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Honestly, there's no reason a wizard can't do the things you want to do. Even a low-Charisma wizard is going to have a lot of skill points, so you can probably afford to max out a social skill. And if you can take traits, there are traits that make social skills a class skill and grant you a bonus. And it's easy to compensate for their lower number of castings/day with judicious use of your Scribe Scrolls feat. Just be sure to rely on scrolls chiefly for spells where caster level and saves don't matter too much. For the first few levels, you'll probably spend a lot of time firing your crossbow (or longbow, if you're an elf). But after that, it just gets better and better. Wizards ftw, definitely!
(I'd also add that, if everyone else made a character without considering the party's needs, you should feel free to do the same. And if the party has a hard time because important roles aren't filled -- First one to die makes a caster!)
Oh, and the class guides for wizards on this site are great, they'll get you started and give you great advice along the way.
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Honestly, there's a decent amount of paperwork and forethought that goes into playing a prepared caster, particularly a wizard. In exchange, though, you get access to a huge range of magic, and you can drastically switch up the way you play/the spells you cast between sessions if you so choose. They're great if you're the type of person that likes to experiment and try out a lot of different strategies and spell combinations.
For someone new to casters, though, I think Sorcerer or Oracle is probably the right choice. Don't worry about having "the right spell" - you can always buy scrolls of just about any spell on your list, and you might even be able to get the party to pitch in. Just focus on picking a nice varied selection of spells, so that you always have something to cast no matter what type of enemy you're facing, and you'll be just fine. The rest will all fall into place.
Also, high Cha is great if you want to be a party face - I suggest you let the Paladin grab Diplomacy and figure out between you and the Rogue who wants Intimidate and who wants Bluff.
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i'm a little bit uncertain what exactly you want advice on...
are you asking for the easiest full caster for you to use?
if so, oracle is probably the answer- spontaneous casters require a lot less bookkeeping than prepared casters and oracles have less spells to choose from than sorcerers (and more bonus spells thanks to some curses and free cure/inflicts).
are you asking for the hardest to screw up?
if so, i think it might be witch- there's more bookkeeping because you have to prepare your spells in the morning, but if you discover that there's some other spell you wish you had you can buy a scroll to learn it and just prepare that instead the next day; more importantly, you can use most hexes 1/enemy (instead of 1/day for a spell) so it makes resource management much easier (you can use your hexes every fight and not worry, unlike spells where you have to gauge which ones you can afford to use if there might be 3-4 more fights that day).
are you asking what would be best for the party?
if so, you're probably looking at a mystic theurge- this is probably the single most bookkeeping intensive class in the game and you should not try to play it unless you're willing to spend time before/between sessions reading up on how all your spells work and making some kind of list or something to help track your spells while you play; if you're willing to do that, you're best bet is to make a wizard with like 14 wis (i like tiefling or elf, but anything with +Int will work)- start with 3 levels of wizard then take 1 level of cleric with the trickery domain (the divine strategist archetype is good for this build), then you can take 10 levels of mystic theurge from 5-14; you'll gain new arcane spell levels at the same time as a sorcerer but also gain the casting of an 11th level cleric by 14th! you just need to make sure that you get a +2 Wis item by 12th level so you can cast 5th and 6th level divine spells (and don't take any divine spells that rely on a save- focus on heals/buffs/utility). you can also take the student of philosophy trait to do face stuff :)
If you go with an oracle you might like to pick a mystery which has a little battlefield control or area effect built in, since no one else in the party is doing so. Heavens or Outer Rift or Flame.
I know this might not be what you're looking for but ...
you say tou want to rp a lot, you want a high charisma, the other players are not that into socialzing, you'd like some spells ...
play a Bard?
if that's not the advice you're looking for, then make a wizard with high charisma and maybe take the persuasive or skill focus feats to round out your skills ...
with a 15 point buy you can make a human with 17 int and 14 cha,
and in my book that's good enough for spellcasting.
if I had a character concept I liked I might even switch thos two stats around ...
like others have said; play a character you would like to play, not the "best" one.
if you're having fun, you're winning :)
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Here's the single most important part of playing a caster: Perram's Spellbook.
