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I've written a guide to the Pathfinder Transmuter Wizard. I hope you will enjoy it.
You can find it here: Tarondor’s Guide to the Pathfinder Transmuter Wizard
One thing I noticed so far. A familiar's BAB isn't fixed forever. It's the same as its master - 'Use the master's base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes.'
Oddly enough I'm playing a wizard with a goat mauler familiar and spirit's gift at the mo. Wood element rather than transmutation, but I do plan some similar tactics later on.
Edit: with the mauler archetype, a tiny familiar would probably be a better call optimisation-wise. A fox gets the best strength possible, for example, or a flying fox for those who want wings on their pet.
About gnomes as transmuters, they do have this alternate racial trait available
Source Inner Sea Races pg. 211
Some gnomes develop practical magic to assist them with their obsessive projects. These gnomes add 1 to the DC of any saving throws against transmutation spells they cast. If their Intelligence score is 11 or higher, they also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, and unseen servant. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the gnome’s Intelligence modifier. This racial trait replaces gnome magic.
It doesn't prevent them taking the effortless trickery feat if they want to mess around with illusions, either.
Accomplished Sneak Attacker - it'd be nice if you could take this more than once, but there's nothing to indicate so.
Snowball just got nerfed. SR applies and it doesn't stagger.
I've found unseen servant handy in fights, largely because you can cast it well before and hand it some caltrops, or a smokestick, etc.
Snapdragon fireworks is one of those spells which is pointless normally but can carry nasty effects. Consider burning amplification or dazing spell.
Hidden presence is terrible. They have to fail a save for it to work - the great thing about invisibility is that it just works. You can't cast it in advance of seeing the enemy, the range is close, it affects few targets. Just no.
In general your games seem to be different from those I've played. In particular long range happens for me, as do bows.
Sorry - I should clarify that. I think you've done good work but first, there are some errors, second there are some points where I disagree, and last, we obviously play PF in some different ways.
Thanks, avr, I'll look into those, particularly the familiar BAB thing. This is the sort of feedback I was hoping for (and why it's version 1.0).
Yeah, I suppose we do play in different games. I've been a D&D/Pathfinder player for 40 years and I have had a bow fired at one of my characters maybe twice. And nearly every fight was at a range of 60' or less.
Have read the pdf, excepting spells, and I am confused at the color code for the opposition schools. Should we take or not take Abjuration as an opposition school?
-- david
Small note: arcane strike does not give a bonus to hit.
Great work, especially on the rather comprehensive spell listings. I know that the sheer number of spell options can get overwhelming at times, so kudos for going through them.
You might want to mention VMC Oracle (Battle) as an option for Eldritch Knight. It does make you extremely feat starved, but together with Prestigious Spellcaster it lets you get into EK without losing any caster level, which is a pretty nifty trick. I do think that Prestigious Spellcaster has largely obsoleted it as a stand-alone option, however, and if you're only taking one then you should go with the Prestigious Spellcaster feat.
Thanks for the constructive criticism, folks!
Papa-DRB: The intent is to show the better choices for oppositions schools. Do take the Blue/Green choices; beware of taking the Red/Orange choices.
Java Man: Did I do that? Oops. I'll fix it on the next version.
Cavernshark: I haven't received my copy of Ultimate Wilderness yet, but I'll check it out. When you say Battle Form, are you referring to the Battleshaping ability? That would be a blow, making Battleshaping useless.
Can you refer me to where Vine Strike was nerfed? I was just going by www.d20pfsrd.com
Dasrak: Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, going through all those spells (and saying something about each one) was unexpectedly daunting.
I purposefully avoided "Optional" rules like those in Pathfinder Unchained, so didn't mention VMC options.
Some more IMO stuff on spells.
Enervation is coasting on its reputation from earlier editions. Against an enemy who will last only a few rounds - think of it as a touch attack for 12.5 average damage against one enemy, with a -2.5 debuff. That's ~4d6 damage with the approx. equivalent of the shaken or sickened condition. Not much for a 4th level spell.
