Concerning the fear/Intimidate problem, I thought of an interesting solution: the Magical Lineage trait.

It lets a single spell count as -1 level for purposes of metamagic. Any psychic spell caster that has access to Remove Fear could select it with this trait, and use Logical spell with it starting at level 1 as a 1st level spell.

It's a bit of a trait/feat/spell known tax, and it takes a full-round action which sucks, but it's another solution, particularly if you're playing mostly at low levels or in a game with little wealth for rods.