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My character got insta-killed by an evil plot device and some bad luck so I'm tasking myself with becoming the party's tanky front liner and I'm going about it in the most complicated way possible (because it's more fun for me).
So, my idea is a summoner with the aberration eidolon focusing on athletics to grapple and utilizing the taunt action from guardian and muscle barrier from necromancer. This is being built using free archetype and ancestry paragon variant rules.
Beyond the advantages of being 1 part caster, 1 part martial, my general plan is to take advantage of my extra action to more easily buff up with muscle barrier, making my effective HP higher than a max CON barbarian, grapple the highest threat enemy with the eidolon and then taunt the same enemy while it is grappled, forcing the enemy to become off-guard and suffer an attack penalty from escaping (assuming escape=attack=hostile action) or take an action that will trigger a reaction strike from the eidolon.
I'm not very familiar with the summoner as I mostly ignored it until Impossible Magic. Has anyone else tried a similar build out? Does it seem viable?
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Eidolons tend to be pretty solid at grappling/tripping you can get their main attacks with those as traits and the abberant one seems like a really solid new addition. The initial ability of reactive strike vs anything hitting your pet at level one is really legit.
I think necro could be an interesting archetype for a summoner the ability to throw out some more bodies and some good 1-2 action stuff to do.
I am not sure about guardian though you really want things trying to punch your pet not taunting them away from pet but if you can get them held/tripped could work nicely.
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The attack trait does not make escape attempts hostile actions. We have a handy definition for hostile actions.
"A hostile action is one that can harm or damage another creature, whether directly or indirectly, but not one that a creature is unaware could cause harm. For instance, casting fireball into a crowd would be a hostile action, but opening a door and accidentally freeing a horrible monster wouldn’t be. The GM is the final arbitrator of what is a hostile action."
Trying to get out of a grapple doesn't cause direct or indirect harm or damage, so it's gonna be a stretch for most GMs. I wouldn't base a build cornerstone on it.
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I am not sure about guardian though you really want things trying to punch your pet not taunting them away from pet but if you can get them held/tripped could work nicely.
At the very least, it's at least giving me much needed armor proficiencies as I dumped my armor stats (strength and dexterity) in the early stages of the build, so every AC point I can squeeze in makes a big difference.
I don't plan on using taunt EVERY turn but I do think it will combo well with grapple if the enemy's choices are either to waste an action, build up MAP and then possibly trigger Eidolon's Retort or attack the eidolon at a penalty and still possibly trigger a strike reaction if they're fortunate enough to hit.
Of course, the enemy could attack from range but even if they're casting a spell, they now have a chance of missing....and still triggering Eidolon's Retort. Just gotta be wary of archers and such.
Also I would first talk to the GM about your plan to trigger Taunt with Escape, because I don't think that inherently trying to Escape from something is a hostile action, even if it has the Attack trait.
Trying to get out of a grapple doesn't cause direct or indirect harm or damage, so it's gonna be a stretch for most GMs. I wouldn't base a build cornerstone on it.
Yeah, by default, I'm inclined to agree but my GM has ruled things like generating a passive or sustained debuff effect as hostile so that and escape having the attack trait makes it a little hazy until I get GM confirmation. Still, it's not going to break my build by any means if that one detail doesn't work.
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On the topic of armor proficiencies, I remembered that champion dedication is a thing and the obedience reaction could be interesting. It's both a bit of a reverse taunt and is a sort of mix of the aberration's first 2 abilities. I could probably still afford to squeeze guardian dedication in with Multitalented to keep taunt available.
Assuming a basic melee enemy is grappled and taunted, my train of thought is that the enemy has to either:
- attempt to damage the eidolon at an attack penalty and possibly trigger Surprising Anatomy
OR
- escape, stride at me (possibly risk Eidolon's Retort), attempt a strike at MAP -5 (possibly be forced prone or take mental damage)
OR
- escape, stride to another ally (likely risk Eidolon's Retort), attempt a strike at MAP -5 and another -1 (or -2 with Bodyguard) and become off-guard from taunt
Either way, the enemy is taking a penalty to any of its strikes and either ending up off-guard or risking a significant amount of damage.
Of course enemy "archers" and spellcasters will complicate things but will likely still be subject to some or all of these effects that can't really be accounted for outside of whiteroom scenarios.