12 hours, you don't feel bad about shrinking down into some other form when the halls are too narrow.
Level 13: Druid (Goliath Druid) 10 (or 9)
Feat: Extra Martial Flexibility from the Advanced Class Guide
At this level: More martial flexibility, because why not.
Level 14: Druid (Goliath Druid) 11 (or 10)
At this level: Your wild shape got even better. Still more pluses to strength and constitution.
Level 15: Druid (Goliath Druid) 12 (or 11)
Feat: Reckless Rage from the Advanced Class Guide
Level 16: Druid (Goliath Druid) 13 (or 12)
Attribute Bonus: +1 Wisdom
Level 17: Druid (Goliath Druid) 14 (or 13)
Feat: Extra Rage
At this level: Rage when you want. Twenty rounds, with rage cycling, should cover you.
Level 19: Druid (Goliath Druid) 16 (or 15)
Feat: Blessed Striker from the Advanced Class Guide
At this level: Hey, you have 8th (or 7th) level spells! And a BaB of +12 (or +13 if you took that 2nd level of monk)! It's actually not bad at all, with all those sweet strength bonuses! You just rewarded yourself with the Blessed Striker Feat, so that your bite claw and rend attacks are aligned!
Level 20: Druid (Goliath Druid) 17 (or 16)
Attribute Bonus: +1 Wisdom
Magic items:
You'll be getting wands. Wands that make it harder to hit you are great. Mirror Image is fantastic.
You'll be getting a belt. You may want to go Strength belt all the way, or you may want to boost constitution and/or dexterity as well.
You'll be getting a headband. Probably just Wisdom. If you cared about the other two mental attributes, you wouldn't have dumped them. Look into the Shifter's Headband from Ultimate Equipment – for only a little more cost on your Wisdom band, you can squeeze more utility out of your wild shape.
Rings of Protection from Energy (Fire and Acid, please) are things of beauty.
You have good saving throws, but cloaks of resistance are always good.
You definitely need an amulet of mighty fists.
Referenced Books that you need:
Advanced Class Guid
Advanced Player's Guide
Advanced Race Guide
Dirty Tactics Toolbox
Giant Hunter's Handbook
Ultimate Combat
Ultimate Equipment
Ultimate Magic
Other referenced books that are optional:
People of the Sands
Seeker of Secrets
What's the monk level for exactly? You're wild shaping into a humanoid, you can just wear armor and have it resize with you. If you want to shove people around a level of blood conduit bloodrager can give you a feat like improved reposition, full BAB and importantly rage now rather than at character level 10-11. And martial weapon proficiency should you wish to swing a greatsword or fire a composite longbow.
Bloodrage is compatible with spellcasting with a feat tax (mad magic) too.
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The monk level is largely flavor. I didn't want to make an armored brute troll, but a "flowing monk" troll, who could max out stealth and be extra creepy. Without armor, there's no arcane spell failure using sorcerer wands for mage armor, and that Wisdom bonus can add to armor class.
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Bloodrager is a great idea, and a very nice alternate for monk -- getting rage through that would also make the "rage" domain less useful for the druid, and open up other possibilities. Thanks!
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The bloodrager spell list includes mirror image, shield and many other buffs, and suffers no ASF from light or medium armor. +1 shadow darkleaf cloth hide armor doesn't cost an impossible amount and is sneakier than mere flesh. The shapechanger bloodline could be even sneakier... But none of that matters if your concept has an image which the monk fits better, true.
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The bloodrager spell list includes mirror image, shield and many other buffs, and suffers no ASF from light or medium armor. +1 shadow darkleaf cloth hide armor doesn't cost an impossible amount and is sneakier than mere flesh. The shapechanger bloodline could be even sneakier... But none of that matters if your concept has an image which the monk fits better, true.
Rethinking the build! Thank you!
Shaping focus has Wild Shape class feature as a prereq and a Druid3/Monk1/Sorcerer 1 does not have that. You must take druid at fifth level and sorcerer (or bloodrager) later to nab Shaping focus.