Build help for a friend

[Azoth]

My buddy is loving the idea of playing a blaster sorcerer. He is going crossblooded orc/dragon(white) so he can freeze everything. Planning on using Rime Spell a lot apparently.

He doesn't want to multi-class, so he isn't going to 1lvl dip it and then go Wizard to capitalize on being flexible. He also hates prepared casters, too much book keeping.

He noticed his group won't have a healer, and is wanting to have the ability to heal if need be. I pointed him at Samsaran as a race so he could snatch some off list spells, and he likes it.

The main issues are helping him overcome losing 1 spell known per level, balancing his blaster feats, and which healing spells he can actually nab.

So I turn to the playground, can you help me to give him ideas on a strait 1-20 Samsaran Crossblooded Orc/Dragon(white) Sorcerer that can blast with best of them and pull secondary healer role when needed?

[Spore]

I tried to create a blasting crossblooded sorcerer over several hours on two different occasions, I really did. But all I have to say is: Crossblooded is NOT worth the reduced spell progression and minimised variety of spells. I had a 9th level crossblooded character that knew 2 fourth level spells. That's pitiful if you realize that one spell is your bloodline spell (and in the case of Elemental/Draconic either Fear or elemental body, both choices are not good for blaster).

[grarrrg]

He noticed his group won't have a healer, and is wanting to have the ability to heal if need be. I pointed him at Samsaran as a race so he could snatch some off list spells, and he likes it.

The main issues are ... which healing spells he can actually nab.

So I turn to the playground, can you help me to give him ideas on a strait 1-20 Samsaran Crossblooded Orc/Dragon(white) Sorcerer that can blast with best of them and pull secondary healer role when needed?

False Priest (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/archetypes/paizo---sorcerer-archetypes/razmiran-priest) archetype may be handy.
Gives you Aid and Remove Disease instead of two of your normal Bloodline Spells (you aren't missing much).
It also gives you False Focus instead of Eschew Materials, which is mostly an upgrade.
You also gain the ability to use spell slots instead of charges when UMD'ing Divine spell items. This takes away your 9th level Bloodline Power though, Orc shouldn't be much of a loss on a Blaster, Dragon Breath would be a bigger loss if it wasn't so restricted in #/day uses.


As for Samsaran healing-grabbing, you have to stick with Arcane lists, so Bard (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/spell-lists-and-domains/spell-lists---bard) and Witch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/spell-lists-and-domains/spell-list---witch) are your go-to's.
Bard can get you discounted level Cure Spells, but the Witch has a better 'support' suite (things like "Remove X" and whatnot).

[Jack_Simth]

My buddy is loving the idea of playing a blaster sorcerer. He is going crossblooded orc/dragon(white) so he can freeze everything. Planning on using Rime Spell a lot apparently.

He doesn't want to multi-class, so he isn't going to 1lvl dip it and then go Wizard to capitalize on being flexible. He also hates prepared casters, too much book keeping.

He noticed his group won't have a healer, and is wanting to have the ability to heal if need be. I pointed him at Samsaran as a race so he could snatch some off list spells, and he likes it.

The main issues are helping him overcome losing 1 spell known per level, balancing his blaster feats, and which healing spells he can actually nab.

So I turn to the playground, can you help me to give him ideas on a strait 1-20 Samsaran Crossblooded Orc/Dragon(white) Sorcerer that can blast with best of them and pull secondary healer role when needed?

What about a primary healer? An Oracle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle) (yeah, I know, not what you're asking, but please bear with me...) with the Spirit Guide (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle/archetypes/paizo---oracle-archetypes/spirit-guide) taking the Lore Spirit (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/shaman/spirits/lore) for the Arcane Enlightenment Hex to grab the Sorcerer blaster spells you want. Remember: you get the spirit magic spells as spells known, and use your Oracle level in place of your Shaman level when determining effects... so you get to put the Sorcerer/Wizard spells of your choice on your Oracle Known list and cast them as divine spells! Arguably even get to change them every day by changing which Lore spirit, but your target doesn't want that aspect anyway, so that last bit is mostly irrelevant unless the player gets concerned about the spell choices.

With the right Mystery and revelation choices, plus the Divine Protection feat, you can have Charisma-based casting, Charisma to saves, and Charisma in place of dexterity for AC and Reflex. A nice solid SAD character that can re-tool a bit if needed and doesn't require much paperwork.

[Geddy2112]

I second a vote against crossblooded. A blaster is going to be stacked on damage spells as it is, and sorcerers don't get the versatility of a wizard. There are cold based bloodlines, and a fair amount of cold based damage spells-draconic is okay, but orc bloodline is really bad for a blaster sorcerer(and just a bad bloodline in general). Also, rime will only work for spells, not spell like abilities. Elemental bloodline is a decent choice, boreal/rime blood gives a really good boost to cold spells by either adding slowed or increasing the DC, both far better than dragon or orc. Marid is also an ok bloodline for rime spell fun.

