[PF] What do I want to play, pt 2

[LibraryOgre]

So, last night, my hobgoblin died. And, when I say died, I mean "was murdered in a bloody orgy of destruction." There was an infestation of orcs in the county, which the party paladin told the hobgoblins to "take care of", paying them 3600 gold for the hire of 200 troops for 3 months (3600 of my gold, actually). It seems that there was a series of natural tunnels under the Haranshire, part of the Underdark, and my bard informed the rest of his tribe of this. They moved in and started mining towards the dale where the orcs lived, so they could attack from two angles. The party Paladin took exception to this, slaughtered a number of hobgoblins (to be fair, the hobgoblins did attack first), then had to be talked out of killing the ones who surrendered.

The hobgoblins had a simple premise: The tunnels were abandoned, and part of the Underdark, so were free to be claimed. The party disagreed, canceled the deal with the hobgoblins (via a corporal), and took a hostage to ensure they'd get out of the tunnels without more problems. The hostage was released, and reported back to me... this lead to me ordering a couple kidnappings (the town smith and the local ranger) for safe-keeping while negotiations continued. The paladin went some south of ape-****, hired a shady priest in the area (first thinking him to be a priest of her god of Duty; when he revealed himself to be a priest of the goddess of Death, Secrets, and the Underdark, she went ahead with it), and had him cast Elemental Swarm (12000 for him to read it from a scroll) with the orders to "Kill the hobgoblins."

Under the weight of 13 max HD elementals, I and several hundred hobgoblins were killed. Until the elementals burst through, not a single human had been killed by a hobgoblin, nor had any of their property been taken; in the end, I coup de gras'd the ranger, and almost got the smith in revenge for their abuse of a flag of parley.

(Sorry for the long preamble; the Paladin's player is the DM's wife, and a bit of a whiner... a couple weeks ago she shouted at him "You never center a session around me" despite him throwing tons of hooks her way that she's ignored... so I don't expect her to fall nearly as hard as she should. I needed to vent. You were saved my lectures on pride and wrath.)

But, now I need another character.

The DM has laid some guidelines.
1) Character must be good.
2) Must have non-party destroying goals. (I'm going to argue with him on the last one; none of my hobgoblins goals were party-destroying... the party got bent out of shape because the paladin screamed about it.)

He's also made it fairly clear that the character must be of a relatively normal, usually non-evil, race, and allows non-PF on a case-by-case basis. Currently, I've got a gnome ranger 5/shadowdancer 1 in the wings, but I'm not sure if that's the way I want to go. A svirfneblin has been noted as acceptable. Here's the party make-up:

1) Human Paladin. Possibly fallen. Primarily two-handed sword.
2) Human Fighter, sword and board.
3) Halfling cleric/rogue, angling towards a Divine Trickster-type class.
4) Dwarven barbarian/cleric, angling towards a modified Eldritch knight.
5) An occasional elven necromancer.
6) A tiefling infernal sorcerer, who may be leaving these crazy people to go live in the keep he got from a Deck of Many Things.

Any suggestions?

[Riffington]

So, I think the first issue is party dynamics. The Paladin is going to need to tone it down, but you've had your showdown already - don't take lead on that. What I would do to avoid that, is pick a reasonable party member and be someone who gets along with him. Follow his lead for a while. For instance, if your cleric/barbarian is a moderate voice, consider being a ranger who's got a little backstory with him.

In terms of what the group is missing: well, it's a pretty large group. You've got most stuff covered. You could be pretty much anything. I personally would go with a Ranger, Rogue, or Magic-User (focusing on spells different than what the infernal sorcerer already has)... but you can do pretty much anything. I would avoid a frontliner just because it'll be more likely to bring you into conflict with the paladin more directly.

[Bibliomancer]

It depends on what your goals are. If you want to get back at the paladin within the guidelines listed above (not the best idea, but a possibility), you could play a Paladin of Freedom or something least that CG. That way you can clash on a L vs. C axis and possibly cause her to fall trying to stop you from breaking the law when all you were trying to do was to feed kittens or orphans or something.

Alternatively, since the party seems light on arcane players (one random, one maybe leaving), you could try playing a conjurer, with an eventual goal of planar binding an angel into watching the paladin for suspicious behavior (last part optional).

