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Thursday, June 4, 2015

Races of Pathfinder: Goblin

Posted by Amazing People, on 11:57 AM
Goblin
Goblins in Paizo�s Golarion world are funny yet absolutely insane little creatures, and in most cases you probably won�t get the chance to play as a goblin. However, there is a boon floating around for a few lucky PFS players that lets them play as one, and of course some GMs will allow strange races for their home games. So, with all that in mind, let�s see how goblins stack up!


Racial Traits:

Ability Scores: +4 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma. This is a pretty painful set of ability mods to start off with, but it does lend to a great Rogue or ranged build, and bomb-focused Alchemists are also an excellent choice.

Type: Goblins are humanoids with the goblinoid subtype. This sadly means that many NPCs Rangers will probably have bonuses against you, so that could be a bad thing.

Size: Goblins are Small size, so they get a boost to attack, AC, and Stealth. They aren�t slow like other Small creatures, though, so being small is all good for the goblin. Combined with their extra bonus to Stealth, goblins are just as stealthy as Tiny creatures!

Speed: Goblins are fast for their size, and have a 30 foot base speed.

Skilled: Goblins have a +4 racial bonus to both Ride and Stealth, so this makes them great choices for mounted archers or sneaky builds.

Darkvision: Darkvision is always helpful, so no complaints here!

Alternate Racial Traits:

Cave Crawler [Fast Movement]: A climb speed can come in handy, but there are cheap spells that give you this benefit (spider climb, much?) and losing that +10 to your base speed is too much of a penalty to make this worth it.

City Scavenger [Skilled]: You know that I love bonuses to Perception, but trading away a +4 to two skills is almost never worth doing for a +2 in two others. If you�re not planning to ride anything or sneak EVER, you might want to consider this, but it�s straight-up worse than the ability it�s replacing.

Eat Anything[Skilled]: This option is a little more interesting, as you�re trading a +4 bonus to Ride and Stealth (both situational skills) for a +4 to Survival AND a +4 versus any effects that cause the sickened or nauseated conditions (which there are a LOT of in the game). If you�re not planning to ride into battle or sneak around, this is a really good choice.

Hard Head, Big Teeth [Skilled]: If you�re doing a melee build of any type, you might want to consider picking this up. A bite attack that only deals 1d4 damage doesn�t seem like a huge boost, but for a Barbarian or mutagen-focused Alchemist it could come in really handy.

Over-Sized Ears [Skilled]: If you�re not going to be a stealthy creature, this is DEFINITELY worth your time. A +4 to Perception is a huge bonus, especially at lower levels, and it will allow you to be good at noticing things without having a good Wisdom score. There is also a trait called Big Ears which can stack with this bonus for another +2 to Perception. I definitely recommend this one for anyone other than a Rogue or Cavalier.



Oversized Goblin [Ability Distribution, Size]: This is pretty idea for melee characters. You gain +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma and grow to medium size. I would recommend this for a wide range of goblin classes.

Tree Runner [Skilled]: Of the options to replace your racial skill bonuses with, this one�s not bad. A +4 to both Acrobatics and Climb will definitely come in handy for a highly-mobile Rogue build (such as one using the Scout archetype), and you�ll still be good at sneaking thanks to the +4 size bonus to Stealth. This is a good option overall, though I�d personally pick up the +4 Perception bonus instead.

Weapon Familiarity [Skilled]: If you�re playing a class that is going into melee, then you�re already going to be proficient with all martial weapons (with the exception perhaps of the melee Alchemist). This one is definitely a trap, causing you to lose two excellent skill bonuses for proficiency in weapons you probably won�t want to use anyway.

Classes:

Alchemist: Goblins make excellent bomb-focused Alchemists, and even have their own racial archetype, the Fire Bomber, and several goblin-specific feats and discoveries available to them that build on this. I�ll discuss those feats and discoveries when I talk more about the Fire Bomber later on, but these options really make Alchemist a great choice for goblins, and in fact I�m going to say it�s the best choice.

Barbarian: Despite the goblin�s -2 racial penalty to Strength, they can make really decent Barbarians through a combination of being insane and their racial archetype, the Feral Gnasher. This archetype focuses on using a bite attack to deal damage and grapple opponents, as well as using improvised weapons to devastating effect, and you should definitely combine this with the Animal Fury rage power which will essentially give your gobo-barian a free bite attack during a grapple before checking to see if the grapple is even maintained! This is a fun, flavorful option for a goblin, although definitely not an optimal Barbarian build.

