The concept is a non-verbal elven child refugee who has unlocked latent magical abilities at an early age due to the horrors she has experienced. She is young (non-negotiable, there is a very maternal player in our group I intend to latch onto for protection ;D), untrained, and can either turn on the puss-in-boots eyes to convince people to protect her, or ramp up the creepy child-in-a-horror-movie vibe to convince enemies to stay away (intimidate).
She's escaping ethnic cleansing/genocide after a city in our campaign was taken over by human supremacists - everyone she knew is probably dead. She's stayed alive so far due to her magical abilities, latching onto other people as protectors, possibly with the help of a familiar (I've never actually played a character with an animal companion, never mind a familiar, so not sure how that would work!). She can be fiercely devoted to people helping her or who she has decided she likes, but also a little cruel or gleeful about eliminating threats. She's partially still in that child stage where she's a little low on empathy, and partially hardened by the cruelty she's witnessed - definitely not evil, but has a bit of a dark side when her group is threatened (again).
I suppose I'm picturing her hiding behind our momma-alchemist's robes, giving enemies stink-eye and giggling when that sets them on fire :)
If pushed, she could also be capable of pain hexes and some seriously creepy stuff. (If this tiny elf kid ends up with more intimidate points than our barbarian, so much the better ;D ) She would also be interested in protecting the party - heals, buffs, that sort of thing. I like the idea of a tiny ragged child throwing around mischievous/creepy/slightly dark hexes, fire spells, weird things like prehensile hair, and protecting/healing/buffing the other party members when the chips are down.
My GM is to a certain extent willing to bend the rules, so long as it's for flavour and not to build a game-breaking/lime-light-hogging character. I could probably get away with using spells that technically require a verbal component with a non-verbal character, for example, so long as it wouldn't FEEL broken in play.
The rest of my party is a little min-max-y, so I can't go tooo concept-over-punch without being left behind in terms of usefulness. This is mostly why I need advice when going into a class/archetype I haven't used before. I'd like to be effective from the go while still staying true to the concept if I can.
I'm starting her at level 5, and will level slowly, but we're in it for the long haul.
This is probably the most useful guide I've found so far - http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=480.0 - but I'm still a bit stuck. Is there an archetype I should go for? What about a patron? How could I play the prepared spells I could get with this? Is there even another class out there that's closer to what I want?
Any advice very much appreciated!!!
Witches don't really get much in the way of evocation spells so silently setting people on fire by giving them evils my be hard xD
They also don't cast without verbal components typically.
The closest thing to that I would say is probably the psychic as Mr. Pitt said, however you could try a conversion of a witch into a witch that used psychic casting so you keep hexes, I don't really think it would brake anything particularly.
Vengeance might be a good patron for you if you do stick with the witch, pain strike and fire spell for you.
Evil eye, cackle, misfortune and fortune are all pretty basic hexes that fit your concept, cackle could be re-skinned as giggle. Agony and Retribution might be good picks for major hexes, Agony is particularly nasty if you haven't already picked up slumber.
Check out Variant Multiclassing from Pathfinder Unchained; it allows you to trade out half of your feats for class features from another class. In this instance you would use VMC oracle to get the Deaf Curse, allowing all of your spells to be cast silently. There is an NPC in Jade Regent book 1 that has a mute curse that might work even better, but I don't think Paizo ever published a full write up for it, so you would have to work with your GM to figure out how it evolved as you level up.
Curse: Mute. You cant Speak, use verbal components, or any effect that requires you to vocalize(such as cackle, or Bardic song) you can cast all spells as if using the silent spell metamagic feat without modifying the spell level. in addition you can communicate telepathically with any creature you are in physical contact with. You can also maintain a telepathic bond with one specific creature at a time by taking a full round action to link your Mind to a creature you are in current telepathic contact with.
You might consider just looking into the oracle class for your concept, as that is CHA based and can very much lend itself to the Creepy child touched by otherworldly forces theme you seem to be going for here. However, if you want to stay a witch, and be able to intimidate/diplomacize, you should be aware that there are 3 traits that allow some CHA based skills to be based off INT, Bruising Intellect(Intimidate is based off Int), Pragmatic Activator(Use Magic Device is Based off Int) and Clever Wordplay(ANY Cha based skill is now based off Int)
As far as Patrons go, it really depends on what bonus spells you want Theamatically Vengeance, Revenge(Yes those are two different patrons, don't ask me why), Nightmares or Portents could all be appropriate.
Sorry for the wall of text, hope some of it was helpful
I've had a look at the Psychic class - this could possibly work, although adding the creepy/manipulative child factor would probably come less naturally - hexes are rather flavourful in that way since many of them seem to be things a child could quite easily wish on someone without being quite as cognisant of the mechanics of their own magic use. I might try putting a Psychic version together in the Pathbuilder app if it will let me, though, possibly a Sorcerer or Oracle too.
'Verbal component' mechanics-wise - could I simply switch to humming or giggling as a source of focus or something over using actual words? Perhaps that's a simple patch I've overlooked. Then a target being unable to hear me, or my own voice being magically muffled, or something of the like, could disrupt the spell anyway. It would remain the same in effect if not RP?
It's definitely more that she doesn't wish to speak than that she's mute. I'm toying with the idea of having her regain a bit of speech further down the line if things are going well for her. But certainly not to begin with - non-language sounds only. It will make me communicate with other players in quite a different way, which I think could be quite fun.
Using Bruising Intellect or Clever Wordplay sounds very helpful mechanics-wise, although I suppose is a bit of a fudge if she doesn't actually speak - not quite in the spirit of the trait as intended? I'm not sure if that bothers me or not tbh.
Thanks for all the ideas!!
