Empirate
First Post
Hey guys! I'm looking to build a versatile tank for our group, whose lack of one nearly cost another PC her life yesterday evening... would kindly ask for your help!
Supplements used are Core plus APG currently, but some 3.x stuff (especially Forgotten Realms) has been allowed in the past, and I'm confident stuff like Advanced Races Guide or Ultimate Magic would get the nod, too. No 3rd party, though.
Current group setup is not that optimal, and the DM, while experienced in a lot of games, is rather new to D&D/Pathfinder. So I'm not looking for anything super-cheesy and would prefer to use as few supplements as possible. So far, we have:
Human red dragon bloodline Sorcerer 5 (flashy fire blaster type),
Human archery-focused Ranger 5 (rather effective at the job),
Human Monk 1/Rogue 3 (some archetypes I don't know about, more of a pure skillmonkey),
Human Evoker 5 (that's me: blasts, battlefield control, some utility)
This is a very low treasure game. We'll get a signature item at some point in the campaign, whose power will improve with character level. We also get a "hero point" every encounters, which can be used for a re-roll, another standard action on your turn, or for a +4 to one roll. But I can't count on wands or even scrolls to be readily available anywhere, so almost all of my options will have to come from class levels. Most importantly, this also impacts our ability to heal between encounters, which sucks major moose testicles.
It's not that I'm not enjoying my Evoker right now, but the game seems to have taken a turn for the deadlier, with one PC dead last week, and another one only surviving due to DM leniency this week (it was late in the evening, player forgot to add in an important bonus, DM put him at negative HP but stable, instead of outright dead). Our group has felt the lack of a dedicated melee guy/tank keenly in several encounters, so I hope to be ready and supply one should my Evoker bite the dust.
So far, I'm in love with the idea of an Aasimar Paladin mostly for roleplaying reasons, and because I feel Paladins can really pull their weight in PF. I'm thinking about dipping Oracle or Cleric for at least some much-needed healing (Lay on Hands would probably be used up increasing my lifespan on the front lines...), as well as some spiffy revelations/domain powers. I'm not terribly interested in the casting aspect (having played enough pure casters for now), so pure Oracle or Cleric is out, I mostly want to bash some skulls and keep my party alive. Some general versatility would be greatly appreciated, though. So some sort of secondary role there must be.
So here's some of my questions, assuming I start with an Aasimar Oracle 1/Paladin 4:
1. Is dual-cursed Oracle worth it if you're only dipping? Maybe especially when you're only dipping? As I read it, the Misfortune Revelation can be used at will (as long as you pick different opponents each time), is that correct? And is it good?
2. Which Mystery to pick for my Oracle dip? I can see myself benefitting from Battle (for Init re-rolls, save re-rolls, and/or immediate action movement, with Extra Revelation), but Lore (for Cha to AC and Reflex saves, instead of Dex, decreasing MAD, and a secondary role as Mr. Knowitall), Life (for Life Link, making me tank-ier, and maybe some small out of combat channel action), and Nature (Cha to AC and CMD, again instead of Dex, and maybe the Bonded Mount will stack with Paladin's Mount?) also look good.
3. Paladin archetypes - which ones are good for the goals outlined above? I'm looking at the Sacred Shield and like what I'm seeing (half damage to allies from the BBEG sounds like a good deal), but now I can't use a reach weapon, since I obviously need a shield to use some of my tricks. Undead Scourge doesn't seem to cost my anything, really, and looks really good (some Undead have been sighted in this campaign, while dragons and outsiders are next to nonexistent), as long as I'm still getting regular smite evil - so it's out in combination with Sacred Shield. Sacred Servant looks good, too, but then I also have to decide on a domain to pick - preferably one whose granted powers don't rely on Cleric level.
I haven't looked at the myriad Oathbound Paladin options yet, anything good there?
4. Aasimar are pretty clear-cut, and I greatly doubt I'll be able to use the "combine racial traits/ability bonuses as needed" stuff (since it's 3rd party, AFAIK, and my DM doesn't like the pick-and-choose approach too much). So I'm probably going to go with a standard Aasimar. I am, however, contemplating Paizo's published alternate racial traits.
Immortal Spark looks like a given: +1 to mental ability scores at no cost whatsoever? Thanks, I'll take that! Apart from that, I think I'm going to take the Halo instead of Darkvision (pure RP here, though), and maybe Deathless Spirit instead of elemental resistances, given what we've been facing so far (evil clerics, some more evil clerics, and entirely too few cold, lightning, or acid themed monsters).