Bard: With a Charisma penalty, a goblin is just not going to ever make an optimal Bard. There is a racial feat called Battle Singer, but it only helps other goblins, so unless you�re playing in a goblin-only party, it�s definitely not worth your time.

Cavalier [Samurai]: Thanks to their +4 bonus to Ride and Small size, a Goblin can actually make a pretty decent Cavalier, but an even better Samurai thanks to the Mounted Archer ability and their huge racial bonus to Dexterity.

Cleric: A goblin Cleric probably isn�t one of the first things you would think of, but if you go with a fire-based domain like the goblin-specific Arson subdomain, combining it with the Flame Heart feat that gives you a +1 on caster level for fire-based spells, you can make a pretty powerful battle cleric!

Druid: Like the Cleric, a fire-based druid is a good choice for a goblin, and having an animal companion you can ride around can be super helpful. The Flame Heart feat will also be useful to boost those fire-based Druid spells, so picking a fire-based domain is also a great option.

Fighter: A ranged Fighter build is an excellent option for a goblin, and obviously the Archer archetype will be helpful in that regard.

Gunslinger: With their huge bonus to Dex, goblins can make for seriously awesome Gunslingers, and they even have a racial feat available, aptly named Goblin Gunslinger, which lets them use firearms that are sized for Medium creatures while still getting the bonus to attack rolls from being Small!

Inquisitor: Like the Cleric and Druid, a goblin Inquisitor focusing on Fire spells will be a force to be reckoned with, and using a ranged weapon will make it even better. I would strongly recommend the Black Powder inquisition in concert with the Goblin Gunslinger feat, letting you strike down your foes from far away using a gun that is comically large for your size!

Magus: The melee-focused nature of a Magus normally wouldn�t lend itself to goblin ideals, but a Dexterity-based Magus is a great build for a goblin. There are all kinds of guides out there to optimizing Dex-based Magi, so I�m not going to go into detail, but definitely pick up Flame Heart and use as many fire-based spells as possible to maximize your damage output!

Monk: I have a hard time imagining a goblin Monk... discipline isn�t one of their strong points. However, if you can find a way to roleplay it that your GM will accept, a Dex-based goblin Monk will be a seriously powerful option. You�ll definitely want to look at the Ankle Biter and Tangle Feet feat to trip up your opponents and get extra attacks against them when you move through their squares.

Oracle: A goblin Oracle of Flames will be seriously bad-ass when combined with the Flame Heart feat, so I don�t think I need to say anything else here at all. Even despite having a -2 on your primary casting stat, this is a good choice.

Paladin [Antipaladin]: The Lawful Good nature of Paladins just doesn�t make any sense for a goblin at all, and the Strength and Charisma penalties aren�t helping either. If you really want to go there, the Holy Gun or Divine Hunter archetypes will definitely make it less painful, however. Antipaladin makes considerable more sense thematically, but there aren�t any good ranged options for them, so again, not a great choice.

Ranger: A ranged Ranger build is perfect for a goblin, and picking favored enemies goes along nicely with their insanity, in my opinion. As spellcasting doesn�t seem quite as in-line with a goblin Ranger to me, you might consider the Skirmisher archetype to replace the weak spellcasting of your Ranger with something more useful and thematic.

Rogue [Ninja]: With the HUGE bonus to Stealth (+8 total!) a sneaky Rogue or Ninja is a no-brainer choice for a goblin. The Ankle Biter and Tangle Feet feats fit well with a highly Acrobatic build, and to go along with that you might consider the Scout archetype.

Sorcerer: The penalty to Charisma hurts a Sorcerer, though if you really want to go there you could consider one of the bloodlines that changes your casting stat, either Empyreal or Sage. Each of these options give up the usefulness of a bloodline arcana, though, so overall Sorcerer is just never going to be an optimal choice for a goblin.

Summoner: This is an even worse choice for a goblin than Sorcerer was, since you can�t change your casting stat. Go with a Witch or Oracle instead if you want to be a caster.

