This is my first post although I drank a lot from here to build my second character, which is a righteous kick-ass paladin.
Today I need help creating my first caster dude ! Thank you !!!!
My character concept is a blue mage in the magic the gathering sense. Basically, I want him to be specialized in mind magic (illusions, telepathy and the likes), counterspelling, and water/ice magic of some kind ( to be able to deal with mindless foes !!!).
I'm open to race although I'd rather go with non-human for once. The books aloud are the wotc basic ones and no psionics of any kind
.I want my character to be playable at all levels and theme is more important than power. I don't know what the party will be like, but I'd like for my dude to be the battlefield control/debuff guy.
Alignment will be good something since my role-playing skills are not yet that sharp.
My first challenge is to pick the starting class. Wizard or Sorcerer ?? Sorcerer appeals more to me because it is simpler to play and I am restricting my spells with the theme anyway (then again, maybe not. I don't know if I am asking a lot!), but I realize that wizard might be the better choice....
I'd be greatly appreciated if you could show me links where similar concepts have been discussed, suggestions for builds or any suggestions really !!
Thank you !!
What is your definition of "wotc basic" materials?
I like sorcerers for simplicity, but for really good casting I'd go wizard... Unless you are allowed early entry methods, such as using Versatile Spellcaster to up-convert your lower level spells to higher level ones using Heighten Spell (with or without Earth Spell to up the level even further)
If you have access to early entry, I'd go Whisper Gnome and Beguiler, and take shadowcraft mage after that (less versatility than a pure wizard, but more spells, more skills and class features, and more thematically in line with what you want; you also get ALL evocation/conjuration (creation/summoning) spells from the wizard/sorc list). A link: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
If you don't get early entry, I'd go with Whisper Gnome and Wizard 3/Master Specialist 3/Shadowcraft Mage 5/Master Specialist 7/Mindbender 1/Something X
By wotc basic materials I mean nothing campaign specific since I don't know anything about the campaign yet, but OA might be ok.
Gnome it is !!!! I need to find what a whisper gnome is since I don't have my books around right now....
Also, I don't now what early entry methods are or if they are allowed...
Will be looking at all those classes you mentioned.
Beguiler xx/ Shadowcraft Mage 5/ is a very nice Start
what is the starting level?
.Beguiler is indeed a great start ! But I don't see how the counterspelling and water magic works in you guys suggestions. It seems to me that you are making powerful ilusionists, or am I missing something !?!?
I think the starting level might be either lvl 1 or lvl 13.
you can Counterspell a lot with those .... and Duplicate the effects of Water Magic(Conjuration) also
As to the water/ice thing... just wait until you get Shadowcraft Mage 3 (RoStone). At that point you gain access to all the Evocation and Conjuration spells that let you do all that... Basically, your illusions become real at that point... read the guide I linked you, it's cool. If you are wizard before you get it, then you can just take whatever ice spells you want, if you are Beguiler you have to wait a bit, but it isn't really a big loss. If you really want more ice stuff, look up snowcasting from Frostburn, pair it with eschew materials (which you get auto for some of the suggested classes) and then you have the [cold] descriptor on your spells, and more powerful casting.
So, feats to look at: Spell Focus-illusion, Heighten Spell, Earth Sense & Earth Spell (RoS), Divine Defiance (FCII), Snowcasting (FB), Versatile Spellcaster (RoD?)
Early entry stuff is already on the character if you take the above feats (and both I, and the guide, described the process to you) but you would need to clear it with your GM. Basically, it would let you enter the Shadowcraft mage at level 5 instead of 7.
Classes to consider: Shadowcraft mage (RoS), Mindbender (C.Arc), Sacred Exorcist (C.Div), Master Specialist (C.Mage), Beguiler (PHBII), Wizard (PHB)
Ohhhhhhhhhh !!!! That sounds coool !!! But honestly I still don't get it: am I copying spells to counter them !? I quite the ignorant on this game....
@rydi123:
I see. Again, a lot to work with here !!!!
I'm inclining towards beguiler/shadowcraf mage/mindbender (name sounds cool !)
I'll see what I can come up with and post it.
Since mindbender 1 gives you telepathy to a range of 100 feet, it's great when combined with mindsight (Lords of Madness, page 126). That feat lets you automatically detect all non-mindless creatures within range of your telepathy and, further, pinpoint their locations.
That sounds like an awesome telepatic ability !!!!
@rydie123 and Carnivore: I read thru the Shadowcraft Mage thread and realized that the power level of what you guys are suggesting is simply ridiculous !!!!!!
Not only it achieves what I want but it can do soo much more !!!! Not only I have water magic, but I have all other kinds of magic !!!!! I'm affraid that it might be shot down by the DM . Not a hundered percent sure, but it seems that the tricks employed might be a bit over the acceptance and rules capabilities of my DM !!! In the current campaign, I'm already carefull not to employ my character to it's full power sometimes because he might freak out (he's not used to super-optimized characters, and thought monkey-grip tricks were borderline broken !!!!) and already gave me some wierd looks although he is loving the character as much or more than me !!! My refuge is to say that I am doing this so that he doesn't have to hold back on the monsters and improve his DMing....I'll see what I can get away with, but I need a fall back plan. Let's say I don't have access to Races of Stone, is there another way that is a bit better than Sorcerer/Archmage ?
Thank you and sorry for the trouble !!!!
alternatives include
wizard 3/master specialist 10/mindbender 1/sacred exorcist 1/archmage 1
or
you could look into a build using Elemental Savant from C.Arc and the snowcasting stuff from Frostburn.
But basically, you are looking at a limited number of classes to do what you want.
Illusion: shadowcraft mage, master specialist
Counterspelling: sacred exorcist 1 (to get turning, which lets you take divine defiance), archmage
cold/water: elemental savant, frostburn classes
And of course Shadowcraft Mage augments all of that by letting you cast more freely.
Mindbender is just a filler class with a cool ability that sort of fits the illusionist theme.