3 man party in Age of Worms [Archive] - Wizards Community

3 man party in Age of Worms [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nuclearsunburn
08-29-06, 08:41 PM Weelll... now it comes to it, and I've got my grubby little fingers on the whole age of worms campaign. But only three players to play in it!! So aside from me running a character, or my players running two characters (without Leadership anyways)... what's the best three-man party? (non-gestalt). I have one I *think* will work, but I'd like the CO board's help in streamlining them.

The campaign has everything good about D&D, social interaction, traps galore inside cool dungeons, and epic boss fights. I'm psyched about running it.

Character 1 : the trapkilling wizard

Gray Elf Rogue 1 / Spellthief 1 / Wizard 5 / Geometer 5 / Arcane Trickster 8

Yeah, his BAB will blow, but really the rogue levels are there to 1. qualify for Trickster, and 2. gain a good starting skillset. In a pinch, he can True Strike if he has a chance to get a good sneak attack in later. Elf Wizard sub levels 1 and 3 will be taken, as will a rat familiar. All but five levels will have Disable Device as a class skill, and I'm hoping his obscenely high Int will offset those 5 that don't have it. His skillset revolves around Search, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Spot, and Listen, while dabbling in various Knowledge skills.

At 6th level, he'll take the Leadership feat with the goal of acquiring a cohort along the lines of a rogue 1 / ranger 3 who takes nothing but ranger levels the rest of his career. (I'm not allowing PrC's for cohorts) This ranger dual wields, hates Undead, and focuses his skills around Search, Spot, Listen, Survival, Move Silently, and Hide. He'll be used as a forward, stealthy scout who marks traps for the wizard to disable.

Character 2 : the healer.

Human Cleric 6 / Radiant Servant of Pelor 10 / Sacred Exorcist 4

Pretty straightforward, this guy blasts undead to bits and heals like none other. His skillset revolves around Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Concentration. At 6th level, he'll also take Leadership to gain a Druid cohort, who takes straight Druid levels for his entire career. This Druid is skilled in Diplomacy, Survival, Heal, and Concentration, and focuses his feats around summoning skills.

Character 3 : the tank

This is the character i'm most unsure about. My initial idea is this :
Dwarf Fighter / Deepwarden/ Battlesmith
I'd use Dwarven Defender, but I really dislike the lack of mobility associated with defensive stance. Battlesmith has nifty goodies like Craft Magic Arms & Armor & Wisdom to damage with a warhammer. Feats for this character revolve around defense - after Weapon Focus (warhammer), things like Dwarven Armor Proficiency, Imp. Shield Bash, Heavy armor optimization, Combat expertise and imp. trip come into the equation. I like this idea, but I'm not sold on it, and this is really where I need the most help. What would the best tank for this group be?

Oh, and as always, I appreciate any help the brilliant minds of this board can give me.
TychoEnoch
08-29-06, 09:27 PM First of all, if you're playing a three-man Age of Worms campaign, my first optimization suggestion would be to optimize for Coup de Grace and decapitate yourselves before starting the first adventure. Once you reach Spire of Long Shadows, you're going to be churning through new characters like nothing, assuming your DM is marginally competent. There is no way to avoid a certain amount of party deaths ...

... as I realized when fighting Greater Dispel Magic slinging nagas with a Feeblemind gaze attack and a corrupted Ghaele Eladrin inside 500-foot shaft with a sea of instant-kill worms at the bototm. Did I mention I was level 12?

That aside, trapfinding is actually not particularly important in this adventure path. If all of your characters are lawful, your cleric can essentially wand his way well into the second half of the AP and not require your wizard to take suboptimal levels. I'd take a second look at Loredelver, from Races of Destiny, and Assassin's Stance, from ToB, as ways to get that rogue/mage gish goodness without selling out your casting ability.

Another surprisingly versatile mage/trapfinder is a Beguiler/Sand Shaper/Shadowcraft Mage. You effectively have every Evocation, Conjuration, Illusion, and Enchantment spell on your spell list, plus some non-energy blasting spells from Sand Shaper, plus Haste, Slow, Summon Desert Ally I-IX and all the stat-buffing spells. Though you lack some good spells, including Teleport and Dimension Door/i], [i]Shadow Walk and Swift Etherealness can frequently substitute.

