I Need Deadly Halflings!

[Palanan]

I have an idea for a halfling ambush, and I need some vicious builds for 4-5 halflings. These will be feral halflings, wild and cruel, so anything savage-y will be preferred.

I’m looking for builds between first and third level, all official Paizo material on the table, 3.5 options also considered. This will be a wilderness encounter, so builds involving animal companions would be especially thematic. Pure martial builds are preferred to casters, but I’m open to ideas.

[zlefin]

have you looked through the npc lists?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/
it looks like there's a few halfling builds in that range which might work.


and ofc you could take some of the other builds and convert the race to halfling.

[CharonsHelper]

At 3rd level, a pair of halfling Unchained Rogues can be pretty mean. Give one a pair of hand-crossbows for the first round - targeting anyone who is still flat-footed for SA and then close in with their daggers with the River Rat trait.

A halfling Unchained Monk with the Draconic Fist archetype (uses CHA instead of WIS) can be mean, though I'm not sure how savage that is.

And of course - in a dungeon a halfling cavalier riding a lizard (with sticky feet - so the ceiling or wall can be a charge lane) can be really mean.

[Elricaltovilla]

Well the Mad Dog (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo-barbarian-archetypes/mad-dog/) archetype for the barbarian will give you raging barbarians with animal companions. They get improved flanking as well, making them super accurate on top of being painful. They need to be 4th level before they get actual Rage (the class feature) however.

[lylsyly]

Perhaps you can find some inspiration here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22886269&postcount=56)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by CharonsHelper
At 3rd level, a pair of halfling Unchained Rogues can be pretty mean. Give one a pair of hand-crossbows for the first round - targeting anyone who is still flat-footed for SA and then close in with their daggers with the River Rat trait.

A halfling Unchained Monk with the Draconic Fist archetype (uses CHA instead of WIS) can be mean, though I'm not sure how savage that is.

These are both excellent ideas. Can you give me some feat suggestions for both of these?


Originally Posted by Elricaltovilla
Well the Mad Dog archetype for the barbarian will give you raging barbarians with animal companions. They get improved flanking as well, making them super accurate on top of being painful.

This is just awesome. Can you suggest some feats and gear?

[Eldonauran]

Halfling Skald to Inspire Rage in all his allies, and share a rage power to give them natural attacks. Just give him lingering performance as a feat plus one of your choice.

Halfling Inquisitor (Monster Tactician) to summon a small amount of Stirges to drain Constitution from the players. I'd say Spell Focus (Conjuration) + Augmented Summoning to make it more of a threat.

[CharonsHelper]

These are both excellent ideas. Can you give me some feat suggestions for both of these?

All the Unchained Rogue needs is Two-Weapon Fighting and maybe Weapon Focus. With the Weapon Focus they may be better off throwing daggers before closing in with more.

For the monk - just go with Weapon Finesse & Jabbing Style to get decent damage. (Normally Dex monk builds have crap damage until they can afford an Agile enchantment. There's a reason my PFS monk was leveled up to 4 without my ever playing him.)

[Elricaltovilla]

This is just awesome. Can you suggest some feats and gear?

I mean, it's not that much. Probably hide or studded leather armor (barding for the animal companions), a greataxe for a weapon, and maybe some potions of bull's strength. For feats, Power Attack and Cornugon Smash (because they'll only have two feats) will up the damage a little, but also add some debuffing power to their attacks by way of intimidate.

[Florian]

Puh. As usual, a well build encounter is way more deadly then the sum of its parts and the CR system breaks down easily when it comes to class levels.

I´d actually ditch the animal companions and subtract the cost of regular riding dogs and hunting hawks from the available WBL, as it doesn't make too much of a difference at those levels.

Depending on the players, this can actually work really well as a phased battle. Start with some 4 hanfling warriors carrying nets, tanglefoot bags and alchemical splash weapons, wait some round and add a pair each of halfling barbarians (Mounted Fury) and fighters (Dragoneer), then support that some additional 3 rounds later with a witch and druid. Maybe add some feature like a forest fire that forces movement...

