Toppling Spell and Magic Missile. Dazing Spell and Fireball. Confusion, Murderous Command, Aphasia, Hideous Laughter, Touch of Idiocy, Unnatural Lust... Basically, cherry pick from the Enchantment list for the most fun.
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Don't forget the possibility of a level or two in Monk. Evasion, bonus feats, and most importantly extra AC.
Also, the Occultist doesn't work, as it doesn't cast Arcane spells, it casts Psychic spells.
Befriend a dragon or three. White if you're evil, Silver if you're good. Hire them to guard your fortress in the Crown of the World. For the fortress itself, setup teleportation circles from a safe location only you know about into your fortress so you don't have to traverse the cold desert to get there. The fortress itself is under a permanent Endure Elements spell (via magic item). Walls and doors made of Adamantine or Living Steel. In between the outer wall and inner wall have a foot of lead throughout the entire fortress. Since your guard(s) are dragons, find magic means to float the entire fortress in the sky so regular ground forces can't attack your fortress directly.
Kobold Synthesist Summoner wearing a Dragon Eidolon suit. I've never done this, but I've always wanted to. Your penalties to Strength and Con don't matter -as- much, and you don't get any penalties to mental stats which are all you carry with you into the Eidolon anyway.
I believe that as the creator of a construct you have control over it, but I may be wrong.
Another option for the wheelchair that might be doable: Build it, or have someone build it, in game. Craft Construct and the Craft skill could both be used. If the character is something like a wizard or has access to a wizard, then you could start with an armchair, add wheels, and cast Animate Object for a self-propelling wheelchair.
If you think about the modern world, your typical mortal is an NPC class, and even your most highly trained are 3-5th level and probably Fighters and Rogues and the like, at best. In absolutely no shape to fight off demonic threats at all. That is enough reason to keep it secret from humanity. It is not, yet, their fight. As for how, it could be what the modern world sees as "natural disasters". Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Floods, all of these could be the doings of powerful magic and/or simply powerful beings. There are probably those who know, but also know that the rest of the world shouldn't, and help to keep the rest of us in the dark. Look to World of Darkness for ideas as to how this happens.
What about Cleric with a single level in Sensei Monk to showcase White Mage's time spent with Black Belt? (Pulling mostly from 8-Bit there, of course). Wisdom to AC when unarmored, inspire courage like a Bard, and all your Cleric-y goodness, only offset by a level.
The one two punch... Witch focused heavily on Slumber Hex paired with a heavy hitter that can crit for high damage. Or, alternatively, two divine casters with access to the Repose Domain. One staggers the enemy, the other puts them to sleep.
Seems like you might've already made a choice, but I'm going to add in another option here. If you're looking for Knowledge skills and damage dealing, I would personally go Inquisitor. Pick your domain or Inquisition (I'd choose the latter) to fit your style, though my favorites are the social skill ones (Heresy and Conversion).
Either a Reach Cleric or a Summoning Cleric seems like it would do wonders here, perhaps even both with Sacred Summons.
If you want showy, flashy and entertaining, Dawnflower Dervish Bard. Dawnflower Dervish over Dervish Dancer because while both versions of Performance only affect you, the Dawnflower Dervish doubles the bonuses. Depending on your GMs interpretation of Dervish Dance, there is something a bit tricky you can do, that I feel also fits the flashy, showy side of this, and I've seen in action at my own weekly game. Levels in Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger, using a one handed firearm. Go the TWF route, put the firearm on a weapon cord and fire and drop before continuing to attack with the scimitar. While attacking with the scimitar, your other hand is free, and therefore you should benefit still from Dervish Dance. The amounts you want of either class really are up to you, as you get the Cha to damage ability from Gunslinger at 1st, though if your game goes high enough you really want to get to 10 levels of Bard eventually for swift action Battle Dance.
It passes before the sun but makes no shadow. Spoiler: Air. Cut out and bring back one of the dragon's lungs.
Not sure why you'd go quad, as to me a tree at best would look like it has two legs. I'd go Biped, and you already get limbs and claws. I'd probably go with Pull and/or Push, definitely Reach, totally Slam, perhaps Tentacle, if you go with Combat Maneuvers then definitely Grab. I'd say Tremorsense for flavor. Also, for a little extra LOTR flavor add Swallow Whole. Oh, and certainly the Large/Huge evolution.
Dwarf Gun Tank Gunslinger Str 13
Spend your gold on upgrading your starting firearm (a pistol) to masterwork, a suit of Breastplate, and a Tower Shield, leaves you with 70 gp to play with. Starting Feat: Steel Soul. EDIT: Make that 50 gp to start with... spend 20gp on a Dwarven Boulder Helmet.
Now that the Arcanist is coming out, this would be more easily doable without gestalt, but... Universalist Wizard//Sage Sorcerer. All the arcane spells you could ever want, UMD as a class skill for the spells you want that aren't arcane (and with Pragmatic Activator it goes off Int instead of Cha) and the ability to cast any of them without changing the casting time or level of the spell once/day starting at 3rd level, then once more at 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, and 20th.