Enter image Is in many ways better for spying than clairvoyance. A standard action rather than a 10 minute casting time, though some setup (slippling a sketch under the door, tying it to a bit of wood & throwing it, tying it to an arrow and shooting it) may be required. Majestic image is enter image with a greater range and options like painting it on a ship's sail for use in intimidation.
Share language can be helpful when you have zero diplomacy and the cavalier has +14. Or when you're arranging for everyone in the party to speak some obscure language like Ignan so you can plan without being overheard. 24 hours duration makes it better than codespeak there.
Burning gaze - see my bit on snapdragon fireworks above. Likewise boiling blood.
2nd level cold spells benefit from rime spell or chilling amplification similarly.
Aside from giving you an excuse to invest in the fly skill before you get a real flight spell, I don't see the value in air step.
& Snowball & vine strike were nerfed in Ultimate Wilderness.
Barrow haze is similar to blacklight - you can see thru it. As a spell introduced in PF rather than 3.5 it may be more acceptable to some purists, too.
Fascination is easily breakable but euphoric cloud can stop line of sight (helping preserve the fascinate) as well as inflicting the condition.
Small note: Shapechange needs a free action to change shape, not a swift action. Because it wasn't versatile enough as is.
Burning gaze - see my bit on snapdragon fireworks above. Likewise boiling blood.
2nd level cold spells benefit from rime spell or chilling amplification similarly.
When evaluating spells, I wanted to evaluate them on their own merits, not on what they could do when all tricked out with a certain feat, though I don't mind mentioning the tricking-out as an option.
& Snowball & vine strike were nerfed in Ultimate Wilderness.
That raises an interesting editorial question: Does a later-published version of a spell necessarily act as an erratum to the earlier-published version? For instance, does a PFS GM need to know that a spell valid on its face in one source was later altered in another source?
Nerfs to these two spells won't break my heart, but it does make them instantly forgettable (as I understand the specific alterations involved.)
Daedalus: Thanks for the catch.
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You rate Linguistics red. While it's true that you can get quite far with Intelligence-given languages and Comprehend Languages, it's not that rare to be asked to make Linguistics checks and it's a trained-only skill. I would make it an orange 1pt-recommended skill.
In your list of races for the transmogrifist you make much of racial features like toothy orcs, but most of those would disappear when polymorphing. It might set your readers on the wrong path there.
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& Snowball & vine strike were nerfed in Ultimate Wilderness.That raises an interesting editorial question: Does a later-published version of a spell necessarily act as an erratum to the earlier-published version? For instance, does a PFS GM need to know that a spell valid on its face in one source was later altered in another source?
I've been a thorn in the PFS leadership team's side for a while trying to get a default policy out of them, but haven't gottten one. Here's how I see it:
1) You have to own a source to use rules from it.
2) If something is listed as a legal source, then it's a legal source.
Therefore...
3) If it's published in a new book that you don't own, you can't use the new rules.
4) If you can't use the new rules, and the old source is still legal, you can still use the version from the old source.
4.1) If you own both and the old is still legal, you could still use the old. You're not punished for giving Paizo money.
However...
5) PFS can say you can't use the old source anymore. This is exceedingly rare. The only cases I can remember are 3.5 prestige classes (with quirky skill prerequisites) and trip arrows that rely on 3.5 combat maneuver rules, and the chained -> unchained summoner. The unchained summoner has 20 pages in Unchained so that would have been a bit much for the other thing PFS can do to invalidate an old source...
6) PFS can use the PFS Clarifications to update old sources to work just like the newer one. Owning the old source + wielding the Clarifications then suffices to use the item/ability. Examples include Fencing Grace and the Lorewarden.
A lot of people assume that new rules should automatically trump old rules, but that's not written down anywhere, and would contradict #1 and #2. There is a wide consensus among the VO corps that you won't be forced to buy new books to keep using your ability (avoid #5 if at all possible). So the end result is that PFS defaults to #4 and can use #6 if it feels pushing through the update is important.
Nerfs to these two spells won't break my heart, but it does make them instantly forgettable (as I understand the specific alterations involved.)
