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Fortitude is a low save for a witch. To use the hex the witch must be subject to the effect requiring the fortitude save. That is limits how powerful the hex really is. Its best use is vs another caster with a poor fortitude save to take out the opposing caster that also has a poor fortitude save. Most of the time that is going to be another arcane caster. Most divine casters have good fortitude saves, which limits its effectiveness vs them. This will often be a hail marry action for the witch.
To use to use gift on consumption the witch must be subject to the effect they are trying to share. That means in this case the witch must be subject to a coup de grace. To be the subject of a coup de grace the target (the witch in this case) must be helpless. Using the gift of consumption requires an immediate action. While the helpless condition does not explicitly prevent you from taking an immediate action, many of the conditions that impose it do. Gift of consumption allows a witch to share a condition they have been exposed to that requires a fortitude save. The saving throw of a coup de grace is based on the damage the character takes. That means the saving throw comes after the damage has been determined. For this to work, the witch must be helpless (to be subject to the coup de grace), but still able to perform an immediate action. They then need to survive the damage of the coup de grace, at that point they can use the hex on a legitimate target within 30 feet. At this point both the witch and the target need to make fortitude saves equal to the 10 + damage taken or die. In any case the with still takes the damage of the coup de grace even the subject of the hex is the one performing it. I can see a witch attempting this to try and take down their killer. Considering how difficult it is to pull off, if the witch manages it great.
Despite the description you do not gain a “little buddy”. The Spirit Totem Rage powers do not summon or otherwise create a creature in game terms. The rage power simply gives the barbarian an extra attack he can use once per round without using up any of his attacks. Since there is no creature, you cannot target the totem powers with spells that have a creature as a target. The damage is not defined as a natural attack, weapon or any other type of attack. Nor is the damage linked to the barbarian’s size. Effects that give a general bonus to attack and damage should usually work, but effects that work by boosting specific attacks or must target specific weapons or parts of a creature will not. Nor will affects that create changes to the barbarian. So, none of the things you listed would work. But if the barbarian was under something like divine favor, he would get the bonus to hit and damage on the rage power.
I think the bonus to stats are only for when the creature changes size. Not all races have the same build or muscle structure. You may have a race large race does is slender without a lot of muscle that cannot exert the same leverage that most creatures of its size can. You could also have a small creature with highly efficient muscles that is stronger than other of its size. Orang-Pendak is an example of a small creature with a STR bonus. Almost every other small race has a penalty to STR.
Consumptive Aura does not say anything about what happens if you fail the save for the second time. Usually if an ability causes progression of some sort, it is specifically stated in the ability. The fatigued condition also states that the fatigued character has to do something that would normally cause fatigue. The question is does being in the aura count as doing something?
Is your character using an archetype that trades away spells? The reason I ask is once you get access to instant enemy that can really change things. The target of Instant Enemy is on creature that is not your favored enemy. That means you cannot use it on any creature that is already your favored enemy. This spell is designed for a single powerful creature not massive numbers of low-level threat. If you are going to be using this spell you want to make sure your latter favored enemies are things you will encounter a lot of, not powerful single creatures. You usually want to have your first and maybe your second favored enemy to be common in the campaign and have a high bonus of them. The latter favored enemies should be lower-level threats that are particularly common. That allows you to use Instant Enemy to get a high bonus on the powerful creatures like boss fights. If you did trade away spells ignore this advice.
There is one rogue archetype that does make them the best skill monkey in the game, but it trades away debilitating injury, trap finding, trap sense, and sneak attack. The phantom thief’s refined education makes the character not just a skill monkey but a skill master. It allows you to choose one skill at every odd level and gain a bonus equal to half your rogue level. More importantly starting at 4th level they gain the skill unlock for that level and add half their rogue level to the number of points in the skill to determine what bonus is gained from the skill unlock. At 4th level you gain the 5 rank skill lock with only 3 ranks in the skill. By 8th level it takes only 6 ranks to get the 10 point unlock. By 10th level it takes 10 ranks to get the 15 rank unlock, 5 to gain the 10th level unlock and a single point gives you the 5 rank unlock. At 14th level you can gain the 20th level unluck by having 13 ranks in a skill. While the lower level skill unlock may not be that good some of the higher level are very good. I did not mention it before because this does not do what the original poster wants to do with his character. By 14th level the character could be gaining up to 6 20 rank skill unlocks.
Being reduced to a single move or standard action for up to two rounds is not an answer for a poor fortitude save. To make matters worse you can still fail the save and be staggered and subject to the original effect that required the save. This is not designed to use every time you need to make a fortitude save. What it is for is for when failing the fortitude save means the character dies or is otherwise taken out of the game.
Slayer can take trapfinding as a slayer talent. He can also take ranger combat styles to get two weapon fighting without needing to meet the prerequisites. They get 2 less skill points than a rogue but studied target applies some important skills. They are also a full BAB class with 2 good saves and proficiency in medium armors and martial weapons. Their sneak attack dice is less than a rogue but full BAB and studied strike more than make up for that. You can also take the feat accomplished sneak attacker to bring them to almost the same number of sneak attack dice as a rogue. A STR based slayer can do everything you want you character to do and usually better than a rogue. So, the answer to my favorite sneak attacking, skill monkey that can deal with traps is a slayer.
