Help! First time Arcane Caster/High Level

[AtlanteanTroll]

I'm playing a game of D&D on another board of which I am part, and I will be playing a Chaotic Neutral Sorcerer 6 / Sand Shaper 7 in a sort of Middle Eastern style campaign. The DM is a buddy of mine, and according to other buddies who have played with him before, he's very good.

The thing is this, I have never played an arcane caster and I have never played at anything about level 6. I've got my skill points distributed and I have my stats (12 Str, 18 Dex, 16 Con, 14 Int, 14 Wis, 20 Cha), but I don't really know what to do with feats (though I have to have Touchstone for my PrC). The DM's changed the classes a bit, so as a sorcerer, I've got some buffs (though I'm not sure what they all are yet) and everyone playing gets Heat Endurance.

One of the sorcerer buffs is permanent Mage Armor at level 3rd level.

So if anyone has some tips on playing high level, a sorcerer (or sand shaper), or whatever, really, it'd be appreciated. :smallsmile:

[Rebel7284]

Chose good spells that you will use a lot and put the spells you will use rarely on a staff or two.

Do you have a race chosen? Dragonwraught Kobolds make the best sorcerers due to the free level of spellcasting.

Some fun spells to consider include Wings of Cover, Arcane Fusion, Wings of Flurry, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Celerity.

[Zweisteine]

This is a good idea, if your DM is willing to allow it:

Sorcerers can learn any spell they are familiar with, even from other classes' lists. You could grab Vigor, Divine Power, and other good cleric spells. Giant Size can be fun too (off the Wu Jen list).

If your fellow party members can cast a spell, you could probably convince your DM you are familiar with it, if the thee players agrees that they used that spell frequently in the past (i.e. they cast the spell before the adventure started enough that you are familiar with it, even if the character wouldn't even think of casting it now.

EDIT:
As suggested above, a Dragonwrought kobold can get an extra sorcerer spellcasting level, which is great.

Desert Kobolds (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertKobolds) are the base you'll want, as they aren't blinded by the sun (and it sounds like you'll be in the desert anyway).
The dragonwrought feat acts as a prerequisite for the Draconic Rites of Passage, which get you more magic.
Your first level feat is dragonwrought, then you undergo the Draconic Rite of Passage, losing 1 hp and 1000 gp. At level three, you take Draconic Resevoir as your feat, and then take the Greater Rite as soon as you can, costing another 3 hp and another thousand gp, but getting you another level of magical ability.
The Greater Draconic Rite of Passage, and the feat Draconic Resevoir can be found here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a), along with a number of useful alternate racial features for kobolds.
EDIT 2:
Here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2180.0) are some guides (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/2053601)!

[AtlanteanTroll]

Unfortunately, kobolds are a no go for the world, as they're kind of hated in the desert. I thought about doing a genasi, but I ended up going with a human. The other players in the game are a half-sand giant fighter, a tiefling rogue, and a human wizard.

[Zweisteine]

You could be a kobold struggling to escape the evil reputation of your race, fighting the prejudices that plague the land to prove your worth!
Or you could struggle to keep your identity hidden, pretending to be a halfling in a cloak, or casting disguise self or alter self to stay hidden. A hat of disguise would work just as well, or better (than disguise self, not alter). A custom item of continuous Alter Self, set to only allow one form to be assumed, might be affordable as well.
Of course, that is all useless if you actually aren't allowed to be a kobold...

Unless you really want that bonus feat, a Lesser D'hin'ni. They are planetouched with a bonus to charisma, and have the bonus of being descended from genies, and thus fitting the desert quite well. They appear in Dragon Magazine 350.

There's also the rather cheesy (less so if stuck on a human, I would imagine), probably, but very fun, Magic-blooded racial variant (from Dragon 306)! It gives you a bonus to charisma (and a penalty to wisdom), and a couple of useful (but not so powerful, especially on a Sorcerer) SLAs, and a few other minor bonuses. Stick it on any race to make a better sorcerer (though you'll lose darkvision if you had it).


Other good base races for a sorcerer are:
Strongheart Halfling (FRCS;almost strictly better than a human, if you're a primary caster)
Silverbrow Humans (Dragon Magic; human, but trades bonus skill points for dragonblood* type, feather fall SLA, and a disguise bonus)
Spellscale (Races of the Dragon; dragonblooded* humanoids with various minor bonuses, and racial rituals that give a bonus or ability you can change every day)
Lesser Aasimar (as aasimar, but no LA, and Humanoid (planetouched) instead of Outsider type. Has charisma and wisdom bonus, which is great.)
Aasimar (If you can do LA buyoff, play a full aasimar with the LA bought off at level three. This may require some very annoying calculations to determine your final XP, unless your DM says you can be level 13 even with buyoff. This allows for very powerful uses of Alter Self, Polymorph, etc, allowing you to transform into other outsiders.)
Feytouched (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a) (This gives you some nice bonuses, and if you have a spare level lying around, you can pick up charm person 1/day, +2 to hide and move silently, and free mind blank. This is very nice, but costs a casting level. Luckily, you don't have to take any actual levels in the racial class. (And LA buyoff may be an option, though it might take some annoying math.))

The Half-Fey template class (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a) is also very nice, if you want to lose any caster levels. At will charm person is powerful. If yo play a "level 0" Feytouched, you might want a level of this over a levelof Feytouched, because this also gives another +2 charisma each level you take. And you can take only one level, if you want.

*Dragonblood is nice, because it opens up a lot of sorcerer goodies. If you decide you want this especially, there's a dragonblooded variant of all common races, and a few others, in Dragon Magic.

And here's (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1549531) another handbook.