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Barmacral
2009-10-19, 02:06 PM
So, I'm building an Ultimate Magus (complete mage) with the base classes being the Beguiler / Wizard. Both of these classes rely on Intellect for spells. Now I need to itemize my character, and I want to maximise how much Intellect I can get.

Here's the restrictions:

125 000 gold
level 13
No major items (medium max... I'll be able to upgrade to major versions later in the campaign)

So far I've found the Ioun Stone for 8000gp that gives +2 int and the headband that gives +4 int. What other items give +Int that I can pick up? I wouldn't mind knowing about items I can't use yet, since I should be able to get them later.

Foryn Gilnith
2009-10-19, 02:08 PM
Ioun Stone and Headband of Intellect are both enhancement bonuses, and thus don't stack. Enhncement bonuses, besides age, are pretty much the only options for Int increase. Dex can snag Sacred and unnamed IIRC.

Kylarra
2009-10-19, 02:09 PM
You can only have one +int item normally, since they're all enhancement bonuses and won't stack with each other.

Dhavaer
2009-10-19, 02:12 PM
If for some reason you have access to the Book of Erotic Fantasy, you can get between +6 and +10 to Intelligence with the Tantric feat, the Orbs of Enlightenment and the Rod of the Erotic Spirit, depending on how many free feats you have.

Claudius Maximus
2009-10-19, 02:16 PM
Don't forget about the three ability score increases you have for being level 13. A lot of people overlook these, in my experience.

Are you settled on a race? Perhaps go for a race that boosts intelligence, or maybe be a Dragonwrought Kobold for effectively +3 int from aging bonuses.

Tyndmyr
2009-10-19, 02:17 PM
There's a +6 int headband too. As mentioned, stacking is a problem, since almost all items use enhancement. +6 headband is what, a bit over 30k gold?

You can also buy a tome to get an inherent bonus, but frankly, buying wishes is probably cheaper. I believe this goes up to +5, but that might break your budget.

What I actually reccomend for the enhancement bonus is getting the best head item you like with other abilities, then using the rules at the end of MIC to add a +6 int bonus to it. Slightly more expensive, but more value from your item slot.

ex cathedra
2009-10-19, 02:19 PM
If I recall correctly, the Ioun Stone grants a +2 enhancement bonus. As such, it won't stack with the Headband of Intellect +4/+6. A Tome of Clear Thought +1 grants a +1 inherent bonus to intelligence, for 27.5kgp. The Major version of that tome grants a bonus from +2 to +5, depending on how much you're willing to spend.

If you'd like, there's a way to save money on your Inherent Bonus to Intelligence. The Codex Anathema grants +2 intelligence, -2 wisdom, and various free skill ranks. It's roughly 2/3 of the price of a +2 intelligence Tome of Clear Thought. The Codex Anathema is in Lords of Madness.

Foryn Gilnith
2009-10-19, 02:20 PM
If you can afford to, get aged up (Bestow Curse can do this) for moar Int/Wis/Cha.

Fluffles
2009-10-19, 02:24 PM
If you can afford to, get aged up (Bestow Curse can do this) for moar Int/Wis/Cha.

If you are going to be old as **** you might want to be a polyhoar.

Barmacral
2009-10-19, 02:29 PM
Didn't know that the bonuses won't stack, DM doesn't know that either, but thats good to know.

The +6 headband is a major item, which I'm not allowed to have yet. My character will upgrade to that at the first opportunity though.

The Tome of Clear thought can only be used once, so I hope to eventually afford a +5 tome.

I have got my stats in there already, this is actually character number three I've rolled for this campaign (first was a sorcerer who attempted to fireball the group... he's now an enemy for later, second was a ninja... who sucks).

The race is the elf variant that gives +2 Int, -2 Strength.

I'll have to look into buying a wish, since I'm not at a level where I can cast those yet.

Where can I go to find out more about aging? I don't know anything about that or how that works.

SurlySeraph
2009-10-19, 02:37 PM
@^: The Aging Effects table on this page (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/description.htm#age).