A spell storing weapon allows a spellcaster to store a single targeted spell of up to 3rd level in the weapon. (The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action.) Anytime the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately cast the spell on that creature as a free action if the wielder desires. (This special ability is an exception to the general rule that casting a spell from an item takes at least as long as casting that spell normally.) Once the spell has been cast from the weapon, a spellcaster can cast any other targeted spell of up to 3rd level into it. The weapon magically imparts to the wielder the name of the spell currently stored within it. A randomly rolled spell storing weapon has a 50% chance of having a spell stored in it already. This special ability can only be placed on melee weapons Spell storing specifies that to cast the spell you must hit and damage the target. It also specifies it is a free action to cast the spell even though it says you can immediately cast the spell. That makes it clear that immediately is using the English definition and not the game term. That means the spell is being cast after the weapon hits and the damage is determined. Splinter resistance does not require any kind of action to take effect, so it is considered part of the attack action to hit the target. Since the only things that can interrupt an action are an immediate action or a readied action splinter resistance would take effect before the shocking grasp is cast. Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon's critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier. Spellstrike is a totally different situation. Spellstrike specifies that the attack is part of casting the spell, not a separate action. So, the damage from spell strike occurs at the same time as the weapon damage. You create an aura around the target weapon that weakens a foe’s magical defenses. The first time each round the weapon damages a creature with spell resistance, that creature’s spell resistance is reduced by 5 for 1 round. This reduction is not cumulative for multiple attacks within the same round, even if the target is struck by different weapons, each affected by a different casting of splinter spell resistance. However, the same creature’s spell resistance can be reduced on multiple rounds by subsequent hits. Splinter resistance specifies that it lowers the resistance after the first time the weapon damages the target. Since the damage from spellstrike occurs at the same time as the weapon damage shocking grasps will take effect before splinter resistance. There is no need for a general rule on which spell takes effect first in this case because both situations have specific circumstances that would override any general rule.
Two weapon fighting relies on getting a full attack. That means you cannot move more than a 5 foot step and still get the benefit of two weapon fighting. If you do not have a reliable way to get sneak attack without having to move more than a 5 foot step you will not see much use out of two weapon fighting. From a mathematical point using two weapon fighting increases your chance of hitting most of the time. Because you have two chance to hit, two weapon fighting usually lowers the chance of you completely missing. Keep in mind that a natural 1 always misses and a natural 20 always hits. With factored in if you need a 2 – 16 to hit two weapon fighting increases your chance of hitting at least once. Depending on what you need to roll the increase is between 2.75% to 15%. If you need a 17 to hit it decreases the chance of hitting at least once by 1%, an 18 decrease it by 5.25 and a 19 decreases it by 2.5%.
What are you looking to gain by having multiple familiars? Familiars are not good combatants so having multiple familiars to fight for you is not going to be that helpful. Normally when you have multiple classes that grant familiars they stack with each other to determine the abilities of the familiar. The following was from the familiar section of AoN. “Levels of different classes that are entitled to familiars stack for the purpose of determining any familiar abilities that depend on the master's level.” That indicates classes with the familiar class ability do not gain multiple familiars. Benefit: You can remove your possessed hand, allowing the possessing spirit to animate and control its motion. Removing or reattaching your possessed hand is a fullround action. This deals no damage to you, but you can’t use the hand while it is removed. The hand acts as a wizard’s familiar, using your character level as your effective wizard level, except it doesn’t gain the alertness, share spells, deliver touch spells, spell resistance, or scry on familiar abilities. Use the statistics for a crawling hand (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 59) to represent the detached hand, save that the hand isn’t undead, doesn’t have the mark quarry ability, and shares your alignment. If the hand is destroyed, the spirit regenerates your missing hand in 2d4 days. This process can be accelerated by regenerate or similar magic. You cannot use the Possessed Hand feat or any feat with the Possessed Hand feat as a prerequisite until the hand is fully regenerated. If you have the familiar class feature, you for your possessed hand to become your familiar, granting it all familiar abilities as normal. If selected as a familiar, your possessed hand grants you a +3 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks. The Hand’s Detachment feat says it acts as a familiar, but it gives the option of choosing for your detached hand to become your familiar. That fact it gives you a choice indicates that if you do not want the detached hand to become your familiar it does not. The detached hand does not gain all the abilities of a familiar (unless you choose for it to be your familiar). The detached hand is not really a familiar it is just using some of the stats of a familiar to define it. So, you could have a detached hand and a familiar, but unless the other ability granting the familiar has clause similar to Hand’s Detachment you cannot have more than a single familiar and a detached hand. I am also pretty sure you cannot use familiar archetypes with Hand's Detachment. Since the Detached hand lacks the abilities those trade out it does not qualify for the archetypes.
