3.P - How Early Can One Make a Butler?

[unseenmage]

Say one wants their character to live in style, what's the earliest level one can have a sentient, completely loyal servant which can still blend into humanoid society?

Simulacrum are nice but they're expensive.
Effigies are cool but mindless.
Dedicated Wright is obedient but it has better things to do.
Homunculus are too small, not to mention grotesque.
Golems are generally mindless, too big, and too expensive.
Undead are... risky. Not to mention (que Mermaid Man) 'EEVIIIL!'

What am I missing Playground?
Is there a servant creature that won't bring on the torches and pitchforks, can carry on a decent conversation, AND make a decent cup of tea?

[Malroth]

Summoner can have an Edilion that looks completely humanoid at lv 1.

[Prime32]

Leadership? PF has weaker versions available from lv3 in the form of Dynasty Founder (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/story-feats/dynasty-founder-story/) and Squire (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/squire/).

At the same level you can get a fey-touched (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/fey-touched-creature-0-or-1/) Improved Familiar capable of taking human form. If you play an aasimar descended from guardinals agathions, you might be able to convince your GM to apply the template to your familiar at lv1 through the Celestial Servant (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/racial-feats/celestial-servant-aasimar/) feat.

[Telok]

Trained hireling, 3 sp per day.
Highly trained and loyal hireling, 1 gp per day?
+1 small exotic trash weapon, 1150gp sale value.
So for a +1 small sai you can have about 3 years of Jeeves to your Wooster.

[Tipsy_Pooka]

A hireling sounds right up your alley... depending on what you really want your "butler" to do. There are also some Pathfinder feats (e.g. Squire) that, when re-fluffed, might be what you're looking for.

[magicalmagicman]

force golems are sentient golems who pledge their loyalty in exchange for sentience.

awaken construct on an effigy and pay him, trick him, or mind control him. Or have him repay you by being your butler until he works the cost of his construction off.

[BlackOnyx]

The Mentor feat from the DMG II allows you to take on an NPC gofer—ahem—apprentice fairly early on. Granted, it does require you to have two different skills at 8 ranks depending on the type of apprenticeship you're looking to develop (so probably level 4 at the earliest).

There is also the stipulation that your character must have graduated from apprenticeship (referring to the Apprentice feat), but, honestly, that feels a bit overly restrictive if you ask me.

Your DM's opinion may differ, but if I were making the call, I probably wouldn't enforce that as a prereq for the feat.

[death390]

level 3 i think is earliest i can think of.

Craft Wonderous items them make a command word item of either a summon spell or better yet unseen servant


Unseen Servant can can perform simple tasks at your command. It can run and fetch things, open unstuck doors, and hold chairs, as well as clean and mend. The servant can perform only one activity at a time, but it repeats the same activity over and over again if told to do so as long as you remain within range. It can open only normal doors, drawers, lids, and the like. it can exert only 20 pounds of force. It can’t perform any task that requires a skill check with a DC higher than 10 or that requires a check using a skill that can’t be used untrained. Its speed is 15 feet.

it has a hour/lvl duration so for 2k you can have a use-activated/continuous item for 2k, or my preference is 1.8k but each cast only lasts 1 hour. you can recast the spell repeatedly for more servants that last 1 hour though. so what would be better up to 3600 servants that only last an hour (1 standard action a round for an hour) or one servant that lasts forever.

[SaintNick]

An instructor wizard gets a loyal apprentice at level 1 in Pathfinder.

[Psyren]

The Spirit Ally feat gives you a scaling permanent Unseen Servant at 8th level for free

[Kelb_Panthera]

The thing you're missing is that homonculus don't have to be grotesque. I forget where but I'm sure I remember reading that the craft check to create the homonculus' body can also be used to sculpt it into a pleasant shape before the animating process. I'll try to dig it up.

[rodoco]

Rajah, the Dreamscarred Press Akashic (read: Incarnum) class gets a team of unseen servants (that you can see) at level 2. They are basically tailor made for living in style.

[Calthropstu]

Leadership, and by extension its lesser derivatives, aren't exactly absolutely obedient. They are npcs and, as such, have their own goals and requirements.
If you get a paladin cohort and order him to do something evil, he will flat out refuse. If you lug around a cohort and completely ignore him except when you need him, he will leave eventually, or worse, betray you at an opportune moment.
Mistreated or neglected cohorts are mistreated or neglected people and will act accordingly.