My daughter is about to join in to my RotR campaign, and is willing to jump into the badly needed niche of an arcane caster.
She doesn't want anything too crazy complicated, but she very badly wants to be a spellcaster who can still contribute in a fight with a sword. But she doesn't love the idea of a Magus.
She would be coming in at 6th level, and I was thinking about suggesting to her a Swashbuckler 1/Wizard 5, and then switching over to an Eldritch Knight at 7th level.
The idea would be she'd come in with a +1 Agile Rapier, and a high Dex. She wouldn't be able to stand toe-to-toe with the party's fighters, but she'd have (assuming a Dex of 18) a +8 to hit (+4 Dex, +1 weapon, +2 Wizard BAB, +1 Swashbuckler BAB) and do 1d8+4 damage with her rapier and (wielding a mithral buckler) give her an AC of 17 (+4 Dex, +1 Buckler, +1 Ring of Protection, +1 Amulet of Natural of Armor).
She could scribe scrolls or pick up a wand of Mage Armor, giving her a pretty acceptable AC overall for 6th level.
And it would give us a 5th level caster with access to 3rd level arcane spells.
It's not quite as strong a Gish as a Magus, I know. But do you think it will be competent?
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If you like the Dex-to-damage idea, I suggest:
1 Inspired Blade Swashbuckler / 5 Transmuter Wizard / X EK.
Inspired Blade synergizes really well with Wizard's high Int and lets you add Dex to damage with only one feat: Fencing Grace. Picking Transmutation as Arcane School gives you an extra slot for many useful spells and +2 Enhancement bonus to a stat (I'd go with Con, as you'll have items to enhance Dex). For stats and feats on a non-human I'd go (* = bonus feats):
Base stats: 10 16 12+2(Wizard) 16 10 8 (+2 to Dex if Human)
1 Weapon Finesse*, Weapon Focus(Rapier)*, Fencing Grace
2 Scribe Scrolls*
3 Possessed Hand
5 Favored Prestige Class
6 Crafting or metamagic feat, or Arcane Discovery (Knowledge is Power?)*
7 Power Attack (if she has at least 13 Str) or Piranha Strike (with an Effortless Lace applied to the rapier)*, Prestigious Spellcaster
A problem with Wizard-based EK is that she'll need to buy lots of scrolls to learn new spells after leveling as EK, as she won't get new ones automatically. One option that solves this problem could be a build based on Str and natural attacks with a combination of Sorcerer, Dragon Disciple and EK levels.
Overall, this character will be better than a Magus in terms of spells (she will be able to cast 9th level spells for example), but she won't shine in terms of raw damage as a Barbarian, nor in terms of spellcasting as a pure Wizard.
PS: Cheesy build just for fun. Maximize Str, get Power Attack, Weapon Specialization and a +1 Thundering Scythe. Pick 2 levels of Eldrtich Guardian Fighter as martial dip, and Spirit Whisperer Wizard; Get a Imp, Faerie Dragon or other intelligent/outsider improved familiar and give it Combat Expertise, Butterfly Sting, Two-Weapon Fighting and two +1 Keen Kukris (or get Improved Critical when the BAB is high enough). Every time the familiar scores a crit, it is passed to you as an automatic x4 crit with your Scythe.
It's not quite as strong a Gish as a Magus, I know. But do you think it will be competent?
The Eldritch Knight is different from the Magus. It's not going to get the same burst damage, but you get way better spellcasting out of it. This gives the two approaches a very different feel despite their thematic similarities. The one caveat with Eldritch Knight is that it is harder to play since its entire niche revolves around making efficient use of wizard spellcasting.
One alternative to the agile weapon is to go Elf or Half-Elf to qualify for Elven Battle Focus. Importantly, this approach does allow you to get 1.5x intelligence to damage when using two-handed finessable weapons, such as the Elven Curve Blade or the Elven Branched Spear. It is a bit feat intensive, requiring four feats in total to complete the feat chain, but for finesse-based Eldritch Knights I feel this is the strongest build currently.
Speaking of feats, the Prestigious Spellcaster feat is amazingly good for an Eldritch Knight. It does have a prerequisite, but two feats is well worth it to increase your effective wizard level for spellcasting by 1.
With regards to mage armor, it's better if cast from your own spell slots. It has a very long duration, and 1st level spell slots aren't a big hassle. It will usually last all day, so you don't need to prepare duplicates. A 1st level Pearl of Power would be a better investment than a wand of mage armor, as it would let her recover any expended 1st level spell slot.
Finally, a very important consideration for any wizard is specialization and opposition schools. The two schools that stand out are Teleportation (a subschool of Conjuration), or Transmutation. The Teleportation subschool gives you the shift ability, allowing for short-range teleportation several times per day. Ordinarily this ability ends your turn when you use it, but since it works like Dimension Door the Dimensional Agility feat will remove that restriction, giving an extremely good way to maneuver around the battlefield. The Transmutation subschool lets you boost one of your physical attributes; this doesn't stack with magical belts, but it does save money by letting you get away with a cheaper belt. Since this character will be very gear-intensive, cost savings are a big deal.
