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So after talking about effective characters for far longer than is actually necessary, I thought it'd be fun to hear what sort of "terrible, awful, no good" builds that we've got out there. You don't necessarily have to have played these characters, but it would be nice if you could tell us a bit about how they work so we get an idea.
To get the ball rolling, I've pretty much always been a wizard fan and have played around with so many numerous wizards at this point that I have practically abandoned any reasonable way to approach the class, so here is my "muscle wizard."
Ancestry: Hold-Scarred Orc
We're going to want hit points and that Diehard feat. Part of this build is going down, but not staying down. We can grab up ancestry feats like Orc Ferocity, Defy Death, and Undying Ferocity to just stay in the fight as well as survive when our terrible plan goes sideways.
Class: Wizard
I really like the wizard when viewing them as a massive toolbox of tricks. Since the release of the game, one of my favorite tricks has always been Jump and plenty of ways to hamper enemy movement. Especially if they're lacking spell saves! Because...
We're not really using our Intelligence.
We're grabbing up Strength to 16, maxing out that Athletics at every turn and dumping Intelligence to the wayside. Who needs opponents to fail saves? We're just going to use spells that work regardless! This means throwing up walls, creating difficult terrain, and buffing ourselves (or even those smaller, less-strong people that sometimes join us for adventures).
We go with Staff Nexus so that we can churn those higher level spell slots into batteries for our "jump stick" (or, I suppose you can consider it a staff overflowing with charges used for jumping around). We grab up the Mauler Dedication so that we can eventually get Slam Down so that we have an option to heroically jump into battle and knock an enemy prone to protect our incredibly squishy armor-covered champion. Until level 4, of course, we can just keep a hand free so that we can play around with all sorts of little Athletic shenanigans as we utilize our mobility to outfox our opponents.
Generally, this is a character that works best with a group that wants someone to control the battlefield, but may need that bit of magical assistance as well. Being able to change the rules to the encounter and then break those very rules the next is really quite fun and - with the right group - can actually trivialize certain opponents.
Just make sure to keep an extra trick or two up your sleeves to deal with flyers (or as we call them - cheaters).
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I've heard that the weapon improvisor archetype is a trap, but I don't care. I love hitting things with my skillet.
I like designing PCs whose KAS is 10, and then figuring out where to go from there. Typically it's casters w/ non-save, non-counteract spells, though there's also a Dwarf Thaumaturge who'll take Assurance (which avoids crit fails so gets decent enough bonus damage).
And there's the Str Swashbuckler w/ bastard sword for normal use, alongside those cool, unique feats of the class. I believe I found a free-hand finesse weapon for Finishers (not that I'd lean into those). I'm okay with the obvious reasons not to play it, and think there's enough social skills and support there that'd suit PFS play.
And I had an idea for a low-mobility, low-attack Champion who fights mainly via their steed and Char-based Cantrips. It's on the shelf indefinitely because Summoner does that so much better, perhaps w/ MCD Champion.
I don't know if this would be dumb per se, but I also like building Monks that look like another class. Either a martial with the audacity to shun armor (esp. one from a barbarian tribe) or a caster who never said they were a caster. There is one low-Str build that does act like a caster casting "Stun" (Stunning Fist) alongside ki powers, though I prefer their archer version.
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I'm currently running what I call the 8 Con Elven Witch challenge -- open to all characters with a Con flaw ancestry and 6hp class. All you have to do is *never* put a stat bump in Con, and see how long you live.
Right now I'm at Lvl 5 with an Ancient Elf Spinner of Fates Witch/Cleric of Shyka in PFS. She's never *really* been in danger -- but I maintain that you can make it to level 5 in PFS with a potato. The real work starts now.
She's a buffer/debuffer with an Elven Branch Spear that she's never used other than as a perch for her owl familiar. Her job is to inflict status penalties and discourage attacks against squishy targets, as well as in-combat healing. Workhorses are Nudge Fate, Needle of Vengeance, Blood Vendetta, False Life, and Haste -- and all the situational cantrips. Keep preparing Schadenfreude for that inevitable Fortitude Crit Fail, but have yet to use it.
I have already created an Awakened Owl Cleric of Shyka, so that when she dies I can play her familiar.
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I don't know if this would be dumb per se, but I also like building Monks that look like another class. Either a martial with the audacity to shun armor (esp. one from a barbarian tribe) or a caster who never said they were a caster. There is one low-Str build that does act like a caster casting "Stun" (Stunning Fist) alongside ki powers, though I prefer their archer version.
DEX Monks play a lot like Rogues -- you're pretty skill-starved but can still easily hit Acrobatics, Stealth, and Thievery.
I have a Dual-Pistol wielding Monk/Bullet Dancer which is a build I can't in good conscience recommend to anyone else, but which is a blast to play. Solid AC and three great saves mean that you can do an awful lot of tanking while you endlessly reload and wait to crit.
And a Ki strike Firearm crit with Stunning Fist will end a combat spectacularly when it does happens.
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Trying to make a bad wizard or at least one that doesn't want to be one.
Human wizard, academy dropout, Improved familiar attunement thesis,
Str+1, Con+1, Wis+0, Dex+3, Int+1, Cha+3
The story, his parents sent him to the best magic boarding school, but he didn't want to be a wizard so ran away with his familiar to join the Circus. Armed with juggling clubs and throwing knives used in circus acts. All his spells can be used in a circus act.
The obvious AP to play this character in is Extinction Curse but that's too obvious, so he's just running away and hasn't found the circus yet.
For characters like this I don't plan them out, I let their first adventures influence if or what archetype they will pick up to further ignore that they started as a wizard.
I guess I would probably want to make a character that tries to have a lot of lighting through base class and archtypes fights in melee and is a face character.
Not sure how I would make all that happen though.
Probably through metal kineticist expanding to electricity and a sorcerer archtype
Lots of spreading out on the stats though cause I would need str con and cha. Only need dex to +2 if im using the metal carpace. Wis would have to stay at 0
I don't know how dumb it is, but I've got a Fleshwarp Dragonblood Ranger, based around "Wow, Ranger has really good Class DC progression, and doesn't really, like, do anything with it" where you use the dragonblooded breath weapon feats and fleshwarp's Gaping Flesh to have a bunch of options using your class DC.
As the player in our group who usually plays characters with pets, I've joked about playing a family of bears.
Don't know if it'd be any good, but in an FA game, it'd an awakened animal beast summoner w/ a bear animal companion (beast master archetype) and later a bear cub (witch or familiar master archetype). Also would use summon animal to summon another bear.
I ran for a Scooby Doo party (Dragon's Demand) where Scooby (a dog Druid) had Scooby Dumb as an Animal Companion, and was going to get a familiar for Scrappy Doo except realized that RPing him would be annoying (and not worth the mechanical investment).
Not sure how Baby Bear would respond to one of their parents popping out of existence when the other went to sleep. :-) (And where's Goldilocks?)
Separately, I now want to play an Awakened Bat Dhampir. :-)