So I had this idea for a tragedy/horror themed "hero". a Ghoul Vigilante who depending on the DM's flexibility on alignments will be either an avenging spirit for the weak, striking against the evils that creep out at night, or a deranged serial killer with 'rules' to help it survive.
And what I'd like to ask is advice on possible feats, multiclassing and maybe even RP advice on making a functional monsterous "hero"
The story is of a normal man named William "Willy Smiles" Darge who spent his life as an entertainer for the masses and a respected one as well as a successful clown and even actor. He was kind, loving, and friendly, as any clown should. During a festival his hometown had, he made a terrible mistake of mocking a powerful member of the community in one of his gag bits, despite the nobleman volunteering to be part of his joke. The man expected that he would have delivered the punchline, not be it as he was pantsed, revealing embarrassing undies.
What William didn't know was this man he humiliated was a psychopathic Necromancer and would have his revenge later, when no one was around. William was kidnapped in his sleep, along with several children and William was tortured and killed by dark magic, but this was only the beginning. William was going to be the first sentient undead the Necromancer made, and into a Ghoul he would be forged into. Upon wakening and enslaved by the dark magics of his master, barely able to understand what is happening or why. The Necromancer decided to have him devour the children he seemed so happy to entertain before sending him off to die somewhere, believing he has done the most cruel thing he can imagine to this innocent fool.
But Willy Smiles didn't die, he lived long enough for the control to fade, and utter hatred to take it's place. Williams life as a man was over, but was his soul damned to evil? He didn't think so, and thus begins his quest for redemption as he constantly fights his never ending hunger for flesh as he stalks the night to attack criminals and monsters. He would focus his hunger on the vile and unjust, and his quest: Find the Necromancer and eat him whole, so that there would be nothing to animate.
(The Story will be modified depending on the campaign and such of course)
So with all that done I been trying to think of what kind of feats and such would help such a creature survive a world that would otherwise want him destroyed. To my knowledge You can just use the Simple Template . Whichever version I pick, the CR would be +1 so it's not like a heavy loss considering what he'd get.
Skill Focus: An obvious choice would be for Stealth as this idea would use a Vigilante's Stalker style but maybe for a Knowledge Arcane or Nobility to know thy enemy?
Civilized Ghoul: A good choice to help disguise himself as a human. The +10 to Disguise Plus a Vigilante's Guise of Life would allow him to effectively have +28 (30 -2 because of his disguising as another race)on Disguise checks for his living persona and offer a small bonus to resist channeling.
Iron Will: The boost to will saves is nice, but if I grabbed this, it'd be more for flavor in helping justify his restraint on feeding.
His main stat focuses would be for CHA, STR, and DEX in that order. As a Ghoul he'd have 3 Natural Attacks that can apply a Paralysis effect on his victim, making them easier to eliminate/capture as the DC would be 10 + half his HD + CHA mod. CHA helps his HP count, bonuses for his social skills, and of course his paralyzing ability. DEX vs STR seems like a tough call as obviously a stealthy character needs a good DEX, but with his main attack being natural attacks, a high STR would make sense too, I can't perfect every stat obviously.
Most noteworthy skills: Perform, Bluff, Acrobatics, Stealth, Perception, and Intimidation will be his most noteworthy skills as the first 3 were his focus in life, while the last 3 will be what he adopts into his undeath. at a stable 10 INT, he'd have 6 skill points.
Combat style: For the most part he'd be a Flanker for open fights, trying to disable/kill enemies efficiently with his claws and bite attacks. But his preferred method would be the one to initiate the combat by ambushing the target. Using the Vigilante's specialization of Intimidation in higher levels to sink terror into his enemies. Imagine bad guys just relaxing, nothing is out of the ordinary, thinking they're safe. Little do they know that from the shadows a hideous clown's face emerges from the shadows and attacks them. While impractical gameplay wise, I might make him dedicate a turn to taunt the enemies with his clownish antics. Like appearing to be laughing like a madman but there's no sound, maybe the DM would allow an intimidation roll for the disturbing nature.
Archetypes: If the DM was set on enforcing the evil alignment the build would probably work best with the Vigilantes Serial Killer. Probably having a LN/LE Alignment set up for his social/vigilante personas. Probably a strange alignment for a fool, but he's a fool with rules and a code he uses to help justify and restrain his darker aspects, and make sure NOT to create spawn unless he's doing the Serial Killer route, embracing the monster within. The Teisatsu might be better in terms of abilities, but this is a common man/clown turned monster. Not some secretive shinobi.
Weapons: I don't think he will need any melee weapons due to his claws/bite but to help fit his clown theme, throwing knives or some type of grenades might be ideal.
Do you guys have any advice what other stuff could help improve such a character? Tyvm in advance.
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If you go Skill Focus (Disguise) to Eldritch Heritage (Shapechanger bloodline)- you can increase the damage die of your claws.
Have you talked to your GM about maybe combining the Experimenter/Mutated Defender archetypes?
RP it as the Mutagen awakens the tainted ghoul blood, but with this horrific shift comes unpleasant capabilities.
For S&G's, have you seen the Fortune-Spurned template?
