Category Archives: Character Builds

A collection of various character builds for your gaming pleasure!

Flamin’ Shafts of Smiting – Paladin / Sorcerer / Arcane Archer Build

Fun With Non-lethal: Unarmed Ninja Build

Ever wanted to play a character that strikes to disable rather than to kill? Ever wanted to play a bounty hunter that pulls a Batman and beats the living bejesus out of thugs, but refuses to take a life? If so, then this is your (wo)man, right here.

Nobody does non-lethal quite like this build does. If you can start out adjacent to an enemy and take a full attack on them while they are still flat-footed (which should be possible, thanks to vanishing trick), their lights are practically out already.

Archetypes:

Scout Ninja
Martial Artist Monk

The scout archetype for rogues is a big help to this build. If you were wondering, James Jacobs has already confirmed that alternate classes can take archetypes, so you can definitely legally play a scout ninja. The monk archetype (if any) isn’t too important here, since you only take a single level of it. I slotted in martial artist so your alignment isn’t restricted.

Race:

Human

Ability Scores: (+2 Str, +2 Dex / +2 Wis)

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 14 -> 16 (5)
Dex: 14 -> 16 (5)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 10 (0)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 14 (5)

High Fantasy:

Str: 14 -> 16 (5)
Dex: 14 -> 16 (5)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 14 (5)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 14 -> 16 (5)
Dex: 14 -> 16 (5)
Con: 10 (0)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 12 (2)

Low Fantasy:

Don’t. Just don’t.

If you thought the last build was needy when it came to ability scores, this character is going to be dumbfounding. Strength is your primary attribute, but you simply won’t be able to start with 18 if you want to be reasonably durable. AC is already not exactly the strong suit of this character, and lowering dexterity or wisdom any further will cripple you completely in this regard. Dexterity and wisdom supplement your AC, constitution gives you some extra (much-needed) HP, and charisma helps improve your ki pool. You could opt to gimp your charisma a bit to supplement your other scores, but I believe a more balanced approach will yield better results.

I wouldn’t even attempt this build in a low fantasy campaign.

Alternate Racial Traits:

Dual-Talent – +2 Str, +2 Dex / +2 Wis (Human)

As usual, humans are one of the strongest choices mechanically. A strength boost is of paramount importance, since even with the boost you’ll only be at 16 in a best-case scenario. The second boost can go to either dexterity or wisdom, though personally I prefer the boost to the former. Half elf or half orc could work if you use the flexible boost for strength, but your AC will be worse than the human (and as I mentioned, it’s weak to begin with).

Skills:

Acrobatics
Stealth
Use Magic Device

Acrobatics for Dragon Style, as per usual with a strength-based unarmed character. Stealth is another essential skill, since you’ll be slinking around in the shadows or invisible as often as you can. Use magic device isn’t required, but is highly recommended.

Progression:

N1: Sap Adept
M1: Improved Unarmed Strike*, Stunning Fist*, Dodge*
N2: Dragon Style, Vanishing Trick**
N3:
N4: Dragon Ferocity, Combat Trick – Power Attack**
N5:
N6: Sap Master, Weapon Training – Unarmed Strike**
N7:
N8: Shadow Strike, Rogue Talent – Offensive Defense**
N9:
N10: Improved Initiative, Invisible Blade**
N11:
N12: Knockout Artist, Unarmed Combat Mastery**
N13:
N14: Enforcer, Advanced Rogue Talent – Hunter’s Surprise**
N15:
N16: Improved Critical – Unarmed Strike, Evasion**
N17:
N18: Deflect Arrows, See the Unseen**
N19:

* Monk Bonus Feat

** Ninja Trick

There isn’t a lot of flexibility when it comes to feats, but there is a lot when it comes to your ninja tricks. You could however, move around the feats at levels 8 through 18 to suit your tastes. ALL of the ninja tricks listed here are great to have, so take them in whatever order suits you. There’s an argument to be made for taking Weapon Training – Unarmed before Power Attack, and taking Offensive Defense before either one might be worth considering too. You might also decide that invisible blade isn’t as worthwhile as the better unarmed damage, so you might grab Unarmed Combat Mastery when you hit level 11.

A second level in Monk is tempting, as it improves your flurry of blows attack bonus, all three saving throws, and slaps on an extra bonus feat. My line of reasoning in not taking the extra monk level is due to this character’s heavy reliance on sneak attack; the more monk levels you take, the lower your sneak attack is going to end up. The extra level is worth it mechanically though, so don’t hesitate if you want to go that route.

Traits:

Quain Martial Artist
Reactionary
Group Fighter
Blade of the Society

Quain martial artist is a no-brainer. Reactionary works great combined with your sneak attacks, allowing you to sneak (or charge) in and land a nasty hit or two before your enemy can get their footing. Group fighter will give you a better attack bonus when flanking enemies with your allies, which is always helpful. Blade of the society will increase your sneak attack damage by 1, but at the end of the day, that’s a drop in the pond for this character.

Favored Class Bonus:

HP
+1/6 of a new rogue talent?

You’ll have to talk to your GM about this one. A strict rules-nazi might declare that ninja tricks are technically not rogue talents, so you can’t take the extra 1/6 of a rogue talent favored class bonus. I think most reasonable GMs will allow it, but you never know. I’ve plotted out the build above assuming your GM is unfavorable. If they are favorable, just try to bump the rogue talents listed here down to an earlier spot. For the extra room that frees up later, consider taking deflect arrows, flurry of stars, and maybe ghost step.

The extra HP isn’t a strictly bad option though, so if earlier access to the good ninja tricks doesn’t appeal that much, you could always go that route.

How It Works:

This character can do unbelievable amounts of non-lethal damage when landing sneak attacks. Unarmed attacks are bludgeoning, and non-lethal unarmed attacks are… well… non-lethal bludgeoning weapons. What that means is that your unarmed attacks can benefit from sap adept, sap master, and of course, knockout artist, all of which dramatically increase your effectiveness when sneak attacking with unarmed attacks. At level 12 when you finally get all three, you’re looking at the following:

Base SA: 6d6
Sap Master: +6d6
Sap Adept: +24
Knockout Artist: +12

= 12d6 + 36 (48 – 108) (avg. 78)

That’s just the sneak attack damage, before unarmed damage dice and bonuses from enhancement, strength and anything else. Landing two or more hits, this character can easily clear 100 non-lethal damage. If they manage to land all their attacks, they’re likely looking at over 300.

Thanks to your monk level, you can use flurry of blows for an extra unarmed attack per round, and thanks to dragon style and dragon ferocity, it should be at a sizable damage modifier. Since you only have one level of monk, your AC doesn’t scale with level though, which leaves you in the dust defensively. Keep this in mind, and see if you can get an ally to throw a mage armor on you every day. Barkskin can make a big difference, and carrying a wand of shield for special occasions isn’t a bad idea, if you have use magic device.

This character is not without their weaknesses; undead (which are a common staple of many campaigns) and a few other creatures are immune to non-lethal damage, which turns this character from one of the most dangerous on the field into a squishier-than-normal monk. You’ll still have your sneak attack though, so if you position yourself well and use your vanishing trick to make yourself an unfavorable target, you should get by. Your damage will still be good, and should carry you through most combats, even if you can’t do what you were made to do. Check with your GM on what types of thematic enemies will be common in the campaign, if they’re willing to divulge such information.

Your gold should go primarily towards increasing your AC, as that is your biggest flaw. Otherwise, gear that bumps up your strength, attack rolls and saving throws (in order of priority) is always excellent to have.

Closing Statement:

This character is a powerhouse with fun flavor attached. You’ll have a lot of trouble with undead, but otherwise, non-lethal damage isn’t a whole lot worse than real damage, mechanically. Functionally, an unconscious enemy is equivalent to a dead enemy, at least until they wake up. Clerics running around with massive healing spells can be a thorn in the side, since they can continue to heal characters that would be dead had the damage you dealt been lethal, but you can always just knock them out too.

