Lao Haeris's page

Hello everyone.

I am about to start a new game and we replaced vancian magic with spheres of power, akashic mysteries, pact magic, and psionics.

I am trying to wrap my head around spheres of power as it is the only system I am not very familiar. I have some questions.

1) How did people balance alteration? It seems that I can give 3-4 traits at 6 level (with the advanced talent) traits. I can also spent an extra spell point to give all an equal amount of traits to 1 ally for every 2 levels I posses. So at 6th level I can spent 2 spell points and give to my three melee 3-4 traits which include pounce (1 trait), 4 claw attacks each (2 traits), an extra pair of arms (1 trait) and later give them even more hands and fly speed, more natural attacks etc.
So they can fullattack every round due to pounce and get a terrible amount of offensive power.
Add couple of buffs from one or two other classes, and godforbid if one of those is a bard and you just created unstoppable killing machines.

Am I doing something wrong here? Am I understanding something wrong? even without the advanced talent you still can spread around 3 traits to 3 people at 6th level.

2) Similarly, how do you deal with multiattackers? either via the twf style or natural attacks, when someone stacks number of attacks, shocking weapon quality, has a bard in the party which enhances every single attack with inspire courage, throw couple of buffs and your average unarmed strikes/twf/Natural attacks jester becomes monstrous?
I know DR is a thing... but it seems every single creature will have to be modified as such to have a chance of staying alive.

Hello everyone.

I am trying to build a necromancer. I chose Juju Oracle and I picked Spirit Vessels mystery.
The only problem is that I don't really understand how the whole thing works.

1a.) When I reanimate undead with the spell I reanimate the dead creature, does that creature use his + to attack and saves and skills and feats?
Does it use a fixed amount based on his HD/CR?

1b.) (where do you see how much HD does a creature have? In the bestiary I only see the CR)

2a.) when I reanimate a creature I have the option between skeleton and zombie template. Is Juju Zombie another template that I get because I chose Spirit Vessels mystery?
2b.) Any other necromancer without this mystery would just have the skeleton and zombie option?

2c.) Do Juju zombies casted by animate dead are under my control? Do they have free will and I need to enslave them before I command them? Or is it like the Animate Dead where when raised they serve under my control indefinitely?

''In the place of a Dark Lord you would have a Queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the Morn! Treacherous as the Seas! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair!''

Hello beautiful troubles.

I am trying to build a powerful enchanter character with the gestalt rules and I am asking you suggestions.

The campaign is going to be Rise of the Runelords. We have so far many front liners and only one spellcaster.

What I got so far:
Kitsune as a race (obviously)
Sorcerer with the Fey bloodline. Perhaps crossblooded with serpentine to get the powerful arcana that allows me to use my enchants to more creatures. Not sure if it's worth it in this campaign though.

My problem is what the second class I should choose.What I thought so far is:
Dirge Bard (so I can enchant also undead) (but I don't see any further use of this class after that)
Lotus Geisha

Evangelist Cleric (getting the conversion inquisition to add my wisdom on my diplomacy, bluff and intimidate. I can get the Empyreal/celestial bloodline to use wisdom for all my stats and synergize better with the cleric)

I was considering devilbane priest (cleric archetype) for the extra feats but it says that you must choose some teamwork feats and then it suggest you some feats that are no teamwork feats but essential for the class, like spell penetration and its Greater version. So I don't know how that works.

Feats and stuff I have it all settled. I just need a powerful class that completes my vision for a powerful enchanter. I don't mind going full caster and not a martial like paladin to make a defensively strong character. I just want to be good at affecting the minds of others.

ps: I am a heavy optimized and so is the rest of the group.

Evening everyone,

I have a Wizard 1/Eldritch Knight 9 focusing on archery. (wizard is divination/scryer for early entry, and the weapons requirements was houseruled by my GM as not necessary mainly because I play as an elf that have proficiency with Longbows).

Even though I am almost full BAB character I struggle greatly with my +hit. I know this is largely because we wear no gear at all (seriously, nothing) but I was wondering if there is something I may be doing wrong. The -2 from manyshot and -3 from deadly aim bring my accuracy down to +10.... at 10 level. Are enchantments and +points in dext really add up to my accuracy that much? Cause I was hoping that my full BAB will be sufficient to the odd no-gear campaign we re playing.

