Playing through the Ruins of Azlant AP. Please no spoilers!
Replacing my 4th level PC. Group has slayer, unchained rogue, gunslinger, sorcerer, and evocation wizard. The slayer, rogue, and especially gunslinger consistently provide medium to high damage output. The sorcerer and wizard should eventually really amp up the DPR. Don't really have anyone to stand and take damage. Also have little to no healing, condition removal, or divine spell casting.
In game, it is fairly reasonable that the tribe of Monkey Goblins we befriended could decide to send someone. So it fits the campaign well.
Most of the group is pretty new to PF and building characters. So I have to be careful to not optimize beyond their ability to keep up. So rather than a poor build, I'm aiming to optimize a non-optimal concept. Monkey Goblins are not optimal for either tank or divine casters.
So I'm thinking a fairly durable druid or warpriest. Warpriest is more durable especially with the self healing. Druid is a better caster and the eventual wildshape will certainly help with any possible underwater or airborne stuff that comes up.
I don't have as much experience with tanks or divine casters. So what do you think? Which would you chose and how would you build it?
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Might not be to your taste, but you could play a Warpriest of Calistria (assuming that Monkey Goblins have heard of Calistria). You could even wear a flowerpot on your head. :)
... You could even wear a flowerpot on your head. :)
I remember when Devo came out with that video. Everybody that saw that said, "What the heck is that on their heads?!?"
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Can a Monkey Goblin qualify for the "Roll With It" Goblin feat?
I was also looking at that. I will check with my GM, but I'm pretty sure he will say yes.
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It seems to me that it hardly matters what your race is if you are going to be a Warpriest/Druidzilla! ...
It only matters in that it seems most 'story appropriate continuity' for the local tribe to send in someone to watch what the outlanders are doing. As opposed to an Oread suddenly showing up on an unknown island in the middle of nowhere.
Well I've been playing around with builds.
I can up with a warpriest build that seems very monkey-goblin-ish to me. It will even perform halfway decent as a a tank with the self-healing. However, none of the blessings or other abilities will help with all of the expected in/under water encounters and investigations.
Spells are only Air Bubble at minutes per level until I can get water breathing at level 7.
Druid can still be pretty monkey-goblin-ish. Primitive tribes in the jungle on a forgotten island after all. Druid can definitely work into that. The aquatic, shark, and kraken caller all give great water capabilities. Heck even the base druid can wildshape into something that swims and breathes in the water for hours. Any of those archetypes seem quite appropriate for a tribe living on a small island in a large stormy ocean. Kraken caller especially is quite good for a goblin witchdoctor. Thought it is specific to Besmara who isn't in the goblin pantheon. I could discuss with the GM.
However, I can't get the druid builds at all tanky. Until I can afford/craft dragonscale or ironwood armor, I'm stuck with hide. Armor is gone anyway if I wildshape. Only d8 for hit dice and few of the class abilities are really aimed at melee combat let alone enduring punishment.
So I'm kinda torn. As expected, warpriest will be a much better melee tank combatant. Druid will have much more of the capabilities that the AP seems to be leaning toward needing.
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If Occult classes are OK, you could make a water kineticist — a monkey goblin has good stats for that. If you take kinetic blade, and later kinetic whip, you can be decent in melee. Your biggest weakness would be your will save — you'd have to be prepared to spend some traits/feats/wild talents to improve that.
You would be good at the underwater stuff. Kineticists aren't very gear dependent, which is an advantage in Ruins of Azlant.
Yes, I think occult classes are acceptable.
But aren't kineticist kinda fragile glass cannons? I haven't built one, but that is the impression I have gotten from what people say.
Depends how much burn they've taken. They're a d8 class with Con as one of their two primary stats. With no burn that makes them solid, especially a hydrokineticist who can heal when necessary. With burn maxed they're glass cannons for sure.
A druid is probably effectively tougher as some wild shaped creature with natural armor backed up by barkskin than they are in goblin form. Wild shape (and a buff or two) is their combat class feature.
Replacing my 4th level PC. Group has slayer, unchained rogue, gunslinger, sorcerer, and evocation wizard. The slayer, rogue, and especially gunslinger consistently provide medium to high damage output. The sorcerer and wizard should eventually really amp up the DPR. Don't really have anyone to stand and take damage.Without a dedicated tank in the party, the casters should be summoning meatwalls to soak inbound.
