sorcerer gestalt help!

[valoia]

hello!

i've been working on a caster for my group's attempt at world's largest dungeon. we get to pick up to two level adjustments to retroactively apply to our character.. we're starting at level 2. i rolled a nice set of mutations for a magic blooded lesser aasimar white dragonspawn abomination- gaining a total of 2 effective sorcerer levels. so far my build up to level 3 looks like:
sorcerer (3) // battle dancer/ white dragonspawn abomination (2)
this makes me effectively a level 5 sorcerer at level 3.
after that i'm trying to think how to best go about a mind bender.

what would be a good accompaniment to help with survivability on side one to accompany mindbender levels that add to my caster progression?

so something like sorc 3/ X/ sorc/ X// battle dancer/ whitedragonspawn abomination 2/ mindbender 3

my stats read: str 13, dex 20, con 16, int 13, wis 9, cha 22.

maybe marshal? rogue (evasion)? crusader? i just dont know..
i plan on trying to stay out of combat if possible, but those grapple obsessed monsters love squishy casters and enjoy ruining my plans.

also, i'd love some feat ideas.
i may very well take the metamagic specialist acf, so metamagic could be good. but then again i may instead take the spell shield acf for added survivability..

i'd love some suggestions and concept ideas!

[ericgrau]

Paladin 2 for saves. Monk 2 is better for evasion than rogue 2, also for saves and for deflect arrows. Or invisible eye variant for lightning reflexes. Or sleeping tiger for weapon finesse (for melee touch spells) and improved initiative. If it's not too late you could swap a 13 into wis for touch AC, which you can further boost in the distant future.

Metamagic is always good on a sorcerer. It's like knowing a dozen more spells. Which one(s) you select depends on your spell selection.

[Byke]

Paladin 2 for saves. Monk 2 is better for evasion than rogue 2, also for saves and for deflect arrows. Or invisible eye variant for lightning reflexes. Or sleeping tiger for weapon finesse (for melee touch spells) and improved initiative. If it's not too late you could swap a 13 into wis for touch AC, which you can further boost in the distant future.

Metamagic is always good on a sorcerer. It's like knowing more spells. Which one(s) you select depends on your spell selction.

I agree with Eric on this one Paladin 2/Monk 2 for the saves and evasion, You could also take the aesthetic monk feat which would allow you to use Charisma for AC instead Wis. if your a TOB fan you could then go into swordsage/Jade Pheonix Mage or Enlightened Fist for channeling spell through your fists. There are so many possibilities with Gestalt! :smallbiggrin:

If your set on the Mindbender PRC I would recommend only taking the first level for telepathy. The rest is a waste IMO

For your Sorcerer side I would recommend the War Mage class from Age of Mortal. (Dragon Lance) if the resource is allowed. The capstone abilities are + 3 dam/per dice roll on spells and it give you Charisma to AC which you can share with other members of your party. If that is not allowed than Abjurant Champion is also very good.

Between Aesthetic Monk and War Mage/Abj Champ your touch AC will be tough for the grapplers to touch.

[valoia]

i am LOVING that ascetic monk and the war mage. monk will be replacing the battle dancer at lvl 1 and the ascetic monk feat will be taken. war mage will be in there. so nice.

now.. i count as an ally that i can apply the "arcane aegis" to, correct?

[Byke]

You would get Charisma to AC twice, once from Monk and once from War Mage. If you are asking if you can apply the Aegis "ally" ability a third time to your AC that would be your DM's call :smalltongue:

[valoia]

if not from the aegis ability, what gives the war mage a charisma bonus to ac? looking through the entry i don't see anything else..

also, i was looking for advice on which one 2nd lvl spell to choose. wings of cover? combust? fireburst?


..i'm feeling a wee bit limited with my sorcerer spells known.

[TiaC]

Sandshaper gives you a large number of spells known. They very greatly in utility but there are some real gems in there.
A marshal dip can allow you to ignore SR or almost auto-win initiative.

[ericgrau]

When picking sorcerer spells simply think of everything you'd prepare as a wizard, and not merely put in your spellbook without preparing daily. At level 4 flaming sphere gives pretty good damage over time, though later you should swap it for something else. Web is one of the best battlefield control spells and yet it is available when you're still waiting for your "real" spells at spell level 3. Only drawback is if you don't have any vertical features to anchor it to, but presumably you have other 1st level spells to fall back on when this happens.

Wings of cover is great, often called OP, but you should probably get an offensive spell first. Combust deals good reliable damage. At round three two and later it's better than flaming sphere and there's less luck involved. Fireburst seems like it would be too hard to control the friendly fire. A mage that is surrounded only by enemies is already dead. I'd almost rather have burning hands and that's a level 1 spell.

[valoia]

thanks, ericgrau- some sound advice.

i've looked at sandshaper and though it does add flexibility, i dont want to jump through selling fluff hoops and cross class skills to grab it. :)

[Vaz]

Marshal 1 (and everyone else) would benefit from your Charisma score; not to mention that you might be able to get the Charisma bonus to your own Stats - ask the DM - increasing your already High Dex for AC.

Master of the East Wind (Dragon Mag, Forgot number, unsure if in compendium) gives you 10/10 Progression as well as Monk Ability; doubles up massively well woth Ascetic Mage.

AEG's Rokugan (same guys who did WLD) has Secrets of the Crane Clan and Rokugan Campaign Setting; the Courtier from RCS gives you Diplomacy abilities and class skills, as well as free Leadership and the ability to make up to 10 Cross Class Skills full Class skills as you progress, and with Secrets of the Crane, starting at level 4 you can get +2 Charisma up to 6 times.

Depending on the rest of the classes in the party, taking Draconic Auras; either as a Marshal or as a Dragon Shaman for Fast Healing 2 heals 1200/hour which will take the weight off the Party Cleric post combat, Dragon Shaman being thematically suitable.

With Leadership, Bard stacks well when combined with White Raven Tactics Maneuvres.

Taking a Turning Optimized Cleric makes Undead less of an issue, and adds to your spell availability, particularly utility wise freeing up your Sorcerer spells.

[TheifofZ]

Metamagic feats are always good for a sorcerer, and I'd highly advise trading in your familiar for the Metamagic Specialist ACF. (Allows you to apply metamagic feats to your spells without increase to casting time. You lose a familiar, but if you're going to PrC out of Sorcerer, most don't give familiar advancement anyway.)
As for the spell list... What else will you have in the party? You can (And should) try to tailor the spells you'll have to work with the party, rather than forcing you to work around them.

[Byke]

if not from the aegis ability, what gives the war mage a charisma bonus to ac? looking through the entry i don't see anything else..

also, i was looking for advice on which one 2nd lvl spell to choose. wings of cover? combust? fireburst?


..i'm feeling a wee bit limited with my sorcerer spells known.

Yes Aegis gives you charisma to AC, I misunderstood your question.

**Edit as for second level spell that is tough, there are some many good ones, For damage - Scorching Ray, Alter Self gives you a lot of flexibility (NA + 6 , flight), Defensive - Wing of Cover, Battlefield Control - Glitterdust or Web.

When I play a Sorcerer my first pick for a 2nd Level spell is always Scorching Ray :smallbiggrin: