So my next PFS character is going to be a Gnome Illusionist. I have three goals
1) Be very Gnomish
2) Squeeze the most potential out of Illusions.
I see two potential roads to this end.
1) Gnome Sorceror: Fey, Arcane, or maybe Umbral Bloodline
Benefits:
Cha stat bump for casting
Cha for utilizing social skills with illusions
Shadow Conj/Evo are better for a Sorc
2) Gnome Illusionist: Either Straight Wiz or take Shadowcaster Archtype
Benefits:
Extended Illusions
More variety in casting
Useful Bonus feats: Spell focus (free in PFS)
I feel like the Sorc is a stronger Gnome Illusionist but extended Illusions is awesome. I also feel that the shadowcaster archtype for the wizard could bring shadow conj/evo (extra 20% damage at lvl 10) up in power but may not be worth it.
Any suggestions / comments would be appreciated.
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I'd go Sorcerer, for all the reasons you mention, plus thematics (which I think are better for it).
If you do go Sorcerer, you could take the Sylvan Wildbloded bloodline from UM and you'd get an Animal Companion (well, with Boon Companion, anyway), which you could take as something appropriately Gnomish like a Badger (though I suppose you could do the same to some extent with a Familiar as a Wizard). Still, seems worth noting.
Thanks for the advice. I think I will be going the sorcerer route. After thinking about it, the +20% boost in damage to the shadow conj/evo spells from a shadowcaster seems like a trap. I think it is better to bump the first DC (will save) as high as you can and hope they loose rather than expecting them to win and bumping the after save damage. I will miss extended illusion but I think I can alleviate some of that pain by taking Effortless Trickery.
Sylvan Wildblooded animal companion would be a big bump, especially if I took boon companion (@ lvl 3). With Fey, I would get a +2 DC bump to compulsions (there are a lot of them) and the bonus spell list contains quite a few of them plus some druid spells. This could make me very strong in the social route. +2 DC to compulsions (Fey bloodline) and a +2 DC to Illusions (Gnome and spell focus at 1st lvl). Laughing touch sucks, so if I took Sylvan I wouldn't miss it.
With Arcane, I would get all the metamagic effects. These could help out a lot (boost dc, allow me to cast a metamagic spell in the surprise round). I could also grab a familiar and bump them up with improved familiar (earth elementals scream gnome). The spell list, while not being illusion or social is full of utilitarian spells that I wouldn't mind knowing.
In the end I wish there was a more illusion focused bloodline besides shadow/Umbral which is a little disappointing. I think I am leaning more towards the Fey/Sylvan route. While the +2 DC compulsions is very nice, the animal companion is a stronger choice overall. Tough decision.
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Sylvan Wildblooded animal companion would be a big bump, especially if I took boon companion (@ lvl 3).
You'd actually need to wait for Level 5 to take Boon Companion, since you don't technically have the class feature yet at level 3. Still potentially worth it, though.
In the end I wish there was a more illusion focused bloodline besides shadow/Umbral which is a little disappointing. I think I am leaning more towards the Fey/Sylvan route. While the +2 DC compulsions is very nice, the animal companion is a stronger choice overall. Tough decision.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Both are very nice, but just personally I doubt I could resist a riding tiger (or whatever). Actually...illusionist + tiger. Am I the only one suddenly thinking Sigfried and Roy? Or at least Vegas shows in general?
Because that's both hilarious and effective. :)