-- ACS
Nuclearsunburn
08-29-06, 09:35 PM Wow... interesting stuff there. I lack the ToB and PHB2, but hope to remedy that soon. Sand Shaper sounds interesting, but I also lack that one... oh and as for the DM, that would be me, and I'm reasonably competent... and I know the part of which you speak there, the ghaele was my favorite part of that adventure, at least reading through it.
I read through a couple of the adventures, and it seemed like the very early ones had enough traps to warrant a rogue... but the cleric might indeed suffice.

Any ideas about the tank? Other than speccing for self-inflicted coup de gras? ( I lol'd over that)
NatchFeral
08-29-06, 09:53 PM My DM is starting the Age of Worms for us. I've garnered that it is pretty tough right from the get go. I am also playing with two other people, and we came us with the following:

Aihdan, Jade Phoenix Master

Based on one or two builds already presented. This is predicated on the use of Erudite (a psionic class found in Complete Psionics) instead of an arcane casting class

Elan Jade Phoenix Master
Swordsage 2/Warblade 2/Erudite 4/Pyrokineticist 2/Jade Phoenix Mage 10

Human Ruby Knight Inquisitor of Wee Jas
Crusader 1/Archivist 3/Church Inquisitor 4/Sacred Exorcist 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10

Changeling Divine Minion of Xan YaeShadow Sun Shifter
Ninja 1/Swordsage 2/Master of Many Forms 7/Shadow Sun Ninja 10

I'm sure this is not optimized, but it seems pretty darn powerful, covers the bases, and is, most importantly, fun to play. When I bought the Book of Nine Swords I got together with the other two, and we went over it with glee. More interesting fights! We all had to use it!

I'd say you have your bases covered; I'm not sure I would want to go the first five character levels without someone with Trapfinding. Traps are a big threat for the first few levels, when wands are scarce and saves and hit points low.

Please do your tank the favor and grab TOB. You'll be glad you did. After level 10 your tank will be far more than a simple meat shield. Go to the builds thread and check them out for something that works with the concept of a dwarf tank.

Try this out, from ToB:
Dwarf Fighter 2/Warblade 8/Bloodstorm Blade 1/Deepstone Sentinel 10
I apologize that you will need to look at the TOB book, but simply copy this down, run down to Borders, and have a look. Focus on Stone Dragon and Iron Heart styles.

I posted the first two concepts in the TOB: Builds thread, but if anyone would like to add comments for me and my gang here, and if the OP does not mind, please do so.
hogarth
08-29-06, 10:00 PM If you want a trapfinding mage that's playable from 1-20, I'd recommend an artificer over an arcane trickster any day of the week.
Nuclearsunburn
08-30-06, 12:50 AM I do not mind at all if people post about your party, although, I must admit I know almost none of those classes you spoke of. It sounds very oriental in flavor, which is cool.

Artificer? Yeah, I have the Eberron books, but I was looking forward to running a base D&D game for once (we always play in really random settings), kind of take this campaign and get back to the meat & bones of D&D kind of thing. I'll think about it though, it might be the best option.

I'm definitely going to pick up tome of battle, because honestly I'm stumped as far as helping the tank make his character, and he really wants me to do it.. (he thinks if I make it I'll be too attached to it to kill it off... we shall see. bwahahaha) I don't mind dropping 30 bucks for a book, because I guarantee you I'll read it a thousand times before I get bored of it. That's 30 bucks worth of entertainment to me!

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, keep them coming if you think of anything else.
Fingers Boggis
08-30-06, 07:12 AM How about a chameleon? Theres a build in the thread on the boards which enters with cloistered cleric and paladin to gain two sources of turn undead whihch is uses to power a range of permenanced spells. Works well as a tank and secondary healer.
To get trap finding and some arcane goodness the Beguiler is a good option or as already stated an artificer. If you want everyone to have fighting ability theres a build in the ToB Builds thread which takes beguiler into Jade Pheonix Mage which looked pretty tastey.
For your final spot you get a bit of a choice as the first two can cover combat, arcane, divine and trapfinding pretty well. If it were me I'd probably go Druid. That would give you a final tally of 3 characters who are capable in melee, a trapfinder, half casters in arcane and divine and a full divine caster with the ever useful Druid spell list. That or a cleric.