Lots of crime-fighters on T.V. and in movies are known for their tendencies to strike to disable rather than to wound; it’s refreshing to see that the mechanics can play so nicely with such an iconic flavor.

When you’re about to land a devastating sneak-punch, make sure you shout “FALCON… PUNCH!!” so everyone knows you really mean business.

Have fun out there,

Uni

The Angry Kickpuncher: Savage Barbarian / Martial Artist Monk Build

Pathfinder Dwarven Barbarian Build

2 Replies

I have previously made reference to Barbarians that are extraordinarily difficult to deal with, but I have yet to put up a build for one here. That changes today. Or maybe tomorrow, depending on how long it takes me to write. But for you, it effectively changes RIGHT NOW! As of you reading of this. There are Barbarians with a little more punch in terms of damage than these guys, but nobody’s got anything on their saves vs. spells while raging.

Archetype:

– Armored Hulk

This is the way to go for sure. Armored Hulk gives you access to heavy armor, which will make full plate your armor of choice. You’re a Dwarf too, so you won’t be slowed down by it at all, like other Barbarians would be. Plus a Dwarf in heavy armor is like a fish in water thematically.

Race:

Dwarf is the entire point of this build, so this isn’t really a point of discussion. The Dwarven racial features dovetail beautifully with the Barbarian bonuses that you most want, rendering you nigh-immune to magic.

Ability Scores:

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 18 (17)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 14 -> 16 (5)
Int: 10 (0)
Wis: 10 -> 12 (0)
Cha: 8 -> 6 (-2)

High Fantasy:

Str: 18 (17)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 14 -> 16 (5)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 10 -> 12 (0)
Cha: 8 -> 6 (-2)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 17 (13)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 12 -> 14 (2)
Int: 10 (0)
Wis: 10 -> 12 (0)
Cha: 8 -> 6 (-2)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 16 (10)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 12 -> 14 (2)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 10 -> 12 (0)
Cha: 8 -> 6 (-2)

Strength is the primary building block for your character’s power. Since you’re a Dwarf, you don’t need to heavily invest in Constitution to have a decent hit point pool and Fortitude save. Wisdom is shored up by your other racial bonus, and Charisma, a natural dump stat anyways for most Barbarians, is given the axe. Intelligence dips here with some point totals in favour of increasing scores that make a bigger difference to your character’s power and survivability, but could be adjusted if the flavour doesn’t suit you, or you dislike the idea of having two dump stats. If you were feeling particularly cheesy, you could even drop your Charisma (or Int for that matter) down to 7 to score an extra two points, but 5 Charisma is nearing “reasonable people flee on sight” territory, and your party members kicking you out because you’re just that intolerable (not that 6 Charisma is going to win you any popularity contests). There is a fair bit of flexibility here, but I wouldn’t drop below 16 Strength with any pointbuy, as any less would start to significantly diminish your combat effectiveness. Getting Dexterity up to 16 on a higher pointbuy is tempting, as it would allow you to gain the full Dex bonus from mithral full plate, but it’s a big investment, and is difficult to pull off without negatively impacting your other scores to a significant degree.

Alternate Racial Traits:

Rock Stepper

You don’t particularly want any of the alternate racial traits for Dwarves, but Rock Stepper is generally worthwhile. There are some other ones you could take if you like the flavour, like Craftsman or Wyrmscourged, just don’t take anything that replaces the Hardy trait, as it is essential for this character.

Skills:

It doesn’t really matter what you pick here, as you don’t dip any prestige classes. Your primary skill-set revolves around rampant carnage on the battlefield anyways. Still, Perception is always a good choice, if you really can’t decide.

Progression:

1: Power Attack
2: Superstitious (RP)
3: Steel Soul
4: Lesser Beast Totem (RP)
5: Weapon Focus – Nodachi / Falchion
6: Beast Totem (RP)
7: Furious Focus
8: Guarded Life / Reckless Abandon (RP)
9: Improved Critical
10: Greater Beast Totem (RP)
11: Lunge
12: Eater of Magic (RP)
13: Improved Initiative
14: Guarded Life / Reckless Abandon (RP)
15: Extra Rage Power – Fearless Rage
16: Witch Hunter (RP)
17: Extra Rage Power – Increased Damage Reduction
18: Increased Damage Reduction (RP)
19: Extra Rage Power – Increased Damage Reduction
20: Clear Mind (RP)

A bunch of your higher level choices, including both Rage Powers (RP) and feats, can be swapped around however you like. I would recommend sticking with the progression chart up until level 10 though. If your GM likes long slogs, you may want to throw in an Extra Rage feat at level 11 or somesuch, though fitting it in earlier would diminish your combat effectiveness. As for weapon choice, nodachi and falchion are your best options, as they maximize your threat range, which is generally superior to scoring critical hits less often for more damage. If you like the flavour of some other weapon though, any two-handed weapon will be sufficient.

Traits:

Glory of Old
Lessons of Chaldira / Berserker of the Society

Glory of Old is essential here. Other than that, there are a few good options, including Berserker of the Society to snag some extra rage rounds per day, or Lessons of Chaldira to cover yourself when you happen to roll badly on an important save. Having another saving throw booster in there might sound nice, but since trait bonuses don’t stack, there aren’t a lot of ways to make it worthwhile. If you can’t take either of the last two, just grab whatever appeals to you.

Favored Class Bonus:

– +1 round of Rage / day (Dwarf Barbarian)

How It Works:

Between monstrous damage, a truly daunting hit point pool, decent AC and absolutely absurd saving throws against spells, especially while raging, this is one tough customer. Your GM will quickly realize that targeting you with the spells of even Wizards with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus is generally a waste of an action and time, and supplementing this resilience with Rage Powers like Eater of Magic can help save your skin in the rare situations where you roll a failed save. Since you’re a warrior class (with pounce, no less), Haste is still your best friend, so try to cajole one of your friends into casting Haste at the beginning of every fight before you start to rage, so you don’t have to roll a save against it. You can always role-play your character as accepting it reluctantly, but out of character, you’re definitely going to really want Haste to happen.

I won’t go into a detailed gear breakdown, but suffice to say you want a belt to increase your Strength, and items to boost your attacks, saves, damage and AC. Adding a little extra mobility with Jaunt Boots is always a good idea for a melee character as well, for those situations where pounce isn’t going to work for you.

Bring this Dwarf to bear and experience a whole different kind of power; the power of a character nearly immune to the most dangerous aspect of the game… magic.

That’s all for now.

Until next time,

Uni

Summoner of Ultimate Melee Destruction: Pathfinder Charging Summoner Build

8 Replies

Hey everyone,

Alright… I’m dusting off a build I sealed away in my build archive, because my GMs would have quit if I ever brought it to the table. It’s completely legit, assuming Summoners are allowed in your home games (they aren’t in my group’s).

The inspiration for this build came to me when I was looking more closely at Summoners, and what ability scores they need. I noticed that most of their staple spells were buffs for their Eidolons and allies, which meant that high save DCs were not important for them. Their spells only go up to level 6, which means that a modest 16 Charisma is all that is required to cast their highest level spells. Outside of that, the only thing that is affected by their Charisma is their Summon Monster ability, which they can’t use while their Eidolon is out anyways. All of this got me thinking… if they don’t really need any ability score in abundance… what can I do with all of those points I free up by investing lightly in Charisma? The answer frightened me, and shook me to my core.

Behold, and lament for your GM’s monsters, who will surely meet a gory doom at your hands.

Race:

Half Elf, without question. Their favored class bonus as Summoners is absurdly strong, and you greatly benefit from the flexible +2 to Strength.

