Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bitznarf 07-28-07, 06:07 PM	So I'm playing my first wizard, and when I put together a list of the spells I would like him to have, I had many more than I though I would ever actually use. So I'm wondering what you folks think about these choices/possibilities. Elbrig is a slightly crazy conspiracy theorist with a bent toward any spells involving electricity. While he is paranoid, he is also often oblivious to the world around him, often unable to find the line between what his paranoid mind is telling him, and what is actually happening. So with that in mind he is trying to shape his destiny into one that defeats 'the establishment'. They know who they are. And Elbirg is coming for them. Human Wizard 2 Str 9 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 17 Wis 8 Cha 10 1 - Wizard 1 - Toughness (to be retrained at a later date), Empower Spell 2 - Wizard 2 -------- 3 - Wizard 3 - CWI 4 - Wizard 4 5 - Wizard 5 - Energy Sub (Electricity)/retrain Toughness into Sculpt Spell 6 - Wizard 6 or PrC 1 - Born of the Three Thunders 7 - Wizard 7 or Prc 2 8 - Fatespinner 1 9 - Fatespinner 2 - <feat> 10 - Fatespinner 3 11 - Fatespinner 4 12 - Wizard 8 or Mindbender 1 or Prc 3 - Quicken 13 - Wizard 9 or Prc 4 14 - Wizard 10 or Prc 5 - <feat> 15 - Wizard 11 or Prc 6 - <feat> I'm considering Energy Admixture, but I don't think it is worth it, though it does fit the character concept fairly well.0th: All of them 1st level: Backbiter Color Spray Enlarge Person Grease Orb of Cold, Lesser (will be Energy Sub'd most of the time) Ray of Enfeeblement Sleep Unseen Servant0th: Not sure if there are any good NONC cantrips 1st: Mage Armor Magic Missile Endure Elements - off scrolls?? Prot Evil/Law (probably Law) Obscuring Mist - off scrolls? Comprehend Languages - off scrolls Detect Secret Doors - off scrolls?? Scholar's Touch - off scrolls? True Strike - do I need this? Charm Person - not sure I want this Disguise Self Nystul's Magic Aura Feather Fall Familiar Pocket - am I going to need it?? Silent Image 2nd: Glitterdust Resist Energy Web See Invisibility - off scrolls? Scorching(electrical) Ray Mirror Image - quickened buff later perhaps Command Undead - off scrolls against mindless undead?? False Life Fly, Swift - not sure if I want it Knock - off scrolls Rope Trick Bear's Endurance - crafting Fox's Cunning - crafting 3rd: Secret Page - crafting Anticipate Teleport Dispel Magic Magic Circle vs. ??? Prot Energy Mage Armor, Greater Phantom Steed Servant Horde Tongues - off scrolls?? Lightning Ball Fly Haste Magic Weapon, Greater Slow Invisibility Sphere 4th: Dimension Door Evard's Black Tentacles Orb of Cold(Electricity) Solid Fog Confusion Otiluke's Resilient Sphere - not sure how useful this might be Invisibility, greater Enervation Wall of Ice(Lightning) 5th+: Wrack Feeblemind Haven't looked at this in detail, feel free to make suggestions NONC spells I have access to: Slide, 1st level, SpC Changes marked in blue. (Anyone know if this forum supports striketrough of some sort?So, my question is, what do you folks think of what I have down right now? What do I have on the list that I won't need, what do I need to add to the list, which ones will work off scrolls/wands, etc. Feel free to make comments on the build itself if you so desire as well. Oh, and one other question, which ones should I make sure that I get (by buying scrolls) and which ones should I wait on to see if another wizard will share with me.
jstorrie 07-29-07, 04:05 AM	Born of the Three Thunders is good–really good. The author's intent with it was probably that it causes you to lose a whole turn, but an effect that lasts one round and begins during your turn should wear off when your next turn starts. It forces you to end your turn–you can't cast and then move afterwards–but you could move and then cast. Still, expect table variation on it. Even if your judge does say it eats up your next round, a Three Thunders Fireball is a great opener in many encounters. Energy Admixture isn't worth it, no. There are much better metamagics with +4 adjustments. I think that you should take Alacritous Cogitation as your 9th level feat. For spells– • No, you don't need True Strike. • You do need Fire (lightning) ball if you're taking Three Thunders. • Swift Fly is no good for you; skip it. • Enervation is a must-have. • Wrack is a good 5th. • Greater Invis is a must-have, and you should have one prepped every day if you have a party member with a lot of sneak dice. • Invis Sphere is also a must-have and very useful for sneaking a whole party around. • No Walls? • You don't need Command Undead to beat mindless undead, you just need Silent Image. Silent Image is a great general-purpose spell and always good to have prepped.
bitznarf 07-29-07, 11:31 AM	For spells– • No, you don't need True Strike. • You do need Fire (lightning) ball if you're taking Three Thunders. • Swift Fly is no good for you; skip it. • Enervation is a must-have. • Wrack is a good 5th. • Greater Invis is a must-have, and you should have one prepped every day if you have a party member with a lot of sneak dice. • Invis Sphere is also a must-have and very useful for sneaking a whole party around. • No Walls? • You don't need Command Undead to beat mindless undead, you just need Silent Image. Silent Image is a great general-purpose spell and always good to have prepped. For some reason I skipped right past the walls, not sure why. • I can't imagine a wall of fire being of much use really. It isn't going to act as very good battlefield control, and the damage it does is kinda low compared to the other options I have. • Wall of ice(lightning) just amuses me so I think it will make the list. • Command Undead is more for getting a pet for a while and less for defeating the undead in that encounter.
