Mysterious Stranger's page

Just being mythic is a huge boost so there is some validity in the early levels being the most significant, but some of the later abilities are very strong. At 3rd level you gain Recuperation which allows you to fully heal after 8 hours of rest. You can also regain all limited use class abilities by spending a mythic point and resting for an hour. Mythic saving throw means you can often ignore many non-mythic abilities. Gaining tier 3 and 6 also unlocks more powerful mythic path abilities.

Being able to add metamagic feats to all spell cast for 10 rounds without using a higher level spell or increasing the casting time makes blasters incredibly tough. Being able to increase the damage dice and add an extra 5 dice means that low level spells still remain viable at high levels. An intensified mythic burning hand does 10d6 damage with a 1st level spell. An intensified augmented mythic fire ball can deal up to 25d10 damage and ignore fire resistance and immunity.

The real problem seems to be that published AP’s are notorious for being fairly easy. For the most part this seems to be by design. With an AP it is written so that it can be played by just about anyone. I do not use published AP’s so have no direct experience in this, but that is what many people of the forums say.

Mythic Rules do boost the power considerably and allows for even greater optimization than normal. The guidelines in the mythic rules state that the CR for a mythic character is increased by half their mythic tier. The example they give in the book is a 10th level/5th tier character is considered CR 12. This means that character should be about as powerful as a 12-level character.

Looking at a comparison between a 12th level sorcerer and a 10th level sorcerer with 5 mythic tiers finds the mythic character is way more powerful. The 12th level sorcerer will have access to 6th level spells, but that is about it. The mythic character gains +4 stat bonus due to mythic tier while the extra 2 levels may gain the normal sorcerer a +1. The mythic sorcerer gains 2 mythic feats and 5 path abilities. For the mythic feats the sorcerer takes mythic spell focus and mythic spell penetration. For the path abilities the sorcerer takes longevity, Mythic Spell Casting, Energy Conversion, Elemental Bond (fire) and Eldritch Breach.

Assuming both characters are identical except the normal sorcerer has 2 extra levels. The DC of the normal sorcerer’s 6th level spells will be 23 (without items), compared to the mythic sorcerer’s DC of 27 for his 5th level spells. When trying to penetrate spell resistance the normal sorcerer has a +16 bonus, but the mythic sorcerer has a +19 (+24 is using a fire spell) and rolls twice and takes the better result. The normal sorcerer has access to higher level spells so cast chain lighting dealing 12d6 damage to the primary target. The mythic sorcerer cast a mythic fire snake for 15d10 damage, and the target is grappled for 15 turns taking 1d10 damage each turn. The mythic sorcerer can also cast any wizard spell of 5th level or lower by spending a mythic point, has 10 of fire resistance and +3 on all mental stats without taking any penalties on the physical due to age and can no longer die of old age.

I have actually run a mythic campaign and had no trouble challenging my players, but it was not a published AP. I created the campaign myself and encouraged the players to optimize as much as the wanted. The opponents were equally if not more optimized than the players. I actually had to scale back a few opponents. The mythic vampire antipaladin was just too much even for a mythic paladin.

3) Spells from a corporeal source and effects that deal no damage, have only a 50% chance to work at all.

The phrase “that deal no damage” specifies the 50% chance to work only applies to non-damaging spells.

Force spells and effects, such as from a magic missile, affect an incorporeal creature normally.
This makes it clear that force effects basically ignore the incorporeal ability and affect the incorporeal creature as if it did not have the incorporeal special ability.

Another thing the rider could do would be to attempt a quick dismount. If the mount is charging that probably means it is the characters turn. So, as long as the character has a move action available, he might be able to dismount before the horse goes down.

I did not scroll down far enough to see that portion. But the same tactics I suggested against Misdirection could work vs Greater Magic Aura. Dispel Magic can also end most spells designed to fool Arcane Sight. In any case if you use Geas as I suggested it acts as a failsafe for cheating.

Greater Magic Aura allows you to alter the identifiers as described in Greater Detect Magic. All that does is allow you to identify and remember who cast the spell. It would not allow you to register as a different kind of caster or otherwise fool Arcane Sight’s determining your caster status.

