D&D 3.5 Forgotten Realms Character, Need help with a Stongheart Halfling Wizard.

[True Narf]

http://gratisupload.dk/billede/thumb/711100/full/
Drawing of my Character
Salutations denizens of Giant in the Playground, I've often looked to this forum for discussions and assistance as an observer, now I'd like to ask some direct help with a Character.
The Character is for a Forgotten Realms Campaign and I have created a kind of "Draft" But would like your input especially with Skills, Feats, Equipment and Scribing.

English is not my first language so please be lenient if my grasp of the language seems rudimentary.

This is my third character and I want to make it a good one as I'm going to play with veterans who have extensive experience with the rules of the game.

Her Name is Rose Burrow Mayfleet. Her Race is Strongheart Halfling.
And her class is a Focused Specialist in Abjuration.
This is her Item List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b2N-bq-kGvvsz63oQc3NgW8evVt0oIm4gDC1dq33rxM/edit#gid=0
We start at level 4, She have 3 in Wizard(Or Focused Abjuration Specialist) and one in Master Specialist. She will enter the Prestige-class of Initiate of the Seven Fold Veil once she can enter it.
Her Abilities are as follows:
Str: 10 (0)(-2 From Race)
Con: 16 (3)
Dex: 20 (5)(+2 From Race)
Int: 19 (4)(+1 From level increase)
Wis: 15 (2)
Cha: 13 (1)

Base Attack:1
Attack Roll:1(+1 From Race: 2)
Ranged Attack Roll: 1 (+1 From Race(Small) +1 From Race: 3)

Her HP is 27.
Her Familiar is a Owl and Redmage explained to me the rules surrounding those. (Kudos to him)

She have 0 skill points left:
Craft Drawing: 2 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Concentration ranks: 7 (+ 3 From Ability Modifier: 10)
Hide ranks: 0 (+4 From Race, + 5 From Ability Modifier: 9)
Spellcraft ranks: 7 (+ 4 from Focus Spellcraft, + 4 Ability Modifier, +2 From Synergy(Knowledge Arcana), +2 From Synergy(Use Magic Divice), +2 From Specialist Wizard: 21)
Knowledge Arcana ranks: 7 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 11)
Knowledge Architecture and engineering ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge Dungeoneering ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge Geography ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge History ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge Local ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
knowledge Nature ranks: 4 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 8)
Knowledge Nobility and royalty ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge Religion ranks: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Knowledge The Planes: 1 (+ 4 From Ability Modifier: 5)
Profession Teacher: 2 (+2 From Ability Modifier: 4)
Listen ranks: 0 (+2 From Race, +2 From Alertness, +2 From Ability Modifier: 4)
Spot ranks: 0 (+2 From Alertness, +2 From Ability Modifier, +3 From Familiar: 7)
Climb ranks: 0 (+2 From Race: 2)
Jumb ranks: 0 (+2 From Race: 2)
Move Silently ranks: 0 (+2 From Race, + 5 From Ability Modifier: 7)
Use Magic Device ranks: 5 (+2 From Synergy(Spellcraft), +1 From Ability Modifier: 8)

Feats Left: 0 (2 From Levels 1 From Race)
Alertness(From Familiar.)
Spell Focus: Abjuration
Skill Focus: Spellcraft(Free from Master Specialist level 1)
Improved Initiative
Improved Counterspell
Reactive Counterspelling(Level 6)
Spell Focus: Conjuration(Level 9)

Edit 1: Added Feats to the Feat List: Spell Focus: Abjuration and Skill Focus: Spellcraft.
Added Skills to the Skill List: Maxed Spellcraft and Maxed Knowledge Arcane.
Added the Desired Prestigeclass.
Added Modifiers to the Ability Scores.
Edit 2: Added Feats to the Feats List: Improved Initiative and Improved Counterspell.
Edit 3: Added Maxed Concentration to Skills.
Edit 4: Added Knowledge Nature 4 Ranks. And 1 In Each other Category.
Edit 5: Added Reactive Counterspelling(Level 6). Synergy Bonuses. Added Spell Focus Conjuration(Level 9).
Edit 6: Added 5 Skill Points to Use Magic Device. And Specialist Wizard Spellcraft Bonus.
Edit 7: Added 4 Skill Points to Profession: Teacher.
Edit 8: Added 2 Skill Points to Craft Drawing, Took 2 from Teacher.

I'd appreciate your input. I got a lot more than this, but I think this is enough to start with.

Thank you.

Narf.