Take spell focus evocation and greater to really juice your damage early on.

With enough ranks in UMD(and a good charisma score), pick up a wand of CLW and call it a day for healing. If you are really paranoid, samsaran picking up healing from another arcane is fine too.

[Azoth]

From a roleplay perspective he is now married to Samsaran False Priest. He is in love with the idea of his past life as a healer giving him fragments of his former power to help others. He also wants to play it up as a battle between past memories and current experience to see which governs his actions.

I have talked to him, and while not married to the idea of Crossblooded, he liked it a lot for the ability to add +2/die of damage his spells did. So an energy subbed (cold) fireball would do 6d6+12 damage.

His DM is also allowing the Samsaran 3rd party alternate favored class bonus of 1/4 level adjustment decrease to a metamagic affect applied to a spell. So he is looking at cheap metamagics to apply to his blasts.

I will talk to him about dropping Crossblooded to instead have either boreal or rime bloodline.

*edit* So for now, let's just assume he is building an ice based blaster sorcerer. Since he really likes Rime Spell metamagic, I can only assume he is going to try and double threat his way through the campaign. How do we build him a blast/control sorcerer focused on cold damage?

[Hypername]

Never play crossblooded. If it's optimizing we are talking about, it's not worth sacrificing spell progression for a couple of bloodline powers.
Blasting will come mainly from Metamagic feats imo. Intensified spell, Empowered spell, Maximized spell and rods will be his best buddy.

[Kurald Galain]

Tattooed sorcerer archetype also increases damage, and doesn't have the disadvantages that crossblooded has. Try that.

[Secret Wizard]

Instead of Cross Blooded, point out Variant Multiclass to him.

Variant Multiclass Oracle can give him a Revelation (which can be used to boost his damage effectively) and a Curse (which can also come in handy).

Variant Multiclass Wizard nets him a Familiar and School Powers, which can allow him to pick Admixture for shenanigans.

Finally, Variant Multiclass Cleric gets him Channel Energy (several uses thanks to high Cha) and a Domain, which he can exploit in several ways.

Edit: Variant Multiclass is a section of Pathfinder Unchained that allows you to trade feats for other class's features at a stunted progression.

[Azoth]

Unfortunately, he doesn't want to give up false priest archetype. So Tattooed Sorcerer is a no go. Also, I understand that Oracle can probably do this a bit better, and that multiclassing out can DEFINITELY do this better but those aren't options.

Please offer advice doing this as a 1-20 Sorcerer. It may not be the most optimal option, but for Pelor's sake this board has turned Arcane Archer and Duelist into viable if not powerful builds in the past. Is it so impossible to get advice on making a cold based blaster sorcerer?

So far I have found a few things on my own to help, but not all that much.

Rime Spell, irrisen ice mage, elemental spell, elemental spell focus, spell focus, intensify spell, spontaneous metafocus, dazing spell, empower spell, maximize spell, some tattoo feat. No real idea how to organize these, other than DC boosters and low cost metamagic's first. ESPECIALLY, since his favored class bonus gives them to him -1/4 lvl adjustment. That means a free +1 metamagic feat every 4 levels.

What are some good spells that blast and debuff that are either already cold or can be energy subbed into cold? That way he can blast, entangle, and toss on another debuff.

Probably looking more for multi-target than AoE, because his group is full of charge happy people who don't know the meaning of the word delay so unless he wants to blast them as well, he can't AoE

[grarrrg]

Instead of Cross Blooded, point out Variant Multiclass to him.

Variant Multiclass Oracle can give him a Revelation (which can be used to boost his damage effectively) and a Curse (which can also come in handy).
that multiclassing out can DEFINITELY do this better but those aren't options.

Variant multiclassing is a thing that just came out (or hasn't yet come out) in the newest book.
You give up half of your feats and get [stuff] from the class of your choice.
So by losing his 3rd, 7th, 11th, etc... feats, he gets the Curse of his choice at level 1, the Revelation of his choice at level 3, etc... (the bonuses drop off for a while after that).

So you can be a Sorcerer 20 but have "Oracle stuff".

[Spore]

I have talked to him, and while not married to the idea of Crossblooded, he liked it a lot for the ability to add +2/die of damage his spells did. So an energy subbed (cold) fireball would do 6d6+12 damage.

The bonus damage is more often than not pure overkill. And it takes so much away, even from roleplaying. No scrying for a long LONG time because of lack of space (5th level is Cone of Cold, then summons, THEN utility spells), as is Tongues (understanding plot relevant input), Teleport or True Seeing.

There are LOADS of spells which offer roleplaying which is wasted when you go full out on damage. You even loose your 3rd and 5th level bonus spells making the situation much more dire. Also False Priest looses the 9th level bloodline power making it technically illegal with Crossblooded.