Best setup for Acro-Multiplayer

[Alneyan]

Agreed; human Pretenders really shine if you prefer cheapness over quality, or if you need those extra points badly. The big problem is the Ghost King here: it costs almost the same as a human Pretender, but has much better stats and abilities (Ethereal, Amphibian, two elemental resistances, Stealthy, Chill, 35 hitpoints and 18 defence), *and* a base Dominion value of 3. The other Pretenders you mention seem more or less fine: they are more powerful, but cost more.

Some human Pretenders do have "perks" however, and those might be of interest... though opinions will vary.
- The Great Enchantress gives Astral pearls, and that may be helpful to get an Astral economy up and running, especially if there are few sites. Having Astral will compel her to reach at least level 5 or 6 in Astral however, and that won't come cheap.
- The Crone lacks a body slot, but comes with *four* miscellaneous slots, as many as the immobiles. That might be interesting if you need as many miscellaneous items as possible, for your spellcasting: for example, the Crone can carry the Rune Smasher, a Crystal Shield, a Starshine Cap, a Ring of Sorcery/Wizardry, the Green Eye and a Spell Focus, resulting in a +8 penetration bonus and +4 astral in battle (effectively +10 penetration). Whether this is of any interest is another matter. Nations that have the ***** Queen should forget about the Hag however.
- The Arch Druid is the only Pretender for Man having Recuperation and having cheap paths; it also comes with Stealth, making it possibly easier to protect. Hmm.
- The Master Alchemist for Ulm, if you want gold. Lots of it.
- The ***** Queen, besides making your opponents smirk, has some of the best stats of all human Pretenders, while still being cheap. Problem is, her Precision is of 5, so she won't be able to hit the broadside of a barn with a Lightning Bolt. Besides, she can Shapechange into a Hag, whose uses have been described above, without losing her magic (unlike the Dragons).

I cannot say I am all too interested in the other human Pretenders, like the Great Sage or the Frost Father. My own favourite in the above list is the ***** Queen, apparently the most sturdy of all human Pretenders, and yet able to shapechange into one of the best "hulls" for spellcasting. Not bad for a mere 40 points, I would say, but few nations have access to the ***** Queen.