Post/Author/DateTime	Post
trednis 08-03-07, 08:57 PM	I'm looking to add between 20 and 30 hd of levels to a solar for a unique gate creature. There are 3 options: 1) continue to advance as an outsider 2) take a fighting class up to epic 3) spell caster up to epic. pros: 1) very nice BAB (great with power attack feats) and skills/ saves. becomes huge size (small penalty to ac/ to hit). 2) lots of feats and class features available. would probably go melee since it is an undead heavy campaign. 3) already casts as 20lv cleric, so there would be no shortage of spells. epic feats for quickening/ enlarge/ etc cons: 1) low feat selection. d8 hd are not great for combat. 2) and 3) loss of BAB and saves. can only do so many actions per turn. any recommendations for class? i'm thinking non mounted paladin. nothing from the book of nine swords please.
runestar 08-03-07, 10:51 PM	Problem with class lvs is that it will incur epic bab/saves progression, meaning that it is not so attractive in the long run compared to the bonuses from outsider HD. So there is really little difference between going melee class and caster, save for the special abilities. Since it has 22 outsider HD, you could consider taking paladin2 for cha to saves. This gives it 24HD and cleric20 spellcasting, prime for practiced spellcaster to take up the slack. From there onwards, perhaps go cleric or some spellcasting prc such as heirophant. With multiple spell powers, karma bead necklace and ankh of ascension, you should have no problems cranking up your caster lv. What lv is this campaign taking place in? How important are certain aspects of the solar, such as caster lv, bab etc to you? This affects what you can and can't afford to neglect.
trednis 08-04-07, 03:30 PM	the level of the party will be about 20 by the time i can cast gate (I am a few levels behind (18)). CR's for boss fights will be around 22-24. Our party is mostly made up of various spell casters, with heavy use of summoned creatures for melee. Not all members are good either, so I would like to keep it within the caster lv x 2 range for control. I can boost my caster level to 25 currently, so thats approx 25 HD after a few levels of paladin. The solar caster level is not important as most of its spells will for keeping the party alive or dealing with minions. BAB is fairly important since we are running into creatures with ac 45+. As mentioned in the original post, it is an undead heavy campaign, so the arrows of slaying are not a focus.
Lormador 08-04-07, 03:38 PM	Your party already has a bunch of spellcasters, why slow things down with another one? Just advance the Solar as a outsider, and make him as tough as possible. Give him Improved Spell Resistance and feats to boost his saving throws. Give him things to make his melee attack terrifying. Make it a tank that's easy to run, the other players and the DM will thank you for it.
Rerecros 08-04-07, 03:39 PM	I'm pretty sure the ones of these that grant bonus spellcasting would be pretty good choices for advancement. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/prestigeClasses/intro.htm
trednis 08-06-07, 06:55 PM	ok, so a melee build looks like the best bet (with maybe a few quickened greater dispel magics). Are there any templates that would make sense? (I am lawful so, nothing chaotic themed). Is there a way to upgrade its equipment any before hand (other than summoning it earlier and giving it items)?
Rerecros 08-06-07, 07:02 PM	Honestly, your best bet is taking levels in agent retriever.
Orchomenos 08-07-07, 10:27 AM	What about giving spellcaster levels other than cleric? Since it'd be non-associated class levels, the CR would increase by only 1/2 for each class level.
trednis 08-07-07, 10:46 PM	gate is limited by HD not CR. unless the spellcasting was focused on quickened spells, there would not be enough rounds to get that many spells off. (though advancing as a cleric would be nice for epic feats and a CL 50 widened dictum or holy word)