Which gear could my party members find that fits their playstyle?

[Nathe]

Hello everyone,

I play in a group of people that just recently started with Pathfinder (we just completed our 4th or 5th session) and we're relatively new to it (though we have experience with 5e). Our GM, who is the most experienced with PF, but still at a level where he doesn't know everything, is wondering what items he can throw our way.

I decided to help him out in that regard and tried to find a list for the playstyles the other players intend to play (I have already figured my gear setup at late game out), though couldn't find anything for their particular playstyles.

That's why I'd like to ask you guys what you think would be nice to have them find during the course of our adventures (please feel free to post endgame gear, I'd like to give our GM a list of items to work towards during the course of the campaign, not to necessarily outfit the party within the next few sessions).


So I'm mostly looking for gear that serves these two characters:

The first is a Dwarf Fighter, that prefers ranged combat and uses a crossbow. (Please no discussion about bows being superior, he doesn't care about optimizing and just wants to have fun with it :smallsmile:)

The other one is a Half-Elf Druid with the Animal Bond that would like to mainly specialize in healing, though would also like her animal companion to be able to dish out at least a bit of damage and take a hit or two.

What would you guys suggest to our GM?

Edit: Oh yeah, Multiclassing is currently not allowed since we're mostly new to Pathfinder, though it might be lifted at higher levels.

Thanks in advance!

[Psyren]

Your first objective itemization-wise is to make the sure the Big Six (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20070302a) are covered. There are guidelines in my sig (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?314247-What-level-should-ability-modifier-items-open-up&p=16416299#post16416299) that help you estimate what the party should have when, but you can deviate from these as long as the group isn't falling too far behind, particularly where defensive attributes (AC, saving throws, and saving throw-related ability scores) are concerned.

Only after those are decently covered should you be considering class-specific or build-specific items. There is yet another link in my sig (https://zenithgames.blogspot.com/2013/11/improving-your-class-with-items.html) that will help with that.

[Nathe]

I see. Thank you for those links, they're already helping a lot :)

I'll be sure to link them to our GM aswell.

[Maat Mons]

I'm not overly familiar with Pathfinder. But you might try looking at this list of 3.5 items (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items), and seeking out Pathfinder equivalents. Do note, however, that sometimes the Pathfinder equivalent has been substantially nerfed. So you'll need to apply some judgement, and not just blindly buy something because the 3.5 version was good.

[Kurald Galain]

What level are you?


Frankly for new players I would not start with the "big six", because items that just give a +1 to something you can already do are fairly boring.

I'd give the druid something like a Chalice of Communal Dweomer, a Feather Token Tree, or Deathwatch Eyes; also a Metamagic Rod of Reach is very practical for a healer.

And I'd give the dwarf items like Slippers of Spider Climb, Pendant of the Blood Scarab, and a bunch of trick bolts (like five each of Bewildering Bolts, Limning Bolts, Giant-Bane Bolts, or roll a couple times at random on the weapon special ability table).

HTH.

[Psyren]

No argument from me that they're boring - but it's tough to have fun if you're dead, missing all the time, failing fort/will saves, failing to overcome DR or whiffing against incorporeal targets etc. either.

[Kurald Galain]

No argument from me that they're boring - but it's tough to have fun if you're dead, missing all the time, failing fort/will saves, failing to overcome DR or whiffing against incorporeal targets etc. either.

It's pretty silly to suggest that a character with, say, a cloak +1 and a sword +1 is fine, but one without it is dead and missing all the time.

Sure, they're good items, but it's not crucial to have the highest bonus you can afford, all the time. 5% is only 5%, after all.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

It's pretty silly to suggest that a character with, say, a cloak +1 and a sword +1 is fine, but one without it is dead and missing all the time.

Sure, they're good items, but it's not crucial to have the highest bonus you can afford, all the time. 5% is only 5%, after all.

The Cloak's unlikely to make a huge difference, true, but the sword might - not for the bonuses, but for the fact of having a magic weapon against all the things that are resistant or immune to nonmagic weapons. (And because of the +1 minimum on magic weapons in Pathfinder there's relatively few ways to satisfy that requirement without one)

[Kurald Galain]

the sword might - not for the bonuses, but for the fact of having a magic weapon against all the things that are resistant or immune to nonmagic weapons.

There are surprisingly few of those, except for ghosts and wraiths. But these are easily countered by some cheap consumables (e.g. oil of Bless Weapon; Ghost Salt; scroll of Magic Fang) so you don't need a 2000-gp magic weapon for that.

[Psyren]

It's pretty silly to suggest that a character with, say, a cloak +1 and a sword +1 is fine, but one without it is dead and missing all the time.

1) Exaggeration perhaps, but the fact remains that the game's math is built around these categories of item. The deleterious effects of not having them aren't as pronounced at +1 levels, sure, but it's still worth pointing out for a group who has admitted to not being familiar with the game's itemization. (Though I'll point out that the gameplay difference between having a magic weapon and not having one goes beyond "5%" too.)

2) As straightforward as a +1 sword or a Cloak of Resistance +1 might be, it's also pretty reasonable to expect to find one regardless of the region or type of campaign being played in. I think it's just as silly to expect every party to come across, say, a Chalice that hails from a specific module.

[stack]

With being new, +numbers items are easy to add on the sheet and hard to forget to use, since they just change a total. A few interesting active items would be good, but if you have too many, you won't remember to use them when you need them. The cognitive load of a new, rules-heavy system is significant.

[YellowJohn]

items that just give a +1 to something you can already do are fairly boring.

Maybe they're dull to us enfranchised players, but to a new player a magic crossbow is an exciting shiny. I'd start there for the dwarf & maybe throw in some trick bolts to spice it up. If they're advanced enough to find a better than +1 Crossbow, then in 3.5 I would recommend the Quick Loading property from the MIC for all your Full Attack needs - presumably PF has something equivalent or you can forward convert it.

For the druid, a '+1 Bonus' item is less interesting, but Kurald Galain's suggestions looked solid if they're not planning to head into combat.

[Efrate]

I would echo +1 weapon for the dwarf is priority over most other things. It bypasses a huge chunk of DR and makes it especially with a suboptimal style so you actually do stuff in combat. Random specialty bolts are nice but if your thing in combat is make attack rolls with a weapon get a magical one as soon as you can.

For the druid i would recommend partially charged wands of animal specific buffs and/or healing spells. You can get a wand of say magic fang with like 7 charges left and not be unbalanced even at pretty low levels. Healing wands let you use your spell slots to do something else, because even if you want to play a healer you have times where no one needs it and it gives you something to do. Scrolls are great as well. Stuff like animal growth are great to have on a scroll for if you really need it. As long as your players arent not consumable adverse.

[Nathe]

First off, thanks for all the replies so far, there's quite a few interesting ideas in here. I'll link this thread to my GM so he might take a look at all the stuff you suggested. Knowing the players, they'll probably enjoy the active items the most, but I can see the importance of flat + stat items.


What level are you?



At the moment we're level 2, but we're about to level up to 3.

[Kitsuneymg]

A silver nocking point might be nice for the dwarf until you can get cyclonic bolts. Nothing sucks more than flat “you always miss” effects.

There are also a number of alchemical ales on the dwarves of Galorian book. One, iirc, gives endure elements against heat for some amount of time after drinking.

It’s 3rd party, but there’s a flask (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/apparatuses#toc11) that costs 1000 GP and has 5, 20 gallon compartments to hold liquids. Never be without beer again!