Misdirection on the other hand would allow you to fool Arcane Sight, but it does allow a saving throw. There are several ways to counter the use of Misdirection. Misdirection has a duration of 1 hour per level but extend spell could increase that to 40 hours for a 20th level caster. Delaying the start of the actual test for 48 hours will cause the duration to run out. Misdirection causes all information from detection spells to show the information from the second creature instead of the character that the detect spell is aimed at. That means that a spell cast on the person under Misdirection will not register. So, all you need to do is to cast a spell on the character taking the test. If that spell is not detected he is cheating. Geas would work as the spell, but if you are really paranoid you could use a random spell instead or use Greater Arcane Sight (or Greater Detect Magic) to identify the caster of the spell affecting the character.

Both a Magus and an Arcanist can scribe spells into spell books. The Magus has a different spell list from the Wizard. So, all you have to do to eliminate a Magus is to make sure the spells being used are not on the Magus’s spell list. The Arcanist on the other hand has the same spell list as a Wizard so eliminating them is going to be a lot harder. That brings up the question of what is considered a real Wizard. Should the Arcanist be considered a Wizard? Are certain archetypes of Wizard not counted as a real wizard? Without using game mechanics what is the difference.

Arcane Sight will verify the target is an arcane caster and the highest-level spell they can cast but will not verify they are actually a wizard. An Arcanist, Bard, Bloodrager, Magus, Skald, Sorcerer, Summoner, and Witch will register the same as a Wizard.

The reason you cannot take the bite evolution is that the subtype already has it. You can however take improved bite to increase the damage. The claw evolution requires arms which the aberrant subtype lacks. They get tentacles instead.

Both the base form and subtype give the eidolon specific abilities. There are often interactions between the base form and subtype so that different combinations give different abilities. If you had chosen bipedal for the basic type and aberrant for the subtype you would not have bite, but would have limbs arm, limbs legs and slam instead of bite, grab, and tentacles mass.

Tentacles do more damage than claws and deal both bludgeoning and slashing damage. So, in reality you already have what you need.

The Grab from the subtype only applies to the tentacle attack. If you want your bite to also have grab you will need to select it again for bite.

Actually, Aura Alteration would not work. The options for the false aura are nonmagical, a magic item of a kind you specify or the subject of the spell you specify. Obviously detecting as a magic item is going to be useless. Detecting as a subject of a spell is going to be considered cheating. That means the only useful alteration would be being nonmagical. Aura Sight also detects the ability to cast spells and if they are divine or arcane. If you use Aura Alteration to appear as nonmagical it will not detect you are an arcane caster, which means you are not in fact a wizard or are cheating.

The reason I choose Arcane Sight is because it not only verifies you are not under any magical effect, but it also confirms you are in fact an arcane spell caster. Blocking the spell from working prevents that and is much of a red flag as revealing a magical effect on you.

The school could have restricted areas that only wizards are allowed to enter. That would allow mundane servants to take care of normal tasks but still have places that only a wizard can enter.

Geas will also act as verification the character completed the test. If they cheat on the test in any way, they have not completed the task of the geas and will take a -3 penalty to each stat per day up to a maximum of -12. If you really want to verify the test, put a requirement that the subject waits in the secure location for 5 days after completing the test. How many characters can function when all their stats are reduced by 12?

Nature’s Whispers says you may add your CHA modifier instead of your DEX modifier to AC and CMD, but that does not change the fact it is still considered a DEX bonus. By specifying you can use your CHA modifier instead of your DEX modifier means all you are doing is replacing the number. All other rules about AC are unchanged including maximum DEX bonus. Increasing your AC is a function of DEX not CHA. If it is not considered a DEX bonus the ability does not function at all. The formula for AC is 10 + armor bonus + shield bonus + DEX bonus + other modifiers.

If it did not count as a DEX bonus it would have wording similar to the paladin’s smite Evil. Smite evil directly states you gain a deflection bonus equal to their CHA modifier.

In programing terms DexBonus = ChaModifier.

Under the equipment section in the core rule book, it states that “even if the characters DEX bonus to AC drops to 0 this situation does not count as losing his DEX bonus to AC”. That statement calls into question the idea that the losing DEX bonus covers the MAX DEX bonus.

Since a wizard’s bonded object is a class feature, a wizard with a bonded object would be allowed to use it. That would require that all the spells in the test spell book be spells that are not in the wizard's spell book or those able to be cast by the item. Add a rule to the list of rules that the wizard’s bonded object can only be used to cast the memorized spells, and any other uses of the item are considered cheating. The Geas will then prevent the wizard from using it for anything but casting spells.

