The ABCs of VMCs

by Nova Wurmson

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Variant Multiclassing (VMC) is an

option from Paizos Pathfinder

Unchained that trades specific class
features from a chosen class in
exchange for half your normal level up
feats. This effectively lets allows you
to gain class features from a second
class while giving up none of the
progression of your main class.

VMC eats up a whopping alf (five!) of
h
your characters feats - the ones
normally gained at 3/7/11/15/19.
Thats a huge portion of your
characters power and customization -
it doesnt mean that theyre never
useful (otherwise this guide would be
very short), just that they require
careful thought before taking.

Important Points to Note:

If your base class grants you

lots of feats (i.e. ranger, monk, DSP
marksman), this comparative risk/reward ratio swings more into the favor of variant
multiclassing).
If you can pick up feats through other means, such as a race, archetype, item, spell,
racial favored class bonus, etc., the penalty is lessened. On the flip side, what you gain
from variant multiclassing might be more easily replaced with one of the above avenues.
If youre starting at high level, the penalty for for variant multiclassing is somewhat
lessened. At level 3, you have one feat from level-up; if you need 2 feats to function
properly, youre screwed. At level 15, you have 4 feats from leveling, so as long as you
needed 4 or less feats, youre fine.
Building on the last point, many of VMC pickups are at strikingly different levels of
usefulness at different levels - again, if youre starting at higher levels, youre more likely
to have passed the mark where each VMC could become useful. For example, the rogue
VMC just gets trapfinding at level 3 (pretty meh), but starts getting some sneak attack at
 level 7. The wizard VMC just grants a familiar at level 3 (and a feat for a familiar is a fair
trade), but gets an arcane school ability at 7th level, which could become something like
swift action teleportation or a scaling bonus to initiative.
If your preferred fighting style is very feat-light (i.e. two handed weapons that just need
Power Attack), variant multiclassing is more valuable to you. If your preferred fighting
style is very feat-heavy (i.e. two-weapon fighting or ranged) you might not be able to be
effective at all until higher level.
As mentioned above, you arent giving up any progression on your main class. A
level 20 barbarian VMC paladin still has Mighty Rage, 10 rage powers (gained as a level
20 barbarian), DR 5/-, BAB +20, etc. A sorcerer VMC oracle still has level 20 arcane
spellcasting with full bloodline progression.
In general, choosing a VMC leaves you a little more locked into your build. Youll

hopefully have enough feats for exactly what you n eed, but not necessarily everything
you want. To put it another way, 5 feats could grant you a lot of different things: A
mobility feat, a defensive feat, an offensive feat, and two more feats besides, each of
them hand-picked that might have nothing to do with each other

Variant Multiclassing and NPCs:

The group that most consistently gains from VMCs is NPCs. Theres a few reasons for this:

NPCs have lower wealth by level (WBL) than PCs, often meaning they cant afford
expensive magical items for important effects that a VMC can provide (flight, stat boosts,
defenses, etc.).
NPCs dont need to be prepared for the variety of challenges a PC must deal with, so its
fine for them, so the potential v ersatility of VMC isnt necessarily great for them, but the
raw power others grant is wonderful.
Similarly, NPCs dont have to level up: If you make a level 7 NPC, it never had to suffer
through a drought that a particular VMC had at 3 - it just gains the benefit.
NPCs will generally only participate in 1 encounter a day (i.e. being slaughtered by the
PCs), so the limited use abilities that many VMCs grant are more useful for them;
instead of saying I can only use this once a day? they can be content in knowing I will
use this in every combat of my life.
PCs generally piece together more complicated and nuanced builds, while NPCs are
usually purpose-built one-trick ponies. Instead of picking a ton of feats for an NPC
(especially a high-level one), slap a VMC on it, and your life just got that much easier.

Variant Multiclassing and Prestige Classes:

Many prestige classes are limited in some way by a need to multiclassing - losing out on the
progression for 1 or 2 classes for a combined progression later on. With an appropriate VMC,
you can sometimes sidestep this penalty for a single class entry. On the other hand, prestige
classes like Arcane Archer, Duelist, and Loremaster (if you wanted them for some reason)
become brutal to try to qualify for with so few feats.

Arcane Trickster - Any arcane caster VMC rogue can qualify at level 11.
Eldritch Knight - Any arcane caster VMC battle oracle for the skill at arms revelation can
qualify at level 7 (as long as they can cast 3rd level arcane spells).
Battle Herald - Cavalier VMC Bard can qualify without "wasting" caster levels, potentially
making for a fairly competent front line support for people that don't want to be casters.
Also gets an eventual +7 [!] Inspire Courage.
Rage Prophet - Oracle VMC Barbarian can qualify at 11. Youll never get the Greater Rage
ability from Rage Prophet...but youll get it at Oracle 11/Rage Prophet 8 anyway, amusingly.

