New player help

[Valdras86]

Hello,

I'm starting my first game of pathfinder in a week with my friends and I want to make a good character and was wondering if I could get some help.

I was thinking Human Rogue, and taking the feats Combat Expertise and Improved Feint, so I can Sneak Attack every turn, with the intention of moving towards the Assassin Prestige class. (Looking towards getting feats like Shatter Defenses)

We are playing a Evil version of the Kingmaker campaign, which is pretty much just the normal one but with an evil party.

The other option I was looking at was making a Human Barbarian (I like human, sue me) and working towards Dragon Disciple.

I'm just not sure how Stealthy I can get with the rogue, which is why I was also looking at the Barbarian, so I can just hulk out with rage keep up with the other party members.

Any advice would be very welcome.

 

[blargney the second]

What are the other characters in your party?

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

Well my suggestion for the rogue is to focus on something. Dont try to be good at bluffing and diplomacy ans stealth and have a bunch of weapons etc. If your gonna feint focus on feats and traits that boost that. You can still be decent at stealth but you wont be as good as a rogue who specializes in stealth. Honestly if your focusing on combat the ninja might start off a bit better for you than the rogue. If your campaign allows it.

 

[Valdras86]

We are pretty much allowed to use all the books, except we are only allowed the core classes, and no Samurais, Ninjas or guns. Black powder is completely banned, our GM has a real problem with them.

The rest of the party is:
LE Evangelist Cleric
CN Freebooter Ranger
CE Anti-Paladin
LE Monk of Many Styles.

I have actually been thinking since that I might take a level in Barbarian, for the extra speed, plus the ability to wield a greatsword.

Something about sneak attacking with a greatsword appeals to me. I want to be stealth and combat. If I get caught out of stealth I need to be able to fight my way out basically, otherwise, I will be trying to stay hidden.

Any advice on feats or rogue talents to take to support this? Or if I should take 2 levels of Barbarian? I've never really built a character.. lol

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

Ahhh. May I ask why monk is allowed but not samurai or ninja? Ive hard of the no oriental thing but this seems a little different(Not that the samurai is any good though ).Black powder thing is totally understandable. I say the same. I might eventually allow canons on forts and ships..maybe. But no personal fire arms. I suppose barbarian lvls wouldnt hurt. Extra speed and a few rages if you really need it. I dont think there are any talents to specifically support it though. But if wielding a great sword vital strike would be great. For some reason I thought sneak att had to be used with a light or 1 handed weapon though. Probably jst an old home rule though.

 

[Valdras86]

Yeah it was a mix of the oriental thing and the fact he doesn't count them as proper classes...

And now I am torn about starting as a barbarian or a rogue. Can someone please explain how multiclassing works for skill points?

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

There is no cross class skill penalty anymore. If you take a lvl of rogue you get 8+INT mod skill points and all the rogue class skills.Then if you took a lvl in barb you would get the barbs 4+INT mod and all the barb skills as class skill.So the only downfall would be that the barb naturally gets less skill points. However after that both rogue and barb skill are all class skill for you. Wich is kind of nice actually.. But unless your a half elf you will pick only 1 favored class. When you take a lvl in your favored class you can do 1 extra skill point ot 1 extra hit point. If you take a lvl that is not in your favored class you dont get the extra point. Wich isnt a huge loss.

 

[Valdras86]

What about if I was to instead of taking a level of barbarian I took alchemist vivisectionist? Keeps my sneak attack and adds potions.

What do you guys think of the alchemist?

 

[billd91]

Yes, no cross class skill costs anymore. That's really nice. It doesn't matter what skill you spend your skill points on, it buys you 1 rank.

Class skills now give you a +3 bonus on your checks as long as you've got at least 1 rank. So the rogue investing in 1 rank of bluff has 1 rank + 3 class skill bonus + Charisma bonus as his check. The +3 bonus you get doesn't raise your ranks - it just gives you a bonus on your checks.

When you multiclass, you add the new class skills to your list of class skills. Anything you already have a rank in that gets upgraded to a class skill immediately gains the +3 class skill bonus. So if your rogue had picked up a rank in Handle Animal (not a rogue class skill) and then multiclassed into barbarian, he'd get an immediate +3 class skill bonus to his Handle Animal checks because it is a barbarian class skill and he has a rank in it.

Skills that are class skills for both classes only get the class skill bonus once - you get it per skill, not per class that favors that skill.

Does that cover your questions about multiclass skill investment?

 

[billd91]

What about if I was to instead of taking a level of barbarian I took alchemist vivisectionist? Keeps my sneak attack and adds potions.

What do you guys think of the alchemist?

I'm not all that keen on the alchemist. I find him more complex for my tastes. But that's just a taste thing, not a complaint about poor design or anything like that.