Provisions can be made for wizards that have traded away scribe scroll. In some cases, an alternative can be created for the archetype. For example, an Arcane Physician would need to brew a potion; A Bonded Wizard would be required to create a tool made of force; A Hallowed Necromancer would be required to cast a cure spell. Some archetypes may not be considered real wizards. A Familiar Adept for example stores his spells in his familiar like a witch, so I can see them not being counted as a real wizard.

The combination of Arcane Sight and Geas make it very difficult to cheat.

Create a secure location and stock it with all the supplies needed for the test. The supplies include a prewritten spell book with one spell of each level you want to test on. They also include any foci or material components to cast those spells, a blank spell book, and materials required to scribe read magic on a scroll.

8 hours before the test strip the wizard of all clothing and any items they are carrying. Require the wizard to remove/dispel any magical effects on them. After removing all magical effects require the wizard to abandon/cast all his spells including cantrips. Have 3 wizards with good spellcraft use arcane sight to verify there are no magical effects on the wizard and that he has no prepared spells. If the testing wizards are high enough use greater arcane sight. Give the wizard a document with all the rules for the test and make them sign the document after reading it. Cast Geas on the wizard with the task being to complete the test without cheating. Use Arcane sight to verify the Geas is affecting the wizard. Allow the wizard to rest for 8 hours in the secure location.

Once the wizard is rested, he is to prepare read magic from memory (which all wizards can do). Decipher all the spells in the book he is capable of casting. Memorize each spell in the book. Then he has to cast each spell he memorized. After he has cast each spell, he is to scribe read magic on the scroll.

Arcane Sight will verify there are no magical effects on the wizard. Geas allows no saving throw and will prevent the wizard from cheating. The wizard can take 10 with the spellcraft rolls to memorize the spells from the borrowed book.

This tests the wizard understanding of the principles of magic (spellcraft), the ability to cast spells, and to create scrolls.

When you are swallowed whole you take damage each round in addition to gaining the grappled condition. That would be considered continuous damage and require a concentration check in addition to the check for being grappled. Assuming the caster makes both concentration checks to cast the spell the creature swallowing the caster would get a reflex save vs the fire ball.

The caster is also going to take the fireball damage and will require to make the save with the penalty for being grappled.

The OP stated that some of the other party members had access to mounts through animal companions. I don’t play second edition, but I doubt many animal companions get climb or swim speeds. I checked the AON and it list polar bears as an option for animal companions.

So, my questions remains why does the character need a mount? The speed difference on AON is only 5 feet between a bear and a horse. What is the horse animal companion giving that the character does not get?

Why does the character need a mount? He is about the same size as a horse and is only slightly slower.

The problem with focusing everything on healing is that pigeon holes the character to a role and is honestly quite boring. As long as you can patch up the other characters and remove most condition that is all you really need. Items should also factor in when building a healer. Things like wands of cure light wounds and scrolls can supplement a life oracle just as easily if not more so than a cleric.

The original poster put support before healer in the title. That seems to suggest to me that aspect of the character is as if not more important than the healing. By 12th level a Pe Zin Practitioner with the life mystery and channel energy should be able to take care of any healing needed by the party without having to use take use any more of his spells known for healing. Scrolls can cover anything the mystery spells and lay on hand or channel energy do not.

The blackened curse gives the character some decent low level offensive capability which the cleric/oracle spell list is sorely lacking. This allows the character to focus on support spells, which is what the OP wanted.

With only one other caster in the party they are behind the curve on magic. The fact that the other caster is a sorcerer means the spells available to the party from their casters are extremely limited. Every extra spell is going to be very valuable to this party.

There was a generic supplement put out by Wizards of the Coast called Primal Order that had a system for deities. This was a long time ago before they acquired the rights to D&D. It was not game specific and could work with any game system. They had rules for adapting it to most of the game systems that were out at the time.

I have written up a few demi-gods by combining the gestalt rules with mythic. Basically take a 20th level gestalt character and add 10 mythic tiers. All of them take longevity, beyond morality, and divine source as path abilities. Since they have longevity, I also give them the age adjustment for venerable age.

Paladin/Ranger is going to be incredibly MAD. They will be limited to medium armor so will probably be forced into a DEX build. They will need both WIS and CHA for spells and only get 4th level casting.

There is no reason they could not take levels in monk. The HD would stack, they could use either their natural attacks or the unarmed attacks including flurry. Feral Combat Training would allow you to use one of your natural attacks with your flurry of blows, but does require weapon focus for the natural attack. But keep in mind that the dragon’s natural attacks are actually better.

