One of the things that Solbergb emphasised was the themes to his character's spell and feat selections, and I've tried to implement a theme to my character as well, so I'll attempt to highlight this aspect of the build.
Enter Conan the Barbarian, mighty sorceress! Yes, the eggs got switched, and she was the runt, stuck with the Barbarian misnomer. Ah well. She enjoys it though. She was created for a random level 1 muster where there was no arcane at the table, and I figured I'd try a sorceror. And if I was going to play a sorceror, it had to be a kobold, for fun. She was created as an exercise in utilising the air barrier as a defense, with the following stats:
STR 7
DEX 12
CON 10
INT 14
WIS 8
CHA 17
I've tried to keep a fire, dragon, and cowardice theme throughout her levels, although she's gotten bolder as the levels have moved on.
Level 1 - Sorceror (dragonblood sorceror substitution level)
Feats: Draconic Heritage (Gold), Draconic Breath
Equipment of note: None, really.
Spells: Swift Expeditious Retreat, Colour Spray, various cantrips.
Note the gold draconic heritage, which is where the fire comes from. Conan's first few games were dominated by "Wesa alls gonna dies! Runs! Runs for your lives!", cast swift expeditious retreat, and run! When faced with the need for action, draconic breath was really very useful.
Expeditious retreat puts the fires into your feets so you can runs faster! Colour spray, on the other hand, was what happened when you breathed out hot air rather than fire and sprinkled a little coloured sand into it - people got exhausted from the heat and passed out. My favourite cantrip is detect magic, which Conan has always called "Detects Shinies!". She encourages the magical fires within everything to call out to her so she can talk to it.
Level 2 - Sorceror
Equipment of note: Wand of CLW, Riding Dog. Conan had put some ranks into UMD so she could use a wand, because the other players I played with had either little healing or routinely got their butts kicked.
Spells: Just another cantrip...
Level 2 was fairly boring, classwise. However, Conan began to develop into a fully-fledged character, becoming a disciple of Azrien (copperwyrmling's sorceror), and purchasing holy symbols of all of the dragon gods. She started stocking up on scrolls for the "just in case" scenarios, too. Tactics became dominated by riding on a riding dog, breathing fire (or colourspraying), and then riding back out. The riding dog was of course sent by Azrien, affectionately called "Azrinens", and so was dubbed "Magical Doggie!".
Level 3 - Sorceror
Feat: Empower Spell
Equipment of note: Magical Holy Symbol of Azrien
Spells: Disguise Self
It was around level three that Conan decided that she was going to be the high priestess of Azrien. She purchased a certed magical holy symbol "of any non-evil deity" for 1000 gp, which gave her a +1 sacred bonus to AC. You'd be surprised how often that's saved her.
Level three also marked 10 hp, which I decided was excessive, so Conan undertook the Draconic Rite of Passage, and chose Grease as her spell-like ability. This is, of course, just a firebreath that she forgets to set on fire. It's more of a big spitballglobthing that's all greasy and nicely flammable, but sometimes it's more useful when you haven't set it on fire yet.
The feat, Empower Spell, is useless as of yet. It'll come in handy later. *crosses fingers*.
Most of the games that Conan was playing around now were the CGR modules. I was playing them online, which can get slow, and so Conan became very impulsive, running ahead of the party, mostly to keep things moving. Conan is inquisitive, after all. This was not particularly good for her health though, she soon learnt.
One of the problems with spending so much time in Greyhawk City was that kobolds aren't allowed in, and so she took Disguise Self as a spell known. It works by breathing fire over herself, creating a mirage.
Tactics at this level were very similar to previous levels. Conan was still a coward. An inquisitive coward, but a firebreathingdragoncoward nonetheless.
Level 4 - Sorceror
Stat bump: +1 Charisma
Spells: False Life
Equipment of note: Magical Bedroll, Everlasting Rations, Everlasting Mug
Ah, finally! The firebreath does 4d6 damage! This was marked by one of her first ever 4d6 breaths maximising at 24 damage. Conan was very proud. Tactics remained very similar - don't get hit, and breathe fire on them! False Life was basically in there to keep her alive. I didn't trust 12 hp at 4th level. False life occurs when Conan summons her inner dragon to give her strength! Sometimes the dragon's roaring to come out, and gives her lots of strength, but sometimes it's feeling lazy - thus the discrepancy in the d10 rolls. Colour spray was starting to fall off at this level; too many things have more than 4 HD, and the correct types of baddies are starting to show up less and less. Conan still feels like a 1 1/2 trick pony, alas.
I should probably note my skill selections. At 4th level, I decided I'd work towards Wild Mage. I was maxing UMD, Spellcraft, and Concentration already, so it kind of fit in. I did need to retrain some skills from Bluff to Knowledge Arcana about now, and start dumping ranks into Knowledge The Planes. Regardless, there's nothing boosting concentration checks bar those lonely little ranks, and so Conan has almost never attempted to cast defensively.
Conan's first magical items (other than her gift from Azrien) came into play here. I was very pleased that they were actually useful - we were walking through a swamp for a number of days with no druids or clerics, and actually having her own water and food supplies as well as somewhere to sleep where she got a good night's rest became really important. The rest of the party suffered badly - they didn't have the basic equipment on their equipment lists, and so ran out of food and water really quickly.
