Wanting to spice up my social/sneaky Half-Elf Beguiler a bit with some racial enhancements, I'm considering including fey-related elements. But the question is whether to go with the Fey Heritage feat chain from C. Mage, or one of the Fey Bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana (or neither).
Here are the pros & cons as I see 'em:
Heritage Feats
- can obtain full benefits using only 3-4 feats, by 9-10th level (depending on the rest of the build)
- only the base feat is required, all others are open-selection
- open to any race/caster type, including non-casters
- several useful spells from the Beguiler spell list as spell-like abilities
- a couple of potentially powerful spells (as Sp-abilities) that would be otherwise unobtainable within the class: dimension door & summon nature's ally V
- (Con) as a Half-Elf Beguiler, the Will save bonus from the base feat stacks, but may be unnecessary with the existing racial bonus and the good Will save progression for the class
Bloodline
- benefits are evenly distributed over 20 levels
- open to any race/caster type, including non-casters
- includes skill & ability boosts
- provides "affinity" improvements to social dealings with fey creatures (usefulness depends on campaign)
- also has several useful spells from the Beguiler spell list as spell-like abilities
- at levels 2 & 3, has a couple of potentially useful spells that are unattainable within the class (as Sp-abilities): speak with plants/animals
- (Con) must take 1-3 bloodline levels over your career, which sets back "normal" level progression
- (Con) must declare up-front how many bloodline levels you intend to take, there's an XP penalty for non-compliance
So, what benefits/drawbacks have I missed, and how important are the ones above, relatively? So far, our campaign has seen a 30/70 mix of social interaction and dungeon delving, with the DM throwing some undead and constructs our way so I can't *sleep* my party's way through every encounter.