You would gain everything a monk of its level gains.

What are you looking for the character to do? Other than both using WIS as a casting stat I am not seeing any synergy between these classes. The most important thing in a gestalt game is to choose two classes with good synergy. The gold standard is to get full BAB, all good save, 6 skill points per level, 9th level casting and class abilities that work well together, and can be used together.

If the class abilities have really good synergy than missing the gold standard is often ok. Unchained Monk has really good synergy with the inquisitor so dropping down to 6th level casting does not cause a problem.

If you want both classes to have magic you might want to consider Hunter instead of alchemist. Both classes are WIS based spontaneous casters. You would be sacrificing full BAB to gain 2 6th level spell lists. Unchained Monk would get you flurry of bane which is insanely good. It also gets you both stalwart and evasion.

The life oracle with the pei zen practitioner archetype looks solid, but I would go for human or half elf for the extra spells from the favored class bonus. The extra healing is nice but I would rather have more spells known for a spontaneous caster. Take the Blackened Curse to get some fire based combat spells.

By 12th level you can take care of most healing just from your mystery and archetype. Your curse gives you some basic combat spells, so you can take whatever support spells you want.

The ability says it ignores total cover and total concealment. That means it ignores all aspects of those conditions not just some. Both of those conditions prevent a target from being attacked. The rules of total concealment allow you to make an attack on a square you think the target is in with a 50% miss chance. As far as I know there is no other rule preventing you from attacking a target that is within range. I doubt that such a rule exists, because there is not really a need for it. I don’t know of any other ability that allows you to ignore total cover and total concealment. If such a rule does exist outside of the cover and concealment rules, I will freely admit I am wrong, but until then I stand my ground.

@Diego Rossi the description says it ignores total cover and total concealment. So, the ability is in the description. The archetype is called a Zen Archer and the ability to attack a foe without knowing their exact location seems to fit.

The best example of this type of ability I can think of is from Star Wars, where Luke shuts off his computer and shuts his eyes and used the force to blow up the death star.

After the sentence on lose objects, it states "Anything else, including animated objects, small boulders and creatures in metal armor." A giant in chain mail is a creature in metal armor.

Again, the GM is free to change that.

This spell creates waves of invisible energy that roll forth from you. All metal or stone objects in the path of the spell are pushed away from you to the limit of the range. Fixed metal or stone objects larger than 3 inches in diameter and loose objects weighing more than 500 pounds are not affected. Anything else, including animated objects, small boulders, and creatures in metal armor, moves back. Fixed objects 3 inches in diameter or smaller bend or break, and the pieces move with the wave of energy. Objects affected by the spell are repelled at the rate of 40 feet per round.

The 500 pound limit is for lose objects. A creature in metal armor is not a lose object. RAW the spell moves back a creature in metal armor regardless of the weight. The GM is of course free to rule otherwise but at that point it is a house rule.

Total Concealment: If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight, he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can't attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment).

Total Cover: If you don't have line of effect to your target (that is, you cannot draw any line from your square to your target's square without crossing a solid barrier), he is considered to have total cover from you. You can't make an attack against a target that has total cover.

Looking at the rules Total concealment means you have line of effect to the target, but not line of sight. Total Concealment means you cannot attack the target but can attempt to attack the square he is in. When you attack the square, the target is in you have 50% miss chance. Total Cover means you do not have line of effect to the target and cannot attack the target.

If you ignore total concealment and total cover, you do not need line of effect or line of sight and can attack the target. Since ignoring total concealment means you can attack the target directly you do not have to target the square, this means there is no miss chance. Unless there is another rule other than the one on concealment that states you need to be aware of the square the target is in RAW an 11th level Zen Archer spending 3 Ki points does not need to see his target.

Normally you cannot see around corners, but the description of trick shot specifically states you can shoot around a corner. As long as there is a physical path however convoluted a Zen Archer can attack the target.

This does not mean that trick shot gives you some sort of magic sight; it simply means you can make the attack. You would need to know that the target exists. But you do not need to know exactly where he is. Trick Shot is a supernatural ability so does is not dependent on normal senses.

One additional benefit of cooperative crafting is that either person involved can fulfill any prerequisite. While the rules state that you can use another magic item or spell caster for the spell, it does not state that another character can fulfill other prerequisites. Some items have skills or class abilities as prerequisites, cooperative crafting would allow creating some items that might be difficult for any single character to meet all the prerequisites.

Personally, I would limit the increased gold per day to x3. The feat does not give details on how it actually works. One reason for the increased gold per day could be that the crafters are working in shift. Normally you can only spend 8 hours per day crafting. If the feat is allowing a second crafter to work an extra 8 hours, it makes sense they can double the rate of progress. Since there are only 24 hours in a day that would mean you can have a maximum of 3 shifts per day. This is how I would rule in this case, but there is nothing in RAW that supports this.

I would however allow the +2 per person with the feat on the skill roll up to a reasonable number. I would probably go no more than 3 crafters per shift. So, if you managed to find 9 people with the feat you could get a +18 to the roll. But one thing to remember is that both characters have to have the relevant craft or item creation feat. So, if you are making a magic sword all characters need craft magic weapon and armor. A character with brew potion would not be able to help in creating a magic sword even if they have cooperative crafting.

The one thing the magus is extremely good at is going nova. When the player knows they don’t have to hold anything back and can burn through limited resources without consequences the magus is quite powerful. But put them in a meat grinder situation where they are facing hordes of decent opponents they become a lot less powerful.

When I run I tend to mix up the encounters and include a fair number of relatively easy encounters to cause the players to burn resources. The big fights tend to be towards the end of the adventure, but not always. In some cases the boss encounter may be more towards the beginning and the players need to fight their way out after blowing through their resources. Sometimes the boss encounter is in the middle and the players need to fight their way in, and then fight their way out after defeating the boss. Following the same pattern every time leads to complacent players.

I don’t disagree that energy attunement is powerful niche ability. I would however disagree that it is overpowered or a problem. The ability to turn the damage to force damage is more useful for fighting incorporeal creatures than overcoming DR. But even that can be done by standard magus who takes the Ghost Blade arcana. Ghost Blade is actually better because you can add either ghost touch or Brilliant Energy to the weapon.

Another thing to consider is that the duration of the magus normal arcane pool can be greatly increased with enduring blade. RAW that arcana does not work with the abilities granted by the black blade arcane pool.

The black blade arcane pool is fairly small, so using 2 points for an effect is costly. At 5th level doing so uses the entire pool. At 20th level the black blade arcane pool only has 5 points in it so you can turn the damage to force damage twice at most.

I don’t have problems with this archetype even if it allows the player to gain a slightly more powerful weapon than normal. The magus has a lot of options that are more powerful than having weapon with a 1-point higher enchantment bonus.

Changing the damage type does allow you to avoid DR, but it also means you have to deal with energy resistance and immunity. Typically, those tend to be higher than DR. A Dretch has DR 5/cold iron or good but is immune to electricity and has resist acid cold and fire of 10. Don’t get me wrong the ability to convert normal damage to energy can be useful but is still generally speaking less powerful than the enchantments a magus can add with his normal arcane pool.

There is nothing in the description that says it does not heal normally. The description states it does not gain fast healing, but nothing in the description of eyeball familiar or tumor familiar states they do not heal like a normal creature. There is also nothing stating you cannot use magic to heal them.

I would treat it as a normal creature for all purposes. It would require separate healing from the character but would heal normally even when joined to the character.

As to the regeneration I agree with that not having any effect unless the familiar is dead.

A black blade also cost the magus class features. Specifically, an Arcana and some points from his Arcane Pool. It also has fixed powers and cannot have other enchantments added. While the black blade gets its own Arcane Pool it can only be used for a very limited number of things.

Looking at the black blade abilities they are weaker than those of the magus’s normal arcane pool. Black Blood Strike add adds damage equal to what the normal arcane pool’s enchantment bonus but does not increase the bonus to hit. Energy Attunement changes the damage the weapon does to an energy type but does not increase the damage. A flaming Weapon adds a d6 of flame damage; a flaming burst weapon adds a d6 flame damage to each hit and 2d10 extra damage on a critical hit.

The black blade allows the magus to gain enchantment bonus a bit earlier than other characters. Looking at the ABP table they are about 1 point higher up to a +4 weapon; both grant a +5 bonus at 17th level. Considering a magus is a medium BAB class that is not that overpowered.

If the archaeologist bard wants to be a real skill monkey, he will take fates favored and make sure that Heroism is one of his spells known. He also needs lingering performance, which he has. AT 7th level this combination will give him +5 to all skills, saves, and attacks rolls when Heroism and Archaeologist luck are active. It also gives him +3 to damage. Put at least one point into all class skills and he is set.

