Looks like I'm finally gonna get a chance to play instead of GM. My orc battle oracle is pretty much built, but I can't decide on a free archetype. The main contenders are (in order) Champion, Sorcerer, and Mauler. We start at level 3 and expect a quick progression. The other party members are:
Chirurgeon alchemist
Archer
Barbarian (though divine sorc is an option)
Some form of rogue or fighter, potentially with eldritch archer
Champion:
-Lay on Hands gives me a great use for my huge focus pool without advancing my curse.
-Retributive Strike can suppress the curse on occasion if I didn't strike on my turn.
-Both it and Lay on Hands are great next to a barbarian.
-Champion Resiliency can be a lot of HP.
-Divine ally can get crit specialization.
-Dedication is a bit of a dead feat since I already have heavy armor.
Sorcerer:
-Dangerous sorcery boosts all spell damage.
-Arcane casting takes some pressure off Divine Access for True Strike and Haste, and let's me prioritize getting Bespell Weapon.
-Let's us utilize any arcane scrolls/wands we find.
Mauler:
-Opens up weapon options, which is nice with found loot.
-Get crit spec eventually.
-Opens up various cool combat feat options. Power Attack is cool with True Strike, for example, and who doesn't like Improved Knockdown.
Currently, the extra resiliency of the champion is really appealing, though the sorcerer feels like it might be the smarter choice in such a caster-lite party. What do y'all think?
Extra credit: I'm not sure what weapon I want to rock. I know a reach weapon is great with Retributive Strike and will save me some actions in my already tight turn economy, but part of me reeaaaaally wants that juicy d12 great axe for weapon surging.
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Dragon sorceror followed by dragon disciple. You don't even need the spellcasting for sorceror to get a bunch of interesting spells and abilities for the battle oracle.
Dragon sorceror followed by dragon disciple. You don't even need the spellcasting for sorceror to get a bunch of interesting spells and abilities for the battle oracle.
Dang, that is juicy as heck. I might not even need the sorcerer dedication in this particular setting. What proficiency would Dragon's Breath be running off of on this?
Dragon sorceror followed by dragon disciple. You don't even need the spellcasting for sorceror to get a bunch of interesting spells and abilities for the battle oracle.Dang, that is juicy as heck. I might not even need the sorcerer dedication in this particular setting. What proficiency would Dragon's Breath be running off of on this?
I remember discussing this not too long ago. Dragon Disciple doesn't really say what type of proficiency to use for the focus spell.
If you skip the Dragon Sorcerer archetype, It really doesn't say. With Dragon Sorcerer it would probably be an arcane tradition focus spell. Other options are innate spell proficiency, or divine spell (since that is what you already cast).
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While Arcane Sorcerer is interesting for more spell options, the Divine Psychopomp one for the Mask is worth mentioning as it's passive damage that stacks fast as you are planning
to go to the frontline and use your divine spell DC anyway.
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Dragon sorceror followed by dragon disciple. You don't even need the spellcasting for sorceror to get a bunch of interesting spells and abilities for the battle oracle.Dang, that is juicy as heck. I might not even need the sorcerer dedication in this particular setting. What proficiency would Dragon's Breath be running off of on this?I remember discussing this not too long ago. Dragon Disciple doesn't really say what type of proficiency to use for the focus spell.
If you skip the Dragon Sorcerer archetype, It really doesn't say. With Dragon Sorcerer it would probably be an arcane tradition focus spell. Other options are innate spell proficiency, or divine spell (since that is what you already cast).
Both of which would be the same here, wouldn't they? Innate spells usually use your own spell proficiency if you have it.
Worth clearing the issue with your DM before you start. If innate it would work best. Isn't anything OP, just a fun combo on Oracles, every type.
If you skip the Dragon Sorcerer archetype, It really doesn't say. With Dragon Sorcerer it would probably be an arcane tradition focus spell. Other options are innate spell proficiency, or divine spell (since that is what you already cast).Both of which would be the same here, wouldn't they? Innate spells usually use your own spell proficiency if you have it.
Hmm... *checks notes frantically* ... It looks like Divine tradition spell and Innate spell are coincidentally the same for this character because the Divine spellcasting stat is already CHA and you would use any existing spellcasting proficiency (Divine tradition in this case) for innate spells.
If it was ruled as an Arcane tradition focus spell instead, it would use your Arcane spell proficiency. Which if you didn't take the Dragon Sorcerer archetype, you probably don't have any proficiency in Arcane spells. So that would be horribly, unplayably broken. Ambiguous Rules ruling should step in and prevent that.
