I'm happy that I was able to do another caster build, because I feel like I'm lacking those a bit over here on the blog. In particular, I like illusionists, or at least the idea of them, so I was kind of excited for this build, which also led to me discovering something interesting about innate spells that I hadn't noticed before. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Mysterio from Marvel Comics!
MYSTERIO
CHARACTER Quentin Beck
SOURCE Marvel Comics
BUILD GOALS
o Quentin Beck is a supervillain who often contends with Spider-Man under the identity of Mysterio
o As a child, he loved cinema and eventually pursued a career in it as a special effects expert as well as a stuntman. However, he wanted more recognition
o Inspired by the joke of a coworker, he turned to crime, first working with the criminal inventor known as the Tinkerer and then taking on the identity of Mysterio
o Before fully assuming this identity, he also managed to slay a demon while meeting one of his personal heroes
o While mostly reliant upon technology and trickery, Mysterio was dead for a brief time and returned as a specter that wielded supernatural might that simulated his old skills
o For a time, Mysterio operated in a completely separate universe from his own, still playing the same role but pitting himself against a teenage Spider-Man from the Ultimate Universe
o Beck is a highly capable visual effects artist, practical and otherwise, who is also a skilled actor, stunt performer, and hypnotist who employs psychiatry to manipulate others
o Outside of his skills, Mysterio’s ‘powers’ come from his suit, which he designed and built
o The suit is equipped with holographic projectors, nozzles in the gloves and boots that emit hallucinogenic gas, and a helm with sonar that helps him move through the gas
o In the Ultimate Universe, he predominantly acted through a host of android avatars
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Reflection Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Intelligence, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Mirror-Risen
Background: Entertainer
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained), Theater Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Fascinating Performance
Class & Subclass: Illusionist Wizard with a Spell Substitution Arcane Thesis
o Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Athletics (trained), Deception (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained)
o Spellbook: Cantrips – bullhorn, dancing lights, daze, ghost sound, mage hand, phase bolt, prestidigitation, puff of poison; 1st – color spray, exchange image, fear, illusory disguise, sleep
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 16)
Right off the bat, I took a few liberties with Mysterio by picking up the reflection versatile heritage, which doesn’t match his rather mundane origins, but plays into his focus on trickery and deception as well as his occasional habit of deploying decoys for his escape. The reaction to escape an attack granted by Mirror-Risen feels particularly fitting for Mysterio. The closest fit for his role as a visual effects artist and other jobs in the film industry is the entertainer background. Finally, it comes to class. As a character, Mysterio relies on technology and tricks to create the feel of magic. But that doesn’t really work for a build in Pathfinder, aside from stretching the idea of what rogue does, so instead we’ll build Mysterio as an illusionist rogue with the spell substitution arcane thesis. We’ll use magic to simulate the technology that he uses to simulate magic. I’m not going to go super in-depth on spell choices because as a wizard, Mysterio can always expand his spell list by learning new spells. For spell choices, I looked towards anything that offers illusion creating or mind manipulation.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Conceal Spell
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Spellbook: 1st – illusory object, noxious vapors
o Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert)
o Spellbook: 2nd – illusory creature, mirror image
o Gear: +1 staff, everburning torch, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Silent Spell
o Skill Feat: Backup Disguise
o Spellbook: 2nd – hideous laughter, obscuring mist
o Gear: mirror robe, +1 staff, hat of disguise, everburning torch
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 19, Wis 12, Cha 18)
o Ancestry Feat: Warped Reflection
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Spellbook: 3rd – agonizing despair, hypnotic pattern
o Gear: +1 striking staff, mirror robe, persona mask, hat of disguise, everburning torch, ring of discretion
With the metamagic feats from this block, Mysterio can hide his spells with Conceal Spell and Silent Spell, hiding his casting of spells to better maintain his illusions. From his skill feats, Bon Mot is going to prove very useful in helping to maintain his illusions as it allows him to decrease a foe’s Perception. This makes it harder to beat the DC of illusions and lowers their Perception DC for the use of his Silent Spell feat. Out of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, Mysterio is second only to Chameleon, leading to several skill feats that focus on disguises. Incredible Initiative helps him get a jump on foes to throw out his spells to befuddle them while his allies move into place. Among his illusions, Mysterio relies on ones to frighten foes, making Warped Reflection a solid choice among his ancestry feats.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Convincing Illusion
o Skill Feat: Confabulator
o Spellbook: 3rd – roaring applause, shadow projectile
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking staff, mentalist’s staff, mirror robe, hat of disguise, hand of the mage
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Spellbook: 4th – confusion, phantasmal killer
o Gear: storyteller’s opus, +1 explorer’s clothing, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking staff, mirror robe, persona mask
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Captivator Dedication
o Skill Feat: Slippery Secrets
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)
o Spellbook: 4th – hallucinatory terrain, suggestion
o Captivator Spells: Cantrips – infectious enthusiasm, message
o Gear: wand of the spider (2nd-level), storyteller’s opus, staff of illusion, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking staff, sleeves of storage
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Unyielding Disguise
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Spellbook: 5th – mirror malefactors
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, ring of wizardry (type I), wand of the spider (2nd-level), storyteller’s opus, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking staff
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 20, Wis 12, Cha 19)
o Class Feat: Basic Captivator Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Quick Disguise
o Skill Increase: Occultism (trained)
o Spellbook: 5th – hallucination, shadow walk
o Captivator Spells: 1st – bless; 2nd – mind games; 3rd – phantom pain
o Gear: greater ventriloquist’s ring, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, alluring scarf, wand of the spider (2nd-level), storyteller’s opus, +1 striking staff