Random832
2009-10-19, 02:39 PM
The Tome of Clear thought can only be used once, so I hope to eventually afford a +5 tome.

Really? I thought you can technically use them multiple times, they just don't stack. (so if you use a +2 now and a +5 later, you only have +5 as your final inherent bonus), so the earlier ones are a waste of money overall.

They also don't stack with wishes, FYI. (and wishes don't stack, but can give a bigger bonus if cast multiple times in "immediate succession")

By RAW, hiring a Wish spell costs 26,530 GP for a 17th-level caster (and is therefore "not generally available"). You're not really saving much vs buying a tome (27,500 per point bonus).

Generally there are three kinds of bonuses to ability scores. Racial, Inherent (Tomes and Wishes), and Enhancement (everything else).

Racial bonus to Int:
Fire Elf: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Con -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), unearthed arcana pg.17
Gray Elf: -2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con +2 Int, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), monster manual pg.104
Sun Elf: +2 Int -2 Con, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), forgotten realms pg.15
Deep Imaskari: +2 Int -2 Dex, medium, 30 ft., spell clutch (su), wizard, humanoid (human), underdark pg.9
Tinker Gnome: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Str -2 Wis, small, 20 ft., special, dragonlance campaign setting pg.27
Vanara: -2 Str +2 Int +2 Wis, medium, 30 ft. climb 20 ft., spirit shaman, humanoid (vanara), oriental adventures pg.15

Gorbash
2009-10-19, 03:51 PM
The +6 headband is a major item, which I'm not allowed to have yet. My character will upgrade to that at the first opportunity though.

At level 13?! Ridiculous. Your DM is being an ass. I got my at like 10th lvl.


The Tome of Clear thought can only be used once, so I hope to eventually afford a +5 tome.

Yeah, but since Tome +5 is the same price as 5 +1 Tomes there's no reason why you just couldn't 'upgrade' it 4 times. See with your DM if he'd allow that, but given the idiotic rule above... doubt it, but worth a shot.


The race is the elf variant that gives +2 Int, -2 Strength.

That's in addition to standard elf racial modifiers, which are +2 Dex -2 Con.

Siosilvar
2009-10-19, 03:56 PM
At level 13?! Ridiculous. Your DM is being an ass. I got my at like 10th lvl. No, his DM isn't. The DMG encourages the DM to set a price limit on a single item... 1/4 total wealth is one of the examples given, and with 125K gp, 36K is just out of reach of that.

Tyndmyr
2009-10-19, 04:11 PM
1/4 total wealth is a bit of a harsh limit, though. 1/2 is much more reasonable...assuming that limits are needed at all.

To put this in perspective, Im on track to get my +6 headband at level 7 in one campaign. Admittedly, Im lowest in party, so my WBL is a bit high, but still.

I think the better question is, why do you want to max your int? Spell save DCs? There's other ways to modify that. Bonus Spells? There's a feat to boost that. Mind you, I suggest these in addition to maxing int, not as a replacement.

Kylarra
2009-10-19, 04:12 PM
Pearls of power are also a neat way to get "bonus" spells.

Curmudgeon
2009-10-19, 06:07 PM
If you're considering buying Wishes, also consider Miracles as an alternative. Wish and Miracle can generally accomplish the same thing as far as inherent bonuses (because an item crafter can use either to make a Tome), but Miracle doesn't have the restrictions that Wish does. You just need to convince your deity (read DM) you deserve a +1 stat boost when you've already had one or more previously.

Barmacral
2009-10-19, 06:11 PM
At level 13?! Ridiculous. Your DM is being an ass. I got my at like 10th lvl.

Nobody else in the group currently has major items, some previous characters did have some, but as of currently that isn't the case, so its keeping things balanced.

Foryn Gilnith
2009-10-19, 06:19 PM
At level 13?! Ridiculous. Your DM is being an ass. I got my at like 10th lvl.

Well, a 3-level gap isn't unreasonable if you were lucky with items and he was unlucky. Also, they get 15k more gp than usual (funny, thought 13th-level chars had less gp than they do for some reason).