Classes for royalty.


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Heather 540 wrote:

There was only one arcana I liked that required a 9th level in Magus and only 5 I liked from the list in total that weren't even higher. So I figured I might not need it. The Extra Arcana feat would be helpful.

Casting is a secondary concern, yes. As the future king, he's taught magic by multiple tutors but doesn't specialize in it. He's more into hand-to-hand.

But I definitely want to get the first arcana as quickly as I can. I just love the idea of his little (not) dragon familiar flying around. I'll probably take Boon Companion to boost the little guy's level.

You could always pick up the 9th level later in your progression if you decide that the arcana is worth it. As for your not dragon, he'd have half your character level so boon companion would only boost his natural armor, intelligence and special abilities but with 8 levels in Magus, he has most of the abilities already. He'd "only" get spell resistance and scry on familiar. Those d12s will do wonders for his health though so more DD more better.


I see. Then Boon Companion probably isn't needed.


These are the Arcana that I liked, not including anything above 9th level requirement and the Familiar Arcana.

Accurate Strike: 2 points, swift action, all melee attacks go for touch AC. Can only be taken if going with 9th level of Magus.

Arcana Accuracy: 1 point, swift action, add Int to all attack rolls.

Spell Blending: Can add one Wizard spell to spells known. Can add 2 spells but both be at least one level lower than max casting. Can select more than once.

Wand Wielder: Can activate a wand or staff instead of regular casting when using spell combat.

Spell-Scars: Can create scar-like tattoos that act like scrolls and are created as though having the Scribe Scroll feat. Can ‘hold’ 18 tattoos at one time.


If you are going to keep the companion/ familiar

then I have toask you the most evil and most disruptive questions.

evolve familiar

above save for animal companions

edilion stuff

though you will have to scroll down some for the 1 ranks that you can ue with either feat

oh and something that I dont know if was ever asked for as a FAQ.

if said companion or familiar already has a tail or limbs, I would ignore the must have what not evolve required part.
IE the slam evolve requires you to have the limbs evolve , you cant get this becuase its a t2 evolve..., so id ignore that part....
ymmv


Thanks. Yeah, I've used that on another character's animal companion to give it a Slam attack and to improve both that and its natural Gore attack.


Ok, these are the feats I like the best. I'm not including feats like Dodge or Iron Will since those are good for any build that has room for them. Alester's first level feat will be Fencing Grace.

Dangerous Tail: Gain Tail attack, -5 BAB and 1/2 Str. Can trip as free action upon crit. Requires +5 BAB. (Level 6 with planned class levels.)

Extra Arcana: Gain an arcana.

Extra Arcane Pool: Gain 2 points to arcana pool.

Flyby Attack: Can make a standard action while moving in flight.

Powerful Wings: Gain 2 wing attacks – secondary attacks treated as one size larger than you. Also treated as one size larger for feats and abilities related to your wings such as the Hover feat. Requires 13 Str, Skill Focus Fly, and BAB 8. (Level 10 with planned class levels.)

Word of Healing: Standard action, can use Lay On Hands at a range of 30 feet. Doesn’t provoke, must be able to speak and have a free hand. Heals only half the normal amount, but grants mercies as usual.

Aerial Roll: Immediate action, if attacked while flying, can make a Fly check to dodge. Afterwards, -10 to Fly until the end of your next turn. Require 10 Fly ranks.

Death From Above: When charging from above, either from higher ground or flying, gain +5 Atk instead of the regular bonus from charging or being on higher ground.

Multiattack: Reduce penalty for secondary natural attacks to -2. Requires at least 3 natural weapons.


Even though his charisma is kinda low and fencing grace is arguably mandatory at first, Noble Scion: Scion of War might be worth taking a look at. Since your dex is your combat stat, you probably don't need this feat since you'd have to rework all of the stats to get most out out of this feat. 8 ranks of bluff and dodge allows you to take Osyluth Guile which gives you cha to ac against one target a turn. This should stack with smite, deflection and dodge bonus both equal to cha, but if not you trade smite for bardic performance with the Oath of People's Council archetype anyways.