Witch: I can imagine a goblin Witch throwing hexes around and just generally being super annoying to her enemies. While there aren�t any SPECIFIC options that make Witch a better choice than Wizard, it seems more thematic, and some of the hexes fit right in with the goblin mindset (such as Child Scent and Cook People!).

Wizard: Goblins in Golarion hate reading almost as much as they hate dogs, so it�s hard to imagine a goblin Wizard. However, there�s nothing mechanically wrong with it, so if you can roleplay it, go for it!

Racial Favored Class Options:
Alchemist: This option is only good if you don�t choose the Flame Heart feat, and you�re going to want that feat, so grab a skill point or hit point instead.

Barbarian: Bonuses to critical hits can be really nice, so if you�re using natural weapons with your Barbarian, definitely take this option at every level until you hit that +4, then get a hit point afterward.

Bard: Goblin bards stink, and extra performance rounds aren�t going to offset that.

Cavalier: Extra hit points for your mount means less chance of it dying, so I like this one. Remember that a Samurai can also choose this alternate option.

Druid: If you chose an animal companion, giving it extra hit points is a no-brainer. If you went with a fire-based Domain instead, however, ignore this.

Gunslinger: Critical hits with firearms are super powerful, so confirming them is very important. Grab this every level until you get to that maximum of +5, then get hit points after that!

Oracle: You�re hopefully not going to be in melee often to need concentration checks, but this still isn�t a bad option for those times when you get pinned down. I like it.

Ranger: Extra damage on dogs and horses? Only in a goblin-only party in a goblin-oriented campaign, thank you very much!

Rogue: More sneak damage? Seriously? How could you not choose this at EVERY level??? This could give you up to +20 on sneak attack damage rolls, which is just insane! Make sure to grab Improved Initiative to maximize your use of this.

Sorcerer: Extra spells known are great for spontaneous casters, so if you inexplicably decided to make a goblin Sorcerer, you�ll want this instead of a skill or hit point.

Summoner: Extra evolution points are nice, but having to spend them specifically on things that add fire damage is too specific, and could cause issues when casting spells like evolution surge or transmogrify. Besides, goblin Summoners are just no good!

Witch: This, like other favored class bonuses giving extra spells in spell books or familiars, is a trap. You can spend gold to get the exact same effect! Pick a skill point instead.

Racial Archetypes:

Feral Gnasher(Barbarian): This is a fun, flavorful archetype that focuses on bite attacks and improvised weapons. I wouldn�t say that it�s extremely powerful, but when combined with the Hard Head, Big Teeth racial trait and the Ankle Biter feat, it�s not a bad option.

Fire Bomber(Alchemist): This is the archetype that the goblin race was born for. You get extra splash damage on your fire-based bombs, can split damage from bombs that have secondary effects with fire damage, and can turn into a freaking fire elemental! You�ll want to pick up the Flame Heart feat for sure, and maybe Burn! Burn! Burn! as well, even though it doesn�t apply to your bombs. Make sure to check out the goblin-only Alchemist Discoveries Fire Brand, Rag Doll Mutagen, Rocket Bomb and Scrap Bomb, each of which I talk about after the racial feats section.This archetype is why I rated Alchemist as sky blue, and I�m sure you can understand why!

Winged Marauder (Alchemist): Whee!  You can no longer mutagen, but instead you get to ride around on a big bat or vulture!  Flying is particularly fantastic for Alchemists, who can rain death down from above.  Besides, you also now have an animal companion as if you were a druid.

Racial Feats:
Ankle Biter: This is a fun feat for any type of movement-focused character, like a Rogue, Ninja or Monk. It also works well with the Feral Gnasher Barbarian or any goblin that picked up the Hard Head, Big Teeth racial trait.

Battle Singer:This feat is pretty much a trap unless you�re in a group of nothing but Goblins, and goblin Bards are a bad option to begin with, so this isn�t a very good feat.

Burn! Burn! Burn!: If you plan to use Alchemist�s Fire often (and at low levels, a goblin Alchemist will probably want to) you might want to pick up this feat to give you a little extra damage. It�s not great, but it�s decent.

Dog Killer, Horse Hunter: While very thematic, this isn�t the most useful feat out there, essentially giving you a static favored enemy bonus but only against dog-like and horse-like creatures. Not terribly useful.

Fire Hand: Wielding a torch as a weapon just isn�t optimal, and if you really wanted to do so you should just be a Feral Gnasher Barbarian, who can use torches as simple weapons. This is a trap.

