Thumper - Hoop Investigator5 Occultist1 Fighter2

Yes, you read that right - Thumper is a Hoop. Hop into the obscure RPG wayback machine, and you will see Hoops as a powerful villain race in Gamma World. Their ability to turn metal into rubber made them feared. Being a 8' anthropomorphic rabbit with opposable thumbs certainly didn't hurt in the "feared" category.

So since the GM and I are both Gamma World fans, making a playable race based on Hoops seemed like a great idea. Obviously rubber is not something you encounter a lot in Pathfinder, so that was the first thing to change. We made it an always on Detect Magic trait. This was to show case the original idea of the Hoop as a race that sought after and venerated ancient technology. Replace "ancient technology" with "magical artifacts" and you get the idea. Added Jump as a trait, removed the 2+ meter height.

To me, the idea of an investigator, Indiana Jones-type character who actively seeks out artifacts, made sense. I like the skills and the skill points for the Investigator class, and I really like Inspiration dice. So I went with that for 4 levels. Maybe it was the  build, maybe it was how I played it, but the limitations of the Investigator class seemed to outweigh the benefits. Taking time to buff, slow spell (extract) progression combined with having to take an extra ability to use those spells (extracts) on others, seemed to make my character not even very good at a support role. I knew striker or even Rogue abilities would be slow to evolve. When it became painfully obvious that we needed a healer in our party, I took a level in a Conjuring/Transmutation Occultist.

The Occultist level dip provided much more flexibility in support, not the least of which was the ability to buff others with Bane. Giving your swing-for-the-fences melee party member 10 rounds of an extra 2d6 worth of damage, plus a +2/+2 to hit/damage, is amazing. Using healing magic items without UMD was also a draw. While that need for addition healing was satisfied, we still didn't have much in the way of distance support, so at 6th level I dipped into Fighter specializing in archery.

Now we had some range support, and the Bane was also helpful on my bow. A second level in Fighter seemed in order. I took Precise Shot at 7th on top of Point Blank Shot at 6th, so firing into melee was a lot more effective. What we did not have, still, was reliable healing. I spoke with my GM about that. He agreed to let me re-specify my character to incorporate some healing.

Here is what I did:

• I traded the Artifact Hunter feat for Healer's Hands and took Signature Skill (Heal) and Precise Shot as Fighter2 at level 7.
• I retrained my skill points in Appraise, Ride, Climb, Diplomacy for points in Heal and Knowledge Planes, bringing each to 6.
• Six (6) times a day (total number of Healer's Hands usage = Knowledge Planes ranks) I can take a full round action to attempt a DC 20 Heal Check. Using the Unchained Heal skill, if successful I will heal the character's HD x 2 and 2 points from each ability score damage. This is applied one person at a time, not a channel. If I hit a DC30, the character being healed get an addition number of HP equal to my Knowledge Planes ranks.
• Combining this with a Vest of Surgery (+2 heal circumstance), Healer's Gloves (+5 heal competence), and an Amulet of Wisdom +2, turned my heal check into a +17 (3 class skill, 6 ranks, 1 WIS, 2 vest, 5 gloves). Tack on the Investigator Talent of Expanded Inspiration and my Heal rolls received an additional d6.

At 8th level, I went back to Investigator (Investigator 5, Occultist 1, Fighter 2), mostly for the skill points. My Heal roll is now +19 and I can use Healer's Hands 8 times a day (+2 skills points to Heal and Knowledge Planes).

