So, I'm not currently in a game, but I want to have a character planned out and ready to deploy should I manage to hunt down a Pathfinder GM. I play CRB only characters because reasons. Please don't recommend any non-core materiel.
Anyway, a rough build of the character as envisioned at 10th level.
I intend to mainly concern myself with buffing and debuffing, with significant save-or-suck casting ability in a pinch. I will be preparing and setting the stage, to, at higher levels (12+),simultaneously bring in the Dominated Meat Puppet aspect of enchantment as well as undead minions, preferably strong, high HD monsters. Trying to pull this off any earlier often backfires since your Wizard isn't strong enough yet to really throw his weight around, and good aligned party members can get really pissy over this kind of thing (the pansies ; p)
Sir Alexei Grigorovitch Petrov of Shudderwood and the Immortal Principality of Ustalav (and yes, that's how he introduces himself)
Neutral human male Enchanter 10
(Consider this 15 point buy a placeholder array that shows my priorities. I don't know what I'll end up playing with)
STR 7
DEX 10
CON 10
INT 22 (18 base, +2 racial, +2 from levels,+ headband bonus[undecided])
WIS 10
CHA 12
Arcane bond: an item, a familiar is out of the question in this case. The extra Spontaneous spell is simply more Valuable to me in this instance.
Feats: Scribe scroll w
Spell focus (enchantment) 1st
Greater spell focus (enchantment) h
Spell focus (necromancy) 3rd
Greater spell focus (necromancy) 5th
Craft wondrous item w
Spell penetration 7th
Greater spell penetration 9th
*undecided* w
Will take leadership if GM allows, probably at 11th, though possibly swapping out spell penetration in order to take it immediately at 7th.
Spells
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I consider these the correct schools to "ban": Evocation, Conjuration.
These are the two most "flamboyant" schools of magic, and, as you can see from my spell selection, I really wanted this guy's magic to be a little more low key and subdued, while still being effective.
5th level: Mind Fog
Waves of Fatigue
Hold Monster
Feeblemind
4th level: Confusion
Enervation
Detect Scrying
Crushing Despair
3rd level: Heroism
Haste
Suggestion
Dispel Magic
2nd level: Hideous Laughter
Blindness/Deafness
Touch of Idiocy
Command Undead
1st level: Sleep
Enlarge Person
Protection from Evil
Shield
True Strike
Identify
Feather Fall
Alarm
Endure Elements
Charm Person
That's before scrolls. I plan on investing a not insignificant amount into scrolls, especially Illusion spells.
Trained skills: Spellcraft
Knowledge(Arcana)
Knowledge(Religion)
Knowledge (Nature)
Bluff
Diplomacy
Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty)
Knowledge (History)
Linguistics
Perception (from Favoured class bonus)
+ headband skills
Linguistics is looked down upon as a skill, I know. However, It seems to often be forgotten that it isn't just the speak more languages skill, it also allows one to create and detect forgeries. A golden opportunity for fun and profit by the creative player.
Magic Items: Necklace of Adaptation 9000 (4500)
Blessed Book 12500 (6250)
Headband of Vast Intelligence +?
Scrolls to be inscribed ?
These Items are non-negotiable, the Necklace of Adaption enables a very neat defensive gimmick in the tactic of standing in the middle of a Mind Fog, a trick which opens up all sorts of nasty options. The Blessed Book is one of my favourite items general (and pays for itself eventually), and the headband is self-explanatory.
I'm quite open to advice regarding the rest of my potential baubles, and regarding just how much to invest in the headband. 501750 gp remains to be spent.
Now on to characterization and background.
Alexei is a member of a house of minor rural aristocrats whose ancestral holdings occupied an edge of Ustalav's Shudderwood forest. The keep was lost in a sudden night raid by undead when Alexei was still a youth of 17. Alexei's father and brother as well as many servants and retainers died in the attack, and Alexei himself nearly lost his own life to a Shadow in the attack, and in fact never fully recovered from incident.
Eventually, Alexei was able to gain an apprenticeship (His mother, a woman who was loath to see the considerable talents of her only remaining son go to waste, had convinced her family, whom she now lived with, to pay his tuition) with with an Elven enchanter who lived near the Shudderwood in order to observe the malicious and exceedingly dangerous Fey who lived there, from as safe a distance as possible. Alexei was of an odd temperment, and despite, or perhaps because of, his experiences, He was utterly fascinated with the undead, Fey and magic. He had none of the Traditional Ustalavic Superstition, and was an extremely bright student.
Personal characteristics:
Alexei is Somewhat fatalistic, but this is tempered by a sort of rote paranoia and caution from living in a very suspicious and dangerous country.
While he considers his enchantment magic his "secret weapon" and tries to conceal it as much as is possible without it becoming a serious handicap, He is quite open about his identity as a magic user, and actively courts the traditional aesthetic of the "mage", though he tries not to admit so.
He is completely amoral, almost never making judgements about what is right or wrong, instead he talks about what is "correct" and "effective" or not. However, he is not vicious or cruel in the least, and his moral non-judgement sometimes means he can be more merciful than those who claim righteousness.
Visual description:
This man of about 30 wears an unadorned white robe and carries a satchel under a purple hemmed black cloak. his fair hair and carefully trimmed beard are conservatively coiffured after the style of Ustalavic nobility. His jewelry is understated and simple in design, and of high quality. He leans upon a staff of light coloured wood carved in a spiraling design.