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So, I am starting in an evil gestalt campaign. I would like to play a con man type character, who begins with grifting, progressing through cons on wealthier individuals/nobles, to a couple big long cons (One idea I am toying with is potentially basically faking a extreme threat to a kingdom, such as an invading army, dragon, or other nefarious threat, only to then show up as the hero, barter a defeat of this threat into a princesses hand in marriage. Then, once married, the king meets an unfortunate end, I take over ruling duties, begin to make allies of other key kingdoms, who I will soon betray and take over as well, then proceed to a world domination type plan.

Now, that was a mouthful, but you get an idea of the type of character I am looking for. I was thinking some type of rogue/investigator on one side (for the con related skills, etc) and wizard/sorcerer on the other side (for the high level magic that some of the later plans will appreciate, if not require). Here are the creation details.

Gestalt
Level 5
All Paizo (minus tech and stuff like that)
DSP Psionics allowed
Must be Drow, Tiefling, or something else that fits in an Underdark style campaign. Leaning Munavri because it is allowed.
80 points to spend on stats (not point buy, 1:1 point:stat)

I would appreciate any help/advice, even if it deviates from my initial ideas for how to build the character.

So, long story short, my character (level 11 Conjuration Wizard) found a custom item that allows him to add any 5 spells to his spellbook. The rules for it are:
-Spells can be from ANY list
-No Early Access (If the spell is on the wizard list already, can not take it at a lower level)
-The spells must be a 1st level, a 2nd level, a 3rd level, a 4th level and either a 5th or 6th level.

I am looking for the best non wizard spells. The campaign is a custom setting that is highly lethal with tough enemies and a lot of potential mistakes leading to death.

Thus far I am thinking

1st - I'll Omen
2nd - Barkskin
3rd - ???
4th - ??? (Possibly something from Paladin/Ranger?)
5th or 6th - Heal

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

So, I will be running a game soon. I have a initial overall plot outline, but I am having trouble with how to get the plot started. Basically, i have an idea of where i want the players to go, in this case the Underdark. What i am having trouble with is coming up with a compelling but believable reason that their characters specifically should be the ones to go there, and what the purpose is. I want this to be the main MacGuffin of the entire campaign. I have lots of ideas of things to happen along the way, just trouble coming up with why it is they would make a long adventure to the Underdark.

So, what I am wondering, is theoretically, what is the best Gestalt Social Character that can be made. Now, by this I mean that the character should be primarily built around solving problems through a mix of stealth, creativity, and (most importantly) social skills. Ideally they would be reasonably competent in combat, but mostly they would want to solve things in a noncombat way.

Now, a couple of caveats here. Yes, I am aware that the best class for solving problems in noncombat ways is arguably the wizard. I don't want to rely on spells for everything. (though I could be persuaded to consider sorcerer on one half of the gestalt)

Second, no Empiricist Investigator or any other Int for social skills shenanigans. I don't want a character who debates his way through social situations, I want him to be genuinely charismatic.

Aside from this assume gestalt with all first party Paizo material allowed.

Some of my potential classes of interest so far have been: Bard, Mesmerist, Rogue, and maybe Sorcerer.

Playing in a Gestalt game and I am brewing for a character who is a Invulnerable Rager Barbarian // (Pre-Errata) Scarred Witch Doctor. The Inspiration for the character comes from Krieg from Borderlands 2. The Barbarian part is obvious but the Scarred Witch Doctor came to me because I could totally see Krieg self mutilating (Hex Scars) and constantly rambling with psycho nonsense (Cackle Hex).

I am looking for advice for the build, less so on the Barbarian side, I am pretty familiar with that half, I will probably be going for a Spell Sunder / Superstitious build to compliment the Con Casting Stat giving me tons of health.

What I am looking for advice on is moreso the Witch side and integrating it with the Barb. Some specific questions I have are:

1. Should I max Strength or Con? (I know this partially comes down to how I want to play it, but given the nature of the witch class with the spells and hexes, especially since hexes can be used while raging, my gut says that I should try to keep Strength high, but max Con)

2. What kind of Hexes are good? My short list includes Flight (Obviously) and Slumber.

3. If someone could give me a short rundown on the major differences in the Witch list and the Wizard list of spells, that would be great. Mainly what staples from the Wizard are gone, and what gems the Witch gets that Wizard doesnt.

4. Patron Advice?

Title says it all. Assume starting at level 5. Stat array of 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12. Any Paizo race / class allowed. Also it's for Rise of the Runelords if that matters.

Some options off the top of my head include Admixture Wizard with Crossblooded Dip or Admixture Wizard // Arcanist for Int Synergy, spell staying power, Arcanist Exploits, etc.

