Building for flavor Vs Building for Effectiveness. Why Not both?

[JuliusCromwell]

Hello. I am seeking help with a character. Two of my friends are going to be Co-Gming a Mythic Game (Our groups First one) The Gm's Have told us very little of game other than we need to build more for story and make them like legendary hero , as are character will summoned to a world to save it.

I am having trouble as I am a wanna be Mid - Maxer who enjoys combat more than anything, and well I'm sure there will be a fair deal of combat I Don't just want to be Numbers on a piece of paper but at the same time I also want to be able to hold my own in a fight.

I am Trying to Build a Greek like hero in the form of a Brawler - VMC Barbarian Level 10

In the story I have written so far , He is 1/3 God and 3/4 Human (But for game play the God part only applies to the fluff) Who was famous for lighting large and larger foes. He is famous for wrestling down large Beast and even beating a Dragon in hand to hand combat

(the GM's said to think of are Character as level 20 & Mythic Rank 10 but due to a unknown reason we are Summoned as a weaker version of our-self (Level 10 / Mythic Rank 2)

Sadly I do not know what foes we'll be fighting but I am Torn if the Archetype Beast-wrestler for Brawlers would be worth it. Like i said i want fluff but don't want to tack something on to my character that will not benefit him

[VoodistMonk]

The Marvel Universe does this with their characters at one point. I believe it is how Venom comes to Earth, originally.

Anyways, I am presently going through the inverse of this situation. Mythic anything is far beyond anything I have ever done. But my GM for my next campaign wants all base/core.

I had chosen a class based on utility and buffing the party, with a single combat ability if he ever had to use it... however I apparently wrote such a colorful backstory that the GM suggested I use a prestige class in a campaign without archetypes. This is still Pathfinder and prestige classes still always suck.

But I am taking it because it allows for more story development and flavor. A pure Bard would have been better, it is what I was intending and planning on playing... but the quality of gameplay is dictated by the quality of the story being told... I would rather have a more in depth story, than try be Superman when I know I have a team around me.

Everyone hates me for how I engineer my characters, working in feats and traits, everyone says its just a game, have fun, blah blah blah. I love building characters, all of them are designed to be effective, and it's really easy with all the options Pathfinder provides.

I am now in a wee scramble to figure out how to use this new build proposed by my GM, but I don't NEED to be a Bard... I do, however, NEED a good story to be told.

Mythic superhero game, it may be expected that you are always capable of playing all in. I don't know. My GM wants a stripped down core game to make it scary. I chose to be less optimized, so it's a little bit scarier. That's the whole point of this particular campaign, so I am not trying to build a superhero, I am ok with it being scary as he is intending.

That may not work in such a high caliber Mythic game. But I would rather build the overall story than try build a single juggernaut in a team based setting.

[MageHunter]

Is there something from VMC you want other than rage? If not you could save on feats by dipping a level and just taking extra rage.

[juantamad]

Have you considered the Spawn Slayer? Looks perfect for your idea.

[JuliusCromwell]

@ juantamad Seems Fun sadly i really want martial flexbility

[juantamad]

What feat strings are you looking for in Martial Flexibility? Because if you really just want to use combat maneuvers on large enemies, Spawn Slayer seems to have it covered. Take the Unarmed Ranger combat style with that if you want that unarmed combat flavor.

[JuliusCromwell]

@ juantamad Well for a level 10 build 20 point buy how would you set it UP i mean stat Feats and talents?

[juantamad]

Russel Maynia, Human
STR 18; DEX 14; CON 14; INT 9; WIS 14; CHA 7
Race Trait: Giant Ancestry
Traits: Bred for War, Indomitable Faith
1st level Feats- Dirty Fighting, Improved Unarmed Strike
2nd Level Talent- Unbalancing Trick (Ex): The slayer gains Improved Trip as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites. At 6th level, she is treated as if she meets all the prerequisites of Greater Trip (although she must take the feat as normal to gain its benefits).
3rd Level Feat- Power Attack
4th Level Talent- Ranger Combat Style: Improved Grapple
5th Level Feat- Fury’s Fall
6th Level Talent- Ranger Combat Style: Monastic Legacy
7th Level Feat- Greater Trip
8th Level Talent- Combat Trick: Greater Grapple
9th Level Feat- Wolf Style/Kraken Style/Grabbing Style
10th Level Talent- Ranger Combat Style: Ki Throw

The most important thing about the Spawn Slayer is that it gets to ignore the size of enemies under Studied Target- one of the most important aspects to combat maneuvers. Building for combat maneuvers can go in tons of directions but I went with two of the best for an example.

The Wisdom score shores up your crappy Will save, and lets you qualify for some extra Style feats. Feel free to peruse which one suits your manuever/build. Sucks I had to tank Intelligence and Charisma, but Slayers get decent skill points at the very least.

Also note you don’t even have to go unarmed- this can free up some talents and feats, as you trip with a Meteor Hammer. Grapple with a Dan Bong. Get Leveraging and Dueling enchantments on your weapons/Amulet of Mighty Fists. Wield a Brawling Cestus. Equip Gauntlets of the Skilled Maneuver, then upgrade to Bloodstained Gloves when your Studied Target bonus is +3.

[Kaouse]

1/3 God and 3/4 Human, huh? Must be the missing 13th Apostle.