Please review my Wizard Build

[Florian]

Hey playgrounds.

Please do me a favor and review this wizard build.
Needed information: An acquaintance of mine invited my to participate in an upcoming Kingmaker AP beginning next saturday and especially asked me to play a BFC-type of wizard to shepherd three newbies to the system. As far as I know, these three will pick some of the PF pregens (*shudder*), but the player of Valeros already voiced the wish to pick the Hellknight PrC later on. So, hurray, playing an "evil" wizard is an option and I like it. (The others will be Karsk and Lini. They will have the option to remake their characters later on, when they´re more surefooted with the system)

So, goals: Provide solid support, but don´t overshadow the newbies, show what magic could do, but don´t overdo it with magic. Bring "weird" stuff and flavor to the table, but present it in an understandable way.

I´ll intentionally refrain from using some stuff, like Improved Initiative/Reactionary and will use some sub-par but very "magic" options like Fireballs and such. Some other staples like mitigating metamagic cost, Spell Perfection or Preferred Spell are also avoided to be not overpowering and show how managing these resources should work.

Basics: Female Tiefling, PB20 stats: STR 7/DEX 14/CON 14/INT 18/WIS 10/CHA 13.
Traits: Dark Magic Affinity (Race), Vile Domain - Fire (Faith)
(Not using alternate race features on this one. Think basic 4E/5E Tiefling Warlock pictures to show around)

Early Game:
Conjurer (Infernal Binder subschool - Banned: Enchantment, Necromancy, Greensting Scorpion Familiar) 1-5
Feats: Scribe Scroll (b), Solid Shadows, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Spell Focus (Illusion), Summon Guardian Ancestor.

Midlevel Game:
Diabolist 1-3/Blackfire Adept 1-2
Feats: Augment Calling, Augment Summoning (b), Sacred Summons (b), Spell Penetration.

Late Game:
Blackfire Adept 3/Diabolist 4-7
Feats: Greater Spell Penetration, Piercing Spell, Scouting Summons

Spell selection will run the usual gamut of bfc spells, some summons, some calling and a lot of fire-based blasting und shadow-type of spells. Beginning with mid-game, I´ll mostly stick to using shadow enchantment/evocation/conjuration upgraded by Solid Shadows to provide most bfc without great ado.

Fluff is going to be very simple: Student of the Acadamae in Korvosa, heavy on the Cheliax side of things, very Pro-Asmodeus-And-Order, a bit of flame and brimstone and a touch of manic laughter, you get my drift...

Items will be the usual wizard fare, with an added Mage´s Crossbow and summoning-specific items like a Visage of the Bound or an Inward Facing Circle, as well as the usual Metamagic Rods, from Extend to Dazing. As far as I know, we will use WBL by the book, but a 50-50 split between bought and found stuff.

Thoughts, feedback on this? Too much to shepherd some newbies?

Edit: Part of the focus on Calling will go towards the mass combo rules, i.e. calling up a troop of Babazu, and so on.
Edit2: This is my first new thread. How the hell do I edit the Tags?

[Khedrac]

Not playing Pathfinder I don't recognize a lot of what you have put there, but I do have an observation.

You have said that you don't want to overshadow the new players and the DM asked you to play Battlefield Control. But your build is a summoner.

A summoner (especially a multiple creature summoner) is actually a major attention hog; once you get your minions up your turns will take longer than the entire rest of the party to process, simply because you will have more characters involved. Further, your summons will probably be able to replace any other party member which can lead to them asking why they bother being there... Exactly the reverse of your stated aims with this character.

Why not trying going for a party-buffer/battlefield control caster?
Party Buffer is usually the best way for the wizard to support the rest of the party without overshadowing them.
They also get to see the difference in themselves between buffed and unbuffed.
BFC doesn't usually take that many spells so can usually be done with most wizard builds, and for a buffer provides a nice alternative to blasting when it's not worth casting another buff. Also if you do cast the occasional blasting spell the party can be shown the limitations.