[Coventry]

I have an idea for a halfling ambush, and I need some vicious builds for 4-5 halflings. These will be feral halflings, wild and cruel, so anything savage-y will be preferred.

I’m looking for builds between first and third level, all official Paizo material on the table, 3.5 options also considered. This will be a wilderness encounter, so builds involving animal companions would be especially thematic. Pure martial builds are preferred to casters, but I’m open to ideas.

A Halfling Synthesist Summoner at level 3 might look like this:

"Forest Jaguar" Quadruped Eidolon. Evolutions:


Pounce
Claws
Improved Damage (Claws)
Improved Natural Armor
Reach (Bite)




Physical
Mental





Ability
Not fused
Fused with Eidolon


Str
9
15


Dex
11
15


Con
10
13





Ability
Score


Int
12


Wis
11


Cha
15








Ability
Not fused
Fused with Eidolon


hit points
21
24


Temporary hit points
0
21


Armor Class
11
18


Initiative
+1
+3


Speed
20
40






Save Bonus
Not fused
Fused with Eidolon


Fort
+1
+2


Reflex
+1
+2


Will
+3
+3






When fused, the NPC has 3 attacks:

Bite +5, d6+2 (10' reach)
Claws (x2) +5/+5, d6+2


Spells Available:

6 Level 0: Message, <choose whatever else>
4 Level 1: Expeditious Retreat, Mage Armor, Rejuvenate Eidolon, Shield


Gear: Spell Components Pouch, <choose whatever else>

Skill Points Available: 9, Stealth 3, Perception 3, <choose any 3>

Feats Available: 2, <choose any>

Pick the Eidolon Mount feat, and this Halfling can carry one of the others in the war party into battle.
Because this character does not use a swift action for anything else, pick Arcane Strike to add +1 damage to every attack each round.
Reach on the bite attack can shut down any PC caster; charge the caster on the first round, and no matter how they try to move to cast, the reach allows an attack. Pick Combat Reflexes, and this NPC can shut down two PC casters if they happen to be standing side by side.
Improved Initiative for the +4 at the start of combat is probably unnecessary, as it likely only apply once before this NPC is killed.


Pick the Craven alternate racial trait for the +1 to hit when flanking, which should not be hard to arrange given how fast and durable this character can be.


Fully buffed up with Mage Armor, Shield and Expeditious Retreat all active, this NPC has an armor class of 26, speed of 70', Pounce, 3 attacks every round, and will require (24+21) = 45 damage to knock out of the fight.

With Message active, this NPC can coordinate the war party's charge.

Eldonauran's suggestion of a having a Skald giving out inspiring rage stacks very well with this design.

By itself, this NPC is somewhere between Challenge Rating 4 and 5. Add four similarly powerful allies, with a buffer like the Skald in the mix, and the war party you are looking for is roughly CR 8-9.

[Petrukio]

You could check out The Noble Art of Intimimancy - A Young Adventurer’s First Primer on Making Monsters Poop Themselves (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GG-j2Uu9bT3rGEMtS5tx8Fu_7i8heNyKxZDPBFwjN9E/edit) along with Shadows of Fear (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/shadows-of-fear-combat/). Go three levels of Unchained Rogue (pump Charisma and either Intimidate or Bluff (see the guide above)) with the Thug archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/rogue/archetypes/paizo-rogue-archetypes/thug/) and Enforcer (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/enforcer-combat/) and they'll be shaken for <damage, including sneak attack +1> rounds, or frightened for one round. So long as they're under a fear effect, Shadows of Fear comes into play as well. So, hit them with the sap the first round, then shift to another weapon, and they'll be -2 to all d20 rolls, basically, for the rest of the combat. If you can somehow add Bludgeoner (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/bludgeoner-combat/) in, they won't even need to switch weapons.