Post/Author/DateTime	Post
darkone7141981 04-08-07, 11:32 PM	Hey everyone, This is a duplicate post from the Character Optimization Board. Seeing as the responses I am receiving there aren't all helping too much, I thought I would post here and see what happened... Thanks for your help ahead of time! I am really getting into the Harry Dresden Files novels (and the Sci-Fi series is good too). As such, I was considering how to make a Harry Dresden-type character in D&D (magical investigator, he is a "special consultant" for the Chicago Police regarding all things supernatural). So, here are the questions: 1. How would you make Harry? What combination of classes/feats/etc... 2. I am considering making Harry an Ultimate Magus, utilizing Practiced Spellcaster to allow him to advance Wizard levels primarily. Other than Practiced Spellcaster, what ways are there to guarantee that each of the 10 levels of this prestige class I will improve his Wizard casting? (I remember there being a thread in the Character Optimization Boards on this...but I cannot find it right now...) 3. Is Harry more of a Diviner or an Abjurer? Should I specialize in either? (He obviously uses both throughout both the novels and the show, and both have some nice prestige classes associated with them...Which makes more sense to you?) Right now I am considering something like: Beguiler 1/Wizard (Specialist?) 4/Ultimate Magus 10/Full Casting Prestige Class 5 (lots of options here) (using Practiced Spellcaster to advance Wizard casting to 9th level spells) This option allows some serious spellcasting to be going on (Harry never seems to run out of spells, and he definitely has a natural talent for magic...). Using PrCs like Geometer (all the magic circles), Blood Magus (tracking others by way of their blood at crime scenes), Fate Spinner (he is too lucky to be real), or even Abjurant Champion or Unseen Seer could all fill in the build in a characteristic way. I think Harry would always advance his casting somehow (with the possible exception of level 1-2; he could even conceivably be a Rogue 1/Caster...), as it is mentioned often how he has no other hobbies and nothing else to do but magic all day/night. The more resiliant he is the better, and the greater his degree of knowledge and puzzle/crime solving the better. Thoughts? Ideas I missed? Ways to improve the basic builds? Thanks!
Dragonsblood 04-09-07, 04:13 AM	I love that novel series :) I can't make a comprehensive build since I have no access to suppliments, but I can suggest some of the basics. Harry would have max ranks in listen, brew potion, craft staff, craft rod, craft wonderous item, and craft ring. If there's a mechanical flaw (I know I've seen builds with them) for being unable to lie, or a penalty to bluff, he should have that. Sadly though, I don't think DnD's vancian spellcasting works well with The Dresden Files.
mythSSK 04-09-07, 04:23 AM	(using Practiced Spellcaster to advance Wizard casting to 9th level spells)It doesn't work like that. Practiced Spellcaster only affects caster level. Read the feat. The magic style for Harry really doesn't fit Vancian spellcasting terribly well - - it's still a bad fit, but you might want to see if you'd be able to use the spell points variant, as it seems to be slightly more freeform. Pack a lot of scrolls so you have heaps of versatility - a spell for every occasion. Don't forget your hockey stick.
alecthemad 04-09-07, 08:44 AM	Dresden seems to fit more with the White Wolf system for Mage the Awakening. You get certain "areas" that you can affect with magic and you can combine those areas for greater effects. It is set in modern times and characters like Dresden 100% fit with the system. If you are set on using D&D for Dresden then you may want to look into the investigator feat from eberron. In fact Eberron and Sharn has a whole modern city writ to fantasy feel. Edit: another game system that comes to mind that would fit with Dresden is called Witchcraft. It has a nice system for some players to be strongly magical but weak skills, weakly magical but strong skills, non-magical and very strong skills, and chumps.
TalonofTiamat 04-09-07, 10:04 AM	First of all, it's good to see more people interested in the Dresden Files. Second, I'd agree that the Vancian system doesn't really fit with how Harry uses magic. The way he does it sounds more like psionics to me. Third, if you really want to do it, I'd go with abjurer over diviner. Harry has a greater variety of abjuration type spells than divinations. Also, for PrC's I wouldn' go with Blood Magus or Fatespinner. Blood Magus' use blood to increase their power, which Harry wouldn't do. While Harry is very lucky, he doesn't manipulate probability like fatespinners do. I've heard there's a Dresden Files RPG in the works, not sure when it's supposed to come out though.
ChimericalWolf 04-09-07, 12:06 PM	Well, if I wanted to build a mechanically interesting Dresden, I'd probably build him Artificer. Especially if I had a DM who was also interested in the character, and willing to work with me on making charged items and the like.
OravennasBrother 04-09-07, 12:07 PM	The best advice I can give is to use a system OTHER than D&D.
