Battle Strategies

[Jack Napier]

[I moved this topic to an OOC forum after Andy's post]

No offence, guys... sure we're level 1 (now 2) and haven't been rolling so well, but we can be doing much better in battle. Maybe we should figure out some ways to work together a little better?

[Winter]

I'm going to assume some posts in this forum will be OOC (out of character) because it doesn't make sense to try to go into detail about this kind of thing in character.

one thing we kinda need to work out is what roles everyone is seeking to fill in a combat situation. This is partly obvious based on character class however IMO each class can seek to perform or fulfill different roles within those mandated by its capabilities. If you haven't thought this through I'd suggest doing so, because while some classes can fill multiple roles, there are some character design choices that are usually crucial in this regard.

For example, as a druid, Winter is seeking to be a primary spellcaster, primary crowd control/ranged damager/debuffer and secondary healer and buffer. I've focused my statistics on casting lots of spells with a high DC. I'd contrast this role with the type of druid who seeks to be a primary tank or melee damager by using wild shape. This kind of druid would need to focus more on physical ability scores and feats which is not what I'm trying to do.

Winter will be using wildshape later on but mostly as a means to achieve superior mobility or other utility rather than trying to turning into a big animal and eat the opposition.

This isn't to say that your character design needs to be totally focused on combat but just that if you want to be tactically effective, you need to take it into consideration.

[Jack Napier]

I hear you loud and clear, Andy.

At level 1 I've been a little lost in my role, as my character concept is a multi-class Rogue/Sorcerer (with HEAVY sorcerer leaning) and my starting stats made for a pretty crumby level 1 Rogue

I was barely able to wear armour, a -1 on his damage roll... heck I even had to take Weapon Finesse to ensure I wouldn't be missing on those sneak attacks all the time.

Now with a level in Sorcerer I'll have more flavour and options in battle. I haven't completely decided on my spells now that Harry's mentioned that he is taking a level in Sorcerer as well. I'd like to have a bit of synergy with the other PC characters, especially spell-casters.

So far, my plan is to mostly focus on utility spells and some battlefield control, especially ones that fit a rogue-ish sorcerer of playful disposition. (Grease, Disguise Self, later Alter Self, invisibility, etc.) with maybe one or two blasting spells, likely done through wands for as a "wand-slinger" in battle.

Speaking of wands, we should be thinking about wands that would be useful to buy with party gold. Protection from Evil, Cure Light Wounds, perhaps Enlarge Person to buff up our tank players, Mage Armour for spellcasters. We had some success with those 4 in our previous campaign. Level 1 wands are a great value at 750gp for 50 charges.

I like the idea of wands that are useful for everybody but don't take up my very limited spell slots for things my character would rather do for himself on a daily basis.

My character is being built more around being fun to play, rather than being the most kick-ass character on the battlefield. This is largely due to having to divide between two classes... he will never be as effective of rogue as someone who focuses on rogue, and won't be as powerful a spellcaster as single-classed wizard or sorcerer... but the flavour!

Battle is a huge part of D&D/Pathfinder... especially with how we play, but we can't completely ignore the importance of skills, and face characters outside of fighting. I will be picking locks and disarming traps for you, hopefully messing with NPCs a lot too.

[Sponsored content]