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View Full Version : Pathfinder Thoughts on a Skinwalker Alchemist



Morrison
2018-07-03, 09:37 AM
I have a specific idea for a character in mind and I'm trying to come up with the best way to actually build him in rules terms, so I thought I'd float the current build idea I have. Please tell me if it's any good.
The idea is to be a Werewolfkin Skinwalker, but at Small size (which it says you can do) who specializes in natural weapon combat. I realize this will reduce his damage die size but I'm hoping the bonus to attack - and especially to AC - will make up for it.
As for class, I'm leaning toward the Beastmorph Alchemist, probably stacking it with Vivisectionist Alchemist.
My hope here is that the Beastmorph's access to Pounce - and later, Rake - together with the Vivisectionist's sweet sweet Sneak Attack, will help to mitigate the damage ceiling that natural weapon builds tend to run into.
Is this a viable build, or would I be better off looking into another class?
(And before anyone suggests, I'm aware that Ragebred Skinwalkers are great but it doesn't fit into the vision I have for this character.)

Psyren
2018-07-03, 09:57 AM
Well for starters, I'm not at all sure what you mean by "damage ceiling" because natural weapon builds can definitely pump out serious numbers. Getting a large number of primary attacks with no iterative falloff is huge, and that's before you get into all the ways of boosting their raw damage dice. Being Small does hurt that somewhat, but sneak attack can easily make up for it.

Is Werewolfkin set in stone? The Int penalty isn't great for an alchemist; a Wererat or Werebat might be a better mechanical base for this idea, and to me they're both more thematically fitting too.

Geddy2112
2018-07-03, 10:18 AM
Even with the small size, you will be plenty fine in the damage department even without sneak attack. You can also grow arms to hold weapons and use your claw/claw/bite routine as natural attacks.

Alchemist has plenty of mutagen support to boost damage power and combat efficacy so you should be fine. Also any skinwalker variant that does not penalize INT is a good choice, although penalizing wis is a bit harsh since alchemists have poor will saves.

lord pringle
2018-07-03, 01:23 PM
The typical build, I think, is Ragebred Skinwalker with extra feature (giving you a gore and two hoofs) and the mutagen that gets you two claws and a bite as a vivisectionist, so you'll get six swings around, each getting sneak attack if you can set that up.
Once you hit greater invisibility, you'll be a wrecking ball.

Morrison
2018-07-03, 03:48 PM
Is Werewolfkin set in stone?

No, it's not, but it has the closest flavour to what I'm going for. I'm also thinking of Werebearkin, or even just Halfling or Gnome if I can get them a Natural Weapon. I realize Boar, Rat, or Bat have their advantages but they don't fit the image I have for this character.