well - with the GenCon boon out I think we'll see more Samsarans.
Samsaran is not all that great from a game mechanics aspect until you add the PFS approved Mythic Past Life, then it can be interesting. I'm not sure it still measures up to an aasimar as +2 Ability from the get go is about $4000 worth of bonus.
Shards of the Past (Ex): A samsaran's past lives grant her bonuses on two particular skills. A samsaran chooses two skills—she gains a +2 racial bonus on both of these skills, and they are treated as class skills regardless of what class she actually takes.
Mythic Past Life (Su): You can add spells from another spellcasting class to the spell list of your current spellcasting class. You add a number of spells equal to 1 + your spellcasting class's key ability score bonus (Wisdom for clerics, and so on). The spells must be the same type (arcane or divine) as the spellcasting class you're adding them to. For example, you could add divine power to your druid class spell list, but not to your wizard class spell list because divine power is a divine spell. These spells do not have to be spells you can cast as a 1st-level character. The number of spells granted by this ability is set at 1st level. Changes to your ability score do not change the number of spells gained. This racial trait replaces shards of the past.
so you lose 2 skills (ha - as if skill points grew on trees) and you can pick up 4-6 spells from other casters using the same type of list (Arcance, Divine, Psychic). I separated out Psychic as a new list as their mechanic is different and it avoids the words Arcane and Divine in the descriptions and uses Psychic instead. That's pretty clear RAW.
As an arcane spellcaster, it's pretty clear you can add to your spell list(poach) Bard, Magus, Alchemist, Sorcerer/Wizard, Summoner, Witch, and various hybrid class lists. Nobody argues about spells that aren't currently on your list.
Can you take the same spell that already on your list? Yes (until campaign leadership says no). For some reason I think the racial supernatural feat is supposed to be an advantage. The arguments against this are faulty as the term "add" is pretty clear. Having a spell by the same name twice on your spell list is not forbidden. You may have Stoneskin as a 3rd and 4th level spell. Which one you memorize is up to you... there's nothing to prohibit you from adding a higher level spell that's already on your list (for a free Heighten metamagic effect! lol) either but people seem to be smart enough to avoid that.
What created the fire in PFS was the APG Summoner having some spells 2 levels early... yes that was a bit too much and home GMs could fix this, but with the advent of the Unchained Summoner that is fixed. The change meant the Summoner's spell list changed to the Unchained Summoner. Done.
How much (what levels) to poach
PFS only generally plays to 12th level, going above 4th level spells means you won't see that bonus for a loooong time. So from a practical perspective I'd say choose wisely from 1-4th level spells. Could you retrain the Mythic Past Life? yeah... $10*Lvl*20 & 20PP (from PFSRPGGG), it might be cheaper to kill yourself. You could use a rebuild boon to do it. So it's just impractical unless this character is your baby and you GM at GenCon/PaizoCon.
Choose spell levels 1,2,3,4 and then maybe 2,3 again. Why? Well let's face it - these are important spells, you are going to want to put metamagic on them and/or cast them often. Otherwise why do it? Secondly you to save on spell levels for the frequently cast items.
What to poach
For arcane casters, spell choice will rely on opposed schools (avoidance) and feat choices(preference).
Divine casters, Clerics/Paladins, have spell alignment to consider. etc.
so you can tack on some spell choices, just remember to use;
ARCANE Lowest Spell Level;{return}
{Spell name} {Class}{#}; etc or
DIVINE Lowest Spell Level;{return}
{Spell name} {Class}{#}; etc
Traits... yes, Magical Lineage(1st or 2nd level spell), and Wayang Spellhunter(1-3rd level spell). I think those are tasteful choices and spellhunter is okay for someone with a past lives. Yes, I prefer legitimate cheese.
Feats... well normally I rely on the Guide to the Class Guides(out of date)... but for casters who gimped Str but still have Dex I'd suggest Weapon Finesse. Your to hit goes up by 2-4 points. It might be important if someone winds up in your face and you do want to live to 5th level...
If you gimped Str & Dex for Con then you're all out defensive and should choose Toughness (maximize your choices) along with (2) Tonfa (for that +1+1=+2 AC while fighting defensively as you are battle incompetent and it doesn't matter if you hit... it's all about your AC and not being hit (you're only gonna hit on a "20" anyways).
Schools: Abj(A), Divn(D), Conj(C), Ench(E), Evoc(V), Illu(I), Necro(N), Trans(T), Air, Eth, Fir, Mtl, Vod, Wtr, Wod.
ARCANE Lowest Spell Level;
1: Wpn Wand(T) Magus 1; Cure Lgt Wnd(C) Alch/Wtch 1; Ill Omen(E) Wtch 1; Neg Aroma(T) Alch 1.
