Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RanielK 01-21-07, 01:02 PM	So, thanks to a certain Glacier last year, my level 12 ray mage is cooling his heals for all eternity. In his place, I received the ability to place a Vatun worshiping CG Aasimar (so no paly for me). With a boost to Cha, the next best choice was Sorcerer. So, thanks to the Verbebonc Madness and GenCon (where he started his career), he's now a Dark Aasimar Sorcerer 3 just shy of enough xp to be 5th and pay for the Dark template. What to do, what to do? He had lost 1 level already (no big deal) and is now 2 levels behind. If I never play up and only play at or down, I can convince myself he is playing at APL or up. I don't consider him a lost cause. I'm just not sure if I should: a)capitalize on the dark template and its bonuses to hide, move silently and good ole hide in plain sight (rogue/arcane trickster?) b)just stay straight Sorcerer and never, ever play up c)go Ultimate Magus and become the ultimate direct damage mage with the UMag's instant metamagic shtick d)something I haven't thought of His stats are: Dark Aasimar, Male, CG Str 8 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 18 Feats: Well Read (I wanted him to be a know it all), Point Blank Shot (I know, not useful for spells yet) 1: Magic Missile, Grease, Prot Evil The dark template gives him: +10ft move, hide in plain sight (except in daylight or daylight spell areas), Res Cold 10 (already 5, along with Res Acid 5 and Res Electricity 5), Superior Low light (that is X4 not X2), +8 Hide, +6 MS. This on top of his shadowsilk armor which gives a +2 to Hide and MS and 0 spell failure in shadow. So he starts at +12 Hide, +10 MS and hide in plain sight before skill ranks.
Mommy was an Orc 01-21-07, 01:17 PM	Ow. Is there a reason you want your Sorcerer without Hide/Move Silently as class skills to be able to HiPS? Or to be even further behind on caster level through UMag? You're in a class where it is painful to lose caster levels, you're not a Rogue where the abilities naturally coincide with your specials...I'd find a prestige class that supports that choice if you're going to do it. (aka Ruathar)
Japangirl 01-21-07, 01:54 PM	With those stats . . . and wanting Ultimate Magus, maybe . . . it's too bad your first levels aren't Warmage. Warmage/Wizards make really sick Ultimate Magi. Be that as it may, you are way behind in caster levels right now and always will be. I would probably try not to lose any more, but if you wanted to go Arcane Trickster, take one rogue (for skills purposes and 1d6 sneak) and two levels of Unseen Seer (CM PrC, gives 1d6 sneak at first level and no loss of caster levels) so that way you aren't 5 levels behind on casting, but only three, like normal Arcane Tricksters. It still doesn't seem ideal, but that's the best way I can see to do it. A really big problem is the prereqs to get into Unseen Seer. You need significant skill investment, and if you haven't already put the skills in, you probably won't be able to get them all in one rogue level. For Arcane Trickster, it would be 1 Aesimar/1 Dark/4 Sorc/1 Rogue/2 Unseen Seer/6 Arcane Trickster if you can manage the skills, and I do not know if you can.
Sieylianna 01-21-07, 06:00 PM	With those stats . . . and wanting Ultimate Magus, maybe . . . it's too bad your first levels aren't Warmage. Warmage/Wizards make really sick Ultimate Magi. A really big problem is the prereqs to get into Unseen Seer. You need significant skill investment, and if you haven't already put the skills in, you probably won't be able to get them all in one rogue level. For Arcane Trickster, it would be 1 Aesimar/1 Dark/4 Sorc/1 Rogue/2 Unseen Seer/6 Arcane Trickster if you can manage the skills, and I do not know if you can. A bigger problem is that we won't know the LG status of Ultimate Magus or Unseen Seer until the next LGCS comes out. If I were making the rules, Unseen Seer would join Abjurant Champion as restricted classes. I don't have an opinion on Ultimate Magus at this time. Ed
RanielK 01-22-07, 02:28 PM	Ow. Is there a reason you want your Sorcerer without Hide/Move Silently as class skills to be able to HiPS? Or to be even further behind on caster level through UMag? You're in a class where it is painful to lose caster levels, you're not a Rogue where the abilities naturally coincide with your specials...I'd find a prestige class that supports that choice if you're going to do it. (aka Ruathar) Huh, I'd never thought of Ruathar. Good call. I was looking at arcane trickster as a way to take advantage of the abilities gained by the Dark template. With a hide and move silent that good without skill points and HiPS, there must be something I could do (beyond replacing Invisibility).
CrystalBlue 01-22-07, 02:44 PM	Just wondering...but if you got the dark template...did you also get access to Shadowcaster? Most people I see with the former also have the latter. If you did, I would go Shadowcaster. And then up your Int with bumps and keep your Cha the way it is. Also use Creeping Darkness to sack the sorcerer levels, pick up a shadow familiar, and then start going Master of Shadow. That's if you have it. If you don't...I don't know. Wish I could tell you. :D
_m_ 01-22-07, 07:21 PM	Just wondering...but if you got the dark template...did you also get access to Shadowcaster? Most people I see with the former also have the latter. If you did, I would go Shadowcaster. And then up your Int with bumps and keep your Cha the way it is. Also use Creeping Darkness to sack the sorcerer levels, pick up a shadow familiar, and then start going Master of Shadow. That's if you have it. If you don't...I don't know. Wish I could tell you. :D actually, the manner in which you got the dark demplate was significantly different and unrelated to how you got shadowcaster. most parties got shadowcaster, if they finished the mod (though most weren't arcanists, so they couldn't use it), but only a very few were suicidaly inclined enough to accidentaly get the dark template.
clannagh 01-22-07, 08:51 PM	actually, the manner in which you got the dark demplate was significantly different and unrelated to how you got shadowcaster. most parties got shadowcaster, if they finished the mod (though most weren't arcanists, so they couldn't use it), but only a very few were suicidaly inclined enough to accidentaly get the dark template. Especially as at other points in the mod touching the wrong things had a distinctly bad effect on you. Designed to make people nervous it was. On the other hand I am somewhat surprised Alvin did not jump in to the thing in question.
_m_ 01-22-07, 10:08 PM	Especially as at other points in the mod touching the wrong things had a distinctly bad effect on you. Designed to make people nervous it was. On the other hand I am somewhat surprised Alvin did not jump in to the thing in question. wait, which thing. alvin only noticed 1 thing worth jumping in... and in he jumped.
RanielK 01-23-07, 03:14 PM	Especially as at other points in the mod touching the wrong things had a distinctly bad effect on you. Designed to make people nervous it was. On the other hand I am somewhat surprised Alvin did not jump in to the thing in question. Hah! There were some things my sorcerer touched just to freak out the rest of th party. We guessed correctly on the acid (or I would guess so as the party all gave each other knowing looks then siddled away from it). To see them jump when I dipped my finger in and tasted it was pricesless!:D