Snowball got three changes:
1) From Conjuration to Evocation; which is normal for direct damage spells.2) Now allows Spell Resistance: just like every other direct damage spell. It was far, far to good at damaging "magic immune" golems in ways that were never intended.
3) No longer risks staggering on a failed Fortitude save. This is a mixed blessing; undead are immune to any effect that allows a Fortitude save. Now they're subject to this spell normally.
All in all it's now a normal spell instead of an OP spell.
Vine Strike did indeed get nerfed into the ground.
Which begs for he question of which version to review?
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Which begs for he question of which version to review?
I hope and expect that the new and better-balanced Snowball will get Clarified over the old one in PFS. Vine Strike... meh. I never get around to using it with my investigator (who resembles the Transmogrifist build, but with Studied Combat/Mutagen/Monstrous Physique).
Dot
I'm working on some edits for version 1.1, but I'm waiting for my copy of Ultimate Wilderness before publishing it.
with the mauler archetype, a tiny familiar would probably be a better call optimisation-wise. A fox gets the best strength possible, for example, or a flying fox for those who want wings on their pet.
Please explain. A fox has a 9 strength (which is ridiculous!) and a goat has a 12 (also ridiculous). In what way is the fox better with the mauler archetype?
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with the mauler archetype, a tiny familiar would probably be a better call optimisation-wise. A fox gets the best strength possible, for example, or a flying fox for those who want wings on their pet.Please explain. A fox has a 9 strength (which is ridiculous!) and a goat has a 12 (also ridiculous). In what way is the fox better with the mauler archetype?
Because if you use polymorph on a creature that isn't small or medium, you first adjust it to the baseline, before adding the size modifiers for the power you're using.
If a polymorph spell is cast on a creature that is smaller than Small or larger than Medium, first adjust its ability scores to one of these two sizes using the following table before applying the bonuses granted by the polymorph spell.
I'm not going to try to force the table into the forum. In summary, a Tiny creature is first adjusted to Small (+4 Str, -2 Dex) before you apply the effects of the Mauler ability.
Which would give the fox a 13 STR, plus Mauler, plus polymorph. Is that significantly better than the goat's 12?
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It's slightly better. Also a gore only does P damage, a bite adds B & S types. The fox also has scent, a 40' move vs. the goat's 30', and 12 Wis instead of 11; a flying fox bat flies at 60', has scent and 14 Wis, though it will have 2 less Dex in mauler form. Also when not in mauler form, being tiny has advantages. The goat has no real advantages unless you really want the survival skill.
Looking at 3rd level spells the big thing which jumps out is that you rated the spell which features in the current most damaging spellcasting builds as red. Battering blast is OK without metamagic at higher levels, & with intensify spell and friends it beats disintegrate handily.
Accursed glare has a one round casting time which always makes me nervous. YMMV.
Fins to feet isn't for a pet porpoise, it's for a merfolk spellcaster.
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Why in the first section is Magical Lineage yellow and Wayang Spellhunter green?
Magical Lineage should be ranked as better than (or at most equal to) Wayang Spellhunter, since Magical Lineage has no limitation on the spell level (and has no wierd regional requirement).
Also:
You can swap out the familiar’s starting feats
This has never been stated anywhere in the rules. RAWs say actually the exact opposite:
A familiar is an animal chosen by a spellcaster to aid him in his study of magic. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but is now a magical beast for the purpose of effects that depend on its type. Only a normal, unmodified animal may become a familiar.
[...]
Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar’s kind, but with the following changes.
Hit Dice: ...
Hit Points: ...
Attacks: ...
Saving Throws: ...
Skills: ...
Feats are not included among the changes. Only feats specifically meant for familiars (Spell Sponge, Critical Conduit,...) can be swapped out, not any feat:
Feats that are meant for familiars can be switched out for a familiar’s default feats (as listed in the familiar’s statistics) if the familiar meets the prerequisites.