Level 5 - Sorceror
Spells: Scorching Ray, Guided Shot
Equipment of Note: None
This level went very quickly, thanks to Sinister Spire, and thus the lack of purchases. Scorching Ray is a no-brainer for Conan; she's a little fire dragon after all. Instead of breathing a big cone of fire, she breathes a little line of fire out of her teeth. Alas, she's not very good at targetting it - her to hit roll on the ranged touch attack is only +4 for the moment. If there is more than one target on the map, breathing a 4d6 cone of fire is generally a better idea still... Guided Shot helped a little bit, but without Precise Shot, whenever meleers were around, it was too chancy to try and hit with Scorching Ray. Oh, for the record, Guided Shot is where Conan calls upon her dragonish senses to see better and ignore the things in the way. And for when creatures are trying to be all shifty like - it doesn't fool Conan's dragon senses!
Level 6 - Sorceror
Spells: Haste, swap Colour Spray for Featherfall
Equipment of note: Wand of Detect Secret Doors, Lesser Rod of Extend, Vest of Resistance +1, two Pearls of Power L1, a LOT of utility scrolls
Feat: Retrain Draconic Breath to Magical Aptitude, take Draconic Breath
Finally, the level when sorcerors come into their own. I was lucky enough to find access to Wild Mage at this level, which I was very happy about. Skills just worked out to qualify for Wild Mage at this level. In choosing spells, I looked at the third level spells and looked for fire, dragon and cowardly themed spells. I wasn't planning on taking the staples, but Fireball and Haste were, apart from being the obvious sorceror choices, the spells which suited the theme.
Haste is like swift expeditious retreat. Except instead of putting the fire just into your own feet, you put it into everybody's feet so that they can all run away too!
Featherfall seemed like a good utility spell to swap for colour spray, which was fast becoming almost useless. Featherfall occurs when somebody's falling and Conan breathes some hot air underneath them quickly to create updrafts that stop them from falling so fast.
Equipment wise, detect secret doors is a spell from a magical wand - it's magic. It doesn't need to be dragony. It's actually been rather useful for a cheap wand. The lesser rod of extend was mostly to keep false life going all day without eating up too many spellslots. The vest was to improve some of the woeful saves this build has, and the pearls of power were purchased because Conan and Magical Doggie! were going on an expedition into the icy North, and we needed the nice cleric to stop the cold from putting out our inner fires (endure elements).
Tactically, Conan spent most first rounds of combat casting haste. It does a surprising amount at this level. Subsequent rounds were spent doing firebreaths; 6d6 became quite nice.
Level 7 - Wild Mage
Spells: Fireball, Pyrotechnics, Magic Missile
Feats: Retrain Draconic Breath to Practical Metamagic (Empower)
Equipment of Note: Anklet of Translocation, Armband of Elusive Action, Monocle of Perusal
This level really felt like a big level - getting Wild Mage to come online, and being able to select _3_ new spells known, as well as finally losing the ability to breathe fire, but gaining Practical Metamagic Empower.
So Conan finally took Fireball. She learnt how to project her breath so that she didn't have to be near her enemies to breathe fire on them.
At this stage, Conan is learning to get her teeth in the way of her scorching rays, to split them into multiple rays. However, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's the wild magic dice. Empowered Scorching rays, with two rays, do a fair amount of damage.
Pyrotechnics was an experiment. It looked like a great fire-sorceror spell in principle; in practise, it was very difficult to get to use. I think I only ever used it three times. The big benefit of pyrotechnics is that it will put out fires that you've created. Offensively, it's really difficult to use. I never successfully used it offensively (I tried twice; it didn't work either time). I swapped out of it soon afterwards.
Magic Missile is shooting little missiles of fire at Conan's enemies. When they're too hard to hit, you just need to send off little fire dragons to home in on the baddies and nip at them.
Practical Metamagic Empower has been a lot of fun - empowered scorching rays, false life, and magic missiles all came online at once.
Tactically, this level had a lot of "I haste. Now I start fireballing!" Fireballing worked very well, even with the variable caster level.
Of course, every arcanist needs some way of stopping grapples. That's what the anklet of translocation was for. The armband of elusive action was for stopping to have to make concentration checks when threatened in melee, or when moving out of a threatened square. Conan's concentration check is still pretty awful at this level (+10). The Monocle of Perusal is just a really useful item, especially when you essentially have detect magic on tap.
Roleplaying wise, Conan is now the high priestess of Azrien - she's higher level than any of Azrien's followers. Conan marked this auspicious occasion by taking a rank in Knowledge Religion.
Level 8 - Wild Mage
Stat bump: +1 Charisma
Spells: Solid Fog, swap Pyrotechnics for Swift Fly, retrain Disguise Self and Swift Expeditious Retreat for Ray of Enfeeblement and Lesser Orb of Cold
Equipment of Note: Hat of Disguise, Cloak of Charisma +4
Level 4 spells, yay! Welcome to empowered fireball range. The selection of solid fog was mainly to introduce some battlefield control to Conan's repetoire. It was the one thing that she was really lacking. Solid Fog occurs when Conan breathes out a LOT of smoke, but not much fire. It's really, really thick smoke.
Swift Fly is the "I'm a little dragon!" spell. Every dragon can fly, right?