Fingers
Fingers Boggis
08-30-06, 07:59 AM Going to expand a bit more on what I said now I'm not being hassled to do other jobs :)

Char 1: Face/Tank/Secondary Divine
CHangeling Cloistered Cleric1/Pal4/Cham10
What you do with the final 5 is up to you, for social focus Cab Trickster is a good bet, for tank focus Warshaper is pretty tastey. Domain choice you need planning, get knowledge for free and have 1 other choice, personally I'd pick something that gives an archery related feat and use the chameleon bonus feat for zen archery when shooting a bow or somehting else when in close.

Char 2: Traps/Arcane/Secondary Tank
Gnome Beguiler4/Warblade1/Jade Pheonix Mage 10
Again in the last 5 you can make some choices, for more combat you can get warblade in, maybe alternating with beguiler, for more diverse arcane you can take shadowcraft mage from RoS, as this is the only arcane character this might be worth while.

Char 3: Divine/Wilderness/Secondary Tank
Druid 20
I'm sure you know what to do here :)

Fingers
hogarth
08-30-06, 08:53 AM Char 2: Traps/Arcane/Secondary Tank
Gnome Beguiler4/Warblade1/Jade Pheonix Mage 10
Again in the last 5 you can make some choices, for more combat you can get warblade in, maybe alternating with beguiler, for more diverse arcane you can take shadowcraft mage from RoS, as this is the only arcane character this might be worth while.

Actually a Beguiler is another good choice for a trapfinding mage. However, I gather there are quite a few creatures immune to mind-affecting spells in the Age of Worms, so that cuts down on the Beguiler's useful spells a little.
TheHumanDynamo
08-30-06, 09:02 AM For the tank, I'd recommend:
Half-minotaur (dwarf can be the base race for the template) Barbarian/War Hulk/xxxx

If you as the DM will let him, tack on the Feral template. He'll be capable of handling the tanking no problem.
Fingers Boggis
08-30-06, 10:11 AM Actually a Beguiler is another good choice for a trapfinding mage. However, I gather there are quite a few creatures immune to mind-affecting spells in the Age of Worms, so that cuts down on the Beguiler's useful spells a little.

This is why I suggested Shadowcraft Mage levels to get a bit of diversity. I know I put them late in the build but theres no reason you couldn't take them earlier if arcane firesupport was lacking. Also if arcane is deemed necessary there's always the option of char1 taking arcane focus after persisting any required divine spells.
saru
08-30-06, 12:32 PM another option is :

rogue 1/cleric 4/shadowbane stalker 10/cleric +5

wizard 5/war weaver 5/incantatrix 10

fighter 20

This way you keep someone to tank, someone to find traps (and won't die on first doing damage), and your wizard will be able to buff the whole party in one spell.

you can find :
shadowbane stalker in Complete Adventurer
war weaver in Heroes of Battle
incantatrix in Player's Guide of Faerun
Fingers Boggis
08-30-06, 03:26 PM Another idea I had while in the shower just

char1: Melee machine- half orc frenzied berzerker
char2: Beast tamer/face/arcane support- half elf bard with some sub chord
char3: Healing/Traps- some kind of cleric/rogue combo

char1 should take the feat from PHB2 which will make self control easier but other than that should take feats that allow him/her to hit things hard.
char2 has lots of options open the main impportant bits are the 1st sub level to get calm emotions to stop char1 hitting friends. Charisma Gish would be one way to go, Diplomancer another but there are other possibilities.
char3 has to pick up what the others can't do, unfortunately this leaves cleric and rogue not the easiest of classes to mesh together. The suggestion in saru's post is pretty much the only way to go, be sure to take Able learner. If char1 gets out of control and char2 cannot deal for any reason then make sure you have santuary prepared.

Fingers
Damionte
08-30-06, 04:03 PM I have a good tip. I'd actually suggest this any time you are going ot be runing a campaign with less than 4 players. Gestault them. If oyu only have 2-3 players go gestault. They'll get a kick out of the extra punch each character has plus you have an easier time covering the bases for what individual roles you have covered in the party.
TychoEnoch
08-31-06, 12:22 AM Though AoW has a lot of things immune to mind-affecting spells, multi-classing with Jade Phoenix Mage gives you a lot of things you can do that don't involve casting mind-affecting spells. Additionally, you've got a bunch of things you can do that aren't mind-affecting. Haste and Slow are always good options through the mid levels.