Weapon Master Fighter, if you're building to 20 is less necessary but gets Weapon Training faster... Sohei specifically for the ability to flurry with any weapon with which you have weapon training.
Not sure if it was said before, but Sohei Monk (20?)//Weapon Master Fighter 3/Gunslinger 17. Flurry with firearms. The Monk side I'm just not sure what else to take, even though level 6 is as far as you technically need to take Monk.
Two things, the first closer to your actual request, the second just something I'd love to see your take on. Challenge The First: Build a Pathfinder Delver. 20th level, 20 point buy, any race, all Paizo Pathfinder material allowed. Challenge The Second: A Feral Gnasher Goblin Barbarian, that frequently sets himself on fire before grappling foes. May multiclass if desired but the majority of levels should be in Feral Gnasher. Same build rules as above.
There are some good ideas in here, but I wanted to give one as a counter to that. Does it have to be a gnome? The description you gave for why you want to play it would fit the Halfling as well as the Gnome. And the Halfling has the benefit of a fun little archetype in the ARG (if allowed), the Underfoot Adept. Focused on tripping, this little guy eventually can fell giants.
Master of Many Styles Monk 2/Free Hand Fighter 2,3,or 5 Human Viktor Von Richtenbach A boasting noble, his power comes from defense and not offense, making him more of an annoyance than a true powerhouse Human feat: Weapon Finesse
BAB: +6 Str: 8
By 10th level you have everything you need from a Dawnflower Dervish Bard, and the Battle Dance works pretty well with Smite Evil on board as well. Something interesting to consider is a Paladin 5(Holy Gun possibly)/Mysterious Stranger 5/Dawnflower Dervish Bard 10 (not necessarily in that order. Gives you a good ranged option and a good melee option, and you can do some fun dual-wielding combos
You definitely want Quick Bull Rush, Pushing Assault... if you want to add a weapon to it, wear spiked armor and take Spiked Destroyer, eventually you might want feats like Spinning Throw and Bull Rush Strike. Now, the next bit of advice I'm going to throw out there isn't optimal, but is certainly thematic. I'd consider the Two-Handed Fighter archetype, and combining Vital Strike with Overhand Chop early on, then once you get more than one attack you'll have Backswing adding some good damage for you.
In a campaign where the party was playing members of a thieves' guild, I played a Dhampir Ninja who took great pains to disguise his true nature, appearing for all intents and purposes as human. I didn't actually disclose the race to the players either, at the time of character creation. The party Bard (sadly our only healer) used a wand of cure light wounds on my character when he went unconscious, killing him in the process. In my opinion this was a risk I took playing that character as I did, and it turned into a running joke in our group.
For a sneaky manipulative guy, what about the Sandman bard?
Aside from siege weaponry, there are a LOT of alchemical weapons in Ultimate Equipment and other places. Caches of grenades would be a thing I'd put in... Pox Bursters, Petrified Oozes in a container made to burst on impact, not to mention the typical elemental damage splash weapons
Even better, there is a Druid spell, Carry Companion, from Knights of the Inner Sea. Druid 2, Paladin 2, Ranger 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2, Witch 2 in fact. It turns any touched animal that has a helpful attitude towards you into a stone figurine, small enough to fit in your hand. The duration is permanent but can be turned back by placing the figurine on the ground, touching it and uttering the command word.Is that Paizo material, or is it third party? I ask because I'm not familiar with that book. Knights of the Inner Sea is Paizo, one of their 32 page Player Companion books.
Even better, there is a Druid spell, Carry Companion, from Knights of the Inner Sea. Druid 2, Paladin 2, Ranger 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2, Witch 2 in fact. It turns any touched animal that has a helpful attitude towards you into a stone figurine, small enough to fit in your hand. The duration is permanent but can be turned back by placing the figurine on the ground, touching it and uttering the command word.
If your character is either low Cha, or low Int and without the skill points to put into things like Diplomacy or Intimidate, call one Diplomacy and the other Intimidate.
You're looking for the trait Two-World Magic
A library, of the most rare and expensive books in the world. We're talking all 1st editions, not to mention copies of things like a Book of Infinite Spells, an Unending Tome, all three Books of the Damned, the Codex of the Infinite Planes, the Chronicle of the Righteous... all trapped and locked away in glass cases and stored in a maze of a library. The dragon himself (or herself) is more than happy to let adventurers INTO the library, but of course this kind of knowledge is not allowed back OUT.
I played this Mist Assassin build, that was both rather powerful and simply a blast, roleplaying a deaf Oracle.
So it sounds like you've settled pretty much on what you're doing, but that being said I have a suggestion you should consider. Something for the very, very top of the hierarchy. A Rune Giant were-Great White Whale
Elf Mindchemist 2/Wizard the rest of the way Str 10
Put all puts into Int. Casts off Int, can drink a cognatogen to raise Int even more, can add Int twice to knowledge checks, which he should have ranks in every single one if possible as well as things like spellcraft. Edit: Not strictly Int based, but make him a Diviner and play up the knowledge aspect even more.
