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The goal behind this list is versatility. It's an excellent list. However, remember that you are not Batman, and you shouldn't be. The big difference between the Wizard and the Sorcerer is that the Wizard can, given enough time and money, do anything; but the Sorcerer can do a few things without the time or money. You give up preparation ability for spontaneity. Spell choices should reflect that. The spells listed above have lots of uses, but note that they are also, mostly, spur-of-the-moment things. Other spells of value are Charm Person or Animate Rope, depending on the kind of sorcerer you are. The idea is that the Wizard deals with the problem perfectly, given a day to prepare, while the Sorcerer can jury-rig the solution right now. Get to know the bloodlines and what they can do. For example, I have an Aberrant Sorcerer right now. Over the course of levels, I get bonuses to polymorph spells, protection from sneak attacks and crits, and a longer-range touch attack. So, this sorcerer wades into combat a bit more than most full casters, changing into whatever beast is helpful to the situation, and stacking touch attacks to whatever strikes I need. Chill Touch is a go-to spell for this build, while it's of less value to most other casters. Important feats include Combat Casting, Still Spell, and Silent Spell, so that I can cast stuff no matter where I am or what shape I have. Since I do not prepare spells, Still and Silent spells are more useful because I don't have to know in advance when I'll need them. Quickened Spell, of course, is terrific for most sorcerers in PF.
(Ragathiel's) on golariopedia too, it's interesting, but seems very paladin like. Not getting the gist of it really, inquisitor-wise. Big sword is cool and useful, but more of the shining paragon type and less of a gloomy trenchcoat sleeps in dungeons and lurks graveyard type. I don't know. Sure, he's a five-winged general of a bunch of heroes, but he's also the Angel of Vengeance, and his father is Dispater. I think there's enough space for an emo infiltrator in that backstory. ANYONE with a Luke-I-am-your-father backstory or who has been dragged through the mud at some point would really be welcome under Ragathiel. After all, which deity did Van Helsing or Preacher venerate? Heck, Golarion has Iomedae's Low Templars, and they're worse. PS: Just giving Ragathiel some more thought. He's known as a glorious angel general of heroes, but from the point of view of the other gods, he's really just an upstart punk with daddy issues. I mean, vengeance? Vengeance isn't LG, justice is. Yes, paladins destroy people who've been bad, but not to get back at them. Calistria's the main vengeance goddess. So now I'm in total agreement that Ragathiel is a perfectly appropriate patron of going into the sewers, kicking evil's teeth in, making their toadies cry and blubber the truth, then going back to the shadows to sulk. Golarion needs a deity of shifty LG shadow operation, and Ragathiel is all over that. Heck, now I want to run a story arc describing the struggle between Asmodeus' right hand man and his rebel son. And that's not a masterwork bastard sword. That's a katana.
Pendagast, I think the deity you'll want is Ragathiel, the Empyreal Lord of Vengeance, Chivalry, and Duty. Followers of Ragathiel receive the favored weapon of Bastard Sword, and can choose from the domains of Destruction, Good, Law, and Nobility. Ragathiel is in the Inner Sea World Guide, page 239.
Invisibility is less tempting to me because I could choose it myself, no matter which kind of sorcerer I am. I would prefer Fey's Entangle spell or Stormborn's Thunderstaff power (for example) because I wouldn't be able to choose them independently of the bloodline.
Arcane is good, but if you want other choices for the Arcane Archer, take a look at: Destined for the extra protection
The Shrek OST is just Shouryuu again. Not that I mind, I like that piece.
And I don't think Waves is too bad. Freezing Spell is useless, but a lot of the other spells are cool. In fact, Obscuring Mist plus Water Sight is a nasty combination, just off the top of my head. Optimizers may cringe, but I think that a Waves Oracle/Rogue would make an excellent combo. There's the Obscuring Mist/Water Sight trick, for starters. But here's where I would take the Deaf curse. Yes, your Initiative suffers, but you do get that penalty refunded over levels. So, thematically, you become a member of the dreaded Mist Assassins, who go into combat with both Obscuring Mist and Silence up. The better Waves mysteries for this would be Fluid Nature, Fluid Travel, Ice Armor, Water Sight, and eventually Watery Form and Punitive Transformation. The extra spells Slipstream and Wall of Ice are key for this.
Oh, right. I might still suggest a battle cleric, and the druid would also work well with this build. You don't need Charisma for a druid like you did in 2e, and you can rely on Wild Shape for AC and Con boosts and go into combat that way.
If you've got access to the Advanced Player's Guide, take a look at the Oracle class and the Rage Prophet prestige class. In 2e terms, it's like a multi-classed Barbarian/Specialty Priest. Otherwise, this looks like a good set of stats for a cleric or druid. A cleric with a number of knowledge skills is welcome. The other possibility would be to start as a Monk, making your way to the Duelist prestige class. Then you get to add both Wisdom and Intelligence bonuses to AC.
Yeah, is it my imagination or was every single ethnicity in the Inner Sea guide described as acting "superior" or "arrogant" in one way or another as a primary character trait? It started to grate on me. Every single ethnicity/clan/what have you in every single game book across all systems is described as acting "superior" or "arrogant" in one way or another as a primary character trait. No real change there.
