Help me make a chef

[szilard]

I'm going to be involved in an occasional game which I expect to be fairly combat-lite. It will most likely be primarily exploration of setting. I have a concept for the character I want to play. He's a young, ambitious chef who is seeking out an entirely new sort of cuisine. His motivation for adventuring? To seek out new creatures, kill them, and learn how to prepare them as edible delicacies. (Alternately, to seek out new cultures and learn their cooking secrets.)

What class should I play?

What skills (other than Craft-Cooking and Profession-Chef) should I focus upon?

Are there any feats that would be particularly appropriate?

I have some ideas, but I want to find out what other people will come up with...

The campaign will start at first level. I rolled ridiculous stats (I don't recall them at the moment, but they are high enough that MAD isn't an issue.) Right now, the party includes a Kobold Druid (possibly going to go the blighter route) and a Half-orc Scout.

-Stuart

 

[Crothian]

I'd be tempted to go Bard. I would have plenty of knowledge skills becasue you will need to be able to identify if plants and animals and creatures are going to be safe for consumption.

 

[Wish]

I think a bard would fit.

Aside from perform (which you should take so you have at least some mechanical function) and possibly concentration (for spellcasting):

Diplomacy (making nice with new cultures and who have recipes you want)
Knowledge skills (for edible monsters - nature, dungeoneering and so forth)
Intimidate (chefs are scary)
Profession - Herbalist (spices and such)

And, at the first opportunity, get yourself a masterwork dagger (chef's knife).

 

[szilard]

Hmmm...

Bard would mostly fit, but the musical/performance aspect is largely unappealing.

-Stuart

 

[Rhun]

How 'bout a cleric of a food/beverage god? I could see that being a good fit for a Chef PC.

 

[szilard]

How 'bout a cleric of a food/beverage god? I could see that being a good fit for a Chef PC.

That is a possibility, though skill points would be in short supply. Detect Poison and Purify Food and Drink would help. I would worry some about overlap with the Druid, but the concepts are very different.

-Stuart

 

[BASHMAN]

You should be the Expert Class, and you should make sure you have language: Sweedish. Bjork Bjork Bjork!

 

[drdevoid]

Will he focus more on cooking or on entertaining like a chef that owns his or her restaurant?

I designed an expert NPC who was a cook that I gave a battle apron (chain shirt) and a butcher's board strapped to his arm (makeshift buckler). I stole the idea of a twf with a pan and a cleaver from, I believe, one of the Jester's story hours.

I focused a lot on social skills, knowledges and languages for an entertaining chef. I used expert, as he was an NPC, but it could easily be rogue or bard. A chef that sings seems less absurd to me than a chef that sneak attacks, but both could be rationalized into a concept.

An angry bard that focuses on Perform: Oratory (for insults) might work and he could describe how he would cook or prepare his enemies as they are thrashed.

 

[Rhun]

That is a possibility, though skill points would be in short supply.

Right, but since you said you had very good rolls for your stats, I figured you would have some bonus skill points from INT.

 

[Crothian]

Hmmm...

Bard would mostly fit, but the musical/performance aspect is largely unappealing.

-Stuart

Why not be an entertaining chef? I know more then a few people that sing while they cook and you can make the cooking an event to be seen!! You can juggle ingredentents before they go in the pot, play pans and other tools like drums, and even set your recipies to song to make them easy to remember.