Advice would be much appreciated!

[Facemandu]

Hey guys. I have a friend that invited me to a small tournament of mutual friends and a few people I have not met yet. I have not played DnD in several years so I am looking for some help.
Basically, they are doing a dueling tournament of 5th lvl characters. We are to meet randomly and fight to the death for reasons the DM will determine or provoke. I am to create a 5th lvl PC using pathfinder rules and core classes/races.
It has to be approved by our DM but he is apparently very relaxed with fun things like this.
Basically I need a character that can hold his/her own in a 1v1 duel. I don't expect to kill everyone but I would like a solid chance. Especially given my lack of recent experience with tabletop gaming.
I am leaning towards Human or Dwarf and druid or monk though I am very open to suggestions.
Thanks in advance and sorry if this bores you!

[Hyde]

The rules of the tournament would be nice to have. Do you start next to each other, or far apart? can you enter with buffs? Do you rest between combats?

Wizard is probably your best bet. maybe sorc.

Dwarven Druid is not a bad choice.

[Facemandu]

From what I understand, we will spawn randomly through-out a small area and then happen upon one another or he will prod us in the right direction if necessary. The only real rules I know of is he rolled my attributes for me 4D6 dropping the lowest and I will have no idea where I am or what the other PCs are. I will try to get some more information but no one is responding to me at the moment.
I did get my rolls 9, 9, 16, 14 10, 12 to be put where I want them.

[Hyde]

Hmm, then you're probably going to want to go for something relatively inexhaustible. Wizards are severely limited by spells per day at that level and multiple encounters without resting will likely prove problematic.

Rogue3/Sorc1/Ranger1 might be a good option. The level of Sorc is to enable wands (your UMD check isn't reliable at this level, unless you specialize in it) specifically a wand of invisibility. Ranger is for favored enemy: Humanoid (Human), because at fifth that extra feat is likely going to be too tempting to pass up. And rogue is for sneak attack, which invisibility should enable pretty much all the time.

If you're confident in your stealth abilities without invisibility, Rogue 3/Ranger2 is also a viable option, and you'll want to take 2-weapon fighting.

Assuming the Ranger gambit pays off, you should be able to detect enemies before they know you're there, and then hide. Your strategy is going to actively seek conflicts, and follow the victors around, assassinating the weakened victor. Your motto is going to be "don't get involved".

[Callin]

What is considered core in pathfinder?

[Hyde]

The stuff out of the Core Rulebook, I assume. No Gunslingers, Summoners, etc.

[Facemandu]

I will find out more probably tonight or tomorrow about the rules.
I like the Rogue/Ranger idea. It kind of fits my old play style quite well too.

The game is scheduled for this weekend I believe. Friday or Saturday most likely so I have a little time. It has been about 10 years since I have played so I am looking forward to it and also a little anxious.
So maybe Human Rogue 3/Ranger 2 ( I like the sorc idea, but I always liked to keep things as simple as possible and never was a huge fan of casters except for druids.)

[Coidzor]

Have you seen "Baby Cakes - Role Play Tournament (Be Aggressive)?" Foul language, but quite appropriate.

Barbarian could be fun, especially with the right rage powers.

[Facemandu]

Okay, this is what I got from the DM tonight.
"You will have a gold limit for gear, no wondrous items. u can in fact have buffer yourself. no scrolls.
and base races, any class"

[Urpriest]

Okay, this is what I got from the DM tonight.
"You will have a gold limit for gear, no wondrous items. u can in fact have buffer yourself. no scrolls.
and base races, any class"

Why specifically wondrous items? That seems like a bizarrely specific rule, and indicates that the DM probably doesn't know what magic items are.

[Facemandu]

I am not 100% sure. Most of the wondrous items are rather expensive and we will have a limited pool of gold to buy our equipment with anyway.

[Hyde]

There is a bevy of wondrous items cheaper than any magical weapon or armor. Banning slotless magical items, okay, maybe- but it seems like he's just arbitrarily handing the contest to the casters even more than normal. I'm gonna second Urpriest on this one (because why wouldn't you?).

Well, if you're not going to dip the sorc, then I'd advise against wands of any kind (even though anticipate peril and invisibility would probably win it for you). The spell list of a level on sorcerer is pretty much as simple as it gets.

If this is taking place at night or underground (either of these is pretty likely) you'll want to be a dwarf for the darkvision (since I'm guessing Core only precludes ARFs). However, if "Core" ends up meaning "Anything appearing in the Core Rulebook or, say, Beastiary" Drow is gonna be your buddy.

