[PF] [RoTrL] Aergo Mavis, Champion of Zura

[Duboris]

So, I'm getting ready to most likely play in a game of Rise of the Rune Lords, and in particular, I'm working on a PC that's Chaotic Neutral. This special brand of Chaotic Neutral has Evil tendencies because of the character in questions affinity for Hedonism, namely in the form of sex, sadism, and masochism.

He is a devout, yet private, worshiper of Zura, Demon lord of Blood and Vampires. He's not so much a fan of the Vampires as he is the Succubi.

That being said, for those of you that don't wish to read an ocean of concept text, skip to the bottom, as I have his stat block there.

I would very much like as many people's opinions on this character, and if possible, I'd like to see him given hypothetical situations in curiosity of how he would act if at all possible. Thank you.

(Criticism is also acceptable.)

Mavis's Concept

1:) Mavis, even while young, was a wonderful looking man. A veritable ocean of charm in the eyes of ladies. When he began to become a fighter he kept those charms and toned his body, adding to his already great amount of charisma. He's not the strongest, and not the most agile, but he's still above-average and is capable of making strides in the front lines of battle.
2:) Mavis is very religious. Unfortunately, the first religion he took part in, he became extremely religious, devoutly believing in the existence of the gods. While others turned to faith, and love, he turned to the Hedonist side of things and found the Queen of blood, Zura. He is still a great follower of her, but he simply practices her worship in private, and atones for his rejection of the ultimate devotion; becoming a vampire, by performing a savaging ritual at night where he mutilates his body ever slightly in a graceful dance with his crimson scythe.

3:) As a man, Mavis has a weak point when it comes to the ladies. He glorifies women at every turn, and frequently spoils them. He's not subtle, and an extremely smooth talker. This trait also applies to everyone else, as he is a wonderful merry maker. He's also not too shabby at wording his way out of trouble, or suspicion.

4:) Mavis is Good-Natured, and is only evil because of his devotion, and fetishes towards Sadism and Masochism. He's not greedy, he's just seductive with weird kinks which he never practices in public. Sadism is the exception, however, as he enjoys the slaughter of enemies that he's actually allowed to kill.

5:) Mavis, while he doesn't practice his obedience via dance in public, is often seen with a small, crimson book on his person. This book is of course, the book of Zura, which preaches towards the ideas of shedding blood, and how people can do it in privacy. It also dictates what people do to silently reveal their faith to other Zurans in good-aligned areas.

Mavis's Goals

1:) Mavis's number one goal is to find a woman who feels as he feels towards Zura, or at the least, a woman who he could convert to her worship. While he is a ladies man, he has an emptiness that only a woman of equal charisma and mental make could fill. There were plenty when he used to go to the gatherings, but alas, most of them were unintelligent wretches who simply wanted to be rebellious. Being a hero in that time wouldn't hurt either, if only so he "Gets the Girl."
2:) I, as a player, want to see Mavis become an important, shaky, member of the party. The wild card that no one can really read, but still find a good friend. I want to see his religion discovered at some point, and see how the players deal with it amongst themselves. I also wouldn't mind them not killing him on the spot once they find out he worships a CE God. K?

Mavis's Secrets

1:) This one's been mentioned before, but he worships Zura. He used to go to gatherings, frequently, and became a figurehead in a low-scale church that worshiped her. Blood offerings, open cannibalism (He wasn't a fan) and Vampire priests. He could of even swore that one woman was a succubus, and ironically enough, it was the woman he loved the most. He fled these gatherings when they wanted him to become a vampire.

Mavis's People

1:) Shayliss Vinder is an acquaintance of Mavis. Of all the people in sandpoint, she's the only single lady that usually... indulges. As for being a worshipper of Zura, Mavis doesn't believe she's cut out for it. Mostly because her father would kill him. He has, of course, not informed Shayliss of his darker, more exotic Fetishes.
2:) Savah Bevaniky is another person that Mavis makes passes towards. The only reason he does this is because she actually looks quite well. Free whet stones don't exactly hurt either. She's also a veritable source of weapon information, and while he does enjoy his scythe, he still feels that it has potential.

3:) Ven Vinder is extremely suspicious of Mavis's passes toward his daughter, and as such, neither of them do business with each other. Mavis feels that if Shayliss were to ever screw up her timing with her visits, he would have to call upon all of his charisma to stop Vinder from beating him to death.

