Help with characters for a one-shot

[EisenKreutzer]

I'm working on a one-shot heist scenario that I'm surprising my regular gaming group with, for Pathfinder.

The idea is to have premade characters for the group to choose from (there are five of them, so I'm thinking six or seven characters), each themed and with their own motivations for working the job. The heist itself will be a mini-dungeon, there will of course be some double-crossing and the whole thing will end with another mini-dungeon as the characters take on their employer.

I'd like some advice on building the characters to make them mechanically unique. I'd like each character to have a strong, recogniseable theme (like ice spells, combat manouvers etc.), but my mechanical skills aren't really that good so some pointers and ideas would be nice.

So far, I've decided on the classes I want these characters to be. They will start at 5th or 6th level (I haven't quite decided yet, it depends on what builds will make them more interesting).

A Black Blade Magus
An Investigator
A Bard
A Rogue
A Brawler
A Swashbuckler
A Slayer

I'm not good enough that I can just look at a class and immediately see what kind of themes would work or how to build the character mechanically to make it interesting, but I know some of you guys are. So I'm asking for help. I don't need you to build these characters for me, but some tips as far as Feats, Skills, Spells and Equipment would be really nice.

[EisenKreutzer]

Ok, looks like I need to be a bit more specific to attract some answers here.

Let's start with the Magus.

How would you build a 5th (or possibly 6th) level Black Blade Magus (in terms of Feats, Spells, Gear etc.) to make him an interesting character worth playing?
Bear in mind that this scenario is a heist, so this character has a criminal background.

[avr]

A Bladebound Magus is a spellcaster who learned their skills via study or training, not from innate ability like a sorcerer. Some person or organisation, probably the latter, trained them and as a criminal they're probably an outcast to that organisation. Just some likely flavour as I read them.

There are a couple of likely builds. One is dex-based; they wield a scimitar, worship Sarenrae (or did at one point) and have the Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance feats. A variant that the ACG introduces has no religious origin and takes Weapon Focus (probably still scimitar), Weapon Finesse and Slashing Grace for about the same result.

The other uses strength to attack and has no feat tax to pay; they have a lot more freedom in how they spend their feats, but they'll still use a scimitar or rapier due to the mechanics of spellstrike.

The signature attack spell of a magus is Shocking Grasp delivered via sword using their spellstrike ability. Frostbite with Rime Spell is also possible (with the Magical Lineage trait on it) for those who like debuffs. At this level Mirror Image is their best defensive spell by a mile.

Is this what you wanted or did you want a detailed build?

[EisenKreutzer]

That is exactly what I wanted! Thank you, this is good stuff!

[avr]

OK, I'll give Investigator my take then. This is pure theorycraft, I haven't seen one played.

Investigators are trained just as much as Magi are but the organisation or person is more likely to be commercial than military or a warrior. Parting company as you go over to the shadows is less likely to be seen as betrayal (IMO.) Still possible if you were caught selling off their goods to fuel a drug or gambling habit of course.

The first question to answer as an Investigator is: go big or go small? They can easily get Enlarge Person and use a long spear for enormous reach and good damage, or they could use two weapons or bow/Rapid Shot to maximise the effect of studied combat (not studied strike).

Actually no, that's not the first. The first is whether you want to be involved in combat at all. The Investigator more-or-less supercedes the non-combat rogue, and it's certainly possible to use all their feats, extracts and talents on non-combat stuff.

Any combat-capable investigator gets Alchemist Discovery (mutagen) as a talent, and probably Quick Study. A feat on Extra Investigator Talent would be really tempting, probably on Expanded Inspiration or Underworld Inspiration, though Effortless Aid is also tempting (especially for a halfling with the relevant trait). Or Alchemist Discovery (Infusion), which leads us to ...

The Alchemist formula list is made of buffs. The main notes are that you can't buff/heal others unless you spend a talent on Infusion to do so i.e. self-buffs normally, and if you leave a slot unfilled it takes only 1 minute to prepare an extract from your spellbook. Even if you get Infusion you can't target multiple people with one spell which limits buffing severely.