Looks like I'm finally gonna get a chance to play instead of GM. My orc battle oracle is pretty much built,
Would you be willing to share how you're going to play the battle oracle? With or without curse? as a melee healer buffer?
Looks like I'm finally gonna get a chance to play instead of GM. My orc battle oracle is pretty much built,Would you be willing to share how you're going to play the battle oracle? With or without curse? as a melee healer buffer?
The general idea is to play it flexibly. I'm maxing strength and charisma, so I can offensively use both. I want to try to both strike and cast every round. I intend to use the curse-- I hope to Call of Arms almost every fight. I'm realizing that with my curse maxing, that means I'll need to use my other focus spells the first fight and last fight of the day, since the fights in between I'll go in at Minor and immediately be at Moderate. I kind of like that this encourages me not to hoard the points, but it is a good argument for Lay on Hands or some other use for that focus pool.
Spiritual Weapon will be my go to range option, but in general I'll use ranged options to force enemies to move to me to engage. I'm gonna try Animate Dead for some additional tactical flexibility, with the corpses having the appearance of people he killed in his bandit days.
I've been contemplating if there is a way to keep the curse suppressed as an exploration tactic. If not, I imagine I'll probably be on Magic Detecting Duty, or possible Scout for another +1 to our initiative.
For defense, I'll be relying on the heavy armor, fast healing, and Orc Ferocity plus Die Hard to keep me alive and only using Heal spells when I absolutely have to.
I've been checking the Oracle last few days and while for some the curses are interesting in combination with the focus spells (flame, cosmos), for Battle I was mostly looking at using it in a passive way. No curse activation, and the focus spells seem a bit lackluster. Hence my question, i was wondering how others would play it. Oracle seems a very interesting class where you can use it with and without the curse, depending on the mystery.
As a battle oracle you are probably going to be dual-wielding a one handed weapon and a staff of divination or the staff with a shield since you'll need true strike to hit with any reliability whether with a weapon strike or a spell. Doesn't help that your party is sorely lacking in battlefield control and general debuffing while having to rely on an alch for buffing.
For your free archetype, champion. The extra hp and lay on hands are too good to pass up for a class with middling hp progression, con as a tertiary stat and an ac penalty even before considering the other goodies you can pick up. Use divine access to get Ragathiel's spells as you already know.
Having heavy armor proficiency but not 18 strength out the gate is rough. Since I don't want to waste boosts on dex, and I am planning to wear full plate with an armored skirt until level 5. It is expensive and takes up a lot of bulk though.
I really wish Bespell weapon and Divine Access weren't the same level. I want both so bad and they weight so heavily on my archetype choice.
Have you considered Marshal? It is an amazing archetype, i've beeen playing a battle oracle marshal for months now and it's been a blast.
Thematically, it is cool, but I don't qualify for it without spending more feats to get martial weapon proficiency.
and your bonuses should stack.
With the alchemist, sure, but not with my own curse effects. :/ Also, while a big party of martials loves a group buffer, I'm not sure I'll be able to keep both the ranged and the melee characters in the same aura.
Mauler is also an excellent choice. You will only get 1 attack per round at most with the Battle Oracle, and the mauler helps make it count.
Yeah, though I am a bit worried my action economy will be too tight to allow for two action strikes much.
Also, unlike your attack bonus, your athletic bonus keeps up with martial characters and the Mauler helps you apply it to the battlefield, with plenty of control options.
Indeed, that is part of the appeal. :) So far I put more focus into Intimidation though.
Stay away from the critical specialization feats, you don't have the attack bonus to crit consistently.
Good point. It comes free with the mauler dedication, but I probably don't want to pay anything else for it. That actually informs my weapon choice too.
I advise against champion,you don't really need the extra healing and hp and your focus pool will be used for revelation spells already.
Have you found the cursebound mechanics to prevent you from fully using your focus pool though? I snagged Domain Acumen to get a third focus point and to have both Zeal and Might, but I'm realizing I can't actually use all focus points in the same fight without losing them for the rest of the day.
As a battle oracle you are probably going to be dual-wielding a one handed weapon and a staff of divination or the staff with a shield since you'll need true strike to hit with any reliability whether with a weapon strike or a spell.
Nah, I didn't take Battle Oracle to not swing an actual weapon around. And I can get access to True Strike through the archetype or Divine Access. The staff is something I might pick up eventually as a back up battery, but it certainly won't be my main.
Doesn't help that your party is sorely lacking in battlefield control and general debuffing while having to rely on an alch for buffing.
That is part of why I want to max intimidate-- keep those enemies frightened. And I plan on buffing myself quite a bit at low levels with Magic Weapon, True Strike, Weapon Surge, Haste, and so on.