Word of healing is a great feat but you only have two levels of paladin which means you can't even deliver mercies at a range. It's possible to grab word of healing while variant multi-classing a cavalier with Order of the Star which would add half your character level to lay on hands but that's half of your feats and still no mercies.

Long winded VMC fan-boying:
Even with this "best case" scenario, at 12th level Alester would only be to lay on hands with 4d6 7+cha times a day with no mercies, thats decent at best but when he uses Word of Healing, he's only doing 2d6. A 12th level Paladin would have 6d6 6+cha times a day, A 12th level Paladin VMC Cavalier has 9d6 9+cha times a day. Currently you have 1d6 1+cha times a day

Alester isn't the party healer so this option is too far fetched for him. Focusing on flying should be good enough


Well, I was mostly considering Word of Healing if I decided I did want to take a third level of Paladin.

Scion of the Arts would be helpful once he takes that level of Oath of the People's Council since it gives him an extra 3 rounds of Performance. I can always take Fencing Grace at level 3.

Multiattack needs 3 natural weapons so it's only an option if I take Powerful Wings and Dangerous Tail first. So it can't be taken before level 13 due to Powerful Wing's BAB requirement.


Knowledge Nobility and Perform are already class skills from the starting level of Swashbuckler and since I won't be using the Paladin archetype until level 5, Noble Scion's bonus to Perform isn't really needed much. I think I'll skip it.

I'm thinking of this set-up for the feats and arcana up to level 11.

Feats and Arcana:
1 (Feat) – Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus Rapier, Fencing Grace
3 (Feat) – Flyby Attack: Can make a standard action while moving in flight.
4 (Arcana) – Familiar
5 (Feat) – Extra Arcana: Gain an arcana. Arcana Accuracy: 1 point, swift action, add Cha to all attack rolls.
7 (Feat) – Dangerous Tail: Gain Tail Swipe attack. Secondary attack, can trip as free action upon crit. Requires +5 BAB.
8 (Magus Bonus Feat) – Death From Above: When charging from above, either from higher ground or flying, gain +5 Atk instead of the regular bonus from charging or being on higher ground.
9 (Feat) – Skill Focus Fly
9 (Arcana) – Wand Wielder: Can activate a wand or staff instead of regular casting when using spell combat.
11 (Feat) – Powerful Wings: Gain 2 wing attacks – secondary attacks treated as one size larger than you. Also treated as one size larger for feats and abilities related to your wings such as the Hover feat. Requires 13 Str, Skill Focus Fly, and BAB 8.

I can switch Arcane Accuracy and Wand Wielder if needed.


Ok, that's pretty much it for Alester. I just need to pick out his gear and he's done. I'll pick out the spells when he gets them.

Now for Tara. As stated, I'm leaning towards Bard/Rogue. I'm going to go with the Unchained Rogue, so she'll get Dex to Damage at Rogue level 3. I might go with the Phantom Thief archetype for Rogue. It loses Sneak Attack, Trapfinding, and Debilitating Injury, but it has every skill except Fly as a class skill, gets more skill unlocks and gets them faster, and can take the Combat Trick and Minor/Major Magic Talents multiple times. It can also take Vigilante Talents if desired.

No archetype for Bard either, and I think I'm only going to go with a single level. Tara's parents may want her to study music like a good little princess, but she'd rather go out and adventure with her friends.

I'll start with Bard since she'd have a lot of music lessons before she could learn how to sneak out. I'm wondering if she should take a level or 2 of Swashbuckler, but I'm not sure. I don't want to delay Dex to Damage too much.


Heather 540 wrote:

Ok, that's pretty much it for Alester. I just need to pick out his gear and he's done. I'll pick out the spells when he gets them.

Now for Tara. As stated, I'm leaning towards Bard/Rogue. I'm going to go with the Unchained Rogue, so she'll get Dex to Damage at Rogue level 3. I might go with the Phantom Thief archetype for Rogue. It loses Sneak Attack, Trapfinding, and Debilitating Injury, but it has every skill except Fly as a class skill, gets more skill unlocks and gets them faster, and can take the Combat Trick and Minor/Major Magic Talents multiple times. It can also take Vigilante Talents if desired.

