Tl;Dr: I'm playing with a lot of restrictive house rules and I want help making sure my character is as effective as they can be despite this. This kind of thing doesn't really lend itself to a tl;dr, but I want to emphasize I'm not here to complain about this.
So I've joined a campaign that's running a few house rules:
<>We're using Free Archetype and ABP for Striking and perception potency
<>We have access to 4/6 of the common races only (no elves or goblins)
<>Uncommon feats, especially anything outside Core/Advanced require GM approval
<>We won't be able to craft magic items until level 9
<>Spells not gained through progression take days to learn—the same number of days as it would normally take in hours
<>Magic items are going to be rare and it was implied we really don't get a choice in what we stumble across. The ability to transfer runes is also implied to be locked behind level 9.
<>Because we shipwrecked we don't have starting items beyond what we could reasonably grab as we woke in the middle of an unnatural storm(I wasn't wearing my armor to bed).
<>We shipwrecked at the far edge of a desert. The locals do not use or craft metal armor. So I have access to studded leather at best.
<>Wearing armor for more than 2 hours at a time in this desert causes detrimental conditions in the heat(another house-ruling I think), so I won't reliably have it donned during travel encounters. It wasn't outright stated, but it was implied wearing metal armor would likely have harsher restrictions even if I could craft it.
<>We can respec once within reason.
I'm playing a Redeemer Champion with shield ally to play support/tank. I won't have more than studded armor at best until we leave the desert and I don't have high hopes of getting a sturdy shield. We aim to leave the desert before long—the campaign is a long overland journey—so getting plate will eventually be viable.
We have a Wizard and a Monk, possibly one more if the DM keeps trying to recruit.
I agreed to play knowing (most) of these terms so I'm not here to complain at all. I mostly want to know my best options to still be effective in the face of the limitations presented.
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IMO is up to your GM to deal with this situation and provide armors, weapons and all needed things to you. If your GM ignore this he/she will risk to kill the party once the default game balance expects that the players to be well equipped.
That said. If you don't have enough trust that your GM will give you all necessary equipment. Consider to make a monk instead (you can take champion archetype if you want to protect the others). Because your GM put you in a situation where some lighter classes specially monks and casters will have a great advantage over characters that needs and depends from armors.
I just chime in with my experience as I play a Dex-based Champion in Age of Ashes: a dagger wielding Paladin of Vildeis. Overall, it works fine. I grabbed Rogue Dedication for Sneak Attack and Far Throw, and Dual-Weapon Warrior for Double Slice. I still have some Strength for the damage bonus.
So the concept of a Dex-based Redeemer is not completely out of the question, unlike what Humblegamer posts implies. But I think you need a certain level of optimization to get it work properly, unlike a Str-based Champion which is quite straightforward to build.
no elves and goblins? well thats a game I wouldnt have joined
but I agree with the notion of most people - going dexterity is the way to go if you have no easy access to armor
and no magic items till level 9?
I seriously hope for yout that excludes runes or that the gm carefully handcrafts your enemies
because this will become a very dangerous slogfest
by level 9 runes provide +1 armor, +1 saves, almost +2 attack and +1 weapon damage dice (closer to the third)
This strikes me as a fascinating concept... almost as intriguing as it is incredibly alarming. So many restrictions can be the basis for a really unique and niche kind of adventure, but often as not seem to double as red flags for a GM with low tolerance for player input/deviation. Even so, I can't help but want to know more. I hope this turns out to be a really interesting adventure and the GM recognises that a long list of restrictions comes with an equal responsibility to make those limitations worth the effort.
I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of advice, but keep in mind tactics you can use to turn an advantage in the numbers game--taking cover for extra AC in a pinch, for example, or using Intimidation to demoralize an enemy before you attack.
(...seriously though, I can understand no elves, but no goblins? /tease)
I had almost completely forgot I made this post. Sorry for the delay. Things got busy.
Maybe they are using 2e system in a homemade setting.(...seriously though, I can understand no elves, but no goblins? /tease)
For starting races. Our home city apparently had a dearth of them.
An early pocket solution would be to grab a few drakeheart mutagens. Either by buying them (desert theme does fit with alchemist trope, so there may be alchemists around?) or by someone in the group grabbing the alch dedication (the wizard?) to have a constant supply.
