Rogue Barbarian

Don't go into CHA?

Assurance (Athletics) and Assurance (Medicine) are both fantastic here, Assurance (Deception) and Assurance (Arcana/Nature/Occultism/Religion) are worth looking into:

  1. We're going to progress to Expert/Master in these skills quickly as a rogue.
  2. We'll likely want to use Assurance (Athletics) to attempt trips after MAP penalties.
  3. Trick Magic Item with consistent advances in Arcana/Nature/Occultism/Religion lets you keep up with casters with scrolls and wands.

We have an interesting problem to solve if we want to focus on Trip (for Flat-Footed) so we can reliably Sneak Attack

  1. MAP becomes a real problem for us.
  2. The Longspear doesn't have the Trip trait so we don't benefit from the range.. plus, it's 2-handed so we can't use a free hand

Stats

I typically advocate for a +6/+2/+2 spread across Ancestry/Background/Class because of how ability scores increase throughout leveling.

Ancestry

I'd lean towards Hold-Scarred Orc since so we can take Field Medic as our background and progress towards Godless Healing. The Orc Ferocity path shores up some of our durability issues.

Orc Ancestry Feats

Level 9 can be just about anything. Death's Drums is kind of interesting with Diehard -- you could justify keeping Wounded 1 for a free +2 bonus to your Fortitude saves.

If we take Hobgoblin, we can't take Field Medic as our Background (or we need to use the Alternative Rules for Ancestry Boosts) because we need STR/CHA from either the Ancestry or Background.

Hobgoblin Ancestry Feats

Archetypes

Barbarian Dedication (Giant)

We're meme-ing with this build -- we want oversized Longspear. Hopefully we can convince our GM to oversize the weapon at level 6 when we get our Instinct Ability and just use it for RP flavor until then.

Staff Acrobat

It requires higher DEX than I'd like but it gives the Longspear Shove and Trip.. but there's no reasonable way to get 18 STR, 16 DEX, and reasonable CHA and CON (14+) by level 2... and not waste the DEX or STR increases.

Medic Dedication

Taking this at level 2 gets us Continual Recovery (awesome). We just don't need it as a Rogue since we get Skill increases every level.

Fighter Dedication

I have fairly strong opinions about the Fighter Dedication being subpar for most classes but you can get access to Intimidating Strike with it. Intimidating Strike essentially combines the Demoralize Action with the Strike Action but removes the Intimidation check to apply the Frightened condition.

The main problem with Intimidating Strike for this build is that, as a rogue, our main focus is on making a creature flat-footed so we can trigger Sneak Attack. Up until this point, we've built Intimidation to be a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th option to make a creature flat-footed without suffering from a multiple attack penalty. Once we add Intimidating Strike to our arsenal, there's no reason for us to invest in Demoralize since Intimidating Strike applies the Frightened Condition for free (but after our Strike action) -- so no Sneak Attack trigger on our first attack.

That said, it's a good backup plan for this build and you could do something like this for your progression:

I think Rage's boost to survivability and damage outweighs the convenience of Intimidating Strike (and getting Attack of Opportunity early)... and it takes too long to get Knockdown for a consistent way of triggering Attack of Opportunity.

If the Fighter Dedication is interesting to you, I'd encourage you to replace this build's Rogue class with Fighter

https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=368 https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/ftjssy/fear_me_intimidation_build/

Skill Feats

General

Assurance in Medicine guarantees our Treat Wounds (and Battle Medicine) will always be a successful at either 2 or level 3. Assurance in Athletics allows us to attempt combat manuevers, like Trip and Shove, on enemies when we'd normally have MAP (and it can potentially help us determine how strong our enemies are). Assurance in one of the four magic groups allows you to use Trick Magic Item without committing Ability Score Boosts to the associated stat (Intelligence).

Additional Lore is the default choice if we ever don't have an option. We can choose topics as we learn about them and this Skill Feat scales with our level. Multilingual is another option for us if we have run into language problems.

Medicine Skills

For the low cost of two skill feats, out of combat healing is completely trivialized with Continual Recovery and Ward Medic.

Godless Healing is somewhat selfish but greatly increases my own survivability as long as there's another person with Battle Medicine.

Intimidation Skills

Athletics Skills

Honestly, not even sure if I want or need Titan Wrestler. I don't know if Trip, Grapple, or Shove is necessary in these encounters.

Arcana/Nature/Occultism/Religion Skills

Starting Gear

No Crowbar. :sad:

Progression

Level 1:

We can't use Assurance at level 1 for Treat Wounds but since we'll be an Expert in Medicine at level 2, we can reliably Treat Wounds using Assurance.

Level 2:

Brutal Beating synergizes with the Hobgoblin's Remorseless Leash that it justifies that Ancestry choice alone.

Level 3:

Ward Medic should make healing after combat encounters completely trivial, I'd rather not take this Skill Feat if I don't have to since it feels like we're cheesing the system but it seems like the standard strategy.

Intimidating Prowess gives us a bonus to our Demoralize action and we're an Expert at this level (and it buy us one level before we get Intimidating Glare). I anticipate scrolls and wands might show up around this level and at least someone can use it.