Not to mention that having a SLA does not count as having a caster level, but it only counts as being able to cast the spell emulated by the SLA for the purposes of feats calling out specifically for that spell. So, apart from fairy dragons who have an actual caster level, familiars would not qualify for Arcane Strike or crafting feats[FAQ].
To give feats to a familiar as per RAW, you would need the Spirit Binder archetype, or a dip into Beast Bonded Witch, which still require the familiar to qualify for the feats. If you want to give him combat feats he does not qualify for (but you do), you need a 2 levels dip into Eldritch Guardian Fighter.
Furthermore, Mauler's Battleform ability is a polymorph effect according to Mark Seifter, the author of the archetype, so it shouldn't stack with spells. For this reason, I would give more importance to the Figment archetype, which makes your familiar practically immortal (albeit with less hp), and enables you to use both polymorph spells and evolutions.
It's slightly better. Also a gore only does P damage, a bite adds B & S types. The fox also has scent, a 40' move vs. the goat's 30', and 12 Wis instead of 11; a flying fox bat flies at 60', has scent and 14 Wis, though it will have 2 less Dex in mauler form. Also when not in mauler form, being tiny has advantages. The goat has no real advantages unless you really want the survival skill.
Thanks for the advice. I'll look into it for the next version.
Looking at 3rd level spells the big thing which jumps out is that you rated the spell which features in the current most damaging spellcasting builds as red. Battering blast is OK without metamagic at higher levels, & with intensify spell and friends it beats disintegrate handily.
As written and unmodified by feats, I still think it's a pretty poor spell. Can you educate me some more on what makes Battering Blast better than I think? It looks like minor damage and a bull rush (something I've never found to be an exciting option.)
Accursed glare has a one round casting time which always makes me nervous. YMMV.
Yeah, I might have missed the casting time. That would reduce it a step in most cases.
Fins to feet isn't for a pet porpoise, it's for a merfolk spellcaster.
Sure, but I think the very rare player of a merfolk caster would spot that, no? I'm rating things for the general reader.
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Boon Companion - Your familiar is treated as if you were four levels higher. Pretty great way to get cool abilities earlier.
It does not really work like this. Your familiar does not get abilities earlier compared to another full-level Wizard:
The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level equal to your character level.
So it's actually useful only if you multiclass, since it compensates for at most 4 levels of multiclassing. For example, is good if you dipped only a single level into Wizard and you wanted to unlock Mauler's abilities until 5th level.
Why in the first section is Magical Lineage yellow and Wayang Spellhunter green?
No idea. It's a big guide. There's bound to be some inconsistencies. But thanks for pointing it out. I'll fix that.
Magical Lineage should be ranked as better than (or at most equal to) Wayang Spellhunter, since Magical Lineage has no limitation on the spell level (and has no wierd regional requirement).
You know, I never noticed the level limit on Wayang Spellhunter before!
Also:
You can swap out the familiar’s starting featsThis has never been stated anywhere in the rules. RAWs say actually the exact opposite:
Hmmm... Well that stinks. I'll look into for the next version.
Furthermore, Mauler's Battleform ability is a polymorph effect according to Mark Seifter, the author of the archetype,
Well, that alone wouldn't move me. RAI is not a good basis for a rules guide. However, the polymorph thing was made explicit in Ultimate Wilderness, so I'll be amending it in the next version.
For this reason, I would give more importance to the Figment archetype, which makes your familiar practically immortal (albeit with less hp), and enables you to use both polymorph spells and evolutions.
I'll take another look. I recall disliking Figment, but not why.
Boon Companion - Your familiar is treated as if you were four levels higher. Pretty great way to get cool abilities earlier.It does not really work like this:
The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level equal to your character level.So it's actually useful only if you multiclass.
Yep, you're right. I was thinking like a Ranger. I don't think I've ever actually played a character with a familiar, so I believe that's the shakiest part my knowledge of my own guide. Thanks for the catch.
As written and unmodified by feats, I still think it's a pretty poor spell. Can you educate me some more on what makes Battering Blast better than I think? It looks like minor damage and a bull rush (something I've never found to be an exciting option.
