I'm back. For at least one more blog, the last of my Feywild Character Concept blogs. This one is the Satyr Witch. It was by far the most difficult for me to put together. So difficult in fact, that I had to build 2 characters to see how they would work side by side. Since I built two, I might as well give them both to you.
The two builds are based on the separate covens. Full Moon Coven was the easier one to build since the Satyr has neither Int nor Wisdom as its boosted stats, but I truly enjoyed the Dark Moon Coven more. The build ideas came from the skill bonuses that each coven grants. Full Moon grants Heal and later also gives you a bonus to Diplomacy. Heal is a Wis skill (your secondary stat anyway) and Satyrs get a bonus to Cha which helps the Diplomacy. Dark Moon gives you Intimidate which is Cha and boosted by your race, but later gives you a Stealth boost.
Full Moon will be listed first in each entry and will be based on healing and a more social interaction skill set. Dark Moon will be listed afterwards and will focus on a more roguish skill set.
For Stats I had to go with the 18 - 14 split since none of my racial boosts lined up with the class. Strength is dumped on both builds, which isn't to atypical of a wizard any way. Full Moon gets the racial choice in Con to help keep him up longer in the battle, but the 11 goes into Cha so that he can be more suave in the social skills department. Dark Moon puts the racial in Dex and sticks the 11 there as well, to help facilitate the rogue feeling of skills.
Str 8/Con 12(race)/Dex 10/Int 18/Wis 14/Cha 13(race)
Str 8/Con 10/Dex 13(race)/Int 18/Wis 14/Cha 12(race)
Skill were pretty tricky for me, though not terribly bad. Arcana is a given for both Covens, then a second one is added based on the Coven. Full Moon gets Heal and Dark Moon gets Intimidate. I decided to make use of the Satyr's Sly Words feature as Bluff is both a social skill and a roguish skill. Insight is keyed off Wis and is a good compliment to bluff, so both builds got that as well. For Full Moon, my last choice was fairly obvious: Diplomacy since it is a social skill and it will get a bonus at 5th level. For the Dark Moon, it was a little less obvious. I chose Nature as the book is based on the Feywild, though if I were to put the build in a more urban setting, I would likely have gone with Dungeoneering instead. Both are Wisdom skills and seem more likely to be used by a rogue than the other options available.
Arcana, Heal, Diplomacy, Bluff, Insight
Arcana, Intimidate, Bluff, Insight, Nature/Dungeoneering
Feats were more important to my build than the powers were, so I'll go over them first. Feats are particularly tricky for the Witch who has more close up powers than typical wizards. It's tempting to go with something like Unarmored Defense, but that didn't help me fulfill my concepts very well. Arcane Familiar is your free feat, so it's best to pick out which familiar you want first. The Toad is my choice for Full Moon as it augments an ally's healing and your own surge value, giving some better staying power and keeping in the healing theme for the build. It's major down side is having a speed of 3, so I would augment that with the Cast Afar the Spirit familiar feat that allows you to teleport it 5 squares when you switch it to active mode. For the Dark Moon build was more difficult as I really want to give him better skills like a rogue. Rat was my familiar choice, a boost to stealth, and the ability to make thievery checks with a +2 bonus for you. Ritual Caster almost made my choice for access to rituals like Knock and Find Traps, but in the end I decided to multiclass into rogue (good thing I put my Dex up to a 13). I went with Twilight Adept, as I'm unlikely to see much use for sneak attack with out a weapon, and Stealth is going to be my buffed skill at level 5.
Arcane Familiar: Toad, Cast Afar the Spirit
Arcane Familiar: Rat, Twilight Adept
All Witches get the Augury power. My next step in power selection is the 3 cantrips that each of them get. There's only one option for this in the Feywild book, so most of them will have to come from elsewhere. For Full Moon Coven, I chose Light, Ghost Sound and Whispering Wind. Light is always handy for anyone who can't see in the dark. My other two choices are more in line with communications as to the social aspect of this build. For Dark Moon, I chose Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, and Disrupt Undead. I considered Chameleon Mask here, but since I'm wanting to train Stealth anyway, and I haven't counted in backgrounds, it likely wouldn't be as necessary. Ghost Sound and Mage Hand are more for distractions, or getting small things that may be out of reach. They both seemed like good candidates for a sneaky build. Disrupt Undead was picked mainly so that your encounter power has a bit more punch when you're facing undead hoards that resist necrotic. There aren't any other first level powers that deal necrotic damage, but there are some later, so it helps keep open that option as well.
Augury, Light, Ghost Sound, Whispering Wind
Augury, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Disrupt Undead
For the regular powers, you only need to pick two at-wills and one daily, since your Coven determines your Encounter. Full Moon starts with Glorious Presence for the Encounter (temp hp, fits the heal theme too) For at-will powers, Breath of Night will help to keep enemies from getting too cozy with you, and Winged Horde will give you a bit of Controller area effect power. I went with Bewitching Charm for the daily, as a diplomatic healer is served very well by incapacitating their enemies instead of outright killing them. Hitting multiple targets with action denial and causing them to grant CA for your allies is a pretty big boon by itself anyway. For Dark Moon Coven, I basically took all the powers I didn't choose for Full Moon. You get Dread Presence for your encounter (slowing enemies, creating a zone of damage) and I took Beast Switch for my up close at-will (knocking enemies prone and a slide seems pretty slick) and Witch Bolt as my ranged choice (better damage, though only a single target, but you can sustain it. So, you won't have to worry about missing with that next attack.) Charm of Forbiddance has some decent damage and a pretty sweet rider, particularly if the enemy likes to target multiple allies in their attacks.
Glorious Presence, Breath of Night, Winged Horde, Bewitching Charm
Dread Presence, Beast Switch, Witch Bolt, Charm of Forbiddance
At this point, equipment is likely to be the same for both builds. And it would follow the suggestions outlined in the book. All you really need is an implement, and that isn't even truly necessary since they add nothing to your attacks unless they are magical. If you plan on taking an expertise feat for one of them, it's a good idea to pick up the corresponding implement. Orb would be a good choice for Full Moon to increase your push distance since you have two powers that can push already. I would pick Wand for Dark Moon improving accuracy when your enemies begin trying to take cover from you. I would also recommend picking up a dagger for the Dark Moon build at least, just so you can make use of Sneak Attack if you take Sneak of Shadows feat to get Thievery training. Otherwise, you've got free reign with a decent amount of cash. Likely you'll have more left over to spend than any other member of your group.
Cloth Armor (1gp), Dagger (1gp), Orb (15gp) Adventurer's Kit (15gp) 68gp left
Cloth Armor (1gp), Dagger (1gp), Wand (7gp) Adventurer's Kit (15gp) 76gp left (eventually, I'd want Thieves' Tools for this build, which is another 20gp, and that would still leave you with over 50gp!)
As for leveling up, I'd really need to play with this character to tell what is most needed. As mentioned earlier, Unarmored Combat might be a necessity for such a close combat caster. Orb/Wand Expertise would give a decent boon to the build as well. Though to stick with my themes, I might pick up another familiar feat such as Swift Familiar for the Full Moon Coven. Making it even easier for you to place your Toad near an ally and giving it a bump to it's defenses. For the Dark Moon, I would definitely be looking at Sneak of Shadows to get him closer to feeling like a rogue. For powers, Herbal Healing is great for the Full Moon, but I'd take Simple Animation for Dark Moon. I can imagine a thief who can make his targeted items simply walk over to him by themselves!