Fire Tamer: If you worry about being targeted with fire spells, as opposed to casting them yourself, this might be a good option for you, but it�s definitely not great.

Flame Heart: Holy CRAP is this amazing for a goblin Alchemist or ANY spellcaster. Fire resistance 5 and increasing your caster level for fire-related spells and bombs? Seriously, this is golden. Grab it.

Goblin Gunslinger: If you�re going to be using guns as a goblin, there is absolutely not reason not to get this feat, as it will increase your damage output. Plus it�s hilarious to think of a goblin wielding a gun that looks way to big for him!

Lead From the Back: I actually like this feat for a caster class, since it gives you something to do when you don�t want to waste a spell on an almost-knocked-out opponent. It essentially lets you give a limited bardic music-style bonus to all your allies, though you need to use a standard action to do it.

Letter Fury: This is a really weird feat, and obviously only for Barbarians, but it could come in handy if you come up against a lot of spellcasters. Instead of having to wait until your own turn to rage, you can gain those hit points in the middle of a spellcaster reading from a scroll. However, just to get extra rounds of rage each day, you�re better off taking Extra Rage.

Roll With It: I don�t see a player characters spending a feat on this, though it can certainly save you from a critical hit that would otherwise kill you. Instead, this feat is something I�m going to give to EVERY goblin I put up against players in games that I GM, because this can make a few goblins a much more formidable threat. Overall, it�s a very useful feat, but most characters aren�t going to have an extra feat slot to use on it.

Tangle Feet: For a highly mobile character, especially a Monk or Rogue, this is a great choice, letting you trip up characters bigger than you when you use Acrobatics to move through their squares.

Racial Alchemist Discoveries:

Fire Brand: This may seem lackluster at first but once you realize its applications it is actually quite nice. Firstly, if you want to hold a charge and dont want to accidentally set it off prematurely you can wear something flammable like a silk glove. When you want to deliver the touch attack, its a swift action to burn the glove off and away you go. Secondly it works great with feral mutagen. Over the corse of 3 turns you steadily increase the damage you do, and who dosen't like the image of a self-immolating goblin charging down a foe with fire coming out of its mouth? It is a lot more feasible with your favored class bonus or the Flame Heart feat granting fire resistance. Sadly, you can�t combine this with the Vivisectionist archetype, as that replaces your bombs.

Rag Doll Mutagen: This grants you 3 bonuses when you use a mutagen. A bonus to escape artist checks, a bonus to squeezing and a bonus to falling. While nice, none of these are actually all that helpful unless you are building for it. I guess counting as a diminutive creature for squeezing is kinda neat.

Rocket Bomb: This is an amazing discovery. This trades direct hits for extra range and AOE. Your range goes up to 50 feet meaning you could hit someone 250 feet away with your bombs! This also increases the blast radius to 20 feet meaning a giant 40 foot explosion. While this is nice with effects like grease bomb or tanglefoot bomb its real benefit comes with the cloud bomb discoveries. A 40 foot stinking cloud or inferno cloud? Yes please! Its biggest drawback comes from not being usable with fast bombs so only 1 a round, but still this is just crazy good for a goblin Alchemist!


Scrap Bomb: This simply adds extra damage in the form of bleed, 1 bleed damage for each d6 of bomb damage. Simple, effective and stacks with everything. A good way to add damage to a frost bomb or such if you have the discovery to spare.



Races of Pathfinder: Fetchling

Posted by Amazing People, on 11:55 AM
Fetchling
Fetchlings are a race descended from humans who had been trapped on the shadow plane, and therefore they have some unique darkness- and shadow-focused abilities. At first, fetchlings seem very similar to wayangs in this way, but the abilities of both races are actually quite distinct.




Racial Traits:
Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom. These bonuses and penalties make fetchlings excellent as Ninjas and spontaneous casters, but they aren�t really made for prepared divine casters.

Type:Fetchlings are outsiders with the native subtype, which means that, just like aasimar and tieflings, they can�t be affected by spells specifically affecting humanoids, like enlarge person. This can be a huge detriment to buffing, but they also aren�t affected by things like charm person, so it can also be a boon.

Size:Fetchlings are the same size as humans.

Speed:Fetchlings move the same speed as humans.

