Styx the Vexing Assassing

[Horas Ebonfeather]

I know Alzhan has started a post about this character concept in pathfinder. I was thinking that a vexing rogue and the concept behind the songbird of doom. The concept of the songbird of doom by Breq of Toren. I think that I could make a very similar/ potent Styx.

Who is Styx:
Used to be a orc shaman turned into the first goblin, highly intelligent and has a connection to magic.
Styx needs to be able to Grapple really well (he is actually quite muscular and acrobatic for a goblin, so he likely has high STR and DEX), Carry unconscious humans in full-plate as a medium-load. Be proficient with a long-knife (statted as a Gladius or Shortsword most likely), and throwing knives (statted as Daggers most likely). His saliva must be an almost instantly deadly ingested poison. He must be able to cast the following spells spontaneously: Detect Magic (at-will), Vanish and Vomit Twin (3-5 times per day)

i like the concept behind the idea of the songbird of doom, but i would like to use a bladed wpn like the wakizashi or something similar. As Styx uses a bladed wpn to kill enemies. Using high crit range and sneak attack to do my damage. Though in the game he has high str, i am going to focus on dex for dmg, to hit, etc.

When he wants to incapacitate the enemy he usually chokes them out or knocks them out some other way. Was looking at the sap master chain for that method and maybe going down the grapple line with the chokehold feat.

i am not to worried about making clones, i would like to use poison and acids, but the problem is that poisons in pathfinder are very weak and lots of enemies have immunity to poison.

Please let me know what you think of the concept. it is still in the building process and I would like your opinion, been in multiple one-shots testing these concepts that I have been asking about.

[VoodistMonk]

A level of Urban Bloodrager for Controlled Bloodrage, a Bloodline, Fast Movement, access to Arcane Strike/Blooded Arcane Strike, and wands you can use... could do Styx some good, me-thinks.

[avr]

You have a fairly magical concept and might want to take just one level of vexing rogue, then the rest in some kind of spellcaster.

As you say, instantly deadly poison requires an earlier version of D&D. It's just not doable in PF unless you reflavour something which isn't a poison - a glyph of warding perhaps - as your ingested poison.

Crits and sneak attack are two different means of representing the same kind of thing, but their mechanics don't play nicely together. Pick one to focus on.

Being tiny and grappling with dex is possible but IMO very silly. If you're stopping at small size then you're not really using the mechanics or concept of the Songbird of Doom.

[Horas Ebonfeather]

VoodistMonk:
I thought about bloodrager, but I like the idea behind kensai magus to get some basic arcane spell-casting. The magus will also give me bonus to AC with my intelligence modifier, which is going to be decently high because the high intelligence of styx.

AVR:
I prefer to go more heavy on the dmg and non-magical skills and capabilities than relying on magic. i have never enjoyed magic to much. I was just looking at a high crit range with the wakizashi and using bleeding crit ontop of that. Otherwise I was going to go heavy on the sneak attack dmg.
I agree with the being tiny and grappling being absolutely useless. I was thinking of trying to go tiny size, but not any smaller, thought that does kind of move away from styx. but the concept of being in the enemies square and doing dmg and not getting hit by the enemy is what i am trying to go after.

Mixing swashbuckler (mouser) with vexing dodger i would be able to be in the enemies square while not being considered grappled and be granted a high AC from vexing dodger and the counter attacks from the mouser class. with using my dex to hit and dmg i will be able to decent dmg to the enemy.

[avr]

If you're going heavy on sneak attack then you might like vivisectionist alchemist, either as the main class or as a dip. The spells you named or substitutes (identify for detect magic, invisibility for vanish) plus reduce person and ant haul (which would help with the songbird of doom/unexpectedly strong goblin idea) are available as alchemist extracts and it gets full sneak attack.

[Horas Ebonfeather]

you make a very good point with that class giving me both sneak attack and some "magic" abilities. The use of potions does fit with styx fairly well.

Is there archetype of the magus that has the same progression of sneak attack as a rogue.

or would dipping or taking classes in ninja be more useful with the ki abilities?

[VoodistMonk]

I still believe that a level of Urban Bloodrager is applicable for Styx.

1. Urban Bloodrager
2. Vexing Dodger Rogue
3. Mouser Swashbuckler
4+. Whatever you want...

The Controlled Bloodrage and fast movement really add to Styx's ability to move around the battlefield. Dex-rage boosts your acrobatics checks to move through threatened squares.

Vexing Dodger and Mouser complete the whole tiny menace theme. Both giving unique abilities to really take advantage of being small.

Stepping into whatever class suits your fancy afterwards allows you to pick up the tricks necessary to make Styx useful when he is not underfoot, harassing the enemy.

Vivisectionist Alchemist would be really interesting. Magus is nice, too. Just depends on what you want Styx to do, other than crawl and climb all over the enemy.

[avr]

The only magus archetype which gets sneak attack at all is so amazingly bad that no one should ever try it. Greensting slayer is the name if you want to marvel at the bad design. If you want sneak attack on a magus try the sense vitals spell instead.

The ninja class can do vanish very well but isn't suited to any of the other spells you named.

[Horas Ebonfeather]

Voodist monk:
I like you starting layout idea, the bloodrager fits with styx used to being an orc. I am thinking something with more sneak attack will be more useful because that gives me bonus ac when fighting the creature that I am climbing on. So I dont think magus will work, because as avr said, the green sting magus stinks.

Though I will look at the spell sense vital organs. That might make me look at magus.

[Horas Ebonfeather]

Well the sense organs spell is out of the question, the dmg from ig isnt very good and will not help the vexing dodge with the ac bonus when climbing on enemies.