Yipyioh
2014-09-20, 12:54 AM
Right, so I just found out that Pathfinder Society was a thing, and I'm hopping into it. As such, I'm taking an old PF character I enjoyed and dropping him to 1st level. I'll probably be using the character concept in any other campaigns I join, however, so I'm going to take it upon myself to project the character out to 15th level or so. I'm going to have to tell you a bit about the character's style and story so you understand what I'm going for, because I doubt I'd be able to get the point across otherwise. Bits of explanatory background and such are spoilered, so read them if you want a bit more understanding to this.
The background idea was that he's a rifleman kid who was raised by an elderly soldier. In the campaign world my friends and I had made up, said soldier had fought in a massive battle with Antmen years before and was part of a firearm-wielding commando strike team who'd follow sappers around and keep the trenches/tunnels clear as well as help demolish them. Antmen tunnels and nest attacks were filled with rapidly changing scenery, acid-spitting warriors, and a general air of "We need to move, NOW!" As such, the fighting style we envisioned was very much made of rapid-response, highly mobile ranged tactics. Using guns. This concept is what I based my character around.
My original (now defunct) campaign was very loose. Lots of liberties taken and given by the GM in the name of awesome, lots of homebrew feats. We all ran on the Rule of Cool, and thus I will never allow a GM to tell me a Trench Knife is not okay. At any rate, I basically morphed my character through various ways (many of which were unique to this rather Steampunk setting, such as being brought back from death as a half-golem) to match the style; Every fight started with me popping off a shot and sprinting to find the nearest cover, usually followed by a lot of running around and taking shots on the run from cover to cover, quite often running straight through a melee. I can't count how many times I literally bayonet-charged someone for the purposes of blasting them at point blank the next turn. . So you see, this character essentially lived (and yes, died) by his ability to fight on the run and still be an asset to the team. Now, I am trying to recreate this concept within the "actual" rules as set by the Pathfinder Society, that I may use him wherever I go. He's too awesome for me to just leave by the wayside.
So basically, I know how I'll build him up to 7th level, because I'll be rushing for Shot on the Run and Deft Shootist. Feat progression is par for the course:
Level 1: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload: Musket (Class Ability), Precise Shot (Human 1st level Bonus)
Level 3: Dodge
Level 4: Mobility
Level 5: Shot on the Run
Level 7: Deft Shootist
After that, though, I'm at a loss as to what to do. I do like the tried and true Snap Shot tree, but I'd like to try something different. For one, 7th level is about where my interest in the Gunslinger class caps out. By that time I'll be reloading as a free action thanks to the Rapid Reload-Fast Musket-Paper Cartridges trifecta, and I'm careful enough to not have my gun explode on me, so that renders 2 of the 3 Deeds from level 11 moot. Just the same, the dead zone between 7 and 11 for Musket Master is just that; dead. I won't need the extra Nimble nor Musket Training, so I think I'd rather just multiclass after level 7.
But to where? I've had my fun trying to finagle arcane stuff into guns, but frankly it's too much work for too little of a payoff as any casters we have will just be outclassing me in casting so it won't benefit us, so I started looking at the other core classes and their archetypes and came across Dervish Dancer for the Bard. I think it looks fun even though I've never run a Bard before, and I'll simply re-skin the whole "battle dancing" thing to be more of an Adrenaline Rush. What better to compliment the commando's mobile close-range gunnery than something that increases speed of both movement and shots AND just gives me Improved Critical at 8th level so I can get that x4 crit a little easier?
The reason I come to you, lads, is to help me find a good feat combo to go along with this. I'm pretty much stumped as to where to go after 7th level one I would start taking Dervish Dancer. So let me ask you this then; can you lot think of any feats that will 1. Give combat bonuses (att, dam, crit range, etc) due to movement from one place to another or based on positioning i.e. high ground, 2. Would somehow buff my Bardic spells/"Battle Dance" (I've never even looked at playing a bard and am unfamiliar with what feats do what for them) and 3. Somehow give me greater benefits for charging? I absolutely love the bayonet charge because Rule of Cool states it should simply win. Unfortunately, it's a Strength- based attack with only a 1d6 weapon profile and the only positive to it is double movement and +2 attack for a -2 AC. I'd really like to gore somebody with a strong charge, but short of simply taking a large line of melee-buffing feats to start landing huge criticals I don't know of a way. Think you guys can help me get over this writer's block of 7th level?