Ability Scores: (+2 Str)

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 16 -> 18 (10)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 12 (2)
Cha: 14 (5)

High Fantasy:

Str: 16 -> 18 (10)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 12 (2)
Cha: 14 (5)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 14 ->16 (5)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 10 (0)
Cha: 14 (5)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 14 ->16 (5)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 10 (0)
Cha: 14 (5)

You’re not going to be competing on Jeopardy anytime soon on this character, but he / she is fairly charming; think of yourself as the campaign’s Michael Kelso. The higher the number of points you get on this character, the better; the Epic Fantasy version is extremely powerful, but you’ll barely be able to limp through on Standard Fantasy or Low Fantasy.

Favored Class Bonus:

+1/4 to Summoner’s Evolution pool

Alternate Racial Traits:

Ancestral Arms – Lance
Arcane Training – Summoner

Progression:

1: Armor Proficiency – Medium, Weapon Proficiency – Lance*
2:
3: Power Attack
4: +1 Str
5: Furious Focus
6:
7: Mounted Combat
8: +1 Str
9: Ride-by Attack
10:
11: Spirited Charge
12: +1 Str
13: Mounted Blade
14:
15: Weapon Focus – Lance
16: +1 Str
17: Improved Critical – Lance
18:
19: Wheeling Charge
20: +1 Str

* = Bonus Feat

You’re really going to wish you had more feats on this character. There are probably another six or seven feats that would be great to have on this character (not including all the Extra Evolution feats you miss out on), but you’ll have to make do.

Skills:

– Ride (Max)

Strong Traits:

Reactionary
Lessons of Chaldira / Second Chance

Eidolon:

Quadruped

It’s essential that your Eidolon be quadrupedal, as they are the only type to receive the Pounce ability.

Eidolon Feats:

1: Power Attack
3: Weapon Focus – Claws
6: Improved Natural Attack – Claws
9: Lunge
11: Dodge
14: Rending Claws
17: Improved Critical – Claws
19: Improved Natural Armor

Evolutions:

Level 1 (3 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)

Level 2 (4 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Pounce (1)

Level 3 (5 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Ability Increase – Strength (2)

Level 4 (7 + 1 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Gore (2)
Ability Increase – Strength (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 5 (8 + 1 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Gore (2)
Ability Increase – Strength (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 6 (9 + 1 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Gore (2)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase Strength (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 7 (10 + 1 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Gore (2)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase Strength (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 8 (11 + 2 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Gore (2)
Large (4)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 9 (13 + 2 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Damage – Claws (1)

Level 10 (14 + 2 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Rend (2)

Level 11 (15 + 2 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 12 (16 + 3 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 13 (17 + 3 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 14 (19 + 3 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Gore (2)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 15 (20 + 3 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Gore (2)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 16 (21 + 4 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Gore (2)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 17 (22 + 4 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Gore (2)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 18 (23 + 4 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Gore (2)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase Strength (4)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

Level 19 (25 + 4 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase – Strength (4)
Ability Increase – Strength (4)

Level 20 (26 + 5 pts)

Bite (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Legs (0)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Limbs, Arms (2)
Claws (1)
Mount (1)
Claws (1)
Claws (1)
Pounce (1)
Large (4)
Huge (6)
Rend (2)
Ability Increase – Strength (4)
Ability Increase – Strength (4)
Improved Natural Attack – Claws (1)
Improved Natural Armor (1)

There’s plenty of room to change things around here, based on your preferences; just make sure you always have the largest size evolution you can get, Mount, and your maximum number of attacks per round. Claws are your best choice in general, since it’s the most evolution point-efficient way to get a large number of primary attacks.

Spells:

Level 1

1- Enlarge Person
1- Mage Armor
2- Rejuvenate Eidolon, Lesser
3- Shield
7- Magic Fang
11- Reduce Person

Level 2

4- Haste
4- Summon Eidolon
5- Barkskin
6- Bull’s Strength
10- Restore Eidolon, Lesser
14- See Invisibility

Level 3

7- Heroism
7- Fly
8- Greater Invisibility
9- Evolution Surge
13- Dimension Door
17- Wall of Fire

Level 4

10- Stoneskin, Communal
10- Purified Calling
11- Evolution Surge, Greater
12- Overland Flight
16- Transmogrify
20- Teleport

Level 5

13- Heroism, Greater
13- Spell Turning
14- Rejuvenate Eidolon, Greater
15- Dispel Magic, Greater
19- Teleport, Greater

Level 6

16- Maze
16- Protection From Spells
17- Discern Location
18- Dimensional Lock
20- Eagle Aerie

Lots of buffs here, and good ones at that. Between Mage Armor, Barkskin and Shield, you can really bump up the AC of both you and your Eidolon. Heroism should be going almost all the time on both of you once you get it. Communal Stoneskin adds some much needed durability to your whole party before a difficult fight. Once you get Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon, the other heals are rendered fairly unnecessary, especially if you get a wand of it. Summon Eidolon and Purified Calling are both fantastic though, so get those as early as you can. Enlarge Person is an essential early spell, as it allows you to make your Eidolon big enough to mount before it has the Large evolution. Your 6th level spells are a little lackluster with the exception of Maze, but that fills a unique offensive niche in your spell list, since there is no save attached.

Recommended Gear

Armor: Mithral Breastplate
Belt: Belt of Giant Strength (You / Eidolon – the other can lean on Bull’s Strength)
Chest: Bane Baldric (Eidolon)
Feet: Boots of Speed
Hands: Deliquescent Gloves
Head: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier (You / Eidolon)
Headband: Headband of Alluring Charisma
Neck: Amulet of Mighty Fists (Eidolon)
Ring: Ring of Protection
Ring: Ring of Protection (Eidolon)
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance
Weapon: Lance
Wrists: Spellguard Bracers
Deep Red Sphere Ioun Stone
Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Saves)
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Attack rolls)
Life Link Badge

You and your Eidolon share magic item slots, so some items are labelled to specifically call them out as gear for your Eidolon. Other pieces of gear would be useful to both of you, so divide them out however you see fit.

How it Works:

This character hops onto their rather beastly pouncing Eidolon, two-hands a lance, and charges in right along with it. The amount of single-target damage this combined charge can do is truly stupendous, assuming you both manage to hit whatever you’re attacking. At low levels when your Eidolon is medium size, cast Enlarge Person on it (which works thanks to Share Spells) so you can ride it for a short time.

The build’s biggest weakness is enemies with high armor class; neither you nor your Eidolon have a full Base Attack Bonus, so you’ll both struggle to hit certain enemies. The other problem with this build is that it doesn’t really take off until mid to high levels, since it takes you so long to get all the feats you want. You could dip a level or two of fighter to add some additional feats, but your Eidolon and spell progression would suffer for it, so it may not be worthwhile.

Always remember… the only thing better than a charging, pouncing murder-machine is one with an impressively strong, lance-wielding buff-factory on its back.

Uni

Pathfinder Orc Killer Companion Saurian Druid

5 Replies

Hello, hello…

Life catches up sometimes friends, and lately I haven’t had time to throw anything major together. Here’s a build I’ve found fun and unique for a while now, so take a look and enjoy.

This guy is all about killing stuff with his Animal Companion. Yes, Eidolons can do a great job of killing stuff if the player wants a strong minion, but this guy can tear it up right along with his pet, and many GMs (myself included) have issues with Summoners in general.

Race:

Orc is the only race that works here, unless your GM allows you to take the favored class bonuses of races besides your own. The crux of this build is the Orc favored class bonus for Druids; the ability to add more damage to your animal companion.

