Anima Mage "MetaMonster" Build [Archive] - Wizards Community

Anima Mage "MetaMonster" Build [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
GDarius
04-13-06, 04:17 PM I posted a buid a little while ago for a Wizard/Incantatrix that I was planning to play. Since then, Tome of Magic came out and my DM is adding it to the books we are allowed to use. Recently, I got a chance to look through it, and as the only PC willing to play a caster, the Anima Mage has caught my eye.

Basically, this PrC seems to give up an Incantatrix' bonus metamagic feats, metamagic effect, seize concentration and snatch spell for the binding powers of a 10th level Binder (12 with Improved Binding).

Once again, these house-rules are in effect:

1. Due to the racial restrictions placed on PCs, an Elf is the only one that can be an effective wizard. This is set in stone, so please don't respond with "You should play a ". I know. I can't.

2. Toughness and Improved Toughness have been combined into one feat. Toughness now reads:
"You gain 3 bonus hit points. You gain 1 bonus hit point per HD, these are added retroactively and you gain an extra HP whenever you gain an extra HD in the future. You may take this feat multiple times, its effects stack."

3. Dodge grants the +1 AC against all enemies within 30 ft instead of one designated target. All enemies within 30 ft count as designated targets for the purposes of other feats or class features.

4. Divine magic of all kinds is banned, as are any divine casting classes and PrCs. The only people with access to cure and inflict spells are Bards, and they are forbidden to make wands/potions/scrolls/etc of said spells. Pretty much all resurrection-type spells are banned as well.

5. Artificers are banned, and I have been told that if I suggest them again, I will be stabbed. With bullets.

And this is the other pertinent information:

The way I see it, 1 is pretty bad due to the CON loss, but 2 makes up for it. 5 is just mean, but I've resolved to play around it.

The rest of my party is: a Warforged monk, a changeling rogue (that takes as much advantage of house rule 3 as possible), an elven ranger (TWF tank style), and a human fighter (another tank).

Books allowed are PHB, DMG, Ebberron (Campaign Setting and Player's Guide to), Forgotten Realms (again, CS and PG only). We're also allowed spells from the Magic of Ebberron and Magic of Faerun. [I](ToM has now been added to this)

We're starting out at level 6 and going well into epic play, so I'm building something for the long term.

Now here's the thing. Thanks to a feat in Tome of Magic, an elven Wizard/Binder can qualify for Anima Mage at level 4. Further, once he has qualified for Anima Mage, all he has to do is pick up Iron Will in order to get into Incantatar, AND doing this is much easier than trying to get into Archmage.

So, here's the build:

True Neutral, Elf
STR 8 DEX 16 CON 13 WIS 10 INT 18 CHA 8 (at 32 PB after racial mods)

Wizard 1 - Extend Spell
Wizard 1/ Binder 1
Wizard 2/ Binder 1 - Improved Binding
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ - CON +1
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 1
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 2 - Improved Initiative
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 3
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 4 - INT +1
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 5 - Persistent Spell
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 6
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 7
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 8 - INT +1, Heighten Spell
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 9
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 1 - Iron Will, Quicken Spell (dropping Evocation)
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 2 - INT +1
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 3
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 4 - Reactive Counterspell, Chain Spell
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 5
Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 6 - INT +1

It looks pretty solid. That's an arcane caster with CL 19 with access to 9th level spells. He can bind as a level 13 Binder (and after he hits binder level 8 will always have Balam bound). He can instantly apply metamagics (either through Vestige Metamagic or Instant Metamagic) 4/day and he can cast a spell as an immediate action 1/day. Further, he has the ability to apply metamagics to existing effects.

Here are the things I need your help with:

1. Is there any way to qualify for Anima Mage before level 6 WITHOUT changing race or taking the 1 level of Binder? Please note that I do not have access to Flaws, otherwise I'd just take two of them with Bind Vestige + Improved Bind Vestige and call it a day.

2. Is there a better break point than Incantatar 7? I was considering Incantatar 4 (which would give me 2 metamagic feats, metamagic effect and cooperative metamagic), then taking another level in Binder and 2 more in Wizard.

3. What should I go with for my epic progression? I'm thinking 4 more Incantatar, then take Anima Mage until I'm inevitably hunted down and killed by angry binders. Sticking with Incantatar seems pretty cool too though.