Retraining and VMCs (Special thanks to Psyren)

Two important facts here:

1) You can retrain your VMC - whether to enter it, to go from one to another, or to alter the
choices you made when taking it in the first place. It can be expensive to do so (both in
terms of time and money, especially if you have to go it alone with no trainer) but you can
do it. This allows you to wait to take a VMC that is terrible at low levels, e.g. Monk, and
enjoy the feats. as you level instead; alternatively, you can go with a VMC that is better
early on and then switch to another VMC that is better at mid-late levels.

2) PF retraining is retroactive - they look at your character as it currently stands rather than
making you take abilities in strict sequence. This means that you can get an ability at X, and
then retrain an earlier feat/class feature/etc into one that needed X as a prerequisite. For
example, a VMC barbarian cannot take Extra Rage Power until they actually gain a rage
power at 11 - but once you hit 11, you can retrain any or all of your level 1, 5 and 9 feats
into Extra Rage Power even though those feats came before, and you will count as a
Barbarian 5 when selecting those feats (half of 11.) This has a big impact on certain builds.

A Warning About Spells

AQ:
Paizo has specifically stated the following in an F

New Spells Known: If I gain the ability to add a spell that is not on my spell list to my list
of spells known, without adding it to my spell list, can I cast it?
No. Adding a spell to your list of spells known does not add it to the spell list of that class unless
they are added by a class feature of that same class. For example, sorcerers add their bloodline
spells to their sorcerer spell list and oracles add their mystery spells to their oracle spell list. The
spell slots of a class can only be used to cast spells that appear on the spell list of that class.

Whether or not your group/GM holds to this FAQ can drastically changes the power level of
many of the abilities on this list. The witch VMC, for example, would gain a spell of each level
(often very good spells, too) from their patron ability; the arcane sorcerer bloodline would grant
a few spells known of your choice from the sorcerer/wizard spell list.

If youre a GM making the decision about whether or not to implement this FAQ for your group,
ask yourself one key question: Are the spellcasters in my group already breaking the game
constantly? Lets be honest: The ability to take spells from other class lists is extremely
powerful, if not outright broken with a minimal amount of optimization. If your spellcasters mostly
can be trusted to keep it reasonable, consider loosening these restrictions, especially for partial
and spontaneous casters. If you can smell the munchkin coming off your players a mile away,
enforce the FAQ ruthlessly.

Compelling Dissenting Opinion:

Slithery D on the GitP forums notes:

I think the plain language of the FAQ only limits you from adding new spells to your list. If the
bonus spells are both on the Wizard/Sorcerer list and your spell list (not uncommon for Oracles
and especially Psychics) you should be able to pick extra spells known from that intersection.

This could be a fair compromise for many groups - not giving access to cross-spell list abilities,
but still granting a few free spells known.

VMC Combos
Editors Note: Though Im trying to credit people for their ideas, I want to point out that 1) Im
often copy-pasting their original posts (so there may be errors and I may not agree 100% with
their content), and 2) I have made edits to their posts - sometimes formatting, grammar, and
the like, but sometimes to the content and opinions expressed as well.
-Nova

(Unchained) Rogue (Ninja, Slayer, etc.) VMC Magus - Prescient Attacks is possibly the most
reliable way Ive seen of trigger sneak attacks in Paizos catalogue. Magus VMC Rogue works
just as well (probably better, gaining 6th level spells), but Magus was already powerful enough
to begin with, and its often more fun to find ways to bring the classes that struggle a little up
than crank the powerful even higher.

DSP Guru (Sineater) VMC Cavalier - Take Order of the Hammer to deal monk unarmed strike
damage with nonlethal attacks; guru basically does nothing but nonlethal attacks. Guru is v ery
feat heavy, so its tight squeezing everything you need in, but it can work.

Ninja VMC Monk - Unarmed Strike is a better version of Unarmed Combat Training + Master,
so youre trading away one feat for two feat-equivalent features there (one of which would
otherwise be inaccessible until level 10). Evasion saves you another Ninja Trick for something
genuinely interesting, as does Improved Evasion. But whats really good about this pairing is the
Ki Pool VMC ability - since the VMC Monk ki pool isnt gained from class levels, it stacks with
your Ninja ki pool for a total of (level + Cha) ki - enough to spam Invisible Blade without a care in
the world. Youll have some AC issues (somewhat offset by the level 15 dodge bonus), but if
youre invisible for the full duration of every fight, that wont really matter. Note that you can
simply wear armor until the ki pool VMC feature comes online if retraining isnt available- you
lose the monk VMC benefits, but until the ki pool, you can live without the others.
---Extra Anchovies (with a nod to Psyren)