Shadow Blending: This is a peculiar ability that will definitely come in handy for any character. In dim light, instead of the normal 20% miss chance, your enemies will have a 50% chance of missing you. This does not, however, equate to full concealment, so you still can�t do things like deal sneak attack damage just because you�re in dim light. Overall, though, this is a great ability, especially for a sneaky Rogue or Ninja.

Shadowy Resistance: Resistance 5 to both cold and electricity is a very nice bonus, so this is pretty sweet.

Skilled: You have a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (planes) and Stealth, so obviously for a Ninja this is great. However, the Knowledge (planes) bonus can be replaced by a +1 to both Knowledge (nature) and Knowledge (local) if you choose the World Walker alternate trait, so I personally think that�s more useful, especially in PFS play, so I�ll leave this one green.

Spell-Like Abilities: Disguise self once per day is pretty cool, but the really awesome parts of this ability come at later levels. Starting at 9th level, you also get shadow walk once per day, and at 13th level you get plane shift once per day! Those are some seriously high-level spell-like abilities, and are a great option for any character. Pay attention, though, to the Gloom Shimmer alternate racial trait, which trades shadow walk at 9th level for displacement, which will be more useful for melee fighters of any type, in my opinion.

Darkvision:Darkvision is excellent, and you get low-light vision on top of it! Sweet!

Low-light Vision: In the case of the fetchling, you have both darkvision AND low-light vision, so they�re going to come in handy in different situations.

Alternate Racial Traits:

Emissary [Shadow Blending]: I suppose for a party face-type character this would be very useful, but honestly it just doesn�t compare to getting additional concealment in dim light. Keep Shadow Blending unless your only purpose in the party is to convince enemies NOT to attack you in the first place.

Gloom Shimmer [Alters Spell-Like Abilities]: This is an excellent option for any character who will be getting attacked fairly often, since it allows you to cast displacement once per day starting at 9th level. Now, if you�re in dim light, you�ve already got a 50% miss chance, but this is for when you�re in bright light that you just can�t get away from, or when you REALLY need to deal sneak damage on every attack for a few rounds. I like this option for front-line melee and Rogue-style characters more than others.

Shadow Magic [Skilled]: For spellcasters, this is a really good option, since you�re probably not going to be using Stealth in combat that often anyway, and there aren�t a ton of ways to boost your actual caster level for any given character. Obviously non-spellcasters gain nothing from this ability, and it�s red for them.

Subtle Manipulator [Alters Spell-Like Abilities]: If I was going to play a party face character, I would have a lot of trouble deciding between this and the standard spell-like abilities, because while alter self can let you infiltrate an entire room full of opponents, memory lapse can save you after rolling a natural 1 on a crucial Diplomacy or Bluff check. I suppose alter self is probably the better option overall. Notice that you can take both Gloom Shimmer and Subtle Manipulator if you want to, as they alter different spell-like abilities.

World Walker [Alters Skilled]: I think this is probably a slightly better option than the regular Skilled trait, since you�re getting bonuses to two Knowledge checks instead of one (diversity can be very good) and you still keep your Stealth bonus. The standard Skilled trait is still great, though, so there�s no clear �YOU MUST TAKE THIS ONE� here.

Classes:

Alchemist: A fetchling can make for a decent bomb-focused Alchemist thanks to the Dexterity bonus, but without an Int bonus they�re never going to be perfect. You could also make good use of the Vivisectionist archetype with a fetchling, thanks to their sneaky nature, but if you were going to do that, I�d go Ninja instead in the first place.

Barbarian: With no boosts to either Strength or Constitution, and given a Barbarian�s generally non-stealthy approach to combat, fetchlings weren�t really meant to make good Barbarians. The exception to this would be the Urban Barbarian, who can use Controlled Rage to gain bonuses while still being able to use Stealth. Even in that case, though, a fetchling will never be an optimal Barbarian, so I�d look elsewhere.

Bard: This is a good class choice for a fetchling, thanks to the Dex and Charisma bonuses. I like the Magician archetype for a fetchling Bard thanks to the more arcane focus, and you�ll obviously want to toss out a lot of illusion (shadow) spells to make use of the boosted caster level.

Cavalier [Samurai]: Neither Cavalier nor Samurai make sense for a fetchling, as riding a mount is counterintuitive to their stealthy nature. You might do alright with the mount-less Sword Saint archetype, as it makes use of an enemy�s unawareness of your intentions to deal some extra damage in the first round of combat, but overall this is just not a great choice.