No archetype for Bard either, and I think I'm only going to go with a single level. Tara's parents may want her to study music like a good little princess, but she'd rather go out and adventure with her friends.

I'll start with Bard since she'd have a lot of music lessons before she could learn how to sneak out. I'm wondering if she should take a level or 2 of Swashbuckler, but I'm not sure. I don't want to delay Dex to Damage too much.

Bard 1 / Swash 1 / UnRogue 3 would probably be best. That means dex to dmg at 5th instead of 3rd which isn't too bad but fencing or slashing grace would probably be better, especially if you aren't in it for the sneak attack. Tara might actually be a Bard 1 / Swashbuckler X or a Swash 1 / Sandman Bard X. Tara could possibly be an Arcane Trickster since it progresses spells and SA but if SA isn't her focus, and spells are second hand, then Arcane Trickster is no good. Sandman and Swashbuckler probably fit her best.

If we go back to drawing board, we might consider Vigilante. Surely if Tara is sneaking out to adventure, she wouldn't want to be discovered. The Loyal Aid talent lets you send helpers spread false information so that no one knows you're adventuring. Since SA isn't a priority, you could opt for the full BAB specialization. The Faceless Enforcer has a suit of armor as his disguise so no one would be the wiser. Throw in a level of Swash and Bard, grab fencing/slashing grace and Tara is done. She wouldn't need to wear heavy armor, just a helmet. A mithral breast plate would allow her to cast those first level spells and when the effectiveness of those spells drops off, she can upgrade to mithral full plate.


I will take a look at the Vigilante. Though if she's getting Dex to Damage with feats rather than the UnRogue class feature, I think I'll go with Dervish Dance instead of one of the Grace feats. It doesn't need Weapon Focus so she can take it at level 3 as long as she takes a Swashbuckler level by then for Weapon Finesse.

I just realized something... I have made 17 Pathfinder characters. I have 2 ranged attackers, one pure caster, and the rest are melee. Of those melee fighters, only 4 are Strength based. All the rest are Dex based.


It looks like Vigilante needs a little Cha as does a Bard and Swashbuckler. With a 20 point buy and putting the human's bonus into Dex, I get this spread for Tara:

10 Str, 15 Dex, 12 Con, 14 Int, 14 Wis, 14 Cha.

I'm thinking of having her be Neutral Good rather than Lawful.

Shadow Lodge

I might be a bit late but would the Eldritch Scoundrel archetype for Rogue do well for Alester?


That's an interesting archetype. It's not a good fit for Alester but I might make one later on.


What would be decent traits for Tara? I don't want to do Rich Parents or anything like that. A trait like that is fine for low-level one-shots, but not for a full campaign.


Some decent traits might be Light Sleeper so that Tara can come home late and still get some rest. There is another trait that reduces this to two hours but its tied to space tech and cryo sleep. Another would be Magical Knack so that what few spells Tara has, she can use longer/better.


Magical Knack does seem helpful.


Other traits to consider are Steel Skin, Black Powder Bravado, Bloody-Minded and Ancestral Weapon. Steel Skin, for my proposed build, would make sense as Tara would have to be good at getting into and out of armor and she can use her family iconography to instill fear into her enemies. Her identity would be unknown but her allegiance would be clear. Black Powder Bravado should work with Swashbuckler and is helpful if she ever misses one of her precious few parries per day. Bloody-Minded could make sense since Tara is a tomboy and wants to get into the action. This wouldn't stack with Steel Skin. Ancestral Weapon is purely mechanical and may be bad fluff-wise if Tara's parents didn't want to train her in combat at all.


Black Powder would be pretty good.


Instead of Magical Knack, I'm leaning towards Apprentice as the non-combat trait. It's fits flavor-wise with Tara sneaking in magic lessons, and it can get her a single spell that's not on the bard list. With level zero spells, that's a small list, but there are a few. Like Acid Splash or Ray of Frost.


Acid Splash once a day doesn't really seem worth it, the action economy and opportunity cost are too high IMO. I would see about swapping the flavor with magical knack since its mechanically better. Tara managed to sneak in some lessons and turned out to be a natural. Maybe another 0 level spell will be worth it but it is only once a day.


