FayetteGamer's page

If the GM is at least halfway decent then I think the end result will depend largely on the reason for casting the wish.

If your wish aids the game plot then it will probably be allowed with no ill effect. You are circumventing some tedious solo roleplay.

If however, you have some gamebreaking or otherwise ultra powerful temporary ability/spell/effect etc and are using the wish to preserve it whilst the rest of the party do whatever it is they need to do then you will suffer badly. You are attempting to keep a power that the GM wants gone and they will make sure it is gone or neutralised.

The character has a lot of stuff to do, and the action in the campaign is too rapid-fire for him to have the chance to do it.

Example: reading a Manual of Bodily Health.

Thanks for the advice.

I need to create a demiplane that has time flowing so fast inside it, I have as many days as I need in there while the rest of the party is having a long rest. I need to be extremely specific with the game master. Any suggestions?

Update: The paladin had an alignment change after abandoning an ally in need, but he hasn't done anything to my character, the response this thread was planning for hasn't been triggered yet.
(I helped the abandoned ally, and we all made it out)

Ryan Freire wrote:

The fact that its not a purely in game problem isn't really relevant. OP asked for help putting an end to this paladin. PVP is ok in this campaign, so all the cringing over pvp is irrelevant. The idea that it might degenerate to a physical altercation is laughable. Most likely at best you get a tantrum, that wont really matter much cause that player will be out of the campaign til the rest of the party dies or gets bored.

We aren't therapists here, qualified to help people patch relationships based on a sliver of one side of the whole story, and if people aren't into that kind of campaign they wouldn't join/remain in it.

Just because a lot of people here aren't into that kind of game (im not particularly. I dont even like when GM's make new characters come in lower than 1 level below other party members after a death) doesn't make the commentary on how horrible it sounds helpful to OP. Clearly they enjoy the game and/or style enough to want to continue playing or they'd have ghosted already.

If someone posts an Advice thread saying that there's a spider in their living room and asks how to build a flamethrower, is it more rational to suggest better ways to solve their problem or to post links to schematics?

For what it's worth, I don't think torching a character because it's a "Paladin" being played as Chaotic Stupid is quite the same as taking a flame-thrower to a house to get a spider.

That said, there is wisdom in approaching the situation from multiple angles to figure out the best solution. In this case, assassination by poison or coup-de-grace isn't called for ... yet. At this point, it is much better to confront the character in front of the party, make him agree to a code of conduct, what constitutes "lawful" behavior in the group, and if/when he fails to meet that standard, I'll have solid ground and justification for my character to defend himself against the newly-powerless Paladin.

"Fayette G, do you LIKE playing this game?"

Short answer, yes. The higher lethality is rewarded with faster level progression, and any characters that make it to the end and survive, get to progress into the next campaign, so if I make it, this wizard will be EPIC.

Also, most of the group are really good at the making/playing characters appropriate to the setting, it's just the one who likes to always be either CE, or "too stupid to know it's hurting/endangering people".

I'm in other games with most of the rest of the group, but this is the only one where the Paladin's player and I overlap. And as I said, I'm annoyed, but in-character, the Paladin's hypocrisy is pushing the Wizard too far.

I brought up the situation in passing to the GM after the last session, but without outlining the offenses and their implications or having an example of an overtly evil act, the GM wasn't quite ready to remove the Paladin's powers. I plan on addressing this in more detail the next time I talk to the GM. Perhaps the greater context of the actions from a character's perspective will make a difference.

Thank you all for the advice, and the concern for my enjoyment of the game. I think the best course of action is to recruit the Fighter and Ranger if I can, at least into a "if the crap hits the fan, we leave the oaf and get ourselves out" plan. If I can convince them of that, I'll have more confidence in them siding with the Wizard when he responds to the Paladin pushing him too far. For the fight, I plan to fly out of reach, drop a pit under him, then rain every damaging Evocation spell I have down on him.
(Assassination would likely not sit well with the other characters, and would be more likely to make a couple players salty, so that won't be plan-a)

FayetteGamer wrote:

"How likely is this to come to blows"

It will probably happen the next time the Paladin thinks it's funny to backhand the Wizard. So I'd say probably within the next 4 sessions.

