[PF] Tiefling Inquisitor (how should I further advance him?)

[Krazzman]

Hello agian Playground,

after quite some time I come back with some questions about my character.

TL;DR: Feather Subdomain, CN Heretic Inquisitor of Lamashatu: Melee build, what feats, items, spells and which animal companion should I look into?


And here follows the longer version.

I am currently playing a Level 4 Tiefling (Oni-Spawn) Heretic Inquisitor of Lamashtu (Feather Subdomain) and we recently finished the PF Adventurepath around Harrowstone with those ghoststuff and ravengro and so on.

Currently he has the Feats: Armor of the Pit, Power Attack and Precise Strikes (Teamwork).
He also has the Prehensile Tail feature and as such he wasn't that appreciated in Ravengro... (Black Horns, Red glowing Eyes at night and a Tail).
The Party consists of a Human Witch, Drow Cleric of Pharasma, Dhampyr Ranger, Human Barbarian and me.

Now my question:
What feats should I take next?
What stuff should I try to buy? (Armor, Weapons, Enchants?)
What animal Companion should I try to get (Feather Subdomain gives me an Animal Companion like a ranger at level 4)?
What spells should I take?

Current Gear:
MW Chainmail, Flachion, Standard Adventurer Kit, Dagger, 2 Cure Moderate Potions and around ~2000 gp, maybe more still calculating it.

Spells known:
0th - Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Light, Create Water
1st - Cure Light Wounds, Magic Weapon, Wrath, and ???(unsure, going from the top of my head with this list).
2nd - Invisibility, Ghostbane Dirge

And the "story" for those who are interested:
He was raised like a normal child until he hit puberty... there he developed his Tail and Horns and was quickly spotted as a "devilspawn" his father obviously blamed his mother for "correlation with demons" and had her burn at the stake and then went into hiding.
Tokias wound up at a temple dedicated to a certain goddess. And after ~40 years of training couldn't take it anymore there and ran away.
He got Professor Lorrimor (adventure hook for that AP) mangled into this mess and rescued him from his pursuers and stayed in written contact with lorrimor. He researched a bit about his Family and due to being in contact with Lorrimor another PC (the Barbarian) found him as well as one of his Ancestors (a True demon, fell in love with the barbarian, always liked strong and independant women, 7 generations between him and his ancestor) that basically had him bound to help her (the barbarian).

His main goals are to flee from Lamashtus followers and get some friends.

In the Group his nickname is Burn. (At least I try to get him to have this nickname... reasons so far are: commanding the witch to burn a book, and later telling him [after he burnt the book finally] why he didn't do this first)

Thanks in advance.

[Spore]

What feats should I take next?

Boon Companion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion), then probably Toughness (depending on your rolls on Con).


What stuff should I try to buy?

That largely depends on your jobs in your group. I would aim for a magical weapon (later on a Keen Weapon since you won't qualify for Improved Crit for a long time), a magical Mithril Armor (think about your Armor penalty and Dex). I like the Shadow Enchantment to add to Hide, IF you are the scout. Cloak of Resistance is another great item, as is a Belt of Giant Strength and a Headband of Charisma and a Circlet of Persuasion (if you're the face, you get Cha + Wis + 3 on every Cha skill check).


What animal Companion should I try to get?

Rocs are great scouts and also acceptable in fights. Big cats like lions are the best in terms of damage per round, wolfs are a close second. If you're taking your heritage into account, vermin companions could fit the fluff quite well. Sadly they're very weak. Upside, they're immune to mind control, downside, they lack the number of tricks to do various things, the poisons are meh, but can be improved by improving the creature's Con score (which still won't bother most monsters since they have many HD and huge Con resulting in an insane Fort save).


What spells should I take?

Spells known:
0th - Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Light, Create Water
1st - Cure Light Wounds, Magic Weapon, Wrath, and ???(unsure, going from the top of my head with this list).
2nd - Invisibility, Ghostbane Dirge

Ghostbane Dirge is too situational for an Inquisitor. I would loose it on 5th level. Magic Weapon can be useful until everyone in your group has a magical weapon. Change it on the 8th level. Good spells are:

0th - Guidance (+1 on every skill check by murmuring a short prayer), Read Magic (for those useful magic scrolls, skip it when you have an Cleric/Druid in your group)
1st - Bless (sounds boring, is boring but changes fights) Divine Favor (changes the gap to a full BAB class and gives bonus damage, stacks with the Smiting/Destruction Inquisitions), Expeditious Retreat (despite the name, great to ADVANCE to the enemy, great to set up your Teamwork feat also) Protection from Evil (immunity to mind control, will save or immunity to natural outsider attacks, handy for the big stupid fighter to not kill you from a simple Charm Person which nearly every other Devil can cast), Shield of Faith (if you're not having a Ring of Protection you get your mileage out of that one)
2nd - Acute Senses (+10/+20/+30 on Perception for min/level) Flames of the Faithful (short duration but flaming burst for a spell slot is good if you really need fire damage) Resist Energy (very good, but skip of you have ANY full casters around, it's their job plus you don't need this that badly for yourself) Silence (you know, casters...) Weapon of Awe (if you have the Keen Weapon, this becomes so worth it, Shaken condition to everything you crit, no save)

[Krazzman]

Boon Companion (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion), then probably Toughness (depending on your rolls on Con).

Hmm sounds awesome. Basically making it an Druid Animal Companion.