I am sorry if I do sound oblivious or stupid, but I am afraid I might be both when it comes to such stuff.

My stats are:

1 - (1 W) Point Blank Shot, Scribe Scroll
2 - (EK 1) bonus feat: Precise Shot (from EK)
3 - (EK 2) Rapid Shot
5 - (EK 4) Arcane Strike
6 - (EK 5) bonus feat: Deadly Aim (from EK)
7 - (EK 6) Manyshot
9 - (EK 8) Weapon Specialization
10 - (EK 9) Bonus feat: Weapon Focus: Longbow (from EK)

My stats are:

str. 14
dex. 17 + 2 (racial) +1 (8th lvl) = 20
con. 14
int. 15 + 2 (racial) +1 (4th lvl) = 18
wis. 10
cha. 7

What do you guys suggest for me to do?

I am building a synthesist summoner and chose the Fauchard as my weapon of choice, going for reach (large, biped, evolution houserule, and lunge). I also took combat reflexes and have 16 dext right now, able to do 3 AoO per round. Fauchard is also +1 Keen making it 15-20 x2 Critical.

I am 10 lvl and I am focusing mostly on doing 3 attacks as my full attack (with haste) and then have lots of AoO for control and extra damage. The high crit fauchard allows me to take advantage of these singular precious attacks when I am getting an AoO.

I do want to get an Animal Companion too. Hence I chose eldritch heritage line to get one through Nature/Sylvan bloodline (DM allowed to use sylvan). I also got boon companion and now my pet is good to go. My problem is this. I do a lot of theorycrafting and making many trial characters but never one with an Animal Companion, so excuse my ignorance. But how on earth do you optimize it for damage/tanking? The large Roc has 24 str at my lvl. It's damage is an insignificant 1d6+7 per talon and 1d8+7 with it's bite. That's a sad 32 damage per round if ALL ATTACKS hit. And it's ''to hit'' isn't all that great.

I thought maybe that's not how people play it so I thought about other choices, like going with a Megaloceros or an Elephant mastodon and take improved/greater overrun or bullrush and have the enemies provoking AoO from the Synthesist when they fail their CMDs. Which I don't expect it to happen all that often at this level (although we fight almost always humanoids and Undeads). The funny thing is that when you bullrush the pet doesn't even do damage and it provides a minor movement control to one target.

TL:DR
How do people optimize their pets? Is it damage? Is it through maneuvers? How?

Hello everyone,

I am building a blaster admixture wizard 9/sorcerer 1, and I have a few questions about some feats.

The mage's tattoo (evocation) and bloodmage initiate (evocation) feats say:
''you cast spells from this school of magic at +1 caster level''

Does that mean:
1) I am adding +1 to overcome Spell Resistance?
2) I add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws (reflex in the case of fireball)?
3) I add 1 more dice to my fireball? I am currently 9 lvl wizard and 1 lvl sorcerer. The mage's tattoo will give me one more dice. But then I reach the cap of fireball. Will bloodmage initiate add another dice to that total bringing it up to 11d6 in total? Or it stops at 10 regardless and it just adds 1) and 2) ?

Spell specialization says:
''Select one spell of a school for which you have taken the Spell Focus feat. Treat your caster level as being two higher for all level-variable effects of the spell.''

4) I add again the +2 to overcome Spell Resistance and +2 to the Difficulty class for all saving throws?
5) Does that increase my dice above 10d6 which is the max for fireball? Does it make it 12d6? Or it stops there?

Extra question:
as a 9 lvl wizard and 1 lvl sorcerer, my fireball will be 9d6 or 10d6? The spell description says:
''deals 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 10d6)''

Caster level equals my levels in all spellcasting classes or just the class I am casting the spell? What's the difference with: class level or character level?

As the title says, I am planning to play a character with a lot of skill points but I am not sure where to invest apart from the perception, sense motive, bluff, diplomacy. These are my 4 standards so far.

I assume knowledge arcana is also useful. Any other generic suggestions?
I am playing an archer.

Hey yo everyone.

I am building a vanilla summoner and a Quadruped/pouncing eidolon with natural attacks and I don't know what feats to take for it. Apart from the classic Power Attack and Improved Natural Attack:Claws, what else is there?

