Building a legacy: connecting your PFS characters

It had taken a day or two, even with Lady Gloriana’s help, to find him. As with most things being done in Oppara, he was doing it at the opera. Roasa slid into the upper booths, headed towards a seat where she was assured that would be honored as ‘neutral ground’. “M’lord?” She said as she walked into the booth, only a slim dapper man of Ustalavian bearing smiling up at her as an unseen servant hovered nearby with a magnum and a pair of champagne flutes.  

“Ah, Lady Del Noire, I see your..detention wasn’t as long as Ravin assured me.” He said as he took a glass and offered it to her. “Ravin struck me as..rash and unprepared for the cut throat world of business; I presume from your presence here that you haven’t had a chance to discuss his takeover bid with you?” 

 “Alas, no.. It seems the people that the Aspsis Consortium provided to back him up in the seizing of my assets seemed to have vanished.”  

“I heard how agents that cross paths with you end up.” Kevin Austopour said as he offered her a filled flute of champagne. 

“I prefer my assets to earn profit; it does wonders to morale to pay men for staying alive and out of prison, you tend to leave them broken and battered if alive at all. Now, normally that state of affairs would entitle my organization to pursue ..retaliatory measures against you. Which is why we are currently doing so many acts of.. Retaliation of late. Personally I think someone is using you and a handful of agents who have been particularly grievous in their works against our purposes as a way to gain standing. ”  

“Meaning whoever got your superiors to have you act against me doesn’t know about us?” Roasa said with a wry smile.  

“Meaning my dear lady, you are late in sending me the latest news on the twins.” Kevlin Austopour said firmly at her. “You promised me a portrait of young Tomas and Brawen by midsummer.” 

“I know but it’s been a busy season and the painter was suddenly very popular,” Roasa frowned at him. “Seems SOMEONE spoke up about him at the winter gala when he was supposed to be meeting me in Absalon.” 

“Unlike some folks who live in the Grand Lodge when they aren’t galavanting around the Inner Sea, I have more.. circumspect housing arrangements. To whit, I’m stuck on a boat galavanting around as the consortium’s ‘troubleshooter at large’ since I’m the only one who has survived the betrayal of their old one.. The ’Serpent’. I don’t suppose you’ve seen her of late?” Roasa simply smiled, they had met while she was posing as the former agent. Former since after crossing the Ten once too often they’d seen fit to turn her over to people she knew in Oppara. The Lion Blades took acts of treason quite terminally. 

“I fear that she’s still in hiding, though there was rumors of her showing up in Korvosa in the spring. Just before word of her defection and betrayal came out. Such a shame.” Roasa purred. “Your son is determined to have a dueling scar after meeting your associate from Brevoy. Brawen wants to sing here in the opera house but seems more arcanely inclined than musically gifted..”  

“Standard stuff I would say.” Kevlin with a smile as the unseen servant brought another glass on a piece of paper. “Intermission is coming up and I don’t think the Baroness del Noire should be seen with a disreputable spice dealer.” She leaned in and kissed him before slipping out. "Take care my dear wife, and I shall see you in the spring.."  

Walking down the hall, she opened the sheet of paper that he’d slipped her with her glass. Glancing over the names as she handed the glass to a servant. A moment later with a whispered prayer and she was gone from the opera house. There were a lot of pathfinder names on that list.  

This is more fluff than anything concrete. If you don't like roleplaying ideas over 'Roll-playing' feel free to move to another post.  :D

For me the backstory of the characters is part of how I enjoy the game. Little things like how a wizard like Cindrana Longpath doesn't speak a single elemental language; that is due to an oath she gave to the Ruby Prince's elemental advisor  in exchange for being taught the secrets of being an admixture wizard. Trying to building a backstory for characters is kinda fun to me. I got this image of my character in my head and look for ways to flesh him/her out.

