Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 04:38 AM	I'm putting together a party of 4 1st-level PCs for a campaign that one of my players wants to run. I can't recall the last time I put together a 1st-level wizard. He's a human, so he gets two feats. I gave him spellcasting prodigy for one of them. I'm not sure what to choose for the second feat. I'd wanted something metamagic, but all the good Sudden metamagic feats require another metamagic feat first, and I don't want to give him either a feat that's relatively useless or a feat he can't use for at least 2 to 4 levels. So I'm leaning toward good old Toughness, which will add 50% to his hit points. I'm also considering, secondarily, Improved Initiative, because at this level he could basically win a fight by going first and casting a successful sleep spell on a group of enemies. Since Improved Initiative really helps only on the first round (after that you just alternate) though I'm not sure if it's really worthwhile. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks. :)
CantripN 05-14-07, 04:44 AM	Collegiate Wizard, for that many more spells known. Precoscious Apprentice, for that extra flare (False Life, Scorching Ray...).
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 04:49 AM	Collegiate Wizard, for that many more spells known. Precoscious Apprentice, for that extra flare (False Life, Scorching Ray...). Thanks CantripN! Where can I find the two feats--they're not in Complete Mage, are they? I don't have that book.
ishpu 05-14-07, 04:52 AM	dodge is pretty good, not the best but handy.
ishpu 05-14-07, 05:01 AM	dash might be a good choice too since you wont be wearing armor and +5 ft speed is nice to stay out of melee that much more.
Radijs 05-14-07, 05:32 AM	Thanks CantripN! Where can I find the two feats--they're not in Complete Mage, are they? I don't have that book. Complete arcane actually.
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 05:48 AM	dodge is pretty good, not the best but handy. dash might be a good choice too since you wont be wearing armor and +5 ft speed is nice to stay out of melee that much more. Thanks, Ishpu. These are both good suggestions. I think I'm still leaning toward Toughness, but I appreciate the feedback. :) Complete arcane actually. Hmm. I'm looking at pages 74-75 of Complete Arcane, which contain a list of feats. I see nothing called Collegiate Wizard or Precocious Apprentice. I have considered Communicator (arcane mark, message, comprehend languages), and Insightful (detect magic, detect secret doors, read magic). In fact I'm considering Insightful again. :D By the way, I love the humor in your signature line, Radijs! :)
Radijs 05-14-07, 05:52 AM	The odd thing about those feats is that they don't appear in the chapter with all the other feats. Look for the sidebar on page 181. Dodge, Not that interesting. +1 AC versus 1 opponent isn't the best choice you can make in my opinion. And in general +5 foot movement isn't going to save your bacon. better just learn expiditious retreat. A spell which grants you +30 movement for a few minutes.
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 06:06 AM	The odd thing about those feats is that they don't appear in the chapter with all the other feats. Look for the sidebar on page 181. Ah, thanks for the page reference, Radijs. These do look like interesting feats. I don't think they're better than Spellcasting Prodigy, but maybe than Toughness. What do people think? Dodge, Not that interesting. +1 AC versus 1 opponent isn't the best choice you can make in my opinion. And in general +5 foot movement isn't going to save your bacon. better just learn expiditious retreat. A spell which grants you +30 movement for a few minutes. Yeah, I tend to agree.
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 06:10 AM	It just occured to me that Spell Focus (enchantment) could be a decent choice. It would apply immediately to his sleep spells, and I suspect to other spells he's likely to take later. Any thoughts?
CantripN 05-14-07, 07:01 AM	It just occured to me that Spell Focus (enchantment) could be a decent choice. It would apply immediately to his sleep spells, and I suspect to other spells he's likely to take later. Any thoughts? If you're going that way, go all the way. Aim for Master Specialist (Enchantment) by level 4. Going Enchanter 3 / Master Specialist (Enchantment) 10 / Archmage 3 / Fatespinner 4 is fun and easy.
