[Pathfinder] Optimizing A Skeleton Summoning Sorcerer.

[13ones]

So I've had this idea kicking around my head for a while and with an upcoming game I'll be getting the opportunity to possibly put it to use. I was thinking of using a similar build on a wizard but because of the nature of the setting and the rules the gm has set down a wizard is not the best option. Below are all the major stats, save Hit Points since I'm really, really bad at remembering how to calculate it.

((Basic info))
25 point buy in, no third party stuff, I'll be showing my build at level 10 where I think it really starts to gets interesting.


Base Stats
Level: 10
Race:Human
Class: Sorcerer
Strength - 8
Dexterity - 15
Constitution - 14
Intelligence - 12
Wisdom - 10
Charisma -18 (+2 from human)

Armor Class - 12
Touch Armor Class -12
Flat-footed - 12

Fort Save - +5
Reflex Save - +5
Will Save - +5

Melee Attack Modifier - +4
Ranged Attack Modifier - +7
CMB (to attack) - +4
CMD (to defend) - +16

Skills
Knowledge Arcana - 10 Ranks
Knowledge Religion - 5 Ranks
Spell Craft - 10 ranks
Use Magic Device - 5 ranks

Blood Line

Sanguine (Undead Alternate)

-Bloodline Arcana

Whenever you cast a spell of the necromancy school, your effective caster level is increased by 1.This ability replaces the Undead Bloodline Arcana.

- Bloodline Powers: The Blood Is the Life (Su): At 1st level, you can gain sustenance from the blood of the recently dead. As a standard action, you can drink the blood of a creature that died within the past minute. The creature must be corporeal, must be at least the same size as you, and must have blood. This ability heals you 1d6 hit points and nourishes you as if you’d had a full meal. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. This bloodline power replaces grave touch.

- Death's Gift (Su): At 3rd level, you gain resist cold 5 and DR 5/— against nonlethal damage. At 9th level, your resistance to cold increases to 10 and your DR increases to 10/— against nonlethal damage.

- Grasp of the Dead (Sp): At 9th level, you can cause a swarm of skeletal arms to burst from the ground to rip and tear at your foes. The skeletal arms erupt from the ground in a 20-foot-radius burst. Anyone in this area takes 1d6 points of slashing damage per sorcerer level. Those caught in the area receive a Reflex save for half damage. Those who fail the save are unable to move for 1 round. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. The skeletal arms disappear after 1 round. The arms must burst up from a solid surface. At 9th level, you can use this ability once per day. At 17th level, you can use this ability twice per day. At 20th level, you can use this ability three times per day. This power has a range of 60 feet.

-Bonus Spells: chill touch (3rd), false life (5th), vampiric touch (7th), animate dead (9th)


Feats

- Spell Focus (Necromancy) ((Bloodline Feat))
- Skeleton Summoner
- Spell Penetration
- Focused Spell
- Maximized Spell
- Silent Spell
- Quicken Spell

The basic concept behind this build is to use the Skeleton Summoner feat to summon in some powerful skeletons (Skeletal Dire Apes, Skeletal Rhinos, T-Rexs, Cloud Giants and the like) while also providing debuffs, negative levels, a few proper undead minions and minor damage through some other spells. My big thing is summoning in one super powerful skeleton and then making everything else into an undead of some sort.

[Benly]

The basic concept behind this build is to use the Skeleton Summoner feat to summon in some powerful skeletons (Skeletal Dire Apes, Skeletal Rhinos, T-Rexs, Cloud Giants and the like) while also providing debuffs, negative levels, a few proper undead minions and minor damage through some other spells. My big thing is summoning in one super powerful skeleton and then making everything else into an undead of some sort.

While the idea is flavorful as heck, a lot of creatures are considerably weakened by being skeletonized. To start with, skeletons lose all special attacks and most special qualities. From your list, dire apes lose Rend rhinos lose Powerful Charge, tyrannosaurs lose Swallow Whole, and cloud giants lose Rock Throwing and all their spell-like abilities. The skeleton template also replaces natural armor instead of improving it, so all of them will be losing a substantial chunk of armor class. They use Charisma instead of Constitution for HP, so they'll lose nearly half their HP in a lot of cases (the T-rex loses 72 HP out of its usual 153, the giant loses 80 out of its usual 168.) They lose all feats except for Improved Initiative.

I want to like Skeleton Summoner, it's definitely a stylish feat, but you should be aware that it essentially boils down to "once per day, summon a much worse version of this creature" in most cases. :smallfrown:

[doko239]

Any particular reason you're going Sorcerer instead of Summoner? Seems like a Master Summoner would fit your build better, and you can always take Eldritch Heritage to get the bloodline abilities.

Edit: Also, your HP at 10th would be 62 without favored class points to HP.