Here are the major 'families' that I build characters with.
-The Del Noires: The Taldan family of nobles, only recently returned to their holdings and titles, who have an extensive trading network throughout the Inner sea region. Most of the recent successes of the family have come of one person, Baroness del Noire ,Venture Captain of the Society, through her achievements as a Pathfinder and trader. She is married, ironically to a double agent of the Consortium, with a pair of children she keeps on a family estate outside of Oppara.
There are a lot of Del Noires tied into the society now, some by apprenticeship and others by commissions. The typical Del Noire is a social character, usually with some sort of divine ties.
Examples: Baroness Roasa Annarey Hellena Delphine del Noire, Trade Princess Callie Del Noire, Brawen Del Noire, Helena del Noire
-The Fiveboars: The halfing family in my collection, originally from Chelliax (where they were a landed family of lesser nobles prior to the revolution that put House Thrune on the throne) before becoming a line of slaves between the three families that stole their land. Forty years ago a halfing by the name of Bergen Fiveboars found something of interest in the ruins of the Westcrown Pathfinder lodge. The true history of his family.
Now the family is largely based out of Bellis and has extensive ties with the Bellflower network and the Society. Most of them tend to be blunt and upfront types of the roguish and martial types. Many are self describe 'self-liberated' men and woman who are engaged in a long running feud with several Chelliaxian families who used to 'own' them. Fiveboars tend to end owner/slave relationships pretty terminally.
Examples: Mercer Fiveboars
-The Longpaths: The first family/clan that I came up with, the Longpaths are a Varisian family that typically wanders Varisa and other parts of the Inner Sea. Largely gifted with arcane magic, they tend to be the ones I make my wizards, and such from. They give off a 'gypsy' vibe too. With just a touch of 'other' in their bloodline. So far I only have one Longpath but there are countless stories for others laying around in my head.
Examples: Cindrana Longpath
-The Silvermanes: Like some members of the Longpath clan, the Silvermanes are Korsovian residents and Varisians. Unlike the Longpaths, the Silvermanes tend toward martial occupations and avoid Korvosa due to past associations with the Gray Maidens and their master the late Queen Ileosa Arbasti. Several of the family were blackmailed into joining the Gray Maidens. One of them earned a field commission with the society and hid in the society's ranks after her death; that one, Rhea Silvermane, has eased other family members into the society as a way to avoid retaliation for her (and her sister's) role in the Maidens.
Examples: Rhea Silvermane, Kara Silverman

Milly Tanner, Arcane Trickster (Unchained Rogue/Greensting Slayer Magus)

The folks at Iconic Design (darn ya Alex.. you're truly awesome at this) brought up some excellent tricks with the Dirty Tactics Toolkit that make up a good way to save a few caster levels. Specifically one feat, Accomplished Sneak Attacker, which gives an additional 1d6 to sneak attack.
Why is this important you ask? Because it's the difference between 1 and 3 levels of rogue. This way you get the 1 level you need to make certain skills class skills (cause anyone who wants to disable locks is going to want to be able to do it +3 skill better)
For me there are two important things in this build:
- Accomplished Sneak Attacker: Dirty Tactics Toolkit
- Sense Vitals: A spell that lets adds +1d6 sneak attack/3 levels (5d6 @15th cap) to any manufactured weapon you attack with. NASTY. Add in the reddish glowing eyes you have while it's in effect for the creepy factor.
Class Selection: Unchained Rogue and Greensting Slayer Magus. I like the UC rogue a lot and if you decide to do a few levels dip instead of taking Accomplished Sneak Attacker, it has some nice benefits to 2 more levels of UC.
Greensting Slayer Magus is another source of sneak attack damage. Granted its only +1d6 with a swift action in the levels you get out of it but it's another 1d6.
The whole plan is to give the magus a bit more utility than outright 'touch attack with weapon attack', rinse, and repeat. With sneak attack damage and even more courtesy of her arcane pool and/or sense vitals, sneak attack makes up for not using as many spells to keep up the damage. Assuming a point of arcane pool being spent, Sense Vitals and normal sneak attack dice are in play; she can do 9d6 sneak attack in a single attack or 8d6 per attack during a full round of sneak attacking (assuming flanking). Fun note: the pool point only covers a single attack, so you can swap out Greensting for another archetype or even a vanilla magus. Though it does provide that extra bit of umph till you can get Spellbinding (Sense Vitals) at 7th. You can hold off till 9th level when you get 2 spells for the arcana but I'm impatient.

