
JuliusCromwell |
My wizard (1) / Magus (7) just died from native levels and so I'm looking for a new character and could use some ideas.
I'd like to help balance the party more well still having fun in combat
The party without me consist of a
Alchemist who focuses primarily on bombs
A path of war Medic
An oracle who went 3rd party with the Physical Exemplar archetype
The medic right now is are Dps followed by my magus (I was a range magus )
The medical has a rogue built as a back up so I'll say no to that for now
Any advice on what the party needs ?

avr |

Breaking that down the existing characters do:
Ranged DPS (poor apparently), self-buffs/heals, possible debuffs or battlefield control
Melee DPS?, healing
Buffs, melee?, healing?
One thing the party doesn't need is more healing. Stealth is something you're not after either. Since PoW is on the table you could do something which smashes a few faces and hands out some debuffs quite easily; a kineticist which does melee (perhaps kinetic knight) might work similarly. If you want a direct replacement which looks different to your magus some form of gunslinger could do, likely gunslinger 5 / something else 3. Personally I might play a pure spellcaster doing a lot of battlefield control but I get the idea that's not your thing Julius.

JuliusCromwell |
@ AVR
I don't think the oracle Dose healing
So far I've only seen the alchemist use damaging bombs and mutagen
Ya the medic relies on broken blade
A pure caster could be fun but I'm kinda not skilled at playing that.
Though I do admire the idea
Like I'm think of range or caster type
@ VoodistMonk's
At level 8 would I have enough gold for that banner starting at 8th level gold

JuliusCromwell |
Bard... longspear + Flagbearer + Banner of Ancient Kings... Arcane Duelist is pretty awesome with this setup.
If you go with the Arcane Duelist and a longspear, Combat Reflexes/Bodyguard and the Gloves of Arcane Striking can be decent.
Oh is that if I go human.
What would be a good race if I don't want humanAlso any particular traits (gets 2) besides save buff/ Initative buff?

VoodistMonk |

Good old Shaman's Apprentice Half-Orc with Sacred Tattooes and Fate's Favored. That gives you Darkvision, Endurance, and a +2 luck bonus to all saves... plus you still have access to the Human FCB. You can use your "free" FCB spells for Masterpieces, if you want.
Another good trait for Bards is Memorable. It's like a mini Lingering Performance if you use it correctly.
As a Half-Orc with a reach weapon, Toothy or Tusked or whatever is never a bad idea... bite attack to cover inside your reach.
Remember you can trade out Versatile Performance for Martial Performance to pick up Weapon Focus without using a feat slot. With Weapon Focus, you can pick up Weapon Trick... which, for polearms, is almost necessary as a feat.

VoodistMonk |

Example Half-Orc vanilla Bard 13:
Half-Orc
... Sacred Tattooes
... Shaman's Apprentice
20pt buy
16(14+2),14,14,8,10,15
... all stat bumps go to Charisma...
Traits
... Fate's Favored
... Memorable (or Adopted/Helpful, or Kin Guardian if it applies, or Protective Faith or any other trait related to Aid Another)
Feats
1. Endurance
1. Combat Reflexes
3. Bodyguard
5. Extra Performance
6. Weapon Focus Longspear
7. Flagbearer
9. Master Performer
11. Discordant Voice
13. Grand Master Performer
Versatile Performance
2. Dance
6. Martial Performance
10. Oratory or Sing
BAB +9
Base Saves +4/+8/+8 (+6/+10/+10)
CL 13, 5th level spells
Gear:
+1 Impervious Whipwood Longspear, Banner of Ancient Kings, Dervish Sikke, some other stuff...
You can trade your 10th level FCB spell for something fun like Canticle of Joy, or Requiem of the Fallen Priest-King.
You could also take Flagbearer at 5, Weapon Trick at 7, Extra Performance at 9, Discordant Voive at 11, Master Performer at 13, and wait until 15 for Grand Master Performer... depending how often you find yourself TOO close to the melee. Could also take the Toothy/Tusked trait to help cover inside your reach if you want to focus more on Bard stuff than melee.

avr |

At some point the alchemist is going to figure out that with fast bombs and a cognatogen they can atomise a big bad. You'd need something special to compete with that in ranged DPS soo...let's do something else. That bard of VMs is an option.
Alternately, imagine a kinetic knight kineticist going with aether/earth or some such. Your ranged option is telekinetic maneuvers which you can do at will; spend a few feats making that better. Up close you bash people with a kinetic blade that happens to be a really big rock. You can lift 4 tons of stuff if you feel like it.
Or, if you want a ranged-specialised character that looks and works differently to the alchemist, look at the stalker (Path of War) and play around with the tempest gale discipline.