Likely progression, levels 9-12:\

All Investigator levels

9th Level - Investigator 6, Occultist 1, Fighter 2

• Feat: Weapon Focus (longbow)
• Heal and Knowledge Planes 1 rank each, +20 heal, Healer's Hands 9/day
• Spells - 2nd and 1st
• +1 Inspiration
• Studied Strike 2d6

10th Level - Investigator 7, Occultist 1, Fighter 2

• Investigator Talent - Amazing Inspiration
• Heal and Knowledge Planes 1 rank each, +21 Heal, Healer's Hands 10/day
• Spells - 3rd and 2nd

11th Level - Investigator 8, Occultist 1, Fighter 2

• Feat: Ranged Focus
• Heal and Knowledge Planes 1 rank each, +22 Heal, Healer's Hands 11/day
• +1 Inspiration
• Spells - 3rd and 2nd
• Studied Strike 3d6

12th Level - Investigator 9, Occultist 1, Fighter 2

• Investigator Talent - Quick Study
• Heal and Knowledge Planes 1 rank each, +23 heal, Healer's Hands 12/day
• Spells - 3rd and 2nd
• Ability Score Bonus - +1 INT (+1 skill point/level, +1 Mental Focus, +1 Inspiration), +1 STR (+1/+1 hit/Damage, +1 CMB), or +1 WIS (+1 Will, +1 Heal)

 

Flack - Human Gunslinger (Buccaneer) 4

So, we are trying to reboot Skull and Shackles. Same players, all new characters. Since we are pirates, I decided to go really outside of my comfort zone and try out guns in Pathfinder.

It's an interesting build. I am not very good at min-max anyway, but when you really need a lot of skills, some things have to suffer. STR and WIS both are not dump stats in the classic term, but they are both 10. I miss STR because I can't carry anything more than what is barely required. The Buccaneer build uses CHA instead of WIS for grit, and I am already missing the Will save bonus - slowed, then two color sprays, all failed will saves, all on the heels of my very first attack roll with my pistol being a 1 (broken condition). Based on that display of awsesomeness, it was hard to see why the party made me captain.

To some extent I can balance the 10 STR with Weapon Finesse, but I may have to dip into Rogue to get a sneak attack bonus to damage. My skills choices - heavy social skills (the CHA really helps here) and feats to make climb and swim work without the STR bonus - are what sold the party on the decision to make me captain.

Our first priority is getting the ship "squibbed" - made to not look like a ship that was stolen and being sought after. You don't sink a ship unless you absolutely have to - they are too valuable. It's going to cost a lot, and take about two weeks, so now we are working social skills to evaluate our crew. All of them are holdovers from the Wormwood, and not all of them have attitudes of Indifferent or better towards us. So we are working on them. 

I worked on Fishguts, the drunk cook from the Wormwood. Now that he is removed from the half-orc Grok (his squeeze on the Wormwood), he is getting off the booze, and he's a lot more likeable. Of course, one of our first characters was assigned as cook's assistant, and his rolls were god-awful, so we joked that his cooking had also improved because his prior assistant was gone. Fishguts is going to stay with the crew.

Our Rogue (Pirate) took up with a different crewman (Conchabar) and negotiated with him to stay on the ship as well. The Bard (Sea Singer) went into the village and got us three new recruits.

Then we thought it would be sociable to go and play Nine Pin with some of the folks in the village. Instead we played fight off the Water Naga, and badly. Well, I did not do very well (see above incompetence). Finally we lured the thing on shore, all the while trying to save the life of one of the villagers. She had been trying to get a keg of beer out of the cove when the water naga attacked. The naga hit us with Slow, then took some bites out of the poor villager. It also hit us with a couple of Color Sprays and some kind of tail shock wave that made us all prone. If not for the Cleric using channel, the villager would have died for sure.

We managed to get the villager and the water naga on shore, when things went very south for the naga. The bard hit it with Mortal Terror. It failed the first save, making it shaken, and then the rogue scored a critical hit. The naga failed the next saving throw, sending its condition from shaken to frightened. It ran away after that, which was good for us.

We didn't play Nine Pin (the interest seemed to disappear after the attack). But the person squibbing the boat gave us 500 for helping out the villagers.

My total contributions to the fight were:

• Failed save against Slow (the WIS bonus would not have helped)
• Draw pistol (slowed)
• Natural 1 shooting at the naga, pistol gets broken condition (slowed)
• Move to help get the villager out of the water (slowed)
• Failed save agaist Color Spray (the WIS bonus would not have helped) (slowed, stunned, and blind - drop pistol)
• Failed save against Color Spray (the WIS bonus would not have helped) (slowed, reset counter for stunned and blind)
• Tail shock wave attack beats CMD (prone, slowed, blind, and stunned)

RIP Dicky Moe

Welp, we fucked up and got TPK'd. Totally misread the clues, and totally created players (most of the party) based on combat. We are going to try again with new 3rd level characters and pick up in book 2.