Conan found access to a hat of disguise, and haste along with swift fly easily trumped swift expeditious dodge, so I decided to retrain out of those two spells. Ray of Enfeeblement is a bit like Scorching Ray, except that you have to let the heat out a bit slower - just to make it really hot so they feel sluggish. It's an extension of colour spray, except you're more focussed this time.
Lesser Orb of Cold is definitely the dark horse. I needed something that was SR: No, and I felt that taking _another_ fire spell probably wasn't a great idea. I tossed up Lesser Orb of Sound, but decided that since it was almost always going to be empowered, if there was resistance 10 in play, the cold variety's d8's would almost counterbalance the resistance 10, and so I chose cold. The rationale for Lesser Orb of Cold is that empowered fireballs are now online, and they need to be powered. And to power them up, you need to get the cold out of your system, to make you a hot little fire dragon! That's Conandynamics for you
Tactically, this level really felt like it had options in combat. Depending on what the baddy was, choices could be made. There was an area damage spell, a ray damage spell, an SR: No spell, an "always hit" spell, a "hit ghosts" spell, a debuff spell, a buff spell, and a battlefield control spell. Pre-emptive Haste became a popular tactic, as did using swift fly to get away from the battlefield. One thing I really started to notice at this level however was the lack of Rapid Metamagic, meaning that all my empowered spells took a full round action to pull off. Given that all my attack spells could be empowered (and if you can, why not? you're a sorceress!), this restricted movement somewhat.
So far, the low hitpoints have been mostly counteracted by empowered false life. This has proven surprisingly effective so far, combined with the air barrier, and it doesn't look like it needs much help. Spending followed this line of thought.
Equipment wise, the Hat of Disguise replaced a spell; I felt that 1800 gp was worth an extra spell known. You may ask why I waited to buy a +4 cloak of charisma, instead of getting a +2 cloak earlier and upgrading it? I had a 20% discount favour, and wanted to get the most out of it. I had considered waiting and saving up for the +6 to get a bigger discount, but decided against it (with some advice from friends
). The extra spells gained from a high charisma weren't really noticed much; what was noticed was the increased DC on the fireballs. This was also the level where Magical Doggie! met her untimely demise. Conan was very, very upset about it, and even went to Arvandor to visit Magical Doggie (yes, Conan died - but it wasn't because of poor saves, or lack of hitpoints, or lack of AC, it was because she was stuck in a grapple that she couldn't get out of, and it killed her). However, she decided that perhaps it was too dangerous for Magical Doggie! to come along any more, and decided not to replace him. Instead, she's studying under Azrien to learn how to make her own Magical Horsies!Level 9 - Wild Mage
Feat: Rapid Metamagic
Spells: Fear, Regroup, Resist Energy
Equipment of Note: Gloves of Dex +2, Circlet of Persuasion, Headband of Conscious Effort, Heward's Handy Haversack, yet more scrolls!
At last, Rapid Metamagic.
In choosing spells this level, I wanted to pick up something with a save DC attached. I considered Dragon Breath, but while very in flavour, the mechanics aren't great without a familiar (remember, I sacrificed that for Draconic Heritage at first level). Furthermore, empowered Dragon Breath is bad, because it empowers the 1d4 recharge time. Finally, the main reason I wanted a saving throw based spell was to inflict status ailments, not direct damage, and all of the status ailments had a 15' cone for this spell. Instead, I picked up Fear. Conan figures, every dragon of note has a fear aura, why can't Conan? Conan rears up her inner dragon and makes all the baddies scared of her! Like they should be! Mwahahaha! The panicked condition is pretty awful for cornered creatures, so I was happy with Fear as a selection.
Resist Energy - well, everybody knows how firedragons are immune to fire. Well, so's Conan now! At least, a little bit! Furthermore, she's learning how to bring out the inner dragon in all sorts of other people too! I liked the flavour for this one, and thought that it would make a good utility spell.
Finally, Regroup. This is the first spell that I can't explain from a fire/dragon mechanism. Of course, to cast this spell, Conan shows just how pretty she really is as a dragon to everybody, and they rush to her side to defend her! Conan likes to feel that she has minions, like her Big Gold Daddy Dragon has kobolds. The mechanism for casting this spell, however, draws from her deity, Azrien. Azrien likes to teleport - it was one of her first L5 spells known, and she also knows Benign Transposition. This sort of mobility magic has been a focus of Azrien's of late, and some of it's rubbed off onto Conan. However, Conan has it a bit backwards. She understands the principles of Tele-Port, and she kind of gets how Topsy-Turvy-Tel works (Benign Transposition), but when she started experimenting, what she came up with was Port-e-Tel! (Regroup).
Equipment wise, it was starting to seem like going sooner was a better idea, be it for haste, solid fog, or ray of enfeeblement. Also, Random Deflector requires you to not be flatfooted, and so Gloves of Dex +2 were purchased. Skillswise, Conan's UMD was getting fairly good - in the +20 range. I decided to purchase the circlet of persuasion for when she doesn't need to use her hat of disguise. That way, she makes a slightly better face, and also has a better UMD score. In particular, she can emulate wisdom reliably enough to cast lesser restoration, remove paralysis, remove blindness, etc off scrolls, which she also purchased.
When not in a town, she wears the Headband of Conscious Effort. While her concentration check isn't great (+12, from 12 ranks), it's a damn sight better than her fort save (+4). It saved her at least once. Conan should NOT be making massive damage saves, but something moved a long way to get to her and take a single swing with full power attack, having been really, really annoyed that Conan regrouped her party members out of it's deadly tentacles.
