Dwarven Gish!

[tricktroller]

Ok folks, so I have decided I want to do something that is never spoken of in Dwarven culture. Dwarven Wizards, or for roleplaying purposes Dwarves of Clan Witchsteel.

All Dwarves with wizardly powers are exiled to Clan Witchsteel and banned form returning to Dwarven cities except in times of emergency to help the clan. Those of Clan Witchsteel have their faces tattooed and are given a mission when exiled as well as given the location of the secret Witchsteel Clan Valley. Their mission is to defeat as many enemies of the Dwarves as possible before dying and to live as long as possible before falling.

Dwarves don't like being around magic, but they do not deny the power of a dwarven wizard in war.

So there is a general backstory for the Witchsteel Clan, and Mordwyr Witchsteel.

Plans for this character are
Wizard1/Fighter1/wizard3/Runesmith1/Eldritch Knight2/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldiritch Knight 7

Wear Full plate and shields, 17 BAB, Cast as 18th level Wizard. ALso feats for the class are entirely open to change since the only feat I have to take is combat casting for PRCs.

[Fouredged Sword]

Ok, this sounds like a good place for a Dwarven sorcerer with the dwarven sorcerer ACF that grants them Con as a casting stat.

Then go into sorcerer 4 / Fighter 2 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Sorcerer X, if I remember the build correctly.

[tricktroller]

No. Dwarven Wizard. Dwarven Sorcerers are not unheard of. I am attempting to play an exiled Dwarven wizard.

[Fouredged Sword]

K. :smallbiggrin:

Earth Dwarf Wizard - wizard 4 / Fighter 2 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant champion 5 / Runesmith X

Done and Done.

[tricktroller]

That's only 17 levels..... Runesmith is a 5 level prc.

Also runesmith and Spellsword do functionally the same thing. both reduce/remove ASF, so no need to take both and runesmith does it at level 1.

[karkus]

My brain definitely sees this as a good build.

But I just can't get over the whole "Dwarven Mage" thing... :smalltongue:

[Fouredged Sword]

Spellsword is just casting and BAB in one package to fill in a level before you can get into abjurant champion. The idea is to become a dwarf, in full plate, with a +9 shield bonus from a swift action shield spell, slingling around quickened greater dispell magic.

Finish out with a PRC of your choice. If you are a Abjurer (and you should consider this) maybe fill in some levels with Master Specialist for wizard with class features.

Something like..

Abjurer 1 / Master Specialist 3 / Fighter 2 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Runesmith 5 / Master Specialist 3.

Use early entry tricks to get into MS at 2nd level and then follow through with the build.

[Humble Master]

You could also try Wizard and Warblade for something with maneuvers. There are some good defensive maneuvers out there like Iron Heart Surge and the Diamond Mind one that let you replace a save with a Concentration check (which also synergizes well with Wizard). Diamond Mind in generally would be pretty good because it lets you use Concentration for a lot of things. Sadly there are no good PrCs I can think of aside from Jade Phoenix Mage (Or my homebrew Sarax-Okus if your DM will allow it.) for a Wizard Warblade gish.

Build would be something like: Wizard 9, Warblade 1, Jade Phoenix Mage 10
You would get 9th level spells and, if you took all the wizard levels before starting the Warblade and JPM, 9th level maneuvers.

[tricktroller]

lol I know Karkus but that is actually not listed in 3.5 dnd anywhere, so I thought it would be fun to make something like this.

[Snowbluff]

Dwarven Wizard6/Swiftblade9/Abj Champ5

Because sometimes ale doesn't cut it.

[tricktroller]

yeah but doesn't swiftblade lose a butt load of casting level?

[Snowbluff]

yeah but doesn't swiftblade lose a butt load of casting level?

Even if it lost more, it would be awesome. That build can cast 9ths anyway.

[tricktroller]

Hey you are right! I thought it was a 5/10th caster, but it is a 6/20ths.

I really like that setup actually. Would you suggest being a focused specialist transmutaion specialist then?

Also what do you think about wiz6/sb2/ac5/sb7 ? abj champ working earlier is always nice when running from 1st level.

[Snowbluff]

Hey you are right! I thought it was a 5/10th caster, but it is a 6/20ths. 6/10ths, but I'd rather say 3/5.


I really like that setup actually. Would you suggest being a focused specialist transmutaion specialist then?
I would. Evocation can be easily scrapped in addition to necromancy and enchantement. Transmutation should provide enough debuffs.

Illusion can be swapped as well, since it usually serves as miss chance for a Gish, but things like Simulacrum might be helpful.


