akinra
2014-01-07, 02:06 PM
I couldn't go back and edit this in to the old one, so I am putting the requested information here. I blame my own ineptitude at internets.
To Clarify: It appears I am one of the short bus kids. I just noticed the huge honking EDIT button at the bottom of my old post. I am so sorry.:smalleek:
I also made some of the proposed changes, and added a little clarification as to what I am looking for. My goal is to get feedback on:
viability of the build.
how severely am I handicapping this gnome
possible background fluff starter ideas.
problems that leap out at you
ways to fix any glaring holes
overall feedback on optimization level - When our GM does PFS, he doesn't care one whit how optimized you go. When it is a friendly home game, he kinda vents all the Min/Max hate he suppressed during the PFS sessions.
Thanks!
This character is intended for either PFS or an up and coming Wrath of the Righteous campaign. In either situation, the build rules are the same.
150 Starting Wealth, 20 Point Buy, Core Races, plus Aasimar, Tiefling, and Tengu.
The Concept:
Pure caster, engage melee through Animal Companion/Bonded Mount.
Wrecker curse with Gnome 1/2 to Curse level to get full benefit of the curse at or about level 10.
Once I am roughly level 10, I can use Antagonize to force myself to be the target of the weapon wielding Minions of the BBEG (not to be confused with being the target of BBEG -hopes-).
Charisma will be very high, ideally, so I will focus on buffs and the occasional debuff/SoS.
Race: Gnome
Alternate Racial Traits: Pyromaniac, Eternal Hope, Academician, Darkvision
Class: Oracle
Archetype: Dual Cursed
Curse 1: Wrecker (advances)
Curse 2: Blackened (does not advance)
Mystery: Nature or Lunar(undecided, please help!)
Revelations: I will be adding the revelations listed below as spoilers if needed, just say the word and they shall appear.
[1] Bonded Mount or Primal Companion
[3] Nature's Whispers or Prophetic Armor
[5] Misfortune (from Extra Revelation Feat taken at level 5)
[7] Natural Devotion or Form of the Beast
[11] Undo Artifice or Moonlight Bridge
Feats: Most feats are blow, in spoilers. Antagonize, below, also has the rationalization for the feat in full glory.
[1] Noble Scion (War) - This is so tempting to get rid of, but rocket tag is so important. Sadly, must be taken at level 1.
[3] Mounted Combat - With the Tiger or the Wolf, keeping the beast alive while it serves as a mount is kinda important. Even so, I am tempted to cut this as well.
[5] Extra Revelation - This one I feel I absolutely need. Painful enough to wait until level 5 for Misfortune. I am very tempted to move this to level 3, and delay Mounted Combat.
[7] Improved Initiative. - The only reason I ponder dropping Noble Scion of War.
[9] Antagonize - This feat has so much hate aimed at it I am tempted to swap it for Extra Revelation in order to get Fortune.
[11] Divine Interference. - No chance at all that I am interested in losing this one. Cancelling a crit for a spell slot is just too good. Imposing the penalty on the reroll is just gravy
Traits:
Beast Bonded - +1 Handle Animal, +1 Ride. This trait is really important as Ride is not a class skill for Dual-Cursed oracles. Handle Animal is high enough with just one rank.
Observant - +1 to Perception, and Perception as a class skill. If there was a way to put CHA to ride instead, I would.
Both of these traits has a net effect greater to the Feat, Skill Focus. Skill Focus only grants a +3, both of the selected traits grant a +4 to a skill (assuming I put at least one rank in each, perception and ride). Beast Bonded lets me ignore ranks beyond the first in Handle Animal for my Bonded Mount or Primal Companion.
Stats: I don't know why, but I always do stats last when I build.
Using a rendition of Treantmonk20's system. Red is a dump stat, orange is a little better than a dump stat, black is normal stat, green is important, and blue is must have.
Str: 7, Dex: 12, Con: 14, Int: 12, Wis: 8, Cha: 20
Advancement depends on scenario this character plays in. In PFS, 1 Cha at levels 4 and 8. Str at level 12 to help Carry Capacity and to mitigate the penalties to Swim and Climb.
In a campaign, Cha at all levels.
Ride, level 1 to level ?? full ranks.
Perception, Level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Disable Device, Level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Diplomacy, level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Handle Animal 1 rank at level 1.
Intimidate, level 2 to level ?? full ranks.
Brief overview of why I am ignoring any other ranks.