Playing a prepared caster? Print all the cards for spells you've learned, then pick enough of them each day to fill your slots as necessary. If you plan to use the same spell more than once per day, print 2 of that spell.
Playing a spontaneous caster? Just print off your spells known and keep a tally of spell slots used per day.
Your bookkeeping has just decreased by about 80%. I will put in a plug for Perram's Spellbook any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Play what you want and worry less.
Regarding Mystic Theurge, your dump stats are everything you don't need as a casting stat, pretty much. Because of the faster spell progression, you're going to want to be Cleric or Druid + Wizard or Witch. Unfortunately, that means 2 casting stats, both of which need to be respectably high. If you're new to casters, this is the one thing I would recommend against playing because the spell lists are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE and it gets intimidating fast, particularly with the Divine lists being always known on Cleric/Druid.
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I think what the group needs is something you would be more comfortable playing than you might think. They need a Cleric. If you are good with melee tactics and new to spells a reach cleric would be perfect. You get full prepared casting, but all of your spells convert to cure spells if you guess wrong. You never need to buy new spells just get to the right level and bam! you know 50 new spells, just like that. You should have at least 12 charisma and both sense motive and diplomacy are class skills. It should give you the versatility out of combat while still getting up in the thick of things in combat.
For a 20 point buy Human/Half-Human stats would look like:
Str 14 +2 (5 points)
Dex 14 +2 (5 points)
Con 12 +1 (2 points)
Int 10 +0 (0 points)
Wis 16 +3 (5 points, +2 race)
Cha 13 +1 (3 points)
I would seriously recommend against the mystic theurge for you first caster character. They are really hard to do well. Not just the build, playing them can also be very difficult.
You don't need more martial types, so I would stay away from druid, summoner, and inquisitor. Unless of course that is what you really want to play. Almost anything can be made to work if you try hard enough.
Spontaneous caster is easier to play. Especially for someone new to casters. The issue can be "What if the spells I picked suck?" how strict is your GM. Personally I have let the sorc or oracles in my game switch out a few spells that just didn't work the way they thought they would. (I don't let them do it all the time though, just a few). Pluss the low levels can be taken care of pretty easily with pages of spell knowledge if magic item purchases are easy/plentiful.
Sorcerer has better spell selection.
Oracles are a bit more survivable (plus I like the mysteries better than bloodlines).
Prepared casters can pick spells for a specific event. This can be hugely powerful if your GM gives you clues on what is heading your way or if your group does a fair amount of information gathering.
If you are going to go with a prepared caster, my first recommendation would be cleric. Huge spell list, 2 good saves, domains, prepared caster, and you don't have to screw around with a spell book (or familiar book).
No it doesn't have to be a heal-bot. You can easily make him to buff the good guys and/or debuff the bad guys. Plus the charisma you like will help your channeling. Consider the variant channeling for more buff debuff options. Or the Aasimar force channeling.
Next least difficult would be witch. Prepared caster with a familiar instead of a spell book. If you prep the wrong spells, you still have hexes you can use. Spell list is not a large as many classes however.
Wizard is arguably the most powerful. But that spell book can get to be a lot of reading, and preparing, and filling, and deciding, and etc... Sometimes I haven't enjoyed playing one just because of dealing with the spellbook.