Half elves have a couple of things that benefit the rogue. The +2 DEX with no penalty to other stats allows for more flexibility. With races that get bonuses to two stats and a penalty to one you need to watch the penalty. Taking a penalty to STR not only affects your damage it also can create encumbrance issues especially for small characters. Penalties to WIS when combined with the low will save of a rogue is something that can be dangerous. A penalty to INT lowers your skill points. Penalties to CON not only lower your Fort save but also reduce your HP. CHA is usually an important stat to a rogue, especially an unchained rogue. A penalty to DEX is obviously something to avoid. Half elves also count as both human and elf. This gives them access to game mechanics of 3 races. Besides being able to take human and elf only feats they can also choose between 3 alternate FCB instead of 1. The extra rogue talents for human would be a good choice. Skill focus is obviously useful for a skill monkey. Putting it into stealth not only boost your stealth it sets you up for the hellcat stealth feat. Perception is another good choice for skill focus. Keen sense is obviously valuable to a rogue and combined with skill focus and possibly alertness can give a 1st level rogue huge bonus. If do this and max out perception your bonus at 10th level will be at least +25 without any magic items or other bonuses. That may be a bit of overkill but even without alertness the bonus will be high. Elven Immunities give you a +2-bonus vs enchantment. While that does not negate the low will save completely it does provide a significant boost vs a lot of problems. The only racial trait that is not directly beneficial to a rogue is multitalented. But Multitalented can be swapped for Blended View to give you both low-light vision and Darkvision. The catfolk also make good rogues but a couple of things to be aware of. The bonus to CHA is nice, but it comes with a penalty to WIS. In addition to the will save issue Perception is based on WIS. That puts you behind on an important skill. You do get low-light vision which is good. Cat’s luck is a once a day reroll on your strongest save. It can come in handy but how often will it make a difference. Since you must decide to use it before the roll, it does not allow you to recover from a failure. Its only real use is to make sure you don’t fail a really critical save, that you have a good chance of making anyways. Natural Hunter gives you a bonus to 3 skills. This is a lot better than keen sight, but the bonus on survival is not that helpful. Survival is a WIS based skill that is not on you class skill list, so you are unlikely to invest anything in it. Sprinter does not do much for a rogue. You cannot run or charge while using stealth, so that kind of limits it. But you can swap it out for climber which is a lot more useful for the rogue. Not only does that give you a +8 bonus to climb you also keep your DEX bonus to AC. This is something any rogue catfolk should take. So, while both races can make decent rogues the half elf has some advantages over the catfolk.
While Deigo Rosssi is for the most part correct UMD does explicitly state that it allows you to use a scroll as if a particular spell was on your class spell list. So as long as the bard has deciphered the spell, they should be able to expend a bard spell slot to cast the spell. Personally, I would probably set the DC based on the spell level rather than the caster level of the spell, but that would be my own house rule. Bards are a CHA based class with UMD on their class spell list. They are also supposed to be dabblers at magic which is why their spell list has a mixture of what is normally divine and arcane spells. They are also the real skill master of the game. Between Bardic Knowledge, and Versatile Performance they will usually end up with a larger number of high skill roles than even a rogue. UMD should be one of those skills. Being able to use cleric spells when the cleric is incapacitated is a huge benefit to the party. What is the party supposed to do when the cleric is killed but has a scroll of raise dead?
When I ask Copilot to generate a random event using pathfinder kingmaker rules this is what I got. I did no training for it just asked for a random event. Event: Plague
Mechanical Effects (RAW)
Does the character have UMD? Use a Scroll: Normally, to cast a spell from a scroll, you must have the scroll's spell on your class spell list. Use Magic Device allows you to use a scroll as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. The DC is equal to 20 + the caster level of the spell you are trying to cast from the scroll. In addition, casting a spell from a scroll requires a minimum score (10 + spell level) in the appropriate ability. If you don't have a sufficient score in that ability, you must emulate the ability score with a separate Use Magic Device check. The Use a Scroll section of UMD says you can use a scroll as if it were on your spell list. It does not say you have to cast the spell from the scroll, just that you can use the scroll as if the spell were on your spell list. RAW that should allow you to use any arcane scroll with mnemonic vestments. Since you are looking for a way to allow it that seems to be the easiest way without having to create a house rule.
The only way to get any real clarity is to ask your GM. Rule 0 states the GM is the final authority, so even if a developer came out and said this is the answer (which they will not), your GM does not have to accept that. But if your GM says this is the way it is, not even a developer can override him. When you ask a question in the forms you will get a lot of opinions. They do not always agree, but often someone will post something that supports their opinion and may change the opinions of those that disagree. It sometimes takes a while to sort things out, but the process gives you exposure to other ways of thinking.
You do not need to always be in contact with flames, you only need to be in contact when you are healed. The obvious solution would be to get the flaming enchantment added to your weapon or get some other magic items that has a persistent flame effect.
Multiclassing gives you two separate sets of class abilities, but unless specified they do not stack with each other. Caster leve,l spell list and spell slots do not stack with each other. You can use either class to fulfill the requirements of a magic item but must use all the class features of the class you are using. The multiclassed bard 9 / sorcerer 1 has the casting ability of a 9th level bard and a 1st level sorcerer. Both classes have their own spell list, spells, known and spell slots that do not interact with each other. Fireball is not on the bard spell list so using the bard class feature to cast the spell is not an option. Fireball is on the sorcerer spell list, but the character does not have a 3rd level sorcerer slot to use to cast the spell. So, the answer to question 1 is no they cannot use the mnemonic vestments to cast fireball.