What do you guys think? I'd be grateful for short answers, in-depth analyses, anything!
Supplements used are Core plus APG currently, but some 3.x stuff (especially Forgotten Realms) has been allowed in the past, and I'm confident stuff like Advanced Races Guide or Ultimate Magic would get the nod, too. No 3rd party, though.
Current group setup is not that optimal, and the DM, while experienced in a lot of games, is rather new to D&D/Pathfinder. So I'm not looking for anything super-cheesy and would prefer to use as few supplements as possible. So far, we have:
Human red dragon bloodline Sorcerer 5 (flashy fire blaster type),
Human archery-focused Ranger 5 (rather effective at the job),
Human Monk 1/Rogue 3 (some archetypes I don't know about, more of a pure skillmonkey),
Human Evoker 5 (that's me: blasts, battlefield control, some utility)
This is a very low treasure game. We'll get a signature item at some point in the campaign, whose power will improve with character level. We also get a "hero point" every encounters, which can be used for a re-roll, another standard action on your turn, or for a +4 to one roll. But I can't count on wands or even scrolls to be readily available anywhere, so almost all of my options will have to come from class levels. Most importantly, this also impacts our ability to heal between encounters, which sucks major moose testicles.
It's not that I'm not enjoying my Evoker right now, but the game seems to have taken a turn for the deadlier, with one PC dead last week, and another one only surviving due to DM leniency this week (it was late in the evening, player forgot to add in an important bonus, DM put him at negative HP but stable, instead of outright dead). Our group has felt the lack of a dedicated melee guy/tank keenly in several encounters, so I hope to be ready and supply one should my Evoker bite the dust.
So far, I'm in love with the idea of an Aasimar Paladin mostly for roleplaying reasons, and because I feel Paladins can really pull their weight in PF. I'm thinking about dipping Oracle or Cleric for at least some much-needed healing (Lay on Hands would probably be used up increasing my lifespan on the front lines...), as well as some spiffy revelations/domain powers. I'm not terribly interested in the casting aspect (having played enough pure casters for now), so pure Oracle or Cleric is out, I mostly want to bash some skulls and keep my party alive. Some general versatility would be greatly appreciated, though. So some sort of secondary role there must be.
So here's some of my questions, assuming I start with an Aasimar Oracle 1/Paladin 4:
1. Is dual-cursed Oracle worth it if you're only dipping? Maybe especially when you're only dipping? As I read it, the Misfortune Revelation can be used at will (as long as you pick different opponents each time), is that correct? And is it good?
2. Which Mystery to pick for my Oracle dip? I can see myself benefitting from Battle (for Init re-rolls, save re-rolls, and/or immediate action movement, with Extra Revelation), but Lore (for Cha to AC and Reflex saves, instead of Dex, decreasing MAD, and a secondary role as Mr. Knowitall), Life (for Life Link, making me tank-ier, and maybe some small out of combat channel action), and Nature (Cha to AC and CMD, again instead of Dex, and maybe the Bonded Mount will stack with Paladin's Mount?) also look good.
3. Paladin archetypes - which ones are good for the goals outlined above? I'm looking at the Sacred Shield and like what I'm seeing (half damage to allies from the BBEG sounds like a good deal), but now I can't use a reach weapon, since I obviously need a shield to use some of my tricks. Undead Scourge doesn't seem to cost my anything, really, and looks really good (some Undead have been sighted in this campaign, while dragons and outsiders are next to nonexistent), as long as I'm still getting regular smite evil - so it's out in combination with Sacred Shield. Sacred Servant looks good, too, but then I also have to decide on a domain to pick - preferably one whose granted powers don't rely on Cleric level.
I haven't looked at the myriad Oathbound Paladin options yet, anything good there?
4. Aasimar are pretty clear-cut, and I greatly doubt I'll be able to use the "combine racial traits/ability bonuses as needed" stuff (since it's 3rd party, AFAIK, and my DM doesn't like the pick-and-choose approach too much). So I'm probably going to go with a standard Aasimar. I am, however, contemplating Paizo's published alternate racial traits.
Immortal Spark looks like a given: +1 to mental ability scores at no cost whatsoever? Thanks, I'll take that! Apart from that, I think I'm going to take the Halo instead of Darkvision (pure RP here, though), and maybe Deathless Spirit instead of elemental resistances, given what we've been facing so far (evil clerics, some more evil clerics, and entirely too few cold, lightning, or acid themed monsters).
What do you guys think? I'd be grateful for short answers, in-depth analyses, anything!
