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So I'm planning on creating a Half Elf Oracle that focuses on using Paragon Surge to be a sort of "toolbox"...I'm mostly doing because we need a healer (let's not argue about the roles of a healer in combat here), and because I want to test out paragon surge

So I'm going half elf oracle dual cursed (because part of my character's backstory involves the spirits following him around and altering the outcome of events around him, mechanically being done by the Misfortune mystery)

Now, The build I'm thinking on relies on getting access to paragon surge at level 6, and then taking the appropriate feats with expanded arcana and improved eldritch heritage to have access to any spell. Eventually at level 15, he will select is as his spell perfection spell and gain any spell or feat for the situation at level 15 as a swift action (thanks to quicken spell). Also, I don't want to JUST rely on spells. I'm not sure how the campaign is going to go, but I'm not baking on the assumption of 15 minute work days.

so we're using a 15 point build. I want to have high charisma, high con. I'm not sure how to stat the other abilities. I'm thinking moderate str so I can be somewhat useful in combat.

Here is the build I have sketched out in my head so far:

Molvario, the Ill-fated
Half-elf Life Oracle
Dual Cursed: Haunted (Main) and Lame (Secondary)

Lv1: Revelation: Channel. Feats: Skill focus (Knowledge Religion), Selective Channeling. bonus spells: Mage hand, ghost sound
Lv2: Bonus Spell: Ill Omen
Lv3: Revelation: Misfortune. Feat: Eldritch Heritage: Arcane: Get familiar
Lv4: Mystery Spell: Oracle's Burden
LV5: bonus Mystery: Safe Curing, Bonus spells: Levitate, Minor Image
Lv6: Mystery Spell: Bestow Curse. THIS IS WHERE I LEARN PARAGON SURGE
Lv7: Revelation: Spirit Boost, Feat: Piercing Spell
Lv8: Mystery Spell: Restoration
Lv9: Improved Familiar
Lv10: Mystery spell: Breath of Life, Curse Spell: Telekinesis
Lv11: Revelation: Life Sense, Feat: Quicken Spell
Lv12: Mystery Spell: Heal
Lv13: Revelation: Maybe fortune?, Feat: Rime Spell (To go with cold Ice Strike, which i get to use next level)
Lv14: Mystery spell: Greater Restoration
Lv15: Spell Perfection: Paragon Surge, Revelation: Energy Body, Bonus spell: Reverse Gravity
Lv16: Mystery spell: Mass Heal

the last few levels don't matter much for now

Also, I'm going to be using the favored class option to get spells...So I'm thinking on trying to cram toughness there somewhere. I like piercing spell for spontaneous casters since it's better than spell penetration + GSP, at the cost of a +1 feat adjustment.

also, what are some good debuff/curse spells to add? I'm thinking on picking up blindness and maybe replacing piercing spell with Heighten spell

I'm still not finished, but I thought I'd share my work thus far:

Zolthux's Guide to the Gish

I'm still missing the Feat, Skill and Spell selection, but I think this is good enough a start to let people begin chiming in

Feel free to give constructive criticism and such

So in anticipation for a long (all the way to level 20) campaign, my friends and I have been planning out characters. We will have a Magus, Barbarian, Alchemist, and Polearm Fighter. I want to play a Holy Vindicator to be the party's divine caster.

I'm personally not a fan of the cleric, so I'd rather be playing Life Oracle for the Channel Energy Mystery, which I can then use as a prereq to Holy Vindicator. It also unlocks some tricks later on.

Now, I think the campaign will start at lv4, and then go all the way to 20, so I've been looking into what I can do for my build. Being a spontaneous caster, I'm going with the human race for the bonus spells when applicable. I know that hit points are a better choice usually, but a spontaneous caster with extra spells is always good. I noticed that between the 3 bonus orisons I can get, plus the standard 9 I can learn, I can have 12 out of the 13 available Orisons, so I'm also going for that.

I'm going for Oracle 7/Holy Vindicator 8/Oracle 5. That way I only lose on 2 caster level while getting most of the abilities. For Curse I was thinking either Dual Cursed (Haunted/Tongues) or just Haunted Oracle, because I like the bonus spells. Also, I want to Take advantage of my charisma to use the Edlritch Heritage Feats. Arcane Bloodline seems tempting, as I can get a familiar to deliver heal spells for me should they be needed in battle. Additionally, I can use the lv9 ability to gain extra (arcane) spells.