Ability Scores: (+4 Str, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha)

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 19 (7)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 8 (0)
Wis: 14 (10)
Cha: 6 (-2)

High Fantasy:

Str: 19 (7)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 7 (-1)
Wis: 14 (10)
Cha: 5 (-4)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 18 (5)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 5 (-4)
Wis: 14 (10)
Cha: 5 (-4)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 18 (5)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 11 (1)
Int: 5 (-4)
Wis: 14 (10)
Cha: 5 (-4)

Be ready to dump your intelligence and charisma on this character; your racial penalty to Wisdom leaves you in a tough spot, and you’ll need to save points everywhere you can to shore it up a little. That being the case, you’ll be spending most of your time shapeshifted, and the rest of your time wielding a melee weapon or buffing your dinosaur, so your Wisdom doesn’t need to be spectacular. Strength is your bread and butter, but you’ll probably want around 14 Wisdom. These ability scores could be adjusted depending on your preferences, but it’s a good idea to make the most of your +4 to Strength.

Animal Companion:

Allosaurus / Spinosaurus / Deinonychus

This is a tricky choice. If you go with the spinosaurus, your dionsaur companion’s strength will be monstrously high when it gains its advancement bonuses. On the other hand, the deinonychus will end up with an impressive five primary attacks per round and the always exceptional pounce ability. Fitting in the middle is the allosaurus, who gets pounce, has more size and strength than the deinonychus, and also gains the pounce ability. In this case, the high number of attacks and pounce are too good to pass up in my opinion, since your favored class bonus directly rewards this approach.

As for archetypes, the Totem Guide archetype is quite good, but giving up Evasion and Improved Evasion is painful. The other archetypes are a little lacking, though the Barding Training ability of the Charger archetype is strong. Giving up Share Spells is generally not a good idea, so that puts a high price on taking the Charger or Bodyguard archetypes.

Favored Class Bonus:

– Add +1/2 to the damage dealt by the druid’s animal companion’s natural attacks.

+1/2 per level may not sound like a lot at first glance, but consider this: it is effectively equivalent to gaining a stacking Weapon Specialization in every natural attack it has every four levels it possesses. That stacks up to become a lot of damage at high levels.

Alternate Racial Traits:

Dayrunner

Light blindness sucks, and you won’t really be using many ranged attacks anyways, so you might as well grab this.

Progression:

1: Dodge
2:
3: Power Attack
4: +1 Str
5: Natural Spell
6:
7: Craft Wondrous Item
8: +1 Str
9: Planar Wild Shape, Nimble Moves*
10:
11: Weapon Focus Claw
12: +1 Str
13: Hammer the Gap, Vital Strike*
14:
15: Weapon Focus Bite
16: +1 Str
17: Powerful Shape, Improved Overrun*
18:
19: Toughness / Blood Vengeance
20: +1 Wis

* = Saurian Shaman Bonus Feat

For this particular build, strong feats are slim pickings. Craft Wondrous Item would be an excellent option if you had the smarts to back it up. As it stands, I figured with a few skill-based buffs and items, you should be able to get by. Grudge Fighter is good on its own, but seeing as most arcane casters (if they’re nice people and tactically-minded) will be hitting you with Heroism before important battles, all you would gain a touch of damage from it. You are in a position to make fairly good use of Hammer the Gap, since you can give yourself a large number of natural attacks, all of which will be at a fairly high attack bonus. Weapon Focus in claw and bite shore up your attack bonus a little when you’re using Wild Shape, which will be most of the time. Natural Spell is a must for all druids, allowing you to buff yourself with natural attack boosting spells while transformed. Planar Wild Shape is excellent at higher levels, giving you damage reduction, elemental resistances and a smite attack (which won’t be at a higher attack bonus, but more damage is always nice).

As for your free Saurian Shaman feats, Nimble Moves lets you charge in situations where you ordinarily couldn’t. The other choices of feats are not stellar; Vital Strike is even less useful for you than most characters, since you can often charge and receive a full attack when you have to move, and the overrun combat maneuver sees very little use, in my experience. You already have Power Attack by this point, and wouldn’t want to wait that long to take it anyways. The only feat remaining, Skill Focus Intimidate, is the worst of the bunch, since your Intimidate check will be awful to begin with.

The Cleave and Vital Strike feat lines could be passable on this build if you transform into a stegosaurus or the like, to give you a single, powerful natural attack. Honestly though, you won’t find many opportunities to use either one, if you stick with the other recommended wild shape forms.

A different option would be to take Spell Focus Conjuration and take Augment Summoning, to make your Summon Nature’s Ally spells more useful.

Strong Traits:

Reactionary
Lessons of Chaldira / Second Chance
Beast of the Society
Axe to Grind
Theoretical Magician

Theoretical Magician is here strictly for magic item creation, if you happen to go that route. Your Intelligence leaves a lot to be desired, so you need to shore up your Spellcraft skill check as much as you can to compensate. If you opt not to take item crafting feats, the other traits will serve you better.

Animal Companion Progression:

1- Armor Proficiency Light
2- Power Attack
3- +1 Str / Dex
4- +1 Int
5- Armor Proficiency Medium
6- +1 Str / Dex
7-
8- Dodge
9- +1 Str, +1 Str / Dex
10- Improved Natural Armor
11-
12- +1 Str / Dex
13- Weapon Focus Claw
14- +1 Str
15- +1 Str / Dex
16- Weapon Focus Talon / Improved Natural Armor / Toughness
17-
18- Improved Natural Armor / Toughness, +1 Str / Dex
19-
20- +1 Str

The feats here are intended to directly improve combat effectiveness by adding directly to attack and AC. Combat maneuvers are generally not an efficient way to kill enemies, so they should be avoided. The extra point of Intelligence means that your animal can actually learn to understand Common by putting a point in Linguistics, which greatly simplifies giving it specific instructions beyond what is normally possible with tricks.

Wild Shape Forms:

Deinonychus – Medium
Megaraptor – Large
Allosaurus – Huge
Stegosaurus – Vital Strike or Cleave use

Strong Spells:

Level 1:

Faerie Fire
Feather Step
Frostbite
Longstrider
Magic Fang
Obscuring Mist

Level 2:

Barkskin
Bull’s Strength
Cat’s Grace
Frigid Touch
Lockjaw

Level 3:

Companion Mind Link
Delay Poison, Communal
Greater Magic Fang
Resinous Skin
Resist Energy, Communal
Sleet Storm
Spike Growth
Vengeful Comets

Level 4:

Air Walk
Atavism
Bloody Claws
Echolocation
Freedom of Movement
Strong Jaw

Level 5:

Air Walk, Communal
Animal Growth
Aspect of the Wolf
Wall of Fire
Wall of Thorns

Level 6:

Dispel Magic, Greater
Dust Form
Sirocco
Stoneskin, Communal

Level 7:

Heal

Level 8:

Reverse Gravity
Wall of Lava

Level 9:

Foresight

Recommended Gear

Armor: Wild Hide Armor / Wild Ironwood Breastplate
Belt: Belt of Giant Strength
Chest: Bane Baldric
Feet: Jaunt Boots / Boots of Speed
Hands: Deliquescent Gloves + Gloves of Elvenkind
Head: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier
Headband: Headband of Inspired Wisdom
Neck: Amulet of Mighty Fists
Ring: Ring of Protection
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance
Wrists: Bracers of Sworn Vengeance
Deep Red Sphere Ioun Stone
Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Saves)
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Attack rolls)

There’s some room to make changes here, but not a lot. You’ll need a Headband of Wisdom fairly early to keep up with your increasing spell access, an a Belt of Giant’s Strength is a no-brainer. Anything you can use to increase your AC is helpful, and an Amulet of Mighty Fists can go a long way towards increasing your offensive capabilities. You should generally choose properties over enhancement bonus, as you can cast Greater Magic Fang on yourself to bump up your enhancement.

