Takhisis's page

As the title says. I am working on a class called "The Reaper" thats a caster who is all about messing with spirits and undead, and lore-wise they get their magic in an extremely unique way. Rather than just being a traditional "necromancer" kind of class, their unique form of magic was extrapolated from the undead creation process itself. Basically, the magic that flows through a world like Golarion, Reapers found, functions something like a soul for that world, and as a result, just as one can use void energy to rip a soul from the afterlife and use it to animate an undead, Reapers are those who through the raw, force of personality/will channeling of void energy, can rip spells from the "soul" of the world...aka the magic flowing through it, corrupting the land in same way a soul is corrupted by the undead animation process when they do so.

Essentially, in short, they "harvest" their spells from the "soul" of the world/planet with void energy. Hence the title of "Reaper."

My only issue is, I have no clue what tradition of spells such a spellcasting method would logically produce. My gut instinct says Primal, as while void energy is used, your not actually drawing your spells from the void, or by consuming/destroying actual souls. Your spells are coming from whatever planet you find yourself on (so Golarion 90% of the time if your not in a homebrew setting), and spells drawn from the magic running through a prime material planet like Golarion I feel would most likely be Primal, even if harvested with void energy.

That being said, I can see an argument for Divine as well, I.E. Golarion is a creation of the Gods, and therefore its "soul" is divine in nature as it is a sacred space/divine creation. By the same token, I can also see an argument for occult, again, because if the magic flowing through the world is a "soul" and spirits are occult, than magic drawn from it would be occult because its technically still a spirit your ripping from, just the "spirit" of a planet and not a creature. Hell, I could even see an argument for them being a "choose your tradition" class like Sorcerer or Witch, because the Prime material plane and its planets technically have a little bit of all four traditions in their metaphysical makeup, so perhaps such a spell acquisition method would allow one to take from whatever tradition of spells they focus themselves towards working with.

So help me please! What tradition do you think fits the lore most here?

As the title asks. By a strict RAW reading, the benefits of Spell Gem Understanding don’t say they do not apply when using a spell gem “legitimately” via having levels in an actual casting class. However, it also dosen’t by RAW say that the effective caster level equal to your envoy level also dosen’t apply if using your legitimate Spellcasting ability to use a spell gem.

So if, say, an Envoy 1/Witchwarper X with Spell Gem Understanding tried to use a spell gem the normal way from their Witchwarper CL, what would happen? Would their CL for the Gem be 1 due to only having 1 envoy level even if it was a gem of a spell on the Witchwarper list normally due to Spell Gem Understanding not turning off when they use a spell gem the normal way? If using an off-list Gem with Spell Gem Understanding, would they automatically be forced to use the effective CL equal to envoy level of 1 from Spell Gem Understanding, or could they use the fact Spell Gem Understanding dosen’t specify that it’s benefits (such as counting all spells from the techno, mystic, and WW as being your class spell list when using a spell gem) don’t apply/“turn off” when using a gem the “normal” way to cast the off-list gem using their Witchwarper CL instead of their effective CL from Spell Gem Understanding? Would the multiclass CL-stacking rules just overwrite the other rules at play here and let the Envoy and Witchwarper levels stack for spell gem CL, but not your normal Witchwarper Spellcasting CL?

Clarity on this would be most appreciated!

So I posted a raw/untested version of this class a while back, but have since playtested it and gotten it to a more refined point...so I thought I would finally share it with you all here. A few late edition spells and talents that where added after its initial playtesting may not be fully balanced, so if you find anything off balance-wise please let me know!

Anyway, the Executive is a corporate-themed spellcaster who is fluffed as an important and influential individual in a megacorp, or the business landscape in general, who uses their wealth and pull to gain access to highly expensive tech hoarded by megacorps that let their owners/shareholders and top employees gain spellcasting ability without the years of study needed to pick up Technomancy or the deep awareness of cosmic forces required to become a Mystic.

Mechanically, they are a highly versatile spellcaster with a prepared-spontaneous form of casting akin to the PF 1e Arcanist (As they download their spells from company databases each day instead of actually learning how to properly cast them themselves.) and themes of both spending credits to do magical things and using others to to their bidding (whether that be fellow PCs, summoned creatures, raised undead or even NPCs) They can be built into a number of different roles via their magic hack-like class talents, which run the gamut from monster summoner, to necromancer, to support mage + healer, to debuffer/controller and even magical trickster-infiltrator/corporate spy. The class also features a healthy amount of custom spells flavorful to the class, for those who like that in a caster. Anyway, for those interested, the class can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/111JcYQdi_Voj3kocJOgmlxwMW-8QGYDPE0oZrtZ EZls/edit?usp=sharing

A lot of people have said that the class as it stands betrays its fluff mechanically. As a "reality warper" class, the witchwarper should feel strong and versatile. However, many who have played the class, myself included, felt nothing like that. The class as it stands, according to many, feels useless in a lot of normal situations, and even further fails to capture the supremely versatile and potent skillset one expects of a reality warper. Many wonder why the class can't pull from a reality where their allies are healthy to heal their wounds, or pull a resident evil-style zombie virus from another reality saturated with it to raise undead minions. Or do any number of other things. Even further, people feel the paradigm shifts as of now are too weak, with most of them being too narrow and situational to see regular play, and the few that aren't being too resolve hungry to use regularly, thus leaving the class with nothing to do against standard "trash mobs" and forced to hold all their good shifts in reserve for the big boss fight.

After taking this all into consideration and playing, I tried to come up with a fix for it. My first effort was in my "Fixing the Spell List" thread, which I ultimately came to the decision to scrap since it was not the right direction. Thus, if there are any mods or people with deleting power here I ask that the thread please be deleted if it can. Thanks ahead of time if this request is filled. Anyway, with that out of the way, your likely asking...what is this "fix"? Use prepared casting as a model for how to fix this class and give it a unique mechanical identity that truly reflects its fluff. Sounds crazy, I know, but here me out. Prepared casting never made sense from a fluff standpoint for a lot of casters. Most casters, including Starfinder's Technomancer and Mystic, are fluffed as learning their spells; typically either through intensive study (technomancer, wizard etc..) or via being given the knowledge and power to use it by a higher being or force (mystic, cleric etc...). However, for a lot of people, it never made sense that a spellcaster would "lose" that knowledge once they cast a spell. Vance's novels on which prepared casting was based are not nearly as well known as they where when D&D was made all those years ago....and that, when combined with the fact Starfinder draws more from sci-fi than fantasy, makes it easy to see why making the technomancer and mystic spontaneous casters was the right choice.

However, in the case of the Witchwarper, I feel we now have a valid excuse to bring vancian prepared casting into starfinder. In terms of fluff, prepared casting can easily be made to make sense with the concept of what a Witchwarper is. As a Witchwarper, you don't "learn" magic like other casters. You instead pull your "spells" from other realities, meaning you in theory could fluff the class as not actually having to learn how to use their spells and abilities; instead you can have them just be a reality warper who does all their stuff by will alone. A simple change of *when* you do this pulling from other realities easily facilitates expressing this mechanically as prepared casting as well. Imagine for a second that witchwarpers don't pull from other realities on the fly in most cases, but instead do so through deep focus and concentration. Imagine that through this focus, they can "sync" themselves to other realities, and then pull the aspects of them they want to harness into their very being through sheer force of personality. Then, they can impose these aspects of other realities they pull into themselves onto the world around them, in the same way they can use their force of personality to impose their will upon others. However, when they impose an aspect of another reality onto their own, it may require pulling it out of them (in the case of their spells), hence why they "lose" or "forget" their prepared spells.

