I'm building my first Pathfinder Society character, and I'd love input!
I played one game with a pregen, but I'm looking forward to having a character that suits me personally!
character background:
Azden Twist-twig is the only child of the great wizardess Ayanna the Forceful and the gifted sorcerer Lyal the Sylvan Scion.
His mother, Ayanna, was a gifted wizardess who specialized in manipulating unseen forces - what she considered to be the purest form of arcane energy.
His father, Lyal, hails from a long line of sorcerers who have fey and sylvan blood. They are well known for rearing a menagerie of animals that range from wolves to rocs.
Azen, as represented by a twig being bent by a mysterious force, is the gifted child of these great arcane magic users. He, like his father, carries sylvan wild-blood and has learned a trick or two from his mother regarding magical theory and the pure power of force.
Handle animal +7, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Ride +10 (-5 for riding bareback, the animal companion isn't strong enough to fly with a saddle), Spellcraft +6 and UMD +8
Spells
0
Detect Magic
Mage Hand
Prestidigitation
Read Magic
1
Magic Missile
Color Spray
the concept:
Azden will fly on "Rocky" (the animal companion) and shoot from his crossbow, fly overhead and color spray, or shoot toppling magic missiles (spell level 1 thanks to magical lineage). His defensive stats aren't great, but having him fly should help.
As I've played one session already, I have 500gp and 2PP. I will be using the PP to get a wand of cure light wounds. When I get 9 Fame I'll purchase a wand of mage armor to help with my low defenses. When I get 13 Fame I will purchase a ring of featherfall (for obvious reasons). I'm not really sure what to build toward with feats. I'm also not sure what else I can do in the future (I don't really play sorcerers often - I'm usually a witch, oracle or fighter).
Ideally I'd like to be a mobile (flying) nature(sylvan)/force themed sorcerer. Perhaps I could specialise in magic missile (although I know that it's not ideal or optimal). Perhaps I could just get a bunch of metamagic feats and do weird things with magic missile? I don't know, I need help with ideas!
Build-wise, everything looks good at first glance. I would let the GM know what you're doing before the game, so they can familiarize themselves with the flying rules. You should become an expert on the flying rules so the GM doesn't have to tell you what you can and can't do, or what checks your mount needs to make. That will speed up play significantly.
Also, don't forget that you'll need to make concentration checks when casting from your mount: See the Vigorous Motion while casting rule.
Oh, and make sure that you have all your additional resources. You need the Bestiary to use a Roc animal companion, Ultimate Magic for Toppling Spell and Sylvan bloodline, APG or ARG for the Outrider trait, and possibly more.
Your tactics can make it very hard on the GM and might be considered cheesy. So you need to make sure that you follow the rules very closely. Making concentration and fly skill checks without the GM telling you will go a long way towards convincing them that you're trying to do something cool rather than cheating to break the game. Having all your resources available is another.
As far as where to go with your build in the future: Dazing Spell is the gold standard in metamagic riders. Spell focus and preferred spell are also excellent feats. If you can get the Pathfinder Society Field Guide (I think it's in there) the Boon Companion feat will be a very high priority since your Roc will be at level -3 and therefore stay pretty weak. I'd also consider spending PP for the Mage armor wand. Maybe get a Wand of Ant Haul for your Roc as well.
The idea that leaps immediately to mind is that you're gonna want Boon Companion, and fairly soon. I'd grab it at 3rd level.
Beyond that, it really depends what route you want to take with the character.
Though actually...I'd grab Message as one of your cantrips. It'll let you communicate with other PCs without descending from on high and making yourself vulnerable.
Build-wise, everything looks good at first glance. I would let the GM know what you're doing before the game, so they can familiarize themselves with the flying rules. You should become an expert on the flying rules so the GM doesn't have to tell you what you can and can't do, or what checks your mount needs to make. That will speed up play significantly.
Also, don't forget that you'll need to make concentration checks when casting from your mount: See the Vigorous Motion while casting rule.