Paladin/Cleric/Other Channeling Class VMC Cavalier Order of the Stars

All levels count as 1.5 for progression of Lay on Hands and/or Channeling power.
---grarrrg

Cleric VMC Monk - A use for those otherwise useless spells like Ki Leech and Blood Crow
Strike. Well, Qinggong monk always had a way to use them, but a way for a cleric to use
them.
---Arbane

Unchained Monk VMC Cleric - The reverse of the above. Your charisma isnt your strong suit,
but there are other goodies to grab. Plant domain, as is mentioned below, grants a bonus to
unarmed damage rolls equal to class level; +10 damage per unarmed strike at 20 alone is
worth considering - though monks have some crazy long feat chains to consider.

DSP Aegis VMC Magus/Wizard/Paladin - Aegis is an extremely feat-independent class with

strong base abilities and little use for its swift action - Something the Magus, Wizard, and
Paladin VMCs can make good use of. Ive written an Aegis guide which can be viewed here.

Lore Warden+Martial Master Fighter VMC Bard - If you take Fighter (Lorewarden/Martial
Master) with a Bard VMC you wind up being able to tailor your feats to each combat
situation while having enough potential skill to contribute outside of battle. This combination
pushes the Fighter into Tier 4 territory (and arguably tier 3). Lore Warden grants 2 skill
points that must be spent on Knowledge skills and makes all Knowledge skills class skills.
Getting Bardic Knowledge at level 3 allows you to split your ranks between 4 knowledge
skills. With a 12 Int and your favored class bonus you can have an effective 8 skill ranks per
level. At level 11 get Versatile Performance and the ability to retrain skill ranks, so now
you've got 9 effective skill points per level.

Your level 7 Bard ability is specifically labeled Bardic Performance, which means you qualify
for lingering performance, effectively tripling your performance rounds per day. Lore
Warden gives you Combat Expertise effectively for free, and you trade Armor Training for
scaling bonuses to all CMB & CMD checks. Starting at level 5, Martial Master allows you to
pick up a different Improved Maneuver feat in each combat. With the combined bonuses
you'll be able to land maneuvers even at high levels. The Lore Wardens Know Thy Enemy
ability does grant a Competence Bonus, as does Inspire Courage, so those dont stack,
unfortunately. Its still one of the most adaptable and competent mundane builds out there.
---NightbringerGGZ (with a nod to Molosse)
Underground Chemist Rogue VMC Alchemist - 1/2 Level to Alchemy checks that stacks
with the VMC Alchemy bonus (have you ever wanted to be good at Alchemy with literally no
effort?), Intelligence to damage for Alchemical splash weapons (something the VMC doesnt
grant), Sneak attack with splash weapons, potentially including non-primary targets (though
the wording is unclear), Compatibility with Scout, granting easy sneak attack after 8, and
fairly easy sneak attack with Charging Hurler before then. Drop Dead Studios also has a
similar archetype, Chemist, that's even better if it's allowed, granting all of the above
except the potential to sneak attack on non-primary targets plus its own pool of bombs with
a special damage bonus that stacks with the increased number of dice from the Alchemist
Bombs feature.
---Ilorin Lorati

[Any] VMC Wizard (Master Smith) - Build any wondrous item or magic weapon/armor the party
needs in a fraction of the time via Arcane Builder and Master Craftsman. Alternatively, you can
make golems with Golem Constructor. Classes with bonuses to craft and/or less need for feats
(like Lore Warden Fighter and Aegis) are good choices.
---Psyren

Witch VMC Sorcerer (Bloodwitch) - The main advantage here is that you can get a bloodline
without needing the Charisma score demanded by the Eldritch Heritage feat chain.This applies
to any class that wants to get a bloodline and dump Charisma. Obviously youll want a bloodline
here that is less Charisma-focused - some good choices include Destined, Impossible, and Orc.
---Psyren

Unchained Rogue VMC Wizard (Dabbling Trickster) - In addition to a familiar to help you on
your capers and checks, you also get an arcane school (Foresight is great) and a cantrip (Mage
Hand, Arcane Mark and Prestidigitation are all good choices.) For your Arcane Discovery, look
at with Knowledge Is Power, Time Stutter or Ioun Bond.
---Psyren

Hunter/Divine Commander Warpriest VMC Inquisitor - Solo tactics works well with the
boatload of teamwork feats hunter brings, and youll gain the benefit of them whether or not your
pet is the one flanking with you. Hunters are generally feat-light to begin with as long as youre
not going for a ranged build.

Accepting suggestions for more!