Having lost Magical Doggie, it seemed like it was time to get a Heward's Handy Haversack, too. Conan does have a lot of consumables, and isn't very strong.
I don't have much to say tactically here; Conan only every played three games at level 9 (An instalment of Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk kicked her well and truly into the level). One of them was a VERY straightforward game, with most encounters EL-2 or so, so there was no tactical play there. The second was largely dominated by empowered fireballs. Putting Resist Energy on the party actually lets you fireball the party, which is really useful, Conan found.
Regroup has been a lot of fun; the ability to give the entire party full attacks is really powerful, as is the ability to get them out of grapples. I was very please with Fear, even though I only used it three times. In the same combat. There were four huge fire elementals in a room; three rounds later, one was dead, and the other three were panicked and weren't threatening the party. Perhaps the most used spell, however, was empowered fireball. Wild Magic is fickle though; at one point in time, four or five empowered fireballs in a row did sub 30 damage. In the next module, they did 48, 55, 68 and 68 damage in a row (68 is really VERY good for 10d6 empowered). Finally, Conan does NOT like Death Slaads.
I rather enjoyed playing Conan at this level; it felt like her repertoire was complete. There was always something for her to do, and often she had choices to make. The time she felt most useless was against a Vrock, where most of her offensive spells switched off because of spell resistance, and her damaging option wasn't sufficiently strong (and had resistance 10 against it).
Level 10 - Wild Mage
Spells: Teleport, swapped Haste for Ray of Dizziness
Conan has only just hit level 10, and hasn't actually played there. Continuing on the Azrien theme, she'll be taking teleport as a spell known, mostly for it's versatility (and it's fun!). She found a spellbook with Ray of Dizziness in it, and I decided that she's not so much of a coward any more, so she can probably afford to lose Haste (because Ray of Dizziness is really pretty powerful). Another factor involved in this decision is that by level 10, it's about time for people to get their own boots of speed. Finally, Conan has very few modules left in her, and most of them are planned to be played with another sorceror who has haste, and so I decided to make the switch.
I decided that instead of being fire-based, Ray of Dizziness should be Dragon based. Conan is a little cutie after all, and when she smiles at you and looks so, so cute... so cute, you feel a wee little bit dizzy, as you try and work the memory of that cute little kobold out of your mind so you can get back to killing her friends properly... (it is a mind effecting spell, after all!). The fact that it's a ray comes about because Conan only looks sickeningly cute from EXACTLY the right angle, and Conan does have to catch your eye and face you in the right way for it to work.
I haven't yet played with teleport and ray of dizziness, but I think they should be fun.
At 10th level, Conan has a UMD score of +27, a spellcraft of +21, and a concentration of +13. There aren't really any other skills with many ranks in them (yes, there are some metaorg bonuses in there). She has 30 hitpoints before empowered false life, and fairly awful saves. Her AC is the air barrier, and is otherwise 17 with haste. Offensively, though, she packs a fair punch, and has been a lot of fun to roleplay.
The plan for the next two levels:
Two more wildmage levels. Conan won't get past level 12 in this campaign, and so I haven't planned past there. I'd probably take her to wildmage 10, just for the fun of it. The capstone ability is soooo gorgeous.
Equipment: I should probably give up on the magical holy symbol of Azrien, bite the bullet, and get an amulet of con +2. The bonus to concentration checks and fort saves is the most important part, I think. I also plan to pick up an infinite scrollcase, because Conan does have a LOT of scrolls, and being able to use them efficiently in combat can be important. Upgrading the Vest of Resistance to +2 or 3 is also a priority. Otherwise, I don't have access to anything else that I really want. There are bracers of arcane freedom available, but armbands of elusive action are more useful for the moment, I think. If I see Runestaves or a Rod of Wonder, I'll snap them up quickly, but otherwise, I'll just be saving up to upgrade the cloak of charisma to +6.
Stat Bump: Conan started with a 17 Charisma... at 12th level, it'll finally hit an even number again. That's what she's been waiting for!
Skills: More spellcraft, concentration, and maxing UMD. By 12th level, the UMD score should be +30, which automatically suceeds on most checks. The important one is "I can activate this scroll of Heal!". Extra ranks will likely go to knowledges, or perhaps bluff, or Profession: Muffinman. There's so few spare ranks though, after maxing other skills, that it's barely noticeable. Knowledge Arcana might be decent to boost, however.
Spells: 11th level will be Heroics (Yay access!), Phantom Steed, some 4th, and some 5th. Heroics is more dragonny spells, and bringing out the dragon in everybody, Phantom Steed is learning to make the magical horsies like Azrinens saids! I'm at a loss for the 4th and 5th level spells at the moment though; I'm tempted to take Orb of Cold at 4th, and lose Lesser Orb of Cold, taking Reduce Person instead (via retraining). I haven't yet found a rationale for reduce person, but I think it would be fun to be able to share spaces with other characters, and it is a nice defensive buff. It also helps on range attack rolls, which Conan has a fair number of. Orb of Cold gives her something to do against high SR creatures, too. CLd6 (a random number between 9 and 14 at 11th level) empowered is a fair amount of damage when nothing else is working. I don't have access to Assay SR, Greater Mirror Image, or Ruin Delver's Fortune, which I would consider over Orb of Cold. Another argument in favour of Orb of Cold is that it has a status effect attached, which given that I've worked on Conan's charisma, would be of a decent DC. Finally, it's an empowerable spell, which would give her something to use 5th level slots for other than teleport.
