PF Gnome Cavalier Help

[MindTheGap97]

Hello everyone, I am interested in creating a Gnome Cavalier, the Order I am opting for is the Order of the Star for fluff reason, also for fluff reason I need to take a Boar as a mount, I'd really appreciate help on point buy (25 points), feat selection and potential dipping (I don't want to dip in any spellcasting class, Paladin included).
The build shouldn't be optimal, just playable and somewhat useful to the party, we are allowed 2 traits too. If possible I would like to avoid dumping stats, but that is not mandatory.

Thanks in advance!!!

[TheFamilarRaven]

Really, then. It depends on what you mean by "useful to the party". Because we don't know what the party is. I can help building an OK cavalier though.

first things first, a cavalier is meant to deal burst damage with charge attacks. that means that strength penalty hurts. But, as a small creature you have the advantage of your mount being medium sized, which means it easily fits inside a dungeon.

As for point buy. I came up with these stats

STR: 18 (16)
DEX: 10
CON: 13 (15)
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 13 (15)

My reasoning was this. Strength is by and large the most important stat for a melee class. You're proficient with heavy armor and shields, plus you take no armor penalty to ride checks when riding, so focusing on dex isn't necessary. CON should be pretty high as you are in melee a lot. I recommend bumping it up to 16 at level 4, then putting the rest into strength. You get four skill points and you're not a skill monkey so you should be fine with an INT of 10. WIS of 12 to help a bit with Will saves, not much, but it helps. And CHA of 15 because some of your order abilities require a decent CHA.

AS far as feats go. Mounted Combat (1st), Ride-by-Attack (3rd), Spirited charge (5th), Power Attack (6th, Bonus), Horse Master (7th), (only if you want to dip into other classes, i.e take this feat, then dip two levels of fighter for some extra feats without sacrificing your mount's effectiveness).

Really, if you focus on the mounted feats you can't go wrong. Later on you'll want to pick up Trick Riding (at 9th maybe, earliest you can qualify) so you can eventually pickup Mounted Skirmisher

As far as teamwork feats you get from Tactician, Swap Places is the only one that pops out as nifty. But spending a standard action to grant these feats to party member is not particularity good in my experience, as you (and the party) is much better off if you just use that action to charge. But once you get to higher levels where the duration is good then yeah, use the Tactician ability before combat.

You'll want a lance as your weapon of choice, because you'll be mounted a lot, in case that wasn't obvious.

For skills. Always max out ride. Then maybe Know. religion since that's appropriate for your chosen order, diplomacy and Handle animal.

As for traits, look for some that allow for better mounts, (Lightning Rider is decent as it extends the range of your mounted charge attacks), or go the safe route and choose the Seeker trait which adds perception as a class skill. Get 1 extra skill point from favored class bonus and put it in perception.

[Geddy2112]

Second that point buy should focus on strength, but I favor this one on a 25 pt buy.
S:18(16)
Dex:12
Con:12(14)
Int:10
Wis:12
Cha:12(14)

Getting that dex bonus to AC, skills, and initiative is baller and not to be overlooked. Second getting the mounted feats and in that order. It is a shame you negate potential dipping into pally or cleric due to spellcasting because your order is all about it.

For non casting classes that would boost you in a dip, you would be looking at fighter, slayer, and rogue. But you are probably best off sticking to caviler unless you are hard up for feats and need a fighter dip.

Gnomes get excitable as a trait, aka reactionary but alt option should you need it. Animal friend is a good racial trait for +1 will since you should always be near your boar. Dedicated defender is +1 attack adjacent to an animal companion, dying, or disabled ally.

[MindTheGap97]

Yes, I know that dipping either Paladin or Cleric would help, but the character I have in mind thinks of himself as a sacred servant of his god, the problem is that his god does not exist and so he does not gain any divine power at all

[Geddy2112]

Yes, I know that dipping either Paladin or Cleric would help, but the character I have in mind thinks of himself as a sacred servant of his god, the problem is that his god does not exist and so he does not gain any divine power at all
I was not expecting this. Also, I think this is a totally awesome concept and applaud you for it.

For clerics, yeah, this pretty well screws you. In Golarion clerics gotta worship a deity, but otherwise clerics can worship ideals or concepts and gain their powers from that. So maybe you get powers from the concepts that this "deity" would grant. If you go paladin, paladins don't have to worship a deity. Most do, but nothing says you have to. They can draw their powers from a lot of sources.

So if your character was convinced enough their deity was real, maybe they could harness the powers of good...but if it was not the deity, then who?Or, they know it is a sham, but yet somehow they are getting powers and magic.Both are really awesome adventure hooks and stuff for your character.

If you still don't want potential pally/cleric dip, then a fighter dip is never a bad option for a martial class.

[MindTheGap97]

I was not expecting this. Also, I think this is a totally awesome concept and applaud you for it.