[Kazudo]

Well, to start with, what direction do you want the character to go? Are there any prestige classes you're eyeballing for later on? If so, they may have skill and feat prerequisites that you need to keep in mind.

It looks like, with the specialty in Abjuration, that you may actually be set up pretty nicely for Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil or something similar.

Either way, for a caster of any kind you need to make sure your Spellcraft is up there, and a high Knowledge (Arcana) wouldn't hurt. As far as feats, I always consider feats like Eschew Materials to be practically a feat tax for most forms of caster. In the meantime, Spell Focus (Abjuration) might not go amiss, and I'm sure there are other forms of spellcaster feats that someone else can recommend.

But in short, what kind of FEEL do you want for your character?

[True Narf]

Well she was always intended to go Initiate of the Seven Fold Veil. So I'll update the OP with that. And I'll write:
Feats: Spell Focus Abjuration and Skill Focus Spellcraft.

Thank you very much.

The Feel of the character is to be a strong Despeller and Defender. I wish for her to make Magic Items and Research Unique Abjuration Spells later.

I'll update her skills too.

EDIT:
I have Updated the OP with your input, What more can you help with? Thank you.

[RedMage125]

Well, Skill Focus (Spellcraft) is a bonus feat for the Master Specialist, so you still get 2 more feats. And Greater Spell Focus (abjuration), another prereq for Initiate, is also a bonus feat for Master Specialist.

I suggest, since you are playing Forgotten Realms, that you make one of your 1st level feats (singe strongheart halflings gets a bonus feat) a Regional Feat, from the Player's guide to Faerun. Both of the Strongheart halfling regions qualify you for Luck of Heroes or Fearless. Luck of Heroes means you get a +1 luck bonus to all saves, and Fearless means you are flat-out immune to fear.

I think if your character was raised in another region, like Silverymoon, for example, that you could take a regional feat for Silverymoon. I bring up Silverymoon, because Mind Over Body is great for wizards. It allows you to use your INT bonus instead of CON for your hit points at first level only, which for you would only be 1 hp. But you get a +1 insight bonus to AC, and whenever you take a metamagic feat, you gain 1 extra permanent hit point.

I might stick with the halfling options. Oh, and you can only have 1 regional feat, no matter how many feats you have available at first level.

Familiars break down as follows:
Your familiar, if attacked, has half your current hps as her max.
She grants you Alertness (+2 to Listen and Spot) whenever she is within arms reach.
As an owl, she grants you an additional +3 bonus to Spot checks made in dim light, as long as she remains within 1 mile of you.
As you are a level 3 wizard (Prestige class levels do not improve familiars), she has an Intelligence of 7 (way higher than a normal animal), and a +2 natural armor bonus improvement over the owl found in the Monster Manual.
She has the Share Spells trait, so any spell that is cast on you (even ones with a Personal range) that you wish, may also affect her if she is adjacent to you or in your space. So if you cast Cat's Grace on yourself, she can benefit from it as well, even though the spell only targets one creature.
She has Improved Evasion, so she takes no damage on a successful Reflex save, and only half on a failed one.
She can deliver Touch Spells for you. So you can cast Shocking Grasp from the back of combat, and she can fly in and deliver the touch attack to discharge the spell.

I don't think I missed anything...

[True Narf]

That was super Helpful. Thank you Redmage.
She was raised in Crimel, Luiren by Theo Mayfleet and Cleo Burrow and later travelled to Beluir the capital for tutoring in the Magical Arts.
I will consider Fearless but wait with updating my OP with that choice till I've seen other suggestions, because while I understand that it is good, I never imagined the character one immune to all fear.

Thank you for the insight into The Regional Feats it is definitely something to keep in mind when making a character in future.

As to the Familiar, THANK YOU SO MUCH. That enlightened me immensely on the subject, Thanks, Thanks, Thanks. That was a great help. I won't update the OP with it as this is properly only helpful for me. But I'll delete the need I wrote up there for assistance with familiars as you've sated that need. Great.

[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

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[RedMage125]

I really don't know what other help you're looking for.

You've gotten the advice and help you asked for. That no one else has chimed in likely means they don't have anything to add on top of the advice that has been given.

I've considered a similar build, btw.

Abjurer 3/Master Specialist 6/Initiate of the SevenFold Veil X

Take one level of archmage as soon as possible (around level 13 or 14 I believe) and take Mastery of Counterspelling.

Then finish Initiate, and at least one more level of MS before either finishing MS or archmage.

