Need help on an idea

[razorback]

Long time lurker, first time poster... I think.


Anyways, invited to a lvl 17 game and was planning on being a Wiz3(abj spec)/MSpecial7/ISFV7 but not sure about the rest of the party mix, so I was throwing around an idea I had based on an NPC I ran about 8 or 9 years ago..
The BBG was a fighter type who had buffed his use magic device in order to cast the AMF scrolls he had. I don't remember if he didn't any class dips or what not at this point, but I remember the Adamantine greatsword and armor.

So, I'm thinking that, as a backup in case the party is arcane heavy, of duplicating the idea in optimized form. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Waker]

Well, what books do you have at your disposal?
So your goal is to make a melee heavy guy that can Use Magic Device? Well there are any number of ways to do that, but I'll see what resources you can use first.

[razorback]

I have access and use of all 3.0/3.5 material.
No restrictions on class or race with 6 others I've never played with before.

[Waker]

Well, the most obvious choices for a spellcasting warrior is a Duskblade from PHII or a Hexblade from Complete Warrior. Sadly neither of these provide you with Use Magic Device, but since they have spell lists it would let you activate certain magic items.
But if you wanted something a bit more unorthodox you could take Warlock 4/X 13 instead. Taking 4 levels of Warlock gives you the ability to take a 10 on Use Magic Device and three Least invocations, something like Eldritch Glaive, Seen the Unseen and Baleful Utterance would be best.
A few levels in Rogue or Spellthief could benefit you as well, especially if you went with Master Spellthief (Complete Scoundrel) to stack with an arcane class, letting you wade into the melee and steal spells from your enemies.
A somewhat useful list of variant feats you might like is in Dragon 355. It lists Fighter feats that let you bond with your armor and give you several useful traits, like ignoring the weight of the armor or giving you evasion.

[Vangor]

The BBG was a fighter type who had buffed his use magic device in order to cast the AMF scrolls he had.

Runescarred Berserker from Unapproachable East has the ability to scribe runescars, with a fifth level runescar being antimagic field. Requires no check to activate, only a standard action, permits seven of them, easily replenished, and gives a good selection. You'll still gain greater rage, damage reduction, and additional rages, plus some natural armor.

As well, though you would not personally be scribing scrolls you activate via UMD, the cost is significantly less. In general, 40% less expensive due to costing 5xSLxCL rather than 12.5xSLxCL, but effectively far less. AMF to an RSB is a 5th level spell requiring a CL 9, while AMF is a 6th level Wiz/Sorc spell requiring a CL 11, meaning you'll spend 225gp and 9xp as opposed to 825gp and 33xp. Added bonus with RSB over UMD being you can do this yourself.

Another way of doing this, at least, if you're comfortable with a barbarian.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Arcane Gish, Extraordinary Spell Aim, Widened AMF, Metamagic Effect: Persistent Spell. Fighter 2/ Wizard 4/ Spellsword 1/ Incantatrix 4/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Eldritch Knight or Knight Phantom 4 at 20th. With Int 18 base, +2 race, +4 levels, +1 age, +5 inherent, +6 enhancement = 36, you can use Metamagic Effect sixteen times per day. Wear a Ring of Sustenance (double price to not take an item space, or +50% cost added to another ring), take first watch, and cast your buffs just before you rest. If they somehow get dispelled during the day you have them all prepared so you can get to safety and rebuff without delaying the rest of the party for a day.

Feats: Power Attack, Leap Attack, Arcane Strike, Combat Reflexes, Practiced Spellcaster, get Iron Will via the Otyugh Hole, Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, Widen Spell, Extraordinary Spell Aim, you should still have one open feat and if going EK one Fighter bonus feat. Arcane Disciple: Destiny and either Improved Toughness or Improved Initiative. Pick any race that gets +2 Int, such as Gray Elf. Ability score priority goes (base) Int > Con > Str 16 > Wis 14 > Dex > Cha dump. Str must be 16, -2 race, -1 age, 13 is the minimum to get Power Attack. Wis must be 14, +1 age, +4 Owl's Wisdom, to cast a 9th level domain spell via Arcane Disciple. You'll have a continually buffed Str far beyond that, but keep it at least 13 just to play it safe. Trade Ride for Tumble as a class skill (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) every time it comes up and try to have max ranks in it. Concentration and Spellcraft are your highest priorities, you'll need Jump for Leap Attack and Kn: Arcana is good to keep up there. If any class grants Spot, Listen, or Sense Motive, spend that class' ranks in it since you can always catch your other skills up later.

Metamagic Effect: Persistent: Shield, Wraithstrike, Draconic Polymorph: War Troll*, Thunderlance, Widened ESA AMF, Ray Deflection, Bladeweave, Greater Mirror Image, Swift Expeditious Retreat, Swift Fly, Displacement, Bite of the Werebear, Dragonsight, and three more I'm sure there's something I've missed.
With Arcane Disciple: Destiny you can have Persistent Choose Destiny once you get 9th level spells, go Wis 14 base, +1 age, and cast Owl's Wisdom before buffing.
*When you go into town you can Alter Self into yourself and your ability scores will be unchanged, you can just dismiss the Alter Self and go back into War Troll form. Due to the ruling that the most current change in form supersedes previous ones, Alter Self should also undo the bite and claw modifications of Bite of the Werebear but you would keep its other bonuses.