Dicky Moe - Ranger Freebooter Level 2 PF1

 Why a Ranger? And why a Freebooter?

In this case, for the archetype. We are playing the Skull and Shackles adventure path in PF1, and the Freebooter archetype seemed to fit what I wanted - a front line battlefield control character. The freebooter replaces the favored enemy class feature with Freebooter's Bane, which offers flexibility and can be shared with your allies ("get the one with the patch" nets all allies within 30' +1 to hit and damage (untyped) on the guy with the patch). An archer ranger on a boat seemed like a lot of feats when I had other ideas for what I wanted to do on a boat. Deck skirmishes ship-to-ship don't leave a lot of room for bows and arrows. Besides, I would have played a fighter (archer) for the insane number of archery feats I'd need to shoot into deck combat rather than a ranger (archer).

Why Dicky Moe?

Tom & Jerry, of course.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8p4my9

Yes, I KNOW that Dicky Moe is the whale. But my ranger has a peg leg. And we got shanghaied. So...

What's next?

We are 2nd level so far. I can see myself dipping into rogue (pirate archetype) for the sneak attack damage and the free Sea Legs feat. At 4th level as a ranger, Freebooter's bond trades a move action for an additional +2 (untyped) to flanking attack rolls for all allies within 30' when Dicky initiates it.

Svijezdana - Cartomance Witch Level 9 - Pathfinder 1 ed.

 Why a Witch?

Hexes. It really boils down to that. Reusable buffs, and reusable save or suck. Some limit once a person/being per 24 hours, some are not, and some can be extended with cackle. It may take me a while to provide a buff or debuff, and the cackle takes a move action away, but granting and extending Fortune or Misfortune can make or break an encounter. And so far, from experience, granting and extending Protective Luck has kept the party from suffering critical hits, and that is beyond measure. Using Slumber to then perform a coup de grace is also barrels of laughs.

Personally, I have a glitch when it comes to casting save or suck spells. I don't hate them - much of 1st Ed DnD was save or suck. I hate when mine are saved against - I feel like I wasted a round and a spell, of which I have seemingly so few to choose from for the day. Hexes let me try over and over again, no limit on use just on targets. I can live with that. I would rather cast a spell that has some kind of effect, even half damage, than have one that just fizzles. It happens, I know, it is supposed to happen, but I take it way too personally for a game where I am supposed to be relaxing and having a good time. So I hesitate.

Witch spells are good, but if you want offense their list is limited. This limit also hampers crafting, as many highly sought-after items require spells that are not on the witch list. (The smattering of heal spells offsets this limitation a bit - everyone needs potions of healing and the Cauldron hex readily provides access to creating them). Support, as I see it, seems to be where witches really shine. Battlefield control, AoE, and, of course, buffing.

Why a Cartomancer?

This is a three part answer.

For starters, I have a real life interest in tarot decks and divination (rank novice in both, tbh), and this goes back to 1st Ed DnD - the Deck of Many Things. The DMG offered options to let the characters actually draw from the deck. To do this, standard playing cards were used as an example. So were tarot cards. I purchased my first deck in the 80s as a teenager. Now I own a Deck of Many Things as well. Playing Curse of Strahd in later years introduced me to the Tarokka deck, which I also own. Acquiring and playing a witch using Harrow cards seemed a natural extension of my interest.

Secondly, my group just finished an adventure path that featured Harrow readings (Curse of the Crimson Throne). The idea of granting the party usable buffs to rolls, as the Harrow readings did in Throne, was very appealing (third level Harrowing, sixth level Greater Harrowing).