Bam, with one simple fluff change, the Witchwarper is more justifiable as a vancian prepared spellcaster than even a PF wizard.

This change to vancian prepared casting also makes sense from a mechanical standpoint, because as many have noted the class needs a mechanical buff. Many have already said it feels too weak mechanically, and even further them and others have said that the fluff betrays and poorly portrays the crunch. As a reality warper, the class should be able to do all kinds of crazy magical things. Yet the class as it stands feels far too limited and weak, with many often useless features, to really feel like somebody who can tap the infinite tapestry of realities. Swapping them to being vancian prepared casters would help to address these issues in a big way.

For one, it would really help to make the class feel like it could do everything that being a reality warper entails, but in a theoretically balanced way. When one thinks of reality warping, they imagine a very versatile and varied set of abilities that can do almost anything. The features of the class as of now, while maybe underpowered and not the best in execution, at least try to emulate this. You have a lot of class features with very, very situational effects. This has lead the witchwarper to being seen as weak and useless in average combat, with its only good features being its very limited casting and resolve-hungry paradigm shifts. By making the class a prepared spellcaster, you can get a lot of those odd situational abilities one expects from a reality warper in the spellcasting of the class, rather than having to rely on the shifts to have them. This, combind with the easy fluff justification, I feel make a solid case for the Witchwarper being the class that introduces prepared casting to Starfinder.

Likewise, the second part of this fix is also one that makes a lot of sense if we assume the prepared casting is implemented: Allow them to also prepare their known shifts when they prepare their spells, and add witch hex-like shifts to the list that are less situational and more generally useful. This allows them to still pull out things like the resistance swaps when they are useful if they can plan ahead, but also assure they are not stuck with them if they are dead and let the class meaningfully contribute in bogstandard "trash mob" fights where people feel the class is too weak as it stands. The fluff justification for this is the same as the casting, so needs little discussion.

Since all these features would make the class very strong, I feel that if implemented bringing the class down to poor BAB but otherwise leaving the already bad chassis unchanged, is not uncalled for. If this is done, I feel weapon specialization should be replaced with a custom feature I've created called "Spell Specialization" which lets the class add 1/2 its level to the many blast spells it can get, as another common "issue" people have with the class is that it has very poor dpr options. This change, combind with the prepared casting and prepared shifits, some of which can be used at-will, would firmly cement this class as THE "fullcaster" of starfinder, that does something magical every round and who focuses wholly on magic to the detriment of both their skills and talent with weapons, which is a niche' this game is sorely missing and a lot of people feel it needs. With that being said, I have posted a suggestion for a VERY rough patch of the class, with the changes I am suggesting in this thread. If their are any Devs out there, I hope you consider testing at least a little bit of this. Anyway, the patch is outlined below:

UNOFFICIAL ROUGH/PRE-ALPHA HOMEBREW WITCHWARPER PATCH.

NOTE: I have NO idea how balanced any of this is, so any thoughts and opinions on the balance of these changes is most appreciated!

A very hot topic of debate about the witchwarper has been the fact that, in terms of fluff, they should be able to do virtually any magical thing. People have complained about them not being able to, say, overlay a reality where a wounded ally is healthy to heal them, or overlay a reality where an enemy is their slave to control them with a dominate person, or overlay a reality saturated with necrotic energies or a resident evil-style zombie virus to raise undead minions. Or do any number of things that, by their fluff, is totally within their wheelhouse to do, but by crunch just isn't possible with the class as it stands. However, while theoretically a Witchwarper should be able to do these things, thematically, they just can't be allowed to do all of them at once due to game balance reasons. No one class can literally do everything, yet the Witchwarper not being able to do everything, albeit in a very limited capacity, has rubbed people the wrong way, and rightly so.

Thus, I have, after playtesting the class a bit myself and tinkering with a lot of mechanics, come up with a VERY ROUGH and likely unbalanced solution... [WIP/will post shortly]

So this is an experimental class I’ve been working on for a while that was made primarily to fill a fluff niche’ very exclusive to my own setting. However, after getting others to look at it a lot of people felt it worked fine outside the context of my setting and really enjoyed the flavor. Thus, after going through several rounds of revision I feel it is in good enough shape to start spreading into other communities to get further playtesting done with it and have its mechanics further refined, as it’s definitely not what I’d call finalized yet. As of now, both myself and several others are starting it’s first official rounds of playtesting, but more never hurts. Hence why I am posting it up here. Any and all help is most appreciated! Anyway, without further hesitation, here is the link to the doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MG-ZlcIbEL7pcTyg79Evih4o-Lhor-W9BG-kmzm sUrs

As the title says. With all the discussions and podcasts that you (the devs) have been engaging in, you all express that allowing players to make "any character they want" is an expressed goal of 2e Pathfinder. This is a goal I am 100% behind, and one that I feel is an awesome thing to aspire to. However, to truely achieve this goal, there is a masisve purple dragon in the room that needs to be adressed...and that is the fact that...for all but the charisma-based classes...charisma is THE GO-TO dump stat mechanically...and this is EXTREMELY prohibitive to many character concepts.

The passionate, firey warrior who leads others into battle. The manipulative, cunning dark wizard. The evangelist priest who inspires others to follow his deity with their powerful personality. All these are classic fantasy concepts and tropes, and are things a lot of players like to play...however, with charisma being as it stands now, players are punished for wanting to play characters like these.

How? Well, lets be frank. While yes, there are some tables that play "intrigue" style games, the VAST majority of groups will invedibly face some combat. This game has more combat rules than anything else, and due to how most adventurers for it tends to be structured, the vast majority of games tend to feature at least some combat. As a result, it becomes important for every character to be able to hold their own in combat situations, and the sad fact is that characters like the ones I mentioned above, who want to invest in charisma a little bit despite it not being an ability score their class uses normally, are harshly punished mechanically for doing so when it comes to holding their own in combat.

While one could say "but it has massive RP benefits"....the sad, cold truth is that for most groups and in most adventure paths, the combat deficiencies that investing in Charisma over Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence or Wisdom creates for non-Cha classes are far worse than any RP benefits the skill may provide.

If you dump strength, you will be carry less loot and you can kiss using any melee weapon goodbye. If you dump dex, you will be hit more often and have lower reflex saves, and therefore die faster. If you dump con, you will have less HP and lower fort saves, and therefore die faster. If you dump int, you will have less skill points, and therefore less things your character can do. If you dump Wisdom you will have lower will saves and therefore die faster. If you dump cha you will not be good at a few skills that you don't even have to take....meaning that if you dump cha, you literally don't suffer at all...or at least suffer in a way thats relevant the typical heroic adventure games that most tables tend to play.

Thus, when you look at things at this perspective, the freedom to make charismatic wizards, fighters, druids, clerics etc.. is one that is stripped from most players, as in any game where combat will be at least a semi-regular occurrence, they are mechanically penalized for investing in charisma over any other stat.

Thus, if you (the devs) truly want to give is the freedom to make the characters we want to play, you must rectify this issue by fixing charisma, and making it so a wizard who, say, wants to invest in charisma over wisdom will not be punished by the game's mechanics for doing so.

