Advanced Class Guide: Captain America

I was actually surprised how easy this was to put together and it actually seems pretty close to the comic book character. One thing I'm not clear on if it Brawler's Fury actually counts as the Two-Weapon Fighting Feat line or not. If it does then this build is valid, if not, well the Brawler suddenly becomes much less attractive. While Steve Roger's Super Serum is permanent, this guy has to make a new one every time his wears off (2.5 hours).

A full round attack would start at +27, hit up to 6 times and do 2D6+31 19-20/x2. A Pummeling Charge would be devastating. HP are only a 154 when the Super Serum is in effect which isn't great but there are a few feats that can be easily swapped around. Saves are decent and has enough skill points to invest in some useful skills. Plus, throwing your shield and having bounce off 6 opponents before returning to your hand is just cool.

Not super optimized but could hold her own in combat. One of my first builds from the ACG that turned out surprisingly well.

Captain America
Human Brawler (Mutagenic Mauler, Shield Champion) 15
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +23
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Defense
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AC 35, touch 14, flat-footed 35 (+9 armor, +8 shield, +4 natural, +4 deflection)
hp 124 (15d10+30)
Fort +16, Ref +14, Will +17
Defensive Abilities fortification 25%
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee  light shield bash +30/+25/+20 (2d6+17/19-20) and
   unarmed strike +23/+18/+13 (2d6+8)
Special Attacks brawler's flurry
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Statistics
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Str 27, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 10
Base Atk +15; CMB +23; CMD 37
Feats Greater Shield Focus, Greater Weapon Focus (shield, light), Greater Weapon Specialization (shield, light), Improved Critical (shield, light), Improved Initiative, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Pummeling Charge, Pummeling Style, Quick Draw, Shield Focus, Shield Master, Shield Slam, Weapon Focus (shield, light), Weapon Specialization (shield, light)
Skills Acrobatics +16, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +18, Knowledge (local) +18, Perception +23, Sense Motive +23
Languages Common
SQ champion's defense, close weapon mastery, knockout, mutagen, mutagen damage bonus, mutagen discoveries (greater mutagen, preserve organs), returning shield, throw shield, unarmed strike
Combat Gear mutagen (greater); Other Gear +5 chain shirt, +5 light wooden quickdraw shield, amulet of natural armor +4, belt of giant strength +6, cloak of resistance +5, headband of inspired wisdom +6, ring of protection +4, 8,547 gp
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Special Abilities
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Brawler's Flurry +13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3 (Ex) Can make full attack & gain two-wep fighting, but only with unarmed strike, close, or monk wep.
Champion's Defense (1/day) (Ex) When reduced to 0 hp by wep att, attempt Fort save to absorb half dam with shield.
Close Weapon Mastery (Ex) Weapons of the close group deal dam as unarmed strike at -4 levels.
Fortification 25% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Greater Mutagen (Su) The alchemist’s mutagen now grants a +4 natural armor bonus, a +6 alchemical bonus to one physical ability score (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution), and a +4 alchemical bonus to a second physical ability score. The alchemist takes a –2 penalty on
Improved Shield Bash You still get your shield bonus while using Shield Bash.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Knockout (2/day, DC 25) (Ex) Declare before attack, if hit then foe is unconscious 1d6 rds (Fort neg), resave each rd.
Mutagen (DC 17) (Su) Mutagen adds +4 to a physical & -2 to a mental attribute, and +2 nat. armor for 150 min.
Mutagen Damage Bonus +3 (Su) When in mutagenic form, gain a bonus to melee damage.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Preserve Organs 25% The alchemist learns how to preserve and protect his vital organs, reducing the chance of a mortal wound. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the alchemist, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damag
Pummeling Charge When using Pummeling Style, make Pummeling Style atk at end of charge.
Pummeling Style As full-rd act, make normal full attack or flurry, adding all dmg together into 1 hit.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Returning Shield (Ex) Thrown shield ricochets off multiple surfaces (or foes) to return.
Shield Focus +1 Shield AC
Shield Master No off-hand penalties for shield bashes, add a shield's enhancement bonus to attack rolls.
Shield Slam Shield Bash attack gives a free bull rush on a hit.
Throw Shield (Ex) Gain the benefit of Far shot when throw shields. Can use certain maneuvers at range.
Unarmed Strike (2d6) Extra unarmed strike dam, no off-hand dam reduction and don't need free hands to att.

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Paizo Advanced Class Guide: Preview

I don't know why they don't do these releases via Bittorrent? Instead they crash their website for half the day, losing sales and annoying their fans who want to read the play test.

That bitch aside here are my first impressions of the new classes in the playtest:

Arcanist: It is a full arcane caster so its going to be insanely powerful. It is basically a wizard with delayed (sorcerer) casting but more flexible casting options. Seems pretty solid.

Bloodrager: Barbarian with limited arcane (Magus spells) casting and a bloodline. Loses all Rage powers. Seems solid.

Brawler: An improvement over the vanilla Monk but I'm not convinced we have a winner here. A much sturdier melee combatant and less MAD. I'd like to see one in action.

Hunter: Don't care for it. If you wanted a full power animal companion as a ranger you could get it by spending a couple feats. I'm not a fan of Teamwork feats and that your animal companion shares yours seems to be the big draw here. This class loses the ranger's martial prowess and the druid's 9th level spells and gets Teamwork feats? No thanks.

Investigator: The rogue killer. Seriously why would anyone ever play a rogue ever again? You lose a little bit of sneak attack, 2 skills per level, and evasion. You gain alchemy and a ton of cool tricks that come with it, a bunch of neat poison stuff, Inspiration, and Investigator talents which are at least as good if not better than Rogue talents.

Shaman: Cleric like casting (wisdom, prepared, no delay), blends mysteries with hexes. I'm sure there is stuff in there to love. Seems pretty solid.

Skald: Bardbarian. Seems very niche, more of an archetype for bard then a full blown alternate class. The bestow rage power is cool but would really only benefit large groups with lots of melee fighters. Spell Kenning (cast any arcane spell) give this class great versatility - as long as you are not in a rush.

Slayer: The other reason to never play a rogue again. For people that think rogues should be deadly melee opponents this is the class for you. An unlimited use, more flexible but less powerful Favored enemy, slower sneak attack progression, Ranger saves, Ranger BAB, Rogue talents.

Swashbuckler: I can see what this class is trying to be. It is a decent melee combatant that hits easily but doesn't do much damage. It does, however have a ton of tricks at its disposal, cool tricks but most are limited. I like the flavor, but I'm afraid for most campaigns this guy would be an underachiever, but probably really fun to play.

Warpriest: Hmm, a cleric with crappy casting but nicer weapons and armor. Does get lots of bonus feats but doesn't say anything about being able to choose fighter only feats. Would make a strong archer, but I think for melee combat the cleric is the stronger choice.

So that's my initial impression. I have not tried any builds yet or seen any in play. I rather question the existence of some of them but I'm sure they will find people who will love them (maybe even me). They do render the rogue obsolete and put another nail in the monk's coffin (other than some of the strong monk archetypes, I don't know why you would play one anymore).

I am going to try to squeeze the Skald into an upcoming encounter and I see a spot when I could swap in the Bloodrager. The brawler and Slayer are intriguing and I'm sure I can squeeze them in somewhere. Let's see if they can score some kills this weekend (or if any of the replacement PCs use classes from the playtest).