Sorry this is so late, I woke up feeling pretty rough and kinda forgot today was Friday.
This is a slight deviation for me as most of the things I make are on the other side of the DM screen. But this is a level 1 through 20 build for a Pathfinder Second Edition character. The characters featured in these posts will typically be drawn from various franchises and media because I want to focus more on the building and worry less about the character. Having a character gives me an end goal to work towards to instead of getting lost along the way. It’s also a bit of a challenge for the system, seeing how close I can build to the original vision of the character. I’m gonna try to find a balance between making an effective character and mimicking the chosen character’s abilities.
Related to that, these characters are gonna be created in a vacuum – skills and the likes are picked for what seems best without the context of the adventure. Heist-type adventures might call for Stealth and Thievery on a character that otherwise wouldn’t take it, so keep that in mind. At a friend's suggestion, I'm gonna start including gear in these builds but I'm gonna keep it basic - just picking magical gear based on what level of equipment a character should have at that level.
I’m gonna go level by level for these builds but only cover actual choices – such as skill increases, feats, and ability score boosts. Stuff that automatically increases due to level, such as an increase in saving throws, more HP, and the like, are going to go unmentioned.
So with that, let’s get into the build for Astolfo, Rider of Black!
ASTOLFO, RIDER OF BLACK
CHARACTER Astolfo, Rider of Black
SOURCE Fate
GOAL This is another character I don’t know too much about, but it was suggested to me on the Monster Monday Discord and I thought it’d be fun to do something other than LoL and MtG characters. Astolfo is a figure that appears in French folklore as one of Charlemagne’s paladins, but I was asked to specifically do the Astolfo from Fate, who is apparently male despite his appearance. This Astolfo is a Rider-Class Servant, a so-called Heroic Spirit, but we’re gonna treat him as a living person. While one of Charlemagne’s twelve paladins, he is considered weak though he wields a variety of powerful armaments though his main weapons are a sword and chain mail. Astolfo is resistant to magic and a skilled rider, able to ride fantastical beasts. Astolfo is able to summon high strength to fight his foes, and wields a magical hunting horn, a spellbook, a lance, and often rides atop a hippogriff.
LEVEL 1 As always, we start with our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. Astolfo is a human with the versatile heritage, granting him an extra general feat. Our two free boosts as a human will go towards Strength and Charisma while our ancestry feat will be Cooperative Nature, giving us a +4 bonus on checks to Aid to represent the fact that Astolfo tends to work together with others. The general feat from our heritage will be Ride, meaning that we don’t have to succeed at a check to Command an Animal to get it to take a move action.
In the legend, Astolfo is the son of a king, so noble feels like the best fit for him. Our first boost goes to Charisma while our second free boost will go to Dexterity. We become trained in Society and then we’re also going to pick up the trained proficiency in Heraldry Lore. We also receive Courtly Graces as a skill feat, which allows us to use Society to get along in high society.
I was debating on this – most stuff I’d seen of Astolfo shows him with his horn, but he’s described as a paladin. In concert with his armor and weaponry, champion feels like a better fit, with the liberator cause since he is described as being CG. As a champion, we receive a boost to Strength, and then we’re going to get four more boosts, which we’ll plug into Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma, putting us at this: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 16. As a champion, we’re automatically trained in Religion and a skill related to our deity - Performance feels like the best choice for Astolfo. We then get trained in three more skills, being Acrobatics, Athletics, and Diplomacy. Finally, our class feat will be Unimpeded Step, meaning that the allies we protect with Liberating Step can Step into terrain they normally wouldn’t be able to.
LEVEL 2 The first skill feat we actually pick is going to be Bon Mot, allowing us to chatter at our foes to annoy them and throw them off-balance. To help us resist magic that requires a saving throw, representing Astolfo’s antimagic, we take Divine Grace as our class feat, a reaction that lets us gain a bonus on a save against a spell.
Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3 So that we can toot our horn, our first skill increase will go to Performance to become an expert in it. Keen Follower allows us to gain a larger circumstance bonus when we use the Follow the Expert exploration activity. This reflects that Astolfo was considered the weakest of Charlemagne’s paladins and likely followed their lead into combat. As a champion, we receive a Divine Ally, which we’re going to use to gain a Steed Ally, selecting a horse to fulfill our role as a rider.
Gear: +1 longsword, everburning torch, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4 We grab Impressive Performance, allowing us to Make an Impression using Performance. To support and bolster our allies, we take Aura of Courage, allowing us to reduce our frightened condition faster and to reduce the frightened condition of our allies.
Gear: lesser maestro’s instrument, +1 longsword, brooch of shielding, everburning torch
LEVEL 5 Here’s our first set of boosts since first level. They’re going towards Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom, granting us this array: Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16. This Intelligence boost allows us to become trained in Occultism and gives us an extra language. Our skill increase will bring our Diplomacy up to expert. Then, we pick up Clever Improviser, an ancestry feat that grants us Untrained Improvisation. Astolfo is described as weak, but is known to be particularly lucky, so this helps him get out of any situation he finds himself in.
Gear: +1 striking longsword, lesser maestro’s instrument, persona mask, brooch of shielding, everburning torch, ring of discretion
LEVEL 6 By taking Group Impression, we can use Diplomacy to Make an Impression on multiple people at once. To make our steed more powerful, we take the Loyal Warhorse champion feat, causing it to mature.
Gear: +1 chain mail, cloak of repute, +1 striking longsword, lesser maestro’s instrument, brooch of shielding, hat of disguise
LEVEL 7 Since we can now increase our proficiency in skills to master, we are going to do so with Diplomacy. For our general feat, we grab Feather Step, so that we can Step into difficult terrain.
Gear: horn of fog, +1 chain mail, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking longsword, lesser maestro’s instrument, persona mask
LEVEL 8 Astolfo makes use of his cuteness to make Shameless Requests, a skill feat that makes it so that the DC for making outrageous requests is lowered and we can’t critically fail on such a check. We can take Mercy as our class feat, letting us attempt to counteract fear or an effecting imposing the paralyzed condition when we use lay on hands on somebody.
Gear: horseshoes of speed, horn of fog, chime of opening, +1 chain mail, +1 striking longsword, cloak of repute
LEVEL 9 We take a skill increase to Society, becoming an expert in it. Our ancestry feat will be Multitalented, allowing us to take the Bard Dedication with polymath muse. Thanks to this, we become trained in Arcana and Legend Lore and gain some occult spells.
Gear: +1 resilient chain mail, horseshoes of speed, boots of bounding, horn of fog, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking longsword
Bard Cantrips: forbidding ward, summon instrument
LEVEL 10 Another set of boosts go into Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, so we have: Str 18, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18. With the Hobnobber skill feat, we can Gather Information in half the time it normally takes. By taking the Imposing Destrier class feat, we can turn our mount into a nimble animal companion.
Gear: horn of blasting, +1 resilient chain mail, lover’s gloves, horseshoes of speed, horn of fog, +1 striking longsword
LEVEL 11 We increase our trained proficiency in Occultism to expert with our skill increase. By taking Incredible Initiative, we can make it so that we act faster in combat.
Gear: +2 striking longsword, horn of blasting, greater cloak of repute, +1 resilient chain mail, horseshoes of speed, boots of bounding
LEVEL 12 We pick up the Glad-Hand skill feat, so that we can Make an Impression immediately instead of needing to spend a minute to do so, though we do this at a penalty. With Inspirational Performance from our Bard Dedication, we gain the inspire courage composition cantrip, so that we can buff our allies in combat.
Gear: +2 resilient chain mail, +2 striking longsword, moderate maestro’s instrument, horn of blasting, lover’s gloves, boots of bounding
LEVEL 13 This skill increase gets Performance up to master proficiency. Since we took Cooperative Nature earlier on, we can grab Cooperative Soul, so that we always at least succeed on checks to Aid our allies.
