Character Creation

Yeah, you prepare spells like a wizard, but cast like a sorcerer.

Basically, you're a sorcerer that can change his spells known every day...plus exploits.

That doesn't sound OP at all... I like it ;-)

I think I've narrowed it down to either Oracle or Arcanist.

Considering the Oracle because I really like the idea of a character who's been granted these powers through no will of their own, and doesn't really want anything to do with it. Kind of a reluctant superhero type character. Could be a lot of fun to roleplay. The problem with the Oracle is that there's just SO MANY OPTIONS. I did some preliminary glances at the Oracle page on d20pfsrd.com and WHOA NELLY you can build this character in like, a million different ways. It would take me quite some time to sort through all the options and figure out exactly how I want to build my character.

Considering the Arcanist because it seems (maybe? Not sure because again, only done a little bit of preliminary research) a little simpler than the Oracle, but isn't just a basic Wizard or Sorcerer. That's the thing I really like about Pathfinder - the wide variety of class options. 5th Edition might be simpler to play, but there just isn't as much cool stuff you can do.

So these Oracle curses are kind of... meh. Making me lean a little more towards Arcanist. However, I am considering Blackened, Haunted, or Legalistic. Haunted and Legalistic would be the most fun from a roleplaying perspective, but Blackened gives me some nice free spells. Also kiiind of considering Powerless Prophecy (not a big fan of starting every combat staggered for a round though) or Tongues (not a terrible consequence, but not a great benefit either)

I'm about to start looking at the Mysteries and their associated Revelations - of which there are T O N

I'm not a huge fan of Oracle, beyond the role-playing value. Some of the stuff they have can stack nicely with other classes, but for the most part, it just takes too long to build one.

But man, the role-playing value looks great. So much flavor.
I've got three different Oracle builds I'm considering:

Mystery of Flame or Volcano, Blackened Curse, possibly elementalist Archetype? Basically be the human torch.
Mystery of the Heavens, Legalistic curse. Basically be the dazzler. Or an angel. So much cool flavor in this one.
Mystery of Time, Powerless Prophecy curse, maybe prophet archetype. Time mage! Lots of fun mechanics and abilities here.

I have no idea what race would be best for each of those builds, aside from maybe an Aasimar for the Heavens Oracle, any suggestions?

And with that, I'm gonna start looking at the Arcanist...

Edit: Yeah, there's some really cool stuff here for the arcanist and I've got a bit of an idea for one, but the character of the Oracle is so much more interesting to me than the character of an arcanist. Besides, Oracle has access to cleric spells, and we don't currently have a cleric. I think I'm definitely gonna go with one of those Oracle builds.

Any advice as to which build I should go with, and which race I should pick? Should I use the archetypes I listed or stick to the basic version?

A 'human' torch with the powers to heal with cleansing fire sounds ridiculously awesome to me. Though replacing the human with something more appropriate would be great. Switching to a Gnome or Halfling would be the best for your class abilities and could bring some interesting dynamics to the group since we already have one of each.

Well, I really like the idea, but when you put it that way it just sounds like a copy of Pera from the Godsfall podcast lol

I've never heard of Pera if that's worth anything. I'm sure there are plenty other Rycos out there also.

...yes. Be a gnomish torch. Archie needs someone else to set fires with.

Human torch concept sounds sweet as hell!

Seems like Jonny Storm wins the vote! I'll start whipping up his character sheet :D

Thoughts on Flame vs Volcano mystery, and whether or not to take the elementalist Archetype? The goal is to be blasting as many fire spells as possible as often as possible, so I'm leaning towards Flame and no archetype, but again, my understanding of PF rules aren't super great yet so a second opinion would be nice

Edit: Someone on reddit actually suggested I go with the Elemental Imbalance curse, which gives me an almost identical bonus spell list as Blackened except for at level 15, and instead of giving me shriveled arms and a -4 to attack, gives me a vulnerability to water. They also suggested I be a Suli, possibly with the Energy Strike alternate Racial Trait - lets me light my arms on fire and throw some of it as a weak attack.

I don't know enough about oracles to say for sure, but I can't wait to see this character!

As cool as the Suli sounds, it's not as interesting to me since using fire seems to be something it can natively do. I want this character to view it's powers as an unnatural curse. Blackened fits that thematically better than Elemental Imbalance, and the Flame mystery fits the flavor better than Volcano - volcano has some really cool stuff but it isn't all about fire, which flame obviously is.

As far as races go, I was perusing through them and saw the gnome has this alternate racial trait:
Which, of course, fits perfectly. So, GM, if you'll allow it, I would like to do a Pyromaniac Gnome Oracle, mystery of flame, Blackened curse.

Sounds good to me!

Also makes a lot of sense if you're one of Archie's friends. He's a gnome that has the pyromaniac trait too!

I feel like I need to get some flaming hammers or something to keep up with the amount of flame that's going to be going around!

*jots down notes*

Should I make him at level 1 or level 3?

Level 3, and have 2,000 gp to purchase equipment (including magical items)