If he takes weapon finesse, weapon focus (Rapier) and Fencing Grace he is pretty well set up for combat. At 7th level he should have a +16 to attack and be doing 1d6+8 damage with a +1 Rapier.

Another alternative would be to go for a questioner investigator. They are an INT focused class that gets to add an extra die to some skills. The questioner archetype trades away alchemy for the bard's spell list so it would have the same spell casting as a bard.

Whirlwind attacks allow you to make 1 attack per target that is within reach. To me that means all targets need to be within reach when you start the Whirlwind Attack. If someone moves within reach after you conclude the whirlwind attack you do not get to make an attack on them. In order to use haft bash like you want you have to use a free action in the middle of a full round action.

Using Haft Bash during a normal full attack would work, but not a Whirlwind Attack.

I have to agree with Sphynx there is nothing in the blade bound archetype that prohibits them from enhancing their black blade.

Using your magus’s arcane pool to enhance the bonus or add an enchantment is not a problem. Using the black blades arcane pool to do so on the other hand is not allowed. The arcane pools are different and unless the ability says you can use either pool, they only work for the pool the power comes from. For example, black blade strike can only use the points in the black blade pool, but Teleport blade can use points from either pool.

I am not sure which thread you were referring to that the poster said you cannot use the magus arcane pool to boost the bonus. I did see multiple threads where the question was can you use the magic item rules to boost a black blade.

With Whirlwind Attack you give up your normal attacks and can make 1 melee attack per target within reach. Bull Rush uses a standard action or must be part of a charge. Reposition is a standard action. Haft Bash allows you to treat the weapon as if it did not have the reach property and treats the weapon as a club.

This means you cannot use Bull Rush or Reposition with Whirlwind Attack. You can make a trip attack in place of an attack so it looks like you could use trip with close sweep.

You threaten squares not an opponent. In order to threaten a square, you have to be able to make an attack into the square. Close sweep allows you to make an attack on an adjacent opponent. So, RAW you don not threaten the square.

As I pointed out Haft Bash means your weapon no longer has reach so you cannot attack opponents that are not adjacent to you and no longer threaten those squares until the start of your next turn.

Whirlwind requires you to give up your normal attacks so does not work with Quick Brace. It allows you to make 1 attack on each target within reach, but nothing else. The description of Whirlwind attack states you forfeit any other attacks from feats, spells or abilities.

An Archeologist Bard can actually do decent damage. They don’t need a high CHA so can focus on DEX. Once they get DEX to damage their damage are pretty well set. They can stack bonus’s to hit high enough that they can match a dedicated martial. At mid to high level they also have access to some decent combat buff spell. Combine Archaeologist luck with Dance of a Hundred Cuts and they are fine.

I would take an Archaeologist Bard over a two-handed Magus that does not use damaging spells any day of the week.

If the only reason he is going blade bound is for the cool weapon there are a lot better choices. A paladin or warpriest both get the ability to enhance a weapon. You might also want to look at the scaling magic item rules. Creating a custom magic item for him seems to be a much better solution than homebrewsing an unsuitable archetype.

If he is willing to play a paladin a Sacred Avenger combined with the paladins normal weapon bond would give him a very cool weapon. Change it to a bastard sword or a greatsword and you have everything he is asking for.

You son seems to want to focus more on melee combat but having some magic. I think a magus will be a poor choice for that type of character. My suggestion would be to look at Bloodrager instead. The lower BAB and requirement for a higher INT to cast spells is going to mean the character will not be doing the damage he envisions. Combat spells are a major part of what makes the magus work.

Even with a two handed blade the magus will be doing less damage than a dedicated martial. The lower BAB means power attack gives a lower bonus to damage and the penalty to hit is going to cripple his chance to hit. If he is not using power attack his damage is going to be even farther behind the curve.

I am not familiar with the character, but a magus does not seem to be a good fit for the concept. What in the blade bound archetype is he interested in?

To me a wizard is best played by an experience player, not only do you need to figure out which spells to memorize you also need greater system mastery because you have more spells available. A starting wizard with an 18 INT has all cantrip and 7 1st level spells in his spellbook. A starting Sorcerer knows 4 cantips and 2 1st level spells. That means the wizards player has to understand 7 1st level spells. If the player does not understand the spells, chances are they will have difficulty choosing which to memorize. The sorcerer’s player on the other hand only needs to understand 2 spells. As they level up the wizard is usually going to gain access to a lot more spells, so the amount of material they need to understand grow quicker than the sorcerer.