Charisma of 20 nets a +5
Functioning as an Animal Companion nets +4
Beast Bonded nets +1
1 Rank nets +1
for a total of +11. The DC of a trick known is 10, and a free action. Wounded increases the DC by 2 for a total of 12. Even wounded, taking 1 will still get the Animal Companion to do his thing just fine.
Headband of Charisma, the best I can afford at any given level.
Circlet of Persuasion.
Headband of Charisma and Int if affordable to get other skills as needed.
Belt of Con/Dex.
Amulet of Natural Armor (since cannot get full benefit from traditional armor).
Bracers of Armor - See Amulet of Natural Armor. Goal is to keep decent AC by balancing cost between these two items.
Leather Armor +1, for secondary enchantment purposes.
I don't know what else I should focus on getting other than the standard for slot items (cloaks of resistance, boots of striding and springing, etc.
You are a member of a proud noble family, whether or not you remain in good standing with your family.
Prerequisites: Cha 13, must be taken at 1st level.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Knowledge (nobility) checks, and that chosen Knowledge skill is always considered a class skill for you.
When you select this feat, choose one of the benefits listed below that matches the flavor of your noble family. Work with your GM to ensure that your choice is appropriate.
[ Snip ]
Scion of War: You use your Charisma modifier to adjust Initiative checks instead of your Dexterity modifier.
-----------------------------
At level 1, Initiative will be at +5.
At level 8, Initiative will be +10 without magic items.
You are adept at guiding your mount through combat.
Prerequisite: Ride 1 rank.
Benefit: Once per round when your mount is hit in combat, you may attempt a Ride check (as an immediate action) to negate the hit. The hit is negated if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent's attack roll.
-----------------------------
At level 10, I should have 10 (ranks) +3 (Class Skill) +1 (Trait) +1 (Dex) +2 (Belt) for a total of +18. This is the same as a 20 Str Full BAB level 10 with a +2 magical weapon. Not the greatest of odds, but not too shabby.
Benefit: You can make Diplomacy and Intimidate checks to make creatures respond to you with hostility. No matter which skill you use, antagonizing a creature takes a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and has a DC equal to 10 + the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Wisdom modifier. You cannot make this check against a creature that does not understand you or has an Intelligence score of 3 or lower. Before you make these checks, you may make a Sense Motive check (DC 20) as a swift action to gain an insight bonus on these Diplomacy or Intimidate checks equal to your Charisma bonus until the end of your next turn. The benefits you gain for this check depend on the skill you use. This is a mind-affecting effect.
Diplomacy: You fluster your enemy. For the next minute, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attacks rolls made against creatures other than you and has a 10% spell failure chance on all spells that do not target you or that have you within their area of effect.
Intimidate: The creature flies into a rage. On its next turn, the target must attempt to make a melee attack against you, make a ranged attack against you, target you with a spell, or include you in the area of a spell. The effect ends if the creature is prevented from attacking you or attempting to do so would harm it (for example, if you are on the other side of a chasm or a wall of fire). If it cannot attack you on its turn, you may make the check again as an immediate action to extend the effect for 1 round (but cannot extend it thereafter). The effect ends as soon as the creature attacks you. Once you have targeted a creature with this ability, you cannot target it again for 1 day.
-----------------------------
At level 10, I should have a +4 cha headband, +1 Cha from levels 4 and 8 for a total of 26 Cha, for a Cha Mod of +8, and a circlet of persuasion, +3. With 9 ranks, not a class skill, I should have a +20 or so. This should be enough to allow me to succeed almost all the time on the Intimidate.
On the Diplomacy, with the above, and class skill, I will be at about +24. This should work very well as a global rebuff when I have little else I can do.
Prerequisites: Divine spellcaster, caster level 10th.
Benefit: As an immediate action, when an enemy within 30 feet hits an ally with an attack, you can sacrifice a prepared divine spell or (if you are a spontaneous caster) an unused spell slot and make the enemy reroll the attack roll. The second attack roll takes a penalty equal to the level of the spell you sacrifice. You must sacrifice a spell of 1st-level or higher to use this ability. Whether or not the second attack is successful, you cannot use this effect on the same creature again for 1 day.
Create Water
Detect Magic
Light
Guidance
After these, I will likely learn Read Magic, Stabilize, then I have no idea.
Burning Hands (from Blackened curse)
Cure Light Wounds - (from good alignment)
Protection from Evil - Just plain useful at every level ever
Murderous Command - Just plain useful at low-mid levels.