Any other thoughts are also welcome.
Richmud
04-13-06, 10:08 PM Well as it sounds like healing abilities are rare Buer should prove very useful for keeping the whole party at max hp between battles

Malphas or andromalous can be useful if you primarily use spells that can benift from sneak attack or sudden strike. I prefer Malphas for this as it gives you an invis ability

Focalor or Chupoclops if you regularly expect to be close enough to the enemy to penalize their saves with your aura
WrathoftheDm
04-14-06, 02:27 AM How are you getting the 2nd level spells at only Wizard 2? Precocious Apprentice would grant that but I don't see it in the build.
GDarius
04-14-06, 10:41 AM Nuts.

I suppose that means I get to qualify for Anima Mage at level 4 rather than 3 (I don't like the Precotious Apprentice tricks). No big deal really, all that Incantatar 7 gave me was a bonus feat. I still keep the metamagic crazyness, and the core of the build stands.

I have modified the original build to fix this, thank you, WrathoftheDM

Richmud: I was thinking Buer as well. And I have a soft spot for Andromalius just because of his legend. I guess the vestiges I bind will depend most on what I need to be doing that day.

Except Balam.

+3 to hit, AC and Initiative along with the ability to reroll a check every 5 rounds is too good to pass up.
GDarius
04-15-06, 12:17 AM Uh...

bump?

I'm still looking for advice on the epic progression of this thing. Mainly, it's a toss-up between further levels of Incantatar and further levels of Anima Mage, but I'd still appreciate your thoughts. Does anyone know if level 11+ Anima Mage still boosts binder level?

Also, is this the earliest I can make it into Anima Mage without resorting to another race?

Finally, should I consider moving around the point-buy to increase CHA? (in order to get that binding check up)
gorfnad the shiznit
04-15-06, 01:01 AM Here's how you can qualify for anima mage by 6th level

1. Wizard - Precocious Apprentice
2. Binder
3. Binder - Improved Binding

or

1. Wizard - Precocious Apprentice
2. Wizard
3. Binder - Improved Binding

Take 1 flaw to gain 1 feat (metamagic) to meet the requirements or be human for the bonus starting feat.

Hope this helps.
LucRivNor
04-15-06, 01:52 AM You could go Human Bard 4 with Bind Vestige+Improved bind Vestige + a Meta
Then animage and qualify for Sublime Chord at level 11. Is Complete arcane an allowed book?

If you forget Incatatrix, Binder 4/Sorcerer4/Anima mage 10/xx 3 could bind 3 Vestiges and you only have to care about CHA. But level 9 spells is out of reach.
GDarius
04-15-06, 09:35 PM LucRivNor: Getting 13th level binding is actually fine with me pre-epic. Also, the point of the build is to get as many consequence-free metamagic alterations as I can cram into it, so the Sublime Chord build isn't actually what I'm looking for. The Sorcerer/Binder thing wouldn't be bad. Something like Sorc 4/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/ Incantatrix 5 can still pull all the tricks that my build can, and it depends almost completely on CHA (some Incantatrix abilities are still INT based).

gorfnad the shiznit: I kinda wanna keep away from Precocious Apprentice tricks because of all the associated controversy on these boards. If my DM's ok with it, I'll give it a shot though. What book is it from?

Finally, for some reason, my DM has implemented a number of house-rules that equate to Elves being the only effective spellcasters (and they must be Wizards). So it's a no-go on playing human, even though I'd prefer it.

(For those that care, the only race choices in this campaign are Human, Elf, Changeling and Warforged. Humans must start with 3 levels of Fighter, Changelings must start with 3 levels of Rogue, Warforged must start with 3 levels of a base class from D20 Modern, and Elves must start with 3 levels of Ranger or Wizard. This means that effectively, if you want to be a non-elf spellcaster, you must give up 3 caster levels and most of your 9th level spell slots.)
fnord
04-15-06, 10:53 PM gorfnad the shiznit: I kinda wanna keep away from Precocious Apprentice tricks because of all the associated controversy on these boards. If my DM's ok with it, I'll give it a shot though. What book is it from?
Complete Arcane, but not in the standard feats list, IRC. I believe it's in a sidebar in the section describing Wizards in the Campaign.

Finally, for some reason, my DM has implemented a number of house-rules that equate to Elves being the only effective spellcasters (and they must be Wizards). So it's a no-go on playing human, even though I'd prefer it.