El_Machinae 05-14-07, 07:05 AM	I would also lean towards Improved Initiative. You'll want it anyway, and you can start using it immediately (compared to the metamagic feats)
Gr8tyrant 05-14-07, 08:15 AM	Eschew Materials is a great one for those of us who don't care for keeping up with our materials all the time. (if you don't know it allows you to not use components that cost under 1 gold) I recently made a lvl 1 sorcerer and I took Fell Frighten, but I am taking daunting presence at level 3, so I will be kinda fear based.
runestar 05-14-07, 08:44 AM	Eschew Materials is a great one for those of us who don't care for keeping up with our materials all the time. (if you don't know it allows you to not use components that cost under 1 gold) A spell component pouch will provide for all the material components under 1 gold you will ever need, so the feat is not really that useful save as a rp feat for sorcs or as a prereq for the epic ignore material components feat. I wouldn't worry about it being sundered or stolen since you should have 20+ of them secreted all over your body, same for holy symbols.:) I agree with either collegiate wizard or precocious apprentice(or both if you are human). The latter is even better if you allow the retraining feats, since you can swap it out for a better feat later on. Scorching ray or alter self are decent spell choices.
Radijs 05-14-07, 08:44 AM	Of course do not forget Combat casting or skill focus (concentration) in case you need to cast defensively or concentrate from violent motion.
RobbyPants 05-14-07, 09:53 AM	I'm putting together a party of 4 1st-level PCs for a campaign that one of my players wants to run. <snip> So I'm leaning toward good old Toughness, which will add 50% to his hit points. <snip> Is this a one-time-only campaign, or will you be playing for a while? If it's for just one time (or maybe just a few sessions), then Toughness is a good idea for the reasons you mentioned. If you'll be playing past level 1 or 2, don't worry about Toughness. It's arguably one of the weakest feats in the game. You'll be kicking yourself for it by 3rd to 5th level. As for other ideas: Improved Initiative - For all the reasons you already listed Combat Casting - Hopefully you won't be in melee, but it's not a bad backup Skill Focus (Concentration) - An alternative for Combat Casting. Gives you +3 to Concentration all the time as opposed to +4 some of the time. Spell Focus (X) - Where X is your favorite spell school. It may not seem like much, but coupled with Greater Spell Focus, +1 or +2 on your save DCs can be wonderful. In the long run, save-or-dies and save-or-loses will get you much more milage than direct damage. Point Blank Shot - An odd choice, but it will work with all of your ray spells, as well as your backup bow/crossbow you will undoubtably fall back on. Also opens the door for Precise Shot later, which could be very useful, depending on your build. Also, does your DM allow reserve feats? You won't be able to take these at 1st level, but at 3rd level, a few become available, which could help increase your staying power. It's at the low/mid levels when these get you the most use. Hope these ideas help! :D
Thorsbjorn 05-14-07, 01:58 PM	Wow! Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! :) If you're going that way, go all the way. Aim for Master Specialist (Enchantment) by level 4. Going Enchanter 3 / Master Specialist (Enchantment) 10 / Archmage 3 / Fatespinner 4 is fun and easy. Nah, I thought of Spell Focus (enchantment) solely because it's the only Spell Focus feat that would be helpful given that sleep is the only offensive spell I have him memorizing at this point (and the other one he has, magic missile, doesn't have a saving throw). In any case I often have NPC wizards or sorcerers with Spell Focus in two schools and Greater Spell Focus in one school. I'm sort of old-school myself, having played not only before specialist wizards but before the 1st Ed's illusionist subclass, so I tend to prefer the generalist wizard anyway. If I were going to play a specialist, it would almost certainly be an evoker, as it reflects my bombastic personality. :D By the way, just out of curiosity, where would I find the master specialist and fatespinner? Are they both in Complete Arcane? Oh wait, there I see fatespinner, but not master specialist. Thanks. I checked out the fatespinner, and I agree that its really cool! :cool: A spell component pouch will provide for all the material components under 1 gold you will ever need, so the feat is not really that useful save as a rp feat for sorcs or as a prereq for the epic ignore material components feat. I wouldn't worry about it being sundered or stolen since you should have 20+ of them secreted all over your body, same for holy symbols.:) I agree with either collegiate wizard or precocious apprentice(or both if you are human). The latter is even better if you allow the retraining feats, since you can swap