Strange Aeons (Pathfinder, LGBT+ friendly)

[TheKhan]

I’d say go for the Medium or one of the Gnomes.

[Roleplay Frog]

Changeling or dhampir imo. Dhampir cause if you go angst you might as well go all in, Changeling because haunted Mystique sounds jolly.

.. guess that means you can narrow it down to 2 if you go by majority.

[Callie Del Noire]

Changeling or dhampir imo. Dhampir cause if you go angst you might as well go all in, Changeling because haunted Mystique sounds jolly.

.. guess that means you can narrow it down to 2 if you go by majority.

Dhampir is cool but as I learned in Carrion Crown.. their neg energy affinity can be a royal pain

[Roleplay Frog]

proper Dhampir Goth-enthusiasts embrace the pain.

[Callie Del Noire]

proper Dhampir Goth-enthusiasts embrace the pain.

Still think the investigator would fill in knowledge vital spots. Mythos checks melt his mind not ours   ;P

[Roleplay Frog]

eh. gnomes usually not cute. I want to see cutie mindmelting preferably.

[ChaoticSky]

Right-o I am putting my character together now. Though i am also caught between a few concepts and would like input if anyone is bored ^^.

-The first is a necromancer. Always wanted to play one but could never find a good excuse. Blood Arcanist to get the Sanguine Bloodline. Race will be human, dhampir, or gnome (human for Best Race, Dhampir for synergy with arcanist bloodline, and gnome for fun and novel racial traits). I figure having disposable minions that are immune to mind effecting effects and fear will probably help us in this AP and its one of the few plotlines where having a necromancer around would be the least of ones problems. Not evil mind you... but when you have a fount of undeady power its hard to be anything else and she really wishes people would stop judging her for it *huff*. Probably originates in Kaer Maga due to their happy go lucky relationship with necromancy.

-An alternative version will be a straight up blastery/support arcanist, though ill invest in some wands for healing if we need it. Maybe alittle over eager on the explosions. Hehe.

-The other idea is a Oracle, a Life Mystery Divine Herbalist(pei zin) Oracle to be specific for the maximized healing, buffing and support so we all dont end up dead in the face of eldritch horror . I imagine condition and ability damage removal will come in handy(it even says as much in the PG). Race will probably be human, kitsune or gnome (for the same reasons).

In either case, right now the background im thinking of is that they recall... studies (arcane or divine), being a serious, no-nonsense student of magic. You know the type, straight As, teachers pet, no time for frivolities... but they wake up covered in tattoos and/or with other signs of having a really wild life, and when they find their stuff, her attire is rather *ahem* minimal. Shes going to be quite disturbed and really wants to know how she got from A to B.

Opins?

Also Gnomes are amazing I can at leased guarantee that my face claim for gnomes is quite attractive by anyone's measure.

[Roleplay Frog]

I dun get what it is with all the gnomes popping up recently. I get dhampirs but gnomes. *ponderfaces*

anyway, I was never a big fan for scripting a character towards a certain campaign trail, over adapting to the challenges as they popped up. Now if the DM gave specific directions like 'make sure you can deal with aquatic threats' that'd be something different, but going 'Aha! This campaign will deal with fighting Iceus the Ice-King so I pack lotsa cold resistance' is, imo, just asking for a suprise DM turnabout, in this case, who says that your undead wont come back posessed by tentacles, ready to spread their love and infection to the living, turning them too into lust-crazed tentaclehosts, struggling against their parasitic... their...  and..

On second thought, go necromancer! wooo! Great idea!

[ChaoticSky]

I dun get what it is with all the gnomes popping up recently. I get dhampirs but gnomes. *ponderfaces*

anyway, I was never a big fan for scripting a character towards a certain campaign trail, over adapting to the challenges as they popped up. Now if the DM gave specific directions like 'make sure you can deal with aquatic threats' that'd be something different, but going 'Aha! This campaign will deal with fighting Iceus the Ice-King so I pack lotsa cold resistance' is, imo, just asking for a suprise DM turnabout, in this case, who says that your undead wont come back posessed by tentacles, ready to spread their love and infection to the living, turning them too into lust-crazed tentaclehosts, struggling against their parasitic... their...  and..

On second thought, go necromancer! wooo! Great idea!

