Single-class build for a Cohort/Familiar

[faeryn]

OK, so my DM approved of making my familiar a cohort upon picking up the Leadership Dragon Cohort feat... so before anyone tries to argue that class levels on a familiar isn't RaW legal, it's been approved by the DM.

We're currently 17th level characters and my familiar is a Pseudodragon... so before taking any class levels as a cohort it's a 2nd level creature with a +3LA... as a cohort it can currently be up to 15th level so that gives me 10 13 levels worth of class levels to take.

I intend to level purely in a single class and would actually like some suggestions...

Initially I was going to level her as a Dragonfire Adept... but as I started building her character sheet I found myself building more towards a natural attacker style build... Picked up feats to emphasize this direction as well... This of course got me thinking... maybe I should level in a more melee oriented class...

Any ideas or suggestions on this?

Should I stick with Dragonfire Adept for the breathweapons and invocations? or should I switch to a more melee focused class such as Rogue or Fighter? (Neutral Good so no Monk or Battle Dancer)

What I've done so far:

Class: Dragonfire Adept
Feats: Draconic Claw | Dragon Tail | Multiattack | Improved Multiattack | Rapidstrike | Rend | [pick 2 more]
Flaws: Shaky & Unreactive
Items: The Fanged Ring, Beast Claws


ToB is still banned. And as I mentioned I'm looking to do a single-class build... the intent behind this is to make my familiar functional as we transition into epic levels, but I'm not looking to create a powerhouse character... granted being effectively 5 levels behind everyone else is a bit of a problem, but being a familiar she gains benefit of a my higher stats... such as BAB, Saves, and a bonus to Hitpoints (houseruled 1/2 wizard's total HP added as enhancement to familiar's)... As it stands my familiar has higher base fort save and more HP than me...

To help put things into perspective a little... I'm playing a Spellthief so I'm almost always up in melee range of enemies. So my familiar could easily fight side-by-side with me... and if I make her a rogue she can flank enemies with me insuring we both get our SAs... I will not make her a caster class though... Dragonfire Adept is the closest to a casting class that I'd like her to be...


EDIT: I discovered the Dragon Cohort feat which acts as leadership but allows me to ignore the +3LA on Dragon's as Cohorts... so Now my Familiar/Cohort has 3 more class levels.

[wotmaniac]

It depends on the party composition.  My first instinct for a cohort is usually a bard (again, party permitting).

Oops!  You said no casting.
Sorry.
Though, it would add some versatility to your spell access.

Hell, I might be inclined to see if I could simply continue piling on the RHD -- the chassis is the best in the game, and its DC would scale as well.

But otherwise, the track you're on seems perfectly reasonable.

[faeryn]

The party composition is actually fairly odd...

We have all of the following but only a couple members show up regularly and the majority of them are questionable as to if they will show up again...

A Human TWF Warrior who can just absorb damage like it's nothing (Missing 99% of the time)
A Shadow Human Psion (Mysteriously stopped showing up about 10 sessions ago)
A Doppleganger Cleric (MIA)
A Human Cleric (Shows up about 25% of the time)
A Dwarf Cleric (Usually late to the game, has missed the last several sessions)
A Human Conjurer (Due to technical difficulties has been unable to attend for some time)
A Half-Elemental Evoker (MIA)
A Necromancer (Dropped out after one session... a shame too)
A Weretiger Ninja likes to rip 3 ton doors off hinges and tries to stop trains with his bare hands (Took a leave of absence 2 sessions ago)
A Halfdragon Paladin who can tank like no other (Character is chilling at our flying fortress, player is playing a Ranger)
That Elf Ranger/Scout I just mentioned... does insane damage with Force Arrows...
And me... a Changeling Spellthief/Wizard/Archivist...

So... yea... our party is a bit... odd... We probably could use a dedicated party buffer but I actually already find myself filling that role quite often as is... and usually those who do show up have their characters set up in a way that any buffs that could be given are unnecessary...

At the risk of sounding like an idiot... RHD?

[wotmaniac]

RHD = Racial Hit Dice
Technically, Psuedodragons cap @ 4rhd, but if you're already in the realm of houserule, then it might be worth a try.

So, it looks like the "reliable" regulars are you and ranger/paladin, with a dash of weretiger ninja (btw, that's just f'n awesome!!!).  DFA actually isn't too bad.

Wait -- are you saying that nobody has any use for +lots morale bonus to a pile of stuff?  Well, okay -- if you say so.  Might I remind you: Alter Self, (Mass) Snake's Swiftness, Haste, (Greater) Harmonize, healing, skill monkey, ....
Though, I can understand not wanting to manage yet another spell list.
If you're open to PrCs, you could do the Harbinger variant from DragMag337, @4th level, you can qualify for Dread Witch (HoH) (and it's only 5 levels long).  FEAR EFFECTS FOR EVERYBODY!!!


I'll shut up now and let somebody else chime in.

[faeryn]

I realized a tiny problem... with the exception of it's Sting attack a Pseudodragon has a 0ft reach... that could be incredibly hazardous... so... any ideas on increasing it's reach with natural weapons to 5ft? That doesn't involve the Aberration Blood or Willing Deformity feats...