Eidolon has 4 feats right now and soon to take his 5th, yet I cannot find an guide or advice on what to do. I guess stuff like Iron Will, Improved initiative etc are ok... but very boring. Lunge and Eldritch claws are two possible choices but they seem so uninteresting. (we rarely ever use reach or DR)

The only thing I thought so far is Intimidating Prowess and Cornugon Smash with an evolution in Intimidate, so I can play with some shaken conditions to spice things up. I thought to take some defensive/tanky feats like Stand Still. I'd rather have something that adds interesting gameplay than flat increase in numbers. I am not too concerned with adding more damage as I am doing by far the most damage in the group.

Any advice will be helpful.

Hello people,

I build a summoner few days ago and I am planning to show him to my DM for approval. I changed some stuff and I wanted some critique from some veterans if its OP or not. Also if you have some better suggestions to do. I am playing normally an Elf, but we decided to change some racials with Half-elf as they seem to have greater synergy and they are almost identical with the elves anyway. (racial ability +2 cha, skill focus feat, favorite class bonus)

We also did some changes. I decided to give up summon monster SLA's.
I mean, they dont manifest as actual physical creatures, but as phantasms that help me. Not suited for combat. That way I can use their amazing spells without feel like a pokemon master. That means I can still summon them, but only a shadow of them that manifests in my character. He is able in his round to act as he was representing each creature individual. For example: If I summon 2 unicorns, I manifest their power in me. Although they dont appear physically and hence cannot work as meatshield when eidolon goes down, I am able to act as me in my round, and cast a spell from each individual unicorn I have summoned/manifested. (The no summons when eidolon is out, still counts)

here we go:

Summoner:
Elf level 10

Str: 7
Dex: 13 +1 (8th lvl increase) =14
Con: 15 +1 (4th lvl increase) = 16
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 18 + 2 (racial) = 20

HP= 79, AC= 10 + 2 (dext mod) = 12/14 (if eidolon is near through Shield ally class feature)
BAB: 7/2 Initiative: +2 (trait) +2 (dext mod) = 4
fort: 3 + 3 (con mod) = 6/8 (if eidolon is near)
refl: 3 + 2 (dext mod) = 5/7 (if eidolon is near)
will: 7 + 0 (wisd mod) = 7/9 (if eidolon is near)
(+2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and
effects + Immune to magic sleep)

Feats:
0) Skill Focus: Perception (Half elves racial), Cosmopolitan (free feat from my DM) (I got bluff and Perception)
1) Extra Evolution
3) Summon Good Monster
5) Extra Evolution
7) Improved Familiar (Dragon, Faerie)
9) Resilient Eidolon

Traits:
World Traveler (+1 for diplomacy and is a class skill)
Warrior of Old (+2 initiative)

Skills: 2 (base) + 1 (int mod) per level = 30
*Perception: +10 (ranks) +6 (skill focus) feat) +2 (elf racial) +0 (wis mod) +3 class skill = 21
Use Magic device: +5 (ranks) +5 (cha mod) +3 (class skill) = 13 (I didn't go crazy because we are in a very low wealth campaign)
*Bluff: +5 (ranks) +5 (cha mod) +3 (class skill) = 13
Diplomacy: 10 +1 (trait class skill) +5 (cha mod) +3 (class skill) = 19

Because of the lack of summons, I decided to make my eidolon very defensive. Not only my spell choices, but also his build and feat choices are on the defensive/control side, since he is gonna be the only front liner we have (our ranger sucks, seriously, he does like 15 damage at 10 lvl -.-)

To make up for the lack of summons, I got some special bonuses, in the form of feats, for my eidolon to make his weapon wielding build work:

Eidolon:
(Free) Martial Weapon Proficiency: Scythe
(Free) Combat Expertise - A feat tax really. (We gonna skip the 13 int requirement)
(Free) Weapon Focus: Scythe - feat tax but also useful

1) Combat Reflexes
2) Improved Trip
3) Greater Trip
4) Fury’s fall

As you can see, Its a trip defensive/control build to help our 3man party survive and have my eidolon work as a tank.

