[3.5] Character Sheet Check and Some Advice?

[RTGoodman]

I'm getting ready for a new 3.5 campaign, and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to take a look over my character sheet here (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=136374)and tell me if I've missed anything or screwed anything up or whatever? I haven't played 3.5 in a year and a half or more, and even though I THINK I've got everything, I just wanted to check

He's for an all-Evil (but no Stupid Evil) campaign a friend is running, and the party already includes a Paladin of Tyranny/Blackguard, a Warmage, a Druid, and... something I've forgotten. With all that, I decided I'd go with a Batman-style control/utility caster, but with a bit extra save-or-suck. Is there anything I'm really missing so far with that in mind? (I'm definitely grabbing more wands and scrolls when I get more cash, along with that magic item that hold all your scrolls, some CL boosters, and stuff like that.)

Also, the plan for now is to go Wizard 5/Paragnostic Apostle 1/Loremaster 10/Archmage 2-3/Another PrC 1-2 or something like that. Not a particularly complex build, but it doesn't really have to be super-optimized with the group. Are there any other PrCs that have easy entrance requirements that might work well for the last few levels, should we get that high a level? Or maybe just go back to Paragnostic Apostle? I've got access to most non-setting books plus the FRCS, some 3.x Dragonlance stuff, for what it's worth.

[BobVosh]

Skills are wrong: you only have 19 points. No skill points in knowledge may hamper your loremaster route.
Spells: Sure got a lot, did you spend some WBL?

Probably don't need sleep. Switch with benign transposition imo.

Beyond that, you'll do fine.

PrC: Incantrix/IotSFV/whatever so long as you have full casting. It really doesnt matter much beyond that.

[evil-frosty]

First thing i spotted was why are you adding your strength modifier to your bows damage, is it a composite one? And thats really the only thing i noticed. But i might (probably did) of miss something.

[arguskos]

Skills are wrong: you only have 19 points. No skill points in knowledge may hamper your loremaster route.
Spells: Sure got a lot, did you spend some WBL?

Probably don't need sleep. Switch with benign transposition imo.

Beyond that, you'll do fine.

PrC: Incantrix/IotSFV/whatever so long as you have full casting. It really doesnt matter much beyond that.
On the spells front, it's because of Collegiate Wizard. He bought 2 level 2 spells and 2 level 3 spells.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get rid of Sleep and Deep Slumber, they have a 1 round casting time, same as what Summon Monster spells have. You don't finish casting the spell until the start of your next round, after everything's had a chance to take a few swings/shots at you and/or move away from each other so you can't even hit two creatures with it. I'd switch Sleep for maybe Benign Transposition or Summon Monster/Undead I, and Deep Slumber for probably Dispel Magic or maybe Nauseating Breath.

Consider taking the spontaneous divination class feature substitution from CC in pace of your 5th level Wizard bonus feat. Say you've already visited the Frog God's Fane detailed in Complete Scoundrel, and pay a mere 2,000 gp to get Skill Focus: Knowledge in either Religion, Nature, or History without spending a feat on it. That way you can move Sculpt Spell to your 3rd level feat spot and you get spontaneous divination without missing out on anything.

Edit: Loremaster requires 10 ranks in some skills, which you have to be level 7 to get, so you can't start taking it until your 8th character level. If you're starting at level 6, the Paladin of Tyranny can't already have any Blackguard levels because it requires a +6 BAB.

Edit again: Another advantage of spontaneous divination is that since you never have to prepare any divination spells, you don't ever need to put them in your spellbook. Normally you spend a day studying a spell, then make a Spellcraft check DC 15 + spell level to learn that spell, after which you can copy it into your spellbook. If you fail the check, you cannot understand the spell well enough to learn it until you gain another rank in Spellcraft, and you cannot scribe it into your book. The standard fee for copying a spell from another wizard's spellbook is spell level x 50 gp. Since you're a member of the Paragnostic Assembly, you would have access to their extensive library, which surely contains nearly every spell in the game. Given your character's race and age he could have read over every Divination spell on the Sorcerer/Wizard list at least once.

