My character in Skull and Shackles died. Mainly due to the party doing something reckless (in my opinion). They started a fight and killed the local lord at a party we were invited to. They started this fight with my character standing right by fighter types on the lord's side. So, in the combat, my squishy character was attacked and also not helped by the party (across the room killing the lord) and died quickly (in three rounds).
She was a seasinger bard and really did a lot to buff the party, spread our infamy, and acted as the party face. The other players just seem to be more interested in chaos and combat rather than role play or social interactions.
Our party consists of a Brawler, Monk, Inquisitor (who doesn't really heal although I think he can), and an Alchemist. The other players are really, really good at min/maxing while I am more of an RP, build character story kind of player. I spent days building a backstory, motivations, and goals for my, now dead, character.
The GM has to adjust our encounters for these min/maxed characters too. That stinks for me since I am not a min/maxer. I think that's part of the reason my character died in just three rounds of combat. I need to make something that can survive better.
I am building a storm druid, level 8. I don't really want to min/max too much because I want a character that is interesting. But I really need to have a character that can dish out damage, not rely on the party for help, and the party needs someone who can heal and such.
My character concept is a somewhat carefree druid who is moody like the weather. I even considered tying her personality to the weather (in good weather she's happy go lucky and pleasant but during storms she's angry and mean). She has no real aspirations or goals (that backfired on me with my other character, the party is too chaotic). She just likes to travel around like the wind. She also likes to spend time in wild shape, not human shape--especially birds (so she can cast spells and attacks from above).
But what I really need help with are the raw numbers, feats, stats, that sort of thing. I could use some guidance to make sure I am not making any fatal errors. Here is what I have so far (we use a 20 point buy and skill progression):
Str: 10
Dex: 18
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 19
Chr: 12
HP: 67
Feats:
Improved Initiative
Elemental Spell: Electricity
Natural Spell
Powerful Shape
Wild Speech
Traits:
Magical lineage: call lighting
Reactionary
I am not going to go into skills but I have a lot of points on knowledge nature, survival, perception, and diplomacy (someone has to do it and most of my friends use charisma as a dump stat).
I am not sure what gear to get at this point. I am thinking about some kind of wildshape armor. While I like the idea of casting spells from above, maybe I can do something to make myself a good melee fighter in wild shape?
I can tweak this character a little but not too much. The GM let me bring her in mid adventure (since my other one died within the first 30 minutes of our latest game). But he's okay with me tweaking things afterwards since it was a rush job to get me back in the game. I just have to be careful that the changes aren't too major. I didn't even have any gear when I played. I am stuck with druid and probably the feat powerful shape too because I specifically used it to save some of the party from an angry mob and guards. But I think I can change other things like stats, skills, and other feats (and like I said, I need to add gear).
Thanks for any help!
With magical lineage I'd expect a metamagic feat. Tumultuous spell might fit, or blissful spell could throw debuffs out there, etc.
High dex/low str and wild shape requires some specific builds to make work. You don't have such a build. I suggest raising your str and lowering dex.
A druid can throw long range spells and battlefield control naturally, but melee takes a bit of focus for them to do well. You want a damage bonus feat (piranha strike, power attack, some others which have prereqs you'll have a hard time meeting here), and some thought about how you'll survive well - this could be as simple as a wand of mage armor and UMD/a friend who can use it, but there are fancier options.
Beastspeak is a spell which could save you a feat.
I like the idea of taking this the exact opposite direction from melee combat...
Somgbird of doom, or whatever it is called.
Focus on casting exclusively, and Wild Shaping into Diminutive birds...
At level 9 you can take Wind as your 2nd Domain, and be a hummingbird that can Wind Blast/Bull Rush people off of ships. At level 13, your hummingbird is no longer adversely affected by wind, so you can't even get blown away in a hurricane... as a hummingbird.
I like the idea of taking this the exact opposite direction from melee combat...
Somgbird of doom, or whatever it is called.
Focus on casting exclusively, and Wild Shaping into Diminutive birds...
The Songbird of Doom is a melee build which specialises in getting very small, getting dex bonuses/dex to damage and pecking your enemies to death with extremely accurate jabs to sensitive bits. It's not about spellcasting. A druid isn't the best for it, but the long duration of wildshape makes it plausible.
