Mokmurian

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That works, and I'll rule Spirited Charge double damage applies to Trample Damage.

A cavalry horse was a real monster against infantry. Vs. a charge by a line of cavalry, even hardened infantry would break ranks and flee.


I'm thinking of giving cavalry trained war horses a trample attack as per the Universal Monster Rules in my campaign.

But I can't figure out what the damage should be. Are there examples of Large creatures with trample attacks to go off of?


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Hey there, I'm looking to move Pathfinder into the 1800 - 1830 era. I'm taking an equipment list from an old GURPS supplement and using late-era musket and muzzle-loading rifle gun stats from the D20 Modern: Past supplement.

What I'm having trouble with is cavalry charges and cannons. I think both should be nasty.

A cavalry charge is a devastating attack. Being trampled by a heavy horse is very often a death sentence. The sight of a line of charging cavalry causes ranks of hardened infantry to break and run. And in general, in historical combat, a warrior on his feet was rarely a match for a warrior on horseback.

My thought is to allow a combat trained mount to make all of their hoof attacks on a trample attack instead of just the one. Jumping out of the way of the overrun is now not automatic, you have to make a reflex save (open to suggestion as to what the DC should be) to jump out of the way. And lastly a combat-trained mount may as a free action as part of a charge activate frightful presence against all creatures at least 1 category smaller than itself that it would attempt to overrun (so possibly more than one if the rider has Barreling Overrun (which I'm going to allow)).

A couple of other thoughts: the size modifier chart is ridiculous. I'm thinking of replacing it with: Small: -4, Large +4 etc. It should not be possible for a less than mightily heroic halfling to wrestle and pin a horse.

But I'm really lost on cannons. The siege engine rules seem to assume you're targeting an object or fortification and have nothing to say about a cannonball fired into a dense crowd.


I'd still suggest Persistent Spell over Empower Spell. It's useful for far more spells and it's a stronger effect for the same spell level bump. The combined effect with the Arcane bloodline arcana is very potent.

Even if all you ever do with Silent Image is create will-save-to-disbelieve walls and cover effects, it's an extremely powerful 1st level spell. You don't have to be that creative.

Create Pit is a favorite of mine for a level 2 spell. It takes an enemy out of the fight for rounds / level, it combos with a lot of other spells (like Stinking Cloud and Cloudkill), and it's especially great if you can convince your front line guy to spec towards bull rushing, or if you have summoned monsters with high CMBs. It's Reflex-or-suck which is good, and it ignores Spell Resistance and creates a powerful battlefield control effect.

It's a shame you don't have access to the human bonus spells. But I've been thinking about running a Hobgoblin campaign myself.


I would strongly suggest Persistent Spell over Still Spell. Still Spell is VERY situational, whereas Persistent spell is consistently useful. I have run the numbers and Persistent Spell is equivalent to about a +3 or +4 bump to save DC.

I would use your next opportunity to switch spells to forget sleep and learn Grease or Silent Image.


This is not a moral question or discussion.

Is there anything a normal non-combat trained light horse can do that a mount summoned with the mount spell cannot do?

There are some ambiguities in the way the spell is worded, and my interpretation is that the spell simply summons a horse that acts exactly like a regular horse that is trained in serving as a mount but nothing else. There are no restrictions on its use beyond what a character could normally do with a mundane non-combat trained light horse and a handle animal or ride check.

Or am I wrong? Can (for instance) another character not climb on the horse and use their Ride skill to ride it around?


I hadn't thought about Mount or the fact that a scroll of Summon Monster I would only last one round. Dumb.

From level 4 to 11, I'll be getting 8 level 2 spells total, with human bonus spells. And I'll most likely be using exactly 1 of my swaps on a level II spell.

The spells I'm DEFINITELY planning on taking are:

Summon Monster II
Glitterdust
Invisibility (Arcane Bonus)
Oppressive Boredom (I foresee a lot of Persistent Spell with this one)
Create Pit
Fog Cloud

I figure I'll take Summon Monster II first since Summons are at their best the first level they become available, and it will make Augmented Summoning a meaningful feat at level 5. Our game is using the entire SRD minus guns, psionics and 3rd party material, so the alternate summons are available. Hello Grig and Hell Hound.