For clerics, yeah, this pretty well screws you. In Golarion clerics gotta worship a deity, but otherwise clerics can worship ideals or concepts and gain their powers from that. So maybe you get powers from the concepts that this "deity" would grant. If you go paladin, paladins don't have to worship a deity. Most do, but nothing says you have to. They can draw their powers from a lot of sources.

So if your character was convinced enough their deity was real, maybe they could harness the powers of good...but if it was not the deity, then who?Or, they know it is a sham, but yet somehow they are getting powers and magic.Both are really awesome adventure hooks and stuff for your character.

If you still don't want potential pally/cleric dip, then a fighter dip is never a bad option for a martial class.

Well, fluff-wise I was thinking about a very stupid deity, something like a deity of stew and soup or something along that line, I was thinking stew and soup because they get a Profession boost that I could put in Profession (Cook) and it sounds specific enough to be funny, but I'm open to suggestions about a deity's focus.

When building the char I constantly had in mind Don Quijote, he sees himself as a great hero but at the eyes of other he should look funny, that was also why I chose boar as a mount, even if donkey could have been a good choice too, but the idea of a gnome riding in on a pig in the desperate attempt to save the day makes me giggle.

[Geddy2112]

Well, fluff-wise I was thinking about a very stupid deity, something like a deity of stew and soup or something along that line, I was thinking stew and soup because they get a Profession boost that I could put in Profession (Cook) and it sounds specific enough to be funny, but I'm open to suggestions about a deity's focus.

When building the char I constantly had in mind Don Quijote, he sees himself as a great hero but at the eyes of other he should look funny, that was also why I chose boar as a mount, even if donkey could have been a good choice too, but the idea of a gnome riding in on a pig in the desperate attempt to save the day makes me giggle.

That's awesome. In this case, you almost have to dump intelligence and/or wisdom and max charisma. Filled with divine conviction about how great and awesome he is. And stew and soup->soup kitchens-> organized way to feed the needy->lawful good-> paladin confirmed. The deity that ensures the strong(you) care for the meek. That all gather around the community soup pot and eat as equals, great and small mighty and meek rich and poor etc etc. I mean, the PF deity Erastil is not too far off with a good old feeding the needy and tending to those who need help. You might be a nutter, but you look after your community, forge the bonds between them, and protect them, which is what the gruff old dude is all about. So he might throw you a bone, or maybe you are just so convicted in the divine power of stew you just have power.

You could also just craft (stew) and not know how to cook anything else to really send the message home.

[MindTheGap97]

That's awesome. In this case, you almost have to dump intelligence and/or wisdom and max charisma. Filled with divine conviction about how great and awesome he is. And stew and soup->soup kitchens-> organized way to feed the needy->lawful good-> paladin confirmed. The deity that ensures the strong(you) care for the meek. That all gather around the community soup pot and eat as equals, great and small mighty and meek rich and poor etc etc. I mean, the PF deity Erastil is not too far off with a good old feeding the needy and tending to those who need help. You might be a nutter, but you look after your community, forge the bonds between them, and protect them, which is what the gruff old dude is all about. So he might throw you a bone, or maybe you are just so convicted in the divine power of stew you just have power.

You could also just craft (stew) and not know how to cook anything else to really send the message home.

So I might go with a 2 levels paladin dip and completely dump Wisdom, to give the idea of someone crazy, and I could have a point buy that looks like this after racial

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 7
Cha: 18

Paladin gives him Cha to saves and a nice little boost to his Will base save. Fluff-wise he could profess a false god but seeing how he always does his best to help those in need some deity decides to give him a shard of true divine power, the only thing that bugs me is that my mount falls behind in levels, I know that there are ways to fix that (namely horse master or boon companion), but they wouldn't come online until 7th level, but that's not much of an issue. So, now that the fluff is decided, should I stick with base Paladin or are there better archetypes for this concept?

[Geddy2112]

So I might go with a 2 levels paladin dip and completely dump Wisdom, to give the idea of someone crazy, and I could have a point buy that looks like this after racial

Str: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 7
Cha: 18

Paladin gives him Cha to saves and a nice little boost to his Will base save. Fluff-wise he could profess a false god but seeing how he always does his best to help those in need some deity decides to give him a shard of true divine power, the only thing that bugs me is that my mount falls behind in levels, I know that there are ways to fix that (namely horse master or boon companion), but they wouldn't come online until 7th level, but that's not much of an issue. So, now that the fluff is decided, should I stick with base Paladin or are there better archetypes for this concept?
I really like that array. I think the 2 level paladin dip is fantastic-divine grace is the big seller, and a lay on hands is a helpful bonus. Even with a 2 level dip, it is not like your are slinging spells or other magic powers very often, so you still avoid being a spellcaster. You can play off smite evil as some stupidly heroic charge against a big bad evil monster. After all, most big nasty things that are trying to hurt you are evil.
Boon companion can be taken at any level, and it will cover your dip entirely. Horse master is more for dip cavilers because it covers all ranks in other classes.
The oath of charity is fitting to your concept, adding 50% to LoH for others, but halving LoH if you heal yourself. Certainly you could just have a fluff oath if you wanna keep the swift action healing for yourself. Otherwise vanilla paladin is best as the other archetypes either don't apply, replace higher level pally stuff, or take out divine grace.