That largely depends on your jobs in your group. I would aim for a magical weapon (later on a Keen Weapon since you won't qualify for Improved Crit for a long time), a magical Mithril Armor (think about your Armor penalty and Dex). I like the Shadow Enchantment to add to Hide, IF you are the scout. Cloak of Resistance is another great item, as is a Belt of Giant Strength and a Headband of Charisma and a Circlet of Persuasion (if you're the face, you get Cha + Wis + 3 on every Cha skill check).

Falchion + 1 and Keen were planned anyway. For Armor I thought about getting a Breastplate with the Creeping (No ACP for Stealth and bonuses) enchantment or such a thing.
Stats are:
Str 18, Dex 14(stat increase), Con 14, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 8.


Rocs are great scouts and also acceptable in fights. Big cats like lions are the best in terms of damage per round, wolfs are a close second. If you're taking your heritage into account, vermin companions could fit the fluff quite well. Sadly they're very weak. Upside, they're immune to mind control, downside, they lack the number of tricks to do various things, the poisons are meh, but can be improved by improving the creature's Con score (which still won't bother most monsters since they have many HD and huge Con resulting in an insane Fort save).

I am unsure about it due to the "Feather" Subdomain if I have to take a Bird or if I can take a Viper instead. Also If I should let it even participate in the fight. (which would then invalidate Boon Companion as a choice...)


Ghostbane Dirge is too situational for an Inquisitor. I would loose it on 5th level. Magic Weapon can be useful until everyone in your group has a magical weapon. Change it on the 8th level. Good spells are:

0th - Guidance (+1 on every skill check by murmuring a short prayer), Read Magic (for those useful magic scrolls, skip it when you have an Cleric/Druid in your group)
1st - Bless (sounds boring, is boring but changes fights) Divine Favor (changes the gap to a full BAB class and gives bonus damage, stacks with the Smiting/Destruction Inquisitions), Expeditious Retreat (despite the name, great to ADVANCE to the enemy, great to set up your Teamwork feat also) Protection from Evil (immunity to mind control, will save or immunity to natural outsider attacks, handy for the big stupid fighter to not kill you from a simple Charm Person which nearly every other Devil can cast), Shield of Faith (if you're not having a Ring of Protection you get your mileage out of that one)
2nd - Acute Senses (+10/+20/+30 on Perception for min/level) Flames of the Faithful (short duration but flaming burst for a spell slot is good if you really need fire damage) Resist Energy (very good, but skip of you have ANY full casters around, it's their job plus you don't need this that badly for yourself) Silence (you know, casters...) Weapon of Awe (if you have the Keen Weapon, this becomes so worth it, Shaken condition to everything you crit, no save)

The story behind Ghostbane Dirge was that we had to fight Ghosts in Harrowstone and I wanted something to do that the wholy party can just slaughter the Ghosts asses. Else thanks that is some good stuff to select from.

[Spore]

I am unsure about it due to the "Feather" Subdomain if I have to take a Bird or if I can take a Viper instead. Also If I should let it even participate in the fight. (which would then invalidate Boon Companion as a choice...)

You do not have to (because the AC is part of the Animal Domain) and you don't need to refluff anything because you get no domain spells anyway.

I like canines for Inquisitors (or anything that can track with Scent really) and combat is not an option until you have time to train your companion (and have the levels in Handle Animal, but you may be able to pay someone to buy a trained dog).

Combat isn't possible for your companion for the first few levels anyway (because it as 1 HD = 4 + Con HP) if you don't take Boon Companion. Take the companion as a side thing. Think about how he can basically train your skill set and aid you to help getting that +2 on skill checks. Then always cast Guidance and have +3 on some skills.

Venomous snakes are powerful in your levels but they quickly loose (due to aforementioned Fort save progression). Also a NPC decently skilled in Heal, Survival or Alchemy can see if you want to murder people with snake bites.

Sorry for rambling on about companions or familiars it's my favorite feature of the game. I will create a character with 3+ companions soon so that thread is the best exercise for me. Here is how I see the jobs for animal companions:

1) Mount: Eh, you don't do mounted combat, so it's kind of a waste.

2) Scout: 4-7 HP scout with 1 rank in Stealth maximum? Think again.

3) Spotter: They're not terribly good, but a flying creature can spot many things. Have an eagle (racial bonus on perception +8) and train him Skill Focus Perception (as HIS talent), Boon Companion and max out ranks in Perception. Even if your character is great on perception, your bird can take checks where you can't. (Although I prefer the Wizard's familiar for those jobs because it's the same creature, with higher intelligence, your BAB and half your HP as well as delivering touch attacks).

4) Fight Companion: With Boon Companion, a cat (pouncer), wolf (tripper), rhino (charger with gore) or roc (to hit those cackling flying wizards) are all great choices. They come in different flavors (big cat, small cat, wolf or dog, or the nearly same creatures as dinosaurs).

5) Aquatic Companion: GREAT and only viable choice in aquatic settings but I can't think of anyone seriously playing aquatic settings more than a few sessions. (we played a pirate adventure for christ's sake and were 90% of the time on ships or islands, even my druid that can transform into a friggin huge squid).

6) "Flavor Companion": Any combination of the above, with more or less fitting skills and jobs. If you want a poisonous snake just to add to your general suspiciousness, to the vibe that you do evil things if the job demands it then by all means go for it. It's just a minor class feature after all.

If you're really unsure about your feat you can't go wrong with Weapon Focus Falchion.