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ShneekeyTheLost
2011-01-11, 07:51 PM
Okay, I'm wanting to make a sorcerer who is going to be going into War Weaver and whose primary party roles will be Party Support and Battlefield Control/Nerf Button.

This is a cheese-light game. This means no Dragonwrought Kobolds, and no Legacy Champion (although Uncanny Trickster is available). Incantatrix is explicitly banned.

To give a point about how 'optimized' the party is...

The previous sorcerer character never once cast a spell, wore studded leather so had an ACF penalty anyways, had a Charisma score of 13 (and was NOT the highest score by any means), and refused to use a Longspear, in favor of his Club.

So yea. We're not exactly running Test of Spite here. :smallbiggrin:

Having said that, there are some characters which are a little bit better. The Rogue is pretty good, starting off with TWF, and has all the necessary skills for scout and box man roles. Furthermore, he actually comprehends the flanking rules, and used them to good effect. He's an Elf, and did so specifically because he wanted a chance to auto-spot concealed doors, which might actually have been a fairly good idea with this GM.

So, basically some of the party isn't in the 'sucktastic' category, but there are a couple who certainly are.

My character was the Cleric Healbot/Buffbot, but I may have to take over the Arcane Caster role, as no one else really knows how to effectively play one. Hopefully, I can coach the one who is taking the character over so it can continue to be effective.

So now, I'm looking to create an arcane support/battlefield control/nerf bat character. I'm explicitly not trying to steal thunder, so I'm not wanting to make things fall down myself, but rather make it so that the rest of the party feels useful and meaningfully contributes during any given encounter.

I'm also considering Bard with a focus on IC, simply because there's so many beatsticks in the party that the bonuses will really be helpful, particularly so when the Cleric gets DMM Chain Reach GMW/MV. However, I will be the ONLY arcane caster in the group, so I'm not sure if he will have the battlefield control necessary to fill the position once we start running up against immune to mind-affecting. The idea of a Bardblade or Bardsader is not an option, because the GM is not familiar with ToB, and so that would probably not be a good thing to try and introduce.

So what I'm wanting to do is build a character who buffs and debuffs. Someone who doesn't mix things up, but can make those that do much more effective. And something that doesn't smack of cheese or OptFu.

The reason I'm going to the board for help with this is that I have a hard time NOT optimizing my characters fairly hard, and I don't particularly want to make a cheese-monster this time 'round.

So if I go the Sorcerer route, I know i pick up some of the basic SoL battlefield control spells like Grease, Glitterdust, and Stinking Cloud. Haste is also a slam-dunk, since over half the party are beatsticks. GMW will be taken by the Cleric, so I don't need that. Other than that, what other spells would be good to put in the Weave for War Weaver PrC?

Keld Denar
2011-01-11, 07:58 PM
Bard gets most of the SoL spells you mention, and carries the IC buffage schtick you mentioned. I'd stay away from Words of Creation, as I think that's a little bit TOO much for most groups. Also, tread on DFI with care. My group things my +3d6 DFI at 8th level is the most broken thing since Wish, so yours might too. Bard really does sound perfect for you, though.

I'm not a great War Weaver expert. You could send a PM to Doc Roc though, he wrote the WW Black Tactica guide, or simply look up that guide. I think its on BG. I think there's also a complilated list of all Weavable spells on 339, assuming the gleemaxmonster hasn't sacrificed it to the time gods. Of course, with Acorn of Far Travels + Magic of the Land, EVERY spell is Weavable, so its up to you to decide if thats worth the potentially dirty looks.

If you take Arcane Disciple (Plant), you can weave Barkskin, which is kinda handy, considering how rare it generally is that PCs have NA bonuses.

ShneekeyTheLost
2011-01-11, 08:16 PM
Bard gets most of the SoL spells you mention, and carries the IC buffage schtick you mentioned. I'd stay away from Words of Creation, as I think that's a little bit TOO much for most groups. Also, tread on DFI with care. My group things my +3d6 DFI at 8th level is the most broken thing since Wish, so yours might too. Bard really does sound perfect for you, though.

I'm not a great War Weaver expert. You could send a PM to Doc Roc though, he wrote the WW Black Tactica guide, or simply look up that guide. I think its on BG. I think there's also a complilated list of all Weavable spells on 339, assuming the gleemaxmonster hasn't sacrificed it to the time gods. Of course, with Acorn of Far Travels + Magic of the Land, EVERY spell is Weavable, so its up to you to decide if thats worth the potentially dirty looks.

If you take Arcane Disciple (Plant), you can weave Barkskin, which is kinda handy, considering how rare it generally is that PCs have NA bonuses.

Spontaneous Cloistered Cleric is going with Soverign Speaker, and will be picking up Plant domain for spontaneous use Barkskin. Since it's only minutes/level, it's probably best to be able to be using it more than once a day.

I haven't been able to find the resources you previously mentioned, and I'm sure the party would consider AoFT + MotL to be the essence of 'ZOMG MUNCHKIN!!!111!ONE'

Bard, with judicious use of IC use (not going Words, since BoED/BoVD are banned) does start to sound like what I'd like to do, then...

The only problem with Bard Spellcasting is that it is so delayed... you don't get 3rd level spells until 7th level.

Keld Denar
2011-01-11, 08:19 PM
Yea, I'm having good luck with it. A Glitterdust here, a Haste there, a Confusion in between. Lyric Spell really beefs up your spellcasting potential, and Lyric Thamaturge nicely hooks you up with some handy low level debuffs like Ray of Enfeeblement. If you make it to higher levels, Sublime Chord keeps you a full spellcaster right about the time when IC starts getting kinda saggy, so you have access to higher level debuffs and disables like Radiant Assault or Freezing Fog.

Magic of the Land is in...Races of the Wild? Acorn of Far Travels is here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040710a). MotL makes any spell you cast give temp HP, so long as you are in a forest. Acorn makes it so that as long as you possess it, you are considered to be in a Haarulian forest. Since you are in a forest, MotL works, and because MotL makes the spell give temp HP, it qualifies as a weavable spell.