I was trying to make a Witch the other day when I realized I haven't made a 3e/Pathfinder character in years and I have no idea what I'm doing. Help!
I wanted to make a Taldane Human Witch named Arthur, named after the Uncle Arthur character from Bewitched. And I haven't watched Bewitched in years, I just liked the name. I just like the idea of a male witch with slicked back hair and coattails.
What ability scores should he have (besides Intelligence)? What deity should he worship? ALL my characters worship a deity. I think they're the most fascinating things about a setting. Should I bother giving him a weapon? Does he need a spell component pouch? What other class tools and miscellaneous items does he need?
Can't believe I used to know how to do all this stuff and it's just gone!
Easiest way to get back into building characters would be to buy a Hero Lab license. TO answer your question, INT is the main one by light years, but DEX and CON are always welcomed. Deity doesn't matter, but I always worship the Magic one. Always have a weapon, Crossbow and a Sickle or something. No spell component pouches. No real tools, unless you are a crafter.
Of course deity matters! I said all my characters worship a deity. It's important to know. And I have Hero Lab. That's useful for making a legal character but it doesn't necessarily make it a GOOD character!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I was trying to make a Witch the other day when I realized I haven't made a 3e/Pathfinder character in years and I have no idea what I'm doing. Help!
I wanted to make a Taldane Human Witch named Arthur, named after the Uncle Arthur character from Bewitched. And I haven't watched Bewitched in years, I just liked the name. I just like the idea of a male witch with slicked back hair and coattails.
What ability scores should he have (besides Intelligence)? What deity should he worship? ALL my characters worship a deity. I think they're the most fascinating things about a setting. Should I bother giving him a weapon? Does he need a spell component pouch? What other class tools and miscellaneous items does he need?
Can't believe I used to know how to do all this stuff and it's just gone!
What alignment is Arthur? That might help narrow down your deity options.
Also, you do need a spell component pouch, unless you pick up the feat 'Eschew Materials', otherwise you won't have access to material components for your spells.
I was thinking Neutral Good or Chaotic Good for alignment.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I was thinking Neutral Good or Chaotic Good for alignment.
I would suggest Desna, especially if you're picking up the fortune, misfortune, or slumber hexes.
I took Evil Eye as my first hex. I took Arcane Strike and Combat Casting as my 1st level feats. Are those good, or could I do better?
In many of the witch builds I've seen, Extra Hex, is at least one of the feats. The hexes are one of the most unique and valuable aspects of the class, and you can take Extra Hex more than once. Cackle is a logical early choice because the hex extends the effects of many of the other hexes, i.e. so even if they make their save, for example, against Evil Eye, the effects continue so long as you Cackle.
I took Evil Eye as my first hex. I took Arcane Strike and Combat Casting as my 1st level feats. Are those good, or could I do better?
If you're human, i recommend as an additional feat "Extra Hex" and take cackle.... evil eye + cackle = amazing.
I'm making a witch right now who is more of a product of circumstance and wasn't necessarily always a witch...
Readers digest version: Came from rich, aristocratic family who practiced magic so arcane/divine magic was never foreign to him. His family was butchered in front of him and dismembered (inspiration was Dexter with this), and it drove him nuts. He dug up the bones of his brother and took his brothers head never accepting that his brother died and only his parents.
His animal companion is a raven (they can speak 1 language, I'm choosing common) and he speaks to the skull as if his brother is still alive, but the raven always answers (going to see if my dm will allow a role playing element that the skull/raven have remnants of his brothers soul lingering and connected to the two).
Granted he'll be chaotic neutral, but lean towards good more than evil.
I can't wait to play this character :D
I think in order to make a GOOD character, YOU yourself needs to come up with a good idea for a character and craft an PC around that idea using role playing elements. To be EFFECTIVE, pump up int to increase your hexes and spells DC's, get dex or con as your next highest (Dex for AC and bonus to ranged touch attack spells like ray of enfeeblement. Con for obvious reasons... more hp = happy etc).
His animal companion is a raven (they can speak 1 language, I'm choosing common) and he speaks to the skull as if his brother is still alive, but the raven always answers (going to see if my dm will allow a role playing element that the skull/raven have remnants of his brothers soul lingering and connected to the two).
Now that's creative.
I took Evil Eye as my first hex. I took Arcane Strike and Combat Casting as my 1st level feats. Are those good, or could I do better?
Evil Eye is a good Hex, but you shouldn't be casting while threatened anyway and with half BAB and weak str and dex and no combat feats arcane strike and combat casting are not useful for a witch. Although, I suppose you could combat casting if you're taking uncanny concentration so you can make storms and things without taking yourself out of the fight.
Having a look at a guide is a good suggestion, there's Dark Mistress' link and also I found one here.
See I would have picked Nethys as Uncle Arthur's God, Nethys is a god of magic, but he wasn't SUPER careful with it and it sorta made him crazy. Nethys is N so your alignment wouldn't be terribly suspect even if you wanted to level dip cleric (I wouldn't... witches RULE)
It has been said several times but... Extra Hex is the BEST feat for witches (and non-witches if they can get it).
Arcane Strike does not seem like a particularly useful feat for you unless you plan on being a more melee type of witch (which would be unusual- your suit would get dirty... unpleasant).
And, imo, Slumber is a truly magnificent hex. Depending on your preference/campaign the Flying hex has been a game favorite for me and my group.
Best of luck to you Uncle Arthur :)
I can see Uncle Arthur cackling. A lot. I'm not sure which patron fits best but probably trickery. Being chaotic neutral. I could see worshipping Cayden Cailean, because he was a bit of a drinker.
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A wand of hex vulnerability is nice in combination with the healing hex. It blows wands of cure light wounds out of the water for out-of-combat healing/gp.
Arcane strike and combat casting are not very good for a witch, since hexes are not subject to concentration checks, and unless you're doing a very unconventional build, your witch should rarely if ever be attacking.
Extra Hex is the best feat for witches at low levels. Don't go overboard, though -- there are a limited number of good hexes. If your GM will let you use the Ultimate Campaign retraining rules to retrain an extra hex feat into something else later, then go for it.
A human witch can have Slumber, Evil eye or Misfortune, and Cackle at first level. If you think you may be in an undead-heavy campaign, you can skip slumber. (Misfortune+cackle DOES work against undead.)
Elf-heavy campaigns are bad for slumber too.