For the 5th level spell, I'm at more of a loss. I'm vaguely considering Sending from a RP perspective - "Mesa communes with mysa Goddesses!" although it would be hugely suboptimal. Feeblemind, Hold Monster, and Dismissal also come to mind as useful will-save based spells. I really love Greater Fireburst, especially empowered (taaaasty), but Conan can't shape it, and really can't afford to be that close to the badguys and out there on her own. I don't want to take wall of force; I may consider Spiritwall, mainly in tribute to Azrien though. Waves of Fatigue is also a possibility, and may stack well with other party member actions (thinking of Channeled Lifetheft here). I'm not interested in Mass Fly; the aforementioned sorceress already has that one.
One staple you may note is missing is GMW. Again, the aforementioned sorceress has that one covered too. We figure it's not worth having things duplicated.
12th level? DISINTEGRATE! Otherwise known as "Make Hole", or "Greater Open". Hopeless as an attack spell (most of the time), but one of the most versatile utility spells around. Especially when you can spam it! At this point in time, I can't think of anything that I want to swap out at 12th level; the spell selection has become fairly well rounded.
Feats: Conan already has Rapid Metamagic; the obvious choices are more metamagic feats. Quicken is coming up at 12th level. Given that I won't have a 5th level dice-based spell, I'm planning on swapping Practical Metamagic (Empower) for Quicken Spell, then taking Practical Metamagic (Quicken). Yes, I want to be able to burn through all of my spellslots at 12th level as a sorceror! In particular, I'd love to be able to Quickened Regroup. If I played through to 15, I'd definitely take another metamagic feat; depending on spell selections, I might reconsider Practical Metamagic (Empower), although I'd be sorely tempted by some other metamagic feat. Metamagic Rod access would influence this.
So, if you've made it through all that, thanks for reading
I've really enjoyed playing Conan, and wanted to share some of it all with you. The most enjoyable levels to play mechanically have certainly been from level 6 onwards, but perhaps the most enjoyable roleplaywise was her innocence in the lower levels.I've played a wizard from level 1 through to 16 (well, I haven't yet played Maesto at 16, but he's got 130 ARs of play, and has well and truly hashed out 15 - he doesn't get much at 16, either). Playing a sorceror is actually a rather refreshing experience; it's much less stressful, and the spellspam is a lot of fun. Half of the fun of playing a sorceror, especially at low levels, is shoving a square peg into a round hole. "Here's what I've got, let's make do with it!" I know I've said previously that I come down on the wizard side of the sorceror/wizard fence, but I'm definitely wavering on that. Depending on what type of personality you're after, either can be a lot of fun; certainly the most fun of all the classes I've tried. Which have I enjoyed most? That's a tough question. For the moment, I think I'm going to go with sorceror; I've played wizards enough for the moment, and I'm enjoying the change. My advise to either though is to play them to their strengths, and use the advantages they have over the other class.
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave them here
Thanks!Roleplaying wise, Conan is now the high priestess of Azrien - she's higher level than any of Azrien's followers. Conan marked this auspicious occasion by taking a rank in Knowledge Religion.
I'm not sure actually studying religion is a good idea for someone who worships Azrien (since Azi's religion is mostly founded on Bluff and a good Leadership score ;) )
Instead, she's studying under Azrien to learn how to make her own Magical Horsies!
Yay! (Azi's religion is also founded on the lavish bestowal of Magical Horsies upon favored worshippers)
Azrien likes to teleport - it was one of her first L5 spells known
What do you mean, one of? :P
When not in a town, she wears the Headband of Conscious Effort. While her concentration check isn't great (+12, from 12 ranks), it's a damn sight better than her fort save (+4).
You need to work on that before you start meeting Horrid Wilting... or bodaks.
Finally, Conan does NOT like Death Slaads.
Evidently, Azrien needs to teach Conan the secrets of slaad farming.
Continuing on the Azrien theme, she'll be taking teleport as a spell known, mostly for it's versatility (and it's fun!)
Yay! Now she can come visit Azi and her kobold tribe in the Bright Desert!
most of them are planned to be played with another sorceror who has haste, and so I decided to make the switch.
Hmmph. You know I was going to swap out Haste at 12 because you were covering it... (Conan's future games are mostly with my other sorcerer, the gnome shadow-witch Min)
I decided that instead of being fire-based, Ray of Dizziness should be Dragon based. Conan is a little cutie after all, and when she smiles at you and looks so, so cute... so cute, you feel a wee little bit dizzy, as you try and work the memory of that cute little kobold out of your mind so you can get back to killing her friends properly...
*Acoya shudders* (Acoya being my somewhat humorless avenger druid, who has spent FAR too much time with Conan for her sanity)
At 10th level, Conan has a UMD score of +27
Heh, better than Azi's. Azi had to meet Fatespinner prereqs ;)
The plan for the next two levels:
Two more wildmage levels. Conan won't get past level 12 in this campaign, and so I haven't planned past there. I'd probably take her to wildmage 10, just for the fun of it. The capstone ability is soooo gorgeous.
