Got a newb player that wants to be a Sorcerer with a dark and malevolent bent. When I described various spells, they seemed interested in spells which dominate minds, inflict pain, sorrow, and fear, and caused their bones to shatter and twist.
Sounds to me like an Undead Bloodline sorcerer with Necromancy (but not focusing on Minionmancy.) I don't play arcane casters much-- what can I use to build them a fun toolbox of spells so they feel like they have exciting and impactful choices to make in combat, while maintaining that malevolent flavor?
They are also going to want to some buffs and protective spells for allies, so don't be afraid to throw out the old standards. (Haste, Grease, Resist Energy, etc.)
There are a lot of good choices and they're in a very simple format.
Of course I'm looking at this situation pretty blindly so this isn't meant to be a jab at you, but maybe your player would have quite a bit of fun finding out which spells to take by him/herself? When I first started, my GM pointed me in the right direction and let me loose. I had a blast diving as deep as I wanted on my own but knew that I could still come to him with questions. But again, I'm an outside observer, and I could see many reasons why one wouldn't want to do that. :)
As for your original question:
0- Resistance, Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Daze, Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Jolt, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation
1- Shield, Protection from X, Stunning Barrier, Grease, Infernal Healing, Mage Armor, Mudball, Snowball, Unseen Servant, Detect Undead?, Charm Person, Hypnotism, Sleep, Magic Missile, Color Spray, Shadow Trap, Silent Image, Vanish, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Enlarge/Reduce Person, Snapdragon Fireworks, Touch of Gracelessness
This is an ok start, but if I get a moment, I'll post some more.
The Twilight Sage archetype for the Arcanist might be worth looking over.
There are a lot of good choices and they're in a very simple format.
Of course I'm looking at this situation pretty blindly so this isn't meant to be a jab at you, but maybe your player would have quite a bit of fun finding out which spells to take by him/herself? When I first started, my GM pointed me in the right direction and let me loose. I had a blast diving as deep as I wanted on my own but knew that I could still come to him with questions. But again, I'm an outside observer, and I could see many reasons why one wouldn't want to do that. :)
As for your original question:
0- Resistance, Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Daze, Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Jolt, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation
1- Shield, Protection from X, Stunning Barrier, Grease, Infernal Healing, Mage Armor, Mudball, Snowball, Unseen Servant, Detect Undead?, Charm Person, Hypnotism, Sleep, Magic Missile, Color Spray, Shadow Trap, Silent Image, Vanish, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Enlarge/Reduce Person, Snapdragon Fireworks, Touch of Gracelessness
This is an ok start, but if I get a moment, I'll post some more.
Well, they are going to be starting out at level 9, in a game with a high level of optimization. I mostly just wanted to make sure they could keep up. But the player has been getting more into learning the ins and outs than I expected, so you have a point. Here's the current list we've come up with:
4th (5/day)—animate dead, boneshatter (DC 21), terrible remorse (DC 21)
3rd (7/day)—aqueous orbAPG (DC 19), dispel magic, haste, ray of exhaustion (DC 20), vampiric touch
2nd (8/day)—create pit (DC 18), false life, ghoul touch (DC 19), hideous laughter (DC 19), resist energy, scorching ray, spectral hand
1st (8/day)—charm person (DC 18), chill touch (DC 18), enlarge person (DC 17), grease, mage armor , magic missile, stone shield , vanish (DC 17)
Feels a little heavy on the touch spell and ray spells right now. Maybe Tattooed Sorcerer would be worth it so the familiar can deliver those in a pinch?
EDIT: Anyone know of good ways for familiar or Improved Familiar to safely deliver those? Fairy Dragon's greater invisibility is perfect, but not the ideal flavor.
There are a lot of good choices and they're in a very simple format.
Of course I'm looking at this situation pretty blindly so this isn't meant to be a jab at you, but maybe your player would have quite a bit of fun finding out which spells to take by him/herself? When I first started, my GM pointed me in the right direction and let me loose. I had a blast diving as deep as I wanted on my own but knew that I could still come to him with questions. But again, I'm an outside observer, and I could see many reasons why one wouldn't want to do that. :)
As for your original question:
0- Resistance, Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Daze, Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Jolt, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation
1- Shield, Protection from X, Stunning Barrier, Grease, Infernal Healing, Mage Armor, Mudball, Snowball, Unseen Servant, Detect Undead?, Charm Person, Hypnotism, Sleep, Magic Missile, Color Spray, Shadow Trap, Silent Image, Vanish, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Enlarge/Reduce Person, Snapdragon Fireworks, Touch of Gracelessness
This is an ok start, but if I get a moment, I'll post some more.