One final note, if playing with new players try not to over-optimize your Int score. All or Nothing spells (i.e. most Save or Lose spells) may be great when it is rare for opponents to make the save, but when your DCs are that little bit lower (e.g. 16 starting Int) they quickly become "why do I bother" spells. That said, I don't consider an 18 as over-optimized, and it matters less with BFC wizards than it does with other types (as the enemy usually still has to be chopped down by the rest of the party once they fail their saves).

[GreyBlack]

Agreed on conjuration. If I were you, I would consider either Divination or Transmutation, my go-to evil wizard specializations.

With divination, you can tell your party exactly what to expect at any given day. This is awesome for evil wizards because you can also begin extorting and blackmailing people and know their dark secrets.

By comparison, transmutation is extremely effective at buffing the other players, making them feel like the more powerful character when you just won them the match. On the evil side, remember that polymorph has some extremely fun applications: I once played an evil halfling wizard who casually tortured small children by repeatedly casting polymorph on them, just to see the psychological and physical effects that these new forms would have.

So, summoning demons will potentially overshadow the other players. Casually turning small children into abominations and buffing your party? Less likely.

[Florian]

@Khedrac:

Ok, as you don´t know most of the feats and features used here, a quick rundown:

Solid Shadow is a metamagic feat that adds 20% more reality on spells like Shadow Conjuration. So this is a quick way to cover all Fog, Cloud and Wall type of spells for solid BFC.

Summon Guardian Spirit is a blanket modifier to all your summoning spells from SM3 and upwards, allowing you to always summon the very same creature with intact memories/personality and an ever-expanding list of customizable SLAs (Like Freedom of Movement, Deathward, and so on). This eases up summoning a lot.
(It´s always the same Imp)
Edit: Here´s where the Visage of the Bound comes into play: You use a SM spell but shunt the creature into the item, leaving the SLAs for your use.

The way PF has developed, most good BFC/Debuffs are now coupled with evocation spells. A Rime Cone of Cold or a Dazing Fireball are now preferable to other, more traditional, options.
For example, this build is using the Snapdragon Firework spell coupled with a dazing metamagic rod to shutdown single targets or the same rod and a modified fireball to stop groups.

So this should leave enough Slots and WBL for wands to cover the basic buffs like Haste and dole them out on a liberal basis.

@GreyBlack:

I rule out Divination on basis of knowing that this particular gm is basically competent, but quite inexperienced. So far, he has gm´ed one AP and that by the book without any deviation from the written source material. So I fear that stressing foreknowledge out too much will not really work.

[GreyBlack]

@Khedrac:
@GreyBlack:

I rule out Divination on basis of knowing that this particular gm is basically competent, but quite inexperienced. So far, he has gm´ed one AP and that by the book without any deviation from the written source material. So I fear that stressing foreknowledge out too much will not really work.

Then I recommend aberrating children into puddles of goo and breaking their minds and souls before draining their blood and using theiressences to craft magic items for your friends; said another way, transmutation.

[Florian]

That´s not really what the Cheliax-kind of evil is about.

Think about Rome at its steepest decline, shortly before the fall, making a pact with the forces of Hell to stabilize the empire. It´s not so much about the usual evil cliches of cruelty, human sacrifice and power but more on a society that models itself on hells absolute laws, iron-clad control and lack of mercy.
This empire also sports the Hellknights, champions of pure law and order, cousins and allies to Paladins. (They can be compared to some kind of international police force. Their order expands to all parts of the world that are too chaotic to manage themselves)

So, this interpretation of LE is about being in control by having the right to be the one in control.
Conquer and urbanize the land because nature is chaotic, string up bandits along the highways to teach respect for the law, promote harsh justice to subjugate the people, follow the laws yourself and be a paragon of Hell, never renegade on a deal or pact, and so on.
(Thinking about it, I should invest some skill points in Profession: Lawyer. Now that is evil :P)

This´ll end up like a "dark and twisted reflection" of the paladin codex, meaning law before mercy, punishment before understanding, I think you´ll get my drift.