In short, to TRULY allow freedom of character creation, Charisma needs to be thrown a serious bone as a stat, and made so it can "put in work" for all characters in combat-focused adventurers and games. Despite the RP benefits, in PF Charisma is pretty much ALWAYS the optimal stat for classes that don't use it for anything to dump...and if you want true freedom in character creation, there should not be one stat is significantly "worse" to invest in than every other stat for characters that don't make use of it directly via their class.

I love what your trying to do with 2e, but if you truly want to do the right thing, and truly want to allow players the maximum freedom to play what they want to play, you will need to see the game for how it is actually played. You will need to realize that most players and most games require some degree of combat effectiveness from their PCs, and that if you have one stat that is more easily dumped than every other stat in the game from a combat effectiveness standpoint, that at most tables and in most games, players who choose to have their characters invest in that stat (as oppose to, say, wisdom) while being a member of class with no direct use of it are mechanically punished for playing what they want to play. This is counter to the goal of allowing players to play what they want to play, and something I very passionately feel should be rectified in PF 2e.

I hope that if you(any devs) read this, that you will at least do so with an open mind and consider what I am saying.

As the title says. For a long time, I have played D&D and Pathfinder, and for a long time, one of my favorite classes has been the Cleric. Both the ability suite the cleric possesses and the role play aspects of being a chosen agent of a higher power, sent out to spread their deity's faith and message, have always appealed to me as a player.

However, with starfinder getting dropped, a move made in that game DEEPLY troubled me when it came to this edition...and that was the decision to make Mystics not have any mechanical use for Charisma. While I can understand it in the context of the mystic class; a mystic may not serve a deity, and may not be an evangelist...and for those that are, the massive skill bonuses from channel skill compensated for their lower charisma when it came to social skill checks.

However, thats not why I am troubled. The reason I am troubled is that the wisdom-sad precedent set both by it and the 5e cleric have, in my eyes, set a dangerous trend when it comes to the role play integrity of the cleric class and what it is meant to represent. Thing is, clerics, by virtue of what they are, SHOULD have the mechanical option to make a decent charisma score benefit them in a more direct and potent way than just social skill checks. Why? Because, while there can be cloistered clerics who don't have a way with words and people due to being sequestered from the world to contemplate their faith, when myself and many other gamers imagine an "iconic" cleric, we imagine a very passionate, fiery, and zealous personality that is able to sway others to see the light(or power if evil) of their deity...all things that, in both role play and mechanical terms, require having a good cha.

The iconic cleric who evangelizes, spreads the faith and has a passionate belief in their deity and forceful, fiery, zealous personality is extremely iconic, and what many who imagine a cleric envision. Thus, I personally feel that to keep this "archetype" of what a cleric can be alive and well in the game, that clerics need some mechanical use for charisma beyond skills, which the SF mystic and 5e cleric don't.

Why? Well, if all clerics need cha for is social skills, then mechanically, a cleric is punished for investing in cha. There is no way around this fact. With cha impacting no defenses (I still think it should factor into will saves over wis, but that's a discussion for another time), if a cleric has no in-class feature(s) or power(s) that utilize cha then they are, in fact, mechanically worse off for investing in cha over another stat such as str (melee attack), dex (AC and reflex saves), Con (health and fort saves), Int (skill ranks/points). Every other stat provides a stronger mechanical benefit for the cleric than cha does, and as a result if channel energy is shifted to working off wisdom like the SF mystic instead of Cha, then the charismatic evangelizing preacher cleric is DEAD as a mechanically viable character concept, as cha will always be THE stat you will want to dump as a cleric.

Thus, to keep this kind of cleric alive and mechanically viable, I an making this passionate plea to keep the Cleric's channel energy based on Charisma, as it should be. If this is not possible, then I would at least like to know that their are feats or archetypes that let a cleric make use of cha mechanically for something other than skill bonuses, somehow, such as say an "evangelist" archetype for the class that swaps them from a wis-sad class to a cha-sad class, or say making undead controlled with necromancy spells and/or max summons you can control with summoning spells cha-based.(which should be applied for spellcasting overall if implemented for one class, in my opinion)

If at all possible, if any devs read this thread, I would greatly appreciate re-assurance that clerics have SOME way in PF 2e to make charisma not their go-to dump stat and use it mechanically for something beyond just social skill bonuses. Any and all thoughts and input from devs (or anybody) would be appreciated!

As the title says. I am a big, big fan of Necromancy, and as a result I was quite saddened by the lack of a proper necromancer option for starfinder. Additionally, I love charismatic characters, so I was also saddened by the lack of a proper Charisma-based spellcaster for starfinder. Thus, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, rectifying both "issues" with one homebrew Mystic Connection. Seeing as archetypes are no longer class-limited, I felt the Mystic was the best chassis for a casting-stat-swap "archetype" since they get their connection right at first level meaning a stat-swap for the class is as easy as baking it into a connection. Likewise, since Charisma was always the stat most historically associated with Necromancy, and I personally don't find trafficking with dark magics, evil powers and undead a thing a particularly wise person would do, I felt that the casting-stat-swap mystic and necro-mystic at least thematically work well together as being one and the same.

So, during a sleepless night I brewed this in like a half hour. As a result, it likely has the balance of something brewed in a sleepless half hour, so if anybody has any balance comments/advice they would be most appreciated! Anyway, here is the Connection:

Mystic Connection: Reanimator

As the title asks. If you take the Ecclesitheurge archetype as a cleric, and you make your secondary domain an inqusition (such as, say, the conversion inquisition) instead of a domain, I assume you still get to choose which domains list you draw your domain spell from since you use the new list "instead of that list"...and since the inquisition has a list of "nothing" you would use the new list in place of "nothing?" This is how I've always ran the Ecclesitheurge cleric, and makes taking an inquisition (like conversion for wis-to-social skills) far more viable. However, while this is my assumption, is this the actual RAW or not? I am wondering because I was considering making an Ecclesitheurge with the conversion inqusition as their secondary domain for PF society if this is indeed the actual RAW, but since I am not sure I'd like a straight answer on this before I make said character. Any clarity would be appreciated! Thanks!

As the title says. I am trying to get a group togther for a Kingmaker game and in it I'm aiming to be the ruler. My character in this game will be none other then an Eldritch Godling, a wonderful 3PP class made by Rouge Genius Games. The class is fun and flavorful, but quite powerful and I am worried that with their unique style of spellcasting (No concentration checks, still works in an anti-magic field etc...) I will totally overshadow any other spellcaster in my party. Now, to compensate for this, I've already settled on a few things to help "scale down" my power. I've elected to take charisma as my casting stat (generally regarded the "worst" stat you can cast off of), and have opted to take the Cleric spell list instead of the wizard one.(Again, wizard being the "best" spell list in the game) However, is there anything else I could do to help me not overshadow other spellcasters? Any advice on this would be most appreciated!

As the title says. Finally settled on a concept for PFS, and here it is. I'm going with Herald Caller Cleric of Lamashtu focused on both summoning and offensive negative energy channeling (With the Madness variant channeling ability to confuse enemies!). The combination actually works out very well in my head because summoning spells don't care what your spell DCs are....so when channeling is not a viable option you can bust out the summons rather than just being a buffbot (battle cleric that negative channels is far too MAD, and with the cha-pumping a traditional DC-focused "caster" cleric is also not a viable route..so Channeling + Summoning seemed like the best option to me!) This build is too feat intensive for a vannella cleric, however, the Hearld Caller frees up three feats, making the build possible. Anyway...here's what I have build-wise...