So his character is physically attacking your character?

Or has this other player already been hitting you in real life?

Specifically not dealing damage to the Wizard, but it's terribly insulting from the roleplay side if things, especially when his player is daily trying to "accidentally" get us all killed.

Real life, no way. I wouldn't permit it. He is the sort who could talk forever about what he wants, but if you try to add to the conversation, he visibly loses all interest, and often interrupts. My real life annoyance with this player is about a 6/10, but my character's fury at the Paladin is currently about a 9/10.

I am hoping to convince the GM that he isn't LG before PvP is initiated so he can't Lay on Hands or Cure Light Wounds on himself.

...

This is a highly skilled gaming group, a bit Gygaxian in play style , but one of the best I've met. I also play with several of them in other groups. The other groups each have their own dynamic, and the players adjust their play style to match. They also can't be flustered by anything(a factor in game sessions being largely enjoyable in spite of what the Paladin's player does)

This campaign is unique in its attrition element to party size, potentially running out of characters before reaching the end of the story.(I understand this type of game isn't for everyone, like playing Smash Bros with one life per character)

I'm a low-strength wizard with a dagger, no Power Attack or other melee feats. I think my max melee damage on a Crit is 8, and the Paladin likely has a +12 on his Fort Save (+4 Con, +3 Cha, +4 Base, +1 from cloak of resistance), meaning he'd only need to roll a 6+ on his Fort Save to survive the Coup-De-Grace. Not good odds for me.

I didn't think spells could be used for for a Coup-De-Grace? That would definitely change the landscape.

"How likely is this to come to blows"
It will probably happen the next time the Paladin thinks it's funny to backhand the Wizard. So I'd say probably within the next 4 sessions.

FayetteGamer wrote:

This is an attrition campaign. New characters don't join, and killed characters aren't replaced. If the Paladin dies, The player isn't in the game until the next campaign starts (it also means if it goes wrong and I lose my character, I'm out until the next campaign).

Does that affect anyone's opinions?

It solidifies mine, don't f@!@ around, murk him in his sleep and let the player sit out and think about why he got murked in his sleep.

I don't have confidence in this character's ability to kill the Paladin in the one hit of the Coup-De-Grace. He's built as more of a tank than a damage dealer. I haven't seen his Character Sheet, but I expect his Con is about as high as my Intelligence.

I will say this. Killing his character will never make (and has never made) a player say "gosh you're right I better ship up. Good point. Hey heres a much better character for me and I'll totally change how I am from now on. Thanks for killing me in my sleep."

And since goal will never happen, I don't see a reason to help you achieve that goal.

This is an attrition campaign. New characters don't join, and killed characters aren't replaced. If the Paladin dies, The player isn't in the game until the next campaign starts (it also means if it goes wrong and I lose my character, I'm out until the next campaign).

Does that affect anyone's opinions?

My current thought is the next time he tries to back-hand my character, taking to the sky, dropping a pit under him, then roasting him with Fireball and any other damaging spells/scrolls I have, before leaving and letting the monsters that heard the noise finish him off while I go hide. I just don't know if the party will join me, join him, or want to be somewhere safe while this plays out.

Have you talked to the GM about his behavior? If the paladin is actually acting in a chaotic manner his alignment should have shifted to neutral good and he should already be an ex-paladin.

What I would be inclined to do is to call out the paladins actions as putting innocents in danger. If the friendly NPC’s have any kind of authority point out that he needs to respect their authority. And if his deity has a paladin’s code check to make sure he is following that.

How does the rest of the group feel about his actions? If they are also sick of it have one of the players appointed as the official leader of the group. Now when the paladin disobeys the leaders order you have a legitimate reason for him to at least get a warning he is violating his code. If there is a cleric of his deity in the party make sure he becomes the leader and his character is going to be in double jeopardy when he disobeys an order.