For your free archetype, champion. The extra hp and lay on hands are too good to pass up for a class with middling hp progression, con as a tertiary stat and an ac penalty even before considering the other goodies you can pick up. Use divine access to get Ragathiel's spells as you already know.
I am hoping I don't need the extra healing as much because I don't actually need to rush to the front lines-- I have full casting proficiency and can blast enemies until they come at me, as long as the barbarian doesn't overextend themselves. Ragathiel does seem to to be the winning choice for Access, but I hate to delay Bespell Weapon which is super cool when I can get his spells through Dragon Disciple.
Nah, I didn't take Battle Oracle to not swing an actual weapon around. And I can get access to True Strike through the archetype or Divine Access. The staff is something I might pick up eventually as a back up battery, but it certainly won't be my main.
That is part of why I want to max intimidate-- keep those enemies frightened. And I plan on buffing myself quite a bit at low levels with Magic Weapon, True Strike, Weapon Surge, Haste, and so on.
I am hoping I don't need the extra healing as much because I don't actually need to rush to the front lines-- I have full casting proficiency and can blast enemies until they come at me, as long as the barbarian doesn't overextend themselves. Ragathiel does seem to to be the winning choice for Access, but I hate to delay Bespell Weapon which is super cool when I can get his spells through Dragon Disciple.
My apologies, I was under the impression that you wanted to be up in melee while using spells until it got to the point you could go in. That said, it really does sound like you want to swing a weapon around. My concern is that with proficiency and str lagging behind you'll need to true strike or weapon surge all the time just to be consistently effective. Particularly if your backup plan is spiritual weapon which will look worse and worse as the game goes on and spell attacks fall into the gutter without item bonuses to keep them relevant. Hence wielding something like a longsword in one hand and the staff in another in order to get d8 damage and full rune benefits (can't properly rune up a staff after all). In a slightly more optimized world you'd be a half-orc with adapted cantrip electric arc and unconventional weaponry flickmace to stay midline while having an acceptable cantrip blast.
But, since you don't want to be a frontliner, you can skip champion reaction, LoH, blade ally, etc and just go up the sorc line for bonus utility slots. HumbleGamer has the right idea with using your class feats to accelerate your archetype progression if you want dragon arcana to fix your list. If your GM allows you to treat them as separate progression, that's even better since it'll give you dragon disciple at 2.
The idea is to only go into major curse when you're either out of spell slots or already buffed to the nines and and don't think you'll need to cast anymore. At which point you can wade in and go to town barbarian style.
I was planning to go superstitious pluc ferocity for my feats for staying powers. Holdscarred is also good because this character will get Wounded a lot.
The big problem with spending my normal class feats on archetypes is that there are some wicked good feats I'm passing on there. True Strike and Haste are just such good additions to the repotoire and having them limited to my multiclass slots will be a big limit.
One thing I do like about Lay on Hands is it frees up some pressure to waste my spell slots healing myself or allies. I've seen barbarians become serious drains on caster resources and I don't want to fall into that, especially when I could use those actions to end the battle.
My apologies, I was under the impression that you wanted to be up in melee while using spells until it got to the point you could go in.
I think that IS what I want, and I am doing a bad job explaining it, which is on me. To try and illustrate... I've had some good luck playing a war priest at early and mid-levels. But I don't play it by rushing into the fray like a fighter. I am a caster first and foremost, so I use my spells to buff and blast until the opportunity to strike presents itself. Keeping my turn routine varied and dynamic was quite fun and effective. It did help that I wielded a returning trident, so I could make strike and cast regardless of positioning-- and advantage I will admit I am missing here.
With the battle curse, there's more pressure to squeeze those strikes in, but there's also stronger spell casting power too. Balancing those needs will be the challenge-- but I like a challenge. :)
My concern is that with proficiency and str lagging behind you'll need to true strike or weapon surge all the time just to be consistently effective.
Well, with a Bless, Heroism, or Major Curse up and running I will usually only be one point of accuracy behind a normal martial, and will have some bonus damage to boot. But I'm also not using the martial as my bench mark for effective. Even if my first attack was only as effective as a martial's second, that first attack is my only attack and the other two actions can cast a spell. Chill Touch, Daze, or Electric Arc plus one strike ain't a terrible turn when I don't want to spend resources.
Particularly if your backup plan is spiritual weapon which will look worse and worse as the game goes on and spell attacks fall into the gutter without item bonuses to keep them relevant.
It isn't great damage, yeah, but it is pretty resource efficient. Once it is up and running I can use it with a saving throw spell every round.