*shrug* It also has alot of save-or-die effects i can max the shit out of since im focusing on one school. Its just a idea, Strange Aeons is (as far as i know) mostly dealing with abberrations and crazy cultists, so if you wanted to build a abberrationkiller (and there are archtypes for that) then you would probably be well equipped. From the persepctive of a spellcaster, using a strategy that maximizes your effectiveness is pretty much a given... it may not always work, there *are* ways to mindwhammy undead, but it should help compared to say, regular summons which are just as likely to run away screaming as we are.

[Callie Del Noire]

Gnome add Kitsune have some very interesting racial bonuses.. one of the nastiest theurges I have seen in Society play is a gnome sorcerer/oracle who due to subtracting her charisma bonus from the effective HD for color spray and other effects is able to use it all the way up to seeker levels. (12+ level)

[Roleplay Frog]

Building strong casters never tickled my tadpolemaker much. Get your caster level up, get your DC up, find a way to cast twice a turn, you're good to go.

[Callie Del Noire]

You eve never DMed for this guys. DC 25 ish color spray sucks for mooks.

[ChaoticSky]

That said, less about the races and more about the classes! Preferences? O_O

[Roleplay Frog]

You eve never DMed for this guys. DC 25 ish color spray sucks for mooks.

You wanna get a pretty high DC? Ask a red wizard.
But if you want to see something scary, ask a druid. It begins and ends with this spell:
http://dnd.arkalseif.info/spells/spell-compendium--86/owls-insight--4619/index.html

[TheKhan]

That said, less about the races and more about the classes! Preferences? O_O

If you go arcane, I'd suggest the Necromancer over the blaster. A necromancer would be an interesting choice in this campaign, although it may make some of your initial allies a bit leery. Undead aren't your primary enemies, but they show up a lot in the Mythos.

[Chulanowa]

The first is a necromancer. Always wanted to play one but could never find a good excuse. Blood Arcanist to get the Sanguine Bloodline. Race will be human, dhampir, or gnome (human for Best Race, Dhampir for synergy with arcanist bloodline, and gnome for fun and novel racial traits). I figure having disposable minions that are immune to mind effecting effects and fear will probably help us in this AP and its one of the few plotlines where having a necromancer around would be the least of ones problems. Not evil mind you... but when you have a fount of undeady power its hard to be anything else and she really wishes people would stop judging her for it *huff*. Probably originates in Kaer Maga due to their happy go lucky relationship with necromancy.

I do love a necromancer who isn't of the "bleargh death is uber kewl, rise my minions mwahahaha" variety. The whole idea of an arcanist manipulating the forces of positive and negative energy, communing with the spirits of the dead, and sure, maybe in a pinch putting a dead enemy back to work for the greater good is lush 

The downsides here are, first, necromancy is just a weak school of magic at lower levels. it's really more of a "splash into" set of spells until ~3rd level spells (so level 6 for an Arcanist). Second problem is that, well, Blood Arcanist can't actually get the sanguine option - the "Wildblood" sorcerer bloodlines are only available to the Wildblood sorcerer archetype (though granted a lot of DM's will justh andwave it, so that might work here. Just saying RAW )

-An alternative version will be a straight up blastery/support arcanist, though ill invest in some wands for healing if we need it. Maybe alittle over eager on the explosions. Hehe.

If you're set on an arcanist with minions... might I suggest a conjuration specialist of some sort? even a summoner or spiritualist could fit the bill. it could definitely tie into the "horrors from beyond" themes, and conjuration is one hell of a deep school of magic.

-The other idea is a Oracle, a Life Mystery Divine Herbalist(pei zin) Oracle to be specific for the maximized healing, buffing and support so we all dont end up dead in the face of eldritch horror . I imagine condition and ability damage removal will come in handy(it even says as much in the PG). Race will probably be human, kitsune or gnome (for the same reasons).

Condition removal is amazing. Healing is a little less necessary, but pleasant to have. I would go with the human or gnome, but that might be because i'm a little prejudiced against the idea of being in this asylum full of eldritch horror and despair and there's Kimiko the Kawaii Kitsune over there, kekeke =^.^= *ahem* I'm sure you wouldn't do that but in my head...

Also Gnomes are amazing I can at leased guarantee that my face claim for gnomes is quite attractive by anyone's measure.

You're right, Frog is wrong, case closed.