Mavis's Habits

1:) Mavis is friendly towards those he considers his comrades, and even friendlier towards the ones of the opposite sex. While he is a playful flirt, he knows his boundaries, and doesn't just flirt with anyone. Those of the G alignments he sees as "Too Innocent to Corrupt" and therefore prefers to hit on the Neutrals. What he does those of... less savory make, I will not say.
2:) With his male allies, he is the guy that puts the fun twists on all of the smarter people's plans. Need a firework display? He'll make sure to find the big, slightly dangerous ones. He'll be nice enough to light them himself, though. We were supposed to rescue a damsel? Well they never said anything about this room full of jewelry. Goblins are attacking? It's a good thing his scythe was made for tall, wirey frames.

3:) Contrary to his preferred alignment of evil, Mavis is a Chaotic Neutral, and values his allies lives, if only because of his own fragile ego and conscience. If the death of an ally was his fault, he'd be crushed.


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Aergo Mavis
Male Human (Fighter 1)
Neutral Evil Human
Initiative +2 (Charisma +2) (Included)
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 12 flat-footed 15
hp 12 hp
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will -1
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Offence
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Medium Scythe (2d4+3) +4

Statistics
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Str 14 Dex 14, Con 12, Int 14 Wis 8, Cha 16
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Scythe), Persuasive
Traits: Extremely Fashionable (Diplomacy), Charming
Skills: Diplomacy +9, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Engineering) +6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +6, Handle Animal +7
Languages: Common, Infernal, Abyssal
SQ
Combat Gear: Medium Scythe (Crimson Hue)
Other Gear: Scalemail, 91gp
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Special Abilities
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Charming: (+1 Bluff/Diplomacy against someone sexually attracted to him)
Combat Reflexes: (3/AoO per round even when flat-footed)

[Keneth]

Oh dear, old man Vinder sure doesn't like boys like your Mavis there messing around with his daughters. I should know, he never did forgive my assassin for taking advantage of sweet "innocent" Shayliss. :smallbiggrin:

Also, I wasn't aware Savah is supposed to be a looker. I don't recall ever seeing a portrait of her.

Overall, I don't see anything particularly wrong with the character, other than the fact he's bound to be somewhat underpowered (hopefully you're using the anniversary edition which tones things down a bit). There's not really a lot of morally ambiguous situations in the adventure path, so most of the time, no one should question you horribly slaughtering every enemy. As for your religion, it depends mostly on the group. In most of our parties, you'd only get a fist bump for worshiping a sexy demoness, we frequently play neutral characters across the board and everyone's entitled to their beliefs (apart from worshiping Rovagug maybe). Unless there's any devout LG clerics or paladins in the party, it shouldn't cause much of a problem. So long as your belief isn't counter-productive to the party's goals and you don't drift into Chaotic Stupid or Stupid Evil, a normal party of adventurers shouldn't bat an eyelash.

[Duboris]

Well this is only his level 1, so "underpowered" is a stretch. Most likely he'll start to delve into weapon focus, specialization, trip, and be more persuasive in his decanter.

On top of that, the Hedonism doesn't conflict with the parties goals.

The *worst* thing that could happen is he could meet Delvahine, the Succubus in The Iron Cages.

[Keneth]

Optimization starts at level 1 and you've made a fighter with no archetype and 16 Charisma. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it won't work, I'm just saying you may find him to be a bit lackluster once the spellcasters warm up. The 8 Wisdom is pretty drastic for a fighter as well. If your religion won't get you killed, getting charmed and confused by the enemy just might. Improved Iron Will and hero points (if you use them) will be your best friends in such cases.

[Duboris]

Hmm. Being so religious, do you think that doubling as a Cleric would be good?

Making it a good 2/1 split? 2 Fighter per 1 cleric?

[Keneth]

That would just further serve to cripple your character. The only option I see is the Holy Vindictator (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/e-h/holy-vindicator). Since your Charisma score is decent, your channeling ability would be okay as well. Sadly, with Zura, you can't take the Versatile Channeler feat, and you may not have enough uses of channeling to afford using Quick Channel. You'd also have to focus more on cleric at the start (getting the 8th level domain power is generally ideal), and your spellcasting would suffer considerably depending on how many fighter levels you take. With the right archetypes for both fighter and cleric, you could pull it off though, and it's kinda blood-themed so it should fit your concept.