-- ACS

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nuclearsunburn 08-29-06, 08:41 PM	Weelll... now it comes to it, and I've got my grubby little fingers on the whole age of worms campaign. But only three players to play in it!! So aside from me running a character, or my players running two characters (without Leadership anyways)... what's the best three-man party? (non-gestalt). I have one I think will work, but I'd like the CO board's help in streamlining them. The campaign has everything good about D&D, social interaction, traps galore inside cool dungeons, and epic boss fights. I'm psyched about running it. Character 1 : the trapkilling wizard Gray Elf Rogue 1 / Spellthief 1 / Wizard 5 / Geometer 5 / Arcane Trickster 8 Yeah, his BAB will blow, but really the rogue levels are there to 1. qualify for Trickster, and 2. gain a good starting skillset. In a pinch, he can True Strike if he has a chance to get a good sneak attack in later. Elf Wizard sub levels 1 and 3 will be taken, as will a rat familiar. All but five levels will have Disable Device as a class skill, and I'm hoping his obscenely high Int will offset those 5 that don't have it. His skillset revolves around Search, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Spot, and Listen, while dabbling in various Knowledge skills. At 6th level, he'll take the Leadership feat with the goal of acquiring a cohort along the lines of a rogue 1 / ranger 3 who takes nothing but ranger levels the rest of his career. (I'm not allowing PrC's for cohorts) This ranger dual wields, hates Undead, and focuses his skills around Search, Spot, Listen, Survival, Move Silently, and Hide. He'll be used as a forward, stealthy scout who marks traps for the wizard to disable. Character 2 : the healer. Human Cleric 6 / Radiant Servant of Pelor 10 / Sacred Exorcist 4 Pretty straightforward, this guy blasts undead to bits and heals like none other. His skillset revolves around Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Concentration. At 6th level, he'll also take Leadership to gain a Druid cohort, who takes straight Druid levels for his entire career. This Druid is skilled in Diplomacy, Survival, Heal, and Concentration, and focuses his feats around summoning skills. Character 3 : the tank This is the character i'm most unsure about. My initial idea is this : Dwarf Fighter / Deepwarden/ Battlesmith I'd use Dwarven Defender, but I really dislike the lack of mobility associated with defensive stance. Battlesmith has nifty goodies like Craft Magic Arms & Armor & Wisdom to damage with a warhammer. Feats for this character revolve around defense - after Weapon Focus (warhammer), things like Dwarven Armor Proficiency, Imp. Shield Bash, Heavy armor optimization, Combat expertise and imp. trip come into the equation. I like this idea, but I'm not sold on it, and this is really where I need the most help. What would the best tank for this group be? Oh, and as always, I appreciate any help the brilliant minds of this board can give me.
TychoEnoch 08-29-06, 09:27 PM	First of all, if you're playing a three-man Age of Worms campaign, my first optimization suggestion would be to optimize for Coup de Grace and decapitate yourselves before starting the first adventure. Once you reach Spire of Long Shadows, you're going to be churning through new characters like nothing, assuming your DM is marginally competent. There is no way to avoid a certain amount of party deaths ... ... as I realized when fighting Greater Dispel Magic slinging nagas with a Feeblemind gaze attack and a corrupted Ghaele Eladrin inside 500-foot shaft with a sea of instant-kill worms at the bototm. Did I mention I was level 12? That aside, trapfinding is actually not particularly important in this adventure path. If all of your characters are lawful, your cleric can essentially wand his way well into the second half of the AP and not require your wizard to take suboptimal levels. I'd take a second look at Loredelver, from Races of Destiny, and Assassin's Stance, from ToB, as ways to get that rogue/mage gish goodness without selling out your casting ability. Another surprisingly versatile mage/trapfinder is a Beguiler/Sand Shaper/Shadowcraft Mage. You effectively have every Evocation, Conjuration, Illusion, and Enchantment spell on your spell list, plus some non-energy blasting spells from Sand Shaper, plus Haste, Slow, Summon Desert Ally I-IX and all the stat-buffing spells. Though you lack some good spells, including Teleport and Dimension Door/i], [i]Shadow Walk and Swift Etherealness can frequently substitute. -- ACS