I suppose I could cast Animal Growth on my familiar to make her Small Sized rather than Tiny.... doing so would reduce her Dex and increase her Str by 2 right? If memory serves me correct Small size is +2 Dex -2 Str and Tiny is +4 Dex -4 Str... so going from tiny to small should be a difference of -2 Dex & +2 Str correct?

I'd like to avoid the size change route if possible though...

Then again... my character was permanently shrunk to Small Size... and is currently a little more than twice her familiars size... having her familiar be small sized too... she could perhaps use her familiar as a mount... which would be kind of silly... but also awesome... you have to admit... a tiny 2.4 foot tall Spellthief charging at an enemy with her rapier drawn while on the back of a small dragon would be priceless...

[wotmaniac]

2 things:
1)I don't think that Animal Growth will work -- dragon type and all.
2) I believe that a mount must be at least 1 size category larger than the rider.

Just FYI.

[faeryn]

2 things:
1)I don't think that Animal Growth will work -- dragon type and all.
2) I believe that a mount must be at least 1 size category larger than the rider.

Just FYI.

oh right >.< that just makes it a bit tougher then... really do need to find a way to increase her natural reach to at least 5ft though

[wotmaniac]

just slap a belt of growth on him and call it a day.

[JohnnyMayHymn]

binder could be interesting, taking on somewhat of a charger/sort of caster role with item crafting on the side
(cough Zceryll cough)
or take flyby attack if you stick with dragonfire adept, warlock could be fun too if you wanted different invocations(<--- also decent at crafting items)

i know you said no spells, but it could be funny if the familiar was a wizard (with an ACF that replaces it's familiar), then you two could argue over who is really the familiar, also i find the themed sorcerers(dread necromancer, war mage, beguiler) have canned, easy-to-manage spells lists

[awaken_D_M_golem]

... y'know ... if the Familiar's "race" didn't have the familiar based class stuff, most would be hard pressed to qualify as a PHB LA+0 based humanoid like thing.  Similarly, the class based level-up buffing, doesn't really get all the way into something like the Phrenic Template, which gets a well deserved LA+2.  If you assume a familiar didn't receive any long distance support from it's Tier 1 support staff, but otherwise got the stuff a normal familiar gets ... I personally have no problem with playing it as a base race straight up, no LA, normal level 1 class prog hd overwrite, etc.  Further, even if you assume familiars needed an LA of some sort, LA Buy-off gets rid of all, almost all, or most of it; considering familiars have squishy low HP,  I'd again treat it as a normal level 1 race.


Is that a Squirrel?
<rolls arcana> No! IT'S A FAMILIAR!! RUN !!!

[faeryn]

... y'know ... if the Familiar's "race" didn't have the familiar based class stuff, most would be hard pressed to qualify as a PHB LA+0 based humanoid like thing.  Similarly, the class based level-up buffing, doesn't really get all the way into something like the Phrenic Template, which gets a well deserved LA+2.  If you assume a familiar didn't receive any long distance support from it's Tier 1 support staff, but otherwise got the stuff a normal familiar gets ... I personally have no problem with playing it as a base race straight up, no LA, normal level 1 class prog hd overwrite, etc.  Further, even if you assume familiars needed an LA of some sort, LA Buy-off gets rid of all, almost all, or most of it; considering familiars have squishy low HP,  I'd again treat it as a normal level 1 race.


Is that a Squirrel?
<rolls arcana> No! IT'S A FAMILIAR!! RUN !!!

My DM is strictly against LA buyoffs in the main campaign unfortunately... and my familiar is a Pseudodragon so it starts off as a 2nd level creature... our weird houserules regarding familiars prevents it from gaining additional RHD as well... but in all honesty, most of the aspects that would make it a liability for being effectively 5 levels below the party, are actually countered by the benefits received for being a familiar.

Her BAB is boosted to equal mine, she uses the better of her or my save bonuses, so long as she's near me she gains the benefit of any spells I cast on myself, she gets a ton of bonus Natural Armor, and houseruled Bonus Intellect & HP rather than replacements...

Due to all of that when it's given 10 class levels she actually looks almost like a 17th level character rather than a 12th level character...

Our houserules with familiars are pretty nice, but without some real HD on the familiar it's a major liability to take into combat... We basically just merged the Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar feats into the Familiar class feature and adjusted how the familiars HP and Int work...

[faeryn]

I've come down to trying to decide between 3 classes at this point...

Dragonfire Adept: Breath Weapons and a small assortment of Invocations... can aid with battlefield control and do reasonable damage.
Rogue: Sneak Attacks and stealthiness... Basically the same thing her master does most of the time...
Fighter: Bonus Feats and Higher BAB... gives access to Improved Rapidstrike a few levels sooner allowing for more even Claw attacks per round... Along with all the bonus feats to spend on improving her Natural Attacks and more...

Mostly torn between DFA and Fighter... The additional SAs from Rogue would be nice but My DM might find it absurd overkill having both my familiar and I SAing nearly every round...