it out for a better feat later on. Scorching ray or alter self are decent spell choices. I agree with regards to Eschew Materials. In 7 years of playing 3rd Ed I have yet to see anyone bother with this feat. I did consider it, as I recall, for an epic-level caster to whom, as you mentioned, I thought about giving the epic Ignore Material Components feat, but I didn't actually go through with it as she has so many other excellent feat choices. The character is human, so he could take both collegiate wizard and precocious apprentice. Collegiate Wizard is nice, although in Sharn you pretty much have access to any scrolls you want and they're not very expensive, so I'm not sure if an extra two free spells known per level is the biggest value for a 1st level feat. Precocious Apprentice seems more valuable, at least at low levels, but I wonder, of the long haul, if knowing one extra second-level spell and having one extra second-level spell-slot is the best use of the feat slot. What do you think? Do you think Spellcasting Prodigy is better than either of those two over the long haul? I must confess though that they're probably both better than Toughness or Improved Initiative. Not sure about Spell Focus. What do you think? In the mean time I'm going to point out Collegiate Wizard and Precocious Apprentice to my buddy who's starting to DM--I know he has the book because he uses it for the 21st-level wizard he plays in my campaign--and make sure he's ok with using them. I suspect that he will be, because I approve of them for my campaign, but I want to make sure that I don't blindside him with any feats he hasn't really noticed himself. Is this a one-time-only campaign, or will you be playing for a while? If it's for just one time (or maybe just a few sessions), then Toughness is a good idea for the reasons you mentioned. If you'll be playing past level 1 or 2, don't worry about Toughness. It's arguably one of the weakest feats in the game. You'll be kicking yourself for it by 3rd to 5th level. As for other ideas: Improved Initiative - For all the reasons you already listed Combat Casting - Hopefully you won't be in melee, but it's not a bad backup Skill Focus (Concentration) - An alternative for Combat Casting. Gives you +3 to Concentration all the time as opposed to +4 some of the time. Spell Focus (X) - Where X is your favorite spell school. It may not seem like much, but coupled with Greater Spell Focus, +1 or +2 on your save DCs can be wonderful. In the long run, save-or-dies and save-or-loses will get you much more milage than direct damage. Point Blank Shot - An odd choice, but it will work with all of your ray spells, as well as your backup bow/crossbow you will undoubtably fall back on. Also opens the door for Precise Shot later, which could be very useful, depending on your build. Also, does your DM allow reserve feats? You won't be able to take these at 1st level, but at 3rd level, a few become available, which could help increase your staying power. It's at the low/mid levels when these get you the most use. Hope these ideas help! :D They sure do! You ask a good question about the length of the campaign. We don't intend it as a one-shot deal; we have, in fact, played twice already. The first time we got together for about two or three hours, and dinked around with me creating the characters. Finally I just said, "hey, let's just start and I'll figure out all these feats and especially the skill points at home," where I have the Singin' Sheet, which calculates all your skill points and other items for you. Basically I just introduced the characters--a warforged barbarian, a goblin rogue, a human cleric of Dal SomethingorOther (I can never remember those Eberron deities, but he's the chaotic good god of strength and war), and the human wizard, and started roleplaying them. The goblin turned out to be supremely snarky, and the warforged extremely polite. The cleric is over-the-top, sort of like Shatner as Kirk, and the wizard is a big aloof and quiet. There's not, in other words, a single original character in the bunch. :D Anyway so that first session we just interacted a bit with some residents of Sharn in our area, and then went to sign up with the Sharn Watch to investigate a local disturbance. We checked out the guy's shop, found him missing, and then stopped. The second session we played for a longer, alas I still hadn't had time to do the character sheets as I'm very busy revamping the old D&D solo module Maze of the Riddling Minotaurs for 20th-21st level play using 3.5. Fortunately all we really did was investigate more. I punted a little bit on some of the skill checks, estimating what they'd have, although at 1st level generally skill bonuses are so low that they're pretty well just swamped by the d20 roll anyway. At the very end of the session we were about to engage in combat, so now I'm needing to put together all four characters. I've pretty well finished the goblin rogue