You hurl a fist-sized ball of force resembling a sphere of spikes to ram a designated creature or object. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike your target. On a successful hit, you deal 1d6 points of force damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d6). For every 5 caster levels you possess beyond 5th, you gain a second ball of force.
As a 5th level wizard it sucks. You do 2d6 force damage; forgettable.
As a 10th level wizard it's OK. 2 attacks, each does 5d6 force. That's 1d6 per level now and most importantly force damage is almost never resisted. With 2 attacks hitting the same opponent you have a good chance of bull rushing them, and if so they need to make a reflex save or fall prone.At 15th level & 20th level it bumps back up to 1d6 per level after falling off a little in the levels between, and the chance of bull rush/knocking prone goes up.
Basically the damage is OK (not great) from 10th level and touch attacks are more likely to succeed than saves are to fail in my experience. The bull rush/fall prone bit is a minor boost but it becomes more likely at higher levels too.
As a 3rd level spell metamagic rods which can affect battering blast are cheap.
On 4th level spells, which is as high as I'll go:
Controlled fireball is almost a fireball with selective spell, but with no actual feat required. The intention is obviously the deniable terrorism bit but adventurers will find other uses for the spell.
For dreadscape, the scared condition is something introduced in Horror Adventures. Otherwise I agree with you on it.
Quieting blades isn't intended for a big combat I think, more like an assassination or taking out a guard or two while infiltrating.
Between shadowform and shadow conjuration that spell should probably be shadow barbs.
Lesser simulacrum is crippled by its duration. An hour to cast, 1 hour/level and no magic abilities make it little use for combat and none as a companion, assistant or guard. It may be of some use in deception though.
So given what I've learned here about familiars, I'm wondering if a Transmuter focusing on polymorphing his familiar (a Puppet Master) is actually better off NOT getting an improved familiar. A strong mauler familiar seems like a better chassis for a polymorphed beast shape form.
Anyone disagree?
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So given what I've learned here about familiars, I'm wondering if a Transmuter focusing on polymorphing his familiar (a Puppet Master) is actually better off NOT getting an improved familiar. A strong mauler familiar seems like a better chassis for a polymorphed beast shape form.
Anyone disagree?
Battle Form was errata'd to be a polymorph effect, which makes sense. The increased strength by level is still worth considering, but improved familiars do just as well for a while.
The best route is the old version of Diabolist, for those that can get their GM to approve it. The imp gets animal companion scaling, a belt slot, and still has share spells as a familiar would.
I'm looking for options that are canon within the Pathfinder rules.
Your Monstrous Physique part should really mention the Euryale. Weapon wielding plus six (10' reach) snake bites, and the poison is absolutely nuts once you use MP III - it does both Dex and Con damage, gives sonic vulnerability (whatever) and requires 3 consecutive saves if they fail the first one, so they're probably going to eat 6d4 to two stats if you just bite them and slither away.
^Euryale: CR 20, XP 307,200: Something seems intuitively wrong that Monstrous Physique III would let you get this . . . .
Thanks for the catch. I'll take a look.
^Euryale: CR 20, XP 307,200: Something seems intuitively wrong that Monstrous Physique III would let you get this . . . .
It’s more defensible than the Green Man, Yig, or Grendel arguments.
That monster is nuts. Another one for the House Rule pile!
I think if Paizo ever does a review of these spells, they might profitably place a CR limit on the form assumed (like "no more than your own caster level +5" or something like that.)
If Paizo ever places a limit it'd be something like no monsters with more CR (or perhaps HD) than your caster level. Or no more than the spell level. They don't nerf with a light hand.
I finally got to start reading on a real computer instead of a phone -- good thing I waited, because this guide is Gargantuan. Monster amount of work there.
Proofreading note in the Table of Contents: You have "8th-Level Sorcerer/Wizard Spells" but just "Wizard Spells" for the other levels. Probably same deal in the actual section headings, but I haven't gotten there yet.
Also, "Puppetmaster" could also refer to a Magus archetype that is supposed to work for playing others as puppets, which could be confusing. Although Pathfinder RPG itself already has multiple classes and archetypes with mutual confusion of names (Occultist Arcanist and Occultist base class come to mind, and the release dates of these were not even all that far off from each other . . .).