After these four, will likely learn Entropic Shield, Shield of Faith, Infernal Healing, Liberating Command, and Obscuring Mist.
To Clarify: It appears I am one of the short bus kids. I just noticed the huge honking EDIT button at the bottom of my old post. I am so sorry.:smalleek:
I also made some of the proposed changes, and added a little clarification as to what I am looking for. My goal is to get feedback on:
viability of the build.
how severely am I handicapping this gnome
possible background fluff starter ideas.
problems that leap out at you
ways to fix any glaring holes
overall feedback on optimization level - When our GM does PFS, he doesn't care one whit how optimized you go. When it is a friendly home game, he kinda vents all the Min/Max hate he suppressed during the PFS sessions.
Thanks!
This character is intended for either PFS or an up and coming Wrath of the Righteous campaign. In either situation, the build rules are the same.
150 Starting Wealth, 20 Point Buy, Core Races, plus Aasimar, Tiefling, and Tengu.
The Concept:
Pure caster, engage melee through Animal Companion/Bonded Mount.
Wrecker curse with Gnome 1/2 to Curse level to get full benefit of the curse at or about level 10.
Once I am roughly level 10, I can use Antagonize to force myself to be the target of the weapon wielding Minions of the BBEG (not to be confused with being the target of BBEG -hopes-).
Charisma will be very high, ideally, so I will focus on buffs and the occasional debuff/SoS.
Race: Gnome
Alternate Racial Traits: Pyromaniac, Eternal Hope, Academician, Darkvision
Class: Oracle
Archetype: Dual Cursed
Curse 1: Wrecker (advances)
Curse 2: Blackened (does not advance)
Mystery: Nature or Lunar(undecided, please help!)
Revelations: I will be adding the revelations listed below as spoilers if needed, just say the word and they shall appear.
[1] Bonded Mount or Primal Companion
[3] Nature's Whispers or Prophetic Armor
[5] Misfortune (from Extra Revelation Feat taken at level 5)
[7] Natural Devotion or Form of the Beast
[11] Undo Artifice or Moonlight Bridge
Feats: Most feats are blow, in spoilers. Antagonize, below, also has the rationalization for the feat in full glory.
[1] Noble Scion (War) - This is so tempting to get rid of, but rocket tag is so important. Sadly, must be taken at level 1.
[3] Mounted Combat - With the Tiger or the Wolf, keeping the beast alive while it serves as a mount is kinda important. Even so, I am tempted to cut this as well.
[5] Extra Revelation - This one I feel I absolutely need. Painful enough to wait until level 5 for Misfortune. I am very tempted to move this to level 3, and delay Mounted Combat.
[7] Improved Initiative. - The only reason I ponder dropping Noble Scion of War.
[9] Antagonize - This feat has so much hate aimed at it I am tempted to swap it for Extra Revelation in order to get Fortune.
[11] Divine Interference. - No chance at all that I am interested in losing this one. Cancelling a crit for a spell slot is just too good. Imposing the penalty on the reroll is just gravy
Traits:
Beast Bonded - +1 Handle Animal, +1 Ride. This trait is really important as Ride is not a class skill for Dual-Cursed oracles. Handle Animal is high enough with just one rank.
Observant - +1 to Perception, and Perception as a class skill. If there was a way to put CHA to ride instead, I would.
Both of these traits has a net effect greater to the Feat, Skill Focus. Skill Focus only grants a +3, both of the selected traits grant a +4 to a skill (assuming I put at least one rank in each, perception and ride). Beast Bonded lets me ignore ranks beyond the first in Handle Animal for my Bonded Mount or Primal Companion.
Stats: I don't know why, but I always do stats last when I build.
Using a rendition of Treantmonk20's system. Red is a dump stat, orange is a little better than a dump stat, black is normal stat, green is important, and blue is must have.
Str: 7, Dex: 12, Con: 14, Int: 12, Wis: 8, Cha: 20
Advancement depends on scenario this character plays in. In PFS, 1 Cha at levels 4 and 8. Str at level 12 to help Carry Capacity and to mitigate the penalties to Swim and Climb.
In a campaign, Cha at all levels.
Ride, level 1 to level ?? full ranks.
Perception, Level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Disable Device, Level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Diplomacy, level 1 to level ?? full ranks
Handle Animal 1 rank at level 1.
Intimidate, level 2 to level ?? full ranks.
Brief overview of why I am ignoring any other ranks.