Nuclearsunburn 08-29-06, 09:35 PM	Wow... interesting stuff there. I lack the ToB and PHB2, but hope to remedy that soon. Sand Shaper sounds interesting, but I also lack that one... oh and as for the DM, that would be me, and I'm reasonably competent... and I know the part of which you speak there, the ghaele was my favorite part of that adventure, at least reading through it. I read through a couple of the adventures, and it seemed like the very early ones had enough traps to warrant a rogue... but the cleric might indeed suffice. Any ideas about the tank? Other than speccing for self-inflicted coup de gras? ( I lol'd over that)
NatchFeral 08-29-06, 09:53 PM	My DM is starting the Age of Worms for us. I've garnered that it is pretty tough right from the get go. I am also playing with two other people, and we came us with the following: Aihdan, Jade Phoenix Master Based on one or two builds already presented. This is predicated on the use of Erudite (a psionic class found in Complete Psionics) instead of an arcane casting class Elan Jade Phoenix Master Swordsage 2/Warblade 2/Erudite 4/Pyrokineticist 2/Jade Phoenix Mage 10 Human Ruby Knight Inquisitor of Wee Jas Crusader 1/Archivist 3/Church Inquisitor 4/Sacred Exorcist 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10 Changeling Divine Minion of Xan YaeShadow Sun Shifter Ninja 1/Swordsage 2/Master of Many Forms 7/Shadow Sun Ninja 10 I'm sure this is not optimized, but it seems pretty darn powerful, covers the bases, and is, most importantly, fun to play. When I bought the Book of Nine Swords I got together with the other two, and we went over it with glee. More interesting fights! We all had to use it! I'd say you have your bases covered; I'm not sure I would want to go the first five character levels without someone with Trapfinding. Traps are a big threat for the first few levels, when wands are scarce and saves and hit points low. Please do your tank the favor and grab TOB. You'll be glad you did. After level 10 your tank will be far more than a simple meat shield. Go to the builds thread and check them out for something that works with the concept of a dwarf tank. Try this out, from ToB: Dwarf Fighter 2/Warblade 8/Bloodstorm Blade 1/Deepstone Sentinel 10 I apologize that you will need to look at the TOB book, but simply copy this down, run down to Borders, and have a look. Focus on Stone Dragon and Iron Heart styles. I posted the first two concepts in the TOB: Builds thread, but if anyone would like to add comments for me and my gang here, and if the OP does not mind, please do so.
hogarth 08-29-06, 10:00 PM	If you want a trapfinding mage that's playable from 1-20, I'd recommend an artificer over an arcane trickster any day of the week.
Nuclearsunburn 08-30-06, 12:50 AM	I do not mind at all if people post about your party, although, I must admit I know almost none of those classes you spoke of. It sounds very oriental in flavor, which is cool. Artificer? Yeah, I have the Eberron books, but I was looking forward to running a base D&D game for once (we always play in really random settings), kind of take this campaign and get back to the meat & bones of D&D kind of thing. I'll think about it though, it might be the best option. I'm definitely going to pick up tome of battle, because honestly I'm stumped as far as helping the tank make his character, and he really wants me to do it.. (he thinks if I make it I'll be too attached to it to kill it off... we shall see. bwahahaha) I don't mind dropping 30 bucks for a book, because I guarantee you I'll read it a thousand times before I get bored of it. That's 30 bucks worth of entertainment to me! Thanks a lot for the suggestions, keep them coming if you think of anything else.
Fingers Boggis 08-30-06, 07:12 AM	How about a chameleon? Theres a build in the thread on the boards which enters with cloistered cleric and paladin to gain two sources of turn undead whihch is uses to power a range of permenanced spells. Works well as a tank and secondary healer. To get trap finding and some arcane goodness the Beguiler is a good option or as already stated an artificer. If you want everyone to have fighting ability theres a build in the ToB Builds thread which takes beguiler into Jade Pheonix Mage which looked pretty tastey. For your final spot you get a bit of a choice as the first two can cover combat, arcane, divine and trapfinding pretty well. If it were me I'd probably go Druid. That would give you a final tally of 3 characters who are capable in melee, a trapfinder, half casters in arcane and divine and a full divine caster with the ever useful Druid spell list. That or a cleric. Fingers
