Lina Inverse?

[Man on Fire]

Slayers, popular series of light novels in apan and franchiche consisting of several anime, was based on author's D&D game. So I was wondering, how would the main character of the series, Lina Inverse, be stated in 3.5. As I'm not that knowlegable with Slayers really (most of my knowledge comes from my childhood and I don't trust my memories that much) and no really good at making builds, I turn to you with this question.

What is known about Lina, from her article on Hajime Kanzaka Wiki:


Lina self-dubs herself as a "Magical Genius" but she isn't at all exaggerating. She specializes in black magic (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Black_magic), yet she is also skilled in shamanism (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Shamanistic_magic), slightly versed in white magic (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/White_magic), and can also hold her own with the short sword. Lina has an extremely high magic capacity (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_capacity), and she is able to draw upon indescribably powerful spells such as the Ragna Blade and Giga Slave. When she acquired the Demon's Blood Talismans from Xelloss, she was able to increase her magical capacity even more, giving her the ability to cast more powerful spells more often. However, even a single Ragna Blade (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Ragna_Blade) can drain her of all energy. Lina has used Giga Slave (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Giga_Slave) four times. The first time she tested it, she turned a body of water into a sea of death, where no life would grow.

What describtion above could tell us in terms of suggested classes?
* Black magic described above is mostly offensive magic that works on draining power from demons. That would suggest Archivist, which from fluff perspective represents it the best, as he steals power from gods.
* Shamanistic Magic is...it's basically their name for a Druid.White magic is some obscure form of shamanistic magic, that specialises in healing and protection, but is different from Holy Magic (which is Slayer's equivalent of goog-aligned Cleric)

That would suggest good class for Lina would be Archivist, who can achieve all of the above relatively easily. However, Lina's main tactic is simply blasting, which she can do pretty effectively, with her favorite spell, Dragon Slave (http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Slave) being capable of leveling mountains and small cities, which means she is also a powerful wizard, as I don't think (and I may be wrong here) that Cleric's/Druid's offensive capability lies in their ability to do blasting. That would suggest some sort of Theurge Build.

Now, one last thing is that I think we should consider is that she can cast Ragna Blade and Giga Slave, two spells that call upon power of Lord of Nightmares, the most powerful being in the setting's multiverse, which I'm pretty sure would suggest she is epic level.

[ArcturusV]

I'd probably start with the usual Bard into Ur-Priest build as a guideline. The way her "Black Magics" and such tend to work, from what I've seen, fits the Ur-Priest pretty well. Cosmic divine power which was stolen rather than granted. Add in things like corrupt spells and their Draining effects (Or researching new corrupt spells), and you basically got the package of what she does on a baseline.

Might need tweaks here and there though.

[Alleran]

I'd just go straight Blast Sorcerer with oodles of metamagic, to represent that Lina has absolutely no conception of what the term "overkill" means, and use feats (e.g. Arcane Disciple) and possibly some unique researched spells to cover her wider-ranging magic.

Alternately, a Psion with an abnormally high manifester level.

[Neo Tin Robo]

Definitely epic level by the time she was researching Giga Slave/Ragna Blade. I second the Sorceror-with-ALL-the-metamagic idea; possibly some Incantrix thrown in (cheesey yes, but she IS that powerful). Anything that can reduce or eliminate metamagic costs would fit.

Drawing power from demons is just the setting's explanation for where black magic comes from and so wouldn't be too important for the actual build. In generic D&D nobody knows where arcane magic "comes from" so you could fluff it that way regardless.

The shamanistic magic she uses is mostly just another form of blasting, albeit one which is much more effective on said demons. Perhaps add a level of favored soul for the few spontaneous healing spells she might use, and to justify that sword she rarely draws. I would avoid any kind of Theurge type combo because she is decidedly more arcane than otherwise.

[Hikarizu]

White magic is some obscure form of shamanistic magic, that specialises in healing and protection, but is different from Holy Magic (which is Slayer's equivalent of goog-aligned Cleric)

Disregard the statement that white magic is part of shamanism. It creates even more inconsistencies that it solves.
White and Holy magic draw power from the Shinzoku, the Gods. Basically the Shinzoku are the four great dragons equal to the Demon Lords. Shabranigdu and Ceifeed are the only ones that appear in the anime(and Ceifeed only in legends), but they are just one of four Demon Lords/Gods.
White magic is a lesser form of Holy magic. True Holy magic was unavailable to mortals due to a barrier erected by retainers of Shabranigdu. After Hellmaster Fibrizo was destroyed the barrier fell, but knowledge of Holy Magic was forgotten in the 1000 years it was unavailable.
Basically: Black Magic = Wizard & Sorcerer spells
White Magic = Cleric & Favored Soul spells
Shamanism = Druid & Shaman spells.(shaman was the spontaneous version of Druid right?)
However the Slayers characters "multiclass" casters, which is not a good idea in D&D.

[Leon]

However the Slayers characters "multiclass" casters, which is not a good idea in D&D.

Its a fine idea if it works for what you want to do with it.