Hm.


Ok, so I guess I'll go with Magical Knack and Black Powder Bravado as Tara's traits. For classes, Vigilante does work well and the only other ones that fit flavor-wise are Rogue and Swashbuckler. I am going to give her one level of Swash, at least.

Now, do I want to give her a second level of Bard to get 2 more spells with one more casting, Versatile Performance, and Well-Versed? Dervish Dance requires Perform Dance as its skill and I don't want to use other Performance skills so it might not be worth it for that, but the spells might be.

For feats, if I don't go with unRogue, then I'm going with Dervish Dance to get Dex-to-Dam. Frees up a feat so it can be taken at level 3. She'll get Weapon Finesse at level 2 with the level of Swashbuckler so her level one feats are up for grabs. Since she's human, she gets 2. I'm thinking Combat Expertise since it's a requirement for a lot of other feats. But I'm not sure about the other one. It all depends on where I go with her.


Heather 540 wrote:

Ok, so I guess I'll go with Magical Knack and Black Powder Bravado as Tara's traits. For classes, Vigilante does work well and the only other ones that fit flavor-wise are Rogue and Swashbuckler. I am going to give her one level of Swash, at least.

Now, do I want to give her a second level of Bard to get 2 more spells with one more casting, Versatile Performance, and Well-Versed? Dervish Dance requires Perform Dance as its skill and I don't want to use other Performance skills so it might not be worth it for that, but the spells might be.

For feats, if I don't go with unRogue, then I'm going with Dervish Dance to get Dex-to-Dam. Frees up a feat so it can be taken at level 3. She'll get Weapon Finesse at level 2 with the level of Swashbuckler so her level one feats are up for grabs. Since she's human, she gets 2. I'm thinking Combat Expertise since it's a requirement for a lot of other feats. But I'm not sure about the other one. It all depends on where I go with her.

The spells don't look like too much of a pot sweetener but could be worth it since you're taking magical knack. Spell choice will really make the difference here.

As for feats, toughness is always nice but Fey Foundling is a particularly strong feat only availible at first though the fluff isn't there. Dodge can open up some feat trees as well. 3 ranks in Acro and you can be a nimble tank. Extra Panache could also be worth it.


Fey Foundling doesn't fit Tara, but it might fit Kei.

Extra Panache would be pretty good to boost the amount of parries she has. And Dodge and Toughness are always nice.


Ok, so far the plan is Bard 1 / Swash 1 / Vigilante X. That's a lot of talents to take. Most of the Social Talents don't seem very helpful to me. But to be fair, I haven't played in any intrigue style games where we use renown and stuff like that. Skill Familiarity seems useful though it needs 9 levels of Vigilante to get. Beginner's Luck does kind of fit flavor-wise, keeping her parents in the dark. Haven't looked at the Vigilante Talents yet. Loyal Aid also fits the flavor. One of her instructors or caretakers covering for her and helping her out. How many allies does it get you? Needs the Renown Talent first.


I looked at the Vigilante Talents. I like them a lot better than the Social Talents.


So, I usually plan my characters to level 9 and stop there until they actually get played. I think I'll go up to 12 for Tara so I can plan out her Talents easier. That's 10 levels of Vigilante so it's 5 Social Talents and 5 Vigilante Talents.

For the Social Talents, I'm thinking Social Grace, Skill Familiarity, Loyal Aid, Ancestral Enlightenment, and Intrigue Feats. I'm thinking taking But A Scratch from that last one.

For the Vigilante Talents, I'm leaning towards Armor Skill, Fantastic Stride, Perfect Vulnerability, and Combat Skill. I'll probably take Combat Skill twice and get 2 feats from it.


Heather 540 wrote:

So, I usually plan my characters to level 9 and stop there until they actually get played. I think I'll go up to 12 for Tara so I can plan out her Talents easier. That's 10 levels of Vigilante so it's 5 Social Talents and 5 Vigilante Talents.

For the Social Talents, I'm thinking Social Grace, Skill Familiarity, Loyal Aid, Ancestral Enlightenment, and Intrigue Feats. I'm thinking taking But A Scratch from that last one.