Hence wielding something like a longsword in one hand and the staff in another in order to get d8 damage and full rune benefits (can't properly rune up a staff after all)
Yeah, I can see the appeal for sure, but with powers like weapon surge that d12 dice is so tempting. I think maybe a returning trident would be a better choice of weapon so I can do a ranged strike, even with bad dexterity.
In a slightly more optimized world you'd be a half-orc with adapted cantrip electric arc and unconventional weaponry flickmace to stay midline while having an acceptable cantrip blast.
I considered this, but ultimately decided the extra HP, darkvision, and free Die Hard were worth the trade off. Die Hard is especially important-- fast healing + ferocity means you'll never stay down, but that wounded value will increase increase a lot.
But, since you don't want to be a frontliner, you can skip champion reaction, LoH, blade ally, etc and just go up the sorc line for bonus utility slots. HumbleGamer has the right idea with using your class feats to accelerate your archetype progression if you want dragon arcana to fix your list. If your GM allows you to treat them as separate progression, that's even better since it'll give you dragon disciple at 2.
I've gotten the go ahead to use Dragon Disciple without sorcerer first. Do you reckon taking that Dragon Arcana at 4 is my best route to True Strike and Haste? And would you go for Bespell Weapon first over Divine Access in that case, or would you use Divine Access to pick up more goodies like Fireball?
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I've gotten the go ahead to use Dragon Disciple without sorcerer first. Do you reckon taking that Dragon Arcana at 4 is my best route to True Strike and Haste? And would you go for Bespell Weapon first over Divine Access in that case, or would you use Divine Access to pick up more goodies like Fireball?
Dragon arcana gives a lot of spells all at once several of which are good. True Strike and haste are obvious, but chromatic and prismatic walls and dragon form aren't half bad either. Taking it at 4 lets you swap in TS and then take haste at 5 without needing to spend extra time retraining spells.
I personally don't value bespell much, preferring expanded spell options because your party so sorely lacks them. However, if you're set on it, you'd probably take bespell at 4 and access at 6. Battle's second focus spell is nice at first, but eventually it just becomes a limited heroism. The anti-incapacitate feature is interesting but is, in my opinion, too niche to justify taking it. You could also consider just taking divine access at both 4 and 6 to preload your spell list with desirable spells.
As for goodies with divine access, fireball or weapon storm is nice and all for a ref save blast, but I'd focus more on spells like enlarge, invisibility, shadow walk, knock, passwall, wall of stone, mirror image, stoneskin, maze, synaptic pulse, yadda, yadda, yadda. Point is you could take a lot of divine access and really diversify. I actually kind of like the idea of an enlarged, greater/heightened invisible, heroism battle oracle that then triggers major curse and goes to town. Very self sufficient.
I'm surprised no one offered Bastion. It's a great way to fill your reactions with Reactive Shield and makes you a lot tankier if that's a role you need to fill for your party, which it seems like you might.
I would not take Mauler. You're still a full caster, which means you pretty much want to cast a spell in every single turn to get the most value out of your class (which is already hard enough as a melee Battle Oracle). The Mauler archetype is chock-full of 2-action attacks, which means you won't be casting spells when using them. Attacking instead of casting spells when you're a full caster with mediocre melee is not a good idea.
Champion is always a great option. Lay On Hands is awesome, especially because you do NOT want to get to Major curse, and the reaction is fantastic.
Lastly, I'm not sure about the "common wisdom" to take Haste with Divine Access. The 3rd level version only pays for itself in round 3, which is the last round of the battle in most cases. It's awesome at 7th, but I would not use it at 3rd.
I'm not actually intending to tank per se-- I have less hit points than the archer ranger has. I do intend to swing s bastard sword when the moment presents itself though.
Your point on Haste is well taken, though I think with Dragon Arcana I can get pretty easy access to it. I still might hold off on it for a few levels if I can find some more potent uses for the slots.
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I'm surprised no one offered Bastion. It's a great way to fill your reactions with Reactive Shield and makes you a lot tankier if that's a role you need to fill for your party, which it seems like you might.
I would not take Mauler. You're still a full caster, which means you pretty much want to cast a spell in every single turn to get the most value out of your class (which is already hard enough as a melee Battle Oracle). The Mauler archetype is chock-full of 2-action attacks, which means you won't be casting spells when using them. Attacking instead of casting spells when you're a full caster with mediocre melee is not a good idea.
Champion is always a great option. Lay On Hands is awesome, especially because you do NOT want to get to Major curse, and the reaction is fantastic.