The benefits of being really small as a spellcaster are things like sniping from stealth or getting attack bonuses to ensure that ranged touch spells always land. There are some nice druid ranged touch spells. Spit venom, produce/pale flame, nauseating dart, heatstroke have their points...but then they stop and there isn't anything decent at higher levels. Trying to wind blast people off ships with a CMB=Wis+CL effect is going to hit the problems with CMD scaling faster than AC by 9th level. This is not a good late level plan.
Thanks for the tips.
Is there a reason to have a metamagic feat with magical lineage? I just don't see the connection (but then again I tend to be short sighted about these things which is why I am asking for a little guidance). I see what you mean about stats if I was going to fight in wildshape as melee. I was thinking more of staying out of the way, dodging any shots fired towards me in the sky. But maybe that's too unbalanced.
If there is a good way to not be melee, I am fine with that. Like I said, I would prefer to fly in the air, out of melee range and cast spells (or possibly pull people out of harms way like I did when my new character mt the party).
Magical lineage reduces the cost of metamagic on a spell. That's all it does. If you have no metamagic feats it does nothing.
If you're basically a caster druid using wildshape only for flight then those stats are fine. Using unmetamagiced call lightning is safe but largely ineffective - a 3d6 damage effect is less than you should be doing each round at 8th level. There are better spells, either battlefield control which impedes the enemy, or spells like explosion of rot (8d6, just once) or pale flame (2d6+8 twice per round) for damage at this level.
Spontaneous spellcasting from the air or weather domains/subdomains is useful for blocking line of sight with mist or similar but not otherwise important.
You can certainly be useful just with spells as a druid, if you prepare decent spells. A high dex melee druid instead is doable but you'd want to devote a few feats to it and an amulet of mighty fists (agile).
Joining in, cause I love storm Druid spell caster.
Side note, personally I made the fault of going summoning build, you don’t get them spontaneously and 1 round casting is harsh, so personally I did say preparing 1-2 spells as flank buddies/meat shields, would be enough, and don’t put to much into it.
Healing is a little hard as Druid, your cure spells fall behind and you only get lesser restoration(?), further most of the time you have to lose your ongoing wild shape, to use wands.
ask gm if air/water elementals can manipulate wands/bags, if so, put your cure light wand stuffed efficient quiver down, wild shape, pick it op, ta-da
I would suggest looking at setting int or cha to 13
spell focus (eco), tattoo (eco) spell specialisation (put it in flame strike(or make the feat line to go explosion of rot, because wow, flame strike without flames?)
buy yourself a robe of blazing, suddenly +4caster level (12d6 damage), (if elemental form can manipulate rods, get yourself a empowered rod which ain’t cheap at this level :(
Further going greater spell specialisation will let you spontaneously cast flame strike, so prepare all your fancy utility spells, and blast as you need it
Skill focus (whatever knowledge you fancy), Eldritch heritage (arcana) pick op a familiar to deliver touch spells (as I read it familiars deliver is not bound to sorcer/wizard spells)
Further consider improved familiar (your level for familiar is set back in levels so this is a late feat) air elemental which have fly-by attack and fly speed 100, spring attack buff delivery.
Improved initiative can be useful for your mook setback/lockdown spells, like sleet storm/fog could/late spell wall of thorns.
And think about taking stealth and find a trait to make it a class skill(?), since diminutive beast shape efficiently gives you +15 from size and dexterity.
Elemental spell if you ask me should be taken as acid or cold because your main blasties is fire/lightning, and find sim nifty metamagic for call lightning if you want to use it, cause I believe it’s a trap...
Skulls and shackle I guess there’s still a few naval fights left (never tried the campaign), when you gain 5th level consider enslave Willy(or anything bigger) with awaken spell, then use animal growth on it, when you need to tilt an enemy ship.
Or save money to turn your ship into Noah’s Ark?
Magical lineage reduces the cost of metamagic on a spell. That's all it does. If you have no metamagic feats it does nothing.
If you're basically a caster druid using wildshape only for flight then those stats are fine. Using unmetamagiced call lightning is safe but largely ineffective - a 3d6 damage effect is less than you should be doing each round at 8th level. There are better spells, either battlefield control which impedes the enemy, or spells like explosion of rot (8d6, just once) or pale flame (2d6+8 twice per round) for damage at this level.