For the Vigilante Talents, I'm leaning towards Armor Skill, Fantastic Stride, Perfect Vulnerability, and Combat Skill. I'll probably take Combat Skill twice and get 2 feats from it.

Most people consider Social Talents dead levels just like how fighters don't get anything cool in between feats. Your talents are good choices though bonus feats are generally considered poor choices for talents since the talents are pretty powerful. However, taking the bonus feats later in the build can be particularly powerful as you will meet more feat Pre Reqs by then.


Thanks. The Social Talents were so hard to pick. How exactly does renown work and how would you know if you're in your area of renown?


Heather 540 wrote:
Thanks. The Social Talents were so hard to pick. How exactly does renown work and how would you know if you're in your area of renown?

The Vigilante herself would know because she was networking and establishing her renown in her community. You would know the area by its description or by a map. Something like, Slum Street: Population 200, would be your community and you'd know that whenever you enter Slum Street, you get your bonuses. Your community could easily be the other noble families. Tara could spend 4 hours a day doing her "duty" by networking with the nobility while at the same time furthering her reputation. You can only influence 200 people but that should be fine in the last case. Great and Incredible Renown drastically increase your influence if you want Tara to be known further than Slum Street or the hill that all the nobles live on.


I see. Thanks for the info.


Ok, so far the feat plan (I'm including the talents from the Vigilante class when I get them.) looks like this:

1: Combat Expertise
1: Dodge (Human bonus)
2: Weapon Finesse (class feature)
3: Dervish Dance
3: Social Talent: Social Grace
4: Vigilante Talent: Armor Skin
5: ?
5: Social Talent: ?
6: Vigilante Talent: Combat Skill: ?
7: ?
7: Social Talent: Intrigue Feats: But A Scratch
8: Vigilante Talent: Fantastic Stride: Spring Attack
9: ?
9: Social Talent: Ancestral Enlightenment
10: Vigilante Talent: Perfect Vulnerability
11: ?
11: Social Talent: Skill Familiarity
12: Vigilante Talent: Combat Skill: ?

I have 6 feats to pick out. Luckily, I don't have to take any of the pre-req feats for Spring Attack. I do have to qualify for the combat feats I get from Combat Skill, but half the Vigilante levels will count as fighter levels for that. Which will be 4 and 10 respectively.

I was going to have one Social Talent be Loyal Aid since it fits the flavor, but I need the Renown talent first. Should I take Renown at level 5 and Loyal Aid later? I don't want to switch out the other Social Talents as they give nice skill bonuses and a nice little feat. Or do I take Conflicted Identity instead?


The bonuses from Renown and Loyal Aid aren't too good and Conflicted Identity is a good pick though better for those evil characters who don't like getting smited. You can still do your networking for the flavor just without benefit or you can go around gathering information.

At Vig 8 you qualify for Weapon Specialization which is nice but not mandatory. Vital Strike is also nice for when you can't full attack. Toughness and Extra Panache are still viable options since you have the extra feats. Piranha Strike exists. Osyluth Guile may also be viable if Tara increases her Cha. If You go Swash 1 / Bard 1 / Vig X then Tara could take Slashing Grace at 3rd. Explanation would be that Tara is not good at music until 2nd and the reasoning is that you have feats to spend and weapon focus is nice. Personally, I rarely see my d20s roll above 10 so I like to stack up my attack bonuses or make save based characters.

With 6 "free" feats you could reasonably Variant Multiclass. This option would push Dervish Dance to 5th level (ouch) but could net you some neat features. If your table allows VMC Barbarian to use unchained rules then Tara would get a bonus even if she uses dex to attack and VMC Cavalier grants Challenge.


I have no idea how Variant Multiclassing works. Piranha Strike is pretty good. I keep forgetting that a Dex based version of Power Attack exists.


Heather 540 wrote:
I have no idea how Variant Multiclassing works. Piranha Strike is pretty good. I keep forgetting that a Dex based version of Power Attack exists.

I haven't bothered to actually read Unchained but according to the Prd, you trade every other feat you normally get and receive class features.


Ouch. That could be pretty hard for feat intensive builds.


