Temporarily handicapping an overpowered character in a Pathfinder/D&D 3.75 setting

[the December King]

The fact that players get classes that even require such de-powering is why i prefer to stay the hell away from anything D&D/D&D related, especially anything going off of 3.5.

Oh, you need the right DM, to be sure. And this wouldn't even come up, if it weren't because others want to roleplay with this particular character, but all of the other players have brought in favourite characters that happen to be of significantly lower level... and either don't want to spend the days required to level them up, or want to see them gain the exp naturally. The DM is amenable to alternate solutions.

It's really about finding a way to make my character suitably powered, while maintaining what the character essentially is, and not being boring while doing it (unless it really is the best solution, I reckon).

At the very least, you will also have to lose any epic levels or abilities. Pathfinder's equivalent, the mythic rules are very different and it would be unfair to run a mythic character with a party of non-mythic characters. I would also argue for a rebuild at a level appropriate to the party. It is cleaner, fairer to the rest of the party, and is a good way to learn the differences between Pathfinder and 3.5

While I do have a pretty good grasp of Pathfinder, my group and I have found that a lot of the especially non-epic rules and feats can be ported, almost seemlessly.

But yes, Mythic and Epic are quite different, and we are actually using that difference in game to differentiate certain monsters and characters. It's been a long period of change for our acampaign, and many characters have been given an in-game choice: either they accept the Mythic path by converting out all Epic feats and levels, and gain appropriate Mythic ones (up to a divinely controlled cap of level 20 plus mythic tier 10, as per the rules); or they can stay as they are, and continue to advance as Epic beings... but in so doing becoming the enemy of the new world order, and sought out for destruction by divine forces.

 

[Jerast]

Isn't there a spell that let you create another body? Maybe you could play his.. body duplicate. If you're so set on that one guy.

Really though, maybe you could just play his apprentice?

I actually love this idea and OP you should definitely do it.

Make a homunculus puppet and put some of your w/e into it.

 

[the December King]

Isn't there a spell that let you create another body? Maybe you could play his.. body duplicate. If you're so set on that one guy.

Really though, maybe you could just play his apprentice?

I actually love this idea and OP you should definitely do it.

Make a homunculus puppet and put some of your w/e into it.

It's not a bad idea at all... I'll give it a ponder.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

It's really about finding a way to make my character suitably powered, while maintaining what the character essentially is, and not being boring while doing it (unless it really is the best solution, I reckon).

You are still a top tier full caster in a system where the 'Linear Warrior, Quadratic Wizard' trope is in effect, albeit to a lesser degree than in D&D 3.5. Even at level 10-12, you will never be lacking in options and ways to contribute in combat, exploring, social encounters, and so on. Anyway, since someone did mention it, yes there are spells that allow you to put your character into a new body.

One is Reincarnate [http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/r/reincarnate/], a lv 4 Druid/lv 5 Shaman/Witch spell which brings you back from the dead in a random different body. Your character will recall the majority of its former life and memories. Using Reincarnate brings you back with two permanent negative levels, but otherwise you retain all other abilities, class levels, BAB, and so on. Of course, since you were epic level before, those two levels lost won't bring you down to lv 10-12. But Reincarnate is a divine spell, so you could arrange with your DM that the divine power of the spear in your side interferes with it and brings you back incomplete. A long term goal for your character could then be to restore Athena's sanity so she can in turn restore you to your true former self.

Another is Clone [http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/spells/clone.html], a lv8 Sorcerer/Wizard spell that creates an inert clone body that your soul instantly transfers to upon death. You will retain your full personality and memories, but gain two negative levels from your original form. These negative levels do stack with any negative levels you may have gained before you died and transferred into your clone body, so again, you could arrange with your DM that the ordeal of being struck with the spear drained a significant amount of levels before dying, whereupon Clone will then drop you to the desired level.

Neither are exactly what you'd want by RAW, but nothing a DM can't just overrule as they see fit.

 

[cleric of the order]

You are playing a wizard in pathfinder, you knew the risks and the outcomes of doing so.
and while i think you can't really fix the balance without utterly gimping your character regressing them to the other players level starting level might be the best choice, not the best choice but hey.
otherwise cap your ability to cast at that level, ignore your higher level spells and sheet.
or talk to your DM about metaphysical gimps like bad luck, majorly bad luck or something.

and if you really, really want a gimped character. Take that god's spear and roll up a martial

Spoiler: obligatory