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View Full Version : Character concept: A magician who is not a caster...sort of



Xyvrin
2014-01-22, 09:02 PM
I've been toying with this character concept for a while now and am in need of some guidance. I want to make a skilly PC who uses sleight of hand, bluff, etc. to pull off ordinary stage magic. Things as simple as pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But I want him to be so good at it that he's fooled the rest of the party into believing that he's an actual spell caster.

A few ideas of how to pull this off:
Sleight of Hand/Bluff: if they didn't see it, then its magic, right?
Craft: I was thinking of how to craft various "up the sleeve" devices. Anything from spring-loaded contraptions to mini explosives. Basically, I'd want to pull off the desired effect (damage, crowd control, etc.) while making it look like magic
Poisons/Alchemy: Going off the the last idea, if I could make an undetectable dart shooter up my arm or even a needle prick, I could feasibly pass the effect off as magic.

As far as classes go, I was thinking either Rogue or Factotum. The later in particular provides an interesting flavor option with Arcane Dilettante. Perhaps the characters random hand gestures and broken incantations would occasionally (and comically) produce a real effect. The only problem is, he would never know how to reproduce it (representing the classes inability to recast the same spells the same day).

Any ideas (feats, prestige classes, other options) to make this idea workable? Thanks for the help! :smallbiggrin:

Zombulian
2014-01-22, 09:52 PM
There is literally a PrC that does exactly what you described. The Charlatan, Dragon Magazine #335 pg62.

Mithril Leaf
2014-01-22, 09:56 PM
Here's the handbook.
Linky. (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=8763)

Zombulian
2014-01-22, 10:09 PM
I really recommend trying it. It's one of my favorite PrC's to date.
I usually enter with Spellthief, but there are better options.

Xyvrin
2014-01-22, 10:24 PM
This is awesome! Exactly what I was looking for. I'll have to check this out in more detail, but it looks spot on. Thanks for the reference !