The resources we are using are CRB, APG, UM, UC, and Feats 101 (only third party stuff)

So the build I'm looking for so far is as follows

Traits: Magical Knack, Sacred Conduit

LV1: Oracle 1. Haunted Curse, Revelation: Channel (1d6), Feats: Skill focus (Knowledge: Religion), Extra Channel. Bonus Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Mage Hand, Ghost Sound, One Orison

LV2: Oracle 2. Mystery Spell: Detect Undead. Bonus Spell: Orison

LV3: Oracle 3. Channel 2d6, Revelation: Safe Curing. Feat: Eldritch Heritage: Arcane. Arcane Bond: Familiar (something that flies, Effective Wizard level = HD-2).Bonus Spell: Orison

LV4: Oracle 4. Mystery Spell: Lesser Restoration. Bonus Spells: Cure Moderate Wounds, LV1 Spell

LV5: Oracle 5. Channel 3d6, Feat: Power Attack. Curse spells: Levitate, Minor Image. Bonus Spell: LV1 Spell

LV6: Oracle 6. Mystery Spell: Neutralize Poison. Bonus Spells: Cure Serious Wounds, LV2 Spell

LV7: Oracle 7. Channel 4d6. Revelation: Spirit Boost. Feat: Alignment Channel (Evil). Bonus Spell: LV2 Spell

LV8: Holy Vindicator 1. Vindicator's Shield (4)

LV9: Holy Vindicator 2. Channel 5d6 (VShield 5), Stigmata 1. Feat: Improved Familiar (Harbinger Archon). Bonus Spell: Cure Critical Wounds

LV10: Holy Vindicator 3. Faith Healing (Empower)

LV11: Holy Vindicator 4. Channel 6d6 (VShield 6), Stigmata 2, Divine Wrath. Feat: Improved Eldritch Heritage: New Arcana. Bonus Spells: Mass Cure Light Wounds, LV5 Wizard Spell (Overland Flight maybe?)

LV12: Holy Vindicator 5. Bloodfire, Channel Smite

LV13: Holy Vindicator 6. Channel 7d6 (Vshield 7), Stigmata 3 (Move Action), Versatile Channel. Feat: Mystical Healer*. Curse Spell: Telekinesis

LV14: Holy Vindicator 7. Divine Judgment. Bonus Spell: Mass Cure Moderate Wounds.

LV15: Holy Vindicator 8. Channel 8d6 (Vshield 8), Stigmata 4, Faith Healing (Maximized). Merge Spells**, Bonus Wizard Spell: LV6 Spell.

LV16: Oracle 8. Mystery Spell: Restoration. Bonus Spell: Mass Cure Serious Wounds. Bonus LV6 Spell

LV17: Oracle 9. Chanel 9d6 (VShield 9), Feat: Improved Channel. Bonus Spell: LV7 Spell

LV18: Oracle 10. Mystery Spell: Breath of Life, Bonus Spells: Mass Cure Critical Wounds, LV7 Spell

LV19: Oracle 11. Channel 10d6 (Vshield 10) Feat: ??? I guess Toughness, (though wouldnt it be late for that? Alternatively, Human Versatility from the upcoming Race book would net me 11 HP+11 Skill Ranks, I assume it's retroactive because it's been easy to keep track of what ive been using the FC bonus for, spells.) Curse Spell: Reverse Gravity. Bonus LV8 Wizard Spell, Bonus LV8 Spell

LV20: Oracle 12. Mystery Spell: Heal. Bonus LV8 Spell

*Mystical Healer: All healing I do heals an extra 4d6 (from Feats 101)

**Merge Spells: Benefit: You can join two spells that can be cast in a single action and can have the same legal target to form a single effect. All variable effects of the spell are based on the higher level spell. A merged spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the highest level spell’s actual level and uses up the same slot as the lower level spell’s actual level.

I figure that Merge Spells will let me cast 2 buffs/round on myself should I need to on the fly.

So, I want critique on the feat choices, if improved familiar is worth it (Healing at long range seems nice), what spells should I choose with access to those 3 wizard spells?
Also, if i make my weapon throwing and returning, can i throw it on the ground, cast my spell, then next turn have it return to my hand? If not, I guess i can get a buckler instead of a shield.

I am preparing for my next big campaign where we'll probably go to level 20. We are doing fast progression so this should be attainable. We'll probably start at level 4

I'm a huge fan of the gish archetype, so I was trying to do Draconic Sorcerer/Draconic Disciple/Eldritch Knight. I also want to use the Eldritch Heritage feats to get the bloodline powers of the Orc Bloodline (Strength of the Beast, and Power of Giants at higher levels). I also like the Dimensional Agility feat chain.