I'm half tempted to do Wild Mage 10 if I get to 16 for Wheels Within Wheels - I suspect there will be some NPC casters in that game who really deserve a wildstrike. Fatespinner 4 is probably better for the rerolls, though.
I should probably give up on the magical holy symbol of Azrien, bite the bullet, and get an amulet of con +2. The bonus to concentration checks and fort saves is the most important part, I think.
Heh. That sounds familiar. Azi finally bought her Con amulet at L11 on the basis of very similar reasoning (although she went ahead and bought the +4 version, having no other interesting access at that point).
I haven't yet found a rationale for reduce person
It makes you better at hiding, so the nasty monsters can't see Conan, or they underestimate her? ("I'm just a little kobold...") For a cowardly mage who can't make room for Invisibility... (and you'll be adventuring with someone who disdains Invisibility because just hiding usually works as well or better ;) )
For the 5th level spell, I'm at more of a loss. I'm vaguely considering Sending from a RP perspective - "Mesa communes with mysa Goddesses!"
Eh, use the Azrien method of finding people: teleport to their base of operations and ask people to tell you where they are ;) Gather Information can be a surprisingly good substitute for divination spells, and you must be decent at it by now.
I don't want to take wall of force; I may consider Spiritwall, mainly in tribute to Azrien though.
Note that Spiritwall has a rather personal significance to Azrien that I don't think Conan is aware of - Azrien is calling on the cursed spirits of her long-dead Dreamer kin, whose screams she has heard through the Dreaming. It's not a spell she can really teach Conan, if I remember correctly and Conan doesn't have the Dreaming.
Waves of Fatigue is also a possibility, and may stack well with other party member actions (thinking of Channeled Lifetheft here).
Hehe. I see much lifeforce-slurping in our future :D
I'm not interested in Mass Fly; the aforementioned sorceress already has that one.
One staple you may note is missing is GMW. Again, the aforementioned sorceress has that one covered too.
I actually don't have it covered until L12.
Oh, and you should consider Disintegrate at 12: Make Hole and Greater Open are such fun tools. You know Conan's always wanted a chaos laser ;)
Plus you got to enjoy Metamagic as a Sorcerer too. That's something few people actually "get."
Sounds like a grand time had by all, certainly. Still need to do those Greyhawk mods...
Darn it, after all that I'm going to have to post Azrien so people understand all the comparisons you've made...
Damn, I know how much you'll _hate_ doing that
What do you mean, one of? :P
Hey, I couldn't remember if it was the first or if Mass Fly/Spiritwall came first
I knew it was first or second!You need to work on that before you start meeting Horrid Wilting... or bodaks.
Aye, and I also need deathward access. Mithril buckler and thistledown padded armour, check. Stuff to put on them: ANY DMG ability. Deathward? No. Darn.
Evidently, Azrien needs to teach Conan the secrets of slaad farming.
"But Azrinens! Hesa looked at Conans and wanted a Conansausage! And thens he looked at somebodies and gots a sausages of thems!"
Yay! Now she can come visit Azi and her kobold tribe in the Bright Desert!
:D
Hmmph. You know I was going to swap out Haste at 12 because you were covering it... (Conan's future games are mostly with my other sorcerer, the gnome shadow-witch Min)
Yahuh, I know
Remember, we were going to put up posters everywhere saying "Speedyboots 4 sale!"?Heh. That sounds familiar. Azi finally bought her Con amulet at L11 on the basis of very similar reasoning (although she went ahead and bought the +4 version, having no other interesting access at that point).
What I'd really like is access to a Belt of Endurance...
It makes you better at hiding, so the nasty monsters can't see Conan, or they underestimate her? ("I'm just a little kobold...") For a cowardly mage who can't make room for Invisibility... (and you'll be adventuring with someone who disdains Invisibility because just hiding usually works as well or better ;) )
Oh, I understand the _benefits_ of reduce person, and how it fits into the cowardice theme. I just can't figure out how to make it a dragon or a fire spell. It may have to fall into a new category: Magical Mishaps...
Eh, use the Azrien method of finding people: teleport to their base of operations and ask people to tell you where they are ;) Gather Information can be a surprisingly good substitute for divination spells, and you must be decent at it by now.
Only +9, alas. No Friendly Face helping Conan out at the moment (although that's another possibility instead of Reduce Person).
Note that Spiritwall has a rather personal significance to Azrien that I don't think Conan is aware of - Azrien is calling on the cursed spirits of her long-dead Dreamer kin, whose screams she has heard through the Dreaming. It's not a spell she can really teach Conan, if I remember correctly and Conan doesn't have the Dreaming.
You're correct. There were only two core modules which you could get the dreaming in, from memory (possibly a third), and they're all long gone now.
Hehe. I see much lifeforce-slurping in our future :D
I can just imagine the tiny gnome and the tiny kobold running around together through the dungeons sucking everything's strength out of them.
GMW:
I actually don't have it covered until L12.
I know, but until one of us gets to a level that can reliably hit CL 12 (ie, level 12 in your case, or possibly L11 in my case, if we don't want horsies!), it's not worth the spell slot.
Oh, and you should consider Disintegrate at 12: Make Hole and Greater Open are such fun tools. You know Conan's always wanted a chaos laser ;)
Ah, that I forgot to put in. I did mean to add in at the end that my L12 spell selection was going to be Disintegrate, aka Make Hole and Greater Open. I'll edit that in now
The round peg inside of the square hole is probably one of my favorite reasons to be a sorcerer. The look on people's faces when you either don't have some spell that they think is direly important or use some spell they thought useless in a creative way is fun.
