Group B OOC

[leons1701]

And as usual, Zyrell's only good roll is initiative.

[Cleric8092]

well, you know what they say. The early bird gets the wyrm.

[LDDragon]

Updated, everyone may act.

[Ryfte]

Hello all. I'm going to be submitting a character to help out your group. I'm quite class agnostic from a preference standpoint, I'm fine with any mechanics, and would be willing to take on the role(s) that are needed most at this point, where you've got gaps. The creative fluff parts I will of course customize as I want, heh.

I was building a Wisp Fetchling Crossbow Precision Ranger with a Gunslinger (Sniper) dedication and taking Druid (Animal Order) for the free dedication. It would clearly be a ranged combat oriented character but also excellent at survival, foraging, tracking, etc. That being said, having looked at the group composition is seems like you could use a straight up tank. All the skills are covered already so skill wise it looks like a "take whatever" situation.

Basically I'm flexible, what would the group prefer? ;)

 

[Kistler]

Hey Ryfte! I think this AP is billed as 'the one where everyone can be a wizard at wizard-school' where you don't even need any of those big dumb Fighters and Barbarians. But then, as the one melee character here from the start, I seem to get scraped up off the floor an awful lot...

I'd normally say 'play what you want' but we do have an archer already (Zyrel), and since everyone it's a caster by class or dedication, there are plenty of ranged options. That said, a true tank isn't absolutely required. A melee magus or rogue or swashbuckler could work well. Isn't there a swashbuckler that's great at debuffing will saves? Champion could be really strong for the group too, of course. A flanking buddy with great resilience who can give companions DR and has LoH? That's big!

[Ryfte]

Well, if I stick to the "theme" of the adventure I've got a Toy Poppet Spinner of Threads Witch with a Sorcerer dedication I was working on as well. There's nothing tanky about her, but she's very much in the vein of the adventure path.

I could bring in another goblin, a druid wolf rider, and then a barbarian dedication. That way they're a full caster and still more tanky. Alternately a goblin champion with the free druid dedication and doubling up with the cavalier dedication could create a VERY tanky wolf rider. Stacking druid animal companion / and cavalier mount support on the wolf with the champion chassis would be quite durable. Be a secondary druid caster, likely for healing mostly and melee with the wolf and character.

Would a kineticist be too "not a caster" to fit? I tried out a kineticist in another game that died and really didn't get as much play with it as I'd liked to have.

That's the thing about a group of "casters" of course, ranged is ALWAYS covered in spades. 😁

Hmm...

"This campaign focuses on a magical school, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to play a spellcaster! Members of any class will have plenty of moments to shine in the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. There will definitely be moments of danger where having a dedicated warrior, such as a fighter, monk, or swashbuckler, will prove vital. Rangers will shine when traveling through wilderness or exploring old ruins, and the keen eye for detail that a rogue or investigator can provide will be very useful."

I think, based on that, it makes sense for that free druid or wizard dedication normally. LDDragon opening it up to any multiclass dedication is nice but it should likely be "as long as your primary class or multiclass dedication is a casting class" to make sense. So if your main class is a casting class your free dedication could be anything while if your main class is a non-caster you need to take a primary casting multiclass dedication (cleric, druid, sorcerer, wizard, etc.). 😉

[Kistler]

We're using free archetype, but either your primary class or dedicating (or both) need to grant casting from slots. You also get the Magaambya attendant dedication feat when you hit third rank in your primary school. Along with the other school benefits.

You'll have to choose branches and roll your study checks as listed here: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1467

We're also using automatic bonus progression. The characters end up quite strong without having to do too much.

Armenga is a Thaumaturge/Captivator, Cha/Str, Striker/Face

Zyrel is a Rogue/Wizard, Dex/Int, Striker/Locks+Traps

Firea is a summoner/living vessel, Cha/Int, jack-of-all-trades

Joseph is a wizard/sorcerer, Int/Wis, blaster/debuff/healing

Wugo is a Warpriest/Dual weapon warrior, Str/Wis, Tanking/Healing

When I look at that Buffing is actually what i see the biggest need for in that group. If Wugo stops running away 😛

Have you thought about bard at all?

Edited April 28 by Kistler (see edit history)

[Ryfte]

I have a bard stub I was building out as well, yep. I'll do that.

[r0llcage]

On the melee front, I played an Inexorable Iron Magus I called an Eldritch Knight that was a ton of fun. Full Strength, Greatsword, Heavy Armor, Wizard Dedication. Tanky, does tons of damage, less reliant on Spellstrike than the other Magus, devastating True Strike>>>Spellstrike combo. Enlarge to improve reach, Jump for quick positioning, True Strike on the Wizard Dedication Spell Slots. Had Shifting Weapon Rune so he could grab a reach glaive if he needed even more reach. Total terror on the battlefield. Would recommend to anyone :P

 

Of course, the school is very multicultural and weird concepts like a poppet wouldn't be as out of place as they would in other AP's, so one might wish to take advantage of that fact for a more out-there build.

[Kistler]

Counterpoint: poppets are always creepy 😛

 

But man, like a little mechanical music box figurine that plays music as a bard... whoa.

[Ryfte]

So, I've got 3 concepts...

1. Wellspring Gnome Maestro Bard... TONS of magic. (very standard bard). A gnome bard... it is what it is.

2. Toy Poppet (i.e. Tiny) Maestro Bard... less magic but... tiny! You know the story, the poppet entertainer for the bored wizard, who with her dying breath actually grants her long term amusing toy actual sentience and freedom.

3. Compact Skeleton (As in Life So in Death: Goblin) Maestro Bard... again, less magic, but fun! This is a ex-goblin underworld entertainer that was horrible, truly an awful entertainer, and so was given cement feet and thrown in a lake by an unhappy listening group of thugs. Turns out that being a skeleton was the best thing for his performing and despite not remembering his prior life he's still drawn to be an entertainer. The difference is that now he's excellent at it.

I'm uncertain how LLDragon feels about rare ancestries for this, lol. The skeleton with As in Life So in Death can pass for their original race without the need for a disguise check as long as they're fully covered / clothed. Mechanically the chassis of all of them are the same. Mechanically the gnome is without question the most sound choice of the three and won't raise any eyebrows, so to speak. I'm filling a sheet out for the gnome currently.

 

[Kistler]

The skeleton sounds really cool, but would you need negative healing/stitch flesh?

[leons1701]

One of our original members was a sentient walking grove of trees, mechanically a leshy summoner that summoned leshies, so out there concepts aren't off the table. Of course, leshies were only Uncommon and since redefined as Common, so not the best guide to whether Rare is allowed or not.

[Ryfte]

13 hours ago, Kistler said:

We're using free archetype, but either your primary class or dedicating (or both) need to grant casting from slots. You also get the Magaambya attendant dedication feat when you hit third rank in your primary school. Along with the other school benefits.

You'll have to choose branches and roll your study checks as listed here: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1467

Should I be starting with this at all? Also, is there a branch that isn't being represented yet?

Yeah the problem with the skelly is of course the negative healing / stitch flesh issue.

[Kistler]

Oh yeah, sorry. Take your time, don't mean to throw everything at you at once. When cleric8082 just joined i dont think there was a guide written out for the specific rules and such we've been using for downtime, study checks, character creation, etc.