This is a much better way of dealing with a misbehaving paladin than trying to trick him into unknowingly doing something that violates his code.

There's no authority available for my character to tattle to in the current location, and the only places safe from the monsters are the ones that our welcome was worn out by the Paladin, causing the "too powerful to bother killing us" monstrous NPCs to kick us out.

The next time I see the GM, I'll detail how the Paladin's actions have been overtly Chaotic, and his alignment should shift. The DM has expressed amusement at the likelihood of the party killing the Paladin.

(The player's favored style is "too stupid to not rashly do something that endangers the party". It's like the murderhobo, but with noisily prying open crates to see what's inside when we're hiding from a monster that hunts by sound... so he's indirectly trying to get the party killed, so I doubt any intervention would work, as this is out-of-character knowledge of the player stacking with in-character frustration at being pushed around and berated by the one who should be the champion of goodness)

As for the rest of the group, one is likely to be on my side, one on his, and the fifth is a mystery, not having been part of the dispute.

I'd almost bet it's a problem with the player. I've seen this a couple of times over the years. Chances are talking with the player won't change anything, so PvP may be the only option. Buff up, like has been suggested. Use Fly, Improved Invisibility, and as many damaging spells as you can dig up. Also, mind-controlling spells as well. Too bad you're not evil, because I'd poison him.

You hit the nail on the head.

My character has been NG thusfar, but is on the verge of murdering this paladin to save the party from inevitable death by deliberate stupidity.

Q: Do you think that should force an alignment shift, or would it be justifiable extenuating circumstances? Does the method of execution matter?

I have Poison I'm holding for the party...

I have access to flight, but being the utility caster (magical replacement for the Rogue the party doesn't have), I don't have much means of damage other than a Fireball and Snowball.

I don't normally go for PvP, but the Paladin has pushed this character to the breaking point, and it's permitted in this campaign. Both characters are Level 5.

The Paladin is "Lawful Good" pretty much in name only. He's being played more Chaotic Stupid than anything else, repeatedly wrecking out attempts to hide from deadly monsters, taunting friendly NPCs to attack us, and ridiculing other player-characters for simple, understandable mistakes.

This L5 Wizard is looking for tactics that could kill the Paladin before the Paladin could kill him (either in combat or by deliberately "accidentally" getting me killed.

(I'm trying to plan for every potential eventuality, so I have a chance to survive if this comes to blows)

Please and Thank You!

FayetteGamer wrote:

It could be that the coins are hidden away in various locations such as shoes and hidden pockets so a looter with limited time to search the body and escape is less likely to find them.

That works in cases where the murder is pressed for time, but in a setting where you can be sure that such a coin records the murder, I'd assume people would make time for it, given the relative importance.

At least very important people would probably commission "upgraded" versions of these coins that can teleport home/to a relevant temple/somewhere else appropriate when their user died, to make sure that 1) they don't get found and destroyed (which is the prudent approach for a murderer), and 2) the revenge quest can start early and with a public bounty for the murderer's head, instead of having to wait until the corpse is found and only being done by whoever found the coin.

Whoever uses such a coin - at least for "please avenge me" messages - otherwise needs to strike a balance: Too poorly hidden, and the coin might end up stolen.
Too well hidden, and it might not be found and assumed stolen.

The coin teleporting home at death would work quite well. It prevents the coin from being stolen, and the killer is more likely to be known for his crime when he next enters the town. The party would just be getting the quests from the next-of-kin rather than off of the dead body.

FayetteGamer wrote:

Coidzor wrote:

What keeps creatures from just taking these off of people's corpses?

I assume you mean someone just killing people to take the coins to claim any rewards mentioned in the coins?

Not sure if it's what Coidzor meant, of if it's just a similar question, but:

If these coins are so common, what prevents goblins from taking them and preventing anyone from knowing who killed the deceased and to know that coming after them would get you a reward?

