Hey guys. One of my groups is going to be starting Hell's Vengeance soon, and one of the players is looking for some ideas on a character build. Essentially, he wants to build something along the lines of a Palpatine or Lex Luthor type of character that does a masterful job of screwing everyone they come up against but without getting his hands dirty. Someone people will root for and follow, not realizing just how evil they actually are.
I'm tempted to suggest a bard or witch of some kind (something that could do both would actually be cool, too), something that has a lot of utility, but they'd like something that can actually do some real damage if they are pushed into it, kind of like Palpatine when he just decimated the Jedi Masters in Episode 3. It doesn't have to be a melee character like that, just something that reserves his true capabilities (even with the party) and uses everyone to do his dirty work. I think they are considering damnation feats so they won't detect as evil, thus ramping the RP mastermind elements.
I have a few days to stew on this, but I'd love to hear any solid ideas that anyone might have. The only stipulation our GM has given us is that our characters have to be evil.
Mesmerist is a class which seems to attract would-be evil masterminds. It's not perfect for real damage but it's OK for a bit of melee.
Being a Diplomancer (high diplomacy skill value) will get your "keep my own hands clean" bit. Find a caster class that high Cha is good: Sorcerer or Oracle are two good ones. Witch and Wizard if you can get Diplomacy based on Int via a trait. You cen get others to do your will just by talking to them.
If your GM allows the Leadership feat, take it. This will get you a cohort and minions. Otherwise, you need to be charming or use enchantments to cause others to do your will. At high levels, use Planar Ally or Planar Binding to get a shapeshifting outsider to work for you. [Succubi are great for this!
Another important consideration: plausible deniability. Initially, grab a Hat of Disguise (or at least the Sleeves of Many Garments) to appear different for when you are doing stuff you don't want others to know you do. At mid levels, the Greater Hat of Disguise is good.
You can use your spells to charm and dominate others, as well as to make illusions to obscure the truth behind what you do.
If you go for a martial as opposed to a caster, the ninja makes good use of charisma, and can do a fair amount of damage. With the Vanish and Invisible Blade, you can do a lot of stuff that others won't see. The URogue might also work, but I don't know the class well. Ninjas also have other mystical abilities (i.e. their tricks) that let them do great stuff.
/cevah
I'm really digging a lot of these idea. What I'm really thinking of suggesting is a Samsaran False Priest. I rolled a Samsaran Shaman in Curse of the Crimson Throne, and she was awesome after she got a couple of levels on her.
Basically, spin the class to be an actual believer of a pious religion, taking the celestial bloodline (maybe wildblooded)and using Mystic Past Life to take some other useful abilities, like Cure Light Wounds, remove curse, etc. Bloodline gives me bless, which helps give the illusion of being an archetype of cleric. Spells that are sorcerer spells could always be claimed to be my past life spells, even though they aren't. Essentially, this would allow the character to just BS his way through until he actually needs to demonstrate his real power.
It could be fun to even keep the rest of the party from knowing what the character actually is as well. Shape this with damnation feats to avoid being detected as evil, and shape out diplomacy, disguise or boost knowledge religion with traits.
When I read your post I immediately thought: Eldritch Scoundrel.
The rogue gets soo many feats. it feels like it can basically do anything out of combat that it wants. Add to this 6th level spell casting and you have a really versatile character that can basically do whatever he feels like doing.
Add to this characters power by doing Variant Multiclassing into Magus and your damage will become ludicrous. Particularly beyond level 11, however If you take prescient attack arcana to always get sneak attack against enemies.
As far as suggestions for RP, when I make evil masterminds I generally model their character after one of the 7 deadly sins.
Best of luck!