E6 musings

[Azernak0]

I have been in an E6 campaign and I have been looking through what was possible with E6. I find it kind of weird just how much stronger certain things are. It seems to me that a Beguiler 5 / Mage of the Arcane Order 1 is a better Wizard than a Wizard. What are some other oddities with E6?

[Madara]

You can make the Mindbender dip, which is wonderful. Allowing the highlight of the PrC, Telepathy and Mindsight.

[gorfnab]

Paladin 5/ Beastmaster 1 with the feats Devoted Tracker and Natural Bond has an extremely strong mount.

[Azernak0]

Oh, right! A Ranger is the best E6 class. Mystic + Wildshape is basically a Druid with better BAB and better spells with Sword of the Arcane Order.

Yeah, E6 is certainly different :smalltongue:

[Urpriest]

Paladin 5/ Beastmaster 1 with the feats Devoted Tracker and Natural Bond has an extremely strong mount.

Especially if you take Sandstorm seriously when it says you can choose a Diprotodon as a mount, and neglect the fact that they obviously meant to say Protoceratops.

[Endarire]

You can still cast L9 spells with trickery.

A Cleric6 with Earth Spell, DMM: Heigthen Spell, and Extra Spell: miracle can cast, y'know, miracle.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Venerable Spellhoarding Dragonwrought Desert Kobold Loredrake
Martial Wizard (Conjurer) 1/ Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 4/ Mindbender 1

ACF benefits: Enchantment and Evocation prohibited; Abrupt Jaunt; Improved Initiative; proficiency in one light or one-handed martial weapon; Martial Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus in any melee weapon of your choice; Hummingbird familiar (+4 initiative, Thrush stats).

Draconic Rite of Passage at 1st (Charm Person), Greater Draconic Rite of Passage at 6th.
Scribe Scroll and Eschew Materials free via Spellhoarding.

HD: 2d4+4d8+4+(6*Con); BAB +3 (fractional +4); Base saves Fort +3, Reflex +1, Will +8 (fractional F +4, R +2, W +5), 2 skill points/level.

Feats 1st-6th: One flaw, Dragonwrought, Collegiate Wizard, Draconic Reserve, Mindsight.

Wizard spellcasting capability: 9th level, specialized in Conjuration.
You automatically know two 5th, four 4th, four 3rd, four 2nd, and a variable number of 1st level spells. Spells are written on your scales, so there's no risk of losing a spellbook.

You can copy the same spells onto your scales multiple times, and spend copies for various abilities granted by Spellhoarding. You can even counterspell an opponent's spell to automatically learn it and gain a scribed copy of it on your scales. You can then prepare and cast it like any other spell, even if it doesn't appear on the Wizard spell list or if it's from a prohibited school.

[kakes]

I still hold out hope that, by the time the books are published, this edition will bring balance to the d20 force

[Tytalus]

Races:

The special E6 LA rules are problematic in some cases. Playing a pixie (LA +4) in an E6 world can be game-breaking (improved invisibility at will, flight, SR, etc.). The stat bonuses from special races / templates to primary stats can mean that the point buy reduction is not sufficient to compensate. For example, half-dragon is a much stronger choice for melee characters in E6 than in regular D&D.

As for builds:

Gofnard's Easy Bake No "Worries" Wizard is pretty nice (and qualifies for Mindbender/Mindsight):

Elf, preferably Gray

Elf Wizard Racial Sub - Races of the Wild
Eidetic Spellcaster ACF - Dragon Magazine #357
Spontaneous Divination ACF - Complete Champion - Optional but great at higher levels
Collegiate Wizard feat - Complete Arcane

1st Level - 7+ Int mod 1st level spells known, all cantrips, 1 extra spell per day of highest level
No Familiar, No Scribe Scroll, No Spellbook

If flaws are available
Precocious Apprentice: Melf's Acid Arrow, Ice Knife, or Combust - Complete Arcane
Acidic Splatter, Winter's Blast, or Fiery Burst - Complete Mage
Sacred Vow + Vow of Poverty - Book of Exalted Deeds - depending on the campaign, this may work

Note: Every level after 1st that advances wizard spellcasting gets you 5 spells known for free instead of the usual 2
Edit: If you're playing in Eberron, the feat Aerenal Arcanist (Player's Guide to Eberron) will net you an additional spell known per level netting you 8+Int spells at 1st level and 6 additional spells known every level after that.

