I'd move the 12 to WIS, myself. That's a 29 point buy there.
At 1st level, the Sleep spell is effectively Save or Die. By the time it becomes less useful, other things step up to the plate.
At 1st level, summoned creatures only stick around for a single round, which is annoying.
I would take Improved Initiative and Spell Focus on whatever school I specialized in, if it's primary "screw with the enemies" spell had a saving throw.
Summoning is incredibly powerful. I do hear complaints (as above) that at low levels, summons don't stick around for very long. This doesn't really bother me. Even at level 1, your summon can attack - that's a little like casting an instant spell. The downside is that it needs to make a regular attack, not a touch spell or an auto-damage spell with a reflex save or some such. The upside is that the monster flanks (the party rogue will LOVE you to pieces), and may draw attacks. Even if these things only last one round, that's still plenty when compared to other level 1 spells.
Choosing the Conjuration school helps with this; at 1st level your summoned buddies will stick around for at least 2 rounds. This benefit isn't as useful at high levels, though, when your summons will likely last longer than most fights, and are more likely to die than expire. The other Conjuration school powers are nice, too, though. I especially like the ability to teleport around in short jaunts.
That said, the Shadow school is nice, too. Blinding Darkness is wonderful, especially if your team has a lot of darkvision. Lo and behold, the 8th level ability is similar to the Conjuration school, so that's nice. I don't think you can really go wrong either way, but I do loves me some summoning.
I'd like to add that choosing a bonded item is a good idea in a hack-and-slash game. A regular familiar is likely to die in that sort of game, and you'll get more use out of the extra spell.
In terms of feats, Improved Initiative is wonderful for a caster, and Toughness is always welcome for the d6 classes. If you go with Conjuration and do a lot of summoning, Augment Summoning is super. I'm wishy-washy on Combat Casting, but if you can find room for it, you probably won't regret it. It does tend to be useful in hack-and-slash games, where you'll be spending more time in combat and less time being Mr. Utility Spell.
Even at level 1, your summon can attack - that's a little like casting an instant spell.
No, not really. Summon Monster has a casting time of 1 round, meaning creature will appear on the next round.
THE BEST first lvl spell is Color Spray because most of the stuff you encounter at lvl 1 will end up unconcious, stunned and blinded.
|
Normally I'd recommend the Conjurer, but if the campaign is only going to 4th level, then go Illusionist all the way. Specialize in Color Spray and Silent image, watch your DM twitch.
At 3rd level take Invisibility and create Illusions whenever combat gets too intense. Improved Initiative is a good feat to take.
As was pointed out, Teleportation school of Conjuration is amazing (especially at lvl 4+, which may be a problem for you) and all but completely nullifies the point of Combat Casting, Escape Artist, and everything else related to grapples.
However, I'd have to agree with Spyderz and say Summoner all the way.