Well, may as well make the best of it. Can you be a Sun or Grey Elf? Also, check out the Elf Wizard racial substitution level in RoTW.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GDarius 04-13-06, 04:17 PM	I posted a buid a little while ago for a Wizard/Incantatrix that I was planning to play. Since then, Tome of Magic came out and my DM is adding it to the books we are allowed to use. Recently, I got a chance to look through it, and as the only PC willing to play a caster, the Anima Mage has caught my eye. Basically, this PrC seems to give up an Incantatrix' bonus metamagic feats, metamagic effect, seize concentration and snatch spell for the binding powers of a 10th level Binder (12 with Improved Binding). Once again, these house-rules are in effect: 1. Due to the racial restrictions placed on PCs, an Elf is the only one that can be an effective wizard. This is set in stone, so please don't respond with "You should play a ". I know. I can't. 2. Toughness and Improved Toughness have been combined into one feat. Toughness now reads: "You gain 3 bonus hit points. You gain 1 bonus hit point per HD, these are added retroactively and you gain an extra HP whenever you gain an extra HD in the future. You may take this feat multiple times, its effects stack." 3. Dodge grants the +1 AC against all enemies within 30 ft instead of one designated target. All enemies within 30 ft count as designated targets for the purposes of other feats or class features. 4. Divine magic of all kinds is banned, as are any divine casting classes and PrCs. The only people with access to cure and inflict spells are Bards, and they are forbidden to make wands/potions/scrolls/etc of said spells. Pretty much all resurrection-type spells are banned as well. 5. Artificers are banned, and I have been told that if I suggest them again, I will be stabbed. With bullets. And this is the other pertinent information: The way I see it, 1 is pretty bad due to the CON loss, but 2 makes up for it. 5 is just mean, but I've resolved to play around it. The rest of my party is: a Warforged monk, a changeling rogue (that takes as much advantage of house rule 3 as possible), an elven ranger (TWF tank style), and a human fighter (another tank). Books allowed are PHB, DMG, Ebberron (Campaign Setting and Player's Guide to), Forgotten Realms (again, CS and PG only). We're also allowed spells from the Magic of Ebberron and Magic of Faerun. [I](ToM has now been added to this) We're starting out at level 6 and going well into epic play, so I'm building something for the long term. Now here's the thing. Thanks to a feat in Tome of Magic, an elven Wizard/Binder can qualify for Anima Mage at level 4. Further, once he has qualified for Anima Mage, all he has to do is pick up Iron Will in order to get into Incantatar, AND doing this is much easier than trying to get into Archmage. So, here's the build: True Neutral, Elf STR 8 DEX 16 CON 13 WIS 10 INT 18 CHA 8 (at 32 PB after racial mods) Wizard 1 - Extend Spell Wizard 1/ Binder 1 Wizard 2/ Binder 1 - Improved Binding Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ - CON +1 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 1 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 2 - Improved Initiative Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 3 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 4 - INT +1 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 5 - Persistent Spell Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 6 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 7 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 8 - INT +1, Heighten Spell Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 9 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 1 - Iron Will, Quicken Spell (dropping Evocation) Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 2 - INT +1 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 3 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 4 - Reactive Counterspell, Chain Spell Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 5 Wizard 3/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/Incantatar 6 - INT +1 It looks pretty solid. That's an arcane caster with CL 19 with access to 9th level spells. He can bind as a level 13 Binder (and after he hits binder level 8 will always have Balam bound). He can instantly apply metamagics (either through Vestige Metamagic or Instant Metamagic) 4/day and he can cast a spell as an immediate action 1/day. Further, he has the ability to apply metamagics to existing effects. Here are the things I need your help with: 1. Is there any way to qualify for Anima Mage before level 6 WITHOUT changing race or taking the 1 level of Binder? Please note that I do not have access to Flaws, otherwise I'd just take two of them with Bind Vestige + Improved Bind Vestige and call it a day. 2. Is there a better break point than Incantatar 7? I was considering Incantatar 4 (which would give me 2 metamagic feats, metamagic effect and cooperative metamagic), then taking another level in Binder and 2 more in Wizard. 3. What should I go with for my epic progression? I'm thinking 4 more Incantatar, then take Anima Mage until I'm inevitably hunted down and killed by angry binders. Sticking with Incantatar seems pretty cool too though. Any other thoughts are also welcome.