I'm open to suggestions as to what other level 2 spells to take. These will be gained at levels 9 and 11, and I'll probably swap Summon Monster II out for something at level 8.

As for 1st level spells. Really people don't like Hydraulic Push? It scales with caster level all the way up to 20 and it attacks CMD rather than a save. There are enemies, especially small enemies with great Reflex saves and so-so CMDs. But maybe it can wait.

Vanish and Create Mount do sound appealing. I'm confused about Mount, though. Do you have to get on it? Can it walk around the battlefield blocking enemies and soaking up hits away from you if you want it to. Is it combat trained? Do you control its actions like other summoned monsters?


Hello, I'm running a Human Arcane Bloodline Sorcerer, and I'll be hitting 4th level after our next session probably. I'm aiming for battlefield control, but eventually the dungeon we're running is probably going to have a bunch of high CR evil outsiders, so there's that to keep in mind.

Currently my spell selection is:
Color Spray
Grease
Ear Piercing Scream
Identify

so far Grease has been my undeniable clutch spell.

I have scrolls, notably duplicates of Mage Armor, Summon Monster I, and Shield.

and at 4th level I'll get a new 1st level spell, my first 2nd level spell, and I'll get to trade out a 1st level spell.

I have Improved Initiative, Spell Focus: Conjuration, and Persistent Spell. I took the Magical Lineage trait for Grease so will have access to a CR 18 Persistent grease as a level 2 spell. I'm planning on taking Augmented Summoning, possibly at level 5.

My tentative plan is to take Summon Monster II and Hydraulic Push and sub out Color Spray for Silent Image. Does that sound smart?


6 and 8 might be a little young to really get the rules.

I remember my friend and I used to buy AD&D books and "play" Dungeons and Dragons with no dice or rules, where one of use would DM and just decide (mostly based on would-it-work-in-Final-Fantasy) what happened. It wasn't until we were in the 6th grade that we started to use rules and dice, and even then we were way off as to the right way to do things.

I wish there was a drug that made my imagination work as well as it did back then.


How good are your players? If you've got new players who are likely to make mistakes both in building their characters and in play decisions, 25 points might keep things more fun without you having to swoop in and save the day.

If you've got experienced players who know what they're up against, go with the recommended point buy.


I just don't think you're going to be in the same damage dealing league as less narrow builds, especially if your only source of damage is spiked armor. If you're going to swim with powergaming sharks, don't build a one trick pony whose trick isn't that good.

But it certainly sounds fun.

Take a level of sorcerer for Enlarge Person and something else... maybe Shield. A large grappler can be ferocious, especially at lower levels.

Our group is usually a bunch of straightforward strategic builds but theres one dude who always plays a whip-and-net bard or barbarian with the weirder rage powers or other builds that are really flavorful and useful in specific situations. It's fun. The rest of us keep the power level high and his characters certainly generate more fun stories.


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With all selections of abilities in the game, favor ones that get used over and over and over again. Silent Spell and Still Spell are the opposite of that. WIth a good character build, you should use nearly every ability you have every gaming session. This is less true at very high levels, but at level 5, you should pick something with broad utility.

Which is to say I strongly disagree with Dal Selpher. Sure it sucks in that one combat out of ten where you get silenced or you're in manacles or whatever, but it sucks more to have a feat sitting there doing nothing for the other nine encounters.

In my opinion the only Metamagic really worth the feat slots are Empowered and Intensified for a blaster, Persistent for a controller, Extend for minute/level buffs if your GM is willing to let you get nitpicky about time, and Quicken for high-level casters. Those you'll use all the time. You can build around some of the narrower metamagic, sure, but in general, those are the winners.

You might be able to make an argument for taking Intensified Spell at 5th to start getting extra jolty Shocking Grasps, but that's more of a Magus trick. At 6th level Persistent Spell is really useful for Grease and other first level save-or-suck spells (a well placed Persistent Color Spray can be a devastating use of a 3rd level spell slot), and an Empowered Scorching Ray is probably the most damage you can do off of a 4th level spell slot at level 8 (I'm sure that's wrong somehow, but it is a lot of damage). None of that works immediately at 5th level though.