Lastly, I'm not sure about the "common wisdom" to take Haste with Divine Access. The 3rd level version only pays for itself in round 3, which is the last round of the battle in most cases. It's awesome at 7th, but I would not use it at 3rd.
Battle oracle gets the shield cantrip as part of the package and shields in general just murder your action economy. I've generally found them not worth using without investing in free reactions from champion or level 12 fighter. Bastion also has the detriment of some truly awful 4th and 6th level feats meaning you don't want it early and by 8-10 there are better archetype options available.
Haste 3rd pays for itself as the last spell you pop in any sort of prebuff routine. Nerfed as pre-buffing might be, it's still something you should be doing.
Another thing I will note is the divine spell list isn't so stacked with good spells as to crowd haste out. 4th level is where you really get into the good stuff. Heroism and Vampiric Touch leave me in pretty good shape to round out that level of slots.
I'm surprised no one offered Bastion. It's a great way to fill your reactions with Reactive Shield and makes you a lot tankier if that's a role you need to fill for your party, which it seems like you might.
I would not take Mauler. You're still a full caster, which means you pretty much want to cast a spell in every single turn to get the most value out of your class (which is already hard enough as a melee Battle Oracle). The Mauler archetype is chock-full of 2-action attacks, which means you won't be casting spells when using them. Attacking instead of casting spells when you're a full caster with mediocre melee is not a good idea.
Champion is always a great option. Lay On Hands is awesome, especially because you do NOT want to get to Major curse, and the reaction is fantastic.
Lastly, I'm not sure about the "common wisdom" to take Haste with Divine Access. The 3rd level version only pays for itself in round 3, which is the last round of the battle in most cases. It's awesome at 7th, but I would not use it at 3rd.
Battle oracle gets the shield cantrip as part of the package and shields in general just murder your action economy. I've generally found them not worth using without investing in free reactions from champion or level 12 fighter. Bastion also has the detriment of some truly awful 4th and 6th level feats meaning you don't want it early and by 8-10 there are better archetype options available.
Haste 3rd pays for itself as the last spell you pop in any sort of prebuff routine. Nerfed as pre-buffing might be, it's still something you should be doing.
I agree that a shield is heavy action economy wise, which is why I advise taking one with Bastion, which gives you a reaction Raise Shield, which is a great outlet for your reactions that full casters usually lack AND makes you tankier. I would not take a shield as a Battle Oracle unless Bastion Dedication is taken.
I do agree that the level 4 & 6 feats are a drag, which makes Bastion sub-optimal for Free Archetype at first. I would personally take Champion feats at 2, 4, 6 and Bastion feats and 8, 10.
And yes, Haste is great as a pre-buff, if you're able to get one off in the span of half a minute before the battle. That might be a big if, though, depending on the GM.
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I've had a lot of fun playing this character so far. Adventuring days have been relatively short, which helps. But I feel versatile and flexible in battle. I can do some big nova strikes but summons and spiritual weapon both stretch my slots quite far.
The rogue has been replaced with a Magus, and I've gotten my hands on a Staff of Impossible Visions. Not the ideal staff, but fear is a nice scaling spell to be able to spam.
I'd like to take Divine Access at some point down the line, but with the homebrew pantheon it gets a little tricky. There aren't lists of granted spells by default so I'd basically be proposing my own. Meshing it with the flavor of the existing pantheon will be a wrinkle, though. I'm open to suggestions for spells.
I'm intrigued by the idea of stacking the curse on a battle form, though the stupified makes it a little unreliable at the major curse levels. I could get easy access to form of the dragon through the archetype, but isn't that one worse than some of the other battle forms? I recall discussion around it's AC being inexplicably lower or something.
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I know the conversation moved on from this point, but I thought I'd point out that another avenue for divine DCs with Dragon Disciple could potentially be to take the Wyrmblessed sorcerer bloodline.
Mostly a note for people whose GM's require the sorc bloodline and DD spell profs to match. I know Dragon Disciple doesn't specifically call out Wyrmblessed as working with the archetype, well it was printed first, and the access requirement seems pretty met to me.
Wyrmblessed explicitly works as the Access requirement for Dragon Disciple.
"Because the wyrmblessed and draconic bloodlines have similar origins, they count the same as each other for the purposes of prerequisites and access requirements."
Animal or ooze form will get you to 5th level, evil divine covers 6th, cosmic or angel covers 7th, monstrosity covers 8th and 9th and avatar hits at 10th.
I'm sure you can find some monster deity with the might domain to give you ooze and monstrosity forms and then switch through spells as you level.
What are the deities in the home setting deities of?
