Not All Tactics Are Endgame Viable (Pathfinder)

There are few things more frustrating that when your character is in a situation where your character's main skill set isn't applicable or effective. Whether it's the greatsword-wielding barbarian who can't fight the flying dragon, or the wizard's spells slide right off the golems, or the rogue who just can't use their sneak attack on creatures who don't have a discernible anatomy, it can be incredibly frustrating.

But it's even worse when this becomes your character's permanent state of being. There are a lot of situations where this can happen, which is why it's important to take a step back, and really evaluate your strategy's viability.

Because it can be frustrating to get sidelined right as the campaign is coming to the climax... or even when you hit the midpoint.

Because no one wants to be Bruce Banner when they built the Hulk.

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What Are The Weaknesses in Your Strategy?

No matter what kind of character you're building, they're going to have some kind of weakness... something that is necessary for them to operate at full-strength, or which they are not going to be truly effective against. After all, if you're a fighter in heavy armor with a tower shield, then you probably aren't going to be great at a lot of saving throws. If you're a melee specialist then you have to be able to close with the enemy in order to hit them. If you're a ranged combatant you need to have line of effect to your target... and so on, and so forth.

And generally speaking, when you realize these flaws, you should take measures to deal with them. For example, if you know you need to be able to reach your foes in melee, you need to ensure you have some method of increasing your speed, or flying, etc. in those instances where an enemy would be otherwise out of reach. Alternatively, you need to be sure you have some kind of ranged weapon option that, while it might not be ideal, will still allow you to participate in a battle instead of just slogging forward and hoping for the best. If you know there will be situations where your spells can't hurt the enemy, then you keep a few party-buffers, defensive spells, or area manipulation spells up your sleeve so you can still do something.

But in Pathfinder the issue arises that some strategies simply are not long-term viable simply because of the nature of how so many adventures function.

We are legion, and we are many.

As an example, consider poison use. It takes a specific class feature in order to use poison safely as a PC, and the saves for most poisons are fairly minor. Poison itself is expensive to acquire, and time consuming to make... but all of these challenges can be overcome if a player really wants to make poison use a central feature of their character build. However, the issue is that many enemies that tend to make up the end-game threats of a campaign (powerful outsiders, deadly constructs, undead creatures, etc.) are outright immune to poison. So what might have once been a trump card becomes an absolute dead-end, and all the time, energy, and resources dedicated to honing poison into a genuine strategy becomes useless.

You see the same with a variety of other tactics. Mind control spells and certain types of illusions are all well and good when dealing with creatures that have minds to control, or who are subject to illusions. But if your enemies have immunity to mind-affecting effects, or if they tend to have true seeing or similar abilities, then these spells are going to fall flat. Even combat maneuvers like disarm, while they're useful at lower levels, tend to fall flat when your enemies are all monsters with natural weapons, or spellcasters who have no weapons that can be disarmed. Hell, even characters who focus on fire as their main damage element often run into issues because so many creatures have large resistances (or outright immunity) to fire when you hit higher challenge ratings.

None of this is meant to discourage players who want to pursue these options, and in many cases you can still use them effectively for a great deal of the campaign. However, it's important that you have secondary strategies you can rely on in the event your main strength doesn't work against a particular foe, and in a particular way.

Lastly, talk to your Game Master about what you're planning, and ask if this strategy is going to work when you reach the endgame. Don't ask specifically what's coming, but make sure that if you have a strategy in mind that you are going to lean into that your Game Master is aware of it so they can tell you yay or nay.

Because just like telling the ranger who just leveled up not to take Favored Enemy: Goblin, because you're never going to fight another goblin in the entire campaign, they should also tell you if your strategy of using the knockout venom from your pseudodragon companion is going to simply stop working after level 7 because every enemy after that point will simply be immune to it, and you'll need to do something else for the next 10 levels until you reach the conclusion.

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Are You Still Worthy? (An Alternative View on Alignment Restrictions)

Judging by the numbers, if you have a heartbeat, you've probably seen Avengers Endgame at least once. A lot of you reading this right now probably saw it several times. And while there were all sorts of awesome moments in it, one particular arc that captured audience's attention was Thor's journey. For the first time in all the years of his life, it seemed, he couldn't make something right by killing his enemy. His hollow victory over Thanos forced him to face failure, and the permanent loss of countless friends and allies. He secluded himself, sequestered away from the world with his grief, and punished himself for not being able to do more.

In the end, though, he was still worthy of the power that had been given him. It was only his will to use that power that he'd lost, and watching him rekindle that fire was a triumphant moment.

And let's be honest, one of the movie's most badass moments.

I've had this character arc on my mind for a while now, and between updating my Pathfinder Conversion Guide for Thor, and reading the conversations cropping up around my recently re-released 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins, I realized Marvel's take on Thor perfectly illustrates what an alignment restriction is supposed to look like, and how classes who live with one function.