Rating Cheat Sheet

Excellent - Great option - youre getting a lot for what you give up.
Good - Youre probably getting a little more than what you give up.
Decent - Maybe a fair trade? If youre not really planning on using it, skip it.
Bad - You probably shouldnt ever take it. Giving up more than youre getting.

Core Classes
Barbarian***

Whats worth five feats? Maybe a +2 bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and Will saves at level
3, plus a rage power (note that theres no stipulation you cant take the Extra Rage Power or
Extra Rage feats), plus DR 3/-, plus Greater Rage. Yeah, there arent that many feats that can
get you all that.

Bard**

Lots of bonuses to skills and knowledge checks - if youre completely set on making an extreme
skillmonkey or have a way of milking milking Knowledge checks like the 3.5 Knowledge
Devotion feat, VMC Bard is worth looking over. Theres not anything egregiously bad here -
theres just not much youd be overjoyed to take or can plan a build around. Its a way to get
inspire courage without bard class levels.

Cleric***

Spontaneous casting of cure spells is nifty, though you already have to be a spontaneous
spellcaster with them on your list...so thats like, what, Druid, Witch, Shaman, Warpriest,
Ranger, and Paladin? Channeling with massive penalties and 1st level domain powers are
mediocre, but once you hit level 11/15/19, it becomes really great. Definitely a case of buyer
beware - at level 20, its probably worth 5 feats; at level 1-3, its definitely worth a feat; at levels
7-10, Im not sure its worth 2 feats.

A lot of the potential value of this VMC comes down to whether youre picking up a domain with
rickery Domain? Potentially useful. L
a solid 1st level ability . Air Domain? Pointless. T iberation?
Now were talking.

Melee classes may be interested in Plant Domain: Wooden Fist is great for unarmed builds,
while Growths Enlarge is a swift-action enlarge person (special thanks to Kurald Galain).

Check with your GM whether things like T ravel Domains speed boost and Trickery Domains
bonus class skills apply - personally, I think RAW would say they do.

If you find something interesting with Domain Strike, let me know.

Druid***
The animal companion is nifty, but comes online late and sadly somewhat irrelevant until your
class level=druid level. Other than that...turn into a dog at level 15? Eeeeh. I guess its an
all-day method of flying. Sweet spots are probably level 11 and 19-20. If youre starting at level
19 (or an NPC), then Large size, pounce, etc. are pretty great. Otherwise, its a long time to wait
for those abilities.

Fighter*

Itd be a little silly if the VMC of the Fighter just gave you feats (the real draw of the Fighter), so
the Fighter is unsurprisingly pretty poor. The ability to move at full speed while armored is nice,
and a +2 untyped bonus to attack and damage rolls is nice, but this VMC is rarely worth it.

To expand on that statement: +2 to attack rolls is approximately equal to 2 feats (Weapon

Focus+Greater), and +2 to damage is approximately equal to 1 feat (Weapon Finesse). Bravery
and Armor Training 1 and 2 are probably equal to 2 feats, meaning this VMC might technically
be worth it over 20 levels. However, the barbarian gets a +2 bonus to attack rolls and a +3
bonus to damage rolls (assuming a two-handed weapon) f rom just the first level ability.

Monk**
Your use of this VMC comes down to two major questions: Are you fine with no armor, and are
you Wisdom-focused? If so, you can pick up a nice chunk of AC, improved evasion, unarmed
damage, and some Ki (always useful for qualifying for things, at the very least). If youre wearing
armor, move along.

For fans of DSP, this VMC makes it so that anyone with at least 1 power point can potentially
qualify for Psychic Fist.

Paladin***

I really like PF lay on hands - the ability to heal yourself up to 8d6 damage 10 times a day as a
swift action should not be underestimated. Smite Evil is basically 1/day This boss dies. The
mercy is useful, and the divine bond - while coming online late - still is a pretty substantial bonus
to your weapon a decent number of times per day. As long as the code of conduct and
alignment restrictions are fine with you, Paladin can definitely be worth the cost.

Ranger*

Unfortunately, like the Fighter, the real draws of the the ranger class simply arent present here.
If you got one prerequisite-less fighting style feat, some ranger spells, or more favored enemy
progression, this could have had potential. If your GM assures you that you will be fighting o ne
specific enemy type in one specific kind of terrain the entire game (i.e. zombie apocalypse in a
city), then Id give it a solid, Eh and a half-hearted shrug.
Rogue***

Finally, another way to get Trapfinding, Evasion, and Improved/Uncanny Dodge! Im kidding, of
course: The main reason youd take this is for 4d6 sneak attack. Remember that it comes online
at levels 7/11/15/19 - thats pretty long to wait for that damage (or an obvious time to retrain),
but if you have a way to activate it easily, this is a great pickup.