In my opinion Persistent spell is the best of the bunch. I'm a math guy, and the math on Persistent Spell is just great. The average D20 roll drops to about 7, and your target only has a 1/4 chance of getting an 11 or better, 1/16 for a 16 or better, it is much better bang for the buck than Heighten Spell, ESPECIALLY with the Arcane Bloodline bloodline arcana.

If summoning monsters is your bag, Augmented Summoning is a fine 5th level pick.

My DM is loath to create setting-inappropriate magic item shops, and so we wind up with piles of gold with nowhere to go if we're away from a big city. Scribe Scroll is an excellent way to turn extra GP into extra spells per day.


I have an idea for an unusual campaign with Lawful Evil Hobgoblin PCs.

The Hobgoblins are lead by a Chancellor-General in a strict military society, something like Germany under Otto von Bismark. There are laws, and there's no slavery, but it's proto-fascist.

Spies have said that the neighboring lawful-good human empire (something powerful, baroque, pious, decadent, and corrupt like France under the Bourbons) is readying for an attack. All military age hobgoblins are called to the front lines.

The attack comes. The war goes poorly and the humans overrun a portion of the hobgoblin nation. Now a band of teenage hobgoblins just too young for military service are hiding outside of their hometown where a company of human soldiers has occupied, led by at least one paladin.

So it's Red Dawn with Hobgoblins. The action is taking place in a war zone. A governing occupation of clerics and paladins has taken over the urban centers, but there's a scattered and disorganized resistance with fragile lines of communication and supply.

I've got the big idea down, but I need ideas for specific adventures and encounters. I'm starting the party at 1st level. I see early adventures being gathering supplies, creating a network by helping out farmers and others, and picking off isolated squads of human troops. The humans will have celestial animals and trained monsters on their side. The normal military presence defending the roads and small villages from monsters is gone. The hills around town contain a few old forts and catacombs where some equipment was stockpiled, but are now overrun with squatters of one species or another.

I want to alternate between short traditional dungeons and wilderness encounters, underground resistance social encounters, and tactical combat with soldiers. There's going to be a lot of enemies with PC levels.

Wide open to ideas.


Good thought Orkraus2. Spell wise, my defensive plan is Mage Armor, Shield, and Summon Monster. 5 foot step backwards followed by a summoned monster between me and an enemy is a powerful defensive move.

We've got a big group, 6 PCs including a Paladin and a Barbarian. We've got a Cleric and a Bard, so I'm avoiding all but the very best buff spells. My basic ideas for teamwork are to disable enemies to make them easy pickings for the Paladin and Barbarian, and summon flanking monsters to give the Rogue sneak attacks. I'm hoping to avoid the front lines. We'll see how the dungeon plays out, sometimes there's a lot of harassing of the rear-line folks and sometimes there isn't. I may very well sub out Augmented Summoning for Combat Casting.

We played our first session last night, which was just 3 hours of getting through the town of Homlet to the front door of the dungeon. There's a temple to Pelor, there's a keep we didn't go to, there's a tavern with a suspicious and Evil barmaid, there's stables and an armory. The only thing significant to my character was that there's a wizard in town who can make 1st-3rd level scrolls. We cut things a little short, since we didn't want to just do one or two rooms.

I made a few last-minute changes and here's what I've got at 3rd level:

Arcane Bloodline
Grease
Ear Piercing Scream
Color Spray

Persistent Spell
Spell Focus: Conjuration
Improved Initiative

I've got the following scrolls: 8x Mage Armor, 8x Shield, 4x Summon Monster I, 2x Magic Weapon, 4x Enlarge Person, 2x Touch of the Sea, 2x Floating Disk, and 4x Hydraulic Push.

3 ranks each in Bluff, Climb, Kn: Arcane, Spellcraft, and Linguistics (I'll just be taking 1 more rank in this, I want Celestial, Infernal, Abyssal, Terran, Ignan, Aquan, and Auran, what with the Elements and the Evil and all)

I'll be spreading points around in other skills in levels to come. I won't need UMD until level 7. My plan for swimming is to use a scroll of Touch of the Sea or summon a Giant Frog and hold on. I carry a grappling hook with a pre-knotted rope, that and a little bit of climb skill is enough in most cases. Using acrobatics in combat requires a commitment to the skill that I just don't want to invest.