Otherwise... Human or Half-Elf, for the obvious reasons.

[eggynack]

I'm plussing the wizard option. Even in consecutive battles, there's not really a need to have inexhaustibly on your side. As a wizard, you're likely to have some good long term defensive options, and you can selectively apply your spells to kill stragglers, or make it more likely for your enemies to kill each other. With a low gold quantity and no "wondrous items" your enemies are going to find it difficult to deal with something as simple as a flying enemy. One problem is that your two claims about the nature of the battle are effective opposites. In one there will only be duels, so turning your enemies against each other isn't viable. In a free for all though, it would be viable to make yourself a difficult to hit target. Sorcerer is also a good option, though the lack of 3rd level spells puts them at a bit of a deficit compared to the fifth level wizard. Try to work up a list made of decent duration defensive spells, that'll hopefully work through more than one encounter, and some powerful spells that can end a duel quickly. Depending on the exact nature of the battle, other options become more or less viable.

[Crake]

strange that he banned scrolls but not wands...

Wand of invis and wand of scorching ray is probably a good way to go, 4d6+2d6 sneak attack on a ranged touch is a pretty nice set of damage, even if you can only do it every 2 rounds. The wands should be relatively cheap too, if you buy them with 25 charges, it should be 2,250gp each

[Callin]

If multiclassing I would suggest the Half Elf for race actually. They can pick 2 favored classes and since its a low level tournament they get immunity to Sleep. So that save or suck it spell of no use on you.

[Facemandu]

I get what you're saying about the sorc level, and also the wondrous item thing is strange. I just didn't argue but I did ask them why specifically.. haven't heard yet. My friend told he probably just meant the more powerful magical items though.
I know the few of my friends that play usually almost always go casters. Simeon loves to play Magus and Summoners. Ash, Rip, and (other) Ash also play a lot of casters and occasionally rogues/assassins.
I am hoping they will kind of stick to those and I can maybe use the fact that I haven't played with them yet to my advantage.
Hopefully will get a little more info today. I have all week but I am trying to build 3 different characters right now and its getting confusing. lol

[Facemandu]

Okay, so lets say I want to do the Rogue3/Sorc1/Ranger1 idea. Would Dwarf be a good race for this? I checked and I can only be the core races human,dwarf, half elf etc.. not a problem for me though. How would you build this one with the attribute rolls I got (9, 9, 16, 14 10, 12 to be put where I want them.) I have some ideas but I forgot how complicated this can get! :smalleek:

[Callin]

all really depends.

Dwarf has some good attributes but in this scenario i only see a few that stand out. +2 Con +2 to saves vs spells Stability possibly and Weapon Familiarity (for those Dwarf Exotic Weapons). The +2 con and +2 Saves are what I would really base taking this on.

Elf... I dont see anything here that the 1/2 elf dont do better in this situation. If anyone else does lemme know

Gnome has +2 Con but -2 Str and nothing else really goin for it here

1/2 Elf Has tons goin for it. +2 to One ability, Skill Focus bonus feat (stealth), Immunity to sleep (almost a tie in my opinion of the dwarf ability for +2 saves), the kicker 2 FAVORITE CLASSES (i almost consider this a must if you mulitclass in a scenario like this)

1/2 Orc +2 to one ability, Orc Ferocity (that last round might just end the match in a tie), Weapon Familiarity (for those orc exotic weapons?)

Halfling +2 Dex but -2 Str, +1 luck to saves,

Human +2 one stat, and a bonus feat

[Evard]

Are you allowed to team up with another person?

Take down all the others then have a duel between yourself and "ally" the next day when you are fresh... Totally piss off the others who didn't think of it :p

[Facemandu]

Are you allowed to team up with another person?

Take down all the others then have a duel between yourself and "ally" the next day when you are fresh... Totally piss off the others who didn't think of it :p

I don't know for sure, but I doubt it would be allowed. I will maybe give it a shot if I come across someone early I think may be an uneven match for me.
I am liking the half elf Rogue/Ranger/sorc idea. Obviously Dex is a good attribute to put lots of points into, but would I need more cha for the level of sorc?

[Callin]

9, 9, 16, 14 10, 12

11, 10, 16, 14, 10, 12 with the +2 to a 9 and +1 from lvl 4 to the other 9?

Str 10 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 11 (switch Con and Wis if ya want)

you dont need more than an 11 Cha for the 1st level spells. A good Dex with Weapon Finess and a non negative Str.

[Facemandu]

Ended up doing rather well. Second to last person alive to a Half Orc Magus. Was a lot of fun. Thanks guys.