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 Tasigur, the Golden Fang!
CHARACTER Tasigur, the Golden Fang
SOURCE Magic the Gathering
GOAL Tasigur is a black card from the Tarkir block where he was the leader of the Sultai clan. He was typed as a ‘Human Shaman’ and had an impressive Power/Toughness with 4/5. Delve could be used to decrease his cost to make summoning easier and his other ability used blue and green mana to mill your own library but steal a nonland card from somebody else’s graveyard. He’s known to raise undead and liked tormenting victims with undead family members and friends. He was a spoiled khan that wielded a weapon to inflict pain on others whenever he got bored.
LEVEL 1 First things first, we have to learn our ABCs – ancestry, background, and class. As noted in his card, Tasigur is a human, and we can pick up some additional skill proficiencies by taking the skilled heritage. We’re taking this trained proficiency in Diplomacy. Our two free boosts are going to Dexterity and Charisma. Finally, we’re picking up Natural Skill as our ancestry feat, becoming trained in Nature and Stealth.
Next for our background – Tasigur was a spoiled brat who was groomed for his position as the khan. To me, that’s a perfect fit for the noble background. We take the Charisma boost and pick Dexterity for our free boost. We become trained in Society and Heraldry Lore, and also receive the Courtly Graces skill feat.
As a leader and user of magic, the best fit for Tasigur in my eyes was the bard class, which gives us a boost to Charisma before we apply our four free boosts to Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma, giving us the following array: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 18. We become trained in Occultism and Performance, and then receive five additional skills. For that, we are going to take Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Deception, and Intimidation. All bards have a muse and I was torn on what to take for Tasigur. None were a great fit and I initially narrowed it down to polymath muse and warrior muse before deciding to take warrior muse. Fear is a fitting spell for Tasigur and we can get some benefit from the Martial Performance feat. Most notably, we can make use of the scorpion whip, a perfect fit for the card’s weapon. As a bard, we have access to a limited number of spells, which I will list every time we choose a new one.
Cantrips: chill touch, ghost sound, guidance, light, shield
1st-Level Spells: animate dead, command
LEVEL 2 The skill feat Bon Mot allows us to insult creatures and gain advantages over them while Song of Strength is a class feat that allows us to improve the Athletics checks of us and our allies.
1st-Level Spells: grim tendrils
Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3 We put our skill increase in Athletics to become an expert in that skill and better perform our combat maneuvers with our whip. But for our general feat, we pick up Toughness to reflect the card’s own high Toughness. We also gain signature spells that we can heighten without having to learn it at a higher level. For 1st-level, we take animate dead and for 2nd-level, we take grim tendrils.
2nd-Level Spells: charitable urge (we can make somebody give us something), ghoulish cravings
Gear: +1 scorpion whip, everburning torch, dull grey aeon stone
LEVEL 4 For our skill feat, Group Impression allows us to influence multiple people at once. Combat Reading allows us to try to read the capabilities of any creature that we can see using Occultism.
2nd-Level Spells: death knell
Gear: wand of animate dead (1st-level), +1 scorpion whip, hand of the mage, everburning torch
LEVEL 5 We get another four boosts that are going to Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma, granting us this array: Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 19. We put out skill increase towards Occultism, raising it to expert. Additionally, we become expert in Diplomacy thanks to our skilled heritage. Our ancestry feat is gonna be the thematically appropriate Haughty Obstinacy, which helps us resist mind control abilities. Our Signature Spell for 3rd-level is going to be vampiric touch.
3rd-Level Spells: haste, vampiric touch
Gear: +1 striking scorpion whip, wand of animate dead (1st-level), pendant of the occult, wondrous figurine (onyx dog), everburning torch, dull grey aeon stone
LEVEL 6 As we enter to 6th level and receive yet another skill feat, we pick up Recognize Spell, so that we can know what sorts of magic people are casting. Our bard feat is going to be Dirge of Doom to terrorize our enemies.
