I was wondering if it was possible to make a character in Pathfinder that could not only survive at level 20 (against CR-appropriate encounters) without any magical gear whatsoever, but would be able to pull its own weight in a party of (otherwise standard) adventurers. It doesn't have to be optimized, it just has to be be able to survive and pass as an adequate member of the team.
Can it be done? What would the build be like? Consider this a challenge.
I was thinking that a sorcerer might be able to pull it off since their magic isn't truly reliant on anything but themselves.
Also, would you consider a spellbook magical? :P
if 3.5 and book of exalted deeds is allowed, the vow of poverty feat replaces all magic gear if I recall right.
It's the "CR-appropriate" part that really makes the character a drain on the party.
By definition, a PC of 20th-level is assumed to have level-appropriate gear as part of CR calculations. Obviously a 20th-level character can survive a lot, but as for pulling their own weight in a party of other characters who do not suffer such a restriction ... I'd say no.
Now, as was mentioned, certain classes suffer less. However, I can say for certain that PCs can survive to level 20 and far beyond with far less than what WBL says they ought to have. According to the WBL chart, a level 20 PC should have 880,000gp of gear on average.
I know of a party with an average level about three times that that has perhaps half that WBL. They do fine. And of course CR calculations went out the window a long time ago.
a munchkin would come with a synthesist, as his Eidolon has the gear on, not him.
but as this wasn't what you wanted, I would go with a very summoning optimized wizard (or any other class for that matter), the summons use their own ability scores for casting, it's versatile, the wizard has utility spells for flying for example.
Other combat spells chosen for those that don't allow a saving throw, perhaps a few rays of something.
He will have a hard time, and his saves and AC will be abysmal, but if you fight against ennemies that concentrate on the fighter, you should be able to contribute meaningfully to the party.
The biggest problem will be the saves in my opinion, you'll need a lot of spellcasting to help against that. Perhaps use a witch for cure + summoning + that hex that helps your saves and spells that buff your ability scores.
Edit: spellbook shines no aura, so mundane in my opinion, but I think I read somewhere that maybe the ink used to inscribe was magical (thus the cost for inscribing spells).
Empyreal sorcerer 8/cleric 2/theurge 10. Buff and support master with time stop. Magical lineage/ heighten spell to solve cleric 2. No stat items make wizard/cleric hard to pull of.
rethinking the problem, I realize that you can have mundane stuff, thus just hire mages to cast all the buffs there are on you, which should make up for your usual gear, you might run out of money after a month but the usual adventure only lasts a few weeks anyway, go nuts with whatever build you want.
Do you want no magic gear, or true poverty? If you just want to be able to walk around naked, you might want blow your WBL on stat books, or things like having permanency cast a bunch of times with various spells. This will help compensate for the lack of traditional gear.
You could also specialize in the out of combat side of things. Be the bard that knows everyone and everything, loved by all. Spend fights buffing and hiding in the back. And when you head back to town strut your stuff. There is more that happens in Pathfinder then occurs on the combat grid; own that side of the game.
Vow of poverty (Ultimate Magic variant, *not* the Exalted one) monk. Obviously :)