Spontaneous spellcasting from the air or weather domains/subdomains is useful for blocking line of sight with mist or similar but not otherwise important.
You can certainly be useful just with spells as a druid, if you prepare decent spells. A high dex melee druid instead is doable but you'd want to devote a few feats to it and an amulet of mighty fists (agile).
I have elemental spell (which makes a spell one level higher) but I can see I am not using it correctly. I should make elemental spell acid, or cold, or something if I am going to use it with call lighting.
I am going to look into your suggestion for feats as well.
Yeah, I really don't want to get into melee if I don't have to. Like I said, the other characters are so min/maxed that the GM has to do the same to enemies to make things a challenge for our monk and brawler. My poor bard was turned into mince meat in just three rounds. I literally had time to first round try to make a diplomacy roll to diffuse things, round after that cast haste and inspire, and I was dead before my next action which was going to be take a step back and vanish (spell). I went from 51 to -11 hp in that time.
I liked the idea of being able to fly in the air and cast in diminutive bird form (I know people will shoot at me) but I thought I might like to also be able to do things in melee too just in case there is a repeat of what happened to my bard. I will look into your suggestions on that too.
Funny thing, my bard was super social (which is why she was in the middle of the party, surrounded by people in the first place). My druid isn't fond of people or settlements. She avoids crowds and probably won't go to any pirate parties. Maybe I've been scarred by my bard's death. haha
Joining in, cause I love storm Druid spell caster.
Side note, personally I made the fault of going summoning build, you don’t get them spontaneously and 1 round casting is harsh, so personally I did say preparing 1-2 spells as flank buddies/meat shields, would be enough, and don’t put to much into it.Healing is a little hard as Druid, your cure spells fall behind and you only get lesser restoration(?), further most of the time you have to lose your ongoing wild shape, to use wands.
** spoiler omitted **I would suggest looking at setting int or cha to 13
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **Improved initiative can be useful for your mook setback/lockdown spells, like sleet storm/fog could/late spell wall of thorns.
And think about taking stealth and find a trait to make it a class skill(?), since diminutive beast shape efficiently gives you +15 from size and dexterity.
Elemental spell if you...
Thanks for the tips. I will ask my GM about the elemental forms. My guess is he will say no, but it never hurts to ask. The tip on taking stealth is a good one too. We really don't have a stealthy character in our party, I bet I will fill that role.
We do have a lot of sea battles which is part of the reason I thought a storm druid would be really useful.
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If the other players left you out to dry after they put you in harm's way, they either don't get what you're looking for in this game or don't care.
I'd find out which. This could be an issue regardless of what sort of character you build. If your table just isn't into the game as a whole and would prefer to ignore large chunks of it, you may want to ask for a compromise or consider finding another table.
As for the character, I say it's a great idea. Stay small, out of reach and out of the way. Focus on battlefield control, survival and troubleshooting. I wouldn't worry about blasting or raw damage of any kind.
All the fog spells, summons and anything that can start a ship on fire seem like they'd be pretty useful. Stuff with a long range too, since there's probably going to be plenty of room on the map upwards.
Personality-wise, I think you could focus on the calm/energetic angle instead of the happy/mad one. Be all peaceful and serene when the sky is clear, then laughing like a loon as the storm closes in around you, etc. That way you don't feel locked into specific actions, just specifics approaches.
It's a cool idea. Iconic but rich. I'm sorry you've had to deal with what you've had to deal with so far. Hope it gets better.
Take Natural Spell at lvl 5, and at level 8 you can Wild Shape into a diminutive-sized Hummingbird (about 1/8th-1/6th of 1lb.) and get +12 size bonus to Stealth. Take Skill Focus: Stealth (at lvl 1) & Hellcat Stealth (at lvl 7). Now you can stealth while being actively viewed as a Move Action after casting a spell as a Standard Action. Take the Child of the Moon Trait (+1 to +4 Stealth depending on the Moon Cycle). Pick up Ring of the Chameleon +10 Competence to Stealth and figure out a way to get Greater Invis (probably a Wand would be best), and you could be consistently rocking Stealth checks in the 50-60 range even with the -10 penalty for being actively viewed at level 8, and stealth checks in the 60-80 range at level 10+. Remember to add a +1/10DC for every 1ft you are from the enemy for their Perc DC to see you. If your enemy cannot pass the Perc check, they cannot target you with arrows/spells or the inevitable spell GM's Middle Finger.