Druid5/Beastmaster1, Druid5/BeastHeartAdept1, and Paladin5/Beastmaster1 + Devoted Tracker all provide very strong companions/mounts, in particular if you allow Natural Bond to reduce the adjustment of stronger companions/mounts.

Something3/MasterOfShrouds2 can summon shadows, which the typical E6-world inhabitant can do little against.

Overall, though, all these tricks and the ones mentioned before are available in regular D&D, too (races/LA issues excluded).


Oh, right! A Ranger is the best E6 class. Mystic + Wildshape is basically a Druid with better BAB and better spells with Sword of the Arcane Order.

Given that Mysic Ranger is not an ACF but an actual separate class, the Wildshape Ranger ACF and Sword of the Arcane Order ACF (which changes the ranger class) arguably don't apply. I'd argue it's fine, but check with your DM first.


Venerable Spellhoarding Dragonwrought Desert Kobold Loredrake

...assumes that dragonwrought kobolds qualify for dragon sovereign archetypes, of course. That is, to say the least, highly debatable (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245069).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Given that Mysic Ranger is not an ACF but an actual separate class, the Wildshape Ranger ACF and Sword of the Arcane Order ACF (which changes the ranger class) arguably don't apply. I'd argue it's fine, but check with your DM first.

Mystic Ranger is a variant of the Ranger base class. Wild Shape Ranger is a class feature replacement for the Ranger base class. Mystic Rangers still gain all of the class features that get replaced by Wild Shape Ranger. Since both are still on the Ranger chassis, there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible to combine them.

Sword of the Arcane Order is a feat.

[planswalker]

yeah, the difference is more in the fact that in E6, your level 6 build will never be overshadowed by higher-level spells. Most notably, polymorph never happens.

[Tytalus]

Mystic Ranger is a variant of the Ranger base class. Wild Shape Ranger is a class feature replacement for the Ranger base class. Mystic Rangers still gain all of the class features that get replaced by Wild Shape Ranger. Since both are still on the Ranger chassis, there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible to combine them.


You are welcome to your opinion on the issue.

In short, since I don't want to argue the point (see my previous post): It's a variant, but a speparate class. It's a similar chassis, but not the same (obviously). Wildshape Ranger explicitly applies to Ranger (not variants). It replaces class features of ranger that are changed (aquired more slowly) in the Mystic Ranger variant: in terms of what's relevant for the ACF, rangers and mystic rangers are not the same.

Again, talk to your DM. He's likely fine with it, even if it may not be strictly RAW.

[Yora]

Unless you go deep into min-maxing abusing questionable loopsholes right and left.
But in that case, 20-level-characters result in even worse things than 6-level ones.

[Tyndmyr]

yeah, the difference is more in the fact that in E6, your level 6 build will never be overshadowed by higher-level spells. Most notably, polymorph never happens.

Well, that depends entirely on the level of RAWness allowed.

However, blasting tends to remain fairly effective in E6...level 6 is a strong point for blasting, with spells like fireball having come online, and scorching ray being a powerful option. With CL boosting(easy with feats), blasters tend to be remarkably strong.

This is partially a symptom of feats being usually better offensive options than defensive options, though.

[dextercorvia]

I have been in an E6 campaign and I have been looking through what was possible with E6. I find it kind of weird just how much stronger certain things are. It seems to me that a Beguiler 5 / Mage of the Arcane Order 1 is a better Wizard than a Wizard. What are some other oddities with E6?

I wouldn't call spending twice the slots for almost the same effect better.