Lastly, Witches in Pathfinder seem to be focused on their familiars. There is not an arcane bond option - they all have a familiar. I hail from playing a lot of 1st and 2nd Ed DnD, and familiars were not a focal point of any arcane caster. I don't remember anyone in any of my groups having one, and they still are not as popular as bonded object seems to be, based on my experiences so far. Managing a familiar was more than I wanted to take on. As long as I take care of my Harrow deck, it's hard to damage it as a familiar. Using the cards to attack (as a dart using Deadly Dealer) or to give range to a touch spell (touch attack) seemed like a new and potentially amusing way to modify a caster. The Harrow deck also functions as it it had the returning weapon ability - no lost or destroyed cards. Interestingly enough, I have not used either ability yet, and I am 9th level. I enjoy my hexes too much.

Why Svijezdana?

A nice lady helped me out when registering for a hotel room for a conference, and that was her name. Seemed like an awesome name for a witch, so I made her from Ustalav and a cartomancer, stereotypical or not, and that was that.

What makes Svijezdana tick?

Power, spell, and hex acquisition. She has gained a few spells from the use of Blood Transcription, will readily boost her power with Death Knell, and spends her money on scrolls like a Magic player on cards. She is officially Chaotic Neutral, but she walks the line between neutral and evil like a drunk in clown shoes. Her party helps her acquire what she wants, so they are safe - she is fiercely loyal to them. She also enjoys casting Infernal Healing on the druid's animal companion.

Evolution of the Bard Class

Over the last 4 (or 4.5, but who's counting) editions of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D, now shortened to D&D), we have become used to the idea of the bard as a basic class. In 2nd edition, the bard was a subclass of the rogue. Editions 3, 3.5, 4, and now 5 all show the bard as a separate class to itself. Not a true spell caster, not a true rogue, and mostly an entertainer, the bard is often portrayed in fantasy literature and popular culture as a bit of an afterthought of comic relief. Even the Spellsinger series (Alan Dean Foster) the main character, while a bard, is summoned to the world as an "engineer" by a slightly senile wizard that happened to be a turtle. The character is a sanitation engineer, and somehow manages to fulfill his destiny through mastery of a magical stringed instrument. In Gamers II, the bard character is clearly there as comic relief, not only in the character but also in the inept role player who attempts to portray a bard.

When we look back at the first edition of AD&D, however, we find that becoming a bard was a serious enterprise. For starters, the character striving to become a bard had to have minimum ability scores of S15, D15, C10, I12, W15, and CH 15. The good news for the player is that the future bard would have a minimum of 10 levels of adventuring to improve, permanently, any scores that did not make the grade. In addition, the bard character race was limited to human and half-elf.

The future bard must complete at least 5 levels, and no more than 7 levels, of being a fighter. The character must then take on a second class, this time a thief, for at least 5 levels and no more than 8 levels. Completing this, the character must then take a third class, that of a druid, which is when the character officially becomes a bard.

Taking on a second class in 1st edition AD&D was a vastly more complicated enterprise than taking one in 3rd edition and beyond. That will be a separate blog post. The main points are that 1) it was an irreversible decision, and that 2) the character was to rely upon the powers and abilities of the new class as if his levels of the original class did not exist. In the case of a bard, using the old powers and abilities of the fighter during the first level of the new class would retard the character’s progress in the thief class. This restriction was lifted after the achieved thief levels exceed the levels attained as a fighter. At this time, the character would begin to accumulate 6-sided hit dice, as per the attained thief levels.

When the bard "threshold" was successfully reached, the character gained new powers, those of charm when playing an instrument, a certain percentage of legend-lore and item knowledge, as well as access to druid spells and all other druid abilties, progressing as a druid. The bard was allowed (indeed had to) use his achieved fighter level for attacks and could use his achieved thieving abilities. Combat and saving throws matrices were based on the most advantageous score based on the three classes. Bards were limited to level 23. Weapons and armor were also limited to fit the bard class

In terms of hit points (HP), the Bard had an advantage over all but the fighter classes. Assuming the bard progressed to the maximum allowed limit as a fighter and a thief, and assuming no constitution bonus and average HP rolls, a character would start as a bard class with 7X6 + 1X4 HP (46 HP) for 15 levels of work. A fighter during that time would average 9X6 + 6X3 HP (72 HP). However, by the time the bard is finished accumulating hit dice (at 11th level for the bard, effective level 26 for the character) the character would have accumulated 86 HP. The fighter, at level 26, would have 105 HP. Clerics would have 79, thieves 70, and magic-users 46.