So, become a hummingbird, use a Standard Action to cast spells and rain hell upon the battlefield from max range, use Move Action to Stealth while actively viewed, rinse, lather, repeat, profit. If the spell GM's Middle Finger does hit you due to Readied Action shenanigans, fly away and heal :)
Reach Spell, Quickened Spell, Dreamed Secrets, and Spell Perfection synergize nicely with a build like this too.
If the other players left you out to dry after they put you in harm's way, they either don't get what you're looking for in this game or don't care.
I'd find out which. This could be an issue regardless of what sort of character you build. If your table just isn't into the game as a whole and would prefer to ignore large chunks of it, you may want to ask for a compromise or consider finding another table.As for the character, I say it's a great idea. Stay small, out of reach and out of the way. Focus on battlefield control, survival and troubleshooting. I wouldn't worry about blasting or raw damage of any kind.
All the fog spells, summons and anything that can start a ship on fire seem like they'd be pretty useful. Stuff with a long range too, since there's probably going to be plenty of room on the map upwards.
Personality-wise, I think you could focus on the calm/energetic angle instead of the happy/mad one. Be all peaceful and serene when the sky is clear, then laughing like a loon as the storm closes in around you, etc. That way you don't feel locked into specific actions, just specifics approaches.
It's a cool idea. Iconic but rich. I'm sorry you've had to deal with what you've had to deal with so far. Hope it gets better.
I've played with these same guys for years now and I think it's just this pirate campaign or something. They are taking an every man for himself kind of attitude (being cut throat pirates and all). Although I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit miffed that I pointed out I was almost dead and needed help (meta gaming) and still no one tried to help me.
I built a team player kind of character and it's just not working with a bunch of pirates. They will miss her bonuses from inspire, haste, and spells like good hope. I think, with a magical horn I had, I was up to buffing the party +6 to attacks, +5 to damage, +1 to AC, +2 to fort and will saves, +3 to reflex saves, and one extra attack plus improved movement speed. I don't think they realized how much of the damage they were doing and saves they were making was really my character.
Back to the druid,I did think about blasting, but maybe I will put that idea aside and focus more on the stealth, battlefield control, and not getting hit. And I like your RP idea with the weather better than mine. It will be fun to play (especially in stormy weather).
Take Natural Spell at lvl 5, and at level 8 you can Wild Shape into a diminutive-sized Hummingbird (about 1/8th-1/6th of 1lb.) and get +12 size bonus to Stealth. Take Skill Focus: Stealth (at lvl 1) & Hellcat Stealth (at lvl 7). Now you can stealth while being actively viewed as a Move Action after casting a spell as a Standard Action. Take the Child of the Moon Trait (+1 to +4 Stealth depending on the Moon Cycle). Pick up Ring of the Chameleon +10 Competence to Stealth and figure out a way to get Greater Invis (probably a Wand would be best), and you could be consistently rocking Stealth checks in the 50-60 range even with the -10 penalty for being actively viewed at level 8, and stealth checks in the 60-80 range at level 10+. Remember to add a +1/10DC for every 1ft you are from the enemy for their Perc DC to see you. If your enemy cannot pass the Perc check, they cannot target you with arrows/spells or the inevitable spell GM's Middle Finger.
So, become a hummingbird, use a Standard Action to cast spells and rain hell upon the battlefield from max range, use Move Action to Stealth while actively viewed, rinse, lather, repeat, profit. If the spell GM's Middle Finger does hit you due to Readied Action shenanigans, fly away and heal :)
Reach Spell, Quickened Spell, Dreamed Secrets, and Spell Perfection synergize nicely with a build like this too.
I really like this idea... a lot.