As for the school recommendation, I must actually ask: Do you know PF and how things changed here from the former 3,5 specializations?
The bonus spell slot is still the same, but banned schools work differently now (You can still learn spells from them, they "only" cost double slots to memorize, so banning Necromancy doesn´t prevent you from using False Life). More important is what kind of additional powers a school brings and whether they still scale when a PrC comes into play. Transmutation would stop scaling at Wiz5, so bringing a free +2 enhancement bonus to one physical ability score and a weak telekinetic attack. That´s it then. The Infernal Binder sub school of conjuration brings a flat bonus to Knowledge: Planes as well as a scaling bonus to affect summoned creatures that is based on Caster Levels, not pure Wizard levels.

[GreyBlack]

That´s not really what the Cheliax-kind of evil is about.

Think about Rome at its steepest decline, shortly before the fall, making a pact with the forces of Hell to stabilize the empire. It´s not so much about the usual evil cliches of cruelty, human sacrifice and power but more on a society that models itself on hells absolute laws, iron-clad control and lack of mercy.
This empire also sports the Hellknights, champions of pure law and order, cousins and allies to Paladins. (They can be compared to some kind of international police force. Their order expands to all parts of the world that are too chaotic to manage themselves)

So, this interpretation of LE is about being in control by having the right to be the one in control.
Conquer and urbanize the land because nature is chaotic, string up bandits along the highways to teach respect for the law, promote harsh justice to subjugate the people, follow the laws yourself and be a paragon of Hell, never renegade on a deal or pact, and so on.
(Thinking about it, I should invest some skill points in Profession: Lawyer. Now that is evil :P)

This´ll end up like a "dark and twisted reflection" of the paladin codex, meaning law before mercy, punishment before understanding, I think you´ll get my drift.

As for the school recommendation, I must actually ask: Do you know PF and how things changed here from the former 3,5 specializations?
The bonus spell slot is still the same, but banned schools work differently now (You can still learn spells from them, they "only" cost double slots to memorize, so banning Necromancy doesn´t prevent you from using False Life). More important is what kind of additional powers a school brings and whether they still scale when a PrC comes into play. Transmutation would stop scaling at Wiz5, so bringing a free +2 enhancement bonus to one physical ability score and a weak telekinetic attack. That´s it then. The Infernal Binder sub school of conjuration brings a flat bonus to Knowledge: Planes as well as a scaling bonus to affect summoned creatures that is based on Caster Levels, not pure Wizard levels.

I do, actually, but I'm going off of the request that the character not overshadow the rest of the party and not overwhelm a rather fresh DM, which summoning has the potential to do (Conjuration is still the most powerful school in both PF and 3.5). Transmutation, by comparison, is somewhat weaker and far more group-friendly than simply "Summon an army and trample the puny without needing my friends."

However, if this is the way you're going, I guess my next question is if you looked at the Summoner? Class abilities nail what you're looking for, plus the eidolon helps you control the battlefield.

[Florian]

However, if this is the way you're going, I guess my next question is if you looked at the Summoner? Class abilities nail what you're looking for, plus the eidolon helps you control the battlefield.

*Cough* I simply don´t like that particular class. The few times I actually can be a player and not a gm, I tend to play simpler classes like Fighters or Paladins and leave the micromanagement to other people and relax just a bit. Looking at the full caster classes, I actually like and prefer the Witch class over the Wizard and would switch in a heartbeat if I could.

[Seward]

So I have to chime in with the others. For your stated goal, don't summon monsters.

In addition to the extra actions in the turn problem, and new GM problem, the action economy works against a newbie table. You will spend your first round casting a spell, letting everybody else get into a lot of trouble before your first critter hits the table.

I actually think going with evocation and metamagic gets to your objective faster.

1. You screw with the enemy as soon as your init comes up, weakening their counterattack and limiting the danger your buddies get into.

2. You actually do some damage, which can be important if your allies are being unlucky or making unsound tactical decisions. Damage stacks with what most other people do - damage.

3. Debuff effects plus damage are easier for a new GM to cope with than fuzzy things like illusions. By all means add some battlefield control (fog spells, grease, wall spells) but choose things that are easy to understand, expose the complexity of the rules gradually and don't have a lot of ambiguity. This is a problem with the shadow spells. What does it mean to have a Sleet Storm be 30% real? Does it block vision kinda like fog? Is the ground still slippery? What about wall spells. What about a phantom steed? Do yourself a favor and don't inflict this on a first time GM (the way I did back when 3.0 was new).

