Author Topic: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection  (Read 7678 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Benly

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • Email
[Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« on: September 14, 2010, 05:44:24 AM »
I'm rolling up a level 2 Oracle with the Bones mystery for an upcoming Pathfinder game, and unfortunately I am completely terrible at selecting spells.

Relevant Info:
Level 2 Human Oracle (Bones mystery)
19 Cha, 16 Int, other stats 11-12
Feats: Combat Casting, Extra Revelation
Revelations: Death's Touch, Undead Servitude
Curse: Haunted

Available Material: Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Advanced Players' Guide, and most material on d20pfsrd.com

 I don't have any particular desire to play a gish-type, so some of the usual good recommendations are out. I have Cure Light Wounds as a bonus from the Oracle class, so that's one of the staples dealt with, and Cause Fear as a bonus from the Bones mystery, which wouldn't be my first choice but is a credible save-or-suck for this level. Death's Touch provides some direct damage and healing for any skeletons I manage to pick up (from what we know, there's a reasonable chance of undead in this adventure.)

Right now what I'm leaning towards is Bless and Summon Monster I, on the grounds that they're basically "can't go wrong with this" choices, but Summon Monster's terrible duration-to-casting-time ratio at this level and the somewhat uninspiring Summon Monster I creature list make me question it a bit. I'm also considering Shield of Faith on the grounds that it's always a nice buff to have. Command is usually a no-brainer for me but with Cause Fear it seems a little redundant given that I only have two free picks at this level.

Any advice for good options I'm missing?

The_Mad_Linguist

  • Organ Grinder
  • *****
  • Posts: 8780
  • Simulated Thing
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2010, 05:52:30 AM »
Eh, summon dead monster is still decent for trap checking. 

What's the rest of your party?
Linguist, Mad, Unique, none of these things am I
My custom class: The Priest of the Unseen Host
Planetouched Handbook
Want to improve your character?  Then die.

Benly

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • Email
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2010, 06:11:21 AM »
Eh, summon dead monster is still decent for trap checking.  

What's the rest of your party?

As yet undetermined - I tend to roll up characters a lot faster than most of my friends. :) They're not likely to be optimized to the hilt, but we have fairly competent players and tend to settle out into balanced parties by force of habit.

This character is conceptually a recreation of a 3.5 Dread Necro I played, incidentally. I'm not tied to recreating the DN spell list (and sort of look forward to the added versatility possibilities) so it's not hugely relevant to this particular question, but this is why he has the Extra Revelation and such.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2010, 06:13:49 AM by Benly »

fuinjutsu

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 434
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2010, 06:19:28 AM »
haunted?  really?  That one hurts you the most because it costs you *actions*.

And oh, mod, what where they thinking with the Diviner powers in Pathfinder?  More balanced my foot.

*tries to forget about looking at the pathfinder SRD*
Eh, the wizard have more money than them combined, he could in theory just use all his money on a fleet of trained attack mules, but then we aren't playing 3.5 but zergling rushing in Starcraft instead.

Benly

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • Email
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2010, 06:56:00 AM »
haunted?  really?  That one hurts you the most because it costs you *actions*.

And oh, mod, what where they thinking with the Diviner powers in Pathfinder?  More balanced my foot.

*tries to forget about looking at the pathfinder SRD*

It costs actions when retrieving "stored items", which has been ruled here to not include things like drawing your weapon or other things "at the ready". I've never been a fan of the "haversack full of wands" school of tactics, so it's not as crippling as it might be, and it's the most suitable to the character.

fuinjutsu

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 434
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2010, 08:09:12 AM »
haunted?  really?  That one hurts you the most because it costs you *actions*.

And oh, mod, what where they thinking with the Diviner powers in Pathfinder?  More balanced my foot.

*tries to forget about looking at the pathfinder SRD*

It costs actions when retrieving "stored items", which has been ruled here to not include things like drawing your weapon or other things "at the ready". I've never been a fan of the "haversack full of wands" school of tactics, so it's not as crippling as it might be, and it's the most suitable to the character.

Well if that's how it's ruled, it's not that much of a penalty.  Definitely try and get the Spare Hand item from D&D approved later if you need to juggle multiple items though.
Eh, the wizard have more money than them combined, he could in theory just use all his money on a fleet of trained attack mules, but then we aren't playing 3.5 but zergling rushing in Starcraft instead.

veekie

  • Organ Grinder
  • *****
  • Posts: 9034
  • WARNING: Homing Miko
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2010, 10:18:35 AM »
haunted?  really?  That one hurts you the most because it costs you *actions*.

And oh, mod, what where they thinking with the Diviner powers in Pathfinder?  More balanced my foot.

