Character options for an aspiring force mage?

[Powerdork]

Out of fascination with magic missile, I've been looking to create a character who shares that fascination and seeks to make the most of the super-fantastic [force] descriptor for an upcoming game. Having combed through my Dreamscarred Press Pathfinder collection, I've primarily considered a Psychic Mage wizard (an archetype turning the class into a psionic class that can scribe and prepare psion/wilder powers) who buys chirurgery for a number of off-list force powers (which is probably less than legal, and I'd only run it with a GM I know and respect).

For this mage, I'm looking for effects and abilities that directly relate to force effects or the casting or manifesting thereof. I want effects that would apply a bonus to a fair number of force spells or powers or the schools that contain them (or else boosting a single iconic force spell, such as shield, magic missile, or orb of force), rather than things that boosts spellcasting in general. An ability that grants bonus damage to evocation spells is useful, while Divine Metamagic is not, for instance. At the same time, I'm not looking for the best force spells, but rather for spells that would make a given force spell better.

Given the availability of wizard casting (and the ability to scribe from psion/wilder power stones and to talk with those manifesters about how to manifest a given power), and having access to all Paizo, Wizards of the Coast and Dreamscarred Press material (with preference for Pathfinder, then 3.5, then 3.0 printings), what are some base classes, prestige classes, races, feats, traits, flaws, items, anything along the lines I described that can help me create a real "force of nature"?

[Crake]

have you looked at force missile mage from dragon magazine? It's a 5 level prc (4/5 casting progression) that focuses around magic missile and making it awesome.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

have you looked at force missile mage from dragon magazine? It's a 5 level prc (4/5 casting progression) that focuses around magic missile and making it awesome.

Reprinted in Dragon Compendium, may help you locate it of make it more acceptable to your group.

[Tiri]

There's also Argent Savant from Complete Arcane. It improves your damage with force spells and helps defend against them. It also gives unlimited dispelling of force effects as a standard action.

[Zaq]

Blade of Force and Invisible Needle, which are Reserve feats from Complete Mage, give you +1 CL with force spells apiece (but they don't stack, because they're both competence bonuses, though you might get your GM to houserule that away). Unfortunately, as Reserve feats go, they're not very powerful beyond the CL increase. Blade of Force is nice in that it's a swift action, but it just augments a weapon you touch for one turn, meaning you either have to be attacking yourself or you have to be next to someone who's attacking. Invisible Needle is more like a typical Reserve feat in that it gives you an attack option, but it's got a really short range, and worse, it requires a regular ranged attack (not a ranged touch attack), so your poor BAB is going to be a disadvantage.

Of the two options, Blade of Force is probably the better one if you have an archer or another ranged weapon user in your party. If you don't have that, well, Invisible Needle might work for you, but it's still hard for me to recommend it in good conscience, since it requires a mage to get relatively close to the action and make a non-touch attack, which isn't usually a great idea. But if you just want +1 CL on force spells, either one will help you as far as that goes.

Anyway, yeah, beyond that, Force Missile Mage (DragComp) and Argent Savant (CArc) have already been mentioned, and they're probably your best bet if you want something that's specifically designed around boosting force effects. You could probably make a stronger character overall by just picking good force spells and taking generically strong mage PrCs like Mage of the Arcane Order and Incantatrix, since both Force Missile Mage and Argent Savant sacrifice a CL apiece, but I don't know what level of optimization is appropriate for your game.

If your GM is willing to make a commonsense adjustment or two, you might be able to have some fun with Abjurant Champion, since it plays really nicely with Shield. Your GM will have to houserule Mage Armor and/or Greater Mage Armor into being Abjuration spells, like they really should have been in the first place, but if you can get that ruling in place, Abjurant Champion makes them better, too. (RAW, it doesn't affect Mage Armor at all, but it seems clear to most people who look at it that that was an oversight.)

[Powerdork]

You could probably make a stronger character overall by just picking good force spells and taking generically strong mage PrCs like Mage of the Arcane Order and Incantatrix, since both Force Missile Mage and Argent Savant sacrifice a CL apiece, but I don't know what level of optimization is appropriate for your game.

I'm certain I can make it work, thanks. I know my way around caster power, just looking for cute little tricks!

Speaking of which, thank all of you for these contributions. Any further finds are appreciated.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Spell Compendium has Chain Missile and Force Missiles, which are both somewhat improved versions of Magic Missile.

The feat Reserves of Strength in Dragonlance Campaign Setting gives you a slight caster level boost when you cast a spell and removes that spell's level-based limits. So you can use that to make your Magic Missile spell capable of producing five missiles, depending on your caster level. The drawback to Reserves of Strength is that it stuns you for at least one round after casting the spell, but you can take Quick Recovery in Lords of Madness and it should only cost you a move-action instead. You would need to make a Will save vs a DC of 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Cha bonus when using Quick Recovery to shake off the Reserves of Strength stun, you'll have a good base Will save from all your classes and you can dump Cha.

I would probably go Grey Elf, Wizard (Evoker) 6/ Force Missile Mage 5/ Argent Savant 5/ Abjurant Champion 4. Get Practiced Spellcaster, Reserves of Strength, Quick Recovery, and all your prerequisites. Your Elf weapon proficiencies will help qualify you for Abjurant Champion, use (Greater) Luminous Armor in BoED instead of Mage Armor, it benefits from Abjurant Champion without house rules. Prohibited schools should be Enchantment and Necromancy, and get the Counterfire ACF in PH2. Consider picking up metamagic like Fell Drain Spell (and target a different opponent with each missile), Fell Frighten Spell, Twin Spell, etc., and Arcane Thesis in PH2 wouldn't be a bad idea.

At level 11 you'll be firing seven missiles with Magic Missile, or up to nine with Reserves of Strength. You'll have a +9 base Will save, and your Reserves of Strength will have a DC in the neighborhood of 13-15. You can use your standard action to cast Magic Missile, spend your move action to shake off the stun with Quick Recovery, and still do whatever else you can in that same round.