Elf Sorcerer


Advice


Ok, I'm pretty sure that I'm finished with my drow cleric. Any further adjustments can be made when I actually get him into a game. Now I'm moving on to the next member of the family - the elf.

Since I was looking at some basic party composition to come up with classes, I decided to go with a sorcerer for the elf. I found an archetype that gives trapfinding - the seeker. I'd like to go with that, unless there's another arcane caster that gets the feature.

I'm not sure what bloodline to go with. Although the Orc bloodline would be thematic, especially with the homebrew elf-orc race I have.


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Elf
... Illustrious Urbanite replaces Keen Senses
... Overwhelming Magic replaces Elven Magic and Weapon Familiarity

This gets you Spell Focus, TWICE, to start the game with. I don't really know what better way to start a career as a Sorcerer... you don't even need to meet the Intelligence prerequisite. Which is rad, but I would have as high as Intelligence as possible for skills and your 19 levels of Arcanist. Lol.

Tattooed Sorcerer gets you Varisian Tattoo.

Then, you obviously go School Savant Arcanist with the Bloodline Development Exploit (at level 6, Arcanist 5)...


Elf
... Crossbow Training replaces Weapon Familiarity

Eldritch Scrapper Sorcerer with the Fey Bloodline, using a Mage's Crossbow?

Use the Bloodline Feats at 7 and 13 for Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot... you can pick them up sooner and retrain to whatever at those levels, if you want. Martial Flexibility will help with everything else combat related.


The seeker sorcerer pairs naturally with the shadow bloodline IMO. Hide in plain sight, stealth as a class skill and the ability to deal with magical traps is how to out-rogue a rogue.

Or if you're not going to sneak around, perception as a class skill saves you a trait and pairs with trapfinding. Solar's a decent bloodline with perception as a class skill. Or you can go for a bloodline with good bloodline spells which are used to attack, since seeker gives +4 to concentration & penetrating SR with bloodline spells - fey, accursed, infernal, maybe aquatic.

Edit: The orc bloodline on an elf seeker sorcerer is possible but not amazing. The damage bonus and darkvision are nice but the bonus to concentration/spell pen. is mostly wasted, the L9 orc Str bonus is entirely wasted, the bloodline bonus feats are terrible for you and the bonus spells are poor. I guess the L9 power and bonus feats, & maybe the L1 power are fodder for bloodline mutations but there's a limited number of those...

Edit 2: For an elf actually the best bloodline is probably wildblooded sage. It's compatible with seeker.


Urgh, why do full spellcasters have such low skill-ranks per level? It's one thing for the Int-based ones but it really hurts clerics and sorcerers.

Getting Spell Focus twice as bonus feats is good, even with giving up Keen Senses.

Solar looks pretty decent. Perception as a class skill is always good and getting to remove conditions as an arcane caster at level 9? Sounds pretty amazing. And always good to have multiple people able to do some quick healing.

Although... the thought of the elf being all about shadows and darkness while the DROW is all about plant life (which needs sunlight) is pretty hilarious. That's going to be a tough decision.

I'll also take a look at Sage.


Ok. If I go with Shadow, I'll need a way to make Perception a class skill. The easiest way would be the Seeker trait. There's also multiclassing, but I'm not sure if I want to do that.

There's also the Crossblooded archetype. I'd lose a spell known per level, but would get access to both Solar and Shadow bloodlines. Is that compatible with the Seeker archetype?

Sovereign Court

Crossblooded sounds amazing on paper, the ability to double up on Bloodline Arcanas is strong.

However, -1 spell known at each spell level is fairly crippling. For example, you won't have any 2nd level spells known until level 5. Slower than a 6-list caster. You get 3rd level spells at 7, the same as a 6-list. Basically, you are 2 levels behind prepared 9-list casters in getting the most powerful spells.

I think the common reading of Crossblooded is that it changes/modifies the bloodline arcana and all of the powers. Since Seeker also changes a couple powers they aren't compatible.

Shadow Lodge

Crossblooded is amazing for a sorcerer using Words of Power. Don't need to know 2nd level words to make 2nd level spells.


Is VMC an option?

VMC Rogue gets you Trapfinding, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge... Elven Keen Senses and the Seeker trait should take care of the rest on any archetype/bloodline combination of your choice.

Eldritch Scrapper happens to offer Martial Flexibility, which somewhat makes up the feats given up in VMC. It also gives up the first level Bloodline Power, and therefore you can focus your FCB on skills.

I still kind of like the idea of using Elven Crossbow Training to remove the need for Rapid Reload using a light crossbow... the Mage's Crossbow is a light crossbow. Elven Magic gives you a +2 to overcome Spell Resistance... the Mage's Crossbow gives you another +3 to overcome Spell Resistance, which can be nice. The Fey Bloodline has both Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot available as Bloodline Feats... which is all you really need if you actually wanted to at least try shoot something with the crossbow you carry around.

Not saying a 1/2 BAB Sorcerer should actually invest in trying to be effective with their crossbow, but having Bloodline Feat support makes it a little easier if you choose to try. You don't need to actually shoot stuff with the Mage's Crossbow to get the +3 to overcome Spell Resistance, so there is that.

This charming Elf would have Martial Flexibility, Trapfinding, Woodland Stride, and the ability to somewhat effectively shoot a light crossbow without spending the rest of their life reloading. Sporting the boosted compulsion DC's, as well as relatively significant bonuses to overcome Spell Resistance, you have multiple options... and I think options are good.


I'm getting mixed answers about whether or not Crossblooded is compatible with Seeker. So I'm not going to go with it. I'll just go with one bloodline.

I think I'll go with the Solar bloodline. I like the bonus feats and spells a bit better than Shadow. And it saves a trait as it makes Perception is a class skill.

Now I just need to pick the traits and the regular feats. Since I have trapfinding, I'll need to be close to up front to properly use it. But I'm still a squishy sorcerer so I'm not sure what feats to pick to keep me safe.


If you need to escape melee combat but don't plan to engage in it there are a couple of feats which apply. e.g. amateur swashbuckler (dodging panache) perhaps, or osyluth guile if you're starting with a few levels already, or something like ambush awareness or reflexive caster to avoid being grabbed in the surprise round. And of course quicken spell once you're high enough level to use it.

On other feats: you mentioned the skill point shortage. Cunning mitigates it. The seeker sorcerer I played picked up spell focus/spell specialization because she had the 13 Int for the latter, I had the same skill point shortage. If you plan to be a blaster (which the solar bloodline is a start on) you might want to pick feats appropriate to that.

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