How would you optimise such a character? The character would have to have the Improved Familiar (eyeball beholderkin, described in Monsters of Faerûn), Primitive Caster (renamed Ritual Caster, as the character is big on arcane rituals, magic circles, sympathetic magic, etc.), and Cerebrosis (Dragon magazine #330) feats. He can take two flaws (UA) for two extra feats (I went with Inattentive and Noncombatant, of course :p). The alienist has Spell Focus (Conjuration) an Augment Summoning as prerequisites.
We use 32 points for character creation, and as per the rules, the 6th-level character starts with 13,000 gp worth of gear. He begins with 17,000 XP, 2,000 of which are available for any potential item crafting. Between us, the group has access to pretty much any core or FR book.
This will probably be a fairly short-lived campaign (we eagerly await the arrival of 4e in June – although it'll probably be July for us, depending on how long it will take Amazon.com to deliver the books).
All builds and suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!
.And then you've broken the game.
Alienst <<< Malconvoker IMHO. Pseudonatural creatures aren't nearly so good, unless you use the ELH template of the same name
Actually, I considered malconvoker as one of the possible character builds (I always make several different versions of the same character, that way I can see which "feels" the best for me, flavour-wise), but -- aside from being tied to fiends, where I was more fond of Far Realm beasties this time around -- it loses one caster level, right there at the first malconvoker level. And, seeing how this will probably be a fairly short campaign, that single caster level loss would likely hurt.
And then you've broken the game.
What, with the CR +16 template? Impossible ;)
What, with the CR +16 template? Impossible ;)
If you do it at level 15, no.
At level 5 or 6?
If you do it at level 15, no.
At level 5 or 6?
I was joking (hence the winking smiley ;) )
Anyways, with the overbearing lack of responses ;), here's what I came up with, based on several board Handbooks and guidelines:
Build
Human Focused Conjurer 6/Alienist 1
Prohibited Schools: Enchantment, Evocation, Necromancy
Spells per Day (0/1/2/3): 3+3/4+3/3+3/2+3
Spontaneous Divination alternate class feature (Complete Champion, p. 52), at level 5
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 19 (21), Wis 14, Cha 8
Flaws: Noncombatant, Inattentive
Feats:
Human Focused Conjurer 6/Alienist 1
Prohibited Schools: Enchantment, Evocation, Necromancy
Spells per Day (0/1/2/3): 3+3/4+3/3+3/2+3
Spontaneous Divination alternate class feature (Complete Champion, p. 52), at level 5
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 19 (21), Wis 14, Cha 8
Flaws: Noncombatant, Inattentive
Feats:
That said... it looks like you picked up most of the important stuff from wherever you looked. The only thing I see is that you appear to have missed a wizard bonus feat at level 5... I suggest moving Craft Wondrous Item there and taking another feat of your choice in your general slot.One option for the Alienist feel w/o the Alienist drawbacks is to play a Binder. With Improved Binding at L10 you can Bind Zceryll (sp? I never will learn...), which gives you the outsider type, and lets you summon a single creature w/ the Outsider type as a Sorcerer.
Before that, the Binder contacts all sorts of "out there" beings for their powers. Its a lot of flavor and fun!
See the Consolidated Binder Handbook in my sig for more details.
Alternatively... Anima Mage! Get both great summoning from Binding, and great summoning from casting! Free metamagics!
*******
Here's one build:
Focused Conjurer 3 / Binder 1 / Anima Mage 10 / Malconvoker 6
Gets L11 binding, L18 spellcasting, and can summon Fiendish Pseudonatural creatures via binding, and lots more through Summon Monster spells! Talk w/ the DM to see if Malconvoker abilities would stack w/ binding abilities (technically, I don't think its RAW supported, but its close RAI).
Alternatively... Anima Mage! Get both great summoning from Binding, and great summoning from casting! Free metamagics!
Never scare me like that again! I thought you were doing a post with no Anima Mage.
You're getting an overbearing lack of responses because there's a crapton of information on wizards generally and summoning wizards specifically, and because we all think alienist sucks, and because we can't believe there's such a thing as a focused evoker.
In that case, thanks for taking the time to comment :D
That said... it looks like you picked up most of the important stuff from wherever you looked. The only thing I see is that you appear to have missed a wizard bonus feat at level 5... I suggest moving Craft Wondrous Item there and taking another feat of your choice in your general slot.
No, the bonus feat is replaced with the Spontaneous Divination class feature.
Regards.
Could you shorthand what the Cerebrosis feat does?
It's a special bonus feat that you gain by performing a ritual (the Rite of the Blot). The feat gives you access to cerebrotic spells, a group of Far Realm themed spells (the list includes several summoning and fear-related spells, plus a few others). Cerebortic spells have the "escalation" option, where you can enhance the effect (summon more creatures, increase the save DC, etc. -- each spell gives the possible escalation), but if you fail, the effect is generally detrimental to the caster.
Regards.