Sorcerer***

Ok, how familiar are you with the Eldritch Heritage line of feats? Because thats basically what
youre getting, with a few hiccups.
Taking Skill Focus+Eldritch Heritage+Improved Eldritch Heritage (x2 to get the 3rd a nd
9th level abilities)+Greater Eldritch Heritage is five feats, but VMC sorcerer actually gives
you a (bloodline) feat back. You do get the benefit of actually having a Skill Focus feat,
but something like Improved Initiative (which is on several bloodline feat lists) is a
straight upgrade for most builds.
VMC sorcerer will get you a 3rd level bloodline ability at level 7 (vs Eldritch Heritages
11), but Eldritch Heritage will get you a 9th level bloodline ability at level at level 11 (vs
VMC sorcerers 15).
You can drop out of Eldritch Heritage at any point (i.e. just take a few of the feats), but
once you pick VMC sorcerer, youre locked in.
VMC sorcerer lets you use class level=sorcerer level from the beginning, while Eldritch
Heritage puts you at a -2 penalty until Greater Eldritch Heritage at 15.
VMC sorcerer has no Charisma prerequisite, vs Cha 13/15/17 for the various levels of
the feat.

But enough about the comparison: The core concept (sorcerer bloodlines on non-sorcerer
classes) is complicated enough that Eldritch Heritage has its own guides. Ill throw out a few
random bloodlines to whet your appetite; these arent necessarily the most optimal bloodlines,
just examples of the kinds of things you might be able to grab: Shadow (rounds of greater
invisibility, hide in plain sight), Ghoul (rounds of h aste, burrow, fast healing), Orc (+6 inherent
bonus to Str [!], natural armor, large size), Nanite (self-resurrection, gain 3+level on a roll),
Rakshasa (permanent nondetection and a lter self). There are tons of bloodlines that are
complete traps as a VMC. Keep in mind you do not get the bloodline spells, and arcane
bloodline does not grant you spells as per the FAQ above (unless your GM rules otherwise).

Wizard****

You get a familiar, a wizard bonus feat or arcane discovery, an arcane school (sans level 20
ability), and a cantrip (woooo), but the levels at which you get them are kind of bizarre. You
dont get the 8th level ability until level 19, which s ounds bad, but theyre mostly terrible to begin
with. You get the cantrip at level 11 (because thats when m age hand really starts to shine).
Either way, youre looking at a familiar and the 1st level ability for most of your career, and then
an arcane discovery Thankfully, several of those arcane school abilities are #$%^ing incredible,
and theres plenty of fun arcane discoveries to choose from.

A quick breakdown of what 1st level arcane schools can get you:

Abjuration - Resist 5/10 to an energy of your choice, can be changed daily plus an
action-heavy AoE deflection bonus.
Conjuration - Summoning spells gain bonus rounds equal to your level plus a
completely forgettable acid attack. With the Teleportation focused school (replacing the
acid dart), this goes up to four stars.
Divination - Can always act in the surprise round, + level to initiative, plus you can
grant a creature a +1 to +10 bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for 1
round, even if it requires a standard action and touch range.
Enchantment - Bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate
Evocation - + level to damage from spells, only applies once per spell. Take the
Admixture focused school.
Illusion - Illusions last your level in rounds after you stop concentrating plus no-save
ranged touch blinding (limited by HD, though).
Necromancy - Command/Turn Undead as a bonus feat.
Transmutation - I guess its fitting that transmutation would change heavily depending
on your circumstances. You get a scaling bonus +1 - +5 enhancement bonus to 1
physical ability score - great for NPCs with little WBL, underwhelming for most PCs. You
should basically always take a focused arcane school to sub out telekinetic fist.
Universal - Hand of the Apprentice (hearty guffaw).
Air - Fly at will from level 10 onwards.
Earth - +1 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls of you are both touching the
ground, bonus on some CMD checks.
Fire - Resist fire 5/10, reactive damage.
Metal - Bonus damage to creatures wearing metal, worthless bonus spells (see the note
about spells).
Void - A flat saving throw bonus vs. spells and SLAs; worthless bonus spells.
Water - Swim checks/swim speed
Wood - Enhancement bonus to Dex, Con, or Wis; a short spear; worthless bonus spells
(sadly)

Focused Arcane Schools

These substitute out one or more abilities that the classical arcane schools normally grant.

