Gnome of Shadows! Mimic'd Spells for a Killer Gnome.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I have recently started playing a Killer Gnome. He's only level 1 right now, so he is less Killer and all Gnome. The DM said low levels will go quickly and expects me to hit my stride fairly quickly so I want to get a good list of good spells to mimic when I use (Heightened) Silent Image.

So I know I have Evocation and Conjuration (Creation or Summoning). Evocation is pretty simple, choose something blasty (though suggestions are welcome). Conjuration is less obvious. From Core, I know I have the Summon and Wall line of spells, but beyond that especially in splat books, I'm not sure what would be worth it. Any suggestions or tricks?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Actually, 'something blasty' is exactly what you don't want from Evocation. The spells from Evocation you want are as follows:

Contingency
Forcecage
Force Wall
Wind Wall
Resilient Sphere
Telekenetic Sphere

Blasty does better from Conjuration, with the Orb of X series. However, the following spells tend to be better bang for your buck:

Grease
Glitterdust
Stinking Cloud
Sleet Storm
Solid Fog
Cloudkill

[Aharon]

Shneekey's suggestions are good. One of the greatest advantage of the orb of ... series, no SR, doesn't apply to shadow spells, though:


The altered spell functions identically to the shadow conjuration or shadow evocation spell, except that the spell's strength equals 10% per level of the figment spell used.

Both Shadow Conjuration and Shadow Evocation allow SR. If you look around a bit, you'll find a few good blasty evocations.

Also, keep in mind that you might want to diversify the spells you use a bit. If your DM wants to make your life less easy, you are likely to meet recurring foes that cast Spell Immunity (Silent Image) and use other ways to become immune to your illusions.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I am award. I inter to fill out my prepared slots with a lot of Transmutation and any Conjuration of note I can't mimic.with a smattering of Enchantment and Abjuration. I am aware of.the SR issue. I don't think it will be.gov much of an issues. Due to Earth Spell, my caster level goes up equal to the level adjusted. So that means my CL will always be 2 (Arcane Thesis)+ Level+ Level of spell I'm casting.

So let's say at Level 9 when I can actually start slinging Shadow Characters around, I'll have access to 5ths. So 9+2+5=16. on a 9th level character. Spell Immunity will of course be am issue and I do plan on having real copies of Orb X in my spellbook.

[Tvtyrant]

One of the better ones IMO is Stun Ray from SC. It is a Conjuration (creation) spell for some reason, and it autostuns an opponent when it hits for one round. If they fail their save, it stuns for 1d4+1 rounds. So if you are fighting single opponents you can tell them to sit down and shut up while your friends beat on it.

Edit: It is too bad True Creation isn't on the wizard/sorc list, because having permanent shadow items would be somewhere in the outrageously awesome realm.

[Keld Denar]

There are quite a few. Entomb from Frostburn is ridiculous, balanced against an expensive material component which you don't have to supply. Radiant Assault is a fun one because no creature is resistant to Light damage, has a will save so evasion doesn't apply, and failed saves are dazed, so it disables. Fires of Purity is an interesting buff, especially with a jacked caster level, and free Force Cages are worth more than their non-weight in gold!

The great thing about no SR spells isn't that they bypass really high SR automatically, but that they bypass INFINITE SR. Golems don't care about your high CL or your Earth Spell. Keep a normal Grease and a normal Solid Fog around just in case.

[Venusaur]

The cheesiest thing to do would be to grab luck domain from Domain wizard or whatever and spam miracle.

[mregecko]

One of the better ones IMO is Stun Ray from SC. It is a Conjuration (creation) spell for some reason, and it autostuns an opponent when it hits for one round. If they fail their save, it stuns for 1d4+1 rounds. So if you are fighting single opponents you can tell them to sit down and shut up while your friends beat on it.

Edit: It is too bad True Creation isn't on the wizard/sorc list, because having permanent shadow items would be somewhere in the outrageously awesome realm.

Stun ray is an awesome, team-player spell. You lock down that Big Bad (Dragon/Demon/Whatever) and your team mates mop it up. You make it possible, they get to kill it, everyone is happy.

As for True Creation.... Arcane Disciple: Artifice domain. Enjoy your awesomeness as you create whatever materials you want for free. Is a 120% real 500gp diamond worth 600gp? :-P

[Tvtyrant]

Stun ray is an awesome, team-player spell. You lock down that Big Bad (Dragon/Demon/Whatever) and your team mates mop it up. You make it possible, they get to kill it, everyone is happy.

As for True Creation.... Arcane Disciple: Artifice domain. Enjoy your awesomeness as you create whatever materials you want for free. Is a 120% real 500gp diamond worth 600gp? :-P

I like the way you think sirrah! Shadow smith, eat your heart out!