Seeing as you’ll be spending most late-game combats in Wild Shape, you should purchase Wild armor when you can afford it, unless you have an ally in your group wiling and able to cast Mage Armor on you every day. If you took Craft Wondrous Item and / or other magic item crafting feats, carry a pair of Gloves of Elvenkind for use when crafting, and a pair of Deliquescent gloves for use in combat.

Gear Controversy:

As far as I know, there is no clear consensus on how many magic item slots an animal companion has in Pathfinder. Some people choose to use the Living Greyhawk rules, which state that an animal companion receives only a neck slot, a barding slot (armor), slotless and animal specific items. Others have stated that animal companions have up to as many equipment slots as humanoid creatures, so long as their anatomy can accommodate them. There is a softcover book out right now called Animal Archive that may give a conclusive answer, but unfortunately, I do not own it, and can’t track down what it says. If anyone does have a specific (well-sourced) answer, I will adjust this accordingly.

The power of this build is significantly affected by the GM ruling on this point. Being able to equip your animal with a belt to bump up its Strength, Dexterity or both, an Amulet of Mighty Fists and possibly also a Ring of Protection, can make a world of difference. As of this particular moment, I am working off of the assumption that animal companions have as many gear slots as a PC. If your DM rules otherwise, and you still want to play the Orc dinosaur master, ignore any barred item slots.

How it Works:

This character is quite a beast; literally. Transform into the biggest dinosaur with pounce and multiple attacks that you can, and charge in with your pet. Buff yourself and your pet with your spells, and avoid ones that require saving throws from your enemies like the plague. The nice thing about natural attacks is that they’re all at your highest base attack bonus, allowing you to make a flurry of fairly accurate strikes, especially when charging.

There’s something particularly special about playing a character that transforms into a giant dinosaur; give it a try, and find out for yourself.

Uni

Pathfinder Unarmed Monk of the Sacred Mountain Build

4 Replies

Back again, my friends.

I spoke in my last post about the effectiveness of the unarmed fighting style, something which many Pathfinder players overlook. Thus, I am composing a build centered around unarmed combat, sticking strictly with Monk, since they are the target of so much undeserved hate.

So, without further ado, let’s proceed!

Race:

Human is generally the best choice here, since you’ll gain a lot out of the +2 to two separate ability scores from Dual Talent. As most of you probably already know, Monks are a very ability score intensive class, so you need all the bonuses you can get. If your DM will allow you to use races from the Advanced Race Guide, Oreads are a great option; though they are only a 6 RP race, they easily measure up to a human thanks to their Granite Skin alternate racial trait. Their favored class bonus isn’t quite as good though.

Ability Scores: (+2 Str, +2 Wis)

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 19 (13)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 18 (10)
Cha: 7 (-4)

High Fantasy:

Str: 19 (13)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 8 (-2)
Wis: 16 (5)
Cha: 7 (-4)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 18 (10)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 16 (5)
Cha: 7 (-4)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 16 (5)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 16 (5)
Cha: 7 (-4)

As a Monk, you have two potential dump stats; intelligence and charisma. Since having a good value in nearly every other ability score is important, it’s generally wise to make the most of both of them, especially if you’re playing a low fantasy or standard fantasy game. In epic or high fantasy, this build is a lot easier to run with. If you go with an Oread, your Charisma will end up a truly appalling total of 5 for many of these configurations. It might be a good idea to take a vow of silence on that particular character, since every word out of your mouth will probably make people want to kill you.

Alternate Racial Traits:

Dual Talent (Human) / Granite Skin (Oread)

Progression:

1: Dodge, Combat Reflexes*
2: Deflect Arrows*
3: Dragon Style
4: +1 Str
5: Dragon Ferocity
6: Hamatulatsu / Combat Reflexes / Ki Diversity / Mobility
7: Power Attack
8: +1 Str
9: Weapon Focus – Unarmed
10: Improved Critical – Unarmed Strike / Medusa’s Wrath
11: Improved Natural Armor
12:
13: Elemental Fist
14: Spring Attack / Improved Critical – Unarmed Strike
15: Cleave
16:
17: Cleaving Finish
18: Ki Diversity – Wings of the Crane
19: Dragon Roar
20:

There’s quite a bit of room for variation here; the only feats you really have to have are all covered by the time you get to level 7. I would be quite tempted to skip out on all of the feats from levels 13 to 19 and continue to take Improved Natural Armor for each available feat, as it can be selected multiple times. Ability Focus – Stunning Fist is a decent option when you have room for it, as is Extra Ki, if you find your days drag on long enough that you regularly run out of Ki before you get the chance to rest. Hammer the Gap can add a little extra damage, but I don’t think it adds enough to justify taking it. Medusa’s Wrath makes an appearance as a recommendation dependent on your party makeup; if you have an ally or allies able to impose any of the listed conditions, you should definitely make a go of it. A Transmutation specialist Wizard throwing Slow spells around can lead to you making a lot of people very dead.

Another viable option is to branch out into another combat style at level 9, and take the Combat Style Master feat. The trick to using Combat Style Master well is taking one style to keep active on your turn (Dragon Style), and another to keep active off-turn (Crane Style / Snake Style). Though this double combat style approach can be extremely powerful, the heavy feat investment means that it ends up a very late-game strategy. If you’d like to give it a go, replace the chosen feats with the following: 9 – Crane Style, 11 – Combat Style Master, 13 – Crane Wing, 15 – Crane Riposte. Your attack bonus takes a bit of a dip, since you have to fight defensively to make use of Crane Style, but by the time you get up to Crane Riposte, it’s only a -1 penalty, which isn’t too bad. Snake Style is a defensive stance option that doesn’t hurt your attack bonus, but you’ll need to make sure you put enough skill points in Sense Motive and Acrobatics. If you want to go this route, substitute one of your Monk bonus feats for Combat Reflexes so you meet all your prerequisites. Snake Style is even more late-game than Crane Style though, as it doesn’t get really strong until you get Snake Fang, the last feat in the three feat line.

Strong Traits:

Quain Martial Artist
Honored Fist of the Society
Lessons of Chaldira / Second Chance
Axe to Grind
Reactionary

There are probably a few other decent traits available, but these are the ones that come to mind. Feel free to experiment. Quain Martial Artist is definitely one you should take if your DM allows it though.

Vows:

Vow of Fasting
Vow of Truth
Vow of Silence?

Vows are a nice way to bump up your Ki Pool a bit, and the restrictions they impose are not all that punishing in a few cases. Vow of Fasting is a good option if (like me) you hate using potions, since they’re so damned expensive. Vow of Truth is a good fit for this character, since their Charisma is so bad that nobody is going to believe anything they say anyways. As for Vow of Silence, well… not everyone wants to play a mute punching machine, but the option is there, if you want it.

Recommended Gear

Armor: None
Belt: Belt of Giant Strength
Chest: Quick Runner’s Shirt
Feet: Jaunt Boots
Hands: Deliquescent Gloves
Head: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier
Headband: Headband of Inspired Wisdom
Neck: Amulet of Mighty Fists / Amulet of Natural Armor
Ring: Ring of Protection
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance
Wrists: Bracers of Armor
Deep Red Sphere Ioun Stone
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Saves)
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Attack rolls)

Your choice of gear may change depending on your party makeup. If you have a Druid in your group (or someone with enough Use Magic Device to use wands as if they were one), try to get a Greater Magic Fang cast on yourself every day, freeing you up to take weapon special abilities on your Amulet of Mighty Fists. Barkskin is another spell that you’ll frequently be pleading with your party Druid to cast on you. If you only have a Wizard or Sorcerer in your group, try to get them to throw a Mage Armor on you; the benefit is massive for you at all single-digit levels. If you’re completely on your own or without anyone who can buff you, get yourself a pair of Bracers of Armor as quickly as possible, and carry around a few potions of Mage Armor (and possibly Magic Fang) for special occasions. If nobody has Haste, Jaunt Boots could be switched out for Boots of Speed.

