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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snapdragyn" data-source="post: 4063645" data-attributes="member: 12432">I'm building a character for a game set in the Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords campaign (my first time playing it, so no spoilers, please). Healer & tank roles are covered, & I'm going for a change of pace away from my usual rogue & into blaster.My design process has been rather different than usual; taking a page from my Hero campaign, I thought out the character story & what I wanted him to do first, then starting looking for the rules to try to make that happen.The character is a member of a nomadic tribe. His 'in game' designation is a 'deathwalker' - one chosen by the spirits to return one of the lost tribes, crossing the barrier between life & death to bring them back. He's definitely not evil; I haven't yet decided on good or neutral in a 'good but willing to compromise himself for a greater good' sense. His backstory includes an episode where he summoned spirits to defend himself (Summon Swarm warlock power with the bats described as 'ghost bats' simply for the effect; no change of rules to the invocation or its actual effects).Help sought with:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">spell choice</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">feat choice</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">school of specialization (or go non-specialized)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">alternate builds (but see next bit)</li> </ul>Design points:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Character concept takes precedence over power; the goal in posting here is to make him more effective within his conceptual framework. Concept foci (in no particular order): <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Death</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fear</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Grief</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Undead (control of, summoning of, possibly raising of)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spiritual Energy (description I'll use for any damaging energy effects)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Planar travel (w/ focus on travel to 'the lands beyond' - planes such as ethereal, astral, or shadow which fit the theme of an 'other side')</li> </ul> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No cap systems (psionics, ToB, Bo9S); the DM is new, so although nothing has been said specifically, I'm voluntarily ruling them out in order to avoid rules overload. I'm willing to use (& DM hasn't ruled out) non-core feats & spells, though; the rules for the odd feat or spell are easier to handle than a whole separate system. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Retain party usefulness as blaster/utility caster; the balance between those is something I'll have to discuss with the group, so ideas leaning each way are welcome. Although multiclassing into cleric for turn undead would be an obvious conceptual fit, that role is already covered for the party. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spells don't have to have a necromancy tag to be described in ways that fit the concept. I've actually found some of the illusion spells to fit quite well (phantasmal killer, f'rex). That said, easier fits are, well... easier than ones that require major stretching</li> </ul>What I have so far:Warlock 1 (PBS & Able Learner)Wizard 2-4 (Practiced Spellcaster feat at 3)Warlock 5-6 (feat uncertain; possibly Spell Penetration?)*Eldritch Theurge 7-16 (feats uncertain; probably an Extra Invocation at some point)Wizard 17-20 (feat uncertain)*(Alternate: Eldritch Theurge 7-9, then Hellblast Warlock 10-12, Eldritch Theurge 13-19, 20? - perhaps put an extra Warlock level before Hellblast Warlock in order to get the Deceive Item ability so that he can craft & use wands of lesser restoration to heal himself up from the CON damage after a fight. This build gains a bit in the concept department (tapping his own spirit to make blast more powerful), but actually loses a bit in both utility (delayed teleport & plane shift access) & power (delayed save-or-die spells access). I still might go this way if the game looks to be fairly low-power since I really like the flavor possibilities.)My thought here is that the eldritch blasts will be described as bolts of spiritual energy, & many of the warlock invocations have a good otherworldly air to them. Multiclassing with wizard opens up utility spells, & the Eldritch Theurge PrC will eventually let him combine a fireball & EB in a single shot (& later on combine EB w/ touch spells). I chose wizard over sorcerer for faster access to the PrC.Particular spells I've thought of so far (leaving out some of the more obvious PHB choices like Fireball ('Spirit'ball for him?):1Burning Hands (his only AoE until 6th level; requires a bit of descriptive alteration)Ray of Enfeeblement (good spell, good fit)2Torrent of Tears from CM (emo strike! great fit)3Legion of Sentinels from PHB2 (decent battlefield control spell, good fit)4Phantasmal Killer (as mentioned, it makes a great conceptual fit)The schools are all over the map, which is giving me a headache on specializing. Necromancy would be obvious, but I'm not seeing many spells that I like there. Illusion could also fit well for some spells, but doesn't fit at all for a lot of them. Blergh. I'm leaning toward Abjuration & Transformation as the denied schools (weakens his utility, but leaves open many good attack spells).I'm uncertain about Conjuration as a potential focus; summoning (or reanimating) undead would fit well, but I've never played a summoner & am not sure a) that I want the headache of handling all of them in battle, or b) how effective they really are (especially if I go the alternate build above, in which case they'll end up 2-3 levels below party level even with Practiced Spellcaster). He could potentially control a lot, making even weak ones more useful, but then this adds to the concerns about taking up so much combat time to deal with all of them.Anyway... thoughts?</blockquote>

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