[Aegis013]

The cheesiest thing to do would be to grab luck domain from Domain wizard or whatever and spam miracle.

Typical method for that is Arcane Disciple feat. Domain Wizard has its own domains, which I don't think include Miracle on any of the lists.

[Keld Denar]

The cheesiest thing to do would be to grab luck domain from Domain wizard or whatever and spam miracle.

Debatable whether or not it works. Not debatable whether or not this will get you smote by your DM.

There are a fair amount of Evocations that have secondary effects other than damage. Parboil and it's frozen cousin Numbing Sphere both have ability damage on top of their HP damage. Radiant Assault, as I noted above, has a secondary daze effect, as does Wings of Flurry. Those are the ones you want to have in your toolbox.

[MesiDoomstalker]

The cheesiest thing to do would be to grab luck domain from Domain wizard or whatever and spam miracle.


Typical method for that is Arcane Disciple feat. Domain Wizard has its own domains, which I don't think include Miracle on any of the lists.

Ah yes. I saw that little loop hole in the Killer Gnome guide. I asked my DM before hand before I put it into my build plan. He rightly said no. I would like to point out, however, without some shenangians or WBL trickery, I can't "spam" Miracles until fairly far into Epic Levels.

However, later in my build has some filler feats. I can easily replace one with Arcane Disciple and get a good selection of non-standard spells to mimic. Any suggestions on Domain?

[Aegis013]

However, later in my build has some filler feats. I can easily replace one with Arcane Disciple and get a good selection of non-standard spells to mimic. Any suggestions on Domain?

If Miracle abuse is out, and rightly so, then it's probably better to invest your feats elsewhere. I've had trouble locating particularly useful domains that would net you applicable spells that aren't already on your list for the most part. Maybe something like Moon Domain would be interesting from SpC. It has some evocations you could mimic that aren't on the Sor/Wiz list.

[Keld Denar]

Do you have Residual Magic? I'd not, take that. Do you know what PrC you want after you finish ScM? Some have feat prereqs. I kinda like Earth Dreamer, and it doesn't really have much in the way of prereqs, but if you are planning on Archmage, it needs a lot of feats.

Also, the Arcane Disciple trick is questionable regardless of domain. Shadow Illusion, the ScM ability, states that you cast spells off the Wiz/Sorc list. Domain spells that you learn via Arcane Disciple, or any other ability like Wyrm Wizard, are not spells on the Wiz/Sorc list. They are spells on your spell list, which includes the Wiz/Sorc list, but the two are not the same. There are half a dozen threads out there that debate it, look one up if you want the full debate.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Where is Residual Magic and what does it do? As for PrCs, I've got that mapped out already.

Illusionist 2 / Master Specialist 4 /
Shadowcraft Mage 3 / Mindbender 1 / Shadowcrafter 2 /
Shadowcraft Mage +2 / Shadowcrafter +6

I've already spoken with my DM, entering MS at level 3 is allowed. As for feats, this is what I have planned thus far (bolded is already set in stone, can't change):
Flaw: Heighten Spell (PHB)
Flaw: Earth Sense (RoS)
1st: Earth Spell (RoS)
3rd: Spell Focus (Illusion) (PHB)
6th: Signature Spell (Silent Image) (PgtF)
9th: Still Spell (PHB)
12th: Arcane Thesis (Silent Image) (CA)
15th: Quicken Spell (PHB)
18th: Mindsight (LoM)

So I could sacrifice either Quicken, Still or Mindsight for Residual Magic if its worth it.

[Keld Denar]

Residual Magic is AMAZING. It does 2 things. The first involves casting with wands, which is minimally useful for you. The second, however, is amazing.

Basically, when you cast a spell with metamagic applied, Residual Magic REMEMBERS one of the MM feats applied. If you cast the SAME spell in the following round, sans MM, Residual Magic sees that, looks up the MM you used last round, and applies it to that spell.

What does this mean for you? First, you cast a Silent Image, the lifeblood of any ScM. This Silent Image is Heightened...say, 4 levels to count as a 5th level spell. Earth Spell does it's thing, Shadow Illusion does it's thing, and blamo, you cast a 5th level Evocation or Conjuration from a 5th level slot.

But the foe isn't dead....so you try again. You cast another Silent Image, this one from a 1st level slot (or 0th level slot with the Gnome Illusionist Racial Sub). Residual Magic looks at that spell, looks at the MM you applied last round (Heightened +4), and makes this one look exactly like that one, allowing you to cast a 5th level Shadow Illusion out of a 1st (or 0th) level slot.

As long as you alternate back and forth between highest level slots and 1st level slots, you double your number of high level spells. In between combats, you can soak up a couple of Pearl of Power 1s to recoup the spent 1st level spells you've been using as 5ths or whatever. Free 5th level slots for 1000g is a STEAL.