Edit: I forgot you have 8 Wis. You'd need to shuffle your stats around if you wanted to cast any spells at all in the first place. :smallbiggrin:

[Duboris]

Hmm... Perhaps I could simply stick to just being a pure fighter in that case.

I know for a fact I'm taking Improved Critical if I can't get a Keen Scythe by level 8.
I would try Anti-Paladin but, as much as I believe that you can be a hero if you're evil, that only applies to LE and NE. CE is strictly villain material.

I could shift my intelligence to 10, bring my dex to 10, grab full-plate, and increase my stuff a bit. I'll run this as it is for now, however.

[Keneth]

I agree, a straight fighter is most likely the best choice for the character. But you should at least consider taking the two-handed fighter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/two-handed-fighter) archetype, especially if you're gonna lower your Dexterity score. And you should probably invest a rank or two in Knowledge (religion) if you're gonna be devoutly religious.

And yes, CE doesn't work well for heroic characters. At best, they accompany the party on a whim and then decide to screw them over when they get bored.

[Duboris]

Two-handed fighter would be nice.

I could make him similar to the Nualia build. Cleric 4 Fighter 2

Make him one of those "I want to end this in 6 rounds" kind of people that goes all out from the start, doing tons of damage, and then resting shortly after.

[Keneth]

Unfortunately RotRL can go up to 20, so unless you're running a focused build like a holy vindicator, it starts to show more and more that you're pretty bad at being both a cleric and a fighter. Nualia's build functions under the assumption that she takes only cleric levels thereafter (i.e. fighter levels basically become only a dip).

If you're gonna take the cleric path and want to optimize, put at least 15 in Wisdom and keep your fighter levels to a maximum of 3, so that you can get access to 9th level cleric spells. Of course with only 3 fighter levels, two-handed fighter archetype isn't worth it. If you're doing this build, consider one of the following fighter archetypes: Unbreakable (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/unbreakable), Mobile Fighter (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/mobile-fighter), or Armor Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/armor-master). This will net you +3/4 BAB, 2-3 extra feats, armor training, and either a +1 to saving throws against some nasty effect or +1 touch AC. You can ignore all cleric archetypes for this build.

You can take more than 3 fighter levels and sacrifice your higher level spells. Up to about Clr 11/Ftr 9, it's still okay; You won't suck, but you probably won't shine either (unless others are making similar builds). With 6th level spells, you get some pretty nifty buffs and the extra fighter levels grant you a bunch of feats as well as a fourth attack. Viable archetypes also change with this option but their selection varies depending on the number of fighter levels (more focus on fighter makes offensive archetypes better).

And as far as cleric domains are concerned, Undead and Madness are probably your best bet. Undead domain will let you heal yourself while harming living creatures with your negative energy channel (just put some space between you and the party), and Madness has a nasty touch attack with no save that can reduce a creature's attack and saves in exchange for giving them a skill bonus (this one is pretty crazy).

[Duboris]

Could I perhaps go with Blood and Demon?

Fury of the Abyss is quite handy for the first few rounds.
Vampiric touch is also pretty nice.

[Theprettiestorc]

Eugh. I kinda want to encourage you to keep a higher dexterity, and if you go pure fighter, work your way up the armor until you're moving quick in heavy armor.

I'm probably the worst person to ask about cross-classing, though, because that's like...well, to me, that's the funky-looking nacho dip your friend Steve, the pot-smoker, brought at the last minute to the party. :smalleek:

I know there's Pain Taster, which would be a Prestige to focus on with your Fighter.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/n-r/pain-taster

And goes into the kinky succubus-loving territory. :smallwink:

[Keneth]

Could I perhaps go with Blood and Demon?

Fury of the Abyss is quite handy for the first few rounds.
Vampiric touch is also pretty nice.

Demon (Evil) is good if you're gonna get a lot of cleric levels as it scales linearly. It's better for general use than Madness, but you probably won't be single-handedly ending any boss encounters with it after Burnt Offerings. The downside is that you can only use it for a few rounds each day.

Blood is pretty horrible and vampiric touch is strictly worse than your channeling ability. I would never choose this over Undead if I had the choice.

[Duboris]

Demon (Evil) is good if you're gonna get a lot of cleric levels as it scales linearly. It's better for general use than Madness, but you probably won't be single-handedly ending any boss encounters with it after Burnt Offerings. The downside is that you can only use it for a few rounds each day.

Blood is pretty horrible and vampiric touch is strictly worse than your channeling ability. I would never choose this over Undead if I had the choice.

