Makin' a Wizard [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

WeaselGuy

2014-07-06, 08:21 AM

Well, straight off the bat, bear this in mind: by text, the Rainbow Servant gets increase spellcasting at every level, by table it's 6/10. Commonly accepted practice is Text Trumps Table. So that actually works in your favor.

With that being said, RS is actually pretty easy to get into, especially if you're starting at a high enough level to write the fluff into character creation backstory. Basic build would be pretty straightforward Wiz5/RS10 and the last 5 levels are pretty open... Easy entry would be Archmage, but Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil is good too, even if you miss out on the last 2 levels of it pre-epic.

(Complete Arcane variant, p. 44)
A master of defensive magic, the Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil approaches the prismatic barrier by mastering one by one its constituent veils or layers.
Requirements
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 12 ranks , Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks , Spellcraft 12 ranks
Feats: Greater Spell Focus (abjuration) , Spell Focus (abjuration) , Skill Focus (spellcraft)
Spells: Able to cast five abjuration spells, including at least two of 4th level or higher.

Hit die
d4
Skill points
2 + Int
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Initiates of the Sevenfold Veil gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each level, an Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which she belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as the bonus feat sometimes gained by a wizard). If she had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming an Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil, she must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Warding (Sp): An Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil can create a warding. She can choose one veil she knows (see below) to be imbued in the warding. A warding lasts for a certain amount of time as indicated in its description, unless it is dismissed (the same way a spell is dismissed; see page 176 of the Player's Handbook). When she creates a warding, she can choose one of three types.
Personal: This warding is a sphere whose diameter is equal to an initiate's space (5 feet for Small or Medium creatures, 10 feet for Large, and so on) and encapsulates the initiate. It moves with her, but she cannot force another creature to pass through it (for example, by attempting to grapple an enemy). If she does force a creature to pass through, the warding has no effect on that creature. Any creature striking at her with a melee weapon or natural attack is subject to the veil's effect (although creatures using reach weapons are not). The warding provides concealment to the initiate, but she can see out with no hindrance. It lasts for 1 minute per level or until dismissed.
Area: An area warding affects an initiate's space and all adjacent squares (a sphere 15 feet in diameter for a Small or Medium initiate, 20 feet in diameter for a Large initiate, and so on). Any creature who remains adjacent to the initiate gains the benefit of the warding's protection, even if part of its body lies outside the sphere. Moving out of the warding (stepping away from the initiate) is completely safe, but anyone attempting to enter the warding—even someone who was formerly inside it and left—becomes subject to the effects of the chosen veil. The warding moves with the initiate, but she cannot force another creature to pass through it (for example, by moving adjacent to an enemy). If she does force a creature to pass through, the warding has no effect on that creature. This warding provides concealment to all within from creatures outside, but anyone inside the warding can see out with no hindrance. It lasts for 1 minute per level or until dismissed.
Wall: This warding takes the form of a wall, up to 10 feet long and 5 feet high per initiate class level. For example, a 3rd-level Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil could create a warding wall 30 feet long and 15 feet high. The wall can be made smaller, but it is not otherwise shapeable. The wall must begin within 30 feet of the initiate, but can extend beyond that distance. The wall is immobile once created. An initiate may choose to make crossing through the wall in one direction safe, if she chooses. In any event, she can pass through her own warding wall with no danger. This warding provides concealment to creatures on either side. It lasts for 10 minutes per level or until dismissed. The save DC for an initiate's warding is equal to 18 + her primary spellcasting ability modifier (Intelligence for wizards, Charisma for sorcerers and bards, and so on). The spell level equivalent of a warding depends on which veil is integrated into it.
Veils: When an initiate creates a warding, she can choose and imbue the warding with any one veil she knows how to create. These veils duplicate the layers of a prismatic wall and are described below. An initiate's caster level for these veils is equal to her arcane spellcaster level.
Red Veil: The first veil an initiate learns is the red veil. A warding imbued with this veil blocks all nonmagical ranged attacks and missiles. A creature crossing a red veil takes 20 points of fire damage (Reflex half). A cone of cold spell or effect destroys a warding with this veil but is negated in the process. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.