Conjuration (Teleportation) - Swift action teleportation; you dont even lose the
extended duration summons. Even though by RAW it ends your turn (as it functions as if
by dimension door), but there are still an incredible number of uses for this: Avoid
obstacles, 5ft. step in difficult terrain, get into difficult-to-access locations, escape
 danger, or a personal favorite of mine: Move up+attack/full attack, then teleport away so
your opponent cant 5ft. step and full attack you.
Evocation (Admixture) - Change the damage type of spells; you still get the damage
bonus from intense spells.
Banishment (Abjuration) - Apply shaken/staggered to enemy summons with a touch.
No save, at the very least.
Controller (Enchantment) - Communicate with creatures you have
charmed/dominated.
Abjuration (Counterspell) - Touch attack hinders spellcasting. By RAW, I dont think
you ever get the 6th level ability - talk with your GM. If you do get it at a reasonable level,
its probably worth more.
Conjuration (Creation) - Make small objects. Until level 19, the only difference is that
you lose Acid Dart - it would just be a matter of preference...but you want to trade acid
dart away for teleportation.
Transmutation (Enhancement) - Short duration enhancement bonuses/nat armor
bonuses are pretty bad. However, its a straight upgrade from telekinetic fist, if youre set
on transmutation
Divination (Foresight) - A quasi-reroll; its a free action, at least, so its arguably better
than the Diviners Fortune buff that Divination gets anyway. Youre still getting your +10
bonus to initiative at level 20, so its mostly a matter of preference.
Evocation (Generation) - Increased duration on evocation spells, but loses the bonus
damage from intense spells.
Necromancy (Life) - Heal creatures for a piddly amount with spellcasting.
Enchantment (Manipulator) - Touch attack (with saving throw, too) to charm.
Illusion (Phantasm) - Foe provokes AoO with a touch. No save, at least. You still get
the extended duration illusions, but if the campaign gets to 19th level, you lose your swift
action invisibility.
Divination (Scryer) - Medium (get it?) range scrying; you need line of sight and effect.
Now, work with me here...if you can already see the location, why do you need to
magically see it? Yeah, there are edge cases where it might be useful, but this is mostly
a garbage-tier ability. Remember that youre only replacing Diviners Fortune - you still
get the best part of Divination if you r eally want this.
Illusion (Shadow) - Entangling thats reduced by bright light...replacing blind.
Transmutation (Shapechange) - ONE ROUND natural weapons are kind of meh, but
its better than telekinetic fist.
Necromancy (Undead) - Grant your undead temp HP, turn resistance, and bonuses to
attack rolls and saving throws. Its definitely better than the grave touch ability if youre
building an undead army.

So obviously, the wizard VMCs vary from utterly useless to almost incredible. Purpose-built
casters focusing on evocation, illusion, or conjuration (maybe even necromancers with the
Necromancy (Undead) ability) can find useful abilities, but ultimately a nyone can benefit from
swift action teleportation, flying and hefty initiative bonuses. Youd think the 8th level abilities
would change these, but theyre pretty much all terrible at level 19 (except Universal, which gets
a tiny bit better with limited metamagic reduction).

izard arcane discovery without wizard or

As far as Im aware, this is the only way to get a w
arcanist levels. Theres quite a few intriguing options:
Time Stutter (time stop a few times a day)
Knowledge is Power (Int to CMB and CMD!)
Creative Destruction (temp HP equal to the number of damage dice when you cast an
evocation spell)
Idealize (+2/+4 to enhancement bonuses from transmutation spells)
Steward of the Great Beyond (stop teleportation and summoning effects as an
immediate action - sure to make your PCs or GM rage)
Golem Constructor (kind of fun - Im partial to the a lchemical golem, since it only needs
to hit ranged touch attacks).
Alchemical Affinity (Straight caster level boost for most alchemists)
Forests Blessing (CL and save DC boost for some Druids and those that cast from the
druid list)
Infectious Charms (Get a second cast of charm/compulsion spells)
True Name (Get an Outsider pet; some RP requirements. Great one to retrain at 15)

Base Classes

Alchemist **

Probably not worth using. Bonuses on Craft (alchemy) are usually not worth a feat (though its
better than Skill Focus (Craft) at levels 8-9 and 14-20). A couple bombs a day are a nice
back-up, but with no discoveries to boost them (or Int to damage), they fall flat. Now, a +2 to AC
and a +4 to Str, Dex, or Con is noteworthy, so if youre high enough level to start with mutagen,
you might mull it over a little. Swift poisoning at 15 and poison immunity at 19 is...niche, to say
the least. If it granted you discoveries, there might be something to talk about, but this option is
generally average at best.