88 HP (rolled dice)
str. 16 + 4 (bonus) + 1 (ability increase lvl 10) + 8 (large size) +2 (evo) = 31
dex. 12 + 4 (bonus) - 2 (large size) + 2 (evo) = 16
con. 13 + 4 (large size) +1 (ability increase lvl 5) = 18
int. 7
wis. 10
cha. 11

+1 CMB (large evo) +1 CMB (weapon focus feat), +1 CMD (large evo)
-1 attack rolles (large size)
+10ft reach(biped + large) +5ft (reach evo)

+8 BAB
+6 fort + 4 (const modifier) = 10
+2 reflex +3(dext modifier) = 5
+6 will + 0 (wis modifier) = 6 (+4 vs enchantment spells and effects from devotion)

Evolutions: 14 +2 (half elf favourite class bonus) +2 (summoner feat) =18
free: Limbs, Limbs, Claws

1x Improved Natural Armor
1x Improved natural armor
1x Improved natural armor
2x Immunity (fire)
4x Large
2x Fly
2x Fly (using Aspect class feature to transfer it to my Summoner)
1x reach (weapon)
2x ability increase (dext) (1st lvl)
2x Ability increase (str) (6lvl)

Skills: 32 Base
*acrobatics: +8 (ranks) +3 (dext mod) +3 (class skill) = 14
Bluff:
Craft:
*disable device: +8 (ranks) +3 (dext mod) +3 (class skill) = 14
Knowledge Planes:
Perception:
Sense Motive:
Stealth: +8 (ranks) -4(large evo) +3 (dext mod) +3 (class skill) = 10
Fly: +8 (ranks) -2(large evo) +3 (dext mod) +3 (class skill) = 12

As you can see, I try with this build to make my Eidolon as defensive as I can to help me and our sorcerer survive. So far we had no front line and we always were close to death. I know I give up a lot of damage by doing that, but our group is not so great, so I didnt wanna go crazy with it and steal their thunder (sorcerer's mostly, and potentially our ranger's). My spell choices only highlight the fact that I wanna keep my eidolon around all the time.
Hence I decided to go that way.

I know its very homebrew-y, but I wanted to know if you guys would approve such build in your games or you find it too bad, or wrong, or OP, or weak, or whatever. Our DM is quite open and he knows me for being a team player. I know also that there is a lot of changes but I wanted to know that even with all those modifications, if it will actually work.

Thanks again.

Btw:
The spells I chose are:
1st lvl)
1 - Enlarge Person
2 - Mage Armor
3 - Grease
4 - Blood Money (I am gonna ask if he allows me to use this one even though its wizard/sorcerer)
5- Compel Hostility

2th level)
1- Barkskin
2- Haste
3- Evolution Surge, Lesser
4- Invisibility
5- Summon Eidolon

3d level)
1- Wall of Ice
2- Stoneskin (together with blood money perhaps?)
3- Dimension Door
4- Black Tentacles

4th level)
1- Evolution Surge Greater
2- Bull's strength Mass (That's because we don't have any items yet. lol)

Familiar spells: Faerie Dragon (I was able to customize his spells, as he casts as a 3d lvl sorcerer)
- Protection from Evil/Law
- Obscuring Mist
- Vanish

Help me understand how favourite class bonus work.

in the rules it says:
''Instead of receiving an additional skill rank or hit point whenever they gain a level in a Favored Class''

So for example, sorcerer half orc bonus says: ''Add +1/2 to fire spell damage.''

1) Does that mean that if for example you role 30 damage for a fireball, you get to increase it by 1/2? (45 damage?)
2) And if that is so, how does metamagic affects it?
Is the bonus after metamagic applies? For example you roll 80 empowered fireball, does that mean you increase it by 1/2? (120 damage?)
3) Do you have the option to take this favourite class bonus every level? Sounds ridiculous so I probably miss something.

And in the elf summoner class bonus it says:
''The amount of time the summoner must spend to summon his eidolon is reduced by 1 round, to a minimum of 1 round.''

4)Does that mean that you get to reduce the amount of time must spend to summon my eidolon by 1 round flat, or 1 round for every time I get to choose this favourite class bonus? (which I assume I can do that every time I get a level according to the rule I wrote on the top of the thread? So by 10 level how much time do I need to summon my eidolon?

According to rules an eidolon needs a full minute ritual to be summoned. And taking this favourite class bonus from elves, it reduces it for 1 round.

My eidolon is a biped of 8th lvl and large size. (this is via the large evolution).

I was planning to use a greatsword. But then I came across bastard sword, and dwarven waraxe.

