[3.5] Necromancer Sorcerer

[SotF]

I'm in Freeport campaign that just reached level 3 (We started with Dead Man's Quest and are through the first three adventures in the Revised Trillogy book according to the DM), and my character was killed so I'm replacing my Faun Bard with a Necromancer via a Sorcerer.

The listed house rules have been

Max HP
Dead level bonus' from web enhancement
Arcane Disciple spells use the standard class casting stat, Doesn't Require a Deity and 1 spell from the list is automatically learned.
Up to 2 Flaws & 1 Trait
Action Points
Certain Spells may gain additional types if they fit (Currently approved ones by the DM are that the Summon Undead and Desecrate spells may be treated as Necromacy spells, though there are others that haven't been asked about or are inapplicable)
All characters may select 1 extra skill as a class skills, they must be "Focus" skills [Such as craft, knowledge, perform, profession, or similar] and 1 extra class skill from any other
Humans gain 1 extra language known at creation of their choice
All character gain "Special XP" in addition to their normal XP which can be used for enchanting items or for other special uses equal to 1/10 the normal XP gained +1000 at character creation. This may be used to negate negative levels or similar. Anyone with a crafting feat gains an additional 1000 special xp that may only be used in crafting per feat (Casters with any Craft Feat also gain the Transference spell as an always known spell). You may spend 1000 xp to gain a bonus feat (Limited list, not going into it, but it does include the extra spell feat)

Which shifts things slightly, and as I'm not attempting to overpower the other characters in the party combined with the lack of any arcane casting (Originally was going to have a Sorcerer in the starting party, but the player dropped out and the guy joining went with a Crusader as he wasn't wanting to mess with casting).

I'm using the Battle Sorcerer combined with the Stalwart Sorcerer and Focus Caster variant abilities and a focus on Necromacy. The DM decided that I could lose the bonus martial weapon proficiency from the Battle Sorcerer in exchange for not losing Bluff as a Class skill.

I've decided to play a human with this character and go for a neutral (selfish) character with chaotic leanings that might go with an alignment shift later on.

Of the feats I get, I've picked out a few. Arcane Disciple (Evil), Precocious Apprentice (Desecrate [From Arcane Disciple]) (Special spell slot unaffected by the Stalwart Sorcerer), Necromantic Bloodline. I'm going with the Scythe for the extra proficiency & focus which is also my Focus. I'm thinking about Corpsecrafter and I have no idea about the last one. I am using the special XP to gain the "Extra Spell feat" as well.

Flaws will be Phantom Spark & Haunted; and the Spellgifted (Necromacy) as the trait.

Point buy is set at 36 points as well.

This leaves me with 4 0th level known spells, 2+1 (Bloodline) 1st level known spells, and 1+1 (Arcane Disciple) +1 (Bloodline) 2nd level spells known. Of those I've got the 1st level ones (Summon Undead I, and Chill Touch)+ Cause Fear, and the the 2nd level (Desecrate and Command Undead)+Ghoul Touch. Prestidigitation, Touch of Fatigue, Detect Magic, and Light for the 0th level spells.

The end result is a nice mix so far, just not sure what to do in order to round the character out.

[Randomguy]

Stalwart and battle sorcerer are generally considered bad options, since they give you things that only stay while you take levels in sorcerer, and the penalties stay with you even after you prestige out. In general, for melee oriented sorcerers, a preferred tactic is to take a level or two of a full BAB class and then hit the gish PrC's.

For you, this isn't really an option, since gish builds only really start to get good at higher levels, but it's still not really worth taking stalwart sorcerer: At level 3, it gets you a total of +1 BAB, instead of +0. That doesn't even come close to worth it. You could keep battle sorcerer though, if you're so inclined, since the penalties for that aren't nearly as high.

If you're looking for a way to spend some of that bonus XP, you could spellstitch (it's a template in MM2 that gives undead spell like abilities) some of the undead that you create, or the ones that fall under your control.

I don't really see the point of desecrate as a spell known: It's not the kind of spell that needs to be cast very often, after all, so it's much better for prepared casters. In fact, the only time I'd see you actually needing to cast it is if you were going to be attacked by paladins and clerics, to stop their turn undead. Also, the benefits of actually casting it are small, especially since you can't actually create any undead yet. I suggest you pick a different spell. In fact, I'd recommend you take the Arcane disciple (Death) feat instead, so that you get access to animate dead earlier then normal.


Have you considered playing a dread necromancer? They're basically neromancy focused sorcerers, but they have a set spell list, actual class features and turn undead.

[SotF]

The big thing is that I'm stuck as the groups arcane character anyway, and desecrate ends up being useful as the campaign seems to be primarily ship based. A lot of the higher powered class options also tend to open the character up to DM fiat alot where he'll decide something is imbalanced compared to the party and kill the option.

And Stalwart doesn't actually seem that bad to me, +2 HP per level and decent skill with a single weapon in exchange for losing 1 known spell.

But the house rule for Arcane Disciple shifted again when I showed the DM the bloodline feats and he ruled that rather than just one spell from it, I get the whole set as known spells. I might go with either Death or Undeath domains for a second arcane disciple.

The DM also added that, if I want, I can take the Skeletal Minion and/or Enhanced Undead abilities from the Necromancer variant Wizard for feat choices.

The other current members of the party are a Swordsage, Favored Soul, Marshal (Formerly the Crusader, but he died in the same fight as my Bard), and Scout. My 6th level feat is going to be Undead Leadership (And the Marshal wants Leadership).