[PF] Dovahkiin: Skyrim inspired build

[twilsemail]

Salutations All!

I’m looking to make a PFS legal PC that can mimic the Dovahkiin from Skyrim (specifically a melee combatant with a lot of shouts). I've found a lot of substitutions for the various shouts and have looked at a few other threads where others did something similar. Below I've got a list with most of the shouts and a second with my proposed substitutions. I know there is a near endless pool of people here that have a greater understanding of the rules than I do and I’m hoping that you folks can find some simpler solutions than some of the ones I've found below.

Please keep in mind that this is for PFS. No 3.5 content. It’s mostly going to cap out at level 12 (excepting Dragonrend, which is fitting on its own). My solution to Call of Valor is also a late game solution, but that’s also fairly fitting to the theme.

The PC himself is an Idylkin (Agathion-blooded Aasimar) Thundercaller Bard. I’ll be using a boon for proficiency with the Earth Breaker and using that in melee. I’m currently planning on taking him from 1-12(+) as a bard, though I’m fairly open minded about multi-classing if it furthers the concept.

More than anything, I’d like to find ways of using spells instead of gear. Some of that gear gets pretty expensive.

Also, how do I give a horse a climb speed?


Animal Allegiance
A Shout for help from the beasts of the wild, who come to fight in your defense.

Aura Whisper
Your Voice is not a Shout, but a whisper, revealing the life forces of any and all.

Battle Fury
Your Thu'um enchants your nearby allies' weapons, allowing them to attack faster.

Call of Valor
The valiant of Sovngarde hear your Voice, and journey beyond space and time to lend aid.

Cyclone
Your Thu'um creates a whirling cyclone that sows chaos among your enemies.

Disarm
Shout defies steel, as you rip the weapon from an opponent's grasp.

Dismay
And the weak shall fear the Thu'um, and flee in terror.

Dragon Aspect
Once a day, take on the mighty aspect of a dragon, delivering colossal blows, with an armored hide, and more powerful shouts.

Dragonrend
Your Voice lashes out at a dragon's very soul, forcing the beast to land.

Drain Vitality
Coax both magical and mortal energies from your hapless opponent.

Elemental Fury
The Thu'um imbues your arms with the speed of wind, allowing for faster weapon strikes.

Fire Breath
Inhale air, exhale flame, and behold the Thu'um as inferno.

Frost Breath
Your breath is winter, your Thu'um a blizzard.

Ice Form
Your Thu'um freezes an opponent solid.

Kyne’s Peace
The Voice soothes wild beasts, who lose their desire to fight or flee.

Marked For Death
Speak, and let your Voice herald doom, as an opponent's armor and drains the health of an enemy.

Slow Time
Shout at time, and command it to obey, as the world around you stands still.

Storm Call
A Shout to the skies, a cry to the clouds, that awakens the destructive force of Skyrim's lightning.

Throw Voice
The Thu'um is heard, but its source unknown, fooling those into seeking it out.

Unrelenting Force
Your Voice is raw power, pushing aside anything - or anyone - who stands in your path.

Whirlwind Sprint
The Thu'um rushes forward, carrying you in its wake with the speed of a tempest.


Animal Allegiance (SLA: Summon Nature’s Ally II)
Cyclone (SLA: Summon Nature’s Ally II)

Battle Fury (BP: Inspire Courage)
Unrelenting Force (BP: Thundercall)
Storm Call (BP: Call Lightning)
Dragonrend (Masterpiece: Ancient’s Flight)

Bend Will (Spell B1: Charm Person)
Dismay (Spell B1: Cause Fear)
Throw Voice (Spell B1: Ventriloquism)
Slow Time (Spell B2: Allegro)
Fire Breath (Spell B2: Blistering Invective)
Kyne’s Peace (Spell B2: Calm Emotions)
Whirlwind Sprint (Spell B2: Bladed Dash)
Become Ethereal (Spell B3: Blink)
Marked For Death (Spell B3: Overwhelming Grief)
Elemental Fury (Spell B3: Haste)

Aura Whisper (Item [2k]: Deathwatch Eyes)
Drain Vitality (Item [2700]: Sacrificial Dagger of the Blood Mother)
Disarm (Item [6000]: Magnetist’s Gloves)
Frost Breath (Item [18k]: Maw of the Wyrm)
Ice Form (Item [23k]: Gorgon Belt)
Dragon Aspect (Item [24,120]: Dragonform Armor)
Call of Valor (Item [50k]: Horn of Valhalla)

[Yogibear41]

I see why you would choose bard, but calling the dovakhiin a bard just seems wrong.

[twilsemail]

Does it help at all if I say he's a six foot tall Shoanti Thundercaller and I'll be using this (http://www.reapermini.com/figurefinder#detail/03461) as my mini?

[Psyren]

I see why you would choose bard, but calling the dovakhiin a bard just seems wrong.

Why? Bards are badass, and the Dovahkiin is the quintessential ladies' man (or non-heteronormative gender/preference-equivalent.)

[twilsemail]

I'm always surprised when people shoehorn a character into a specific RP style due to something like class. Not all Bards are Spoony, not all Rogues are Greedy, not all Fighters are Dumb.

It seems like the Spoony Bard is the hardest hurdle for most folks.

I don't at all aim to run around with a feather in my cap playing a lute.

[NightbringerGGZ]

I think Perform Oratory works perfectly for emulating Dovahiin shouts. See if you can talk your GM into creating some custom Masterpieces (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/masterpieces). There's even some guidelines for doing so.

