Okay, I think I'm just about done shopping what kind of character I am making, and I'm hoping for some advice on how to sew it together! :) It's currently tri-class, and its feeling a bit diluted and aimless. Maybe a strong prestige class can help make sense of it?
I've settled on a tiny fox thief, that is such a good thief it steals the elements around it (via terrokineticist). I like all the flavor, fun, and twists of the character, but I'm struggling to rein it all in with the multiclasses. The character would dip in and out of fox shape, but predominantly hang out as a tiny fox and uses mischievous tail to steal like a boss.
Core character concepts:
ROLE - melee with the option to shoot on surprise rounds, high rogue-like skills (disable/slight/acro) and magic traps. A big focus on stealth. I want a damage source that is irrelevant to size, like kinetic blast and sneak attack. Reach is good too.
CLASS 1: Terrokineticist - archetype that changes (or steals) its elemental focus based off what ranger terrain you are in. Pure Aether is better for the thief concept, but after reading Terrokineticist it just sounded so fun to suddenly find yourself with a whole other toolkit for an encounter. I love the idea of elemental overflow changing my fur color as I walk into a dungeon or find a fire shrine in the middle of the woods. Really cool RP stuff.
CLASS 2: a trap springer class (so unchained rogue, slayer, trapper ranger, either of the seekers) the popular campaign trait for traps is not an option.
CLASS 3 - one level of Mouser so that I can flank inside enemy squares
RACE: Kitsune for free fox shape, i'd love to do 9 tails some day but no feat economy for it. +Cha or +int depending on how the classes work out.
20 point buy: In fox for the stat array would be either 6/22/14/10/10/16 or 6/22/14/16/10/10 depending. I prefer int in general, but mouser makes good use of Cha
FEATS: For combat stuff, think "square domination." feats that I know I want are:
1. "Redirect Attack" (combined with Mouser it can be pretty powerful, though I'm worried about competitive CMB as tiny, Equality of All trait gives a +2, but the non perfect BAB hurts without feats)
2. Gasping Tail, Mischievous Tail - needed for kinetic blasting in fox form. KB specifically says KBs are never wielded and therefor should be good enough for Kinetic Blade/Whip. Once we get whip, the Fox would be in a sweet spot for the build.
3. Vulpine pounce/swift kitsune shapechanger - this is why people play kitsune right??
4. Lunge (optional) - to help with the foxes reach, but this might be moot by the time I get kinetic whip or something else with reach, like prehensile hair (if I do the rogue that gets hexes)f
I dont need the ranged suite of feats, i only want to shoot things that arent in melee. Tripping would be awesome too, just worried about the CMB. Tiny uses Dex to CMB which will greatly help in that department though.
focusing on rogue with a minor in kineticist makes midgame combat weak, lacking the major support features needed to tackle mid-end game monsters. even unchained rogue seems very lacking compared to other classes, being pretty gear dependant to check things like dr and high ac. kineticist make with a rogue minor, just feels like a kineticist behind on his high level wild talents and gets way less skills but brings major mass damage mechanics. vmc rogue could bring more flavor, but feels dirty and starves an already feat starved build. Esoteric Knight slows down everything, but brings some much needed feat support at the cost of damage. One of the million wildshape classes could bring a ton of needed utility in this build, and I could just give up on kineticist at that point, or just take a small dip in aether and call it a day.
What are your thoughts? What can you think of to help me steal the elements?? Should I just give up and play druid?? :)
I would like to help.
However, my only experience with the kineticist class was when a fellow player did, or at least said he could do, something so OP they have been banned in our games since. And if you are wedded to the Terrokineticist idea my advice would be ask someone else. Preferably someone who knows something useful.
If you are interested in how to make an effective arcane trickster kitsune with fox shape feat to start I can make suggestions there.
yes, open to all suggestions :) knineticists are really really strong depending on what you pick. you can basically throw someone's house at them if you were creative enough, but that's another thing I loved about terro, it reins the power in a bit because you never know what you can do ahead of time so there is a lot of making lemonaid out of lemons, and you might get the fire blast vs the fire immune boss, etc.
Core character concepts:
ROLE - melee with the option to shoot on surprise rounds, high rogue-like skills (disable/slight/acro) and magic traps. A big focus on stealth. I want a damage source that is irrelevant to size, like kinetic blast and sneak attack. Reach is good too.
Being tiny makes stealth real easy. sneak attack does damage w/o needing str.
CLASS 2: a trap springer class (so unchained rogue, slayer, trapper ranger, either of the seekers) the popular campaign trait for traps is not an option.
Not sure what "trap springer class" class means. I would look at unchained rogue and ninja and choose one.
CLASS 3 - one level of Mouser so that I can flank inside enemy squares
Underfoot Assault is very powerful and looks well worth the 1 level dip.
RACE: Kitsune for free fox shape,
This is your whole concept which means this
...
FEATS:
3. Vulpine pounce/swift kitsune shapechanger - this is why people play kitsune right??is not on. Free fox shape and swift shapechanger both replace kitsune magic so it is one of only.
What I have in mind is an arcane trickster. What you want is 3 levels of witch (ashtifah), one of swashbuckler (mouser) and 1 of either ninja or unchained rogue.
What I suggest you do is look at the classes mentioned, especially witch (ashtifah). Look at ninja, unchained rogue and what achetype/s appeal and which one you want.
Then we can talk some more.
I've never heard of Ashtifah! what a cool archetype! Swift Kitsune shapechanger is the feat, its the prereq for vulpine pounce. My worry with the witch archetype is that it might cover up my bite attack if I have to wear a veil right?
I've never heard of Ashtifah! what a cool archetype!
You catch on fast. Witch is my favourite class to play and Ashiftah is close to, if not the, best archetype. And it works particularly well with your concept of being able to run around as a fox.
It is this which is best about the archetype-
"Ghostwalk (Su): Starting at 2nd level, as a move action after using a hex, an ashiftah can become invisible as per vanishAPG and can then take a 5-foot step. Using ghostwalk doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
This ability replaces the hex gained at 2nd level."
Swift Kitsune shapechanger is the feat, its the prereq for vulpine pounce.
My mistake. I thought you were referring to the Fast Shifter alternate racial trait. And you have the things the right way around, because superior shifter gives you the fox shape feat, where fast shifter is inferior to the swift kitsune shapechanger feat.
The bad news is you won't be reaching BaB +10 any time soon.
My worry with the witch archetype is that it might cover up my bite attack if I have to wear a veil right?
You will have to ask your GM about that.
If they say you can't bite with the veil on you can see about taking-
"Natural Finesse: Sophisticated kitsune hone graceful and precise movements at the expense of their skill with their natural attacks. The kitsune gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat at 1st level. This racial trait replaces natural weapons."
It is 3rd party so you will need your GMs approval for that too.