Oh, and make sure that you have all your additional resources. You need the Bestiary to use a Roc animal companion, Ultimate Magic for Toppling Spell and Sylvan bloodline, APG or ARG for the Outrider trait, and possibly more.
Your tactics can make it very hard on the GM and might be considered cheesy. So you need to make sure that you follow the rules very closely. Making concentration and fly skill checks without the GM telling you will go a long way towards convincing them that you're trying to do something cool rather than cheating to break the game. Having all your resources available is another.
As far as where to go with your build in the future: Dazing Spell is the gold standard in metamagic riders. Spell focus and preferred spell are also excellent feats. If you can get the Pathfinder Society Field Guide (I think it's in there) the Boon Companion feat will be a very high priority since your Roc will be at level -3 and therefore stay pretty weak. I'd also consider spending PP for the Mage armor wand. Maybe get a Wand of Ant Haul for your Roc as well.
I thought I only had to take concentration checks when the mount did a double move. Hm... This makes the build a lot less viable.
Also, I'm losing the toppling spell thing. It's not that great I'm realizing.
Also, I intend on getting a Robe of Arcane Heritage (I don't have the book for Boon Companion), but I can't get that until 31 Fame.
I played my first game and everything seemed to go well, but I fell off my mount twice (at really low altitudes). I was playing "First Steps." I didn't really get a chance to fly around and cast. I was always just using the flight to get around my lack of strength (we had to climb a rope). I'm going to give up toppling spell in lieu of Mounted Combat.I'll replace "Magical Lineage" with "Ascendant Recollection" (also in Unlimited Campaign) to increase my effective sorcerer level by one for my first bloodline power (animal companion).
Casting Spells While Mounted:
You can cast a spell normally if your mount moves up to a normal move (its speed) either before or after you cast. If you have your mount move both before and after you cast a spell, then you're casting the spell while the mount is moving, and you have to make a concentration check due to the vigorous motion (DC 10 + spell level) or lose the spell. If the mount is running (quadruple speed), you can cast a spell when your mount has moved up to twice its speed, but your concentration check is more difficult due to the violent motion (DC 15 + spell level).
I like the character, but I would caution you that MOST of the PFS Scenarios I've run or played in were weighted heavily towards being indoors. Riding around on a Roc sounds like fun, until you have to leave him damn near everywhere.
I wouldnt touch mounted combat with a bargepole. It is a terrible feat for you even with using the animal companion. The whole point of flying out of range is that you dont get attacked.
Toppling Magic Missile is not a bad idea at low level but it loses out fairly quickly as opponent CMD scales faster than your modifier.
I like the character, but I would caution you that MOST of the PFS Scenarios I've run or played in were weighted heavily towards being indoors. Riding around on a Roc sounds like fun, until you have to leave him damn near everywhere.
Just....be ready for that eventuality.
I am guessing that the Roc is medium, he can be flown around inside even if it might look a little odd.
I wouldnt touch mounted combat with a bargepole. It is a terrible feat for you even with using the animal companion. The whole point of flying out of range is that you dont get attacked.
Toppling Magic Missile is not a bad idea at low level but it loses out fairly quickly as opponent CMD scales faster than your modifier.
In pfs you'll be fighting medium humanoids through your entire career. I see this spell used in tier 10-11quite often and it's still very useful at that point in the game.
Do make sure your Roc is strong enough to carry all your equipment and you. If it's more than lightly encumbered you won't be able to ride it while flying (I think, though I'm not sure where I read that).
A Roc has Str of 12 and can carry up to 43lbs with a light load.
On another note, don't discount toppling magic missiles. Even at high level they can be useful, 5 trip attacks for one spell is great for screwing with the goons, and will make your martial allies love you as they smack prone targets and get AoOs for them standing back up..
My halfling weighs 32 lbs and is carrying 9 lbs of equipment, so I'm good.
I can't carry too much, but I'm ok with that for a few levels at least. It also means I have to ride bareback (that -5 penalty really hurt in the last session).
There are down sides to my strategy, obviously, but that's what makes it fun. :)