So, what your suggesting, is a melee-oriented cleric, who, by level 6, has 4 levels in cleric, 2 levels in fighter, and every level afterward, nothing but cleric?

I'll probably go with demon(Evil) because I could stack it with a lot of things, such as channel smite, magic weapon, etc, etc. Divine Favor...

[Keneth]

I would actually go Ftr 3 to get armor training. That way you get the most out of your fighter levels, but like I said, you can take more fighter levels if you don't plan on being the primary caster in your party. Just don't default to being a healbot, you should be on the offensive with either build.

[Duboris]

I would actually go Ftr 3 to get armor training. That way you get the most out of your fighter levels, but like I said, you can take more fighter levels if you don't plan on being the primary caster in your party. Just don't default to being a healbot, you should be on the offensive with either build.

Oh definitely. I would be empowering my fighter traits, and seeing as how I worship Zura, I could channel smite in my scythe attacks, along with magic weapon, fury of the abyss, divine favor, etc, etc, all at once. Early game damage would be very high, and I'd focus on being a buffer for the most part.

Sound good?

[Theprettiestorc]

O.e. Guess Pain Taster isn't on the table then.

[Duboris]

O.e. Guess Pain Taster isn't on the table then.

I actually haven't looked at that yet, but I'm trying to stick to published archetypes, as they're easier to work with since I have hero lab.

[Keneth]

Sound good?

Don't ask me that, ask yourself that, it's your concept. I'm just trying to give you advice from optimization standpoint.

Aside from boss encounters, RotRL is ridiculously easy anyway, but an unforgiving GM can easily wipe the floor with the party if you fool around with your character concept too much. I tend to get an average of 1 TPK per chapter with first time RotRL players, although things have been going more smoothly since the anniversary edition. :smallbiggrin:

[Duboris]

I hear the sandpoint devil is quite good at wiping out a party.

[Duboris]

That being said, here's what I'm thinking.

Worshipper of Zura in all instances Demon (Evil) and Undead Domains.

I may go with that one cleric archetype that prioritizes one domain and go with Evil.

[Keneth]

I don't think Theologian is worth it for the Evil domain. You'll be better off with more variety.

And yes, Sandpoint Devil is nasty. Let's see, the following have all caused deaths if not straight TPKs when I'm GMing:



Erylium (no one ever gets her on the first try)
Gogmurt (it's a druid, go figure)
Malfeshnekor (don't poke the angry fiend)
Vorel's Phage (when they fail to treat it)
Ironbriar (they tend to kill themselves)
Sandpoint Devil (are you an archer paladin? no? tough luck)
Xanesha (original version is insanely hard)
Lucrecia (especially if Xanesha joins her)
Black Magga (this one's in the "run like hell" category)
Skull Ripper (can devastate a small party)
Myriana (attacking a ghost is just stupid)
Barl (he's a giant and a wizard)


That's just the first half of the adventure path. I don't want to spoil too much for those who haven't played RotRL yet.

[Xerxus]

Combat oriented priestlike thing - Crusader Cleric or maybe Oracle. Straight classing it is the way to go. Channel negative energy, pick the feats channel smite and guided hand.

[Duboris]

Hmm. Full fighter it is then. He can just have plenty of quips and be flavorfully roleplayed.

[Keneth]

Ask the GM if you can be a mythic character. That should even things out with the casters. :smallbiggrin:

[Duboris]

I'd rather not. I can handle a few spells and all that. Like 3 levels of them, but after that I lose my luster. I'm much better off just getting vital strike and praying for criticals.

Oh, and getting improved critical.

[avr]

Just a thought, but the urban barbarian archetypes' rage is more limited and you could describe it as 'focus' or 'passion' more easily. The spirit totem rage powers can handle your dash of the dark side, and make use of the charisma you want.

[Duboris]

I'm actually going Archetypeless. I originaly had her as an Armored Hulk, but I decided against it.

[Keneth]

You're not gonna be using two-handed fighter?

[Duboris]

Oh most definitely. I just had 2 posts going on at the same time, and I confused them. Two handed fighter is great for this, but again, so is weapon master.

[Keneth]

Weapon master is kinda bad if you ask me. But then again, all fighters are kinda bad if you ask me. :smallbiggrin:

[Duboris]

Lol. Someone's gotta be a meat sponge XD

Despite that, I prefer them as they make for good, flavorful Rp.

If I were actually trying to optimize him, I wouldn't have 16 charisma XD