Also, when do these "last wills" get recorded? It it a posthume effect (like a very specific Speak with Dead), or do they have to pause their fight for survival to record their will in case they die?

Valid points.

It could be that the coins are hidden away in various locations such as shoes and hidden pockets so a looter with limited time to search the body and escape is less likely to find them. In the case of Goblins, it's possible that they didn't put two and two together regarding adventurers trying to hunt them being a result of information on the coins.

Alternatively, if goblins collect the coins as trophies, then an adventurer who kills them may be able to collect multiple rewards for killing the same group of goblins.

What keeps creatures from just taking these off of people's corpses?

I assume you mean someone just killing people to take the coins to claim any rewards mentioned in the coins? My thought is that to collect a reward, the coin must be presented to a magistrate, who determines the validity of the claim by asking questions while the claimant is in a Zone of Truth. If the acquisition of the coin is deemed to be the result of murder, then the claimant is charged. If the claim is upheld then the deceased's estate is contacted for payment.

Reminds me of a Pathfinder Coin. Probably a lot more expensive then you were intending, and while reusable it only repeats its message once.

That's definitely similar, but it doesn't fill the role of a will or contract, which would require the message to be preserved until it could be legally verified.

Suppose in a custom setting these will-and-testament coins are made en-masse, by a means that drastically reduces the price, so while other magic items are costly, these specifically have no market value beyond what message they contain. I think this opens a lot of room for the story, such as having partial messages recorded by NPCs after being mortally wounded by the beast or person the party will need to fight, and the message may contain a clue of how to win, or even an additional reward for avenging the fallen to be paid by an estate, with the coin's recorded message serving as the contract.

Kinda neat. I might use this, with your permission.

Help yourself! It's nice to know when my ideas are good enough to be worth taking.

In a custom setting where there's large expanses of dangerous wilds between cities, many people opt to preserve their final wishes to be fulfilled after their demise. As such many wear enchanted coins that contain messages regarding if they die on that particular trip, what final tasks they request of their discoverers.
Some may request that the finder kills whatever killed the coin's owner, others may request that something inevitably stolen off of the body be delivered to the intended recipient. Whatever the request, the payment amount is stated in the message (delivered by visual and auditory illusion) and is legally guaranteed to be paid by the estate or living spouse of the deceased.

So a person mortally wounded might amend the end of the message to, "I'm killed by goblins, the (name) tribe. Deliver their chieftain's head to my brother in (town name here) to be paid (amount of gold). It might instead or additionally offer another amount of money in exchange for returning something from the goblins' possession, because the dead, former owner doesn't want it to be in goblin possession.

I don't think this would cause any issues in the players' hands and allows me to have quests technically coming from dead characters without having to make them undead.

Empowered Mount with Alter Summon Monster could work. Thanks!

It's a Wizard NPC who's lying on a bed in his secret hideaway, wearing a ring of sustenance, using Scouting Summons and Extend Spell metamagic to be out and about with no risk to his actual body.

My first though was Draconic Ally so he's living as a medium dragon for weeks at a time with no risk to his actual body, but it might not work since it doesn't have the word "summon" in the name. The other options would be something with a 10min/lv duration (doubled by Extend Spell), which isn't nearly as useful since were dealing with 4 hours per casting at L12.

It's still be an interesting character concept I thought I'd share that would work for a variety of NPC types:

1: a cowardly scholar who only leaves his study this way because he's afraid of the outside world

2: An adrenaline junkie who likes to be on the edge, and this way he can push it past the point of fatality to really know how far he can go, and still be fine.

3: A crafty recurring villain who knows the risks of the deals he's making, and this gives him a level of anonymity and protection against anyone who might double-cross him.

...

If there is a social contract to limit blood money to replacing material components for adventuring spells only (and if tricks like magic jar aren't involved) then OK, the spell isn't a big deal. On that point we agree.