Also what do you think about wiz6/sb2/ac5/sb7 ? abj champ working earlier is always nice when running from 1st level.
I would not suggest that. Swiftblade gives an extra standard action at nine, which is more useful than the Swift Abjurations, and it gives you a spell to cast as a swift. Swift Actions are at a premium for Gish as well, when considering Wraith Strike and the like.

The Swiftblade gives miss chances, which work better than the bonus to armor.

[tricktroller]

ah see we are missing one thing that I really wanted though and that is runesmith. I like the idea of a wizard in full plate, just because it isn't done much and I think that a dwarf finding a way to do it anyways is pretty awesome from a flavor standpoint. losing out on spring attack doesn't really bother me (plus I can always get dwarvencraft mithral fullplate later on).

So Is there any way you can think of to combine the two? Wizard1/Fighter1/Wizard3/Runesmith1/Swiftblade9/AbjChamp5 ?

In all honesty if this guy misses out on 9th level spells I'm not too torn up about it. He will probably only ever make it to 12th. So maybe Wizard1/Fighter1/Wizard3/Runesmith1/Swiftblade3/AbjChamp3 ?

[Kuulvheysoon]

yeah but doesn't swiftblade lose a butt load of casting level?

Swiftblade is one of the rare PrCs that loses more than 2 CL but is still awesome.

[Unusual Muse]

A build I've been playing lately that is quite effective and all kinds of fun is:

Deep Dwarf
Fighter 1 / Wizard 4 / Runesmith 1 / Knight Phantom X (thinking about breaking from Knight Phantom after level 4, into Abjurant Champion).

A mounted gish Dwarf, burly enough to go melee with full plate casting. Get a Valorous lance, get your Wraithstrike on with a Pearl of Power, and go to town!

EDIT: I should add, his eyes burn red and he floats across the battlefield!! :smallsmile:

[Snowbluff]

ah see we are missing one thing that I really wanted though and that is runesmith. I like the idea of a wizard in full plate, just because it isn't done much and I think that a dwarf finding a way to do it anyways is pretty awesome from a flavor standpoint. losing out on spring attack doesn't really bother me (plus I can always get dwarvencraft mithral fullplate later on).

So Is there any way you can think of to combine the two? Wizard1/Fighter1/Wizard3/Runesmith1/Swiftblade9/AbjChamp5 ?

In all honesty if this guy misses out on 9th level spells I'm not too torn up about it. He will probably only ever make it to 12th. So maybe Wizard1/Fighter1/Wizard3/Runesmith1/Swiftblade3/AbjChamp3 ?
Okay, I will do some work for you.

1) Ditch fighter, take Martial Wizard to clean up feat costs, and just buy in the requirements for Runesmith with feats, and retrain them later (if allowed)

2) Get an expensive suit of Armor. Mithril, Githcraft, Twilight. Whatever you have to do to cut the ASF and ACP to 0.

3) Dragonblood Dwarf. Spontaneous Divination+Martial (Replace Scribe Scroll with a Swiftblade Prereq, and your fifth level feat with Spontaneous Divination) and still spell. Proceed to get Practical Metamagic: Still Spell and make it so you prepare all of your spell with no Somatic Components for no MM cost. You also net the ability to cast Divinations without preparing them, even if Still spell could (potentially) make the casting time a full round action.


EDIT: Here's what I meant by "potentially." (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm)


Sorcerers and Bards

Sorcerers and bards choose spells as they cast them. They can choose when they cast their spells whether to apply their metamagic feats to improve them. As with other spellcasters, the improved spell uses up a higher-level spell slot. But because the sorcerer or bard has not prepared the spell in a metamagic form in advance, he must apply the metamagic feat on the spot. Therefore, such a character must also take more time to cast a metamagic spell (one enhanced by a metamagic feat) than he does to cast a regular spell. If the spell’s normal casting time is 1 standard action, casting a metamagic version is a full-round action for a sorcerer or bard. (This isn’t the same as a 1-round casting time.)

For a spell with a longer casting time, it takes an extra full-round action to cast the spell.
Spontaneous Casting and Metamagic Feats

A cleric spontaneously casting a cure or inflict spell can cast a metamagic version of it instead. Extra time is also required in this case. Casting a 1-action metamagic spell spontaneously is a full-round action, and a spell with a longer casting time takes an extra full-round action to cast.

This could be read that Wizards are exempt from the rule. However:

Casting a 1-action metamagic spell spontaneously is a full-round action, and a spell with a longer casting time takes an extra full-round action to cast.