Class: Herald Caller (Cleric)
Race: Human
Faction: Dark Archives
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Traits: Sacred Conduit, Reactionary
Favored Class Bonus: Skill Points
Variant Channeling: Madness (Harm)
Domain: Trickery

Starting Abilities:
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 18 (16+2)

Skills:
Bluff
Diplomacy
Knowledge (Religion)
Spellcraft
Perception
Profession (Midwife)

Feats:
1st: Selective Channeling
Human: Noble Scion (War)
3rd: Improved Channeling
Herald Caller: Augment Summoning
5th: Evolved Summons
7th: Quick Channel
Herald Caller: Superior Summoning
9th: Sacred Summons
11th: Divine Interference

Still working out the RP of this one, though I'm feeling a Tian devotee of Grandmother Nightmare with an almost otaku-esc(In the original sense of the word, not the typical anime-fan connotation it has now.) obsession with monsters and a hint of madness. I'll likely have a good backstory worked out once I grab some mountain dew.

So any thoughts/ideas on how to improve this build?

As the title asks. In PFS you cannot be evil, but the character I want to play requires Lamashtu as a deity. While Lamashtu can have Chaotic Netural clerics, I am struggling to create a personality and reason that would allow a chaotic netural human with very high charisma(the character is a channeling cleric/summoner using the madness vairent channeling and hearld caller archtype.) to turn to worshiping the mother of monsters. A chaotic evil human or chaotic netural member of a monster race would be easy, as would a deformed human. However, with 18-20 starting cha, I can't see this character as being terribly deformed and both evil alignments and monstrous races are options largely forbidden in PFS. So, other than being marginalized for a deformity or being from a monsterous race, what reasons could a chaotic netural person have for worshiping Lamashtu? Post your ideas, thoughts and opinions here!

As the title asks. I wanted to make a high cha cleric, which naturally lead to a Channeling build. However, channeling clerics lack good spell DCs due to heavy cha investment, and don't have the stats to be effective battle clerics either. Thankfully, summon spells don't care how terrible your DCs are, low or high they work just the same. So with that in mind, I decided to combine the hearld caller archtype with a channeling build using the madness variant channel ability to confuse. Hearld caller takes no channeling hits and frees up thee feats(it makes it so you never have to take spell focus in Conjuration.), so I considered it ideal for this concept since channeling is feat intensive. However, when planning my character's build I came to a new roadblock; Hearld Caller was SO effective at getting me what I wanted that by 13th level I had all he requisite summoning feats AND the requisite channeling feats, which means I now have no idea what feats to take past 13th level. If anybody has advice for this I would be grateful..my feat layout is below...

1st: Selective Channeling
Human: Noble Scion (War)
3rd: Improved Channeling
(4th)Bonus: Augment Summoning
5th: Summon Evil Monster
7th: Quick Channel
(8th)Bonus: Superior Summoning
9th: Sacred Summons
11th: Ability Focus (Channel Energy)
13th: Evolved Summons
15th: ???
17th: ???
19th: ???

As the title asks. I has the awesome idea to build an oracle who's powers came from a deal with an evil outsider as appose to the usual "blessed/cursed by the gods" story and to use the damnation feats to realize this concept. However, I'm not looking just to pick a few up for flavor. Since they are key to realizing my character concept I want to specifically center my build around them, making then them a centerpiece of my character rather than a flavorful accsesory. As a result, I'm taking all four, and am looking for the best [evil] spells with which to abuse them. However there is one catch, I am not looking to build a minionmaster-type, so animate dead/undead creation spells are not exactly what I'n looking for, here. So if anybody has any good non-undead focused [evil] spells from the cleric list to abuse, please, list then here!

As the title asks. The damnation feat chain offers, among other things, a very sizeable bonus to the DCs and caster level of [evil] spells. Thus, I got the idea to make a character who was either a sorcerer or Oracle who's inherent magic comes not from their linage or a random divine blessing but rather a literal "deal with the devil",with the entire damnation feat chain representing this along with their inherent Spellcasting. However, I am not sure whether to go sorc or oracle for this character, so I am turning to all of you. I know 100% that I will be going "all in" on the damnation feats, so which class out of sorc or oracle has more [evil] spells to abuse? If somebody could answer this I would be grateful!

As the title says. In a thread here they said that the relic channeler archetype reduces your spells known for the hierophant spirit. Yet, from what I can see it actually expands them? From what I can see, a vanilla medium gets 1 hierophant spell known of each level above 4, while relic channeler gets 2. Unlike the Archmage, the hierophant gets no higher level spirit powers that lets it cast more cleric spells with it's slots. Thus, how does relic channeler reduce a medium's hierophant spells known? Was that person wrong in their statement, or is there some feat or class feature I an missing that increases the base medium's hierophant spells known. Clarity on this would be great.

As the title says. I am looking for the best route to take a Kami Medium Build with Kitsune as my race(this is mandatory). Since the Kami Medium loses the Archmage legend, I figured the best place to focus the character would be ranged combat. This lets me make effective use of the champion and trickster legends, while also giving me a strong form of attack while acting as a marshal or hierophant. Anyway, the build is pretty set up, though I want help figuring out the order I should take my feats, my traits and what ability score layout I should use. Anyway, here is the rough build...

Race: Kitsune
Class: Kami Medium (Medium)

Abilities:
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom 7
Charisma: 14

OR

Strength: 14
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 8
Charisma: 16

Maxed skills:
Diplomacy
Perception
Use Magic Device
Spellcraft

Traits:
Reactionary
???

Feats:
1: Point Blank Shot
3: Precise Shot
5: Rapid Shot
7: Weapon Proficiency (Longbow) (could also be rapid reload (Light Crossbow) but getting the longbow while channeling any spirit(instead of just champion) as appose to trying to make the crossbow work with my other feats saves me from having to buy two magic weapons.)
9: Deadly Aim
11: Manyshot

The basic idea is to primarily focus on the champion, marshal and trickster spirit, all of which play well with archery. (Hierophant is a rather pathetic spellcaster, sadly...and Kami mediums are locked out of the Archmage, which is the only decent caster in the bunch.)Any advice on this build?

While the Kitsune race literally adds nothing to a spirtualist, I just REALLY love the fluff of a Kitsune onmyoji(Too much Japan!) and would like help figuring out how to best build one. So with that in mind, lay on me all your builds/advice. All that is mandatory is that the race must be Kitsune, the class must be the onmyoji archtype for the spirtualist and no third party can be used. Everything else is up in the air, because I have no clue how to make this very bad mechanical combo work. So, do you here have any ideas on how to make this work?

As the title asks. I checked the additional resources page and ultimate psionics is flat out not listed. Is this an error, or is the entire book illegal in pathfinder society? I'd like to know because I want to make a Kitsune Mesmerist character for PFS, but don't know if it's legal due to not being listed on the additional resources page. If somebody could clarify, I'd be grateful.

As the title say. I am building my first PFS character, and while I love the Kitsune and arcane spellcasters, I distinctly don't love sorcerers. As a result, after considering a spirit guide lunar oracle kitsune I decided I really wanted prepared casting and whipped up a quick Kitsune Arcanist build that aims to excel at both necromancy an enchantment, abusing the interplay between necromancy's potent debuffs and enchantment's save-or-sucks, while also being more of a generalist and having options the enchantment sorc doesn't. Granted, she loses out on a lot of the kitsune sorc's raw enchantment power, but in return gains a WHOLE LOT more, in my mind. Anyway, here is the rough idea/build for the character, and I'd love some advice on how to improve her that takes my notes at the end into consideration...