I looked at the page you linked. VMC kinda sucks if you ask me. You lose half your feats and only get a few class features of some classes. Do you at least get proficiency and class skills from it?


Heather 540 wrote:
I looked at the page you linked. VMC kinda sucks if you ask me. You lose half your feats and only get a few class features of some classes. Do you at least get proficiency and class skills from it?

Nope, most VMC options are terrible with some notable exceptions (Bard, Barbarian, Cavalier, Paladin, Rogue, Magus and Oracle). Fighters can cope with the loss of feats and most martials can afford to give up five feats for Rage. The Rogue and Bard VMC are useful for Prestige Classes like Battle Herald. Paladins can get Rage and barbarians can get Challenge.

Tara will likely not benefit from Variant Multiclassing


No, she definitely would not. I'm going through the feats section by section, writing down which ones look helpful and what feats are needed to take them. I'm not that far in yet, but I've noticed a few decent choices.


Ok, so Weapon Focus needs a +1 BAB. That means I can't take it at level one if Tara starts with Bard. If I switch to Swashbuckler first, I can take it then. If I do that, I could also take Slashing Grace at level one for Dex-to-Damage, but I really do like the idea of starting with Bard. It just fits her theme better.

I suppose I could do Inspired Blade Swashbuckler instead of regular Swashbuckler like I did with Alester which would save having to take Weapon Focus as a feat, but that means she'll also have to use a rapier and I dislike having multiple characters use the same weapon. It's just a thing of mine and I already have 2 other characters that use a rapier, not including Alester. I really only did it for Alester because his build had less free feats to spare.

Some of the feats I'm considering do require Weapon Focus. A couple of them need Dazzling Display, which itself needs Weapon Focus.

I'm still crawling through the list of feats, but so far the only one I might take that needs Combat Expertise is Improved Disarm. I don't really plan on making her a Maneuver character, but I like the idea of her being good enough to knock someone's weapon out of their hands. If I decide not to take it, I probably won't need Combat Expertise.


If you really want to go against the grain with your weapon choice you could go with Bravo or Falcata Swashbuckler to gain proficiency with falcatas or dueling swords. The fluff behind Bravo is limiting as Tara is probably not an Aldori Swordlord. Falcatas are better weapons anyways. If Tara worships Desna then she could take Desna's Shooting Star which lets her use cha for attack and damage with star knives. The falcata may be hard to pull off as Tara wouldn't be proficient with it until she second. A dueling sword functions as a longsword if Tara is not proficient and Bards are proficient with longswords so she'd be able to wield it. No matter what, Tara is putting off dex to attack until second which is going to be rough. You might be able to get away with retraining Weapon Finesse but the feat wouldn't be enough for a falcata or dueling sword. Aldori Dueling Mastery may be necessary to regain panache with a dueling sword so thats yet another road bump.


Those archetypes look interesting. The falcata is a slashing weapon, so Slashing Grace would work on it for dex to damage.

I suppose I could re-work the flavor to something along the lines of this: When Tara was little, she'd sneak away from her nanny and into the knight's training hall and watch them. She stole a wooden sword and would imitate their movements when she was supposed to be studying.

That would allow for taking Swashbuckler first and still fit the theme. She would sneak off for magic lessons at an older age. I could then take Weapon Focus at level one.

You can use a buckler to disarm?

And why do I make dex characters more than str characters? They take 2 more feats just to keep up on the damage and hits.


Shield Catch seems to suggest that Bucklers can disarm but anyone can disarm with any weapon.

You probably make dex based characters because they're awesome. You only need to focus on one stat and it covers your offense at the same time as defense. The feat and gear cost can be steep but its well worth it in point-buy. If you rolled stats then focusing on str would probably be more economic.

I made Swashadin for Ironfang who uses str as his attack stat. I was going to give up my bonus feat for a second +2 to any stat but then I found out that we were rolling stats and got three 17s (I guess I roll better at home). I was afraid of having too low of a dex before I got my heavy armor but now I'll survive. If I wanted to truly optimize my character, I would've made him dex based to cover both offense and defense.


True. And there are spells and items that can increase carrying capacity. My last two GMs even let me merge Muleback Cords with a Cloak of Resistance, which was very helpful for my dex based gnome and halfling.