[Eldariel]

You can multiclass casters but you need the appropriate Theurge classes (probably early entry) to keep up with the single-classed characters in terms of level-appropriate efficiency.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Gestalt wildshape-less Druid // Sorceror? I'm sure you could find a stacking alt. class feature that got rid of the animal companion, too.

[Hikarizu]

However the Slayers characters "multiclass/theurge" casters, which is generally not a good idea in D&D.
Better?

Gestalt wildshape-less Druid // Sorceror? I'm sure you could find a stacking alt. class feature that got rid of the animal companion, too.
Why would you get rid of Gourry?

[Flickerdart]

I'm not sure there's anything sub-epic that can represent the Dragon Slave, save perhaps the Locate City Bomb loaded onto a spell with "only" a few hundred feet radius.

[Eric Tolle]

I would cheat and import the magic system from the D20 Slayers sourcebook, which is specifically designed to emulate Linna Inverse style magic. I don't think Linna Inverse of all people would mind cheating.

[Prime32]

In 4e terms, Black Magic = Arcane, White+Holy Magic = Divine, Shamanism = Primal.


However the Slayers characters "multiclass/theurge" casters, which is generally not a good idea in D&D. Either they've got ToB-style multiclassing rules, or all casters have Advanced Learning - practically everyone who uses Black Magic also seems to know stuff like Flare Arrow, despite it being Shamanism. (Sylphiel's case can only be explained by the Extra Spell feat though)

Zelgadis seems more like a factotum or mystic ranger, given just how many random skills he has.

Note that because the effects of Shamanism spells are completely physical rather than spiritual, they ignore Spell Resistance (excepting Astral Shamanism spells like Elmekia Lance, which are completely spiritual).

[otakumick]

I would cheat and import the magic system from the D20 Slayers sourcebook, which is specifically designed to emulate Linna Inverse style magic. I don't think Linna Inverse of all people would mind cheating.

not only is it specifically designed for that, it does a good job of it too... definitely a better magic system than the truenamer :p

[DMVerdandi]

In my opinion, its almost obvious that she would be a Spellcaster from the srd.

They have access to All sorcerer spells, druid spells, and cleric spells.
And what was that she had? Black,white, and shamanism spells? Covered.

Do you need ULTIMATE MEGADAMAGE for spells like dragon slave and such? Not really. There are blasty spells out there that put out tons of damage. And you don't necessarily have to make it so obscene. It just has to be able to consistently kill high level monsters.

Make a feat that allows them to add spells from scrolls to their spells known list after research, and boom. Done and done.

[Flickerdart]

Do you need ULTIMATE MEGADAMAGE for spells like dragon slave and such? Not really. There are blasty spells out there that put out tons of damage. And you don't necessarily have to make it so obscene. It just has to be able to consistently kill high level monsters.
Dragon Slave doesn't just do massive damage, but has an enormous area of effect, which is much harder to replicate.

[Gildedragon]

For really large areas: war spells
They're in some dragmag

[Scots Dragon]

Speaking of the official Slayers d20 adaptation, it does actually present a set of available stats for her at various points of the series.

At the end of Slayers
Loremaster 2/Warrior 1/Wizard 10/Sorceress 6

At the end of Slayers Next
Loremaster 3/Warrior 1/Wizard 10/Sorceress 7

At the end of Slayers Try
Loremaster 4/Warrior 1/Wizard 10/Sorceress 8

Note that these classes are different from traditional d20 system versions, with sorceress being a prestige class that advances magic.

[OverdrivePrime]

I think that flavor-wise, Linna stinks of Binder. She's all about pact magic, and calls upon invocations to dead gods left and right. That's what fuels her power.

That also gives her competence

However, she's also really powerful, which suggests levels in Wizard. If I were to stat her out, it'd be something like:
Binder 3/Wizard3/Anima Mage 10/Abjurant Champion 5 (Because she's clearly epic if she's casting the Giga Slave.)

[Waker]

However, she's also really powerful, which suggests levels in Wizard. If I were to stat her out, it'd be something like:
Binder 3/Wizard3/Anima Mage 10/Abjurant Champion 5 (Because she's clearly epic if she's casting the Giga Slave.)
That's actually what I would go with. Every upper level black magic spell is basically establishing a contract with some demon lord. Give her eiditic spellcaster variant since she doesn't rely on a spellbook and even if it makes people cringe, make her an evoker. Lina might have some useful utility magic, but at heart she is a magical brute.

[Neo Tin Robo]

I think that flavor-wise, Linna stinks of Binder. She's all about pact magic, and calls upon invocations to dead gods left and right. That's what fuels her power.

That also gives her competence

However, she's also really powerful, which suggests levels in Wizard. If I were to stat her out, it'd be something like:
Binder 3/Wizard3/Anima Mage 10/Abjurant Champion 5 (Because she's clearly epic if she's casting the Giga Slave.)

Except for the part where she never makes any pacts. She does fight a few people who did however. The demons just make their power available to humans because it inevitably breeds more suffering and negative emotions, which they in turn feed upon. When one of them is destroyed, their power is lost forever (e.g. Gaav Flare).

Besides, Lina has way too much ego to not be a charisma-based caster.

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, I was thinking Apocalypse from the Sky for Dragon Slave. Which seems fairly appropriate.