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Contrary to popular belief, not every wizard dumps charisma. While the vast bulk may do so, there are two kinds of wizards who -don't-...the Necromancer and the Diabolist/Planar Binding Specalist. The Necromancer especially loves having a high charisma because it helps their command undead DC, which is important for them as Command Undead is one of the few ways they have to make use of intelligent undead. In addition, the agent of the grave prestige class which is great for a necromancer relies on charisma for many of it's abilities as well...so needless to say a Necromancer wizard usually wants at least a 14 starting cha, and would really love a 16 cha though thats usually too hard to swing in most cases unless you have god rolls, a very high point buy or the right race.(Peri-Blooded Aasimiar is best for that)
The Diabolist, meanwhile, wants that charisma for the "planar binding minigame." Now, the actual diabolist PrC will help you immensely with this, but you'll still want at least 12-14 charisma at minimum as a diabolist/planar binding specialist, and again the more you have the easier your job gets.
However, what do both of the charismatic wizards have in common? They are both "minionmasters" and thus I sadly cannot recommend either of them for somebody new to the world of casters. Necromancy and fiend binding both require a lot of book keeping, and the Necromancer and Planar Binder/Diabolist has EVEN MORE bookeeping to worry about then a normal wizard. Not only do you have to keep track of your own spells, abilites etc..but you must also know your minions and their powers like the back of your hand, too. You need to not only dive around the player books but also the -beasteries- and if the bookeeping of a standard wizard is enough to scare you away from the class then I sadly cannot recomend the charismatic wizard builds as both of them happen to be minionmasters, and minionmasters require more bookeeping then any other build. I merely mention them to prove a point: there are some MECHANICAL reasons for a wizard not to dump charisma. Yes, they are HIGHLY build-specific reasons, to the point of applying to only two very distinct wizard builds, but they are mechanical reasons none the less.
For your purposes, I'd play a half-elf Oracle. Why half elf? Paragon surge.(A racial spell for half-elves) If you want to play a spontaneous caster but are worried about limited spells known Paragon Surge fixes that issue. How? Well, Paragon surge temporarily gives you a single feat for it's duration.(You still have to meet that feat's prerequisites.) You cast this spell and give yourself the feat Expanded Arcana. This allows you to add ANY cleric spell to your spells known temporarily. Congratulations, with a single third level spell you can now spontaneously cast from the entire cleric/oracle spell list. It gets even better, though. If you take the Eldritch Heritage feat for the Arcane Bloodline, you can use Paragon Surge to gain Improved Eldritch Heritage for the arcane bloodline, choosing the 9th level bloodline power(New Arcana) and thus you get to add any spell from the WIZARD/SORC spell list to your spells known. Congratulations, with a single third level spell you can now cast any spell you want from the sorc/wizard list, too!
If you want to know any more details about this trick, feel free to ask questions!
In your place, I'd probably play a witch with the healing patron. Of all the things that are 'needed' in a game, the ability to remove negative conditions is among the most significant. The utility of a wizard is really useful and makes things easier, but without the ability to recover ability damage and other negative conditions, the party can be drastically hampered for a long time by an encounter that does such things. More so then hit point recovery, the restoration spells, remove blindness/deafness, remove disease and neutralize poison are probably the only spells that every become absolutely necessary.
Witches can also be fairly easy to play. Take extra hex at 1st level, take the healing hex and the evil eye hex. You know pretty much always have something useful to do in combat, and your spells can be a bonus. Its not absolutely crucial that you pick the 'right' spells. And the mix of divine and arcane the witch gets is very useful in filling the gap you are concerned with. I've played such a witch in a similar situation, we had a barbarian, a rogue, a magus, and 2 paladins in the party. My Witch filled in pretty nicely.
... one of my main concerns with the oracle was that I didn't know if it would fill the party's magical needs on its own and it seems that that just isn't the case. ...
The key here is to differentiate between need and want. =)
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Yeah, if you want a charismatic wizard, it certainly -can- be done, it's just that there are little tangible mechanical benefits for any build other then the necromancer or planar binding specialist. However, as long as you have a post-racial int of at least 18 and decent con and possibly some dex, your free to have as much or as little charisma on your character as you want. If your using a 20 point buy, you can go str 8, dex 14, con 12, Int 16(+2 from race for 18), Cha 14. If 14 cha isn't enough for your tastes, go with a Peri-blooded asimiar to end up with 18 int and 16 cha post-racial mods. Dex and con can also be swapped depending on your preferences. I prefer higher dex since the benefits of con are easier to replicate(Toughness, favored class bonus to HP, Great Fortitude, Combat Casting etc...) but if you'd rather have the con over the dex making the swap won't hurt you.
