The goal of this character concept is to create a character who is moderately competent at as many character roles as possible, including but not limited to the big four (cleric, fighter, wizard, and rogue). The general idea is for the character to be able to switch roles with as little notice as possible. The intended campaign is a non-PFS game in which all Paizo material is allowed, along with some 3rd party material on a case by case basis. For simplicity, I will ignore all 3rd party material in this thread.
Class: Medium, with the Spirit Dancer archetype. This archetype eliminates location dependence for the initial daily séance and has the added benefit of permitting roles to be switched after a minute rather than an entire night of rest. Its major weakness is that Spirit Dance is a limited resource, so the character needs to be able to function much of the time without manifesting any of his spirits.
Race: The best favored class bonus is that of the Halfling race. The Half-Elf race is the only race that provides access to the very useful Paragon Surge spell as well as an alternate racial trait that grants access to some decent martial weapons. So it looks like I will be playing a Half-Elf with the Racial Heritage (Halfling) feat.
Alternate Racial Traits: Since this character will be a single classed Medium, Multitalented should be replaced. Fey Thoughts (from Heroes of the Wild) looks like a good option, as it adds a choice of two class skills. Excluding those skills that are already class skills for the Medium, my choices are any two of Acrobatics, Climb, Disguise, Escape Artist, Knowledge (nature), Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Swim. Replacing Adaptability (the free Skill Focus feat) with Weapon Familiarity (from Inner Sea Races) grants proficiency with some decent basic weapons in easier fights where I might not want to waste rounds of Spirit Dance for proficiency and extra bonuses. The other standard racial traits do not need replacement.
Ability Scores: We will most likely use a 15 or 20 point buy. For a 15 point buy, the stats would be as follows:
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 9
Wis 8
Cha 15 (including +2 racial bonus)
For a 20 point buy, the stats would be as follows:
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 16 (including +2 racial bonus)
Int 10
Wis 8
Cha 15
A Charisma score of 15 is required for two reasons:
1) This character needs to have at least 4 rounds of Spirit Dance available at 1st level to ensure full benefit from incurring a point of influence to regain spent rounds, and
2) Putting all points into charisma at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter is required to ensure that the character can cast 9th level spells at 17th level (when the Legendary Archmage ability is gained).
Traits: Because it can be donned and removed so quickly (thereby enabling quick access to Sorcerer spells via an Archmage spirit), the Armored Coat is an ideal initial choice of armor. I would select the Jacket Training combat trait to let that armor be treated as light armor along with one of the traits that turns Disable Device into a class skill – most likely the Regional (Urban) trait Vagabond Child. Taking a regional trait for this purpose seems to be the safest option, as many other regional options (to be selected with the later Additional Traits feat, perhaps) could be ruled out by whatever backstory I come up with for this character.
Feats: I have already committed myself to taking Racial Heritage (Halfling) as my initial feat. Other feats to consider would include the following:
Planned:
Toughness: If I am going to channel the Champion spirit from the front line, I need all the help I can get in terms of hit points. Those extra hit points at 1st level could make enough difference for me to consider taking the Toughness feat at 1st level postponing Racial Heritage (Halfling) until 3rd level.
Recruits: In case I don’t have something covered personally, this feat enables me to bring in an expert with the appropriate skills (albeit at 4 levels behind the party). This feat is available at 5th level.
Barroom Brawler: This feat requires a BAB of +4 and thus can be selected at 7th level. It grants for one minute any single combat feat that the character qualifies for, chosen on the spot.
Legendary Influence: The options provided by this feat are basically daily choices since a Spirit Dancer cannot simply take all of them – in fact, he can select no more than three options each day even after he gains Propitiation at 9th level. At 9th level or higher, I can select two options and then undergo the Propitiation ritual to reduce total incurred influence to 2, thereby avoiding the Influence penalty when in a Spirit Dance. Ideas for the feats associated with each legendary spirit are as follows:
Archmage: Arcane Armor Training
Champion: Spirit Focus (Champion)
Guardian: Shield Focus
Hierophant: Selective Channeling
Marshal: Persuasive
Trickster: Deft Hands
Later Options:
Additional Traits: For whenever I get to the point that I can find two very useful traits that I can take but haven’t taken. It is the most flexible way to gain additional class skills.
Cosmopolitan: Yet another way to gain additional class skills.
Improved Legendary Influence: This feat is less useful for a Spirit Dancer than for a standard Medium, as I could only ever get one bonus feat from it each day. I would consider it only if I find myself wanting to use a feat that has one of my Legendary Influence feats as a prerequisite (for example, Arcane Armor Mastery for the Archmage spirit). Alternatively, it is possible that by the point I get to considering this feat I will be specializing in a single party role and thus I might retrain Legendary Influence for the derived feat that I would be using most often and then taking whatever feat it is a prerequisite for directly.
Spells: A few spells will prove useful for versatility:
Aram Zey’s Focus: This 2nd level sorcerer spell grants Trapfinding, so from 4th level on I could gain that class feature for the expenditure of only a single round of Spirit Dance (Archmage) plus one minute of the spell’s duration as I wait for the post-dance penalties to wear off.
Paragon Surge: This versatile spell was the main reason for selecting Half-Elf as a race. It is available to clerics, sorcerers, and mediums as a 3rd level spell, meaning that I can gain its effects via Spirit Dance starting at 7th level and as a standard Medium spell starting at 10th level. This spell grants for one minute per level any feat of my choice that the character qualifies for, chosen when the spell is cast for the first time each day.
Bestow Insight: This spell boosts skill checks by the character or any one of his allies. It is listed as a racial spell for humans, which works out because a half-elf counts as human for such purposes. It is available to clerics as a 3rd level spell and to sorcerers and mediums as a 2nd level spell, so I could select it as a Medium spell known at 7th level.
So – Is there anything major that I have overlooked in this plan?
3.5 has Chameleon.
/cevah