A raw blaster (in low levels this means focusing on boosting caster level, later levels the right metamagic plus rods) might overshadow everybody. Putting your feats into battlefield control metamagic is a good way to resist that temptation.

Wizards don't have a lot of good party buffs until level 5+, so you'll have to achieve the same effect with debuffs. Don't forget your cantrips - daze in particular can make a big difference in a lot of level 1-4 encounters, and remember that Giants are Humanoids in pathfinder. You'll also likely need some consumables - wand, scroll and/or alchemical item support. You simply won't have enough spell slots to cast a spell every round in low level play.

[Florian]

Time for a small update.

Today we had some last minute email exchanges and a short conference call during lunch break. Good news - another newbie will join the game!
I always find it amusing how fast even new players can get a basic grip on the system. Questions were asked along the line of "Why is my character using a crossbow and battleaxe? This seems to be very suboptimal...". We also had some good talks about fluff, roles and how to fit the party together. That makes me really look forward to playing with those guys and gals.

So, characters from Brevoy, which we tread as a fantasy version of Poland, along with the accent, specific armor and some customs:
- Harsk, Dwarf Ranger (Plans are FE: Fey, Giants, Humans. Terrains: Forest, Marsh, Urban. Winged Breastplate)
- Lini, Gnome Druid

Characters from Cheliax, which we tread as a fantasy version of Spain, along with the accent and constant complaining about the weather in the Stolen Lands:
- Valeros, Human Fighter (TWF, going into Order of the Godclaw Hellknight)
- Oroch, Half-Orc Warpriest (Pantheonist of the Godclaw, Glory and Law, Greatsword, Power Attack and Battlepriest feats, planning on Hellknight Signifier at 11th)
- Me

Thanks for the feedback so far, that really helped with regaining the player perspective.
I´ll switch to Transmuter, staying with the basic school, and forgoe the familiar for the bonded object, planing on getting some Annihilation Goggles.
The rest of the build itself stays unchanged, especially the calling and Ancestor Spirit stuff, as that will be needed for initiating the other characters into their respective prestige classes and the gm was more than happy to not put additional work into the modules when I can manage that part.

[GreyBlack]

Time for a small update.

Today we had some last minute email exchanges and a short conference call during lunch break. Good news - another newbie will join the game!
I always find it amusing how fast even new players can get a basic grip on the system. Questions were asked along the line of "Why is my character using a crossbow and battleaxe? This seems to be very suboptimal...". We also had some good talks about fluff, roles and how to fit the party together. That makes me really look forward to playing with those guys and gals.

So, characters from Brevoy, which we tread as a fantasy version of Poland, along with the accent, specific armor and some customs:
- Harsk, Dwarf Ranger (Plans are FE: Fey, Giants, Humans. Terrains: Forest, Marsh, Urban. Winged Breastplate)
- Lini, Gnome Druid

Characters from Cheliax, which we tread as a fantasy version of Spain, along with the accent and constant complaining about the weather in the Stolen Lands:
- Valeros, Human Fighter (TWF, going into Order of the Godclaw Hellknight)
- Oroch, Half-Orc Warpriest (Pantheonist of the Godclaw, Glory and Law, Greatsword, Power Attack and Battlepriest feats, planning on Hellknight Signifier at 11th)
- Me

Thanks for the feedback so far, that really helped with regaining the player perspective.
I´ll switch to Transmuter, staying with the basic school, and forgoe the familiar for the bonded object, planing on getting some Annihilation Goggles.
The rest of the build itself stays unchanged, especially the calling and Ancestor Spirit stuff, as that will be needed for initiating the other characters into their respective prestige classes and the gm was more than happy to not put additional work into the modules when I can manage that part.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Summon Ancestor Spirit a spell? If so, doesn't that get you an extra feat slot?

EDIT TO ADD: If my research is correct, the feat you mean is Spiritual Guardian, which wizards do not qualify for by virtue of not having the Spirit Magic class feature. Unless I missed something?