For Ability Scores, you have "Method#3: Dexterity>Constitution>Intelligence>Wisdom>Charisma>Strength ", but then you have the Method #3 Example with Intelligence > Constitution. I suspect that the latter is what you really want.
Also, I would not Rate Power Attack anywhere near Blue. Not only will you only get half as much out of it as a full BAB character(*), but you will need every bit of accuracy you can get, and can't afford to sacrifice any.
(*)Somewhat more if you go Eldritch Knight.
Oops, Edit timer expired:
Also, rate Polymorphic Pouch higher -- unless you have Eschew Materials, you are going to want to be able to get at your spell components when polymorphed.
Popobala: CR 15, XP 51,200 -- something seems intuitively wrong about being able to get this with Monstrous Physique I. I suppose you could argue that since Monstrous Physique I (or even later) doesn't actually give you all those abilities, it's mostly balanced, and good for the scare factor. Just keep in mind that it could also be bad for the scare factor -- the locals see you do this, and they think your whole party is in league with the Popobala that has been terrorizing them. Then the real Popobala gets wind of this and shows up, outraged with jealousy . . . .
Arcane Discovery Opposition Research: Should get earlier mention.
Muscle Wizard Build, 11th level: I think you meant cast Transformation, not Transmutation.
Also, I forgot to mention Hellknight Signifer as another prestige class that can get you a bit above 1/2 BAB, although you do have to commit to Arcane Armor Training.
Puppetmaster still says that Familiar's BAB never increases.
Boosting armor is good: Mirror image is better. Consider symbol of mirroring (permanent).
Wand of Cheetah Sprint, Expeditios retreat >> horseshoes of speed.
Crystal balls: Blow. Red. They are too expensive. There are gloves at 1/10 the cost - not to mention step into image spells, majestic image.
Enlarge Person is no good for a finesse build due to loss of dex.
Considering Familiars (Improved).
The ability to buff is huge: as such staples such as sprites, lyrakien azatas etc. Cannot. be overstated.
the best, however, is ratling, especially for puppetmaster. Combine with mnemonic vestments. However, not PFS legal.
Interesting to note that poison using can be boosted via human eye for talent. Also note that if you polymorph into a a form with poison the dc is boosted to dc of the spell. Which requires an entire reanalysis of poison builds.
Traits: Balanced Education? Considering that you could have Wayang, Find your kin, Magical Lineage, Eastern Mysteries, Outlander, Find your kin? No way.
Perception. Blue. Always keep this maximized. You are inconsistent btw - when you later put a feat that gives +4 perception you rate it blue.
Magic Item. Consider a Lore Needle.
There was a pfs blog entry IIRC that said that tiny familiars can get the benefit of weapon finess and so can swap out the feat.
As previously mentioned - you're not using boon companion correctly. As I recall there are only two ways to get familiar level > character level. Robes of Arcane Heritage: Arcane. I forget the other.
Windy escape single handedly makes slyphs blue, for a transmogrify build.
Emergency Force Sphere is mandatory for any wizard. Defending bone is a good choice.
Callback. Red. No way.
GreatCallBack. Greater Red.
Baleful Polymorph: Meh.
Vanish.
Duplicate Familiar: Mandatory in any puppetmaster build.
Spells to consider: Tons of druid/paladin/ranger 1/2 level spells. Barkskin, magic fang, strongjaw, lockjaw, longstrider.
Edit doesn't work for some reason even though the Edit timer isn't up yet:
- Level 1 or 3: Nature Soul
Level 5 (or 4 if you do retraining Shenanigans): Animal Ally
Level 7 (or 5 if you did retraining Shenanigans to get Animal Ally early): Boon Companion
Now you have an Animal Companion who you make your combat pet, and whose Hit Dice, Base Attack Bonus(*), and Feats all scale, while you either have a Familiar that does things that Familiars are better suited for, or a Bonded Object. The Animal Companion advances no matter what crazy multiclassing you do, so go ahead and be an Arcane Archer, Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, or Hellknight Signifer.
