Post/Author/DateTime	Post
theldran 12-18-06, 01:16 PM	i am currently playing in a homebrew campaign setting where almost anything WotC-published is fair game. character creation was 30 point-buy human paragon at level one, statted out to be as much like myself as possible. the storyline is that the players themselves were thrown into an alternate dimension where the nerdery we love so much is actually real and effectual; cool enough, but we really, really want to go home. and so it is that my character has become the resident arcanist among a party of a favored soul, a fighter/warlock, a shadowcaster/rogue, and a druid/MoMF. i like lightning and i like consistent debuff effects on the mobs -- so electricity spells and necromantic effects are thematic components of this character, from now till i'm done playing him. i'm something of a smooth talker, so Diplomacy is the skill that i chose for my Adaptive Learning class feature at level one. those three little elements brought on a sudden flash of insight a few weeks ago during a particularly intense session -- i have, without being consciously aware of it, started to turn myself into Emperor Palpatine. and that makes me smile. my PC has endured through 8 levels of experience so far, and done a fine job of it, i think, but i am looking to the future. in the course of about 5 months (game time), my compatriots and i have *severely* ****** off: 1) the people of the city that took us in, naked and confused, 2) the alliance of goblin tribes that *was* at peace with the aforementioned city, 3) the token invading orc horde, 4) an extremely patient and cunning lich, 5) the lich's indentured (and angry) djinn servant, 6) a vampire lord, 7) an alliance of Native-American-ish tribal peoples (possibly, but not definitely enemies yet), and a legacy-wielding necromancer who commands a corps of some 200 warmages and spellswords. the really scary part is that this necromancer and his goons are in charge of the town we're stuck in, and they've captured an old friend of ours (probably the last guy from the first town who'd be able to put in a good word for us) who was on a diplomatic mission -- and, of course, our pal is to be executed. so i'm very concerned about both the immediate and long-term gaming futures of my character, and have come to this board for help. the build so far: Human Paragon 3/Conjurer 3/Sorcerer 1/Ultimate Magus 1. my attributes are: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 15. i have taken two unearthed arcana traits -- Quick and Detached. i'm playing the PHB2 sor/wiz variants that lose the familiar so i can do a 10-foot teleport 5 times a day and use spontaneous metamagic without it taking a full-round action. my feats are: Improved Initiative, Magical Aptitude, Scribe Scroll, Empower Spell, Enlarge Spell, and Storm Bolt. my conjurer spells: lesser orb of electricity, ray of enfeeblement, expeditious retreat, benign transposition (excellent synergy with that jaunt ability), mage armor, burning hands, fist of stone; shocking ray (electricity instead of fire), false life, protection from arrows, baleful transposition, burning sword; haste, scintillating sphere my sorcerer spells: identify, magic missile the Quick trait lets me move at base 40', but has really hurt me on hp -- i've been rolling a *lot* of ones. i'm sitting at 32 hp at level 8, and that's only so because i have a +2 CON amulet. so it is apparent that my fragility is a concern only slightly offset by my ability to quickly shake loose of a foe. so, should i continue to pursue the ultimate magus so i can cast and blast all day? nevermind that the jaunt and the storm bolt provide a steady source of tactics and offense -- having the option to cast a spell *or* hit something from just out of reach with some SR-ignoring lightning that doesn't leave me open to an AoO is sometimes a difficult call, but it's one that i'd like to keep making. beyond that, i was wondering about taking some archmage -- and would the mastery of elements archmage feature be applicable to my sorcerer spells? . . . . well, i guess that will get the ball rolling. looking forward to the feedback. thanks.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 12-19-06, 02:48 PM	Yeah, sounds like you're set to go for ultimate magus. Not a whole lot more one could suggest, because Ultimage Magus kicks arse. I do, however, recommend grabbing practiced spell caster for your sorcerer casting at 9th level. That'll allow your UM to progress wizard for most of the levels.
theldran 12-28-06, 04:40 AM	so, that's all the feedback i can get? i guess it's time for a gratuitous BUMP! it's been about 3 weeks since i've played the character (rotating 4 campaigns at the same time within the same group of gamers), and i've really lost sight of a long-term plan. i guess that's not such a bad thing since i'm more concerned about survival at this point, but . . . . i would like to hear any suggestions regarding spell selection especially. i'm really digging the electricity/necromancy element, and don't want to change it; i'm going to dodge the craziness of time stop and shapechange in particular. in other words, i don't want to play the uber-bomb-dropping mage that the min/maxers like so much -- i'm more interested in a caster that does *exactly* one thing as well as anyone can, rather than the "i can take anything at a moment's notice" build. i want to *force* my character to be one who *must* lay plans effectively and well, and be able to pull the right strings to dodge the mage-killing bullets that are out there. if that makes any sense to y'all at all. anyway, moving on to the next segment of discussion -- the recommendation to take practiced spellcaster at ninth was excellent -- i just may be able to make that work. i haven't run the numbers yet to see if that would help unlock 9th-level spells for me, but i hope it would. should i focus on getting the feats to lean toward archmage? the skill requisites would not be a problem, nor would the spell school requirements -- however, the feat demands would use up 3 of the 4 slots i have by level 18. taking practiced spellcaster at 9th would preclude getting three levels of archmage -- so what would the interim level be invested in? looking forward to more feedback. aid me, my minions!