I guess if you wanted to go a bit more gish you could do something like Scaled Fist Monk 1 / Paladin 4 // Sorcerer 5 and go into Dragon Disciple.

Honestly Sorcerer X // Paladin 2 / Scaled Fist Monk 1 / ???? X sounds like a pretty solid option, if not the most powerful strictly from a blasting standpoint, its a lot of defensive power in those 3 levels.

We are doing Gestalt starting at level 5. I was considering summoner but am not interested in the SM SLA. My DM agreed to let me trade it out for having my Eidolon's HD be equal to my level, instead of 3/4. I realize that with this and it being a gestalt game, synthesist is probably not the strongest choice because of the loss of action economy, so I am open to normal summoner builds if someone wants to suggest one, but I was thinking of doing a synthesist build where I don't just make it a standard melee striker. Suggestions?

I am playing a gestalt game, and on someone's advice from another thread, I am considering Mesmerist for one side. I enjoyed the Beguiler in 3.5 so I would like to give this a try. In particular the will save debuff and the ability to affect normally immune targets with mind affecting abilities is cool. I would prefer to compensate for the areas that the Mesmerist is weak (BAB, armor and weapon proficiencies, and fort saves). One option I considered is Paladin, Full BAB, good fort save, CHA to all saves, and immune to fear (huge for a psychic caster)

Other options?

So, I am looking at a potential build for a Gestalt game starting at level 5. What one of my ideas is is a Sorcerer 20 on one side and using the other side to make the Sorcerer better.

Currently the idea I am exploring is

Sorcerer 5 // Scaled Fist Monk 1 / Tempered Champion Paladin 4

In this case, we have a Sorcerer of indeterminate bloodline with Full BAB, Base Saves of +6/+3/+4 plus CHA to all, CHA to AC, and CHA to Hit/Damage with Starknives. All that on top of CHA based 9th level casting.

Basically, using the second half of a Gestalt, what is the best possible chassis you can build for a Sorcerer. I think this type of build has to be up there, but I would like to see some other options and/or fine tune this one.

Hi, guys, I have a build that I would like some advice on. I have it mostly worked out but as I rarely play these classes there are probably some small improvements I might be able to make.

The build starts at level 5 and the concept is a Dervish Dancer Bard // Tempered Champion Paladin that dual wields Starknives with Desna's Divine Fighting Technique.

A few notes here of importance are that our groups houserules allow Axis Paladins (Standard, Freedom, Tyranny, Slaughter), so my CG Paladin is fine. Also by our houserules TWF is a single feat that progresses with BAB and Weapon Finesse is not a feat, but a special weapon quality (A la Elephant Feat Tax). Last, with our houserules all Full BAB characters get their choice of Power Attack, Piranha Strike, or Deadly Aim for free at level 1 (3/4 BAB characters get at level 3).

With that out of the way, here is the build.

CG Musetouched Aasimar
Dervish Dancer Bard 5 // Tempered Champion/Oath of Vengeance Paladin 5

Stats (Our stat array is weird but powerful: 17,16,15,14,13,12)(Also Middle Aged Aasimar with the Immortal Spark alternate racial trait is used for a +1 to all mental scores)

Str 12
Dex 18 (16 + 2 racial)
Con 14
Int 16 (15 + 1 age)
Wis 14 (13 + 1 age)
Cha 23 (17 + 1 age + 1 level + 2 racial + 2 enhancement)

Feats

Free - Piranha Strike
1 - Two Weapon Fighting
3 - Craft Wondrous Item
4P - Divine Fighting Technique: Desna's Shooting Star
5 - Craft Magic Arms and Armor

Equipment of note
Hat of Disguise
+2 Headband of Alluring Charisma
+1 Cloak of Resistance
+1 Mithril Breastplate
+2 Starknife
+1 Starknife

I think I have hit all the high notes of the Gestalt theory, with Full BAB, All Good Saves, 6+Int Skills. The highlights of the build are its absurd saves, CHA SADness, decent casting, ability to power both smiting and divine weapon with LoH uses, and a fairly good full attack routine post 6 while smiting and battle dancing looks something like +18/+18/+17/+13/+12 with a total of 5d8 + 98 if all attacks hit.

Thoughts? My major problem with this build is that it doesn't have 9th level arcane casting, but that's about it, and for this particular build I think the stuff you get from Dervish Dancer plus the skill monkey usefulness is nice.