Plus you got to enjoy Metamagic as a Sorcerer too. That's something few people actually "get."
Sounds like a grand time had by all, certainly. Still need to do those Greyhawk mods...
the other fun part about being a sorcerer is being the ESPECIALLY round peg inside the round hole. I got confused the other day and for five founds I threw orbs of force at my friends (and missed, thank god) and then when I got out of confusion I threw another three.
What wizard can throw eight orbs of force in one round, if they need to?
the other fun part about being a sorcerer is being the ESPECIALLY round peg inside the round hole. I got confused the other day and for five founds I threw orbs of force at my friends (and missed, thank god) and then when I got out of confusion I threw another three.
What wizard can throw eight orbs of force in one round, if they need to?
Wait, wait, you mean eight orbs of force in one encounter, right? If in one round, wow... Azi can't do that until L16 and even then it takes some fairly extreme cheese ;) (celerity + greater arcane fusion loops are hilarious)
Either that or go play in the high level games, but then it doesn't affect anyone if you do it.
Wait, wait, you mean eight orbs of force in one encounter, right? If in one round, wow... Azi can't do that until L16 and even then it takes some fairly extreme cheese ;) (celerity + greater arcane fusion loops are hilarious)
yeah it took eight rounds! That's what I meant.
...you got access to greater arcane fusion?
UGHGHGHGHGH my sorcerer's spell access is SO BAD
here let me complain about it again!
EDIT: oh high level right
Sooo wanted that spell too. I did get Shadow Cache for free though, that was kind of nifty.
Think the best spell I've got access to is lightning leap, but then my sorcerer follows the born of three thunders path so he likes electric type spells.
Azi ended up with pretty good Limited spell access: she currently knows Ghost Trap, Moonbow, Assay SR, Battlemagic Perception, Rainbow Beam, and Benign Transposition, and can cast quite a few others through LimWish. All of them except Rainbow Beam have been super useful, although Ghost Trap is highly situational (but it's a situation that came up often enough and was frustrating enough to warrant spending the spell-known slot).
Anyway, if you went to the slaad farm, I hope you enjoyed it. AJ's write-up looked quite amusing.
Think the best spell I've got access to is lightning leap, but then my sorcerer follows the born of three thunders path so he likes electric type spells.
And you're welcome ;)
But it's all cool. Lomiat picked up Prismatic Bow in the deal.
the other fun part about being a sorcerer is being the ESPECIALLY round peg inside the round hole. I got confused the other day and for five founds I threw orbs of force at my friends (and missed, thank god) and then when I got out of confusion I threw another three.
What wizard can throw eight orbs of force in one round, if they need to?
...Standing in the far corner of the room, Lomiat allows the sorcerers to celebrate their force of will and determination to make the wrong spell the right spell by any means necessary. Far be it for him to mention anything about the fact that a combat lasted 8 rounds suggests a gross inefficie... Er, right: Good job ;)
I did somewhat enjoy the tactical and cavalier use of Disintegrate in Rise of the Spider Queen, when Azrien and Olivia decided to make a tunnel... About 60 to 100 feet, if I recall correctly.
Azi went to a slaad farm? Was that in the SHL interactive? I wasn't quite sure where anyone from our group was at that time except for myself, and I was only mostly certain about that... Ah, sleep deprivation...
Anyway, if you went to the slaad farm, I hope you enjoyed it. AJ's write-up looked quite amusing.
... there was a slaad farm? NO FAIR!
Azi misses the Shield Lands. She got to overthrow an Inquisition, and play with a ball of pure uncontrolled magic, and they told her where to buy all those shiny toys. And now you tell her there were slaad farms? Geez.
No, the "slaad farming" was a reference to one of Azi's Brilliant Plans back when she was L7. She played Rings Within Rings, and in that mod, when you defeated the slaad at the end, it blew up in a surge of chaos. Chaotic characters who failed (or relinquished) their Will saves got bonuses to all mental skills for the next three mods. Azi relinquished her Will save because it was interesting chaotic magic, and it paid off bigtime ;) She failed her Knowledge (Planes) check, and had no idea slaads didn't do this every time they died, so she expressed a desire to start a slaad farm. Her party managed to distract her from this idea, but every so often (in particular, whenever she sees a slaad) she brings it up again. On the most recent occasion, I think Pallabarra's response was, "Guys, kill the poor slaad fast, before Azrien can do whatever she's planning." (Pallabarra can be awfully boring for a gnome. She yelled at Azi for trying to collect samples of the water-of-chaos, too. It turns out water-of-chaos steals your waterskin when you try to take samples.)
And yes, the disintegrate-tunneling in Rise was a lot of fun
...Standing in the far corner of the room, Lomiat allows the sorcerers to celebrate their force of will and determination to make the wrong spell the right spell by any means necessary. Far be it for him to mention anything about the fact that a combat lasted 8 rounds suggests a gross inefficie... Er, right: Good job ;)
I did somewhat enjoy the tactical and cavalier use of Disintegrate in Rise of the Spider Queen, when Azrien and Olivia decided to make a tunnel... About 60 to 100 feet, if I recall correctly.