In that time, a fighter would have accumulated a minimum of 4,750,000 experience points (XP). The cleric would have 4,275,000 XP. The thief would have 3,740,000 XP. The magic-user would have a whopping 5,625,000. By comparison, the Bard would have 485,000 XP. These numbers assume all of these characters have reached 26 levels of experience. The differences are also reflected if we look at the levels attained by the accumulation of 485,000 XP by other classes. A fighter would be 9th level, a cleric 9th level, a thief 12th level and a magic-user 11th level. The bard character, after collecting 485,000 experience points, would be 11th level (175,000 XP for the fighter part of his career, 100,000 XP as a thief, and then 200,000 as a bard). That bard, however, has 7 levels of fighter and 8 levels of thief in addition to his 11 levels of bard for those 485,000 XP.

Consider, then, the 1st edition ability to multi-class. Multi-classing was the ability for a character to advance in two or three different classes at the same time. For example, a character could start as a fighter/magic-user/thief at levels 1/1/1. In this instance, the experience points are distributed between the three classes evenly as the character earns them. This character, after gaining 1000 XP, then, would have split them three ways, so each class XP totals would be 333/333/334. This same character, with 485,000 total XP, would have three-way XP totals at 161666/161667/161667. The character would have levels of 8/9/10. A Fighter/Druid/Thief (such a combination was not a legal option in 1st edition) would have had 8/10/10. A bard would be fighter/thief/bard as 7/8/11.

The bard we have been describing is considered to be the "official" bard of the first edition of AD&D. There was a previous incarnation of the bard, some 3 years before AD&D came into existence. A magazine known as The Strategic Review (the precursor to Dragon, and in this case Volume 2 Number 1 from February of 1976) also had a recommended, though not official, bard class entry. This version of the bard, as with the ones after 1st edition, started its career as a bard. The version was open to more races, progressed with thieving abiltiies as a thief of half the level of the bard, and had access to magic-user spells rather than druid spells.

A second recommendation for a bard class was proffered in Dragon #56 (December, 1981). This version, also not official but available to the AD&D rule set, was also designed for the character to start as a bard. The class was, again, recommended to be open to more races. The bard would have access to a subset of druid and illusionist spells (disallowed spells are listed in the article). The thief aspect of a bard's character was removed completely.

This incarnation can be more closely compared to the official bard in the Players Handbook (PHB). For instance, 485,000 XP will get this bard to 9th level. Average HP would be 36 at this level. Combat ability will continue to improve as the bard proceeds in levels (the official bard is limited to the highest level achieved as a fighter for the rest of his career).

When looking forward to the bard class in 2nd edition AD&D, we see that the bard presented there seems to be a nice blend of the original bard in the PHB and the bard from Dragon #56. Races are limited again to human and half-elf. In terms of experience, the bard progresses as a thief (in this case as a rogue class, to which the thief and bard are sub-classes). Spells options are limited to wizard (magic-user) spells. Combat is as a rogue, as are saving throws and level advancement

What we have at the end of the day with a 1st edition bard is an accomplished fighter and thief that can also toss druid spells (up to 5th level in power, depending on bard level). They were never encountered at low levels, unless they were NPCs of some leader who was recruiting the PCs. Even at high levels, they were not commonplace. When we think of bards now (or minstrels or jesters or skalds), we think of characters of low level hoping to eventually become historians and entertainers with some magical prowess, and we see them very early in the campaign, as with all other classes. Based on how bards are treated in most gaming circles and certainly in popular culture, it can be argued that their presence as PCs is not a huge deal and certainly not often taken seriously. A 1st edition bard, while likely a recipient of the same taunting as the current iteration of bards are, certainly was not to be taken for granted, owing thanks to the road needed to achieve the class.