For flavor reasons, I chose to be a Half Orc (Since I want to take the Eldritch Heritage Feats, although free proficiency with the falchion and the bite attack are pretty nice)

so the level/BAB/Feat/ability progression goes like this:

LV1:+0 Sorc1: Skill Focus (Survival), Eschew Materials, Dragon Claws
LV3:+1 Sorc3: Power Attack(-1/+3), Nat Armor +1, Resist 5 Energy
LV5:+2 Sorc5: Eldritch Heritage (Orc), Touch of Rage +1
LV6:+3 Sorc6: Touch of Rage+2
LV7:+3 DD1: Merge Spells*, Natural Armor +1, Claws 1d6
LV8:+4 DD2: Toughness, Str+2, Dragon Bite, Touch of Rage +3
LV9:+5 DD3: Dimensional Agility, Breath Weapon 9d6 2/day, Nat Armor+1, Resist 10 Energy
LV10:+6/+1 DD4: Strength +2, Nat Armor +1, Touch of Rage +4
LV11:+7/+2 Fighter1: Improved Eldritch Heritage (Orc), Improved Initiative, Strength of the Beast (+2 Str)
LV12: +7/+2 S7: Claws +1d6 energy, Natural Armor +2**, Wings**, Breath Weapon 15d6 2/day**, Touch of Rage+5, Quicken Spell
LV13: +8/+3 Eldritch Knight1: Dimensional Assault, Arcane Strike, Weapon Training 1***
LV14: +9/+4 EK2: Touch of Rage +6
LV15: +10/+5 EK3: Dimensional Dervish, Strength of the Beast +2
LV16: +11/+6/+1 EK4: Touch of Rage +7
LV17: +12/+7/+2 EK5: Greater Eldritch Heritage (Orc), Strength of the Beast (+2 Str), Power of Giants, Tough of Rage +8, ???

Havent decided on a bonus combat feat for that level, and still got the lv 19 feat open, but that's not a problem for now.

Notes:
* Merge Spells is found on Feats 101:
Merge Spells (Metamagic)
You can unite two spells together.

Prerequisite: Caster level 5th

Benefit: You can join two spells that can be cast in a single action and can have the same legal target to form a single effect. All variable effects of the spell are based on the higher level spell. A merged spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the highest level spell’s actual level and uses up the same slot as the lower level spell’s actual level.

**Effective Sorcerer level for the purpose of powers is 11, so get a robe of Eldritch Heritage for an effective lvl of 15

***Using Sash of the Warrior Champion, I could get the +1 to Weapon Training for something...like natural attacks to help my Bite attack I guess

My spell list is mostly buffs and some blast stuff. Of course, I will be using Dimension Door.

But yeah, am I trying to cram too many abilities into one character. What should I drop if so?

OK, so I built a pally/sorc gish before, but i'm trying to create a better build. The focus is mainly buff spells and some battlefield control (Toppling Magic Missile is great), so I wanted some advise when it came to feats and spells. The 2-level pally dip gives me my cha to my saves, which is much needed and makes my charisma that much more relevant. So I'm looking at missing out on 3 caster levels total for the purpose of spells.

For bloodline I'm choosing the Verdant Bloodline (Photosynthesis is a very nice ability: No need to eat/drink, only 2 hours of sleep needed), and Entangle/Barkskin as free spells (I really like being able to cast barkskin as a gish. Entangle can be decent battlefield control. Getting Toughness or extend spell for free is nice too. Everything else is bad)

My level choices are P2/S6/EK10/S2, P2/S7/EK10/S8, and P2/S8/EK10

I'd rather go for the second choice simply because i can get the lv7 sorc feat (of course, toughness and Extend Spell are the only viable choices for feats).

Anyway, so this is the build i have
Race: Human

(Legend:
LV: Character Level/Class Level
BAB: Base Attack Bonus
CL: Caster Level
F/R/W: Fort/Reflex/Will Saves
HSp: Highest Spell level
Ab: Abilities)