Convincing Illusions is the feat that primarily inspired the idea for this build, allowing him to maintain an illusion even when foes think they’ve got it figured out. To increase his ability to project further illusions and enchantments, he can pick up the Captivator Dedication. Interestingly, this archetype provides innate spells, which will scale with his arcane spell proficiency, though they will unfortunately still use his Charisma DC. As such, illusions are probably the best choice to use with spells from the archetype since players will have to Interact with them in some manner to disbelieve them. Unyielding Disguise increases the duration of illusory disguise to help him hide his true identity.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Spellbook: 6th – dominate, phantasmal calamity
o Gear: +2 striking staff, greater ventriloquist’s ring, greater persona mask, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, ring of wizardry (type I), wand of the spider (2nd-level)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Reactive Charm
o Skill Feat: Discreet Inquiry
o Spellbook: 6th – teleport, vibrant pattern
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking staff, greater staff of illusion, greater ventriloquist’s ring, alluring scarf, spellbook of redundant enchantment
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Mirror Refuge
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Spellbook: 7th – plane shift, shadow raid
o Gear: +2 greater striking staff, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of the spider (4th-level), greater staff of illusion, greater ventriloquist’s ring, greater persona mask
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Effortless Captivation
o Skill Feat: Lengthy Diversion
o Spellbook: 7th – mask of terror, maze of lock doors
o Gear: boots of speed, +2 greater striking staff, greater staff of impossible visions, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater endless grimoire, wand of hopeless night (4th-level)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 21, Wis 14, Cha 20)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Spellbook: 8th – scintillating pattern, undermine reality
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV), +2 greater striking staff, bag of holding (type III), wand of the spider (4th-level)
A nice feature of some of the side feats from Captivator Dedication, such as Reactive Charm, is that they can work with any spells that meet their requirements, including those from his wizard class. Meanwhile, Effortless Captivation lets him maintain his illusions or enchantments as a free action two levels earlier than Effortless Concentration would. Mirror Refuge allows him to hide, hopefully letting the heat die down before he emerges and makes his escape. Among his spells, choices such as plane shift are meant to cover his temporary time in another reality, such as the Ultimate Universe.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Expert Captivator Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Reveal Machinations
o Spellbook: 8th – disappearance, power word stun
o Captivator Spells: 4th – mirror’s misfortune; 5th – crushing despair; 6th – chromatic image
o Gear: dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, major staff of illusion, boots of speed, +2 greater striking staff, ring of wizardry (type III)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Reflect Foe
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary)
o Spellbook: 9th – unspeakable shadow, weird
o Gear: +3 greater striking staff, dragonscale amulet, robe of the archmagi, major staff of illusion, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Master Captivator Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Glad-Hand
o Spellbook: 9th – foresight, shapechange
o Captivator Spells: 7th – visions of danger; 8th – hypnopompic terrors
o Gear: diadem of intellect, +3 greater striking staff, major staff of impossible visions, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, major endless grimoire
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Incredible Investiture
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Spellbook: 10th – shadow army
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, diadem of intellect, greater queasy lantern, +3 greater striking staff, dragonscale amulet, crystal ball (selenite)
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 16, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 22, Wis 16, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Metamagic Mastery
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Skill Increase: Society (trained)
o Gear: greater robe of the archmagi, major staff of the dreamlands, archivist’s gaze, greater queasy lantern, grimoire of unknown necessities, +3 greater striking staff
He gains more spells from his Captivator Dedication before picking up Metamagic Mastery so that he can cast his Coneal/Silent spell for free without having to spend actions on it. Reveal Machinations works really well for Mysterio who wants to be recognized for his intellect, wit, and ability despite being an illusionist. This feat allows him to live out that fantasy without giving up his illusions. Reflect Foe is a super fun ancestry feat that grants Mysterio an innate casting of duplicate foe, a spell that fits him quite well.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: The most obvious choice for a free archetype is the Captivator Dedication, which allows him to gain feats from it at an accelerated pace and pick up a few that he otherwise didn’t, such as Captivating Intensity, Heightened Captivation, and Look Again. If you find yourself with extra room for archetype feats, the Rogue Dedication is a fantastic fit. It is best used for more mundane trickery and picking up Skill Mastery to increase skills such as Intimidation and Performance. With the freed up class feats, choices such as Split Slot, Quickened Casting, and other metamagic feats to eventually use alongside his Metamagic Mastery feat.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Quentin’s former profession in the film industry is reflected in his entertainer background. For his illusion-creating abilities as well as the manipulations that he is known for, he is an illusionist wizard with feats to hide his spells, such as Conceal and Silent Spell, and make his illusions harder to disbelieve, such as Convincing Illusions. Captivator Dedication earns him even more mental manipulations and illusions to throw people off. For his time spent operating in Ultimate Universe, there’s spells such as plane shift while mirror image serves to achieve similar effects to the multitude of avatars he acted through there. Spells like obscuring mist work the gas that he can spray from his gloves and boots though there are spells of that sort that I didn’t pick up, including stinking cloud and cloudkill, as I couldn’t think of a good way for him to move safely through it. Focuses on Deception and Diplomacy focus on his capability as a manipulator. I wanted to also pick up Intimidation at a higher proficiency, but needed to increase Stealth instead to make use of Conceal Spell. However, some of the build might still reflect this.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and who else you might like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for. Next week, I continue the proud tradition of building a character from a game I know pretty much nothing about!
Here's a bonus pic that I thought was neat. Until next time, have a fantastic Friday!
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