Any such spell you could learn by taking ten on the check should be counted among the spells you know, every other spell could be read at every level from 1st to 6th, so you would get six separate Spellcraft checks to learn each one (keeping in mind what your modifier at each level would be). Even if the organization would charge you the standard fee for copying a spell, you could simply make the check and learn it, then pretend you couldn't understand the spell and not copy it down to avoid the fee. You could know every divination spell on the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list for free, which you would be able to spontaneously cast just as a Cleric spontaneously casts Cure or Inflict spells.

[RTGoodman]

Skills are wrong: you only have 19 points. No skill points in knowledge may hamper your loremaster route.
Spells: Sure got a lot, did you spend some WBL?

I actually put all the Knowledge skills further down the sheet in their own separate part of the Skill section - I've got at least 1 rank in all of them, and they wouldn't all fit in the regular section.

As far as spells, yeah, I took Collegiate Wizard and, as I guess I didn't mention, the Elven Generalist substitution level. As far as I remember, it gives an extra spell known at least level, right? That's why I've got the extra two 2nd and 3rd level spells.



First thing i spotted was why are you adding your strength modifier to your bows damage, is it a composite one? And thats really the only thing i noticed. But i might (probably did) of miss something.

According to THIS (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/weapons.htm#longbow), you always add Str PENALTIES to damage with longbow attacks, but only get to add your bonus to damage with composite longbows. At least, that's how it reads to me.



Get rid of Sleep and Deep Slumber, they have a 1 round casting time, same as what Summon Monster spells have.

Ah, okay. That's what I'm looking for. I haven't REALLY ever played a Wizard above maybe 3rd level, and I tended to use sleep quite a bit then, yet I don't think we ever noticed the one round casting time. :smallredface: Probably will drop it and find something else. I really like the spell though.



Consider taking the spontaneous divination class feature substitution from CC in pace of your 5th level Wizard bonus feat. Say you've already visited the Frog God's Fane detailed in Complete Scoundrel, and pay a mere 2,000 gp to get Skill Focus: Knowledge in either Religion, Nature, or History without spending a feat on it. That way you can move Sculpt Spell to your 3rd level feat spot and you get spontaneous divination without missing out on anything.

I'm leery of using the Frog God's Fane - I always kind considered that pretty cheesy and my DM probably would too, and I don't really want to spend the cash. I kinda like Spontaneous Divination and it does indeed fit thematically (though I'm not sure if we're using the Paragnostic Apostle itself - the DM okayed the PrC, but hasn't gotten back to me on the setting info of whether the Assembly will be there in full or not). However, it's not really feasible since I want to get into Loremaster ASAP. I may just grab 10 levels of Wizard and grab it from there. I'll seriously consider it based on your arguments, though, once I find out the specifics about the setting.



Edit: Loremaster requires 10 ranks in some skills, which you have to be level 7 to get, so you can't start taking it until your 8th character level. If you're starting at level 6, the Paladin of Tyranny can't already have any Blackguard levels because it requires a +6 BAB.

:Headsmack: Right, duh. I was originally off on max skill points, which is what made me think I could get into Loremaster next level. Oh well, might as well grab another PA level first, or maybe Wizard if I decide to go for Spontaneous Divination at 10th level. (Also, I think the Paladin is on his WAY to Blackguard, doesn't actually have levels yet.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

As this game progressed, the developers began to realize the mistakes they'd made. There were certain things that they though were too powerful that actually weren't (casting spells in armor) and there were certain things that were designed so weak that they're not even worth using. For example, many prestige classes force a character to waste one or more feats just to qualify for them, as they have prerequisites that won't benefit any character in any significant way. Such feats include purely defensive abilities (Iron Will) and feats that help noncombat skills (Skill Focus: Knowledge or Spellcraft). There are also certain skills that they believe should have been allowed more versatility, so they print feats like Tactile Trapsmith and Agile Athlete. The designers 'fixed' these mistakes by making it easier to acquire such feats without actually spending one of your limited number of available feats on them. The locations in Complete Scoundrel allow a character to gain those feats through role playing, or if starting at too high a level to do that for a small fee, rather than wasting a feat on them. The locations are not cheesy, they're simply the designers' way of saying that they made a mistake in forcing characters to make suboptimal feat choices to take a desired prestige class.