They are a bit lighter on details than your standard setting-- I think the ambiguity is intentional. There are sects and cults with pretty strong opinions that aren't necessarily tied to a deity. You've got your Lovecraftian horror, a holy protector that's essentially bubbled the world we are in, and a deity of reincarnation.
The most interesting thing is a bunch of dead god carcasses that basically leak magic into the world, resulting in people and objects becoming magically infused. (Hence, why the Oracle felt appropriate.) Most of them have giant swords sticking out of their body, so they could be linked to the zeal domain pretty easy. The one my PC mutated from creates folks "often resilient in spirit or in body, to the point where some grow scales or patches of rock on their skin. Items are blessed with unnatural hardness." So the scales of the dragon feat feels quite appropriate, and spells like Stoneskin seem on-brand.
Been having a grand old time-- just hit level 7. I've been ending adventures with having just expended all of spell slots, which feels nice. I snagged Vision of Weakness, so I've got quite a selection of Curse Bound spells. And I picked up Scaled of the Dragon, which let me laugh as a swarm tried to get through my 6 piercing resistance and I think healed up the damage.
I'm thinking Air Walk and Divine Wrath for my fourth level spells. Debating between Untrained Improvisation and Fleet for my general feat. I'm trying to decide on what to spend my 400 gold on-- the Staff of Divination is gesalt suggested is quite tempting.
Next level: Dragon's Breath.
Wound up taking the psychic archetype and basic spellcasting to get amped guidance, illusory disguise, shadow spy, and empathic link. Hit level 11 today, but undecided what to snag. Feat: Fleet is overdue, and a good default, but I'm tempted by Master level skill feats.
Spells: I really want to make one either Righteous Might or Dragon Form work, but both have problems and neither is an enormous buff above my base stats. Righteous Might would be better against all the fiends the GM is throwing at us, but I already have Divine Wrath and Lance, and Dragon Form gives me some mobility and weakness options, which feels especially nice because we have an aquatic combat next session. I'm also considering ditching Dispel Magic to take Moonlight Ray as a signature spell, again thanks to fiends. I really wish the Remaster was out so I could take Divine Immolation.
IDK, if everyone has advice on 6th level spells to take and one spell to swap in, I'm all ears.
NGMediumOrcHold-Scarred OrcHumanoid
Perception +18; Darkvision
Languages Common, Orcish
Skills Acrobatics +11, Athletics +19, Deception +20, Diplomacy +23, Intimidation +23, Lore: Terrain +13, Occultism +13, Religion +17, Survival +16
Str +4, Dex +0, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +5
Items Victory Plate, Adventurer's Pack, Sling Bullets (10), Tent (Pup), Caltrops, Grappling Hook, Piton, Hammer, Crowbar, Oil (2), Playing Cards, Manacles (Poor), Signal Whistle, Rope, Musical Instrument (Handheld), Scroll of Dream Message, Demon Mask, Scroll of Breath of Life, Ring of Discretion, Disguise Kit, Staff of Divination, Diplomat's Badge, Sun Wheel, Snapleaf, Cold Iron Blanch (Lesser), Predictable Silver Piece, Boots of Bounding, Air Bladder, Elemental Wayfinder (Air), Candlelit Ceremony, Cape of the Mountebank, Cold Iron Chunk
AC 30; Fort +19, Ref +14, Will +21; Resolve
HP 144; Resistances piercing 8
Orc Superstition Trigger You attempt a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, before rolling. You defend yourself against magic by relying on techniques derived from orc cultural superstitions. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your saving throw against the triggering spell or magical effect.
Orc Ferocity Frequency once per day Trigger You would be reduced to 0 Hit Points but not immediately killed. Fierceness in battle runs through your blood, and you refuse to fall from your injuries. You avoid being knocked out and remain at 1 Hit Point, and your wounded condition increases by 1.
Victory Plate Activate envision; Trigger You kill or destroy a creature of a level equal to or greater than your victory plate (adjusted as usual if you add fundamental runes to victory plate). This creature must have one of the traits listed in the second activation; Effect You direct the armor to commemorate your victory. The coat of arms on the armor's tabard shifts to incorporate heraldry related to the slain creature, and the victory is recorded within the tabard. If you have already recorded four victories, choose one to replace with the new victory.