Orange Veil: At 2nd level, an initiate learns the secret of the orange veil. A warding with this veil halts magical ranged attacks, including spells that conjure missiles (such as Melf's acid arrow) or create rays (such as disintegrate or a beholder's eye rays) but not spells that do not require a ranged attack (such as magic missile). A creature crossing an orange veil takes 40 points of acid damage (Reflex half). A gust of wind spell or similar effect destroys the veil but is negated in the process. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of a 5th-level spell.
Yellow Veil: An initiate of 3rd level or higher can create a yellow veil. This veil prevents gases or clouds from entering the warded area, and it defeats petrification attacks. In addition, a character inside a personal or area warding imbued with a yellow veil has immunity to poison introduced from outside the warding (such as from a creature with an envenomed weapon striking through the barrier). A creature crossing a yellow veil takes 80 points of electricity damage (Reflex half). A disintegrate spell destroys the veil but is negated in the process. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.
Green Veil: A 4th-level initiate masters the green veil. This veil stops the passage of breath weapons. A creature crossing a green veil must succeed on a Fortitude save or die; on a successful save, the creature takes 1d6 points of Constitution damage. This veil is a poison effect. A passwall spell destroys a green veil. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.
Blue Veil: At 5th level, an initiate learns the blue veil. This veil blocks all divinations and mind-affecting spells and abilities. Any creature crossing a blue veil must succeed on a Fortitude save or be petrified. A magic missile spell destroys a blue veil but is negated by it. A warding with this is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.
Indigo Veil: A 6th-level initiate can create the mighty indigo veil. This veil prevents the passage of all spells or spell-like abilities. Any creature crossing an indigo veil must succeed on a Will save or become confused, as if by an insanity spell. A daylight spell negates and is negated by an indigo veil. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell.
Violet Veil: At 7th level, an initiate masters the seventh and final veil: the violet veil. This barrier destroys all objects and effects that cross it, as if they were disintegrated. Living creatures passing a violet veil must succeed on a Will save or be shifted to a random place on a random plane (as the plane shift spell). A violet veil is destroyed by a successful dispel magic spell. A warding with this veil is the equivalent of an 8th-level spell.
Unimpeachable Abjuration (Ex): An initiate's abjuration spells are particularly difficult to defeat with spells or effects that dispel them. An initiate can add her class level to the DC to dispel any abjuration spell or effect she creates.
Unanswerable Strike (Ex): Due to her study of magical defenses, an initiate learns how to defeat them more easily. At 2nd level and higher, she gains a +2 bonus on caster level checks to counter or dispel abjuration spells. At 6th level, this bonus increases to a +4 bonus.
Reactive Warding (Sp): At 4th level, an initiate learns to create a warding (see above) in response to an attack. She can raise a warding as an immediate action (see page 86), after an opponent begins an action but before it is completed. For example, if she sees an enemy warrior charging her, she can raise a warding to protect herself. The opponent can choose to continue the charge through the warding or can halt outside it.
Double Warding: At 6th level and higher, an initiate can raise two veils at once any time she creates a warding. This still counts as only one use of her warding ability. The less powerful effect (progressing from red up through violet) is always considered to be "outside" the more powerful effect, so a double warding consisting of a blue veil and a green veil would subject any creature passing through to the green veil first, followed by the blue veil. To negate the entire warding, the outermost veil must be negated before the inner veil can be negated.
Kaleidoscopic Doom (Sp): At 7th level, an Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil learns the secret of the awesome kaleidoscopic doom. Once per day as a standard action, she designates one creature within 60 feet and turns magical effects currently affecting the creature against it. This effect functions like a targeted greater dispel magic, except that for every spell or effect negated on the target, the effect of one veil (see above) is visited on the victim as if the subject had crossed it. The veils created around the victim proceed through the spectrum from red to violet, with one veil activated per spell negated. Thus, a creature with three spells negated would be subject to the effects of the red, orange, and yellow veils. The subject is still entitled to the normal saving throws allowed by each veil. This ability is the equivalent of a 9th level spell.
(Dungeon Master's Guide v.3.5 variant, p. 178)
The most advanced practitioners of arcane magic are frequently archmages.
Requirements
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 15 ranks , Spellcraft 15 ranks
Feats: Skill Focus (Spellcraft) , Spell Focus (two schools of magic)
Spells: Ability to cast 7th-level arcane spells, knowledge of 5th-level or higher spells from at least five schools.