One extract of particular note is Alchemical Allocation which lets you use a 2nd level slot to use a potion without using it up if you can spare 2 actions. Effectively casting 3rd level buffs out of 2nd level spell slots is nice even if you wouldn't waste the time in combat.

Boro Beads are Pearls of Power for Alchemists and Investigators. Preserving Flasks have a similar effect.

[EisenKreutzer]

The investigator is an older man, a retired master thief, who is being threatened into accepting the job. They have his grand daughter.

The rest is good stuff, it's really cool to get these little insights into building the classes so they live up to their potential, I am kind of bad at that.

[Da'Shain]

Well the Slayer's role is pretty much right there in the name. She's there to kill whoever needs killing, as quickly as possible. To that end, she's full BAB, has an extra +2 to hit from Studied Target, has extra 1d6/2d6 sneak attack (dependent on level), and has access to ranger bonus feats. This all absolutely screams to me that she's a stealthy dual wielder ninja type.

As a Tengu or a Half-elf, she can be proficient with Wakizashis. At least four, sheathed all around her body; she's absolutely deadly with them, taking Weapon Focus, Finesse and Slashing Grace , and using her Slayer Talents to get two weapon fighting feats. Witht the last talent she can take a non-assassination aiding ability, but if it were me I'd take the Stygian Slayer archetype and be able toturn invisible. She'd be a dreaded, silent type whose few words are backed up by lethal precision and who can seemingly always get the drop on others; so'd probably go Tenth for gliding and skill bonuses.


As for the Rogue, I see two fun concepts for him. First, the gang needs a safecracker and trap expert, since so far they're pretty combat focused. Others are probably better at building that than I am, so I'll leave that to them. But if you want a fearsome enforcer character, then the Thug archetype is pretty awesome, as it's one of the few ways to get people frightened (the condition) at lower levels without spells.

This guy's a Strength based bruiser who probably dipped a level of Monk (maybe Martial Artist archetype, which has no alignment restrictions) and uses the Enforcer feat with his flurrying fists (which can be nonlethal whenever he wants) to frighten foes into submission. He probably wants Intimidating Prowess and some +skill feats or racial abilities. He stacks fear and sickened conditions until his opponents can't really fight back. He's a , well, thug, perhaps sent along as the employer's personal rep to try and scare the othersin line ... but with 8 skill points per level he's no fool, whatever his Int score, and he likely has designs of his own. This character can even also be the disabling specialist; he just won't be nearly as good at it as if he was built to be.

EDIT: Actually I'd go Monk of the Iron Mountain 2/Thug Rogue 3 or 4 (trading out redundant evasion for +1nat AC and Toughness), with Imp Grapple and Dodge as bonus feats, and the Strong Impression and Combat Trick rogue talents, freeing up a couple normal feats for whatever you want (probably want Weapon Focus for unarmed strike in there to help out the low BAB).

[avr]

Well the Slayer's role is pretty much right there in the name. She's there to kill whoever needs killing, as quickly as possible. To that end, she's full BAB, has an extra +2 to hit from Studied Target, has extra 1d6/2d6 sneak attack (dependent on level), and has access to ranger bonus feats. This all absolutely screams to me that she's a stealthy dual wielder ninja type.
Sounds reasonable.


As for the Rogue, I see two fun concepts for him. First, the gang needs a safecracker and trap expert, since so far they're pretty combat focused.
Given what Eisen said above, no way. The investigator can outdo a rogue here without half trying. Say the ex-master thief investigator is human and has the feats Weapon Finesse, TWF, Quick Draw, Extra Investigator Talent, and the talents Mutagen, Quick Study and Underworld Inspiration. The rogue will then be worse at disable device even if they spend a feat on skill focus.


But if you want a fearsome enforcer character, then the Thug archetype is pretty awesome, as it's one of the few ways to get people frightened (the condition) at lower levels without spells.
That works. One other idea that might work is to be the sneakiest of them all. One way to do this is to throw every rogue talent possible (including the level 3 & 5 feats via Extra Rogue Talent) into Terrain Mastery. You end up with +8 by level 5 or +10 by level 6 in your best favored terrain, probably urban. This adds to initiative, perception, stealth and survival.