Persistent Spell is an aggressive pick for a 3rd level feat, but it means that in just 1 level, I'll be able to cast Grease with DC 18 and a forced reroll, which is about as tough as a DC 21 or 22 single-roll save. And at level 6 I'll have Oppressive Boredom on a reroll as well. That's pretty darned powerful.

The way I figure for my 5th level feat is if I'm summoning a lot, Augmented Summoning means +10% to hit chance, 20% or more additional damage, and what amounts to a two step increase in hit die size. The magnitude of these bonuses relative to the summoned creature will taper off as the power level of Summon Monster spells increases, but +4 stat bumps are always good.

If I'm casting on the defensive a lot, Combat Casting means a 20% greater success rate at that. But my general feeling is that most casting on the defensive situations can be avoided by battlefield positioning and teamwork, but we'll see how it goes.

Defensive Combat Training is a feat that gets better the higher level you get. Its main utility for a spellcaster is defense against being grappled. My experience is that you see grappling opponents less than once a game session, oftentimes only once or not at all in a whole dungeon. I don't think a feat that comes into play that infrequently is worth a slot. If it turns out this dungeon is heavy enough on CMB based enemies that it becomes a frequent worry for a caster on the back rows, I might pick it, but probably not.

In general, defensive feats are only useful when you're being attacked, whereas offensive abilities get used in just about every combat. The best defense really is a good offense, I've got a +11 initiative bonus until I switch familiars. That combined with a focus on disabling and board control makes for a powerful set of defensive options.

But that's just my play style too. If I have better offensive abilities, I have more fun. Our group is pretty good at tactics and death of a rear-line guy is pretty rare. If that happens, I've been wanting to try out a Summoner or Inquisitor anyway.


Magic items give such an enormous benefit in both winning and surviving combat. Anyone with gold and power who is putting together a guard, militia, posse, or army is going to want them.

In a weakly organized society, magic items might float around in the free market, but if there's a strong and wealthy king or prince-bishop trying to maintain control and fight enemies, they're going to get involved in the exchange of magic items, and just like every government everywhere, they aren't going to play fair.

I played a campaign once where pretty much every combat related magic item that made its way back to civilization was snatched up by the crown's royal prerogative for the army and city watch. The only way to get an item was to find it in a musty chest somewhere or to do a favor for the government. The fact that items could get favors out of high-level adventurers is yet another reason why the king kept them in storage.

This didn't apply for items with a caster level of 5 or less. +1 weapons and armor, first level wands, 1st - 3rd level potions and scrolls, and really basic wonderous items like Handy Haversacks could be found in bigger cities.


And this build is a pretty good example of why GMs shouldn't do that.


My GM is ruling we can take a non stacking trait more than once. So I'm at least getting it twice at first level. Whether he'll feel so generous come 9th level remains to be seen.


I took a 1st, a 2nd, a 3rd, and a 4th level spell, hitting each save at least once


OK, if anyone still cares, here's my thoughts now (our first session is tomorrow)

Starting at Level 3, I'm taking
Improved Initiative
Spell Focus: Conjuration
and Persistent Spell

GM has ruled that taking non-stacking duplicate Traits is fair game. Powerful I know, but I'm going with it. So I'm taking Arcane Lineage for both Grease and Oppressive Boredom.

Starting Spells are
1 Color Spray (WILL), Illusion
1 Ear Piercing Scream (FORT), Evocation
1 Grease (REFLEX), Conjuration
1 Identify (Arcane)

and whatever level 0's I go with

I'm starting with some utility scrolls but mostly duplicates of Mage Armor, Summon Monster I, and Shield.