Isn't agreement great!

But back on topic, Any thoughts on this Trait & Feat selection for a Phoenix Sorcerer? (it uses Eldritch Heritage to borrow healing from the Solar bloodline instead of the Cross-blooded archetype to borrow healing from the Unicorn bloodline)

Trait 1: (Magic) Magical Lineage: Acid Splash
Trait 2: (Social) Adopted --> Pyromancer (Aasimar-Emberkin race trait)

L1 Feat: Elemental Spell (Fire)
-(Acid Splash is now a fire spell that deals 1d3+1 damage, or heals 1-2hp per casting, but it takes a full round action to cast)
L3 Feat: Toughness (for much needed hit points)
L5 Feat: Elemental Spell (Acid or Cold), (For when I come up against something immune to fire)
L7 Feat: Skill Focus (Perception)
Bloodline Feat: Improved Initiative
L9 Feat: Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Sunsight)
L11 Feat: Improved Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Cleansing Flame)
L13 Feat: Empower Spell
Bloodline Feat: Dodge
L15 Feat: Spell Penetration
L17 Feat: Greater Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Healing Fire)
L19 Feat: Greater Spell Penetration
Bloodline Feat: Elemental Focus (Fire)

Take Gunsmithing, make 1000gp in black powder for 100 gp. sell powder for 500gp. 400gp profit per day, no magic involved.

Anything that takes wealth out of the GMs hands is dangerous. If the GM feeds the party enough treasure to break their characters its his fault. If players are trying to use corner cases to exploit the system the GM need to politely but firmly say its bad for the game, so no.

Not that I'm against a little advantage, but everyone looking to get free gold always dreams big even when they say they aren't going to abuse it...they will.

If you're able to sell 1,000gp worth of gunpowder per day in a city, even at half-price... you're probably supplying a rebellion, since any military that would use that much gunpowder would have their own stable supplier. If you're funding a rebellion, then it's likely to be traced back to you when they make their move. Alternatively, if it's for competing gangs, then they'd each take offense at you selling to the competition, so they'd turn on you too. And legitimate merchants aren't going to buy more product than they can sell, and it's doubtful that the general population would be buying any significant amount of gunpowder in most settings where guns are rare or absent.

My position is that even if the players break try to break the game economy, all of the power is still in the GM's hands to resolve whatever the players do.

Infinite power on the PCs part isn't freedom for the GM to hit hard, it literally is infinite power. Infinite healing is just elimination of HP loss as resource management. And no, low Str doesn't limit how much you can spend on magic items, it just eliminates a couple of types of magic item from consideration and makes handy haversacks mandatory. There are a lot of lightweight magic items in PF.

And while the GM can say that there's a limit to how many masterwork weapons you can sell at even half price, masterwork transformation's not the end of the shenanigans to make money from blood money - it's just the beginning.

"Infinite power" isn't sounding right to me. Over an average person's life, they eat a theoretically unlimited amount of food, which is unlimited calories, making it theoretically infinite energy. But obviously no one has infinite energy to use, so that theoretical condition doesn't reflect reality.

I think the social contract between the GM and Players should be enough to prevent this from being abused, provided expectations are laid out and agreed to at Session Zero. The players should trust the GM to give them opportunities to get cool stuff, and in return play their characters as people, not munchkins who put life on hold while they farm gold with a merchant exploit.

Also, the Game Master controls Supply (of things the players would spend money on) and Demand (for anything the players want to sell), so it shouldn't be hard for a game master to head off an item-creation/enhancement exploit with the story to prevent the players from breaking the system.

I'm not too fussed about healing being free, it gives me as a GM more freedom to hit full force. Blood money though is broken IMO. It's in the game to explain how someone isolated and without access to new resources was able to cast spells with material components and it breaks the game's economy if allowed on normal PCs.

Remember that wealth is power, so infinite wealth (e.g. by casting a mere 2nd level spell, masterwork transformation & selling the result) is infinite power.