I forgot, alchemist was also another option that was banned, it doesn't fit the setting.
but I agree with the notion of most people - going dexterity is the way to go if you have no easy access to armor
I would agree, but our current objective is to get the hell out of the desert after securing some money, so I presume my lack of armor (should I survive) is a temporary situation. But it's worth considering so I'll still look into it.
I'd ask the DM to get the soulforger dedication
It definitely a great solution for the desert, but I also have the same problem with it as the Dex build. It's addressing something that is a temporary concern, only until we get out of the desert. I'll look into it to see what the other advantages of the dedication are though, certainly.
The OP mentioned they are going to use ABP so, for what concerns runes, they are going to be ok.
ABP specifically for Striking and Perception advancement only. We will get magic items, I'm told that we'll have a hell of a time buying them and will likely just take what we get. Transferring runes is also not allowed until level 9.
Consider to make a monk instead
Someone's already a monk. I am very jealous of his level-appropriate AC.
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If I'm being honest, I completely and totally am expecting a TPK from all the restrictions. Like I have almost no doubt. But trainwreck or miracle, I wanna see what happens.
5 silver on trainwreck :P
APB didnt click but yeah, monk seems to be one of the few viable classes here
you could all go monk and say it was a monastic ship that crashed :P
throwing the whole group in a tough spot and saying 'it gets better around level x when you leave the desert' seems a bit problematic imo
I wish you much luck and funy anyways - feel free to tell us if and how the whole thing trainwrecked xD
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And, by the way, I just can't not ask: do melee PCs have to train for several weeks to get their feats, or are only spellcasters hit by all this training?
I think you read it the same way I did the first time, but reading the bullet again it seems more like only additional spells need that much time to learn. Basically if the cleric needs to learn an uncommon spell, they're affected, but otherwise the only classes to whom it matters are like Wizards and Witches. Classes who can expand their repertoire but don't already know most of the spells on their list.
We TPK'd not even two sessions in and the other players outvoted me in moving to 5E because they didn't like how the system handled. : \
Dump a bunch of stupid, unfavorable houserules on everyone and, no s#$~ genius, the system won't play correctly.
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We have a gaming rule. Play everything by the book as strictly as possible for the first time. Once you are comfortable with the system, then feel free to change it up.
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And, by the way, I just can't not ask: do melee PCs have to train for several weeks to get their feats, or are only spellcasters hit by all this training?I think you read it the same way I did the first time, but reading the bullet again it seems more like only additional spells need that much time to learn. Basically if the cleric needs to learn an uncommon spell, they're affected, but otherwise the only classes to whom it matters are like Wizards and Witches. Classes who can expand their repertoire but don't already know most of the spells on their list.Yeah, you are probably right. So it should be:
do melee PCs have to train for several weeks to get their feats, or are onlyspellcastersWizards, Magi and Witches hit by all this training?But that's still frankly bad and unfair. I did play a campaign once where a system demanded downtime (and plot availability) for learning spells for spellcasters. And of course our campaign didn't have any downtime, because the world was in danger, you know. So my mage had only starting spells (well, mostly) for the whole more than half a real year campaign. It was not fun at all. I won't ever play a system where a GM has that much power over my character's development. It was Talsorian's Witcher btw. (And a terrible system in many other ways too)
PF2 still at least gives base spells per level. Not enough at least for Wizards and Witches.
What you describe sounds like a GM problem though.
Note also that characters who need to Retrain would have the same issues.
We TPK'd not even two sessions in and the other players outvoted me in moving to 5E because they didn't like how the system handled. : \
Dump a bunch of stupid, unfavorable houserules on everyone and, no s~%+ genius, the system won't play correctly.
Ouch
And 5e of all thingsHonestly I would dump the group
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I'd dump the GM (after all, the group was not the cause of the fiasco, but a GM who doesn't know their game).
That is probably better but possibly Harder to do
Yeah, I peaced out with a very polite, "You guys are cool and all, but no thanks."
They were already laying out a ton of unfavorable house rules for 5e, like week-long long rests at the end of the session. God knows what else they'd heap on.