2: Barkskin(T) Alch/UCSumnr 2; Abltv Barr(C) UCSumnr 2; Beast Spk(T) Wtch 2; Dth Knell(N) Wtch 2; Ironskin(T) Wtch 2; Phan Steed(I) UCSumnr 2.
3: Stoneskin(A) UCSumnr 3, Hellfire(?); Ctrl Sum 3(C) Bard/UCSumnr 3; Resil Resrv(A) Magus 3.
4: Stoneskin Cmnl(A) UCSumnr 4; Dth Ward(A) Alch/Wtch 4; Free Mov(A) Alch/Bard 4; Wreath Blds(A) BldRgr/Magus 4; Caustic Blood(T) Alch/BldRgr/Magus 4.
details, details...
in the paizo community / off-topic discussions board, not in the FAQs or PFS boards
James Jacobs 11-15-2012 in Off-Topic Discussions board on the question of;
> does the ability only allow you to take spells from ONE other class, as by RAW the only limitation is Arcane or Divine?
Replied, Just one other class. Again... unless you have a generous GM.
> does this allow you take early entry into spells by taking something like Haste as a 2nd level spell, since Summoners get it at that point?
Replied, It would indeed let you do that, but the spell still functions as a lower level spell...
there will be some GM table variance depending on how expansive the reading of the board postings are. In general PFS is a social game and the GMs are generous to conservative.
anyway - I think including all the classes in the spell lists would prove helpful to sort the list by class if needed.
As an anecdote and so you're not just stuck talking to yourself...
I made my Samsaran a Priest of Razmir.
Razmir grants all spells.
He is a witch with some spells from the bard list.
Mystic Past Life Spells:
2: Gallant Inspiration
3: Glibness, Good Hope
4: Echolocation
5: Bard's Escape
Solid Note (bard 1) almost made the cut.
Also you have a bunch of spells listed as USummoner but using the old summoner level. Also Alchemists are not arcane casters.
yep - I didn't have a chance to track down Alchemist at the time as I was just popping off some spells to consider in the original post (which I duplicated here) which is specifically why I listed other arcane casters on spells that I listed. Negate Aroma was the only one and it was pretty much a don't care. hmmm... I did try and use the UC Sumnr levels - you can blame the webpage which shall d20 remain nameless.
I just wanted some examples before people posted stuff in whatever format sprung to mind at the moment. so thinking ahead there.
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Some of the questions you asked in your opening post, are not PFS specific questions, thus the rules team would be responsible for answering them (a FAQ able thread would be an option).
And as your mentioned, the boon was apparently only given out to Gen con GMs, so the pool of people who can actually create such a character is currently quite limited. People might become more interested in the topic once the boon has a higher circulation.
Regarding the early entry issue, I really don't think that was the intention when they wrote it, but I have no clear reason argue that it is not possible.
Some of your other examples however could make a good chase to get the racial removed or severely limited for PFS play. And I am pretty sure, that the same old discussion will come up if certain spells are on a class spell list if they can be accessed by a partron/domain (I personally don't think so, but I am not aware of a FAQ in that area either).
Why don't you post a couple of attractive sample characters, that show how awesome this option can be.
EDIT: Btw Ironskin was banned relatively recently, I was not aware of the spell until it was banned, but banning seems to have been the right call here.
Sebastian, I'm hoping to;
1) get some spell lists with classes and spell levels so people can make those decisions on their own.
2) list info in one spot so there less running about on the message boards. So provide something useful (uphill battle <grin>).
3) avoid divining intent, RAI, calls to ban something that's been going for 3 years and a corner case for GM babies in PFS.
4) just work within the PFS rules as they exist today and are commonly interpreted & implemented. I'm somewhat impartial and list arguments for various positions. I will state which I think has a better argument/case. This helps other GMs make their own informed decision for their own gray areas.
In my spell searches I didn't see more than a one level shift in Spell level and only listed spells I thought were interesting. I did not scan everything, mainly keyword pairs "Magus {I}", "Witch {I}", "UCSummoner {I}", AND "Sorcerer/Wizard {I+1 or I+2}", where I=1,2,3,4. which was actually rather thorough for Arcane lists. That's why I was surprised at Robert's last comment (as you notice Haste is NOT on my list as UCSumnr fixed that).
I did read Ironskin and choose Barkskin in my character design. Ironskin gives higher bonuses compared to Barkskin (+1 to +2 over the levels) at 1/10th the duration, thus not as useful overall. I'm surprised it was banned but that's not my decision.
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There's plenty of ways to powergame with it but I've found that the Samsaran Mystic Past Life racial trait is absolutely amazing for enabling a character idea that just doesnt work any other way.
I've seen a couple of "performing/inspiring" arcane class's like Rob's. A fast-talking, very social Magus was one of them with a spell list similar to Rob's (with a little more focus on misdirection and confusing). Also a cleric of Gozreh who wanted to be able to control the weather in many ways and was able to add druid spells that he didn't get from domains to his spell list.