I'm looking to build a CN Sorcerer for a fairly RP-heavy campaign. The build's focused on battlefield control from a mechanical perspective and the fluff is centered around the Sorcerer's search for primal chaos magics.
Main skills are Bluff, Use Magic Device, and Spellcraft. The remaining points are split 50-50 with Intimidate and miscellaneous skills. Gear is unmentioned, but I'll probably keep a wrist-sheathed dagger, a wand or two, and an assortment of magic items. The campaign is being run on Roll20 using the SRD as a sourcebook, though only Paizo materials are allowed. I'm trying to keep the build as "core" as possible, though, as I'm thinking about using the concept for Society play, if I ever manage to convince myself that PFS is worth the high maintenance.
At any rate, stats for level 1 and level 8 follow. Comments, criticisms, and death threats welcome.
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Kullervo
Male Human Tattooed Sorcerer Lv 1
Chaotic Neutral
STR 7 DEX 13 CON 14 INT 11 WIS 8 CHA 20
HP 12 INIT +6
AC/Touch 11 CMD 9 CMB -2 BAB 0
Fort 2 Ref 1 Will 1
Traits:
Planar Savant
Arcane Temper
Class Features:
Protean Bloodline Arcana
Familiar Tattoo
Bloodline Tattoos
Familiar:
Sampo
Male Viper
STR 4 DEX 17 CON 8 INT 6 WIS 13 CHA 2
Low-Light Vision
Scent
Improved Evasion
Share Spells
Familiar Focus (replaces Weapon Finesse)
Can transform into a tattoo as a move action
(To Master) Bluff +3
(To Master) Alertness bonus feat
(With Master) Empathic Link
Feats:
Toughness
(Bonus - Human) Improved Initiative
(Bonus - Tattooed Sorcerer) Mage's Tattoo (Illusion)
(Bonus - Familiar) Alertness
Spells:
Unlimited/Day Lv 0: Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation
5/Day Lv 1: Mage armor, Color Spray
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Kullervo
Male Human Tattooed Sorcerer Lv 8
Chaotic Neutral
STR 7 DEX 14 CON 14 INT 12 WIS 8 CHA 20
HP 54 INIT +7
AC/Touch 12 CMD 14 CMB 2 BAB 4
Fort 4 Ref 4 Will 5
Traits:
Planar Savant
Arcane Temper
Class Features:
Protean Bloodline Arcana
Familiar Tattoo
Bloodline Tattoos
Protean Resistances
Create Spell Tattoo
Familiar:
Sampo
??? Protean Voidworm
STR 7 DEX 17 CON 10 INT 9 WIS 8 CHA 13
Blindsense
Darkvision
Improved Evasion
Share Spells
Deliver Touch Spells
Speak with Master
Familiar Focus (replaces Weapon Finesse)
Can transform into a tattoo as a move action
(To Master) Alertness bonus feat
(With Master) Empathic Link
Feats:
Toughness
Combat Casting
Extend Spell
Improved Familiar
(Bonus - Human) Improved Initiative
(Bonus - Tattooed Sorcerer) Mage's Tattoo (Illusion)
(Bonus - Familiar) Alertness
Spells:
Unlimited/Day Lv 0: Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Spark, Haunted Fey Aspect
8/Day Lv 1: Mage armor, Color Spray, Silent Image, Grease, Magic Missile, Charm Person, Enlarge Person
7/Day Lv 2: Glitterdust, Invisibility, Stone Call
6/Day Lv 3: Stinking Cloud, Haste, Fly
4/Day Lv 4: Confusion
Bonus spells:
Entropic Shield, Blur, Gaseous Form
If you really enjoy battlefield control, might I suggest swapping out Stone Call for creating pits?
I'd strongly advise Dex 12 and Int 12. As a focused Sorcerer you' shouldn't raise either (always raise Charisma...Cha 22 is way better than Dex 14), nor are you gonna have a spare Feat you should spend on Dodge...so the 13 gets you nothing, while the 12 would get you skill points.
Combat Casting isn't worth it at all. By high levels you'll auto-succeed on such checks anyway, and you want to never ever be in melee combat with your stats.
I'd also say the same of Toughness, though that one's more defensible.
You also lack Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus, which are phenomenal. Go Conjuration and switch a few spells up and you'd be a lot scarier (the Create Pit spells are great...though certainly not if they're all you have. Better than Stone Call in some ways, though).
Extend Spell is also okay, but a Lesser Rod of Extend is only 3k and replaces a lot of it's functionality. Craft Wondrous Item, however, is made of win if crafting is allowed.
Are you just going tattooed for the familiar? You've got a build that doesn't really get any advantage out of the Varisian Tattoo feat. The +1 CL won't help with saving throw DCs. Generally, that feat is best for evocation, which is why that archetype is so popular with blasters, but there are uses for other schools, too. I just can't think of a single illusion spell that benefits from it, though I admit I'm no illusion expert.