Are You Worthy?

From Lancelot to Samson, literature is full of characters whose powers are entirely dependent upon their behavior. And, in these cases, that power typically comes from a source outside of that character. It isn't a part of them, and they have no ownership over it. They are a vessel that can be filled, or emptied, according to the terms and conditions of the source.

It's doesn't matter WHO cut my hair, woman, point is, it's cut!

 

This is where we get into the most common alignment-based superpower: divine favor. From druids and paladins, to clerics, warpriests, and inquisitors, these agents of the divine must live and act according to the strictures of that divine source in order to continually prove themselves worthy of the power that's been entrusted to them.

Put another way, it doesn't matter if you think you deserve those powers or not. That's how Thor felt when Odin cast him down in the first film for his arrogance and recklessness, but that anger and bitterness didn't help him lift his hammer again. It didn't matter if he felt he was justified in invading Nifleheim and potentially starting a war with the frost giants, because whether he was worthy wasn't his call to make. It was only by proving he had learned his lesson through selfless acts to save others that he brought himself back into alignment with the power he'd once wielded, and showed that he deserved to once more be allowed to lift Mjolnir, and the might that came with it.

That is the thing to keep in mind when it comes to classes that call on divine might that require the character stay within certain alignment guidelines. Those exist as a meta concept for the player to judge where the boundaries are, but at the end of the day the question is not if the character feels they were justified. It's whether their patron, the one who is granting power to that character, feels they still deserve it.

Because if they're deemed unworthy, their patron will strip them of their power, and cast them down. That's the price for using borrowed power; you need to follow the restrictions for using it, else it will be taken away from you.

What About Non-Divine Restrictions?

There are, of course, a few restrictions that have nothing to do with divine will at all. The most notable examples are that monks must remain lawful, and barbarians cannot be lawful.

I'd promise to kick your ass, but I don't want to risk my alignment.

 

These restrictions are, at least partially, a way to make sure that you can't mix and match certain concepts mechanically. However, thematically, they also represent the yin and yang of the superior warrior.

Or as most of us know them, Raven and Starfire.

If you're a fan of the Teen Titans, you've likely seen the one where Raven and Starfire switch bodies, and they're each trying to figure out how the other's powers work. Raven can only manifest her abilities through carefully controlled focus and tight emotional control. Starfire's powers, on the other hand, are directly tied to her emotional state. Her feelings are the fuel that feeds her abilities, and without those free-flowing emotions she's unable to so much as light a spark.

There's a similar feeling with these two classes. Barbarian Rage is not just anger; it's something deeper. Something more primal than that, and it can take many different forms. Whatever form it takes, though, too much control smothers the character's ability to give themselves over completely to that state of being. Whether it's the unfeeling wrath of the berserker, or the armored carapace of an abyssal totem, a certain loss of control is required to fall back into that pool, and to become one with Rage.

Monks, on the other hand, need to keep that tight focus in order to channel ki. While they might not be trained at a monastery, or even follow a widely-accepted doctrine, it is that intense focus that grants them their powers. Their ability to move more quickly, to armor themselves in speed, and to perform superhuman feats is precisely because they don't give in, and they maintain their laser-sharp edge that holds their mind, body, and spiritual parts in perfect harmony. That extends out into the rest of their lives, and it's why a monk will find their abilities falling away if they fall out-of-sync with their own inner spirit and ki.

Incidentally, for more on these classes, you might want to check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Barbarians as well as my 5 Tips For Playing Better Monks.

What Does This Restriction Lead To in Your Character?

Alignment restrictions on character classes are often seen as killjoys, or as limiting what kinds of characters you can play. However, it's important to incorporate these restrictions into who your character is, and what makes them tick.

Was your cleric chosen by their god because they were already a good person, and so they were the ideal bearer of this power, or were they a diamond in the rough that's still being shaped away from darker impulses that marked their youth? Does your barbarian struggle with their Rage, simultaneously afraid of what it could make them do and hungry for the wild power it fills them with? Does your monk have trouble keeping their focus, needing to overcome inner challenges of doubt, wrath, or fear, and either leaving those challenges by the wayside, or embracing them so they are now assets rather than weaknesses?

I'm sorry he left you... maybe we can be friends, instead?

 

There's also the question of what happens when you step over the line... does your character try to re-orient themselves, to prove their worth and climb back up the mountain? Or do they embrace their change and continue on the path of their downfall? Does the divine champion find a new patron, one more in-line with their actions and methods? Does the failed monk embrace their inner turmoil and chaos, becoming a barbarian? Does the barbarian, locking their Rage away and refusing to give into it, instead become a monk or a paladin, driven by iron-clad vows and a deeper purpose?

How you remain within your initial boundaries is interesting... but what you do when you cross them also has the potential to lead to unique growth. Especially if your DM allows for retraining rules.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. If you've used alignment restrictions to create interesting story results, tell us how in the comments below!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!