Building a poppet champion from this backstory?

[Rfkannen]

I have an idea for a poppet champion, but I am unsure how to build it. I would love y'alls help!

For context: In a previous campaign in this world, there was a family-focused tengu druid pc who crafted a TON of magic items during the campaign, eventually becoming a god with a focus on crafting and weather (mainly rain and water in general). Her cult is pretty popular in the modern-day setting.

My poppet's backstory: The old pc had a niece afraid of the monster under her bed, so the pc made a giant stuffed animal knight with a simple enchantment to repeat the phrase "don't worry, I'm here to protect you!" when squeezed. The knight was passed down for multiple generations, its fur getting matted and its eye-popping out, by generations of tengu kids loving it. Then, one day, its owner's house was attacked by a giant monster who killed everyone inside. The child's dying wish was for the toy to come to live to protect her, and that, combined with the bit of divine magic the pc left by the pc, finally brought the toy to life as a poppet... but it took long enough that the monster had already fled to scene. So the poppet swore an oath to its creator, promising to protect all the world's children and slay the beast that it couldn't protect its owner from.

So poppet champion seems pretty obvious, but I am not sure how else to build it.

What heritage would you go with? What cause? (the dm and that player never statted up that pc's divinity, and both said I could go for whatever I wanted mechanics-wise, but the pc herself was chaotic good). I think champions work well with picking up an archetype, but I can't think of any that would fit this character, any ideas? Any tips for making a champion build that synergizes well with poppet feats?

Any ideas for building this character?

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

Speaking for flavourful options, I would probably pick:

-Wishborn fits right into your backstory and makes a lot of sense as a 'fearless' poppet defender. Toy makes a lot of sense also, but the tiny size could be a challenge in combat.

-In terms of a fierce defender faithfully protecting the innocent from monsters in the dark, I would pick Paladin cause. If going Tiny, I'd probably lean into the idea of freeing those captured by monsters and pick Liberator instead so as not to rely on reach for reactions.

-Champion lvl 2 feat Vengeful Oath (for Paladins) seems tailor-made for this backstory, bringing holy retribution to those who would harm the innocent.

-No good ideas for archetypes popping out, but you might have the Cha to run a Bard and pick up some emotion-inspiring effects that jive with the 'I will protect you' magic lingering in the toy... alternative Oracle could bring some kind of curse while also tying into the divine power, though you may not want/need to really dig into the lingering mote of power that animated you.

(It might not necessarily fit the theme of the god, but it would fit the theme of the character if you ended up with the curse from Battle--the curse represents the fact that you are a mere stuffed toy so your body is pretty weak except then the divine power literally sustains your body while engaged in the purpose you were made for, fighting monsters. Sure that would take a few feats to come online but it's a cool vibe and it gets you some divine spell support along the way)

[Rfkannen]

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

Speaking for flavourful options, I would probably pick:

-Wishborn fits right into your backstory and makes a lot of sense as a 'fearless' poppet defender. Toy makes a lot of sense also, but the tiny size could be a challenge in combat.

-In terms of a fierce defender faithfully protecting the innocent from monsters in the dark, I would pick Paladin cause. If going Tiny, I'd probably lean into the idea of freeing those captured by monsters and pick Liberator instead so as not to rely on reach for reactions.

-Champion lvl 2 feat Vengeful Oath (for Paladins) seems tailor-made for this backstory, bringing holy retribution to those who would harm the innocent.

-No good ideas for archetypes popping out, but you might have the Cha to run a Bard and pick up some emotion-inspiring effects that jive with the 'I will protect you' magic lingering in the toy... alternative Oracle could bring some kind of curse while also tying into the divine power, though you may not want/need to really dig into the lingering mote of power that animated you.

(It might not necessarily fit the theme of the god, but it would fit the theme of the character if you ended up with the curse from Battle--the curse represents the fact that you are a mere stuffed toy so your body is pretty weak except then the divine power literally sustains your body while engaged in the purpose you were made for, fighting monsters. Sure that would take a few feats to come online but it's a cool vibe and it gets you some divine spell support along the way)

Those options all sound great! Yeah toy would be great but it would probably be too much of a headache. How would wishborn and stuffed compare mechanically? (I was also considering undine and aasimar because water god, but I really do like to the official poppet heritages) Vengeful oath would fit extremely well! Oh man, I am not sure if I want to go the spellcasting route on this character, but that curse rp would be FUN! I really like that idea!

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

For heritage I'd say either one is good. I don't know whether immunity to falls or resistance to emotion effects is considered more powerful but it feels like they might both come up in a long enough game. Note that there is only one poppet feat tied to a heritage; stuffed poppets can get resistance to precision damage. Personally I'd probably still lean to Wish for the backstory vibes, but being able to jump off anything without a fear is fun too (ask anyone with cat fall).

Also note that even if you pick up some Oracle feats, you don't need to dip into the spells much. The dedication nets you a cantrip or two for utility, then the Revelation which lets you play up your Curse t level 4 comes with a buffing focus spell cast as a reaction at the start of combat. Since you might not have the highest Cha, you might not even want to pick up regular spells, or if you do, only grab support things. Either way, how much spellcasting you want after those cantrips is more or less up to you. You can always leave the Oracle after the 2 feats, or get 3 and then start a new dedication.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

I made a very similar character for PFS. Went stuffed poppet (teddy bear knight) redeemer champion of Grandmother Crow. She's about protecting children and fit well with my idea. Her favored weapon is staff, so I made my staff appear as a wooden sword. At 3rd level he'll get his mount, an animated ottoman.