I’ve been working on a build for the tabletop version of Pathfinder 1e. My group hasn’t made the migration to 2e yet, but we eventually will. I had the idea of creating a PC that could potentially solo an entire campaign. This idea really caught fire with me and I wanted to see if I could build something viable. I also decided to make it hard on myself, which I’ll talk about in a moment.
I want to make clear, this is meant for the tabletop game, if you’d rather have some WotR options check out the summoning builds. Unlike the WotR builds, which are a collection of the best ones I could find on the web, this build is 100% mine. Strap yourself in, there will be a lot here.
First I set some ground rules. I wanted to make it hard, so that if I found a GM willing to do this with me, whatever they came up with would probably be a bit easier. For my purposes this is a GM who is not trying to keep me alive at all, just playing the game as it goes and letting the dice fall where they may. Here are the rules:
- Rule 1: The entire campaign will take place in a dungeon. Dungeons are the most inhospitable setting I can think of outside of an elemental plane. The campaign will be set for a party of 4-6, but will have only me
- Rule 2: I will start at level 1, completely alone except for whatever class, traits and starting equipment I have. The campaign will go to level 10-12.
- Rule 3: I will not encounter NPCs in the dungeon that will join me or be my follower/companion, etc. This will never occur.
- Rule 4: The GM will not allow Gestalt characters or VMC. His only concession is he will allow rolling for stats (4d6 per stat drop lowest), or do a 25 point buy. For the sake of simplicity I’ll assume a point buy
- Rule 5: Most races are okay, but nothing above 20 race points (no svirfneblin, constructs or very powerful races). Darkvision is highly recommended
- Rule 6: All Paizo official published books are fair game, no 3rd party content
With this challenge in place I began thinking of what I would need for a character that will not have any help outside his own resources. I need to have stringent requirements, because they will need to survive in a death trap from level 1, anticipating 3-6 encounters per day. I will go over my requirements and give a brief description of the rationale. All of these must be met for my build (not necessarily yours):
- Must have an animal companion or mount, and be able to summon
- The reason is simple: extra bodies break action economy, soak stray hits, flank, create soft cover, scout dangerous areas, and use spells/SLAs to heal, attack, and buff me. This ability must be present at level 1; I can’t afford to wait 4-5 levels, I may be dead by then. I’m greedy, I want both a permanent companion and a way to summon. If I can squeeze a familiar in there, so much the better
- Must have at least 2 good saves
- I cannot afford only one good save and attempt to shore up the other two. Fort and Will are the two most important saves, so if possible those should be good saves
- Must have good, ideally layered defenses
- The rationale here is obvious: I’m not getting any help or backup, need to take care of my own backside. I’m not comfortable with only light armor either.
- Must be able to cast spells
- Spells are some of the most powerful and versatile abilities in the game, not the least of which is summoning monsters. He doesn’t need to be a full caster, but the ability to cast spells is not negotiable.
- Class must provide at least 4 skills per level
- My PC doesn’t have anyone else to depend on, I need skills. If there’s a class I just have to take that only offers 2, then I need to make race and ability changes to generate 4 skills per level.
- Perception and Disable Device are going to be crucial over the next 10 levels, as is Knowledge: Dungeoneering, so I need to find a way to have them as class skills and use them
- Social skills aren’t the most important in a dungeon, but having either nice ‘diplomacy’ skills or scary ‘intimidate’ skills will come into play sooner or later
- Must have medium BAB and d8 hit dice at minimum
- Obviously full BAB and d10+ is ideal but sorry, half-BAB and d6 isn’t going to cut it. I am going to need to hit things and take hits whatever my role in combat is, especially if I’m alone.
- Must have good ranged and melee options
- This is practically a requirement even if you’re with a full party, but we don’t have the luxury of being weak at range or in melee in this scenario
- PC must be able to self-heal
- Not even a debate on this one. Nobody else is healing me and I can’t even depend on getting a good night’s sleep, let alone finding potions
You are welcome to create whatever PC you want, these are just the requirements I deemed most important for my own build. Alright, what does that leave me with? I’ve effectively eliminated most classes and several archetypes. What’s left? Are my rules too strict, am I demanding too much?
I’ll let you know in my next post, click here.