Witch + Binder = Anima Mage? (3.5/Pathfinder)

[LastKingDown]

Hello, all!

Okay, so I'm a Witch. Great fun; however, I just saw Binder in the Tome of Magic 3.5 book and showed it to my DM. He said it was fine if I wanted to use it. So.. Here's what I want to try and work with. I'm currently a level 1 Witch, but due to circumstances, the group just dinged to 4, while I dinged to 5, so not only am I ahead of the group by a level, I also have 4 levels to work with. I would love to incorporate Binder into my Witch. I know its non-optimal. Hexes don't advance + sub-par spell list to be advancing as an Anima Mage, but I would still like to try it, it sounds great thematically.
My group consists of a Rogue, 2 Rangers, a Fighter, Barbarian, Sorcerer, and a Cleric, so even if I'm a little underpowered, I wouldn't mind, we have enough diversity that it should be okay as long as I dont render myself useless.
So..
What would be the best way to go about this?
How terribad would it be?

YING!!

[Wings of Peace]

Hello, all!

Okay, so I'm a Witch. Great fun; however, I just saw Binder in the Tome of Magic 3.5 book and showed it to my DM. He said it was fine if I wanted to use it. So.. Here's what I want to try and work with. I'm currently a level 1 Witch, but due to circumstances, the group just dinged to 4, while I dinged to 5, so not only am I ahead of the group by a level, I also have 4 levels to work with. I would love to incorporate Binder into my Witch. I know its non-optimal. Hexes don't advance + sub-par spell list to be advancing as an Anima Mage, but I would still like to try it, it sounds great thematically.
My group consists of a Rogue, 2 Rangers, a Fighter, Barbarian, Sorcerer, and a Cleric, so even if I'm a little underpowered, I wouldn't mind, we have enough diversity that it should be okay as long as I dont render myself useless.
So..
What would be the best way to go about this?
How terribad would it be?

YING!!

Best way to do it if you know you're taking a hit is pick a primary side and a supporting side. The supporting side is the side you only take one or two levels in for a few nifty tricks while the primary side gets the rest of the levels. Personally I'd try and convince my DM to let me use a bound Vestige to replace my familiar. Not because it'd be optimal but because I think it'd be a bad-ass way to bring the two classes together.

[limejuicepowder]

I'm not familiar with the witch, but the binder and there for the anima mage is a reasonable strong class. Not t1, but who is....?

Do witches get spells or what? Anima mage has some really good abilities if you actually cast spells. I ask this since binder/warlock is just about the perfect match, but anima mage can't really be used with SLA's.

Anyways, binder is going to give some great versatility, powers that never run out of uses/day, and of course awesome flavor. You could probably make a reasonable tank in the early levels using Dahlver-Nar's shield self, or if you have the ability to cast in armor, use Savnok.

In any event, you definitely want to take Improved Binding. This will allow you to entire anima mage with only 1 level in binder, so you don't lose that much casting.

[Bloodgruve]

You could look at White Haired Witch. They lose hexes but retain spells and you'll get a unique natural weapon, which is your hair. If you stick with witch grab the Nails hex and then move into binder for a bunch of natural attacks.

Are you playing Pathfinder or 3.5 rules? IIRC White Haired Witch grants bonus's to hair attacks as you level that are feats in 3.5 vs mechanics changes in PF.

Could be a good chassis for Anima Mage.

Blood~

[LastKingDown]

We'll be using mostly PF rules, but 3.5 sneaks in from time to time.
Witches have spells, and they cast out of their own spell-list, and it is apparently not up to par with the Sor/Wiz spell list, not the Clerics. Maybe it's equal to the Bard spell list, as they are much like a clothy bard.
Those are some good ideas. I would go for Whitehaired witch, but I I doubt DM would allow me to change Archtype mid-game.. I think, for hexes, I'll just take Cauldren, and Poison Steep, or perhaps just Feral Speech/Tongues.. Something that doesn't need the Witches level progression.

[Psyren]

A good solution is to focus on hexes that don't require a save. Disguise is useful for hiding vestige signs. Flight is also useful for the at-will feather fall alone, even if you don't get enough Witch levels to make it to true flight. Fortune and Ward work great on summons, and also party members in a tough fight.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Like you said, it's WILDLY non-optimal. Hexes are basically the only reason to be a witch over a wizard, and those will not advance at all. Wizard not only has a *vastly* larger spell list than you, he also gets +1 spell slot per level, thanks to specialization, something you can't do. He keeps all of this in a prestige class; you lose your bennies.

I do not recommend it. If the group is low powered and you really want to, though, I guess you could. Hex choices will be pretty limited. Anything with a save DC is worthless; Flight isn't really worth it if you never reach Witch 5... I guess Prehensile Hair is still ok. Not much else, though... Disguise can be replicated by a CHEAP magic item, tongues is ok but can be easily achieved with spells. Fortune + Cackle is fine as long as the DM understands that you can basically cackle for hours straight, cackle does not need to be heard to affect someone (just be in range), and you can spend a turn cackling twice to add +2 rounds and avoid having to cackle the next round to keep it going. All of this, while true, could potentially get a big no from the DM. Spending two hexes just to spend a standard action and a move every round after it to give someone one reroll per round for a single combat per day...is not worth it.

[LastKingDown]

Okay.. Idea.
What if I traded my Witch levels for Shadowcaster levels? I don't have the book in front of me, but I remember something about Creeping Shadow, allowing a caster to trade Arcane caster levels for Shadowcaster levels, assuming it works like I'm thinking. So, to summarize, would a Shadowcaster/Binder/Anima Mage work? I'll be rechecking when I get home, but that wont be for some time.. I know this sounds cheap, and I am cringing as I write this, but there is a "Respecing" rule for Pathfinder/3.5?

[deuxhero]

Shadowcasting, while not NEARLY the mess Truenaming is, is fairly lackluster. Ask the GM if you can use the semi-official fix by the original author.