Such a character would take Improved Initiative, Improved Counterspell, and Reactive Counterspell. All that combined with the MS' bonus to dispel checks means that character would be able to lock down, and likely destroy just about any enemy spellcaster.

[True Narf]

Thank you that helped me on the feats- What's your thoughts on the remaining skills then?
And I looked at the Archmage thing, It require a 7th level spell`?

Was also looking at Arcane mastery and energy abjuration. Worth anything?

[RedMage125]

One skill you NEED to max out is Concentration. Keep that one at max ranks, at all times. You never know when you need to cast defensively.

And this is a matter of preference for me, but I like to take one rank in each of the Knowledge skills, so I can at least ATTEMPT any Knowledge check (as you must be trained to attempt).

After that, cross-class ranks in Tumble may be worthwhile, just in case you need to move through a threatened area.

[True Narf]

Humm Thanks I'll update the OP:
This is what I have so far, does it look right? Also you can see what I am missing:


Level
Class:
Class Features:
Feat Gain:
Feats Chosen:
Ability Increase:
Fort
Ref
Will
Base Att:


1
Abjurer
Summon familiar, Scribe scroll
2
Spell Focus: Abjuration, Improved Initiative
.
0
0
2
0


2
Abjurer
.
.
.
.
0
0
3
1


3
Abjurer
.
1
Improved Counterspell
.
1
1
3
1


4
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
.
.
1(Int)
1
1
5
1


5
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Expanded spellbook
.
.
.
1
1
6
2


6
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Greater Spell Focus
1
Reactive Counterspelling
.
2
2
6
2


7
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Minor school esoterica
.
.
.
2
2
7
3


8
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Expanded spellbook
.
.
1(Int)
2
2
7
3


9
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Caster level increase +1
1
Domain Granted Power(Inqusition)
.
3
3
8
4


10
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Warding 1/day, unimpeachable abjuration, red veil
.
.
.
3
3
8
4


11
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Unanswerable strike +2, orange veil
.
.
.
3
3
9
5


12
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Warding 2/day, yellow veil
1
Spell Focus: Conjuration
1
4
4
9
5


13
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Reactivating warding, green veil
.
.
.
4
4
10
6


14
Archmage
High Arcana(Mastery of Counterspelling)
.
.
.
4
4
12
6


15
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Warding 3/day, blue veil
1
????
.
4
4
12
6


16
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Unanswerable strike +4, double warding, indigo veil
.
.
1
5
5
13
7


17
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil
Kaleidoscopic doom, violet veil, warding 4/day
.
.
.
5
5
13
7


18
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Moderate school esoterica
1
????
.
5
5
13
7


19
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Expanded spellbook
.
.
.
5
5
14
8


20
Master Specialist(Abjuration)
Caster level increase +2
.
.
1
6
6
14
8

[RedMage125]

Nice.

Although the Archmage and Mastery of Counterspelling thing was just me sharing something I had planned, it wasn't necessarily advice. If you're not familiar with how counterspelling works, it may be more of a hassle than it's worth to you. I play a lot of spellcasters, and I'm intimately familiar with counterspelling, especially because Improved Counterspell, Reactive Counterspell, and mastery of Counterspelling all change the way counterspelling normally works in some fashion.

On the plus side, your master specialist esoterica bonus to dispel checks applies to dispel checks made to use Dispel magic as a counterspell. So...bounce every enemy spell right back at them, lol.

[True Narf]

Thanks, That table took ages.

Yeah, it is starting to look good :D
Thank you so much RedMage. I want to be familiar with the Counter-spelling but we can go through some scenarios once the Character is fleshed out 100%.
I wanted to use the Archmage you suggested because it sounded useful. Tell I need some feats, what do you think of those I spoke of above?

Also I updated the OP so you can see the progress. That Skill Point dip in all categories took a chunk of my remaining Skill points. Say is it worth making Wondrous Items? I was considering that.

[RedMage125]

In order to qualify for Archmage, you're going to need to take Spell Focus in one other school of magic. Oreferably a school whose spells typically involve saving throws (so don't do divination, lol).

What are your prohibited schools?

Also, did you do that pic of your character, or is that from online somewhere?

[True Narf]

I did it, here's a bigger version(Full size is... LARGE): http://gratisupload.dk/billede/thumb/711053/full/
Oh yeah, shes a Focused Specialist. I got a question here:
I found a place that gave these rules:

MAGIC SCHOOLS (PHB P54)
School Prohibited
Abjuration 1) one of Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Conjuration
1) Evocation
2) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
3) Transmutation
4) any three schools
Divination 1) any one school
Enchantment 1) one of Abjuration, Conjuration, Evocation, Illusion, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Evocation
1) Conjuration
2) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
3) Transmutation
4) any three schools
Illusion 1) one of Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Necromancy 1) any one school
Transmutation
1) Conjuration
2) Evocation
3) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
4) any three schools

But It dosn't give that much info in players so I'm at a loss. But If its 3 schools I was thinking Illusion, Evocation and Necromancy

Edit: found them in tome of blood or something.

