Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Althor Enchantor 01-26-04, 10:31 AM	I know what kind of sorcerer I want to play flavor-wise, so I'm trying to figure out how to pull it off. I want to be a blaster mage, but still be as well-rounded as possible. I want to be able to hold my own in case the party gets separated, but I'm not really looking for a melee build (a good example would be Gandalf versus the Balrog in LotR; Gandalf's a full caster, not a master swordsman, but he still managed to take the guy out one-on-one). I was also looking to be rather self-sufficient in the sense that yes, magic items make me more powerful, but if I get captured, I can still perform well without them. The Prestige Class I'm leaning heavily towards is the Artillerist, from The Quintessential Sorcerer. Artillerists require Enlarge Spell, Maximize Spell, and either Spell Focus (evocation) or Spell Penetration as feat prereq's, but also require you to know Burning Hands, Magic Missile, Melf's Acid Arrow, Flaming Sphere, Fireball, and Lightning Bolt. From 1st to 8th level, you get full spellcasting progression except for 3rd level, which only gives +1 Caster level. 1st level nets you a worthless bonus feat, 2nd makes you immune to your own offensive spells (i.e. fireballing youself doesn't hurt you but you still take damage anyone else's fireball). 6th level lets you extend this immunity to a number of designated allies equal to 1+Cha. 4th and 8th level each gets you your choice of either Improved Metamagic (-1 level increase, min +1) or Rapid Metamagic (takes a standard action instead of a full round action). The question of course is what else should I do to achieve the goals mentioned in the first paragraph. For the record, we're at 6th level now, and I plan to take my 8th level as an Artillerist. Any thoughts?
Althor Enchantor 01-28-04, 05:18 PM	:bump:
Caelic 01-28-04, 05:22 PM	Okay. This requires an extremely high cheese tolerance--we're talking five-cheese pizza with limburgher and gorgonzola as extra toppings, here. As I understand the class, you have to be able to cast those spells--you don't actually have to KNOW those spells, as long as you can cast them. Mage of the Arcane Order will allow you, once you get Spellpool, to cast all of those spells without taking up a large number of your limited spell slots.
Myer Lynk 01-28-04, 07:37 PM	the thing is if you look at gandalf he is more of a mage/fighter... 10/10 he uses a bastard sword and staff and throws a spell here and there which is good if you wanna do Sor/Ftr you might consider doing the mage of the arcane order prestige class to have access to the spellpool or just go straight Sorcerer/fighter... I have considered doing half and half upto 20 you get a good BAB 15/10/5 you get 5th lvl spells and a lot of bonus feats and if you be a human you can use all the standard feat slots for your spellcasting feats and the FTR bonus feats for your Melee if you wanted to wear armor consider a few lvls of spellsword, like 10 sor, 7ftr, 3 spellsword you only miss out on one bonus feat, you get to take 20% off arcane spell failure so you can wear armor and you are at an effecitve caster lvl of 12, which means 6th lvl spells!!
Caelic 01-28-04, 07:40 PM	Gandalf's more like a high epic level character, with lots of levels of Cleric and Sorceror and some levels of Paladin thrown in for good measure. Maiar would also be a pretty high ECL, methinks.
pawsplay 01-28-04, 07:54 PM	Have you looked at the Warmage from the Miniatures Handbook? I'm not sure any other caster can complete, at least at low levels, in the area you're talking about.
cowdragon 01-28-04, 09:51 PM	If you're lawful good, take 2 levels of paladin. This boots your saves quite a bit. Then take a prestige class that doesn't require alot of stuff to get into. Elemental Savant is great for this. Other good examples are Spellsword or Dragon Disciple. If you're neutral, or any other good, go 1 level fighter, 3 levels spellsword, and the last 10 Dragon Disciple. 7 bonus 4th levels rocks. Take feats that reduce the cost of metamagicking or just take heaighten spell. Heck, take the sudden metamagicks. If you're any evil take 2 levels of Black Guard for your saves and weapon profs. Then take 3 levels of spell sword. Any of these builds will be very valuable in a party. You will have caster levels, good saves, and good combat ability. You won't show up the fighters or healers. But you will definetly be able to hold your own in a fight. Of course, I could be wrong. The Cowdragon :mage:
Althor Enchantor 01-29-04, 10:11 AM	Point 1) Please don't start an extended debate about the nature of Gandalf in D&D terms. Point 2) I'm still going for a full caster, not a melee build; I'm just looking for ways to not be useless if I don't have another character standing between me and whatever I'm launching fireballs at. If you people think a melee build will help that, fine, but please try to maximize spellcasting rather than combat prowess.
Snow Savant 01-29-04, 10:25 AM	The Artillerist is a neat PrC. If I took it, my 2 most fave spells to accompany it would be Acid Fog and Evard's Black Tentacles. You are immune to both. Ergo, cast them, walk amongst them (remember, Acid Fog has a no-save/no-SR Slow effect as well), enjoy the fact that you can see through them and are immune to them ... and use those area effects to safely cast your kill spells from - with a super-high chance to never be hurt by any enemies again. Unless they Dispell your Fogs or Tentacles. :D Take it and run with it! Note: if you are immune to Acid Fog per the PrC's text, you should be immune to the lower level Solid Fog as well, since Acid Fog states in its text "As Solid Fog, ...". XO, Snow :cloud9:
Myer Lynk 01-29-04, 06:04 PM	Originally posted by Althor Enchantor Point 1) Please don't start an extended debate about the nature of Gandalf in D&D terms. Point 2) I'm still going for a full caster, not a melee build; I'm just looking for ways to not be useless if I don't have another character standing between me and whatever I'm launching fireballs at. If you people think a melee build will help that, fine, but please try to maximize spellcasting rather than combat prowess. sorry about that if you wanna wear some mithral armor and beable to swing a blade (or what have you )you can do a lot like maybe take 13 lvls of SOR, 2 lvls FTR,and maybe 5 lvls spellsword you are at spellcaster lvl 16 you can use all light armors no sweat, and not miss everything you swing at! Or if you don't like that idea I though of being an elven sorcerer and wear mithral chain mail (no armor check penalty) and if it has the twilight feature there is no ASP with that and you can still use bows and a longsword and be a full caster :o) just remember take true strike
horndgod 01-29-04, 06:48 PM	Fighter 1/ Sorceror 8/ Eldritch Knight 10/ Spellsword 1 Simple and effective. 9th level spells, +16 BAB, -10% ASF, 2 bonus fighter feats. OR Fighter1/ Sorceror6/ Eldritch Knight 10/ Spellsword 1/ Arcane Archer 2 Little more complicated, but still worthwhile. 8th level spells, +17 BAB, -10% ASF, 2 bonus fighter feats, all arrows +1 and Imbue Arrow.
Snog_Boggen 01-29-04, 07:46 PM	The Nar Demonbinder is damned good for your kind of sorc. Check it out in the Unapproachable East.
Althor Enchantor 01-30-04, 10:34 AM	Originally posted by Snog_Boggen The Nar Demonbinder is damned good for your kind of sorc. Check it out in the Unapproachable East. I could never see how: Nar Demonbinder spells per day/spells known don't stack with existing Sorcerer spells. If they did, now that would be awesome, but you're effectively losing out on your Sorcerer spellcasting to get fewer spells/day from a smaller spell list.