Asuka Yuki
Race: Kitsune
Gender: Female
Class: Arcanist
Archetype(s): Twilight Sage
Faction: Dark Archives
Deity: No patron deity/non-pious believer in the Gods
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Traits: Student of Philosophy, Extremely Fashionable (Diplomacy)
Alternate Racial Traits: Gregarious
Favored Class Bonus: +1 HP/Level
Combat Roles: Debuffer, Controller
Out-of-Combat Roles: Socialite, Textbook (Post Sage familiar), General Utility/Toolbox

Character Concept: Think a more tempered/restrained Dexter Morgan. Asuka's a fox with a morbid fascination with death and relishes having power over others. However, rather then embrace these darker urges, she doesn't have the heart to truly follow them down the path towards damnation, caring too much for others and believing too strongly in the goodness of other humanoids to become a monster. However, she still has these thoughts and dark interests, and while she believes herself irredeemable for them, she tries to turn them towards benefiting others and society by protecting and aiding Golarion's Civilized lands with her dark, profane magics and mind control as a pathfinder; it allows her to indulge her morbid obsessions and desire to dominate others while not harming innocents and doing some good in the process. She has a manipulative and selfish streak as well, but none the less remains steadfast in her principles and desire not to let her darker interests let her slip down the slope into depravity.

Starting Abilities:
Strength: 7 (9-2)
Dexterity: 14 (12+2)
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 8
Charisma: 14 (12+2)

Maxed/Key Skills:
Bluff
Diplomacy
Perception
Spellcraft
Use Magic Device

Other/non-maxed Skills:
Knowledge (Arcana)
Knowledge (Religion)

Headband Skills:
Fly

Build:
1st: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 1: Arcane Reservoir, Consume Life, Necromantic Focus, Twilight Shield, Feats: Improved Initiative, +1 Hit Point
2nd: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 2: +1 Hit Point
3rd: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 3: Exploit: Potent Magic, Feat: Spell Focus (Necromancy), +1 Hit Point
4th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 4: +1 Hit Point, +1 Intelligence
5th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 5: Familiar (Compsognathus [Sage Archtype]), Feats: Heighten Spell, +1 Hit Point
6th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 6:+1 Hit Point
7th: Twilight Sage (Arcanst) 7: Exploit: Metamagic Knowledge (Persistant Spell), Feat: Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy), +1 Hit Point
8th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 8: +1 Hit Point, +1 Intelligence
9th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 9: Exploit: Quick Study, Spell Focus (Enchantment), +1 Hit Point
10th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 10: +1 Hit Point
11th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 11: Twilight Transfer, Feat: Quicken Spell, +1 Hit Point
12th: Twilight Sage (Arcanist) 12: +1 Hit Point, +1 Intelligence

Notes: 14 charisma is non-neogtiable for RP, even if going down to 10 post racial for more con and a -1 instead of a -2 on str would be better. I KNOW the 14 cha is not optimal, and I don't care. I see this character being fairly manipulative and charismatic, so 14 cha, for RP reasons, is an ABSOLUTE MUST and this is NON-NEGOTIABLE despite the fact some people consider it a sin against the Optimization God (Pun-Pun?). So, please, understand this fact before you suggest I drop cha down to boost other stats, thank you.

Likewise, Kitsune as the race is non-negotiable as well. I KNOW there are many better races, but, again, this is an RP decision, not an optimization one. Please keep this in mind before you suggest a race-swap. Thank you.

As the title says. Like my older build, this is a rulership vairant channeling focused cleric. Unlike my other build, however, it uses it's high cha in tandem with the evangelist archtype for super-buffing instead of trying to be semi-compitent at melee, sacrificing low level survivability for more raw buffing power. Sadly, I can't start dazing mobs until level 3, but having the full buffing power of a bard as well as WAY better initative thanks to noble scion(Since I can't take channeling feats at level 1.) I think more then makes up for the delaying the dazeing funtimes...anyway...here is a -rough- build, that I'd like some help with...

Race: Human
Class: Cleric of Dispater(Or Ra...but I prefer Dispater for fluff reasons)
Archtypes: Evangelist
Alignment: LN

Abilities:
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 19

Traits:
Reactionary
Sacred Conduit

Skills:
Maxed: Diplomacy, Perform (Oratory), Spellcraft, Perception
Others: Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (Nobility)

1st: Evangelist(Cleric) 1: Domain(Nobility: Leadership), Sermonic Performance (Inspire Courage, Countersong, Fascinate), Public Speaker, Spontaneous Conversion(Evangelist), Aura, Feats: Noble Scion(War), Lingering Performance +1 Skill Point
2rd: Evangelist(Cleric) 2: +1 Skill Point
3rd: Evangelist (Cleric) 3: Channel Negative Energy (Variant Channeling: Rulership), Feat: Selective Channeling, +1 Skill Point
4th: Evangelist (Cleric) 4: +1 Cha, +1 Skill Point
5th: Evangelist(Cleric) 5: Channel Negative Energy, Feat: Improved Channel +1 Skill Point
6th: Evangelist(Cleric) 6: +1 Skill Point
7th: Evangelist (Cleric) 7: Channel Negative Energy , Feat: Quick Channel
8th: Evangelist (Cleric) 8: +1 Cha, +1 Skill Point
9th: Evangelist (Cleric) 9: Sermonic Performance (Inspire Greatness), Feat: Command Undead +1 Skill Point
10th: Evangelist(Cleric) 10: + 1 Skill Point
11th: Evangelist(Cleric) 11: Channel Negative Energy, Feats: Divine Interference, +1 Skill Point

So...any ideas on how to improve this, if any? Does it look good as-is? Thoughts would be appreciated!

As the title says. I've settled on the Negative-channeling based cleric build for Pathfinder Society, and out of a desire to both have something to do -other- then dazing enemies 24/7 and also out of a desire to have some skills, I've gone down to 16 cha instead of the usual 18 to get more int(for out of combat utility/skills) and more str(so I can actually occasionally swing a weapon if need be at low levels and, if nothing else, provide bonuses from aid another) Anyway, the idea is that this cleric plays like a dark brother to the "support cleric" build out of tak's guide. The playstyle is almost identacle to a standard support cleric except instead of being able to have the added utility of healing allies when needed this caster instead brings to the table the utility of being able to completely remove foes from combat temporarily by dazing them(if living) or commanding them(if undead). Since wis is at the absolute minimum to be able to cast all my spells, my actual cleric casting is used almost entirely for buffs and other "support" type spells that don't require save DCs, and channeling is instead this cleric's primary offensive ability. While losing the potent healing of the benevolent/good version of the "support cleric" build, this cleric can still heal in a pinch, making use of the ever-present wands of CLWs instead of wasting actual slots on healing spells. (Though restoration and friends, as well as reses, will likely get a few slots later on.) Anyway..I'd like some basic comments/thoughts with my build...so here it is...