You keep coming back to an oracle, so take an oracle.
The next question is how to make the best blackened spellscar oracle you can. So let's talk about what you want to do in combat.
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Nice thread full of good suggestions!
@OP: It sounds like you want to build a character suited to your preferences that also fills an essential party role. You might want to check out Tark's essay The Forge of Combat about building a balanced party. Using that metaphor, your team seems to have a lot of 'hammers' with a complete lack of either an 'anvil' or an 'arm'. Those roles are usually filled by spell casters, so it makes sense.
You seem to be interested in either oracle or cleric, for divine casting. Both are excellent choices. Both classes can fill any of the three roles. E.g.
Anvil: A Heaven's Oracle, with super-powered color spray that will drop pretty big (12+ HD) demons by attacking their weak will saves, is a very effective one-trick-pony. Full divine spellcasting makes this character also an effective Arm. A Witch, Wizard, or Sorcerer would also fill this role quite well.
Arm: Oracle of Life or Evangelist Cleric. Life Oracle gets you the best healing in the game, while Evangelist gets you the best buffs in the game. Summon Monster spells help fill the role of 'anvil'.
Hammer: Battle Cleric or Oracle of Battle (Metal, Wood, etc.). Your group doesn't need another hammer. Consider ways to passively contribute additional HP damage (e.g. reach tactics), but not at the cost of a feat.
Something to consider: Both a Cleric and a Life Oracle can channel energy. Usually channel is lackluster. Usually focusing on channeling is a trap. Usually the feat Alignment Channel is questionable, at best. Then consider that most demons have the Evil alignment subtype, making them vulnerable to Alignment Channel. This provides an almost foolproof way to detect demons, assuming your GM causes some outwardly-visible response to the channel damage, like flinching or smoking. A character with this feat becomes an anti-demon specialist. It's probably not practical to combine this with Variant Channeling (e.g. the harm effects of Freedom, Rulership, Ale/Wine, Cities), although it can be done. 10 channels per day is quite possible.
An Oracle would make a better face, and would be more able to deflect attention from the foot-in-mouth paladin. For your first time playing a spell caster, the oracle will be simpler and easier to play.
I myself am playing a Wizard with a decent charisma right now. He's a middle-aged elf, so with 15 pt buy I was able to start with these stats: STR 12, DEX 14, CON 10, INT 18, WIS 8, CHA 14. Once in a while I miss the Wisdom points, and if it weren't for a lot of lucky hit point rolls I'd definitely be missing the CON. But thanks to a trait that let him make Diplomacy a class skill, a thrush familiar that gave Diplomacy a +3, and the decent Charisma, he has served as the (extremely knowledgable!) party face quite well, thank you.
@Reynard_the_fox - the player of the paladin has a nasty habit of putting his foot in his mouth every time he speaks, so he probably shouldn't be doing the talking for the group :P
The make the Paladin the Intimidator. You and the rogue can be the the Diplomat and Bluffer.
As to your concern about limited spell selection casters, if you have a high charisma, you also have a good UMD. Use it.
For the Mystic Theurge, you can have SAD classes if you go Charisma casters, i.e. Oracle-Sorcerer. Yes, your spell progression will lag, but a Theurge already has that issue. Grab a Ring of Spell Knowledge, and collect spellbooks. You new can know any low level arcane spell by UMDing the ring on the spellbook. Better than a Page of Spell Knowledge if you want variety, but a little pricier. You can also use it on scrolls.
/cevah
One thing to keep in mind: WotR is a demon-heavy campaign (I don't think that's giving anything away), so you're going to be running into all sorts of stuff along the way with fire immunity. Something to think about.