Final notes and other options:

I chose Monk of the Sacred Mountain for the AC bonus and Toughness, which helps quite a bit, but any type of Monk that grants you Stunning Fist as a bonus feat is a valid option here, including Martial Artist. If you went with Martial Artist, you’d have a lot more feat options through the Fighter feat lines (Weapon Spec, Greater Weapon Focus, etc), so you’d probably end up ditching a lot of the latter part of the feat progression listed here.

Whatever you do, make Dragon Style and Power Attack the crux of your approach to combat, as together they allow you to do a truly daunting amount of damage thanks to your high strength score. If desired, I can always crunch out some sample numbers based on a given level and level appropriate wealth.

I assure you, this Monk can do a lot of damage at a decent attack bonus, while maintaining solid AC if they get a little help in terms of buffs. Since you’re a Monk, your saves will be very impressive, especially considering your fairly balanced stat distribution.

Crack a few skulls for me, fellow adventurers.

Uni

Pathfinder Warrior Cleric Build

2 Replies

Hello all!

By special request, I have another build to share; a martial-focused warrior cleric. Of course, pure clerics can be quite strong as martial characters in their own right, but carefully adding a couple of the more powerful and robust prestige classes can beef them up considerably. So let’s get right to it!

Race:

Human is the way to go here. The extra feat is quite helpful, and an extra skill point per level when you have 7 Intelligence is essential for meeting the skill prerequisites of one of your prestige classes. Since Strength is your primary, the only other races that would fit well would be half elf and half orc if you’re keeping to the core races, but half orc would be the better of the two since they have an alternate racial trait that gives them the same skill point bonus as a human.

Ability Scores: (+2 Str)

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 20 (17)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 10 (0)

High Fantasy:

Str: 20 (17)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 19 (13)
Dex: 13 (3)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 7 (-4)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 17 (7)
Dex: 12 (2)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 8 (-2)

Strength. Lots and lots of strength. Keep your dexterity at 12 so you can gain the AC benefit when wearing full plate; considering this is a two-hander build, you need all the AC you can get. Constitution is always important, especially considering you’ll be wading into melee all the time. 14 wisdom is enough to get you through your early levels, and a headband of wisdom will make up the difference; you need a +2 headband by level 11, and a +4 headband by level 16. You don’t need much Intelligence, since you can lean on your extra human skill point to meet your two skill prerequisites. Charisma is nice to have on a cleric who is going to be using their channel energy against their enemies, but you can always use yours for healing.

Alternate Racial Traits:

None

You don’t need any alternate racial traits on this character. The +2 to a second ability score of your choosing is tempting, but the extra feat and skill point per level are generally too good to pass up.

Strong Domains:

Heroism (Glory)
Liberation
Divine (Magic)
Defense (Protection)

There are some cleric domains that offer excellent granted abilities that would be great for you, but many of them do not become available until level 8 or higher, which you never reach. Therefore, you’re looking for either good passive abilities, good 1st level granted abilities, or good domain spells (which you gain access to as part of your normal spell progression, which does improve).

Heroism offers… well, heroism. It’s one of the best buffs for a physical attacker in the game, and you get access to both the standard version and the greater version. It also increases your channel energy DC, but it’s already going to be so low that this isn’t really much of a draw. Definitely one of the top-tier choices.

Liberation gives you a nifty 1st level power that allows you to to act as if under the effects of the freedom of movement spell for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. Even for a very limited number of rounds per day, being able to spontaneously activate freedom of movement when affected by a severe movement impairing effect (such as hold person) could save your life. The granted spells are decent, but nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, if your other domain gives you access to good granted spells, you’ll have your bases well covered.

The Divine Magic domain allows you to buff your allies in an area as a swift action whenever you’re the target of a divine spell, which you will be often. Unfortunately, you can’t use this in combination with quickened spells, since they’re both swift actions. You could even use this with your 0 level spells to give your allies a boost without spending a spell slot. The domain spells are okay, but no great. Overall, not a terrible domain, though I would say some of the other ones mentioned here would usually be better.

The Defense subdomain of the Protection domain is very, very strong. It gives you access to two of the best low level AC buff spells in the game, shield and barkskin, both of which would normally be outside your reach as a cleric, and both of which help you a ton. Deflection aura will help you a little bit at lower levels, but will eventually be outstripped by the party’s rings of protection and / or your own shield of faith spells. The passive save bonus from Protection is fantastic at low levels as well, but will eventually be outstripped by your cloak of resistance. I can assure you though, that the shield spell will never become obsolete.

Those are all the domains that fit with the flavour and offer strong mechanical benefits. On a pure cleric, the rage domain and strength domain are great, but unfortunately you never get deep enough into cleric to benefit from their top-tier abilities. Personally, I would go with Heroism and Defense, as that would give you access to shield as a 1st level spell, barkskin as a 2nd, and heroism as a 3rd; all of your low level domain spell slots would be taken up by excellent, top-tier spells you would never get otherwise. I’m sure there would be moments when I would long for the granted power of the liberation domain though.

Skills:

Knowledge Religion – 5
Sense Motive – 5

From levels 1 to 5, put a rank into knowledge religion and sense motive at each level. After that, you’ll have met all your prestige class prerequisites and will be free to put points wherever you like. Sense motive will still be a decent option for you though, since your wisdom will be quite good.

Progression:

P1: Power Attack, Weapon Focus – Two handed weapon (BaB 1)
C1:    (CL 1, BaB 1)
C2: Furious Focus (CL 2, BaB 2)
C3: (CL 3, BaB 3)
C4: Iron Will   (CL 4, BaB 4)
IC1:   (CL 5, BaB 5)
IC2: Alignment Channel (CL 6, BaB 6)
IC3:   (CL 7, BaB 7)
HV1: Improved Critical – Two handed weapon (CL 7, BaB 8)
HV2: (CL 8, BaB 9)
HV3: Quicken Spell (CL 9, BaB 10)
HV4: (CL 10, BaB 11)
HV5: Cleave (CL 10, BaB 12)
HV6: (CL 11, BaB 13)
HV7: Cleaving Finish (CL 12, BaB 14)
HV8: (CL 13, BaB 15)
HV9: Toughness   (CL 13, BaB 16)
HV10: (CL 14, BaB 17)
C5: Great Cleave (CL 15, BaB 17)
C6: (CL 16, BaB 18)

C = Cleric

P = Paladin

IC = Inheritor’s Crusader

HV = Holy Vindicator

In terms of weapon choices for this character, I would go with a Nodachi. Any two handed weapon with a good threat range is an excellent choice, though any two handed weapon can be substituted in depending on the flavour the player likes best.

One of the things that may seem odd at first is the paladin dip. At best, this character has 10 Charisma, which is rather sad for a paladin. There are several reasons why this is an integral part of this build. The three main reasons are for proficiencies with strong martial weapons, the proficiency with longsword if your deity doesn’t offer it as a favored weapon (for the Inheritor’s Crusader prerequisite), and for the all-important proficiency with full plate. The other handy benefit of dipping paladin is that you get to make use of the inheritor’s crusader’s champion of honor ability, which will eventually get your smite evil damage bonus up to +4, which isn’t a bad deal. It also fits with the flavour nicely, and you already have to be Lawful Good to become an Inheritor’s Crusader anyways.

As you can see, as it is set up here this character only misses out on two points of base attack bonus compared to a pure warrior class, while getting his effective cleric level up to 16, which gives him access to all but the most powerful of cleric spells. If you wanted to give this character an even more martial focus, one could swap out the last two cleric levels for paladin levels or fighter levels to prevent the BaB loss incurred at cleric level 5. In that case, spellcasting would cap out at 7th level spells.