Race: Human
Class: Cleric of Dispater
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Abilities:
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 13
Charisma: 16

Traits:
Reactionary
Sacred Conduit

Skills:

Maxed:
Bluff
Diplomacy
Spellcraft
Perception

Others:
Knowledge (Religion)
Knowledge (Nobility)

Build:
1st: Cleric 1: Domains (Nobility(Leadership), Trickery), Channel Negative Energy 1d6 (Variant Channeling: Rulership), Spontaneous Casting (Inflict Spells), Aura, Feats: Noble Scion (War), Selective Channeling, +1 Skill Point
2nd: Cleric 2: +1 Skill Point
3rd: Cleric 3: Channel Negative Energy 2d6, Command Undead +1 Skill Point
4th: Cleric 4: +1 Cha, +1 Skill Point
5th: Cleric 5: Channel Negative Energy 3d6, Feat: Quick Channel, +1 Skill Point
6th: Cleric 6: +1 Skill Point
7th: Cleric 7: Channel Negative Energy 4d6, Feat: Improved Channel, +1 Skill Point
8th: Cleric 8: +1 Cha, +1 Skill Point
9th: Cleric 9: Channel Negative Energy 5d6, Feat: Extend Spell +1 Skill Point
10th: Cleric 10: +1 Skill Point
11th: Cleric 11: Channel Negative Energy 6d6, Feat: Divine Interference, +1 Skill Point

So, any thoughts?

As the title asks. I have finally decided to hunker down and play PFS, but due to my lack of willingness to run pregens, DM a game or two or play a fighter-type character for level 1 and then abuse the "free rebuild prior to level 2" ruke, I will be making my character a fullcaster, that will be forced to start out at level 1. As a result, I am looking to all of you for ideas on -which- fullcaster will be most survivable/best to take from level 1 on up? Preferably, I would like a fullcaster that is NOT gish/partial melee, and would instead be focused on being more of either an anvil or an arm rather then a hammer, for those familiar with the "forge of combat" idea. Also, while it dosen't need to be a cha-primary class, I will be having at least 14 cha for RP reasons, so keep that in mind when recommending classes as for classes that need a lot of stats(reach cleric or wildshape druid, for example), I won't have the wiggle room to get that 14 cha...but I am fine with non-cha casters who don't have as strenuious stat needs(Such as wizards and arcanists who basically just need int and a little bit of dex/con.)

So if anybody has recommendations on what would be both the "most survivable" fullcaster from level 1 on up, as well as what fullcaster would be most liked/welcomed at PFS tables I'd be grateful!

As the title says. I am organizing a Kingmaker game in which my character is going to end up as the -ruler- of the kingdom, and I decided that my future ruler to be will be the -child- of none other then Dahak, the evil dragon god of PF lore, and will be a power-hungry ******* out to be the next Razmir, except this time with legitimate divine power backing their theocratic rule and a penchant for all things draconic. (Likely will try to actively invite and encourage evil dragons to come to their kingdom and dwell there.)

Anyway, I don't know why, but for some reason the idea of an ambitious, evil half-god leading a band of corrupt adventurers out for power gets me excited, and as a result I have begun to organize a game with others who don't mind the idea of me playing an eldritch godling. However, I do also know that the eldritch godling is, as it stands, ridiculously overpowered, and as a result I'm looking for advice on how to run one so it won't -totally- overshadow the rest of the party. The "start" of this was, choosing to be charisma-based rather then casting off of, say, constitution, strength or dexterity. However, I don't want to stop there. What I want help with now is both which spell list to select(Wis/Sorc, Cleric/Oracle, Druid, Witch, Shaman?) and what general "playstyle" I should go for? I'm looking to be more of either an anvil or arm then a hammer here, since I assume there will be at least -one- martial party member. So any advice here on how not to overshadow the party while still being effective as an Eldritch Godling would be most appreciated!

A few ideas I had...

-Spending most, if not all of my divine trait ranks(I am human so I'll have a lot more to play with, here, then normal) on things that are more fluff/cosmetic then combat-applicable...like Paramortal and Legendary Beauty.

- Use a spell list other then wis/sorc, possibly cleric, possibly witch? (Cleric if going arm and witch if going anvil?)

- Of course, casting off cha instead of a physical stat or int, which is one option I have already chosen to go with...

If anybody has thoughts on which of these routes would be best, or other ideas, I am all ears. Also, knowing if picking weaker/less combat-centric divine traits(like the aforementioned paramortal and legendary beauty lines) would be enough to offset taking, say, the wis/sorc list, would be nice too.

As the title says. In another thread, somebody discussed the idea of using a perfectly worded wish with a wish spell as a means to obtain Godhood through mechanical means. As a thought exercise I thought we should collectively as a forum community try to craft that perfect wish for Godhood. Thus, to facilitate things, I'll be playing both your resident Kyubey and sadistic genie, looking for holes to poke in suggested wishes and any and all way they could be mis-interpreted to ***** you over. If other sadistic genies want to way in, feel free to do so as the more the merrier.

So with this goal in mind, lets get brewing. Lets craft that perfectly-worded wish for Godhood!

As the title says. I recently got my hands on the PF technology guide and have been thoroughly amazed by how awesome it is. As a result, I have been crafting both a larger campaign setting that makes use of tech and magic, and have been wanting to put together some adventures involving said setting. The first "starter" adventure I have planned has the party being hired on by low-level city administrators to deal with a rogue, eco-terrorist-type druid who has hijacked the local Eko Reactor (Setting equivalent of a power-plant) and thus cut off all power to the town-sized administrative district they will start off in.(The actual setting is a world city alla corasaunt from star wars or Ravnica for you MTG fans, and thus the rough equivalent of a small town would be a small administrative district. The world is actually divided into several large individual cities with their own governments, each having many smaller administrative districts within.)

The Hijacked reactor in question will be almost completely overtaken by a Morkazuba plant(Type of nasty vine/creeping plant that feeds off Eko and grows unnaturally fast..utterly taking over areas where it's seeds are planted if there is enough eko to feed it. Morkazuba however, also provides a purifying effect in places where it grows, removing pollution from both the land and air around it.) and the rogue druid will be holed up in the vine-covered reactor along with a number of minions. The Morkazuba will also be starting to spread into the administrative district around the Reactor, putting some pressure on the PCs to get the job done/make the stakes seem higher. The City Officials, having dealt with Morkazuba plants and Eco-Terrorists on a regular basis(there is in fact, a larger eco-terrorist group to which this druid belongs, and they will be one of the main enemy factions the PCs will be forced to deal with in the larger adventure.) will already have a chemical pesticide-type weapon on hand which will be given to the party so they can kill the Morkazuba by using it on the plant's root system, which will be at the reactor's core and guarded by the Druid. The layout of this low-level dunegon, as well as the Druid boss, are all planned out. However, what I am looking for is suggestions for fitting low-level enemies to act as the druid's minions, preferably ones that are plant-based though I'll take suggestions for enemies of any type that fit with the "nature" theme of this dungeon.

The party will be level 1 when they start this dunegon, so please keep that in mind with your suggestions. Anyway, anybody have ideas for some good, fitting low-level monsters for a nature/plant-themed dungeon?

As the title says. I've wanted to -try- PFS for a while now, but have run into the snag. I play almost exclusively evil characters, and PFS bans evil. Now, here is the thing, I am willing to negotiate on most -evil- qualities my typical characters possess, but one thing I cannot negotiate on is a generally low view on commoners and disregard for the plight of the poor. I like to play decadent, corrupt noble types more often then not, and while I can bring myself to play them without the decadence and outright corruption, the part I want kept in tact is a view of commoners as lesser and a mindset that lets them be 100% ok with the fact large numbers of people live in abject poverty while a select few live in luxury due purely to the luck of what family they where born into.