Additionally, here is a link to my Myth Weavers character sheet as he is now at 1st level. And yes, I know the attributes aren't optimized. They are what they are for a reason, and they probably won't be changing. You're welcome to still yell at me for giving him Strength and Charisma of 13 though
The background idea was that he's a rifleman kid who was raised by an elderly soldier. In the campaign world my friends and I had made up, said soldier had fought in a massive battle with Antmen years before and was part of a firearm-wielding commando strike team who'd follow sappers around and keep the trenches/tunnels clear as well as help demolish them. Antmen tunnels and nest attacks were filled with rapidly changing scenery, acid-spitting warriors, and a general air of "We need to move, NOW!" As such, the fighting style we envisioned was very much made of rapid-response, highly mobile ranged tactics. Using guns. This concept is what I based my character around.
My original (now defunct) campaign was very loose. Lots of liberties taken and given by the GM in the name of awesome, lots of homebrew feats. We all ran on the Rule of Cool, and thus I will never allow a GM to tell me a Trench Knife is not okay. At any rate, I basically morphed my character through various ways (many of which were unique to this rather Steampunk setting, such as being brought back from death as a half-golem) to match the style; Every fight started with me popping off a shot and sprinting to find the nearest cover, usually followed by a lot of running around and taking shots on the run from cover to cover, quite often running straight through a melee. I can't count how many times I literally bayonet-charged someone for the purposes of blasting them at point blank the next turn. . So you see, this character essentially lived (and yes, died) by his ability to fight on the run and still be an asset to the team. Now, I am trying to recreate this concept within the "actual" rules as set by the Pathfinder Society, that I may use him wherever I go. He's too awesome for me to just leave by the wayside.
So basically, I know how I'll build him up to 7th level, because I'll be rushing for Shot on the Run and Deft Shootist. Feat progression is par for the course:
Level 1: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload: Musket (Class Ability), Precise Shot (Human 1st level Bonus)
Level 3: Dodge
Level 4: Mobility
Level 5: Shot on the Run
Level 7: Deft Shootist
After that, though, I'm at a loss as to what to do. I do like the tried and true Snap Shot tree, but I'd like to try something different. For one, 7th level is about where my interest in the Gunslinger class caps out. By that time I'll be reloading as a free action thanks to the Rapid Reload-Fast Musket-Paper Cartridges trifecta, and I'm careful enough to not have my gun explode on me, so that renders 2 of the 3 Deeds from level 11 moot. Just the same, the dead zone between 7 and 11 for Musket Master is just that; dead. I won't need the extra Nimble nor Musket Training, so I think I'd rather just multiclass after level 7.
But to where? I've had my fun trying to finagle arcane stuff into guns, but frankly it's too much work for too little of a payoff as any casters we have will just be outclassing me in casting so it won't benefit us, so I started looking at the other core classes and their archetypes and came across Dervish Dancer for the Bard. I think it looks fun even though I've never run a Bard before, and I'll simply re-skin the whole "battle dancing" thing to be more of an Adrenaline Rush. What better to compliment the commando's mobile close-range gunnery than something that increases speed of both movement and shots AND just gives me Improved Critical at 8th level so I can get that x4 crit a little easier?
The reason I come to you, lads, is to help me find a good feat combo to go along with this. I'm pretty much stumped as to where to go after 7th level one I would start taking Dervish Dancer. So let me ask you this then; can you lot think of any feats that will 1. Give combat bonuses (att, dam, crit range, etc) due to movement from one place to another or based on positioning i.e. high ground, 2. Would somehow buff my Bardic spells/"Battle Dance" (I've never even looked at playing a bard and am unfamiliar with what feats do what for them) and 3. Somehow give me greater benefits for charging? I absolutely love the bayonet charge because Rule of Cool states it should simply win. Unfortunately, it's a Strength- based attack with only a 1d6 weapon profile and the only positive to it is double movement and +2 attack for a -2 AC. I'd really like to gore somebody with a strong charge, but short of simply taking a large line of melee-buffing feats to start landing huge criticals I don't know of a way. Think you guys can help me get over this writer's block of 7th level?
Additionally, here is a link to my Myth Weavers character sheet as he is now at 1st level. And yes, I know the attributes aren't optimized. They are what they are for a reason, and they probably won't be changing. You're welcome to still yell at me for giving him Strength and Charisma of 13 though