I was contemplating a character concept a few days ago (not that I have a campaign to play it in)- an elf sorcerer with a strong preference for illusion and enchantment spells. The roleplaying would consist of him being raised distant from even other elves, in a community more aligned with the fey than the elven courts. Sylvan would be his primary language, with Elven and Common, respectively, being increasingly difficult for him. An otherworldly sort of chaotic good alignment who, for some reason or the other, has taken to seeing the rest of the world beyond the forest.
And then I remembered the Wild Soul from the Complete Mage. Perfect!, I thought. But now that I've read over it again, I'm not so sure that it's really what I'm looking for. As a sorcerer, the hit of one spellcasting level is somewhat more pronounced. Also, I would be going Seelie with the class (as opposed to Unseelie); on the surface, this class looks like an excellent way to expand the magical versatility of a sorcerer. But, then again, some of the abilities didn't look that great. Remove fear is nice to have around, but overall leaves me with "meh." Tasha's hideous laughter is something I'd want to go ahead and pick up on my own, although I suppose I could choose other spells for 2nd level (but it just wouldn't feel right for the character). Invsibility is definitely something I'd want to take as a known spell, which would negate much of the benefit from invsibility sphere. The spells after that are actually pretty useful, but those first ones leave me a little stale, considering that I could also choose to simply stay a pure sorcerer.
It also came to my attention that the class is very good for conjuration-focused mages, which wouldn't be my main focus at all and I don't think I'd really like to burn a feat for Spell Focus (conjuration) and Augment Summoning. However, a large part of the PrC's benefits seem to come from this expanded summoning list.
Additionally, the Charisma skill increases sounded really awesome until I finished the sentence and discovered they only work when dealing with fey and magical beasts. I don't think I've ever made a social interaction roll with one of those, and while I'm sure if I played this character, situations would arise, it just doesn't seem that thrilling overall.
On the other hand, it fits perfectly with the character's background and story. It just seems that I would be sacrificing real power for the roleplaying, which isn't something I think a character should have to do. I would probably still take this PrC whenever I got around to making this character, but it just isn't as exciting as I first thought it would be.
This is all just idle discussion, but please, does anyone see this as a great choice? Or is it just a tiny step below par, build-wise?
Oh, additionally, I would be taking the Fey Heritage feat path from the same book.
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I'm in a similar situation with a character being designed to fit into the Forgottem Realms.
Marusha is a sorcerer from Rashemen, and she has the Ethran regional feat (as per PGFaerûn). While the character will eventually be aiming at high levels for the Hathran prestige class and membership in the Wychlaran/Witches of Rashemen (as per PGFaerûn and Unapproachable East), I wanted to focus first on her fey background. She is not half-fey, merely descended from such a person. (This suits the "nature spirit" focus in Rashemen.)
I first looked at the Fey bloodlines in Unearthed Arcana. While I like them, I was not interested in sacrificing caster levels as a sorcerer is already effectively one level behind a wizard when it comes to "spell level access".
My next ideas was to look at "the other fey bloodline", namely the one for sorcerers from a bloodline article in Dragon 311 (there was a follow-up article with other bloodlines in Dragon 325). It's a feat that is particularly good if taken at L 1. In return for removing from all one's spell lists any spells which create/control undead, one gets a _bonus_ spell known at each spell level: Detect secret doors, Glitterdust, Tongues, Hallucinatory terrain, Seeming, Mislead, Sequester, Otto's irresistable dance, and Wail of the banshee. Needless to say, I took the feat and ran with it.
But I wanted some more fey flavour for the character. The fey Heritage feats (Complete Mage) are interesting. Unfortunately, I didn't have that many feat slots to spare for Marusha because she also had to fulfill the requirements for the Hathran prestige class (Ethran and Leadership), plus be able to hit a target with ranged attacks in combat (Point-Blank Shot plus Precise Shot).
Finally, I looked at the Wild Soul (Complete Mage). Like you, I was initially enthused, but then eventually discouraged by the class' focus on summoning. The Seelie bond class feature only works while one has a summoned seelie ally, and Marusha is not designed to be a summoner. She has to be easy to run, and as the party's only arcane spellcaster, it is expected that she supply the artillery - Lightning bolt, Orb of acid, and the like.
