I need a sorcerer FAST.

[Shinizak]

I'm currently building a 12th level sorcerer and I have the stats down but I now need some spells. Material allowed is the book of vile darkness, Book of exalted deeds, the complete adventurer, the complete divine, and the complete mage.

For those interested it's stats are:

Male Halfling

STR: 16
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 14
CHA: 16

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I assume those are starting stats, before racial mods, level-ups, and were rolled rather than Pt-buy? Because otherwise that's the first issue.

Now, what is the rest of the party, how optimized are they, and what is your intent for this character?

[Shinizak]

I Don't know anything about the party's stats. The DM wants to have us not talk about our new characters if possible so as to keep down the min-maxing (he rolled our stats for us), So since that's the case I want it to be a flexible kind of caster.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I Don't know anything about the party's stats. The DM wants to have us not talk about our new characters if possible so as to keep down the min-maxing (he rolled our stats for us), So since that's the case I want it to be a flexible kind of caster.What's your goals with this character? Generalist caster, I'd recommend going Sorcerer/Mage of the Arcane Order/Fatespinner or similar. Good or Evil? BoED and BoVD have some really nice spells.

Did the DM roll stats in order or something? Otherwise, you could switch a lot around. There's no reason for that Str on a Halfling caster.

[Shinizak]

It's all the way down, no changing around the stats. the DM wants it to be very life-like, and so I guess what I'm going for is a caster that can do a lot with minimum chance of being caught off guard (hence sorcerer).

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Okay, in that case you'll want to put all your level-ups in Cha. A pure caster has no need for most of those stats(the things you could do with a Sublime Chord), but that will get you 24 Cha or better after magic items. Snag the Heighten Spell and Quicken Spell feats and the Rapid Metamagic feat from CMage(IIRC). You'll want a Will, Fort, and Reflex Save-or-Lose(at any level, just Heighten them), a Ray no-save just lose, one of the Orb spells for damage, Solid Fog, Black Tentacles, Greater Dispel Magic, Fly, Greater Invis, and a few good defensive buffs. That should get you started.

[Talic]

If you can snag Complete Arcane, Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil is an excellent PRC.

[Flickerdart]

Also, purchase using your WBL some scrolls of spells you might have to use in an emergency. Feather Fall is not a useful spell, but you'll thank your stars for keeping a scroll of it around when the dragon bull-rushes you off a cliff. This is just an example though, as you should have Fly by 12th level.

[Eldariel]

Yeah, decide on a focus and go with whatever PrC you can; Sorcerer gets nothing so a PrC with full casting is an automatic improvement. For example, Sacred Exorcist in Complete Divine is a fine class (you need Dismissal to enter, but once you get it as a spell-like from the class, you can just trade it out), as is Divine Oracle.

Loremaster from DMG isn't bad either and indeed, Divine Oracle/Loremaster might be the best way to go with those books (as they share a prerequisite and Loremaster buys back the spent feat). Unseen Seer [CMage] could also be great provided you can get Practiced Spellcaster to mitigate the caster level loss.

[monty]

Loremaster from DMG isn't bad either and indeed, Divine Oracle/Loremaster might be the best way to go with those books (as they share a prerequisite and Loremaster buys back the spent feat).

Except that the prerequisites for Loremaster are kind of a pain to meet. But if you have the feats, skill points, and spells known to spare, it's still better than straight sorcerer.

[Chronos]

Am I the only one who thinks that set of books was an error? The equivalent of Complete Divine and Complete Adventurer would be Complete Arcane, not Mage. Complete Mage is part of the second set of Completes, along with Champion and Scoundrel, and in fact some of the things in Complete Mage depend on you already having Complete Arcane.

[lsfreak]

I always at least point out Mage of the Arcane Order (combined with Arcane Preparation feat) if you're looking to overcome one of the limitations of sorcerers. Two levels nets you the ability to cast low-level utility spells that you otherwise don't have access too, and buys you back one of the two feats of questionable value that you needed to get into the class. There's also Runestaves (from MIC) to let you burn spell slots on spells that you don't know, and eternal wands to let you do it 2/day without burning the spell slots.

EDIT: Apparently my edit right after I wrote this got eaten. I was in a hurry and misread CMage as CArcane, so you're out of luck for Arcane Prep + MotAO.

[Eldariel]

Am I the only one who thinks that set of books was an error? The equivalent of Complete Divine and Complete Adventurer would be Complete Arcane, not Mage. Complete Mage is part of the second set of Completes, along with Champion and Scoundrel, and in fact some of the things in Complete Mage depend on you already having Complete Arcane.

They're playing with what they have, I'd figure. Many may have newer Completes but lack the older ones.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

With such a limited selection of books, you don't really have many prestige class options, but anything that doesn't lose spellcasting levels is better than single-classed Sorcerer. I'd suggest worshipping Trithereon from CD, a CG Greyhawk deity of individuality and liberty, and take the feat Arcane Disciple for the Summoner domain. Get Lesser Planar Ally and go into Thaumaturgist, from the DMG. At your next level you'll get Planar Cohort, which should be a Ghaele Eladrin from the core Monster Manual, which should be stronger than most characters in the party. You'd be able to get Rapid Metamagic and Residual Metamagic from Complete Mage, but most of the good metamagic feats are in books you don't have. If you can use the SRD you'd be able to get Repeat Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#repeatSpell), but something like Split Ray (CA) or Fell Drain (LM) would be a better choice. You can find those at Crystalkeep (http://crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Feats.pdf), just in case you'd be able to get them. I didn't see anything in BoED or BoVD that could benefit this character.

So, Halfling Sorcerer 8/ Thaumaturgist 4, Spell Focus: Conjuration, Arcane Disciple: Summoner, Empower Spell, Residual Metamagic, and Rapid Metamagic.

9/5/5/4/3/2/1 spells known, *Conjurations are at +1 DC
0- Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Message, Mending, Prestidigitation, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Acid Splash
1st- Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Grease, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shield
2nd- *Web, *Glitterdust, Alter Self, Scorching Ray, See Invisibility
3rd- Dispel Magic, Haste, Vampiric Touch, Shrink Item
4th- Lesser Planar Ally, Evard's Black Tentacles, Dimension Door
5th- Channeled Lifetheft, Summon Monster V (1d3 Celestial Lions)
6th- Disintegrate

Alter Self can be used to take the form of a Troglodyte to gain +6 natural armor, or an Avariel to gain a 50 ft. fly speed, or an Asabi to gain a 20 ft. burrow speed, or a Mountain Spirit Folk to gain a 30 ft. climb speed. Look here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=176246) for more useful forms, and to find out what books those are found in.

Shrink Item is one of the most useful spells in the game. Start out with a list of shrunken items, at the end of each day use your remaining lower level spell slots to renew the duration of some of them. useful items to have include ladders, rowboats, wagons, 24 cubic feet of lava, 24 cubic feet of water, 24 cubic feet of sand, boulders, doors, a metal dome that you wear on your head like a helmet (say the command word and it grows into a protective shield around you), and just about anything else you can think of.

For your starting items, standard wealth by level for a level 12 character is 88,000 gold. I'd get a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Quicken, a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend, a +6 Cloak of Charisma, a Ring of Sustenance, a full Robe of Useful Items (3 windows, 3 open pits, 2 iron doors), a Hat of Disguise, and 2700 gp remaining for scrolls, wands, potions, spell components, and mundane gear. Use the Rod of Extend to cast Mage Armor each day, it's also useful for Alter Self and other buffs. The Rod of Quicken should be used to get a second spell off early in difficult fights.