[Florian]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Summon Ancestor Spirit a spell? If so, doesn't that get you an extra feat slot?

EDIT TO ADD: If my research is correct, the feat you mean is Spiritual Guardian, which wizards do not qualify for by virtue of not having the Spirit Magic class feature. Unless I missed something?

Feel corrected ;)

It´s a feat from the Monster Summoners Handbook and has the Conjured Guardian template attached to it (p.26-27)
Look here: http://www.archivesofnethys.com/FeatDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Summon%20Guardian%20Spir it

Short after action report of todays session will come in a bit later this evening.

[Florian]

Spoiler alert for everyone who doesn´t know Kingmaker by now (highly unlikely).
Important information: This is basically a hex crawl. You practically start every encounter fully rested and loaded up on spells, but you have a rough time shopping for your WBL as actually getting your grubby hands on the stuff takes time.

We managed to visit and map around 7 hexes in the first session.

Olegs Trading Post went pretty well. Pre-battle buffs were Enlarge Person on Valeros, Bless and Goodberries for everyone. Grease on the gate area, Entangle on the archer, the rest was a solid bloodbath.
We stabilized the all afterwards and offered them a choice: Work for us now or face Harsk axe.
So, new henchmen and the location of the next bandit camp on the map.

Exploration, ho! ... or rather: Not.
We found out that no pregen has a horse and all have only 2 days worth of trail ration. We had to pool our money to get some riding animals and rations, now we´re broke.

Notable random encounters in this session:
- A Shambling Mount. We legged it.
- 2 Trolls. We legged it even faster.
- 4 Wolves. Befriended by the Druid.
- 1 Grizzly Bear. Befriended by the Ranger.

Notable major encounters this session:

The Old Sycamore:
Archery Ranger against 3hp Fey? Overkill. Near wipe against the Huge centipede (we ran away). Liberated Mikmek and the sacred statue, new location on the map: Kobold mine.
The battle against Gribbles and Tickleback was.... quick and unspectacular. One Colour Spray and Entangle, the rest was easy-peasy.

The Sootscales:
Talked/Bullied our way to Chief Sootscale, using Mikmek as a bargaining chip.
The battle against Tartuk was a tough one. Again, same buff plan as at Olegs. Valero and Lini failed their save against a silent image, Oloch was hit by cause fear. Having no other clear and save targets, I shot the familiar with my crossbow and was in turn targeted by a CL3 magic missile, near dropping me below zero. That triggered an AoO for the enlarged Valeros, which was a solid crit.
Oroch healed me back up, I cast Grease on Tartuk to disarm him of the wand and Lini used Produce Flame to finish the familiar of. The rest, again, was brutal melee combat.
So, some useful caster loot and gained the kobolds (and their mine) as future allies.

Thorn River Camp:
Usual buffs, different problem: Rather large encounter area with a lot of cover and concealment.
We decided on a three-pronged approach, where Valeros and Oroch try to herd them to the center while Harsk snipes at stragglers.
That did´t really work out, as the bandits preferred to engage then let themselves being herded. So it was two of our melees against 4 mooks each and their ranger doing debuff duty at trying to intimidate our guys. Lini used Produce Flame again to target the Ranger and sent her cat after her, too, I used the looted wand of magic missile for the same, while our mates killed of the mooks. Oloch nearly went down, but could disengage fast enough to heal himself. Harsh ate a hard crit near the end, as he Ranger charged him, but survived at -9.
Same procedure again: Stabilize, job offer or axe. New location: Stag Lords Fort.

Quests finished: "Wanted: Bandits", "Kobolds in the Hills", "Gathering Fangberries", "Lift the Curse", "Moon Radish Soup", "Svetlana´s Ring"

Final result: 1,5 Level ups, roughly 500gp to spent and a 25% discount on potions and goods, some 1K gp in looted items.

My loot so far: Bracers of Armor +1, Wand of Magic Missile (CL3 - 15 charges), Wand of Burnings Hands (CL2, 4 charges), Tanglefoot Bag, 5 spells for the spell book.