1) Can my large eidolon wield any of those? Does it take any penalty? (if yes, why?) Or should I stick with my greatsword?

2) Also, if my strength is 30, when I roll to confirm if I hit or not (attack roll, right?), I use my BAB (+6) plus my str modifier? (in which case its 6+10=16) plus the d20 dice against enemy's AC?

3) In my damage rolls, I add 1 1/2 str modifier because its a two hand weapon?`Is this also correct?

I never played a non-full spellcaster before, hence I am so oblivious about such basic stuff.

edit: Greatsword is listed under:
(Martial)
Two-Handed Melee Weapons

while Dwarven Waraxe under:
(Exotic)
One-Handed Melee Weapons

Didn't notice that. I guess I cant use a bastard sword instead of greatsword as a two handed weapon. GS seems to do more damage.

what would you guys suggest for maximum damage in for my situation?
(no natural attacks or 10 hands eidolon with a sword in each hand)

Hullo everyone.

I am dealing with a problem in my current campaign. We are a three man party that consists from a two weapon fighting ranger and a sorcerer focusing mostly on blasting.

I am the third member. I was playing a witch till now, and I didnt have any fun with her anymore so I decided to reroll. T

However, we lack everything right now and I really dont know what to play. We have no frontline, and many times me and our sorcerer were near death. The ranger cannot really take a lot of damage as he is not optimized at all. Nor is our sorcerer. They are new in pathfinder (first time in dnd for the sorc and he can barely qualify for an arcane spellcaster with his optimization. He is also a sage sorcerer using his int, so no cha skills, no face party either) and their spells and abilities are all over the place. I understand and respect that, that's why I wanted to play something that can bring balance to the party, but I am not sure how to do that when we will lack healing, face party, frontline, divine spellcasting, skill monkey etc. Not saying all of them are mandatory and so far we didnt do that bad, but you can see already in our 8th lvl that we lack behind.

I was considering a summoner for the frontline eidolon and me as a back line controller buffer to make them shine in battle, while keeping down my eidolon for stealing their thunder.
I thought of playing a melee druid with an animal companion but I am disappointed when I read that they start falling off at later levels, and we are nearly 9 now.
Another idea was an eldritch knight archer that can rain death on enemies and be a part time skill-monkey out of combat and use his utility and control spells to cover as much from the other missing roles.

I know we are not in a video game where you need tank/heal/4 dps, but the more we progress, the more I realize the need for a frontliner, and I deeply miss our ex-player rogue skillmonkey T_T

Any suggestions?

Hello,

I am building a new character and I want some advice. The character is a paladin 2/ oracle 6 so far, and I am planning to go some eldritch knight later to get better BAB without completely skipping my spellcasting.

We made a modification with my DM, to allow me to qualify for EK with 3 lvl divine spells instead of arcane. I am going elf, but I exchanged some bonuses from it with half elf (to get paragon surge cheese).
The character is going to be an archer while using his versatile and defensive spells for out of combat utility and in-combat buffing and control, without overdoing it. My dm trusts me in this.

I want your advices if I am doing it right.

Oracle 6/ Paladin 2

Divine Hunter Paladin:
Elf Favorite class bonus: Add +1/2 hit point to the paladin's lay on hands ability (whether using it to heal or harm).
Aura of good
Detect Evil
Smite evil
Lay on Hands 1/2 paladin lvl + cha mod/day for 1d6
Divine Grace (add cha bonus to saving throws)

Ancient Lorekeeper Oracle
Elf favorite class bonus ''Oracle'' (Add +1/2 to the oracle's level for the purpose of determining the effects of one revelation.) I am adding it to the Wood armor)
Use also Elven Arcana from the archetype to add some extra wizard spells in my spells known.