So, my question becomes, can you have a character with this kind of outlook on commoners/the poor and poverty and have them maintain a non-evil(Note I didn't say good...I doubt this kind of character could ever be -good- so I'm ideally shooting for neutral here, if that's even possible) alignment? If so, I'd appreciate advice on how such a feat could be achieved. So if any of you have ideas on this, I'd be grateful if you shared them here.

As the title says. Nobody can -choose- to be a sorcerer. The sorcerer fluff is pretty clear that their magic comes from arcane powers inheirent in their bloodline, thus, one is almost always born a sorcerer. The only way for one to ever become a sorcerer by their own accord would be some kind of mad magical genetic experiment...which begs the question...if they where smart enough to devise some arcane ritual to give themselves a magical bloodline, why not just study wizardry since while likely slower has a much -larger- payoff power-wise instead? So it's safe to say that 99% of sorcerers out there do not choose to become sorcerers or actively seek out their powers. It's either inherited or forced on them without their consent. While their may be some outliers for the most part, you can't choose to become a sorcerer unless some seirous arcane tampering with your genetics is involved which means you are either already an accomplished wizard yourself, or filthy rich enough to pay one to do the tampering for you.

Oracles, however, are odd. Sorc fluff is clear: You can't become a sorcerer by choice, at least not easily, anyway. However, unlike sorc fluff, Oracle fluff is...contradictory. On one hand, the base fluff basically makes Oracles out to be divine sorcerers. The gods hand them their powers without them ever asking for or choosing them, and thus from looking at just this one would believe that, just like you can't choose to become a sorcerer usually, you also can't choose to become an Oracle/pursue the powers of an Oracle by your own accord.

However, when you get into splatbooks the fluff on Oracles remains far less...consistent...then that of sorcerers. The Occult and JuJu mysteries, unlike your standard oracle mysteries, are fluffed as the result of the Oracle communing with the spirits of the dead or the wendifa spirits of the JuJu religion, respectively. Thus, Oracles of these two mysteries seem far less like "divine sorceres" who are just handed their magic and more like "spirit druids" in that, like druids, their power comes from communion with a force larger them them, except instead of that force being "nature" like it is for druids it is "the spirits of the dead" or "the wendifa" respectively. While one could argue that one has to be born with an "attunement" to the spirit world to be able to commune with these spirits, nothing in their fuff says this, which leads me to believe that for at least these two mysteries, anybody who wants to and has the right mindset and devotion to the spirits that grant them can gain them.

The contradictory fluff does not end here though. Enter the Outer Rifts and Spellscar Mysteries. These mysteries state contact with the Outer Rifts(or a similar planar anomaly) or spellscars/wild magic as the ONLY thing required for gaining their powers. Thus, while some oracles with these mysteries could have gained them by accidental contact with such forces nothing is stopping a particularly ambitious(and likely a tad crazy and definitely low-wisdom) individual from purposely exposing themselves to the phenomenons that grant these mysteries in the hopes that they gain powers from it.

Finally several Oracle archtypes seem to have fluff that indicates one could seek out the powers they grant. Spirit Guide Oracles seem largely the same as JuJu and Occult Oracles being that their magic comes from communion with spirits and it never comes out and says that a "natural attunement to the spirit world" or something similar is in play for the Spirit Guide. A possessed Oracle, likewise, is another case of "little specification" since while most possessions are unwilling nothing in the fluff says that a possessed Oracle can't be a person who willingly let some horrible spirit live in their body in return for the magic powers they grant them. The Black-Blooded archtype also functions a lot like the outer rifts and spellscar mysteries in that it makes the Oracle's magic come from exposure to a magical phenom on rather then as a blessing or a gift, which while possibly accidental could come from an individual seeking out that pheromone as well.

So, the question becomes, with all this contradictory fluff, could an Oracle of ANY mystery, not just the ones listed, be an individual who sought and obtained their divine magic power on their own either through devotion to the gods, communion with spirits or some other method rather then an individual gifted with their power?

I would appreciate a discussion of the possibility of "self-made Oracles" here.

As the title asks. Everybody talks about, and likes, reach clerics. However, I've never seen anybody try to do the similar thing with an Oracle. That is the reason I posted up this thread. I'd like to know what, about the Oracle class, has stopped people from doing the whole "reach cleric" thing with it, using the same principles as that build but instead applying it to the Oracle? If anybody could clarify this for me I'd be grateful!

As the title asks. Out of all the classes in the Occult Adventurers Playtest, the Mesmerist is the one I was immediately drawn to due to it's focus on mind control. It definitely looks like a fun, fun class, but the question becomes, without any psychic specific feats to play with yet, what feats should I take as a mesmerist? Part of me says to take enchantment-boosting, caster-type feats, since most of the class' featurs focus around casting in some way. However, Mesmerists are still not "fullcasters" in the sense they get only 6th level spell and thus another line of thinking has me taking feats related to combat, possibly either going the weapon finesse route or the archery route, giving my character something to do when not casting. However, the only fault with this line of thinking is that mesmerists, unlike bards and other half-casters have no in-class way of boosting damage, meaning that they will be hard-pressed to deal significant damage with mundane combat skills...and as a result I'm not even sure focusing on mundane combat is "worth it" for a mesmerist. Even further, going this route basically locks me into either half-elf, elf or tengu for my race, since Mesmerists don't get any decent weapon proficiency for either the finess or archery build from their class.

If anybody could give me direction on what kind of feats to take as a mesmerist, I'd be grateful!

As the title asks. You have a noble. He/she is spoiled. He/she can be greedy and materialistic, loves luxury, and dose not see the peasantry as their equal. He/she is arrogant in the highest degree, and quick to look down their noses at others and act with the haughty demeanor characteristic of the aristocracy. They are spoiled, and believe as a noble they are entitled to certain privileges by virtue of their birth alone. They can, and will use less then honorable means if it is strategically beneficial for them to do so. However, at the same time, despite all these things, they believe that being a noble is about responsibility to both your country and those under you above all else. While they do no see the lower classes as equal to the nobility in terms of being allowed to rule themselves, they do believe that they, as humanoids, are entitled to basic rights and all the things needed to live a happy, if humble, existence. They feel that, as nobility, it is their primary responsibility to assure the safety and well-being of the lower classes in the name of keeping the peace and assuring a stable, orderly sphere of influence. If they are in their own sphere of influence they will fight tooth and nail to protect the commoners in that area, even putting their own life on the line. However, if they are outside of it then they would likely defer protection of the commoners to the local authorities and local nobility, as at that point it is not their duty or responsibility to protect those particular commoners and thus they see no reason why they should help them if the local ruling class and their authorities are already in place to serve that purpose...unless of course there is something else in it for them.

Now, their belief in "noble responsibility" doesn't mean they believe the lower classes should all be raised out of poverty and live in palaces alongside the nobility. Likewise, it doesn't mean that they believe the common people are fit to lead themselves. They view the peasantry as human(oid) beings deserving of the basic rights all humanoids deserve, but they distinctly do not view them as equals. They also don't believe in just giving money to the poor; in their mind, wealth is something that must be earned, and nobility despite being born with their wealth, have "earned" it due to the unique position of responsibility they find themselves in. While they do not dismiss charity they don't believe in just freely throwing gold pieces at the poor. Rather, they think the best kind of charity is that which gives the less fortunate the means to better themselves I.E. training and education in a valuable trade and/or something else that would allow them better their own station in society. Just giving away money, in their mind, is a fleeting and temporary remedy that just makes the commoners lazy and content to stay in their current position of poverty.