If you're lucky.. I'll just stab you

1st Level
Here we are at 1st level. Right now Milly is just a simple rogue, with a bit more intelligence than most and a hint of something arcane in her heritage (Blood of Dragons trait). She's got a wide variety of choices in weapon selection, with 14 Str/Dex, among any. For this particular build I'll be working towards a bastard sword but with a little 'flexibility' in skill selection could have enough dance to pick out things like Dervish Dance (Which would allow him to use a scimitar and apply dex to damage, if you want to tweak out strength for more dex).

Milly Tanner
Female human (Varisian) rogue (unchained) 1 (Pathfinder Unchained 20)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +0
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Special Attacks sneak attack (unchained) +1d6
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Combat Expertise, Fast Learner[ARG], Weapon Finesse
Traits blood of dragons, killer
Skills Acrobatics +6, Diplomacy +4, Disable Device +7, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +6, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (local) +7, Linguistics +7, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +6, Use Magic Device +4
Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic, Kelish, Osiriani, Varisian
SQ trapfinding +1
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.

4th Level
Here we are at 4th level, with 3 levels of greensting magus for another die of sneak attack (if you use an arcana point). She can do sneak attack, spell combat and with close range to let her use spells like ray of enfeeblement to debuff her foes. Toss in vanish for 'instant' sneak attacks in the next round.

Milly Tanner
Female human (Varisian) magus (greensting slayer) 3/rogue (unchained) 1 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 9, Pathfinder Unchained 20)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 34 (4d8+11)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Special Attacks magus arcana (close range[UM]), sneak attack (unchained) +1d6, spell combat, spellstrike
Magus (Greensting Slayer) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +6)
   1st—chill touch (DC 14), ray of enfeeblement (DC 14), shocking grasp, vanish[APG] (DC 14)
   0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Fast Learner[ARG], Weapon Finesse
Traits blood of dragons, killer
Skills Acrobatics +9, Diplomacy +4, Disable Device +10, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +9, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (local) +7, Linguistics +9, Perception +6, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +9, Use Magic Device +5
Languages Aquan, Auran, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Kelish, Osiriani, Varisian
SQ arcane pool, trapfinding +1
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Pool (+1d6 sneak attack, 4/day) (Su) Expend Arcane Pool to add sneak attack dmg to next melee atk.
Close Range (Ex) Using spellstrike, deliver ranged touch spells as melee touch spells.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
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7th Level
Now we have Milly as a full on Arcane Trickster, thanks to putting in Accomplished Sneak Attacker @ 5th level for that 2nd die of sneak attack that we need for Arcane Trickster. Thanks to that we were able to hold off on 2 levels of rogue and get more spell levels earlier. So at 7th level, she can get Spellblending (1 spell: Sense Vitals) for even more sneak attack (3d6 from classes/feats +1d6 (greensting sneak attack) +2d6 (Sense Vitals)). It does require a MANUFACTURED weapon.

Milly Tanner
Female human (Varisian) arcane trickster 2/magus (greensting slayer) 4/rogue (unchained) 1 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 9, Pathfinder Unchained 20)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 54 (7 HD; 2d6+5d8+18)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee bastard sword +6 (1d10+2/19-20 plus 1d6 sneak attack plus 1d6 sneak attack)
Special Attacks magus arcana (close range[UM], spell blending [1 spell][UM]), sneak attack (unchained) +1d6, sneak attack +2d6, spell combat, spell recall, spellstrike
Magus (Greensting Slayer) Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +9)
   2nd—brow gasher[UC], darkness, mirror image, scorching ray
   1st—chill touch (DC 14), ray of enfeeblement (2, DC 14), shocking grasp, vanish[APG] (DC 14)
   0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Accomplished Sneak Attacker, Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Extra Arcana[UM], Fast Learner[ARG], Weapon Finesse
Traits blood of dragons, killer
Skills Acrobatics +12, Bluff +4, Climb +6, Diplomacy +4, Disable Device +13, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +9, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (local) +8, Linguistics +13, Perception +10, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Aquan, Auran, Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Kelish, Osiriani, Sylvan, Terran, Thassilonian, Varisian
SQ arcane pool, ranged legerdemain, trapfinding +1
Other Gear bastard sword, 115 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Pool (+1d6 sneak attack, 5/day) (Su) Expend Arcane Pool to add sneak attack dmg to next melee atk.
Close Range (Ex) Using spellstrike, deliver ranged touch spells as melee touch spells.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Ranged Legerdemain (Su) Can use Disable Device or Sleight of Hand from 30 ft away, but +5 DC.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Spell Recall (Su) Spend your Arcane Pool to recall spells you have already cast.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
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12th Level
Now at seeker level, Milly is a sneak attacking monster with skills in lock picking, magic device use, and so on. She can, when prepared, do HUGE sneak attack damage (5d6 (class)+ 1d6 (optional, Greensting Arcana) + 3d6 (Sense vitals)). Adding in fun things like Arden's spellsword (for storing a metamagic rod or wand/rod/staff of her choice) and spells like Greater Invisibility, Displacement, Blur, Mirror Image and such.
There are a variety of tactics you can use. Things like using invisibility/greater invisibility to summoning backup and such for the rest of the part. Add in two extra impromptu sneak attacks (courtesy of the feat x2) and you can do a bunch of sneak attack damage on demand. Tricky Spells means you can cast still/silent spells up to 4 times a day.

