I've decided to retire my master summoner from our Kingmaker campaign. There's a couple of reasons for this. First is that even with 3 players (we had a session recently where our fourth had other obligations) the campaign has started to become too easy. We fought the scythe tree with 3 people and the DM stated that if he hadn't doubled its HP it would have dropped in the third round. Last session we fought a hydra with 1.5x the base HP and it dropped in the second round. The guy playing the cleric actually said it was too easy. Part of it is the wall of meat shields that I throw down as combat begins and the other part is that we have two players who have optimized combat characters: bastard sword & shield fighter (who will usually get buffed with enlarge, bull's strength, and some sort of sacred shield or defense), and a ranger who uses enlarge, gravity bow, and has a couple of quivers of large arrows strapped to his horse.
Secondly, I'm just not into the character. He's a meek scholarly type and all the other characters are all boisterous loudmouths. I just can't get into his head and we're really not engaging in much role playing at all - just bouts of "Civilization the Board Game" and then a couple of fights. So my character concept doesn't match. I usually play someone who is power mad / driven mad by power and more than a little twisted, so I've been trying to change. But meek ain't cutting it. To edify, my favorite character of all time was a World of Darkness Tzmisce (sp?) and I once got in argument with the DM about sticking my eye on my finger so I could peek through a window without being seen. That kind of thing.
Third, I'm playing a master summoner and carrying a binder full of printouts and the constant micro management is giving me a headache. I don't think I want to cast another summon monster spell for a long, long time.
The DM understands and will let me use my same stats for another character (I rolled horribly so he gave me some good numbers to make me comparable to the rest of the group, which means I have 18, 17, 16, 13, 11, 10 before racial adjustments with the understanding that the 17 goes into the primary stat). We have a cleric, ranger, & fighter. We need some sort of arcane support and I don't need to be optimized (although I would like decent saves - the target numbers for the saves recently would require me to roll 18s to make on my summoner). I've been looking at a half-orc dragon disciple. Rowdy, blasty, and has an AC comparable to my summoner without using any gear at all - and before spells.
Any suggestions for an interesting arcane class? I also looked at the Magus but don't quite know what to make of it. If I could play anything I'd probably play a druid to shut my "druids are useless" friend up. Or a cavalier/ Hellknight to do massive melee damage. My dragon disciple has a greataxe but I don't think there's any way to make him even remotely competent with it.
It's time for me to return to my roots and play a twisted, screaming madman. Help me make them regret boring me >:-)
(note: I'm not out to screw over the game, just want to play something more dynamic - and they know me and my preferences)
I'm having a blast with my Starsoul Sorcerer in PFS. Get to play all kinds of crazy when you're in tune with the Great Elder One.
The 1st level gimmie power is nice (Adds dazzled conditioned to anything that fails a save versus an evocation spell), the 3rd level abilities are nice (Low Light Vision, Cold resist 5, Fire resist 5, at 9th level, don't need to breathe).
I've been thinking of a Dwarven Inquisitor of Cayden Caillean: Inspecting the wine to make sure it's not diluted is a High, Holy Duty. Plus, you can play a Dwarf with a snooty French Accent and break people's brains...
What level is the group?
Go back to your roots, play a sorcerer with the abberant bloodline ;-) Very Tzmisce. You could even become Baron for the Voivoide feeling.
just my 2cent
I usually never play arcane casters, but I made a "wannabe Conan" half-orc witch that was pretty fun. The attitude of a barbarian with the squishyness of a wizard. And a big axe.
Hexes are fun because they are magic AND disposable. Also, a lot of the fun witch hex combos take 2 or 3 or more rounds to properly set up, so that might be fun if you are trying to extend combat. Alternatively, there are some good buffing hexes if you want to be a party helper.
Druids are fun too, of course. Not strictly speaking arcane, but very versatile. Of course, they also require a lot of bookkeeping with their spontaneous summonings.
An alchemist or bard might help that party. You already have a tank, a healer, and a ranged specialist, so area effect and/or face/manipulation might be the way to go.
Go back to your roots, play a sorcerer with the abberant bloodline
This is pretty much what the DM said. "This aberrant bloodline looks like it was made for you!" I'm pretty sure he was referring to the character...
We're missing a grand diplomat so I briefly considered a serpentine sorcerer with all the charm / control spells. I'd need to crank up my save DC's so nothing gets away :D
I never even considered a witch. I'll definitely have to look at the scarred witch doctor and look closer at the sorcerer.
I have to step back and retract my words - I can't really go too overboard as it's a good campaign. So I'll "settle" for boisterous, loud, flashy ... but if I can be moderately disturbing I'll consider it a win, too.
You're retiring your Master Summoner for power reasons. I wouldn't even entertain the thought of a scarred witch doctor if that's where you're coming from. That's like hopping out of a boiling pot into a slightly smaller not-quite-boiling-but-clearly-about-to-get-there pot.