So yea, you want Residual Magic. Period. It's in Complete Mage. Read it.

Also, your build is a bit too complicated man. You can get into ScM at 5th level with Earth Spell, as long as you know a [Shadow] spell of 1st-3rd. Dark Way is...1st? Maybe 2nd, from SpC. Once you know that, you can Heighten it to 3rd, which Earth Spell turns into 4th. So...you know 4th level spells as a 5th level character. I wouldn't deal with Master Specialist, at this point. Start your build off as Wizard5/ScM5. From there, you can do whatever, but at least get your Shadow Illusions up and running at full strength. Wiz5 is better than Wiz3/MS2, because you probably need that open ended bonus feat at 5 to get into ScM1 at 6, rather than taking the Skill Focus: Spellcraft feat that MS gives at 2.

Also, do note that spontaneously casting Heightened Silent Images is a full round action without the Rapid Metamagic feat from CArc. I'm also fond of taking Arcane Mastery with ScM. It's in CArc as well. It allows you to take 10 on CL checks. With your already highly boosted CL from Earth Spell, this means you pretty much NEVER fail a SR check. Even with +6 or so CLs from Earth Spell, you could still fail SR mid levels on a low roll.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I took an ACF on Wizard that replaces my bonus feats with different abilities. Since I wasnt expecting to ever reach Wizard 5, not getting Scribe Scroll wasn't going to be an issue (Artificier in the party), so I took it. Hide as a Wizard skill. The ACF (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#shadowShaper)in question, would give me my Int mod to my hide skill. Which is already high. So Wizard 5 is near useless unless I can get the ACF removed.

Residual Magic does sound awesome. I can fit it earlier in the build easily. May just drop Silent. Its much harder to prevent verbal components than somatic (and Shadowcraft Mage takes care of that).

If I could get the ACF removed, what would I go with for classes? Wiz 5/SCM 5/Shadowcrafter 10? Removing Master Specialist removes the need for Spell Focus Illusion (even if its nice to boost the DC of damn near every spell I cast), so I can bump all my feats up 1 and slide Residual Magic in at 6 or 9. Pearls of Power will be plentiful with an Artificer churning them out daily. And that will get the main part of my build up faster (level 7 vs. level level 8). I'll talk to the GM about it. Any other feats I should think about now that Mindbender is gone (and thus Mindsight).

[ILM]

I'd like to point out something in the text of shadow evocation and shadow conjuration, which the ScM is pretty much based upon.

From shadow conjuration:

Spells that deal damage have normal effects unless the affected creature succeeds on a Will save. Each disbelieving creature takes only one-fifth (20%) damage from the attack. If the disbelieved attack has a special effect other than damage, that effect is only 20% likely to occur.[...]Against disbelievers, they are 20% likely to work.

Cool. Now shadow evocation:

Spells that deal damage have normal effects unless an affected creature succeeds on a Will save. Each disbelieving creature takes only one-fifth damage from the attack. If the disbelieved attack has a special effect other than damage, that effect is one-fifth as strong (if applicable) or only 20% likely to occur.
Cool, same as shadow conjuration; any riding effects from blasty spells are 20% likely to occur, fair enough (even more fair when you have 100% shadow reality).

But then this:

Nondamaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect.

Bummer.

Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief)
A character faced with proof that an illusion isn’t real needs no saving throw.
I'd say casting the illusion yourself is fairly conclusive proof that it's an illusion, so (as should be quite obvious) you automatically disbelieve your own spells. And if they're evocations effecting you that don't do damage, that means they have zero effect (even if they affect others, they're worthless if they make their save, which kind of defeats the purpose of shadow illusions). Pretty niche, until you consider that Contingency definitely falls in there, as do some uses of Miracle (which doesn't really matter, for reasons Keld mentioned above).

And you better pray they fail their save against Gust of Wind, Hearty Heave, Veil of Shadows, Sonorous Hum, Resilient Sphere, Wall of Force, etc.

[Lostbutseeking]

For classes Incantatrix is always good, especially on the feat starved SCM due to it's 4 bonus feats.

The feats combined with the MM reduction let you go mailman as well if you ever feel so inclined.

[Aharon]

And you better pray they fail their save against Gust of Wind, Hearty Heave, Veil of Shadows, Sonorous Hum, Resilient Sphere, Wall of Force, etc.

While your ruling has disadvantages, it also has advantages: For example, you could cast a Resilient Sphere centered on you and then happily attack your opponents while you yourself are very well protected.

Also, there's debate about wether you automatically have to disbelief your own shadow illusions, since they are partially real, made from shadow stuff.

[Endarire]

Shadowcraft Mage Spellbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7731)

[Tvtyrant]

It has Prismatic bow on it. That spell always makes me sad, because it comes so close to being awesome but then falls short.