There are no truly fantastic feats for this character once they grab weapon focus, power attack, furious focus, improved critical and quicken spell; if there’s something else that grabs you more than the cleave line, go for it. The dodge feat would be a great option if you had sufficient dexterity.

Strong Traits:

Magical Knack – Cleric
Metamagic Master – Divine Favor
Reactionary
Axe to Grind
Dispelled Battler

Magical knack is great to have on this character, as is metamagic master for your quickened divine favors, though it isn’t a must. Other than that, there are a few decent options, so have a look around and take whatever suits you.

Strong Spells:

Level 0

Whatever you want.

Level 1

Divine Favor
Bless
Liberating Command
Shield of Faith
Remove Fear

Level 2

Defending Bone (Great spell, but bad flavour for this character)
Admonishing Ray
Spiritual Weapon
Bull’s Strength
Weapon of Awe
Grace

Level 3

Channel Vigor
Wind Wall
Deadly Juggernaut
Dispel Magic
Prayer
Searing Light

Level 4

Air Walk
Forceful Strike
Divine Power
Freedom of Movement
Spit Venom (Bad flavour)
Blessing of Fervor
Quickened Divine Favor (Metamagic Master)

Level 5

Holy Ice
Righteous Might
Spell Resistance
Wall of Stone
Quickened Divine Favor

Level 6

Heal
Eaglesoul
Bloodsworn Retribution
Word of Recall
Quickened Weapon of Awe

Level 7

Quickened Deadly Juggernaut
Quickened Channel Vigor
Quickened Prayer
Quickened Dispel Magic

Level 8

Quickened Divine Power
Quickened Blessing of Fervor

The primary purpose of your spells is to improve you. Avoid any spells that allow a saving throw, as your save DCs are going to be very low. I’ve stuck mostly to spells that are useful in combat, as spells like lesser restoration and delay poison can be very useful, but only in select situations. The spells listed here are basically a set of standard spells that are good ones to prepare on just about any given day.

Your high level spells get a little lackluster, but quickened spells will give you a great way to make use of your spell slots. Quickened divine favor, divine power, channel vigor, weapon of awe, and deadly juggernaut can all be godsends for any cleric.

Recommended Gear

Armor: Full Plate
Belt: Belt of Giant Strength
Chest: Quick Runner’s Shirt
Feet: Jaunt Boots
Hands: Deliquescent Gloves
Head: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier
Headband: Headband of Inspired Wisdom
Neck: Amulet of Natural Armor
Ring: Ring of Protection
Shoulders: Cloak of Resistance
Wrists: Bracers of the Avenging Knight
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Saves)
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Attack rolls)

Your gear should center around improving your attack, damage, AC, saving throws and mobility. Jaunt boots and a quick runner’s shirt go a long way towards making up for some of the shortcomings of a dedicated melee character, and they aren’t too expensive, so try to fit them in before double-digit levels if you can.

Final notes and other options:

This character has a few cool tricks up their sleeve, like their stigmata holy vindicator ability, and the ability to change the shape of their channel energy effects into a cone or line. Faith healing is a nice little boost to their ability to heal themselves as well.

This character could be adjusted to wield a shield along with a one-handed weapon (perhaps a longsword), but as I mentioned in a previous post, in Pathfinder, two handed melee is king; your damage would take a serious dip if you went that direction. With a significant shift in ability scores, this cleric could even be a strong archer, though certain melee only buffs would need to be replaced. In that case, make sure your wisdom stays at 14 unless you know you can gain access to a headband of wisdom very early on, and bump up your dexterity to around 18 after the racial bonus (which would be changed to dexterity, of course). Throw the rest of what you can spare in strength for a composite longbow, and take feats in the following way: Point blank shot and precise shot at level 1, rapid shot at level 3, iron will at 5, alignment channel at 7, manyshot at 9, quicken spell at 11, deadly aim at 13, clustered shots at 15, weapon focus longbow at 17, and improved critical longbow at 19.

As is, this character’s main job is to hit hard and hold the line. They also have strong healing capabilities, which never hurts. The party fighter might scoff, saying that you can’t do as much damage as he can, since you miss out on weapon specialization and the like, but once you get your quickened buffs rolling, he’ll be hard pressed to keep up.

Cleave ’em once for me, my friends.

Unithralith

Pathfinder Gnome Controller Oracle: Short and Not So Sweet

Fire Sorcerer of Ultimate Destruction (Pathfinder Blaster Sorcerer Build)

48 Replies

As John Cleese would say… “and now for something completely different.”

Pathfinder has greatly expanded a sorcerer’s options and abilities in terms of specialization compared with 3.5 edition. Fey sorcerers can be amazing mind-control specialists. Orc or Abyssal bloodline sorcerers can pump their strength up to impressive levels. The Kobold bloodline let’s you create devilishly tricky, sneak-mages. But of course, sorcerers have always been known as the iconic blaster mage. So… how do you make one? Allow me to educate you, young grasshopper.

Half-orc Crossblooded (Orc / Draconic Red) Sorcerer

Crossblooded is one of the strongest archetypes in Pathfinder right now, if you can find the right combination of bloodlines. Orc is a bloodline that appears in the Orcs of Golarion Pathfinder Companion book. Draconic is a standard bloodline from the core rulebook. You’ll notice that they both provide a similar Bloodline Arcana bonus. You may ALSO notice that that bloodline bonus is shockingly strong on a blaster sorcerer. The combination of these two bloodlines with the Half-orc sorcerer favored class bonus is the linchpin of this character build.

Ability Scores:

Epic Fantasy:

Str: 11 (1)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 14 (5)
Cha: 17 (13)

High Fantasy:

Str: 9 (-1)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 14 (5)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 12 (2)
Cha: 17 (13)

Standard Fantasy:

Str: 10 (0)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 12 (2)
Cha: 16 (10)

Low Fantasy:

Str: 7 (-4)
Dex: 14 (5)
Con: 13 (3)
Int: 7 (-4)
Wis: 10 (0)
Cha: 16 (10)

These are just some rough ideas; you have quite a bit of flexibility here in terms of ability scores. I tend to favour Dexterity on primary casters, because initiative is so helpful to you. Constitution is very important as well, however. Of course, as usual, you’ll want to keep your primary casting stat (in this case, Charisma) as high as possible without crippling your character. Your Charisma isn’t as important as it is for some other’s though, so you could even afford to drop it down to a 15 if you wanted to shore up your weak stats.

Racial Traits:

+2 Charisma
Sacred Tattoo
Skilled

These are the recommended choices for your race, though other good options exist. Some may opt to keep the darkvision instead of taking the extra skill point. Sorcerers have access to some great Charisma skills though, so to me it seems a shame to be stuck at 1 per level. Sacred tattoo helps make up for your shamefully poor saving throws, and should always be taken on a Half-orc crossblooded sorcerer.

Favored Class Bonus:

– Add +1/2 point of fire damage to spells that deal fire damage cast by the sorcerer.

This is your main reason for choosing Half-orc. Considering you’re crossblooded, human is another good choice, as the human favored class bonus will help supplement your low number of spells known. Personally, I would take the fire damage though. Go big or go home, I say.

Progression:

1: Spell Focus Evocation, Touch of Rage (Orc bloodline power)*
2:
3: Greater Spell Focus Evocation, Dragon Resistances (Draco bloodline power)*
4:
5: Empower Spell
6:
7: Spell Penetration, Improved Initiative (Draco bloodline bonus feat)*
8:
9: Greater Spell Penetration, Breath Weapon (Draco bloodline power)*
10:
11: Dazing Spell
12:
13: Elemental Focus Fire, Quicken Spell (Draco bloodline bonus feat)*
14:
15: Spell Perfection – Scorching Ray, Wings (Draco bloodline power)*
16:
17: Greater Elemental Focus Fire
18:
19: Varisian Tattoo – Evocation, Widen Spell (Orc bonus feat)*
20: Power of Wyrms (Draco bloodline power)*

Varisian Tattoo could be taken at low levels instead for an extra boost to your damage dice at the expense of your DCs. In that case, bump all of your save DC boosters up two levels.