How much AI can do is going to depend on the type of system and what AI software you use. The most common AI software is cloud based so does not have access to the files on your system. Giving a could based program access to the local files on your computer can be dangerous and is usually extremely limited. The software has a lot of built in privacy safeguards to reduce the dangers of other accessing your information. If you have an AI enabled system with an AI enabled chip and the software located on the system, you can do a lot more. It can usually access the files you have on your computer and since the processing takes place on the local system is a lot more secure. There are still safeguards to protect your files, but they are easier for you to suspend and a lot safer to do so. In fact, one of the tasks an AI enabled system can do is to index and search the files on the local system. If you allow it can also access those files to pull information from them. If you had an AI enabled system like a Copilot + PC and a spreadsheet with the kingdom building rules it could be setup to automatically generate events like you want. If you have a document with the rules for kingdom building and a document with the details of your kingdom it could possibly analyze it and give suggestions. This would require giving it access to the proper files, but you could locate them in a single folder and give the program access to that folder. That would be a better way than giving it full access to all your files. AI is far from perfect and often makes mistakes. When I got my Copilot + PC I spent some time playing around with it. For the most part it is fairly good at things like research or summarizing ideas, but it is not perfect. One instance stands out in my memory was I had about an hour-long argument with the system over who the current Pope was. For some reason it thought Francis was still Pope and would not recognize that he had died and Leo was the current Pope. I even had it pull up information on Francis’s Funeral and the election of Leo, but it would not budge even when it was the one who found the websites. The problem looks like it was due to a software glitch, because after I rebooted the system and it applied a Windows update it did not have the problem anymore and recognized the current Pope. I have also caught numerous other errors, but once I call out the error it usually recognizes it and corrects itself.
AI is only a tool. For what you want you would probably need to build a custom program. You will not be able to simply open an AI ap and have it do what you want. If you just wanted it to come up with some random ideas or to assist you in creating a campaign you could probably use something like copilot to help you. I have a Copilot + PC that has an AI chip and can run the AI software locally instead of over the internet. I have been using it to help me create a Fantasy Hero game located in 6th century Brittan and it has been very useful. But it cannot run the game. For research and creating background, it is actually very useful.
A turn is an abstraction that allows the game to work. It is the time where a character and only that character can act. There are two exceptions to this rule. The first is an immediate action that can be performed at any time. The second is the readied action where you have prepared an action to be performed when a defined trigger occurs. Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character's activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action. The bolded part states that the readied action interrupted the characters turn. That means during the time the readied action is being performed it is not the characters who was acting turn. After the readied action is completed the character that was acting turn resumes. In a way when you take a readied action you are suspending the current turn and completing your turn. Once you finish your turn it goes back to the turn of the person who was acting. So, when the wizard is using the readied action, it is his turn, not the sorcerers turn. But the only action he can perform is the readied action. The same thing also applies to immediate actions.
That build requires way too many stats to be effective. To get the full benefit from combat reflexes you need a high DEX. Getting a single extra AoO is not going to do much. Combat expertise requires a min of 13 INT. You also need STR for damage, CHA for paladin class abilities, and CON for survivability. Even on a 25 point buy this is going to be extremely difficult. The character has no offensive power at all. Combat Patrol requires a full round action which means giving up all your attacks and relying on AoO for your attacks. You are also using some of those for bodyguard and in harm's way. It looks like you plan to use a reach weapon so have a very low chance to hit because you do not have weapon finesse, nor the points for a decent STR. That also reduces your damage, and you have no way to boost that as you do not have power attack and traded away smite evil. Shared Defenses use lay on hands to activate which reduces the amount available for using to heal yourself as a swift action. That means using in harm's way is dangerous. This build is trading away the abilities that make the paladin effective for things that do not really work well. It also is the most M.A.D. builds I have seen in a long time. I agree with Phoebus Alexandros that a strong offense is the better way to go. One of the most effective paladins builds I have seen is a half orc warrior of the holy light paladin that took ferocious resolve and fey foundling. He used a falchion as his main weapon, and the damage was extremely good. Instead of relying on a high AC to stay up he simply healed himself when he took damage. He wore full plate, so his AC was good, but not great. The extra lay on hands from the warrior of the holy light worked extremely well with fey foundling. Since ferocious resolve gives him the ability to stay up at negative HP you literally have to kill him to stop him. It is a high-level campaign, but he can take over 1,000 HP in a day with just his lay on hands.
The paladin’s deity does not have to be LG, NG deities like Sarenrae also have paladins. Sarenrae has a paladins code listed on AoN. A CG deity may be pushing it but between LG and NG there are plenty of appropriate deities. If you want to be a little unusual for a paladin go for a DEX based dervish dancing paladin. If you do not mind giving up spells, mercies and aura of justice for some swashbuckler abilities the virtuous bravo works well for this build. A human could start with slashing grace at 1st level but would need to give up fey foundling. You could also go with the dervish dance feat but that requires 2 points in dance so does not come online until 3rd level. A DEX based paladin is surprisingly effective. They still have a slow reflex save, but as DEX will be your high stat and you still get CHA to saves it will be your higher save. You also end up with a good touch AC and decent movement. Both of those are something the traditional STR based paladin does not do well at.