I really like this idea... a lot.Take Natural Spell at lvl 5, and at level 8 you can Wild Shape into a diminutive-sized Hummingbird (about 1/8th-1/6th of 1lb.) and get +12 size bonus to Stealth. Take Skill Focus: Stealth (at lvl 1) & Hellcat Stealth (at lvl 7). Now you can stealth while being actively viewed as a Move Action after casting a spell as a Standard Action. Take the Child of the Moon Trait (+1 to +4 Stealth depending on the Moon Cycle). Pick up Ring of the Chameleon +10 Competence to Stealth and figure out a way to get Greater Invis (probably a Wand would be best), and you could be consistently rocking Stealth checks in the 50-60 range even with the -10 penalty for being actively viewed at level 8, and stealth checks in the 60-80 range at level 10+. Remember to add a +1/10DC for every 1ft you are from the enemy for their Perc DC to see you. If your enemy cannot pass the Perc check, they cannot target you with arrows/spells or the inevitable spell GM's Middle Finger.
So, become a hummingbird, use a Standard Action to cast spells and rain hell upon the battlefield from max range, use Move Action to Stealth while actively viewed, rinse, lather, repeat, profit. If the spell GM's Middle Finger does hit you due to Readied Action shenanigans, fly away and heal :)
Reach Spell, Quickened Spell, Dreamed Secrets, and Spell Perfection synergize nicely with a build like this too.
If you're allowed to go as Drow, Drow Druid FCB is +1/2 Stealth while Wild Shaped :P
Picking up Dreamed Secrets at lvl 13 allows you to add 2 Wizard spells from one spell lvl lower than you can cast to your spells known for 24 hours, and you can change these 2 Wiz spells known out every day. Sooo.... Contingency + "Cast DDoor if reduced below half HP" = get out of jail card that lasts for 1day/lvl. And the next day you can choose Disintegrate and Flesh to Stone :P And this is spells KNOWN, not spells per day; so you could fill your whole daily allotment of lvl 6 choices with Disintegrates if you wanted. Once you can cast lvl 8 druid spells at lvl 15, you can start choosing lvl 7 wiz spells, so Limited Wish, Spell Turning, Greater Teleport, Form of the Dragon II, Mass Fly/Invisibility, Lol, the possibilities are endless.
Well, it looks like all the stealthy stuff isn't going to work. We aren't using the books most of those feats and traits are in. And there is no one in the party that can use the wand of greater invisibly.
But I can still try to make myself as stealthy as possible. I will keep working on the build. We don't play again for a couple of weeks.
I am going to focus on casting and staying far out of battle. And, I am playing this character with a personality that she will leave a fight if the party hangs her out to dry... no more party face that gets the stuffing beat out of her since she negotiated safe passage into a party only to have her comrades break their word. This new character is going to be standoffish in social situations (introverted) and a little more selfish when it comes to self preservation. that should keep this new character alive. The funny part is going to be they all use charisma as a dump score when min/maxing. Should be entertaining.
In fact, to add insult to injury, not only is my old character dead, but my new character is just a ship's rigger. They didn't give me an officer position (I used magic to help rescue them from the angry town mob with my new character and asked to be the Ship's Wizard or Boatswain). But they made me a rigger... basically an NPC class. Their logic is the party doesn't know the new character that well, that didn't stop them from making another player's new character an officer right away, soon after one of his characters died and he rolled a new one.
I hope they understand that's also going to mean in naval combat, I am in the sails like an NPC, not casting my druid spells. And if the captain orders me to use spells, I will say, "Sounds like you need a Ship's Wizard... too bad you turned me down unless you want to promote me now." It will make for an awkward RP situation, but they deserve it.
I may still be a little miffed that the party let me die. haha
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Ok, what books are you allowed / disallowed?
Ok, what books are you allowed / disallowed?
The GM wasn't 100% clear, way back, but he helped me set up Hero Lab on my computer and showed me which books to load/which books he uses. If I don't see it in Hero Lab, it's pretty much off the list since he doesn't have it. Some of the feats you listed weren't in Hero Lab although I found them online.
In the email when he gave us info to build characters, he told us this: Most basic Paizo. Mythic Adventures, Occult, and Horror are strictly forbidden. Pirates handbook, Weapon Master's Handbook, and Armor Master's Handbook encouraged. If I have any questions, ask him.
