I am playing a bard in Serpent's Skull, and want some clarity in the favored class option of the APG that states that I can learn a new spell instead of getting 1hp or a skillpoint, but it needs to be one level lower than my highest level of spells.
Now which of the following three scenarios are true for me on lv1:
1: I get an extra cantrip, aka a lv 0 spell, known
2: I get a level 1 spell known
3: I cannot take this option before I can cast level 2 spells
You can absolutely take an extra cantrip if you wish. More likely, however, you will want to wait until 4th level before taking advantage of this and snag an extra 1st level spell.
I don't think I'd make user of this favored class at all. I might take it for an extra 3rd or 2nd level spell but I'd rather have the hit points. For what I need there is feat that will do it just as well. So I can take toughness and the favor class bonus for hit points giving me +2 per level plus constitution. Seeing as the Bard I want to play is the Arcane Dualist hit points are important.