Hour/Level Buffs which should be (Rod of) Extended: Heart of Air/Water/Earth/Fire, Greater Magic Weapon (on the Thunderlance), Greater Luminous Armor, Moment of Prescience (not extended, prepared multiple times)... There has to be something I missed, but I'm drawing a blank right now.

Already 24 Hour Duration Buffs: You can split these into two groups, use a (Greater) Rod of Extend on all of them, and alternate which group of spells you cast each day: Energy Immunity x5 (prepare one fewer each day, use a Pearl of Power), Superior Resistance (extended normally), Mind Blank. A split would be something like Superior Resistance, Mind Blank, Energy Immunity (prepared once, cast twice with the pearl) on one day, Energy Immunity (prepared twice, cast three times with the pearl) on the next day, alternate between those groups of spells. That will cost you two 7th level spells every day, and an 8th level spell every other day, so just pick a different 8th level spell to prepare on the off days such as another Moment of Prescience and keep track of which day you're on.

Don't forget about Permanency! See Invisibility, Arcane Sight, and Tongues should be sufficient.

Get a Ring of Freedom of Movement with a Deflection bonus to AC added (MIC), Ring of Arcane Might, Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Necklace of Adaptation, Robe of Useful Items (hilariously useful), 7th level Pearl of Power, one Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend, one standard Metamagic Rod of Extend, and one Greater Metamagic Rod of Extend, probably a few Lesser Metamagic Rod of Quicken, Monk's Belt (take Carmendine Monk since you won't be wearing armor), Rod of Bodily Restoration (to fix the Greater Luminous Armor str damage, though you should heal it on casting Draconic Polymorph)
Something that grants a Competence bonus to Spellcraft checks at +30 (highest pre-epic skill bonus you can get (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/basics.htm)) which is only 90,000 gp. I'd make it a lens or a monocle.
Hat of Anonymity at caster level 20 (same price as printed RAW, or 28,750 gp if the DM insists on having an increased price for a higher caster level) with an Enhancement bonus to Intelligence added (MIC).
Starmantle Cloak (any weapons that strike you will be rendered nonmagical by the AMF and be automatically destroyed, including both manufactured and natural weapons).
I didn't do any pricing on any of that, so there's probably some stuff you won't be able to afford, so prioritize. A +6 Int item and the Spellcraft bonus item, along with the various grades of Rods of Extend, are your first choices. Put a dozen invisible Arcane Marks on everything, so you'll be able to find them if you get robbed.

Charge, Power Attack two handed for your full BAB, Leap Attack, Arcane Strike, obliterate anything you hit. Your Thunderlance has a 20 ft. natural reach, 25 ft. from your character if it starts an extra square away because you already have a 10 ft. reach, so you can AoO anything that moves. War Troll form gets you Dazing Blow, and you have Persistent Bladeweave, so your charge target must save twice or lose a round, anyone you AoO must save or lose a round. Between Str 47 (War Troll plus Bite of the Werebear) and Wraithstrike you should never miss anything. Keep some crowd control spells handy like Web, Black Tentacles, and Freezing Fog.

Note that Extraordinary Spell Aim makes your AMF not affect your character, including your attended items and extensions of your character such as the Thunderlance and Greater Mirror Image. If you start your charge without the Thunderlance extended to its full reach you can charge close enough that they're inside the AMF, and they won't benefit from any buffs or magic items or effects, including supernatural defenses such as a racial deflection bonus to AC. Incorporeal creatures will cease to exist inside the AMF, so attack them with your 25 ft. reach. AMF doesn't block Line of Effect for spells, so you can still be hit by AoO's centered outside of it and any spell that targets you through it. Ray Deflection makes any spell that requires a ranged touch attack automatically fail, such as Rays and Orbs. You should have max Spellcraft ranks and you can make a Contingency set to trigger a (Greater) Invisibility on you if you notice someone casting a spell that would actually affect your character, such as Destruction, since a single-targeted spell requires Line of Sight to work and your Hat of Anonymity would hopefully block See Invisibility and True Seeing, assuming Mind Blank doesn't. That Contingency would make such spells automatically fail because there would be no Line of Sight when the spell completes and thus no valid target. Also note that if someone else has an AMF active and moves close enough it will affect you normally, so Spellcraft everything and be careful.

[razorback]

Thanks guys.

I like the Warlock idea. While not optimal, I think I might like the flavor of Warlock/Rogue/Shadowdancer(HIPS ability), being a backup skill monkey/face-man that can get into combat first with opposing spellcaster (via either Flee the Scene or other means) and hopefully neutralize him with AMF and/or sneak attacks. Possibly Catfolk, even with the level, for the bonus to dex & cha plus the extra speed.
I realize that this is suboptimal and, per my plan, most of my Warlock and Shadowdancer abilities would be negated by AMF.
Realizing that this guy will be bard-ish --> meaning that he isn't going to be great (or, possibly, not even good) at anything, I'm looking to flavorize the character and be more of a neutralizer (diminish other guys spell-casters, use high movement to get into flanking positions to both sneak attack and provide bonus's to any party tanks, and teamwork with specialist when possible), anyone seeing any other glaring flaws or ways to tweek him so he isn't splatted in the first couple of encounters?


Edit: I always find it funny that flavor = suboptimal. :smalltongue:

[razorback]

As I'm sitting here doing some homework it occours to me that I may be making this more painful than it needs to be...
Are there any items like a ring that casts AMF X#/day?