Speed 30 feet
Melee +2 Striking Flaming Bastard Sword (2h) +21 (Two-Hand d12, Conjuration, Fire, Magical), Damage 2d12+4 S +1d6Fire
Melee Shortsword +19 (Agile, Finesse, Versatile S), Damage 1d6+4 P
Ranged Sling +15 (Propulsive), Damage 1d6+2 B
Ranged Javelin +15 (Thrown), Damage 1d6+4 P
Bespell Weapon (Oracle) Frequency once per turn Requirements Your most recent action was to cast a non-cantrip spell. You siphon the residual energy from the last spell you cast into one weapon you're wielding. Until the end of your turn, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 damage of a type depending on the school of the spell you just cast. Abjuration force damage ; Conjuration or Transmutation the same type as the weapon ; Divination, Enchantment, or Illusion mental damage ; Evocation a type the spell dealt, or force damage if the spell didn't deal damage ; Necromancy negative damage;
Victory Plate (Uncommon, Abjuration, Invested, Magical) Activate envision, Interact; Frequency once per hour; Effect You touch one of the tabard's four fields representing one of your victories and recall your triumph over that creature. That creature vanishes from the tabard, and for 1 minute, you gain resistance 5 to a damage type based on the creature's trait (you gain resistance to only one type, even if the creature has more than one trait that could apply): Aberration or Fey mental; Celestial good; Construct poison; Dragon or Elemental one energy type that matches one of the dragon's or elemental's traits; Fiend evil; Ooze precision, and the resistance is 10; Undead negative;
Demon Mask (Enchantment, Invested, Magical) Activate Interact; Frequency once per day; Effect The mask casts a fear spell with a DC of 20.
Diplomat's Badge (Enchantment, Invested, Magical) Activate Recall Knowledge; Frequency once per day; Effect Attempt a DC 20 check to Recall Knowledge about people of a human ethnicity, a non-human ancestry, or some other type of creature. (The GM determines what your options are.) If you succeed, the badge's bonus increases to +2 for Diplomacy checks with creatures of that group for the rest of the day.
Sun Wheel (Rare, Abjuration, Invested, Magical) Activate concentrate; Effect The sun wheel casts a shield spell benefiting you. When you use the spell to prevent damage, you prevent 10 damage instead of 5. If the attacker is adjacent to you, you can choose to deal 2d6 fire damage to it, which it gets a DC 21 basic Reflex save to resist. If you choose to deal the fire damage, you can't Activate the sun wheel again until the next morning. If you prevent damage but don't deal the fire damage, you can use it again in 10 minutes, as normal for shield.
Predictable Silver Piece (Divination, Magical) Activate Interact; Effect You rub your thumb on one side of the coin with the intent of slightly tweaking the strands of fate, then flip the coin into the air in a coin toss. No matter how the toss is resolved— letting the coin fall to the ground, slapping it down on the back of your hand, or catching it on your open palm—it always lands with the side you rubbed face up.
Elemental Wayfinder (Air) (Uncommon, Evocation, Invested, Magical, Air) Activate command; Frequency once per day; Effect The wayfinder casts a 4th-level lightning bolt.
Cape of the Mountebank (Conjuration, Invested, Magical, Uncommon) Activate Interact; Frequency once per day; Effect You cast dimension door. The space you leave and the one you appear in are filled with puffs of smoke that make anyone within concealed until they leave the smoke or the end of your next turn, at which point the smoke dissipates. Strong winds immediately disperse the smoke.
Divine Known Spells DC 30, attack +20; 6th Summon Celestial, Dragon Form (3 slots); 5th Blink Charge, Blood Feast, Prying Eye (4 slots); 4th Divine Wrath ☆, Air Walk, Phantasmal Killer, Lightning Bolt (H+1) (4 slots); 3rd Warding Aggression, Haste, Dispel Magic (H+1) ☆ (4 slots); 2nd Spiritual Weapon, Illusory Creature, Inner Radiance Torrent ☆ (4 slots); 1st Bless, Animate Dead ☆, True Strike (4 slots); Cantrips Needle Darts, Chill Touch, Bullhorn, Divine Lance, Haunting Hymn, Shield
Occult Known Spells DC 28, attack +18; 3rd Shadow Spy ☆ (1 slots); 2nd Empathic Link ☆ (1 slots); 1st Illusory Disguise ☆, True Strike, True Strike, True Strike, True Strike, True Strike (1 slots); Cantrips
Focus Spells (3 points) Athletic Rush Duration 1 round Your body fills with physical power and skill. You gain a +10- foot status bonus to Speed and a +2 status bonus to Athletics checks. As a part of Casting this Spell, you can use a Stride, Leap, Climb, or Swim action. The spell's bonuses apply during that action.
Call to Arms Area 20-foot emanation Duration 1 minute You cry out a call to arms, inspiring your allies to enter the fray. Each ally in the area gains a +2 status bonus to their initiative roll and gains temporary Hit Points equal to the spell's level; these temporary Hit Points last for the spell's duration. Heightened (6th) The bonus increases to +3. Heightened (9th) The bonus increases to +4.