Fingers Boggis 08-30-06, 07:59 AM	Going to expand a bit more on what I said now I'm not being hassled to do other jobs :) Char 1: Face/Tank/Secondary Divine CHangeling Cloistered Cleric1/Pal4/Cham10 What you do with the final 5 is up to you, for social focus Cab Trickster is a good bet, for tank focus Warshaper is pretty tastey. Domain choice you need planning, get knowledge for free and have 1 other choice, personally I'd pick something that gives an archery related feat and use the chameleon bonus feat for zen archery when shooting a bow or somehting else when in close. Char 2: Traps/Arcane/Secondary Tank Gnome Beguiler4/Warblade1/Jade Pheonix Mage 10 Again in the last 5 you can make some choices, for more combat you can get warblade in, maybe alternating with beguiler, for more diverse arcane you can take shadowcraft mage from RoS, as this is the only arcane character this might be worth while. Char 3: Divine/Wilderness/Secondary Tank Druid 20 I'm sure you know what to do here :) Fingers
hogarth 08-30-06, 08:53 AM	Char 2: Traps/Arcane/Secondary Tank Gnome Beguiler4/Warblade1/Jade Pheonix Mage 10 Again in the last 5 you can make some choices, for more combat you can get warblade in, maybe alternating with beguiler, for more diverse arcane you can take shadowcraft mage from RoS, as this is the only arcane character this might be worth while. Actually a Beguiler is another good choice for a trapfinding mage. However, I gather there are quite a few creatures immune to mind-affecting spells in the Age of Worms, so that cuts down on the Beguiler's useful spells a little.
TheHumanDynamo 08-30-06, 09:02 AM	For the tank, I'd recommend: Half-minotaur (dwarf can be the base race for the template) Barbarian/War Hulk/xxxx If you as the DM will let him, tack on the Feral template. He'll be capable of handling the tanking no problem.
Fingers Boggis 08-30-06, 10:11 AM	Actually a Beguiler is another good choice for a trapfinding mage. However, I gather there are quite a few creatures immune to mind-affecting spells in the Age of Worms, so that cuts down on the Beguiler's useful spells a little. This is why I suggested Shadowcraft Mage levels to get a bit of diversity. I know I put them late in the build but theres no reason you couldn't take them earlier if arcane firesupport was lacking. Also if arcane is deemed necessary there's always the option of char1 taking arcane focus after persisting any required divine spells.
saru 08-30-06, 12:32 PM	another option is : rogue 1/cleric 4/shadowbane stalker 10/cleric +5 wizard 5/war weaver 5/incantatrix 10 fighter 20 This way you keep someone to tank, someone to find traps (and won't die on first doing damage), and your wizard will be able to buff the whole party in one spell. you can find : shadowbane stalker in Complete Adventurer war weaver in Heroes of Battle incantatrix in Player's Guide of Faerun
Fingers Boggis 08-30-06, 03:26 PM	Another idea I had while in the shower just char1: Melee machine- half orc frenzied berzerker char2: Beast tamer/face/arcane support- half elf bard with some sub chord char3: Healing/Traps- some kind of cleric/rogue combo char1 should take the feat from PHB2 which will make self control easier but other than that should take feats that allow him/her to hit things hard. char2 has lots of options open the main impportant bits are the 1st sub level to get calm emotions to stop char1 hitting friends. Charisma Gish would be one way to go, Diplomancer another but there are other possibilities. char3 has to pick up what the others can't do, unfortunately this leaves cleric and rogue not the easiest of classes to mesh together. The suggestion in saru's post is pretty much the only way to go, be sure to take Able learner. If char1 gets out of control and char2 cannot deal for any reason then make sure you have santuary prepared. Fingers
Damionte 08-30-06, 04:03 PM	I have a good tip. I'd actually suggest this any time you are going ot be runing a campaign with less than 4 players. Gestault them. If oyu only have 2-3 players go gestault. They'll get a kick out of the extra punch each character has plus you have an easier time covering the bases for what individual roles you have covered in the party.
TychoEnoch 08-31-06, 12:22 AM	Though AoW has a lot of things immune to mind-affecting spells, multi-classing with Jade Phoenix Mage gives you a lot of things you can do that don't involve casting mind-affecting spells. Additionally, you've got a bunch of things you can do that aren't mind-affecting. Haste and Slow are always good options through the mid levels. -- ACS