Looking for ways to fluff out a slightly crazy Witch

[NightbringerGGZ]

Hi Everybody,

I'm looking for help with both fluff and crunch for a witch character I'll be playing in an upcoming Rise of the Runelords campaign. My goal is a character who is somewhat crazed, literally seeing an interacting with things nobody else sees. I've got a few ideas worked out, but would appreciate your thoughts.

Idea 1: Use the Figment and Sage archetypes on my familiar (approved by my DM already) to have an invisible familiar who my character constantly talks to. The fact that the familiar is able to interact with the environment and provide me with actual information (via knowledge checks) should help solidify the creepy factor I'm going for.

Idea 2: Make constant use of Unseen Servant, referring to the servant by name. Don't let the party know I'm casting this spell.

Idea 3: Refluff the flight hex. Rather than flying on a broom or levitating, I see the world like it's an Escher painting, and walk around erratically. The party should see me walking up stairs and along paths that don't exist. Bonus points if I'm upside down when I do so.

[Ettina]

That sounds like a really entertaining character!

Is she deliberately seeming crazy, or is she oblivious to how others see her behaviour?

[avr]

The trickery patron seems natural, you're drawing others into your twisted world with the illusions. Mirror Image might be copies of the witch from other times, or the witch might see the mirror images as literal mirrors - it's a perfect spell for an Escher world.

[Psyren]

For Idea 2, the easiest way to hide that you're casting Unseen Servant all the time is to make it silent, supernatural or an SLA. There are several ways to do this - The Spell Hex feat, The Spell Expertise feat, The Magical Lineage trait + Silent Spell, or the Metamagic Master trait + Silent Spell etc.

Have you picked a patron/archetype yet?

EDIT: If you have Unchained, you can also Variant Multiclass Oracle, getting the Haunted Curse. This will cause items you drop to fall randomly around you, and gives you some flavorful spells like Mage Hand and Ghost Sound that you can cast at-will.

[NightbringerGGZ]

I'm debating on the patron, Trickery or Insanity are top contenders right now. As for an archetype, I'm not sure any of the ones we have right now fit very well with my character concept. Any suggestions?

As for the character itself, I'm thinking an interesting twist would be if I'm seeing into and interacting with another realm that nobody else perceives. Maybe it's a realm I'm building around me, leading up to some fun via Create Demiplane?

[Barstro]

Idea 2: Make constant use of Unseen Servant, referring to the servant by name. Don't let the party know I'm casting this spell.

Idea 3: Refluff the flight hex. Rather than flying on a broom or levitating, I see the world like it's an Escher painting, and walk around erratically. The party should see me walking up stairs and along paths that don't exist. Bonus points if I'm upside down when I do so.

2: would need to be fluffed as the Servant's movement speed is pretty low. You would constantly be losing it.
3: Flight hex is one minute per level in one-minute increments. You could only pull this off a few times each day. It also takes a standard action to activate it.

Personally, I like it and would fiat those in. I'd even let you use two uses of Flight Hex to have it up all day outside of combat with other serious limitations. I'd also give you whatever special things you want with your familiar for now, but restrict you on what kind of Improved Familiar you get in the future.

My thought is to use Animate Object a lot. But you seem to want things to be unseen, not simply crazy.

If she's really supposed to be nuts, I'd have the DM randomly cast Message on your Witch. Sure, she's the one who is really doing it, but she doesn't know she's doing it. So, it's a surprise to her when she hears things.

[Honest Tiefling]

The invisible familiar sounds neat, but I would worry that once the other players figure out there's something weird about you, they'll poke and prod until they figure it out. As in, they will do nothing but try to puzzle you out until they have figured you out, even if it means doing it right smack dab in the middle of an inn and someone is trying to talk to them...You are a crazed spellcaster who calls upon unknown forces for spells, so maybe they should investigate you before turning their backs on you, so maybe they might have a point?

[Psyren]

I would imagine that if OP plays it very Cloud Cuckoolander (think River Tam) then the group will just roll with it after awhile until it becomes a plot point later, like your "imaginary friend" saving someone.

As for the crunch, there's a ton of Patrons that would fit this. Ancestors, Boundaries, Dimensions, Insanity, Occult, Portents, Spirits, Stars, Shadow...