Level 4:
1 Hydraulic Push (CMD)
2 Summon Monster II

Level 5:
1 Mage Armor
1 Shield
2 Glitterdust (WILL), Conjuration
2 Invisibility (Arcane)

Augmented Summoning Feat

Level 6:
2 Oppressive Boredom (WILL) Enchantment
3 Haste
maybe switch out Color Spray for Ray of Enfeeblement (FORT)

Level 7:
1 Enlarge Person
2 Create Pit (REF) Conjuration
2 Communal Protection from Evil
3 Summon Monster III
3 Dispel Magic (Arcane)

Improved Familiar Feat for a Faerie Dragon, Spell Focus: Enchantment

Level 8:
3 Stinking Cloud (FORT) Conjuration
4 Summon Monster IV
switch out Summon Monster II for Eagle's Splendor

Level 9:
2 Fog Cloud
3 Suggestion (WILL) Enchantment
3 Fireball ... gotta have it, right? (REF) Evocation
4 Fear (WILL) Necromancy
4 Dimension Door (Arcane)

Feat: Extra Traits: Arcane Lineage Stinking Cloud and Arcane Lineage Fear, assuming the GM hasn't changed his mind.

Level 10:
4 Resilient Sphere (REF) Evocation
5 Summon Monster V
switch out Summon Monster III for Force Punch (FORT) Evocation

Level 11:
3 Aqueous Orb
4 Black Tentacles (CMD)
4 Acid Pit (REF) Conjuration
5 Overland Flight (Arcane)
5 Suffocate (FORT) Necromancy

Feat: Spell Focus: Necromancy or maybe Heighten Spell

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about this, and obviously the later levels are just preliminary ideas.


Even if all a summoned creature does is block a medium or large space and flank with the rogue for two sneak attacks, it does more damage than a powered up scorching ray. If a monster spends even one round attacking the summoned creature, it's effectively lost a standard or full action. I'm anticipating a lot of evil aligned enemies and having big critters with smite attacks is useful. Summons are versatile and there's nothing else in my planned spell list that's going to beg being swapped out at high levels. There are only so many worthwhile buffs, and if all I can do is make enemies save, I'm sort of one dimensional. There's enough good Conjuration spells to justify the Spell Focus on its own

I could be wrong though, since I'm actually going to run this guy through his levels and not just build a maxed out 15th level dude, if Summon Monster II underwhelms, I might change my plan. But the way I see it, if you're just going to take a single damage-dealing spell per level, Summon Monster gives a lot of bang for the buck, controls the board, and offers a nice swiss-army knife of abilities. Like riding a dire bat at 3rd, or even just holding onto a giant frog to cross a river without swimming.

I figure at Level 4, I'll already have a spell that attacks each save, and while Glitterdust or Oppressive Boredom are better than the 1st level control spells, they aren't fundamentally different. Summon Monster II is still an effective disable / control spell, especially against a dumb non-tactical enemy (my GM does a good job of roleplaying enemies, smart ones will aim for a Spellcaster or Rogue while animals and undead just swing at whoever hit last or hardest).

I want some versatility and that means I need something when enemies have no weak saves or are too numerous and inconveniently arranged to effectively target with save-or-disable spells. I think splitting my list between control spells, buff spells, and summons makes for a really well-rounded caster who isn't wasting his time with scorching rays.

But if people have more experience with summons than me and they really are just are trash, I'll listen. I do think at Level 3 I'll take Haste before Summon III.


Glitterdust, Grease, Create Pit

Hmmm....

There's Stinking Cloud, that's an old favorite, and probably worth taking over Force Punch. I guess it will depend on the style of the dungeon.

Acid Pit?


OK, I'm convinced on Color Spray, I'll be taking my original choice of 3 spells + Identify when we start at 3rd level. That's Color Spray, Ear Piercing Scream (I'm excited about this one, it should be great against spellcasters), and Grease.