and warforged barbarian, and (obviously) now working on the wizard. So the idea is to have an on-going campaign, and I prefer to plan for it, even though it's often the case that new DMs find out that DMing takes far more work than they imagined when they were just players, and their campaigns often don't last very long. Right now though since it's only the two of us, if we have to miss sessions the group doesn't fall apart. He originally wanted to play every week like we do in my game, but the second weekend he asked if we could just play every other weekend because he needed more preparation time. This weekend I had to beg off because I hadn't finished preparing for the big labyrinth adventure (you might have seen me post about various high-level captains and ships, as they're preparing to take ship to the isle of the Minotaur) much less for playing the new PCs in his campaign. I'd like to have it all completed before this coming weekend. (I also have to put together a new syllabus as I'm teaching a new class this summer too, which starts a week from today.) How could I forget Combat Casting? I give that to virtually all of my NPC casters, both arcane and divine. That's a good option, although right now I have three fairly valuable first-level-only options, so I'll probably hold off on Combat Casting until at least 3rd level. I hadn't considered Skill Focus (concentration) instead of (or in addition to) Combat Casting. In the 7 years of 3rd Ed, I've rarely seen anyone have to make a concentration check outside of casting defensively. I mean, you'd think it would happen more often, but at least in the games in which I've played, it hasn't. Of course Skill Focus (concentration) can help with casting on the defensive too. I think I'll put that one on the back burner for now. The Point Blank Shot doesn't sound odd at all. I've seen low level wizards cast their couple of useful spells and then resort to the crossbow for the rest of the encounter. I also run a high-level sorceress who's often casting ray spells, like maximized disintegrate and empowered polar ray, and it really, really bites to miss the target with one of those. :D Right now I'm leaning toward keeping Spell Prodigy and maybe taking Precocious Apprentice, but I appreciate everyone's further feedback. Thanks! :)
AtmaWeapon 05-14-07, 03:51 PM	Spell Focus (You're gonna need it eventually anyway. Boosting DCs for Wizard should be your ultimate priority.) And Color Spray is the new "Must-Have" for 1st level wizards, surpassing even Sleep in effectiveness in most situations, with the added benefit of not taking forever and a day to cast.
Lixith 05-14-07, 05:15 PM	Go for Imporved Init.... it will be usefull now and later on. Toughness won't matter that much later.
HairyApe 05-14-07, 05:29 PM	Eschew Materials is good in two (2) situations: 1.) DM is being mean and puts you somewhere with none of your junk. 2.) Being grappled. Ideally, this won't come up, but if it does, you won't have to make the opposed grapple check to pull your components, THEN on the next turn, make a Concentration check to cast while grappled. It actually makes it possible to cast in a grapple.
sirkently 05-14-07, 06:19 PM	Others to consider: not necessarily at 1st level though 1. Arcane Mastery: Take 10 on all caster level checks 2.Heroic Destiny: Not great but a prereq for Fearless Destiny which you can get at 6th 3. Able learner: Cross class skills cost 1 point. Good if you want your character to be a skill monkey 4. Nymph's Kiss: +1 to saves and 1 skill point a level There is my 2 cents though it might only be worth a penny
Optimator 05-14-07, 08:24 PM	Able Learner is one of my favorite feats, and Improved Initiative is another great one for wizards.
Forged_Fury 05-14-07, 08:42 PM	Able Learner is one of my favorite feats, and Improved Initiative is another great one for wizards. Improved Initiative is generally good for everyone. :) -FF
Thorsbjorn 05-15-07, 05:01 AM	Spell Focus (You're gonna need it eventually anyway. Boosting DCs for Wizard should be your ultimate priority.) And Color Spray is the new "Must-Have" for 1st level wizards, surpassing even Sleep in effectiveness in most situations, with the added benefit of not taking forever and a day to cast. I didn't realize that 3.5 had weakened sleep by increasing the casting time. The authors of 3.0 had already weakened sleep by introducing a saving throw, and I see no reason for further weakening it. I'm going to keep the old casting time in my campaign, much as I've kept the old durations of many "buff' spells and fly, and I've asked my buddy if he'll do the same in his campaign. If not, then I might think about replacing sleep with color spray. The big problem with color spray, as with any cone under the 3rd Ed rules, is that since it starts at your square you need to have no allies between you and your targets--generally a poor position in which to find yourself if you're a fragile wizard (or sorcerer).
