PATHFINDER, new campaing HELP!!!!

[Dr Pavo]

hello!
so, lets make it short.... im new at pathfinder, long time 3.5E player, we're starting a new campaing with this system, i does not know whats going to be the main plot, i dont have any details of it.
anyway, in 3.5 i've always wanted to play a vampire, but with the +8LA, was not going to happen... so i found out that its just a +2 in PF, so i was hoping someone, would help me with some PC ideas with the vampire template.
we'll be starting at lvl 9.. so it will be lvl 7 + vampire..
any ideas??? :smallbiggrin:

[subject42]

Vampires have some pretty big drawbacks and pretty big benefits. Let's see what we can figure out.

Drawbacks:

Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Sunlight will stagger you after one round of exposure and instantly kill you after two rounds.
Immersion in running water will take away 1/3 of your total hit points per round and perma-kill you if your HP hit 0 due to this. (Unless you have a swim speed)
No CON score, so your fortitude save will kinda suck.


Benefits:

Charisma to HP instead of Constitution to AC
Darkvision 60 ft
Natural armor +6
DR 10/magic and silver
Cold and electricity resistance 10
Undead resistances
Fast healing 5
Difficult to actually kill due to gaseous form + resurrection
Lots of special attacks
Free polymorph effects
Free spider climb
CRAZY GOOD STAT BOOSTS


Based on that, here are some thoughts:

Since you don't have a CON score, that will obviously be your dump stat.

You'll want a good Fort Save in the event that you eat a ray of disintegrate, and you'll want a reason to have a high charisma score.

If possible, play a base race with a swim speed or gain one through class features. That will negate your running water weakness.

Your stat boosts and ability scores make melee and grappling a nice proposition, but you'll need some ranged capability for the inevitable Cleric of the Garlic God who Lives On An Island In A River.

My first suggestion is a human Antipaladin (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/alternate-classes/antipaladin), then use the Improved Eldritch Heritage feat chain to grab a swim speed from the aquatic (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/bloodlines/bloodlines-from-paizo/aquatic-bloodline) bloodline at 11th level.

Additionally, take Noble Scion of War (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/noble-scion) to grant Charisma to Initiative.

You won't be subject to your water weakness, you'll have a good fort save, bonuses to saves from Charisma, Charisma to HP, Charisma to Initiative, and Charisma to Hit when smiting.

[subject42]

I've been playing around with this after re-reading the PF rules for templates.

HOLY COW.

First off, the adjustment drops to +1 after a few levels, so you're effectively at level 8 at your point.

Assuming a 25 Pathfinder-style point buy with a human, you can get a stat array that looks like this at CL8/ECL9:

STR: 22
DEX: 18
CON: -
INT: 16
WIS: 16
CHA: 23

Now, if you're an Antipaladin, that comes out to an average of 104 HP due to the the Charisma to HP clause for Vampires as well as their racial addition of toughness for a bonus feat.

You have Full BAB and a rockin' awesome base STR mod.

Grab a cestus and focus on grappling due to your blood drain ability.

If you use a setup like the following, you have something like a +18 to grapple CMB checks at ECL9/CL8.


1) Improved Grapple
Vampire) Alertness
Vampire) Combat Reflexes
Vampire) Dodge
Vampire) Improved Initiative
Vampire) Lightning Reflexes
Vampire) Toughness
Human bonus) Improved Unarmed Strike
3) Snapping Turtle Style
5) Snapping Turtle Clutch
7) Greater Grapple

Something like this would let you grapple as an immediate action when your enemy missed you, and would then let you deal up to 2d4 points of CON damage a round once you had them pinned with the greater grapple feat. If the enemy isn't vulnerable to CON damage, just pound on them with the Cestus and your impressive strength score.

Saves wouldn't be much of a problem, due to CHA to saves (+6 bonus), two good saves, and lightning reflexes as a bonus feat.

You'll just need to keep a bow on hand for those folks that have garlic/crosses/etc.

[Dr Pavo]

jaja wow, thats sounds awesome.. ill have to talk to my DM, because im sure they will start this hole.. "your going to be EVIL???"-thing so... got to talk to them.. but its awesome.

[Eshi]

unless you're playing in an evil campaign, you will have more than a few party conflicts by playing an inherently evil undead monster. You could ask for a house rule that lets you pull a Blade and roll a normal paladin with a grudge against other vampires, or something like that. I'm not a fan of inherent morality in races.

[Madeiner]

+2 LA in Pathfinder, i find it quite ridicolous.

Talk with your DM. I know one of my players wanted to play a vampire, and we had a lot of problems figuring out the party balance.

Dominate at will? Create spawn? That's breaking things.


You can follow the rules if you want, but rest assured that you will NOT be balanced with a party one level above yours, if they are all standard races.

[Frosty]

In PF, Undead use their CHA score not only when calculating HP, but also for Fort saves, so their Fort saves do NOT suck.

In fact, in this one campaign I just started playing in, I'm an undead Paladin, and my DM made me pay duble points for my CHA score :smalltongue:

[subject42]

If the rest of the party isn't high-op, you might want to look at the vampire spawn template instead. It reduces some of the bonuses down to a more reasonable level.

(I think I'm going to use a vampire antipaladin as an NPC at some point, though)

[BIGMamaSloth]

Vampires have some pretty big drawbacks and pretty big benefits. Let's see what we can figure out.

Drawbacks:

Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Garlic holds you at bay for at least one round.
Sunlight will stagger you after one round of exposure and instantly kill you after two rounds.
Immersion in running water will take away 1/3 of your total hit points per round and perma-kill you if your HP hit 0 due to this. (Unless you have a swim speed)
No CON score, so your fortitude save will kinda suck.



Sunlight is a pretty common thing. Doesnt insta-kill in two rounds if outside seem like a pretty glaring weakness to anyone?

[subject42]

Sunlight is a pretty common thing. Doesnt insta-kill in two rounds if outside seem like a pretty glaring weakness to anyone?

The Darklands are a pretty big place.

[Safety Sword]

Darkness as a spell like ability is probably high on your list of things to get.

Or adventure underground.