[PF] Kingmaker Ranger help - Natural Weapon style worth it?

[Capricornus]

Hi there, I'm about to start a Kingmaker campaign, and am considering playing a Ranger. Specifically a Half-Orc Ranger using the Natural Weapon fighting style.

Now, I am intrigued by the idea of a feral Ranger who uses tooth and claw. Taking the "Toothy" alternate racial trait from the APG, I get a 1d4 Bite attack which counts as a primary attack (meaning, I assume, full base attack and str bonus, but does it mean 1-1/2 str bonus?). At second level, I get Aspect of the Beast, gaining 2 1d4 claw attacks (also primary natural weapons). I will focus on Str and Con. I am also considering the Infiltrator archetype for some Natural Armor bonuses. (Take Favored Enemy: Animals at first level, taking the Natural Armor adaptation at L3)

Has anyone had any experience with this kind of character and is it terrible? It seems like it might be, but it looks kind of fun to play.

Ancillary questions:
1. - When I get my bite and 2 claws going, how will my attack routine look?
At L2, will it be (with BA +2 and Str +4) 2 Claws +6 (1d4+4) and 1 Bite +6 (1d4+4)?
2. - What feat is good in this build? I was considering Power Attack. Or maybe Keen Scent to gain the Scent ability.
3. - Any way to gain Pounce without being a Barbarian?
4. - Later on is Eldritch Claws worth it? DR seems to be one of the biggest issues for this kind of character.
5. - Taking the Infiltrator archetype, do natural armor bonuses from this stack? i.e. if I take the Natural Armor adaptation at 3rd and again at 8th level from a different favored enemy, do I get +4 natural armor? Or can I only have one adaptation active at a time?

More when I think of them. Suggestions, comments, experiences appreciated.

[Capricornus]

Additionally, anything from Ultimate Combat add to this concept?

[Tvtyrant]

The thing about natural attacks is they have the same to hit drawback no matter how many there are past 1. So 100 natural attacks they each have the same chance of hitting as the second attack.

[Greenish]

The thing about natural attacks is they have the same to hit drawback no matter how many there are past 1. So 100 natural attacks they each have the same chance of hitting as the second attack.PF changed the rules so that you can have more than one (or one set) of primary natural attacks, I seem to recall.

[Tvtyrant]

PF changed the rules so that you can have more than one (or one set) of primary natural attacks, I seem to recall.

Even better! My main point was you want to get as many natural attacks as possible, so look for racial tentacles/horns.

[Coidzor]

Well, doublecheck if gaining the DR will allow your natural weapons to bypass that same DR.

I'm assuming no 3.5 content is allowed, as there's a number of items there that aid this kind of build immensely.

[Keld Denar]

Sorry, I'm a bit of a 3.5 natural weapons expert, but I'm not at all versed in Pathfinder. Assuming rules consitencies between Pathfinder and 3.5, I'll tell you:

You can only have one primary natural weapon, or set of primary natural weapons. If you have multiple natural weapons, one of them is primary, the rest are all secondary. If I was you, I'd pick the claws to be primary, since you have 2 of them and you'll get a better to-hit with them, and a better return on Str damage. Primary weapons only get 1x +Str, unless the specific creature has an exception (most creatures with only a single bite, also all dragon tail attacks, etc). Secondary natural weapons only ever get 1/2x +Str, again, unless an exception exists. EDIT: I did not know that about Pathfinder, as I mentioned, not an expert on Pathfinder...

The drawback of natural weapons is that you'll never gain more attacks/round than you have at 2nd from advancing BAB. Draconomnomnomnomicon has Rapid Strike, but its a 3.5 source AND you don't qualify by virtue of your creature type (Dragons, Aberrations, Plants, and...Elementals? only). The other side of the coin, here, is that if you gain more natural attacks through various other means (a gore, sting, tentacles, slam, more arms, claws on your feet, etc), then you'll simply gain more attacks/round by virtue of having more limbs.

About the only way to really increase damage with natural weapons is to scale their size or effective size, through feats like Improved Natural Attack or spells like Enlarge Person, increase your Str (only 1/2 str with secondary weapons), and gain outside sources of bonus damage (Sneak Attack, etc).

As far as DR, that is one of the primary challenges of natural weapons. 3.5 has a few ways to get around it, but I'm not familiar enough with Pathfinder. The issue with it is that the more attacks you make per round, the more DR is gonna skim off the top.

WRT Natural Armor, no, it doesn't stack. Do keep in mind that there are two sources of Natural Armor, though. Natural Armor stacks with an enhancement bonus to Natural Armor. So if you had +3 NA, and you were wearing a +2 Amulet of Natural Armor (which gives an enhancement to NA), you'd have a total of +5 NA. Natural Armor always stacks with manufactured armor.

[Greenish]

Natural weapons in PF (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/rules-for-monsters/universal-monster-rules#TOC-Natural-Attacks), for the curious.

Which also answers OP's first question: yes, that attack sequence is correct.

[Capricornus]

3.5 material may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

The Eldritch Claws feat makes your natural weapons count as magic and silver.

Another question, will Haste work with Natural Attacks? i.e., if Hasted, will I get an additional attack with a claw or bite?

[Keld Denar]

Yea. Haste will work. You pick one of your natural weapons and make an extra attack with it. A wise choice would be one of your primary natural weapons with the highest damage.

[stack]

There is also a feat, razor tusk (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/razortusk), to give a half-orc a bite attack, in case you don't want to lose ferocity. It is weak though because it is specifically listed as a secondary attack.

Rending Claws (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/rending-claws-combat) might come in handy later.

[Capricornus]

Alternatively, what do people think of a Changeling (race from the Carrion Crown adventure path that gets 2 1d4 claws and a +1 Natural Armor and a potential +1 trait bonus to melee damage rolls) Barbarian with the Lesser Fiend Totem Rage Power (which grants a 1d8 Gore attack when raging)?

This way you still get three primary natural attacks, a natural armor bonus, and rage, as well a similar skill set (with Traits) as a Ranger, albeit with fewer skill points. The stat bonuses for a Changeling are not so beneficial for a Barbarian, however (+2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Con).

[Larpus]

Alternatively, what do people think of a Changeling (race from the Carrion Crown adventure path that gets 2 1d4 claws and a +1 Natural Armor and a potential +1 trait bonus to melee damage rolls) Barbarian with the Lesser Fiend Totem Rage Power (which grants a 1d8 Gore attack when raging)?

This way you still get three primary natural attacks, a natural armor bonus, and rage, as well a similar skill set (with Traits) as a Ranger, albeit with fewer skill points. The stat bonuses for a Changeling are not so beneficial for a Barbarian, however (+2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Con).
Another possibility is make a Lizardfolk (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/3rd-party-races/paizo-fans-united/lizardfolk), who starts play with 2 1d4 Claws and the bonus is more relevant than the Changeling.

However, they're a bit too geared towards swimming and look kinda weak compared to the pimped-out races, so I'd ask your DM to grab the +2 Str (so it's on par with the others) and the Bite attack for free, which looks only fair. Possibly ask for some alternatives to the swim stuff if it's unlikely to come up in the campaign.

[NamelessNPC]

IIRC, the only way to get pounce besides barb10 is Psiwar