You forgot read magic on the cantrip list, you need it to use scrolls you find (well I think there was some skill check that works too, but you may as well have it), you don't really need 3 1d3 damage ranged touch attacks so ditch one of them.
You should really try to get Blindness/Deafness in there. It's not touch or ranged either.
No, but it's also a fortitude save which a lot of big single targets have in spades, and this list has a lot of stuff targeting that save already. Plus, I've noticed more stuff with extra senses as you level up. So I have mixed feelings on it.
Blindness shuts down spellcasters who rarely have good fortitude saves.
Why not Bestow Curse, coupled with Spectral Hand and/or Reach Spell? Pick it as your spell for the Magical Lineage trait and you have a close spell that can permanently debuff enemies. And it stacks with itself for multiple iterations - first the -4 to saves, then the -6 to an ability score (save-related, of course), then top it off with a "lose 50% of your actions curse and then toss out blindness.
Also, don't forget that dread gnomes can add +1 to the DC of necromancy spells instead of illusions. That's +3 after Spell Focus/Greater Spell Focus.
Will this work 100% of the time? Of course not. Will monsters make the saves? Sometimes. But when it works, it is glorious.
Your list is pretty heavy on single target control. Given the Undead arcana, you might consider Confusion in place of Terrible Remorse. It's strong against clusters or enemies and single targets if you can cast before the melee close. Also consider Enervate in the level 4 slot. It's a strong answer to a lot of problems and a true staple of the necromancy school.
You're also light on some lower level utility. A lot of that may be covered by other party members, so specifics can vary, but as a sorcerer you don't need a spell targeting each saev at each spell level. You need them when that level is your primary or even secondary tier, but by level nine you want to be using 1st and 2nd level slots on defenses and utility.
Ghoul Touch is tough to use effectively and does target Fort. If you want to keep offense there, take blindness deafness as others point out. Alternately, grab invisibility; vanish is a decent back up in 1st if you plan to only use it as an emergency get away. See invisibility or glitterdust are good alternatives here if vanish is good enough for you.
I'd probably drop spectral hand and just buy a rod of reach spell or actually learn the metamagic. Spending on your adventure, monkeyfish or levitate may be useful for navigating certain terrain hazards. Levitate will also double for a poor man's fly until you get a free level 3 slot (your choices there are really strong already.)
Lot's of good input here, and I was moving in a lot of those directions via reading this guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17S3pYy0wk8uUTJ3RFaIDk5vz29WYmOXuhWiOKHO 2E_M/edit
Agreed on Spectral Hand. The character will take Craft Rod and load up on metamagic options to use on the fly. (I house ruled sorcerers can use rods the same way wizards can as a standard action, since both modify the spell on the spot.)
Currently, the player is more interested in the Sanguine Arcana for an additional +1 caster level, nabbing 4 more HD worth of undead minions. (Turns out they really liked the minions aspect.) We haven't actually fought any corporeal undead so far, so that might be a good call. More of an aberration and humanoid based adventure.
Enervate does seem baller, but I don't have a ton of experience with negative levels, and so I didn't relish the idea of trying to explain that to a new player or constantly recalculating my encounter stat blocks.
I dig Ghoul Touch with a reach rod as a way to SoL one enemy and potentially cripple more, but I could be persuaded to drop it.
Here is the 2.0 spell selection, and below I'll include feats too.
4th (5/day)—animate dead, boneshatter (DC 21), terrible remorse (DC 20)
3rd (7/day)—aqueous orb (DC 19), haste, ray of exhaustion (DC 20), slow (DC 19), stinking cloud (DC 19), vampiric touch
2nd (8/day)—create pitAPG (DC 18), false life, ghoul touch (DC 19), glitterdust (DC 18), levitate, minor image (DC 18)
1st (8/day)—charm person (DC 17), chill touch (DC 18), enlarge person (DC 17), floating disk, grease, mage armor, magic missile, vanish
Feats:
Combat Casting
Craft Rod
Improved Initiative
Iron Will
Piercing Spell
Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Varisian Tattoo (Necromancy
Tattooed Sorcerer, with Improved Initiative, Greensting Scorpion, and Reactionary for +13 to initiative.