I would recommend against a cleric and suggest using a warpreist would be better if you want to have more magic ability. But the paladin is the better choice anyways. The big advantage the paladin has is not smite evil, it is the fact he has the best defenses in the game. Smite evil is a without a doubt a very powerful ability, but the paladin really shines because of his defenses. The paladin already gets two good saves but getting CHA to all saves means his weak save is often better than some characters with good reflex saves. On top of that he gets immunity to disease and fear early and eventually gets immunity to charm as well. His aura’s give the party bonuses to saves with no effort on his part. Being able to use heavy armor and martial weapons gives him decent AC and damage capability. Full BAB gives means his CMD is higher than a clerics or warpreist. For a campaign heavy on undead and evil outsiders the base paladin with power attack is about all you need. Other than that you can pretty much do what you want without worrying about messing up the character. Prioritize STR, CON CHA, DEX, WIS and INT in that order. Fey Foundling is one of the best feats for a paladin, but has to be taken at 1st level. The bonus of +2 HP per die on lay on hands is huge for a paladin. If you are human you can pick and power attack up at 1st level, if not power attack can wait till 3rd level. Going with a two-handed weapon will increase your damage, but a sword and shield build has better defense. The shield is only +2 to AC, but that does not factor in the fact it can be enchanted. In addition to the AC bonus the shield can also have other enchantments.
The thing you are not factoring in is that other than immediate actions all actions must take place on your turn. The Ready action allows to take a single standard, move or swift action when the triggering event occurs. It does not allow you to take any other action besides the readied action unless those actions are part of the readied action. Casting a quickened spell is a swift action, so it can only be done on your turn unless it is done as a readied action. Since reading an action is a standard action a character cannot cast a spell and ready an action in the same turn unless that spell does not take a standard action to cast. You also cannot use an immediate action and a swift action in the same turn. So, if the spell takes a standard action to cast you cannot ready an action in the same turn you cast the spell. If the spell uses a swift or immediate action to cast you could ready an action, but you could not cast a quickened spell because you already used your immediate/swift action for the turn to cast the spell. Very few spells take an immediate action to cast but those could be cast after a readied action assuming you have not used your swift/immediate action for the turn. Counter spell always uses a readied action. Looking at your original example, the sorcerer is already casting a spell, which means he cannot have a readied action. The wizard uses his readied action to complete his turn, during this time it is the wizards turn so the sorcerer cannot make any actions except an immediate action. Casting a quickened spell is not an immediate action so cannot be done. After the wizard completes his action, it is too late to disrupt it with dispel magic because it already was cast. If the wizard had cast another spell instead that had a lingering effect the sorcerer could use his quickened dispel magic to bring that down. But he cannot stop the counter spell because it already happened. In the second example the sorcerer cannot use a quickened spells to interrupt another character’s action that requires an immediate action. Once again, a quickened spell is a swift action, not an immediate action. Even though you can only perform either one swift or one immediate action in a turn they are not interchangeable. If an action uses a swift action, you cannot perform it as an immediate action. Since an immediate action can be used at any time you can perform it when you would normally perform a swift action.
The spontaneous cures allow the character to function as a cleric; it also means that not only do I not need to memorize cure spells I do not even have to have to know the spell. Considering it is only costing the character 1 standard spell that is not that bad of a price. It also gives the character the ability to quickly heal massive amounts of damage if needed. The idea behind the build is to be able to handle anything that comes up. Being able to get an entire party up in a short number of times is not something that comes up often, but it is still something that could be needed. Slayer gives full BAB and the ability to cover anything a martial character could do. Studied strike, sneak attack, trapfinding and tons of skills gives the character the ability to cover anything a rogue can do. The witch is a full 9th level caster that with a wide selection of spells including healing spells. Healing Patron gives the character the few condition removal spells the witch normally does not get. This gives the character the ability to cover what normally is covered by both arcane and divine casters. The gauntlet witch even gives the character a limited bardic lore ability. Armored marauder and armored swiftness combined with the gauntlet witch’s ability to cast while wearing heavy armor means the character can cast spells and move in full plate with almost no hinderance.
I have been playing around with some gestalt builds trying to see if you could create a gestalt character that could cover any challenge. What I came up with was a slayer/witch with the gauntlet witch and hedge witch archetypes. The slayer/witch gets full BAB, d10 HP, all good saves, 6 + INT modifier skill points, Full 9th level casting. Slayer already has sneak attack and studied strike and slayer talent can give it trapfinding. The healing patron adds in the restoration line of spells, and True Resurrection to give it full condition removal. Hedge Witch gives it the ability to convert any spell into a cure to match the clerics healing. The major hex Regenerative Sinew allows it to get regeneration. Between heal, Reincarnate, and True Resurrection and other spells there is not condition they cannot remove. Gauntlet Witch allows caster arcane spells in armor with no chance of spells failure. This still leaves 4 hexes and 8 slayer talents left after picking up those I mentioned. Slayer Talents that grant a save use INT as the modifier so that synergizes well with the witch. The trait pragmatic activator makes UMD which is a class skill for the witch INT based. With INT being the characters highest stat and getting 6 skill points per level they can easily max out UMD to be able to use any magic item. Can anyone think of something this character cannot do, or that I missed?
Actually, monks can use the AC bonus from APG. You can use a normal set of clothes for the AC bonus. When you do so the clothes start with an AC bonus of +0. This allows not only monks but arcane casters to gain the AC bonus without needing armor.
For animal companions just purchase their items normally from the remaining WBL. ABP does not completely replace purchasing of magic items, it simply gives the character level appropriate gear without having to deal with the details.
Bloodragers, Paladins and Swashbucklers are going to go for CHA. Slayers may go for INT because some class features benefit from a high INT, but are also likely to go with WIS. Monks, Rangers and Shifters will go for WIS. Other than those most martials will go for WIS as the first stat bonus. If the campaign goes above 12th level the martials will start of course take the bonus to other stats besides their first choice. I have seen more diverse magic items with ABP because the items slots are not locked in. Things like cloaks or phylacteries can be taken since the slot is free.