[True Narf]

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[RedMage125]

I did it, here's a bigger version(Full size is... LARGE): http://gratisupload.dk/billede/thumb/711053/full/
Oh yeah, shes a Focused Specialist. I got a question here:
I found a place that gave these rules:

MAGIC SCHOOLS (PHB P54)
School Prohibited
Abjuration 1) one of Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Conjuration
1) Evocation
2) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
3) Transmutation
4) any three schools
Divination 1) any one school
Enchantment 1) one of Abjuration, Conjuration, Evocation, Illusion, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Evocation
1) Conjuration
2) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
3) Transmutation
4) any three schools
Illusion 1) one of Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, or Transmutation
2) both Divination and Necromancy
Necromancy 1) any one school
Transmutation
1) Conjuration
2) Evocation
3) two of Abjuration, Enchantment, or Illusion
4) any three schools

But It dosn't give that much info in players so I'm at a loss. But If its 3 schools I was thinking Illusion, Evocation and Necromancy

Edit: found them in tome of blood or something.

That was 3.0 PHB and Tome and Blood was also a 3.0 source. The 3.5e rules regarding specialization is any 2 schools, neither of which may be Divination (and I believe Focused Specialist is 3 schools, also no giving up divination).

Also, I bow to your artistic talent.

[True Narf]

Well in that case. I've thought of Illusion, Necromancy and Evocation. Thoughts?
Also thanks ^^.

[RedMage125]

Personally? This is just my preference, but I would go for regular specialist instead of focused one. Again, that is not the optimizer in me, but the overly-cautious side, as I would not want to give up 3 schools.

Either Illusion or Enchantment are good choices to give up. Namely because tey both include so many "mind-affecting" spells that anything that is immune to one is usually immune to the other, so I'd stick with Illusion.

A lot of optimizers on these boards recommend giving Evocation, since "blasting is sub-optimal", but there's a part of me that just can't resist laying down the occasional Fireball, lol. Although at higher levels, I usually do it with a wand and leave my spell slots available for more versatile spells. However, there are decent "blasting" choices in Conjuration, which largely leaves Evocation irrelevant.

Necromancy can be a good one to give up. Now, high-level necromancy spells can be BRUTAL, but almost everything in the school allows a save. And while those are usually save-or-suck spells, the successful save is usually a "negates" effect.

Schools I would never give up are Conjuration and Transmutation. Those two are just too good. If nothing else, Conjuration has all your teleportation spells, and Transmutation is just all-over amazing (Haste, Fly, and if you want some damage...Disintegrate).

I don't usually play specialist wizards, mind you, so I'm not the best person to ask. My personal favorite is the Elven General Specialist RSL, had a character like that, amde it to level 18. With that character I went Incantatrix, giving up Illusion, and then into Archmage. My Abjurer concept I mentioned was more of a theoretical character that I designed based on the premise of the ultimate counter-spelling character. I've never played it.

I'm afraid my area of expertise has quite run out.

On a side note: how long did it take you to do that picture? I followed that link to the full size, and I LOVE the detail. I even read the spines of the books on her shelf. Makes me wish I had something more than a marginal talent myself.

[True Narf]

Aight, then I'm pretty happy with my choices, any suggestions on the remaining feats?
Also Staring Spells? What'd you suggest I choose?
Also can you go through a combat scenario so that we can cement how shell work there? Counter-spelling ect.

The Picture took half a year to finish.

Also have you looked at my inventory?

[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

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[True Narf]

Almost done, Need 3 Feats and to set 4 Skill points.

[True Narf]

Finished with skills. Still need two feats. Help me out.

[Andion Isurand]

On the side, I would check out the Halfling Wizard substitution levels in Dragon Magazine 337.

As 3rd-level halfling wizard, you can trade your 2 spells automatically learned, in exchange for a 1st-level spell from any other class spell list... and prepare/cast it as a 2nd-level wizard spell.

You could, for instance, learn to prepare/cast Haste as a 2nd-level wizard spell by picking it from the Trapsmith's spell list (where it's a 1st-level spell).

[True Narf]

That is Epic, Thanks!