[MindTheGap97]

I really like that array. I think the 2 level paladin dip is fantastic-divine grace is the big seller, and a lay on hands is a helpful bonus. Even with a 2 level dip, it is not like your are slinging spells or other magic powers very often, so you still avoid being a spellcaster. You can play off smite evil as some stupidly heroic charge against a big bad evil monster. After all, most big nasty things that are trying to hurt you are evil.
Boon companion can be taken at any level, and it will cover your dip entirely. Horse master is more for dip cavilers because it covers all ranks in other classes.
The oath of charity is fitting to your concept, adding 50% to LoH for others, but halving LoH if you heal yourself. Certainly you could just have a fluff oath if you wanna keep the swift action healing for yourself. Otherwise vanilla paladin is best as the other archetypes either don't apply, replace higher level pally stuff, or take out divine grace.

I an considering oath of charity, fluff-wise it sounds great, sadly it will lock LoH much more to an out of combat role, but it fits perfectly fluff-wise.

[TheFamilarRaven]

There are paladin archetypes that remove spell casting.... Problem I don't think the benefits come online until level 4, which wouldn't help much if you're only taking 2 levels.

[MindTheGap97]

There are paladin archetypes that remove spell casting.... Problem I don't think the benefits come online until level 4, which wouldn't help much if you're only taking 2 levels.

Well, not even the spellcasting comes online before level 4 so that is not a problem, but I'll look into these archetypes if I decide to dip for more levels. The campaign is gonna cover the whole range from level 1 to level 20. I really like this PC and hope it will do good in the upcoming campaign. This will also be a nice break from my usual fullcasters PCs.

[MindTheGap97]

So, the DM updated the rules to 3 traits and a drawback so I need a little help about it, second, do you have any roleplay advice? Maybe some quirk or something like that to help the character feel a little bit more "real".

[Geddy2112]

So, the DM updated the rules to 3 traits and a drawback so I need a little help about it, second, do you have any roleplay advice? Maybe some quirk or something like that to help the character feel a little bit more "real".
excitable (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/combat-traits/excitable) is a good trait for gnomes, it is same bonus as reactionary but everyone takes reactionary and it has much better fluff IMO.

If you go with craft: soup you might want the collector (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/social-traits/collector-gnome-social) trait for a bonus, and it gives you an excuse to carry a large amount of soup making equipment and ingredients.

Since you worship a non existent deity, devotee of a fallen god
(http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/religion-traits/devotee-of-a-dead-god-a-fallen-god) is a good one fluffwise.

For traits, zealous and oblivious would fit.

Overall, play as Don Quixote- lack common sense, but don't be outright crazy about it. Be a bit foolish but not recklessly insane, also with 10 int you have a brain so you are not stupid. Have a very strong conviction that what you are doing is right, and be a bit of a shining beacon of the goodness of the world, even in the face of bad things happen. Optimism to the point of it almost being dangerous.

[MindTheGap97]

I am considering a 3-levels Paladin dip, I would be trading a bonus feat but I would get immunity to fear and immunity to diseases and a Mercy, which are all good boons, probably worth a feat

[Geddy2112]

I have never seen disease meaningfully affect a game past the first couple of levels. Eventually the party's fortitude saves will just be too high, and cure disease can auto fix the problem just in case. There are some nasty ones like mummy rot, but even then I doubt disease will even come up in your campaign.

Fear immunity is pretty nice- fear effects are more common and some can be super nasty like phantasmal killer. The bigger sell here is that you give everyone within 10ft a +4 against fear saves. Combined with your caviler banner the party will be more or less immune to it.

Mercy is good, but the higher level ones are the biggest sell. If you go that route, shaken is worthless as you are immune to fear and boost the party. Sickened is circumstantial but not bad. Fatigue is probably the best because it is the most common affliction, and if you have a barbarian in a party it is a must take for ragecycling.

All in all arguably better than most feats, considering another level won't cost you BAB and gets you better saves.

[MindTheGap97]

Alright, I have the first ten levels planned out, today I had the first session of the campaign, the DM planned for us to slaughter some Goblins, but in the end it settled with the party and the goblins eating a ton of stew together and with the green fellows converting to Sopalinea (which is the name of my deity), the other players seem to enjoy my character quite a lot, that's good, all thanks to you guys ^^