[PF] advice for an archeologist bard

[MalcolmReynolds]

Hey all, rpg noob in general here wanting to make an archeologist bard.

basically my group is prepping 4 characters each before coming together so that we can form a somewhat balanced party. for my first 3 i've got a blasty wilder (psionic blasting, high damage i hope) a gunslinger (ranged damage) and either a barbarian or fighter, havent decided (either way, melee bruiser with 1 big weapon)

for my last i want the more support role this would offer, being a textbook, charming party face, some light healing and illusion spells and rogue like tendencies. i would, however, still need to be somewhat decent in combat.

obvious influence for this character is Indy (queue music), so i'd prefer to make him good with unarmed and guns secondary if at all. given the 3, maybe 4 man party with npc damage would be important.

we're starting level 5 and i'd like to try and keep all monoclass, though i do see the advantage of dipping a couple of levels into a fighter for the bonus feats. only pathfinder stuff is allowed, basically if its not on the open game content site it doesnt exist

cheers for the help

Mal

[Corlindale]

Seems like the rest of your party has damage covered pretty well, so the most optimal course for you might be buffing, support and perhaps some battlefield control.

As I understand it, it is somewhat difficult to become good with unarmed unless your build is very dedicated towards it (ie. you're a monk), and likewise guns are probably most optimal in the hands of a gunslinger. But I guess you could go for guns and build it kinda like you would an archery bard, I just think it would be less optimal.

Going with the indy theme, some kind of control build focusing on tripping/disarming with a whip might be both thematic and powerful - and as a bard you get whip proficiency for free. Tripping is probably most potent, since a greater variety of foes are susceptible to it, but it depends a little on the campaign too. Remember that your Luck power buffs CMB as well.

Since you don't have bardic performance, you will be relying on your spells to buff your party. Haste and Good Hope are the Big Two for party buffing. Gallant Inspiration is also an excellent early spell - in fact it is even better for a bard that doesn't get Inspire Courage, since there'll be no stacking issues.

There are also many good control spells on the bard list, but remember that you aren't a full caster, so you probably need something to do in combat besides that. Control with the whip is one option, gunslinging another. Intimidating with Dazzling Display is also a popular option for bards. UMD can work well too, it's just rather expensive to rely entirely on that.

EDIT: Oh, and you almost certainly want the Lingering Performance feat, no matter what. It's insanely useful for extending the duration of your otherwise rather liimited Luck rounds - and makes it feasible to be "lucky" at all times in combat.

[sdream]

It's outside the scope of what you were thinking, but in pathfinder a lore/seer oracle can also fulfill face/info/healing/combat pretty well.

The forced seer mystery is +10 to any skill roll once a day (or other options)
Extra mystery feat can give Sidestep secret (cha mod for AC and reflex saves
Your human extra mystery feat can give +20 to any int skill (and stacks with the once a day +10)

Here's my build (I've levelled up to lvl 2):

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=424158

[Corlindale]

Actually, if you really want to emphasize the "loremaster" aspect you can get most of the attractive features of an Oracle of Lore just by dipping 1 level into it with your bard (and spending a few feats), but whether this is worth the delay in bard progression is your call.

Particularly 3 mysteries are interesting: Sidestep Secret for Cha to AC and reflex saves, Lore Keeper for Cha to all knowledge skills and Focused Trance for getting +20 to Int-based checks - with some limitatons - a few times per day. Be mindful of Lore Keeper's anti-synergy with Focused Trance, however.

Getting all these ON TOP OF bardic knowledge will make you a loremaster almost without equal.

[MalcolmReynolds]

as before, probably want to stay monoclass if i can and the oracle doesnt particularly interest me too much...

in regards to weapon, would making my archaologist a knife fighter work? melee and throwing daggers? i understand this could be a problem featwise but with the rogue talents aswell i could probably make something up...

[legomaster00156]

I made a high-level NPC based on Indiana once. I found that a Ranger can actually work much better than an Archeologist Bard.

[Laniius]

I find that unarmed is generally a subpar way to go unless you're a monk. To get the unarmed "feel", there are a couple of weapons. I suggest the cestus. Not that much more damage than fists, 1d4, but looks cool and can be enchanted. Also does 2 different damage types.

For your gun, I'd double check with your DM about how common guns are in his campaign and what kind of ammo is allowed. PF has 3 gun flavours; guns are new and rare (so even a musket is hard to find), guns are new and relatively common (so you find them more often but still only muskets and such) or advanced and relatively common (so you find revolvers and such). This will affect what feat you need to use guns, and perhaps their backfire rates and whatnot.

If the DM is using basic gun rules, I'd suggest at least one level of gunslinger. Otherwise your gun will backfire eventually and take a day or more to fix. I don't have my books handy, but a gunslinger can spend a grit point to fix a broken gun in a standard action, I think. If you don't want a level of gunslinger, I think there may be a feat that gets you some grit and a deed, but I'm not sure. The deed in question is Quick Clear.