Cavalier***

Im not a fan of the cavalier, so any way to get any halfway decent part of the class and run is
fine by me. However, a single challenge per day (at character level -2) is pretty terrible early (+1
damage for -2 AC against everything thats not your target), but scales extremely well into the
late game (+18 damage for -2 AC). Take the C hain Challenge feat if possible. Tactician/Greater
Tactician are nice, especially for NPCs. Really, your decision about whether or not to take
Cavalier kind of comes down to whether youre getting something amazing from your
Order...unfortunately, there arent too many amazing Order abilities, but if you really optimize
around them, you can piece together a cool build. Heres a few fun ones:
 Flame grants the suicidal but entertaining Glorious Challenger plus immediate action
movement on the first round of combat.
Cockatrice gets a free Seize the Moment effect
Dragon gets some useful buffing abilities
Hammer gets a free sunder or grapple on each full attack against a target of their
challenge, plus monk unarmed damage when dealing nonlethal damage (possibly useful
for DSP Gurus)
Lands ability to make a foe flat-footed against improvised weapons as a swift action is
kind of a poor-mans Prescient Attacks (see the Magus below)
Lion can grant allies a bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to Cha for 1 round
1/combat
Shield essentially gets the 3.5 Stand Still
Tome gains the ability to use scrolls.
Overall, the cavalier VMC has some fun abilities that arent generally worth 5 of your feats
without planning your build around it - pick it up only with a plan.

Gunslinger *

Uh...you dont actually get a gun until level 7? 3rd and 7th level Deeds at 15th and 17th is
frankly insulting. Most classes have a gun archetype - use that instead, or just dip one level of
gunslinger - itll grant you all the abilities this multiclassing ability gives up to level 11. Ill repeat
that: One level of gunslinger grants all the abilities this VMC gives up to level 11. How are
you even supposed to take all the requisite ranged feats?

Inquisitor ***

Fairly decent; judgements are a nice, flexible boost, but the very few times per day you can use
it are disappointing. You can get some milage from Stern Gaze for an Intimidate- or Sense
Motive- focused (a la Snake Style) build - if youre doing one of those, this could go up to g reen
or blue to you. Solo Tactics is fine, but it doesnt actually give you any teamwork feats - if your
class natively grants you tons of them (i.e. Cavalier, DSP Warlord, DSP Tactician, any of the
100s of archetypes that grant a bunch of teamwork feats), this could be valuable to you. This
one isnt for everyone, but there are gems for those working for them. Like the cavalier, make
sure you have a plan before taking this.

Magus ****

The arcane pool isnt particularly exciting at first glance (though youre not locked out of Extra
Arcana), but the enhancement bonus s tacks with your weapons existing bonus. Remember
how the Fighter VMC ultimately just gave you a +2 bonus to attack and damage? At level 7,
youre getting a +2 bonus to attack and damage just from your arcane pool - a limited number of
times per day to be sure, but if youve got a minimum Int of 12, you can do it 4 times a day at
that level. The ability to quickly gain elemental damage is useful for getting around regeneration.
The level 7/15/19 ability grants you a magus arcana with magus level=character level, and there
are quite a few interesting magus arcana to choose from. A few highlights:

Prescient Attacks is a rogues gosh-darn best friend. Like, insanely so. Seriously, go
read it - sneak attacks at any range, with no reliance on flanking allies.
Maneuver Mastery lets you use your magus level as your BAB when performing one
combat maneuver - so character level=BAB for ANY class.
You can gain Disruptive and Spellbreaker without meeting the Fighter level
prerequisites.
Resolve melee attacks as touch attacks or add I nt to attack rolls (albeit gated by arcane
pool).
1/day free metamagic feats, including Quicken and Empower (balance the opportunity
cost against metamagic wands).
Self-Haste as a swift action.
Other fun 1/day abilities such as c asting an illusion or enchantment spell as a swift
action after a Dirty Trick or c asting a spell as a swift action on a crit.
Familiar - There are whole guides out there to explain the incredible versatility of
familiars, but I wont dwell on it too long here, as the wizard and witch VMCs get it earlier
if youre rushing for it. Dont forget to check out familiar archetypes.

If youre interested in a more thorough discussion in the magus, check out a guide here.

Oh, and by the way (if that wasnt enough), y ou get spellstrike too. When you cast a spell with a
range of touch, you get a free weapon attack to channel the spell through. Even if your class
doesnt have spells baseline, you can use wands to trigger it.

pell
In short: Magus has lots of fun options no matter your level of optimization. Note that S
Blending arcana does not work with the FAQ ruling on spells in place.

Oracle ***

An Oracles curse already scales at half level for multiclass characters, but you wont need to
delay your primary class with an oracle dip. The benefits of curses range from middling (mage
hand and ghost sound) to pretty solid (blindsight, tremorsense, immunity to nasty conditions).
The curse could allow someone to get into Rage Prophet through some silly builds.

Getting revelations as an oracle of character level -6 is pretty lame and sucks most of the power
out of this choice - it depends heavily on whether this only affects the c hoices available to your
or their function. If your GM rules that the CL-6 only applies to the choices, oracle gets
substantially better. Still, there are enough options (especially at level 15/effective oracle level
9) that its worth glancing over. Also remember that youre picking from a limited list of
revelations with some of the best choices removed (Cha to AC instead of Dex, we hardly knew
thee).