Archetype-wise I would either do standard witch or Dimensional Occultist, which does let you get useful info from the familiar and lets you scribble very weird (and Escher-ish) diagrams to power up your spells.

[Geddy2112]

Depending on what type of crazy you are, and how you get your powers, deception might also be a good fluffed patron as well(plus it has some of the best spells mechanically). It sounds like you are going for a paranoid schitzophrenic-inability to determine reality from fantasy, hearing voices that are not there, perhaps people, imagining conspiracies and delusions that are not there. Since your familiar is a figment and sage, it could make sense that you might not think it real, or maybe that it is part of you instead of the actual X that it is. It might be a bird on your shoulder, but to you it is a voice in your head.

Unseen servant might be something you want to cast openly. I always name my unseen servants, as does any player I have played with. Perhaps it would give credibility to your "imaginary friends" and casting the spell is the magical equal of calling/texting them to come over and help. Witches get their powers from mysterious sources, who is to say your patron is not just using you as a science experiment?

The flight hex also gives you feather fall at will, and a +4 to swim checks because your body is lighter. A classic throwback to the witch trial of the pond-throw em in, if they sink the water accepts the pure soul. If they float, the water rejects them and CLEARLY A WITCH BURN AT THE STAKE! Use feather fall to slide and erratically move down dangerous paths; and with flight/levitate you can simply believe that you can fly, and sometimes you do. not as if you cast a formal spell, but the delusional ability to fly is rooted in truth...


As for some other hexes, misfortune, fortune, evil eye and cackle are ones you want to pickup. Play it up to the "conspiracy" that either helps or hinders people, and laugh at the absurdity that follows.

For a familiar, any of the flying ones is best to stay safe and get a +3 to fly, or a thrush for speech and diplomacy(despite the fact you won't be good at it).


EDIT: If you have Unchained, you can also Variant Multiclass Oracle, getting the Haunted Curse. This will cause items you drop to fall randomly around you, and gives you some flavorful spells like Mage Hand and Ghost Sound that you can cast at-will.

+1 to this.

[NightbringerGGZ]

Dimensional Occultist is nice fluff but delays me picking up Evil Eye, Misfortune & Cackle till level 3. I could probably roll without this combo for awhile, but I thought Cackle fluffed as mad laughter would be a nice touch. I can pick up Cackle through a magic item (Cackling Hag's Blouse (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/blouse-cackling-hag-s)) though, so I might just invest it that as my first major purchase (or craft it).

Actually, the more I think about the more I like the math-based approach to madness. I was debating going lawful anyway, and the content from Occult Mysteries could be fun to play with. Arithmancy and Sacred Geometry, along with the math based spells like Mathematical Curse could be fun.

This lets me play my character as somebody who keeps catching glimpses of another reality and has difficulty determining which one is truly real. Throw in the fact that my magic allows me to warp reality and I have a fun foundation to build off of.

@Geddy2112 - I like your ideas, I can work many of those into the character as well!. I've been debating picking up an Oracle VMC (already allowed by my GM) but those lost feats are a pretty steep price to pay for a witch. If I go Oracle I do get useful spells, but I haven't found an available revelation that really stands out to me yet.

Feat wise I'm thinking of the following:
Extra Hex (at least once)
Accursed Hex
Split Hex
Craft Wondrous Items
Arithmancy
Sacred Geometry
Spirit Talker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/spirit-talker)

[Urist Mcmage]

Archetype-wise I would either do standard witch or Dimensional Occultist, which does let you get useful info from the familiar and lets you scribble very weird (and Escher-ish) diagrams to power up your spells.

in what book can dimensional occultist be found? it sounds awesome.

[Psyren]

in what book can dimensional occultist be found? it sounds awesome.

Pathfinder Society Field Guide, or you can just read it here. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/witch/archetypes/paizo---witch-archetypes/dimensional-occultist)

[Honest Tiefling]

I would imagine that if OP plays it very Cloud Cuckoolander (think River Tam) then the group will just roll with it after awhile until it becomes a plot point later, like your "imaginary friend" saving someone.

Honestly, in my experience this is hardly the case. I had an androgynous character and even the party decided to investigate their real gender for some reason. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the party would choose investigating a PC over say, dealing with a dragon munching on people 50 feet away from them.

The reason I mention this is to have a plan for when the other characters investigate, and what happens if they figure it out.