(*)Slightly better than yours, and thus slightly better than that of a Familiar.
Non-Wizard alternative to this (add to your section of other non-Wizard alternatives): Sylvan Sorcerer (saves you the Nature Soul and Animal Ally feats).
By the way, I would give Evolved Familiar a bump up in rating, especially for when your Familiar ISN'T in combat. Skill Monkey, anyone?
Error in Reach Warlock Build (#2): Eldritch Heritage (Aberrant) requires Skill Focus (Knowledge (Dungeoneering)).
Archetypes for Warlocks: You need to distinguish between 2 very different Pact Wizard archetypes (neither one is a buff or nerf of the other). Since you mention an extra Opposition School, I think you are talking about the Pact Wizard archetype from the Familiar Folio. A Pact Wizard archetype from Haunted Heroes also exists that doesn't give you an extra Opposition School, but does replace Scribe Scroll, and is unfortunately not PFS-legal.
I stopped (for now) at Spells for the Transmuter, since I have to go to work tomorrow.
You left off the Figment archtype. The ability to be evolved can be useful on a puppetmaster build.
The valet archetype lets shares his masters teamwork feats. As such there are entire builds built on this concept.
Dodge. RED. RED. RED. I can't emphasize how red this is. Spending a feat to get +1 AC, when you can get a spell to do much, much better?
Same way don't spend a feat to gain a 1/day use. You have way more important things to do with your feats.
Should give a mention to metamagic gems.
Consider:
Mauler's Endurance for puppetmaster builds.
Shield Companion
Dupicate Familiar
Polymorph Familiar
Familiar Image (even better than magic image!!)
Defeniding bone.
Multimorph.. Meh. How many times are you really going to change forms that can't be solved by recasting. Better off nap stacking 9 times out of 10.
Stone Skin: Very expensive.
I don't understand your range warlock spell choices, since you are doing very little to boost the save DC's. If you're not boosting the save DC's then chance of a wasted action is too high. Buff, instead.
Golden Maxims:
Try to have something that targets each save. But remember at low level will save is the most successful. At high levels, 10+ reflex.
And always have a conjuration spell that doesn't require SR penetration.
If you like folding plate (I don't) you might like the donning property.
Improved nat armor. Yellow/Red. Not worth a feat.
Multi-attack. I don't believe this is PFS legal.
There are a lot of 1 level spells not on your list that you can umd. Longstrider, strongjaw, lockjaw, magic weapon, longstrider.
Scrollmaster archetype. No. Just no. The only use of this is to be able to use scrolls as shields and short swords. 10 levels of an addled build is not worth the capstone!
Race: Samsaran - the ability to have out of class spells on your spell list make this blue.
Detect secret doors? If you know where the door is - why don't you just maximize your perception and take 20?
At a lot of tables, liberating command is not going to work if you're grappled. Better off with grease, in wrist sheaths, until you get the talisman of freedom of movement for 900 gp.
Anything that requires a touch attack AND a saving throw SUCKS. (touch of gracelessness) Not to mention SR and a lot of immune types. No Whey.
More cheese. Touch of Idiocy.
Glitterdust is nerfed from 3.5 You're better off with see invis and a bag of flour.
Admonishing ray - yellow. The list of things immune to non-lethal damage is huge.
Ice slick: the purpose of this spell, like grease, is to enable the rogue to get sneak damage when they are denied dex. Yellow if you have a rogue.
Full pouch. Great spell, probably better on a wand, used to duplicate alchemy items with costs over 91 gp.
Glide: Cheetah sprint will let you jump a 50 feet in the air. Useful for catching flyers before you can fly. Glide will then give you great movement. Still red. Worth noting.
Dispel Magic. Better for a cleric. On a scroll.
Ice spears: stacks with spells that leave ice on the ground....
Fireball: Iconic but meh, unless you're dazing. You're not a blaster. Ignore.
Skin Send: DR/10. plus construct traits? Yes please! Stick your body in a rope trick.