Mystery = Wood (revelations: Wood Bond (to enhance my bow), Wood Armor +6 from favorite class bonus instead of +4)
Curse = Haunted

str. 7
dext. 17 + 1 (8th lvl) + 2 (half elf racial) = 20
con. 10
int. 12
wis. 10
cha. 17 + 1 (4th lvl) = 18

BAB + Saves:
BaB: 2 (paladin) + 4 (oracle) = 6
Fort: 3 (paladin) + 2 (oracle) + 4 (divine grace char bonus) + 0 (con modifier) = 9
Ref: 0 (paladin) + 2 (oracle) + 4 (divine grace char bonus) + 5 (dext modifier)= 11
Will: 3 (paladin) + 5 (oracle) + 4 (divine grace char bonus) + 0 (wis modifier) = 12

Feats:
0) Skill focus: Nature (half elf), Cosmopolitan (free feat from my DM)
1) Precise shot (divine hunter paladin archetype), Point Blank shot
3) Rapid shot
5) Eldritch Heritage (arcane bloodline, familiar or arcane bond probably my bow)
7) Deadly Aim

Traits:
Magical Knack (increase my caster lvl by 2)
Dangerously Curious (UMD skill)

Skills: 30 (oracle) + 6 (paladin) = 36
*Bluff: 8 (from cosmopolitan feat)
Climb:
Craft:
Diplomacy: 8
Handle Animal:
Heal:
Knowledge Planes:
Knowledge Nature: 4 + 3 [skill focus (+6 at 10 ranks)]
Knowledge History:
Knowledge Religion:
*Perception: 8 (from cosmopolitan feat)
Profession:
Ride:
Stealth:
Survival:
Sense Motive:
Spellcraft:
*UMD: 8 (from trait)

What I am aiming with this character is to be decent ranged combatant, providing enough DPR (something we seriously lack with our 3man party), while at the same time be able to provide some defensive spells like healing, restores, and cures from my oracle spell list, and later at 11+ lvl, use wizard/sorcerer spells (via paragon surge, new arcana combo) for extra utility especially out of combat, as we tend to roleplay and solve mysteries much more than actually fighting.

The party is me, an arcane bloodline sorcerer, focusing mostly on blasting and throw area of effects and control, and a melee ranger.
None of them is optimized at all. I recognize the dangers to outshine them completely, but I prefer to lift them with some buffs and aid them in other ways instead of stealing their thunder. My DM knows and trust me with this too.
With my cha based skills I will be able to provide some decent party face abilities while using paladin's diving grace to make me beefy with my saving throws. (something my DM uses a lot too)

I know I am sacrificing a lot of spellcasting, around three levels if I will get also Eldritch Knight, but being able to access both wizard and cleric spell lists even for up to 7 lvl spells is great I think for what I want to do. I found most really high lvl spells not fun for anyone.

My initial plan was to go wizard 1(with divination sla to qualify for 3d lvl arcane spells for eldritch knight)/eldritch knight 5/arcane archer 2
(the all martial weapons proficiency requirement is not necessary as long as I keep my elf bow proficiency and use always a bow)

So here we are, Let me know with what you guys think. Any suggestions? something you would like to add? What should I avoid or change is always welcome.

ps: I was considering taking the waves or metal or ancestors or battle mystery or the natures mystery for the animal companion. I never played a melee or archer type before and I dont know how it works with BAB or if its too low or if I will hinder it if I dont choose wood and the wood bond revelation. Not that I know exactly all those +1 enchantments and what they do but it seems wise to have a potent weapon, considering I am gonna spent most my rounds full attacking with my bow.

Hello little devils.

I seek once more your wise suggestions.
I am building an archer who is not very... bow/arrow kind of guy. What I am asking is for alternatives to it. Mechanically I will still use a bow and arrows to fight, but because my PC is kind of... unique and old and very magical, I want to change the bow+arrow image. My DM agreed on this so he will let me change it if I come up with a nice idea that fits to my beloved elf.

Here is where you masterminds step in. What else could someone imagine or suggest to do? I was thinking some sort of magical ring that rises above me and has precious stones or whatever inside it, and everytime I have to full round attack those 4 arrows, I instead throw these stones.

As you can see, I have the imagination capacity of a 3 year-old. What other cool ideas do you guys have? My guy is one of the oldest and most ancient magic users on our homebrew campaign, and because he is a mixture of wizard/eldritch knight archer, and will have access to high lvl spells eventually, I wanted him to look more sorcery rather than a ranger kind of person who also uses magic. So much sorcery, that even his bow and arrows look different.

That's it. I hope someone will throw some nice ideas out there.

some stuff I dont want:
- funny or goofy stuff. (stones, knifes, kitten-shaped ninja stars)
- scienc-y or goofy stuff. (guns, lasers, testing tubes, nanobots filled arrows)
- goofy stuff.

