what's fun and distinctly Pathfinder?

[Unbeliever]

There's a chance that I'll be playing in my first Pathfinder game sometime soon.  I don't have the details, yet, I'm set to meet with the gaming group next week. 

Pathfinder is one of those things I've looked at a little bit, but I'm not really familiar with.  I usually just look to steal a mechanic here or there.  So, I'm looking for some advice to at least winnow down potential character concepts.

Ideally, I'd like to find something that is distinctly Pathfinder-esque (in a good way).  For example, I'm pretty sure the God Wizard archetype rocks in PF.  But, it's not substantially different from the way it rocks in 3E, so I'd rather avoid that.  If that makes sense.

Based on my very limited knowledge, the Summoner, Alchemist, and stuff from Path of War jumped out me (which seems sufficiently different from Tome of Battle to be interesting to me).  So, what's the coolest stuff in Pathfinder that is done differently than the way 3E D&D would do it?  This could be a class, prestige class, feat combo, whatever.

[zook1shoe]

Summoned Synthesist is like magic Iron Man

i feel that the most non-3x PF feature is the barbarian rage powers. It is a great feel to play a barbarian and not just "hit it n forget it", you have many more options than in 3x.

rage power spell sunder is really powerful

antagonize feat is scary crazy, Intimidate people into rage dueling you.
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for more, check out the Fun Finds PF thread, there's a compilation in the handbooks.

[linklord231]

I think it's worth pointing out that Paths of War is 3rd party, and so might not be allowed at all tables.

To your question, I think Gunslinger might be worth looking in to.  Guns in general are something new to Pathfinder (or at least, changed beyond recognition), and the Grit mechanic is very Pathfinder-y. 

[zook1shoe]

There's several classes that have a grit-like ability, they def feel very PFy

[linklord231]

There's several classes that have a grit-like ability, they def feel very PFy

Pathfinder definitely likes fiddly point pools like that.  Almost every class has some kind of pool of resources they can use to fuel menu-style abilities.  Grit, rounds of rage, rounds of bardic music, certain domain or bloodline choices, bombs, Arcane Pool, certain Mystery choices, and so on. 

[Unbeliever]

There's several classes that have a grit-like ability, they def feel very PFy

Pathfinder definitely likes fiddly point pools like that.  Almost every class has some kind of pool of resources they can use to fuel menu-style abilities.  Grit, rounds of rage, rounds of bardic music, certain domain or bloodline choices, bombs, Arcane Pool, certain Mystery choices, and so on.

Yeah, part of it will be whether I want to deal with those fiddly point pools.  Traditionally, it's been something that has annoyed me with Pathfinder.  Really, the excessive fiddliness in general:  "you get a +1 bonus to this one thing, but only if you are an Ares and the moon is in the house of Venus."  Then again, I may find one, especially if it's a key element to the character.  I think it's having such a fiddly pool on top of say spellcasting, etc. that would bug me. 

Thanks so much for the suggestion by the way, and please keep them coming.  I think I'll have a couple of ideas, and spend some more time with the Fun Finds thread (it's just a little overwhelming) that I can hopefully run by the Min/Max wisdom eventually. 

[zook1shoe]

i helped with the compilation thread.... check out my post in the discussion thread. its a good way to not have to browse through 50+ pgs

[phaedrusxy]

I thought the Magus looked like it could be buckets of fun, especially if you take the Wand Wielder arcana. I played around with this for a while in this thread.

Oracles can also be quite neat, and are pretty different from the standard 3.5 caster classes.

If you combine the Card Caster and Staff Magus archetypes, you've basically created Gambit...

[deadkitten]

Invulnerable rager barbarian is a way to make DR/-- relevant for a long time. Gives you DR of half your barbarian level.  Can get up to like DR 29/-- ish by level 20 if you try and trick it out.

No real way of being FANTASTIC at DR in 3.5 from what I can tell.

[zook1shoe]

Isn't the invulnerable rager considered one of the best overall archetype compared to the attributes lost?

[Keldar]

It trades Trap Sense (Filler Garbage) for Cold Resist of like value and (Improved) Uncanny Dodge for doubling of the class' DR and getting it early, so it looks like it should be considered a powerful trade if you plan on leveraging it.