3rd-Level Spells: paralyze
Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking scorpion whip, mentalist’s staff, pendant of the occult, hand of the mage, wondrous figurine (onyx dog)
LEVEL 7 This level’s skill increase goes towards Performance to make it expert proficiency. By taking the Incredible Initiative general feat, we can bump up our chances of going first initiative so that we can impart valuable buffs before our allies act. Our new Signature Spell for 4th-level spells is phantasmal kiler.
4th-Level Spells: fly, phantasmal killer
Gear: staff of necromancy, +1 explorer’s clothing, wand of animate dead (2nd-level), +1 striking scorpion whip, bracelets of dashing, pendant of the occult
LEVEL 8 We pick up the Hobnobber skill feat to set up for a future skill feat down the line and Tasigur wants to waste as little time as possible talking to the common folk. The Call and Response bard feat allows us to extend the duration of our composition cantrips by having our minions - I mean, allies answer our performance.
4th-Level Spells: modify memory
Gear: tourmaline sphere aeon stone, staff of necromancy, chime of opening, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking scorpion whip, cloak of repute
LEVEL 9 With a new skill increase slotted into Diplomacy, we achieve master proficiency in it. For our ancestry feat, Keep Up Appearances allows us to appear unaffected by emotional effects, keeping a stiff upper lip as is proper for a noble. Our newest Signature Spell is going to be shadow blast.
5th-Level Spells: banishment, shadow blast
Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, tourmaline sphere aeon stone, wand of the spider (2nd-level spell), staff of necromancy, corpseward pendant, +1 striking scorpion whip
LEVEL 10 Another set of ability boosts, this time going to Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, which gives us this array: Str 12, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 20. Thanks to our increased Intelligence, we can pick up the Aklo language as well as trained proficiency in Religion. Thanks to taking Hobnobber with our last skill feat, we can take the Entourage skill feat, giving us a retinue of followers. Continuing with the composition spells we’ve been picking up, we gain the Ode to Ouroboros bard feat because nobody dies until we say they can.
5th-Level Spells: suggestion
Gear: greater cloak of repute, wand of teeming ghosts (3rd-level spell), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, tourmaline sphere aeon stone, staff of necromancy, +1 striking scorpion whip
LEVEL 11 With our skill increase going to Occultism, we become a master in that skill and increase the effectiveness of our Combat Reading feat. Hireling Manager is a general feat that allows us to secure higher quality servants than most. We take vampiric exsanguination as our 6th-level Signature Spell.
6th-Level Spells: scrying, vampiric exsanguination
Gear: +2 striking scorpion whip, greater cloak of repute, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, tourmaline sphere aeon stone, staff of necromancy
LEVEL 12 Since we already have the Recognize Spell and master proficiency in Occultism, we can pick up the Quick Recognition, allowing us to recognize occult spells as a free action. We pick up Courageous Assault as our bard feat, allowing us to modify inspire courage to grant an ally the opportunity to attack.
6th-Level Spells: dominate
Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking scorpion whip, greater staff of necromancy, dreadsmoke thurible, dragon’s eye charm, tourmaline sphere aeon stone
LEVEL 13 With our skill increase, we increase Deception to expert proficiency and then get the Dragon Prince ancestry feat, which grants use the at-will acid splash cantrip. For our 7th-level Signature Spell, we select duplicate foe.
7th-Level Spells: duplicate foe, magnificent mansion
Gear: +2 greater striking scorpion whip, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater goggles of night, greater staff of necromancy, greater cloak of repute, dreadsmoke thruible
LEVEL 14 By this level, we pick up the Shameless Request skill feat because why should one as illustrious as us feel shame for our demands? Although it is a bit late, we are going to take Courageous Advance as our bard feat, allowing us to grant an ally affected by inspire courage a reaction to Stride.