[Hzurr]

(Sorry for the long preamble; the Paladin's player is the DM's wife, and a bit of a whiner... a couple weeks ago she shouted at him "You never center a session around me" despite him throwing tons of hooks her way that she's ignored... so I don't expect her to fall nearly as hard as she should. I needed to vent. You were saved my lectures on pride and wrath.

*Twitch* "You never center a session around me?" *twitch* Must...not...backhand...

As for characters, it looks like a bard could be useful (so you aren't dependent upon the Paladin to be the "face" of the party). Plus, bards are awesome.

Monks in PF are also fairly interesting (and if the Paladin gives you any crap, take away her sword). If I remember right, Half-Orcs have a +2 str/+2 wis, so that's not a bad choice (and you could tie the backstory in to the current orc issue you dealt with).

[Ravens_cry]

If I remember right, Half-Orcs have a +2 str/+2 wis, so that's not a bad choice (and you could tie the backstory in to the current orc issue you dealt with).

That was in the beta. In the final version they are plus two to anything, like humans and half-elves.

[Thrawn183]

You should totally roll a paladin and have him constantly tell the other paladin how to act, it's like getting to roleplay 2 characters simultaneously!

Or you could play a monk and see what kind of rediculous situations you can get the party into where you'll be the only one to make it out alive.

[faceroll]

I would roll a neutral good exalted bard for mad buffing prowess and nagging the paladin to do the right thing. I dunno if BoED is on the table, but if it is, I would be a huge goody two shoes and get in the paladin's way constantly. Giving the whole party +10d6 force damage would make 'em think twice about ganking you, too.

[LibraryOgre]

*Twitch* "You never center a session around me?" *twitch* Must...not...backhand...

It's reasonable enough; most of us have gotten sessions where our characters had the most to do... like sessions where Tzartorius was dealing with the mayor, or the fact that our campaign is now "The Adventures of Berry and his Wacky Sidekicks." However, she consistently turns down hooks... "Well, your character could do this, or this, or this." "No, she's not going to be around long, so she's not going to do that."

As for characters, it looks like a bard could be useful (so you aren't dependent upon the Paladin to be the "face" of the party). Plus, bards are awesome.

Hmmm... another bard? Maybe. I'm warming to the idea, actually...

[Rasman]

*Twitch* "You never center a session around me?" *twitch* Must...not...backhand...

/agree

As for characters, it looks like a bard could be useful (so you aren't dependent upon the Paladin to be the "face" of the party). Plus, bards are awesome.

Monks in PF are also fairly interesting (and if the Paladin gives you any crap, take away her sword). If I remember right, Half-Orcs have a +2 str/+2 wis, so that's not a bad choice (and you could tie the backstory in to the current orc issue you dealt with).

Monks are interesting, but they require...patience...and a DM that isn't obcessed with REALLY BIG things that try to kill you. I enjoy them when there are things I can hit.

MY suggestion is a Wizard that focuses in Conjuration and Illusion spells. I mean, making a little old lady look like a Hobgoblin and getting the Paladin to fall is easy that way, not to mention if you take Silent Spell and Still Spell, or get a Metamagic Rod of Silent Spell in place of the feat. No one has to know.

[Bibliomancer]

Hmmm... another bard? Maybe. I'm warming to the idea, actually...

Not a bad idea.

"Now paladin, you need to learn an important lesson. In the exalted-verse, you can't assume a hobgoblin is evil. Why am I lecturing you on this? No reason. Just keep it in mind."

*Old granny illusioned to be a hobgoblin comes around the corner.*

*Paladin falls.*

[*Granny gets resurrected.*]

"Fight, fight, fight, fight the urge to say, 'I told you so.' "

[Rasman]

Not a bad idea.

"Now paladin, you need to learn an important lesson. In the exalted-verse, you can't assume a hobgoblin is evil. Why am I lecturing you on this? No reason. Just keep it in mind."

*Old granny illusioned to be a hobgoblin comes around the corner.*

*Paladin falls.*

[*Granny gets resurrected.*]

"Fight, fight, fight, fight the urge to say, 'I told you so.' "

lol...bard works well for my purposes too, actually

"I told you so" is always such a rewarding statment

[Bibliomancer]

lol...bard works well for my purposes too, actually

"I told you so" is always such a rewarding statment

True, and if you were exalted, the paladin would probably experience spontaneous combustion if she tried to attack you. Words of Creation (exalted feat) is a very good choice for quite a few bard builds.