Cleric: A penalty to Wisdom means you�ll never be an optimal Cleric. If you do choose to make a fetchling Cleric anyway, the Darkness (Night) subdomain is an obvious choice, as it synergizes with your Shadow Blending ability, making you invisible to creatures without darkvision when you�re in an area of dim light or darkness. My suggestion, however, is to go Oracle instead.

Druid: Just like the Cleric, a Druid relies too much on Wisdom for spellcasting, and that Wisdom penalty really hurts. If you go down this road, the Darkness (Night) subdomain is an obvious choice, or you could take an animal companion like the giant chameleon who will get its own bonuses to Stealth while you hide in the shadows, tossing out spells.

Fighter: A ranged Fighter build will work just fine for a fetchling, especially with the miss chance in dim light. I�d highly suggest tossing a few ranks into Use Magic Device and getting a wand of darkness to make use of that miss chance as often as possible. You may also find the Dark Sight feat to be a good investment, allowing you to stand fifteen feet within magical darkness and still see outside that darkness clearly. You�ll have to take Gloom Sight first, though, which includes light sensitivity, so that is less exciting.

Gunslinger: Everything I just said for a ranged Fighter build applies to a Gunslinger, so this is also a great option.

Inquisitor: While a penalty to Wisdom doesn�t hurt an Inquisitor as much as it does a Cleric or Druid, you�re still not going to be optimal here. Obviously the Infiltrator archetype is both thematic and powerful in combination with the fetchling�s spell-like abilities. Overall, this is a mediocre option at best.

Magus: A Dex-based Magus build is a great option for a fetchling, and combining the Myrmidarch archetype with Dark Sight is just broken. You still will probably find a more powerful build using Oracle or Sorcerer, however.

Monk: There are no Charisma-based Monk archetypes (unless you count Ninja) and so this will always be a sub-optimal choice for a fetchling beause you�re going to start with fewer ki points. You can offset this significantly, however, by taking the Hungry Ghost Monk archetype, which will allow you to regain ki points when you confirm a critical hit or knock out a creature. You could also pick up a Monk Vow or two, so this isn�t the worst class for a fetchling.

Oracle: Now here is a great class for a Fetchling. You get a +1 to your caster level with shadow spells, and the Dark Tapestry mystery fits in perfectly with your shadowy theme. The favored class option for a fetchling Oracle is incredible, allowing you to be treated as a higher level for the purposes of which of your racial spell-like abilities you can cast. This means that you will be able to cast shadow walk (or displacement) at 7th level instead of 9th!

Paladin [Antipaladin]: A lack of a Strength or Con bonus means you�re not going to be a great front-line Paladin, but a ranged Paladin build such as the Holy Gun is definitely an option. Paladins aren�t the most sneaky class out there, but an Antipaladin could actually work out really well, especially with the fiendish servant being used as a sneaky little scout.

Ranger: Rangers aren�t affected too much by a Wisdom penalty, and obviously the Dexterity bonus lends to a ranged build. You also have the option of taking a racial archetype, the Dusk Stalker, which gives a huge boost to favored terrain when on the Shadow Plane and replaces hunter�s bond with several shadow-focused abilities. You also get the see in darkness special ability at 12th level, which is excellent. By now I�m sure you�ve figured out that i�m a huge fan of the Skirmisher archetype as a great spell-less Ranger variant, so I also recommend that for a fetchling Ranger to further reduce your reliance on a high Wisdom score.

Rogue [Ninja]: Fetchlings were practially made to be Rogues and Ninjas. All of their racial traits help with sneaking or infiltrating, and the Spy and Burglar archetypes both work perfectly along with that (and a Ninja can even take the Burglar archetype too!). The favored class option is also excellent, boosting your Stealth and Sleight of Hand checks when in dim light or darkness. You may want to consider the Gloom Strike feat, if you�re willing to spend a feat on Blind-Fight as a prerequisite.

Sorcerer: This is a really great option for a fetchling. Obviously you�ll want to pick up feats that help with your illusion spells, and the Umbral bloodline is definitely the best choice, though the regular Shadow bloodline would be fine, too. The favored class option is nice, letting you increase your innate energy resistances. Overall, this is an excellent choice.