[doko239]

Here's an alternate build, level 10 as yours, using Master Summoner as the class:

Base Stats
Level: 10
Race:Human
Class: Master Summoner
Strength - 8
Dexterity - 15
Constitution - 14
Intelligence - 12
Wisdom - 10
Charisma -18 (+2 from human)

HP - 70 (10d8 +20)
Armor Class - 12
Touch Armor Class -12
Flat-footed - 12

Fort Save - +5
Reflex Save - +5
Will Save - +7

Melee Attack Modifier - +6
Ranged Attack Modifier - +9
CMB (to attack) - +6
CMD (to defend) - +18

Skills
Knowledge Arcana - 10 Ranks
Knowledge Religion - 5 Ranks
Spell Craft - 10 ranks
Use Magic Device - 5 ranks


- Bloodline Powers: The Blood Is the Life (Su): At 1st level, you can gain sustenance from the blood of the recently dead. As a standard action, you can drink the blood of a creature that died within the past minute. The creature must be corporeal, must be at least the same size as you, and must have blood. This ability heals you 1d6 hit points and nourishes you as if you’d had a full meal. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Feats

- Spell Focus (Necromancy) (1st level)
- Skeleton Summoner
- Augment Summoning
- Eldritch Heritage (Sanguine)
- Superior Summoning
- Resilient Eidolon
- Summoner's Call



- Eidolon:

Bipedal base form
Strength - 20
Dexterity - 14
Constitution - 16
Intelligence - 7
Wisdom - 10
Charisma -11

HP 46 (4d10 + 10 (favored class) + 12)
Armor Class - 18
Touch Armor Class -12
Flat-footed - 16

Fort Save - +7
Reflex Save - +3
Will Save - +4

Melee Attack Modifier - +9
Ranged Attack Modifier - +6
CMB (to attack) - +9
CMD (to defend) - +21

Evolutions: Undead Appearance, +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Natural Armor, Slam Attack

Feats: Power Attack, Step Up

Skills: <left blank, do what you like, 16 skill points available>

Attacks: 2x Slam +9 (1d8 + 5) OR 2x Power Attack Slam +7 (1d8 + 9)

[watchwood]

If you're seriously into combat summons, I suggest the following feat chain as a near necessity:

Spell Focus (Conjuration): prerequisite
Augment Sumoning: +4 str/con to summons
Sommun Defender: +2 AC/saves to summons, +1 dodge AC to you for each that is adjacent to you
Superior Summoning: lets you summon an extra creature when casting a mass summon spell

Skeletons can be fun, but they really are often weaker then their living counterparts. If you want to summon them in battle, stick to massed amounts of regular skeletons to give your allies flanking/aid bonuses. Rely on other undead creation spells (Animate Dead, etc) for your damage dealers.

[grarrrg]

Undead Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/undead-master) FTW!

Also, have you considered if Agent of the Grave (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/a-b/agent-of-the-grave) is right for you?

[13ones]

And I thought I was a necromancer...jeeze you guys XD

Thanks anyways

[13ones]

For the ideas I'm tooling with we are allowed to use the core books and that is all. So Agent of the Grave is out, which makes me a sad little Necromancer. And I've been told the setting will not any graveyards at all. Each morning I have no way to prepare minions and my targets for animate dead will not be plentiful. A lot of elemental and constructs will be showing up this year.

Basically I've changed from a Sorcerer to a Wizard now. Skeleton summoner still looks like a decent option. I'm trying to do a decent amount of Necromancy related stuff to still look and feel like a Necromancer, but to still have some use in a party.

And since the teams for this massive game will be randomized every round (4 single long missions with a level 20 one for the final five) I do not know who I'll be with. So creating my own undead minions doesn't seem like the best option. I just figured summoning in a Skeleton would be better when I have no spells to use.

[grarrrg]

the setting will not any graveyards at all... A lot of elemental and constructs will be showing up this year....So creating my own undead minions doesn't seem like the best option. I just figured summoning in a Skeleton would be better when I have no spells to use.

Alright then.
Looks like Casting Focused Necromancer it is then.

[13ones]

Alright then.
Looks like Casting Focused Necromancer it is then.

Yeah, it's a weird system but it sounds like a lot of fun to be had. People are just going straight up wacky...but effectly wacky. I'm trying to stay just as effective.

So far there will be several Merfolk playing various roles. Everything from Casters to Frontline fighters. There is also a Monk based on Zangief from street fighter, A Holy-Gun paladin that is basically Van Hellsing, A Tengu Cleric, possibly a Kolbold of some kind and a goblin barbarian named after the noise he makes when he hits a wall. It' going to be an interesting year.

[grarrrg]

a goblin barbarian named after the noise he makes when he hits a wall

Splort?

Glortch?

Splat?

Grarrrg? (granted, more of a battle cry, or...something....)

Note: despite what many of you are probably thinking, my name's origin actually has NOTHING to do with "barbarians" or other similar things.

[5w337x7007h]

Why isn't there a zombie summoner feat as part a chain like that? I could see a seriously amazing bonus to dealing with undead in this way. You're literally eliminating the HD limit by making these undead temporary.

[skypse]

For the ideas I'm tooling with we are allowed to use the core books and that is all. So Agent of the Grave is out, which makes me a sad little Necromancer. And I've been told the setting will not any graveyards at all. Each morning I have no way to prepare minions and my targets for animate dead will not be plentiful. A lot of elemental and constructs will be showing up this year.

Basically I've changed from a Sorcerer to a Wizard now. Skeleton summoner still looks like a decent option. I'm trying to do a decent amount of Necromancy related stuff to still look and feel like a Necromancer, but to still have some use in a party.

And since the teams for this massive game will be randomized every round (4 single long missions with a level 20 one for the final five) I do not know who I'll be with. So creating my own undead minions doesn't seem like the best option. I just figured summoning in a Skeleton would be better when I have no spells to use.

Consider buying/crafting a robe of bones especially for early levels. I've heard the force is strong with the Zombie Ogres.





Note: despite what many of you are probably thinking, my name's origin actually has NOTHING to do with "barbarians" or other similar things.

Please elaborate?

[grarrrg]

Please elaborate?

Nope, this thread is WAY past it's sell-by date.
TURN UNTHREAD!