Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sayit 01-18-07, 10:07 PM	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey! I've been messing around with a few builds, and wanted to see if this build is good/efficient. Assuming its a level 20 build, you can make it 19 Wizard/sorcerer 1 Monk. As longas you can cast level 8 spells, you dont have to go straight wizard/sorcerer. Let's assume your stats are: Strength:10 +0 Dexterity:20 +5(+5 from levels). Constitution:12 +1 Intelligence: 18 +4 Wisdom:14 +2 Charisma: 8 -1 Let's assume that you've done a few high-level games, or so, so the equipment list might go a bit over the level 20 character gold limit. Equipment: +5 Manual of Wisdom +5 Manual of Dexterity Belt of Magnificence(all +6 enhancement) Our Wisdom is now 25 +7 mod bonus, Dexterity at 31 +10 mod bonus. Now the real fun begins, make sure you have the spells Luminous Armor, Greater(+8 AC), Sacred Raiments(+1 sacred AC per 5 Caster Levels), Stone Bones(Stacking +3 natural armor), and Necrotic Empowerment(+8 Natural Armor, you need Mother Cyst feat to use this spell, can be found in Libris Mortis). From spells, we have a total of +22 AC. Necrotic Empowerment also bumps your Wisdom and dexterity by +8 enhancement, which overlaps Belt of Magnificence, granting an extra +2 to Wisdom and dexterity. Our wisdom score is now 27 +8 Mod bonus, for a 33 +11 Mod bonus. Now for stat bonuses, we have +11 mod bonus for Dexterity, +8 from Wisdom(Monk's AC bonus), a total of +18 AC. We now have +40 AC. We're not even done yet! For equipment, try adding in an animated +5 Tower Shield, an extra +8 Shield AC. We have a +48 AC bonus. Now, im not completely sure if this stacks, but you can put in a Ring of Deflection +5, putting us at +53. You can also take the Dodge feat for an extra +1 dodge bonus, along with the Haste spell, so +2 Dodge. For some surprisingly low level spells, with nice bonuses, you can use the level 1 spell Reduce Person, which decreases your size category by 1 size, for +2 dexterity, making our dexterity modifier bonus at +12. To sum it all up, we have: 10 12(Dexterity) 8(Wisdom) 3(Sacred) 8(Armor Class) 2(Haste and Dodge feat) 8(+5 Animated Tower Shield 11(Natural Armor from Stone bones(stacks) and Necrotic Empowerment) 5(+5 Ring of Deflection) A grand total of:67 AC Most of the spells were taken from Libris Mortis and Spell Compendium.
FabulousRex 01-18-07, 10:15 PM	Fly-Invisibility-Gaseous Form-Stoneskin-Displacement-etc Why spend a ton of cash and almost all of your PC's abilities around getting a high AC when you can cheaply and easily never get hit in the first place as a Spellcaster?
Sayit 01-19-07, 04:01 PM	Because those things are easily dispelled.
Twili 01-19-07, 04:05 PM	why not carmendine monk feat (int to ac instead of wis), helps with the MAD
captain_jester 01-19-07, 04:42 PM	Problem with the tower shield... Animated Upon command, an animated shield floats within 2 feet of the wielder, protecting her as if she were using it herself but freeing up both her hands. Only one shield can protect a character at a time. A character with an animated shield still takes any penalties associated with shield use, such as armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, and nonproficiency. Makes Casting Hard, and honestly as a DM I would rule that any shield, even animated since it still has the armor check penalty, will get in the way of your +8 to AC from being a monk. I'd recommend a +5 Mithral Buckler to avoid the arcane spell failure chances. Thistledown Padded Armor is also nice if you want armor to stick non-AC enhancements on without arcane spell failure chances, but for straight AC definitely Bracers of Armor is better because they can take a higher bonus. Relying on spells for your AC is asking for a Dispel Magic or Mordenkainen's Disjunction.
Innervation 01-19-07, 05:59 PM	Unless you do kungfu genius or the late-entry ascetic mage (int and cha for monk abilities, respectively) or some such, monk is a terrible way of getting AC on a caster: the MAD reeks and you don't really get that much out of it --lose a BAB and CL, gain a few saves... Instead of pumping an otherwise useless stat on a caster to get AC, why not just do dex? BUT if you really did want to throw up the wisdom, I'd suggest at least being an armored caster (bard, warmage, beguiler) and taking the swordsage route. Totemist 2 is a personal favorite dip for getting good caster defensive bonuses (non-armor armor bonus and natural armor don't interfere), while qualifying you for Soulcaster and helping you become the 7-headed-tripping menace as soon as ECL 10 -- all at a cost of 2 CL :) .
A_monk_00 01-19-07, 06:58 PM	Relying on spells for your AC is asking for a Dispel Magic or Mordenkainen's Disjunction. Relying on magic items for your AC is asking for a Mordenkainen's Disjunction too. :o
foxylady 01-20-07, 02:45 AM	Is there any reason for a non-melee caster to care about AC? Concentrate on avoidance and save the money you spent on AC for better magical goodies.