The title says it all for the most part. What do you guys think a theoretically optimized summoner type character looks like. Some options I thought of off the top of my head might include:

Master Summoner // Bard or Skald
Herald Caller Cleric // ???
Acadamae Graduate Conjurer // ??? (This one seems like it could potentially be weaker because it has no way to spontaneously cast summon spells)

While I want summoning to be the primary thing the character does, I would also like to not be totally useless outside of combat (unlikely though since most builds have at minimum one 6th level vaster)

I am having some trouble coming up with feats for a build. I have already talked about the build as a whole in another thread, but I specifically would like to ask a question here. What are some good all-around feats for a utility caster?

Context: I am playing a Dual-Cursed Oracle of Time in the Hell's Rebels AP. My character is very much a full caster type character. I am focusing on more Utility/Buffing with some Debuffing (Ill Omen, Misfortune Revelation, Bestow Curse) and a bit of Summoning. I do have a high enough Charisma that combined with things like Ill Omen and Misfortune could allow me to have some potent Save or Lose/Suck spells a bit later on. But unless I chose to go for something like Spell Perfection on Greater Bestow Curse or something, I am not really sure what kind of feats to take. So far this is the short list

Improved Initiative
Craft Wondrous Item
Quicken Spell
Reach Spell (Rod instead?) for Bestow Curse and/or Cures
Spell Penetration (I know there are a lot of Evil Outsiders later which means a lot of SR)

If I were going for a Spell Perfection (Greater Bestow Curse) build, it would be something like this

Improved Initiative
Craft Wondrous Item
Reach Spell
Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Spell Penetration
Persistent Spell
Quicken Spell
Spell Perfection (Greater Bestow Curse)

I could also take Magical Lineage (Greater Bestow Curse) to be able to use Persistent and Reach at the same time as a level 7 spell with Spell Perfection.

Thoughts?

I was wondering if anyone had ever done or has any knowledge about the rough breakdown of what percentage of fortitude saves on average are what type of effect. (Especially in Rise of the Runelords)

Context on the question: I am playing an Android Wizard in a Rise of the Runelords game. Androids have this ability: Androids gain a +4 racial bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, and stun effects, are not subject to fatigue or exhaustion, and are immune to disease and sleep effects.

I (understandably) have a rather low fortitude save. I am wondering approximately what percentage of fortitude saves I am going to either get the bonus on or be able to flat out ignore due to immunities. I was thinking of taking Great Fortitude or a Fort Save Familiar, but after thinking about it, the number of Fort saves that I can think of that this ability would not apply to at all are relatively low, but I feel like the ones that do get around it are pretty deadly.

If anyone could give any info they know or any advice on whether I should try to boost my Fort save any beyond a Cloak of Resistance, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have mostly hammered out my Oracle build for the Hell's Rebels AP. I now want some final advice and critiques on how to optimize the build from this point. One thing was that I heard Time is okay, but may not be the best Mystery to choose, does anyone have any suggestions about other good Mysteries? I don't want to Blast, I don't want to be a Battle Oracle, and I don't want to be a Healbot. But if any of the other Mysteries are potentially better at Support, Debuffing, and/or Battlefield Control, feel free to suggest them, and let me know how it should affect my current build.

CG Aasimar (Musetouched) Dual Cursed Oracle

Curses: Deep One and Tongues

Mystery: Time

25 Point Buy

Str 7
Dex 17 (+2)
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 12
Cha 19 (+2)

Traits (We get 2 regular + 1 campaign):

Campaign
Ex Asmodean (+1 Save DCs vs agents of House Thrune and most Devils)

Regular
Seeker (Perception as class skill and +1)
Second Chance

Feats

1 - Improved Initiative
3 - Craft Wondrous Item
5 - Craft Magic Arms and Armor
7 - Spell Penetration
9 - Craft Rod
11 - Heighten Spell
13 - Quicken Spell
15 - Greater Spell Penetration
17 - Piercing Spell

Revelations

1 - Misfortune
3 - Temporal Celerity
5 - Fortune
7 - Time Hop
11 - Time Sight
13 - Rewind Time
15 - Speed or Slow Time

Spells (Early draft, subject to much revision)

* denotes spell gained through FCB
M denotes gained as a bonus spell from Mystery