Greg K 04-09-07, 12:33 PM	Dresden seems to fit more with the White Wolf system for Mage the Awakening. You get certain "areas" that you can affect with magic and you can combine those areas for greater effects. It is set in modern times and characters like Dresden 100% fit with the system. There are good third party supplements for DND and D20 Modern that do the same.
lancean 04-09-07, 01:34 PM	He acts very much like a sorcerer with a few wands, brew potion, another craft skill or three, and access to at least one Runestaff. Bob would be a wizard, and through HIM, Harry can brew and craft things he doesn't normally have access to. Only he has SKILL POINTS. That blows the sorcerer theory right out of the water. ;) I concur, the d20 spell system is not the most appropriate. Hero system might work better.
FeceMan 04-09-07, 03:55 PM	Charmed is a diaper full of baby ****. The Dresden Files is that diaper with half of its contents removed.
ravenshrike 04-09-07, 06:15 PM	Charmed is a diaper full of baby ****. The Dresden Files is that diaper with half of its contents removed. The show, yeah, yeah it is. I mean come one, Bob needs to be in a ****ing skull, not mincing around like a holographic pantywaisted idiot.
Greg K 04-09-07, 06:47 PM	I concur, the core d20 spell system is not the most appropriate. There I fixed it for you.
Dragonsblood 04-10-07, 01:48 AM	He acts very much like a sorcerer with a few wands, brew potion, another craft skill or three, and access to at least one Runestaff. Bob would be a wizard, and through HIM, Harry can brew and craft things he doesn't normally have access to. Only he has SKILL POINTS. That blows the sorcerer theory right out of the water. ;) I concur, the d20 spell system is not the most appropriate. Hero system might work better. He doesn't strike me as being very charismatic. He's definately intelligent like a DnD wizard. Spontaneous casting fits Harry much better than spellbook preparation, but the flavor of the classes isn't consistant with that. Maybe make a homebrew class that uses a psionic spell point system, call it a wizard, and you'd be onto something.
Kresalak 04-10-07, 01:36 PM	Charmed is a diaper full of baby ****. The Dresden Files is that diaper with half of its contents removed. Which half, though?
LCD2YOU 04-10-07, 01:43 PM	Remember C&S? It's gone away but the orignal, back in the late 70s, had a magic system which was unbelievably cumbersome but it was good. A Dresden Wizard would fit right in that type of system.
Eldritch_Lord 06-02-07, 11:57 AM	(using Practiced Spellcaster to advance Wizard casting to 9th level spells) It doesn't work like that. Practiced Spellcaster only affects caster level. Read the feat. Ultimate Magus advances casting at some levels based on caster level, so using Practiced Spellcaster would change whether wizard or sorcerer gets advanced to 9th level spells. [/derail] Anyways, I would say that Dresden would be a warlock/wizard. He seems to be knowledgeable about a lot of esoteric things, which fits the wizard sterotype, and he has lots of different abilities he can call on, not a limited list like a sorcerer. The warlock part comes in because (1) he has a few trademark offensive abilities like the fire-spewing hockey stick that probably have no limit on their use; (2) warlock 12 lets you make any magic item with a UMD check, giving even more niche or specialized abilities; and (3) he has a fairly charismatic manner and lots of luck, as already mentioned by others, which resemble the beguiling influence and dark one's own luck invocations, respectively. Making him warlock12/wizardX would give him the make-any-item ability as well as a few invocations, and his wizard side wouldn't have gate, disjunction, wish, or other flashy, world-altering effetcs. I haven't seen the series in a while, and I've only read the first book, so I might be off a bit, but that's how I'd do it.
Draginja 06-02-07, 12:41 PM	Maybe Bob (in the series, at least) would be some form of lich, bound to his phylactery (skull) and incorporeal. Not all liches have to rot into skeletons. Magic is very useful like that.
parad0cz 06-02-07, 03:24 PM	Hmm, well... I agree that this would be better done with mage, and harry doesnt fit with vancian spellcasting. I think the main problem is that harry is very hermetic in his style, and uses mostly thaumaturgy. That isnt a quick style, and harry mentions that in the books. Most D&D magic is styled for flash gaming, casting time of one round. In the books quick magic is evocation, and harry isnt good at it, which is why he needs his blasting rod. Id make the blasting rod like a runestaff. Harry does alot of divination spells that take a long time, like Identify and Legend Lore. His binding and summoning stuff also takes time that he cant really do midbattle. Even his abjuration is more slow than D&D. He makes stuff, so potions and wonderous item feats. This wouldnt be a very flashy character, and its very wonky mechanically. To work it right i'd go with kitbashing something together with your DM
Darth Sephiroth 06-02-07, 05:32 PM	Personally, I'd view him as something a lot like an Archivist, perhaps a variant with the spellcasting of a Battle Sorcerer (Without the armor ability). Dark Knowledge and a lot of the flavor of the class covers him pretty well. Bob is either a Cohort or perhaps some version of an Improved Familiar.