Richmud 04-13-06, 10:08 PM	Well as it sounds like healing abilities are rare Buer should prove very useful for keeping the whole party at max hp between battles Malphas or andromalous can be useful if you primarily use spells that can benift from sneak attack or sudden strike. I prefer Malphas for this as it gives you an invis ability Focalor or Chupoclops if you regularly expect to be close enough to the enemy to penalize their saves with your aura
WrathoftheDm 04-14-06, 02:27 AM	How are you getting the 2nd level spells at only Wizard 2? Precocious Apprentice would grant that but I don't see it in the build.
GDarius 04-14-06, 10:41 AM	Nuts. I suppose that means I get to qualify for Anima Mage at level 4 rather than 3 (I don't like the Precotious Apprentice tricks). No big deal really, all that Incantatar 7 gave me was a bonus feat. I still keep the metamagic crazyness, and the core of the build stands. I have modified the original build to fix this, thank you, WrathoftheDM Richmud: I was thinking Buer as well. And I have a soft spot for Andromalius just because of his legend. I guess the vestiges I bind will depend most on what I need to be doing that day. Except Balam. +3 to hit, AC and Initiative along with the ability to reroll a check every 5 rounds is too good to pass up.
GDarius 04-15-06, 12:17 AM	Uh... bump? I'm still looking for advice on the epic progression of this thing. Mainly, it's a toss-up between further levels of Incantatar and further levels of Anima Mage, but I'd still appreciate your thoughts. Does anyone know if level 11+ Anima Mage still boosts binder level? Also, is this the earliest I can make it into Anima Mage without resorting to another race? Finally, should I consider moving around the point-buy to increase CHA? (in order to get that binding check up)
gorfnad the shiznit 04-15-06, 01:01 AM	Here's how you can qualify for anima mage by 6th level 1. Wizard - Precocious Apprentice 2. Binder 3. Binder - Improved Binding or 1. Wizard - Precocious Apprentice 2. Wizard 3. Binder - Improved Binding Take 1 flaw to gain 1 feat (metamagic) to meet the requirements or be human for the bonus starting feat. Hope this helps.
LucRivNor 04-15-06, 01:52 AM	You could go Human Bard 4 with Bind Vestige+Improved bind Vestige + a Meta Then animage and qualify for Sublime Chord at level 11. Is Complete arcane an allowed book? If you forget Incatatrix, Binder 4/Sorcerer4/Anima mage 10/xx 3 could bind 3 Vestiges and you only have to care about CHA. But level 9 spells is out of reach.
GDarius 04-15-06, 09:35 PM	LucRivNor: Getting 13th level binding is actually fine with me pre-epic. Also, the point of the build is to get as many consequence-free metamagic alterations as I can cram into it, so the Sublime Chord build isn't actually what I'm looking for. The Sorcerer/Binder thing wouldn't be bad. Something like Sorc 4/ Binder 1/ Anima Mage 10/ Incantatrix 5 can still pull all the tricks that my build can, and it depends almost completely on CHA (some Incantatrix abilities are still INT based). gorfnad the shiznit: I kinda wanna keep away from Precocious Apprentice tricks because of all the associated controversy on these boards. If my DM's ok with it, I'll give it a shot though. What book is it from? Finally, for some reason, my DM has implemented a number of house-rules that equate to Elves being the only effective spellcasters (and they must be Wizards). So it's a no-go on playing human, even though I'd prefer it. (For those that care, the only race choices in this campaign are Human, Elf, Changeling and Warforged. Humans must start with 3 levels of Fighter, Changelings must start with 3 levels of Rogue, Warforged must start with 3 levels of a base class from D20 Modern, and Elves must start with 3 levels of Ranger or Wizard. This means that effectively, if you want to be a non-elf spellcaster, you must give up 3 caster levels and most of your 9th level spell slots.)
fnord 04-15-06, 10:53 PM	gorfnad the shiznit: I kinda wanna keep away from Precocious Apprentice tricks because of all the associated controversy on these boards. If my DM's ok with it, I'll give it a shot though. What book is it from? Complete Arcane, but not in the standard feats list, IRC. I believe it's in a sidebar in the section describing Wizards in the Campaign. Finally, for some reason, my DM has implemented a number of house-rules that equate to Elves being the only effective spellcasters (and they must be Wizards). So it's a no-go on playing human, even though I'd prefer it. Well, may as well make the best of it. Can you be a Sun or Grey Elf? Also, check out the Elf Wizard racial substitution level in RoTW.