1st - Cure Light Wounds (1), Bless (1), Protection from Evil (1), Guidance (0), Detect Poison (0), Create Water (0), Read Magic (0)
2nd - Ill Omen (1M), Detect Magic (0)
3rd - Weapons Against Evil (1)
4th - Hold Person (2) Cure Moderate Wounds (2), Oracle's Burden (2M), Sanctuary (1*), Obscuring Mist (1)[replaces Bless], Purify Food and Drink (0)
5th - Resist Energy (2), Shield of Faith (1), Air Bubble (1*)
6th - Cure Serious Wounds (3), Summon Monster III (3), Bestow Curse (3M), Protection from Evil, Communal (2*), Liberating Command (1)[replaces Protection from Evil], Mending (0)
7th - Dispel Magic (3), Lesser Restoration (2), Admonishing Ray (2*), Embrace Destiny (1)
8th - Cure Critical Wounds (4), Threefold Aspect (4M), Blessing of Fervor (4), Resist Energy, Communal(3*), Silence (2)[replaces Resist Energy] Spark (0)
9th - Neutralize Poison (4), Stone Shape (3), Locate Object (3*), Darkness (2)
10th - Cure Light Wounds, Mass (5), Permanency (5M), Summon Monster V (5), Freedom of Movement (4*), Speak with Dead (3)[replaces Summon Monster III], Stabilize (0)
11th - Breath of Life (5), Restoration (4), Dimensional Anchor (4*), Remove Curse (3), Align Weapon (2)
12th - Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass (6), Contingency (6M), Heal (6), Wall of Stone (5*),
13th - Banishment (6), Break Enchantment (5), Raise Dead (5*), Protection from Energy, Communal (4)
14th - Cure Serious Wounds, Mass (7), Disintegrate (7M), Summon Monster VII (7), Dispel Magic, Greater (6*), Fickle Winds (5)[replaces Raise Dead]
15th - Ethereal Jaunt (7), Wind Walk (6), Harm (6*), Plane Shift (5)
16th - Cure Critical Wounds, Mass (8th), Temporal Stasis (8M),
Greater Planar Ally (8) Control Weather (7*)
17th - Stormbolts (8), Refuge (7), Regenerate (7*)
18th - Time Stop (9M), Miracle (9), Greater Spell Immunity (8*)

So I am looking at a Dual Cursed Oracle for my upcoming character in Hell's Rebels.

This is a preliminary build for what I am considering

CG Aasimar (Musetouched) Dual Cursed Oracle

(Side note about Dual Cursed, is it just me or does the combination of things like quickened Ill Omen and the Misfortune revelation make a dual cursed oracle really good at save or X spells later in the game?)

Curses: Deep One and Tongues

(Because we are using background skills, the entire Tongues curse is circumvented by each PC using 1 point of background skill in linguistics, and Deep One, even at level 1 is arguably more of a benefit than a curse already, also I have gleaned from reading the Players Guide that at some point in this campaign a swim speed could be quite useful, especially for someone who will have a pretty bad swim skill check.)

Mystery: Time ???

(I like time, it has a lot of great utility, more rerolls, tons of good free spell like abilities, some of which (blur, true seeing) don't have to be used consecutively, roll 2-3 times for initiative and take the best, also the spells that the Dual Cursed Archetype replaces are the worst of the Time Mystery's bonus spells)

25 Point Buy

Str 7
Dex 17 (+2)
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 12
Cha 19 (+2)

Traits (We get 2 regular + 1 campaign):

Campaign
Ex Asmodean (+1 Save DCs vs agents of House Thrune and most Devils)
-or-
Star Struck - Shensen (1/day roll twice on Cha skill check and take better)

Regular
Seeker (Perception as class skill and +1)
????

Feats

????

While I would appreciate sticking more or less to this build in terms of class, archetype, and to a lesser extent the mystery, I appreciate any advice and feel free to suggest any type of changes to the build.

I am playing in a Hell's Rebels game soon, and I am looking at playing an Inquisitor with the Faith Hunter (vs. Lawful Evil) and Infiltrator Archetypes (Yes they are compatible). Some notable things about this combination are:
- I get to choose what alignment I detect as
- I get my level on saves vs effects that detect lies or force the truth
- Add Wis to Bluff and Diplomacy on top of Cha
- Can cast spells of any alignment
- Detect Lawful Evil Creatures at will
- Smite vs Lawful Evil (+4 Attack / +Level Damage)

I do not know whether I should go for Ranged or Melee though.

If ranged, I would probably be a Human for the bonus feat.

If melee, I the race matters less because the bonus feat is not as relevant, but human is still a really nice selection for the additional spells on the FCB. I would take a deity that has a good 2h weapon as favored (Greatsword, Falchion, Greataxe, etc)

A point of relevance here is that by the DM's house rules, any class with 3/4 BAB gets Power Attack for free at level 3 (Full BAB gets it free at level 1) and also Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are combined into one feat (IE take one you get both).

Also we get 3 traits, 2 normal + 1 campaign

These are really quick drafts, but:

Ranged

CG Human Inquisitor (Faith Hunter [vs Lawful Evil] & Infiltrator Archetypes)
Deity: Whatever

25 Point Buy
Str 14
Dex 15 (17)
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 14
Cha 14

Also have the option of going Str or Wis 16 and Cha 10, but I dont know if that is worth it.