Weapon Surge Range touch; Targets 1 weapon you're wielding Holding your weapon aloft, you fill it with divine energy. On your next Strike with that weapon before the start of your next turn, you gain a +1 status bonus to the attack roll and the weapon deals an additional die of damage. If the weapon has a striking rune, this instead increases the number of dice from the striking rune by 1 (to a maximum of 3 extra weapon dice). If the target weapon leaves your possession, weapon surge immediately ends.
Vision of Weakness Targets 1 creature You focus your gaze on a creature and gain a flash of divine insight into its nature. If the creature has any weaknesses, you learn them, as well as which of its three saving throw modifiers is lowest. You also learn an inherent understanding of its movements and gain a +2 status bonus to your next attack roll (or skill check made as part of an attack action) against that foe before the end of your turn. The target is then temporarily immune to vision of weakness for 1 day.
Dragon Breath Area 30-foot cone or 60-foot line originating from you Saving Throw basic Reflex or Fortitude You spew energy from your mouth, dealing 5d6 damage. The area, damage type, and save depend on the dragon type in your bloodline. Black and copper 60-foot line of acid Reflex Blue and bronze 60-foot line of electricity Reflex Brass 60-foot line of fire Reflex Green 30-foot cone of poison Fortitude Gold or red 30-foot cone of fire Reflex Silver or white 30-foot cone of cold Reflex Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 2d6.
Guidance (Amped) Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature Duration until the start of your next turn You ask for divine guidance, granting the target a +1 status bonus to one attack roll, Perception check, saving throw, or skill check the target attempts before the duration ends. The target chooses which roll to use the bonus on before rolling. If the target uses the bonus, the spell ends. Either way, the target is then temporarily immune for 1 hour. You have eyes everywhere, allowing you to guide people from a great distance. The range of guidance increases to 120 feet. It also gains the following amp. Amp You can project a flash of insight to your ally in the nick of time to save them from failure. Amped guidance doesn't cause a creature to become temporarily immune to guidance, and a creature can be targeted by amped guidance even if it is temporarily immune to guidance. You can cast an amped guidance spell as a reaction triggered when your ally fails or critically fails an attack roll, Perception check, saving throw, or skill check, and the bonus from guidance would change the failure to a success or the critical failure to a normal failure. The bonus from guidance applies retroactively to their check. Amp Heightened (6th) The bonus from the spell increases to +2.
Additional Feats Assurance, Basic Psychic Spellcasting, Battle Cry, Breath of the Dragon, Diehard, Divine Access, Domain Acumen, Dragon Arcana, Dragon Disciple Dedication, Fleet, Group Coercion, Hold-Scarred Orc, Intimidating Prowess, Lasting Coercion, Pervasive Superstition, Psychic Dedication, Scales of the Dragon, Terrified Retreat, Toughness, Untrained Improvisation, Vision of Weakness
Additional Specials Archetype Conscious Mind (The Infinite Eye), Archetype Psychic Cantrip (Standard Cantrip: Guidance (Amped)), Archetype Psychic Casting Ability (Charisma), Assurance (Athletics), Battle Weapon Group (Sword), Domain Acumen (Zeal), Dragon Type (Crystal), Major Curse, Mystery (Battle), Mystery Domain Spell (Might), Oracular Curse, Revelation Spells, Signature Spells
It is unfortunate, but I think battleforms aren't the thing for straight up battles. With my investment in strength and weapons being so high, the gains from battle forms are too marginal to justify cutting myself off from spells. Dragon Form feels justifiable for the mobility and elements, though. Heroism feels like the correct choice, but I will feel guilty casting it on myself when we have a gunslinger in the party. Also think I'd need to take it as a 6th level signature spell, there's little opportunity to retrain my old spells right now.
I'm feeling Drop Dead to replace Blood Feast. Would be really nice to keep people from actually getting dropped while they guzzle some elixirs of life to get back in the fight.
Currently have (un-nerfed) Inner Radiance Torrent and Divine Wrath as Signature spells. Could use a will target, but signatures are tight right now.
Since you have strength and charisma and you want a reach weapon. Why not use a long spear with the "staff acrobat" dedication?
I actually stuck with the bastard sword so I could dual wield with a Staff of Divination. Also I have 10 dexterity.
I'm also not trained in acrobatics. Also the archetype is kinda bad? I'm already needing to retrain my expert athletics proficiency because I need to lean into my face skills more, and archetype doesn't do a lot beyond make you better at shoving and tripping people.