Thorsbjorn 05-15-07, 05:03 AM	Others to consider: not necessarily at 1st level though 1. Arcane Mastery: Take 10 on all caster level checks 2.Heroic Destiny: Not great but a prereq for Fearless Destiny which you can get at 6th 3. Able learner: Cross class skills cost 1 point. Good if you want your character to be a skill monkey 4. Nymph's Kiss: +1 to saves and 1 skill point a level There is my 2 cents though it might only be worth a penny Thanks, sirkently. In what book or books would I find these feats? Thanks. :)
CantripN 05-15-07, 05:33 AM	Thanks, sirkently. In what book or books would I find these feats? Thanks. :) 1. Arcane Mastery: Complete Arcane 2. Heroic Destiny, Fearless Destiny, Protected Destiny: Races of Destiny 3. Able learner: Races of Destiny 4. Nymph's Kiss: Book of Exalted Deeds
Thorsbjorn 05-15-07, 05:45 AM	1. Arcane Mastery: Complete Arcane 2. Heroic Destiny, Fearless Destiny, Protected Destiny: Races of Destiny 3. Able learner: Races of Destiny 4. Nymph's Kiss: Book of Exalted Deeds Thanks, CantripN. I don't have Races of Dentistry :D but I do have Complete Arcane (obviously) and Book of Ex-Salted Deeds. :D I don't know what the two dentistry feats do, but the other three feats listed here don't seem as desirable as Spell Prodigy, Precocious Apprentice, or even Collegiate Wizard. :)
CantripN 05-15-07, 05:57 AM	Heroic - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Heroic_Destiny,RD Fearless - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Fearless_Destiny,RD Protected - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Protected_Destiny,RD Fearless Destiny is VERY handy. It's one of the few ways you can survive a surprise attack or a Charge by a FB.
Karla 05-15-07, 06:44 AM	Point blank shot is indeed very handy, especially if later reinforced with Precise Shot. Losing that -4 penalty for shooting rays or orbs into melee is a very nice thing. And get at least one Sudden metamagic feat - Sudden Extend is a good one as this will later pre-req Sudden Maximise which is extremely nice to have once you're throwing meatier spells. Or as an idle thought - take Rapid Reload for your first level or two (when you'll be regularly either running out of or not wanting to "waste" your few spells). That allows you to move and shoot with a light crossbow, enabling you to still contribute reasonable damage whilst keeping out of the way. You can then retrain this later once you have enough spells not to really need it any more.
RobbyPants 05-15-07, 09:51 AM	I didn't realize that 3.5 had weakened sleep by increasing the casting time. The authors of 3.0 had already weakened sleep by introducing a saving throw, and I see no reason for further weakening it. I missed that too. It seems each edition, it gets weaker: 2nd: 2d4 hit dice, no save 3rd: 2d4 hit dice, Will negates 3.5: 4 hit dice, Will negates, 1 round casting time What's next? 4th: Target is groggy for one round and takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls. :P
wonlee76 05-15-07, 11:48 AM	If this is a one shot adventure type thing: Toughness: 1st level wizards are really really fragile. One bad damage roll and you're down. If this is a long term campaign w/o any Character Re-build rules from PHB II: Improved Initiative (Acting first will save your Wizard's life) Collegiate Wizard (Getting more spells at level 1 and above gives you a nice repertoire to use that free Scribe Scroll feat for some extra versatility at the low levels where spell slots are precious and gold is not too plentiful) Spell Focus (I'm partial towards Enchantment at low levels as there are several handy enchantment spells like Sleep and Charm Peson to use). There's bound to be a decent Reserve feat in Complete Mage that could prove to be handy for the low level wizard.
Merestil Haye 05-15-07, 12:13 PM	A good 20 level plan is Wiz 9 / Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 7 / Archmage 4. To do this you need Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spell Focus (Abjuration), Greater Spell Focus (Abjuration) and another Spell Focus feat. Maybe you can find another PrC to take three levels in (Geometer perhaps - with Collegiate Wizard, your spellbook gets big very fast) but try and avoid one with a feat prereq that's not already mentioned. Please don't take Toughness - you will regret it by about 2nd level. Get a decent Con instead. The Fort save benefit will save his life some time in the course of adventures.