I am now focusing on being very hard to hit and casting from afar (summon nature's allies, using other spells, and staying way up in the air as bird, only to come into battle when needed). The player who plays the party alchemist said he could make me as many invisibility potions as I want (I actually think he feels bad about how the party left my old character hanging out to dry).
I am considering, instead of the stealthy feats, getting spell focus so I can get augment summoning.
Cheliax <---- Ask your DM if you can use this book, it's not Mythic, Occult, or Horror, it's from the Council of Thieves AP
Just for future reference... Fey Spell Lore puts Invisibility on the Druid spell list. So does Shade of the Uskwood. Neither gives Greater Inisibility, though.
I am going to have to shelve the idea of the super hidden druid. After talking to the GM and reviewing the traits and feats, it's just not going to fly, sorry.
It's also too much of a change. My old character died 10 minutes into our last gaming session, so the GM let me quickly build a a druid so I could play. But he did give me permission to do minor tweaks later.
So I went back to the beginning and tried to think things over again.
My goals:
- Fun character to play RP-wise, but more viable in battle than my last character who was all buffing and social skills and went down like a sack of potatoes when she got into melee.
- A spell casting, storm druid who stays away from battle to stay alive.
Things to consider:
- We are out to sea, but not all the time. It's a pirate campaign. Still, lots of open water and open skies.
- Magic items seem really, really rare. So I am inclined to have "must haves" now. I doubt I will ever be able to buy them.
- The other players tend to min/max. That's not my style, I am more of a build an interesting character type, but the GM has to compensate with min/maxed enemies so I have to consider it or else this character will die too.
Things I am questioning:
- How good is summoning Nature's ally for a storm druid anyway? Is it worth maybe taking the feats Spell Focus: Conjuration and Augment Summoning? Especially considering min/maxed enemies?
- Should I pick up an item creation feat considering how hard it is to find items? We have an alchemist who crafts potions. Maybe I should pick up wands or scrolls? Can't do this if I go with the summoning feats above.
- Maybe for my missing feat I should consider dodge for more bonuses to my AC.
Going back and tweaking things to be a bit harder to hit and to make the most out of my spell casting, I came up with this (let me know what you think or if you have suggestions):
Level 8 Human (Mwangi) druid, Storm Druid archtype.
Str: 10
Dex: 18
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 19
Chr: 12
HP: 67
AC: 28 (with armor, spells, wildshape, barkskin)
Int: +10
Feats:
Improved Initiative
Elemental Spell: Acid
Natural Spell
Spell Focus: Evocation
(And I need another feat and I am thinking about this, see above summoning vs item creation)
Traits:
Magical lineage: call lighting (could use elemental spell: acid feat on this)
Reactionary
Items (we only get 16,500 starting gold at level 8 because we use Automatic Bonus Progression):
Magic:
Ring of eloquence
Metamagic rod, extend (lesser)
Wild lameliar armor
Potion of invisibility
Non-magic:
short spear
sling
scimitar
With the armor and in diminutive form with barkskin, I am fairly hard to hit. I think my AC is a 26 or 28. I can also maybe use an air elemental form too. I can stay medium size and have a 28 AC.
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First, I have to clarify: "min/maxed" refers to the idea that you've minimized your effectiveness outside of your focus in order to maximize your effectiveness within it. "Optimized" characters are built to be very effective within their focus, of course, but leaving gaping holes in your capabilities is usually avoided. Look at, say, a vivisectionist alchemist. They might dish out a ton of damage, but they also have a lot of skills and maybe some super-utility spells to make them useful outside of combat as well. Add in some save-boosting stuff to keep them from being too vulnerable or whatever as needed. They're probably fairly optimized, but not min/maxed.
So with all that in mind...do you mean optimized? Because min/maxed enemies would be super easy to deal with; identity their weakness and exploit it.
As for your questions: Summon Nature's Ally is indeed amazing. Assuming you have the space to summon, you can deal damage to keep pace with blaster-types and fighter-types in combat, as well as providing target saturation, battlefield control and mobility options. You can use them to scout, trigger traps, and summon whatever specific monster you need for your specific need (a fire elemental to set ships ablaze, for example).
Since you give up spontaneously casting summon spells, I don't think a two-feat investment is really worth it, but it's definitely worth having a few prepared. I mean, who's got time to shoot arrows at a swallow when there's a troop of dire baboons eating everyone's faces?