Level 4:

Dread Striker makes Demoralized enemies flat footed. Flat-footed is a condition penalty and Frightened is a status penalty, so they stack. Again, more synergy with the Hobgoblin's Remorseless Lash. Ideally, we're not Feinting anymore.

I hate waiting until level 4 to get Intimidating Glare, but I knew the Barbarian had this Class Feat. You could get Barbarian Resiliency here instead if you need the extra hit points.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/11d3e7q/what_level_is_the_best_level_to_take_titan/

Level 5

By this point, we should be able to keep enemies in a fear lock after we Demoralize them and after we pick up Agonizing Rebuke, it's free and constant mental damage.

We've delayed Trick Magic Item too long and depending on the party's arsenal of wands and scrolls -- you might want to take this earlier.

Level 6

Increase Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion based on party needs.

I'm delaying Titan Wrestler as long as I can since I don't want to overly rely on Athletics but we should have taken it a level or two sooner. We can expect to start running into Huge monsters somewhere around here. We might run into them sooner than this (or never) but since Tripping and Grappling is something we might want to make things Flat Footed, it's worth picking up.

Gang Up is another way for us to attack flat-footed targets, so at this point we have very little reason to miss an opportunity for Sneak Attack.

Since this character was created for the Gatewalkers Adventure Path, I'm picking up High-Speed Regeneration with my Class Feat.

Angle-shooting Time: We might really need hit points by this point. If your GM is willing, it's worth foregoing the class feat for Barbarian Resiliency -- it increases our hit points by 15%. The Gamemastery Guide calls this tactic out (they might not let you do it at all or they might reduce the hit points gained by 3):

Free-archetype characters are a bit more versatile and powerful than normal, but usually not so much that they unbalance your game. However, due to the characters’ increased access to archetype feats, you should place a limit on the number of feats that scale based on a character’s number of archetype feats (mainly multiclass Resiliency feats). Allowing a character to benefit from a number of these feats equal to half their level is appropriate, as this is the maximum number of feats you could use to take archetype feats without this variant.

Level 7

Big Intimidation level for us here. Fleet or Shield Block for the General Feat.

Level 8

I touched up on it at level 6 but we want more hit points, so Barbarian Resiliency here.

We now have a ton more hit points, Godless Healing makes Treat Wounds more efficient for us and if we found ourselves getting downed too often in combat, Battle Medicine works ever hour now. We could have taken this as early as level 2 and it would have been a good choice.. so keep that in mind if you're getting knocked unconscious.

Level 9

Deception might not even be necessary anymore, pick up that Magic skill if you don't find yourself taking the Feint Action.

One of the goals with this build was to test out Assurance (Athletics) and Gatewalkers ends at level 10... so I'm out of time if I want to try it out.

Level 10

Just shoring up the potential weakness with Trick Magic Item in the Magic skill of choice, otherwise take Thievery.

Dazzling Display is similar to the Barbarian's Terrifying Howl. Creatures effected by this ability are immune to it for 1 minute but they aren't immune to Demoralize until the Demoralize action is taken on them. Vicious Debilitations is a good backup plan if you don't have issues with the Demoralize lockout or need a second try at it.

It feels weird taking Sudden Charge, a level 1 feat, at level 10... but it's probably the best option. Fast Movement is good but Sudden Charge probably outclasses it. Swipe is pretty situational but it's useful when it comes up.

Level 11

Level 12

6th level is a big deal for Barbarian, you get Attack of Opportunity and Giant's Stature. Clumsy doesn't stack (it always takes the higher value) and since we're already Clumsy 1 when we use the oversized weapon, there isn't a drawback to Giant's Stature; it's unfortunate it's an action (I wish it was a passive effect when we used Rage) so Attack of Opportunity is probably the right call at level 12.

With the addition of Attack of Opportunity, we can now trigger it with critical successes on Demoralize actions.

Level 13

Level 14

Level 15

Level 16

Level 17

Level 18

We delayed Juggernaut's Fortitude as long as we could and if you don't think you'll make it to this level, you should pick up sooner.

Level 19

Level 20

We're capstoning the free archetype with Silencing Strike. This replaces your normal Strike.

FAQ

What are the best ways to make an enemy flat footed?

Flanking is the easiest way to make an enemy flat footed but Feint and Trip are the bread and butter of this build. A Grapple's critical success will restrain the target, making them flat footed as well.

You could also Create a Diversion but Feint is better in every way.

When a creature takes the Stand action, are they flat footed on Attack of Opportunity?

No, the Attack of Opportunity happens after they complete the action since they never moved out of the square.

Move Actions that Trigger Reactions
Some reactions and free actions are triggered by a creature using an action with the move trait. The most notable example is Attack of Opportunity. Actions with the move trait can trigger reactions or free actions throughout the course of the distance traveled. Each time you exit a square (or move 5 feet if not using a grid) within a creature’s reach, your movement triggers those reactions and free actions (although no more than once per move action for a given reacting creature). If you use a move action but don’t move out of a square, the trigger instead happens at the end of that action or ability.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=446

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/10m037d/can_someone_clarify_this_question_in_the_rules/

Resources

Is it worth getting Intimidating Strike from the Fighter? I think it changes the build enough that you might not worry about CHA at all.