Xeraph 12-28-06, 06:02 AM	Well, you could go Beguiler 1 instead of Sorcerer 1, then you could focus entirely on Int instead of your current dual mental score dependency. Sorry if this has been covered, but theres so much text, smite me for my sloth!
Kamikaze Chicken 12-28-06, 10:29 AM	how about sneaking in leader sip to gain an aprentice? thematicly that would work, but also ti would allow for lots of cheesy fun especially if you get your dm to allow the old meta magic feat "co-operative spell" i think it was called. i like the idea of the character and it sound slike a lot of fun. happy gaming. KAMIKAZE! :chicken:
theldran 12-31-06, 03:26 PM	oh, come on, then! where are you people? i mention the baddest bad guy in nerd history in my thread name and i only get replies from 3 people??!! hmmmmmm . . . . i must find a way to send my Force lightning arcing through the internet. hmmmmm . . . . then *everything* will proceed according to my design!! feat suggestions? spell selections? PrC or class progressions? yargh!
Tleilaxu_Ghola 12-31-06, 03:31 PM	Actually, Darth Vader is far more badass. I've stated him out (see my signature, under contest entries).
theldran 12-31-06, 04:26 PM	Darth Vader more badass than Darth Sidious??! PLEASE!! no offense to the wonders of having more force potential than anyone else, ever, but Anakin Skywalker got pwned to the dark side just because of a woman! and who was it that lured him in? who was it that organized a rebellion that left behind tons of war materials to be integrated into the infrastructure of the galactic empire *he* built? who was it that whooped the posteriors of three of the best Jedi guardians of their time in less than 10 seconds? who was it that only got whooped by the darkest Jedi ever -- Mace Windu -- ? who was it that it took TWO Skywalkers to finally overthrow and kill? and on and on and on . . . . in my book, regarding the core 6 movies, Palpatine wins the Best Bad Guy Award hands-down, due to his underhandedness, smooth diplomacy, running for decades under the very noses of the Jedi Council, and pulling the strings necessary to make the Jedi Order look like a bunch of noobs. the strongest literary support that i have to support this notion lies in the text of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith during the Yoda/Sidious battle in the Senate building -- there comes a turning point in the contest in which Yoda comes to realize, and i barely paraphrase here: "He. Just. Didn't. Have it." there's a set of paragraphs elaborating on that point which outline the fact that though Yoda was *the* Jedi of the Jedi for nigh-on 1000 years, his leadership of the Jedi through that time was bent toward fighting the old war -- the Army of Light versus the Brotherhood of Darkness (i.e., as detailed in the book Darth Bane: Path of Destruction). Palpatine represented the full fruition of the path down which Bane took the Sith following the embarrassment of that last Jedi/Sith war -- strike from the shadows, be patient, pull the strings, and there can only be two of Us . . . . but we digress. as far as stand-alone butt-kicking-ness goes, i *have* to give Vader his props, but the face-smashing was all he was ever good at; Palpatine, on the other hand, was good at ALL of it -- manipulation, secrecy, betrayal, organization, force mastery, lightsaber combat, head-faking, . . . . and i believe this illustrates very clearly the somewhat different flavor of optimization to which i have set my sights on this specific project, and also illustrates a deeper principle of optimization at the same time: we've gotten into the mode of thinking that optimization pertains to the 6 to 7 rounds of 20th-level combat that a party of 4 would have against a pit fiend or a balor, rather than simply doing what you want to do doing it best. in 6 to 7 rounds, yes, i'd pick Vader over Palpatine, very likely; for the long game, though, i'm going with Palpatine, no questions need be asked. Vader would tear through balors with ease; Palpatine would pull the strings so that the balors would be on the other side of the galaxy fighting something *able* to beat them, and still have a very effective contingency in line should the balors beat his balor-killer. in every way, Palpatine was the Master, Vader the Apprentice -- even in the end. hands-dirty is trumped by hands-clean.
theldran 01-03-07, 05:54 PM	yet again, a gratuitous bump. i hope that my Sidious/Vader rant doesn't detract too much from the focus of this endeavor of mine, but i'm really not one to let such important points pass me by. :) next week this campaign resumes where my buddies and my character will face off against superior numbers and forces with a small guerrilla element and await the army that is almost two days' march away. we have to do this because we've already committed to it in-game, and feel honor-bound to save this man, Beodin, who had already done so much for us, so *expeditious retreat* isn't really going to be used to live up to its name. sometimes i hate being such a nice guy, but my character is *me* interpreted into 3.5 . . . . oh, the terror. anyway, i hope to hear from several of you soon. thanks.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 01-03-07, 09:42 PM	I only need to say two words in defense of Darth Vader to destroy your longwinded argument: cool helmet.
xpochian 01-03-07, 10:15 PM	I only need to say one word in attack of Darth Vader to destroy your longwinded argument: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I am sorry, I couldn't help it. As for the Palpatine thing, just look at Pope Benedict for some real-life visual inspiration.
theldran 01-03-07, 10:30 PM	"cool helmet", huh? it is to laugh.
theldran 01-07-07, 05:39 PM	BUMP!! i would like to hear more about the Palpatine/Skywalker debate, true, but i have only 24 hours to iron out some more details about the future of my character! if, and i do mean IF, i survive the next fight, it's almost assured that i'll be 9th level -- if so, i NEED to have an idea of what feat to take! oh, and beguiler would indeed be awesome. retraining may be in my future! especially since it would greatly make up for the deficiencies in my prohibited school selections . . . .