Gear: +2 greater striking longsword, +2 resilient chain mail, greater goggles of night, moderate maestro’s instrument, horn of blasting, greater cloak of repute
LEVEL 14 We can use Distracting Performance to create a diversion for our allies with Performance. With Basic Bard Spellcasting from our dedication feat, we gain access to a small array of spells.
Gear: boots of speed, +2 greater striking longsword, black pearl aeon stone, +2 resilient chain mail, barding of the zephyr, moderate maestro’s instrument
Bard Spells: color spray (1st), sound burst (2nd, signature spell), haste (3rd)
LEVEL 15 One more set of boosts before the end, these are going to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, leaving us with this array: Str 19, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 19. Another increase to Intelligence makes us trained in Deception and gives us another language. At level 15, we can finally achieve legendary proficiency in skills, which we’re going to do with Diplomacy. We also grab Toughness, which is gonna help us stay in the fight longer.
Gear: +2 greater resilient chain mail, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV), +2 greater striking longsword, greater goggles of night, barding of the zephyr
LEVEL 16 With the Legendary Negotiation skill feat, we can Make a Request even in the middle of combat. Continuing to empower our mount, we take Auspicious Mount and give our horse the daredevil specialization.
Gear: dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient chain mail, greater horseshoes of speed, boots of speed, +2 greater striking longsword, black pearl aeon stone
LEVEL 17 This skill increase pushes Performance to legendary proficiency while the Heroic Presence ancestry feat feels like a good fit for a Heroic Spirit.
Gear: +3 greater striking longsword, dragonscale amulet, greater horseshoes of speed, +2 greater resilient chain mail, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18 Since we received Courtly Graces way back at 1st level, we can take Connections so that we can arrange meetings with important individuals. Going back to our Bard Dedication, we grab Basic Muse’s Whispers so that we can take Esoteric Polymath, granting a spellbook reflecting the one that Astolfo uses. It also lets us add occult spells to the book to effectively expand our spell repertoire.
Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking longsword, greater talisman cord, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient chain mail, rod of negation
LEVEL 19 This skill increase bumps Occultism up to master proficiency. We can also take the Fleet general feat to increase our Speed by 5-feet.
Gear: +3 greater resilient chain mail, belt of giant strength, major cloak of repute, +3 greater striking longsword, dragonscale amulet, greater horseshoes of speed
LEVEL 20 Our final set of boosts go to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma, leaving this as our final array: Str 20, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 20. We become trained in Nature due to our increased Intelligence and gain another a language. With this master proficiency in Occultism, we can take Consult the Spirits to call upon passed spirits and ask the questions. Finally, we take Celestial Mount so that our mount grows wings, granting it flight like the hippogriff Astolfo is famous for riding.
Gear: +3 major striking longsword, +3 greater resilient chain mail, greater maestro’s instrument, belt of giant strength, greater talisman cord, greater horseshoes of speed
CONCLUSION As I said, I am not overly familiar with this character, but from the research I did, I feel like I got it fairly close! Astolfo is a stalwart champion who stands for good, wielding a sword and riding aloft a winged mount while also able to cast spells from a book and use a hunting horn that releases explosive noise, which I also tried to replicate with the horn of blasting, but there weren’t more advanced forms. I was debating whether it might not be better to take a big cat and give it wings to emulate the hippogriff, but the winged horse feels more classic for a champion.
Thanks for taking the time to check out this build and please let me know what you think. Does this build work? Does it represent the character? What would you change about it? Is it something you’d like to play?
Lemme know what other characters you might like to see and if you’re so inclined, join the blog’s Discord server or can watch some guys beat up my monsters on my Twitch, where I usually stream Friday and Saturday nights.
Have a Fantastic Friday!
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