7th-Level Spells: mask of terror
Gear: wand of animate dead (6th-level), wand of teeming ghosts (5th-level spell), +2 greater striking scorpion whip, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater staff of necromancy, cloak of the bat
LEVEL 15 We put our free ability boosts towards Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma, leaving us with this array, the final one before one last set of boosts: Str 14, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 21. Since we have reached 15th level, we can now increase our proficiency to legendary in a skill, which we are going to do with Diplomacy. We also receive a general feat, which we are going to use to pick up Feather Step, allowing us to Step into difficult terrain to potentially avoid foes. For our 8th-level Signature Spell, we gain devour life.
8th-Level Spells: devour life, disappearance
Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, pale lavender ellipsoid aeon stone, wondrous figurine (marble elephant), +2 greater striking scorpion whip, greater goggles of night, greater staff of necromancy
LEVEL 16 Thanks to our master proficiency in Occultism, we can take the Disturbing Knowledge skill feat, which allows us to terrify foes just by talking about the horrible secrets we’ve learned. Furthermore, we are also set up to take the Courageous Onslaught feat, letting us grant an ally affected by our inspire courage to Stride and Strike as a reaction.
8th-Level Spells: undermine reality
Gear: dragonscale amulet, wand of teeming ghosts (6th-level spell), +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wondrous figurine (marble elephant), +2 greater striking scorpion whip, broom of flying
LEVEL 17 Our skill increase will go to Performance to improve our abilities as an orator, increasing our proficiency to master. Building from our previous Dragon Spit ancestry feat, we get the Dragon Prince ancestry feat, giving use of the dragon breath spell once per day. We finally get 9th-level spells and our Signature Spell for it is going to be overwhelming presence though it doesn’t really matter at this point.
9th-Level Spells: overwhelming presence, wail of the banshee
Gear: +3 greater striking scorpion whip, dragonscale amulet, major staff of necromancy, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of animate dead (6th-level), pale lavender ellipsoid aeon stone
LEVEL 18 The Bizarre Magic skill feat makes it harder for our enemies to discern or identify whatever spells we’re using. Picking up the Discordant Voice bard feats allows us to grant out allies sonic damage with their attacks when they’re benefitting from inspire courage. This is a real nice one because it doesn’t require us to spend any additional actions to trigger.
9th-Level Spells: resplendent mansion
Gear: circlet of persuasion, wand of teeming ghosts (7th-level), +3 greater striking scorpion whip, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, major staff of necromancy
LEVEL 19 For our skill increase, we get up to legendary proficiency in Performance. For our general feat, we take Incredible Investiture to allow us to make use of more magical equipment.
10th-Level Spells: alter reality, time stop
Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, circlet of persuasion, greater cloak of the bat, +3 greater striking scorpion whip, dragonscale amulet, major staff of necromancy
LEVEL 20 We have come to the end of our adventure, but there’s a little bit left to this build – most notably our ability boosts. These four boosts are going to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma, which finally leaves us with: Str 16, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 22. With our increase Intelligence, we gain trained proficiency in Medicine and pick up the Necril language. Our final skill feat is going to be Legendary Performer because everybody should know the name of Tasigur. Then, our final bard feat is Song of the Fallen, allowing us to call the dead back and force them to fight for us.
Gear: greater mask of the banshee, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of teeming ghosts (8th-level spell), 17th, +3 greater striking scorpion whip, wand of animate dead (7th-level)
CONCLUSION And there we are! An overbearing brat who enslaves the dead to serve him and bends the minds of the living to his will. I tried to pick appropriate spells and feats for Tasigur, but if you think something is really off, lemme know. I might’ve gone too far with the frightened condition and his ability to spread it. For starting gear, I picked up a scorpion whip (since we went through the trouble of picking up a feat for it) but left Tasigur unarmored, as true to his card’s artwork.
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?
I have plans to do one of the links, but this week was busy, so I had to put this out there. Lemme know what other characters you might like to see and if you’re so inclined, join the blog’s Discord server at the following link: https://discord.gg/W4THAs5
Have a great day!
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