PS: where on earth can I download or even read about the new classes and their features of the Advanced Class Guide? I can't find a freaking link.

[INTRODUCTION, skip to next part if you want]

Hello all.

This is my first thread ever and also English is not my native language so please keep that in mind before you point out glaring typos of mine.

So, after playing a Witch (focusing on batlefield control, out of combat usefulness and my hexes) for 4 months and reaching 8 levels I decided to put her to sleep (intended) for now.

I struggled way too long trying to build a new character, starting also from lvl 8. For two weeks I tenaciously devoured all advices and suggestions I could find and build around 7 character (sheets) only to throw them away the next day. I just couldnt rest.

So I ended up going with Summoner. Vanilla Summoner for that matter.
The eidolon sounds sweet as it fits wonderfully with my story, and I enjoy playing the guy who supports others and being helpfull outside of combat, where most of our campaign takes place. (very RP heavy)

It took me long to build my character and also the eidolon as right as I possibly could, following RAW and suggestions from other great people in the forums and other builds.

[THE ISSUE]
And here is where my problem begun. I read how there is not much support for the summoner feat-wise, but I felt relief because that meant I could choose whatever nice stuff I would like without gimmicking my character.
But after some hours of searching, looking at builds, suggestions, guides and hundreds of forums I realized that I didnt make any progress, at all.

I know improved initiative and bumping saves is never a bad choice, but it is indeed terribly dull. I know the summoner suffers from having an extremely narrow spell list as also spells per day, so given how I like to be helpful at all times in and out of combat, I thought maybe I could find a way to increase my spells (known, or per day). Boy did that go out of the window. Some suggestions I found is Expanded Arcana, the Eldritch Heritage feats (choosing arcane bloodline allows me to take a familiar, and since I dont know where to spend my feats I could also take Improved familiar, although I have no Idea what to do with her).

But... thats all I could find. With the exception of the Augment Summoning chain, which I wanna avoid since I will use my summons only when I want extra spells for something out of combat, or assist someone in need or something like this. But since there isn't a lot of interesting stuff, I might just take it. Same goes with craft wondrous items, even though we never ever rest or have time to craft :S
I would rather also avoid going with some archer or melee feats, as they simply dont fit with what I expect from my char.

That brings me to the point.
How did you guys fix this? What did you do that doesnt include dull feats like iron will etc.
And most importantly, Do you have any suggestion from 3.5 feats that might make my character a bit more... engaging? (I can persuade my DM to allow me those, as he is very open with the rules)

[EXTRAS]
I know that alot of you will ask me, what do I wanna do with my character, and how do I play and so on. Well as I told you before, we have a lot of roleplay. We rarely had more than one combat per day so far (per session actually). Considering how the summoner spell list is more support-y, that fits my bill perfectly.. I usually stand back and assist my friends. Buffing usually the others instead of my eidolon (as I am highly optimized, and they are not really, so I dont wanna steal their thunder). However, I do want to know that I can be strong in combat, even if having an optimized eidolon can do this job for me. In game I play the standard wise guy archetype, and because I am an elf (one of the first ones to be exact, he is millenia old, homebrew campaign btw) it was extra hard for me to give away my witch with her 2+6 int modifier skills per level. Now I got the boring charisma with the even more boring charisma skills which I just dont enjoy as much, nor do they fit with him, as he tends to be very reclusive and rarely speaking. I hoped I would find a away to exchange my charisma with intelligence but I cant find a way to make it, damn you stupid Eldritch Heritage-arcane bloodline (yes I got it even if I am an elf).

Lastly, we are basically naked so far. 4 months and we rarely deal with items, gear or weapons. With my witch, I had a staff of wood. Thats all. And a gray robe. Thats also it. No + something or anything.
Just throwing this out there in case it will affect your advices. Keep in mind we werent really in danger of dying so far, as we put a lot of effort in our characters (my story was 14 pages, lol) and our DM doesnt play to kill us all the time.
One other members is a versatile sorcerer, throwing the occasional fireball and scorching ray and some cc.
The other guy is probably going something like ranger or so.
And if the fourth guy join us, he said something about cleric or paladin, paladin most likely, so this will assist the front lines along with my tanky eidolon. But not sure yet.

That's all, thank you for taking time to read this, and I hope some great advices will follow.