Then I'm thinking these spells for the next few levels:

4th:
Summon Monster II
Mage Armor
some level-0 spell

5th:
Glitterdust or Oppressive Boredom <- just saw this one, I like the possibilities, especially with Persistent Spell
Invisibility (Arcane Bloodline)
2 out of Enlarge Person, Ray of Enfeeblement, Hydrolic Push, or Shield

6th:
Summon Monster III
Communal Protection From Evil
some level-0 spell

7th:
Dispel Magic (Arcane Bloodline)
Haste
Create Pit
1 of the remaining spells from Enlarge Person, Ray of Enfeeblement, Hydrolic Push, or Shiled

8th:
Summon Monster IV
Slow
some level-0 spell

9th:
Dimension Door (Arcane Bloodline)
Black Tentacles (Spell from 9th level bloodline Arcana)
Charm Monster
Force Punch
Whichever of Glitterdust / Oppressive Boredom I don't have

I figure that it makes sense to take Summon Monster as the first spell of a new level. It's relevant to just about every fight. I might switch Haste and Summon Monster III though.


I’ve been convinced here and elsewhere at the versatility and utility of summoned monsters as a controller. They let you screw with the board, they draw blows, and they even do some damage. At higher levels, summoned monsters have useful and exploitable magical spells and attacks. As this is the Temple of Elemental Evil, I think that celestial creature Smite Evil attacks will be a boon.

I disagree about Ray of Enfeeblement, by level 10 you’re doing 8 points of STR damage on an average hit, and with Magical Lineage + Persistent Spell, it should get through fairly often. Color Spray is only so-so against enemies with decent hit dice, and if we’re complaining about what happens on a save, Color Spray does nothing. In my experience, enlarge person is good at any level, especially against Combat Maneuver based enemies. That said, I won’t be taking Enlarge Person for another couple of levels, so I have time to reconsider.

GM says Item Crafting and Ye Olde Magic Item Shoppe aren’t going to be big factors in this game, so I can’t rely totally on finding a wand of a needed spell.


Ok, so my Level 3 Sorcerer is now looking like

Magical Lineage: Ray of Enfeeblement
Magical Lineage: Glitterdust (GM was feeling generous with bending the trait rules, he says he’ll see how it plays out as far as taking Extra Traits in the future goes)

Arcane bloodline with Compsognathus Familiar, looking toward UMD-using Faerie Dragon familiar at lvl 7

Improved Initiative
Spell Focus: Conjuration
Persistent Spell

Looking toward, Augmented Summoning and Improved Familiar, then maybe a second Spell Focus and Extend Spell

0 level spells:
Read Magic, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Ghost Sound, Dancing Lights, Light

1st level spells:
Ray of enfeeblement, grease, ear piercing scream, identify

Looking toward adding Mage Armor, Hydrolic Push, and Enlarge Person

at 4th and 5th level taking 2nd level spells
Glitterdust, Summon Monster II, Invisibility and probably some Buff, maybe Communal Protection from Evil

with my starting $1500 i’m taking multiple scrolls of mage armor, shield, enlarge person, hydrolic push, floating disc, that spell that gives you a swim speed, and magic weapon. Plus a few potions of cure light.

Once again, tear this build apart and tell me what I’m doing wrong.


Thanks Artemis, that's the kind of suggestion I was looking for. I think I'm going with Arcane bloodline, because I want to try out a familiar with Use Magic Device, and I'm looking for that +1 DC with Persistent Spell, and the spell list is good with utility spells I never get around to picking up as a Sorcerer.

Hmm... bummer about the Traits, I'll admit we've never used them before and I skipped over the rules section assuming they were just straight up like minor feats. I'll see if the DM will let Extra Traits buy traits from the same category multiple times. So I'll have 1 or 2 spells available as Persistent spells at +1 DC at just 1 level above normal. What would you say the heaviest hitting Save based spell at levels 3 or 4 would be? Part of me wants to pick Grease, because in my experience, Grease is useful well beyond most level 1 spells and I'd have access to it quickly. The ability to trip or disarm anyone with a low reflex save is pretty potent. I should probably think a little bit more long term though.

If the extra trait doesn't work, I might hold off on Spell Focus and take Improved Initiative, Toughness, and Dodge as my first 3 feats. Then get Spell Focus at 5 and 9. That will give me a while to figure out what schools I'm really focusing on. I might skip toughness and just go ahead and take Spell Focus: Conjuration though. It helps with a number of good spells and it opens up Augmented Summoning.

And on the subject of summoning, what are the best summoned creatures at different levels. I don't think I'll get Summon Monster I, as the beasties just don't hit that hard starting at level 3, but based on a number of recommendations I'll be looking into summoning in the future.

