| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm working up a new character. Any suggestions for improvement?
This character will be an Ifrit Paladin/Life Oracle of Ragathiel. I envision him as a holy warrior who struggles to overcome his Evil Outsider (half-Efreeti) heritage, much like his patron demigod Ragathiel. He was abandoned in the wild as a child when his human mother was slain by his Efreeti father, and rescued by good-aligned Fey who cared for him and brought him to the doorstep of a local Paladin order. He was raised and trained by these Paladins, and now has taken an oath himself to heal and defend the weak and defeat Evil Outsiders. The Fey who cared for him as a baby continue to track his progress, with a few sprites/pixies accompanying him and playing good-natured (in their minds) pranks on him to ensure that he doesn't get too serious, stuffy, or boring.
Race: Ifrit
-Fire in the Blood Alternate Racial Trait: Fast Healing 2 when subjected to fire damage
-Efreeti Magic Alternate Racial Trait: Enlarge/Reduce Person (including Ifrits) 1/day
-Wildfire Heart Alternate Racial Trait: +4 to Initiative
-Darkvision 60'
-Outsider (Native)
Stats:
STR 16
DEX 14 (Includes +2 Racial)
CON 14
INT 7
WIS 8 (Includes -2 Racial)
CHA 17 (Includes +2 Racial)
Blessed Touch Faith Trait: +1 HP healed with Lay On Hands, Channel, and Cure spells
Magical Lineage Magic Trait: +2 Caster Level (Oracle)
Level 1: Paladin 1 - Oathbound (Oath Against Fiends) and Hospitaler archetypes
Level 2: Pal2
Level 3: Pal2/Oracle 1 - Life Oracle, Life Link Revelation, Pranked Curse
Level 4: Pal3/Ora1 - +1 to CHA
Level 5: Pal4/Ora1
Level 6: Pal4/Ora2
Level 7: Pal4/Ora3 - Channel Revelation
Level 8: Pal4/Ora4 - +1 to CON
Level 9: Pal5/Ora4 - Agathion Divine Bond for CHA bonus to healing for a few mins/day
Level 10+ (if needed) will be all Paladin.
Feats:
1st - Fey Foundling
3rd - Power Attack
5th - Greater Mercy
7th - Vital Strike
9th - Furious Focus
Favored Class: Paladin for +1 HP at levels 1-2, 4-5, and 9+.
1 skill point for Paladin levels and 2 skill points for Oracle Levels will go primarily into Diplomacy and Sense Motive.
The Pranked curse seems to mesh really well with the backstory regarding the Fey Foundling feat, and will allow for some interesting roleplaying opportunities when I'm distracted or embarrassed by my pixie friends. The -4 to Initiative hurts, but is offset by the +4 to Initiative from his Wildfire Heart racial trait, and he'll still have +2 to Initiative from DEX. The 25% miss chance when retrieving stored gear is less troublesome, since it doesn't apply to drawing weapons or wands, and I won't be relying on scrolls, potions, or alchemical items in combat very often. But when it does come into play, it'll allow me to roleplay it as his scatterbrained pixies companions trying (and failing miserably) to help him locate the items, and merely serving to distract him in the process. The curse also grants access to a couple extremely useful spells that aren't on the Oracle or Paladin lists, like Faerie Fire and Glitterdust.
By Oracle 4, I'll have the following spells:
0 Level: Guidance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending, Grasp, Create Water, Ghost Sound* (Pranked Curse Bonus)
1st Level 7/day: Recharge Innate Magic, Protection from Evil, Divine Favor, Cure Light Wounds* (Oracle Bonus), Detect Undead* (Life Mystery Bonus), Faerie Fire* (Pranked Curse Bonus)
2nd Level 4/day: Bear's Endurance, Cure Moderate Wounds* (Oracle Bonus), Lesser Restoration* (Life Mystery Bonus), Glitterdust* (Pranked Curse Bonus), Minor Image* (Pranked Curse Bonus)
Spells known and Spells Per Day can be improved with further CHA boosting items, Pages of Spell Knowledge, and Runestones of Power.
