I've been interested in characters that can manipulate others (through enchantments and/or illusions, subtly or overtly, etc.) and mess with their heads, and I recently came across the Dreamweaver archetype for the witch. It seems to provide pretty much everything I'm looking for. Sow Thoughts is a great way to plant nagging ideas in the minds of NPCs (or even other PCs), being able to use Modify Memory on a target that's sleeping due to a Slumber hex or another sleep spell is amazing for what I'm aiming for, and Dream Possession is really just icing on the cake.
The basic idea behind the PC would be to play a human with the following...
- Racial Heritage (Changeling) and Silent Spell as my first level feats
- Magic Lineage (Sow Thoughts) as one of my traits so I can cast Sow Thoughts someone who can't see the somatic components so they'd be none the wiser
- Take Thrush as a familiar (take advantage of its ability to talk, use spells like Alter Self to use it for recon, let it be the messenger in Dream while under the effect of Alter Self, etc.)
- Convince allies to let me use Scar on them to make a benign scar on them (in their scalp, one that makes their abs appear more defined, etc.) because of its potential benefits
This PC is still very much a concept, but I have a few questions about it. First, how would Slumber affect someone who's already asleep (knowing that they've been targeted by a hex, interrupting sleep, potential penalties to DCs, etc.)? Second, would I have to work with the GM on what thoughts I can plant in people's heads and just what the dreams can contain? Third, if the shenanigans I subject the fellow PCs to are cheeky and fun and save the ones that are cruel and tragic for NPCs, would there be too much of a problem for alignment or party harmony? Fourth, how much (or little) metagaming would be required to make this all work?