As the other thread mentions APB by its structure actually is very martial friendly. The first 3 bonuses you gain all boost martials more than they boost casters. The first bonus is a resistance bonus to saves, followed by an armor and weapon bonus and the last of the 3 of the 3 is a deflection bonus to AC. While the resistance and deflection bonuses do benefit casters they have a more negative impact on casters. Most martials do not have attacks that allow a saving throw so boosting saves has a more negative impact on casters than martials. Likewise, many casters have attacks that target touch AC and usually have a lower BAB. So, boosting touch AC again has more of a negative impact on the caster than the martial. You gain the deflection bonus at 5th level. At that level neither a ¾ BAB class nor a ½ BAB class gain a bonus to hit, but the full BAB class does. That means the caster targeting touch AC chance of hitting goes down. The full BAB class does gain a bonus to hit so his chance of hitting remains even. But even before the deflection bonus is gained the martial gained an enchantment bonus to AC and his weapon. Most of the time the weapon bonus is of little to no use to the caster but helps the martial. So, when the characters gain the defection bonus the martial has a +3 to +4 higher chance to hit over the caster. A fighter at 5th level has a BAB of 5 and a +1 bonus for the weapon for a total of +6. The Wizard has a +2 BAB, and the cleric has a +3 BAB, neither class is going to gain the weapon bonus when casting a spell. This does not include the bonus from their attack stat which probably boost the martial more than the caster. At 6th level the characters gain a +2 to mental stat. The martial is probably going to put that into WIS which gives him a +1 to his weakest save. Other than prepared divine casters the caster will not gain the bonus to saves. Paladins will gain the bonus to all saves (due to divine grace), as well as other class abilities. At 7th level the characters get a bonus to physical stats. The martial gains a bonus to hit and usually damage on all attacks, the caster will usually gain a bonus to AC or HP. Dex based martials gain a bonus to hit, usually damage, AC and reflex saves, so are the big winner at this level. At 8th level you gain multiple bonuses including increasing the resistance bonus to saves. At 10th level you gain another resistance bonus for a total of +3 and a deflection bonus. At 11th level when the casters gain their +2 to the DC of their saves the resistance bonus is already at +3. By the time the caster is gaining +3 to the DC of their saves the resistance bonus is up to +5. Also, since the melee focused martial will be in direct combat with the enemy the bonus to AC is more important to them. So, even though the caster is gaining the same AC bonus boosts the melee focused martial more. With a melee focused caster like a magus or warpriest they get the same benefit as the melee focused martial, but the wizard or even cleric does not.
The creature is also treated as one level lower for the purpose of level-dependent variables (such as spellcasting) for each negative level possessed. Spellcasters do not lose any prepared spells or slots as a result of negative levels. Negative levels do not actually lower your level it simply makes reduces any level dependent variables. So, you do not lose class abilities, but they can be reduced. Anything that has a formula of referring to the class level is reduced, but things granted at certain levels are not lost. Sneak attack is based on the number of rogue (or other class) levels you have, so is reduced. The shape a druid can take are based achieving specific levels, so are not affected. The amount of time you can remain in wild shape and the number of times per day you can change on the other hand would be affected. Think of this as a computer program anything represented by a variable is affected by negative levels, anything represented as a constant is not. But like anything if in doubt ask your GM.
I am the one usually running and I prefer using the ABP. My experiences are similar to Claxon. Another way the ABP helps reduce the caster-martial disparity is that all characters get bonus to mental stats. Almost all martial classes have slow will saves and other than that have little incentive to invest in boosting mental stats. This means that getting the headband of wisdom is usually a lower priority for them. APB gives all characters bonuses to mental stats, so the most martial characters usually put the mental boost into Wisdom. The paladin about the only martial that does not, but they have good will saves and since they get CHA to all saves still end up boosting their will save. Being able to resist the attacks of the enemy is just as important as being able to attack. The fighter who fails his save vs hold person is not contributing to the party.
What is the point of creating a class that duplicates an existing class? The vigilante already does that and there are at least 25 archetypes for the vigilante.
One way that might reduce the martial-caster disparity would be to adjust the cost of some magic items and services. A +1 longsword costs 2,315 gp, a 1st level wand of magic missile cost 2,250 gp. The +1 longsword gives the martial a small boost to hit and damage, but more importantly allows him to overcome some DR. The wand of magic missile allows the wizard to cast magic missile 50 times without expending any of his other resources. A +3 longsword cost 18,315 gp, a staff of fire costs 18,950 gp. The +3 sword gives a decent bonus to hit and damage and allows the martial to overcome more types of DR. The staff of fire gives the wizard 3 spells he can cast that he does not have to memorize or using any personal resources. If the wizard could get up to 10 extra burning hands or 5 fireballs cast as if he had cast them. When using offensive spells casters rarely need to worry about DR but do have to deal with energy resistance. DR is a lot more common than energy resistance and very few creatures have high levels of all energy resistance. The spell caster can often reduce the impact of energy resistance by having spells that do different types of energy damage. DR that can easily be overcome by a using a different weapon is even more uncommon. This shows that the magic items the martials rely on are less efficient than those of the caster. If we reduce the cost of magic weapons and armor by 25% and increase the cost of all caster specific magic items by 25% it changes the balance of the game in favor of the martial. The martial will be getting more powerful weapons and armor earlier and the caster will be delayed in gaining extra power from the items. The increase should also apply to prepared arcane caster purchasing spells for other casters. Using this system the +1 longsword costs 1,736.25 gp compared to the 2,812.5 gp of the 1st level wand of magic missile. A +3 sword would go for 13,736.25 gp and the staff of fire would now be 23,687.5 gp. The martial will probably be getting the +3 sword by around 7th level where the earliest the caster will get the staff of fire would be around 9th.