Another thought - what if instead of her actually speaking for casting hexes/spells, strange whispering voices seem to come from thin air around her? Creepy as. Is there an oracle thing that might do this?
Or perhaps I could just 'make it so'. If it wouldn't change the mechanics of the game, I can't imagine it being a problem.
Can anyone think of any circumstances in which that could accidentally create some kind of hack?
There is an oracle curse called haunted which doesn't do that at all but the idea of scary whispers surrounding you would work with haunted xD
I don't see why you couldn't flavor her verbal components as little creepy mumbling.
Using a haunting spirit for my casting gestures seems like it could get complicated, although I like the idea.
Thinking about it, I suppose I had imagined that the uncertainty over whether the child is actually casting or not, or at least about the extent of her powers, would be part of the flavour of it. She would be easily underestimated, but then probably more intimidating once magical power has been undeniably demonstrated, since if she can do *that* thing we didn't expect, what else can she do? Also, things happening unexpectedly if no-one notices her clearly casting away. She would unnerve even her allies a little bit, even if they were strongly attached to her sweet side.
But, clearly, that would give my character an advantage they probably shouldn't have if they CAN conceal that they're casting.
Perhaps I could simply try and conceal in play any casting as irrelevant childish babble/actions/humming - or unintelligible creepy mumblings, per Chromantic Durgon's comment, which would leave it up to the viewer whether I'm casting or just a bit weird. Perhaps Bluff checks for it? Or other mechanics to make something like this less special-snowflake-special-power?
I do think it would be fun if the other players have to work a bit to figure out what I can or can't do, what exactly my powers are, even my class. My character certainly isn't offering any explanations :P
But I have limited experience with spellcasting and am not sure how broken that might be.
(On a similar note, I had already considered flavouring her 'preparing spells' (if in the final version that's something she has to do) as playing with a familiar or toy/amulet and envisioning things she would like to be capable of or has managed in the past.)
Apologies for the text-dumps.
Honestly trying to write this stuff down helps clarify it for me (if no one else!!) so I hope you guys don't mind.
This might interest you
don't think the flavor fits too well though http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/conceal-spell/
I can confirm that changing a witch's casting to psychic instead of arcane isn't at all game-breaking - I've been playing just that in a Wrath of the Righteous game. She's built using the ley line guardian archetype, which makes the casting spontaneous instead of prepared and takes away the familiar (both of which sound like they'd fit right in with what you're going for). You'll have a sorcerer's spells per day on top of hexes, so it makes being young less detrimental.
If that doesn't float your boat, I thought pretty strongly upon reading the concept of the mesmerist or psychic from Occult Adventures. This concept screams an occult class of some sort, so I'd check that book out and see what it could do for you.
Taking Deceitful and Conceal Spell feats could work mechanics-wise, although using up two feats on this specific thing could be unwise. I'll talk to my GM about using secret Bluff checks - how much he likes the concept will probably determine how far I get with that. Then again, Disguise and other deceit abilities could have helped her escape a human supremacist take-over, so wouldn't really be out-of-character to invest in provided I can still make it a balanced and useful build.
Not sure how to weigh this up against using the Silent Spell feat near-constantly? Will have to actually mock up a spell list and see what kind of hit I'd have to take in practice with that I think.
Just had a closer look at the Ley Lines witch archetype - that could work, I think! I wasn't anticipating having particularly good Fort saves, which could cause a problem with using Conduit Surge, but I could try and put together a build with that in mind. It doesn't say anything about that archetype using psychic/non-verbal casting where I'm looking - http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/witch/archetypes/paizo-witch-a rchetypes/ley-line-guardian-witch-archetype/ - though. Is that just something you did in-game, Rennaivx, without it seeming broken?
As much as I was curious about trying a familiar, sorcerer abilities certainly seem sensible. Having had a quick play with an LLG in Pathbuilder, I seem to be giving up a familiar and two hexes for sorcerer-style casting and some extra spell slots for those? (Plus Conduit Surge.) That doesn't seem like a bad option...
I'm actually very curious about the Mesmerist class as well, though! That's a class I've never played alongside, but reading it I think it could work just as well :O Psychic seems overcomplicated and less inherently unnerving, so I might park that for another time, but a version of a Mesmerist as a still-somewhat-innocent but scarred and manipulative child could be very interesting indeed...
Re: Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter... Okay, I have to admit, I don't have much idea what this would mean in practice. I've read about metamagic abilities but I've never used them... I don't think...
Thanks all for the input - think I'll sleep on it and try putting some builds on paper in the morning! :) If anyone's interested I can publish what I finally put together, though god knows how long it will take me to perfect it :P
Constant silent spell does not sound like a good idea you wouldn't be able to cast level two spells until level 5.
I think the psychic/none verbal casting thing is something they homebrewed from what I can tell.
Word of warning on the Mesmerist, at the early levels you will not have the spells to contribute consistently on an average adventure day if you only cast. The class is designed with 3/4 BAB and a damage booster build in for a reason.
Psychics are really simple whats messing you up with them? Those traits mean you pick one spell and it counts as 1 level lower for metamagic puporses. So you apply Intensify spell (+1 spell level) to a fireball (level 3) with magical Lineage attached. The fireball counts as level 2 for meta purposes so with the +1 from intensify it uses a level 3 spell slot.
with prepared casters you have to prepare spells metamagicked ahead of time.
Yes, psychic casting was a GM-approved change I made to the archetype. (Although, frankly, I was kind of surprised it didn't come with psychic casting in the first place, considering it's from Occult Adventures and the flavor is perfect.) And yes, you give up a familiar and two hexes for spontaneous casting, more spell slots, and Conduit Surge. Not a bad trade overall, especially since me and prepared casting don't get along.