Good Traits:

– Reactionary (+2 Initiative)
– Metamagic Master – Scorching Ray
– Elemental Pupil – Fire

Skills: (2 / Level)

– Intimidate (Max)
– Bluff (Max)

Your Charisma score will be dauntingly high, and the Intimidate fits the flavour nicely. Bluff is a great social skill, and I’m sure this character could find ample uses for it (“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir… I certainly didn’t burn down that city.”)

Spells:

Level 0:

1 – Detect Magic
1 – Message
1 – Spark
2 – Ghost Sound
4 – Dancing Lights
6 – Mending
8 – Mage Hand
10 – Prestidigitation

Level 1:

1 – Mage Armor
3 – Burning Hands* (Orc)
3 – Magic Missle
5 – Shield
7 – Protection From Evil

Level 2:

5 – Resist Energy* (Ele)
5 – Scorching Ray
7 – Flaming Sphere
9 – Burning Arc
11 – See Invisibility

Level 3:

7 – Fly* (Draco)
7 – Fireball
9 – Haste
11 – Heatstroke

Level 4:

9 – Wall of Fire* (Draco)
9 – Dragon’s Breath
11 – Resilient Sphere
13 – Greater Invisibility

Level 5:

11 – Spell Resistance* (Draco)
11 – Icy Prison
13 – Fire Snake
15 – Teleport

Level 6:

13 – Form of the Dragon I* (Draco)
13 – Sirocco
15 – Tar Pool

Level 7:

15 – Delayed Blast Fireball* (Orc)
15 – Firebrand
17 – Ki Shout / Hungry Darkness / Reverse Gravity

Level 8:

17 – Form of the Dragon III (Draco)
17 – Clenched Fist
19 – Wall of Lava

Level 9:

19 – Meteor Swarm* (Orc)
19 – Icy Prison, Mass
20 – Fiery Body

There is some room to play around here. I tried to stick with the fire theme, while still picking up some good control, utility and protection options.

Your primary damage spell is, surprisingly, Scorching Ray. The reason for this is quite simple; the Half-orc favored class boost to your fire damage. This bonus directly rewards spells that inflict damage more than once per casting, as each instance of damage gets the bonus applied to it separately (some more strict DMs may put the kibosh on this). That means at level 8, your Scorching Rays will be doing 4d6 + 12 per ray. Assuming you hit with both, that’s a daunting 8d6 + 24 (32 – 72) damage! Start throwing Empowers on those, and things start to get REALLY scary, as the damage bonus gets multiplied along with the dice! Your Metamagic Master trait for Scorching Ray makes this an especially viable strategy. Fireball is another good option, but does not lend itself as well to focus firing, and is a level higher. Fiery Shuriken can work out to be even MORE damage than Scorching Ray at high levels since it fires so many projectiles, but a lot of DMs would probably put a stop to that pretty quickly, even if it does work RAW. Flaming Sphere is another really useful damage option here, for the same reasons as Scorching Ray.

At mid-high levels, Resilient Sphere gives you a very good option for locking down a troublesome enemy or getting yourself or an ally out of harm’s way. Icy Prison is another great way to lock down an enemy, even if it does break with the flavour a little bit.

Dragon’s Breath will generally be used for fire damage in some form, but if you’re facing something with the ever-dreaded fire immunity, you’ll greatly appreciate the versatility of the damage it provides.

Clenched Fist is fantastic for any Evocation-focused sorcerer or wizard, and is not to be missed.

The combination of Tar Pool and Sirocco is extremely devastating at high level, while simultaneously providing great control.

Mage Armor and Shield are musts to give you at least somewhat respectable AC, and Magic Missile is nice for it’s ability to ignore elemental resistances. Ear-Piercing Scream is a viable replacement for it, but its somewhat shorter range could prove problematic.

Greater Invis is a great defensive spell against things that can’t see through the illusion, and can be a real life-saver for a caster. Wall of Fire on the other hand, could single-handedly end a combat if you manage to bisect your enemy’s ranks with it in a confined space.

Other than that, pretty much all of your other spells could be swapped around at your leisure. It’s true that there are some really good fire spells you might miss out on if you swap things about, but when you have the option to Empower a Fireball, is being able to cast Fire Snake really all that appealing? I’ll let you answer those questions. Choosing other utility or defensive options in the place of such spells may be a wise decision.

Recommended Gear

– Headband of Alluring Charisma +6
– Amulet of Natural Armor
– Cloak of Resistance
– Ring of Protection
– Ring of Delayed Doom
– Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (Saves)
– Luckstone
– Lesser Rod of Quicken Spell
– Lesser Rod of Empower Spell
– Lesser Rod of Piercing Spell

You’ll want the standard adventurer trinity (Cloak of Resistance, Amulet of Natural Armor and Ring of Protection), and the all-important casting stat boosting item. It’s a good idea to pick up all the save-boosters you can get, hence the Luckstone and Cracked Pale Green Prism (assuming your DM allows such things). Other than that, rods, rods and more rods. Lesser ones are generally sufficient for your needs, as your low level spells are your bread and butter on this character.

Why fire?

“But Uni, I heard that fire is the most commonly resisted element in the game. Is that true?” Absolutely, it is. Keep in mind though, that without outright immunity to fire (or perhaps greater than 30 fire res) your damage bonus is so high that you’ll rip right through the elemental resistances of most creatures (At level 10, your fireballs would deal 10d6 + 25 damage). The reason for taking fire to begin with though, is that fire damage spells are the most common, effective and efficient between fire, lightning, cold and acid. There are good fire damage spells of every level from 1st to 9th.

If you’d rather try for a different element type though, you should still take Fireball, and pick up a Lesser Rod of Elemental Spell so you can convert it to your chosen damage type on the fly. Alternatively, you could take the standard Elemental bloodline instead of Orc or Draconic, allowing you to convert damage spells to the type you want automatically without the use of rods. You lose out on a chunk of damage doing it this way, but you’ll have some unique advantages over the sorcerer presented here. If you go with acid as an element, it is the least commonly resisted and has some impressive spells available to it (Acid Pit, Acidic Fog, Caustic Eruption, etc). As an additional plus, some acid spells don’t allow spell resistance to resist them, since it is actually created or called by conjuration magic, instead of being composed of pure magical energy.

Final Notes:

That’s pretty much it, really. One last thing to keep in mind is that this character is a bit of a glass cannon; you’ll probably attract a lot of attention considering the damage you deal, and you don’t have as many buffs or defensive options as some other sorcerers or wizards do. That, coupled with your less than impressive saving throws and mediocre hit points leaves you quite vulnerable to every form of direct attack. You need to end battles decisively and quickly, and (literally) burn down enemy mages before they have the chance to start casting on you. Having a group of mainly melee-based allies backed up by a skilled archer or two to take out opposing ranged enemies would be helpful.

As I alluded to earlier, when fighting enemies immune to fire, lean on Resilient Sphere, Icy Prison, Dragon’s Breath and, if at low levels, Magic Missile. You have Haste as of level 9, so being able to throw that on the party means you will never be anywhere near useless, even if that’s the only spell you cast in a combat. For that reason, some teamwork-oriented players may opt to take Haste before Fireball.

As Alfred Pennyworth said, “some men just want to watch the world burn.” Might as well be proactive about it, right?

Happy flaming,

Unithralith

Renaissance Gamer

Your source for video game reviews, tabletop RPG guides, and general awesome.

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