In some cases, this could backfire and make spell casters more efficient. Meta-magic rods are expensive and can only be used a limited number of times per day. If the rods are not available, the spell casters will be able to use the gold they would have invested in rods for other items. Instead of rods the spell caster will have access to more rods, wands and things like pearls of power or pages of spell knowledge. Even consumables like scrolls and wands will become more common.
A swashbucklers panache pool is normally limited to their CHA modifier. The feat extra panache and magic items can raise that. Taking extra panache means you are behind in feats, and magic items are a limited resource. The swashbuckler with a low CHA will have less panache than one with a decent CHA score. Swashbuckler also use their CHA instead of INT to qualify for feats. Charmed Life is also based on the swashbuckler CHA modifier and has no minimum value. So, without a CHA bonus Charmed life is useless. The deed Dodging Panache also uses the CHA modifier (minimum 0). Menacing Swordplay allows the swashbuckler to use a swift action to demoralize. Intimidate is a CHA based skill, so a low CHA makes menacing swordplay weaker. The deed Opportune Parry and Riposte uses a panache point, and you cannot reduce that. In order to get the attack, you have to have 1 panache point left after spending the point to parry. That means you have to start with at least 2 panache points to get the attack. Without a decent CHA score many of the swashbuckler’s class feature are less powerful and even useless. The deed Bleeding Wound does bleed damage equal to the swashbucklers DEX modifier (minimum 1). Having a low DEX means that dead becomes a lot weaker. Nimble and Dodging Panache only work when wearing light or no armor. So, a STR based swashbuckler is again weakening or rendering useless class features.
I missed the eldritch archer gets perception as a class skill. That being the case I would recommend taking a trait to give either stealth or sense motive as a class skill. Both of those skills will be useful and as an INT based character you will have enough point to throw in a few points into them to get the class skill bonus. Clever Wordplay would allow you to use INT modifier for a CHA based skill. Bluff or intimidate would be the logical choices, but you still have UMD as a class skill and it is a CHA based skill.
The pick works with the swashbuckler abilities, but slashing grace does not work with picks. Getting DEX to damage is important for a swashbuckler. Fencing Grace only applies to rapiers so does not work with picks. Dervish Dance is also weapon specific. There really should be a feat that allows DEX to damage with a single onehanded piercing weapon, but there is not. The precise strike deed is precision damage so does not multiple on a critical hit. The dwarf FCB is +1/4 to the level for precise strike. So, you get +1 at 4th level, which raises to +2 at 8th level. This is also precision damage so again does not multiply on a critical hit. The character will have very few non-precision damage bonuses. AoN specifies that a dwarf with slashing grace treats the choses slashing weapon as a one handed piercing weapon. That is what allows the dwarf to apply the swashbuckler class features to the axe or any other slashing weapon they took slashing grace for.
The best way to do this is to use the pick only for the first two levels and then switch to a dwarf war axe Once you get slashing grace with the dwarf war axe you not only get DEX to damage it counts as a one-handed piercing weapon, so it works with all the swashbuckler class abilities. Slashing Grace does not work with picks and getting DEX to damage will be better than the bonus damage from the dwarf FCB. Do not bother taking it since you will not be using the pick past 2nd level. The big problem is that the dwarven stat adjustments are suboptimal for a swashbuckler. Getting a bonus to CON and WIS is useful, but the penalty to CHA is harsh. Using a dwarf war axe will boost up the damage above what a racial bonus to DEX would give, but you will be slightly behind in your bonus to hit.
Since you are going with magus and will be using a weapon to deliver spells Stabbing Spells would be a good choice. It gives a +2 trait bonus to your caster level to overcome spell resistance when you strike a foe with a weapon until the end of your next turn. If you use spell strike it should work on the current spell. The Trait does not specify melee weapon so it should work with a bow. Considering it gives the same bonus as spell penetration and stacks with spell penetration it would be very useful for your character. Unlike Magical Lineage it works with all your spells. None of your classes have perception as a class skill. Seeker not only makes perception a class skill it also gives a +1 trait bonus to perceptions. As long as you put at least 1 point into perception that will give you a +4 to the most important skill in the game.
Other than bombs all the alchemist alchemy items only affect the alchemist. Spell strike can only be used with a spell with a range of touch. An alchemist’s extracts always affect the alchemist drinking it so never have a range of touch even if the spell normally does. That prevents using extracts with spell strike. An alchemist can create three special types of magical items—extracts, bombs, and mutagens. Bombs are explosive splash weapons, and mutagens are transformative elixirs that the alchemist drinks to enhance his physical abilities—both of these are detailed in their own sections below. The section from the APG also defines the alchemist's extracts, bombs and mutagens as magic items. That makes it clear that an alchemist is not a spell caster.