Traits

Ex-Asmodean (+1 Atk/Dmg against agents of House Thrune and LE outsiders)
Schooled Inquisitor???
???

Feats

1 Precise Shot & Point Blank Shot
1H - Rapid Shot

Or

Melee

CG ???? Inquisitor (Faith Hunter [vs Lawful Evil] & Infiltrator Archetypes)
Deity: Gorum (Greatsword)

25 Point Buy

Str 17
Dex 12
Con 16
Int 9
Wis 14
Cha 12

Ex-Asmodean (+1 Atk/Dmg against agents of House Thrune and LE outsiders)
Schooled Inquisitor???
???

Feats

1 - ????
Power Attack free at level 3

I am mainly looking for suggestions as to whether to go melee or ranged, but I am also open to any suggestions about the build, especially anywhere I have listed question marks. I dont mind advice on the archetype choices either, as I am still unsure as to whether I want both archetypes, just one, or just regular inquisitor. I am also not ruling out Monster Tactician, but that is a whole other thread tbh.

Starting out a campaign as a switch hitter ranger. I plan on probably taking the Wolf (This seems to be the only serious choice for AC for ranger) as my animal companion at level 4.

My feats will be

1 - Power Attack
2 (Bow Combat Style) - Rapid Shot
3 - Deadly Aim
5 - Boon Companion
6 (Bow Combat Stlye) - Multishot
7 - Outflank
9 - Evolved Companion (Improved Damage - Bite (2d6>3d6)
11 - Improved Critical (Falchion)
13 - Critical Focus
15 - Blinding Critical

Wolf

Feats:
1 - Power Attack
2 - Iron Will
(Ability Score Increase at level 4 raises INT to 3)
5 - X (Retrained to Outflank at level 6-7)
8 - Improved Natural Attack (Bite)(1d8>2d6)
10 - Vital Strike
13 - ???

What else can I do (or do differently) to improve my animal companion (mostly in the goal of it not falling off super hard later into the campaign)?

So, I am DMing Curse of the Crimson Throne, starting tonight. I have already rolled the city's random magic items for the session. My question to you guys is, for those of you who actually use random magic item generation or otherwise limit the amount of items that are available in a magic item shop, how much information about the items do you give your players?

I would like to do something less than just coming right out and telling them what the items are, but I don't want to give them so little information that they are forced to basically gamble with whether a magic item would be useful for them. I was thinking maybe give a good description of the item, and have the shop owner provide some hints to its use, but idk.

For the record, Korvosa, as a large city, has 4d4 minor magic items, 3d4 medium magic items, and 2d4 major magic items. In addition, any item costing 8000gp or less has a 75% chance of being readily available.

Thanks!

I am dropping into a RotRL campaign at 5th level, and I have decided to make a wizard. GM said I can use crafting with my starting wealth (~15k). I decided to pick up CWI in addition to Scribe Scroll. I am going to craft

Headband of Vast INT +4
Belt of Incredible DEX +2
Cloak of Resist +1
Handy Haversack

I would like to use some of my remaining gold to grab a utility selection of scrolls (I know the standard advice, things that are very situational). My question here, what does your toolbelt of level 1-3 scrolls look like, with a heavy focus on wizard/sorc spells?

I know in 3.5, which uses almost the same exact pricing for creating custom magic items, there was a table for what type of effects were associated with each slot. It is here for reference at the bottom under Table: Body Slot Affinities.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm

My question is, is there a RAW table like this anywhere in Pathfinder, and if not, would it be fairly safe to go by this table when brewing up custom magic items?

I am playing in a Rise of the Runelords campaign and would like some advice regarding a build. I want to be a Bad Touch Cleric (Leaning Lamashtu for Trickery and Madness). I am looking for suggestions involving the cleric part of the build and also the other side of the gestalt. These are the character creation rules.

Level 5 (I am dropping in partway into chapter 2, have played roughly this far in the campaign before)
Regular WBL
Gestalt
All Paizo
82 points to allocate to attributes, none lower than 6 or higher than 18 before racials.

Please aim towards at least moderate if not higher levels of optimization. I don't mind a little bit of metagaming regarding the future of the story, as long as it's not overboard. However, if you advise a build choice based on future events in the module, please don't spoil why. Thanks!

Also actually open to any combination of Gestalt Classes. Prefer to not be something that is only useful in combat though. So at least one side with good spellcasting and/or other out of combat utility (skills, etc.)