They do see themselves as above commoners/peasants in the sense that nobility, in their mind, truly are the most fit to lead. They believe that the commoner's rights are best protected by having an elite, enlightened ruling class guiding them. In their eyes if people where left to rule themselves there would be an endless string of abuses where the most clever and/or strong would oppress, abuse, steal from and even kill the weak. Bloodthirsty mobs would seize power and "order" would come at the end of a blade, fireball or a hangman's noose. To them, it is the role of the noble to protect the commoners not only from the monsters and outside threats, but themselves as well. As a result of their belief in the position of a noble as one of responsibility, this character would resent lazy, selfish and corrupt nobility more then anything else. A noble who abuses his serfs and milks them for everything they have, or one who sits idle in his palace and feasts all day while his people grow more desperate is not only not doing his job as a noble, but also endangering the wellfare of both his people and his country, at least to this character. By failing to lead his people, the corrupt noble is opening the pathway for rebellion, warfare, chaos and strife. He is failing to perform what this character views as the "basic function" of nobility; providing leadership, stability and security for his people and his country. As a result this character would often try to work against corrupt nobility, though would try to do so through "legitimate" means rather then by starting a rebellion and causing even more outright disorder. They would also try to work actively to convince nobility that their position is one of responsibility and that decadence is dangerous not only to their people, but to their country and themselves.

Taking all this into consideration...would this character be good or neutral aligned? Heck...if you have an argument for evil feel free to state that here as well, even though I don't really see this character as "evil" despite their selfish side. Post thoughts and comments here.

As the title asks. I like the Kitsune race...a lot. So much I want my first PFS character to be a Kitsune. The issue? I am a terrible GM, and hate pre-gens, so this character will be starting off at level 1, no way around that. The other issue? I only like characters with some kind of magic ability. I NEVER play full martials, like swashbucklers and other then swashbucklers and Eldritch Scions, which apparently suck beyond salvation, there is really no other classes that have magic and work well with a Kitsune beyond "squishy" fullcasters like sorcerers and oracles.

So, my question is thus: In pathfinder society, where you are not gurinteed a compitent meat shield every game, how survivable are fullcasters like sorcerers and oracles? Is their survivability too low to even worth considering without GM and/or Pre-gen credit to level boost them or are they survivable enough where I can play one straight from level 1 on up just fine? Any thoughts, opinions and shared experences on this matter would be nice.

As the title asks. If an eldritch scion magus took the Flamboyant Arcana and Arcane Deed[Precise Strike] arcana prior to level 4 of eldritch scion, would he be able to use the abilities of those arcana or would he be unable to use them until he reached level 4? Clarification on this would be nice.

As the title asks. Which would be better for PFS, an Arcane Duelist Bard Kitsune or an Eldritch Scion Magus Kitsune? On one hand, the bard has a lot more skills, yet on the other hand, I don't see this character really being a performer. Of course, this is remedied by them simply taking perform oratory as their sole perform skills and being something of a over the top swordsman who inspires with rousing speeches and fights with a dramatic flare, bantering with enemies and such as appose to being an actual performer by trade such as a musician, actor etc which is something I distinctly do not see this character as. However, Eldritch Scion fits almost perfectly the fluff I want(charismatic magical swordsman) however, I have heard that, as an archtype, it pretty much sucks. However, I want to know if it sucks so much that it's not even worth it, or is it have enough going for it to make it at least a bit salvagable? Also...a magus doesn't get a lot of skills without int, so that is another detractor against the eldritch scion.

Does anybody have any advice for me on which option I should go with? Either way, the character will be a dex-based melee fighter, using a rapier with fencing grace taken at level 5...and either way the fluff will remain largely the same as long as I stick to Oratory as my sole perform skill if I go bard.(I know that dervish dance can get me dex to damage 2 levels sooner, HOWEVER, the dervish route blocks me out of using my main weapon until level 3 since scimitars can't be finessed before dance, while the rapier route lets me use my character's weapon of choice straight from level 1 onward. While damage will be lower before level 5, both magi and bards have plenty of in-class ways to boost damage so I will still be dealing ok damage before I hit fencing grace.) So yeah, any advice for me on this matter?

As the title asks. If you have not yet read "the forge of combat" guide I suggest it as it's a good, useful read. If you have, then you know what my title is asking. If you haven't, well, let me enlighten you. "Hammer" "Anvil" and "Arm" refer to the three main combat roles in pathfinder. A "Hammer" is a character who's primary function is to deal damage to enemies, I.E most martial characters, blaster wizards etc... The "Anvil" is the character who's job it is to support the party by controlling the flow of the battle, manipulating the enemies and making their lives hell, I.E. the "god wizard" and similar characters. Finally, the "Arm" is the character who supports the party by enhancing their own abilities, I.E. "buffer" type characters such as bards, evangelist clerics etc...

My question to all you PFS gamers is what of these roles do you find is least represented in society play? I ask because I plan on joining PFS, and have several characters I want to try and am not sure which to use first. This thread is going to help me decide on a build. Knowing PFS is mostly combat focus, I assume Hammers are in no short supply, however, without PFS experience I can't say what role is most needed at PfS tables, so as a result I want to know from all you PFS players which role you find show up least, and which you all would like having most at the table? Share your observations and thoughts here!

As the title asks. One of the vairent aasimiar races gets summon nature's ally II as a racial SLA. As of now, this spell cannot be found on any arcane spell list. Thus, my question is, for entry to, say, Mystic Theruge does this SLA count as divine/fulfill the divine casting requirement or is it arcane like standard racial SLAs despite the spell not being on any arcane spell list? If anybody could clear this up I'd be grateful.

As the title asks. I am in a mixed-alignment party that includes two characters who are very much "good guys" among other varied alignments(we have at least one CN among our little band.) My character also has the absolute lowest wisdom in the party, and the second lowest charisma. Even further, they are LE in alignment(though they don't go openly advertising it) and are a selfish, spoiled, entitled noble who owns slaves(and actually has one traveling with them who is NPCed by the GM) and cares primarily about personal gain. Their only social skill is intimidate. They where not made to be party leader, yet to my surprise in the first session of the campaign the party more or less elected them leader....they pretty much left all decision-making up to my character and followed, rather blindly, whatever they said was the best route, to the point that there was dead silence at the table when my character didn't have the next course of action ready.

So, the question becomes, you have a character very unfit for leadership(negative wisdom mod, only 14 cha and no social skills beyond intimidate), who is LE in a party of very mixed alignments, who has been thrusted into the position of party leader, and I want to know...how should I approach this RP-wise? Why would the party turn to somebody with so little common sense and a personality that isn't all that likable(but still fairly charismatic despite...See the iconic caviler, who also has 14 cha, for an example of what I mean) to set the course of action and be the de-facto leader? Even further, how to I balance my character's IC selfishness with the IC and OOC responsibilities that come with having a character that is the party leader?

Any advice or thoughts on these concerns would be appreciated. Oh, and in case your wondering, in terms of mental stats, my character has 16 int, 8 wisdom, 14 cha, and class wise is a dex/dervish dance magus. They also have the highest int in the party, if that matters at all to your RP suggestions.