[3.5] help making a belgarathesque gnome

[Kidemonas]

I'm sitting here, sipping some Ardbeg and trying to figure out what best suits the concept that I have in mind right now. I'm making a level 5 character for a campaign set in Faerûn and the image of Belgarath from David Eddings' book series The Belgariad and The Malloreon keeps popping up in my head for some reason (and this has been the case for months - can't help it). So I figure it is reasonable to portray this character in a somewhat similar fashion; knowledgeable, charming and, of course, a great spellcaster.
I'm thinking beguiler or wizard (probably transmuter - sure gnomes 'should' be illusionists what with their bonuses and all, but transmuter makes more sense).
The sorcerer class is very restricted in terms of spellcasting versatility and so, it seems a crappy choice for this type of character.

I'm thinking a middle-aged gnome (Belgarath is no gnome, but I'm not making a clone) with ranks in diplomacy, bluff, disguise and so forth. Now, the beguiler happens to have these as class skills, PLUS it has 6 SP/lvl (which would grant 24 additional class skill ranks vis-à-vis the wizard @ lvl 5 - no small thing), hence my considering the beguiler.
The problem I have with the beguiler is that it basically only masters illusion and enchantment - a poor, to say the least, approximation of the world-sundering powers I have in mind for a character like this. On the other hand the beguiler is a spontaneous caster which is a bit more reasonable.
Also, if I go wizard, I can't 'carelessly' throw skill points into things like diplomacy (or brewing, for that matter!).

I wish there was a way to give the wizard more skill points without wasting feats (but sacrificing something else, OR to make a variant beguiler somewhat more focused on the more tangible sides of magic.
Our DM is not too happy about 'odd' stuff but neither is he really against homebrew. Hm, so do any of you guys have any solutions? :smallsmile:

[Alleran]

I've often thought of sorcerers as a rather good class to portray Belgarath, Polgara and their ilk, actually. Although another good class would be the Psion. It emphasises the spontaneous nature of their casting, their "will" (power points - and they only have so many each day - plus Overchannel), and can represent their knowing a variety of techniques but still allowing each to have their own area of expertise.

Belgarath also points out to I think Garion at one stage that Polgara can do things he can't, he can do things Polgara can't, Beldin can do things neither of them can, they can do things Beldin can't, and so on and so forth. Because their minds work differently and they see certain things in a certain way (and approach problems as such), they all have their own areas of expertise.

[Kidemonas]

Yeah, the spontaneous casting sure makes more sense, and I also recall the discussion to which you are referring. At any rate, I think my main problem right now is one of skill ranks. A Belgarath-type character should at least have great diplomacy (perhaps intimidate?), not just be able to blast people with spells. The exact nature of the casting is not as important. Psion could be a great choice, but I know that our DM is not too fond of that idea. :smallconfused:

[Kidemonas]

I'm considering taking one level of bard (gnomes' favoured class) to get access to diplomacy, bluff, disguise and bardic knowledge. On the other hand, I'm not really interested in bard cantrips. Aren't there any better ways to pull this off?

[Draz74]

Yeah, I always thought the original Belgarath was best represented by a Psion (with a first-level dip in Rogue).

[Tvtyrant]

Wouldn't a Beguiler Shadowcrafter be the best representation?

[Alleran]

Wouldn't a Beguiler Shadowcrafter be the best representation?
Belgarath is significantly more "blasty" oriented than his daughter is, along with a number of transmutations and so on (possibly a Kineticist, or whatever the Psionic domain is that has things like Ultrablast and stuff). He does have access to illusory magic and knows a bit about mind-affecting stuff (off the top of my head, he creates an illusion of the sun coming up at one point, and at another stimulates the pain centers of the brain), but doesn't rely on it. When he fights, it's usually with evocations, transmutations, and probably some orb-of-X stuff. Out of combat, he mostly uses transmutation (polymorph especially - he's a big fan of polymorph) or just relies on his wits (i.e. dipping for a couple of Rogue levels).

Polgara would probably be a good fit for a telepath and general illusionist-type character, though.

[Lateral]

Yeah, I might make Polgara a Shadowcraft Mage, but not Belgarath.

Actually, Beldin. It might fit Polgara, but I don't think she'd make a good gnome. :smallwink:

@V: I always pinned him as a Feral Gnome shadowcraft mage.

[Alleran]

Actually, Beldin. It might fit Polgara, but I don't think she'd make a good gnome. :smallwink:
I'm not sure about Beldin's class layout. We never really saw him do much with his abilities beyond what most sorcerers pull off in the series (polymorphing, translocation, telekinesis and so on), so it's hard to pin down his specialty (though his experiments with transmutation and being the first of the group to learn how to change his shape could imply that he might specialise in that area to some extent).

He definitely has an extremely high INT modifier, though, and probably casts spells/manifests powers with that as his casting stat. He's also extremely strong (enough to pick up and throw a rather hefty blacksmith - Durnik - several yards with just one hand), so maybe some Dwarf race or another.

[Kidemonas]

I'm thinking about Belgarath's personality at least as much as I'm thinking about his spellcasting. While personality could rely entirely on roleplaying, I think that skill ranks reasonably should reflect his knowledges and edges to some degree.
Now, a level of bard sort of makes sense to me; not having him play an instrument, but perhaps having something like "perform: recital". :smalltongue: Is that at all viable? The bard cantrips seem nigh useless to a wizard though.

As for blasting, I actually consider dropping evocation - again, I'm not making a Belgarath clone - because, well... we have a duskblade in the group, and I picture this character as representing wits and erudition rather than pure force.