[Roleplay Frog]

You're right, Frog is wrong, case closed.

[ChaoticSky]

I do love a necromancer who isn't of the "bleargh death is uber kewl, rise my minions mwahahaha" variety. The whole idea of an arcanist manipulating the forces of positive and negative energy, communing with the spirits of the dead, and sure, maybe in a pinch putting a dead enemy back to work for the greater good is lush 

Heh, shes abit practical about it. Sorta this is where my talents lie, it would be dumb to ignore it, now please put the pitchfork down, i dont want your damn grandma.

The downsides here are, first, necromancy is just a weak school of magic at lower levels. it's really more of a "splash into" set of spells until ~3rd level spells (so level 6 for an Arcanist). Second problem is that, well, Blood Arcanist can't actually get the sanguine option - the "Wildblood" sorcerer bloodlines are only available to the Wildblood sorcerer archetype (though granted a lot of DM's will justh andwave it, so that might work here. Just saying RAW )

Necromancy is awesome you take that back.
As for the second, its actually permissible by RAW. Hybrid classes are considered their parent classes for all purposes. Arcanist counts as both sorc and wiz for anything that counts sorc and/or wiz levels directly, or feats and such that are for wizards for example. They have access to racial bonuses of all three classes (arcanist, wiz and sorc), so you can pick which ever one you like (like say if you like the human wizard bonus better than the human arcanist bonus, you can take the wiz one instead). More pointedly, they can make use of archtypes for their parent classes as long as they have all the requisite class features. Sorta like how you can stack archetypes if they dont replace the same things. Wildblooded Sorc modifies the arcana and first level bloodline power, Blood Arcanist has both of those, therefore you can apply wildbloodlines to Blood Arcanist. 

If you're set on an arcanist with minions... might I suggest a conjuration specialist of some sort? even a summoner or spiritualist could fit the bill. it could definitely tie into the "horrors from beyond" themes, and conjuration is one hell of a deep school of magic.

I am not, hense 'blaster/support arcanist'.

Condition removal is amazing. Healing is a little less necessary, but pleasant to have. I would go with the human or gnome, but that might be because i'm a little prejudiced against the idea of being in this asylum full of eldritch horror and despair and there's Kimiko the Kawaii Kitsune over there, kekeke =^.^= *ahem* I'm sure you wouldn't do that but in my head...

It is! Healing is pretty damn nice too at higher levels, the notion that the best defense is a good offense actually falls apart around level 8 or so, and a proper healer becomes a godsend.

*thinking face*

What does the fox say? YEYEYEYEYEYEYYE

But more seriously, no, i wouldnt do that

That said, it looks like the blaster arcanist is conclusively out... i was sorta expecting people to beg for the oracle, but so far it looks like the necromancer has more interest.

[Callie Del Noire]

Not all purposes.  For example Investigators don’t get access to their extracts as spells. So they have to UMD activation items.

[ChaoticSky]

Not all purposes.  For example Investigators don’t get access to their extracts as spells. So they have to UMD activation items.

Where does it say that? Their class write up specifically describes their extracts as spells and references alchemist rules, including copying from a alch's forumla book.

[Roleplay Frog]

the notion that the best defense is a good offense actually falls apart around level 8

Level 8? There is no cutoff point for these things, imo. But lvl 9 is when casters start doing some scary stuff and get able to bypass some immunities that troubled them before.
I have, throughout the bench, found the stronger builds, baring extreme broken exeptions, to be builds that were weighted around 80-20 defense vs offense. Sure, you do need someone that can take down issues fast, but overall performance you want to also stick around in the fight to keep doing things.

[ChaoticSky]

Not all purposes.  For example Investigators don’t get access to their extracts as spells. So they have to UMD activation items.

Where does it say that? Their class write up specifically describes their extracts as spells and references alchemist rules, including copying from a alch's forumla book.

Nevermind, i found it, thats really odd. Especialy since its described by exception. Youd think if they meant for them not to beable to use wands they would have said so. Instead they just left out the spell trigger line. I guess its because your supposed to be a UMD monkey anyway.

Level 8? There is no cutoff point for these things, imo. But lvl 9 is when casters start doing some scary stuff and get able to bypass some immunities that troubled them before.
I have, throughout the bench, found the stronger builds, baring extreme broken exeptions, to be builds that were weighted around 80-20 defense vs offense. Sure, you do need someone that can take down issues fast, but overall performance you want to also stick around in the fight to keep doing things.

