Favored Soul (Optimization) (D&D 3.5)

[Nevershutup]

In campaign I'll be playing in, run by my younger brother (it's his first time DMing.), I'll be playing a Favored Soul. The only other player is another of my brothers, who'll be playing a cleric (it's his first time playing). Currently, there are a few house rules in place:
1. Charisma-only based spells. Save DCs and Bonus Spells per Day. (For Favored Soul)
2. I can take Spellfire Channler(Magic of Faerun). (I'm taking it.)
3. I get 1 domain at 5th level, and another at 15th. (I made sure he is aware that is quite powerful.)

I want a character who can fill in most gaps in our 2-player party, however the cleric wants to be a tanky character. Currently my stats are (no, I did not roll these.) :
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 18
Wis 16
Cha 18

Currently, my race is undecided, as are any traits or flaws. I would prefer to remain a Favored Soul/Prestige Class, or Favored Soul, so no dipping. So basically, I need a character with tons of tricks up his sleeves, and the ability to do everything. I'm going to talk to the DM to see what's up with traps and trapfinding. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[aeauseth]

Most 1st time DM's limit source books to the PHB, DMG, and MM1. I'm a bit surprised that complex characters (such as what you posted) is being entertained. That will be quite a challenge for a first time DM.

A Cleric uses wisdom for spell's, not Charisma. Are you house ruling otherwise?

The Cleric and Favored Soul both cast Divine spells. Generally the party works best if there is an arcane caster in the mix.

With a party of two, you might consider gestalt, but that's pretty rough for a first time DM.

[Urpriest]

A Cleric uses wisdom for spell's, not Charisma. Are you house ruling otherwise?


I think you misread the post.

Anyway, you will have to work a little at not stepping on the Cleric's toes. Since they're a new player, I assume they'll focus on healing and melee. Since you're Cha-SAD, you'd make a good caster-focused character, your save DCs won't fall behind like those of a normal Favored Soul.

Since it's a very small party, you might consider doing some summoning. Malconvoker might be fun, for instance, and again goes well with the Cha-focus.

Do you have a particular god/alignment in mind already?

[Captnq]

Yes.

Friends don't let friends play favored souls.

Play a spontanous Cleric, Spellcaster, Archivist, Druid, Shaman, Shugenja, Sorcerer, Spirit Shaman, Warmage, Wizard, or Wu Jen before playing a favored soul.

But Favored Soul before Healer, so take heart!
You didn't pick the bottom of the list.

[Nevershutup]

As far as I'm aware, he's also building the campaign, which seems like it will be a fairly simple "Kill this," or "Get that." He is very aware of the complexity of my character.

The Charisma-only part is for my spells, sorry for not being clear.

All splat books seem to be OKed, but I'd prefer to keep it simpler for him.

[Nevershutup]

No deity in mind, except for maybe that of the cleric, just to be party-friendly. My only alignment plan is to be of good-alignment.

[juicycaboose]

Yes.

Friends don't let friends play favored souls.

Play a spontanous Cleric, Spellcaster, Archivist, Druid, Shaman, Shugenja, Sorcerer, Spirit Shaman, Warmage, Wizard, or Wu Jen before playing a favored soul.

But Favored Soul before Healer, so take heart!
You didn't pick the bottom of the list.

Some houserules for this game already seem to be covering the two points that most people cite as why favored souls aren't bad, he's getting domains and is now Cha-SAD.

Seeing as you get a domain at fifth level maybe you should get the kobold domain as you won't have anyone else to search for traps?

[Urpriest]

Seeing as you get a domain at fifth level maybe you should get the kobold domain as you won't have anyone else to search for traps?

Given that the DM is friendly, it may just end up being a no-traps game. Traps don't make sense for most situations anyway, they're more something thrown in to make things feel more old-school and fill a quota. I'd ask the DM about it anyway.

Are you starting at first level?

[Nevershutup]

There probably won't be any traps. Yes, we'll be starting at level 1.

[Morphie]

If the DM is learning the ropes, I think it would help him a bit if you played a arcane caster. That way he would have a glimpse of how both sides of the magic spectrum work.
And, by the way, a 2-man party will make it harder for him to create encounters that are ballanced for such a small group. Have you considered making and playing 2 PCs each? I think that would also help him.

[Urpriest]

If the DM is learning the ropes, I think it would help him a bit if you played a arcane caster. That way he would have a glimpse of how both sides of the magic spectrum work.
And, by the way, a 2-man party will make it harder for him to create encounters that are ballanced for such a small group. Have you considered making and playing 2 PCs each? I think that would also help him.

While this is the guy's first time DMing, we don't know how mature/knowledgeable he was as a player before. I'd keep an eye out for dysfunction, but I don't think there's a dire need to limit things.

Besides, the best way to play this particular Favored Soul will probably be as an "arcane" caster, focusing on bfc and the like. You'll be a bit worse at it than a wizard or sorceror would be, which is fine if you're trying to go easy on your DM.

[Morphie]

While this is the guy's first time DMing, we don't know how mature/knowledgeable he was as a player before. I'd keep an eye out for dysfunction, but I don't think there's a dire need to limit things.

Besides, the best way to play this particular Favored Soul will probably be as an "arcane" caster, focusing on bfc and the like. You'll be a bit worse at it than a wizard or sorceror would be, which is fine if you're trying to go easy on your DM.

Encounter planning comes when you're the DM, so it doesn't really matter much how mature he is as a player. And the encounters are build for a 4-man party by default, so he'll have a tougher time if he sends the same encounters for a party half that size. Or the players will get used to rolling for new chars on a daily-basis, wich will also reflect on the group's experience.
I'm not saying it is impossible to scale things down, far from it, but if you want to give him a easier time understanding the role of the DM and the way things work on the other side it's best to start from the basics.
Not to detract from the OP, but if the other player is a Cleric, a Favored Soul isn't one of the best choices to complement the group. That could change if you add a Rogue-Skillmonkey and an arcane caster to the mix.
For example, a Cleric, a Rogue, a Favored Soul and a Sorcerer seems a good party to begin with, but there are a million other combinations possible.

Edit: Adding cohorts is also a way to get this.

[Nevershutup]

We should be fine with our current group, my brethren (I really just wanted to use that word...) are fairly competent. I am the most knowledgeable player, so I'll probably end up helping him with mechanics. And don't forget:



Originally Posted by Mithril Leaf
One of the unwritten rules of Giantitp is that Urpriest is always right.

But truly, party balance shouldn't be a worry. I just need help optimizing my character for this. I'm pretty sure the starting quest is very similar to The Sunless Citidael™, in the fact that we go kill goblins, and then a dragon wyrmling. The only one that really should be concerned for is the first time player. He should be alright though.

[TuggyNE]

We should be fine with our current group, my brethren (I really just wanted to use that word...)

Mad propz* for proper word use.

*Is that how the kids say it?

[Xerlith]

First: Make your brother aware that the best tanking one can do means doing lots of damage. Point him to the Crusader class.

Second: If you want to be all-around versatile, you may consider going Human, dipping one level in the Factotum class and taking the Able Learner feat.

[Psyren]

Yes.

Friends don't let friends play favored souls.

Play a spontanous Cleric, Spellcaster, Archivist, Druid, Shaman, Shugenja, Sorcerer, Spirit Shaman, Warmage, Wizard, or Wu Jen before playing a favored soul.

But Favored Soul before Healer, so take heart!
You didn't pick the bottom of the list.

Honestly this is overreacting, even with the MAD they're still T2. You just have to focus more on buffing and gishing than offensive magic, and the cleric list is suited for that style of play anyway.