If you have any other questions, or would like a more detailed build, just ask.
Two levels of Eldritch Guardian Fighter gives you a familiar and the ability to share any combat feat you have with it, so you always have a flanking buddy if you have to fight. Fits the whole Eldritch Knight thing, too.
One level dip in Unbreakable Fighter gets you Endurance and Die Hard feats, for some survivability.
One level of Dragonheir scion Fighter gets you Arcane Strike and a draconic bloodline.
Three levels of Lore Warden Fighter gets you a 1/3 level bonus on critical confirmation, which would mesh well with the Eldritch Knight spell critical ability.
One level of Daring Champion Cavalier gets you Weapon Finesse with all light and one handed piercing weapons.
One level of Huntmaster Cavalier gets you an animal companion and proficiency with the whip, as well, if that's your thing.
One level in Mothers Fang Cavalier gets you a giant snake you can ride, combat expertise feat, and proficiency with two exotic weapons of your choice. If you stay for level two you get a bonus combat feat and a Vigilante social talent.
Lots of options to help her out without much investment. Depending on what sort of flair and flavor she wants to bring to the table.
Or take one level of Sohei Monk, for martial weapon proficiency, flurry of blows, improved unarmed strike, a bonus feat, and you can take the Kung Fun Genius feat at level 1 to convert all the Monk's wisdom stuff over to intelligence instead. Which means you can add your intelligence modifier and your your dex to AC with no armor on at all. And you can flurry with a rapier or whatever you want to use.
Kind of a creative way to gain proficiency with martial weapons.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
The party, as a whole, isn't highly optimized, so she doesn't have to be astonishing - she just needs to be competent. Between my initial thoughts and your suggestions, I think I can get her there.
I'm playing in a RotR campaign as a wizard, Books 4 and 5 will throw spellbooks around, so by then not gaining automatic spells per level won't be so painful. And other arcane items as well.
A problem with Wizard-based EK is that she'll need to buy lots of scrolls to learn new spells after leveling as EK, as she won't get new ones automatically.
That was my thought precisely. The party is already running around with Lyrie's spellbook and Caizarlu's. I figure there will be enough spellbooks and scrolls floating around that she won't feel the hurt of not getting those automatic spells per level too badly.
I personally suggest Human with 1 level of Sohei Monk and 6 level of Sorcerer with the Empyreal Wildblood archetype, make sorcerer your favored class and use the human bonus for those extra spells known, if you don't mind waiting until level 8 to pick up the 1st level of EK. The level of Sohie will grant the weapon proficiency needed to qualify for EK along with granting Improved Unarmed Strike and a monk bonus feat, i suggest Combat Reflexes, along with using wisdom and dexterity for armor class. Levels in Sorcerer would mean she wont need to worry about a spellbook or low cost spell components, thanks to Eschew Materials, and the archetype will make wisdom her main casting stat.
Suggested feats for the melee build would be: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Toughness, Extend Spell (out of combat buffs), False Focus (covers expensive spell components up to 100g)
Suggested traits would be Magical Knack (sorcerer), to take care of dead levels, and Reactionary for better initiative.
Suggested feats for the ranged/caster build would be: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus, Extend Spell (out of combat buffs), False Focus (covers expensive spell components up to 100g)
Suggested spells would be various buff spells to up AC, Stats, and To Hit. Also with very few go to damage spells with rider effects like Stone Call and Frost Fall.
I personally suggest Human with 1 level of Sohei Monk and 6 level of Sorcerer with the Empyreal Wildblood archetype, make sorcerer your favored class and use the human bonus for those extra spells known, if you don't mind waiting until level 8 to pick up the 1st level of EK. The level of Sohie will grant the weapon proficiency needed to qualify for EK along with granting Improved Unarmed Strike and a monk bonus feat, i suggest Combat Reflexes, along with using wisdom and dexterity for armor class. Levels in Sorcerer would mean she wont need to worry about a spellbook or low cost spell components, thanks to Eschew Materials, and the archetype will make wisdom her main casting stat.
Suggested feats for the melee build would be: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Toughness, Extend Spell (out of combat buffs), False Focus (covers expensive spell components up to 100g)
Suggested traits would be Magical Knack (sorcerer), to take care of dead levels, and Reactionary for better initiative.
Suggested feats for the ranged/caster build would be: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus, Extend Spell (out of combat buffs), False Focus (covers expensive spell components up to 100g)
Suggested spells would be various buff spells to up AC, Stats, and To Hit. Also with very few go to damage spells with rider effects like Stone Call and Frost Fall.
She very specifically wants to be a caster with a spellbook. She likes the idea of being able to uncover new magics as the party uncovers the secrets of the ancient Thassilonians.