For an upcoming campaign, I'm building a Cartomancer Witch. Pertinent Details:
Chaotic Good, worshipping Desna or Black Butterfly; Changeling (Witchborn) (+Int +Cha -Con instead of +Wis +Chan -Con); Hag trait: Into the Wind (Storm Hag) (+1 damage on ranged attacks)
25 Pt. Buy, Ability Score totals: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 14
The DM has ruled that I do not need quick draw to draw cards for Deadly Dealer, and I can enhance the Spell Deck as a weapon without needing feats as it's similar to a Wizard's Bonded Item.
Also, because our characters for this game are the children of characters from a previous game, we're starting with 1000 gp, but can't spend that on magic items (except maybe potions). The campaign will have some kingdom-building and exploration-of-new-territory traits.
I plan to mostly go with claws and cards for weapons, and Evil Eye for my level 1 hex, but that and the use of the point buy are somewhat changeable. The charisma is highish both for character reasons and because I don't know if we'll have a reliable face in the party, and for UMD probably.
I am trying to decide specifically about Patron, Traits, and First-Level feat. I've also never played a prepared caster before (though I've played spontaneous casters), so I would appreciate any advice on spells to have in my deck, and to prepare, or better yet to know how to decide what to prepare from day to day. The party has no dedicated healer, but has a Shaman who can do some healing in addition to some healing spells being on the witch list.
Sorry for that being kind of a mouthful, but do any caster veterans have any advice? I can't guarantee I'll take all the advice as is, since there are some character ideas I already have, but from looking at guides, I'm having a hard time narrowing choices down.
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The best thing about a cartomancer is the deliver touch spells ability at 3rd. I prepare frostbite and/or chill touch for use once I've hexed things. You should ask your GM how having multiple touches from those spells works with your cards and if the ones with the returning quality allow you to hold the charge.
What kind of role are you looking to fill and what else does your party have? I went with Time patron for haste, but if you already have a caster you should look for more spell options that aren't on the witch list, especially any great touch attacks.
If you are going as the face, you could use a trait to get Diplomacy. Or go for another skill you don't have. Consider a metamagic trait if you think you might go that route.
Evil Eye and Cackle are your bread and butter. Consider using Extra Hex to get cackle at first level. You don't get a level 2 hex, so your next opportunity is level 3 or 4.
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For a cartomancer, look at the elements patron. Usually it isn't a great choice because witches shouldn't be in melee, but as a cartomancer you don't have to be. This will give you a ranged shocking grasp, which is super useful and deadly.
There are a lot of great cartomancer spells that you can find by doing a search through the witch spell list for any spell that has 'touch' in the description. There are the obvious one with touch in the name, like Touch of Idiocy, Chill Touch, Vampiric Touch, Touch of Bloodletting, Touch of Fatigue, Disfiguring Touch, Touch of Slime, etc. Then there are the Inflict and Cure spells, which a witch has access to. There are also other touch spells like Disable Construct (golem off switch), Stricken Heart (damage and stagger) or Slay Living (as the name implies, slaying living). And then of course, the piece de resistance, Bestow Curse.
And that's just the touch spells you can deliver with your cards. Lipstitch is great for shutting down enemy casters or bards, Glitterdust will blind and reveal the invisible, Vomit Swarm for a swarm under your control, and Cloak of Wasps is a CLOAK OF WASPS.
For feats, hands down the best 1st level feat for a witch is extra hex. Cackle is a nice, but I would suggest Misfortune instead, as Evil Eye is mind affecting, Misfortune isn't. That way if you come up against mindless undead, plants, or something like that, you can still hex them. You can always get cackle later, or get the magic item that gives it to you free.
Though also point blank shot and precise shot are helpful when you are trying to hit something your friends are already hitting.
I don't plan on using the claws all the time, just that, having them, I don't really plan on investing much in other weapons in the near future.
The party is looking like a Fighter, a Rogue or Slayer, a Flame Shaman, and my witch (plus probably some guest characters). Me and the Shaman are probably going to be splitting healing duty, and as a witch doing buffs and debuffs to make the fighter and rogue work better will probably be part of my role, don't know if I will also need to do any support blasting or what.
I might take Extremely Fashionable for either Diplomacy or Bluff for faceness... Is that a good trait or would something else be better? And what would a good second one be?
I was debating Shadow, Trickery, Deception, Storm, or Healing patrons, but Time or Elements MIGHT work (not sure how redundant Elements would be with a flame shaman though).
Extra hex might be good as a feat, is Misfortune worth it without Cackle though? I probably will want Point Blank and Precise shot eventually if not immediately, though.
If you are looking for melee witch stuff, prehensile hair is better than claws (not sure if you get claws from race or were thinking of getting them as a hex) as it uses your INT rather than STR.
Grapple something 10' away and throw cards at it? :p
The claws are just from being a changeling, hag-daughters have sharp fingernails. Prehensile Hair might be nice to pick up eventually, though I only get so many hexes and I have a few I already want to take (some of the card ones, flight).
I prefer not to dip, though I suppose I could. There aren't that many traits that make sense to get diplomacy or perception (The campaign is starting in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, though it's going somewhere uncharted by level 3 or so, so a lot of regional traits make little sense).