I'm guessing Inner Sea Magic has Anarchic bloodline? What are the particulars?


So we're about to start a Pathfinder conversion of Return To The Temple Of Elemental Evil. The whole of the Pathfinder SRD is open to us for character creation, minus guns, psionics, and non-core races. I want to play a human arcane bloodline sorcerer.

So here's the setup:

We're starting at 3rd level with 1500 GP, but the only magic items we can start with are 1st level scrolls and potions.

Our stat generation method is to roll 4d6 and reroll 1s and 2s. Which is pretty beefy. And I just killed the numbers, 18, 17, 17, 16, 15, 12. That's way better than this roll method usually gets.

I'm thinking Cha: 18+2, Con: 17, Dex: 17, Int: 16 (for skills), Wis: 15, Str: 12

We've got 2 traits, and we're playing with Hero Points, but no other special rules.

Beyond the generous stats, the DM is a hard-ass. Encumbrance is in effect and monsters are out to kill. I don't want spoilers on the dungeon, but I hear it's a tough one. If all the extra abilities Pathfinder doles out make things too easy, I know he'll up the challenge level of the monsters.

The dungeon runs to level 15, but I'd be surprised if we get that far. Our last Pathfinder game ran for 6 months and we got from level 3 to 8. We have a 3-4 hour session and we drink beer and bullshit, so we only get so far.

My concept is a sorcerer that relies almost exclusively on save-or-disable and buff spells.

I'm going Human / Arcane bloodline

My min/maxing strategy is to take the absolutely insane Magical Lineage trait, which allows a spell to be cast with a metamagic feat at a spellslot 1 less than normal 4 times with the Extra Triats feat. Once each for a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level save or disable spell, and then use the Persistent Spell feat to cast the spell at just 1 level above normal (forcing a reroll of a passed save and also adding 1 to the DC thanks to the arcane bloodline 3rd level ability). Combine that with Spell Focus and a 20 casting stat and knowing what monsters have what good saves, and I should be having success with disabling most of the time.

My follow-up min/maxing strategy is to eventually take Improved Familiar for something with hands and language (maybe an Imp), learn the Use Magic Device skill, and have my familiar use wands and scrolls.

So my traits / feat progression looks something like:
Starting Trait: Magical Lineage: 1st level spell
Starting Trait: Magical Lineage: 2nd level spell
Human Feat: Improved initiative
1st Level Feat: Combat Casting
3rd Level Feat: Spell Focus
5th Level Feat: Persistent Spell
7th Level Feat: Improved Familiar 7th level bloodline Feat: Spell Focus
9th Level Feat: Extra Traits (3rd and 4th level spell Magical Lineage)

At third level, with my extra Human spells known I will know
7 0 level spells
3 1st level spells
and Identify as my Arcane bonus spell.

I'm thinking my first 3 spells will be

Ear Piercing Scream (fortitude save and a little damage)
Color Spray (will save)
Grease (reflex save)

and probably Magic Weapon for my 4th level Human favored class spell. Then maybe Mage Armor and one of the debuff rays.

with Grease as my Magical Lineage spell for 1st level. Because Grease is the best.

I haven't decided where I'm going with my spell list beyond that. I haven't decided what my magical Lineage spell for level 2 should be (though I know it will be either a fortitude save or will save) and I haven't decided what my first Spell Focus should be (though I'm leaning Conjuration because conjuration has a lot of weird save spells and there's Augmented Summoning as a possibility later on).

As far as items go I know I'm going to want to start with about 10 scrolls of Mage Armor, a few potions of Cure Light and some basic dungeon supplies (50' of rope pre-knotted, a backpack, etc.)

I've got 5 skill ranks per level I'm thinking on focusing on
Spellcraft
Use Magic Device
and 3 knowledges to identify Enemies and their good saves (open to suggestions as to which one, though Arcana, Planes, and Dungeoneering seem like the way to go)

Anyway, any suggestions, especially to the spell list would be appreciated. I have no interest in being a blaster, but I might pick up Fireball, because, eh, you gotta have Fireball, right?