The only thing that this combination has going for it is that both classes have the same casting stat. He might gain some advantages from the arcana and discoveries but that is overshadowed by the lower casting level on both classes. From what I can understand he plans to go 8 levels of alchemist and 4 of magus. Having only 2nd level spells at a caster level of 4 is going to make his magus spells under powered. In addition to the damage being lower the spells will have a hard time dealing with spell resistance because of lack of caster levels. Also, due to using lower-level spells the DC of the saving throw will be lower. On the alchemist side not only is the alchemical ordnance doing less damage you are behind in your extracts. You are a full level behind in the level of the extract and the duration and power are 4 levels lower. Both classes have a lot of level dependent class feature that are being delayed and weakened.
You can use your normal feats for extra hex, but not the bonus feat from the magus. That must be a combat feat or metamagic feat. I would recommend using your normal feats for something that boost both classes. The feats I would recommend would be things like spell focus and spell penetration and their greater versions. If you are worried about spell resistance play an elf or half elf. Elves get a +2 to caster level to penetrate spell resistance that stacks with spell penetration and greater spell penetration. Half elves can take elven spirt to gain this ability. For the bonus feats I would go for things that boost your defenses. With a gestalt character you have the limitations of both classes. A witch cannot cast spells in armor which means the character AC will be lower. As a ¾ BAB class your CMB is also going to be lower. Use the combat feats to counter these weakness. Arcane Armor training and Arcane Armor Mastery are combat feats and would allow you to cast witch spells while wearing some armor. If you use mithral armor, you can eliminate the arcane spell failure while casting witch spells while wearing a mithral breastplate. Since the magus can already cast wearing armor you do not need to use it when casting a magus spell. The AC bonus from the armor is not just the base AC of the armor it also includes the enchantment bonus to the armor. The armor can also have other enchantments on it so can provide more than just AC. Your character will have resistance to cold, but a mithral breastplate of fire resistance would also give you fire resistance.
No, the character cannot cast the spell unless they have a way to regain the lost caster level for Dragon Disciple. The Feat Prestigious Caster (which has the feat Favored Prestige Class as a prerequisite) is the only way I know to do this. No magic item that I am aware of boosts your caster level for spells per day. The loss of caster levels including spell per day is the price you pay for the extra power the prestige class gives you.
In all honesty teifling really does not add much that the half fiend is not already giving you. Other than a minor spell like ability and a bonus to bluff and stealth there is not much there. Fiendish sorcery basicslly negates the penalty to CHA for a sorcerer of the Abyssal bloodline. If you do not take tiefling you do not have the penalty to CHA so don’t need it. You are taking it to give more demonic power, but it really does not give any. In fact, taking both penalties on stats makes the character weaker. The Half Fiend is already giving you incredible bonus to stats with no penalties. The extra bonus to DEX is not really worth it.
You should be able to take a 5-foot step and attack, but after the first attack your stealth will be broken. That means if you only get any sneak attack damage on the first attack. Stealth specifies that any attack breaks stealth and hide in plain side does not change that. You could also move more than a 5-foot step and use stealth but cannot make a full attack when doing so.
There is nothing preventing you from using stealth when you take a 5-foot step assuming you meet all requirements for using stealth. Normally you can only use stealth when you have cover or concealment. If you are under direct observation, you cannot use stealth. A lot of it is going to depend on the condition of you location and the area you are moving through. If you are in a location that gives you cover or concealment and are moving through an area that gives you cover or concealment you can use a 5-foot step. If you are under direct observation or are moving through an area under direct observation you cannot use stealth. If you are under observation, you can use bluff to create a distraction that can allow you to use stealth assuming you can reach a location with cover or concealment. But using bluff to create a distraction is a standard action. If you are within 5 feet of a location with cover or concealment you could use a 5-foot step to reach that location, but what you can do once you reach the location is limited because you already used a standard action. If you can give further details on what you are trying to accomplish, we might be able to give a better answer.
Ranger brings the same thing a slayer does. Full BAB, good fortitude and reflex saves, 6 skill points per level, d10 HP, and decent class features. The full BAB improves your ranged combat by giving you a better chance to hit. The witch has a much lower BAB, but most of the time her spells target touch AC. This makes the witch fairly effective vs a lot of creatures that have a low touch AC, but she has a hard time with creatures with a high touch AC. By going with a full BAB class means any creature with a low touch AC is almost always hit and she has a good chance to hit creatures with a good touch AC. Going with a medium BAB class means she has a better chance to hit than the normal witch, but not as good as with a full BAB class. This type of synergy is what makes gestalt characters more powerful than normal. Other than a medium BAB nothing the kineticist has really improves the witch. Their blasts cannot be used in the same phase as the witch’s spells and do not share the same “casting” stat. Since both classes rely on their primary stat this creates an imbalance where one class become the primary class and the other an afterthought. The kineticist at least gives you all good saves. Ranger does normally require some WIS for spells, but it does not need to be that high. All he really needs is a WIS high enough to cast his spell, or you could choose an archetype that trades away spells. That was one reason I suggested the slayer. They do not have spells or magical ability so do not have a competing stat. Their studied strike applies to all attacks including touch spells. They can also get sneak attack on any damaging spells, including touch spells. But this is your character, so play what you think will be fun.
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