With a sorcerer I can give the player their character sheet with their spells, and they can be up a running with minimal reading. With the wizard they have a lot more reading to understand what their character can do. If they make a poor choice in casting a particular spell, they can usually recover easier than the wizard. Being able to use a higher-level spell slot for a lower-level spell makes casting the wrong spell less of a problem. The 8th level sorcerer who wasted his fireball on the goblins can use a 4th level slot to cast it on the hobgoblins even if he is out of 3rd level slots. The extra spells the sorcerer gets also means it takes them longer to run out of spell.

The Arcanist is has the benefits of both classes, but still has the learning curve of the wizard. It also has more options which can make it more challenging for a newer player to master. Once the player has some experience with the system it would be a good choice, but for a rank beginner I would still recommend the sorcerer.

Wizard requires a lot of planning and knowledge of the rules. In Theory as a prepared caster they can prepare for any situation, in practice this does not always work out. If the wizard knows exactly, what is they are going to encounter and has a huge selection of spells preparing the right spells is not difficult. On the other hand, if the Wizard is misinformed or has a limited number of spells in their books, they are often at a severe disadvantage.

The real key to running a wizard is resource management. Other than caintrips all the wizard’s resources are extremely limited. This means that they need to be able to recognize when the best time is to use their resources. Sure, the fireball will destroy all the goblins in the first encounter, but then what happens when you encounter the hobgoblins latter that day? This can lead the wizard to never casting their more powerful spells, which can be just as bad. Knowing when to use the appropriate spell is what makes a successful wizard.

Wands have been mentioned as a way to boost your resources and this is good advice. But scrolls can be equally important to a good wizard. Wizards usually get scribe scroll at 1st level so they can create their own scrolls. The wizard spell list has a lot of useful utility spells. Many of these are highly situational and often use out of combat. Creating scrolls of these spells will allow the wizard to use them without having to memorize the spells. Making scrolls of long-lasting buffs is also a good use of your resources. Staves are another good way to increase the resources of a wizard. They are fairly expensive but the versatility they give makes them worth the price. Using wands, scrolls and staves allows the wizard to use most of his spell slots for combat focused spells.

Another option would be to play a sorcerer instead of a wizard. They have the same spell list but are spontaneous casters. Spontaneous casters have a very limited selection of spells but do not have to choose which spells to memorize. They still have limits on how many spells they can cast of each level but have access to all their spells as long as they have an appropriate spell slot. Many players that do not have less system knowledge find this easier to run. The big difference is that sorcerers have to be extremely careful on choosing their spells known. A wizard who memorizes the wrong spell can simply memorize a different spell tomorrow. A sorcerer that makes a bad choice of spells know can be affected by that choice forever.

You forgot to include the description of the spell. Just because the details are in the description of the spell does not mean they are not part of the spell

You surround yourself with a sphere of power with a radius of 5 feet per caster level that negates all forms of invisibility.
Anything invisible becomes visible while in the area.

The first bolded portion of the spell defines the area, which is a radius of 5 feet per caster level. If that is not an area, I don’t know what is. The second bolded portion defines the effect and directly states it is an area.

You must have a clear line of effect to any target that you cast a spell on or to any space in which you wish to create an effect. You must have a clear line of effect to the point of origin of any spell you cast.

The section on line of effect is specifically mentions targeting spells. It also specifically states you need to have line of effect in any space you wish to create an effect.

If there is no area, how do you determine if an invisible character near you is affected by the spell? If there is no effect what does the spell do? The area of the spell is a radius of 5 feet per caster level, the effect of the spell is that anything that is invisible becomes visible.

A sphere has an area, and creates an effect in that area. By definition that is an area of effect. If it does not have an area of effect the spell does not work.

There is also this line A sphere-shaped spell expands from its point of origin to fill a spherical area. Spheres may be bursts, emanations, or spreads. The line clearly states that spheres are bursts, emanations or spreads. Therefore, RAW Invisibility Purge is one of those even if it does not list it as such. Since all of them are subject to the line of effect rule, which one it actually is does not matter. If the spell could penetrate a solid barrier the description of the spell would have included that information.

