Build for a gnome warrior

[reveurduciel]

Hello, me and my group of friend decided to play a party of only gnome.

So far the party is : A gnome bard, a gnome wizard, a gnome summoner and a gnome alchemist.

I want to create a warrior gnome (fighter, ranger, barbarian...) but since i'm alway doing character for roleplay and not for combat, i want to try to build a strong warrior with good damage... but with a gnome :P Maybe a mounted build ? Any suggestion ?

[Secret Wizard]

You can absolutely make a great Gnome warrior.

I'm assuming this is Pathfinder, but in any case, there are two classes that are excellent for this: 1. Bloodrager, and 2. Paladin.

The Bloodrager would be a good choice - your CON gives it more rounds of bloodrage and your CHA gives it more spells - but it's somewhat redundant with the rest of the party. Its buffs could easily come from the Bard or the Summoner, and it's power to blow up **** could come from the Wizard.

That makes me eager to recommend the Paladin.

While the -2 STR might look like a problem early on, it's not that bad since the Paladin has several ways to increase its damage.

That being said, I'd heartily recommend the Tempered Champion archetype (http://archivesofnethys.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Paladin%20Tempered %20Champion). It trades out your spellcasting (which is meh anyway) for 1. more feats, 2. scaling weapon damage dice (so it doesn't matter how small you are) and 3. the ability to get more uses of Divine Bond on a weapon at the cost of using Lay on Hands -- which is why your extra Charisma is really useful, because it gives you more uses of that.

That being said, Gnome also has a pretty great Favored Class Bonus for Paladin (more Lay on Hands healing/damage!), and a Paladin in that party could help remove conditions that the Bard can't heal, through the use of Mercies.

For feats, all you need is Power Attack. The rest you can spend on whatever makes your tiny gnome heart happy. The Tempered Champion archetype provides cool stuff like Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization and the greater versions of both.

I'd like to recommend so alternate racial traits for Gnomes though:

- I'd trade Weapon Familiarity for Fey Thoughts - that should give you some nice extra class skills.

- I'd trade Gnome Magic + Keen Senses for the Vivacious racial trait - the extra healing is nice.

- I'd trade Defensive Training + Hatred for anything that looks good to you. Eternal Hope is my usual go to, but it's less useful for Paladins since they are immune to fear effects.

[reveurduciel]

Wow thank you Secret Wizard. That look great. I'll go check this build right now :)

Since i'll be playing rise of the runelord, is there a way to take "Favored Ennemy : Goblin" as a paladin ? Maybe i can save a build a goblin slayer weapon :) ?

[Mystral]

Blade Bravo is a fun class. You can also go the minignome route and get a few feats that help you fight bigger foes like confound the big folk. If your wizard shrinks you, that works against humans.

[Manyasone]

Wow thank you Secret Wizard. That look great. I'll go check this build right now :)

Since i'll be playing rise of the runelord, is there a way to take "Favored Ennemy : Goblin" as a paladin ? Maybe i can save a build a goblin slayer weapon :) ?

Unnecessary, goblins are only in the first adventure. Try for giants

[reveurduciel]

Goblin and giant ? This campaign is perfect for a gnome then :)

[Manyasone]

To each his own I guess ;-)

[Elkad]

web archive of the original "I may be tiny, but you are dead" thread.

https://goo.gl/tJCss8

[noce]

If giants are the main enemy, Gnome Giant-Slayer could be a good fit. Someone has already mentioned Blade Bravo.
Take a look at whisper gnome subrace, +2 dex, 30 ft movement and other useful stuff.

[Darrin]

This might be worth a look:

Iron Chef LXVII: Gnome Giant Slayer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19103084&postcount=95).