LV1:P1, BAB:1, CL:0, F/R/W: 2/0/2, Ab: Smite Evil, Detect Evil 1/day
Lv2:P2, BAB:2, CL:0, F/R/W: 3/0/3, Ab: Divine Grace, Lay On Hands 1d6
LV3:S1, BAB:2, CL:1, F/R/W: 3/0/5, Ab: Spells, Eschew Materials, Tanglevine, Arcana (Personal spells = AC bonus)
LV4:S2, BAB:3, CL:2, F/R/W: 3/0/6, Ab:
LV5:S3, BAB:3, CL:3, F/R/W: 4/1/6, Ab: Photosynthesis, Spell: Entangle
LV6:S4, BAB:4, CL:4, F/R/W: 4/1/7, Ab:
LV7:S5, BAB:4, CL:5, F/R/W: 4/1/7, Ab: Spell: Barkskin
LV8:S6, BAB:5, CL:6, F/R/W: 5/2/8, Ab:
LV9:S7, BAB:5, CL:7, F/R/W: 5/2/8, Ab: BL Feat, Spell: Speak W Plants
LV10:EK1, BAB:6/1, CL:7, F/R/W: 6/2/8 , Ab: Diverse Combat Training, Bonus Combat Feat
LV11:EK2, BAB:7/2, CL:8, F/R/W: 6/3/9, Ab:
LV12:EK3, BAB:8/3, CL:9, F/R/W: 7/3/9, Ab:
LV13:EK4, BAB:9/4, CL:10, F/R/W: 7/3/9, Ab:
LV14:EK5, BAB:10/5, CL:11, F/R/W: 8/4/10, Ab: Bonus Combat Feat
LV15:EK6, BAB:11/6/1, CL:12, F/R/W: 8/4/10, Ab:
LV16:EK7, BAB:12/7/2, CL:13, F/R/W: 9/4/10, Ab:
Lv17:EK8, BAB:13/8/3, CL:14, F/R/W: 9/5/11, Ab:
LV18:EK9, BAB:14/9/4, CL:15, F/R/W: 10/5/11, Ab: Bonus Combat Feat
LV19:EK10, BAB:15/10/5, CL:16, F/R/W: 10/5/11, Ab: Spell Critical
LV20:S8, BAB:16/11/6/1, CL: 17, F/R/W: 10/5/12, Ab:

So obviously, the reflex save is laughably low, and tanglevine doesn't scale well, making it bad after level 9 (until which point is pretty fun to use). Divine Grace helps offset the saves (At least Will remains good, Fort is a close second)

We always roll for stats, so I design with 2 good stats in mind. 3 at most. I wanna avoid MAD. For this character I'm looking at STR and CHA as mains, with Dex and con being at least a +1

My main issue is the feats: Obviously I'm gonna be using a 2handed weapon for the power attack bonuses so What I'm looking at so far is

LV1: Power Attack, Improved Initiative
LV3: Furious Focus, Eschew Materials
LV5: Combat Casting
LV7: Toppling Spell
LV9: Spontaneous Metafocus (Magic Missile), Toughness
LV11: Quicken Spell

I also want to cram in Critical Focus, one of the crit feats, and I thought about putting diverse training for good use (Fighter Feats). I also considered item creation feats since I ave ~5 hours a day i got nothing to do.

Ultimately, assuming i pick those feats, (and I think I can drop Combat Casting to be honest) I have 3 bonus combat feats and 4 regular feats I can use

Also, what spells are must-have? (I'm not using arcane armor training because I like my swift Action)

I plan on using Mage Armor, shield, Magic Missile, greater magic weapon, and eventually overland flight.

I also try to avoid a lot of the mass buff spells since then the party see me as a buffbot and expect me to spend my turns casting spells on them. (i played a gish before using some of the similar stuff and another player expected me to cast barkskin on him every time, then if people expect me to cast haste, etc i reach a point where I *Have* to cast those spells and i dont get a turn to actually fight). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for teamwork, but I'm not a fan of "OK, just stay back there and let us handle it...just buff us" every time.

Anyway, that's what I got so far and how i feel about some of the aspects of the build. Help with Feats and spells please :D

OK so this should be a simple question

Let's say I have a regular MW Scimitar and I'm a level 10 sorcerer

I cast Greater Magic Weapon on the scimitar, so it is now a +2 Scimitar. The +2 is an enhancement bonus. It also lasts for 10 hours.

Since my weapon has a +2 enhancement bonus, is it possible to take it to ye olde magic weaponsmith and have him make it vorpal for the cost of 50k?

Let's assume that during the construction of this vorpal sword I recast GMW every 10 hours and at no point does it lose its magical properties.

Would that work? The rules say that the weapon must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus, which is met by the spell.

I think it would work but I wanted input on this. I also assume that once GMW expires, the scimitar will cease to be vorpal and be a regular MW scim again, since it no longer has any enhancement bonuses