A few highlights from the APG mysteries (Special note: As has been pointed out, some of
these options arent on the approved list of revelations. Use at your own risk):

Battle: Reroll some bad conditions on a failed save, swift action healing, BAB=CMB for
one combat maneuver+Improved+Greater feats; martial weapon proficiency+heavy
armor proficiency; immediate action movement;
Bones: Uh...skeleton pal?
Flame: Base speed+Nimble Moves+Acrobatic Steps; turn into an elemental; swift action
damage+blur; fly speed.
Heavens: Bonuses to illusion spells; flight; moonlight bridge
Life: Enhanced Cures (Level 20 1d8+14 cure light wounds isnt terrible - or 1d8+20 if
CL=oracle level), Life Link (the old Oradin trick just got that much easier), Safe Curing
(Dont provoke AoO when casting a spell that cures hit point damage).
Lore: +20 to an Int-based skill check, Cha to Knowledge, inherent bonus to Int; Cha to
AC and Reflex saves instead of Dex is n ot available. Arcane Archivist opens up a lot of
utility spells for Non-Wizard casters, but you do need a wizard spell book.
Nature: Mount, Summon Natures Ally (if FAQ isnt in effect),); the Cha to AC ability isnt
on the approved list.
Stone: Free swift action trip on crit, burrow, swift action damage+difficult terrain.
Waves: Waterwalking+swim speed+water breathing; s low enemies with cold damage
spells: water elemental form
Wind: Wings of Air (Flight for (at least) 9 minutes per day as a swift action), Invisibility
(eventually becoming Great Invisibility), Vortex Spells (No-save staggering on spell crits),

Summoner (Unrated)

I feel like the Summoner is a heavily unbalanced class and dont allow it in my games because
of the sheer power of having a melee brute equal to or better than a Fighter p lus a 2/3 caster
with possibly the best spell list of all 2/3 casters.

Now, the VMC is much, much weaker than the Summoner. The level 3 summoning ability is
garbage, and the level penalty AND evolution point reduction are a huge hit to the beast. If I had
to, Id probably rate it around *** for the sheer brokenness a second round of actions entails, but
it could be that the nerfs to the eidolon are enough to keep it in line with, say, an animal
companion.

Witch ****

Did you want a familiar? If all you want is a familiar, go wizard where you can get a +10 to
initiative.
Now, hexes are great in theory, but you only get 3 of them, theres no way to get more, they
only function as a 1st level witch until level 15, and they take the time to punch Slumber right in
the ioun stones. Fortune, Evil Eye, and Cackle are probably near the top of the list for most
people, since they dont require saves.

If your GM would allow your witch level to equal character level for the purpose of the
level 1 witch hexes you take, including save DCs (and I highly recommend they do), I could
see bumping this VMC up to three stars. Flight, Misfortune and Slumber would all be solid
choices under those circumstances.

Another problem for most situations: Hexes are mostly very action heavy - the Witch class has
an interesting balance where you use hexes as your bread and butter, and you bust out your
spells for the heavily lifting. The VMC doesnt grant 9th level spellcasting, obviously, so you
really need to rely on your base class to do most of the work with Witch sprinkled in for flavor. If
youre a support-ish class or pet class, witch VMC can help you stretch your resources.

A major hex at 19 is groovy, but comes online very late.

The real tipping point that could bring this VMC from 1 stars to four is the patron, which grants 9
orthless; like, literally worthless: The
spells known. If the FAQ on spells is in place, this is w
patron spell class feature of the witch only grants bonus spells. If not, theres lots of goodies like
true resurrection, planar ally, time stop, haste, gate, black tentacles...for full casters (especially
spontaneous casters), this VMC gets a four star rating if the FAQ is ignored.

I would also recommend dropping the cantrip for something useful at level 11. The easy answer
would be another hex - or maybe any feat that requires hexes or familiars.

Special Thanks
Extra Anchovies on the GitP forums for reviewing this, making tons suggestions, and catching
many, many mistakes I made.

Ilorin Lorati for a reminder to add a section on prestige classing.

Serafina for a lot of help with the Oracle section in particular.

Everyone else who has made comments on the doc and the GitP thread!

To Do List:
 Add more Top VMC combos

Recent Changes:
Addeds Psyrens advice on retraining.
Added a section on the Aegis, Underground Chemist/Chemist Rogue, and Lorewarden
Fighter.
Added several suggestions from Kurald Galain.
Added a link to the Giant in the Playground thread .
Increased the wizard arcane discovery list.