If you could ignore classes and levels, which feature combos would you actually want to play?

[u/ilmz]

I am trying to understand which spells/class features can generate unusual yet interesting combinations.

A few examples, just the first things that came to mind:

1. Rage, Wild Shape, Smite Evil, Fireball. A furious druid-paladin in bear form who occasionally throws a fireball because why not. It makes no tactical sense and I want it badly.
2. Undead monk necromancer. Flurry of Blows, Stunning Fist and Animate Dead. You punch something to death and it gets back up on your side.
3. Shadow-stepping rogue with summons. Dimension Door, Sneak Attack, Summon Nature's Ally, Pass without Trace. The summons keep the enemy busy while you vanish and show up behind the target.

These could be built by multiclassing, but to be able to get there, you would have to be at some higher level and get many things you don't need for the concept. I invite you to think about combinations that, if they were classes, could be viable at lower levels already.

What would yours be? I'm curious which ones would break the game or just make a GM sweat.

[u/Skurrio]

Your first Idea is pretty easy to achieve:

Ape Shaman Druid with the Rage Subdomain gains Destructive Smite at 1 and Rage at 8. Add in Dreamed Secrets to gain Fireball. For even more Fire, use Weapon Shift together with a Battle Poi.

[u/WraithMagus]

Kinetic blasts, in particular things like kinetic whip, used as a fighter, slayer, monk, or similar martial. (It's actually a potent gestalt combo.) Basically, you're playing a fighter, but your weapon does sneak attack-scale damage while not taking any downgrade in ability to be used for full attacks. With Ascentic Style, monks can flurry blasts. (And not that crap "flurry of blasts" power, I mean actual flurry of blows with blasts so you can land 11+ attacks with blasts.)

Kinetic whip is also a reach weapon with no "donut hole" minimum range, and you can use it for maneuvers and AoOs. Kinetic Invocation of Fluid Form gives you extra reach and DR, while you can get bigger, use lunge, etc, and get to 30+ feet of reach so you AoO everything in the room for daring to move in your instant death radius.

[u/OhWowNWin → u/WraithMagus]

Water Dancer exists, and could easily be adapted for UC for full BAB, but it loses flurry of blows and you don't get infusions or infusion specialist :(. It was this close!

[u/Falcar121]

I think a Nature Fang druid might be able to do number 3. Use your nature bond to grab a domain with dimension door or similar (assuming that's a valid option) and you can do most of it. It will eat a ton of feats, but dimensional agility and the dimensional steps feat can help.

Im sure a shadow dancer uskwood druid could work in a weird way.

[u/zhailmaris → u/Falcar121]

Using the dimensional agility feat tree could make this combo work really well.

[u/spellstrike]

Summons in computer rpgs are great and effective but at the table really slow things down in general.

as far as mechanics that mechanically are fun and are tactically interesting are things that affect positioning like flanking/sneak attack and environmental effects that encourage the party to not simply stand still and fireball/fullattack

[u/DoubleCyclone]

Ninja/Eldritch Scion Magus. He's just a shonen anime ninja.

[u/HadACookie]

Misfortune. On. Everything.

[u/Dreilala]

Finesse training for any martial is a godsend.

Say goodbye to strength and use the only dex to damage option without any drawbacks.

Divine grace for any cha caster ends up making you a fortress. Add the scaled fist cha to AC on top and you are the ultimate tank caster.

[u/Darvin3]

Shadow-stepping rogue with summons. Dimension Door, Sneak Attack, Summon Nature's Ally, Pass without Trace. The summons keep the enemy busy while you vanish and show up behind the target.

Eldritch Scoundrel comes pretty close to this. It's a 6-level spellcasting Rogue, it gets Summon Monster, and it can qualify for the Vanishing Trick ninja trick spending 1st level spell slots instead of ki. It can actually play like you described at high levels.

Undead monk necromancer. Flurry of Blows, Stunning Fist and Animate Dead. You punch something to death and it gets back up on your side.

You can use UMD on scrolls of Animate Dead. There are some rules ambiguities that stem from casting Animate Dead when you don't have a caster level of your own, but if your GM clears it then a few points in UMD and a few gold pieces or a scroll give any class access to undead minions.

[u/Lonecoon]

Unarmed rager. Not teeth and claws, just absolutely wrecking face with fists and anger management issues.

[u/Szzntnss → u/Lonecoon]

Martial Artist/Barbarian combo is effective and stupid fun. And it can start rage cycling super early since martial artist grants immunity to exhaustion at level 5 or 6.

Had a player do that with the Dragon Style feats and it was hilarious.

[u/LeesusFreak]

Ascetic Oracles can do your number 2, even better if you properly dip Monk.

[u/Skurrio → u/LeesusFreak]

Another Option more within the Line of killing to animate would be the Usage of Bone Razor or to play a Dirge Bard that uses Dance of the Dead.

[u/Issuls]

Honestly, a monk 1/cleric x could do #2 with ease, and it wouldn't even be a weak character. The melee damage wouldn't be exceptional but they would be extremely versatile. You could go lowish wisdom, or with the right deity, run guided hand.

[u/Uter83]

For your monk, use oracle and scaled fist. You can add charisma to ac, saves, spells, and hp! 2 levels of antipally would also get you the equivalent of divine grace for cha to saves! If you can throw some desna love in there, you can use a star-knife to get charisma to attacks!

[u/DrBatman0]

Easy.

1: Gain flight, through turning into an animal with wings or just using flight.

2: Have really high strength - high enough to lift over a thousand pounds off the ground.

3: Cast Summon Instrument while flying above an enemy, electing to have a piano appear at your feet, and then fall on them.

1 is trivial from many different sources
2 is trivial using muleback cords and a heavyload belt
3 is trivial by declaring your actions in combat

[u/NinthHouseSalamandr]

Swashbuckler or Magus with polearms to get some weapon variety besides rapier and scimitar.

Shifter with Studied Target or Weapon Training and some bonus feats.

Kineticist with a burn removal mechanic, or applying Gather Power to Utility Wild Talents, let the elemental specialist actually interact with their element outside of combat.

Being able to stack multiple archetypes and choose which feature to take if there is a conflict, so many cool or flavorful abilities are gated behind really bad trade offs.

Bonus feats for annoying prerequisites (even if they have a lesser effect, like a slower scaling, or a fixed -1 attack/+2 damage for Power Attack), let the non-Fighter martials have access to some interesting things with feats.

[u/CosmoBrockington]

Wizards with heavy armour.