![]() |

Here's my current lvl 8 Giantslayer character: a halfling dawnflower dervish bard (20 point buy). I think she would likely be suitable (without knowing the details of your other party members). This character is a melee fighter with good social skills.
Equipment is a mix of found and purchased items (mostly found), so isn't necessarily optimal, or average WBL.
Female halfling bard (dawnflower dervish) 8 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic 34)
NG Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +10; Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +6 Dex, +1 size)
hp 75 (8d8+32)
Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +7 (+5 vs. charm and compulsion); +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic, +2 vs. fear
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 flaming scimitar +14/+9 (1d4+7/18-20 plus 1d6 fire) or
. . mwk cold iron scimitar +14/+9 (1d4+6/18-20) or
. . scimitar +13/+8 (1d4+6/18-20)
Ranged light crossbow +13 (1d6/19-20)
Special Attacks bardic performance 22 rounds/day (move action; countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 18], inspire competence +3, inspire courage +2, suggestion [DC 18]), battle dance: inspire courage
Bard (Dawnflower Dervish) Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +12)
. . 3rd (3/day)—good hope, haste, see invisibility
. . 2nd (5/day)—cure moderate wounds, glitterdust (DC 16), heroism, mirror image
. . 1st (5/day)—cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, grease, liberating command[UC], moment of greatness[UC]
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, mending, message, prestidigitation, read magic
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 8, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 18
Base Atk +6; CMB +4; CMD 20
Feats Arcane Strike, Dervish Dance[ISWG], Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Toughness
Traits dwarf-trained, irrepressible
Skills Bluff +15, Climb +3, Diplomacy +18, Disable Device +9, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +17, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5 (+7 to navigate underground), Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Linguistics +6, Perception +12, Perform (dance) +18, Perform (sing) +15, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +20, Survival -1 (+1 to avoid becoming lost); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Giant, Halfling, Kelish, Orc
SQ battle dance, mediative whirl, spinning spellcaster, versatile performances (dance, sing)
Combat Gear potion of alter self, wand of cat's grace (4 charges), antitoxin (2); Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 flaming scimitar, crossbow bolts (10), light crossbow, mwk cold iron scimitar, scimitar, belt of incredible dexterity +2, circlet of persuasion, cloak of resistance +1, headband of alluring charisma +2, true love locket, bedroll, belt pouch, blanket[APG], buffering cap (worth 2,000 gp, 1 lb), chalk, compass[APG], cost to enchant armour (worth 1,000 gp), flint and steel, map of the mindspin mountains (worth 50 gp), masterwork backpack[APG], masterwork thieves' tools, sack, sewing needle, thread (50 ft.), trail rations (2), waterskin, 164 gp, 7 sp, 8 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Bardic Performance (move action, 22 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects.
Battle Dance (move action) A Dawnflower dervish is trained in the use of the Perform skill, especially dance, to create magical effects on himself. This works like bardic performance, except that the Dawnflower dervish’s performances grant double their normal bonuses, but th
Battle Dance: Inspire Courage +4 (Su) Morale bonus on some saving throws, attack and damage rolls.
Dervish Dance Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier with scimitar
Fearless +2 bonus to save vs. fear (stacks with halfling luck).
Mediative Whirl (1/day) (Ex) Quicken a cure spell as a move action.
Spinning Spellcaster (Ex) +4 bonus on concentration checks to cast spells defensively.
Versatile Performance (Dance) +18 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Dance skill for Acrobatics or Fly checks
Versatile Performance (Singing) +15 (Ex) You may substitute the final value of your Perform: Sing skill for Bluff or Sense Motive checks
Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at https://www.wolflair.com
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Offence With Battle Dance, Arcane Strike and Good Hope:
+20 to hit, 1d4+15 slashing damage, plus 1d6 fire.
Defences: AC 22 (often with Mirror Images), 75 HP
Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +7 (+5 vs. charm and compulsion)

JuliusCromwell |
At some point the alchemist is going to figure out that with fast bombs and a cognatogen they can atomise a big bad. You'd need something special to compete with that in ranged DPS soo...let's do something else. That bard of VMs is an option.
Alternately, imagine a kinetic knight kineticist going with aether/earth or some such. Your ranged option is telekinetic maneuvers which you can do at will; spend a few feats making that better. Up close you bash people with a kinetic blade that happens to be a really big rock. You can lift 4 tons of stuff if you feel like it.
Or, if you want a ranged-specialised character that looks and works differently to the alchemist, look at the stalker (Path of War) and play around with the tempest gale discipline.
A kinetic knight with esrty could be fun.
Any recommendation on featsI take it I'd be able to do both range (kinda) and melee
Take it dwarf would be good?
Can I shape the Blade in a like axe for flavor ?