In this series, we recreate a character from our favorite works in Pathfinder Second Edition.
This installment’s character: Varric Tethras, from the Dragon Age franchise!
Pathfinder Second Edition (“2E”) continues Pathfinder’s great tradition of heavily customizable characters. In that spirit, we’ll recreate characters from other media in 2E rules.
Each build will stick to a few rules:
- It will be at the lowest level needed to achieve some core aspect
- It won’t use setting-specific options unless it achieves some core aspect
- It will use only official Pathfinder 2E content
If you have any character’s you’d like to see converted, let me know!
Check out the last Cloning Factory subject: Emily Kaldwin!
The Goal
Varric Tethras is a central companion in Dragon Age II and dragon Age Inquisition, the second and third core games in the Dragon Age franchise. In both, Varric is a golden-hearted, silver-tongued ally, wielding knowledge and a dwarven crossbow named Bianca. As a dwarf in the setting, Varric is resistant to magic and incapable of performing any himself. As a surface dwarf, he is much less bound by code and tradition than his kin. As a character, Varric is a novelist, informant, businessman, and marksman in equal measure. But above all else, he is an encouraging friend. We’ll emulate all of these traits in his build.
The Build
Ancestry
Unsurprisingly, Varric is a Dwarf. This grants him a bonus to CON and WIS, as well as a free bonus we’ll apply to INT. In Dragon Age, all dwarves are resistant to magic. As such, the Ancient-Blooded heritage is perfect for Varriv. It grants him a reaction which he can use to shrug off magical effects. Unlike his brother Bartrand, Varric was born a surface dwarf and has happily remained so his entire life. Because of this, the Surface Culture ancestry feat is perfect. It will provide training in the Society feat as well as giving him the Additional Lore skill feat in his dwarven culture.
As we carry on through the levels, our ancestry feat selections will resemble this:
- 1st: Surface Culture
- 5th: Stonecunning
- 9th: Kneel for No God
Background
While Varris is many things, up until the beginning of Dragon Age II (and for some time throughout), he was mostly eyes and ears in the streets. While Bartrand ran the business, Varric was responsible for cultivating a network of lowlifes and connections that would keep danger off their backs and food on their plate as the brothers ran their latest scheme. For this reason, the Charlatan background fits perfectly. We’ll apply its bonus to DEX and CHA, and thoroughly enjoy the Charming Liar feat it provides, as well as the free training in Diplomacy.
Class
Varric’s main combat function is to shoot enemies full of crossbow bolts. The Ranger is the best class for such an activity. However, the heavy crossbow’s reload time means that Varric generally won’t get more than one shot off per round. With the Precision Hunter’s Edge, he can get the most out of it by piling some precision damage on. But Varric is not only good at shooting things; he’s good at talking his way through nearly any problem. We’ll need skills to do that, so we’ll grab the Rogue dedication to do so.
Between these two, Varric’s class feats will focus on empowering his crossbow usage and improving his skills.
- 1st: Crossbow Ace
- 2nd: Hunter’s Aim
- 4th: Running Reload
- 6th: Rogue Dedication
- 8th: Sneak Attacker
- 10th: Skill Mastery
Skills
Varric prefers to solve problems with guile and conversation, rather than combat. To that end, the skills and skill feats we’ll select will emphasize Varric’s ability to talk his way out of almost any situation. By 10th level, Varric will have the following proficiencies:
- Master: Dwarven Sub-Culture Lore; Performance (Oratory works best for Varric!)
- Expert: Deception, Diplomacy, Society
- Trained: Acrobatics, Athletics, Crafting, Intimidation, Nature, Stealth, Survival, Thievery, Underworld Lore
To play up his silver-tongue and mercantile history, we’ll grab the following skill feats:
- Background: Charming Liar
- 2nd: Bargain Hunter
- 3rd: (General) Fascinating Performance
- 4th: Hobnobber
- 6th: Virtuosic Performer
- 7th: Quick Coercion
- 8th: Confabulator
- 10th: Group Impression
The below stat block does not include any magic items. Feel free to outfit Varric with the equipment that works best for your campaign.
Bianca’s locked and loaded. A more skills-focused build might swap Ranger and Rogue, making the former the dedication and the latter the primary class. There are some neat opportunities in the Rogue’s agility, but the Ranger is best-suited to make the most of the heavy crossbow while still allowing the feat flexibility to make Varric great at all that he should be. Try out the builds that work best for you and make a story worth telling.
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