This party looks like it has more than sufficient offense, but is reaching the point where attrition concerns are beginning to occur to the new players.Also have little to no healing, condition removal, or divine spell casting. In game, it is fairly reasonable that the tribe of Monkey Goblins we befriended could decide to send someone. So it fits the campaign well.
Most of the group is pretty new to PF and building characters. So I have to be careful to not optimize beyond their ability to keep up. So rather than a poor build, I'm aiming to optimize a non-optimal concept.
Monkey Goblins are not optimal for either tank or divine casters.Even with the wisdom penalty, you can make an excellent cleric -- just not one who drops a lot of saving throw magic. Even with a starting wisdom of 13, you're capable of casting 3rd-level divine spells, and you should have a headband long before you need to cast 4th-levels.
So I'm thinking a fairly durable druid or warpriest. Warpriest is more durable especially with the self healing. Druid is a better caster and the eventual wildshape will certainly help with any possible underwater or airborne stuff that comes up.(...)
"...Monkey goblins lead a savage lifestyle, and many take levels in the barbarian class, though warriors and fighters are also common among the race...."
Here is your build:
STR- 8
DEX++ 19
CON: 12 (Monkey Goblin, 20pt array: 15,15,12,12,12,10)
INT: 12
WIS- 13
CHA- 10
alignment: neutral
traits: Balloon Headed, Magical Knack(Cleric)
01 Fighter1 [Dragoon:Mounted Combat, Skill Focus(Ride)], Weapon Finesse
02 Cleric1 [domains: Animal(Feather), Plant(Leshy)]
03 Cleric2 FEATg (retrained to Indomitable Mount at 5th if GM loves SoS)
04 Cleric3 DEX>20
05 Cleric4 [Animal Companion], Boon Companion
Concept: You're a jungle canopy-dwelling goblin who revers the creatures of the forest and the sky. Small and weak, you acquire a powerful protector (a roc or an ape seem appropriate) who permits you to ride it.
Game mechanics: You're a 95% full-power Tier-1 cleric with a fat dollop of druid flavor including strong sidekicks and spontaneous critter-summoning as well as spontaneous healing.
06 Cleric5
07 Cleric6 Craft Wondrous Item (if no one else has it)
08 Cleric7 WIS>14 ...etc.
I have been playing with some builds and speaking with the GM about this.
I am leaning toward 1 level of barbarian and 4 levels of druid.
We're using 25 point buy, so I can get the scores to Str 12, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 5.
For feats I am initially looking at toughness, roll with it, and exotic weapon prof great terbutje. I know the dogslicer and horse chopper are the iconic goblin weapons. However, these folks have been on these remote little islands and metal is known to be scarce. So since these can be made with wood and shark teeth, it seems very appropriate.
Hide armor made from eel skin for the same reasons. Does a wooden shield seem right for an arboreal tribe? Not sure. The klar is primitive seeming. However it is a light shield and I wasn't going for two-weapon fighting. Hmm...
Probably a few javelins for ranged use.
With the high con and dex, toughness, roll with it, and a barkskin casting; he seems fairly durable. Wild shape into a giant turtle and he will be tough to hit.
1) That weapon build isn't making best use of his high dex for melee weapon combat. The dogslicer is finesse-able, but made of metal, which should be rare on the island. I am considering weapon finesse instead of the exotic weapon proficiency. Maybe a tribal heirloom dogslicer? Possibly an obsidian, bronze, or elysian bronze dogslicer?
2) The Kraken Caller archetype (growing tentacles at need) seems ideal for a coastal goblin witch-doctor. It is specific to Besmara, who is not in the Goblin pantheon and seems unlikely to be known to isolated tribes like this. Zogmugot is the Goblin goddess of water, oceans, and flotsam. GM agreed he would let the Kraken Caller work with Zogmugot.
3) Considering the Flotsam sub-domain rather than an animal companion. With a group of mostly new players, not sure I want the complication of an animal companion and me taking 2 sets of actions each turn. On the other paw, riding a giant snapping turtle into battle sounds amusing (at least to me). Still deciding.
4) I was actually considering taking the 2 feats to get an octopus familiar, just cause it would fit thematically with the kraken caller. But I don't think so. I think he's just going to carry around a hollowed out gourd with an octopus pet in it that he tells everyone is his familiar. Now what would a monkey-goblin name his octopus?