Wanting to make a Lizardfolk based on a deathclaw. Uses unarmed attacks to do damage. Seems animalistic barb is best bet with Ape and flavor the fist as a claws that are really more smashing than slashing since for some reason Paizo thinks claws would do less damage than a fist. Fighter is cool too for some of the feats but the damage would be a bit less, however could have actual claws which have agile which helps with MAP...
But wondering about decent feats for a Deathclaw concept?
You might want to define for people not familiar with Fallout what a Deathclaw is.
Technically they are mutated Jackson chameleons that have become giant, intelligent (though usually not able to speak), killing machines that use their claws and mouth to rip people apart.
So a build focused on unarmed attacks I would say is a requirement.
As far as why do claws deal less damage....it's because claws have agile on them. And in the case of the Barbarian instincts, you never get claws alone, you get them as an additional weapon along with a d10 weapon.
I'm having trouble finding it, but I recall there was a stance or style that worked with Claws, I think it may have been catfolked themed but could work with any claws. It could make for an interesting choice.
Tiger Claw stance for monks. Does a d8 slashing.
Awakened animal natural weapons are incredibly weak though but as far as being large size it works.
You might want to define for people not familiar with Fallout what a Deathclaw is.
Technically they are mutated Jackson chameleons that have become giant, intelligent (though usually not able to speak), killing machines that use their claws and mouth to rip people apart.
So a build focused on unarmed attacks I would say is a requirement.
As far as why do claws deal less damage....it's because claws have agile on them. And in the case of the Barbarian instincts, you never get claws alone, you get them as an additional weapon along with a d10 weapon.
I'm having trouble finding it, but I recall there was a stance or style that worked with Claws, I think it may have been catfolked themed but could work with any claws. It could make for an interesting choice.
Not all claws are agile and of course a monsters claws can do a lot more than a d6..
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Well, don't look at what NPCs can do. NPC options aren't balanced against PC options.
Most PC options for claws that I'm familiar with are agile. And all the Animal Barbarian options are as far as I saw.
And, @pauljathome, I believe you're right, I was thinking ClawDancer archetype.
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Tiger Claw stance for monks. Does a d8 slashing.
Awakened animal natural weapons are incredibly weak though but as far as being large size it works.
It's worth know that Tiger stance doesn't actually use claws. It uses your "fist" to make the stance strike granted by the Tiger stance which is called Tiger Claw.
And why does this stance deal more damage than actual claws? It's intended as a balanced option for monks to use compared to other stances.
For something like this, I would consider a lizardfolk base, Monk, Barbarian, or Exemplar (poison or acid damage), and then get the Alchemist multiclass and Advanced Alchemy by level 11 in order to get a free supply of feral mutagens. 1d8 agile claws with an item bonus +1 above what weapons have for a while, for four hours out of the day with four uses of ten-minute emergency vials. It hits your reflex/acrobatics/stealth, but... well, you're playing a deathclaw. It comes with an Atletics boost too.
You could also look at Vesk, since Lizardfolk is a little lackluster for claw options.
If you can figure out a reason for a deathclaw to be holding something in one hand, Thaumaturge is your best dice-based damage boost.
Of course, reworking the ape's fist is a lot simpler... Wait, I forgot! Howl of the Wild added new animal instinct options! Crab has a big claw for 1d10 with razing, and a regular d4 claw that's just there for the parry trait. Just ignore the little claw, and you're good to go. Razing feels great for this because you can tear through shields and walls. ... Ah, right. "Claw" rather than "claws" and it's bludgeoning. Well, let me just suggest that as maybe a little easier to ask the GM to change than the fist.
Vesk is Starfinder though? Are there going to be options to play Vesk in Pathfinder in the future, as far as stuff like Pathfinder Society? Should have put this concept is for PFS play. That's honestly the only Pathfinder or Starfinder I ever get to play is org play.
Vesk is Starfinder though? Are there going to be options to play Vesk in Pathfinder in the future, as far as stuff like Pathfinder Society? Should have put this concept is for PFS play. That's honestly the only Pathfinder or Starfinder I ever get to play is org play.
Ah, PFS. Then I'd go with lizardfolk crabarian and the d10 bludgeoning claw, yeah.
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There's a couple more ways you can do this;
* Changeling with Slag May lineage feat, gets cold iron d6 claws that are not agile. This can work if you want to do a barbarian. Stick the versatile heritage onto a reptilian ancestry and you're on your way.
* Instead of going barbarian and getting frustrated that your claws are too agile to work well with rage, don't go barbarian. Go another class that can take a smaller attack and add a lot of damage bonuses, like rogue, exemplar or thaumaturge.
There's a couple more ways you can do this;
* Changeling with Slag May lineage feat, gets cold iron d6 claws that are not agile. This can work if you want to do a barbarian. Stick the versatile heritage onto a reptilian ancestry and you're on your way.
* Instead of going barbarian and getting frustrated that your claws are too agile to work well with rage, don't go barbarian. Go another class that can take a smaller attack and add a lot of damage bonuses, like rogue, exemplar or thaumaturge.
Or just Ape and pretend its a claw but you're doing more bludgeoning from raw force than finese.
There's a couple more ways you can do this;
* Changeling with Slag May lineage feat, gets cold iron d6 claws that are not agile. This can work if you want to do a barbarian. Stick the versatile heritage onto a reptilian ancestry and you're on your way.
* Instead of going barbarian and getting frustrated that your claws are too agile to work well with rage, don't go barbarian. Go another class that can take a smaller attack and add a lot of damage bonuses, like rogue, exemplar or thaumaturge.
A deathclaw from fallout should be hitting hard from just being strong and big. A rogue doesn't fit that exactly.
I still think its incredibly lame to say all claws are agile. Oh really? You think a bear uses agility to smack someone? Nope. They just hit really hard plus lacerations from the claw. There should be feats or other options for claws to do more damage but lose the agility trait. Or some way to add b,p,s to a weapon that doesn't normally have it, even if its natural, there's all kinds of magic and tech and even magictech type stuff.Best hope with Slag May claw is Fury barb and you'd only do 1d6+7. That's nice if you're a rogue but weak for a barb.
A deathclaw from fallout should be hitting hard from just being strong and big. A rogue doesn't fit that exactly.
I still think its incredibly lame to say all claws are agile. Oh really? You think a bear uses agility to smack someone? Nope.
So....you have a bad idea here.
Agile in PF2 has nothing to do with agility, funnily enough.
Agile is the trait that means your follow up attacks suffer less from MAP.
The trait that makes them dexterity based (commonly associated with agility) is finesse.
Agile is a decent trait, as it makes second attacks more likely to hit. It's generally worth the 1 reduced die size we commonly see for agile weapons. You can do the math, but 1d8 non-agile is roughly equal to 1d6 agile because of the increased hit chance. Especially as you get additional sources of bonus damage and weapon dice represent a reduced percentage of your total damage.
Keep in mind that at maximum weapon damage dice (3d8 vs 3d6) the difference in damage (on average) is 13.5 vs 10.5, 3 points of damage on average. But by the time you add in things like elemental runes and bonus damage from class, hitting that second time will give you more damage than the weapon dice. Now, of course you have to do more advanced calculations based on to hit vs AC and bonus damage to figure out exactly what the break event points are, but generally speaking agile is worth it.
And has nothing to do with dexterity.
But they probably could have given the trait a different name to avoid confusion.
That aside, as long as your GM is on-board, re-flavoring any natural attack as claws (as long as mechanically it works out the same) should probably be fine.