Pathfinder Noble Scion Feat and Prestige Class

[Sarone]

This is a dual topic .

The first deals with the Noble Scion Feat and the attachments for it. I am trying to find the other feats the use Noble Scion as a prerequisite. So far, I have found the following

Noble Scion
Noble Stipend
Enlightened Noble

In regards to the second, I am working with the GM of the campaign I am participating with making my character a Noble. Using the prestige class, I am trying to figure out what would be useful for my character, a human alchemist, to meet the requirements for the prestige class.

[Eldonauran]

I don't see the appeal of this prestige class, or usefulness for that matter, to an alchemist as it progresses none of their class abilities. Well, unless you plan on having your ACTUAL character being the cohort you gain from the class and the character with the prestige class levels being your wealthy 'patron' in which you could be in service towards. The only mechanically viable use I can see this prestige class being somewhat workable with is with a Vivisectionist Alchemist that mostly uses his infusions for buffing and uses the "Dilettante Scholar" study to bump up his alchemy progress a few levels.

The cohort idea is not a bad one to run with, however, provided your GM allows you to design the cohort.

I guess I'd need more information on your long term plans before I can offer much more advice.

[Sarone]

I don't see the appeal of this prestige class, or usefulness for that matter, to an alchemist as it progresses none of their class abilities. Well, unless you plan on having your ACTUAL character being the cohort you gain from the class and the character with the prestige class levels being your wealthy 'patron' in which you could be in service towards. The only mechanically viable use I can see this prestige class being somewhat workable with is with a Vivisectionist Alchemist that mostly uses his infusions for buffing and uses the "Dilettante Scholar" study to bump up his alchemy progress a few levels.

The cohort idea is not a bad one to run with, however, provided your GM allows you to design the cohort.

I guess I'd need more information on your long term plans before I can offer much more advice.

I like to invest into the campaigns that I am in. One way is the leadership feat.

Honestly, the long term plan is to work with the GM about introducing a faction or three into the campaign. The best avenue is for my character to it and to take some risks along the way. While it doesn't help my character on his own, it does allow for a force multiplier for the group and areas involved.

The first five levels will be Alchemist (Chirurgeon), then go Noble Scion, then go back to Alchemist. The Cohort is most likely to be a variant of the Alchemist that I am running, most likely Grenadier. This is to reflect the "combat medic" that my character is with a "demolitionist".

Background: My character is an Alchemist from Andoran, who served as an Expeditionary Medic. After a precampaign event that resulted in him being sent to the Campaign location, my character intends to help reinforce the location with resources from his family and Andoran.

[Coeruleum]

Why would you take Noble Scion as an alchemist? Its main use is for oracles, sorcerers, and other charisma-based builds to get super high initiative modifiers. You can roleplay your character as a noble while taking other noble-like feats like Leadership, joining noble organizations, buying noble gear like aristocratic clothes or court clothes (if you're not quite a full noble,) a signet ring, horse and carriage, etc. Any Noble Scion that isn't War on a character with much higher charisma than dexterity and who isn't already getting something else to replace charisma-to-dexterity just seems like a waste to me, and I've never seen people use the other feats in the tree. Just being a noble without the Noble Scion feat will increase your Leadership score if you're using Leadership, possibly qualify you for perks if you're using perks, and possibly qualify you for other things such as organizations if you're using those.

[Sarone]

Why would you take Noble Scion as an alchemist? Its main use is for oracles, sorcerers, and other charisma-based builds to get super high initiative modifiers. You can roleplay your character as a noble while taking other noble-like feats like Leadership, joining noble organizations, buying noble gear like aristocratic clothes or court clothes (if you're not quite a full noble,) a signet ring, horse and carriage, etc. Any Noble Scion that isn't War on a character with much higher charisma than dexterity and who isn't already getting something else to replace charisma-to-dexterity just seems like a waste to me, and I've never seen people use the other feats in the tree. Just being a noble without the Noble Scion feat will increase your Leadership score if you're using Leadership, possibly qualify you for perks if you're using perks, and possibly qualify you for other things such as organizations if you're using those.

Fair point.

The first is that I set my character up as a noble by blood on his mother's side. His father is an Andoran merchant who is wealthy enough through trade to receive his wife's hand (namely, he had to use the family's influence and connections in Ustalav to move the goods). So it is for a character story reason.

The second is that none of the other players are considering Leadership or a "Noble" path. I see it as a way to back the party up with logistics and an army, if needed.

Third, I would be able to make a cohort alchemist (grenadier) without losing access to levels or combat ability. This helps my main character with formulas while also adding to the combat ability to group.

Finally, I believe it is the job of the player to also help build the campaign world. Going from 1 to 20 in a single class is nice, but there shouldn't be some flexibility to go in a different path.

To be honest, seeing people say that I shouldn't do this is telling me that it should be done. In order to test the theory and find out if it is indeed viable.

[Coeruleum]

Fair point.

The first is that I set my character up as a noble by blood on his mother's side. His father is an Andoran merchant who is wealthy enough through trade to receive his wife's hand (namely, he had to use the family's influence and connections in Ustalav to move the goods). So it is for a character story reason.

The second is that none of the other players are considering Leadership or a "Noble" path. I see it as a way to back the party up with logistics and an army, if needed.

Third, I would be able to make a cohort alchemist (grenadier) without losing access to levels or combat ability. This helps my main character with formulas while also adding to the combat ability to group.

Finally, I believe it is the job of the player to also help build the campaign world. Going from 1 to 20 in a single class is nice, but there shouldn't be some flexibility to go in a different path.

To be honest, seeing people say that I shouldn't do this is telling me that it should be done. In order to test the theory and find out if it is indeed viable.

I don't think you need to test whether the charisma-based Noble Scion helps an alchemist build any more than you need to test to see whether 2 + 2 = 5, but you can do what you want.

[Sarone]

I don't think you need to test whether the charisma-based Noble Scion helps an alchemist build any more than you need to test to see whether 2 + 2 = 5, but you can do what you want.

That is not necessarily helpful.