I'm also not sold on the spell focus and the metamagic, necessarily. Your strongest spells are those that control the flow of battle and keep you safe, not those that chip away at hp. Leave the raw damage to your motley crew, I say.
...isn't there a spell that lets a bunch of people see through fog and stuff? I mean. That plus all the fog spells is just a straight win, if there isn't high wind or blindsight in play on the other side.
And what about ways to protect yourself from arrows/spells at a great distance? Any protection from arrows/windwall-type options? I can't recall what this archetype has available.
You lose being able to spontaneously cast Summon Nature's Ally as a Storm Druid, so are you just going to prepare these and then summon? Unless you plan on loading up a bunch of SNA spells every day, getting Augment Summoning probably isn't worth it. You'll get more miles out of picking 3 MM feats like Empower, Heighten, Maximize, Quicken, and/or Reach, and then Dreamed Secrets at 13 and getting Spell Perfection for your favorite Lightning spell at 15.
First, I have to clarify: "min/maxed" refers to the idea that you've minimized your effectiveness outside of your focus in order to maximize your effectiveness within it. "Optimized" characters are built to be very effective within their focus, of course, but leaving gaping holes in your capabilities is usually avoided. Look at, say, a vivisectionist alchemist. They might dish out a ton of damage, but they also have a lot of skills and maybe some super-utility spells to make them useful outside of combat as well. Add in some save-boosting stuff to keep them from being too vulnerable or whatever as needed. They're probably fairly optimized, but not min/maxed.
So with all that in mind...do you mean optimized? Because min/maxed enemies would be super easy to deal with; identity their weakness and exploit it.
As for your questions: Summon Nature's Ally is indeed amazing. Assuming you have the space to summon, you can deal damage to keep pace with blaster-types and fighter-types in combat, as well as providing target saturation, battlefield control and mobility options. You can use them to scout, trigger traps, and summon whatever specific monster you need for your specific need (a fire elemental to set ships ablaze, for example).
Since you give up spontaneously casting summon spells, I don't think a two-feat investment is really worth it, but it's definitely worth having a few prepared. I mean, who's got time to shoot arrows at a swallow when there's a troop of dire baboons eating everyone's faces?I'm also not sold on the spell focus and the metamagic, necessarily. Your strongest spells are those that control the flow of battle and keep you safe, not those that chip away at hp. Leave the raw damage to your motley crew, I say.
...isn't there a spell that lets a bunch of people see through fog and stuff? I mean. That plus all the fog spells is just a straight win, if there isn't high wind or blindsight in play on the other side.And what about ways to protect yourself from arrows/spells at a great...
I might be using the wrong term then. I am still pretty green at a lot of Pathfinder. I started playing five years ago, but this druid I am building is only my fourth character that I am building. The guys I play with have been playing these kinds of games for 20-30 years.
All I know is they build characters that are outstanding in battle (seem to dish out a lot of damage and never get hit or if they do get hit, can absorb it all somehow), but usually not so great out of battle/in RP situations. They don't seem to have many out of combat skills either. This is how I seem to end up always being the party face for RP situations and often, the only one role playing.
In turn, what we fight seems to dish out a lot of damage. I routinely see enemies doing damage in excess of how many HP I have in a round. And this was the same in our last campaign too. At that time I blamed picking a poor class, a rouge. I really thought I built my bard well, but I was wrong.
I just don't know how people do that which is why I am asking for help with this character. It's obviously a knowledge thing about this game I don't have if I am the only one who is always weak. I think it's party of how I approach making a character too.
Thanks for the feat tips. I will rethink things again. Maybe I should get craft feats? Maybe that and some things to help keep out of harms way like Dodge and such. I need to look at the spells more closely. Maybe that's my next step, actually read all the spells on the list and figure out what they do. I only skimmed them at this point.
What about the items I've picked? I only get once chance at that and, like I said, it's rare to find magic items in our campaign. So if there are any should haves, I need to pick them now.
It's funny, I picked storm druid on a whim. I just like the idea of having a character on the ship that could control the weather and have a personality tied to the weather. Now I am starting to think I picked a class too complicated for me. But at least I have a couple of weeks to figure this all out.