RenewedFaith 07-29-07, 11:01 PM	Feats: I'd say take Sculpt Spell at 3rd, and retrain Toughness into CWI at 5th or 6th. I highly recommend the Chain Spell feat. Sculpt and Chain are two feats that can really control encounters. I also think Heighten Spell is a worthwhile feat to consider. Spells: Command Undead- don't leave your home region without it! Learn it, memorize it, love it. And eventually Chain it! Better than wasting a turn check on the horde of undead, stop the threat AND take them with you! Yes, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere is very useful! Use it for isolating opponents; putting the evil cleric or wizard in his/her very own hamster ball, allowing your party to focus on the BDFs who no longer have support, or trapping that pesky shadowdancer. Use it to protect that annoying NPC that refuses to defend themself but needs to survive the journey. It's a great spell. Again I recommend: learn it, memorize it, and Chain it often. I agree that Invis-sphere is a must have, especially with the Sculpt Spell feat. What party turns down a 20-foot radius Invis-sphere centered on the rogue(s)? Feeblemind. Wizards, Sorcerers, Bards, Hexblades, Beguilers, Warmages, Spellthieves, Dread Necromancers, Warlocks... 9 base classes available to authors that rely on arcane casting, meaning -4 to their save. Learn, memorize, love, Chain, and scribe scrolls to pass out to your UMD-loving rogues.
Frumpkis 07-29-07, 11:50 PM	Feeblemind. Wizards, Sorcerers, Hexblades, Beguilers, Warmages, Spellthieves, Dread Necromancers, Warlocks... 8 base classes available to authors that rely on arcane casting, meaning -4 to their save. Learn, memorize, love, Chain, and scribe scrolls to pass out to your UMD-loving rogues. And bards. Don't forget bards. ;)
bitznarf 07-29-07, 11:51 PM	Feats: I'd say take Sculpt Spell at 3rd, and retrain Toughness into CWI at 5th or 6th. I highly recommend the Chain Spell feat. Sculpt and Chain are two feats that can really control encounters. I also think Heighten Spell is a worthwhile feat to consider. Can't retrain Toughness into CWI, I didn't have spellcaster level 3 at that point.
RenewedFaith 07-30-07, 12:05 AM	Can't retrain Toughness into CWI, I didn't have spellcaster level 3 at that point. Well, um, sure, if you want to follow the rules. ;) (Obviously I shouldn't post after 10pm, I miss things like Bards as arcane casters and prereqs for feats... )
bitznarf 07-30-07, 12:16 AM	How do you see using Chain Spell to control the battlefield? Simply by virtue of the fact that you can often tag every bad guy with a spell? Can you give me some examples?
RenewedFaith 07-30-07, 09:21 AM	How do you see using Chain Spell to control the battlefield? Simply by virtue of the fact that you can often tag every bad guy with a spell? Can you give me some examples? Grease, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Command Undead, Feeblemind, Blindness/Deafness, Dispel Magic (targeted), Hold Person, Hold Monster, Phantasmal Killer, Dismissal, Dominate Person, Baleful Polymorph... just some of the examples of spells that, Chained, can control a battlefield by doing anything from disarming the enemy to outright killing them. It's also good with spells like Backbiter, or buff spells like Greater Magic Weapon. Then there are the damage spells...
bitznarf 07-30-07, 10:40 AM	Eh, you're thinking of battlefield control in an entirely different way than I am. In each of those examples, if saves are made, I have done exactly nothing. Sure, those are save or suck spells and I'll probably tag one or 2 guys with them. At the cost of +3 spell level. But things like evards or solid fog can be just as effective at disabling opponents, *and* give a secondary benefit of controling the terrain if the spell doesn't have an immediate effect.
RenewedFaith 07-30-07, 11:47 AM	Eh, you're thinking of battlefield control in an entirely different way than I am. In each of those examples, if saves are made, I have done exactly nothing. Sure, those are save or suck spells and I'll probably tag one or 2 guys with them. At the cost of +3 spell level. But things like evards or solid fog can be just as effective at disabling opponents, *and* give a secondary benefit of controling the terrain if the spell doesn't have an immediate effect. It's all about the odds. Yes, some spells are "no save, control the board" and I recommend them. But to think that you can memorize an entire day's list of these spells is unrealistic. Chaining the above mentioned spells gives you more options. Yes some of the opponents will make their saves, but it's all about tactics: If you're going to hit them with a Chained Otiluke's Resilient Sphere spell, you use the rogue/monk/most dexterous opponent as the primary, and the casters/BDFs as secondaries; odds favor you in that at least one or two will fail their save and become trapped for the duration of the combat. The more that fail the merrier. If you have a Fatespinner, Hexblade, or if you want to throw up a Chained Unluck spell beforehand, all the better. I see any spell that can reduce the opponent's numbers and effectiveness in one casting as a good combat-controlling spell. I've been doing it for 7 years now, and haven't had a single party complain that I wasn't using the right spells. ;)
Timlagor 07-31-07, 10:01 AM	Mass Fly at 5th -it wins combats.
UMiskatonic 07-31-07, 10:13 AM	True Strike isn't so great for the +20, because you spent a lot of time setting that up. But for negating concealment, it's priceless. Hitting that mirror imaged, blurred wizard with a ray of enfeeblement is so fun. That said, I think it's fine as a scroll, as it's not caster level dependent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking of which, you should add another category of 'scrolls I intend to carry around'. Things you don't need very often, but that are handy. True Strike Protection from Good Protection from Chaos Protection from Law Comprehend Languages Detect Secret Doors Knock Fly etc....