Gnome effigy master?

[dantiesilva]

So recently in a game I am playing in I was allowed to NPC a gnome Effigy master who lived on a little island that was inhabited by Yurians. As such he lived in a Yurian Effigy suit to study them and learn their customs. This made me want to build something similar, yet take it to another level because while playing the character I was using the gnomes spells and having them for example launch from its claws and such. So I went picking threw Forgotten Realms and found the Gnome Artifactor. Would a Gnome Transmuter 5/ Effigy master 5/ Gnome Artifactor 10 be a doable build? And if so what feats should I take for it?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The Gnome Artificer from Magic of Faerun (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/prc&tablefilter=gnome) gets its own spell progression, and it only goes up to 4th level spells. At 20th level you would only have Wizard 9 spellcasting and 4th level spells from your prestige class with that build, it would not be a viable character at all.

You cannot start taking Effigy Master until your 8th character level, since it requires 10 ranks in Craft prior to entry. Ideally you would go something like Wizard 3/ Master Specialist 4/ Effigy Master 5, and from there you could get Paragnostic Apostle or maybe Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil if you expect to reach 20th level. In any case you should continue increasing your Wizard spellcasting at every possible level, not take a prestige class that offers a separate spellcasting progression, that will only cripple you in the higher levels.

[dantiesilva]

You know I was going to write a nice long post, but then I realized something. If you are simply going to say oh it wont survive that long because of spells, you are not worth my time frankly.

SO ANYONE who wants to offer real help by all means please post.

[Ellowryn]

Now now, Biffoniacus_Furiou tends to make very powerful, or at least as optimized as possible, builds but can be a little to much to the point.

More importantly with your build, where are you trying to go with it? Do you want to continue "hiding" in the effegy while it impersonates others, or do you want to use it as a normal combatant? Gnome Artificer is a very interesting prestige class but it tends to stand alone as it is really kinda out there and doesnt mesh well with other PrC's. Its not bad, but kinda cool and different. Either way, once you give us some more info we can start sending stuff into left field for ya!

[dantiesilva]

Well I wanted to make it like the Dragonzord from power rangers. Magic missiles come out of the hands, Breath attack using burning hands and stuff like that honestly. Otherwise I would not have chosen the gnome Artifactor as I know it dose not advance anything. However having constant items built into your effigy that can make it now emiluate some of the creatures natural abilities seems like a fun way to go. So I would like it to be able to do decent in melee, however its main purpose is to act exactly like the real animal. Going so far to even use illusions to help hide the joints.

[unseenmage]

I've actually played a Gnome Artificer focused on Constructs.

For my build I went Eberron Artificer plus Techsmith of Gond from Faiths and Pantheons. Worked out very nicely. But my build was focused on having as many Construct minions as possible.
For your purposes an Eberron Artificer plus Effigy Master is probably the way to go.

The Gnome Artificer from the Faerun books is just awful by the way. If you take it it will be purely for fluff. I suggest searching around for a homebrewed "fixed" version or asking to be allowed to take the Eberron Artificer.
My DM had a blast implying that my Eberron inspirations were some sort of plot by greater powers. All while my character thought they were inspirations from Gond himself.