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View Full Version : Making a harlequin/evil clown kind of character



Cedrass
2010-03-08, 01:18 PM
Hello fellow playgrounders!

In the campaign I current play in, we've been in a kind of tight spot for a while now, and I do not expect my character to be able to celebrate his 23th birthday. So I have been thinking on what kind of character I'd want to do.

And, I've watched Disney's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame recently (Awesome movie by the way), and decided I want to do Clopin, but I also wanted to mix him with a Beguiler I did a while ago, that sadly did not survive long. He was possessed by a Demon turned good cause of some ritual, and had a kind of treacherous backstory, but he tried to redeem himself with the help from this demon. Weird, I know. I like my backgrounds to be as unique as can be.

Now... I decided I want to push the concept. I want him to be a bastard, that got possessed by a demon too, but this time the guy was a bastard, got possessed by this demon and realizes how much of a bastard he was. Thing is, the demon is fighting for control over the body. The guy would be a rich daddy's boy, involved in a lot of political matters, but I want the demon to be an ass and to totally ruin everything for him. He'll insult the wrong persons, disguise himself as a clown and screw around, just to make my character's life impossible.

This is basically the backstory, now, what I'm wondering is if I should go Bard or Beguiler... Bard would easily give me access to the "tools" to make the clown part work, but I feel like the Beguiler's spells work more with the demonic side I want my character to reflect...

There's also the fact that I do not know if I can make an effective Bard and I don't like to multiclass like a freak, so I'd be willing to take maximum 3 classes or prestige classes.

I'd be human, and it would be a Pathfinder game. There are no houserules that could impact on this choice. Pretty much anything is allowed as long as it's in a book we own, and we own all the important ones: All the Completes, ToB, MIC, and some enviromental ones (The cold one and desert one, can't remember the names)

I am not really looking for a build per se, but I'd be glad if any of you can point me in the right direction as to what to do.

Thank you.

Quirp
2010-03-08, 01:35 PM
A bard is a very interesting character for your concept. Playing one is quiet easy since his spells can (at least at low levels) be used as a wizards or sorcerers (grease, glitterdust) with some parts of a beguiler (suggestion, charm). Especially the suggestion spell might be nice for your character since he could switch from the original to the demon mid-battle and suggest funny things to your allies, yourself or your enemies (roll a d3). If you want your character to "make peace with his inner demon(s)" (literally) he could take on the Acolyte of the Skin PrC (Complete Arcane). It is not that powerful, but would fit the fluff quiet well. The Sublime Chord PrC can give a Bard 9th level spells.

Starscream
2010-03-08, 01:49 PM
Bard might be the most sensible choice.

If you have access to Dragon Compendium, there is an actual class called Jester, which is sort of like a more offense oriented bard, who relies on jokes and mockery rather than music.

I'd say it's more powerful than a core-only bard, but bards have access to a lot of cool PrCs like Sublime Chord and Seeker of the Song.

LichPrinceAlim
2010-03-08, 02:02 PM
Bard might be the most sensible choice.

If you have access to Dragon Compendium, there is an actual class called Jester, which is sort of like a more offense oriented bard, who relies on jokes and mockery rather than music.

I'd say it's more powerful than a core-only bard, but bards have access to a lot of cool PrCs like Sublime Chord and Seeker of the Song.

I second Jester.

However, would a Jester's comedy count for Sublime chord, cuz then u have a truly evil clown

Cedrass
2010-03-08, 02:40 PM
Is the Jester a class, or an ACF for Bards? If so, would it be compatible with Pathfinder's Bard?

Starscream
2010-03-08, 03:01 PM
Is the Jester a class, or an ACF for Bards? If so, would it be compatible with Pathfinder's Bard?

It's an actual full class, found in Dragon Compendium.

Cedrass
2010-03-08, 03:07 PM
Well, as far as I know none of my friends have this book. So I'll look into Bard.

Sublime Chord looks nice, with 9th level spells, I'll see if it can fit my character thematicaly. Is a party-buffer/ennemy debuffer bard viable? I never actually saw someone play a bard :smallconfused:

Akal Saris
2010-03-08, 07:09 PM
Yeah, it's viable enough, especially if you have a lot of physical damage dealers. Most focus on improving inspire courage.