We were playing a core special, it was in a combat against a single foe, and as noted I was confused for 5 rounds. I can hardly be blamed for my party not having the resources to bail me out!
... there was a slaad farm? NO FAIR!
Azi misses the Shield Lands. She got to overthrow an Inquisition, and play with a ball of pure uncontrolled magic, and they told her where to buy all those shiny toys. And now you tell her there were slaad farms? Geez.
Ever see the movie, Aliens? If not, you could watch it and get a pretty decent idea of the "Slaad farm."
Plus... you could have played Whack-a-Marilith all over, except this time it might have been able to whack back. I can't remember which other NPC that escaped the first part of the interactive was supposed to be there, too.... Except I think we might have gone soft on the table(s).
I'm glad you enjoyed the Shields Lands at any rate... And though it didn't all take place there, you have to remember where your Bar Hop of the Flanaess started ;)
If not, thoughts on good 2nd level spells? I really wanted a good buff I could pass around, I thought about blur but I was hoping for a 10/level or hour/level spell because rods of extend are cheap and I can always buy more.
EDIT: Also I have empower as one of my spells so if I'm really feeling ballsy I can throw empowered scorching rays instead of orbs of force at monsters
I have a question for all you sorcerer types. I'm thinking of picking up Scorching Ray as my 11th level 2nd level spell (see invis, glitterdust, resist energy, and false life are my current spells). I'm wondering if you guys think it would be worth having a spell with more dice than orb of force for monsters that don't have SR and lack resistance to both fire and acid (energy sub).
If not, thoughts on good 2nd level spells? I really wanted a good buff I could pass around, I thought about blur but I was hoping for a 10/level or hour/level spell because rods of extend are cheap and I can always buy more.
EDIT: Also I have empower as one of my spells so if I'm really feeling ballsy I can throw empowered scorching rays instead of orbs of force at monsters
It's kind of hard to make a suggestion in isolation; what else do you currently have? Your choice of spells really define your playstyle, or alternatively, you should choose spells that work with your playstyle
If you're specialised in rays and lack other damage routes, then scorching ray may be a good option. What I've found by and large, however, is that even with guided shot, it can be difficult to hit with some of those ranged touch attacks, especially once the meleeists get in there. If you really want to do damage with a spell, metamagicked scorching rays are about as good as it comes, unless you have access to Moonbow and ways to crank your caster level. Rainbow Beam can give varying results when metamagicked, but really needs split ray and empower. The other big damaging spell is greater fireburst, but not every mage likes to get close enough to use that spell... I find disintegrate too fickle to use, most of the time, although it's pretty funny when it works.There aren't that many good L2 buffs; Heroics and Resist Energy are the usual suspects. At level 3, Heroism is pretty awesome. If you're looking for something different, Whirling Blade is great for dealing with mirror images, and Swift Fly is a lot of fun. Web can be a good battlefield control spell, if you lack that. I had a lot of fun with mindless rage, at one point in time, but probably not the best choice ;) Invisibility or Blur are other buffs that can go around. Command Undead is hilarious when it works (especially against mindless undead, although scrolls are usually sufficient). Darkvision is a decent L2 party buff. Swim is another long term party buff, but rather specialised. If you're going to be quickening, Phantasmal Assailants is a low level spell which can actually reduce creatures to zero ability scores (dex/wisdom) if they fail some will saves. Finally, I think Knock on a sorceror would be hilarious (though I've never seen it). "Door! Open!" "Next door! Open!" Hmm, could make a nice themed character on that... telekinetic sorceror - knock, mage hand, telekinesis, levitate, the reserve feat that allows you to manipulate small objects telekinetically at will.
It's kind of hard to make a suggestion in isolation; what else do you currently have? Your choice of spells really define your playstyle, or alternatively, you should choose spells that work with your playstyle
Yeah, but you're playing a 12-Dex character iirc, and you've only just started getting to the mid-high levels. Azrien has not had much trouble hitting with ranged touch attacks (because she had starting 16 Dex, gloves of fortunate striking from very early on, and Point Blank and Precise up until around L12).
Scorching Ray's big advantage is that its relatively low level means you can apply lots of metamagic: quickened scorching ray + empowered split (or twinned) scorching ray is pretty good for one-round damage output.
Hmm, could make a nice themed character on that... telekinetic sorceror - knock, mage hand, telekinesis, levitate, the reserve feat that allows you to manipulate small objects telekinetically at will.
I think this is essentially Olivia's theme (at least one incarnation of it) ;)
Yeah, but you're playing a 12-Dex character iirc, and you've only just started getting to the mid-high levels. Azrien has not had much trouble hitting with ranged touch attacks (because she had starting 16 Dex, gloves of fortunate striking from very early on, and Point Blank and Precise up until around L12).
I've had the +1 from small size though, and gloves of dex +2 for a bit now. Now PB/Precise, but still - it can sometimes be tough to hit with the melee penalties. If you've got point blank and precise, then hey, by all means.
Scorching Ray's big advantage is that its relatively low level means you can apply lots of metamagic: quickened scorching ray + empowered split (or twinned) scorching ray is pretty good for one-round damage output.
Agreed - it's tough to get better than empower, twin, and split ray on scorching ray (for d6 no-save capability, that is). Greater Fireburst and Moonbow are the best you can do otherwise, I think (which both beat scorching ray at high enough CLs).