Hit die
d4
Skill points
2 + Int
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Archmages gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new archmage level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he added the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he became an archmage, he must decide to which class he adds each level of archmage for the purpose of determining spells per day.
High Arcana: An archmage gains the opportunity to select a special ability from among those described below by permanently eliminating one existing spell slot (she cannot eliminate a spell slot of higher level than the highest-level spell she can cast). Each special ability has a minimum required spell slot level, as specified in its description.
An archmage may choose to eliminate a spell slot of a higher level than that required to gain a type of high arcana.
Arcane Fire (Su): The archmage gains the ability to change arcane spell energy into arcane fire, manifesting it as a bolt of raw magical energy. The bolt is a ranged touch attack with long range (400 feet + 40 feet/level of archmage) that deals 1d6 points of damage per class level of the archmage plus 1d6 points of damage per level of the spell used to create the effect. This ability costs one 9th-level spell slot.
Arcane Reach (Su): The archmage can use spells with a range of touch on a target up to 30 feet away. The archmage must make a ranged touch attack. Arcane reach can be selected a second time as a special ability, in which case the range increases to 60 feet. This ability costs one 7th-level spell slot.
Mastery of Counterspelling: When the archmage counterspells a spell, it is turned back upon the caster as if it were fully affected by a spell turning spell. If the spell cannot be affected by spell turning (for example, if it is a spell that affects an area), then it is merely counterspelled. This ability costs one 7th-level spell slot.
Mastery of Elements: The archmage can alter an arcane spell when cast so that it utilizes a different element from the one it normally uses. This ability can only alter a spell with the acid, cold, fire, electricity, or sonic descriptor. The spell’s casting time is unaffected. The caster decides whether to alter the spell’s energy type and chooses the new energy type when he begins casting. This ability costs one 8th-level spell slot.
Mastery of Shaping: The archmage can alter area and effect spells that use one of the following shapes: burst, cone, cylinder, emanation, or spread. The alteration consists of creating spaces within the spell’s area or effect that are not subject to the spell. The minimum dimension for these spaces is a 5-foot cube. Furthermore, any shapeable spells have a minimum dimension of 5 feet instead of 10 feet. This ability costs one 6th-level spell slot.
Spell Power: This ability increases the archmage’s effective caster level by +1 (for purposes of determining level-dependent spell variables such as damage dice or range, and caster level checks only). This ability costs one 5th-level spell slot.
Spell-Like Ability: An archmage who selects this type of high arcana can use one of her arcane spell slots (other than a slot expended to learn this or any other type of high arcana) to permanently prepare one of her arcane spells as a spell-like ability that can be used twice per day. The archmage does not use any components when casting the spell, although a spell that costs XP to cast still does so and a spell with a costly material component instead costs her 10 times that amount in XP. This ability costs one 5th-level spell slot.
The spell-like ability normally uses a spell slot of the spell’s level, although the archmage can choose to make a spell modified by a metamagic feat into a spell-like ability at the appropriate spell level.
The archmage may use an available higher-level spell slot in order to use the spell-like ability more often. Using a slot three levels higher than the chosen spell allows her to use the spell-like ability four times per day, and a slot six levels higher lets her use it six times per day.
If spell-like ability is selected more than one time as a high arcana choice, this ability can apply to the same spell chosen the first time (increasing the number of times per day it can be used) or to a different spell.