Milly Tanner
Female human (Varisian) arcane trickster 7/magus (greensting slayer) 4/rogue (unchained) 1 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 9, Pathfinder Unchained 20)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +15
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Defense
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AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +2 deflection, +3 Dex)
hp 96 (12 HD; 7d6+5d8+40)
Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +11
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 dispelling keen adamantine bastard sword +11/+6 (1d10+5/17-20 plus 1d6 sneak attack plus 3d6 sneak attack)
Special Attacks magus arcana (close range[UM], spell blending [1 spell][UM]), sneak attack (unchained) +1d6, sneak attack +4d6, spell combat, spell recall, spellstrike
Magus (Greensting Slayer) Spells Prepared (CL 11th; concentration +17)
   4th—greater invisibility (3)
   3rd—aroden’s spellsword, displacement, fly, haste, keen edge
   2nd—mirror image (2), scorching ray, sense vitals (3)
   1st—ray of enfeeblement (3, DC 17), shocking grasp (2), vanish[APG] (2, DC 17)
   0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 23, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 24
Feats Accomplished Sneak Attacker, Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Extra Arcana[UM], Extra Impromptu Sneak Attack, Extra Impromptu Sneak Attack, Fast Learner[ARG], Weapon Finesse
Traits blood of dragons, killer
Skills Acrobatics +18, Bluff +4, Climb +7, Diplomacy +5, Disable Device +19, Disguise +4, Escape Artist +10, Knowledge (arcana) +21, Knowledge (local) +17, Knowledge (nature) +21, Knowledge (planes) +21, Linguistics +21, Perception +15, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +23, Use Magic Device +15
Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Azlanti, Common, Draconic, Elven, Hallit, Ignan, Kelish, Osiriani, Shadowtongue, Shoanti, Skald, Sylvan, Terran, Thassilonian, Tien, Undercommon, Varisian
SQ arcane pool, impromptu sneak attack, ranged legerdemain, trapfinding +1, tricky spells
Combat Gear extend metamagic rod (lesser); Other Gear +3 shadow mithral chain shirt, +2 dispelling keen adamantine bastard sword, belt of physical perfection +2, cloak of resistance +3, headband of aerial agility (int +4)[UE], ring of protection +2, 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Pool (+1d6 sneak attack, 8/day) (Su) Expend Arcane Pool to add sneak attack dmg to next melee atk.
Close Range (Ex) Using spellstrike, deliver ranged touch spells as melee touch spells.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Impromptu Sneak Attack (4/day) (Ex) You can declare any melee or ranged attack to be a sneak attack.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Ranged Legerdemain (Su) Can use Disable Device or Sleight of Hand from 30 ft away, but +5 DC.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Sneak Attack +4d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Spell Recall (Su) Spend your Arcane Pool to recall spells you have already cast.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Trapfinding +1 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Tricky Spells (4/day) (Su) You can cast a spell without verbal or somatic components.

Notes: There was a variety options here. Swap out greensting for a normal magus. Swap out EWP: Bastard sword for a scimitar and Dervish Dance. Wait till 9th level to get spell blending to get TWO spells rather one.