I want to make a character (preferably a bloodrager) who instead of throwing a fireball from a long distance away, runs up to their target and smashes a fireball right into them from point blank range. I was wondering if there were any archetypes (bloodrager or not), feats, or game mechanics that would make a playstyle like this viable. Essentially turning spells with a range component into touch spells, or something similar.
Centered spell - avoid nuking yourself.
Bloodline mutations - make nuking others more worthwhile.
Alternately, an eldritch knight (the PrC) can get the arcing weapon & explosive weapon feats, or a magus can combine melee and spellcasting more effectively than either. Either of those can get fireball rather earlier than a bloodrager and with more spell slots. The magus can't get bloodline mutations of course tho'.
What sort of level range are you looking at?
Does an ELDRITCH SCION qualify for Bloodline Mutations?
Also, does it have to be Fireball? Or can it be any explosion spell? Is there another spell that does something similar but is specifically for expolding yourself?
There's detonate or dragon's breath as alternate spells, but the extra spell level matters a lot for a gish. Burning hands is cheaper in the other direction but is less explosive; you can probably make it work if you want. Shock shield or sonic scream or shout just aren't impressive.
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I want to make a character (preferably a bloodrager) who instead of throwing a fireball from a long distance away, runs up to their target and smashes a fireball right into them from point blank range. I was wondering if there were any archetypes (bloodrager or not), feats, or game mechanics that would make a playstyle like this viable.
avr mentioned it kinda off-handedly, so I'll spotlight (and link) it: The Explosive Weapon does exactly what you're looking for. It requires a (single level) dip into Eldritch Knight, but it combines casting the spell with a melee attack, centers the spell on you, and excludes you from its effects. A 10th level single class Bloodrager automatically qualifies for Eldritch Knight. Of course, a Bloodrager has very few spell slots, so it's not something that can be your main shtick.
Alternatively, a Magus can combine casting a spell with a full attack, and with Centered Spell use a Fireball that way.
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The other thing to recognize is that fireball is a 3rd level bloodrager spell. Which means character level 10 before you can even cast your first one. Just something to consider when deciding if that will be your “main shtick.”
This.
Bloodragers only get a handful of spell slots, all of which are essentially 'low level' by the time you get them, so hurling fireballs in any fashion is probably not a good idea for them: Assuming a solid martial build, using that third level slot for Heroism will probably do more damage over the course of an adventure...
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Well I recommend it in every other thread, so why not an OCCULTIST?
The EVOCATION IMPLEMENT gives you an Energy Blast that's similar to a Fireball .
You also potentially have a reason to get up in their grill. You could potentially take Transmutation, Abjuration, Evocation and Trappings of the Warrior by 6th level, making you a Full BAB character with Heavy Armour who runs up, blasts in their face, then murders them with AoOs if they try to flee.
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I agree with Derklord and avr, eldritch knight or magus is the way to go.
—Single-classed magus is probably the best choice. Use a Centered Spell fireball, which you can cast starting at 7th level. Thanks to Spell Combat you can also make melee attacks if you don't have to move. Thanks to Spell Recall you have extra uses of the fireball.
—You could use an eldritch knight but that requires more feats, doesn't come online until 7th level as well (at the earliest) and isn't as versatile.
—There's also the fire-element kineticist, who could use the detonation infusion to do blast damage to everything in a 20' radius around her. Not until 9th level (8th with retraining), though.
If you do go the Centered Spell route you don't want to play a spontaneous caster since you wouldn't be able to move up and cast in the same round.
Alchemist with precise bombs can pull this off just fine.
Yeah, bloodrager just isn't a good character for something that is going to be throwing out magic often. Especially not for fireball specifically which they don't get access to for a long time.
You could get something interesting and conceptually similar by being a bloodrager draconic bloodline for a breath weapon. You could even go dragon disciple for early access to the breath weapon by dipping 3 levels.
Otherwise I agree that magus would be a base for attempting this kind of thing. Even the occultist is a better suggestion if you're really trying to throw out spells all day long to deal damage.
But the magus really shines the brightest if you want to cast spells and potentially deliver them through your weapon and then also cast a spell in general.
People often get spell combat and spell strike too entwined to remember that you can use spell combat to cast a spell (any spell that requires a standard action or less casting time) and still make a full series of attacks. The magus has several different energy spells on their lists until you get to fireball and can then use Centered metamagic to exclude himself from the effect of fireball.