[Psyren]

If you're willing to wait for Advanced Class Guide, the Skald aims to be the Bardbarian of your dreams :smalltongue:

(Actually - aren't the playtest classes PFS legal?)

[Snowbluff]

Is savage skald still a thing in PF? A soundstriker bard could work, too.



(Actually - aren't the playtest classes PFS legal?)

If they are, my aasimar spellslinger is going Wiz1/Arcanist1/EldritchKnight1. :smalltongue:

EDIT: It seems like they are. Let me see if I can get a primary source for you...

[twilsemail]

If they are, my aasimar spellslinger is going Wiz1/Arcanist1/EldritchKnight1. :smalltongue:

They are.

Unfortunately for your concept, Spellslinger isn't legal for PFS and you can't multiclass Wizard and Arcanist (as Arcanist is half wizard). This is clarified on page 2 of the playtest document.

I think the Archetype for me is the Thundercaller for two reasons. 1.) the Thundercall performance is about as close as I'm going to get to a scaling Unrelenting Force. 2.) Sound Striker is getting his with (or has been hit with. I'm not keeping track) the nerf bat really freaking hard.

[NightbringerGGZ]

They are.

Unfortunately for your concept, Spellslinger isn't legal for PFS and you can't multiclass Wizard and Arcanist (as Arcanist is half wizard). This is clarified on page 2 of the playtest document.

I think the Archetype for me is the Thundercaller for two reasons. 1.) the Thundercall performance is about as close as I'm going to get to a scaling Unrelenting Force. 2.) Sound Striker is getting his with (or has been hit with. I'm not keeping track) the nerf bat really freaking hard.

If you go Thundercaller make sure you use Perform (Sing) and your best Brian Johnson impression.

[Snowbluff]

They are.

Unfortunately for your concept, Spellslinger isn't legal for PFS and you can't multiclass Wizard and Arcanist (as Arcanist is half wizard). This is clarified on page 2 of the playtest document.


Hmm... okay. Can I get the source for the legality of spellslinger. I can't find it. Or is it because the wizards who would get scribe scroll would get Spell Focus instead.

Thanks for the heads up about arcanist, though. I might just go Arcanist/EK, then.

[twilsemail]

Hmm... okay. Can I get the source for the legality of spellslinger. I can't find it. Or is it because the wizards who would get scribe scroll would get Spell Focus instead.

Thanks for the heads up about arcanist, though. I might just go Arcanist/EK, then.

On the Additional Resources (http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/about/additionalResources) page:


Wizard: The siege mage and spellslinger archetypes are not permited in Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

[Snowbluff]

On the Additional Resources (http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/about/additionalResources) page:

KHAN!!! ...Yeah, I'll just go regular gish, then. My ninja friend will be disappointed in the lack of Flare cartridges.

[NightbringerGGZ]

KHAN!!! ...Yeah, I'll just go regular gish, then. My ninja friend will be disappointed in the lack of Flare cartridges.

PFS doesn't want any non-Gunslingers using guns for some reason.

[Snowbluff]

PFS doesn't want any non-Gunslingers using guns for some reason.

The guys running PFS are enemies of fun! First Synthesist, now this! :smalltongue:

[NightbringerGGZ]

The guys running PFS are enemies of fun! First Synthesist, now this! :smalltongue:

Ya. The nature of the format means they have to remove anything that might cause too big of a delay. That's why most of the boss fights are just straight up slugging matches too. :smallmad:

[Snowbluff]

Ya. The nature of the format means they have to remove anything that might cause too big of a delay. That's why most of the boss fights are just straight up slugging matches too. :smallmad:

Yeah. I pretty much only play it because my group is really good. I have a couple of older gamers with a couple of newcomers. It's a really awesome group. *gushes*

[Karoht]

Dovahkiin eh?
Give this a go. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259963)
Now, that right there is a 3.5/PF hybrid. But there is still plenty you can borrow from it.

First off, Soundstriker Bard Archetype. Weird Words is just awesome.
Secondly, his build uses Words of Power rather than regular casting. You can mix regular casting and Words of Power via a feat or two (such as Experimental Spellcaster), rather than going all in on Words of Power. Though thematically, Words of Power fits the Dovahkiin much more.

Finally, we have our good friend Dragonsfire Inspiration. Extremely unlikely that a DM will allow this. There is a PF legit version though, called Discordant Voice. It doesn't add nearly as much damage as DFI can, but it helps. Tremendously, in the right circumstances. Through use of a spell at spell level 4 or 5 (Virtuoso Performance or Shadowbard respectively) you can actually use your buff music AND Weird Words together, so your Weird Words is even more awesome.

WARNING: A single casting of Silence will mess you up. Silent Spell metamagic can not be used by Bards or applied to Bardic magic, not even via rods. A wand of Ventriloquism can and often does pay for itself, if you are clever.

[Vhaidara]

I don't know how well it would port to PF, but I find the Seeker of the Song PrC very Dovahkiin. You get elemental attacks using bard music, and it basically requires 10 levels of bard, giving you spells to simulate other shouts (gust of wind). I also support use of Snowflake Wardance and DFI.

[twilsemail]

Thanks for the advice fellows. I'll keep everything in mind as I'm working on this and whenever this bloke makes a table appearance I'll be sure to post the final build.

Unfortunately (at least regarding the deluge of ideas) I can only use PF specific material and that's a bit restricted on its own. I'm more than happy to continue with PF or 3.5 suggestions though. There may be someone down the road at a home game that wants to run a similar character.