Summoner: Of all the classes you could choose, I think this one is the best, thanks to the racial archetype available to fetchling Summoners, the Shadow Caller. This archetype gives you a lot of really interesting options for your summon monster spells, some of which are quite powerful (Young Umbral dragon!). You also get to add the shadow creature template to creatures instead of celestial or fiendish, which is really powerful. I also absolutely love the roleplay value of having your eidolon literally coalesce from your own shadow. You�ll absolutely want to give your eidolon Shadow Blend and Shadow Form, which will give it concealment at all times! The favored class option is good, letting you get some energy resistance on your eidolon without spending mutation points on it.

Witch and Wizard: Both Witch and Wizard are fine options for a fetchling, though definitely not optimal. There�s nothing that says you can�t go for it, though!

Racial Favored Class Options:

Oracle: This is a seriously excellent favored class option, letting you cast your higher-level spell-like abilities earlier. You won�t want to choose this anymore after level 9, though, because after that it wears out its usefulness.

Ranger: If you�re planning to hang out in the Plane of Shadow, such as if you went with the Dusk Stalker archetype, then you�ll definitely want this favored class option... otherwise it�s useless.

Rogue: This is a must-have for either a Rogue or Ninja, as you�ll be making a lot of Stealth checks in areas of dim light.

Sorcerer:Increasing your energy resistance is useful, though I probably wouldn�t spend all 20 levels on a single type of resistance.

Summoner: Anything that lets you save evolution points for other, stronger abilities is great in my book. Take this, and match your shadow eidolon�s resistances to your own!

Wizard: This is a super trap, as you can just buy scrolls and add them to your spellbook, and it�s even more restrictive than other racial options that allow you to add spells to your book. Stay away!

Racial Archetypes:

Dusk Stalker (Ranger): This is a flavorful archetype, though it will only really be useful in certain types of campaigns (such as those where you travel between planes a lot!) I do like the Shadow Bond ability a lot, and the Dark Sight class ability is more powerful than the Dark Sight line of feats, though you have to wait a while to get it. Definitely take the favored class option of +1/2 to Perception and Survival on the Plane of Shadow at every level if you take this archetype.

Shadow Caller (Summoner): I love this archetype, because it�s so full of flavor that it hurts, and it�s also very powerful! The new options on the summon monster lists include a lot of great options, though you�re also more restricted in which creatures you can summon. Adding the shadow creature template instead of celestial or fiendish to your animal-type summons is an excellent change, and I also love the two evolutions that were written with the fetchling in mind, Shadow Blend and Shadow Form. You�ll probably want to focus on Stealth and sneaking with your eidolon. I really wish you could combine this archetype with the Master Summoner, but alas they both change the eidolon class feature.

Racial Feats:
Dark Sight: This is an excellent feat, letting you see through magical darkness up to fifteen feet, but it does have a downside: you have to take the Gloom Sight feat first, which includes the light sensitivity weakness. For a ranged build, it�s likely worth it to take both of these feats, and just make sure that you keep a darkness spell up to save yourself from bright lights as much as possible.

Improved Dark Sight: This is a huge upgrade to Dark Sight, except that you now have the light blindness weakness, and that�s a really big penalty. You can always help that by wearing Lenses of Darkness, though this is an expensive solution. I would definitely not take this feat until you can afford the lenses, personally.

Gloom Sight: Increasing your darkvision to 90 feet really isn�t worth it when you also have to gain light sensitivity, but this feat is made much better by the feats that require it, Dark Sight and Improved Dark SIght. By itself, this is a bad choice, but it�s worth the investment to get to Dark Sight, in my opinion.

Gloom Strike: Blind-Fight can be a very useful feat for martial characters, and you�ll probably always want to be in an area of dim light or lower anyway, so you might as well grab this if you�re willing to spend the feat on Blind-Fight first.

Shadow Ghost: If you like your shadow walk spell-like ability, grab this, but honestly I don�t think it�s worth a feat.


Shadow Walker: Dimension door is more powerful than shadow walk, but this probably isn�t worth a feat for most characters.



Unusual Origin: I'm struggling to see a use for an arcane eye on the shadow plane.  I guess you'll have some warning if shadow baddies want to attack you?  Really, I think this would just encourage your GM to use such tactics.



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