Rolled 18, 17, 16, 15, 11, 7. What to Play?

[Maat Mons]

The current party consists of:

• Arcanist (me) who might be about to die
• Rogue who is definitely going to live
• Witch who might be about to die
• Druid who just last session replaced a departed character

We're level 8

The DM houserules spontaneous casting to work like it does in 5e. If you're not familiar with 5e, that means everyone's casting essentially works like Arcanist, except without the delay in spell acquisition. I'd like to take advantage of that by playing a prepared full-caster.



I have a few ideas I've been toying with, which I will present here in no particular order.



We're in a town full of what the dM calls "Bullwugs," though I'm pretty sure they're actually Boggards. I thought it might be fun to play a Grippli who thinks he's a Bullywug/Boggard because no one ever told him he's adopted.

Looking at Grippli, the most unique benefit seems to be the ability to take the Agile Tongue feat and deliver touch spells at a range of 10 feet. They also have kind of a nice Favored Class Bonus for Shaman, which allows them to access some spells from the Druid spell list. And, of course, the +2 Wisdom from Grippli argues for Cleric, Druid, Shaman, or Empyreal Bloodline Sorcerer.



I had been considering doing something with Halcyon Druid. Now that I've found out another character is playing a Druid, maybe the polite thing to do would be to scrap that idea to avoid stepping on his toes. But that's not how our group roles. We started this game with an Arcanist, a Witch, and a Sorcerer (plus a Rogue). We don't really worry about overlap.



For a while, I've been thinking it would be interesting to play a Witch with both the Mirror Witch and Seducer Witch archetypes. I'd make her very vain, and intensely jealous of other women she perceives as more attractive than her. Kind of an off-brand Queen Grimhilde.

I was kind of thinking Elf would be fitting, since they're supposed to be good looking. Also, my DM houserules Elves to be ageless in his campaigns, which is kind of neat. But I can't find a Pathfinder version of Elf that shifts the bonus from Intelligence to Charisma. Well, except for Drow. But I'm not sure I want to play a Drow.



Looking at the Elder Mythos Cultist Cleric archetype kind of makes me want to play a worshiper of an Outer God or Great Old One.



But I'm not really locked into any of those ideas. So if you've got other suggestions, feel free to put them forward.

[vasilidor]

try a witch.

[Maat Mons]

I've been giving more thought to the Mirror Seducer Witch thing.

I think I could be happy with Elf. I'd probably go with the following alternative racial traits.
Fey Sighted: Gain continuous Detect Magic; lose Elven Magic
Long-Limbed: Gain +5 feet speed; lose Weapon Familiarity
Moonkissed: Gain +1 saves; lose Elven Immunities, Keen Senses

For ability scores, it would probably be:
Str: 7
Dex: 16 (+2 race) = 18
Con: 17 (-2 race) = 15
Int: 11 +2 (race) = 13
Wis: 15
Cha: 18 +2 (level) = 20

Assuming I consistently go with the extra skills for my favored class bonus, I could keep four skills maxed out. They would be:
Bluff
Diplomacy
Sense Motive
Spellcraft

So here's what's bothering me. The whole point of Seducer Witch is to switch over to a Charisma focus. The only benefit of pumping Charisma is social skills. But I don't really wind up being all that good at social skills anyway.

My 20 Charisma gives me an extra +5 to Bluff and Diplomacy over what I'd have if I put the 11 there instead. But since I don't have them as class skills, I'm at a -3 relative to anyone who does. The DM doesn't allow traits, so I can't get them as class skills that way. So all-in-all, I wind up pretty mediocre at this stuff.

And since Witch is a 2 + Int skill point class, without the Intelligence focus it normally has, I don't really have enough skill points to fullfil the social role without significant sacrifices. Spellcraft is mandatory for Witches just to learn spells. Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive are the basic face skills. Then that's it, I'm out of skill points. No Fly, no Knowledges, no Use Magic Deice, and no Perception.

Maybe Witch just isn't a good basis for a social character. Feyspeaker Druid gets Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive as class skills on top of using Charisma as a casting stat. And it gets 6 + Int skill points.

I guess maybe I could take a level in Kitsune Trickster Rogue to add Intelligence to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive. But then I'd be a caster level behind. And being a Kitsune feels like a major change to the concept.

[Kurald Galain]

Maybe Witch just isn't a good basis for a social character.

No, it's not. And indeed, witches in fiction are not commonly depicted as being social.

That said, being one level behind on a wizard/witch/cleric is really not an issue.

[Maat Mons]

I'm planning on playing a Shaman in a different game, after this one ends, but maybe I'd be willing to play two Shamen in a row.

The amazing rolls I have here would be good for taking advantage of the Arcane Enlightenment hex from the Lore spirit. The number of Wizard spells you can access is based on your Charisma, and the highest level of Wizard spell you can access is based on your Intelligence. That makes you kind of MAD.

The races I'm considering for this are Galthian and Grippli, leaning towards Galthian. They both get to add spells from the Druid spell list, which I assume is good.



Galthian

Maybe see if the DM will let me have dragonfly wings instead of ones made from wood and vines. If so, maybe take a dragonfly as my familiar spirit animal.

Str: 7
Dex: 11 +2 (race) = 13
Con: 16 -2 (race) = 14
Int: 15
Wis: 18 +2 (level) = 20
Cha: 17 +2 (race) = 19

Definite Alternative Racial Trains
Fey Resilience: Gain DR 2/cold iron; lose spell-like abilities

Maybe Alternative Racial Trains
Bower Born: Gain +2 Diplomacy; lose natural armor
Photosynthetic Vision: Gain +2 Perception; lose low-light vision



Grippli

Maybe I'd take the Speaker for the Past archetype for this one. It means I wouldn't get to use Wandering Spirit to change which Wizard spells I have access to, but the DM already said he's going to limit how often I could change them that way.

Str: 11 -2 (race) = 9
Dex: 7 +2 (race) = 9
Con: 16
Int: 15
Wis: 18 +2 (race) +2 (level) = 22
Cha: 17

or

Str: 11 -2 (race) -1 (age) = 8
Dex: 7 +2 (race) -1 (age) = 8
Con: 15 -1 (age) = 14
Int: 16 +1 (age) = 17
Wis: 18 +2 (race) +1 (age) +2 (level) = 23
Cha: 17 +1 (age) = 18

Definite Alternative Racial Trains
Jumper: Always treated as having running start for Jump; lose camouflage

[Maat Mons]

The DM says he won't let me refluff Galthian wings. He suggested I could play a Sprite if I want. He also offered to let me switch the -4 from Intelligence to Charisma, if that helps with whatever class I go with.

I'd be small enough to ride my familiar/spirit animal, which is kind of neat. But with a fly speed of 60 feet (perfect) there isn't really any reason to. I'm a little worried about difficulties arising from my size though.

The first image that comes to mind is a smaller version of what I was going to do with the refluffed Galthian, a little dude with dragonfly wings, and maybe pointy ears. But I could instead be a fairy godmother. Or a Never Land Fairy. Or a tooth fairy. Adventuring is probably a good way to procure teeth. Though I'd need a bigger and stronger character to use the pliers.



I might still go with the Grippli though. Being a Shaman with limited access to the Druid and Wizard spells lists sounds nice. Do you guys have any recommendations on which spells to grab?