Charisma of 20 nets a +5
Functioning as an Animal Companion nets +4
Beast Bonded nets +1
1 Rank nets +1
for a total of +11. The DC of a trick known is 10, and a free action. Wounded increases the DC by 2 for a total of 12. Even wounded, taking 1 will still get the Animal Companion to do his thing just fine.
Headband of Charisma, the best I can afford at any given level.
Circlet of Persuasion.
Headband of Charisma and Int if affordable to get other skills as needed.
Belt of Con/Dex.
Amulet of Natural Armor (since cannot get full benefit from traditional armor).
Bracers of Armor - See Amulet of Natural Armor. Goal is to keep decent AC by balancing cost between these two items.
Leather Armor +1, for secondary enchantment purposes.
I don't know what else I should focus on getting other than the standard for slot items (cloaks of resistance, boots of striding and springing, etc.
You are a member of a proud noble family, whether or not you remain in good standing with your family.
Prerequisites: Cha 13, must be taken at 1st level.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Knowledge (nobility) checks, and that chosen Knowledge skill is always considered a class skill for you.
When you select this feat, choose one of the benefits listed below that matches the flavor of your noble family. Work with your GM to ensure that your choice is appropriate.
[ Snip ]
Scion of War: You use your Charisma modifier to adjust Initiative checks instead of your Dexterity modifier.
-----------------------------
At level 1, Initiative will be at +5.
At level 8, Initiative will be +10 without magic items.
You are adept at guiding your mount through combat.
Prerequisite: Ride 1 rank.
Benefit: Once per round when your mount is hit in combat, you may attempt a Ride check (as an immediate action) to negate the hit. The hit is negated if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent's attack roll.
-----------------------------
At level 10, I should have 10 (ranks) +3 (Class Skill) +1 (Trait) +1 (Dex) +2 (Belt) for a total of +18. This is the same as a 20 Str Full BAB level 10 with a +2 magical weapon. Not the greatest of odds, but not too shabby.
Benefit: You can make Diplomacy and Intimidate checks to make creatures respond to you with hostility. No matter which skill you use, antagonizing a creature takes a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and has a DC equal to 10 + the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Wisdom modifier. You cannot make this check against a creature that does not understand you or has an Intelligence score of 3 or lower. Before you make these checks, you may make a Sense Motive check (DC 20) as a swift action to gain an insight bonus on these Diplomacy or Intimidate checks equal to your Charisma bonus until the end of your next turn. The benefits you gain for this check depend on the skill you use. This is a mind-affecting effect.
Diplomacy: You fluster your enemy. For the next minute, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attacks rolls made against creatures other than you and has a 10% spell failure chance on all spells that do not target you or that have you within their area of effect.
Intimidate: The creature flies into a rage. On its next turn, the target must attempt to make a melee attack against you, make a ranged attack against you, target you with a spell, or include you in the area of a spell. The effect ends if the creature is prevented from attacking you or attempting to do so would harm it (for example, if you are on the other side of a chasm or a wall of fire). If it cannot attack you on its turn, you may make the check again as an immediate action to extend the effect for 1 round (but cannot extend it thereafter). The effect ends as soon as the creature attacks you. Once you have targeted a creature with this ability, you cannot target it again for 1 day.
-----------------------------
At level 10, I should have a +4 cha headband, +1 Cha from levels 4 and 8 for a total of 26 Cha, for a Cha Mod of +8, and a circlet of persuasion, +3. With 9 ranks, not a class skill, I should have a +20 or so. This should be enough to allow me to succeed almost all the time on the Intimidate.
On the Diplomacy, with the above, and class skill, I will be at about +24. This should work very well as a global rebuff when I have little else I can do.
Prerequisites: Divine spellcaster, caster level 10th.
Benefit: As an immediate action, when an enemy within 30 feet hits an ally with an attack, you can sacrifice a prepared divine spell or (if you are a spontaneous caster) an unused spell slot and make the enemy reroll the attack roll. The second attack roll takes a penalty equal to the level of the spell you sacrifice. You must sacrifice a spell of 1st-level or higher to use this ability. Whether or not the second attack is successful, you cannot use this effect on the same creature again for 1 day.
Create Water
Detect Magic
Light
Guidance
After these, I will likely learn Read Magic, Stabilize, then I have no idea.
Burning Hands (from Blackened curse)
Cure Light Wounds - (from good alignment)
Protection from Evil - Just plain useful at every level ever
Murderous Command - Just plain useful at low-mid levels.
After these four, will likely learn Entropic Shield, Shield of Faith, Infernal Healing, Liberating Command, and Obscuring Mist.