Really? Doesn't the nuance you applied to free healing also apply to spell component costs? Shouldn't loot along with level progression quickly outpace what could be earned from Masterwork Transformation, much like how in Elder Scrolls games, the stronger you get, the more expensive an item needs to be for the player to justify carrying it due to the limited carrying capacity (increasingly limited when a caster takes Str damage from using Blood money)?

Unless the point of the game is resource management, I don't think this should be significantly disruptive. If the game is about resource management, then a lot of spells like goodberry would cause the same issues as blood money.

Thanks for the feedback/dialogue. This is helpful.

Thanks for all of the advice! With it in mind, my updated build, submitted for critique is:

Human: (Favored Class bonus is an extra spell known per level)
Alternate Racial Trait: Unstoppable Magic
Trait 1: (Magic) Magical Lineage: Acid Splash
Trait 2: (Social) Adopted --> Pyromancer (Aasimar-Emberkin race trait)
Class: Sorcerer (Phoenix Bloodline)
L1 Feat: Elemental Spell (Fire)
-(Acid Splash is now a fire spell that deals 1d3+1 damage, or heals 1-2hp per casting, but it takes a full round action to cast)
L3 Feat: Toughness (for much needed hit points)
L5 Feat: Elemental Spell (Acid or Cold), (For when I come up against something immune to fire)
L7 Feat: Skill Focus (Perception)
Bloodline Feat: Improved Initiative
L9 Feat: Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Sunsight)
L11 Feat: Improved Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Cleansing Flame)
L13 Feat: Empower Spell
Bloodline Feat: Dodge
L15 Feat: Spell Penetration
L17 Feat: Greater Eldritch Heritage (Solar: Healing Fire)
L19 Feat: Greater Spell Penetration
Bloodline Feat: Elemental Focus (Fire)

Spells would include the previously mentioned (for fire damage/healing), as well as the Phoenix Bloodline spells, a couple summoning spells and a variety of utility spells.

Would I be correct in assuming that you each would have the same opinion of the L1 spell "Blood Money" as you have of the healing cantrip mentioned in this thread?

Seems like nice physical healing I think unicorn bloodline could add some of the condition removal. Being able to restore hp to full outside of combat will go a long way though.

There are a few other ways to temporarily boost your fire damage for either offense or healing. Blood havoc is one, and the feat flumefire rage is another.

Many thanks!

What do you think of the Crossblooded Archetype?
Only the Phoenix bloodline can get healing on a cantrip, but only the Unicorn bloodline can get the Heal spell which removes a plethora of conditions. By taking both I'm only losing 1 spell known per spell level (offset by the Human favored class bonus), and -2 to Will Saves (the Sorcerer's best save, which is offset by the Unicorn Bloodline's L3 power, Pure of Mind.

Human: Favored class bonus is an extra spell known per level
Magical Lineage Trait: Acid Splash
Elemental Spell Feat: Fire
Phoenix Bloodline: Fire spells can heal half the amount of damage they would have caused, chosen when the spell is cast.
Draconic Bloodline: +1 to Fire damage per die of damage in the fire spell

From what I can tell, it looks like this build is at least as good as the Oracle at restoring hit point damage, and probably comparable to the average Cleric, though it can't remove conditions or restore a dead creature to true life.

Examples of this Draconic-Phoenix Sorcerer's healing: Note that these are ranged spells, and that they can heal the following, or deal double that in fire damage.

SL0: (fire) Acid Splash, heals 1-2hp (avg 1.33)*Unlimited healing cantrip
SL1: Burning Hands, @L5+ heals 5-12hp (avg 8.75)
SL2: Scorching Ray, @L11+ heals 12-42 (avg 27)
SL3: Fireball, @L10+ heals 10-35 (avg 22.5 to each creature in a 20ft radius)
SL4: Pyrotechnic Eruption, @L15+, over 4 rounds heals 26-91 (avg 58.5)
SL5: Fire Snake, @L15+ 15-52 (avg 33.75 to each creature in a 60ft path)
SL6: (Empowered) Pyrotechnic Eruption, @L15+, over 4 rounds heals 41-143 (avg 92.25)
SL7: Temporary Resurrection, brings a creature that was dead for less than 48hrs back to life, but only for 24 hours.
SLA: At L15 gain the ability to cast Greater Restoration 1/day
SLA: At L20 free True-Resurrection on self 1/day.