The range of the spell is listed as personal because it radiates from the caster and moves with it. But its effect is still a sphere so are still subject to the line of effect rule. So, a solid barrier would block it unless the barrier has a hole of at least 1 square foot through it. This also means that you have to be able to have a line of effect to the caster in order to dispel it.

There are a lot of alternatives for a magical rogue that is often better than a multiclassed rogue. It really depends on what you want out of the class. Probably the best is Archaeologist Bard. They do not get combat spells or sneak attack, but for trickery they cannot be beat. If you want combat spells and sneak attack the eldritch scoundrel gives you that. For a divine version of a magical rogue a Sanctified Slayer inquisitor works incredibly well. The Investigator is a full 20th level alchemy based magical rogue straight out of the box. The Questioner archetype makes it a spell caster by swapping alchemy for the bards spell list.

The arcane trickster is not that good of a class, but instead of looking for early entry tricks a better idea would be to look for a better class.

The big problem with using the arcana to qualify for arcane trickster is that after you make the melee attack you no longer have the sneak attack. The rules state when you can no longer meet the prerequisite of something you don’t lose it, but you no longer gain the benefits of the game feature. The example is if you no longer have 13 STR you don’t lose the feat power attack but cannot use power attack or anything that has power attack as a prerequisite.

Since 2d6 sneak attack is the prerequisite for the prestige class you can no longer use any of the features of the prestige class until you do meet the requirement. That would mean you only gain any of the class features of arcane trickster while you are using the extra sneak attack die from spending the arcana. Once the attack is finished you lose all benefits of the prestige class which would include BAB, HD caster level, skills, feats and so on. The rules also state you cannot use the class features of the prestige class to meet the prerequisite of the prestige class. So, the extra dice from arcane trickster will not count for qualifying for arcane trickster.

Sorry, but this does not work.

The way I see it there is a difference between being killed and dying. The difference can be very subtle, and obviously if you are killed you die, but not every death is the result of being killed. Being killed implies your death is caused by an outside force. Mythic Immortal specifically states it works if you are killed. Dying of old age is not caused by an outside force, so would not trigger mythic immortal.

This is how I would handle a 9th or 10th tier mythic character that does not have some way of extending their lives.

School necromancy [language-dependent]; Level cleric 3
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, DF
Range 10 ft.
Target one dead creature
Duration 1 min./level
Saving Throw Will negates; see text; Spell Resistance no

You grant the semblance of life to a corpse, allowing it to answer questions. You may ask one question per two caster levels. The corpse's knowledge is limited to what it knew during life, including the languages it spoke. Answers are brief, cryptic, or repetitive, especially if the creature would have opposed you in life.

If the dead creature's alignment was different from yours, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive. If successful, the corpse can refuse to answer your questions or attempt to deceive you, using Bluff. The soul can only speak about what it knew in life. It cannot answer any questions that pertain to events that occurred after its death.

If the corpse has been subject to speak with dead within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all. This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.

The corpse is the target of the spell and is granted the semblance of life. The corpse is where the voice originates from. The corpse is also the link to the soul. If you the corpse is damage beyond a certain point the link is imperfect and subject to misinformation. These limits are based on the spell, not the soul of the dead creature.

The fact that the spell can contact the dead target no matter how long ago they died supports the idea that the soul exists outside of time. Time in Golarion setting is kind of strange. Outsiders including deities are unable to access the dimension of time.

Speak with dead has a Target of one dead creature. The corpse is the target of the spells, but that does not mean that the soul is not the one answering it. The description does specifically state the soul is the one answering the questions.

Looking through the material on the wiki I see nothing that contradicts what I said, or gives any indication that indicate the timeline of the souls journey. The soul’s journey could be something that is outside of time itself.

The visions of those close to death could be that they are no longer part of the mortal realm and their perception point has shifted to something else. Often those visions deal with things of significance and often give glimpses of the future or even the past. Rarely do the visions involve mundane things like what is happening at the characters location. That actually supports my theory that death transcends time.

Rouges get UMD as a class skill, and Halflings shave a racial bonus to CHA. Give the rogue a staff of illusions. This gives him access to Mislead, Mirror Image and Major Image and a few other spells. Mislead gives you the greater invisibility and creates a duplicate that can distract the dragon. A few Major Images can create even more confusion. When the character chases down the rogue make sure mirror image is up so, that there is a good chance the attacks are wasted. Scrolls are fairly cheap so; give the rogue some scrolls with other spells to give him more options.

Just because a rogue is not a caster does not mean he cannot use magic.