okay, this idea is reeeaallly half-formed in my head, and it could use a lot of minds looking at it to help out.
I want to use the mesmerist class to make a 'magic spy', someone who can
* steal something undetected
* cast spells unnoticed
* hide their true identity
* do sneaky things to help in combat
Things I've thought about so far
* race: kitsune, because they get a nice DC boost and the feat Realistic Likeness
* the mesmerist trick fearsome guise for an unlimited duration disguise self
* the feat Conceal Spell, along with spells like charm person or detect thoughts
What I need help with
* any way to boost the trapfinding of a mesmerist. I'm sure that'll be important if I'm sneaking around somewhere invisible
* ways to help with Conceal Spell. I'm already ahead of the game because my spells don't have verbal or somatic components, but any Bluff skill boosts won't help. Bold stares allure or infiltration can help vs. Perception, but susceptibility won't help vs. Sense Motive (Conceal Spell's check isn't an opposed check, unless it is), but I don't know of a bold stare or other sneaky thing to knock down a target's Spellcraft checks
* some way to contribute during combat that's sufficiently 'sneaky'. For instance, good as it is, Divine Fighting Technique (Desna) is out, because the first thing someone's going to ask is, 'Why does that adventuring party have so many different people who fight with starknives so prettily?'
* anything else! archetypes, different races, fun spells, interesting feat combinations, dirty tricks, the works. PFS-compatible would be nice, but not required.
Pathfinder is clearly not optimized to make this character (compared to a high DPR barbarian). If it wasn't hard, I wouldn't be thinking about it!
If you're not playing PFS Cunning Caster is a better feat than Conceal Spell. Among other things, your Bluff bonuses will count.
If you want to be very sneaky the Enigma archetype would suit you; if you want to do especially sneaky things in combat then the Vexing Daredevil archetype might be better.
Disarming magic traps might be doable with dispel magic (ask your GM.) If not then you need either a particular trait from an adventure path, or a level dip in any of the many classes/archetypes which get trapfinding.
Apport Object would be good for theft out of combat, Pilfering Hand for theft in combat. Placebo Effect will be useful if you get shaken & so unable to cast most psychic spells. Color Spray and Glitterdust are your best attack spells early on. Draconic Malice lets you use fear effects against creatures immune to fear & mind-affecting - which matters because most of what a mesmerist can do is mind-affecting.
Play a Bluff Monkey. Take Deceitful and Skill Focus (Bluff). By 5th level, your Bluff will be something like (+3 class +4 Cha +5 ranks +2 Deceitful +3 Skill Focus +5 Mesmerist) = +22. Meanwhile you have (+3 class +4 Cha +5 ranks +2 Deceitful) = +14 Disguise, which stacks with your Disguise Self from Fearsome Guise. So you won't have too much trouble getting in wherever you need to go.
At 10th level your Bluff will be an eye-watering +40 or so, and that's before you apply Bluff-specific magic items, short-term Cha buffs, and the like. At this point you can tell completely outrageous and nonsensical lies and -- under RAW -- be absolutely believed. Basically you get to warp reality with your tongue. In spy terms, it almost doesn't matter any more if you're caught sneaking into the king's treasure vault: your Bluff is so high that you can convince the guards you're the vault repairman, or for that matter convince the king that you're really his long-lost brother.
Deceitful lets you take Cunning Caster. By 5th level you'll pretty much always win contested rolls, so nobody will ever realize it's you casting the spells. So if this is a character you're planning to actually play, as opposed to theorycrafting, I wouldn't waste one of your precious Bold Stare slots on one of the stares that damages enemy perception rolls. -2 or -3 is just not that big a deal when you're adding +2 every time you level up; you're going to rapidly outstrip all plausible enemy perception rolls. Anyway: take one of the Four Excellent Stares and don't worry about anyone seeing through you.
If you're seriously going to be a spy, throw some ranks at Escape Artist and take the Slip Bonds trick. That's a one-play Get Out Of Jail Free card to escape bonds or a grapple: pretty useful for a spy.
Contributing in combat: well, you have a lot of options. Are you trying to help a melee buddy? You have a bunch of tricks that can do that, plus Painful Stare. If you really want to help, take Disorientation as your first Bold Stare: -2 on one enemy's attacks, very nice. Then at 7th level take Demoralizing Stare. This allows a save (boo) but the target is already affected by your stare, so it saves at -2 or -3. If it fails, it's Shaken, which means it's now at -4 or -5 on attack rolls... and -2 on all saves... and a whopping -5 on Will saves! And of course you should be investing in save-or-suck spells targeting Will.
Doug M.
Okay, let's try putting something together
race: Kitsune
traits: Adopted (Varisian Tattoo), Mutant Eye
class: mesmerist 11
abilities
Str 6, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 18
Feats
1 Divine Fighting Technique (Desna) (+1 atk/+6 dmg over Weapon Finesse is too good to pass up)
3 Improved Feint
5 Deceitful
7 Conceal Spell (trying for PFS legal, I know)
9 toss up between Greater Feint (for the team) or Mesmerizing Feint (to feint weird critters). probably Greater Feint
11 toss up between Excoriating Stare (for another -2) or Improved Conceal Spell (to make that better). Probably Excoriating Stare
Stares
3 Disorientation
7 Infiltration
11 Susceptibility
Tricks
1 Fearsome guise (so, I can disguise myself as joe schmoe while secretly being a tattooed Varisian while secretly being a 3-eyed fox person)
2,4,6,8,10 no idea!
So, I can have all kinds of roguey things to do in combat (feinting, stare damage, star damage), I've got loads of magic disguises and I can always try to cast charm person or detect thoughts on the sly, and I can try for a nasty lockdown with disorientation/shaken/sickened.
How's that? What other mesmerist tricks would be good? I'd focus on tricks to give other teammates, because I'd usually want a fearsome guise on myself.
Compel Alacrity will often be good. Reflection of Weakness (or Mask Misery from 6th level) might be popular with your friends too. Astounding Avoidance is another one which would be good in the right situation.
Chain of Eyes should be useful to a spy and while you might never use Unwitting Messenger it seems like something a spy should have. I wouldn't mention it except that you'll likely have enough options to buff your friends with the other tricks anyway.
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