PDA

View Full Version : Chameleon need advice



Mezmote
2010-08-16, 11:14 AM
I'm gonna play in a new campaign that starts in 2 weeks. The group will be comprised of:

A Paladin of freedom/Kensai

A Swift Hunter Ranger/Scout

A Swashbuckler/Rogue

And me, so i decided to play the fifth wheel (or fourth wheel i guess).

The campaign starts at level 10, point buy 24. Most completes are allowed except Mage, as the DM finds the classes (like abjurant champion and Ultimate Magus) too overpowered compared to many other Prestige classes. Tome of Battle and Magic are banned, but feats from either (as well as complete mage) may be used for flavor and everything non-cheese. No psionics or Incarnum.

As you might have guessed, the DM wants us to play decent and casual characters, and I tossed out the idea of playing a chameleon. Semi good at everything type. It seems the other characters will provide tanks and damage, so I will most likely be the utility/buff/healing guy.

This is the build I have in mind:
Human Paragon 1/Beguiler 1-2/Human Paragon 2-3/Chameleon 10/something X

I would take Diplomacy as the Adaptive Learning Class Skill as it is a wonderful tool (both flavor and mechanically) and chameleon doesn't have it as a class skill.

I need some advice on which feats I should use (besides Able Learner being an obvious inclusion), as well as spells for the arcane and divine list. I want him to focus on utility and party buff, and I imagine that he would use arcane and divine aptitude quite often and together.

I would also like to hear some good ideas for the last 5 levels.

Thanks for your help in advance =)

kestrel404
2010-08-16, 02:06 PM
First, Beguiler/Chameleon is pretty nice, although the synergy is not so great. You may want to consider Factotum instead. Second, Take your beguiler levels first, then Human paragon. You get more skill points that way, with no down side that I can see.

As for the 'Adaptive Learning' skill, you can virtually ignore it. To get into chameleon, you need the able learner feat - which means that if any skill is ever a class skill, it will always be a class skill. So, thanks to Adaptive Learning and the Human Paragon's 'choose 10' class skills, you effectively get any 11 class skills you want, plus whatever chameleon or beguiler has, minus what you need as a class skill to get into chameleon.

Attributes: Just so you remember, you want both Int and Wis to be at least 16, so that you can get the most out of Chameleon casting. Int is just slightly more important, for more skill points, and I'd use the HuPar3 stat bump on Int for that reason. You can leave charisma at around 14, since you're probably never going to get more than CL8 in Beguiler anyway.

Other feats: Well, you'll be getting a new feat to choose from every day. For that reason, you may want to pick up a couple of 'gateway feats', i.e. feats that are the pre-reqs to a lot of other good feats, like Combat Reflexes and Combat Focus (PHBII).

As for those last 5 levels, I would suggest Magical Trickster and Uncanny Trickster, to round out your 'I can do everything' schtick, or else Fortune's Friend. Either one will advance your original caster levels some more (not that it will mean much at level 16+), while giving you some interesting options. Unfortunately, once you get to Chameleon 10, there's not a lot more you can do with that.

TooManyBadgers
2010-08-16, 02:11 PM
This handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=8750.0) pretty much says everything I was going to say, and has a list of low-level spells from various lists.

If you want to get abusive, use Dungeonscape's Trapsmith's spell list extensively. If you want to get your DM to accept things, stick with the Adept, Bard, Paladin and Ranger lists for reduced-level spell slots.

Gnaeus
2010-08-16, 03:39 PM
Attributes: Just so you remember, you want both Int and Wis to be at least 16, so that you can get the most out of Chameleon casting. Int is just slightly more important, for more skill points, and I'd use the HuPar3 stat bump on Int for that reason.

I disagree. Divine casting is much stronger for chameleons, because on any given day they can pick the best spells from (Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Paladin, Blackguard, Adept & maybe Domains, Divine Bard, Shugenja, and PRCs, depending on DM and campaign). On the arcane side, they are likely to have many fewer spells available, and spell access is limited to what they can scribe. That makes wisdom more important, at least for the first several levels of the class.

Mezmote
2010-08-17, 08:02 AM
It was my understanding that the Int and Wis scores didn't affect the spell casting (besides providing bonus spells per day). I don't need a certain amount of Int or Wis to cast the spells I'm sure.

Good thinking with the Beguiler first. I just take Able Learner at first level anyway, so might as well get some bonus skill points.

Able learner still won't change to max rank of cross class skills, and my thought was to max out diplomacy. Therefore I'll stick to it. Could 5 levels of Master of Masks help out a bit? It would certainly add a few extra gadgets, small bonus to caster level and attack+damage. But I'm not sure if it's worth it. I mean, I'd have to use 8 points for cross class skill Perform (Act).

true_shinken
2010-08-17, 08:07 AM
I disagree. Divine casting is much stronger for chameleons, because on any given day they can pick the best spells from (Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Paladin, Blackguard, Adept & maybe Domains, Divine Bard, Shugenja, and PRCs, depending on DM and campaign). On the arcane side, they are likely to have many fewer spells available, and spell access is limited to what they can scribe. That makes wisdom more important, at least for the first several levels of the class.

Extra Spell makes this pretyt much a non-issue unless you have time constraints.

Roc Ness
2010-08-17, 08:48 AM
If you're playing a chameleon, the best advice I can give is: invest in enough Int or Wis (doesn't matter which) to get good divination spells. For a chameleon, preparation is everything. Otherwise you'll either be playing ineffectively, or you're focusing on only one aptitude focus (effectively not playing a chameleon at all).

Gnaeus
2010-08-17, 09:04 AM
Extra Spell makes this pretyt much a non-issue unless you have time constraints.

Or money constraints. Also, it is probably RAW illegal, since it uses an ability gained from your aptitude focus (spellcasting) to qualify for it. Some DMs may let it slide though.