*tries to forget about looking at the pathfinder SRD*

It costs actions when retrieving "stored items", which has been ruled here to not include things like drawing your weapon or other things "at the ready". I've never been a fan of the "haversack full of wands" school of tactics, so it's not as crippling as it might be, and it's the most suitable to the character.

Well if that's how it's ruled, it's not that much of a penalty.  Definitely try and get the Spare Hand item from D&D approved later if you need to juggle multiple items though.
You know, dropping a bunch of alchemical splash weapons might be pretty comedic with the curse.

Create Water, Detect Magic , Guidance(that thing is gold out of combat at this level with at will 0ths), Dancing Lights/Light, Stabilize are pretty good Orisons at this level.
With as many spells as you have at this level, Summon Monster I is reasonably efficient, fights don't end that quickly yet, so you can get your mileage out of your summon before the fight is over. Plus it's decent utility. As for the other spell, I'd tend to agree with Command, that's generally useful in combat.

One other spell you can consider is Obscuring Mist, if you have a decent stealth mod, in a pinch, you can run away under it's cover.
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Benly

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • Email
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2010, 03:11:12 PM »
Well if that's how it's ruled, it's not that much of a penalty.  Definitely try and get the Spare Hand item from D&D approved later if you need to juggle multiple items though.

Yeah, the idea we're using is that the Haunted character's backpack keeps getting rearranged when he's not looking, not that swords are fused into the scabbard and so on. It'll limit my scroll combat options and a potion bandolier would probably get rearranged too, but I should be able to manage a wand or two on my belt. Bringing in non-Pathfinder spells or items is unlikely.

Create Water, Detect Magic , Guidance(that thing is gold out of combat at this level with at will 0ths), Dancing Lights/Light, Stabilize are pretty good Orisons at this level.
With as many spells as you have at this level, Summon Monster I is reasonably efficient, fights don't end that quickly yet, so you can get your mileage out of your summon before the fight is over. Plus it's decent utility. As for the other spell, I'd tend to agree with Command, that's generally useful in combat.

One other spell you can consider is Obscuring Mist, if you have a decent stealth mod, in a pinch, you can run away under it's cover.

I've got all those orisons except Stabilize - orisons were a much easier time, in part because as a human I've got a ton of them. :) I might swap out something for Stabilize, though; I wasn't sure if it would be worth it but I can see it being a nice time-buyer on someone who goes down out of reach. My only concern with Command, as I've said, is that I've got a Will-targeted save-or-flee whether I like it or not with Cause Fear. It seems like it might be redundant for the moment, but Cause Fear does age pretty badly, so I might want to bring in Command in a level or two. Obscuring Mist is actually pretty nice and also flavorful for the character - my biggest concern is whether I'd be casting it enough to make it one of my two "real" spells. It's definitely one to keep in mind, though.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2010, 03:13:42 PM by Benly »

veekie

  • Organ Grinder
  • *****
  • Posts: 9034
  • WARNING: Homing Miko
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2010, 04:06:58 PM »
Well, one way to use it if you're feeling manly is to simply run up to their casters/archers and drop an Obscuring Mist over the lot of them. Can't aim if they can't see, and time they spend blundering out of the mist is time they aren't fighting your folks properly.

EDIT: Come to think of it, anything depending on a full attack to do anything is going to get pretty screwed, but at this level, the only issue is probably a TWFer or wild animal.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2010, 04:12:37 PM by veekie »
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."

Benly

  • Bi-Curious George
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • Email
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2010, 04:14:48 PM »
Well, one way to use it if you're feeling manly is to simply run up to their casters/archers and drop an Obscuring Mist over the lot of them. Can't aim if they can't see, and time they spend blundering out of the mist is time they aren't fighting your folks properly.

EDIT: Come to think of it, anything depending on a full attack to do anything is going to get pretty screwed, but at this level, the only issue is probably a TWFer or wild animal.

I actually quite like that idea WRT the archers - at this level medium armor and Death's Touch are still enough to make him reasonably bad news in close quarters, so it's not as much of a suicide run as it might be with lighter casters.

veekie

  • Organ Grinder
  • *****
  • Posts: 9034
  • WARNING: Homing Miko
Re: [Pathfinder] Low-level Oracle of Bones spell selection
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2010, 04:28:44 PM »
And if I'm not mistaken Death's Touch says "melee touch attack" not specifying an action. I'm not sure if your DM allows this, but you could very well simply use it as an AoO?
The mind transcends the body.
It's also a little cold because of that.
Please get it a blanket.

I wish I could read your mind,
I can barely read mine.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]
"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~"
-Ibuki Suika, on overkill

To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon.
Epigenentheto, apoleia keraune hos timeis pteirei.
Hekatonkatis kai khiliakis astrapsato.
Khiliarkhou Astrape!
[/spoiler]

There is no higher price than 'free'.

"I won't die. I've been ordered not to die."