So, with Swash being the first level, I can get dex to damage right away. And if I don't take Improved Dismarm, I won't need Combat Expertise so that frees up a feat again.

I'm thinking of taking Lingering Performance to basically triple the rounds she can have Inspire Courage going. And since that's a Competence bonus to their attack rolls, it'll stack with the Motivating Display feat. Though I'll need Dazzling Display first.


Rings of Resistance exist if you ever have less lenient DMs though they come the standard 50% re-slotting fee and that adds up. You may find that burning standard actions every third round to extend your performance may not always be the best use of a standard action though it is a neat feat for when you can't attack or use other standards. There are some neat bard feats but most require going all out into bard. Lingering Performance is amazing when starting a performance is a swift action but then that bard couldn't metamagic (headache ensues*).

The Intimidating Performance feat allows the use of Dazzling Display as a standard action using a Perform check instead of Intimidate. Another problem is that Motivating Display may require actually intimidating your allies. I'm still confused on how it actually activates. While it certainly is possible to make a character who just flourishes her blade and sings, never entering combat, that just isn't Tara. I imagine Tara has vigilante levels for a reason.

I don't mean to rain on your parade when I tell you that every choice you make is sub-optimal. They're not actually anyways. Tara has feats to spare and her combat basics are covered. I like to help people make characters by using my knowledge of available resources that most are unaware of but sometimes I just downright make their characters for them. Anyways, Tara doesn't have Combat Reflexes but I think that a Swashbuckler can greatly benefit from it. It would allow her to parry multiple attacks in a round though this is a good way to run out of panache rather quickly. Whirlwind Attack is a good feat but requires Dodge and Mobility which you already avoided with Spring Attack.


It's fine. I know I have trouble with picking out the right feats and such for characters sometimes. That's why I make these forum threads.

Motivating Display activates at the same time Dazzling Display does. It uses the same roll to give allies a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls and skill checks.

I don't think Intimidating Performance will work. It needs you to be able to start a performance as a move action, which a first level bard can't do.


Ok, I think I'm finished looking through the feats. Most of what I picked out are combat feats. Which is usually what you pick for a character focused on melee anyway. Since Tara is going to be an Avenger Vigilante, she gets full BAB from it. So her BAB is going to be just one point under her class level once she takes Bard.

I have 7 open feats, not 6, but one feat requires Combat Expertise. If I decide not to take that feat, I won't be taking Combat Expertise at all.

These are the feats I like the best. The first one is the one that needs Combat Expertise. I also have a few that I didn't write down that are nice filler feats, like Dodge and Toughness, if there are any open spaces after.

Improved Parry: If you successfully parry a foe’s melee attack, he is flat-footed against your next melee attack. Your attack must be made before the end of your next turn. Requires Combat Expertise.

Lingering Performance: Benefits and penalties from your Bardic Performance linger for 2 rounds after ending the performance. Ends immediately if new Performance is started.

Dazzling Display: Full-round action, can Intimidate all foes within 30 feet who can see you. Requires Weapon Focus.

Motivating Display: When using Dazzling Display to demoralize foes, can use same Intimidate check to give +1 morale to Atk and skill checks for same duration to allies within 30 feet who can see you. Requires Dazzling Display and Weapon Focus.

Shatter Defenses: Any shaken, frightened, or panicked foe hit by you this round is flat-footed against you until the end of your next turn. Requires Dazzling Display and BAB 6.

Extra Panache: Gain +2 panache points at start of day and max points increases by 2.

Empty Threats: Can use Bluff instead of Intimidate for demoralizing a foe or for Dazzling Display. Requires 5 Bluff.


I'd say Tara is all set though other posters may be able to give an outside opinion on feats which all well and good. Have you made on any progress on Kei?

I think that Warpriest is Kei's best option. He'd be able to increase his bite damage as he levels up and he'd get weapon focus for free. Slashing Grace works with bites which is just what he needed. The Feral Champion archetype grants claw attacks though it stops you from taking Sacred Weapon: bite. Standard Warpriest all the way through with no shenanigans should be fine.

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