Cleric/Oracle spells for Comparison: Note that these are touch spells

SL0: Stabilize, Restores NO hp, just stops dying
SL1: Cure Light Wounds, @L5+ heals 6-13hp (avg 9.5)
SL2: Cure Moderate Wounds, @L10+ heals 12-26hp (avg 19)
SL3: Cure Serious Wounds, @L15+ heals 18-39 hp (avg 28.5)
SL4: Cure Critical Wounds, @L20 heals 24-52 (avg 39)
SL5: Breath of Life, @L20 heals 25-60 (avg 42.5, and can raise the recently deceased)
SL6: Heal, @L15+ heals 150hp and removes most negative conditions.
SL7: Regenerate, healing and regrows severed body members.
SL7: Greater Restoration & Resurrection, restoring ability scores, and life respectively.
SL9: True Resurrection, remains not required to resurrect a dead creature

I really don't understand this build is a life magic build or a familiar build, for familiar build I will go better whit the brown fur archetype this way in lv 9 you can use beast form in your familiar

What do you mean by "life magic" build?

The Brown Fur Arcanist is interesting, though it would mean losing the healing potential of the Phoenix Bloodline Arcanist. I'll keep that option in mind.

What do you think of having a Figment Familiar with the Phoenix Bloodline Arcanist, so I can re-spawn it every day and heal it up for free, regardless of what happens to it. Maybe have it be a Raven with a wand of Cure Light Wounds, so I can benefit from it during combat without losing an action?

With the corrections I believe I can still have both the Tidepool Dragon and the Wolf by L10. I'd welcome any ideas on improving their survivability.

Where's the rule that Improved Familiars can't have the Mauler Archetype. I think I've read that somewhere before, but I can't place it.

-Thanks all!

What option is letting you use charisma as a casting stat?

Whoops! I'd been looking at the Sorcerer, then decided I liked the Arcanist better, and forgot to swap the stats around. I just fixed it.

Note: the other Exploits and Feats I haven't filled in aren't related to what I wanted to ask about. I'm trying to see if a Familiar + a Companion will be viable, or if I'd be better off using those feats for metamagic.

If I understood the rules correctly, the fire-swapped acid splash with the Phoenix Bloodline should help keep both the familiar and companion healthy, as long as they survive the combat.

Race: Half-Elf,
Alert for Betrayal replacing Adaptability,
Blended View replacing Multitalented

Class: Arcanist: Blood Arcanist Archetype: Phoenix Bloodline

25pt buy: My motivations
Str: (0)10
Dex: (5)14 (for AC & Reflex Save)
Con: (5)14 (for HP & Fortitude Save)
Int: (12)17 (For spellcasting)
Wis: (0)10
Cha: (3)13 (Prereq for Evolved Familiar)
(Edit: fixed Int & Cha)

Traits:
(Magic) Magical Lineage: Acid Splash
(Combat) Reactionary

L1 Exploit: Bloodline Development: Arcane: gain a Familiar.

Feats:
L1: Elemental Spell: Fire
L3: Improved Familiar: Tidepool Dragon w/ Mauler Archetype.
L5: Evolved Familiar: Improved Natural Armor
L7: Nature Soul
L9: Animal Ally: Wolf
L11: Boon Companion
L13: Evolved Companion: Improved Natural Armor

Hopefully between the two they should be able to do something in combat.

Acid Splash + Elemental Spell: Fire + Magical Lineage + Phoenix Bloodline Arcana = heal 1d3/2 hp as a cantrip for healing after combat.