Tomorrow I'm starting in a Carrion Crown campaign. I've finished the character I'm going to start play with, but I'd like to have a backup character ready to go just in case.
The character I'm thinking of to be a backup is an IB Swashbuckler 1 / Paladin 2 / ES Magus X. The race is a version of the dragonborn the GM made. It gets +2 Str and Wis, both Low-Light and Darkvision, minor energy resistance, and a once a day breath weapon. You can gain a Fly speed with a feat. The traits are Anatomist and Teacher's Pet.
I think I've got the Arcana figured out. First is the one that gives me a familiar. I want to keep that for flavor reasons. Then Enduring Blade to increase the effects of the arcana pool's enhancements for a minute per level. Then Quickened Magic to cast one spell a day as if using the metamagic feat.
The problem I'm having is figuring out the feats beyond level 3. At level one, thanks to the Swash dip, he gets Weapon Finesse and Weapon Focus Rapier, and I'm taking Fencing Grace. I'm taking the Flight feat at level 3 so my boy can fly around. But after that I'm stumped. I don't need a full plan to level 20, but a decent plan to level 11 would be nice.
Since the only thing I know about Carrion Crown is that there will be undead, I was thinking Charge of the Righteous and Dedicated Adversary. Maybe Death From Above since it gives a decent bonus to my attack role when I charge while flying. Extra Panache and Critical Focus are certainly handy. And Fly-By Attack for when I have to move to get to a foe but can't charge. Maybe Boon Companion to up my familiar's level up. (I'm thinking of going with the Arcane Amplifier archetype for the familiar itself.)
That's enough feats to get to level 11, but are they the right ones to take? So far, I'm going to be the only front-liner other than a druid's animal companion. The rest of the party are a bard, oracle, and arcanist.
+2 Str and Wis sounds like the worst possible stat bonuses for an inspired blade swashbuckler who'll be getting fencing grace. The. Worst. Possible. They won't be any use for the other two classes either once you have fencing grace. I'd try and make a character which got something out of at least one of them.
Anyway, you're actually asking about feats. None of those is terrible except maybe death from above - a situational +2 attack only when you're likely to hit anyway is a waste. If you want to torment enemies with flyby attack on a regular basis then lunge is something to consider. If flying a lot then aerial roll will be handy.
Problem is you may have to land and stand in the way of the enemies a lot given the lack of front liners. Flyby attack is probably not going to be useful for that, nor aerial roll. Combat reflexes OTOH would be.
Combat Casting and Improved Initiative can help. Fey Foundling might be a good level 1 feat to take if you don't mind delaying your previous feats. Extra Lay On Hands might also be good since you're the only front liner. The multiclass choices seem a little messy, but I figure you have a good reason for doing so.
To be honest, this character was originally made using my own version of dragonborn. They had a dex boost rather than strength. I had a feat plan in place, but it needs tweaking due to the differences in homebrew. And I can just leave Str at base 10 for a total of 12 and get a little carrying capacity. And most of my other characters are either unfinished, not front liners, or a banned race or class. (Or my hunter but I just played her from level 2 to 17 so I'd rather not use her again so soon.)
I didn't think of Combat Reflexes. Too bad most of the ways to force a foe to provoke AoO's are teamwork feats and you can't share those with familiars.
I'll take a look at Fey Foundling. And Extra Lay On Hands could be useful.
Oh, but I can't do any Smiting feats as the Paladin archetype I'm using trades it away.
The character I'm thinking of to be a backup is an IB Swashbuckler 1 / Paladin 2 / ES Magus X.
But why the paladin levels?
Since the only thing I know about Carrion Crown is that there will be undead, I was thinking Charge of the Righteous and Dedicated Adversary. Maybe Death From Above since it gives a decent bonus to my attack role when I charge while flying. Extra Panache and Critical Focus are certainly handy. And Fly-By Attack for when I have to move to get to a foe but can't charge. Maybe Boon Companion to up my familiar's level up. (I'm thinking of going with the Arcane Amplifier archetype for the familiar itself.)
Charge of the Righteous is a bit too circumstantial. Even the Dodge feat would give you a better long-term investment, and Dodge is hella bad.
Dedicated Adversary doesn't apply to all undead. You choose a specific creature, such as Dedicated Adversary (Giant Phantom Armor). It's a pretty bad feat unless you have Martial Flexibility or will only fight one specific humanoid (like Elf) for a campaign.
Death From Above is deceptive. If you remove the usual bonus for charging (+2) and being on higher ground (+1) the feat provides you with a measly +2 bonus just on certain types of charges. Weapon Focus would give you a better long-term investment, and Weapon Focus is hella bad.