Paragon surge: Nerfed. But also you can take with other races with proper feat/trait selection.
Still, nicely done. But I think you should give credit to the polymorph guide.
Thank you for the edit suggestions. I'll go through them one by one and consider each. I appreciate the line editing as well as the substantive opinions.
Perfect Tommy: You have quite a few opinions contrary to mine. In some places you have given reasons for your disagreement, which is helpful. I haven't used every single spell or tried every combination and am always willing to consider an opposing position. But when you just say a certain feat or spell should be rated differently, it doesn't help me to understand why you think so.
I should note that not only do I read every word and consider whether it changes my opinion, but also my opinion has in fact been changed by many of the comments I've read.
I do know that I need to re-do the familiar section. I'm working on it. The currently-published guide is the unchanged original. When I've completely digested and re-thought what I've read, I'll publish a new updated version. Probably in a few days time.
Finally, I need to comment on this:
But I think you should give credit to the polymorph guide.
Giving credit where it is due is very important to me. It's part of being intellectually honest. I believe that I have credited every resource I used. See the last page of my guide. If it appears I missed giving credit to a resource I used, please indicate which one with more specificity and I will correct it.
I finally got to start reading on a real computer instead of a phone -- good thing I waited, because this guide is Gargantuan. Monster amount of work there.
Proofreading note in the Table of Contents: You have "8th-Level Sorcerer/Wizard Spells" but just "Wizard Spells" for the other levels. Probably same deal in the actual section headings, but I haven't gotten there yet.
Also, "Puppetmaster" could also refer to a Magus archetype that is supposed to work for playing others as puppets, which could be confusing. Although Pathfinder RPG itself already has multiple classes and archetypes with mutual confusion of names (Occultist Arcanist and Occultist base class come to mind, and the release dates of these were not even all that far off from each other . . .).
For Ability Scores, you have "Method#3: Dexterity>Constitution>Intelligence>Wisdom>Charisma>Strength ", but then you have the Method #3 Example with Intelligence > Constitution. I suspect that the latter is what you really want.
Also, I would not Rate Power Attack anywhere near Blue. Not only will you only get half as much out of it as a full BAB character(*), but you will need every bit of accuracy you can get, and can't afford to sacrifice any.
(*)Somewhat more if you go Eldritch Knight.
Agreed on all counts. Though I still rate Power Attack as blue for an Eldritch Knight. Note that my ratings are intended to convey that -at best- the rating is Blue. In the new version, I'm rating it Green/Blue and explaining.
Oops, Edit timer expired:
Also, rate Polymorphic Pouch higher -- unless you have Eschew Materials, you are going to want to be able to get at your spell components when polymorphed.
Will you, though? When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type (but not the monstrous humanoid, giant or undead type), all of your gear melds into your body. As an animal, elemental, magical beast, plant or vermin I'm not going to be casting spells. So really I only see the pouch as useful when you're casting form of the dragon.
Popobala: CR 15, XP 51,200 -- something seems intuitively wrong about being able to get this with Monstrous Physique I. I suppose you could argue that since Monstrous Physique I (or even later) doesn't actually give you all those abilities, it's mostly balanced, and good for the scare factor. Just keep in mind that it could also be bad for the scare factor -- the locals see you do this, and they think your whole party is in league with the Popobala that has been terrorizing them. Then the real Popobala gets wind of this and shows up, outraged with jealousy . . . .
No arguments there.
Arcane Discovery Opposition Research: Should get earlier mention.
Where, exactly? I mention it for Warlocks, but think that Master Transmogrifists and Puppet Masters will be using their feats in other ways.
Muscle Wizard Build, 11th level: I think you meant cast Transformation, not Transmutation.
Yup. Thanks.
Also, I forgot to mention Hellknight Signifer as another prestige class that can get you a bit above 1/2 BAB, although you do have to commit to Arcane Armor Training.
I'm not familiar with the class, but I'll look into it. Thanks.
Puppetmaster still says that Familiar's BAB never increases.
It'll change in the new version of the guide.