Thorsbjorn 05-15-07, 05:00 PM	Heroic - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Heroic_Destiny,RD Fearless - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Fearless_Destiny,RD Protected - http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Protected_Destiny,RD Fearless Destiny is VERY handy. It's one of the few ways you can survive a surprise attack or a Charge by a FB. Thanks CantripN. Probably if my buddy approved Precocious Apprentice I won't ask about these three feats from a book that neither one of us owns. If he turns down both Precocious Apprentice and Collegiate Wizard, then I might ask about these. Thanks! :)
Nathreet 05-15-07, 05:23 PM	I'd focus on the long term. Plan out a build, see what feats you'll want in the future, then figure out which of those will be useful now. Toughness is great in the short term, but lousy in the long term. Point blank shot only works within 30'. Not where you want your wizard to be. OTOH if you focus on ray spells then precise shot will help a little. That depends on your party and how often you actually miss (not often, I bet). If you want to become a sneak attack ray caster, that would also make PBS useful. Improved init depends on your party size and combat length. Not much help in a large group that faces long combats. Then you're not going to end the combat quickly anyway, and you shouldn't be in any immediate danger. But for either short combats or small parties (don't even need both, if you think about it), it can be awesome. Especially if combined with the high dex of a ray caster. Other feats mentioned: They seem good depending on what you want to do. It depends on your long term plans.
Raveni 05-15-07, 07:50 PM	Point Blank Shot to Precise Shot is fantastic if you are going to play a blaster slinging Scorching Rays or Orb spells all over the battlefield. Really, you just need to plan out how you think your character might develop over his career. Wizards don't have the luxury of too many feats, and it's never to early to start working towards qualifying for a PrC or special feat that you like.
Thorsbjorn 05-16-07, 01:53 AM	Thanks again everyone for all the feedback! My buddy has approved both Collegiate Wizard and Precocious Apprentice, and I think I'm going to keep Spellcasting Prodigy and add Precocious Apprentice. I honestly don't have a long-term build in mind for any of the characters. I plan in the middler-term to have the warforged barbarian go with warforged juggernaut, but that's as far as I've gotten. :)
Thorsbjorn 05-20-07, 04:22 AM	I missed that too. It seems each edition, it gets weaker: 2nd: 2d4 hit dice, no save 3rd: 2d4 hit dice, Will negates 3.5: 4 hit dice, Will negates, 1 round casting time What's next? 4th: Target is groggy for one round and takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls. :P Hey, somehow I missed your post on my first read through, but I noticed it going back through looking for ideas for feats for my base NPC ship mage (sorcerer 6/expert1), and I have to say :rofl:
liquidhypnotic 05-20-07, 05:33 PM	My longest running character has always been a wizard, and I've NEVER liked Combat Casting. I would highly recommend against taking it UNLESS it's a pre-req for a PRC later. Just keep your Concentration maxed out, and you'll see that in a few levels you can always cast defensively on the off-chance that that comes up (keeping in mind that in most melee situations, a 5-foot step is sufficient to get you out of harm's way). Let's say I'm 7th level, so I'm slinging 4th level spells. Casting defensively, I need to roll a 19. At 11th level, hopefully I've been keeping up with Concentration, and so I'd have say 11 ranks, and let's even assume a nil con bonus (though I've never rolled with less than +1). Ok, I need to roll an 8 or better. Meh. Worried that there's going to be a lot of melee combat? Get yourself a Con-boosting item, or pull out the scroll of Bear's Endurance. Screw Combat Casting AND Toughness. As you go up in levels, the fastest rate at which you gain spell levels, and thus increase the DC of your defensive casting check, is +1/2 lvls. However, your Concentration check can increase at +1/1 lvl. My advice would be that if you want to go the route of slinging rays, you might be better off as a sorc (since you're not getting the ranged feats from the wizard bonus feats anyway), at which point I'd suggest maybe picking up Craft Wand and Double Wand Wielder or something crazy, just go nuts with slinging destructive spells all day long. If