The character I'm thinking of to be a backup is an IB Swashbuckler 1 / Paladin 2 / ES Magus X.But why the paladin levels?
Probably for Divine Grace. The Lay On Hands are nice too, but quite frankly your general durability might be better served by dropping the paladin levels. The extra spells and caster level for Eldritch Scion are a big deal that could mean castings of Mirror Image, Blur or other goodies.
I feel like the Magus stuff won't be very fun if you're behind 3 levels in progression/caster level. More creatures will have resistances/immunities when you get your good stuff.
Additional considerations:
Fencing Grace is incompatible with Spell Combat. You'd need Dervish Dance or wait for an Agile weapon to add dexterity to damage. Going strength-based is also an option.
I think I've got the Arcana figured out. First is the one that gives me a familiar.
Since you have a bloodline you can get a Bloodline Familiar by switching out the 1st level power. Most 1st level powers are very weak so this saves you one Arcana.
Outflank requires flanking, which I can only get from the druid's companion. And Seize the Moment requires Improved Critical which I can't get until BAB 8. I won't be getting that until level 9 at the earliest. Also, Holy Tactician trades away Smite Evil, which is already getting traded away by the archetype I'm using. I'm going Oathbound Paladin and the specific Oath trades Smite Evil away. Even if I use a different Oath that keeps Smite Evil, the ones that would be useful still trade away Aura of Resolve and/or Justice. So they still don't stack.
If Fencing Grace doesn't work with Spell Combat, I suppose I could just go regular Swash, still getting Weapon Finesse, and use Dervish Dance. I still want to take the Swash level as this character is supposed to be a master of the blade and I want him to have Parry.
I'm also not sure of the Bloodline Familiar as it states that you'd get the bloodline spells a level later and the levels for getting the spells is already badly written and confusing for the Eldritch Scion.
If Fencing Grace doesn't work with Spell Combat, I suppose I could just go regular Swash, still getting Weapon Finesse, and use Dervish Dance. I still want to take the Swash level as this character is supposed to be a master of the blade and I want him to have Parry.
How about Virtuous Bravo? It's basically the unchained Swashbuckler.
As Wonderstell said, you could also simply go strength-based - Swashbuckler can actually use medium and even heavy armor just fine, you only lose Dodging Panache.
A Magus doesn't usually charge, by the way. You'd either walk to the target and spellstrike, or spell combat Bladed Dash.
I'm also not sure of the Bloodline Familiar as it states that you'd get the bloodline spells a level later and the levels for getting the spells is already badly written and confusing for the Eldritch Scion.
"[Any] character with one of the following bloodlines can choose to gain a bloodline familiar." You have a bloodline, therefore you can get a bloodline familiar, it doesn't matter when and if your get bloodline feats or spells.
Hm. I guess that could be an option. Just because I get Weapon Finesse from a class doesn't mean I have to use it when I attack. With the racial bonuses and a 25 point buy, I could get 15 Str, 12 Dex, 14 Con, 13 Int, 14 Wis, and 16 Cha. And I can still go Inspired Blade for a free Weapon Focus. Just don't need to take Fencing Grace. And while I won't be able to regain panache with a kill, I can still use my arcane pool to put Keen on my rapier and get crits on a 15. (Though by that time, I should have enough gold to just buy Keen outright.)
I don't think Bodyguard would be useful for me as the only other one that'll be up there with me is the animal companion. Stand Still could be useful though.
The Aberrant bloodline powers do look fairly handy. Combat Reflexes can be useful going Str or Dex based, as long as one has a Dex above 10.
I'm the only front-liner. Everyone else is a spellcaster and won't be in melee. So they don't threaten and won't be considered flanking.
Hm. I could drop the level of swash and take a couple levels of the fighter archetype. It would save me an arcana with the magus levels too. There's one that would basically give me parry so I can put that in instead. My own alignment prevents me from casting Infernal Healing, but Celestial Healing will do the same job.
A mauler familiar would be pretty helpful out there on the front lines.
Ok, apparently arcane casters don't need to worry about alignment restrictions on spells. Didn't know that.
Anyway, since I'm only going to be taking two levels of paladin, most archetypes aren't going to be much use. Even the one I was considering at the beginning isn't that great for this. So I think I'm going to just use vanilla paladin.
Since I don't need an arcana to get a familiar anymore, I was thinking of replacing it with the Flamboyant Arcana. It nets me Derring-Do and Parry using my arcane pool. I don't think I can use it until my Elritch Pool is able to be used as an arcane pool, which happens at magus level 4, so I'll save it for the second arcana.
I'm putting the homebrew Flight feat at level one. I don't know how much flying I'll be doing, but I'm sure it'll be happening every once in a while. And since this is a backup character, it's not like he'll be starting at level one when/if he's played anyway.