My own controller sorcerer is a conjuration specialist. I've got some of the same spell choices as you - Mage Armor, Grease, Glitterdust, Haste. I had Color Spray at low levels, but traded it out. I actually went with Spell Focus (Conjuration) and Augment Summoning, with Summon Monster 1 and 2, so far, probably headed for more summoning spells later. SM1 wasn't worth having at level 1, due to the short duration, but I picked it up at level 3, when it was just starting to last long enough to be worth bothering with. I play him in PFS, so I never know if my party will have enough meat shields/flankers on any given day, so summoning is a great backup plan for when we need it. If not, I just cast Grease and Glitterdust more often.
I'll second the recommendation for Create Pit as a great controller spell. I'm debating between that and Web for my next 2nd level spell when I hit 7th level next week. I'll probably go with Dispel Magic as my next 3rd level spell, just so I have something to combat casters, since their Will saves are often too high for Glitterdust, and Grease doesn't really hurt them any if they're flying and casting at us from a distance. I had that problem when my group fought a succubus on Monday. My Haste and having a dedicated archer ended up being the deciding factors in that fight, but I didn't have much else to do that really helped against that main boss. Now, against the minions, Glitterdust and Grease are awesome.
As with any caster, I recommend collecting scrolls whenever you have a chance to buy them. Cheap utility scrolls like Comprehend Languages, Endure Elements, Air Bubble, etc are worth having for spells that you don't cast often enough to need as known spells, but could come in handy. You should pretty much have a library of scrolls in your Handy Haversack.
And your main complaint about PFS is that there's too much maintenance??? You just have to keep a folder with your chronicle sheets from the adventures you've played and track your purchases. Other than making a point of not losing the papers you're given every time you play, it's really no more maintenance than playing a home game.
Deadmanwalking wrote: I'd strongly advise Dex 12 and Int 12. As a focused Sorcerer you' shouldn't raise either (always raise Charisma...Cha 22 is way better than Dex 14), nor are you gonna have a spare Feat you should spend on Dodge...so the 13 gets you nothing, while the 12 would get you skill points.
Combat Casting isn't worth it at all. By high levels you'll auto-succeed on such checks anyway, and you want to never ever be in melee combat with your stats.
Fair enough. I've adjusted starting stats. My big questions with Combat Casting is, "What do I get now?" I suppose Spell Focus or Spell Penetration would be the obvious choice. Toughness seems a bit more important, considering that Human FCB means that I'm not going to be gaining as much HP as I might like to.
Deadmanwalking wrote: Extend Spell is also okay, but a Lesser Rod of Extend is only 3k and replaces a lot of it's functionality. Craft Wondrous Item, however, is made of win if crafting is allowed. I'm mostly justifying Extend Spell as "It's the most useful +1 Metamagic Feat for me, and at this level I can't actually use any that are +2/+3/+4." I was thinking of taking Dazing Spell, Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, and maybe Maximize Spell, but all of those but Extend are useless at low levels.
Fromper wrote: Are you just going tattooed for the familiar? You've got a build that doesn't really get any advantage out of the Varisian Tattoo feat. The +1 CL won't help with saving throw DCs. Generally, that feat is best for evocation, which is why that archetype is so popular with blasters, but there are uses for other schools, too. I just can't think of a single illusion spell that benefits from it, though I admit I'm no illusion expert. I'm going to be honest - mostly, yeah. Rule of Cool. On the other hand, a free Spell Specialization for Illusions is great (as it applies to Shadow Conjuration, and I'll probably be Spell Perfecting the Greater Version of that spell).
Fromper wrote: My own controller sorcerer is a conjuration specialist. I've got some of the same spell choices as you - Mage Armor, Grease, Glitterdust, Haste. I had Color Spray at low levels, but traded it out. I actually went with Spell Focus (Conjuration) and Augment Summoning, with Summon Monster 1 and 2, so far, probably headed for more summoning spells later. SM1 wasn't worth having at level 1, due to the short duration, but I picked it up at level 3, when it was just starting to last long enough to be worth bothering with. I play him in PFS, so I never know if my party will have enough meat shields/flankers on any given day, so summoning is a great backup plan for when we need it. If not, I just cast Grease and Glitterdust more often. I don't really want to learn Summon Monster for thematic reasons. Planar Binding is more in line with where I want the character to go (unless I summon a Squid, but... eh~), but I can't take it until a higher level anyway. It's a sub-optimal choice, but I'm happy playing the character that way - to a point.
Frompter wrote: And your main complaint about PFS is that there's too much maintenance??? You just have to keep a folder with your chronicle sheets from the adventures you've played and track your purchases. Other than making a point of not losing the papers you're given every time you play, it's really no more maintenance than playing a home game. It's more the documentation that I'd have to do for character creation and advancement; for this character, for example, I'd have to go out and buy a copy of ISM (for the archetype) and Bestiary 2 (for the Voidworm). To swap Familiar feats (like the *useless* Weapon Finesse that comes standard), I need to own a copy of the Animal Archive. In a "standard" offline campaign, we can pool money for the books or I can print the material off the SRD for the GM (subject to his approval, etc, etc), especially for something like Inner Sea Magic, of which I'm only using half a page's worth of content. I don't want to turn this into a rant about PFS, but building a character that I *like* gets very expensive very quickly, especially for someone like me with no offline group to loan him materials for approved character creation.
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