I'll also have a small handful of 1st level Paladin spells, starting at Paladin 4, useful for things like Bless Weapon, Hero's Defiance, and Resist Energy* (Oath against Fiends bonus spell - equivalent to a domain spell).
I will rely heavily on a Divine Favor wand for the first many levels, using it before almost every fight for an easy +1 to Attack and Damage. Eventually, once I hit Oracle 4, my caster level combined with Magical Knack trait will grant me +2 to Attack and Damage when I cast the spell myself.
During fights, I will do the typical Oradin thing, with Life Link and Lay on Hands. I'll focus on two-handed melee combat with a Greatsword or Earthbreaker. I can Vital Strike as a swift action for double base damage on turns when I'm not using my swift action for LoH. Smite Evil 1/day helps with lone big baddies.
In large/tough fights, I can Enlarge myself to gain 10' reach and bump up to 3d6 base damage. I'll roleplay that as tapping into both my Efreeti heritage and Ragathiel's righteous rage, growing into a devoutly angry Large-sized version of myself with reddish skin, fiery orange hair, and angelic glow, then dishing out some divine wrath. (Like a saintly red/orange Incredible Hulk.)
By Level 7, with Enlarge Person combined with Divine Favor, Vital Strike, and Power Attack, I can be doing something like 6d6+13 damage per round on normal hits, not counting STR-improving items, weapon enchantments, and Smite Evil bonuses.
In between-fights, I can "recharge" two of my abilities, which allows me to be useful for more than just one fight per day. The Recharge Innate Magic spell allows me to expend 1st Level Oracle spells to regain uses of the Enlarge/Reduce racial spell-like ability on a 1:1 basis. And a Meditation Crystal Channel Foci allows me to expend my weak Hospitaler Channel Energy charges (1d6+3 self and 1d6+1 other) to regain powerful Lay on Hands charges (3d6+7 self or 3d6+1 other) on a 1:1 basis. This practically doubles the number of LoH charges I get each day, provided I have a few minutes between fights to meditate.
I'll also have the separate Life Oracle Channel Energy pool (2d6+5 self and 2d6+1 other) for additional group healing in/out of combat, but I don't believe those can be used with a Meditation Crystal Channel Foci for regain LoH charges, since an Oracle doesn't necessarily draw their power from a deity and don't use a Divine Focus or holy symbol. I could be wrong about that, though.
Thoughts? Anywhere that you see any obvious improvements or interesting opportunities?
Recharge innate magic is listed as a gnome racial spell. I don't say you can't get it, but it is one you need to check with your GM.
Vital strike requires a standard action rather than a swift, and should only be done when you have to move and attack. Even with furious focus a second (or more w/haste) attack is better. The usefulness of vital strike has always been iffy.
There's a list of deities to oracle mysteries, for Life it's Gozreh, Pharasma, Sarenrae. Since a meditation crystal is listed as Deity Any you should be able to use one if you follow one of those gods.
Good catch on Recharge Innate Magic and Vital Strike. Should have double-checked before posting.
I had part of the wording of Vital Strike confused in my memory with Arcane Strike, which involves using a swift action to add extra damage. In that light, it does make Vital Strike iffy, especially since I'll be picking up a second attack at 7th level.
I'll probably ditch Vital Strike and go with something else like Toughness.
The PFSRD doesn't list Recharge Innate Magic as Gnome, but I just checked the ARG and you're right. I might have a weak argument that Gnomes are semi-Fey, and I'm Fey-touched, with my Oracle powers and curse stemming from the Fey, so I could I pretty please be granted access. But it's a stretch.
If Recharge is nixed by the GM, I'll likely go with the Ifrit "Mostly Human" Alternate Racial Trait, which makes him a Humanoid as well as an Outsider, and therefore eligible to be Enlarged by normal means. Then I could pony up for some Enlarge scrolls/wands or Pearls of Power for the party arcane caster, and/or Enlarge wondrous items, for those times when I need it more than 1/day.