[3.5] Looking for a little Incantatrix advice

[Arros Winhadren]

I'm playing a Wizard for the very first time later this week and I've decided to go Incantatrix. We're using only the PHB (possibly PHBII), DMG and Player's Guide to Faerun; inclusion of material from the "Complete" series is possible but has to be run by the DM first. The DM is a sharp one and not likely to allow anything overpowered (besides Incantatrix, but that's only because the module is set in Faerun).

The game will be 10-17th level (we're running City of the Spider Queen, no spoilers please!) and I am a human with an 18 in Int, 16 in Con, 11 in Str and 13 in everything else. Currently I'm planning on starting as a Wizard 5/ Incantatrix 5, finishing up Incantatrix and then either returning to Wizard or going into Archmage but it's still open to suggestion. I'm mostly looking for suggestions for feats - since I'm going Incantatrix I figure I should shoot for mostly metamagic feats and possibly Skill Focus (Spellcraft) since the DM is unlikely to allow custom magic items that give a bonus to Spellcraft.

Any suggestions for feats, prestiges, class progressions or spells are very welcome! Again, material from anything outside of the PHBI and II, DMG and PGtF is unlikely to be allowed, but I'd love to hear about material from the Complete series if you think it's a "must-have".

Thanks for your help!

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Interesting. That means Persistent Spell is a +4 metamagic adjustment for you. Get that. Get anything, and I mean anything, that will boost your spellcraft. This includes skill focus, a masterwork tool of spellcraft, synergy bonus from K:Arcana, and (important for high level persists) other spellcasters in your party buffing you. They will want to do this, because you can persist their personal or fixed ranged buffs as well.

The Spellcraft DC for Metamagic Effect and Cooperative Metamagic are 18+3*[modified spell level]. To persist a 2nd level spell, you need to reliably make a spellcraft check of 36. Take 10 + 13 ranks + 6 int* + 3 spell focus + 2 masterwork tool + 2 synergy = 36

*+4 item or, failing that, fox's cunning. Worth it.

To persist a 5th level spell, you need another +9. I'll look into it.

[Greenish]

Heh, if you're not allowed anything overpowered except what is found from FR books, well, you're not missing much as a caster. :smalltongue:

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Casting Share Talents on you and your familiar will get you another unnamed +2. Heroism gets you +2 morale, though that wouldn't stack with a bard's inspire competence. I know it hurts, but you might also want to grab magical aptitude for the additional +2 bonus. It might be worth it to get a wand of Master's Touch for the +4 insight bonus... per spell. Use this, or just burn 2nd level spell slots, on the highest level persists.

A cleric party member can help with your skill check as well, and they have a lot to gain if you can persist their higher level spells. Guidance spam is pretty much a free +1 if you can't get a custom item. Prayer (which, I should note, you can persist at this point) gets you a +1 luck bonus, but again you need a Cleric.

If your DM rules that aid another is applicable to this check, that can get you anywhere between a +2 and +8 circumstance depending on your party (at least your familiar though).

That's all I can think of within your limitations, although given your situation you don't need every single bonus to persist 5th level spells.

[Arros Winhadren]

I'm also unsure of how to get the best out of my magic items: I believe we have 59,000 gold to spend on stuff from the DMG only. Right now I'm thinking of:
-Headband of Intellect +4 (16,000)
-Handy Haversack (2,000)
-Custom item of Spellcraft +10 (pending approval, 10,000)
-Blessed book (12,500)
-Any Metamagic rods I can afford

However, I'm also tempted to spend a bunch of money on a Wand of Fireball (CL 10) given that Incantatrix can apply metamagic to wands, but it's quite pricey. Any tips from vets on what's most useful?

Thanks for all of the advice so far! Keep it coming!

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

How does your DM price spellbook additions beyond the 2/level you get for free? You should be paying some money for that, especially if you're investing a lot upfront in the blessed book to reduce that cost. Maybe spend some time trapping it, too, or at least creating a mundane backup somewhere. The effort you spend protecting your spellbook depends on what type of DM you have. Sometimes the best solution is security through obscurity.

I wouldn't blow all your money on a high CL wand; if you use metamagic to make it super-effective, you'll burn up all the charges before you can even say "Meet the fire-immune BBEG." If you're going to get wands, your best bet is wands of spells which don't rely on caster level or spell DCs so you can get the much cheaper "basic" versions. Detect Magic, Enlarge Person, Knock, and Sleet Storm are good candidates (along with the previously-mentioned skill increasing spells).

If you can get a custom item of spellcraft... get it as high as you can. The fewer other non-wealth resources you must use on pumping spellcraft, the better. If your spellcraft is high enough, you can use Metamagic Effect to extend your persisted spells, allowing your buffs to last 48 hours for more efficient use of spell slots (stagger your buffs, though).

As far as metamagic rods, I'd nab a couple lesser rods of extend for your lower level buffs and maybe a lesser rod of quicken for more action economy, though this gets pricey. Another potential way to spend your money is a ring of counterspells with Dispel Magic in it, and eventually one with Greater Dispel Magic in it. If you're going to have a bunch of buffs up, you don't want someone to ruin your day by stripping you of all your glorious magical enhancements. Which reminds me, I highly suggest persisting Greater Invisibility. It's hard to really focus down and dispel someone you can't target.

[faceroll]

Item Familiar, super-cheesy, super-risky, but greatly lowers your investment in things, lets you pimp the hell out of your skills.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

UA is technically not an allowed source here. With all sources open, I would have suggested an elven generalist domain wizard (Trans or Conj) with, indeed, an item familiar. I think Yukitsu had the bright idea of giving said item the lodestone curse to minimize the risk. The speed penalty doesn't really matter when you have Swift Fly persisted on you.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Say your character visited the Otyugh Hole detailed in Complete Scoundrel to get Iron Will for 3,000 gp without spending a feat on it.

See if you can get Master Specialist in Complete Mage, start out Wizard 3/ Master Specialist 2/ Incantatrix 5. You'll spend a feat on Spell Focus but get Skill Focus: Spellcraft for free, definitely worth it unless you were going generalist which isn't recommended. Specialize in Conjuration, get the Abrupt Jaunt ACF in PH2, pick Evocation and Enchantment as your prohibited schools and ban Necromancy for Incantatrix. After Incantatrix 10 get one level of Archmage for Arcane Reach, so you can Persist touch-range spells, and consider more Archmage and/or more Master Specialist.

You can get a Spellcraft bonus item as high as +30 pre-epic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/basics.htm). Its cost should be (bonus squared) x100 gp (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm), and you should definitely make it a monocle.

In the spirit of being a metamagic-focused caster, see if you can get metamagic feats from other books, such as Fell Drain in Libris Mortis, Invisible Spell in Cityscape, Twin Spell in Complete Arcane, and Easy Metamagic in Dragon magazine issue 325. You should also get Arcane Thesis (PH2) for a choice spell. The rest just falls into place. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197237#20)

[Keld Denar]

If you want to get the most mileage out of a spell trigger item, get the feat "Residual Magic" from Complete Mage. On top of being really cost effective for metamagic, it also let's you cast a spell, then use a spell trigger item of the same spell the next round at full CL. That means you can buy a CL 5 Wand of Fireball, as you mentioned, then cast a normal Fireball followed the next round by one from the wand, and both will be at your normal spell CL. That's free money, right there!

[Flawless]

I'm not sure, but in the discrption for metamagic effect, it does't say that the daily usage is wasted if you don't make your spellcraft check. So, as long you can make the check with a 20 (and the spell's duration doesn't run out) you could simply try until you roll high enough.