*Nod* Thats pretty much spot on. But if you look at discussions about healing and the like in pathfinder, you will find alot of people who say that, for example, incombat healing is a waste of a turn, and that any party will benefit from another person hitting the target over having a member keeping people alive.

The fact this, this is true in the 1-6 range where most PFS play happens. At that level, generally mobs will not beable to do enough damage to kill a PC in the middle of a fight before the PCs can kill it first. So all healing is done outside of combat using CLW wands. But past a certain point (which i am told is around level 8 by people who are much better at math than me) encounters can start reaching the point where the damage coming in is could kill a PC before the PCs damage out kills the target, meaning that in-fight healing can become a matter of life and death, and having a proper healer (rather than a UMD monkey with a wand) becomes very important to survival. Status and ability damage also become more common after that point, where you want a cleric/oracle/similar to keep everyone from getting bogged down under poisons and curses and failed saves and so on.

[Roleplay Frog]

*Nod* Thats pretty much spot on. But if you look at discussions about healing and the like in pathfinder, you will find alot of people who say that, for example, incombat healing is a waste of a turn, and that any party will benefit from another person hitting the target over having a member keeping people alive.

I'm a connoiseure of builds, however you spell that. I like crafting extreme builds, usually whilest limiting myself to not outshine everyone else, which is no fun. You'll note that my pirate dual wields non-small weapons for the fun of it.
Anyway. These people are pretty much wrong. An unmodified cure spell does 1+1d8, which is less than the damage you can be dealt, but it is a sure hit, whilest attacks still have a decent miss chance, so, as unlikely as it may seem, if your chance is to hit someone with a 75% sucess chance vs them hitting you with a 75% sucess chance, if both of you could attack for lethal in the next round, but you can heal to be outside of lethal range, you should always do it, get rid of that 25% risk of you missing..

That is grossly oversimplifying it, but this is how it is.

I dun trust mathing -everything- through in pathfinder. A lot you can math through, yes, but just look at the heroic defiance feat, how do you math that out? It's a high investment, single round reward feat but I found it incredibly valuable in certain high level(and even some mid-ish level) situations.
If I had to name a cutoff point it'd be lvl 5, where you get an additional attack, that throws the math off.

But ultimately, it's stone, paper, scissors. Damage dealers beat casters beat defensive builds beat damage dealers.

[Chulanowa]

As for the second, its actually permissible by RAW. Hybrid classes are considered their parent classes for all purposes. Arcanist counts as both sorc and wiz for anything that counts sorc and/or wiz levels directly, or feats and such that are for wizards for example. They have access to racial bonuses of all three classes (arcanist, wiz and sorc), so you can pick which ever one you like (like say if you like the human wizard bonus better than the human arcanist bonus, you can take the wiz one instead). More pointedly, they can make use of archtypes for their parent classes as long as they have all the requisite class features. Sorta like how you can stack archetypes if they dont replace the same things. Wildblooded Sorc modifies the arcana and first level bloodline power, Blood Arcanist has both of those, therefore you can apply wildbloodlines to Blood Arcanist. 

I think that was true in the ACG playtest (along with an inability to multiclass into either "Parent Class") but no, as it stands the hybrid classes are fully standalone classes. Which is why you get things like the Brawler's Martial Training ability, which lets their brawler levels count as both fighter and monk levels for qualifying for feats; they wouldn't have this ability if they were already fighters and monks by default.

That said, it's probably a moot point in this specific case, since a wildblood bloodline isn't really any different systems-wise from a default one. Just picking at strings I guess. 

[ChaoticSky]

I think that was true in the ACG playtest (along with an inability to multiclass into either "Parent Class") but no, as it stands the hybrid classes are fully standalone classes. Which is why you get things like the Brawler's Martial Training ability, which lets their brawler levels count as both fighter and monk levels for qualifying for feats; they wouldn't have this ability if they were already fighters and monks by default.

That said, it's probably a moot point in this specific case, since a wildblood bloodline isn't really any different systems-wise from a default one. Just picking at strings I guess. 

...Huh, what do you know, your right. Thats really odd.

And no one told me before now!

Anyway, I've got two and a half votes for the necromancer and none for the oracle. So imma go with that.