AoE destruction is your thing, then perhaps warmage (Complete Arcane) is more of a way to go, since they get a couple Sudden metamagics. Of course, if you want the ultimate in being to sling all day long, there's the Warlock (although I personally hate the thing). Now, if you're like me, and you dig the generalist wizard/problem solver type of build, then I think your feat choices are excellent, and I envy that you can use them (they weren't around when I made my character :( ) Especially since you're learning more spells per level, if you haven't already done so, I'd STRONGLY recommend picking up the Spell Compendium. Some of my personal favorite spells out of there are simply Dark Way (make a bridge), Ebon Eyes (grant someone the ability to see normally in darkness, normal or magical (!) ), Chain of Eyes (see through someone else's eyes, combo that with an Invisible flying owl familiar for a damn near perfect scout using two 2nd level spells instead of a 4th level spell), Force Ladder (sometimes you just need a ladder), Easy Climb (and sometimes even ladders aren't good enough), Battering Ram (there's your kick in the door playstyle), Quick Potion (turn any vial of water into a potion for a few hours by casting another spell into it; such an amazingly awesome spell), and Glowing Orb (put it on a Tenser's Floating Disk or tell an Unseen Servant to hold it for a constant light source - I like the control you get with this over Continual Flame - anywhere from no light at all to 60 feet, changeable as a standard action). You could cast Servant Horde (also in the SC; like Unseen Servant but you get a bunch), and they could carry all of the party's torches and stuff for you (of course you all want to stay 10 or 15 feet apart to prevent all getting roasted from a single ambush AoE, right? Also: cast Silence on several stones, so that the silence effect emanates from them, and perhaps Invisibility Sphere on the thing itself, and you can sneak entire armies around like that [or adventuring parties]). Of course you're going to get a lot of mileage out of Scribe Scroll; just scroll up your contingency/utility spells. Eventually you'll want to Craft some Wands so you can throw around Fireballs, Scorching Rays, or Magic Missiles with impunity (if you ever shoot a crossbow instead of doinking from a Wand of Magic Missiles, something is probably wrong). Or, this is great: a Wand of Grease; you'll become the rogue's best friend. Alacritous Cogitation, from Complete Mage, might combo very well with your large spellbook, whether from Sharn's scroll-plentitude or from your Collegiate Wizard feat (which by the way does allow you to bypass the spellcraft check and lets you write the new spells into your book for free, as per normal spells-gained-by-wizards-from-leveling-up rules): it allows you to turn one of your wizard spell slots into, basically, a sorc slot; leave one open in the morning, and then later, as a full round, you can cast Any Spell You Know of the same level or lower. GREAT for unforeseen contingencies. I'd also like to point out that 4 of the Sudden Metamagic feats (Extend, Widen, Silent, Still) have no prerequisite, nor do they increase the spell level, and so you can take them at first level. (Just be able to cast a Suddenly Silent Dispel Magic and you can beat Silence, a Suddenly Still Shocking Grasp to give a grappler a nasty surprise; I'd say that is guaranteed to go through, a Suddenly Extended Greater Invisibility or HASTE, Suddenly Widened Burning Hands or Fireball or Grease or Evard's Black Tentacles). Furthermore, since these are metamagic, they qualify you for Sudden Maximize, which, ESPECIALLY at early levels, could be DEVASTATING. As early as 1st level (!!!), you could be hit someone for a guaranteed 24 points of damage (Scorching Ray), by taking Precocious Apprentice, Sudden (whatever) and Sudden Maximize. Have fun, man. I envy your options :)
Furrick 05-20-07, 11:20 PM	grey hawk method(s) its a regional feat from the greyhawk campaign regional feats article in the dragon magazine january 2004 issue. The one with that famous raven loft vampire lord Count Strahd Von Zarovich on the front. Basic it allows the wizard to select 4 new spell for their spellbook at the start of each new level, instead of just 2. Now you can't tell me that isn't the feat you've been looking for. anyway my e-mail address is s3164012@student.rmit.edu.au send us a an email please i'd like to talk to a DM/GM. Oh and if you don't have that issue i'll send it to you, if you like.