So, I have two questions ...
Saern, how did you end up building your fey-influenced character? (As an aside, I would have suggested the Beguiler base class, from the PH 2, as a tricksy, charismatic, and enchanting arcane spellcaster with some useful Rogue abilities.)
And has anyone made a viable variation of the Wild Soul, one without a summoning focus?
I have looked at that PrC several times for a few different concepts. Every time I walk away thinking that while it does give some Fey feel to a character the PrC benefits really don't make it worth it. I could get just as much Fey feel from the Fey Heritage feats and get better results, but that's just my opinion.
Well, as to how I built the fey sorcerer... I didn't. The problem with the Wild Soul, IMO, isn't just its focus on summoning (more on that below...). It also has to do with the other class features it gets. This problem is widespread amongst such "thematic" PrC. Essentially, the problem is overlap. If I want to play a themed character, then I am going to take other options which coincide with that in addition to the PrC: options such as spells and feats. Especially since the PrC can't be attained until later levels, which only reinforces the probability that I will take said options at the lower levels. To then offer me those same options through the PrC is pointless.
A similar situation arises from PrC such as the Elemental Savant (Complete Arcane). You have to take Energy Substitution to gain access to the PrC, but the first class ability the Savant gets does the exact same thing! In the case of this strong PrC, I could see it as a balancing factor; but it's still annoying. Not only that, but one would think that a, say, air Savant would take spells like lightning bolt to represent their study/innate ability/whatever. But the smarter choice is to take something like fireball, which has nothing to do with the in-game study one would assume the class requires, and then use the feat or class ability to make it all sparky. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth and, in general, such PrCs strike me as being poorly conceptualized and/or designed.
Now, to return to the Wild Soul, the other problem is the summoning mentioned before. The logic appears to go like this: Wild Souls are fey themed. Fey are linked to nature. What else is linked to nature? Druids! Druids can spontaneously summon animals and elementals and such. Thus, Wild Souls shall, too.
Nevermind that fey are traditionally and mechanically far more oriented towards the subtle magic of the enchantment and illusion schools. Druids are actually a poor model for playing a fey character; they capture the wrath and fury and elemental power of nature, but not so much the "classical" spiritual side of it.
Anyway, that's enough ranting about the shortcomings of this and other PrCs. If the feat slots aren't going to work for you, then the best solution is probably just to choose the spells you desire and use them to accent and convey the fey side of the character. It's frustrating not to be able to fit all the options one wants into a character, especially when they are all appropriate and synergize and it's unlikely that one will play another such character and thereby get a chance to experiment with them again. But sometimes there's no other way... other than using the tremendous number of feats in the PFRPG, but I'm not sure I like that solution so much.
Honestly, while I do like the Wild Soul's summoning abilites, an overall better choice for the theme you've chosen is the Beguiler (Player's Handbook 2), particularly is you choose to play a Grey or Sun Elf (gnome make excellent Beguilers too, particularly as a lead-in to Shadowcraft Mage). Broad skill list with plenty of skill points, lots of charms and illusions, and useful class abilites. The tight-focus spell list might chafe with you a little but it isn't terrible (better than the Warmage's list, personally). Consider a 1-lvl dip into Mindbender (Complete Arcane) to make the most of Advanced Learning.
A lot of people underate bards, too, which would also fit your theme, though I'd definately be aiming at levels in Lyric Thaumaturge (Complete Mage) and/or Sublime Chord (Complete Arcane).
I don't have Complete Mage so I don't know if Wild Soul is a PrC or a new core class. If you're looking for more Fey-linked goodness, though, I highly recommend the Fey Enchantress(er) PrC from Relics & Rituals: Excalibur.
The class has abilities such as:
Fey Glamour - +1 to Charisma-based checks
Disguise Self
Unravel Enchantment
Power of Persuasion
Slippery Mind
Charming Gaze
Obviously, the class is inspired by Morgan La Fey. It's a 10-level PrC. As a general rule, I'm pretty choosy when it comes to PrCs, but I think this is one of the best ones out there. IMO, it does what a PrC is supposed to do.