Thematically Roof Runner or Thug would make sense, I think. Thug probably has a better mechanical benefit to be like Batman. Does the character have to be Human? I only ask (and I know this doesn't sound like Batman) because a Halfling can emulate the utility belt easily. Well-Prepared feat is pretty much exactly the utility belt. Only prereq is Halfling, and it lets you make a Sleight of Hand check to have a needed item that you could easily carry on hand. No magic items or very specific items, like no keys for a particular place or the exact documents you need or something. And it gives an option for Survival over Sleight of Hand, which is something to consider.
Just an aside, because this topic interested me enough to read... have they ever weighed in on why the Sorcerer kept 2+Int skill points, or does it come down to having to stick to OGL on certain things? It just seems like a balancing factor for the Oracle is the raised skill points in relation to the Cleric, and the Sorcerer gets far fewer seeing that the Wizard uses Int to cast and gets more from that already. OT: I think that the points made here are good ones. The Oracle has more variability in their special abilities, and less in their spell selection. I think, from a roleplaying perspective, the Oracle has SO much flavor simply built in. And mechanically, I do believe they are balanced.
Dervish Dance is really the way to go, if you're going single handed. If you don't mind multiclassing, a few levels of Free Hand Fighter and/or Master of Many Styles Monk give you some nice options (MoMS of course for Crane Style/Wing).
I have to ask, has Barbarian/Summoner been suggested? Either go Synthesist for a crazy powerful melee build, or Barbarian/Summoner with the Mounted rage powers for a ragelancepounce build that gets disgusting.
This build doesn't have a viable ranged option, and sadly gets shut down by magic later in the game, but the idea is too much fun not to mention. Human Str: 12
1st: Agile Maneuvers, Improved Unarmed Strike
Damage estimates vary based on equipment. The rest is self explanatory. Damage comes from sneak attack and a 1d6+2 Composite Shortbow. The extra attacks are for extra sneak attacks while you're hidden in the smoke. Smoke sticks are a good way to go, as is the ever-smoking bottle. Vanishing Trick is both offensive and defensive, but is a good way to disappear, and then drop a smoke stick or bottle to further confuse your enemy.
This doesn't meet the bonus requirements, but it should do fine for the base goals, and as an added bonus, ranged combat is something it does relatively well Ifrit Rogue Str: 14
1st: Firesight
Unless you can get access to a source of smoke, early levels aren't as strong. You rely on base weapon damage with a Composite Shortbow, and the occasional snipe attack. As soon as you can afford an eversmoking bottle do so, and then the fun begins, making ranged sneak attacks through the smoke due to Firesight allowing you to see without hindrance. EDIT: Your Ninja Trick can also be Smoke Bomb, for some added smoke access.
I have another fun build, though its not as powerful as some others. I don't have a full workup, though if asked I might be able to come up with one. The important aspects are: Halfling Rogue
Go around disguised as an innocent looking human child, use your high charisma and diplomacy your way into the hearts of your foes, right before stabbing them in them.
Unfortunately I don't believe the Catch Off-Guard trick works for those foes, one of the weaknesses of the build. However, as an elf he does have a composite longbow to fall back on as well as the chance of flanking if it does arise. The disarm bonus will come from Dex (I believe that being unarmed and using that arm to disarm should allow Weapon Finesse to apply, if not then finding an opening for Agile Maneuvers is needed. I know all about the high CMDs out there, and I will admit this build has not been field-tested yet.
Flanking is entirely unneeded for this build, as per the request. Catch Off-Guard makes an unarmed opponent (achieved through Disarm) flat-footed when using improvised weapons (durable arrows used as melee weapons)
Those estimates are without magic items, except for a wand of Magic Weapon which is cheap.
Level 7... lets see... Attack bonus (arrow): +7/+7
Ranged is weaker, but still comes out to 1d8+2+4d6 if you can get a sneak attack off via sniping.
While I disagree with some of the assumptions made, I would like to present a character that is both unique and I believe, under the definitions given, "functional". Keldan Arroweye Elf Rogue Str 14
Put leveling and magic bonuses into Dex. 1st: Combat Expertise
That's as far as I've built it, and the open even levels can be used for anything. To consistently get sneak attack without flank, disarm your opponent of any weapon they're carrying and use a pair of durable arrows (of various special materials) as improvised weapons. Prior to level 3 stay ranged with a longbow.
Does the build have to be 100% rogue?
Can't assume flanking? I've never understood anyone who says both that the rogue is useless, and that you can't assume flanking. Flanking helps everyone hit better, is nearly always a preferable tactic, and should always be possible. You're taking something that any melee build should aspire to and specifically disallowing it to make the rogue look bad. /rant
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