I was looking over the Shield-and-Weapon Ranger, and I'm wondering if it's quite as good as it looks like it might be. Here's a possible feat chain: Human 1: Improved Shield Bash, Two Weapon Fighting
Now the TWF/DS is a little different. Yes, Shield Mastery means you can ignore penalties when attacking with a shield. However, it says nothing about your weapon. If you're wielding a one-handed weapon and a heavy shield, your shield is +3 attack, +3 damage, but your weapon is -6 attack (or -4 if your weapon is light and in your off hand, instead of the . TWF/DS makes that -4, or -2 if your weapon is light, and +Str to both attacks. It's still barely keeping up with the Switch Hitter, even assuming a spiked shield. I'm not a hardcore optimizer. Maybe someone else has some better thoughts?
Okay, so I'm back thinking about the Aberrant Sorcerer again. So I'm thinking about Long Limbs. Great for melee touch attacks (and with Intensified Spell, Shocking Grasp might be more worthwile). But what else is a melee touch attack aside from spells? Grapples, trips, and disarms aren't. Any other thoughts for fun melee touches?
So lately I've started looking at the Horizon Walker. It looks neat, but I keep thinking that despite the preponderance of bonuses, there just might not be enough "there" there. Some things I like: make all your weapons Good/Silver/Cold Iron/Whatever, get Fly for free a few times a day, never get fatigued or exhausted... all good stuff, but does it win encounters? It always seems like there are better ways to get this stuff, if that's what you want (except for maybe the exhausted/fatigued thing). Also, it requires Endurance and Knowledge(geography). Can I somehow turn these to my advantage? Perhaps stack Fight On and Diehard? Combine Heroic Recovery with a monster Fort save? What would you do? (This somehow ended up in the Archives. Could someone please move it? Thanks.)
That list of monsters from the ranger's home region is a nice tool to have. Another one, though, is ever getting to play above 10th level; I haven't actually gotten to play above 5th for about a decade. As you can imagine, I also never meet up with evil outsiders. But I figured I'd compare the regular ranger to the guide, and see what happens. The regular ranger (assuming a 16 Wis) could, by level 10, have a +6 against evil outsiders, and +6 against anyone once a day. A guide 10 could get +6 against anyone four times a day, and a 3rd level spell slot. However, another possibility would be a Guide 7/Horizon Walker 3. Choosing, say, the Abyss as a Terrain Dominance and placing all favored terrain bonuses into it, then the ranger has +6 against demons at any time, and +4 against anyone else three times a day, and any weapon used by the ranger counts as good for overcoming DR. A regular ranger 7/HW 3 could get the +6 vs. demons and the good weapons, as well as a +4 vs. another group. They're different, but I wouldn't call the guide focus a trap, really. It will depend on the campaign world. If you encounter lots of different kinds of creatures, then the guide focus is a better bet than the favored enemy. If you can be sure of the kinds of enemies, though, by all means, take the favored enemies! The best favored enemy is still human, though.
I'm thinking the Guide Focus would be a good way to get the bonus. It's only a limited number of times a day, and a single combatant at a time, but it's good against the BBEG and whoever is the biggest problem in a large skirmish. I'm thinking a half-orc guide ranger with an orc double axe, with possible dips into barbarian, rogue, and horizon walker.
How, exactly, does this work? It says that a single "attack" gets reach. Do only natural attacks count, or can weapon attacks receive reach as well? It's not a "natural attack form" like Improved Damage, so if it's applied to claws, it only affects one claw and not the other?
Since I've been working on an Aberrant Sorcerer / Haunted Oracle, I'll share what I've done. My PC started taking a handprint as his personal symbol, and he was already going to be an Aberrant Sorcerer. So, when he became a haunted oracle, I decided the problem wasn't with malevolant spirits. The problem was with his hands. He gets Mage Hand, and he'll soon have Long Limbs. So, I've decided that he's starting to manifest other hands. Most of the time, they remain thankfully hidden under his clothes, and he has no real control over them. But when he starts moving things around, his hands start doing more, showing up where they shouldn't, that sort of thing. He has trouble with his things because other parts of him are constantly rearranging things. Once he starts getting Unusual Anatomy, more of his body will simply... be hands.
I've got Focused Mind, so I won't be able to get Magical Knack, too. But here's the plan: I'm going straight Sorcerer. I'm sticking with Bleeding Wounds, because it happens to work with Chill Touch (yay negative energy)! Also, the Cure Light works well with my Orc Ferocity in emergencies, and the build will be more of a warrior/controller type with a bit of necromaster. I already have a 20 Charisma at 1st. Level 3 feat: Combat Casting (took Toughness at 1st, no regrets there!)
There's no set party (like Pathfinder Chronicles). The Bones Oracle was because he got really close with a Blood Goddess (and there was no Blood Mystery). He has the Haunted curse, and I don't think there is any retraining.
Though I guess technically, she could just keep the level of Sorcerer and go straight Oracle for the other 19 (or vice versa), but that honestly doesn't sound like what she's looking for. I could do that, sure, but is that the best way? I just want your thoughts. Let me ask you, what sources is your GM allowing in your campaign? I can use the CR and the APG. Is there something in another source you're thinking of? And please! I'd love to hear your advice!
I'm looking for general ideas, here, just to see what's out there. I've got a L1 half-orc Aberrant Sorcerer, starting spells Shield and Chill Touch. Originally planning a straight Sorcerer progression, as a reesult of RP, his second level was as a Bones Oracle, with the Bleeding Wounds revelation (L1 spells Cure Light, Inflict Light, Divine Favor). It's not optimal right out of the gate, I know. But, tough, that's what we're working with.
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